Six futsal qualifiers confirm their spots in the main draw 

of the hugely-popular Ramadan tournament

March 03, 2019 - DUBAI, UAE – The Beach have romped into the main draw of the 2019 Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament’s Futsal championship with an all-win record in the qualifying tournament, which was held at the Al Manara Indoor Sports Hall in Umm Suqeim last week.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, and organised by Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament is the biggest event of its kind in terms of participation and prize money, and has been held every year in the Holy Month of Ramadan since 2013 at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

More than 25,000 athletes have taken part in the NAS Sports Tournament over the past six years. Last year, more than 5,000 athletes took part in the tournament, which saw competition in 11 different sports. The tournament also went international in 2018 with a five-a-side futsal competition taking place in the Egyptian capital Cairo and an eight-team volleyball tournament in Amman, Jordan.

Twelve teams took part in the Futsal qualifiers, and six of them – Victory and Al Tasamah from Group A, The Beach and A Wataniya (National) from Group B, and Al Theyaba and Surprise from Group C – have qualified for the main NAS Sports Tournament.

Emirates Driving Institute won the NAS Futsal title in 2018, defeating Al Bahri 3-2 on penalties following a thrilling 5-5 draw. The two finalist have got a bye into the main draw of the 2019 NAS Futsal Championship where they will be joined by the six qualifiers.

The Beach started their qualifying campaign with an imposing 4-1 win over Al Hajal before defeating Dubai 3-1 on day two. Then, in the battle for the group’s top spot against Al Wataniya (National), who had scored 14 goals in their first two wins, the Beach boys put up an impressive all-round show to prevail 5-3.

2019 NAS FUTSAL QUALIFIERS
Group A: Victory and Al Tasamah
Group B: The Beach and A Wataniya (National).
Group C: Al Theyaba and Surprise

QUALIFYING RESULTS
Group A: Victory beat Al Abqari 3-2; Al Tasamah beat Al Jawareh 4-0; Victory beat Al Tasamah 5-2; Al Abqari drew with Al Jawareh 3-3; Al Tasamah beat Al Abqari 6-1; Al Jawareh beat Victory 3-2.
Group B: The Beach beat Al Wataniya (National) 5-3; Al Hajal beat Dubai 7-3; The Beach beat Dubai 3-1; Al Wataniya (National) beat Al Hajal 8-2; The Beach beat Al Hajal 4-1; Al Wataniya (National) beat Dubai 6-1.
Group C: Al Theyaba beat Al Shabab 4-2; Surprise beat Al Shabab Al Ain 5-2; Al Theyaba drew with Surprise 7-7; Al Shabab beat Shabab Al Ain 12-6; Surprise beat Shabab 5-2; Al Theyaba beat Shabab Al Ain 8-1.