Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh's Olympic run came to an end on Wednesday, as the pair was eliminated by Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the men's beach volleyball quarterfinals. Partain and Benesh lost in straight sets, with several unforced errors costing them a chance to advance.
The Qatari pair outplayed the Americans in nearly every way, getting in more digs and stronger serves to take early leads in both sets. Cherif and Ahmed also took advantage of the United States' errors —Benesh had five serve errors alone, and the team had several attack errors — to earn the 21-14, 21-16 win.
Despite a few moments where Partain and Benesh looked as though they might launch a comeback, the Qataris held strong on the lead and outscored the Americans by 12 points.
Partain and Benesh were the last remaining United States team in beach volleyball, after Chase Budinger and Miles Evans and Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth both fell in the round of 16, and Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng were eliminated in the quarterfinals as well. The U.S., normally dominant in the sport, now have no teams remaining in the field to play for a medal.
Cherif and Ahmed, however, will have the chance to play on, potentially for gold. They will face Sweden's David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig in the semifinals on Thursday.
