Faiga and Hilman only received their visas to the Muslim state in recent days and their trip to Doha was kept under wraps until their arrival on Sunday.
By ALLON SINAIUpdated: APRIL 3, 2016 13:57Israeli beach volleyballers to compete in Qatar(photo credit: OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF ISRAEL)
Israel's top beach volleyball duo of Sean Faiga and Ariel Hilman will compete in the FIVB Qatar Open starting from Monday after arriving in Doha on Sunday.Faiga and Hilman only received their visas to the Muslim state in recent days and their trip to Doha with Israel Volleyball Association CEO Yaniv Newman and national team coach Shaked Haimi was kept under wraps until their arrival on Sunday.Faiga and Hilman will need to win two matches in order to advance to the main draw in Qatar as they continue their pursuit of precious ranking points in their bid to qualify for the Rio Olympics.The road to Rio lasts until June 13, 2016 with FIVB World Tour events counting towards the Olympic Ranking in order to determine 15 of 24 spots for each gender that will take part in this summer's Olympic Games.The 2016 FIVB World Ranking system includes FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam and Open events along with additional pre-approved events at the inter-continental, continental and national levels.