By Sports Reporter/Doha


Al Ahli cruised to a comfortable win over Al Wakrah in the opening match of the Qatar Cup at the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday.
Narcellius Soyebo (24), Tyrone McNeal (22), Consteveous Jefferson (21) and Omar Ahmed (18) excelled for the winners as they posted a 93-84 win.
Al Ahli were 26-17 ahead at the end of the first quarter and maintained a steady lead throughout to seal the outcome with ease. Al Ahli scored 17 points from turnovers as against Wakrah’s nine and had a whopping 16 fast break points while their rivals managed none.
For Al Wakrah, Calvin Cage scored a whopping 37 points but had to suffer the disappointment of ending up on the losing side. Cage shot 13 field goals including three three-pointers out of nine attempts and received excellent support from Adamu Saaka who scored 29.
Unfortunately, none of the other Al Wakrah players got into double figures and although the team scored 26 points in the third quarter, they just couldn’t challenge Al Ahli.
In the second match of the day, Al Sadd edged Al Arabi 79-84  with Rasahd Woods and Tyrone Anderson excelling with 31 and 18 points respectively. Saeed Erfan Ali with 16 and Daoud Mousa Daoud with 14 also made valuable contributions for the winners.
Al Sadd just about managed to keep themselves ahead for most part of the game, although by the end of the second quarter the scorers were tied at 41-41.
But Al Sadd scored 23 points in the next quarter and restricted their rivals to just nine. This proved the turning point as Al Sadd closed out the match with some degree of comfort.
Today Al Khor play Al Shamal at 5pm followed by a match between Qatar Sports Club and El Jaish at 7. Both matches will be played at the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall.