Al Rayyan rally to win Qatar Cup title

4/29/2016 1:11:20 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Al Rayyan SC players and officials celebrate while receiving the Qatar Cup after they beat El Jaish SC 21-25 25-18 25-17 32-34 18-16 in the final played at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena yesterday. BELOW: Action during the final of the Qatar Cup volleyball Tournament. Pictures by: Syed Omar

Armstrong Vas

Doha: Al Rayyan made a splendid recovery when it mattered most in the final of the Qatar Cup volleyball to win the five-set thriller against El Jaish.

At Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena here yesterday the title clash went to the wire with Al Rayyan holding their nerve to register a 3-2 (21/25 25/18 25/17 32/34 and 18/16) win.

So close yet so far that sums up the disappointment of El Jaish team which came agonisingly close to clinching the title but ended as runners-up in the decisive clash.

Al Rayyan who were trailing 5-1 in the fifth and deciding set bounce back to win the decider at 18-16 and with it the title.

The final between the two teams was worth going a mile to watch. Fortune fluctuated over the two and half hour period. For a few minutes Al Rayyan had a upper hand only to surrender the advantage to their opponents.

A good number of spectators came to watch the match and to back their respective teams and all of them got their money’s worth.

Long rallies excellent blocks and superb spikes were the hall mark of the final not to forget the drum-playing fans who liven up the atmosphere in the stands.

El Jaish which stunned Qatar Volleyball Association League winners Al Arabi in the semi-finals winning the best-of-three series 2-1 set the tone by winning the first set to give their supporters something to cheer about very early into the match.

The Al Rayyan fans were not to be left behind and their heroes lived up to their expectations by bouncing back.

Backed by a vociferous crowd support Al Rayyan bounced back to take the second and third sets.

But El Jaish were not ready to throw in the towel and gave everything in the next set. The fourth set thus proved to be one of the keenly contested of the entire two and half hours final clash.

Every point was contested and long rallies kept all at the stadium on their toes with El Jaish wining 34-32.

In the final set El Jaish took a runaway lead of 5-1 and Al 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.

The winners got QR300000 while the runners-up got richer by QR150000.

Wilfredo Leon of Al Rayyan SC got the Player-of-the-Final award.

The Peninsula

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