Defending NAS futsal champions Fohool Zabeel knocked out

The four semi-finalists were decided in the futsal competition at the 3rd Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Tournament at the NAS Sports Complex on Monday night.

Surprise will take on Fohood Jumeirah and XCAT will battle last year’s runners-up Al Jokar in the two semi-finals to be played on Wednesday night.

Surprise defeated a plucky Tornado 5-4, while Fohood Jumeirah knocked off the Ricardinho-led defending champions Fohood Zabeel in an entertaining quarter-final.

Later in the night, XCAT staged a remarkable recovery after being 1-5 down to pack off Al Zeer 8-6, while last year’s runners-up stayed on track to go one step better with an easy 6-1 win over the Hamdan Heritage Centre.

Fohood Jumeirah will take on Surprise at 11.30 pm, while XCAT will face Al Jokar at 1 am in the two semi-finals on Wednesday night.

Played before a packed indoor hall at the NAS Sports Complex, the quarter-final lived up to its billing.

Two-time former FIFA Player of the Year Ricardinho opened the scoring for the defending champions in the fifth minute with a snap shot. But Bader Ibrahim Saeed brought the two teams on level terms four minutes later.

Substitute Daniel Albuquerque, who was given the task of marking Ricardinho, gave Fohood Jumeirah the lead in the 13th minute and they managed to hold on to it going in for the half-time break.

In the second half, Ricardinho made it 2-2 in the fifth minute, only to see Bader Ibrahim Saeed find the net a second time, and Ronald Mateus da Silva added another one within 15 seconds to take the match out of reach for the defending champions.

However, Fohood Zabeel hung in and saw a glimmer of hope as the newly-drafted Carlos Jimenez Ortiz pulled one back. And just when they threw everything for an equaliser Fernando Maciel Gonsalves made it 5-3 to oust the champions from winning the title for the third year in a row.

Padel Tennis

The pairing of Alex Farquharson and Javier Lopez Garcia registered their fourth win on the trot in the men’s open padel tennis.

The unbeaten duo got the better of Hassan Sharif and German Zunica 6-1, 6-0 and will await the winners of the match between Guillermo Villafane/Jordi Hernandez and Elimio Misas/Pedro Rios.

The padel tennis finals have been scheduled for July 9 while the futsal final on July 10 will be the last day of the annual NAS Sports Tournament.

Results (Quarter-finals)

Surprise bt Tornado 5-4

Fohood Jumeirah bt Fohood Zabeel 5-3

XCAT bt Al Zeer 8-6

Al Jokar bt Hamdan Heritage Centre 6-1

Padel Tennis:

Alex Farquharson/Javier Lopez Garcia bt Hassan Sharif/German Zunica Garcia 6-1, 6-0; Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum team bt Valencia 2-0 (6-1, 6-2 and 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (7)).

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