Al Shabab in historic President's Cup win

Dubai: Al Shabab created history of their own when they won the President’s Cup Volleyball for the first time-ever with a straight-set 3-0 [25-19, 25-17, 34-32] victory against Ajman Club at the Al Ahli Club’s indoor hall late on Thursday.

Going in as the underdogs, Al Shabab showed what true team spirit is all about as they rallied so well in a stiff third set that went all the way till an exciting finale at 34-32.

“I can’t express the joy I feel at this moment. There are no words to describe this feeling,” Sami Al Qamzi, President, Al Shabab Club told Gulf News.

“It has been a terrific time for our club and we hope this lasts for a long time. This is truly a golden week for Al Shabab after our title winning effort at the GCC Youth Clubs Basketball Championships [won on Wednesday],” he added.

Al Qamzi presented the President’s Cup trophy to the team in the presence of Amer Ali, President, UAE Volleyball Association, Dr. Ahmad Sa’ad Al Sharif, Secretary-General, Dubai Sports Council and other dignitaries and officials.
This is the first time-ever that Al Shabab have been crowned champions in this competition that bears the name of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

And there was very little doubt they were headed towards an upset against an out-of-sorts opponents, who had in fact beaten them on both occasions that they clashed in the UAE Volleyball League earlier this season. “But this time we were prepared for them. For the past two weeks we worked hard on our tactics, our serving, our blocking and setting,” revealed their Serbian coach Bogdan Sretenovic after the final.

“We deserve this win as we have put in all our efforts. Of course we did lose our concentration a bit after the first two sets, but we did well to keep the spirit and end up as the better side tonight,” he added.