Qatar’s beach volleyball pair Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will be hoping to defend their gold as they take on China’s Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin in the final on Thursday. The World No 3 pair and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists have been in fine form so far and will be going into the gold medal match as favourites against home pair. The final is scheduled at 10am Qatar time.
Younousse and Tijan beat Kazakhstan’s Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy Yakovlev 21-9, 21-19 in the semi-finals on Tuesday at the Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Centre.
“It’s amazing feeling to be in the final again. Of course, we will try our best to win the gold. But our biggest purpose is to improve ourselves in techniques and in mind,” said Tijan after victory in the semi-final.
“We are determined to win the gold again,” Younousse said ahead of the final. “China will be toughest opponents at this stage but we will give our best to win gold medal and make our fans happy,” he added.
The bronze medal match will be played between Bogatu and Yakovlev and Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari and Alireza Aghajanighasab Thursday.
Cherif Younousse (right) and Ahmed Tijan.
