footBAll - Doha Stadium Plus

DSP/A k BijuRaj
qAtARI colts finished a
creditable sixth at the
Arab Junior (Under-17)
championship in Egypt last week.
Bahrain won the 10-nation
tournament held in the tourist city
of Hurghada, defeating Egypt 25-
22, 25-23, 25-19 in the final while
defending champions tunisia
finished third.
Qatar, who had finished third in
their group, lost to Saudi Arabia
22-25, 14-25, 25-20, 22-25 in the
fifth-place play-off.
Despite the defeat, Qatar coach
“we’re going to prove yet again that sports has
no boundaries. In due course, the communities
League will become a way of life.
faraj Muftah al abdullah, General Secretary, Qatar Volleyball Association.
qatari colts finish sixth
Yousef Faredoon was banking on
the positives.
“It was a good exposure for the
boys. they raised the bar while
tHe PeRfoRmAnce of
yoUngsteRs wAs
one of tHe mAJoR
gAIns foR QAtAR.
playing against stronger teams like
tunisia and Syria. the experience
of competing in such a major
tournament will stand them
in good stead ahead of tough
battles in future,” said Yousef.
the performance of players like
Mohammed Al Mulla, Abdullah
Mousa and Mohammed Mabrook
was one of the major gains for
Qatar, a fact acknowledged by
captain Ghanim Al Rumaihi.
“we got limited time to prepare
for the tournament, yet we did our
best. Even in the matches that we
lost, we didn’t go down without a
fight. Our team has a bright future.
One of the greatest strengths of
this team is that it doesn’t wilt
under pressure,” said Ghanim.
tang Dynasty
proved too good for
Al Rayyan.
Qatar’s Hamad
Asman, right,
smashes past
Saudi Arabia.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com 23
rayyan lose in
quarterfinal
aL RAYYAn’S FIVB Men’s club world
championship hopes went up in smoke
after they bowed out in the quarterfinal
of the Asian clubs championship to china’s tang
Dynasty in straight sets 20-25, 23-25, 9-25.
with only the winner earning a direct entry
into the worlds, Rayyan had plenty at stake, but
they flattered to deceive in the championship
won by Iran’s Payakan at the Palembang
RAyyAn’s ResULts
quartErfinal
Lost to tang Dynasty 20-25, 23-25, 9-25
(cHn)
Group staGE
Bt talyp Sport (tKM) 25-18, 25-16, 25-14
Bt chang (tHA) 25-18, 28-26, 24-
26, 20-25, 15-11
Lost to Almaty (KAZ) 22-25, 23-25, 20-25
Sport and
convention
centre
Gymnasium in
Indonesia.
Rayyan had
finished third
in Group B
after winning
three matches and took on Group A runners-up
tang in the quarterfinal.
But after putting up a good fight in the first
two sets, the reigning Gcc champions were
virtually blown away in the third.
In the group stage, Rayyan had put up a gritty
display winning three matches and losing two.
After losing their opener to Payakan 19-25,
13-25, 25-17, 17-25, Rayyan bounced back to
defeat Myanmar’s Asia world club 25-19, 27-29,
25-18, 25-20.
Rayyan then made mincemeat of
turkmenistan’s talyp Sport 25-18, 25-16,
25-14. Later, in one of the best matches of the
tournament, they beat thailand’s chang 25-18,
28-26, 24-26, 20-25, 15-11.
chang side consisted mainly of thailand
internationals who had performed superbly
to finish fourth at last year’s Guangzhou Asian
Games.
with the match level at 2-2, Rayyan’s spiker
Serbian Konstantin cupkovic used his height and
experience to help his team clinch a thriller.
But Rayyan were brought back to earth by
Kazakhstan’s Almaty as they lost 22-25, 23-25,
20-25 in their last group match.