With the Asian Games round the corner, Qatari spikers got a much-needed morale booster as they won a four-nation friendly tournament at home.
Qatar did not lose a single match in the round-robin tournament held at the Al Arabi Sports Club and were the deserving winners in every sense.
After beginning their campaign with a straight-set win over Algeria (25-10, 25-18, 25-19), they dropped just one set against Mexico (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19).
With Venezuela, who replaced Tunisia in the last minute, also notching up two victories, their match against Qatar eventually proved to be a winner-takes-it-all one.
The Anabi spikers did not disappoint the home crowd as they earned a hard-fought 25-19, 25-15, 19-25, 34-32 win over the visitors.
As the scoreline indicates, the fourth set was a close contest, where Qatar finally had the say.
Ranked 49th in the world, there is more to it than meets the eye in Qatar’s triumph as the victories came against teams ranked much above them. Mexico are currently perched at 22nd in the latest FIVB rankings while Algeria occupy the 31st place and Venezuela are four places further behind.
No wonder, coach Juan Manuel Cichello sounded upbeat after the triumph.
“Beating teams ranked above you, even in a friendly tournament, adds to your confidence, especially ahead of a major competition,” the Argentinian said.
However, the 38-year-old guarded his wards against complacency.
“There’s no need to go overboard. We need to keep our feet firmly on the ground. Bigger tests are awaiting us,” said Cichello, who took over the side in February.
Qatar played consistently throughout the three-day event. Ibrahim Saeed, Mubarak Dahi Waleed, Juma Faraj, Chigbo John, Renan Rebeiro, Saad Suleiman, Nadr Aboubacker, Ali Asadi and all others played with renewed vigour after their training camp in Slovenia.
Cichello, who has the experience of working with top-notch clubs in Italy and Spain in addition to coaching the Argentinian Under-17 and U-19 national teams, experimented a lot during the tournament, trying to figure out his best combination for the Incheon Games, starting on September 19.
“That’s one of the best advantages of such tournaments. Players get into the match-groove and we keep experimenting trying to find out the best player in respective positions,” added Cicehllo, who would be giving a final shape to the squad’s composition after the two forthcoming friendlies against Kuwait.
Younger players like Mubarak were savouring the experience of having played against tougher opponents.
“The exposure that we got by playing against higher-ranked teams will stand us in good stead in the bigger battles like Asian Games,” said Mubarak, who broke into the national team last year after a string of consistent performances for Qatar League champions Al Rayyan.
As the adage goes, well begun is half done. The Incheon-bound Qatari spikers have made a promising start to their campaign so far. The onus is on them to carry it forward and bring laurels to the country in the quadrennial extravaganza.