Al Tadawi 1 crowned champions of Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament

Dubai: Favourites Al Tadawi 1 delivered a resounding performance in the final to outplay Al Hilal 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) and crowned volleyball champions on the concluding night of the 12th Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament at a jam-packed indoor stadium late on Thursday.

Egged on by a huge, vociferous crowd, Al Tadawi 1 — made up of players from top Russian outfit, Dynamo Moscow — left nothing to chance as they played a totally controlled game to outdo Al Hilal in straight sets. Al Ameed swept past Al Samawi 3-1 to clinch the third place in the volleyball competition.

Launched and supported by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, the tournament is held annually during the month of Ramadan at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, under the directives of Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan ‘Unlimited Abilities’.

Pablo Arriber and Cesar Freire won the UAE Padel Federation Local 20 Championship after defeating the pairing of Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of UAE Padel Federation, and Javi Santonja in the final.

In the women’s category of the local tournament, Babette De Decker and Aisha Al Awadhi won first place, defeating Fatima Shahdour and Fatima Al Janahi. In the men’s category, Majed Al Janahi and Fares Al Janahi won the top spot defeating Rashid Waleed and Jassim Al Nuaimi.

In the under-18 youth category, the duo of Rashid Waleed and Saif Al Hammadi won first place, defeating Ahmed Al Mahri and Haider Ali.

The Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services eased to a 43-28 win over Dubai Municipality to clinch the Wheelchair Basketball title.

The 12th edition of the annual tournament saw the participation of more than 8,000 men and women athletes competing in 11 Olympic and community sports, including two new sports added for the first time to the schedule.

Other sports included in this year’s programme were running, cycling, volleyball, paddle, tug-of-war, fencing, jiu-jitsu, wheelchair basketball and obstacle course. The organising committee also increased the prize fund for the teams, bringing the total amount awarded to the winners of the tournaments, in addition to the public prizes, to a new record of Dh4.5 million.