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The Qatar News Agency reported that both Qatari men’s beach volleyball teams secured straight-set wins in their respective group stage matches at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on September 21. Qatar 1, featuring Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, competed in Group A while Qatar 2, consisting of Mousa Alkhir and Mohamed Ihab, took part in Group D. The results mark an encouraging start for the delegation in a competition that runs alongside 38 other sports at the event staged from September 19 to October 4.
According to a separate Qatar News Agency dispatch issued on September 19, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan entered the tournament as the reigning Asian Games gold medalists from the 2022 Hangzhou edition. The same pair claimed gold at the Asian Beach Games in Sanya in April by defeating Iran in straight sets in the final, a Qatar News Agency summary stated. They have also secured the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship title on three occasions, including victories in 2018 in Thailand and 2019 in New Zealand.
The Qatar News Agency noted that Younousse and Tijan were named Asia’s best men’s beach volleyball players for 2026, adding weight to Qatar’s title defence ambitions at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Qatar 2’s Mousa Alkhir and Mohamed Ihab faced a Group D that included teams from Thailand, Sri Lanka and South Korea. The Asian Volleyball Confederation schedules placed the opening round matches on September 21 at Mizuho Park Stadium in Nagoya.
Qatar fielded four beach volleyball teams in total at the 20th Asian Games, with two entries in the women’s draw as well, the Qatar News Agency detailed on September 10. The women’s competition ran from September 16 to 22 while the men’s beach volleyball groups feed into later knockout stages. A Qatar Tribune report from September 20 highlighted that Qatar had already opened its overall medal tally with a silver in men’s karate kumite the previous day.
The multi-sport event in Aichi Prefecture features strong regional competition in beach volleyball, with host Japan, Iran and Indonesia among the nations contesting Group A alongside one Qatari team, an official Asian Games results archive showed. Qatar’s participation forms part of a broader volleyball presence that also includes indoor teams, with the men’s indoor draw set for September 27 to October 3. Records from past editions indicate Qatar has established itself as one of Asia’s consistent performers in beach volleyball since the discipline’s Asian Games introduction in 1998.
A further Qatar News Agency overview confirmed that the four Qatari beach volleyball pairs aimed to build on the country’s continental record and challenge for top positions. The tournament serves as preparation for future Olympic cycles, given beach volleyball’s status as a core Asian discipline. Subsequent group matches for the Qatari teams are scheduled through September 25 according to the published Asian Games calendar.
