Qatar's Younousse, Tijan Top Group With Third Straight Victory
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Chinthana Wasala
|
The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar's ace beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan maintained their unbeaten run at the Paris olympics with a commanding victory over Australia's Nicolaidis and Carracher in their third and final preliminary round match.
In a game that lasted just 40 minutes yesterday, Younousse and Tijan overcame the Olympic debutants in straight sets with scores of 21-14 and 21-18 in front of a massive crowd at the make-shift venue next to the iconic Eiffel Tower.
Younousse led Qatar's scoring with 19 attack points and four block points, while Tijan scored one serve point and 11 attack points.
Against the vastly experienced and higher ranked (15th) Younousse and Tijan, the Aussies put up a spirited fight, with Nicolaidis scoring 12 Attack points and two serve points.
In comparison, Carracher added nine attack points and a serve point. However, their efforts were not enough to overcome the Tokyo Olympics bronze winners Younousse and Tijan, who will know their Round of 16 opponents today.
The victory, their third in a row, placed the Qatari duo at the top of the Pool A points table.
At the same time, Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava advanced to the next round as the second-placed team.
The World No.13 pair yesterday followed the footsteps of the Qatari duo with a shocking 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) win over top-ranked David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.
Before their memorable 2-1 (15-21, 21-19, 20-18) victory over the top-seeded Swedish pair, Younesse and Tijan had overcome World No.13 Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava in straight sets (21-19, 21-18) in their opening match on Sunday.
Ahman and Hellvig, who suffered their second defeat in the pool stage, will now have to wait until this evening to find out if they are among one of the four lucky losers to advance.
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