The Qatar men’s national beach volleyball team and Lebanon women’s national team topped the podium at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Continental Cup Phase 1 tournament in the Western Zone to advance straight to the competition’s Finals (Phase 3) where qualification for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be at stake.

Oman’s men’s team and Qatar’s women’s team finished second at the three-day event, held at the Al-Gharafa Beach Complex in Doha from 21 to 23 February, and progressed to Phase 2 of the AVC Continental Cup.

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, Olympic bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020 and currently number three in the FIVB World Ranking, were Qatar’s leading pair and powered the team to first place. In the first rubber of the men’s final, they claimed a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) victory over Hood Al Jalaboubi and Mazin Alhashimi. However, Oman struck back in the second rubber, with Ahmed Alhousni and Haitham Alshereiqi mastering a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) shutout of Abdallah Nassim and Mahmoud Assam. So it came down to a deciding golden match, in which Cherif & Ahmed once again delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) sweep of Hood & Mazin to cement the victory.

A three-set golden match decided the bronze medal tie between Palestine and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Ibrahim Qassiya and Abdallah Alarqan gave Palestine the lead after a 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-11) win over Mazen Almuwallad and Ali Almarhoon in the first rubber. Saudi Arabia’s Dhia Alkhawaher and Ali Mahfouz, however, mastered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) shutout of Taleb Alnajjar and Mohammed Alqishawi in the second to level the score. For the golden match, Palestine’s combination pair of Alarqan & Alqishawi proved successful against Dhia & Ali and secured a spot on the podium after a hard-fought 2-1 (21-15, 14-21, 18-16) battle.

In Tuesday’s semifinal ties, Oman outpaced Saudi Arabia, winning both rubbers in straight sets, while Cherif & Ahmed had to win two rubbers for Qatar (both in clean sweeps), after Palestine’s Alnajjar & Alqishawi produced a tie-breaker victory over Abdallah & Essam.

Ahmed dives for the ball (top); The Qatari national teams receives the trophy (Photo credits: asianvolleyball.net)

For the first time since the introduction of the AVC Continental Cup, the Continental Qualification tournament towards the Olympic Games, the women’s tournament was hosted in the Western Zone with three teams participating. The Lebanese squad celebrated the title after winning both matches without dropping a single set along the way.

On Wednesday, Hamzeh Mirvat and Cheikho Mirna delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) shutout of Jordan’s Rahaf Haimour and Ragad Haimur, and Nour Hamze and Sara El Akkari followed up with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) straight-setter over Farah Alatout and Nancy Ayyash to advance to Thursday’s final against hosts Qatar and leave Jordan with the bronze.

Lebanon dominated the gold medal tie, with Hamzeh & Mirna mastering a 2-0 (21-1, 21-14) sweep of Qatar’s Sumaia Almadhoun and Damla Yagmur, and Nour & Akkari hammering out a 2-0 (21-1, 21-14) blowout of Leyla Mohammad Bahmanzadeh and Hana Al Khater.

Ali Ghanem Al-Kuwari, President of the Qatar and West Asian Volleyball Associations, praised Qatar’s victory in the men’s tournament and said that winning the title has confirmed the team’s strength and development in the game, and that this title was added to the team’s growing list of great achievements. During the awards presentation and closing ceremony, he handed the trophies to the Qatari men’s and the Lebanese women’s teams. The silver medals were presented by Mohammed Salem Al-Kuwari, Secretary General of the West Asian Volleyball Association, while Tournament Director Mohammad Anber Al-Nasser awarded the bronze medals.

AVC Continental Cup Phase 1 Western Zone 2023 Final Standings - Men

1. Qatar

2. Oman

3. Palestine

4. Saudi Arabia

AVC Continental Cup Phase 1 Western Zone 2023 Final Standings - Women

1. Lebanon

2. Qatar

3. Jordan

The winner of AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup will earn one quota place to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 beach volleyball tournament. The AVC Continental Cup will be played in 3 phases, with each National Federation represented by 2 teams per gender playing in the format of best of 3 matches. The first phase is organised in each zone, with the winner advancing directly to the Finals (phase 3) that will be held in the period of 13 to 23 June 2024. The runner-up of phase 1 will have another opportunity to play in phase 2 in order to qualify to the Finals (phase 3).

The remaining AVC Continental Cup Phase 1 zonal tournaments will be held as follows:

11-16 May: South-eastern Zone in Cambodia

25-27 August: Central Zone (women) in Kyrgyzstan

31 August - 2 September: Eastern Zone in China

1 September - 5 September: Oceania Zone in Vanuatu

5 September - 7 September: Central Zone (men) in Bangladesh