Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Attends Distinguished Conclusion of 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour

By A Robin - February 06, 2023

Sheikh Joaan

HE President of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani attended Sunday the conclusion of the five-day opening round of the 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour 'Elite 16' for men and women, held at Aspire Zone.

The championship guarantees a qualification berth for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The tournament was also attended by HE First Vice-President of the QOC, Mohammed bin Youssef Al Mana, HE Second Vice-President of the QOC Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, HE Secretary-General of the QOC Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, and President of the Qatari Volleyball Federation (QVA) and West Asian Federation Ali Ghanem Al Kuwari.

Norway's duo Ander Mol and Christian Sorum claimed the men's title after a 2-0 victory (21-19/21-19) over the Swedish duo David Ahman and Jonathan Helvig. Italian duo Alex Rangiri and Adrian Karambola beat Polish duo Bartosz Luciak and Michal Brill 2-0 (22-20/ 22-20) in the third-place playoff.

In the women's competition, the Dutch duo Katja Stam and Raisa Schon secured the trophy after defeating the Swiss duo Nina Bruner and Tania Huberle 2-1 (22-20, 22-14 and 11-15).

Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan were eliminated after a 0-2 loss in the second round. They qualified for the second round after finishing second in Group D of the group stage.

Ali Ghanem Al Kuwari expressed his happiness at the success of the tournament, adding that Qatar became one of the first countries in the world beach volleyball rankings, thanks to claiming titles and colored medals in all international championships, most notably the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Kuwari said that Qatar hosted many international beach volleyball tournaments, with Aspire Zone having organized the King of the Court 2022 Championship and the Beach Pro Tour championship. He added that The Qatari Federation is preparing in the coming period to host the West Asian Championship at Al Gharafa Beach Stadiums at the end of next month, which qualifies for Paris 2024.

(QNA)