Veera Pandian steers Titans CC into the quarterfinals of NAS Cricket

May 15, 2019 – Kuwait’s Abdulaziz Al Shatti won a gold and a bronze in the NAS Fencing Championship, while Egypt’s Alaaeldin Abouelkassem – the first Arab and African fencer to win a medal at the Olympics when he returned home with a men’s foil silver from the 2012 London Games – had to settle for a silver in the foil final after losing to Dutchman Daniel Giacon.

Al Shatti, who participated at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games under the Olympic flag due to Kuwait’s suspension, defeated Libyan Khalid Buhdeima 14-13 for gold in the Men’s Epee International final at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex on Monday night, and clinched bronze in the Men’s Foil International with a 15-10 verdict over Egypt’s Abdelrahman Haffour.

In the final of the Men’s Foil International, Abouelkassem, 28, had a two-point lead over his Dutch opponent, but Giacon fought back to edge the duel 14-13. The Egyptian, however, had no regrets and described his participation in the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament as a great preparation for the tournaments ahead.

“I am really pleased to participate in the NAS Sports Tournament for the second time,” said Abouelkassem. “Given the quality of the opponents present here, including a couple of top international players, I believe this tournament is a really good preparation for the season ahead, especially since it is taking place only a few days before the Grand Prix in Shanghai [from May 17-19].”

Abouelkassem, who is a winner of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, saluted the role of Dubai and UAE in the development of Arab sports through “pioneering initiatives like the MBR Creative Sports Award, winning which is a goal of every Arab athlete”.

Titans through to last eight
Anchored by Veera Pandian, Titans Cricket Club won a tense low-scoring duel with ASR-Meritorious to book their ticket to the quarterfinal of the NAS Cricket T10 Championship at the Wombats Cricket Ground in Jebel Ali.

The Titans, who had defeated Abu Dhabi Cricket Lads by 10 wickets in their opening Pool 6 game with Sheridan Hadfield smashing a 29-ball 101, struggled chasing a modest target on Monday night after restricting ASR-Meritorious to 83 for 3. The target could have been lower, but R Ashwin (49 not out: 28b, 4x4s, 4x6s) plundered 22 runs from Atif Khan’s final over of the innings.

The Titans lost their first wicket with only 3 runs on the board and Hadfield (13) departed 15 runs later, leaving No3 Pandian to lead the chase as wickets kept falling at the other end. Pandian himself was run-out off the last ball of a dramatic 9th over, in which the Titans lost three wickets for 6 runs, but his 22-ball vigil of 32 (3x4s, 2x6s) had taken the Titans to within 3 runs of victory, and they got them through byes in R Subramaniam’s final over.

In the other games of the night, Salman Cool Boys defeated Rising Star Cricket Club by 23 runs to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal spot from Pool 7.

The Cool Boys, whose opening game against Hamriya Kings was abandoned due to dense fog on Thursday night, posted 136 for 6 on the board with Muzamil Qasim being the star of their batting effort, smashing a 19-ball 48 (5x4s, 4x6s).

The Rising Stars came bolting off the blocks in the chase and had 81 on the board in 5.5 overs, but then three wickets in the space of 15 deliveries, for the addition of only 12 runs, turned the tide and the Rising Stars were eventually restricted to 113 for 5.

Bin Thani clinch third place

In the NAS Volleyball Championship play-off for third place, Bin Thani cruised to a straight-sets 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 win over Fohood Zabeel, with their foreign professional duo of Moroccan Zuhair Al Karawai (18 points) and Mohammed Sheikhi (16) leading the scoring charts.

RESULTS

NAS FENCING
Men’s Foil International Final: Daniel Giacon (Netherlands) beat Alaaeldin Abouelkassem (Egypt) 14-13. Third Place: Abdulaziz Al Shatti (Kuwait) beat Abdelrahman Haffour (Egypt) 15-10.

Men’s Epee International Final: Abdulaziz Al Shatti (Kuwait) beat Khalid Buhdeima (Libya) 14-13. Third Place: Taher Ashouri (Iran) beat Randy Postma (Netherlands) 15-11.

Men’s Epee Local Final: Saif Ahmad (Dubai Fencing Centre) beat Mohammed Al Maazmi (Sharjah) 15-12. Third Place: Khalifa Al Zarooni (Baniyas) beat Hamad Al Jallaf (Baniyas) 15-12.

Women’s Epee International Final: Nardine Botrous (Egypt) beat Kelly Boone (Netherlands) 15-14. Third Place: Sherwet Aly (Egypt) beat Salwa Aly (Egypt) 15-10.

Women’s Epee Local Final: Alanoud Al Saadi (Sharjah Women’s Club) beat Shouq Juma (Sharjah Women’s Club) 15-9. Third Place: Ashwaq Al Messabi (Baniyas) beat Fatima Al Kaabi (Baniyas) 15-14.

NAS VOLLEYBALL
Third-Place playoff: Bin Thani beat Fohood Zabeel 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19).

NAS CRICKET
Salman Cool Boys 136 for 6 (R Khan 21, W Gohar 24, M Qasim 48, M Asad n.o. 20; A Parkar 3-21) vs Rising Star CC 113 for 5 (B Palekar 42, N Parkar 31; K Akbar 2-16). Cool Boys win by 23 runs. 

ASR-Meritorious 83 for 3 (K Rangaraj 20, R Ashwin n.o. 49; AG Sadiq 2-8) vs Titans CC 87 for 8 in 9.4 overs (V Pandian 32; K Aravindh 2-12, R Subramaniam 2-5, Hinson 2-5). Titans win by 2 wickets.

NAS PADEL
Men’s Open: Javier Lopez Garcia and Sandy Farquharson beat Mohammed Al Janahi and Saeed Al Marri 6-0, 6-0; Benjamin Cassaigne and Xavier Masson beat Jamil Hourani and Dean Mcfarlane 6-2, 6-2; Martin Noschese and Simon Rahman beat Emilio Misas and Guillermo Villafane 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

UAE Nationals: Salem Ali Al Houli and Essa Junaid beat Nasser Al Neyadi and Jalal Sharif 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Team Championship: Valencia beat Padel Pod 6-0, 6-0; Valencia beat Padel Pod 6-0, 6-0.

NAS WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
Group A: Dewa beat Dubai Club for People of Determination 38-19; Al Ansari Exchange beat Dnata 21-8.
Group B: Dubai Ambulance beat RTA 34-15; Al Bustan beat DHA 16-14.