Defending champions and 21-time winners Al Arabi Club proved more than a match for Police and won the opening Emir’s Cup Volleyball Championship semi-final playoff in straight sets on Saturday.
At the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena, Al Arabi dished out a compact game and posted a dominant 25-17 25-18 25-21 victory in one hour and eight minutes.
In another match, which saw numerous ups and downs, runners-up and 11-time champions Al Rayyan went ahead first. Then they trailed 1-2 before overcoming El Jaish 25-21 12-25 22-25 25-18 17-15 in two hours and five minutes.
Police, who have played four finals but never crossed the finish line, could not handle the onslaught launched by Al Arabi’s Ivan Zaytsev, Yoandry Leal Hidalgo and middle player Ibrahim Mohamed.
Police began crumbling under the barrage of spikes and they finally collapsed after 68 minutes.
Zaytsev led the scoring and collected 19 points, with 16 of them coming from smashes. Hidalgo netted 10 of his 13 from his superb net play and veteran Ibrahim smashed nine winners and got two points off his service.
For Police, Williams Padura Diaz was the lone fighter. The Brazilian earned 11 of his 12 points from his spiking ability. Their other professional Silmar Antonio de Almeida could manage only five.
Both Al Rayyan Club and El Jaish revived some of the glowing memories of their recent Qatar Cup final and both the teams had their chances to win the opener tonight.
It was however Al Rayyan, who managed to script the win, just like they did in the Qatar Open final. Al Rayyan had a good start but El Jaish replied strongly through Roberlandy Simon, Oreol Camejo and Bojan Dokic.
After Al Rayyan pulled off the fourth set, the tie-break set was enforced and they scraped the win to take a spirit-lifting 1-0 lead in the prestigious event on the QVA calendar.
Trentino Diatec star Tine Urnaut and Wilfredo Leon Venero were instrumental. With their entertaining net play, Urnaut notched up 26 points, while Venero got 22 for Al Rayyan. Mubarak Dahi Waleed also got nine.
Camejo and Dokic secured 19 points each for Police. Simon could post only 18, a little below than his usual game.
All the four teams will clash again on Monday during the crucial second playoff and it looks like that Al Arabi may be the first one to book their place in the final.
النتائج

Al Rayyan Club beat El Jaish 25-21 12-25 22-25 25-18 17-15 in two hours & five minutes
Al Arabi Club beat Police 25-17 25-18 25-21 in one hour & eight minutes
Monday’s fixtures
4:30 pm – Al Arabi Club vs Police
6.30 pm – Al Rayyan Club vs El Jaish