Dubai: Sanyo Gutierrez and Juani Mieres fought from the brink to defeat Juan Martin Diaz and Maxi Sanchez to clinch the padel tennis title at the Third Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Tournament at the NAS Sports Complex late on Sunday.
Watched by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), Gutierrez and Mieres were trailing 1-4 after being a break down in the deciding third set. But the duo won the next five games to claim their debut title in Dubai.
The first part of the final belonged to Diaz and Sanchez as they took the opening set 6-3 and then led 4-1 with a break on Gutierrez’s serve in the third game. But suddenly the encounter turned on its head as Sanchez lost serve and Gutierrez and Mieres pushed through for a strong finish 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Shaikh Saeed Bin Juma Al Maktoum, President, UAE Padel Tennis Association (UAE PA) presented the prizes in the presence of Ahmad Bin Manana, Vice President, Higher Organising Committee; Mohammad Al Mutaiwei, Vice President, UAEPA and Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director.
“We are so happy with this title. We have come together as a pair very recently and it just feels so right to have a title to cap all our hard work of the past few weeks,” Gutierrez told Gulf News.
Diaz rued: “We lost it mentally. We were up a set and 4-1 and then we thought we had won. By the time we realised it, we were down and out.
“But I am really happy with the way things have gone for us as a pair. I am sure we will return and win the Dubai Padel Masters in October,” he added.
Meanwhile, the second night of the futsal witnessed two hat-tricks and identical 8-1 wins for His Highness Court (HHC) and last year’s runners-up Al Jokar.
Wael Mohammad Khamis’ hat-trick helped HHC hammer Dhawu 8-1, while Fernando Nascimento Cosme’s (Fernandinho) triple was crucial in Al Jokar’s 8-1 thrashing of Sport 4 All.
In the two other matches, Tornado blanked the Zabeel Office Team 4-0 while Surprise fought back from a one-goal down to secure a 4-1 win against Al Ain Youth.
Meanwhile, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Club for Special Needs and the Hamdan Heritage Centre were nearly confirmed for spots in the semi-finals of the Wheelchair Basketball.
