Emirates Bank International represented by the UAE national team lost their chance to reach the final of the 12th Ramadan Basketball Tournament. They were defeated by mighty Al Hawai (A) comprising Ukrainian national team players 97-58 in the match played at the Al Ahli indoor sports hall on Sunday night.

It was the second defeat for the UAE national team. They lost their first match in the opening day to Dubai Duty Free (Philipine national team). Al Hawai (A) scored their first win in two matches following a defeat in their first match by Dutco.

Al Hawai (A) dominated the match from the start, without letting the Emirate bankers to advance or snatch the lead from them. Ukrainian Kyrylo of Al Hawai was outstanding in scoring the three pointers, along with his colleagues Ivanov and Serjio, they finished the first quarter leading 22-20.

Hamdan Saeed, Abdullattif and Khalifa Al Shieba tried hard in the second quarter, but the Ukrainians widened the gap to 11 points to finish the second quarter 46-35. Jasim Abdul Raedha and Abdullah Hasan of Emirates did a good job, but they were faced by a strong Ukranian defence. On the other side, the UAE defence was not tough enough to halt the Al Hawai's attacks.

The Ukrainians went on scoring against an open defence. They finished the third quarter 63-45. The match was a one-sided affair in the fourth and last quarter, with the UAE coach giving the chance to some of his reserve players to gain experience. Al Hawai finished the match with a 39 points difference on their favour 97-58.

In the second match, Emirates Airlines represented by Bulgaria national team beat Al Hawai (B) representing Iran national team 100-67 in a game dominated by the Bulgarians from the beginning to the end. The Emirates Airliners led in all the four quarters of the match, 24-16, 53-41, 74-55, and ended up winning 100-67.

Today's matches
8.30pm Emirates International Bank v Al Hawai (B).
10.30pm Al Hawai (A) v Emirates airline.