Aleksandrs Samoilovs

Aleksandrs Samoilovs
portrait
birthday	April 6, 1985
place of birth	Riga, Latvian SSR
size	1.95 m
partner	2004–2008 Mārtiņš Pļaviņš 2006, 2008–2012 Ruslans Sorokins since 2013 Jānis Šmēdiņš
World ranking	Position 6
successes
2008 - Olympic participant 2012 - Olympic participant 2013 - Vice European Champion 2013 - World Tour Champion 2014 - Vice European Champion 2014 - World Tour Champion 2015 - European Champion 2016 - Olympic participant 2016 - World Tour Champion
(As of July 24, 2017)

Aleksandrs Samoilovs (born April 6, 1985 in Riga ) is a Latvian beach volleyball player .

Career

After Samoilovs had already participated in the youth world championship 2003, he was in the same competition in 2004 in Porto Santo with Mārtiņš Pļaviņš fifth. In 2006 Samoilovs played three open tournaments with Ruslans Sorokins and then joined again with Paviņš. In Roseto degli Abruzzi , the Latvians made it into the top ten of an open tournament for the first time. At the World Cup in Gstaad , the Latvians were eliminated after three 1: 2 defeats in the preliminary round. The following year they caused a stir at the start of the Olympic tournament in Beijing when they defeated the reigning world champions Rogers / Dalhausser from the USA; in the last sixteen they were defeated by the Austrians Gosch / Horst .

Samoilovs then formed a new duo with Sorokins. At the 2009 World Cup in Stavanger , Samoilovs / Sorokins made it into the knockout round as second in the group and Rogers / Dalhausser took revenge in the round of 16. In the same year they reached the final of the Kristiansand Open. In 2010 they achieved various ninth places in grand slams and open tournaments. In the second round of the European Championship in Berlin they were able to defeat the current world champions Brink / Reckermann before they lost to the Austrians Doppler / Mellitzer and came in fifth. In 2011 they reached the first main round of the World Cup in Rome and failed in the tie-break against the Brazilians Ferramenta / Pedro . At the 2012 Olympic Games in London , Samoilovs / Sorokins took ninth place.

Aleksandrs Samoilovs has been playing with Jānis Šmēdiņš since 2013 . Samoilovs / Šmēdiņš achieved top ten placements almost without exception on the FIVB World Tour 2013 and became Tour Champions and Vice European Champions in Klagenfurt . In 2014 they became World Tour Champions and in Sardinia they were again Vice European Champions . In 2015 Samoilovs / Šmēdiņš in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee became the first Latvians to win the European Championship . In 2016 Samoilovs / Šmēdiņš became champions of the FIVB World Tour for the third time . Outstanding were the victories at the Grand Slam in Olsztyn and at the Major in Klagenfurt . At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, however, they were eliminated in the preliminary round.

Web links

• Profile at the world association FIVB (English)
• Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)
• Aleksandrs Samoilovs in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FIVB world rankings (as of July 24, 2017)