Doha: Qatar’s Tijan Ahmed and Abdullah Nasim yesterday clinched the West Asia Beach Volleyball Zonal Tour title, overpowering Omani pair of Haitham Al Sharqi and Mazen Al Hashemi in straight sets at Aspire Zone in Doha.
The title win after a 21-19, 21-19 victory in the final also meant that Tokyo Olympics medalist Tijan and his partner Nasim signed off from the seven-nation tournament as the only unbeaten team.
President of Qatar Volleyball Association and the West Asia Volleyball Association Ali bin Ghanem Al Kuwari presented the trophies to the teams.
The Qatari pair reached yesterday’s final after defeating their Palestinian counterparts in straight sets (21-10, 21-13) in the semi-final following an outstanding show in the group stage.
The pre-tournament favourites got off to a flying start in the home event by defeating Saudi Arabian pair Ali Mahfouz and Hassan Alabdulbaqi 2-0 (21-12, 21-13) in their Group A opener before beating Syria 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) to top Group A and storm into the semi-final.
Qatar’s Tijan Ahmed and Abdullah Nasim during the final.
The tournament’s runners-up, Oman also reached the final following a dominant show in their semi-final.
They beat Syria 21-10, 21-13 after occupying the top spot in Group B where they prevailed over Jordan 21-14, 21-15, Iraq 21-11, 21-6 and Palestine 21-19, 21-13.
Earlier, Palestine secured the third position in the seven-nation tournament after defeating their Syrian counterparts 21-13, 21-14 in play-off.
