Qatar Tribune
Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan are still holding the 13th spot after the international volleyball federation (FIVB) released both the world and Olympic rankings list on Monday.
Seeded eighth, Younousse and Tijan finished 17th and collected 320 points in the just-concluded Four-Star Katara Beach Volleyball Cup when they lost to fourth-seeded Italians Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai in straight sets in the first knock-out.
Lupo and Nicolai went on to win the bronze medal with a 21-19, 21-17 victory over sixth seeds Evandro Goncalves and Bruno Oscar Schmidt from Brazil. Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek, the seventh seeds from Poland, wore down Mexican qualifiers Josue Gaxiola and Jose Rubio 16-21, 21-19, 15-11.
While Lupo and Nicolai have already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, champions Bryl and Fijalek are third on the Summer Games rankings. Evandro and Schmidt, who won the Rio Games title four years ago with Alison Cerutti, are fifth.
After the World Tour Finals in Rome in June, the top 15 pairs on the world rankings will gain an automatic entry into the Tokyo Olympics. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the FIVB has postponed or cancelled as many as 15 events, in consultations with respective organisers.
The 3-Star Coolangatta for men and women, which was to start in Gold Coast from Tuesday, has been put off. Three 4-Star events in Cancun (Mexico), Yangzhou and Siming have been postponed, the 4-Star Singapore has been cancelled. It means that all events on the FIVB Beach World Tour are in doubt till the Four-Star Itapema, which is scheduled in Brazil from May 6 to 10.
Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, who have are leading both the rankings lists and are followed by world champions Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy from Russia.
Brazil have two pairs among the top five on the Olympic rankings Cerutti and Alvaro Filha are in the fourth spot behind Bryl and Fijalek. Their compatriots Evandro and Schmidt are occupying the fifth place.FIVB RankingsLatest FIVB World Rankings (as on March 16, 2020, based on best eight results in FIVB recognised events during last 365 days)
Rank Team Country Played Pts
1.Mol & Sorum Norway 11 7,840
2.Krasilnikov & Stoyanovskiy Russia 11 6,400
3.Cerutti & Filho Brazil 13 5,640
4.Goncalves & Schmidt Brazil 13 5,480
5.Bryl & Fijalek Poland 13 5,400
6.Thole & Wickler Germany 11 5,320
7.Brouwer & Meeuwsen N’lands 12 5,240
8.Taylor Crabb & Gibb US 11 5,120
9. Lupo & Nicolai Italy 9 4,960
10.Loyola & Wanderley Brazil 15 4,760
11.Gavira & Herrera Spain 13 4,640
Dalhausser & Lucena US 10 4,640
13.Samba & Tijan Qatar 12 4,600
14.Bourne & Trevor Crabb US 12 4,520
15.Perusic & Schweiner Cze 12 4,480
Olympic rankings (based on 12 best performances from September 1, 2018 to June 14, 2020)
1. Mol A./Sørum, C. NOR 13 10,440 2. Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy RUS 15 9,040
3. Fijalek/Bryl POL 14 7,480 4. Alison/Álvaro Filho BRA 13 7,400 5. Evandro/Bruno Schmidt BRA 14 7,320 6. Thole J./Wickler GER 12 7,040 7. Brouwer/Meeuwsen NED 16 7,000 8. Crabb Ta./Gibb USA 13 6,680 9. Semenov/Leshukov RUS 13 6,660
10. Herrera/Gavira ESP 15 6,480 11. Crabb Tr./Bourne USA 14 6,360 George/Andre BRA 15 6,280 12. Nicolai/Lupo ITA 12 6,280 13. Cherif/Ahmed QAT 16 6,200 14. Perusic/Schweiner CZE 15 6,040 15. Plavins/Tocs LAT 15 6,000