+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
DOHA
Qatar's star players Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan headline the entry list for the upcoming AVC Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018.
The four-day Asian Volleyball Confederation event will be organised jointly by the Aspire Zone Federation, the Qatar Volleyball Association and the Qatar Olympic Committee from November 27.
Apart from Younousse and Tijan, who are currently world-ranked 10th, Qatar will field two more pairs Assam Mahmoud teams up with Tamer Abdelrasoul, while Nasser Ahmed al Meer joins hands with Hamad al Kuwari.
Overall 16 teams from all over the continent have confirmed to contest at the Aspire Park. Last year, Qatar's Jefferson Santos Pereira and Younousse had won the title, beating Australian Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann.
At a press conference, held in Doha on Tuesday, Mohammed Mubarak al Kuwari, Chairman of the Organising Committee and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at AZF, Mohammed Salem al Kuwari, General Coordinator of the Championship at QVA and Nasser Ahmed expressed delight at the return of the event, which was organised in May last year.
Mohammed Mubarak al Kuwari said"Organising the AVC Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master sheds light on the fact that Doha has become one of the main regional and global sports hubs and that with AZF at its heart embracing all types of sports events."
He added:"The initiative to host the championship comes as part of our vision to be the reference in sports excellence world-wide by 2020. Additionally, the championship will welcome a wide range of fans and sports enthusiasts due to its location at Aspire Park in line with our objective to encourage individuals to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle.
"A Fan Zone will be set up on the sidelines of the event to entertain families, which are expected to be present in a large number throughout the event."
Talking about the teams, Kuwari said,"Besides Qatar, Australia, Iran, Japan, Oman, Kazakhstan and Thailand will each send two teams, while New Zealand has fielded only one pair."
Replying to a question of upgrading the tournament, he said:"The AZF is always looking to raise the level of its event. Katara is already holding one FIVB World Tour event. We're also part of it. We'll see how we can increase our role in the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup. As far as this event is concerned, we'll discuss with the QVA and we may upgrade it in the future."
He also thanked the event sponsors Sports Corner (Main sponsor), Ooredoo (Telecommunication sponsor), De Boer (Technical sponsors), and Kidzania (Event partner) for their support.
QVA coordinator Mohammed Salem al Kuwari said the event is quite significant as the Asian teams will be trying to gain maximum possible points in order to qualify for the world beach volleyball championships in Hamburg, Germany.
"Also this event can serve as the springboard for the Asian players for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo," he added.
"We're also focusing on grooming young players so that we can build the sport and popularise it. We're organising volleyball festivals to attract more players. I'm sure that the staging of this event at the Aspire Park will also help us achieve this aim," he added.
Nasser Ahmed, who is relatively new to the sport, said, he and his partner Hamad had camped in Italy and played a few events there."Ours is a new team. We're proud to represent Qatar in this tournament and will try to get good results."
