Cherif-Ahmed start on a winning note.

Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan celebrate a point during their AVC Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master group match against Thailand's Kitti Duangjinda and Surin Jongklang yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan started their AVC Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018 campaign on a winning note yesterday. At the Aspire Park yesterday, the World No 10 pair defeated Thai pair of Kitti Duangjinda and Surin Jongklang 21-7, 21-11 in their opening Pool A match. The Asian Games gold medallists took only 24 minutes for their straight-set win as they collected 11 points in a row in the opening set. Younousse controlled the net with power-packed kills and superb blocks, while Tijan produced solid defence at the back court. "We're going match by match. We're not thinking about far too long. This is the last event of the year and this is the last piece for our cake. We'll try to do as good as possible to grab it," said Younousse. The No. 1 Qatar team will face Oman's Ali al-Shibli and Hood al-Jalaboubi today before the knock-out phase begins. Younousse and Tijan were the only Qataris to win their first match, while 'B' team of Assam Mahmoud and Tamer Abdelrasoul lost to Iranians Rahman Raoufi and Abdolhamed Mirzaali after winning the first set. Nasser Ahmed al-Meer and Hamad al-Kuwari were outclassed by Thailand's Banlue Nakprakhong and Sedtawat Padsawud 17-21, 7-21. Later, Mahmoud and Abdelrasoul went down fighting to Kazakhstan's Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy Yakovlev 0-2. Australians also warmed up well before the knock-out phase with both their teams clinching their crucial group battles. Cole Durant and Damien Schumann stunned former 2014 Asian Games and Asia champions Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandr Dyachenko 17-21, 21-19, 15-12, while three-time Asia champion Chris McHugh, teaming up with Zachery Schubert defeated Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy Yakovlev 21-16, 21-18 in 39 minutes. Iranians Arash Vakili and Bahman Salemiinjeboroun, the Asia runners-up to Younousse and Tijan, won both their pool matches. They first defeated Oman's Nouh Jalboubi and Mazin al-Hashmi 21-14, 21-19 and then they took 37 minutes to beat Japanese Takahashi Takumi and Yoshiumi Hasegawa 21-7, 21-17. Results Group stage Cherif/Ahmed (Qat) beat Kitti/ Surin (Tha) 21-7, 21-11 (24 min) Gottsu/Ageba (Jpn) beat Ali/ Hood (Omn) 21-11, 21-8 (28 min) Durant/ Schumann (Aus) beat Sidorenko/Dyachenko (Kaz) 1:01 hours) Raoufi/ Mirzaali (Irn) beat Assam/ Tamer (Qat) 18-21, 21-17, 15-12 (57 min) Vakili/ Salemi (Irn) beat Mazin/ Nouh (Omn) 21-14, 21-19 (32 min) Banlue/ Sedtawat (Tha) beat Nasser/ Hamad (Qat) 21-17, 21-7 (28 min) McHugh/ Schubert (Aus) beat Bogatu/ Yakovlev (Kaz) 21-16, 21-18 (39 min)

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