Nadal advances in Barcelona Open despite a rare set loss PAGE 17 THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

Al Rayyan Club storm into Asian clubs volleyball semis PAGE 18 IPL KKR VS RR

23RD ASIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS CONCLUDE AT KHALIFA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

Asian Athletics Championships men’s 4x400m gold medallists Japan, silver medallists China and bronze Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani and other officials watch the Asian Athletics Championships action at medallists Qatar pose on the podium after the prize distribution. (PHOTOGRAPHS: HANSON K JOSEPH) the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Wednesday. QATAR SCOOP THREE MEDALS More records fall on last day of Asian athletics; hosts clinch 4x400m bronze due to India’s disqualification AYENI OLUSEGUN DOHA

HOSTS Qatar collected three medals (one silver, two bronze) on the fourth and last day of the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships at the majestic Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday. The home ath- letes had earlier bagged three medals – the men’s 400m hur- dles gold along with the men’s 800m gold and a bronze for a total of six medals. Musaab Ali scooped the first medal of the final day for Qatar in the men’s 1,500m. The young distance runner showed tremendous spirit in the final leg of the race, com- ing close to snatching the sil- ver from India’s Ajay Saroj. Abraham Rotich claimed gold with a season best 3:2.85. “In the heat on Tuesday, I went in front from the begin- ning but in the end, I hardly qualified,” Musaab said. “We decided to play the winning 110m hurdles gold medallist Xie Wenjun of China (centre) on the Chitra Palakeezh Unnikirshnan of India on the way to winning the game today and push in the podium after setting a new meet record on Wednesday. women’s 1,500m race on Wednesday. end. The gold was within my grasp but I didn’t make it. make it here in Doha at the bronze medallist added. Overall I am satisfied (with my World Championships, I could WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS More records continued to performance). be placed in a high position.” MEN’S 1500M WOMEN’S 1500M fall as two-time Asian Games “I know I can run fast start- The most dramatic turn of Abraham Rotich Bahrain 3:42.85 SB Chitra Palakeezh Unnikirshnan India 4:14.56 champion China’s Xie Wanjun ing from the Diamond League the night came in the men’s Ajay Saroj India 3:43.18 (.174) SB Gashaw Tigest Bahrain 4:14.81 blitzed to the 110m hurdles Qatar’s Musaab Ali (foreground) with 1,500m gold medallist Abraham here in Doha. The goal is to be 4x400m relay as India were Musaab Ali Qatar (3:43.18 (.180) Winfred Yavi Bahrain 4:16.18 SB gold with a new championship SB Kipchirchir Rotich (Bahrain) and silver medallist Ajay Kumar Saroj ready for the World Champi- disqualified for jostling and WOMEN’S DISCUS THROW MEN’S LONG JUMP record of 13.21sec, ending the (India) on the podium during the fourth and final day of the 23rd onships,” he added. obstruction which upgraded Feng Bin China 65.36 CR, PB Yuki Hashioka Japan 8.22 PB, equals WL eight-year reign of former re- Asian Athletics Championships in Doha. In the hammer throw, Qa- Qatar from fourth to bronze Chen Yang China 61.87 SB Zhang Yaoguang China 8.13 SB cord holder and fellow Chinese tar’s Ashraf El Seify was cruis- medal. During the race, Bas- Subenrat Insaeng Thailand 58.20 SB Huang Changzhou China 7.97 SB Liu Xiang. Kuwait’s Yaqoub al ing to his first Asian Cham- sem Hemeida was clipped just WOMEN’S 100M HURDLES MEN’S 5,000M Youha finished second setting pionships gold but Dilshod after the fourth corner on the Ayako Kimura Japan 13.13 Birhanu Balew Bahrain 13:37.42 the national record with 13.35, Nazarov of Tajikistan proved track. Japan emerged the win- Chen Jiamin China 13.24 PB Albert Rop Bahrain 13:37.57 while Chen Kuei-Rui complet- once again why he’s Asia four- ner, beating China. Masumi Aoki Japan 13.28 Hiroki Matsueda Japan 13:45.44 ed the podium. time champion with a season 60m specialist Xie Zhenye MEN’S 110M HURDLES WOMEN’S 4X400M “I am so excited. I was in best 76.14m throw on his fifth blazed to the 200m gold, as Xie Wenjun China 13.21 CR, WL, PB Bahrain 3:32.10 SB great shape and the track of try. Qatar’s Femi Ogunode pulled Yaqoub al Youha Kuwait 13.35 PB, NR India 3:32.21 SB this wonderful stadium helped “I couldn’t find my rhythm his left hamstring again just Chen Kuei-Ru Chinese Taipei 13.39 equals PB, NR Japan 3:34.88 SB me beat the Championship re- due to the cold but I made a after the bend, much to the WOMEN’S 200M MEN’S 4X400M cord,” said the Chinese. few big ones in the end. I have disappointment of the home Salwa Nasser Bahrain 22.74 CR, PB Japan 3:02.94 Chinese duo Feng Bin won so many titles in my ca- fans. The 200m Asian record Olga Safronova Kazakhstan 22.87 SB China 3:03.55 PB, NR and Chen Yang did not disap- reer but not a World Cham- holder was a surprise starter Dutee Chand India 22.24 (.232) SB Qatar 3:03.95 point as they claimed the gold pionships gold. Maybe I will having been doubtful after MEN’S 200M MEN’S HAMMER THROW and silver, respectively in the make it in Doha,” the Tajik suffering an injury in the Xie Zhenye China 20.33 Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan 76.14 SB women’s discus throw. Feng who is also president of the same hamstring on Tuesday. Yuki Koike Japan 20.55 Ashraf El Seify Qatar 73.76 had the longest throw going country’s athletics federation Zhenye stunned Asian Games Yaqoub Salem Bahrain 20.84 Sukhrob Hodjayev Uzbekistan 72.85 into the competition this sea- said. gold medallist Yuki Koike who son and followed up with the Ashraf who beat the Tajik could only settle for the silver. championship record with at the Asian Games last year, “I had a glance at the clock leapt to a world lead 2.31 in why I tried in all heights which 65.36m. Thailand’s Subenrat settled for silver while Uzbeki- after the race and I wasn’t re- the men’s high jump final. I really don’t like doing. I Insaeng who was the runner- stan’s Sukhrob Hodjayev com- ally satisfied with my time. I With record holder Mutaz eased into it after making the up at the 2017 meet landed the pleted the podium. finished faster in the semis Bashim out due to injury and qualifying mark for the World bronze. “It took me some time to and I expected to do better, looking on from the stands, Championships (2.30) but I Salwa Nasser stormed to find my rhythm because of apparently I was tired from Ghazal clearly dominated the personally put the bar at 2.35,” another medal and champi- the cold but however, it hap- Tuesdays’ races,” Zhenye said. field and gunned for Bashim’s Ghazal said. onship record in the women’s pens with hammer throwers Syria’s Majdeddin Ghazal record of 2.35 which he set in “It is strange but after 200m final. The 20-year-old to slowly find a big throw,” claimed his first Asian Cham- Kobe, Japan in 2011. Ghazal so many years competing at breezed past Olga Safronova Ashraf said. pionship gold medal on his however, after a few tries gave Asia Championships, this is in the final 40 metres adding Syria’s Majdeddin Ghazal on the podium with his men’s high jump “I want to throw 80m this seventh appearance as the up. only my first gold medal,” another gold to her kitty in this gold medal on Wednesday. season; that is my aim. If I lanky Damascus-born jumper “I was feeling cold that’s the 32-year-old Asian Games championships. Sports Thursday, April 25, 2019 17

QATAR BEAT SAUDI ARABIA IN WORLD CURLING BALUSHI GUIDES RASSAN TO CLUB CUP

Rider al Moatasem al Balushi led Rassan, owned by Jassim bin Ali al Attiyah and trained by Jassim Ghazali, to a strong finish in the Club Cup (Late Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari) at the 46th Race Meeting at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club Racecourse on Wednesday. The nine-year-old gray horse defeated Kasser with Tadgh O’Shea astride by two lengths on the dirt track. Third Qatar recorded their first-ever win in the World Mixed Curling Championship as they defeated the Saudi Arabian rivals in place went to Ateej and Raqee was fourth, followed by Caid De L’Ardus in the fifth spot. This was the third win of the season for Norway. In a mixed doubles match, Qatar posted a fine 7-3 triumph. Rassan after the Doha Cup in November and the Fuweiret Cup last month, taking his victories to 17 in 54 races. Seven Qataris members in Attiyah eyes lucky OCA standing committees TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK 13th win in Jordan DOHA THE Olympic Council of Asia TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK (OCA) announced the names DOHA of heads and members of its standing committees for the THE Jordan Rally, round two term from 2019 to 2023. of the 2019 FIA Middle East Seven Qatari nominees Rally Championship, gets un- were selected as members in derway at Abdali Boulevard in the OCA standing committees the heart of Amman on Thurs- including Ishaq al Hashemi in day evening. Sports Committee, Alanoud The ceremonial start will Saaed al Mesnad in Women Saif al Naeemi Al Anoud al Misnad take place from 19.15hrs and and Sports Committee, Nasser gives spectators the opportu- Saleh al Attiyah in Athletes nity to see the cars and drivers Committee, Hamad Yousif al in the capital of the Hashemite Obaidli in Media Committee, Kingdom before the on-stage Saif Mohammed al Naemi in action switches to the sinuous Education Committee, Rashid gravel trails of the Dead Sea Saed Adiba in Sport For All and Jordan Valley areas on Fri- day and Saturday. Officials at Jordan Motor- sport have completed the re- pairs and tweaks to the special stages, following recent inclem- Hamad al Obaidly Ishaq al Hashemi ent weather conditions, and a Qatar’s champion rallyist Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel on their way to winning the favourable weather forecast for recent Qatar International Rally. Committee, Peace Through fidence of Olympic Council the weekend lays the founda- Sport Committee, Rules of Asia as per the required tions for two days of classic ral- year because the piste is well Henry is feeling confident Committee, Sports Commit- terms and qualifications. Qa- lying action near to the lowest prepared.” Officials at Jordan with the notes and the car. tee, Sports For All Commit- tar has elite of national sport point on earth. Reigning MERC 2 champi- Motorsport have complet- Last year was his first time be- tee, Sports and Environment leaders and cadres in all Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah on Meshari al Thefiri of Kuwait ed the repairs and tweaks hind the wheel of the Škoda. Committee and Women and fields that helped the country is the defending champion and also leads this year’s show- to the special stages, fol- After one year with the car, Sports Committee hosting the sport events and a 12-time winner of the Jordan room category after his win in lowing recent inclement he is feeling good, especially Theses posts come as a championships over the past Rally. His French co-driver Qatar last month. Speaking of here in Jordan. The weather new credit for the sport posts decades and organized many Matthieu Baumel has won the the recce, he said: “The stages weather conditions, and a forecast is good. We have tally assumed by Qatari of- programs and initiatives in all event on five occasions, but are very good and the tracks favourable weather fore- missed the sun in Jordan in Committee and Abdul Wahab ficials at continental and in- fields. both are trying to clinch a first are in perfect condition, not cast for the weekend lays recent days…” al Musleh in Medical Commit- ternational level , that in line Dr. Thani bin Abdulrah- success in their new Volkswa- like last year when we had the the foundations for two On Thursday, attention fo- tee. with QOC’s vision to benefit man al Kuwari, the Second gen Polo GTI R5. late rain and it was very slip- days of classic rallying cuses on the ceremonial start The OCA consists of 18 from young and qualified Qa- Vice-President of the Qatar Fresh from winning the re- pery. It is good for me. The action near to the lowest for the Jordan Rally in the heart standing committee including tari officials in different sport Olympic Committee (QOC), cent Merzouga Rally in Moroc- goal is maximum points and point on earth. of Amman at Abdali Boulevard. Advisory Committee, Athletes organisations. was elected Vice-President of co with Attiyah at the helm of a maximum speed, flat out on Several drivers will attend Committee, Culture Commit- The QOC aims to promote the Olympic Council of Asia lightweight Can-Am Maverick the first loop, to kill off my ri- the pre-event press confer- tee, Coordination Commit- integrated sport system con- (OCA) for west Asian for a X3, Baumel said: “I am really vals and to win again.” even see that the stages were ence on the start podium from tee, Education Committee, sists of highly qualified and term from 2019 to 2023 dur- surprised. Despite the weather, Henry Kahy of Lebanon damaged at all. It will be flat out 18.15hrs and cars will then Ethics Committee, Entourage professional Qatari cadres as ing the OCA 38th General As- the organisers have done a very is the defending FIA MERC 3 for us in the front-wheel drive cross the start podium in re- Committee, Finance Com- per the QOC’s strategy to take sembly meeting held in Bang- good job. All the tracks are well champion and his Jordanian category. verse order from 19.15hrs. mittee, Information and Sta- care and develop the Olympic kok, Thailand in March 2019 prepared. It is going to be a nice co-driver Musa Djiyerian said: “Recce went very well and Support for the event comes tistics Committee, Interna- Movement in the country. under the chairmanship of rally. I think we will beat the “Full credit to the organisers. then we had documentation from Abdali Boulevard, Moun- tional Relations Committee, The Qatari candidates the OCA President Sheikh Ah- best times on some stages this Amazing stages. You cannot today and then some testing. tain Dew, Hala and Bliss FM. Media Committee, Medical honorably received the con- mad al Fahad al Sabah. RCB beat Kings XI Nadal’s rare set loss in Barcelona for third win in a row AGENCIES The Belarussian Azarenka, The Pala Alpitour, opened IANS themselves off the foot of the BARCELONA 29, won the first-round base- in 2005 for the Winter Olym- BENGALURU table while Kings XI remained line duel in 1 hour 44 minutes pics, is Italy’s largest indoor fifth. WORLD number two Rafa Na- on first match point over her sporting arena, with a seating ROYAL Challengers Bangalore Earlier, de Villiers was scor- dal dropped a set at the Barce- 34-year-old Russian opponent capacity of 12,350. rode A.B. de Villiers’ half-cen- ing at run-a-ball till he was on lona Open for the first time in who still leads the series 6-5. “Italy provides us with tury to record their third suc- 25, but from the 15th over on- four years before advancing to In other action, Taiwan’s one of the strongest and most cessive win as they beat Kings wards the South Africa legend the last 16, beating Argentine Hsieh Su Wei rallied to beat established tennis markets in XI Punjab by 17 runs to keep changed gears to plunder his Leonardo Mayer 6-7(7) 6-4 6-2 Wang Qiang of China, 4-6, 6-3, Europe and has a proven track their chances alive, in an IPL next 57 runs off just 19 deliver- on Wednesday. 6-4 to earn a Thursday second- record for hosting world class game here on Wednesday. ies as RCB scored 64 runs in the The Spaniard surrendered round date with world number tennis events,” Chris Kermode, De Villiers (82*; 44 balls, last three overs. a 5-3 lead in the first set and one Naomi Osaka of Japan. ATP Executive Chairman and 4x3, 6x7) and Marcus Stoinis, De Villiers shared a 121-run then spurned two set points Swiss Belinda Bencic President, said in a statement. who remained not out on 46 fifth wicket stand off just 66 in the tiebreak, which Mayer, ousted Luxembourg qualifier The event features the (34 balls, 4x2, 6x3), shared an balls with Marcus Stoinis who ranked 63 in the world, edged Mandy Minella, 6-2, 6-4; and world’s top eight singles play- unbroken 121-run fifth wicket remained not out on 46 (34 thanks to an impressive cross- Croatia’s Donna Vekic beat ers and doubles teams and stand off just 66 balls to help balls, 4x2, 6x3). court forehand winner. Italian lucky loser Giulia Gat- offered $8.5 million in prize RCB posted 202/4 after Kings Mohammed Shami (1/53) Nadal, who has won the to-Monticone, 6-1, 7-5. money last year, when Alexan- XI skipper R. Ashwin asked had an off day and so did Har- Barcelona Open a record 11 der Zverev stunned Djokovic them to bat first. dus Viljoen (1/51), who was tak- times, had not lost a set in the Turin wins bid to host to win the title. In reply, Kings XI fought en for 27 runs in the last over tournament since a round of 16 ATP Finals Milan has hosted the Next hard but in the end fell short as with Stoinis producing a series game against Fabio Fognini in Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his second-round match Turin’s Pala Alpitour sta- Gen Finals for the top eight K.L. Rahul (42; 27b; 7x4; 1x6) of 4-6-4-6 in the final four de- 2015, winning 30 sets in a row against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina at the 67th Barcelona Open dium was named on Wednes- players aged 21 and under for and Nicholas Pooran (46; 28b liveries. until he met Mayer. tennis tournament in Barcelona on Wednesday. (EPA-EFE) day as the new venue for the the past two years, while Rome 1x4; 5x6) threatened to take the Skipper Virat Kohli (13) Nadal was in danger of los- ATP Finals from 2021-2025, hosts a Masters 1000 clay court game away from Virat Kohli’s was the first to go, but de Vil- ing two consecutive matches Ferrer beat Frenchman lier in the day. drawing a line under London’s event in May in the buildup to men at the start and towards liers used all his experience and on clay for the first time in his Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-1 while long tenure as host of the year- the French Open. the end respectively. Kings Xi class to guide RCB to an impos- career following defeat in the Argentine Guido Pella beat Duel of ex-stars ending tournament. Turin has a hard act to posted 185/7 in 20 overs. ing total. Monte Carlo Masters semi-fi- six-seed Karen Khachanov in In Stuttgart, Victoria Aza- Men’s governing body the follow as the ATP Finals have Mayank Agarwal (35)and nal to Fognini, but he bounced straight sets. renka and Vera Zvonareva ATP said in a statement on been hugely popular with play- Rahul combined for a 59-run BRIEF SCORES: back by breaking his opponent Lucky loser Roberto Car- turned back the clock on that Turin was picked ahead ers and fans at the O2 Arena, second wicket stand while Da- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 202/4 in 20 overs in the second set opener. balles Baena beat compatriot Wednesday when the former of Manchester, Singapore, To- where aggregate attendances vid Miller (24) and Pooran (de Villiers 82 not out, Marcus Stoinis 46 not out, Nadal broke the Argentine Nicola Kuhn in three sets af- top stars met for the first time kyo and London, marking the have routinely reached a quar- Parthiv Patel 43; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/15) joined hands for a 68-run part- Kings XI Punjab: 185/7 (Pooran 46, Rahul 42; twice more in the decider to set ter Fognini withdrew from the in eight years - with Azarenka first time in the tournament’s ter of a million each year since nership. Umesh Yadav 3/36) up an all-Spanish third round tournament following injury prevailing 7-5, 6-4 at the Por- 50-year history that it will be London began hosting the The result saw RCB lift tie with David Ferrer. concerns after practising ear- sche Grand Prix. staged in Italy. tournament. 18 Thursday, April 25, 2019 Sports Plenty of work to do to reach ACL last 16, says Al Sadd coach

AFC.COM With Saudi Arabia’s Al DOHA Ahli defeating the Islamic Re- public of Iran’s Persepolis 2-1 AL Sadd coach Jesualdo Fer- in Monday’s other Group D reira insists there is plenty of fixture, the stage is set for an work to do in order to qualify intriguing final two rounds of for the 2019 AFC Champions fixtures. League last 16 after the Qatari Just three points sepa- side secured a hard-fought 2-1 rate top from bottom, with victory over Uzbekistan’s Pa- Al Sadd leading the way on khtakor on Monday. seven points, Al Ahli on six, Xavi scored his second free-kick – and third goal – in two games as Al Sadd took an “The match did not play early lead at the Jassim Bin out in the way we wanted Hamad Stadium and Egor it to, but we stayed true to Krimets leveled proceedings our identity and tried to before the interval. But with the clock ticking create chances to score down, Baghdad Bounedjah and win on merit,” said Al capitalised on a defensive er- Sadd coach Ferreira ror before slotting home to seal all three points as the 2018 semi-finalists moved to Pakhtakor on five and Perse- the top of the Group D stand- polis on four. ings. “The task remains diffi- “We expected the match Baghdad Bounedjah of Al Sadd (Qatar) celebrates with teammates against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in an Al Sadd Club coach Jesualdo Ferreira encourages his players during cult for everyone, because the to be tough and everyone AFC Champions League match. the match. competition is very intense, saw the strength of the oppo- even if we defeat Al Ahli at nent,” Ferreira told the club’s Nothing could separate But Al Sadd had the bet- to secure a vital win. is what we did today – and delkarim (Hassan) had a home,” added Ferreira. website. the two sides in Tashkent ter of the possession and, “In the game against Baghdad was able to score the positive effect on the result “We then have to go to “The match did not play in a 2-2 draw on Matchday just like in their previous Persepolis, we got the win in winner in the 87th minute,” of the match. All the players Iran to face Persepolis and out in the way we wanted it to, Three and a similar scenario home game against Persepo- injury time; everyone on the said the Portuguese coach. performed at a good level and everyone knows the strength but we stayed true to our iden- seemed to be panning out in lis, the 2018 AFC Champions team knows that if they want “The changes in the po- we succeeded in fulfilling our of Iranian teams when they tity and tried to create chances Doha in what is a congested League’s top scorer Bouned- the win, they need to fight sitions between (substitute) objective, which was to win play in front of their home to score and win on merit.” group. jah popped up with a late goal until the last minute and this Yasir (Abubakar) and Ab- the game.” fans.” Al Rayyan storm into Asian club volleyball semis This is a fourth semi-final for the Qatari club in the championship TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK RESULTS Qataris were relentless and DOHA clinched the first set comfort- Results of the quarter-final matches: (Chinese Taipei) 25–20 25–15 25–20 ably at 25-14. TWICE finalists Al Rayyan Quarter-finals Going down one set, Sri Club virtually walked all over Panasonic Panthers (Japan) beat Queensland Thursday’s fixtures Lanka Ports Authority Sports Exciting close-to-the-net actions during the quarter-final match between Al Rayyan Club of Qatar and Sri Sri Lanka Ports Authority Pirates (Australia) 25–14 25–18 25–9 Semi-finals Club bounced back initially Lanka Ports Authority in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Taipei on Wednesday. Sports Club and stormed into Chennai Spartans (India) beat TP.HCM (Vietnam) Panasonic Panthers vs Al Rayyan to catch the much taller ri- 25–21 25–18 25–21 Shahrdari Varamin vs Chennai Spartans the Asian Men’s Club Volley- Al Rayyan (Qatar) beat Sri Lanka Ports Authority 5th–8th semi-finals vals at 11-11. From then on- ball Championship semi-finals (Sri Lanka) 25–14 25–22 25–12 Queensland Pirates vs Sri Lanka Ports Authority wards, both sides attacked with a 25-14, 25-22, 25-12 Shahrdari Varamin (Iran) beat Taichung Bank TP.HCM vs Taichung Bank and countered it to go neck romp on Wednesday. and neck. After opening a At the University of Taipei narrow 20-18 lead, Al Rayy- (Tianmu) Gymnasium, Bra- day, we have to continue this. Al Rayyan strong lineup an stretched it to 24-21 and zilian Marcus Costa fired 11 “We will take on Pana- was led by attacking machine allowed the brave rivals only smashes and served two aces sonic Panthers in the semi- Rychlicki, powerful Mascus one more point before Costa to top-score for Al Rayyan finals. I think the Japanese Costa from Brazil, Vuka- unleashed a sharp blow to with 13 points. Montenegro’s team are one of the strongest sinovic and hard-attacking take the hard-fought set at Marko Vukasinovic provided teams in the tournament. I Youssef Oughlaf. Sri Lanka 25-22. commendable support to suppose that we have to per- Ports Authority Sports Club In the third set, the Sri him to contribute 10 points. form our 100 percent to beat were strengthened by two Sri Lanka team looked hapless Lasindu Wasanthapriya led them and I think it’s possi- Lanka national team players, as Ahmed Noaman punc- Sri Lanka Ports Authority ble,” the 206-cm tall spiker Janitha Surath and Lasindu tured their defence into Sports Club with 11 points, all added. Wasanthapriya. shreds with his fierce attacks. from powerful attacks. This is a 12th time that a Al Rayray, taking the Mubarak Hammad and Costa Rychlicki from Luxem- Qatari club reached the last height advantage of 195cm produced terrific jump serves bourg said after the match four stage. Al Arabi, the 2012 against the rivals’ 184cm, which always went without that he was happy to help champions, booked a spot in opened a gap and continued responding. The Qataris led the team secure the first ob- the semi-finals on eight occa- to widen it, thanks mainly initially 21-10 and continued jective. “It’s good to win this sions, advancing to the final to the imposing presence of their charge. Belal Abunabot match and my team is in the four time. Al Rayyan, fourth Costa and Rychlicki, who sealed the set and the match semi-finals. We are happy to way back in 2002, finished kept finding holes to put the with his well-placed serve to win since we have achieved runners-up in the 2013 and ball away. After jumping set up Al Rayyan’s fourth en- our first goal and on Thurs- 2014 campaigns. to an initial 19-10 lead, the try to the best four group. Milos Stevanovic sets the ball for his Al Rayyan teammates against Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Younousse, Tijan hope to improve on Xiamen Open 2018 finish

pair were unstoppable in the was Michal Bryl and Grzegorz ov will play in their fifth tour- Most of the top players confirm their second half of 2018 taking five Fijalek, who enter Xiamen as nament as a team in Xiamen. golds in a row; Gstaad 5-Star, number two seeds. The Polish Of their four tournaments to- participation in the Chinese event CEV European Champion- team faced Mol, A./Sorum, gether so far, three ended on ships, Vienna 5-Star, Ham- C. in the finals of the Vienna the podium with silver at the TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK Younousse and Tijan would burg World Tour Finals and 5-Star, the Hamburg World Yangzhou 4-Star, their first DOHA be more than keen to improve Las Vegas 4-Star. Mol, A./So- Tour Finals and Las Vegas tournament as a team, bronze on 17th place finish in the rum, C. kicked off the year in 4-Star, taking the silver each in Las Vegas and most recent- CURRENT Asia champions 2018 edition. time. Bryl/Fijalek got off to a ly gold at The Hague 4-Star in Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan was ninth in 2017 positive start in 2019 reach- January this year. Tijan from Qatar will clash when he had partnered Julio This is the second meeting ing the final four in Doha in Stoyanovskiy won Xiamen with Turk qualifiers Murat Cesar Nascimento. between the Qatari and March. last year alongside former Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe The second match in Pool Turkish teams with the Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek partner Igor Velichko in an in their opening Pool G match G pits 10th seeds Taylor Crabb former winning the previ- (left) and Norway’s Anders all-Russian final against Kra- at the double gender Four-Star and Jake Gibb from the US ous one in three sets in Mol at the Las Vegas 4-Star silnikov and Nikita Liamin. Xiamen Open, due to start against Brazlian qualifiers Ali- the Moscow Four-Star in final in 2018 Velichko and Liamin now play from Thursday to April 28. son Cerutti and Alvaro Filho. August last year. Aleksandrs Samoilovs and together in a direct switch of The Qatari pair have been The Xiamen Open is a Janis Smedins are back in Xi- partners among the Russian creeping up the rankings key event in the lead up to Younousse and Tijan would amen for a fifth edition, first teams and will also feature in since they teamed up in 2018. the FIVB Beach Volleyball be more than keen to appearing in 2013 and their Xiamen’s main draw. They will aim for their first World Championships Ham- improve on 17th place fin- best result a bronze in 2015. In their tenth year as FIVB World Tour final after burg 2019 and the Chinese ish in the 2018 edition. Samoilovs/Smedins posted team, Spain’s Pablo Herrera taking two bronzes in 2018, in tournament will see the best two golds in 2018 at the Es- Allepuz and Adrián Gavira Doha and Vienna. in beach volleyball go head to pinho 4-Star and Moscow Collado are back in Xiamen This is the second meet- head on Guanyinshan Golden Qatar’s star beach volleyball players Cherif Younnouse (left) and The Hague reaching the quar- 4-Star and will be aiming to for a fourth time, winning ing between the Qatari and Beach including top-seeded Ahmed Tijan. terfinals and enter Xiamen for improve on their most recent the tournament in 2016. Turkish teams with the for- men Norway’s Anders Mol a second time, reaching the result in Doha where they With a bronze in Doha to mer winning the previous one and Christian Sorum. ing it all the way to the podi- Topping the men’s seed- quarters last year. ended in pool play. start their year, the Spanish in three sets in the Moscow With every team within um, Xiamen promises to see ing is Anders Mol and Chris- Snapping at the heels of Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovs- pair enter Xiamen as number Four-Star in August last year. the main draw capable of tak- some fierce competition. tian Sorum. The Norwegian Mol, A./Sorum, C. in 2018 kiy and Viacheslav Krasilnik- five seeds.