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Younousse & Tijan outclass South Korean rivals in beach volleyball; Rower Abujbara impresses; shooters excel; archers advance
Tribune News Network
DOHA
Qatar hoopsters launched themselves in a big way in the inaugural 3x3 basketball at the Asian Games in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Twenty two teams have been split in four groups. Pool A and B have five each, while Pool C and D got six each. However, in Qatar's Pool C, the Maldives have been disqualified.
After outclassing both Nepal and Syria, Qatar have scored three victories in as many matches. So did Japan. Both are on the top but Japan, with better point difference, are sitting atop the group.
Qatar first got a walk-over. They faced Nepal in the second game and outclassed the rivals 21-8 with Nedim Muslic and Babacar Dieng netting eight points each.
At 20-8 with about four minutes left, Dieng picked up an offensive rebound when Muslic missed a shot and nailed the basket, bringing an early end to the match.
Seydou Ndoye had three, while Moustafa Fouda earned two. For Nepal, Nischal Maharajan netted four and Mabindra Bhandari scored three.
Both Muslic and Ndoye were part of the national team, which won the World Cup 3x3 Under-18 title two years ago.
In the match against Syria, Qatar shot to 4-0 lead inside two and a half minutes, with Ndoye, Fouda and Muslic sinking baskets. Syria however rallied back and cut down the gap to 4-6. Muslic then initiated a 6-0 run in which Ndoye, including a two-pointer, and Dieng contributed as well.
Later, Dieng drove the ball in and went on to score a basket in the last second to seal a 17-7 victory. Dieng and Fouda earned six and five points, respectively, while Ndoye had four.
Qatar's women team, consisting of Sara al Saadi, Yasmin Koshkosh, Mona Saad and Alaa Soliman, however had a poor debut. They were handed a 3-22 defeat by China in a Group A game.
Cherif, Ahmed win again
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan face little opposition as they hammered South Korean rivals 21-9, 21-15 in 27 minutes to go to the head of Pool B. This was the second victory for the world-ranked 10th pair.
For newcomers Kim Junyoung and Kim Hongchan, this was the second loss in a row.
Younousse and Tijan, who have had two bronze medals on the FIVB Beach World Tour so far, will play their third and last group match against Sri Lankans Askanka Pradeep Kumara and Yapa Hamillage Sashimal Melintha Yapa after a day's rest on Thursday.
Qatar's second pair of Tamer Abdelrasoul, fifth in the Incheon Asian Games four years before, and Mahdi Sammoud will clash with Iranian team of Arash Vakili and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun, the leader of the group, on Wednesday in a crucial match.
Rower Tala in Final B
Tala Abujbara grabbed a third place in the Women's Single Sculls repechages Heat 2 and advanced to the Final B.
Abujbara clocked 8:54.31 behind heat winner Haruna Sakakibara of Japan and Thi Hai Nguyen of Vietnam to get an overall sixth ranking.
Two archers advance
Ibrahim al Muhannadi and Salem Ali advanced to the next stage as the two best finishers in their team in the men's individual recurve event.
Muhannadi ended in the 51st spot after managing 623. Salem Ali posted 579 to land the 75th spot. Abddelaziz al Obadi was the third Qatari in the fray. He was 76th after logging 576.
Qatar team recorded 1778 in the recurve team competition and contrived a 19th place.
Shooters try their best
Qatari shooters narrowly missed the Trap Mixed Team final. Mohammed Ahmed al Romaihi and Kholoud al Khalaf collected 138 in the qualifying round and were locked for the sixth place with the Kuwait team.
However, they were relegated to the seventh spot on countback and could not make it to the final. Romaihi shot 71, while Khalaf hit 67 during the qualifying round.
Osama Abdulnasser al Shaiba and Ahmed Zayed al Shamari were contestants in the Men's 10m Air Pistol. Shaiba fired 554 and was placed 35th, failing to advance. Shamari did not start the event. In the 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Ali al Muhannadi secured a 22nd place after collecting 1135 points. He also did not progress after the qualifying round.
Fencers get experience
Qatari fencers gained some valuable experience as their challenge ended at the group stage itself.
Ali Owaida was the only Qatari who won a bout. He defeated Nepal's Sanjeep Lama in the men's Foil pool E and bowed out after 1-5 finish.
Ahmed al Quradaghi (Foil), Thkrayat al Abdulla and Wadha al Abdulla, both in Epee, did not win a single bout in their respective groups and went out of the competition with 0-5 result each.
Day 3: Qatar’s competition schedule
Event Doha Time Discipline Athlete/match
Paragliding 5:00hrs Men’s individual accuracy Ali al Saadi + Abdellatif al Qahtani
Swimming 5:00 Men’s 50m freestyle Noah al Khulafi + Yacob al Khulaifi
Swimming 5:00 Men’s 200m breaststroke Abdelrahman Mohammed
Taekwondo 5:30 Taekwondo Ahmed Deghbes + Al Rumaihi
Fencing 5:30 Men’s Epee Mohd Ali + Mohd Fathi + Shemari
Wrestling 9:00 Roman wrestling 71 Kg Bakheet Bader
Archery 10:00 Compound Farhan al Saadi + Ahmed al Abadi + Esraf Khan
Volleyball 15:00 Men’s Qatar Vs India
Handball 16:00 Men’s Qatar Vs Saudi Arabia
Shooting 5:00 Women’s 50m air rifle Matra al Aseery
Shooting 5:00 Women’s 25m air pistol Dana al Mubarak + Nasra Mahmoud
Volleyball 10:00 Beach volleyball Qatar Vs Iran
