Qatar’s pair AHMED/CHERIF crown the Asian Games – Asian Volleyball Confederation

August 2018
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Qatar’s pair AHMED/CHERIF crown the Asian Games

Palembang, Indonesia, August 28, 2018 – World 10th ranked AHMED/CHERIF of Qatar proved their superiority by beating the host pair RACHMAWAN/ASFIYA 2-0 (26-24, 21-17) at the final showdown of of men’s beach volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018 to register their first Asian Games gold medal here at Jakabaring Sport City Beach Volleyball Court.

Cheered by thousands of local spectators, host pair RACHMAWAN/ASFIYA came into the match quickly with their fast moving and variegated attacking. However, Qatar’s duo showed no inferiority by tailing after the host duo closely before they were left behind 12-15 following a dip by opponent to finish the rally. Qatar called a timeout and it worked as they soon caught up to 19-19 tie, forcing host pair to call a timeout. Nevertheless, the Qatar duo led to reach the set point and after several deuces, they managed to win the close set 26-24.

Keeping the momentum to the second set, Qatar established a narrow lead from the beginning. Despite the host duo attempted several times to draw nearer to one point difference at 12-13 and 15-16, Qatar refused them to step further. Following a clean block by Cherif Younousse Samba, Qatar took the set 21-17, the match 2-0 and their first Asian Games gold medal.

“I am so happy to win the gold medal. We have be well prepared and we believe the gold medal belongs to us. ” said Cherif Younousse Samba. “We just focused on the play. There is no much affection from the local cheering spectators. We experienced more spectators than here before. We just get used to that.”

In the bronze medal contest, host pair GILANG/DANANGSYAH maintained their fantastic groove and knocked the higher-seeded and taller Chinese duo GAO/LI out of the top three in 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-6).

With the conclusion of men’s beach volleyball event, the beach volleyball competition of the 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018 came to a successful end. In women’s event, China’s WANG/XIA grabbed the gold medal followed by Japan’s ISHII/MURAKAMI with silver and host pair JULIANA/UTAMI with bronze. In men’s event, the gold medal went to Qatar’s AHMED/CHERIF while silver and bronze medals were retained in Indonesia for RACHMAWAN/ASFIYA and GILANG/DANANGSYAH respectively.

The 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018 will have its grand closing on September 2nd 2018. The next edition of 19^th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China in 2022.

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