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Qatari duo beat Brazil at Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour “Elite16” 2023 in Doha
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar during the volleyball Beach Pro Tour Elite 16, at Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, France on September 30, 2022.
The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour “Elite16” 2023 currently underway in Doha, saw one of the two Qatari teams beat the Brazilian duo and Qatar’s B team lose two matches, one to a Spanish team and another to a Dutch team. The competition’s men’s and women’s beach volleyball finals will take place this weekend.
In the men’s matches, Qatari duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, ranked 2nd in the world, defeated the Brazilian team yesterday, represented by Evandro Oliveira Junior and André Loyola Stein by 2-1.
The 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour “Elite16” began on February 1st at the Aspire Park sports complex in Doha and runs through to February 5th. Teams from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States, with only two countries from the Middle East, represented by Oman and Qatar, all vying to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
The Elite16 competition, as the name would suggest, is the highest level of the Beach Pro Tour, pitting the best 16 teams of each gender against each other. There are four groups, A; B, C and D, followed by a “Round of 12”, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals to win bronze, silver or gold medals and a total of 150,000 USD prize money per gender.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking that pit the Qatari A-team, duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, in second place worldwide, tied with Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands. Both teams accumulated 7,220 points earned at FIVB sanctioned beach volleyball tournaments across the globe to reach second place in the ranking.
To qualify for the Olympics, teams must be in the top 17 ranked teams (for both genders). One team from hosts France will also compete at the Olympics in Paris, as well as the five teams to win the Continental Olympic Tournaments and of course, the 2023 World Champions.
From August 2021 to May 2022, Ahmed and Cherif led the World Ranking, so hopes are high, and playing at home, the Qatari beach volleyball kings will be expected to put on a show.
For more information, to watch past matches and check the schedule, visit: https://en.volleyballworld.com/beachvolleyball/competitions/beach-pro-tour/2023/elite16/doha-qat/schedule/
