Men’s Olympic Beach Volleyball Semifinals Odds & Picks
- Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum are the -140 odds-on favorites to win the Olympic men’s beach volleyball gold medal as semifinals get underway on Thursday, August 4
- Latvia’s Martins Plavins is the only player left in the competition with a previous Olympic medal to his credit
- None of the four countries still represented have ever won gold or silver medals at the Olympic Games
The final four of Olympic men’s beach volleyball is an eclectic group. There’s the world’s #1-ranked team, the only unbeaten team left in the tournament, the lone team that includes a previous Olympic medalist, and the reigning world champions.
The so-called Beachvolley Vikings, Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, are the -140 odds-on favorites to win the Olympic men’s beach volleyball gold medal. The world’s top-ranked tandem avenged their only loss in pool play by beating the Russian duo of Ilya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov in the quarterfinals.
The Norwegians will face Latvia’s Edgars Tocs and Martins Plavins in one semifinal. The last unbeaten team standing, Qatar’s Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse, face reigning world champions Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy of Russia in the other final four match.
Olympic Men’s Beach Volleyball Quarterfinal Odds
| Match | Odds |
|---|---|
| Mol/Sorum (NOR) vs Plavins/Tocs (LAT) | -700/+400 |
| Tijan/Younousse (QAT) vs Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy (ROC) | -138/+100 |
Odds as of August 4 at Bet365
Action in the Olympic men’s beach volleyball semifinals get underway at 8am ET on center court at Shiozake Park.
Favorites vs Medal Winner
Sorum and Mol are the top-ranked team in the world over the past Olympic cycle. Latvia’s Tocs and Plavins contain the only player still in this Olympic tournament who’s previously won an Olympic beach volleyball medal.
That would be Plavins. He teamed with Jānis Šmēdiņš to earn a bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Games. To date it’s the only Olympic beach volleyball medal earned by Latvia. However, Latvia is the only country with a team in the semifinals of both men’s and women’s beach volleyball in Tokyo.
Norway’s Mol and Sorum: “They’re the No. 1 team in the world for a reason” https://t.co/kvwKBADMPa pic.twitter.com/OG6QPxCwp0
— Volleyball World (@worldvolleybal) October 26, 2018
Since pairing up with Tocs, things weren’t going as well prior to their arrival in Japan. They’re ranked 34th in the word in 2021. Plavins and Tocs are also 0-3 in head-to-head meetings with Sorum and Mol. Two of those three matches did go the full three sets, though.
In Tokyo, Plavins and Tocs have eliminated the 2016 gold-medal winners. Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt paired to win gold on their home sand in Rio.
There are no Brazilians left in either the men's or women's competitions after the pair of Alison and Álvaro lost in straight sets to Latvia's Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Edgars Točs, who now play the Norwegian pair between Mol and Sørum in the semis.#Tokyo2020 #UnitedByEmotion pic.twitter.com/8kwfaC17gU
— Archive (@ArchiveInt) August 4, 2021
Cerutti and Schmidt were both in Tokyo, paired with different partners. In the Round of 16, Plavins and Tocs defeated Schmidt and Evandro Oliveira. Moving on to the quarterfinals, the Latvians eliminated the other Brazilian pair, Cerutti and Alvaro Morais Filho.
Sorum and Mol have won 13 gold medals on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour since 2018.
Pick: Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) -700
World Champs vs World’s Best
Russia’s Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy won the most recent FIVB world championship in 2019. Qatar’s Tijan and Younousse are the top-ranked team in 2021. They’ve also proven to be the top team thus far in Tokyo.
There were three unbeaten teams in the Olympic men’s beach volleyball tournament entering the quarterfinal round. Mol and Sorum took care of one when they bounced Leshukov and Semenov in straight sets.
#Olympics | #Qatar's beach volleyball team featuring Cherif Younes and Ahmed Tijan has qualified for the semifinals after beating Italy 2-0 in their quarterfinal clash 👏👏@TeamQatar @QatarVolleyball pic.twitter.com/iiMkmJkKfK
— Stad Doha (@StadDoha_en) August 4, 2021
Another quarterfinal pitted the two other unbeaten squads. Maintaining their fine form of the calendar year and their unblemished mark in Tokyo, Tijan and Younousse won that match. They took out Italy’s Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai in straight sets. Lupo and Nicolai were silver medal winners in Rio in 2016.
This match will pit the top two teams of 2021 against each other. Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy rate #2 in the FIVB world beach volleyball rankings this year.
Russia get the gold in a double 21-16 against Germany! Congrats for the heroes Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy
🇷🇺 and Thole/Wickler
🇩🇪Watch the #BeachVolleyball World Tour Finals LIVE & replays on YouTube – LINK IN BIO.https://t.co/VbS4LWtiQs get the info! pic.twitter.com/7kJLxyQyRM
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) September 8, 2019
These two tandems have clashed five times on the sand courts of the beach volleyball circuit. Tijan and Younousse hold a 3-2 edge. The Qataris have won the past two meetings. Two of their three wins went the full three sets, though. Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy swept both of their victories over Tijan and Younousse.
Pick: Ahmed Tijan/Cherif Younousse (QAT) -138
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
