Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena will play for FIVB bronze Saturday at the KATARA Beach Volleyball Cup in Doha, Qatar.
The pair were edged by Russians Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Igor Velichko 21-19, 21-16 in the semifinals Friday. Stoyanovskiy, 21, and Velichko, 22, have reached their first final on the world tour after getting two thirds —Â in Kish and Moscow — in 2017.
In the other semifinal, Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands narrowly defeated hometown favorites Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar 22-20, 21-18. Brouwer and Meeuwsen are seeking their first gold since FIVB Xiamen in April of 2017.
This will be the first match between the Americans and Qataris.
Qatar is eight hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time. The bronze-medal match is set for 2:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Eastern), with the gold-medal match to follow at 3:30 p.m.
The matches can be seen on the FIVB YouTube channel.
