Paolo Nicolai
Paolo Nicolai (born 8 June 1988) is an Italian beach volleyball player.[1]
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Honours
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Biography
Nicolai was born in Ortona, province of Chieti. In 2007 and 2008, he won the FIVB Youth Beach Volleyball World Championships (with Francesco Giontella).[2]
From 2009 he played with different partners (Matteo Varnier and Matteo Martino), becoming an Italian champion once, until in 2011 the Italian federation had him partnered with Daniele Lupo. Lupo and Nicolai qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, where they were eliminated by the Dutch team Nummerdor-Schuil in the quarter-finals. Nicolai was elected FIVB Most Improved Player 2012.
Lupo and Nicolai won the Beach Volleyball European World Championships twice, once in 2014 and again in 2016. A series of podiums in the World Tour also granted them the qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where they reached the final, winning the silver medal.[3] They reached the final, despite having to qualify as "lucky losers" from the pool stage.[2]
References
- "Volleyball: Young Italian Team Qualifies for A1 Grand Slam". Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
- "News - European Champs battle from lucky losers to play World Champions for gold". rio2016.fivb.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
- "Rio 2016 final - Post-Match - Nicolai/Lupo-Alison/Bruno Schmidt". rio2016.fivb.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Jānis Šmēdiņš (LAT) |
Men's FIVB World Tour "Best Attacker" 2014 |
Succeeded by Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA) |
Preceded by Mariusz Prudel (POL) |
Men's FIVB World Tour "Most Improved" 2012 |
Succeeded by Álvaro Morais Filho (BRA) |
| Preceded by Alison Cerutti (BRA) |
Men's FIVB World Tour "Best Blocker" 2016 |
Succeeded by Phil Dalhausser (USA) |