Songkhla, Thailand, April 16, 2025 – Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan and Japan’s Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto stamped their domination over the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open on Wednesday, with the former claiming their unprecedented title with remarkable unbeaten record and the latter also earning a solid reputation with the country’s first-ever gold at the Samila Beach.
Cherif, 30, and Ahmed, 29, top seeds and current FIVB world No.12, mastered New Zealand’s 8th seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea 2-0 (21-16, 25-23) in the electrifying final showdown on Wednesday to hand the Qatar’s historic gold medal in the Samila Open, arguably the longest-running beach volleyball competition in Asia after being organised continually for more than 20 years.
It was another laurel Cherif/Ahmed have won in six days after their successful outing on April 10 at the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Beach Games Muscat 2025 in Oman, making Qatar proud with the duo’s resounding achievements.
Cherif/Ahmed had already made much of the impact in global beach volleyball events. They clinched Asian Games gold twice, 2018 in Palembang, Indonesia and 2022 in Hangzhou, China, and also qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the time, hardly anyone could expect the kind of season the Qatari pair were about to have. However, they proved their enormous potential to take home bronze medal, the first-ever Olympic medal for Qatar in beach volleyball.
The Qataris had also topped the podium for the Asian Championship title for three times (2018, 2019 and 2022) aside from securing bronze at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals on home soil last year in Doha.
En route to their exceptional victory at the Samila Open, the Qatari sensation did not drop a single set to their respective opponents in the action-packed four-day event. They bagged three consecutive wins for a clean sweep in Pool B including the fantastic 2-0 win against Iran’s 15th seeds Bahman Salemiinjehboroun/AmirAli GhalehNovi, fourth at the recent season-opening 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines.
Cherif/Ahmed continued their outstanding performances, brushing off Indonesians Danangsyah Pribadi/Yosi Firnando 2-0 in the round of 16 and stunning Australia’s fourth seeds and 2nd Nuvali Open champions Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the Qataris struggled to beat Iran’s 9th seeds and 23rd Samila Open silver medallists Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab 2-0 before shutting out New Zealand’s 8th seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea in dramatic fashion 2-0 in the final showdown for the title.
The Kiwis, who emerged triumphant at the 2025 Coolangatta Futures, powered past Indonesia’s third seeds Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi 21-18, 22-20 in the other semifinal clash earlier.
In the third-place playoff, Pourasgari/Aghajanighasab had a podium finish as the Iranians picked up bronze after 2-0 (21-18, 25-23) rout of Indonesians Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi, who won the country’s first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold at the Wuhan Qingshan Futures in China last year.
Meanwhile, after a poor joint 9th finish at the last year’s 23rd edition of the Samila Open, Japan’s Ren/Non made a successful return this time as the 11th seeds finished on top of the women’s podium following the thrilling 2-0 (21-17, 24-22) triumph over New Zealand’s third seeds Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald, who snatched gold at the 2025 GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour in Mt Maunganui, in the Wednesday’s showdown.
As Polley/MacDonald matched their second-place finish achieved at the recent 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines, it was the Japanese duo’s second title of the year. Ren/Non had already claimed their first victory at the recent 2025 GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour presented by Tip Top, New Zealand’s national beach volleyball tour, in Auckland.
Furthermore, five days ago (April 11), Ren, 27, and Non, 26, secured silver at the Songkhla Futures 2025 at the same venue here.
Among seven matches they contested in the 24th Samila Open, Ren/Non lost only one match to China’s Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli in their pool play, going down in nail-biting tie-breaker. The Japanese duo struggled hard to beat Kiwis Danielle Quigley/Meile Rose Green in hard-fought three-setter 21-18, 16-21, 15-13 in the quarterfinals
They also faced an uphill task against Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes before knocking the Australia’s top seeds and the 2nd Nuvali Open champions out of the tournament with impressive 21-17, 21-16 win in the semifinals.
The other semifinal encounter saw Kiwis Polley/MacDonald stage a comeback 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-13) win against Thailand’s fourth seeds and 2021 Asian champions Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee/Taravadee Naraphornrapat.
Despite a disappointing 0-2 loss in the semifinals to Japanese Ren/Non, Fleming/Fejes regained the lost pride following their sensational 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) win against the Thai tandem in the third-place playoff to return with consolation bronze.
Winning the respective men’s and women’s Samila Open title, Cherif/Ahmed from Qatar and Japanese Ren/Non each took home US$2,500 prize money plus similar 320 AVC ranking points. New Zealand claimed double silver, with Fuller/O’Dea in the men’s event and Polley/MacDonald in the women’s competition pocketing prize money of US$2,000 apiece plus similar 288 AVC ranking points. Iranians Pourasgari/Aghajanighasab claimed US$1,500 prize money plus 256 AVC ranking points for a third-place finish in the men’s event, similar to Australians Fleming/Fejes, who finished third in the women’s competition.
Songkhla Governor Mr Chotinarin Kerdsom and Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang jointly presided over the awards presentation and closing ceremony.
In this auspicious occasion, Mr Somporn, on behalf of FIVB, Volleyball World, AVC and TVA, presented the Plaque of Appreciation to the Governor for the great contribution in organizing the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures from April 8 to 11, 2025 and the AVC Beach Tour 24 Samila Open between April 13 and 16, 2025.
RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN
FINAL RANKINGS
MEN
CHAMPIONS: Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan (Qatar)
1ST RUNNER-UP: Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea (New Zealand)
2ND RUNNER-UP: Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab (Iran)
WOMEN
CHAMPIONS: Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto (Japan)
1ST RUNNER-UP: Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald (New Zealand)
2ND RUNNER-UP: Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes (Australia)
MEN
WOMEN
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