OMAN LIFT ARABIAN BEACH VOLLEYBALL CROWN
Oman beach volleyball ‘B’ team was crowned as the champions of the 27th Arabian Beach Volleyball Championship in Aghadeer city in Morocco. Oman Team ‘B’ which is represented by Mazin al Hashmi and Nouh al Jalboobi, beat Bahrain ‘A’ 2-1 in the final match. Bahrain players Ali Marhoon and Mohammed Yaqoob finished the first set with 22-20 in their favour.
Oman team players came back strong to win the second set 21-18. Al Hashmi and Al Jalboobi continued their focus until the third set which ended in Oman winning 15-11.
Oman ‘A’ comprised of Ahmed al Hosni and Houd al Jalboobi bagged bronze medal as they won against Bahrain ‘B’ 2-0. The Omani side prevailed 21-11 in the first set and claimed the second set 21-16.
Shaikh Bader bin Ali al Rawas, chairman of Oman Volleyball Association (OVA), affirmed that this achievement of the beach volleyball is an addition to Oman’s sports achievements.
“This triumph came after one year with our hard work seeing the results. Also, Oman team players who were part in this success are still young and they have a lot to do in the near future. We have enough time with this teams to have some more achievements in the regional and international levels,” Bader al Rawas added.
“Houd al Jalboobi is one of Oman players whose age is not exceeding 19 years old. He achieved the bronze medal. I believe he can compete with other players from different teams as he has good skills and controls. He performed very well at the Arabian championship. This kind of players gives you indications that Oman volleyball is on the right track to claim more achievements,” Al Rawas concluded.
Dr Amer Humaid al Toqi, General Secretary of OVA, said this achievement is as a gift to all the sports lovers in the Sultanate. “This victory came after some gap. From this team, we discovered that some players have a great potential to do much more in future. Volleyball in the Sultanate is generating good talented players and we hope that to continue in the coming years,” Al Toqi added.
“Thanks to all the players, technical committees and board members to their efforts and well planning to achieve this triumph. We are very proud to have a young player who is not exceeding 19 years old and representing the Sultanate team. Also, he supported the teams to clinch gold medal at the championship against teams that comprise of professional and experienced players,” the general secretary of OVA, said.
Khalifa al Jabri, head coach of the Sultanate explained that the team reached to this level after series of training sessions, having different camps and participating in different international tourneys. Also, he added that the Sultanate host the international round of Star tournament and a camp in Spain. Moreover, Al Jabri pointed out that this achievement was accompanied by a great work done by the players and I congratulate and thank them for their performance level.
As many as six countries featured in the Arabian championship including: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco are taking part.
Ali Hassan al Balushi, board member of Oman Volleyball Association, headed the Sultanate delegation. Dr Amer al Toqi as general secretary of OVA, Salim al Jabri as team manager, Khalifa al Jabri as head coach of the Sultanate and Hamed al Riyami, referee were also in the delegation.