Fourth seeds Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan fended two match points with a stirring comeback and pulled off a down-to-the-wire 18-21, 21-13, 18-16 victory over Czech rivals Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner in a Pool D match in the FIVB Beach World Championships in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday.

With other Qatari pair of Tamer Abdelrasoul and Assam Mahmoud having rest today after losing their Pool E lung-opener to fifth seeds Ilya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia 15-21, 15-21 on Friday, Younousse and Tijan were scheduled to face the Czech opponents, 28th seeds, in their career meeting.

Both pairs were unbeaten after their first pool matches. While Younousse and Tijan expected to beat the Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi, the Czechs shocked higher-ranked Belgians Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle in straight sets.

Tall Schweiner gave a few glimpses of their victory as he troubled the Qataris in the first set with his net-play. Despite coming close, the Qataris lost in the closing stages. However, they called the shots in the second and won it hands down to force the decider.

At 4-4, a jump serve by Perusic set the tone and the tie-break set seemed to be getting out of the hands of Younousse and Tijan. After trailing 5-7 and 6-8, the deficit grew to three points twice before the Czechs went four points clear twice (12-8 and 13-9).

Then a crafty drop by Schweiner handed the Czechs two match points (14-12). At this stage, Younousse and Tijan staged a thrilling rally and displayed what kind of stuff they are made of. Ahmed drilled a winner and then Younousse forced Schweiner to hit out, enforcing extended points.

After getting at par, Younousse and Tijan were in different zone. Thrice they set up their own match points and finally, off the third one, Younousse turned to the crowd and urged it to cheer on them. He effected a brilliant block to seal the win and entertain the fans with a victory jig.

This was their second victory in the pool and nearly a replica of the first one. Yesterday, they got the better of Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi 19-21, 21-14, 18-16 in 56 mintues. The two victories have ensured them a straight route into the knock-out. Their third match against Belgians Koekelkoren and van Walle will take place on Monday after a day’s rest.

Abdelrasoul and Mahmoud will be in action on Sunday in their second Pool E match against Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho.

Results
Pool D – Round 1
Cherif Samba /Ahmed Tijan Qatar (4) def. Adrian Carambula / Enrico Rossi Italy (45) 19-21, 21-14, 18-16 (0:56)

Round 2
Cherif Samba /Ahmed Tijan Qatar (4) def. Ondrej Perusic / David Schweiner Czech Republic (28) 18-21, 21-13, 18-16 (0:56)