Rayyan on rampage, qualifiers Police rally to beat El Jaish

Al Rayyan player (in black) executes a smash against Al Gharafa during their HH the Emir Cup match yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Defending champion Al Rayyan thrashed Gharafa 3-0 to register its second victory in Group ‘A’ of the Emir Cup volleyball at the Al Arabi Indoor Hall here yesterday.

Rayyan, fresh from their runner-up finish at the Asian Clubs Championship in Tehran, put up yet another impressive performance to make their intentions clear. Newly-crowned league champion Rayyan, who defeated El Jaish in the first match, won the first set in just 19 minutes to set the tone of the match, which they later finished 25-12, 25-17, 25-17 in just 60 minutes.

The champion side came up with a display that left Gharafa absolutely flabbergasted. Gharafa’s ploy of blocking out Rayyan’s Cuban star Michael Sanchez, Hamad and Osman Agab did not work out despite some good efforts from Fernando and Alexander. Sanchez was practically unstoppable in the spiking zone and when he brought into play his sledgehammer smashing and cunning drops, Gharafa was left clueless.

“I am very happy. We are playing well as a unit. We have won two out of two matches in the competition and hoping for a title winning performance again,” Rayyan captain Osman Agab told Gulf Times after the match. “Our next target is the last group match against Police. They have come through qualification rounds and put up a good show today against El Jaish,” he said.

Earlier, in the first match of the evening, qualifiers Police came from behind to defeat Federation Cup champion El Jaish 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 26-24, 25-18) in a well-contested match. After losing first set, Policemen came with a renewed vigor to win three sets in a row and kept their hopes to qualify for semifinals alive.

Some unforced spiking errors by Jaish players meant that they blew a 19-18 lead and allowed Police to win the second set. The two sides fought point by point in the third set before Police prevailed 26-14 over Jaish. In the last set, Police came hard on Jaish as they won it easily, in a matter of 20 minutes.

“It was really a tough game. We played well in the first set, but somehow we failed to combine well at the crucial moments in the remaining sets. I think our local players and professionals did not gel as a group in the match,” El Jaish coach Adel Sennuon said. “I must say Police is a very good team and they played a very competitive match today. Now, we are looking at our last league match against Rayyan. It is always difficult to play against Rayyan. They are a champion side but I hope we will put up our best against them in the last match of the group.”

Jaish, who defeated Gharafa on the opening day, will meet Al Rayyan, while Police, who lost the first match to Rayyan, will take on Al Gharafa in the last encounters of the group on Sunday. Al Arabi will face Al Ahli and Al Sadd will meet Qatar Sports Club tomorrow in the Group B matches.