Floral Trading beat Dubai Duty Free by three sets to one

Abu Dhabi: Sharjah's Floral Trading made a winning debut in the 14th edition of the Kerala Social Centre's Jimmy George Volleyball tournament on Friday night.

Floral got the better of Dubai Duty Free by three sets to one in the second encounter of this nine-day event, which is being played on the KSC courts.

The packed courts were once again entertained by the two teams in a well-contested affair with the Sharjah side having to stretch themselves before winning the first set 27-25.

The Floral Trading squad, which comprised of a number of state and university players from the south Indian state of Kerala, were well served by Mohammad Shafeeq, Joy Thomas, Nazer Vanmmel, Najimudeen Hassainar, Sujith Kumar, Shamsu Puthoor, Rafsal Mohammad, Sujith Kumar and Sameer Mohammad.

After losing the first set, the Dubai side, which is also well represented by similar stars from Kerala, levelled proceedings by winning the second set 25-16.

Hashim Sajeer, Benny Mathew, Sudheer Syed, Shahnawas and Binesh Vincent played well for DDF and thrilled the crowd with their fighting display.

However, Floral tightened their grip on the game and went on to win the next two sets at 25-18 and 25-13.

Nazer Vanmmel, who was named MVP of the match, said it was a tough match but his team combined better as the match progressed.

"This is our first match and we have one more league game before playing the knockout semis," he said.

In tonight's match, Winway Oilfield Services play Emirates Aluminium.

Man of the match Nazer Vanmmel said his side won because they combined better as the game went on.