Qatar’s Ismail finishes fourth in heats, eligible for repechage round

Qatar sprinter Ammar Ismail yesterday impressed with a personal best in the men’s 400m contest which got underway at the Stade de France in Paris yesterday.

Making his debut at the Olympic Games, Ismail clocked 44.66secs to finish fourth in his heat falling short of a place as top three athletes from each heat advanced to the semi-finals. Ismail’s time was eighth best among all contenders as a total of eight heats took place yesterday. The 27-year-old still has a chance to advance as he will take part in the repechage round today.
Younousse-Tijan to take on Chile’s Grimalt cousins

Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will take on Chile’s Marco Grimalt and Esteban Grimalt today in the round of 16 of the beach volleyball competition at the Paris Games 2024.

Younousse and Tijan started their Paris campaign with three wins out of three in the pool stage, the second on Monday when they came from a set down to beat top-ranked Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.

The Chile’s cousins finished in third place in Group B after securing only one victory against Italy’s Samuel Cottafava and Paul Nicolai 2-0, while losing to Norway’s D Ahman and J Hellvig 0-2 and Australian M. Nicolaidis and I. Carracher with the same score.

The Chile pair advanced after Canada’s Samuel Schachter and Daniel Dearing forfeited in the ‘lucky losers’ clash’.

Having topped their group, Younousse and Tijan should have plenty of confidence heading into the round of 16.

However, They are not getting carried away with their start at the spectacular venue in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

“I would say for us, the big goal is to play well and the results will come,” Younousse said yesterday.

“We have nothing to lose. We must enjoy and play very well and anything we achieve we are thankful for.”