Olympians and top seeds Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse clinched both their group matches and qualified for the elimination round without much ado at the Aspire Qatar Master at the Aspire Park on Thursday.
The Satun Pak Bara Master champions Pereira and Younousse proved too hot for Hong Kong’s Lau Tsz Ho Kelvin and Wong Pui Lam, taking only 26 minutes to wrap up their second straight victory with 21-11 21-11 scoreline.
Pereira and Younousse topped the Pool A and booked their slots in the last 16 stage, to be held on Friday. Despite the defeat, the Hong Kong players made it to the next round as they had beaten Omani pair Badar al Subhi and Noah Aljalbubi.
Qatar’s second team, comprising Julio do Nascimento and Ahmed Tijan, suffered an upset defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakovlev and Sergey Bogatu in the Pool C. But both advanced as the top two outfits. Yakovlev and Bogatu finished on the top with two wins, while the Qataris got the second place ahead of the Omani team, who lost both the matches.
Abdelaziz Khallouf and Tamer Abdelrasoul, the third team of Qatar, had to bow out of the event. They lost to 2014 Asian Games winners Alexandr Dyachenko and Alexey Sidorenko in the first match. They had to beat Indonesians Ramadhan Gilang and Pribadi Danangsyah in the last group match as the latter had already lost to the Kazakhs.
Khallouf and Abdelrasoul battled hard but the Indonesians clinched the crucial match at 24-22, 21-18 to enter the next stage.
Indonesians Ade Cadra Rachmawan and Mohammad Asfiya, who finished runners-up in the Satun Pak Bara Master and the Asian championships, also advanced to the pre-quarter-finals with a 2-0 win-loss record from the Pool E.
After beating the Lebanese rivals Joe El Azzi and Jean Abi Chedid, they followed it up with a facile 21-18 21-13 victory over Japanese Masato Kurasaka and Yoshiumi Hasegawa. The other duo to move up from the pool were the Japanese, who posted a 2-0 triumph over Azzi and Chedid earlier in the day.
Second seeds Chris McHugh and Damien Schuman, representing Australia 1, needed just 37 minutes to dispose of Iranians Abbas Pourasgari and Arash Vakili in straight sets. The 21-16 21-15 win placed them at the top of the group B and fetched them a spot in the final 16. The Iranians grabbed the second spot and also got into the knock-out ahead of Thailand 2.
No.1 Chinese team of Ha Likejiang and Bao Jian won both their matches in the Pool F and entered the knock-out stage. But it was not easy for them to win the second match. Thailand’s Nuttanon Inkiew and Sedtawat Padsawud shocked the opponents, winning the opening set.
However, the Chinese bounced back with a thrilling win in the second before completing a 17-21 27-25 15-5 triumph and grabbing a spot in the last 16 stage. Japanese Junki Hatabe and Hitoshi Murakami were the second pair to advance, while the Thais bowed out after losing both the matches.
The top qualifiers from the Pool D and H were also clear. Iranians Rahman Raoufi and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun and Australians Cole Durant and Schubert Zachery progressed into the last 16 stage, posting identical 2-0 win-loss records. The second qualifiers in the pools were not decided at the time of writing the story.
Results

Pool A
Jefferson/Cherif (QAT) beat Badar/Nouh (OMA) 21-13, 21-9 (0:30)
Kelvin/Lam (HKG) beat Badar/Nouh (OMA) 21-18, 22-24, 15-9 (0:48)
Jefferson/Cherif (QAT) beat Kelvin/Lam (HKG) 21-11, 21-11 (0:26)
Pool B
McHugh/Schumann (AUS) beat K. Adisorn/B. Marudet (THA) 19-21, 21-15, 15-11 (0:53)
A.Poursagari/A.Vakili (IRI) beat K. Adisorn/B. Marudet (THA) 21-14, 21-11 (0:35)
McHugh/Schumann (AUS) beat A. Poursagari/A.Vakili (IRI) 21-16, 21-15 (0:37)
Pool C
Julio/Ahmed Tijan (QAT) beat Mohammed/Hood (OMA) 21-8, 21-9 (0:23)
Yakovlev/Bogatu (KAZ) beat Mohammed/Hood (OMA) 21-12, 20-22, 15-8 (0:41)
Julio/Ahmed Tijan (QAT) lost to Yakovlev/Bogatu (KAZ) 21-10 18-21 13-15 (0:41)
Pool D
R.Raoufi/B.Salemi (IRI) beat Hassan/Ahmed (KSA) 21-12, 21-15 (0:29)
Watson/Hartles (NZL) beat Hassan/Ahmed (KSA) 21-12, 21-15 (0:29)
R.Raoufi/B.Salemi (IRI) vs Watson/Hartles (NZL)
Pool E
Candra/Asfiya (INA) beat Joe/Jean (LIB) 21-15, 21-12 (0:29)
Kurasaka/Hasegawa (JPN) beat Joe/Jean (LIB) 12-21, 19-21 (0:33)
Candra/Asfiya (INA) beat Kurasaka/Hasegawa (JPN) 21-18, 21-13 (0:36)
Pool F
Ha Likejiang/Bao J. (CHN) beat Hatabe/Murakami (JPN) 21-18, 21-15 (0:39)
Nuttanon/P.Sedtawat (THA) lost to Hatabe/Murakami (JPN) 17-21, 18-21 (0:36)
Ha Likejiang/Bao J. (CHN) beat I. Nuttanon/P.Sedtawat (THA) 17-21, 27- 25, 15-5 (0:57)
Pool G
Sidorenko/Dyachenko (KAZ) beat Abdelaziz/Tamer (QAT) 21-19, 21-17 ( 0:34)
Gilang/Danang (INA) beat Abdelaziz/Tamer (QAT) 24-22, 21-18 (0:
Sidorenko/Dyachenko (KAZ) beat Gilang/Danang (INA) 21-18, 18-21, 15-13
Pool H
Durant/Schubert (AUS) beat Ahmed/Saad (KSA) 21-17, 21-11 (0:33)
Li Zhuoxin/Ch. W.Zhou (CHN) vs Ahmed/Saad (KSA)
Durant/Schubert (AUS) beat Li Zhuoxin/Ch. W.Zhou (CHN) 21-18, 21-18 (0:35)