Doha, Qatar, March 15, 2019 – Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse have made major strides in the 18 months in which they have played together on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and now they are ready to make another impression, at the Hamburg 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
They Qatari duo are currently competing in front of their home fans at the Katara Beach Cup in Doha that runs from March 12-16. A year ago in Doha they won their first World Tour medal together when they won bronze, and by the end of the year they had added another bronze at the Vienna 5-Star as well as the AVC Asian Beach Volleyball Championships title.
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Two years ago Cherif competed with Jefferson Santos at the Austria 2017 World Championships, just as he had at the Netherlands 2015 World Championships where they reached the quarterfinals. However, for Ahmed Hamburg 2019 will be his first appearance on such a stage.
“I’m excited about it because I’ve never played it and I really want to play it,” Ahmed said. “I was injured last time and that is why I wasn’t able to play. I’m excited about it and I want to feel that atmosphere. I saw it on the TV and I want to experience it too.”
There are still five 4-Star tournaments before the start of the World Championships which run from June 28 to July 7 and Cherif and Ahmed are aiming to appear at all of them.
Once they are finished with them the plan is to turn their attention to the World Championships which will take place at the 13,000-capactiy Rothenbaum Stadium, a stadium that has already been used for the FIVB World Tour Finals and proven popular with players and fans.
“The World Championships is our main target, but we are going to still enjoy the tournaments before then,” Ahmed said.
“For now we are focused on this part of the season because it is very important for us. We will play the other four-star tournaments and after that we will then have a break to prepare for the World Championships.”