Robertlandy Simon displayed why he is rated as the best middle player in the world as the Cuban spearheaded El Jaish into their first final of the prestigious Emir’s Cup Volleyball Championship on Wednesday.
At the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Simon netted 29 points and forged a potent attack with Oreol Camejo and Bojan Dokic to spark the army team to a 27-25 25-22 23-25 25-19 victory over strong contenders Al Rayyan Club.
Their one-hour-and-50-minute victory sealed the semi-final playoff series 2-1 and set up the thrilling final showdown against defending champions Al Arabi Club on May 13 at 6.30 pm.
Twenty-one time winners Al Arabi Club had handed a 2-0 blowout to Police in the other semi-final playoff en route to their 28th final.
Both Al Rayyan Club, who have won the Emir’s Cup 11 times out of their 24 finals, and El Jaish had clashed in the Qatar Cup final recently, with the former winning in five sets.
El Jaish and Al Arabi Club are clashing for a title second time in the current season. Earlier, they were pitted in the season-opener QVA Cup final and the army team emerged the champions 3-1, after rallying from one set down.
Simon played for the Cuban national team for five years and was a silver medallist in the 2010 World Championships. He also bagged the bronze medal in the 2005 World League.
Simon also wore Al Rayyan colours and helped them finish runners-up in the FIVB Clubs World Championship in 2014 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He was declared the best middle blocker as well in that championship. In 2009, he was adjudged the best blocker and spiker in the World League. Next year, he won the best blocker honours in the World Championships too.
With Simon, Camejo and Dokic firing on all cylinders, it was difficult for Al Rayyan Club to put up a good defence and this helped El Jaish clinch the first two sets at the crucial stages.
El Jaish faced some difficult moments in the third set and still they might have secured a 3-0 victory. Tine Urnaut, Wilfredo Leon Venero, Mubarak Dahi Waleed and Bilal Abunabout kept Al Rayyan ahead. But Simon and Dokic led a brief rally and El Jaish were just two points away from the victory.
Trentino Diatec player Urnaut, Venoro and Waleed stopped El Jaish and clinched the set to force the fourth one. However, El Jaish were in full cry, went on to outplay the rivals and complete the victory with Dokic firing a smash to a wild celebration of the teammates and fans.
Besides Simon’s 29 points, Camejo and Dokic contributed 17 each for El Jaish. Venoro led Al Rayyan Club and gained 25 points, while Urnaut had 18 and Waleed managed 12.
Result
Third semi-final playoff
El Jaish beat Al Rayyan 27-25 25-22 23-25 25-19 in one hour & 50 minutes
May 13 fixture (final)
6:30 pm – Al Arabi Club vs El Jaish