VIDEO: Gedraityte wins Women’s Open title as Dubai Police riders dominate NAS Cycling Championship
- 02 Apr 2023
Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
The Dubai Police riders delivered dazzling performances in the different categories of the NAS Cycling Championship in Dubai on Friday.
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 10th editon of NAS Sports tournament carries a total prize purse of Dhs4 million. Dhs3 million will be disbursed among the winners of eight sports events.
A total of Dhs1 million worth of prizes will be distributed among the audience.
The second day of the NAS Cycling Championship was graced by Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the tournament, Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of the Council and Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Tournament, and Mansoor Juma Buosaiba, president of the UAE Cycling Federation.
Hassan Al Mazrouei, Director of the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament; Saleh Al Marzouqi, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the tournament, and members of the Executive Committee, Ali Omar Al Balushi and Adel Al Bannai, were also present on the occasion.
The second day of the cycling event witnessed riders participating in — Open Women, Amateur UAE National Men, Amateur UAE National Women (cyclists not registered with any club and who do not own an official biker card issued by the UAE Cycling Federation), Community UAE National Men, and Community UAE National Women.
Akvile Gedraityte, riding in the colours of the Dubai Police team, dominated the 77 Km Women’s Open category race, taking the top spot with a time of 1:47:23.69.
The Dubai Police team took all three spots on the podium after Tetiana Yashchenke finished in second place after clocking 1:47:23.86.
Kazakhstan’s Makhabbat Umutzhanova, also representing the Dubai Police team, settled for third place with a time of 1:47:23.96.
After the Women’s Open category, the Dubai Police team hogged the limelight again with a superb performance in the Amateur UAE National Men's race.
Dubai Police rider Hamad Salman Al Sabri claimed the top spot after finishing the race in 1:38:06:077.
Yasser Juma Al Balushi finished second with a time of 1:38:06:10, and Hilal Jaber Al Harbi came third.
In the Amateur UAE National Women's race, Farah Al Marri from the Dubai Police team won first place after finishing in a time of 2:07:32.57, followed by Ghaya Ibrahim Al Mahrizi and Hala Mohammed Rashid in third place.
In the Community UAE National Men category, Mohammed Moosa Al Balushi won first place with a time of 1:39:12.44 hours, followed by Mansour Hassan from the Dubai Police team.
Mohammed Tariq Al Shamsi finished third.
Aisha Ahmed Foolad claimed top spot in the Community UAE National Women category race with a time of 2:07:33.65. Alia Al Muhairi took the second spot, while Nora Al Ghafli came in third.
Elsewhere, Francisco Javier Rodriguez and Ignacio Gonzalez Gadea clinched the UAEPA 100 Finals title at the NAS Padel Championship.
They were declared winners of the final after their opponents, Javier Garcia Lopez and Sergio Icardo Alcoris, pulled out.
Featuring highly ranked International Pedal Federation (FIP) players, the FIP Gold category matches also witnessed exciting duels in the quarter-finals.
Raul Marcos and Jose David Sanchez had to dig deep before overcoming Francesco Miguel Ramirez and Jose Carlos Gaspar 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to advance into the semi-finals.
Mario Ortega and Carlos Marti also advanced after beating Sergio Icardo and Javier Lopez Garcia.
Benjamin Tesson and Victor Mina reached the semi-finals by beating Henrique Barboza and Facundo Dominguez 6-2, 7-6. Ruben Rivera and Andrea Mercadal qualified for the last four after outlasting Luis Fernandez and Inigo Jofre 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
In the UAEPA 10 Women Round of 16 matches, Elizabeth Hernandez and Aysha Yatim advanced to the next round.
Khadija Sani and Hafsa Sani; Najla Issa and Noura Al-Hashemi; Aisha Al-Awadhi and Andrea Soto; and Arancha Sustre and Mariana Norena also reached the next round of the competition.
