Doha: Cuban Osmel Camejo did the star act for Al Arabi in the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) Super Cup playing a stellar role to guide his team to the title.

Yesterday at the Al Arabi Indoor Stadium Camejo struck telling blows at crucial stage in the 3-1 (25-23 23-25 25-23 25-21) win over Al Rayyan.

Camejo’s allround display not only revolved around his spikes but also his service which Al Rayyan players found hard to handle in third set.

With the teams tied at one-all the Cuban scored seven points on his serve in the crucial third set to shift the game in Al Arabi favour.

Camejo admitted that he had aimed to finish on top after losing the Federation Cup final to El Jaish last Monday

“I was very disappointed after the Fed Cup loss and was very keen to win this time. I must say that it was a tough game for both the teams. All the sets were very close but we won points at crucial moments and emerged winners.” .

In the opening set it was a neck-to-neck affair until Camejo raced his side to a 25-23 lead after having stayed level at 21-21.

In the second set Rayyan started off well and had a five-point lead in the middle of the game but the Cuban rose to the occasion once again and curtailed the lead to only two points with his brilliant display smashing the Rayyan defence with his power.

The third set was also a keenly-fought affair but again Camejo proved the major hurdle for Rayyan players as he scored seven points on his serve and was equally good with his powerful smashes.

The Emir Cup champions Arabi kept the momentum in the fourth set and won it rather easily.

Though Camejo started off with some mistakes but in the end he proved the difference between the two teams. And it was well-admitted by his coach Mawia Alajnaf.

“Yes he was the difference in the end. He is a very talented player and he showed it today why he is rated so high. He made some unforced errors during the initial moments of the game but he scored some very crucial points for us” Alajnaf said.

“He was fantastic today. Especially in the third set when we were one-all and Rayyan was trying to dominate us he came up with some superb service and strong smashes and changed the game in our favour” he said.

Camejo was also supported well by his teammates -- Juma Faraz Ahmed Bassam and Mohamed Ibrahim. The trio had missed the Fed Cup final as they were rested before the start of the league and they were properly rotated by their coach. The combine proved too much for Rayyan whose professional player Philip Maiyo was also off colour.

“We played a superb game today. We are very happy with the win. Camejo was extraordinary. Our cause was helped by a perfect rotation plan by our coach and I hope we will keep it up in the league also” said Faraz.

It was the first Super Cup for Alajnaf and he was delighted with his team’s victory over league champions Rayyan.

“It is a very good victory for us. We lost the Fed Cup to Jaish but now we are on equal footing before the start of the league. I hope we will keep the momentum going into the league” he said.

Alajnaf next target is the League title.

“Hope we can win the League title after the Super Cup.”

The Qatar Volleyball League starts on November 26.

The Peninsula