From Left: Roberto Reggiani. beach volleyball technical expert at Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA), Srinivasan, Technical Supervisor, Abdul Salem Al Kuwari QVA official and Ahmed Hussain, referee delegate during the technical meeting of the Asian Volle
Star Qatari pair of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan Janko will open their title defence against Thailand at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018 that gets under way today at Aspire Park.
The Cherif-Tijan side, given the top seed in the 16-team event, has been placed in Pool A along with Japan (A), Thailand and Oman (A).
Australian pair of Cole Durant and Damien Schumann, who are seeded second are expected to give tough competition to the leading Qatari duo in the three-day competition are bracketed among Thailand, Kazakhstan (A) and Qatar (B) comprising Assam Mahmoud Tamer Abdelrasoul, in Pool C.
The second Australia outfit – seeded 3rd – is leading Pool C, which also has 4th seeded Iran (A), Kazakhstan (B) and third home side - Qatar (C) comprising upcoming players Nasser Ahmed Al Meer and Hamad Al Kuwari. The Pool D involves Iran (B), Japan, Oman (B) and New Zealand.
Top two teams from each pool will enter tomorrow’s quarter-finals, after the round-robin group stage. The semi-finals and final are scheduled to be held on November 30.
Qatar’s Cherif and Tijan, who are currently ranked World No.10, will start as firm favourites after their title-winning performances at Asian Beach Volleyball Championship in Satun, Thailand, last September and a gold medal in August’s Asian Games in Indonesia.
“We have been good in this season and for us this Qatar Masters is all about keeping the same level,” Cherif told The Peninsula on the eve of the opening day.
“We are not thinking about our title defense, there is no pressure. All we are looking for is to maintain our good performance,” the lanky player said before predicting thrilling battles in the next three days. “All the teams are good and must have come after some good preparations. There will be very good matches in the next three days. We are happy and excited to play in front of home spectators,” he added.
After meeting Thailand pair, the top Qatar team is scheduled to meet Japan’s Yuya Gottsu and Ageba Ishijma in their second match today.
Meanwhile, leading Australia pair of Australian Cole and Damien will open their campaign against a Kazakhstan side before taking on a Thai duo.
“We had a lot of preparation for this event in Adelaide,” Damien said. “It is going to be a good contest with best Asian teams taking part. We are very excited about the event,” the Aussie said before terming Qatar A as the ‘team to beat’.
“Both these players ( Cherif and Tijan) are having an amazing year. They have won Asian Games and Asian Championships, and a bronze medal in Vienna. They will be a team to beat in the tournament,” said Damien.
The organisers, who have made special arrangements for the event, are expecting a turnout of over 12,000 fans during all days of action.
