With Jefferson Pereira coming up with some brilliant diving digs and Mahmoud Essam excelling in the net play, Qatar A won the gold medal of the GCC Beach Volleyball Championship on Friday.
At the Qatar Beach Volleyball Academy court in Al Gharafa Sports Club, Qatar A had to use their A game to overcome Hassan Aqeel and Ali Marhoun of Bahrain A by 2-1 (21-18 11-21 15-11) in the final.
Qatar B’s Abdelaziz Khallouf and Tamer Abdelrasoul also required three games to beat their junior teammates Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan to win the bronze medal with 21-12 18-21 15-4 score-line.
Earlier in the morning, Younousse and Tijan came tantalisingly close to beating Bahrain A in the semi-finals. They pulled off the first set and put a great deal of pressure on Aqeel and Marhoun in the next two sets. But the Bahrainis managed to stick together and come through the cliff-hanger. Qatar A quickly disposed of Qatar B 2-0 to book a place in the final.
Last year in Salalah, Oman, Qatar had won the same medals, though their A team had a different combination – Tiago Santos teaming up with Pereira. But the former got injured last month during the Qatar Open, an event of the world beach volleyball tour, and Pereira had to change the partner.
However, Essam, who is captain of Al Ahli Club in regular volleyball and has also played for the Qatar national team, combined well with Pereira and raised his game in the decider to help Qatar A grab the title.
Both the teams had some difficulties in the windy conditions and Qatar A were the first to strike as they won the opening set after opening a three-point gap with a Essam’s smash on the sidelines (18-15). Qatar A had three set points after Pereira punished Bahrain A’s loose play with a winner.
Bahrain A saved a set point but Essam finished the set with a fine spike to put Qatar A in the front. But in the second set, Aqeel and Marhoun upset the rhythm of the Qatari rivals with better defence and attack. After going 7-6 up, they began pressing and widened their lead to five points (13-8). There was no chance for recovery and Bahrain A won it at 11 to force the tie-break set.
Both the pairs went neck and neck till 10-10 and Essam then fired a smash for the 11-10 lead. Off a superb service of Essam, Aqeel hit out. Bahrain A then managed to narrow down the score to 11-12 with an Aqeel shot.

Then suddenly Qatar got three points in a row and won the decider and the title. Aqeel’s service went out as he tried to use more power because of the hard wind. Essam pulled off a thrilling block to send a small crowd into a loud applause. Pereira sealed the victory with a touch out off Aqeel, despite Essam had fallen on the court.
This was another good success for the new pair of Essam and Pereira. The two had won the bronze medal in the Asian tour event in Thailand recently and Pereira was delighted with the second successive GCC Championship title.
Pereira said after final, “This was more difficult final than the previous one as I played with a new partner. I’m very happy to finish the season with the gold medal. We’ll have now some rest before we begin the new season in February.
“We had to change the partner as Tiago was injured. But building a new team is an easy job. It takes a long time to get the rhythm and all going. Our main target is to qualify for the Rio Olympics. So we’re all working towards that goal.
“Our new team is also strong and can become more tough. We need time and hopefully, we’ll have good results next season,” added Pereira.
Essam said, “I want to thank God for this title. It was a tough competition for me. During the pool stage, it was different. Then from the knock-out stage, it was much tougher.
“I’m very excited for this happy ending. We had three teams in the event and were planning to win all the three medals through them. But that did not happen somehow. So it was a similar finish to what we had last year.
“I have played both the forms of the volleyball. Both are altogether different. The beach volleyball is quite demanding. I had suffered a knee injury during the practice but I kept pushing myself. Finally, we qualified for the final and won it,” added Essam.
The Al Ahli player said he was enjoying the beach volleyball and could improve further with Pereira after spending more time with the Brazilian. “The Qatar federation has to take the final call about me. It would be difficult to shuttle between the two forms. I feel if we stick together for a longer duration, we can go much higher and get more results,” added Essam.
Bahrain coach Ali Jaffer said, “Yeah, the final was fantastic. Unfortunately, there has to be just one winner and today, it was to be the Qatar A. In my opinion, my players did well and I’m happy with the result. The Qatar team was more experienced.
“My players are playing the indoor volleyball but in the summer, they are also playing the beach volleyball. With more experience, my players can do better in the future,” said Jaffer.
Qatar D’s Younousse regretted about losing the chance to reach the final. “We’d a good chance to beat Bahrain A and make it to the final. But maybe due to lack of experience, we could not quite do it. We’re happy to finish fourth in our first tournament. We will work harder and try to do better next time.”
Tamer Abdelrasoul, who had won the bronze medal last year with Khallouf, said, “We were third last year also. We got the bronze medal again. It is difficult to play any semi-final match when you have your friends against you. Overall, it’s good for Qatar that all the three teams were among the top four.
“The competition level is improving here. More strong teams are coming up in the domestic events and it’ll lift the standard in Qatar.
Both Cherif and Ahmed are very talented youngsters and I feel they could become champions in the future,” added left-handed Abdelrasoul.
GCC Volleyball Committee Head Yousef al Sabah Nasser al Sabah was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. He and QVA President Khalid Ali al Mawlawi gave away the prizes. The champions earned $2,000, while Bahrain A got $1,000 and Qatar B claimed $600 for the bronze medal finish. Also present on the occasion were GCC Beach Volleyball Committee Technical Head Abddulaziz al Karnaz and QVA Secretary-General Mohammed Ali al Mohannadi.
النتائج
Gold medal match
Qatar A (Jefferson Pereira & Mahmoud Essam) beat Bahrain A (Hassan Aqeel & Ali Marhoun) 2-1 (21-18 11-21 15-11)
Bronze medal match
Qatar B (Abdelaziz Khallouf & Tamer Abdelrasoul) beat Qatar D (Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan) 2-1 (21-12 18-21 15-4)
Semi-finals
Qatar A (Jefferson Pereira & Mahmoud Essam) beat Qatar B (Abdelaziz Khallouf & Tamer Abdelrasoul) 2-0 (21-9 21-15)
Bahrain A (Hassan Aqeel & Ali Marhoun) beat Qatar D (Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan) 2-1 (18-21 21-19 16-14)
المركز الخامس
Oman A beat Oman B 2-1 (21-14 19-21 15-11)
Seventh place
Saudi Arabia A beat Saudi Arabia B 2-0 (21-14, B withdrew after a player got injured)
Ninth place
Bahrain B beat Kuwait 2-0 (21-10 21-16)