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Zabeel powers to a fine double

Fursan and Al Joker suffer defeats in final as NAS 2014 Sports comes to an end

Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was the chief guest and presented the trophies to the winners. — Supplied photo

Zabeel helped themselves to both titles on the night as the Nad Al Sheba 2014 Sports Tournament came to an end at the NAS Sports Complex on Sunday.

Zabeel picked up the volleyball crown with a 3-2 (19-25, 25-16, 25-20, 24-26, 15-11) win over Fursan, and then added the futsal title as well with two late strikes helping Fohood Zabeel to a 2-0 win over Al Joker in an exciting finale to this year’s competition.

Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was the chief guest and presented the trophies to the winners in the presence of Mattar Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, and Ibrahim Abdul Malik, General Secretary of General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) and other top officials.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, the annual tournament with more than Dh7 million in prize money, was sponsored by Emirates, Dubai Duty Free, Meydan, Al Tayer Motors, Al Naboodah and Arabian Automobiles Al Rostamani. Zabeel made the best of starts to the night as its volleyball team fought back from one set down to keep a stronger Fursan team at bay. Led by teen UAE national team attacker, Zabeel made inroads past the Fursan defensive wall of Fadhel Abbas and Mohammed Shammil. “It was important for us to maintain our composure as a team despite being a set down,” Mohammed Al Suwaidi said later. “Fursan had a strong team especially in the attack, but we knew we could beat them if we maintained our formation and keep our calm especially at crucial moments,” he added. Later in the night, Fohood Zabeel took the futsal title with a 2-0 win over Al Joker in an exciting final. After a barren first half, it was the Brazilians setting up victory for the defending champions, who had last entered the competition as ‘Al Jawarah’. Rafael Franca scored a fine goal with seven minutes remaining and two minutes later UAE striker Abdul Karim Jameel was in front of goal for an easy tap-in after Fernando Cardinal’s shot had been parried away by the Al Joker goalkeeper.