Sheikh Saeed, Morad enter semi-finals; Emirati archers hit the bull's eye

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Padel Association, and Arsham Morad cruised into the semi-finals of the padel competition at the 10th NAS Sports Tournament on Monday.

Held under the theme ‘Limitless Abilities’ and organized by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the NAS 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 iconic Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

The tournament, now in its tenth edition, carries a total prize purse of Dhs4 million and has been one of the top sporting attractions held annually.

Dhs3 million will be disbursed among the winners of eight sports events at NAS, including volleyball, padel tennis, Jiu-Jitsu, archery, fencing, wheelchair basketball, running, and cycling. Dhs1 million worth prizes will be distributed among the audience.

Sheikh Saeed and Morad started well and won the match against Marwan Khoory Khoory and Ali Ahli without any fuss.

Anshul Choubal and Ishaan Choubal reached the last four after beating Hussameldin Amer and Ranjan Pradeep 6-1, 6-0.

Eisa Al Marzouqi and Ahmed Mustafa qualified for the semi-finals after beating Omar Al-Bastaki and Moritz Eckert 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 while Nicola Sciascia and Biel Ballester overcame Jonathan Allan and Colin Marshall 6-1, 4-6, 10-6 to reach the next round.

Sergio Alcorisa and Abdulla Ahmad won the Emirati and Expatriate Open category title. They defeated Abdullah Abdulaziz and Javier Garcia 7-6, 6-1 in the final.

In the quarter-finals of the UAEPA 100 category, Roberto Rodriguez and Martin Nochese swept aside Eisa Al Marzooqi and Ahmed Mostafa 6-0, 6-1; Francesco Javier and Ignacio Gonzalez thrashed Hamad Al Mazmi and Muhammad Al Qassem 6-0, 6-0.

Abdullah Abdulaziz and Fares Al-Janahi advanced to the semi-finals after beating Ali Al-Aref and Victor Mena, 6-4, 7-6.

Javier Garcia and Sergio Icardo also reached the next round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gonzalo Martin and Fabrizio Guerrero.

Winners of the Archery Championship pose with the officials during the presentation ceremony.

Emirati athletes dominated the Nad Al Sheba Archery Championship.

Hitting the right target, Saqar Mubarak Al-Ketbi clinched gold in the Recurve Men (18+) category. Ahmad Hafez Karim took silver, while Abdalla Al-Ketbi got bronze.

Producing a flawless performance, Hassan Ibrahim Raeisi bagged gold in the U-18 recurve men's event.

Abdourrahman Cittee settled for silver, and Abdullah Ali Zadeh finished with bronze.

Snehal Divakar emerged on top in recurve women (18+) and bagged the gold. Hussa Yaqoub Alawadhi claimed silver and Aisha Jasim got bronze.

Jamal Khalifa Al Badwawi delivered a superb performance to claim the Compound Men Open gold. Mohammed Abdulla Ali Al-Shehhi won silver, and Ahmed Anaqbi took bronze.

In the compound men (18+) category, Vishnu Nariyampully took gold, Saif Abdallah Alyamahi won silver, and Muneerul Islam took bronze.

All competitions were held at a throw distance of 18 meters inside the hall, and it included 10 rounds for each shooter; each of them threw three arrows in each round, and all targets were 40 cm in accordance with the law of the World Archery Federation.

Dr. Saeed Musabeh Al Kaabi, president of the UAE Archery Federation, stressed that participation in the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament enriches the players with valuable experience and consolidates the value of the sport.