Dubai: RBH became the only team on Wednesday night to book their place in the knockout stages of the futsal competition at the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament.
Desperately needing the win, RBH knocked off Samba and joined leaders and strong contenders Al Joker as the two qualifiers from Group D. Al Joker had already made it to the quarter-finals before going into their last group match against Sport 4 All.
Al Wasl and YLS-1 had booked their places from Group C, while Fohood Zabeel and Fohood Jumeirah had advanced from Group A and B respectively. The last two teams were to be decided following Thursday’s final preliminary round matches.
Initially, Al Joker found the Sport 4 All defence too tough. But with 2.11 minutes left in the first half, they managed to take the lead as their talismanic striker and former world player of the year, Miguel Sayago Marti, found the top corner of the net. Marcenio Ribeiro da Silva then immediately doubled the lead after the resumption and Al Joker were firmly on their way to bag maximum points as the only unbeaten team from the group.
Edelson Robson Dos Santos (Robinho) made it 3-0 midway through the second half and Habib Ghuloom got his name on the scoresheet one minute later. Sport 4 All’s Waleed Beshir poked home from close range with just 1.24 minutes left on the clock in an attempted fightback, but they ultimately ran out of time as Al Joker kept their unbeaten record.
Spanish player Marti, who was instrumental in holding up the Al Joker defence line, was pleased with their unbeaten record. “The idea is to keep the winning momentum. All these wins will mean nothing if we do not perform at the same level, if not better, in our next match [against Al Wasl],” Marti told Gulf News.
“For now it is one match at a time. We need to score and we need to defend equally well. I am here for the team, and if my team doesn’t win then all our efforts are in vain,” he added.
In the second match of the night, after being tied 3-3 at half-time and then 4-4 on resumption, RBH improved on its intensity in attacks to quell Samba 7-4 and knock them off from the competition.
Meanwhile in the last match of the night, YLS-1 and Al Wasl both qualified to the knockout stages even before kicking a ball, after Jumeirah were knocked out of the competition for failing to turn up for an earlier match last Monday.
Both YLS-1 and Al Wasl had gone into their last Group C match with three points each, thereby making their encounter a formality to decide the group leader. The Surprise team, owned by UAE footballer Khamis Esmail, were out of the competition after having no points to their name following two matches.
Despite the match not having much significance, YLS-1 went on an all-out scoring spree with Gelson Salotti Junior bagging a hat-trick and countryman Rafael Da Rosa getting a brace — while goalkeeper Talal Saleh also got his name on the scoresheet. Tariq Aman pulled one back for Al Wasl with less than four minutes remaining to put the score at 6-1 in favour of YLS-1.
In the Wheelchair Basketball final, it will be Dubai Public Prosecution against Al Fursan on Saturday. In Thursday’s semi-finals, Dubai Public Prosecution got the better of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 63-30, while Al Fursan got the better of Dubai Club for Special Sports ‘B’, 71-31.
RESULTS
Al Joker x Sport 4 All 4-1
RBH x Samba 7-4
YLS-1 x Al Wasl 6-1
Sunday’s Quarter-finals:
YLS-1 x RBH
Al Wasl x Al Joker
(Padel) Men’s Open semi-finals: Sandy Farquharson/Javier Lopez bt Guillermo Villafane/Benjamin Cassaigne 6-3, 6-2; Emilio Misas/Pedro Rios x German Zunica/Javier Molina 6-1, 3-2 (retd.).
Wheelchair Basketball semi-finals: Dubai Public Prosecution x Dewa 63-30; Al Fursan x Dubai Club for Special Sports ‘B’ 71-31. Final on Saturday at NAS.
