Dubai: The reception organised by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for the UAE national youth volleyball team on Sunday, was the second in one week for UAE youth who achieved glory for their country.
The first was last week after the UAE Under-17 youth football team won the GCC Youth Football Championships held in Saudi Arabia last month.
The UAE youth teams' triumphs in football and volleyball show that the UAE's future in sports will be bright as long as the associations take care of the youth.
Associations should plan well for them because in a few years these players will be seniors and ready to defend the UAE colours in the regional, continental and world level. And they will be capable of achieving great results.
Shaikh Mohammad praised the volleyball players for their great efforts which resulted in winning the GCC youth title.
"The players were real champions with their fighting spirit and dazzling efforts which they showed in the tournament," said Shaikh Mohammad when receiving the players in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Sign of success
Shaikh Mohammad asked the players to double their efforts in the coming tournaments and achieve more success for their country.
Last month the UAE youth volleyball team showed signs of success when they demonstrated fine form in the Rashid volleyball tournament held in Dubai in the middle of July.
Although they didn't reach the semifinals, they showed excellent form which enabled them to be chosen as top favourites to win the GCC title.
It was the second time for the UAE to win the GCC title.
The first was in 1989 when they hosted the tournament and clinched the title.
However, this time the going was tough with all the GCC teams improving their standards.
For example, Oman was at the bottom of the GCC volleyball rankings two decades ago. In the 2006 tournament, they finished third to win the bronze medal. Oman could have won the silver as they did during the the ninth edition of the tournament.
Saudi Arabia won the second place on phases difference after both teams were equal on points (eight for each of them) despite the fact that Oman beat the Saudis 3-2.
The UAE team was not in need for any gifts from other teams.
A Saudi Arabian paper claimed that the Oman players received money from the UAE after Oman beat the Saudis.
The manager of the Oman team denied that charge and said it was not the first time for them to beat Saudi Arabia as they did in 2004.
The UAE team won all their five matches.
They beat Oman 3-1, Kuwait 3-1, Qatar 3-1, Bahrain 3-1 and Saudi Arabia 3-2 to be crowned champions with full 10 points.
The team coach Serbian Vesco Vukovic said that he was confident that the UAE will win the title because they are the best among the GCC countries.
The UAE team:
Rashid Ayoub, Ali Bilal, Ali Abdullah, Khalid Ahmad, Obaidan Atiq, Abdullah Ali, Saleh Obaid, Yaqoub Abbas, Faisal Rashid, Shaaban Eissa, Mohammad Juma and Khamis Abdullah.
