By Armstrong Vas

Doha: Qatar coach Pedro Paulo Costa says his first target at the FIVB World Tour event in Doha is qualify from the pool and thereafter get ready for the daunting task which lies ahead at the championship.

“Our first goal is to qualify from the pool and thereafter we take the match by match approach. My expectations is to qualify from the group and then see what happens. And thereafter we will set new goals (for the championship)” said the Brazilian on the eve of the $75000 Qatar Open which kicks off today on the Qatar Beach Volleyball Academy courts at the Al Gharafa Stadium.

As the host nation Qatar has two teams pre-seeded into the main draw for the event. Eighth-seeded Jefferson and Cherif and 24th-seeded Julio Cesar Do Nascimento Jr and Ahmed Tijan will try to carry forward Qatar aspirations at the event.

Costa believes the championship will be the toughest with some of the world 20 best pairs in Doha and all of them keen to pick points from Qatar in the Olympic year with Rio qualification upper most on their mind.

“We know the level of the competition in the tournament will be very high the level is close to a Grand Slam tournament. There is no pressure on my players they are relaxed and we are happy and we are glad to play against all the good teams who are here for this year’s tournament. The field is stronger than last year because it is Olympic year” said Costa a beach volleyball coach for the last 18 years.

Jefferson and Cherif who won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medals at the Kish Island Open in February will aim to show their home fans why they are enjoying a growing reputation on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

The two Qatari pairs in the competition face a daunting task if they are to win the title and Costa knows what lies ahead for his players.

“I except the best my teams are ready but I always remind them it is not our main goal” Costa said in response to another question.

“Our main goal is in June. We are still in preparation period ( for the AVC Continental Cup Finals in Sydney Australia). The general expectations is that we will have a good performance at the Qatar Open” added Costa.

In January this year Qatar pulled off a convincing 2-0 victory over Oman in the AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Western Zonal Championship in Qatar to qualify for the AVC Continental Cup Beach Volleyball Finals in Australia.

Qatar teams A and B both captured hard-fought 2-1 victories over their Omani rivals on the Qatar Beach Volleyball Academy court.

Jefferson Santosh Pereira and Cherif Younnouse put the hosts 1-0 up when they beat Ahmed Al Housni and Mazin Al Hashmi before new pair Assam Ahmed Mahmoud and Ahmed Tijan overpowered experienced Badar Al Subhi and Haitham Al Shereiqi to win the West Asian qualifiers. The AVC Continental Cup Finals are scheduled to take place from June 15 to 21 2016 in Sydney Australia.The winners will qualify directly for the Rio Olympics.

Costa said the confidence level of his players has shot up after winning the Krish Island tournament.

The pair won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medals at the Kish Island Open in February after first serving notice of their potential when they reached the quarter-finals of the Netherlands 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

“They are very confident after their maiden win I always ask them to keep the same level of standard and they try to. We had a very high level of game in Iran and we are trying to keep the same level. Winning a gold medal was very best. They felt they can do more and they are more excited in our every day practice.”

The coach however cautioned that his players are still at the beginners stage when it comes to preparation for the AVC Continental Cup Finals in Sydney.

“We would like to say that we are still in the beginners stage. It is the beginning of everything. So Jefferson and Cherif they have been playing together for one year. Julio and Ahmed have started playing together recently. So it is still a beginners stage.”

The Peninsula