EL JAISH OUTCLASS AL ARABI TO REGAIN QVA CUP

El Jaish staged a thrilling comeback and outclassed holder Al Arabi Club in four sets to regain the Qatar Volleyball Association Cup in Doha on Monday.

In the final, the army team narrowly lost the opening set, but as match progressed, they got more fluent and fierce, muscling their way and completing an encouraging 23-25 25-22 25-16 25-18 in the first domestic event of the season.

With the one-hour, 40-minute victory, El Jaish emerged the champions in the lung-opener for the third time in four years. Last season, they had lost the final to Al Arabi. Today, they exacted the revenge with superb net play, featuring vintage German Christian Pampel, Bojan Djukic and Pape Maget.

Ilija Ivovic put up an excellent show as the middle player. El Jaish setter Milos Stevanovic and his brother Marco, as the libero, were also impressive. After dropping the first set, El Jaish regained their bearings. In the second, they quickly moved to 9-6 from 5-5 and continued to control the proceedings.

Pampel collected 32 points, Djukic followed him with 16 and Maget accounted for 15 to keep the opponents under pressure. In the fourth, there was a time when El Jaish opened a 10-point gap with Djukic managing a touch out (8-18). Then there was a long rally with sharp attacks and counter-attacks. Finally, it was Pampel who fired a smash to set up the match point (24-16).

Al Arabi saved two match points but Djukic emerged from the middle to drill to wrap up the victory.

El Jaish coach Travica said, “We put in a great deal of efforts for a month after setter Milos returned from the national duty. All the players contributed and we’re satisfied with the way we won the title and started the new season.”

Pampel commented after the prize distribution, “It was a good match and both teams played at good level. In the last set, Al Arabi were coming back. In the end, we played a little better or we were a bit more lucky, but we are happy to win the cup (after a year’s gap).

“This year, the national team camp ran very long. So some teams were not fully prepared (for the Federation Cup). We also started our preparations without Milos as he joined us quite late. Other teams also started their preparations without the national team players. But when the big events come up, I think everybody will be ready and try to give the best shot.”

The way El Jaish battled back and won, it demonstrates El Jaish’s readiness for the new season. “Yeah, I feel we’re ready for the season. Surely, we can raise our level. We’re already playing good volleybally. However, there is always room for improvement in volleyball with coach’s tactics, small adjustments here and there during practice sessions. Yeah…I feel we’re prepared for any challenges,” added former Olympian Pampel.

Al Arabi were affected a great deal by the absence of their national team players Juma Faraj and Ibrahim. Their woes were further compounded by setter Elmajid spending the last two days treating his fever.

As the pressure mounted, Elmajid could not continue and had to be replaced by Khaled Shamiyah. However, it was then too late for Al Arabi, while the army team were already on the roll.

Their coach Lajnef said, “We started well. But later, our concentration was a bit down. Our setter (Elmajid) was not well and could not practise for last two days. That affected the momentum during the crucial stages. We’ll review our mistakes and try to make amends in the other upcoming events.”

Result
El Jaish beat Al Arabi Club 23-25 25-22 25-16-25-18 in 1 hour, 40 minutes

Teams

El Jaish: Bojan Djukic, Milos Stevanovic, Marco Stevanovic (L), Ilija Ivovic, Amir Markas, Mohammed Anbar, M Suhail, Christian Pampel, Mubarak Owail, Pape Maget, M Abouwatfa & Marwan Nathen
Coach: Ljubomir Travica

Al Arabi Club: Omar Ali, Seifeddine Elmajid, Renan Rebeiro, Ghanim al Remaihi (L), Thiago Oliveira, Amro Hisham, Osmel Camejo, Khaled Shamiyah, Ahmed Bassam, Hamza Fateh, Madisson & Jorge Garcia
Coach: Maaouia Lajnef

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