Doha:Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, the defending champions, have moved closer to securing a historic third consecutive Asian Games beach volleyball gold medal. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 tournament with a convincing straight-set victory over Vietnam.
According to Qatar News Agency, the Qatari duo dominated the match from the start, securing a 21-9, 21-16 win to reach the last eight. They are set to face Iran's Abbas Pouraskar and Alireza Aghajani in the quarterfinals. The Iranian team progressed after a close 2-1 win against Japan's Juntaro Tachiya and Yusuke Ishijima.
Younousse and Tijan have remained unbeaten in their quest to extend their Asian Games supremacy. They topped Group A in the preliminary round by defeating the Philippines' Abdila and Francisco 21-7, 21-10, and overcoming Oman's Hood Al Jalboobi and Mazen Al Hashmi 21-19, 21-19. The Qatari stars, who won gold at Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022, are now just three victories away from completing a hat-trick of Asian Games titles.
In contrast, Qatar's other pair, Moussa Al Khair and Ehab Mohamed, concluded their campaign in the round of 16, losing 13-21, 16-21 to China's Song Jinyang and Wang Yanwei. Al Khair and Mohamed had advanced from Group D as runners-up, following a straight-set win over South Korea's Sangbin and Jeongtaek and a 2-1 victory against Sri Lanka's Sadun and Delipa. They finished second in their group after a 0-2 defeat to Thailand's Purawit and Pithak.