Abu Dhabi: A sizzling display in the middle period helped Abu Dhabi get the better of a tenacious Kuwait 4-1 and lift the inaugural Arab Ice Hockey title at the Abu Dhabi Rink on Friday night.
Earlier in the match for third place Morocco scored a 7-5 win over Algeria in the four-team event held under the patronage of Shaikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE Ice Hockey Association.
As expected the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait final turned out to be an exciting affair and after the triumph it was a proud moment for Ahmad Mubarak Al Mazroui when he received the trophy from Shaikh Saeed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of Al Wahda Sports & Cultural Club.
Suspensions
Abu Dhabi, who yielded two early goals to Kuwait in the league stage before coming back to win via the penalty shootout 4-3, tightened their defence with Vladimir Dmitry and Mohammad Aref Al Jachi keeping a tight vigil on the Czech-dominated Kuwait front line.
With both sides playing fast and incisive hockey in the first period the crowd was treated to some thrilling moments and both teams had six shots apiece on goal.
But Kuwait, who had the advantage when twice Abu Dhabi was reduced to four-men as two were serving their two-minute suspensions, failed to make use of their numerical strength.
After the barren first period the game came alive in the middle period. Again they hosts had one player off the action for the initial four minutes but again Kuwait could not take advantage while it was their own goal the fell.
Egar came up with a fine effort to evade a Kuwaiti defender and shoot home for the first goal. Eight minutes later came goal number two, this time the hard-working Youra putting the finishing touches to a move that started at the other end.
And two minutes before he end of the 20-minute middle period Abu Dhabi struck again this time through their UAE national player Juma Mohammad Al Dhaheri.
With Abu Dhabi goal-tender Sergeh in superb form, Kuwait failed to score despite piling some intense pressure.
However with four minutes left Martin Petovsky pulled one back for Kuwait and then went on an all-out attack.
Abu Dhabi punished them with their fourth goal when Egar found himself unmarked and he made no mistake which started off wild celebrations among the home supporters.
In the match for the third place, Morocco's Omar Ennafati scored a hat-trick while Mehdi Ghazi scored two and Samir Bouchaoui and Yassine Ahrazem got one each.
For Algeria the goals were scored by Yassine Fahas, Hakim Boukhaloua, Mohammad Benyaha, Haroud Litim and Djilali Hamri.
Results
Arab Ice Hockey Final: Abu Dhabi 4 Kuwait 1
