Phuket, Thailand: Qatar's beach volleyball team qualified to the quarterfinals of 2021 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships being held in Phuket, Thailand until November 27.
Qataris Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan, current No.1 in the FIVB World Ranking and bronze medallists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, faced no issues in shutting out Kazakhstan’s veteran Alexey Sidorenko, who teamed up with Alexandr Dyachenko to emerge as the Asian champions in 2013, and Kirill Gurin 21-15, 21-9. With two consecutive wins, the superb Qatari duo captured the Pool B top spot.
Only two teams are in Pool H and following the Wednesday’s comeback 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 win against Japanese Ikeda Jumpei/Katsuhiro Shiratori, Qataris Ahmed Mahmoud/Saifeddin El Majid topped Pool H, but both teams advanced to the next round.
Last preliminary matches will be held on Thursday morning in both men’s and women’s events. The more competitive competition resumes in the afternoon with the women’s top four teams from each pool and the men’s top two teams from each pool strutting their stuff in the round of last 16.
The Championships continue through Saturday, November 27, when the eventual winners in men’s and women’s events will be crowned 2021 Asian champions. Accumulating AVC points and cash prizes of US$30,000 in total are also up for grabs.