(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Chinthana Wasala
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The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar's top beach volleyball duo, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will begin their title hunt at the Beach Pro Tour – Elite 16 Joao Pessoa, Brazil, today.
Younousse and Tijan, currently ranked 17th in the world, will join a line-up of highly competitive opponents, including some of the world's best-ranked players.
Apart from the Qatari duo, who finished fourth in the Paris Games two months ago, the men's tournament will see the newly crowned Olympic champions David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden in action, along with three other teams that competed in the French capital.
These include Norway's bronze medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, and Brazil's Andre Loyola/George Wanderley and Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci.
Additionally, Canada's Sam Schachter, who paired with Dan Dearing in Paris, will compete alongside Jonathan Pickett this week.
Today, Younousse and Tijan's first Pool D opponents will be Brazil's Felipe Alves Pereira and Henrique Camboim de Barros at the picturesque beach town of Joao Pessoa. Tomorrow, the Qatari pair will take on the 13th seed pair from yesterday's qualifiers.
Next, they meet Argentina's Nicolas and Tomas Capogrosso, the brothers currently placed 25th in the world as they wrap up the pool stage.
The former World No.1 Younousse and Tijan, return to the“Home of beach volleyball” after a string of impressive performances at the Arab Beach Volleyball Championship in Tunisia, where they secured a bronze medal.
However, a few weeks prior to that, the Tokyo Olympics bronze winners failed to return to the podium in Paris, following defeats against the eventual gold medalists Ahman and Hellvig in the semi-finals and Mol and Sorum in the third-place play-off.
The Joao Pessoa Elite 16 tournament is one of the key stops on the Beach Pro Tour, which is set to culminate in the Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha from December 4-7. The Doha Finals will see only the world's top 10 teams in action.
The Qatari heroes Younousse and Tijan will be looking to make a statement in Brazil as they set their sights on the Doha showdown.
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