Sport

Al Arabi win Asian Club Championship

July 08, 2012 | 12:00 AM

Sports Reporter/Shanghai

WE ARE THE BEST: The Al Arabi volleyball team celebrate their Asian Club Championship win in Shanghai yesterday. Al Arabi defeated Shanghai Tang Dynasty in four games to win the final

Qatar’s Al Arabi etched a golden chapter in the country’s history by winning the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in a thrilling final in Shanghai yesterday.Al Arabi capped a tremendous week, beating China’s Shanghai Tang Dynasty 17-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 to silence hundreds of home team supporters.The victory helped the Qatar League champions to qualify for the FIVB Club World Championship to be held in Qatar from October 13 to 19 this year.Qatar will have, two teams in the world event, the second being Al Rayyan.Yesterday’s title triumph came in the wake of some excellent performances by Al Arabi throughout the tournament.They avenged a group stage defeat at the hands of Iran’s Kaleh by beating them in the semi-finals on Saturday to qualify for the final. Shanghai Tang Dynasty, on their part, defeated Rahat Almaty of Kazakhstan in the semis.Qatar Olympic Committee Secretary-General Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani congratulated the team on their achievement.

Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has congratulated Al Arabi on their success

“The victory in the Asian Club Championships is a historic achievement for Al Arabi,” Sheikh Saoud said yesterday.“The win is a result of the tremendous hard work the team put in. Qatar had great hopes on them and they delivered and now we can look up to the team doing well in the FIVB Club World Championship in Doha later this year,” he added.Al Arabi coach Muawya al-Ahnaf and captain Saeed Jumaa meanwhile said it was team effort and fighting spirit that saw them through in the final.“We lost the first game 25-17, but we never gave up,” said Tunisian al-Ahnaf. “We knew we had a chance to create history and we didn’t want to waste that opportunity. I kept telling this to the boys throughout the match and they understood the importance of the occasion.”Jumaa added he never lost confidence in the team.“To win against strong opposition and that too in a foreign setting is also difficult but we made it possible through a never-say-die attitude,” Jumaa said.“Now we look forward to the world championship.”In the earlier rounds, Al Arabi defeated Uzbek Telecom and Chonburi of Thailand before beating Iran’s Kaleh and Shanghai Tang Dynasty in the semi-finals and final respectively.Iran’s Kaleh finished third in the tournament after they scored a 25-12, 25-17, 25-23 win over Rahat Almaty.Seventeen teams took part in the tournament.

July 08, 2012 | 12:00 AM