Dubai: MRMR-2 were crowned volleyball champions with a decisive 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23) win over Fohood Zabeel at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament at a packed Nas Sports Complex late on Wednesday.
With Dominican Republic star Elvis Contreras De Los Santos and Bahrain’s Nasser Saleh Anan marshalling the back of the court, MRMR-2 always looked the better team. Despite a minor hiccup in the second set, the MRMR-2 boys did enough in the next two sets to be crowned the new champions.
Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), was joined by Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director, in presenting the teams with their trophies after the final.
“We always believed we could go all the way right from the start. Not only did we have the best quality in our two foreign players, but we had also put in a lot of hard work during training during the build-up to this tournament,” Khalid Mahmoud Al Hossani told Gulf News.
De Los Santos, who now plays for Brazilian side Funvic Taubate as a wing-spiker was lethal in a similar role for MRMR-2. He found a perfect foil in Bahraini attacker Anan. “It was a pleasure playing with such a wonderful set of players,” De Los Santos said later.
“The key to our victory was the whole aspect of teamwork that came about after spending so many hours training together. This side was more like a family for all of us, and winning the title is just the right reward,” he added.
Earlier, Zabeel secured third place in the competition with a comfortable 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 26-24) win against a tired-looking Surprise team. Playing for the third day on the trot, the Surprise players struggled throughout and never seemed to be in the game.
Cameroon’s Nathan Baian Wounem topscored for the winners with 18 points while Cuban Leonardo Levya was the lone fighter in the Surprise camp, with 17 points.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded pair of Majid Bushagar and Mohammad Al Janahi blanked Khalid Al Mutaiwe’i and Khalid Sultan Al Falahi 6-0, 6-0 to become the first pair to enter the semi-finals of the UAE Nationals category padel competition.
And in another match, the pairing of Ali Al Qaiwani and Zayed Abbas teamed up to beat Rashid Suwaidan Al Ketbi and Khalid Al Ateyat 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the padel competition for UAE Nationals. They will now meet the seeded pairing of Mohammad Al Mansouri and Mohammad Ahli next Sunday.
In the Wheelchair basketball competition that is being held at the Dubai Club for Special Sports, Al Ghusais, Al Fursan mowed down Dubai Ambulance 101-24, while hosts Dubai Club for Special Sports ‘B’ got the better of Union Co-Operative 59-43 in the two matches played late on Wednesday.
RESULTS
(Volleyball) Final: MRMR-2 bt Fohood Zabeel 3-1: 25-17, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23; Third place: Zabeel x Surprise 3-0: 25-21, 25-18, 26-24.
Individual Awards: Oldest Player: Khalid Mahmoud Al Hossaini; Best server: Rashid Ayoub (MRMR-2); Best libero: Ahmad Abdullah (MRMR-2); Best setter: Majid Al Thani (MRMR-2); Best Spiker: Mohammad Khamis (MRMR-2); Best player of the tournament: Khalid Hamza (Fohood Zabeel); Best foreign player: Mohammad Chikhi Rhaybah (Algeria).
(Padel) Men’s Open: Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi/Saeed Al Marri bt Mohammad Ahli/Abdullah Ahli 6-4, 6-3; German Zunica/Javier Molina bt Ramon Perez Goicoechea/Patrick Chucri 6-0, 6-0. UAE Nationals: Majid Bushagar/Mohammad Al Janahi bt Khalid Al Mutaiwe’i/Khalid Sultan Al Falahi 6-0, 6-0; Ali Al Qaiwani/Zayed Abbas bt Rashid Suwaidan Al Ketbi/Khalid Al Ateyat 6-1, 6-2.
(Wheelchair Basketball) Al Fursan v Dubai Ambulance 101-24; Dubai Club for Special Sports ‘B’ v Union Co-Operative 59-43.
