Al Tadawi to take on Yaazar for volleyball title at 13th Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament

• Organising Committee honours winners of cycling and road running races

DUBAI: Al Tadawi will face Yaazar in the final of the volleyball competition of the 13th Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, at 9 pm on Saturday (March 7).

Mooted as the biggest of its kind during the holy month of Ramadan, this tournament is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan “Unlimited Capabilities”.

Both, Al Tadawi and Yaazar are deserving finalists following hard-fought win in their respective semi-finals. While Al Tadawi got the better of Al Samawi 3-1, Yaazar had to dig in deep for a 3-2 victory over M.I.N. Investment.

Al Tadawi made up for their loss during the preliminary round with a calculative 3-1 win against Al Samawi. Al Tadawi took the opening set 25-21, only to see Al Samawi fight back and clinch the second set 25-23. But with a plan in place, Al Tadawi won the third set 25-22, and then weathered a late fightback in the fourth to ultimately win 27-25 and book their place in Saturday’s final.

The second semi-final was also intense and lasted for nearly two and a half hours. Yaazar proved to be the cooler team despite M.I.N. Investment qualifying for the semi-finals as group winners.

M.I.N. Investment opened by taking the first set 25-21, and further boosted their confidence by winning the second set 25-19. However, Yaazar had other ideas as they altered their strategy and managed to win the third and fourth sets 25-20 and 28-26 to draw level with their opponents. In possibly the most closely-contested set, Yaazar held their nerve and ultimately secured the victory in the decisive fifth set 23-21.

Champions’ podium

Meanwhile, the organising committee honoured the winners of the cycling and running races. All the winners were crowned by Hassan Al Mazrouei, the Tournament Director along with Issa Sharif, a member of the organising committee and director of events at the Dubai Sports Council and Adel Al Bannai, head of the event’s Technical Committee.

WINNERS

ROAD RUNNING:

10 km (Men’s Open): 1. Yassir Echchaachoui (Morocco - 28:02 minutes); 2. Taha Adem Gudeto (Ethiopia – 28:55); 3. Dagne Tesfu (Ethiopia - 29:14).

10 km (Women’s Open): 1. Roukia Al Moukim (Morocco – 32:14 mins); 2. Nowel Cheruto (Uganda - 34:25); 3. Mueni Mutuku (Kenya - 37:20).

5 km (UAE Nationals Men): 1. Abdul Karim Teki (13:51 mins); 2. Khalid Khalil (14:50); 3. Saif Al Alawi (14:50).

5 km (UAE Nationals Women): 1. Ruqayya Mohammed Al Haranki Al Marzouqi (18:33 mins); Latifa Ali (20:07); Hamda Al Ali (20:23).

5 km (Men’s Open): Noauman El Assaoui (Morocco - 13:55 mins); Chala Gudeta (Ethiopia - 13:55); 3. Mohammed Ait Mamas Touda (Morocco - 14:05).

5 km (Women’s Open): Gloria Chebet (Uganda – 17:34 mins); 2. Alisa Petrova (Russia – 18:02); Liesbeth Verheyden (Belgium - 18:09).

5 km (Senior Citizens and Residents Men): 1. Mbarek Rihane (Morocco – 16:10 mins); 2. Jean-Claude Haramboure (France - 16:12); 3. Salem Atiq Al Muhairi (UAE - 18:34).

5 km (Senior Women): Latifa Issaroukh (France - 20:37 mins); 2. Pia Hanske (Germany – 20:43); 3. Ghada Taher (Iraq – 22:16).

5 km (Youth Boys): Imrane Aznaq (Morocco - 18:26 mins); 2. Salem Abdullah Al Alawi (UAE – 19:15); 3. Omar Abu Bakr Ismail (Sudan - 19:16).

5 km (Youth Girls): 1. Hannah Schmidt (Great Britain - 18:30 mins); 2. Hattie Garrett (Great Britain - 18:42); 3. Zaira Scholz-Akram (Germany - 18:43).

5 km (Junior Boys): 1. Charles Mouve Houdinet (France - 18:20 mins); 2. Saif Al Marri (UAE - 18:37); 3. Mika Hansske (Germany - 20:05).

5 km (Junior Girls): 1. Mia Hobeika (Ukraine - 19:24 mins); 2. Ridemtta Mwaka Shikoli (Kenya - 20:37); 3. Mika Mansfield (USA - 20:40).

CYCLING

(Men’s Open) 1. Koen Vermelt-Vorte (Netherlands); 2. Ahmed Al Mansouri (UAE); 3. Kirill Miller (Russia).

(Senior citizens and residents): 1. Abdelkader Rahmani (Algeria); 2. Noureddine Houchine (Algeria); 3. Nader Bin Hendi (UAE).

(Teams event): 1. Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Team; 2. White Star Team; 3. Abu Dhabi Cycling Club Team.

(People of Determination category): 1. Abdullah Salem Al Balushi; 2. Theyab Al Muhairi; 3. Ahmed Al Badawi.

(People of Determination category): 1. Hussein Murad Al Mazem; 2. Sami Al Salimi (Oman); 3. Ahmed Mohammed Al Nuaimi.