The tournament, underway in Agadir of Morocco, saw Iranian and Spanish outfits competing the longest match of the day on Saturday afternoon. After 50 minutes of playtime, the second-seeded Persian side, comprising Bahman Salemiinjehboroun and Rahman Raoufi, pulled out a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 13-21, 15-11) victory against 10th-seeded Spaniards Raul Mesa and Christian Garcia.
In another showdown in men’s quarterfinals at the Agadir stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2017, a French pair surprisingly downed Pekka Piippo and Jyrki Nurminen of Finland 2-0, the main draw leaders, in only 32 minutes to mark the fastest match of the day.
In the other quarterfinals at Plage Jour et Nuit on Morocco’s Atlantic coast Qatar’s Julio Cesar Do Nascimento Junior and Ahmed Tijan defeated Switzerland’s Mirco Gerson and Michiel Zandbergen 2-1 (21-10, 17-21, 15-11). Host Morocco also won over Swiss rivals 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) to advance to Sunday semifinals.
The city of Agadir is hosting the International Volleyball Federation’s (FIVB) 2017 double-gender Beach Volleyball World Tour from July 21 to 23.
Men from 34 countries are competing, while women from 19 nations are taking part. The competition will include 90 games. The international competition is organized by the Moroccan Royal Federation of Volleyball (FRMVB).
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