Al Rayyan retain Amir Cup volleyball title
Lions subdue Police 3-1, grab their 14th title in 27 finals
AN aggressive Al Rayyan Club dismantled Police in four sets and clinched the prestigious Amir Cup Volleyball Championship for a third time in a row. At the packed QVA Indoor Hall on Saturday, The Lions pulled off a splendid 25-20, 25-19, 2125, 25-13 victory to emerge the winners for a 14th time in 27 finals.
Coached by Brazilian Carlos Schwanke, who will soon leave Doha to join the national senior team back home as one of the mentors, had clashed with Police in the 2012-13 final as well. But they inflicted one of the four defeats Police had suffered in the final.
Schwanke commented after the dominant final, “In the locker room, I told my players to be aggressive right from the first point. They carried out my instructions well and we won the final. We had a drop in concentration in the third set in which we did not serve well and missed out on a few smashes.
“Police are also a strong side and we respect them. But in the fourth set, we came back strongly and won the match. I’m delighted that the team played three finals under me and we won all of them. When I joined the team late in the 2017-18 season, I tried to introduce the winning mentality in the team and I am proud to say that my players worked really very hard to get this attitude,” Schwanke added.
Qatar Olympic Committee Second Vice-President Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman al Kuwari was the chief guest at the closing ceremony and handed the trophies and medals. Also present on the occasion were QVA President Ali Ghanim al Kuwari and QVA Secretary-General Youssef Kano.
The QVA League and National Volleyball Cup winners Police were hoping to be lucky in their fifth final after four years’ gap. However, Al Rayyan hardly gave any time to the rivals to settle down and with a barrage of hard serves and spikes, they grabbed a commanding 2-0 lead.
Police got a major setback when Brazilian star oppositie Evandro Guerra got a leg injury in the first set itself and he had to be replaced in the next when it was unbearable for the player, who won the 2016 FIVB World Club Championship and 2016 Rio Olympic Games gold medal.
Despite the problem, Police were able to turn the heat on Al Rayyan in the third set. They did not allow Al Rayyan to wrest the advantage, though they came within a point on a few occasions. After they reduced the margin to 1-2, Police were expected to raise their level. However, Al Rayyan quickly made amends and raced to 16-7 and 21-11 leads before middle player Belal Abunabot drilled a spike to close out the match.
Professionals Sam Deroo (Belgium) and Kamil Rychlicki (Luxembourg) dominated the match with superb smashes for Al Rayyan. ZAKSA Kedzierzyn Kozla’s Deroo came up with a match-high 22, while Italian club Bunge Ravenna’s outside hitter earned 16. Abunabot got eight points.
Rychlicki said he was delighted to help Al Rayyan shine in his first season. “It was a perfect season and amazing two months for me. We won two major events - the Qatar Cup and the Emir Cup. Besides, we were third in the Asia Clubs Championship. What more you
can ask for! Al Rayyan are a big club. Their level surprised me. I am really happy to come here and play for them. We wanted to build a strong challenge for the opponents and we succeeded in that.”
Deroo said, “I am very happy for the victory in the final. In general, we proved that we are a strong team. We beat a tough Al Arabi in the semi-finals (2-0) and tonight, we turned out to be a better side than Police. It was a pleasure to come and join Al Rayyan. You could see this team have strong basics and my job was to bring some extra experience and strength to make them tougher.
“I am glad that I was able to do the job. I had a really good
time with the team and have made a lot of friends here. I was welcomed here very much and I felt it from the first moment after I arrived here. I would love to come back to Al Rayyan next season if given another opportunity,” added Deroo, the winner of the European League for Belgium in 2013.
Marcus Costa, a regular Al Rayyan contributor with big spiking ability, commented after the match, “Congratulations to the entire team. We had a good final… Not easy for us. We have a strong team and the mentality of this group is good. You train hard for just these memorable moments. And I am very happy for the victory.
Al Rayyan setter Milos Stevanovic
said, “Last season, we had a clean sweep of six titles. This season we won four. The Amir Cup is important for all and we had trained long and hard to win it. By God’s grace, we retained the title. I’m happy to play my part for the team.
“Next season, I hope the team is going to be the same. We’ll try to improve our performance and when we go to the Asian clubs championship, we’ll try to bring the gold medal to Qatar,” Stevanovic added.
For Police, Willner Rivas and skipper John Chigbo contributed 12 each. Osman was the third player to reach double figures (11).
Police coach Damiano Arredondo was disappointed with the result. He said, “My best player got a leg injury towards the end of the first set. We had to replace him in the second set. What you can do in such situation?
“We tried our best and won the third set. Al Rayyan’s service was very good and our attack dropped a bit. When you are dealing with strong service, you need a tough guy to deal with them. He was ideal for the job but we unfortunately lost him. We hope to have a better luck next time,” he said.
Chigbo said, “This was the best ever season for us. We won the League and National Volleyball Championship, got the third place in the Arab clubs championship. Also we were runners-up in the Qatar Cup and the Amir Cup. Honestly, we did well.
“We had a big setback when Evandro got injured in the first set. We did not know what to do as we depended a lot on him. Al Rayyan, as you know, are a very difficult team. We will see next season what we can do,” he added.
Al Rayyan were rewarded with QR500,000 for winning the title, while Police took home QR300,000. Al Rayyan Club’s Sam Deroo was declared the best professional, while his teammate Birama Faye was honoured for being the best local player. Both were awarded by Video House and Electronic Centre’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sajid Jassim Mohammed Sulaiman in attendance of QVA Assistant Secretary-General Saeed Salem al Jumaan.
Qatar’s beach volleyball stars Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan were also felicitated during the closing ceremony. The QVA also honoured four age-group players, who were awarded by Video House and Electronic Centre CEO CV Rappai and QVA Board Member Mubarak Eid al Abdalla.