Americans Miles Partain/Andy Benesh fell to Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals (21-14, 21-16) to be eliminated from the men’s beach volleyball tournament.
The loss means that no U.S. beach volleyball team, men’s or women’s, will reach the Olympic podium for the first time in 24 years.
Younousse/Tijan — Tokyo bronze medalists and one of the top-ranked defensive teams in the men’s field — stifled the Americans’ option offense that helped get them to the quarterfinals.
Partain/Benesh fought hard in the beginning of the first set. A 4-0 Qatari run put Younousse/Tijan up 11-8, but the U.S. responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take a 12-11 lead. Qatar then went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-12 lead and ended the set on a 10-2 run overall to comfortably win the first period of play.
Qatar wore out the U.S. in the second set, taking a lead and holding on for the straight sets victory. Partain/Benesh had promising moments throughout the match but couldn’t build enough momentum to combat the sharp play of the Qataris.
Younousse/Tijan will face world No. 1 team David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden, who they defeated earlier in the tournament.
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