Olympic Beach Volleyball Odds & Picks – Men’s & Women’s July 27-29
- Gold-medal favorites Sol and Morum of Norway are -475 favorites to defeat Semenov and Leshukov of Russia in a battle of unbeatens atop Pool A in Olympic men’s volleyball
- Australians Artacho Del Solar and Clancy are the -340 betting choice over Italy’s Menegatti and Toth in women’s play
- It’s the final day of play in several pools as teams battle for spots in the medal round
It’s getting down to the nitty-gritty in Olympic beach volleyball. Several divisions of pool play will wrap up on Wednesday.
Many teams will be in win or go home mode as they take to the sand for their third match of the competition.
Let’s look at some of the best bets from the matches taking place from Tuesday to Thursday. The competition gets underway at 9:00 pm ET tonight.
Olympic Men’s Beach Volleyball Odds
| Match | Odds |
|---|---|
| Herrera/Gavira (ESP) vs McHugh/Schumann (AUS) | -310/+220 |
| Mol/Sorum (NOR) vs Semenov/Leshukov (ROC) | -475/+310 |
| Dalhausser/Lucena (USA) vs Azaad/Capogrosso (ARG) | -1000/+525 |
| Perusic/Schweiner (CZE) vs Gaxiola/Rubio (MEX) | -310/+220 |
Odds as of July 27 at DraftKings
Norwegian Favorites to Keep Rolling
On paper, this match between Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sørum and the Russian Olympic Committee tandem of Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov should be a barn burner. Both teams are 2-0 and share top spot in Pool A of the men’s beach volleyball competition.
Semenov and Leshukov have yet to drop a set. Mol and Sørum dropped one set through two matches.
The #1 seeded Beach Volley Vikings – Christian Sorum and Anders Mol, from Norway, have had some close matches, but they are 2-0 in pool play (latest victims ESP), and seem to be getting stronger. That is bad news for the rest of the men’s field! @BeachVBWorld @CBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/BhC03nX9o9
— Mark Heese (@HeeseMark) July 26, 2021
However, oddsmakers are looking beyond those numbers and are setting the Norweigan duo with solid -475 odds to dispatch their Russian counterparts.
Mol and Sørum are the men’s beach volleyball gold medal favorites. Mol, 24, and Sørum, 25 are the youngest tandem to win three straight European championships. They’ve won 13 gold medals together at international competitions.
The Norwegians are ranked #1 by FIVB. The Russians hold down 16th overall in the world rankings.
Pick: Mol/Sørum (-475)
Looking to Get Off the Snide
At the other end of Pool A, Spain’s Pablo Herrera Allepuz and Adrian Gavira Collado clash with Australia’s Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann in a showdown between 0-2 teams. The loser of this match will be definitely eliminated. The winner could still grab a place in the medal round.
The Australian duo managed to take a set off of Mol and Sørum. That alone is worthy of notice.
Oh man, we were within a few points! 😖🤾
The Aussie beach volleyball pair, Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann, pushed the 1st seeded Norway team all the way!
Norway took it 13-15 in the deciding third set — superb performance Chris and Damo! 💛💚#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/k8k1CNDjZb
— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) July 24, 2021
Herrera and Gavira are the more experienced pairing, though. They posted a pair of victories over Russians Semenov and Leshukov earlier this month in an FIVB event at Gstaad.
McHugh and Schumann have played just 12 matches as a duo. However, they are 9-3 when playing together.
Pick: McHugh/Schumann (+220)
Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball Odds
| Match | Odds |
|---|---|
| Murakami/Ishii (JAP) vs Huberli/Betschart (SUI) | +450/-800 |
| Ana Patricia/Rebecca (BRA) vs Graudina/Kravcenoka (LAT) | -340/+240 |
| Artacho Del Solar/Clancy (AUS) vs Menegatti/Orsi Toth (ITA) | -340/+240 |
| Wang/Xia (CHI) vs Gallay/Pereyra (ATG) | -800+450 |
Other Top Brazilian Team In Action
Agatha and Duda are the Brazilian team among the gold medal favorites in women’s beach volleyball. However, Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Barbosa Silva are no slouches. They’re ranked #4 by FIVB, right behind Agatha and Duda at #3.
They finished ninth at the world championship. Through their opening-match triumph at Tokyo, they’ve won five of their past six matches.
Brazilian duo, Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti Barbosa Silva Ana Patricia Silva started playing together in 2017 and has steadily climbed up the World rankings since.#sbo2020 #tokyo2020 #BeachVolleyball #FIVBWorldTour pic.twitter.com/ImTHTU5VHn
— Singapore Beach Open 2020 (@SingBeachOpen) December 30, 2019
That includes a victory over the Latvian tandem of Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka. The Brazilians beat their Latvian opponents 2-1 earlier this month in a FIVB event in Gstaad.
Graudina and Kravcenoka are ranked #16 in the world. They dropped their opening Olympic match to the American tandem of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil in three sets.
Pick: Ana Patricia/Rebecca (-340)
Aussies Look to Stay Unbeaten
Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy have only been a team since 2018. However, it didn’t take them long to become an item among the beach volleyball elite.
They won a Commonwealth Games silver medal just six months after teaming up. Currently, del Solar and Clancy are ranked #5 in the world.
A super start for Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar, getting their #TokyoOlympics campaign underway with a commanding win against Cuba 💛💚#TokyoTogether @AUSOlympicTeam pic.twitter.com/vTzKspPFMe
— Volleyball Australia (@ausvolley) July 25, 2021
After sweeping to victory over Cuba’s Lidiannis Echevarria and Leila Consuelo Martinez Ortega in their opening match, the Aussies will look to go 2-0 in Pool E against Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth. They’re the world’s #18-ranked team.
However, the Italians fell in straight sets to Russians Nadezda Alekseevna Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina in their opening match.
Pick: del Solar/Clancy (-340)
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.
