# Beach volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

The men's beach volleyball tournament at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom, took place between 28 July and 9 August at Horse Guards Parade.
Twenty-four pairs were competing, including one from Great Britain as the host country, and a maximum of two from each nation. Sixteen qualified through positioning in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings as of 17 June 2012, five others earned their places at the 2010–12 Continental Beach Volleyball Cup, and the final three from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament.

## Seeds

| Rank | Team | NOC |
| 1 | Alison Cerutti – Emanuel Rego | Brazil |
| 2 | Phil Dalhausser – Todd Rogers | United States |
| 3 | Julius Brink – Jonas Reckermann | Germany |
| 4 | Jake Gibb – Sean Rosenthal | United States |
| 5 | Reinder Nummerdor – Richard Schuil | Netherlands |
| 6 | John Garcia Thompson – Steve Grotowski | Great Britain |
| 7 | Pedro Cunha – Ricardo Santos | Brazil |
| 8 | Jonathan Erdmann – Kay Matysik | Germany |
| 9 | Grzegorz Fijałek – Mariusz Prudel | Poland |
| 10 | Wu Penggen – Xu Linyin | China |
| 11 | Adrián Gavira – Pablo Herrera | Spain |
| 12 | Jefferson Bellaguarda – Patrick Heuscher | Switzerland |
| 13 | Daniele Lupo – Paolo Nicolai | Italy |
| 14 | Petr Beneš – Přemysl Kubala | Czech Republic |
| 15 | Sébastien Chevallier – Sascha Heyer | Switzerland |
| 16 | Aleksandrs Samoilovs – Ruslans Sorokins | Latvia |
| 17 | Mārtiņš Pļaviņš – Jānis Šmēdiņš | Latvia |
| 18 | Tarjei Skarlund – Martin Spinnangr | Norway |
| 19 | Josh Binstock – Martin Reader | Canada |
| 20 | Igor Hernández – Jesus Villafañe | Venezuela |
| 21 | Freedom Chiya – Grant Goldschmidt | South Africa |
| 22 | Sergey Prokopiev – Konstantin Semenov | Russia |
| 23 | Kentaro Asahi – Katsuhiro Shiratori | Japan |
| 24 | Clemens Doppler – Alexander Horst | Austria |

## Preliminary round

The composition of the preliminary rounds was announced confirmed on 19 July 2012 in a draw held in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Teams are awarded two points for a win and one for a loss. If two teams are tied at the end of pool play, the tiebreakers is their head-to-head match. If two teams are tied at the end of pool play, the tiebreakers is their head-to-head match. If three or more teams are tied, the tiebreakers are (1) points ratio between tied teams, (2) points ratio within pool, and (3) tournament seed. The two best teams from each group directly advance to the round-of-16. The two best 3rd-placed teams also advance. The remaining four third-placed teams play one another in two Lucky Loser matches, and the two winners complete the list of 16 playoff teams.
* All times are British Summer Time (UTC+01:00).

### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Alison – Emanuel (BRA) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 145 | 123 | 1.179 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Bellaguarda – Heuscher (SUI) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 111 | 118 | 0.941 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Lupo – Nicolai (ITA) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 119 | 126 | 0.944 | 3rd place/Lucky Loser playoffs |
| 4 | Doppler – Horst (AUT) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0.750 | 128 | 136 | 0.941 | Eliminated |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Dalhausser – Rogers (USA) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 139 | 109 | 1.275 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Gavira – Herrera (ESP) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2.500 | 139 | 133 | 1.045 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Beneš – Kubala (CZE) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0.400 | 120 | 128 | 0.938 | 3rd place/Lucky Loser playoffs |
| 4 | Asahi – Shiratori (JPN) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.167 | 110 | 138 | 0.797 | Eliminated |

### Pool C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Brink – Reckermann (GER) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 133 | 114 | 1.167 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Chevallier – Heyer (SUI) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 145 | 151 | 0.960 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Prokopiev – Semenov (RUS) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 | 157 | 163 | 0.963 | Round of 16 |
| 4 | Wu – Xu (CHN) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.500 | 157 | 164 | 0.957 | Eliminated |

### Pool D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Gibb – Rosenthal (USA) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2.000 | 119 | 89 | 1.337 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Fijałek – Prudel (POL) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2.500 | 132 | 115 | 1.148 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Samoilovs – Sorokins (LAT) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1.333 | 116 | 113 | 1.027 | Round of 16 |
| 4 | Chiya – Goldschmidt (RSA) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 76 | 126 | 0.603 | Eliminated |

### Pool E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Pļaviņš – Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 141 | 113 | 1.248 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1.333 | 127 | 116 | 1.095 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Erdmann – Matysik (GER) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 | 132 | 148 | 0.892 | 3rd place/Lucky Loser playoffs |
| 4 | Hernández – Villafañe (VEN) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.333 | 128 | 151 | 0.848 | Eliminated |

### Pool F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Ricardo – Cunha (BRA) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 129 | 101 | 1.277 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Skarlund – Spinnangr (NOR) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2.000 | 117 | 107 | 1.093 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Binstock – Reader (CAN) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 114 | 119 | 0.958 | 3rd place/Lucky Loser playoffs |
| 4 | Garcia Thompson – Grotowski (GBR) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 94 | 127 | 0.740 | Eliminated |

### Lucky loser

Of the 6 teams that are placed third in their pools, two directly qualify for the playoffs. From the four remaining third placed teams, another two teams qualify for the playoffs by winning a Lucky Loser match.
This table shows the results of the third placed teams after the pool play, and before the Lucky Loser matches.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Samoilovs – Sorokins (LAT) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1.333 | 116 | 113 | 1.027 | Round of 16 |
| 2 | Prokopiev – Semenov (RUS) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 | 157 | 163 | 0.963 | Round of 16 |
| 3 | Erdmann – Matysik (GER) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 | 132 | 148 | 0.892 | Lucky loser play-offs |
| 4 | Binstock – Reader (CAN) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 114 | 119 | 0.958 | Lucky loser play-offs |
| 5 | Lupo – Nicolai (ITA) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0.500 | 119 | 126 | 0.944 | Lucky loser play-offs |
| 6 | Beneš – Kubala (CZE) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0.400 | 120 | 128 | 0.938 | Lucky loser play-offs |

#### Lucky loser play-offs
## Playoffs
### Finals overview

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Alison – Emanuel (BRA) | 21 | 16 | 17 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Fijałek – Prudel (POL) | 17 | 21 | 15 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Fijałek – Prudel (POL) | 17 | 21 | 15 | 1 | Alison – Emanuel (BRA) | 21 | 22 | | | | | |
| | | | | | 17 | Pļaviņš – Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 15 | 20 | | | | | |
| 17 | Pļaviņš – Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 19 | 21 | 15 | 17 | Pļaviņš – Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 15 | 20 | | | | | |
| 4 | Gibb – Rosenthal (USA) | 21 | 18 | 11 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Gibb – Rosenthal (USA) | 21 | 18 | 11 | | | | | 1 | Alison – Emanuel (BRA) | 21 | 21 | 14 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Brink – Reckermann (GER) | 23 | 16 | 16 |
| 3 | Brink – Reckermann (GER) | 21 | 21 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Brink – Reckermann (GER) | 23 | 16 | 16 |
| 7 | Ricardo – Cunha (BRA) | 15 | 19 | | | | | |
| 7 | Ricardo – Cunha (BRA) | 15 | 19 | | 3 | Brink – Reckermann (GER) | 21 | 21 | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| | | | | | 5 | Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) | 14 | 16 |
| 5 | Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) | 21 | 21 | | 5 | Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) | 14 | 16 | 17 | Pļaviņš – Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 19 | 21 | 15 |
| 13 | Lupo – Nicolai (ITA) | 16 | 18 | | | | | | 5 | Nummerdor – Schuil (NED) | 21 | 19 | 11 |

### Final
## Final ranking

| Rank | Team | Seed |
| | Julius Brink – Jonas Reckermann (GER) | 3 |
| | Alison Cerutti – Emanuel Rego (BRA) | 1 |
| | Mārtiņš Pļaviņš – Jānis Šmēdiņš (LAT) | 17 |
| 4. | Reinder Nummerdor – Richard Schuil (NED) | 5 |
| 5. | Jake Gibb – Sean Rosenthal (USA) | 4 |
| 5. | Ricardo Santos – Pedro Cunha (BRA) | 7 |
| 5. | Grzegorz Fijałek – Mariusz Prudel (POL) | 9 |
| 5. | Daniele Lupo – Paolo Nicolai (ITA) | 13 |
| 9. | Phil Dalhausser – Todd Rogers (USA) | 2 |
| 9. | Jonathan Erdmann – Kay Matysik (GER) | 8 |
| 9. | Adrián Gavira – Pablo Herrera (ESP) | 11 |
| 9. | Jefferson Bellaguarda – Patrick Heuscher (SUI) | 12 |
| 9. | Sébastien Chevallier – Sascha Heyer (SUI) | 15 |
| 9. | Aleksandrs Samoilovs – Ruslans Sorokins (LAT) | 16 |
| 9. | Tarjei Skarlund – Martin Spinnangr (NOR) | 18 |
| 9. | Sergey Prokopiev – Konstantin Semenov (RUS) | 22 |
| 17. | Petr Beneš – Přemysl Kubala (CZE) | 14 |
| 17. | Josh Binstock – Martin Reader (CAN) | 19 |
| 19. | John Garcia Thompson – Steve Grotowski (GBR) | 6 |
| 19. | Wu Penggen – Xu Linyin (CHN) | 10 |
| 19. | Igor Hernández – Jesus Villafañe (VEN) | 20 |
| 19. | Freedom Chiya – Grant Goldschmidt (RSA) | 21 |
| 19. | Kentaro Asahi – Katsuhiro Shiratori (JPN) | 23 |
| 19. | Clemens Doppler – Alexander Horst (AUT) | 24 |