Cherif and Ahmed continue unstoppable and claim Newport Beach Elite title

The great form of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour continued on Saturday, when the Qatari Olympic medalists claimed the title of the Elite event held in Newport Beach.

The hottest men’s team in international beach volleyball right now, they made it to the top of the podium in California, flanked by two South American duos, as Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci finished second and the Chilean Grimalt cousins Marco and Esteban ranked third in the tenth Elite event of the 2025 season.

The 2025 season has been a different one for Cherif and Ahmed, who typically compete in almost every Elite event there is, but this year were limited to only six appearances on the Beach Pro Tour because of injuries.

The bronze medalists of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, have, however, made the most of every opportunity they had to compete in 2025, winning four golds, with victories in the Elite events held in Gstaad, Rio de Janeiro and Newport Beach and the Xiamen Challenge.

Disregarding the three forfeit defeats they were forced to accept at the Montréal Elite after Cherif got injured, the two have won 17 of their last 19 matches, including the last 11.

“Winning here feels amazing,” Ahmed commented. “My wife is from the United States, and I am very happy to be here and win the gold medal. It means so much to our entire family.”

In Newport Beach, Cherif and Ahmed made it to the top of the podium with an undefeated campaign of six victories and only one set dropped. In the final, they overcame Evandro and Arthur in straight sets (21-16, 30-28).

“It was a really tough tournament, and the final was no different,” Cherif reacted. “We faced so many tough teams here, and we wanted to congratulate Evandro and Arthur, who had a really good run. We love to entertain people and give the fans a great final, and I think that today we did it. I hope everyone enjoyed it.”

Grimalts win first medal of the season

The Newport Beach Elite was also special for the Grimalts, who had by far the best result of what has been a difficult season for them and made it to the podium for the first time in 2025. Before heading to California, the Chileans had played in 12 Beach Pro Tour events and only got to finish in the top ten three times.

Their first podium appearance of the season was earned with a two-set (21-16, 21-18) victory against the American Crabb brothers Trevor and Taylor in the bronze medal match.

“We felt really well playing here this week,” Esteban said. “It’s been a really tough year for us, but we kept fighting and battling to get good results. Besides the results, we also lost our coach, who passed away last month. It’s been a really emotional year, and this medal feels amazing and made us really proud of all the work we’ve put on.”

Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite - Match Schedule & Results

Next week, the Beach Pro Tour will have a Challenge event in Nuvali, the Philippines. The next Elite tournament will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from October 22-26.

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Courtesy: Volleyball World