Dubai: Fohood Zabeel powered their way to the top of Group A in the volleyball competition on the third day of the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament late on Friday.

Winners against Al Aseefa on the opening day, Fohood Zabeel rode on the joint efforts of their foreign professionals Vladimir Jekic Sprsko from Serbia and Algerian Mohammad Chikhi Rhaybah to overcome Quattro Centre in straight sets 25-21, 25-17, 25-16.

With Brazilian Daniel De Souza Maciel and Saudi Arabia’s Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al Bakheet combining well for Quattro Centre, the first set was closely contested with both teams fighting for every point.

But it was Sprsko and Rhaybah who made fewer mistakes in reception and defence and that proved to be the difference between the two sides as Sprsko and Rhaybah settled the opening set at 25-21.

The first set seemed to have broken the confidence of the Quattro team and they were nowhere close to the form they showed in their hard-fought 3-2 win gainst MRMR-2 on the opening night last Wednesday. The shoulders dropped and Fohood Zabeel went in for the kill taking the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-16 to maintain their perfect record after two matches and become the first team to qualify to the quarter-finals.

“I think we lost this match the day we won 3-2 [against MRMR-2]. Our team was still stuck with that win on Wednesday. The first set was decisive, and the minute we lost that opening set we simply gave in. This was such a psychological match,” Quattro Centre’s Egyptian coach Adil Ahmad Salem told Gulf News.

“We need to learn from this experience and I am sure we will be much better for the next match against Tornado [on June 12],” he added.

In the other match, MRMR-2 bounced back to keep their Group A hopes alive with a clinical and quick 3-0 win against Al Aseefa (Tornado).

MRMR-2’s star Nasser Anan from Bahrain was thrilled with the outcome. “We were much better than what we did on the first day. We were concentrated in reception and at the net we made fewer mistakes and that gave us this result we wanted,” Anan said.

“Now there is just one more match [against Fohood Zabeel] and we need to play this one as though it is a final or it is curtains down for us,” he added.

Meanwhile the padel competition continued with defending champions Sandy Farquharson and Javier Lopez securing their second straight win with an easy 6-0, 6-1 result against Ramon Perez Goicoechea and Patrick Chucri in the open category. In the teams competition Team Valencia became the first side through to the semi-finals with an easy 2-0 win against Real Racquet Academy, where they will await the winners of the match between Uncle Saeed and G-Team.

RESULTS

(Volleyball) Fohood Zabeel bt Quattro Centre 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-16); MRMR-2 bt Al Aseefa (Tornado) 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-21).

(Padel) Men’s Open: Sandy Farquharson/Javier Lopez bt Ramon Perez Goicoechea/Patrick Chucri 6-0, 6-1. Team’s: Valencia 1 bt Real Racquet Academy 1 6-0, 6-2; Valencia 2 bt Real Racquet Academy 2 (walkover).