Dubai: The teenage pairing of Martin De Nenno and Franco Stupackzuk defeated the experienced Herman Auguste and Mariano Lasaigues 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-4, while the Brazilian duo of Julio Julianoti and Gervasio Del Bono got the better of Andoni Bardasco and Gonzalo Rubio 6-4, 7-5 to set up a meeting in the final of the international paddle tennis of the Nad Al Sheba 2014 Sports Tournament on Thursday.
Facing their experienced opponents from Argentina, De Nenno and Stupackzuk relied on their all-round game and guile to ease into their first final in Dubai. “This has been a good tournament for us so far. Our goal was to be in the final at least, and now that we have achieved this, we will try and go all the way,” Stupackzuk told Gulf News.
“We should have finished off the game in two sets, but we made too many mistakes in the second set,” he added.
Brazilian coach Del Bono, who has teamed up with his student Julianoti in the competition, was unsure of making the trip after his minor son Augustine was admitted in hospital with a serious ailment. “But he was discharged from hospital in the morning and I took the flight out to Dubai later the same day so that we could play here. So you can imagine how relieved I am to be in the final here,” he said.
Earlier, Omar Behroozian, the UAE’s top tennis player, teamed up with Abdul Rahman Al Janahi to defeat Mohammad Al Janahi and Fares Al Janahi to bag the UAE paddle tennis crown. Bahroozian and Al Janahi won 6-3, 6-3 over a much younger Al Janahi pairing in the final.
“For me this is a fantastic debut in paddle tennis, but tennis will always be my first love,” Bahroozian said.
“There are certain elements in this sport that can help my tennis and I am enjoying being with some of the top paddle-tennis players from around the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the futsal competition, Fohood Zabeel made their title intentions clear with a 5-0 thumping of Grinta in the last quarter-final held late on Thursday.
Led by their Portuguese star Ricardinho, who was adjudged best player of the competition last year, Fohood Zabeel led 3-0 at half-time and then added two more goals in the second half to book their place in the semi-finals.
In the other quarter-finals, Al Markaj defeated Al Tofan 3-2, Al Jokar got the better of XCAT 2-1 and Fohood Jumeirah booked their place in the last four with a 2-1 win over Storm.
The NAS 2014 Sports Tournament is sponsored by Emirates, Dubai Duty Free, Meydan, Al Tayer Motors, Al Naboodah and Arabian Automobiles Al Rostamani.
