Top pair of Cherif Younousse and Jefferson Pereira will lead the host nation’s charge in the FIVB World Tour Qatar Open, to be held at the Al Gharafa courts from April 4 to 8.
It is for the third straight year that the Qatar Volleyball Association is hosting the FIVB World Tour event.
Cherif and Pereira have been in good form of late. They won the inaugural FIVB Kish Island Open in Iran last month, beating Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin 21-13, 14-21, 15-12 in the final.
The duo also reached the quarterfinal of the Asian Volleyball Confederation’s Sydney Open, last week, where they lost 16-21, 14-21 to Australia’s Bo Soderberg and Cole Durant.
The Qatar Open is part of the Road to Rio that lasts until June 13, with FIVB World Tour events counting towards the Olympic ranking in order to determine 15 of the 24 teams that will take part in the Olympics.
“It’s a big year for us and we’re keen to garner as many points as possible. I’m really optimistic as we’ve had some great results against strong opponents this season,” said Pereira, who has been gelling well with Cherif, who is five years younger than him.
Qatar, being the hosts, will field one more team which includes the pair Julio De Nascimento and Ahmed Tijan.
* Doha Stadium Plus