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Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Qatar tamed a strong but raw Poland in straight sets 24-22, 21-15 to a great delight of home fans and will play the USA for the gold medal of the men’s 4x4 beach volleyball at the ANOC World Beach Games 2019 at the Katara Cultural Village on Wednesday.
At the Al Gharafa Club facility after the USA crushed Indonesia 21-15, 21-12 in the first semi-final, Qatar twice fell behind the rivals by three points 14-17 and 15-18 in the second one.
At this stage, Poland looked in control and appeared to be giving some hard jolts. But star player Cherif Younousse used his vast experience and reeled in three points to tie the scores.
Seifeddine Elmajid then made it 19-18 to exert pressure on the opponents. Jakub Kurowski served out to have his team facing the first set point. Poland saved it. They did it two more times but off the fourth one, created by Younousse with his booming smash, Mikolaj Miszczuk slammed the ball out to put Qatar 1-0 up.
Qatar used this opportunity well and setter Denis Messelmani rotated the spike more intelligently in the second. As a result, Qatar raced away to 10-5 and continued to consolidate their position. Later, Dominik Poznanski sent his service out to hand the first match point to Qatar.
Milosz Kruk slapped a fine smash but off the next point, Miszczuk served his flat service out, sending the crowd into frenzy.
Younousse, who secured 17 points with 14 off the attack, was proud to steer the team into the final. “Poland are a tough side. Though as a beach volleyball team, we don’t have much experience but we were able to combine the resources well. As a result, Poland were under pressure and cracked eventually.
“We’re so happy for Qatar and fans. I want to thank my teammates for their superb display. Their support, particularly in the first set, was superb and helped us win the difficult first set. Now we’re in the final and will go all out against the US,” Younousse added.
Qatar’s coach Mariano Baracetti said, “I am more proud and happy than relaxed after reaching the final. The pressure to play at home and being so close to the final are always on the hosts. It is not easy to play freely when the score is tight.
“As a result, we had a tough start in the first start. But during the time-out, I told the players to stay calm and that helped them in the end. We hope to play well against the US, who have switched some players. Their performance has improved and I feel it is going to be an exciting final in Katara,” he added.
Favourites Brazil,
US in eves’ final
Star-studded Brazil and the USA secured one-sided wins against their respective rivals in the semi-finals and set up the women’s beach volleyball gold medal showdown, to be held at the Katara Village at 6.15 pm on Wednesday.
Brazil, featuring medallists from Olympics, FIVB Beach World Tour and Snow World Tour, looked in control against Australia and dominated them in three major factors in a match – attack, ace and blocks.
Brazil had 22 to 12 points in attack, with Carolina Horta getting nine of them and Fernanda Alves netting seven. The latter also pulled off all the four blocks for the winners as well. Barbara de Freitas, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, collected five.
For Australia, Stef Weiler was the leading scorer with five and Alisha Stevens had four.
The USA, with two-time silver medal winners on the FIVB World Snow Tour in their folds, packed too many punches for Canada and cruised to a 21-11, 21-16 victory in other semi-final.
Emily Hartons proved too hot for Canada to handle. She claimed 11 points, including nine from attack. Kelly Reeves and Karissa Cook added six and five, respectively.
Camille Saxton, who won two gold medals on the 2017 FIVB Beach World Tour, battled hard for Canada and netted 11 points. But other players could not support her much. Kerri Battison and Rachel Cockrell got four each.Results (Semis)
Men: USA beat Indonesia 2-0 (21-15, 21-12); Qatar beat Poland 2-0 (24-22, 21-15).
Women: Brazil beat Australia 2-0 (21-10, 21-16); USA beat Canada 2-0 (21-11, 21-16)
Wednesday’s fixtures
4pm: Women’s bronze medal match (Australia vs Canada)
6.15pm: Women’s gold medal match (Brazil vs USA)
5pm: Men’s bronze medal match (Indonesia vs Poland)
7.30pm: Men’s gold medal match (Qatar vs USA)
DOHA
Qatar tamed a strong but raw Poland in straight sets 24-22, 21-15 to a great delight of home fans and will play the USA for the gold medal of the men’s 4x4 beach volleyball at the ANOC World Beach Games 2019 at the Katara Cultural Village on Wednesday.
At the Al Gharafa Club facility after the USA crushed Indonesia 21-15, 21-12 in the first semi-final, Qatar twice fell behind the rivals by three points 14-17 and 15-18 in the second one.
At this stage, Poland looked in control and appeared to be giving some hard jolts. But star player Cherif Younousse used his vast experience and reeled in three points to tie the scores.
Seifeddine Elmajid then made it 19-18 to exert pressure on the opponents. Jakub Kurowski served out to have his team facing the first set point. Poland saved it. They did it two more times but off the fourth one, created by Younousse with his booming smash, Mikolaj Miszczuk slammed the ball out to put Qatar 1-0 up.
Qatar used this opportunity well and setter Denis Messelmani rotated the spike more intelligently in the second. As a result, Qatar raced away to 10-5 and continued to consolidate their position. Later, Dominik Poznanski sent his service out to hand the first match point to Qatar.
Milosz Kruk slapped a fine smash but off the next point, Miszczuk served his flat service out, sending the crowd into frenzy.
Younousse, who secured 17 points with 14 off the attack, was proud to steer the team into the final. “Poland are a tough side. Though as a beach volleyball team, we don’t have much experience but we were able to combine the resources well. As a result, Poland were under pressure and cracked eventually.
“We’re so happy for Qatar and fans. I want to thank my teammates for their superb display. Their support, particularly in the first set, was superb and helped us win the difficult first set. Now we’re in the final and will go all out against the US,” Younousse added.
Qatar’s coach Mariano Baracetti said, “I am more proud and happy than relaxed after reaching the final. The pressure to play at home and being so close to the final are always on the hosts. It is not easy to play freely when the score is tight.
“As a result, we had a tough start in the first start. But during the time-out, I told the players to stay calm and that helped them in the end. We hope to play well against the US, who have switched some players. Their performance has improved and I feel it is going to be an exciting final in Katara,” he added.
Favourites Brazil,
US in eves’ final
Star-studded Brazil and the USA secured one-sided wins against their respective rivals in the semi-finals and set up the women’s beach volleyball gold medal showdown, to be held at the Katara Village at 6.15 pm on Wednesday.
Brazil, featuring medallists from Olympics, FIVB Beach World Tour and Snow World Tour, looked in control against Australia and dominated them in three major factors in a match – attack, ace and blocks.
Brazil had 22 to 12 points in attack, with Carolina Horta getting nine of them and Fernanda Alves netting seven. The latter also pulled off all the four blocks for the winners as well. Barbara de Freitas, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, collected five.
For Australia, Stef Weiler was the leading scorer with five and Alisha Stevens had four.
The USA, with two-time silver medal winners on the FIVB World Snow Tour in their folds, packed too many punches for Canada and cruised to a 21-11, 21-16 victory in other semi-final.
Emily Hartons proved too hot for Canada to handle. She claimed 11 points, including nine from attack. Kelly Reeves and Karissa Cook added six and five, respectively.
Camille Saxton, who won two gold medals on the 2017 FIVB Beach World Tour, battled hard for Canada and netted 11 points. But other players could not support her much. Kerri Battison and Rachel Cockrell got four each.Results (Semis)
Men: USA beat Indonesia 2-0 (21-15, 21-12); Qatar beat Poland 2-0 (24-22, 21-15).
Women: Brazil beat Australia 2-0 (21-10, 21-16); USA beat Canada 2-0 (21-11, 21-16)
Wednesday’s fixtures
4pm: Women’s bronze medal match (Australia vs Canada)
6.15pm: Women’s gold medal match (Brazil vs USA)
5pm: Men’s bronze medal match (Indonesia vs Poland)
7.30pm: Men’s gold medal match (Qatar vs USA)
