Dubai: Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Padel Association, and Arsham Morad cruised into the semi-finals of the padel competition at the 10th NAS Sports Tournament at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex on Monday.
The 10th annual tournament, organised by Dubai Sports Complex, being held under the theme Limitless Abilities during Ramadan, carries a total prize purse of Dh4 million and has been one of the top sporting attractions held annually. Dh3 million will be disbursed among the winners of eight sports events at NAS, including volleyball, padel tennis, jiu-jitsu, archery, fencing, wheelchair basketball, running, and cycling. AED 1 million worth prizes will be distributed among the audience.
Sheikh Saeed and Morad won the match against Marwan Khoory Khoory and Ali Ahli without any fuss, while Anshul Choubal and Ishaan Choubal reached the last four after beating Hussameldin Amer and Ranjan Pradeep 6-1, 6-0.
Easy wins
Eisa Al Marzouqi and Ahmed Mustafa qualified for the semi-finals after beating Omar Al Bastaki and Moritz Eckert 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 while Nicola Sciascia and Biel Ballester overcame Jonathan Allan and Colin Marshall 6-1, 4-6, 10-6 to reach the next round.
Sergio Alcorisa and Abdulla Ahmad won the Emirati and Expatriate Open category title. They defeated Abdullah Abdulaziz and Javier Garcia 7-6, 6-1 in the final.
In the quarterfinals of the UAEPA 100 category, Roberto Rodriguez and Martin Nochese swept aside Eisa Al Marzooqi and Ahmed Mostafa 6-0, 6-1; Francesco Javier and Ignacio Gonzalez thrashed Hamad Al Mazmi and Muhammad Al Qassem 6-0, 6-0.
Abdullah Abdulaziz and Fares Al Janahi advanced to the semi-finals after beating Ali Al Aref and Victor Mena, 6-4, 7-6.
Right target
Javier Garcia and Sergio Icardo also reached the next round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gonzalo Martin and Fabrizio Guerrero.
Meanwhile, Emirati athletes dominated the archery championship. Hitting the right target, Saqar Mubarak Al Ketbi clinched gold in men’s recurve category. Ahmad Hafez Karim took silver, while Abdalla Al Ketbi got bronze.
Producing a flawless performance, Hassan Ibrahim Raeisi bagged gold in the U-18 recurve men’s event. Abdourrahman Cittee settled for silver, and Abdullah Ali Zadeh finished with bronze.
Snehal Divakar emerged on top in recurve women (18+) to bag the gold. Hussa Yaqoub Alawadhi claimed silver and Aisha Jasim got bronze.
Valuable experience
Jamal Khalifa Al Badwawi delivered a superb performance to claim the compound men open gold. Mohammed Abdulla Ali Al Shehhi won silver, and Ahmed Anaqbi took bronze.
In the compound men (18+) category, Vishnu Nariyampully took gold, Saif Abdallah Alyamahi won silver, and Muneerul Islam took bronze.
All competitions were held at a throw distance of 18 meters inside the hall, and it included 10 rounds for each shooter; each of them threw three arrows in each round, and all targets were 40cm in accordance with the law of the World Archery Federation.
Dr. Saeed Musabeh Al Kaabi, president of the UAE Archery Federation, said participating in the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament enriched the players with valuable experience.
“We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the NAS Sports Tournament. Thanks to the unwavering support of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament has evolved into a prominent community sports event, featuring a multitude of sports disciplines and categories since its inaugural launch in 2013,” Dr Al Kaabi added.
