Ammar heroics BAHRAIN SPORT 28

28
BAHRAIN SPORT
Gulf Daily News Sunday, 19th October 2014
Email: sport@gdn.com.bh
Bahrain beat Saudi to reach Asian volleyball quarters
HOSTS Bahrain yesterday were ensured a place in the
quarter-finals of the 17th Asian Men’s Under-20 Volleyball
Championship.
The nationals picked up a 3-1 (25-9, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18)
victory over Saudi Arabia in a well-contested Group ‘A’ clash at
the Isa Sports City’s main hall in Riffa.
Jumal Al Atawi, Mohammed Anan and Mahmood Abdulwahed were the key contributors to Bahrain’s crucial win in an over
90-minute encounter.
Others who spearheaded Bahrain yesterday were Hussain Attiya, Jawad Mohammed, Yousef Sadeq, playmakers Abdulrahman
Khalid and Ebrahim Abdulla, and liberoes Mohammed Ahmed and
Mujtaba Mansoor.
Bahrain’s coach Reda Ali, a former national team captain, said
he was pleased with the outcome of the game but warned his players about the future matches when they face much tougher teams.
“It was an important win for us and I am satisfied with the
overall performance of our team today,” said Reda Ali in the postmatch press conference.
“The players did well at the end and now we have enough time
to focus on our next opponent in the group. We will certainly go for
victory against Thailand and win first place in the group”.
It was the second successive win for Bahrain, having defeated
n Bahrain players celebrate
their win over Saudi Arabia
the Maldives in an easy straight set opener on Saturday. The tournament’s organisers now top the group with four points from two
matches, with one game remaining against Thailand on October
21.
The second day of this tournament, being held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and
Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president Shaikh Nasser bin
Hamad Al Khalifa, also featured five additional matches played
simultaneously.
Defending champions Japan, who started their title quest with a
straight-set win over Kuwait in the five-nation Group ‘B’ opener,
eased past Taipei 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 27-25) to edge closer towards
qualifying for the competition’s final eight. The victors now have
four points, while Taipei played their first game in the tournament.
In the same group, Kazakhstan also bagged their second straight
win, beating Kuwait 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-14) to share Japan the
lead.
Second seeds China, who had a rest day on Friday, started their
campaign in Group ‘C’ with an easy 3-0 victory over New Zealand
yesterday (Saturday, October 18). Sets results were 25-18, 25-18,
25-13.
China are now on two points and share lead with South Korea,
who defeated New Zealand 3-0 in the first round of matches.
The highlights of Group ‘D’ saw Third seeds and four-time winners Iran edge recently-crowned GCC champions Qatar 3-1 (2520, 22-25, 27-25, 29-27) in a closely-competed game.
Iran, competing at this event for the first time since 1996, now
top group with four points from two matches. It was the maiden
game for Qatar, who had a rest day on Friday.
Also in Group ‘D’, Turkmenistan took on Hong Kong
as both teams were looking for
their maiden win after respective defeats to India and Iran.
Hong Kong started the game
well and took the first set, but
Turkmenistan fought back late
on to clinch the next three sets
and with it the match. Sets
scores were 20-25, 25-24, 2516, 25-19.
The championship also
serves as a qualifier for the
World Championship in 2015,
with the top four teams reaching the finals. Bahrain TV
Sports Channel is showing all
matches live.
Telecommunications company Fastlink are the Diamond
sponsors. Other sponsors are
GPIC, Bapco, Banagas, Batelco, Cheveron, Al Hawaj, Majesty Cars, Alba, Galaxy Travel
and Tourism, McDonald’s and
the Bahrain Olympic Committee.
Ammar heroics
n Shaikh Mohammed inaugurates the new administrative office block at the BTC. Right, winner Ammar with guests and officials
Alhogbani
scripted a new chapter
yesterday in the ‘Believe
it or Not’ series by exceeding all expectations
and winning the boys singles title in
the Sixth Bahrain ITF Tennis Championship at the Bahrain Tennis Club
courts in Juffair.
AMMAR
The Saudi-born American wild card
rallied from a set down to beat top seed
and firm favourite Kareem Allaf of Syria 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 in a thrilling final.
Allaf, who had won the doubles
title on Friday with Sherif Makhlour
of Egypt, was in line for a double but
Ammar dashed his hopes with another
inspiring performance.
The 16-year-old, who regularly plays
at the academy level in the US and
Spain but yet to be ranked, stepped up
his game when it mattered the most
and eventually tamed the top seed, his
fourth seeded victim in the tournament.
Allaf came into the final having
lost only eight games and not a single
set and when he won the first set in a
tie-breaker it seemed as if he was in
total command.
But Allam, who had dropped just one
set on way to the final - to Sherif in the
semi-finals - had other ideas. He bought
his ‘A’ game to play in the second
set and won it 6-4 and in the third he
seemed in irresistible form winning it
6-2 to seal the title.
Unseeded
Another unseeded player Viktoria
Marvoyova was the other giant-killer
of the tournament. She beat another unseeded player Lara Bitter of
Turkey to win the girls singles title
on Friday.
The girls doubles title was won by
third seeds Luciana Rabines of the US
and Emelie Luisa Schwarte of Germany
who upset the top seeds Lamos Alhussein Abdel Aziz of Egypt and Rikeetha
Pereira of India on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh
Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa,
under whose patronage this tournament
was held, presented the prizes to the
winners.
The event was held in cooperation
with the General Organisation for
Youth and Sports and sponsored by
Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo, Bapco and
Solidarity/Takaful Company.
Bahrainis down UAE to keep title hopes alive
BAHRAIN defeated the
UAE 83-71 in the fourth
round of the 14th GCC
Basketball Men’s Championship last night at the Sports
City in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The quarter scores were as
follows 22-18 (UAE), 21-15
(Bahrain), 25-23 (Bahrain), 1911 (Bahrain).
With the victory, Bahrain
kept their title hopes alive as
they are now in second place
with 7 points from three victories and one defeat.
The last round of the championship will decide the champions and the runners-up who
both will qualify for the Asian
Cup Basketball Championship
to be held in China in August
next year.
The last round matches will
see Bahrain taking on defending champions Qatar, while
Kuwait, who are also in second
place, will take on hosts Saudi Arabia in a very important
game.
n Action from the match between Bahrain and the UAE
Bahrain need to beat Qatar
to claim the title. However, if
Kuwait win against Saudi, then
three teams – Qatar, Bahrain
and Kuwait – will have identical 9 points. The scoring points
difference among the three
teams will decide the champions and the runners-up.
Bahrain’s starting five included Ahmed Abdulaziz,
Ahmed Najaf, Younis Kuwayed, Mohammed Qurban
and Vladan. The UAE led the
first quarter 22-18 after taking
advantage of Bahrain’s defensive mistakes.
Bahrain came back in better
shape in the second quarter, as
their coach, Sasha, made brilliant substitutions, sending in
Hussain Shaker, Sayed Kathim
Majid and Bader Abdulla.
The Bahrainis played well,
and hit three-point shots and
scored on fastbreaks to grab the
lead at 39-37 at the end of the
second quarter.
With Bahrain playing with
excellent teamwork in the third
and fourth quarters, their ace
player Mohammed Hussain
scored three-point shots.
Vladan and Mohammed Qurban hauled down defensive and
offensive rebounds and scored
crucial baskets to seal the victory for Bahrain.
The match was attended by
Bahrain Basketball Association
President Adel Abdulrahman
Al Assomi, and Vice President
Khalid Al Khayyat, as well as
BBA board members Abdulelah Abdulghaffar and Abdulla
Khalil.
All BBA members congratulated the national team, and
wished them luck in their last
game against Qatar.
Today’s fixtures (Local times):
12pm – South Korea vs China (Group
‘C’, Hall ‘C’), Thailand vs Maldives
(Group ‘A’, Hall ‘B’), 2pm – Qatar vs
Turkmenistan (Group ‘D’, Hall ‘C’),
India vs Hong Kong (Group ‘D’, Hall
‘B’), 4pm – Taipei vs Kazakhstan
(Group ‘B’, Hall ‘C’), Sri Lanka vs New
Zealand (Group ‘C’, Hall ‘B’), 6.30pm
– Uzbekistan vs Kuwait (Group ‘B’,
Hall ‘C’).
Indo-Bahrain
volleyball
event at KCA
KERALA Catholic Association is organising its
annual Indo-Bahrain Volleyball Tournament from
November 7 at its premises in
Segaya.
The winners and runners-up
will receive cash prizes apart
from trophies.
Each team will consist of
Bahraini nationals as well as
expatriates with a condition
that no team should include
more than three Bahraini/Arab
players.
Other rules and regulations
will be discussed during the
captains meeting on November
5 at the KCA.
Last date for registering to
take part in the event is October
31 and entrance fee is BD25.
The organisers are expected
12 to 15 teams to part in the
event.
For details and registration
contact tournament convener
Raison Mathew on 34109999,
tournament coordinator K P
Jose on 39097226 or sports
secretary K T Sibi on 39178163
or KCA general secretary Sovichen Chennattusserry on
39073783. The email address is
kcages@gmail.com