Younousse, Tijan qualify for Paris Olympics

Qatar’s beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan have confirmed their spot for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) announced on Tuesday.
The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists will be making their third consecutive appearance at the Olympics, after qualifying for Paris via world rankings.
Younousse and Tijan are ranked 12th in the International Volleyball Federation’s Olympic qualification ranking with 8560 points.
“The team’s qualification has been approved by the International Federation, making Qatar one of the countries that qualified directly through the Olympic world ranking,” QVA said in a statement.
QVA emphasised its confidence in the duo’s ability to achieve outstanding results in Paris 2024, looking forward to more accomplishments and successes in their journey. It highlighted that the qualification reflects the hard work and dedication of the players and the technical staff., which is a source of pride for the nation and volleyball enthusiasts in Qatar.
Since 2014, Younousse and Tijan have earned numerous wins, and are at the top of Arab and Asian rankings and are among the top 10 teams in world. They have also won gold at the Asian Games twice (Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2023).
QVA has heavily invested in beach volleyball by organising many international and regional tournaments, along with a series of local championships held throughout the season. This has resulted in forming a strong Qatari team. Ali Ghanem al-Kuwari, President of the Qatar and West Asia Volleyball Federations, expressed his happiness with the duo’s qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
He attributed the achievement of Younousse and Tijan to the significant support from sports officials in Qatar, who provide unlimited support for athletes in general and volleyball in particular.
Al-Kuwari said that the qualification is a clear indication of Younousse and Tijan’s consistent performance at the international level. He noted that the Qatari team is considered one of the best teams in the world according to the elite teams’ ranking.