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The Uncle Saeed team of Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum defended their teams’ title in the padel competition at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba Ramadan Sports Tournament. Image Credit: Courtesy: DSC

Dubai: The Uncle Saeed team fought off a gutsy challenge from M5 to clinch the top spot in the men’s team padel competition at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament on Sunday.

Going into the deciding third match tied 1-1, it was the combination of Matea Jose Juan and Javier Lopez Garcia that stood tall giving the Uncle Saeed a 6-3, 6-1 win against M5’s Juan Tello and Benjamin Cassaigne.

Sandy Farquharson and Juan had given Uncle Saeed a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 win against the M5 duo of Tello and Xavier Masson in the opening match. But Villafane and Tello combined well to defeat German Zunica and Lopez Garcia 6-4, 6-3 to bring the two teams on level terms and force the deciding third match.

Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council (DSC) was joined by Mohammad Al Mutaiwei, Second Vice-President, UAE Padel Association (UAE PA) and Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director at the presentation of trophies and medals after the final.

Shaikh Saeed Al Maktoum, President, UAE PA and owner of the Uncle Saeed team, was pleased with the progress made by padel over a one-year period. “Last year our win was easier. But this year we had to fight till the end and this indicates the rise in standard of padel at the domestic level. We need to work even harder now and ensure the sport finds an appeal among the younger generation of players,” Shaikh Saeed told Gulf News.

“Hopefully, we can have a separate category for youth at next year’s tournament and that will help us give them a competitive edge while preparing them for the future,” he added.

Earlier, Shaikh Saeed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum’s SHM team defeated Valencia 2-0 to take third spot in the competition. “Being in the top four is a huge achievement for us as two of them are emiratis and the others are locally based, while all other teams had professionals with them,” Shaikh Saeed noted.

“I personally believe that this is the way forward for the sport as the local players can learn from the professionals by being with them and playing against them. It’s a slow process, but one that will benefit a definite growth of padel in the UAE,” he added.

 

Results for Padel

Teams Final: Uncle Saeed bt M5 2-1; Third Place: SHM bt Valencia 2-0.

UAE Men’s: 1. Saeed Al Marri/Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi; 2. Ahmad Hussain/Abdullah Ahli; 3. Mohammad Al Mansouri/Mohammad Ahli.

Men’s Open: 1. Sandy Farquharson/Javier Lopez Garcia; 2. German Zunica/Javier Molina; 3. Guillermo Villafane/Benjamin Cassaigne.