Pingtan, China, May 11, 2025 — Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar continued their dominant run on the AVC Beach Tour, capturing their third straight title with a commanding 2-0 victory over Australia’s Ben Hood and Oliver Merritt in the men’s final at the Pingtan Open. Meanwhile, Chinese legendary Xue Chen and Zeng Jinjin thrilled the home crowd by securing the women’s title on Sunday.
Top-seeded Cherif, 30, and Ahmed, 29 – currently ranked No. 12 in the world by the FIVB – overpowered the tenth-seeded Australian duo 21-15, 21-14 to win their third AVC Beach Tour gold of the season. The Qatari pair previously triumphed at the Samila Open in Thailand and the Doha Open on home soil. Their stellar 2025 season also includes a gold medal at the GCC Beach Games in Muscat, Oman, last month.
Cherif and Ahmed have long been a force in international beach volleyball. They are two-time Asian Games champions (2018, 2022), three-time Asian champions (2018, 2019, 2022), and Olympic bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020 – the first-ever Olympic beach volleyball medal for Qatar. They also earned bronze at the 2024 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha.
At the Pingtan Open, the Qatari duo did not drop a single set throughout the four-day competition. After topping Pool A with a win over Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gurin/Sergey Bogatu, they defeated Japan’s Kai Kurokawa and Ruichi Adachi 2-0 in the Round of 16, followed by another straight-sets victory over Thailand’s Banlue Nakprakhong/Dunwinit Kaewsai in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they dispatched China’s Wang Yanwei/Du Hongjun 2-0 (21-8, 21-16) before closing out the tournament with a clinical win over Hood/Merritt.
In the bronze medal match, Australian second seeds and reigning Asian champions D’Artagnan Potts and Jack Pearse outplayed China’s Wang/Du 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) to secure third place.
In the women’s competition, beach volleyball icon Xue Chen, 35, a four-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, teamed up with 23-year-old rising star Zeng Jinjin to deliver gold for China.
The duo, who previously won the 2024 Haikou Challenge on their World Beach Pro Tour debut, overwhelmed Japan’s Saki Maruyama/Miki Ishii 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) in the final.
Their path to the title was not without challenges. In the semifinals, Xue and Zeng were pushed to the limit by Thailand’s 2021 Asian champions Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, edging out a narrow 2-1 win (25-23, 19-21, 15-13).
Maruyama and Ishii also faced a stern test in the semifinals, narrowly overcoming Australia’s Jasmine Fleming and Stefanie Fejes 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-11).
Fleming and Fejes, seeded second and champions of the Nuvali Open, claimed the bronze medal after a dominant 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) victory over Taravadee and Worapeerachayakorn, who had recently taken silver at the AVC Beach Tour Phu Yen Open in Vietnam.
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