Al Rayyan team pose with the Qatar Cup trophy.
In a match that saw the momentum constantly changing in the last two sets Rayyan won the title after two hour and 16 minutes tussle. This is Rayyan’s ninth Qatar Cup title.
Welfredo Venero of Rayyan was declared Man-of-the-Final for scoring 31 points.
“This is the fourth gold medal for me with Rayyan. Last season, we lost the Emir Cup and we said we won’t lose the big finals. I’m really delighted for my team,” Venero said.
“Many big players are playing here. The game is getting high in the League, Qatar Cup and Emir Cup every year. I am so happy to see the level rise here,” he said. In the final set, Jaish took a runaway lead of 5-1 and Rayyan narrowed the lead to make it 8-5.
Al Rayyan were not ruffled by the early lead and managed to crawl back to tie the score at 12-all and thereafter there was not much to spate both the teams.
Al Rayyan, however, got the upper hand when they took the lead for the first time in the final set at 17-16 and then scored the match winning point to win the set and final.
This is Rayyan’s first domestic title this season. The Rayyan won the GCC Cup earlier in the year and finished at the second place in the Qatar league.
The season-opener Federation Cup winner Jaish began their pursuit for their second title in right earnest and pocked the first set using good service and lethal smashing from their Cuban stars Robertlandy Simon, Oreol Camejo. After going rather close till 8-8, Jaish pulled off seven quick points at 13-11 to 20-13 up.
El Jaish team with the runners-up prize.
Rayyan continued to struggle and could not get closer than three points. Then at 23-20, Polish Zbigniev Bartman smashed the ball out to hand the set point to El Jaish. The armymen needed to wait for a point before Dokic sealed it with a smash.
Rayyan came back strongly to win the next two sets. With thrilling blocks by Braima and Belal and entertaining spikes by Venoro, Bartman and Mubarak Dahi Waleed, they managed to grab the lead, despite Jaish coming four times within a point of equalising the scores.
Rayyan regained the momentum at 16-15 and a three-point push saw them go 19-15 up. Then five points in a row after Simon produced a fine smash earned them the much-needed set (1-1).
In the third, an early charge put Rayyan 4-0 ahead. With Jaish having their game falling apart, Rayyan found it easy to control the proceedings and increase the advantage to 10-3, 13-6 and then 19-11. They later relaxed and allowed Jaish to make it 15-21.
A pep talk by Croatian coach Igor Arbutina allowed them to regroup. A poor service was followed by a Camejo smash landing out. After two more points, Waleed forced a touch-out to set up the set point and Rayyan completed the formality of winning the set to manage a 2-1 lead.
“It was a very interesting game with a lot of stars being present in the final. I must add my team played very well especially in the block and defence. Every fan must have enjoyed but I’m proud of my team for the way they handled the situation. We’re close to the defeat but they played superbly and snatched the victory from Jaish. That’s why I’m saying I’m overwhelmed by my team’s performance,” Arbutina said.
“My players are capable for dealing with such tough situations. In the tie-break set, we were down 1-6 and then faced a few match points. But, we came back and managed to win such a thriller,” the Croatian said.
