Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2018 – Rio 2016 Olympian Cherif Younousse of Qatar is aiming for honours at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 3-star event in Tokyo - the Japanese capital will also host the Olympic Games in 2020.
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“For the Tokyo 3-star, our goal is to play our best and win it,” Cherif said. “It’s going to be tough for sure, but we will give our best, we will keep pushing to succeed. We’ve been training and competing a lot because we want to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and earn a medal.
“We are not a new team anymore. We have been improving our game each year and we are capable of winning medals on the World Tour and the Asian Tour. We feel that we are more stable now as a team and it’s time we move forward.”
Cherif and partner Ahmed Tijan’s first mission in the Tokyo 3-star is to get through pool play. The Qatar duo claimed a quick straight-set 2-0 (21-7, 21-6) win against the host nation’s Yu Koshikawa and Hiroki Dylan Kurokowa on Thursday morning.
“We had to finish the match quickly,” Cherif said. “When we play against Japanese pairs who have such a great variety of skills, we have to push hard and play on a higher level.
"We just arrived last night and we do not want to spend much energy. We needed to catch up on the time difference, so if we can finish both sets as quickly as possible, we will do it.”
Cherif is pleased he got the opportunity to make an early visit to the Japanese city before the Olympic Games.
“Tokyo is one of the places I wanted to visit,” he said. “I’m glad that I am here because it is significant to me as an athlete because this will be the venue for the Olympics.”