Cherif and Ahmed rally to beat Czechs

Qatar duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan clinched a thrilling 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 18-6) victory over Czech Republic’s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner in a Pool D match of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg yesterday. After losing the first set, they bounced back in style, winning the second and the third, eventually staving off two match points and qualifying for the knockouts where they will encounter tougher matches.This was their second victory in the pool, after beating Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi 19-21, 21-14, 18-16 in the opener on Friday. They will now meet a Belgian pair tomorrow after a rest day today. Carambula and Rossi had troubled Younousse and Tijan in the Four-Star Xiamen Open in China April this year as well. They clinched the first set there too but the Qataris rallied superbly through aggressive play to win the bronze Medal match by 13-21, 21-15, 15-10 in 46 minutes.