Lion King keeps it in the family with quarterfinal win

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Aleksandrs celebrates after securing a place in the semifinals. Photocredit: Sebastian Marko.

An hour before the Lion King and teammate Janis Smedins roared into the semifinal of the A1 Major Klagenfurt, Aleksandrs Samoilovs’ younger brother also reached a semifinal!

As we reported, the two siblings both faced big quarterfinal matches on Saturday, with 18-year-old Mihail Samoilovs involved in the U19 World Championships in Cyprus.

Both brothers made it through – to the relief of the older Aleksandrs – following a stunning victory over Dutch second seeds Brouwer/Meeuwsen on a packed Center Court on a beautiful evening by the Wörthersee.

“We needed to be in the semifinals otherwise he would have made a joke at me!” grinned Aleksandrs. “He was playing an hour before so I was trying to follow it and I’m happy he is through.”

We then asked him who was the better player…

“Well he’s taller!” laughed the Lion King and his teammate. “He’s young, he’s 18, he’s left-handed and I hope he has a bright future and I hope he stays in beach volleyball.

“It’s a good day for our family – remember our father is our coach too.”

The men’s semifinal line-up is now complete for Sunday’s big showdown on the sand.

Samoilovs and teammate Smedins – who will celebrate his 29th birthday on Sunday – will take on Saxton/Schalk. The third-seeded Canadians overcame rising Norwegian stars Sørum/Mol in a three-set epic.

The other semifinal is a battle of two rising stars on the tour. Brilliant young Brazilians Guto/Saymon take on Polish pair Losiak/Bryl in what promises to be a hugely entertaining tie.

Guto/Saymon powered past Italian qualifiers Tomatis/Dal Molin while Losiak/Bryl won a thrilling battle against Russian youngsters Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin.

The first match takes place on Center Court at 10am before the second starts at 11.15. Sleep well guys and good luck tomorrow!