Players in action
Doha: Qatar’s leading team of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will need to overcome Canadian duo Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter if they are to continue their progress at the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup today.
The identity of the four teams that will contest the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup semi-finals will be known come the end of play after two rounds of matches at the Katara Village Amphitheatre.
Teams that won their pool have progressed directly to the quarter-finals in the afternoon, but the second and third will face off in the second round in the morning. The 4-Star Katara Beach Volleyball Cup is running from March 6 to 10, and is taking place at the Katara Cultural Village.
It is the fourth time that Doha has hosted an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament, following competitions in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Cherif and Ahmed Tijan are seeded eighth, three places higher than the two Sam’s. It is their fourth tournament since they teamed up at the end of 2017, with a second round finish at The Hague 4-Star tournament earlier in the year their best finish. Number one seeds Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena will try to return to winning ways after a loss to their US compatriots left them to face the second round.
They will now take on Canada’s 14th-ranked Ben Saxton and Grant O’Gorman.
The Netherlands’ leading team of Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen will also need to go through the second round if they want to win second World Tour medals of 2018.
They will need to beat the Kish Island 3-Star gold medallists Mariusz Prudel and Jakub Szalankiewicz if they are to add to their bronze from The Hague.
Meanwhile, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum are fast making a name for themselves as pair certainly enjoyed the opening day of the main draw recording two wins from two yesterday.
First off the Norwegian pair beat Canada’s Grant O’Gorman and Ben Saxton, and then defeated Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo a week on from the Italians winning silver at the 5-Star Fort Lauderdale Major.
“It was hard, really hard as they are a good team,” Mol said.
“They’ve just come from a second place finish in Fort Lauderdale. “We just had nothing to lose and put some pressure on them and did some good things out there.”
Mol is 20 and Sorum 22, but they have already packed a great deal into their young careers. They won European U22 gold in 2016 and followed up by winning silver in 2017.
