Americans Miles Partain/Andy Benesh fell to Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals (21-14, 21-16) and were eliminated from the men’s beach volleyball tournament at Eiffel Tower Stadium on Wednesday.
As a result, no U.S. beach volleyball team, men’s or women’s, will win an Olympic medal for the first time ever.
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 four-point 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.