Qatar qualify for Asian Beach Volleyball final
Satun, Thailand: Qatar's Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse cruised into the men's final of the SMM Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships after a convincing 21-15, 21-14 win over Kazakhs Alexey Sidorenko/Alexandr Dyachenko in the semi-final matchup on Thursday.
The Qataris, who recently captured the 18th Asian Games gold medal in Palembang, Indonesia, earlier beat Iranians Rahman Raoufi /Abdolhamed Mirzaali 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) in the quarterfinals. The superb duo continued their remarkable unbeaten run to storm past the Kazakhs without much trouble in the afternoon's semifinal.
“Today was a very good game for us. It is also a great pleasure for us to come here again and play in the final. We just tried to hang in there and keep our level high as we can. I am very happy with the result," said Cherif, who has been partnering Ahmed for one year.
Ahmed and Cherif set up a final showdown with Iranians Salemi B./A.Vakili, who thrashed Kazakhs Bogatu/Yakovlev 21-13, 21-15 in the other semifinal.
“They are a very good team, but we will try not to think about the result. We just want to maintain our level and the way we played today when we go up against them in the final. We will try our best to beat them," he added.
