Dubai, UAE, June 6, 2018:  Dubai Municipality clinched the Nad Al Sheba Wheelchair Basketball Championship title with a facile 63-46 win over Dubai Public Prosecution at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

Dominant throughout their campaign, Dubai Municipality gave another commanding performance to deal Dubai Public Prosecution their third defeat in the final of the NAS Wheelchair Basketball Championship.

“From the beginning of the tournament, Dubai Municipality and the Public Prosecution team had set themselves apart and everyone expected us to be in the final,” said Dubai Municipality’s Ahmed Al Jassim, one of the leading scorers of the tournament.

“So we had two of the tournament’s best teams in the final and it was a really good contest. We had a good strategy in place and it worked for us. We played a strong defensive game and relied on quick counters, and we were successful in scoring plenty of points.

“We have some excellent players in the Municipality team and they are really good at scoring from under the basket. So managed to take control from the first minute and did not allow our opponents to come close, in terms of the score, nor did we give them much space to play their game.”

Hassan El Samlawi, Dubai Municipality’s Egyptian professional, added: “We are deserving champions. We have been the best team from the beginning of the tournament, reaching the semis by winning all our matches in the group and then putting up a really strong show in the semi-final against Dubai Police.

“The final was a big challenge for us because we wanted to crown our efforts with the title, and we are delighted that we could do that.”

FUTSAL

In the NAS Futsal Championship, Dubai Police fought back from 1-2 at the break to defeat 2017 champions Al Taher 5-2 in the match for the bronze medal.

The defending champions took the lead in the opening minute itself when Jeferson Luis Correa put the ball at the back of the net. Al Taher then defended stoutly, with goalkeeper Taher Naser Ali making a couple of great saves until Dubai Police were finally rewarded for their sustained efforts when Alex William Da Silva struck the equaliser in the 12th minute.

Four minutes later, however, Al Taher were back in the lead with their Iranian captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh putting Correa’s cross past the Police goalkeeper.

Da Silva scored his second of the night in the 5th minute of second half to level the scores once again and then Johnatan Luiz Cesar converted from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute to put Dubai Police in the lead for the first time in the match.

Cesar scored his second four minutes later to make it 4-2 for the Policemen and then, two minutes from time, he provided the cross for Ibrahim Khalid to seal the fate of the match.

Organised by Dubai Sports Council (DSC) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, the 2018 Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament will see more than 5,000 athletes compete for a total prize-purse of Dh6 million in Dubai, across 11 competitions.

The tournament has also gone international this year with a five-a-side futsal competition taking place in the Egyptian capital Cairo and an eight-team volleyball tournament being held in Amman, Jordan.

RESULTS

Wheelchair Basketball (Final): Dubai Municipality beat Dubai Public Prosecution 63-46.

Padel Tennis (UAE Nationals): Final - Saeed Al Marri and Mohammed Al Mansouri beat Abdullah Ahli and Mohammed Ahli 2-1 (6-4, 2-6, 6-4); 3rd Place: Sheikh Saeed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum and Omar Marzooqi beat Majid Al Falasi and Abdulla Abdulla 2-0 (6-1, 6-2).

Futsal for People with Hearing Disabilities (Final): Team Abu Dhabi beat Team Dubai 6-1.

Futsal (3rd Place): Dubai Police beat Al Taher 5-2.

CAPTIONS

Basket1: Action from the NAS Wheelchair Basketball Championship final where Dubai Municipality defeated Dubai Public Prosecution 63-46 for the tile.
Basket2: The Dubai Municipality team celebrate with the trophy after defeating Dubai Public Prosecution 63-46 in the final of the NAS Wheelchair Basketball Championship.
Futsal: Dubai Police’s Alex William Da Silva (green) jostles for the ball with Al Taher’s Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh in the playoff for third place in the NAS Futsal Championship. Da Silva scored twice to help Dubai Police win 5-2.