Qatari stars Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan bounced back from their opening-match shock and outclassed French qualifiers Quincy Aye and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in straight sets in the Four-Star Katara Beach Volleball Cup 2020 on Tuesday.

At the Katara Cultural Village Amphitheatre Central Court, the eighth-seeded Younousse and Tijan surrendered their 1-0 set advantage to lose their first Pool H match to Ukrainian qualifiers Iaroslav Gordieiev and Sergiy Popov 21-17, 13-21, 10-15.

The Asia and Asian Games champions Younousse and Tijan, who won the bronze medal in this event in 2018, then faced the sudden-death. However, they reorganised their game superbly during the second match in the group stage against the Frenchmen, posting a 21-16, 21-15 victory in half an hour.

Ahmed commented after the match: “All teams are beginning the year here and need some time to find their groove. No matter how much you may practise, you still need to be match sharp and the momentum often comes when you play more and more matches.

“I think we had this issue in the first match against the Ukraine team, but in the second, we minimised our mistakes. We focused on our strong points and used the reception well to create opportunities. And they did come, we exploited them to get points and seal the match,” the defender added.

“We’re happy to bounce back and make the knock-out stage. We’ll try to do good and see how deep we can go into the tournament,” Tijan said.

With ninth seeds Try Bourne and Trevor Crabb from the US beating the Ukrainians in three sets in the second round to record their second win and topping the pool, Younousse and Tijan finished second on the set quotient basis and advanced to the knock-out first round.

Gordieiev and Popov also progressed to the first eliminator but Aye and Gauthier-Rat, who had been beaten by the Americans in straight sets in their lung-opener, bowed out.

Younousse and Tijan were the only pair among Qatar’s three teams to make it to the next stage. Saifeddine Elmajid and Benlouaer Ziad were placed in Pool A and faced world champions and top seeds Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy in their opening game. They lost both their matches in the pool to bow out.

So did Assam Mahmoud and Mahdi Sammoud, who were pitted against former world champions and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallists Dutch Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, the 2018 Katara Cup winners. They lost to them straight and went to suffer another defeat later to bow out.

The loss of Younousse and Tijan was not just the only upset result that marked the first day of the main round action. Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen, the 13th seeds from Germany, stunned fourth-seeds Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai from Italy 2-0 in a Pool D clash. Fluggen had won the 2016 title along side Markus Bockermann in Al Gharafa.

Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich from Switzerland, the 12th seeds, suffered two losses in a row in Pool E and were knocked out. In Pool F, Billy Allen and Stafford Slick, the US qualifiers, sprang a surprise on Germans Julius Thole and Sven but the 11th seeds managed to win the second match and stayed in the tournament for another day.

Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, the 16th seeds from Latvia, shocked defending champions Esteban Grimalt and Marco Grimalt from Chile in 33 minutes and 19th-seeded Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg from Austria took three sets to upset Ilya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov, the 14th-seeded from Russia.

Mar10 katara results
النتائج
Round 1
Match 1: Viacheslav Krasilnikov / Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (1) def. Saifeddine Elmajid / Benlouaer Ziad Qatar (32) 21-14, 21-12 (0:29)
Match 2: Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins Latvia (16) def. Esteban Grimalt / Marco Grimalt Chile (17) 21-17, 21-13 (0:33)

Round 2
Match 17: Viacheslav Krasilnikov / Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (1) def. Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins Latvia (16) 16-21, 21-16, 15-11 (0:47)
Match 18: Esteban Grimalt / Marco Grimalt Chile (17) def. Saifeddine Elmajid / Benlouaer Ziad Qatar (32) 21-18, 21-13 (0:30)

Pool B
Round 1
Match 3: Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (2) def. Assam Mahmoud / Mahdi Sammoud Qatar (31) 21-16, 21-18 (0:32)
Match 4: Piotr Kantor / Bartosz Losiak Poland (15) def. Steven van de Velde / Christiaan Varenhorst Netherlands (18) 21-17, 21-18 (0:36)

Round 2
Match 19: Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (2) def. Piotr Kantor / Bartosz Losiak Poland (15) 19-14 retired (0:17)
Match 20: Steven van de Velde / Christiaan Varenhorst Netherlands (18) def. Assam Mahmoud / Mahdi Sammoud Qatar (31) 21-14, 21-17 (0:33)

Pool C
Round 1
Match 5: Phil Dalhausser / Nick Lucena United States (3) def. Jasper Bouter / Ruben Penninga Netherlands (30, Q13) 21-18, 21-16 (0:34)
Match 6: Martin Ermacora / Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (19) def. Ilya Leshukov / Konstantin Semenov Russia (14) 14-21, 21-18, 15-9 (0:43)

Round 2
Match 21: Phil Dalhausser / Nick Lucena United States (3) def. Martin Ermacora / Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (19) 21-12, 21-15 (0:30)
Match 22: Ilya Leshukov / Konstantin Semenov Russia (14) def. Jasper Bouter / Ruben Penninga Netherlands (30, Q13) 27-25, 20-22, 15-11 (0:56)

Pool D
Round 1
Match 7: Daniele Lupo / Paolo Nicolai Italy (4) def. Alejandro Huerta / Cesar Menendez Spain (29, Q10) 21-19, 21-13 (0:31)
Match 8: Nils Ehlers / Lars Fluggen Germany (13) def. Robin Seidl / Philipp Waller Austria (20) 21-11, 19-21, 15-10 (0:48)

Round 2
Match 23: Nils Ehlers / Lars Fluggen Germany (13) def. Daniele Lupo / Paolo Nicolai Italy (4) 21-16, 21-17 (0:34)
Match 24: Robin Seidl / Philipp Waller Austria (20) def. Alejandro Huerta / Cesar Menendez Spain (29, Q10) 21-15, 21-12 (0:32)

Pool E
Round 1
Match 9: Taylor Crabb / Jake Gibb United States (5) def. Josue Gaxiola / Jose Rubio Mexico (28, Q8) 21-13, 21-16 (0:34)
Match 10: Sam Pedlow / Sam Schachter Canada (21) def. Mirco Gerson / Adrian Heidrich Switzerland (12) 18-21, 21-14, 15-10 (0:51)

Round 2
Match 25: Taylor Crabb / Jake Gibb United States (5) def. Sam Pedlow / Sam Schachter Canada (21) 21-15, 21-17 (0:33)
Match 26: Josue Gaxiola / Jose Rubio Mexico (28, Q8) def. Mirco Gerson / Adrian Heidrich Switzerland (12) 21-16, 20-22, 15-10 (0:51)

Pool F
Round 1
Match 11: Evandro Goncalves / Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6) def. Dries Koekelkoren / Tom van Walle Belgium (27, Q6) 12-21, 21-14, 15-9 (0:45)
Match 12: Billy Allen / Stafford Slick United States (22, Q1) def. Julius Thole / Sven Winter Germany (11) 21-16, 21-14 (0:35)

Round 2
Match 27: Evandro Goncalves / Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6) def. Billy Allen / Stafford Slick United States (22, Q1) 21-15, 21-17 (0:37)
Match 28: Julius Thole / Sven Winter Germany (11) def. Dries Koekelkoren / Tom van Walle Belgium (27, Q6) 21-18, 21-18 (0:39)

Pool G
Round 1
Match 13: Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (7) def. Lombardo Ontiveros / Juan Virgen Mexico (26, Q5) 17-21, 21-19, 15-12 (0:54)
Match 14: Adrian Gavira / Pablo Herrera Spain (10) def. Clemens Doppler / Alexander Horst Austria (23) 19-21, 21-14, 15-11 (0:43)

Round 2
Match 29: Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (7) def. Adrian Gavira / Pablo Herrera Spain (10) 33-31, 19-21, 15-13 (1:06)
Match 30: Lombardo Ontiveros / Juan Virgen Mexico (26, Q5) def. Clemens Doppler / Alexander Horst Austria (23) 24-22, 21-15 (0:40)

Pool H
Round 1
Match 15: Iaroslav Gordieiev / Sergiy Popov Ukraine (25, Q3) def. Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (8) 17-21, 21-13, 15-10 (0:50)
Match 16: Tri Bourne / Trevor Crabb United States (9) def. Quincy Aye / Arnaud Gauthier-Rat France (24, Q2) 21-6, 21-16 (0:26)

Round 2
Match 31: Tri Bourne / Trevor Crabb United States (9) def. Iaroslav Gordieiev / Sergiy Popov Ukraine (25, Q3) 20-22, 25-23, 16-14 (1:00)
Match 32: Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (8) def. Quincy Aye / Arnaud Gauthier-Rat France (24, Q2) 21-16, 21-15 (0:30)