Aleksandrs Samoilovs | |
Nickname: | The Lion King |
Birth Date: | 6 April 1985 |
Birth Place: | Riga, Latvia |
Hometown: | Riga, Latvia |
Height: | 195cm (77inches) |
Weight: | 94kg (207lb) |
Nationality: | Latvian |
Currentteammate: | Jānis Šmēdiņš |
Currentyears: | 2004, 2008–present |
Teammates: | Ruslans Sorokins, Mārtiņš Pļaviņš |
Aleksandrs Samoilovs (born April 6, 1985) is a beach volleyball player from Latvia.
Samoilovs and teammate Mārtiņš Pļaviņš, with whom he partnered since 2004, represented Latvia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The duo defeated the number 2 seed, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, in their first-round game, in what announcers called "the biggest upset in Olympic beach volleyball history". The Latvian team won its preliminary round group and in round of 16 lost to Austrian team Florian Gosch and Alexander Horst.
After the Olympics, Samoilovs and Pļaviņš stopped playing together.[1]
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he teamed with Ruslans Sorokins, where he again finished in 9th, reaching the round of 16, where they lost to Jonas Reckermann and Julius Brink of Germany.[2]
He now partnering with Jānis Šmēdiņš.