Qatar’s all three teams stayed on the course to qualifying for the semi-finals of the GCC Beach Volleyball Championship, which began at the Qatar Beach Volleyball Academy courts in Al Gharafa Club on Wednesday.
The home team’s trio looked like having a perfect opening day but towards the close, Bahrain A’s Hassan Aqeel and Ali Marhoum spoilt the celebration a bit, beating Arab championship bronze medallists Abdelaziz Khallouf and Tamer Abdelrasoul Qatar B – in straight sets.
Despite losing the match 19-21 18-21, Qatar B, who earlier beat Saudi Arabia B 2-0, still have a good chance of taking the second spot behind Bahrain A in the Pool A and getting into last four stage, if they can win the remaining two matches of the pool on Thursday.
Khallouf was upset after the setback but sounded determined to step up his game on the morrow.”Yeah, it was painful to lose the match to Bahrain A. They are strong and played tough. It was quite close match but we made some mistakes.
“We’re still in the race for a berth in the semi-finals. Bahrain A was the toughest team in the pool. Hopefully, we can take advantage of the weak rivals tomorrow and if we win the next two matches, we can manage to reach the semi-finals,” added the tall Khallouf, whose team was the bronze medallists in the last GCC championship in Salalah, Oman.
Besides Bahrain A, Qatar A and D were the only teams to stay undefeated after the first day’s matches. Qatar A, fielding Mahmoud Essam and Jefferson Pereira, claimed two victories in as many matches. The second one, however, came after some tense moments.
Against Haitham al Shereiqi and Ahmed al Housni of Oman A, Essam and Pereira needed some time to find the combination going. They lost the opening set at 16 but bounced back against the determined rivals to pull off the next two at 21-16 and 15-12 to keep the slate clean in two matches.
Pereira said after the second match, in which tall Essam excelled at the net and sealed the win with a power-packed spike,”This was quite important win for us. I’m very happy with it. Now we have a good chance to have all the three Qatari teams in the semi-finals.
“I feel Oman is the strongest team in the competition and our win has virtually sent them out of the race for a place in the final four,” he said, adding,”I’ve played with Mahmoud for some time and we’re getting better now.”
The performance by Qatar D, which consists of youngsters Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, was the surprise of the opening day. Younousse and Tijan are both athletic, defended well and delighted coach Pedro Paulo Costa with their ability to come through difficult situations.
Their match against Oman A was treat to watch. They just outclassed the rivals in the first set and won it at 10, which put tremendous pressure on the Omanis. Though they fought back to level the scores to force the decider, they could not really control the young Qataris and lost in three sets.
The victory by Younousse and Tijan also settled their score with the Omanis, who had beaten them 2-1 in the qualifying round of the Qatar Open, held in Doha in November.
Younousse was delighted with the win and said,”This was the second time we were playing. They had beaten us in the qualifying round match of the Doha Open. In that match, we were not experienced at all.
“For this event, we prepared well for nearly a month with Pedro and we were determined to play tough against the Omanis. It was not an easy match. We put a lot of pressure on them and finally pulled it off,” added Younousse.
Qatar coach Costa was also excited with the performance of his teams on the first day. He said,”It was a good day for Qatar, especially for the D team. They are not very experienced and playing any big championship for the first time. I’m very much satisfied with their game and attitude.
“Inshallah, we will have a good tomorrow again. I’m confident about it,” he said.
النتائج
Qatar D beat Bahrain B 2-1 (21-17 18-21 15-7)
Oman B beat Kuwait 2-0 (21-12 21-8)
Qatar A beat Saudi Arabia A 2-0 (21-15 21-16)
Qatar B beat Saudi Arabia B 2-0 (21-10 21-13)
Qatar D beat Oman A 2-1 (21-10 22-24 16-14)
Bahrain A beat Kuwait 2-0 (21-10 21-11)
Bahrain B beat Saudi Arabia A 2-0 (21-17 21-18)
Oman B beat Saudi Arabia B 2-0 (24-22 21-16)
Qatar A beat Oman A 2-1 (16-21 21-16 15-12)
Bahrain A beat Qatar B 2-0 (21-19 21-18)
Thursday’s fixtures
3:00 pm: Saudi Arabia A vs Qatar D, Saudi Arabia B vs Kuwait
3:40 pm: Oman A vs Saudi Arabia A, Bahrain A vs Saudi Arabia B
4:20 pm: Qatar A vs Bahrain B, Qatar B vs Oman B
5:00 pm: Bahrain B vs Oman A, Oman B vs Bahrain A
5:40 pm: Qatar D vs Qatar A, Qatar B vs Kuwait