Hosts Qatar will take on Turkiye in the final of the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup at the Aspire Dome on Sunday.

In a tight semifinal on Saturday, Qatar defeated Chile 25-21, 25-22, 27-25 to make it to the title round. On Friday, they had overcome Thailand in a thrilling quarterfinal (26-24, 25-23, 26-24).

Playing at home, Qatar played to the galleries and whipped their followers into a frenzy with their frenetic style of play. Qatar, whose only other appearance in the tournament was in 2022 where they finished fifth, now have a genuine chance of creating history.

Qatar got excellent production from their outside hitter duo, with Youssef Oughlaf leading the team’s offence with 16 points. He was followed by Raimi Wadidie, who tallied 12 points.

“We’re so happy to be in the final against Turkiye. We’d two difficult matches against Thailand and Chile, but I think we knew how to use our serves. We’re ready for the final and I hope we can make something good,” Oughlaf said.

Chile too relied on their outside hitters a lot. Team captain Dusan Bonacic was their top scorer with 18 points while Vicente Parraguirre added another 15.

In the other semifinal, Ukraine stretched Turkiye to the limits but was unable to prevent them from making it to the gold medal match. Turkiye came from behind to win 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 15-13).

Qatar and Turkiye have met only once before, in the 2022 Challenger Cup, where Turkiye won 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Come Sunday and Qatar will finally be able to exact revenge for that defeat in front of home fans.

The winner of the tournament will directly qualify for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League.

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