Cherif, Ahmed clinch Beach Tour Doha Open

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan proved unstoppable once again, outplaying Paul Burnett and Luke Ryan in the highly-anticipated final showdown of the AVC Men’s Beach Tour Doha Open at the Al Gharafa Beach Complex here to capture gold medal on Saturday.

The 21-19, 21-13 victory over the Australia’s third seeds and gold medallists at the Nuvali Open in Philippines handed the home pair their first-ever AVC Beach Tour title on home soil. Cherif and Ahmed had already beaten the Aussies 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand and the Qataris went on to capture the title in early April.

Following their well-rounded, unblemished performance in the four-day event, the Qataris deserved the win. Cherif and Ahmed showcased their outstanding performance to win consecutive five matches with remarkable unbeaten record and without dropping a set to their respective opponents prior to reigning supreme.

For Cherif and Ahmed, the success on home soil could be the similar feat they had repeated in their career. The Qataris had dominated the Asian Championships for three times (2018, 2019 and 2022) aside from clinching Asian Games twice, 2018 in Palembang, Indonesia and 2022 in Hangzhou, China and securing bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020, the first-ever Olympic medal for Qatar in beach volleyball. Last year, they also took bronze medal at the World Beach Pro Tour Finals on home soil.

Cherif and Ahmed proved they remain in great shape this year as they have won key outings. On April 10, they claimed gold medal for Qatar at the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) Beach Games Muscat in Oman and six days after that, they topped the podium at the AVC Beach Tour Samila Open in Thailand.

With this achievement, Cherif and Ahmed earned 320 AVC ranking points and a cash prize of $2,500, further solidifying their standing among Asia’s elite and signalling strong preparedness for upcoming international competitions. The Australian runners-up received 288 points and a S$2,000 prize money.

In the third-place playoff earlier, Australia’s Ben Hood and Oliver Merritt, who claimed silver medal at the Nuvali Open, beat Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul and Wachirawit Muadpha, silver medallists at the last year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Phuket, Thailand, for bronze medal, 256 points and $1,500 prize money.

Ali Ghanem al-Kuwari, President of both the Qatar and West Asia Volleyball Associations, presided over the awards presentation to give away medals and trophies. In attendance were Secretary-General Youssef Ahmed Kano, Assistant Secretary Saeed Salem al-Jumani and Board Members Mohammed Salem al-Kuwari and Saeed Jumaa al-Hitmi as well as Mohammed Anbar al-Nasser, Member of the Beach Volleyball Committee, and Amna Barakat al-Kuwari, Chairperson of the Women’s Sports Committee in Qatar and West Asia Associations.

Cherif and Ahmed are set to compete in the next AVC Beach Tour in China from May 8-11, followed by the Beach Volleyball Challenge Tournament, also in China, scheduled from May 14-18.