Sfar and Bonifate clinch doubles title
The latest action from sporting events at the AFOC
Abu Dhabi: Tunisia's Selima Sfar and Romanian Bianca Bonifate won the Ladies doubles crown in the Armed Forces Officers Club (AFOC) Ramadan Games' Tennis event.
Sfar and Bonifate were in a class of their own as they trounced German pair of Laura Bsoul and Jara Jadri 6-0, 6-0.
Romania's Monica Nastase and Oman's Fatma Nabhani of Oman won the third place play-off with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Issem Essaies of Tunisia and Kim Al Saadi of Syria.
The women's doubles winners will battle it out for the singles title when they meet each other in the final with Tunisian Sfar the top seed starting off as favourite.
In snooker UAE's top seed Mohammad Al Joker registered a 3-0 win over Eissa Al Hindi and in the bargain notched up the highest score of 56.
Oman's Ahmad Al Khusaibi defeated Saif Al Kutbi 3-0 while Egypt's Mohammad Hamouda faced a tough task before winning 3-2 over Saudi Arabia's Ahmad Aseri. Habibi Sabah was the last winner of the night in the professional pack when he beat Yahya Saud 3-0.
Meanwhile the AFOC's annual event received a huge boost when the International Table Tennis Federation decided to accord the event a 'Ranking' status which means from next year it will be an ITTF event with points earned counting towards the world ranking.
World ranking
"This event has attracted some of the top players in the region and we are very happy with the way it is being organised. From next year it will be an ITTF event," said Khalid Al Musalhi, Chairman of the ITTF's Competitions Committee according to an AFOC press release.
Egyptian star Ahmad Ali Saleh, who is the reigning African Champion, has advanced to the final rounds.
"The the quality of players from Arab and African region here is good," he said. Other top players who advanced were Arab champion Saeed Lashin, Egypt's Ashraf Helmi and Sherif Dia.
The action at the shooting range witnessed stiff competition with young Ali Bakhit Alminhali catching the eye. The 13-year-old returned with a fantastic round of 185 out of a possible 200 in the rifle section and earned the praise of the veterans. "My hero is Shaikh Ahmad and I just want to work hard and bring laurels for my country," said the budding marksman.
