Dubai: Soqoor beat Al Asifa 3-2 in the opening match of the 16-team Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Volleyball Championships on Monday.
Al Asifa recovered from a 25-23 first set defeat to lead 2-1 after winning the second and third sets 18-25 and 23-25, but Soqoor came back to win the fourth set 25-22 and the tie-break 15-10, to book themselves into the second round.
Hamid Al Roosi, an international volleyball referee, watched the opening match and was “impressed” with the performance of the two teams.
“This tournament has shown that there are players here who are far better than some of the players we have in the men’s league,” he said. “So, this is a great opportunity for the clubs to come here, scout and make use of these talented players.”
In the second match of the night, Expo2020 had an easier time beating Khat Al Nar in straight sets 25-21, 25-12 and 25-20.
Volleyball is one of six sports tournaments at the NAS Sports Festival being held at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex from June 29 to July 19, under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, The Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council.
Futsal, paddle tennis, squash, running and cycling events are also being staged involving over 3000 participants competing for a combined prize purse of Dh7 million.
