Local Side Al-Jalbubi/Alhashmi Reaches Semis at Oman One-Star

OMAN ONE-STAR

• March 14-17, 2018
• Millennium Resort Mussanah; Muscat, Oman
• Schedule/Results

Pool winners Tiziano Andreatta/Andrea Abbiati (Italy), Rahman Raoufi/Haman Salemiinjehboroun (Iran), and Philipp Arne Bergmann/Yannick Harms (Germany) kept things rolling right into the Oman One-Star semifinals after earning a free pass to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Italians and Iranians bested their foes in straight sets to earn a shot at a podium finish, while the Germans advanced by holding on for a three-set win.

Raoufi/Salemiinjehboroun are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, while Bergmann/Harms are No. 2 and Andreatta/Abbiati are No. 5.

Rounding out the semifinal field are hometown stars Nouh Al-Jalbubi/Mazin Alhashmi (Oman). Jalbubi/Alhashmi kept the local hopes alive by winning a semifinal match against Hong Kong’s Pui Lam Wong/Tsz Ho Kelvin Lau and besting No. 11 seed Aghamohammad Salagh/Abolhamed Mirzaali from Iran. The duo from Oman won both matches in straight sets.

Raoufi/Salemiinjehboroun are looking for their first podium finish since earning bronze at the Agadir One Star in July.

Andreatta/Abbiati are guaranteed their best FIVB finish, ahead of two ninth-place showings. Bergmann/Harms are playing in their fifth straight FIVB tournament, with their best effort coming in a 9th place finish at the Aalsmaeer One Star in October.

Al-Jalbubi/Alhashmi are in just their four tournament together and first FIVB event, following three 17th place finishes.

The semifinal matchups, set to begin at 2 a.m. ET Saturday, are:

• Bergmann/Harms vs. Andreatta/Abbiati

• Nouh/Mazin vs. Raoufi/Salemi

The podium matches will follow at 7 and 8:30 a.m. ET.

Bronze

Gold

Round of 12

Abbas Pourasgari/Arash Vakili (Iran) def. Quintin Metral/Simon Hagenbuch (Switzerland) 21-17, 21-13

Gabriel Kissling/Michiel Zandbergen (Switzerland) def. Vaclav Bercik/Jan Dumek (Czech Republic) 21-17, 22-20

Nouh Al-Jalbubi/Mazin Alhashmi (Oman) def. Pui Lam Wong/Tsz Ho Kelvin Lau (Hong Kong) 21-10, 21-18

Mads Rosager/Martin Trans Hansen (Denmark) def. Daniel Mullner/Florian Schnetzer (Austria) 21-15, 21-17

Quarterfinals

Philipp Arne Bergmann/Yannick Harms (Germany) def. Abbas Pourasgari/Arash Vakili (Iran) 21-17, 18-21, 15-12

Tiziano Andreatta/Andrea Abbiati (Italy) def. Gabriel Kissling/Michiel Zandbergen (Switzerland) 21-14, 21-15

Nouh Al-Jalbubi/Mazin Alhashmi (Oman) def. Aghamohammad Salagh/Abolhamed Mirzaali (Iran) 21-15, 21-19

Rahman Raoufi/Haman Salemiinjehboroun (Iran) def. Mads Rosager/Martin Trans Hansen (Denmark) 21-19, 21-17