Tribune News Network
Doha
Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan secured their spot in the semi-finals of the Beach Pro Tour Finals Doha 2024 after an impeccable performance in Pool A, where they recorded four consecutive victories on Thursday.
The Qatari duo showcased exceptional skill at the Aspire Zone, defeating formidable opponents, including Olympic silver medalists and reigning world champions, to earn their place among the tournament’s top four teams.
Younousse and Ahmed maintained their unbeaten run, beginning with a thrilling three-set triumph over Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler of Germany. After losing the opening set 21-16, the Qataris bounced back to claim the next two sets 21-17 and 15-13, overcoming the World No.3 pair in a pulsating encounter.
Later, they continued their dominance with their first straight-set victory of the tournament, edging past the Netherlands’ Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot in another nail-biting clash, 23-21, 22-20.
On the opening day, Younousse and Ahmed had defeated 10th-seeded world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia, rallying to win 2-1 (20-22, 22-20, 15-9). They also came from behind to outclass eighth-seeded Italians Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai, securing a 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-9) victory.
Joining the Qataris in the semi-finals are Sweden’s Olympic champions and FIVB World Ranking leaders David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, who finished at the top of Pool B.
On the women’s side, Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, along with compatriots Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, as well as Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands, advanced to the Finals play-offs.
Their progression to the semi-finals or quarter-finals, as well as the other teams advancing to the next stage, will be determined in the final round of pool matches scheduled for Friday.
Eighth-seeded Cannon & Kraft achieved their third victory in Pool A, but this time they were pushed to a tie-breaker by fifth-seeded Xue Chen & Xia Xinyi of China. In an even game and despite an impressive 27-point match high from Xia, the US duo emerged with a 2-1 (21-15, 14-21, 15-12) win. Cannon & Kraft stand on top of the Pool A standings as the only team to have collected three victories so far.
Xue & Xia are second on a 2-1 win-loss record. Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese pair played another three-set match, but this time came out on the winning end, 2-1 (22-20, 15-21, 15-13) against Italian wild cards Valentina Gottardi & Reka Orsi Toth.
Fourth-seeded Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk & Rebecca Cavalcanti achieved their first victory in Doha, a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) shutout of top-seeded Latvians Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova, with a 22-point match high from Rebecca. Later in the day, however, they lost their last pool match to Gottardi & Orsi Toth, also in straight sets, 2-0 (21-15, 21-17), and finished their Pool A campaign on 1-3.
