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Tribune News Network
DOHA
Qatari players Julio do Cesar Nascimento and Ahmed Tijan, the third seeds, finished runners-up to French Youssef Krou and Quincy Aye in the Agadir tournament, a star-one FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2017 event, on Sunday. They fought hard in the opening set before losing 18-21 14-21 in 34 minutes.
While for Krou, this was the second gold on the Tour after a 2014 Xiamen Open top finish with Edouard Rowlandson, for 22-year-old Aye, this is the first ever medal out of six appearances so far.
Second-seeded Iranians Bahman Salemiinjehboroun and Rahman Raoufi settled for the bronze at the expense of local players Zouheir El Graoui and Mohamed Abicha. Despite the enthusiastic support from the crowded stands, the fourth-seeded Moroccans finished just short of a podium spot, but this was still their country's best achievement on the Tour so far.
The eighth-seeded Krou and Aye set the pace in the first set of the final match against Julio and Tijan. On their third set point, Aye's hit was too powerful for Qatar's defence to save and the set ended at 21-18. The second set was competitive only through 8-8. France broke away with seven points in a row and never looked back on the way to the victory.
In a very tight and dramatic bronze medal match, the Moroccans were in the lead through most of the first set, but the Iranians managed to catch up at 19-19. However, Abicha converted the first set point with a perfect tip into the corner of the opponents' half. Salemi and Raoufi had a slight advantage throughout the second set to reach a double set point before tying the match with a 21-19 close.
The tie-breaker was also very close. Iran were the first to reach match point at 14-13. On their next match point, a long shot for Morocco put an end to it all at 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 16-14) Iran's way after 59 minutes of play.
Nicole Eiholzer and Dunja Gerson triumphed with their first gold from a top international competition in the women's section. The second-seeded young Swiss pair maintained their winning streak throughout the entire event and brought it all the way to the top of the podium at Plage Jour et Nuit on the Atlantic coast.
Eiholzer and Gerson's best finish on the Tour so far had been a fifth place from the one-star tournament in Langkawi earlier this year.
The silver medals went to ninth-seeded Akiko Hasegawa and Azusa Futami from Japan. Fifth-seeded Lezana Placette and Aline Chamereau from France earned bronze. For each of these four players, this was the first international podium at the world or the continental level.
In each set of the final match on Sunday afternoon, the story was almost identical. The Swiss maintained a slight lead from the start through the end of the set. On their second set point, Gerson found the empty spot on the opponents' half with a well placed shot and closed it off victoriously 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).
Placette and Chamereau did not waste any time in the third place match and rushed to a spot on the podium with a 29-minute 2-0 (21-9, 21-12) blowout against sixth-seeded Erika Sofia Mongelos Bobadilla and Gabriela Filippo from Paraguay.
Earlier on Sunday morning the two semi-finals were played. After 51 minutes of playtime, including a hard-fought tie-breaker, Hasegawa and Futami claimed a 2-1 (21-15, 18-21, 15-13) victory over the French duo to dispose of yet another higher-seeded team on the way to the final.
The second semi-final was also a quick 29-minute one-sided affair. After a competitive beginning of the first set, Eiholzer and Gerson broke away and rushed into the gold medal match with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-7) win against Erika and Filippo.
