Last year’s runners-up Al Rayyan Club booked their place in the final of the Qatar Cup Volleyball Championship, overcoming a stiff challenge from Police in five sets on Sunday.
At the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan clinched the second semi-final playoff 24-26 25-16 27-25 21-25 15-10 in one hour and 56 minutes to win the series 2-0.
In other playoff, El Jaish bounced back after being two sets down and upset defending champions Al Arabi Club to force the third and decider clash. Al Arabi won the opening two sets but the army team staged a spirited recovery and pulled off the next three sets to complete a 25-22 15-23-25 21-25 25-21 11 victory.
El Jaish had lost the opening match 0-3 but on Tuesday, they have now secured an opportunity to stun the might opponents and enter the second final of the season. In November 2015, El Jaish had beaten Al Arabi 3-1 to bag the QVA Cup, the season-opener.
Robertlandy Simon and Oreol Camejo inspired the comeback of El Jaish and won the bulk of points for them as well.
Ivan Zaytsev, Yoandry Leal Hidalgo, Jorge Gonzalez Garcia accounted for majority of points but it wasn’t their day as El Jaish built up a good lead in the tie-break set and went on to seal the superb victory.
The Al Rayyan and Police clash, after both shared the first four sets, appeared headed for a tame end as the formed raced away to an 8-1 lead with Polish smasher Zbigniev Bartman and Russian Dmitriy Ilinykh combing well with Mubarak Dahi Waleed and Belal.
Police caused a big fright and rallied to tie the scores at 9 as Brazilian Williams Pedura Diaz and Silmar Antonio de Almeida sparkled with their net play. At 10-9, Ilinykh’s service could not be returned properly.
Bartman drilled a killer spike to make it 12-9 and it was followed by Diaz hitting out. Waleed and Belal then completed a brilliant block to set up the match point (14-10). Police then could not control a service, leaving Al Rayyan off the hook and win the tight contest.
Bartman produced fierce smashes and collected 24 points for the winners. Ilinykh contributed 15, while Belal and Waleed chipped in 13 and 12, respectively.
Diaz had an impressive tally of 36 points and Almeida earned 20. Other players could not support their main players much. If they have to do something stunning in the upcoming Emir’s Cup, they must work harder together as a unit.
Results
El Jaish beat Al Arabi Club 25-22 15-23-25 21-25 25-21 15-11
Al Rayyan Club beat Police 24-26 25-16 27-25 21-25 15-10
Tuesday’s fixture
Al Arabi Club vs El Jaish