Qatar A duo of Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse outplayed Oman B’s Haitham and Ahmed in the final to clinch Qatar’s first gold medal in the event. Oman A won bronze. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Hosts Qatar won their first gold medal at the 2nd GCC Beach Games yesterday as Qatar A emerged champions in volleyball.
At the Gharafa court, Qatar A comprised of Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse, outplayed Oman B’s Haitham and Ahmed 21-11, 21-18, in the final to clinch first gold medal of the event.
Delighted Qatar coach Pedro Paulo Costa lauded the efforts of Younousse in Qatar’s golden victory. “It’s a big achievement for us. I am very happy that we won the gold today. But for me Younousse’s performance was very satisfying. I am very happy for him,” he said.
“He complimented his senior partner Pereira so well today that the combination became lethal. The victory has provided us new combination,” the Qatar coach said.
Pereira, who has started playing with Younousse just couple of months ago, also praised his younger partner.
“Younousse played superb today. At the net especially he was in total command. We have started playing together recently, but we are combining well. I think Younousse has bright future ahead of him,” Pereira said.
“I am delighted to win gold for Qatar and hope to keep the momentum going for us in the forthcoming events,” he said.
Earlier, in the day in an all-Qatar semifinal, Pereira-Younousse pair defeated Qatar ‘B’ Abdelaziz Khallouf and Tamer Abdelrasoul 21-14, 21-15, while Oman B defeated Oman A’s Badr-Mazin 21-9, 21-10 in the second semifinals.
“I am very excited with our win in the final. Oman pair very was experienced, but we played as per our plan and succeeded,” Younousse said.
Younousse, who was playing his second tournament for the senior Qatar team, gave credit of his good show to his senior partner when he said: “We all know Pereira is superb player and he helped me a lot today. I learned a lot while playing alongside him and hopefully lived up expectation in coming months.”
The pair is leaving for Thailand tomorrow to play on the Asian tour. “It is good confident boosting victory before leaving for Thailand. I hope we will keep the momentum going during the couple of weeks,” Younousse said.
In the bronze medal match, Qatar B lost to Oman A 21-9, 21-10.
Meanwhile commenting on the progress of the 2nd GCC Beach Games, Director of PR for the Beach Games Organising Committee and the Qatar Olympic Committee, Mohamed al-Fadala said:
“We are extremely pleased with the performance of our athletes in this incredibly competitive tournament and are honored to host such an exciting edition of the GCC Beach Games. The Games have so far been a great success and will surely inspire a new generation of athletes, locally, regionally as well as internationally.”
The excitement is set to continue as the week progresses, with sailing, open water swimming and 3x3 basketball matches set to begin from the today.
After the first edition was held in Bahrain in 2010, this year’s GCC Beach Games are being held in Doha’s state-of-the-art facilities and iconic landmarks over an action-packed eight-day sporting spectacle. The multi-purpose complex at Al Gharafa Club is hosting the volleyball, handball, football and 3x3 basketball events, while Katara Cultural Village will host open water swimming, rowing and sailing.
The concept of Beach Games was created by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) with the staging of the first-ever Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia in 2008, and is seen as a pioneer in bringing new sports to the sand. The Asian Beach Games have been held every two years since, with the most recent edition being hosted in 2014 in Phuket, Thailand. Its popularity and success led to a resolution at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in November 2014 to launch a World Beach Games, with the first event set to take place in 2017.