Dubai: MRMR-1 maintained their perch atop Group B in the volleyball competition after the fourth day of the Fourth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament at the Nas Sports Complex on Saturday.
MRMR-1, who had battled hard for a 3-2 win against Al Zaeem on the second day, once again had to dig deep for an identical 3-2 result against the Zabeel team.
The standout player once again for MRMR-1 was Cuban Ramos Hernandez as he single-handedly carried his team through for their second win in as many matches. The opening set was a closely contested affair with MRMR-1 eventually wrapping it up 30-28. But the Zabeel team came roaring back to win the next two sets 25-22 and 26-24.
With the MRMR-1 players rattled by the shift in momentum, it was Hernandez who stepped in to change the complexion of the match and close out the fourth set 25-23. Fired up after having tied the contest 2-2, MRMR-1 then ran away with the decider 15-8 with Hernandez playing a significant role in attack and defence.
“After the fourth set, I told all my teammates that they needed to keep supplying the ball to me and I would do the needful,” Hernandez later told Gulf News.
“The other team was demotivated after we won the fourth set and we needed to keep up the pressure on their defence. They gave in easily in that fifth set,” he added.
“Somehow I felt confident after the fourth set as my teammates showed a lot more hunger to win this one and assure ourselves of a place in the next stage of this competition. This trip to the UAE is turning up to be a great learning experience for me.”
In the night’s second match, the Surprise team led by UAE national footballer Khamis Esmail, powered their way to an easy 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-23) win to leave Al Zaeem winless after two matches.
Coach Ebrahim Al Manaei alternated his two foreign pros Leonardo Leyva Martinez of Cuba and Toufiq Mahdjoubi of Algeria from the flanks and mid-court to dislodge and dominate the Al Zaeem defence and notch their first win after two matches. The Surprise team will next have to cross swords with group leaders MRMR-1 and need a win to assure themselves a place in the last four stages of the competition.
Meanwhile, Shaikh Saeed Al Maktoum, President, UAE Padel Association (UAE PA) led from the front as his Uncle Saeed team secured an easy 2-0 win against the G-Team to book their place in the semi-finals of the teams event of the padel competition.
The Uncle Saeed team proved way superior as Shaikh Saeed combined with Javier Lopez Garcia to win the first match 6-0, 6-0, while Garcia next teamed up with Sandy Farquharson to win their return match and assure their team a semi-final spot against Valencia in the upper half of the draw.
In the men’s open category, Mohammad Al Mansouri and Xavier Masson tasted success at last as they won 6-3, 6-0 against Juan Reyna and Jon Garabieta in their Group B encounter later in the night. The winners have one last preliminary round match remaining before the best two couples from each group advance to the semi-finals.
The archery competition also got under way with the best 18 archers advancing in the Recurve and Compound categories. Leading the Compound category was Jos Versteegen from The Netherlands with a total of 281. Egypt’s Amr Ganem (280) and Lebanon’s Wissam Torbay (278) completed the top three, while in the Recurve category, the UAE’s Obaid Al Hammadi was at the top of the standings with a total of 277, leaving Mike Andrews of Australia and Nada Mamdouh of Egypt tied for second place with identical scores of 262.
RESULTS
Padel: (Teams) Uncle Saeed bt G-Team 2-0; (Men’s Open) Mohammad Al Mansouri/Xavier Masson bt Juan Reyna/Jon Garabieta 6-3, 6-0.
Volleyball: MRMR-1 bt Zabeel Team 3-2 (30-28, 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-8); Surprise bt Al Zaeem 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-23).
Archery: (Recurve category) 1. Obaid Al Hammadi (277); Mike Andrews (262); 3. Nada Mamdouh (262); 4. Solomon Thomas (259); 5. Mohammad Al Baloushi (258).
(Compound category) 1. Jos Versteegen (281); 2. Amr Ganem (280); 3. Wissam Torbay (278); 4. Maral Chreiki (276); 5. Sami Awad Ebrahim (275).
