Rio De Janeiro – Asian Continental Cup qualifiers Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse of Qatar brightened their chances of advancing to the knock-out stage of the Rio Olympic Games men’s beach volleyball with a gritty come-from-behind victory over FIVB World Tour veterans Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera of Spain on Monday.
At the picturesque Copacabana Beach arena, Pereira and Younousse were rattled in the opening set but they staged a thrilling return and needed 55 minutes to post a 13-21 21-18 15-12 triumph over the experienced Spanish rivals in the Group F match.
This was the second clash between the pairs, with the Qataris having lost the previous one in three sets in Sochi, Russia about three months ago.
After being dominated by the Spaniards in the first set, Jefferson and Cherif recovered from a 10-6 second set deficit to tie the set at 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s and 17-all.
A quick three-point run highlighted a 4-1 stretch for Qatar to end the set.
