UAE women spikers start on winning note

The UAE started the defence of their title in earnest with an overwhelming 3-0 win over Qatar in their opening match of the 2nd GCC Women's Volleyball Championships that got underway at Al Wasl Club late on Wednesday.

There was no doubting the superiority of the UAE as they dominated their opponents from Qatar from the start with captain Fatema Hassan in sublime form at the net while Asma Ahmed and Mona Abbas pitched in with supporting roles as the hosts won easily 25-12, 25-13 and 25-10.

In an earlier match, Oman stood up as one of the early favourites with a 3-1 win over previous runners-up Kuwait. Oman won 25-13, 25-13, 12-25 and 25-21 in a match that could have gone either way, thanks to the late fightback from Kuwait.

"We had our chances, but we never took these when they came along," lamented Kuwait coach Fawzi Matoug.

"My players did well to fight in the third and fourth sets, but it was a little too late. Now we can hope they continue improving so that we can be genuine challengers to the title," he added.

Propped up by their first win, the UAE coach Asma Arubay wanted her team to go all the way. "I am convinced we can, but we need to take one match at a time," she related.

“We will take each and every match seriously," she stressed.

Earlier, the week-long competition was opened by Laila Suhail, Chairperson of the Organising Committee and Sheikha Naeema Al Sabah, President, GCC Womens Sports Association in the presence of Ibrahim Abdul Malik, Secretary General, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), Dr. Ahmed Al Sharif, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council, and Yousuf Al Mulla, President, UAE Volleyball Association and Noura Al Suwaidi from the UAE Women’s Sports Committee.

The UAE are the favourites to win here after they had claimed the first edition when the competition was held in Kuwait two years ago. The UAE will next face Bahrain in their round-robin match on Friday evening.

Matches

Thursday: Oman vs Bahrain; Kuwait vs Qatar

Friday: Qatar vs Oman; Bahrain vs UAE

Sunday: Bahrain vs Qatar; UAE vs Kuwait

Monday: Kuwait vs Bahrain; Oman vs UAE.