Beach volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament
The men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place at the Beach Volleyball Ground at Chaoyang Park from August 9 to August 22. Each of the 24 pairs in the tournament was placed in one of six groups of four teams apiece, and played a round-robin within that pool. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the Round of 16. The six third-place teams were ranked against each other, with ties being broken by the ratio of points won to lost. The best two advanced to the Round of 16, while the other four played two matches with the winners of those two matches advancing as well. The losers of those matches, along with the fourth-place teams in each group, were eliminated. The 16 teams that advanced to the elimination rounds played a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match between the semifinal losers.
The official cut off date for Olympic qualification for beach volleyball was July 20, 2008. The final Olympic Qualification Ranking for the 24 teams, was announced confirmed by the FIVB on July 24, 2008. If the host nation had a team in the top 6 teams on the FIVB Olympic ranking when the Olympic Games began, it was automatically seeded as #1; therefore China's team Xu - Wu was seeded as #1. Accordingly, the #1 ranked Rogers - Dalhausser, was seeded as #2, Ricardo - Emanuel as #3, M. Araújo - Fabio Luiz as #4 and Nummerdor - Schuil as #5. The Brazilian teamHarley - Pedro, was placed as #5 on the Olympic ranking, but did not qualify because of the two teams per country rule. Harley - Pedro was ranked as #2 on the World ranking per July 21, 2008, and #1 per August 4, 2008. *Matteo Varnier is replaced by Eugenio Amore on the Italian team, because of an injury to Varnier.
Participating nations
Preliminary round
The two best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round. The composition of the preliminary rounds was announced confirmed on April 16, 2008. The #1 seeded team was placed in pool A, #2 in pool B, #3 in C, #4 in D, #5 in E, and #6 in F. But if the host nation had a team in the top 6 teams, it was automatically seeded as #1. Therefore, China's team Xu-Wu is placed in pool A. There was held a draw of lots between seed #7 - #9, between #10 - #12, between #13 - #18, and between #19 - #24. The Drawing of lots was hosted by the 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam, in Gstaad on July 26, as part of the 2008 SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. A team received 2 points for each match won, and 1 point for each match lost. After the preliminary rounds, from August 9–14, 2008, the teams placed 1st and 2nd in each pool had qualified for the playoffs. The two best 3rd placed teams had also qualified. Two Lucky Loser matches qualified two more of the 3rd placed teams. The two 3rd placed teams that lost their Lucky Losers match, were out of the competition. Also out of the competition were teams placed 4th in their pool. All times are China Standard Time
Pool A
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Pool B
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Pool C
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Pool D
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Pool E
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Pool F
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Lucky Loser
Of the 6 teams that are placed third in their pools, two are directly qualified to the playoffs. Of the four remaining third placed teams, another two teams get to the playoffs through winning a Lucky Loser match. 3rd placed teams This table shows the results of the third placed teams after the pool play, and before the Lucky Loser matches.
Rk
Team
Points
Won
Lost
PW
PL
Ratio
SW
SL
1
4
1
2
114
111
1.027
2
4
2
4
1
2
132
130
1.015
3
4
3
4
1
2
120
129
0.930
3
4
4
4
1
2
125
137
0.912
3
4
5
4
1
2
118
132
0.894
2
5
6
4
1
2
111
133
0.835
2
5
Lucky Loser Results of the Lucky Loser matches only.
If the host nation has a team in the top 6 teams on the FIVB Olympic ranking when the Olympic Games begin, it is automatically seeded as #1. Therefore, China's team Xu - Wu was seeded as #1 before the Games.
