Traditionally, the Qatar League has been a two-horse race between arch-rivals Al Rayyan and Al Arabi. The fact that these teams have together won 32 of the 45 editions shows how dominant they have been.
As the 46th edition of the league starts on Sunday, it is definitely difficult to think of a winner other than two-time defending champions Rayyan and Arabi, who have won the crown a record 24 times.
Arabi sounded an early warning by winning the season-opening Federation Cup, where they beat El Jaish in a five-set thriller.
Rayyan, eyeing their ninth league crown, have been subdued in their preparations. With most of their players missing the Federation Cup due to national-team commitments, too much should not be read into them failing to even reach the Federation Cup semifinal.
This year they surprised everyone by reaching the final of the FIVB Club World Championship in Brazil.
The fact that most of the Qatar internationals are from Rayyan is an apt indication of their strengths. Their squad has always been a blend of youth and experience. Youngsters like Mubarak Dahi Waleed are products of their grass-roots system.
Police, who finished as runners-up last season, and giant killers Al Ahli are the other possible title contenders.
Police came within a sniffing distance of annexing their maiden title last season before falling to Rayyan at the last hurdle. The final tie between the two sides eventually became a winner-takes-it-all affair, with Rayyan winning it.
Teams like Qatar SC and Al Sadd are capable of causing odd upsets, but consistency has never been their forte.
Al Khor, Al Wakrah, Al Gharafa and Al Shamal are in the top flight, thanks largely to the Qatar Volleyball Association’s (QVA) decision to merge the Premier and First Divisions at the start of the 2012-13 season.
Earlier, the competition had a two-tier system, with six clubs competing in the Premier category and the remaining five in First Division.
However, QVA President Khalid Ali Al Mawlawi justified the decision to merge the divisions.
“Ever since we dropped the two-tier system, the league has become more competitive. In the last two seasons, there were stages when we had at least four teams in with a chance of winning the title. The revised format has sort of evened out imbalances of the older version,” he said.
Al Mawlawi’s optimism stems from the fact that just two points separated Rayyan and Police last season.
Most of the clubs are still in the process of giving the final shape to their squads. Last-minute signing of professional players has always been the norm in the Qatar League.
Qatar SC’s Algerian spiker Toufik Mahdjoubi, Arabi’s Kenyan recruit Philip Maiyo and Ahli’s French professional Philippe Barca-Cysique are some of the big names to watch out for as riveting volleys, sturdy smashes and clever blocks are on the cards in the coming days.
By: Sajith b warrier