Qatar Beach Volleyball duo score second win, qualify for knockout stages in Tokyo
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan defeated Italy's Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi 2-0 (24-22, 21-13) at the Shiokaze Park yesterday to secure their spots in the knockout stages of the men's beach volleyball event of the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The new men's FIVB World Ranking leaders, Cherif and Ahmed, began their Olympic campaign last Sunday with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland.
The Qatari pair will have to overcome Jacob Gibb and Tri Bourne of the USA on Friday to finish on top of the pool.
Meanwhile, Qatar's Mohamed Al Rumaihi finished the first day of the men's trap shooting qualifying rounds in 16th place with 72 points.
Kuwait's Abdulrahman Al Farhan is leading the field with 74 points, and the top six qualify for the final. The last two qualifying rounds will be held on Thursday.
On the other hand, Team Qatar athletics stars arrived at the Olympic Village in Tokyo yesterday after their training camp in Takasaki, Japan.
Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba are spearheading Qatar's athletics squad. The team also includes Femi Ogunode, Ashraf El Saifi, Abubaker Hayder, Musab Adam, Abdulrahman Saieed and Bashayer al-Mnawari.
In a brief statement yesterday, Qatar's middle-distance runner, Abderrahman Samba, who will compete in the men's 400m hurdles, said, " I will fight tooth and nail to honor the country in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."
"Nothing is easy in these games, but I will put all efforts to run faster, turn my dream into reality and make the Olympic podium."
Hours away from the kick-off of the athletics competition, Mohammed Essa Al Fadalah, Assistant Secretary-General of Qatar Athletics Federation, confirmed that the training camp of team Qatar's athletes at the Japanese city of Takasaki went according to plan and kept the athletes perfectly ready to fight for the best results.
"Despite the tough restrictions being imposed against the pandemic to keep the athletes safe and protected, our athletes are fully satisfied with the outcome they have from the Takasaki camp," added Al Fadalah.
On the other hand, Qatar's former sprinter and Athletics Federation's Assistant Secretary-General Talal Mansour has appreciated the standard of Qatar athletes' preparations for the competition.
"This training camp met the standards of the plan set up by the federation, and we are hopeful that will pay off and push up Qatar's athletics to new heights of success."
Team Qatar stars in focus
Mutaz Essa Barshim
Team Qatar's challenge for Tokyo glory is led by the high jump superstar Mutaz Essa Barshim.
The 28-year-old graduate of Doha's Aspire Academy holds the second-highest jump in history, 2.43m, a mere two centimeters short of Cuban Javier Sotomayor.
Barshim, a London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist, will return to his third Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, seeking the top Olympic glory.
Abderrahman Samba
Qatar's second star on the list is Abderrahman Samba. The 25-year-old Qatari track and field athlete claimed the bronze medal of 400m hurdles at the 2019 World athletics championships held in Doha.
Samba qualified for Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Games after winning the 400 hurdles gold medal in the Shanghai Diamond League meeting 2019 with a world-leading time of 47.27 seconds.
Ashraf El Seify
Qatar's hammer thrower Ashraf El Seify will be one of the Qatari athletic stars participating in the Olympics. El Seify qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games by virtue of his world ranking of 19. Tokyo will be the 26-year-old Ashraf's second Olympics. He was sixth on his Olympic debut in Rio 2016.
El Seify won the gold medal of the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships with a record-breaking throw of 85.57m and then again at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships.
He also claimed the silver medals of the 2015 and 2019 Asian Championships and the gold medal of the 2018 Asian Games.
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