Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan went down to Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig 13-21, 17-21 in the semi-finals of the beach volleyball at the Paris Olympic Games on Thursday. The 13th seeds will now take on defending champions Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway in the bronze medal match tomorrow at 9pm. Younousse and Tijan had won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
World No. 1 pair Ahman and Hellvig were in supreme form as they secured Sweden’s first-ever Olympic medal in beach volleyball and handed out Younousse and Tijan’s first defeat in six matches played in Paris.
With Ahman spearheading the Swedish attack and Hellvig chipping in a couple of kill blocks, the duo mercilessly hammered out an emphatic first set win in a quite one-sided contest. Younousse and Tijan fought back in the second set, scoring five points in a row and broke away with an 8-4 lead.
They kept in front until 11-8, when Ahman and Hellvig took their turn in scoring a five-point run to regain the lead. The Qatari team caught up momentarily at 13-13, but that was the last time the score was level. The Swedes broke away again and cruised on to a 21-17 close, crowned by a monster block from Hellvig for the match winner.
The Swedish blocker finished with five stuffs and an ace towards a 16-point match high. Ahman added 14 kills in attack. Cherif and Ahmed scored 12 points apiece.
“I think we had a really good match,” Ahman said. “We played really, really solid in our sideout, we believed in our game and really went for it every chance we had. I think it was really strong to come back from being down in the second set and how we managed to come back and win in straight sets.”
“I can’t really believe it, but we’re in the final. It will take some time to realise that we made it,” added Hellvig. “If someone told us a few years ago that we would be in a final, I don’t think anyone would believe that. We have done it. It has been an incredible journey over the last few years and now we’re super proud that we made it to the final.”
Earlier, in the first semi-final, Mol and Sorum were knocked out by Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler 13-21, 21-17, 13-15. Ehlers, who stands at 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 metres), used his height and reach to great effect as Germany took the first set.
But to the delight of their fans, some wearing Viking helmets, the Norwegian pair battled back to square the match. After a tight decider, a dramatic review challenge over a net fault ruled in favour of the German pair.
The winners collapsed on the sand, with the stands shaking to the sound of thunderous stamping. After the match a visibly emotional Ehlers said he had “goosebumps and tears in my eyes”.
“I almost have no words. We can go for gold. It’s incredible.”
