Qatar Basketball Federation president, HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, poses with the El Jaish team after they won the Emir Cup title yesterday.
By Yash Mudgal/Doha
Hani Fadi Abilmona helped El Jaish come from behind to register an 80-70 victory over Al Sadd yesterday at the Ali bin Hamad al-Attiya Arena to win their first Emir Cup basketball title.
By sweeping aside the former champions Sadd, the armymen earned their first major title, and that too the showcase event of the season, after entering their third final and end a five-year title drought.
“It took everything we had as a team. When we were trailing at half-time, we all decided in the locker room that we have to make a comeback and we have to play like a champion to win it,” said Fadi, who was adjudged as the most valuable player.
After scoring no points in the first quarter and missing two three-pointers in the second Fadi, finished with 22 points.
It was a tough win for Jaish, who won their last silverware in 2010 when they won the then Heir Apparent Cup. This helped Jaish finish the season on a winning note after they lost to Gharafa in the Qatar Cup final and finished second in the Qatar Basketball league behind Al Rayyan.
“This was the hardest game we ever had to play this season. Credit goes to Sadd also, they’re an unbelievable team, but we’re a resilient team and we did whatever we could to get this win,” he added.
“Earlier we failed to cross the finish line and came second in the league and Qatar Cup, but this time we played to our potential and emerged the champions,” he said.
Jaish made a nervous start in the tense final, with Sadd taking a 20-12 lead in the first quarter and later extending it to 51-59 at the half-time.
“We were not in our elements in the first and the second quarters. We were under pressure at the start. Everybody must have thought that my team will lose this match, but they played superbly in the third and fourth quarter to emerge champions,” Jaish coach Dragoslav Milovanovic said.
Jaish got a narrow lead for the first time in the game when Sadd’s point guard Parish Petti got injured in the third quarter and Michael Fraser was sidelined with four fouls.
The tide turned in Jaish’s favour when, with trailing by one point, Fadi scored two back-to-back three-pointers in the third quarter.
“It was really unfortunate for us that Petti was injured during the match and we lost the momentum after playing so good in the first two quarters,” Sadd coach Zoran Krokovic said.
Jaish coach Milovanovic also of the opinion that the injury to Petti helped his team’s cause.
“It was sad that their point guard got himself injured mid-way in the final, and we took the game away from them by playing aggressively in his absence,” he said.
While Petti’s absence helped Jaish, it was Fadi who helped his team’s cause immensely. Abdulrehman Ali Saad was top-scored in the match with 27 points and Saeed Erfan Ali scored 15 for Sadd, but their team was no match for Jaish and had no answer for Fadi, who scored six three-pointers in his ten attempts.
