Qatar's Cherif Younousse (right) in action against Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in yesterday's main round clash.
Doha: Mexican duo Jose Luis Rubio and Josue Gaxiola reached the quarter-finals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Katara Cup yesterday with a nerve-wracking 2-1 (23-21, 8-21, 15-8) win over the USA’s Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabbe.
Rubio and Gaxiola, who won silver at the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships, are playing in their first overseas World Tour event having previously featured at events in Puerto Vallarta and Chetumal in Mexico.
“It was a really good match for us as our opponents were really good,” Rubio said. “The first set was crazy, and I don’t want to even think about the second set, but in the tie-break, we managed to get ahead and win.
“We just wanted to think positively in the tie-break. My partner was quite angry at the end of the second set, but I spoke to him in the break and explained that I believed we could win and managed to make him relax.
Meanwhile, the home favourites, Ahmed Tijane and Cherif Younousse will miss the last-eight stage after suffering a 0-2 (16-21, 18-21) loss against Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in yesterday's main round clash.
The men-only tournament is running from March 9-13 at Katara Cultural Village in the north of the city. It is the second of nine 4-Star events on the 2019-2020 calendar and the winners will leave with 800 ranking points.
Qatar has built up a strong tradition of hosting World Tour events since it hosted its first in 2014. Two more followed in 2015 and 2016, then in 2018 the tournament grew from a 3-Star tournament to a 4-Star tournament.
