Qatar’s Thamer Issa and Abdulaziz Khalouf are aiming for a podium finish at next month's AVC Beach Tour which takes place in Doha from May 3 to 5.
Issa and Khalouf will be one of the three teams from the host nation which will compete in the AVC Beach Tour Qatar Open and the duo are confident of putting up a good show at the home event.
“We hope to do well in the championships. We are looking at finishing on the podium,” said the pair while speaking to journalists.
The AVC Beach Tour will feature the best beach volleyball teams from 24 countries across Asia and the Qatari duo singled out Thailand, Australia and Kazakhstan as the teams to watch out in the event.
“Doha will host the best teams in Asia and we hope that our preparations will reap their rewards and that we achieve good results during the tournament. There will be strong challenges from the teams from Thailand, Australia and Kazakhstan but we believe that we can compete well and hope to beat them.”
The Qatari team said playing at home will have its advantages.
“We will be playing before ours fans, family and friends which will really help to push us more and encourage us. The atmosphere will be terrific. Another added advantage for us is that we will be playing at the venue, which is a familiar one for us, so the match conditions and those of the practice session will be the same which will also give us great motivation to well,” said Issa.
Team Qatar last year qualified for the beach volleyball competition of the Rio Olympics and continue to compete strongly on the world-stage.
Two of the Qatar’s top teams are currently competing in Thailand in the AVC Beach Tour where they hope to qualify for the World Championships in Vienna, Austria.
“Our teams have high ambitions for the future and the experience in Doha will help our preparations for the upcoming World Championships in Austria,” Khalouf said.
This year’s AVC Beach Tour in Doha is the first Master tournament – allowing the teams to gain more points versus the previously held Open tours.
According to Asian Volleyball Confederation rules, two teams from one country will be allowed to take part in the three-day event in Doha.
However, as hosts Qatar have been allowed to field a third team in the championship.
Issa said the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) has not lined up any overseas camp before the championship.
“We will not be travelling anywhere before the championship but will be training in Qatar,” Issa said yesterday.
The Qatari pair said they were getting use to training methods of the new Argentinian coach Mariano Baracetti.
“Yes we are trying to get familiar with the training and coaching style of the new coach. Hopefully, everything will be in place in the coming days,” added Khalouf.
Last month, Baracetti took over from Brazilian Pedro Pablo Costa as the beach volleyball coach of the Qatar team.
The 42-year-old had been the national under-18 team coach for two years before being given the charge of the senior team.
“My initial challenge is the Asian Tour. Then we’ve the Asian Championships which is very crucial for us. This will decide our fate for the World Championships, to be staged in Vienna,” the three-time Olympian said after taking over as coach. Besides Baracetti, the QVA have also appointed Brazilian veteran Percy Oncken for reorganising the youth and junior volleyball in the country, and Malek Rajdi as the national under-17 coach.
