Younousse and Tijan lose in semis, target bronze

Doha: Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan s hopes of winning a maiden Olympic gold for Qatar in beach volleyball were dashed yesterday as they were beate...

Doha: Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan’s hopes of winning a maiden Olympic gold for Qatar in beach volleyball were dashed yesterday as they were beaten by the top Swedish pair in the semi-finals in Paris. 

The world No.1 duo of David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig were better yesterday as they defeated the in-form Qatar pair 13–21, 17–21 to storm into the final. 

Qatar's Cherif Younousse (right) blocks a shot by Sweden’s Jonatan Hellvig.

In front of a full house of 10,600 spectators at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, the Swedes took sweet revenge for their group stage loss to Younousse and Tijan, who stunned them in a thrilling three-setter. 

Ahman did most of the damage to Qatar with 14 attack points, while Hellvig added 10, apart from adding five block points. The Qatari duo made 12 errors during the match. For Qatar, Tijan scored 12 points, while Younousse added 10.