Alkass Digital
Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will be up against counterparts from Sweden, Italy and Australia in the preliminary round of the beach volleyball competition at the 2024 Olympics as the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists aim to excel in Paris.
Asia’s top-ranked duo, currently placed in 14th spot in the FIVB Beach Volleyball standings, were placed in Group A, alongside Sweden’s World No.1 pair of David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig, Italy’s Paolo Nicolai/Samuele Cottafava and Australia’s Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher at the official draw which divided 24 participating teams into six groups on Friday.
Group B includes Norway, Netherlands, Italy (B), and Chile, while Group C includes Germany, Poland, Australia (B), and hosts France.
Group D features Brazil, USA, Cuba, and Morocco, while Group E comprises the Czech Republic, Brazil (B), Austria, and Canada. Group F includes France (B), the Netherlands (B), Spain, and USA (B).
Cherif and Ahmed’s maiden appearance in the Olympics as a team was in Tokyo three years ago, where the then Asian Games title-winners became the first medal winners for Qatar in beach volleyball.
Cherif and Ahmed then went on to successfully defend their Asian Games gold at the Hangzhou 2023 Games as well as the AVC Asian Championships, and remain among the contenders for a podium spot in Paris.
The star duo is one of 17 pairs who achieved direct qualification to the Paris Games thanks to their world ranking which was taken into account on June 9.
Along with the top-ranked teams, the host nation also received a quota, while the 2023 world champions and five Continental Cup winners also received tickets to Paris.
“The team’s qualification has been approved by the International Federation, making Qatar one of the countries that qualified directly through the Olympic world ranking,” QVA said after Cherif and Tijan booked their berth for Paris 2024.
With the iconic Eiffel Tower in the background, the teams will begin their quests for the elusive gold, at the 14,000-seat Olympic beach volleyball stadium at Champ-de-Mars Park from July 27 to August 10.