Saeed Hassan and Ayesha Foolad claim Emirati amateur category

• Ministry of Defence to face off against Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence and National Guard to take on Land Forces in tug-of-war semi-finals

• Al Samawi renews hopes with victory over Fohood Zabeel as Al Hilal dominate Al Tadawi 2 in volleyball

DUBAI: Egypt's Ebtissam Zayed and UAE youngster Saeed Hassan hogged the limelight on the opening night of road cycling at the 12^th Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, late on Saturday.

Arguably the largest sporting event of its kind that has been launched and sponsored by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, the annual event is held during the holy month of Ramadan at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan 'Unlimited Capabilities'.

His Excellency Mansoor Bu Osaiba, President of the UAE Cycling Federation and Board Member and Vice-President of the Asian Cycling Federation, gave the starting signal for the race, in the presence of Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council, and Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director.

Ebtissam Zayed was at her very best finishing the 74km race in a time of 1 hour, 48.03 seconds leaving the UAE's Tetiana Yashchenko in second place (1:48.04), while Olha Shekel, also of the UAE came in third in a time of 1:48.52.

In the amateur national category, Saeed Hassan took the top spot with a time of 1 hour, 34.53 seconds, and just one second ahead of Rashid Mohammed Al Blooshi (1:34.54) and Saeed Marwan Al Blooshi in third (1:34.55).

In the amateur category for female citizens, it was the young Ayesha Foolad sprinting her way to glory in a time of 1 hour, 59.32.5 seconds, followed by Ghaya Ibrahim Al Mahrazi in second place in a time of 1:59.32.7 hours, and Farah Al Marri in third place (1:59.32.9).

In the senior category for female citizens and residents, it was Frenchwoman Anne Kha winning the coveted first place in a time of 1 hour, 01.54 seconds, followed by Thai woman Chitlada Thanomsak (1:07.51) and Dutchwoman Johanna H. Ubbink (1:30.47).

In the UAE men's category, Rashid Abdullah Suwaidan was in good form as he took the first place with a time of 45 minutes, 57.1 seconds, followed by Abdul Wahid Ahmed Kazim (45:57.9 minutes) and Mohammed Al Blooshi (45:58.0) in the next two places.

In the amateur team category, the Dubai Police team won the top prize with a combined time of 4 hours, 45:06.8 minutes, followed by the ABH team in a time of 4:45:34.9 hours, and the Torq team came in third with a time of 4:45.39.4 hours.

Al Hilal in strong showing

Al Hilal pushed their way to the top of the Group B standings in the volleyball tournament with a sturdy 3-1 win againstAl Tadawi 2 in the volleyball competition at the main hall of the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

Looking for an all-out victory, Al Hilal stumbled a bit midway through the 107-minute encounter before winning 25-21, 17-25, 30-28 and 25-13 to stay at the top with six points after two matches. Al Samawi and Foohod Zabeel are tied for second with three points apiece, while Al Tadawi 2 is yet to open its account in Group B.

Al Hilal started off strongly as they cruised to a 25-21 margin in the opening set. But, Al Tadawi 2 made a strong comeback with Nikita Axyutin (17 points) teaming up well with Mikhail Pado, Mikhail Danilov and Evgenii Rybakov contributing nine points each to win the next set 25-17 and draw level.

But with topscorer and man of the match Michel Fedrizzi (17 points), Dusan Petkovic (16) and Georgi Tatarov (12) on the mend it was always going to be a tough ask for the younger Al Tadawi 2 team as they surrendered the next two sets, 30-28 and 25-13 for Al Hilal to notch their second win.

Al Samawi fight for win

In the second match of the night, Al Samawi shrugged off a mid-match blip to secure an identical 3-1 win against Fohood Zabeel.

Man of the match and the topscorer in the competition so far, it was a night that belonged to Al Samawi's opposite player Anton, who had an amazing 29 points to his credit. The Al Samawi player now leads the individual scorers with 48 points, followed by Dusan Petkovic with 38 points, while Nikita Axyutin is in third with 35 points.

With Anton in top gear, Al Samawi secured the first two sets 25-17 and 25-20, only to see a rearguard action from Fohood Zabeel that saw them take the third set, 25-21. But Al Samawi came back strongly to wrap up set and match with a 25-15 scoreline and secure their first win of the competition.

Tug-of-War semi-finals

The National Guard will take on the Land Forces, while the Ministry of Defence will face Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence in the two semi-finals of the tug-of-war competition from 9 pm on Monday (March 17).

The semi-final line-up for the Community category is also ready with the IFBB Sports Academy scheduled to meet Al Asifa, while Al Kawaser team will meet Truss General Trading team. And in the Youth category, the A25 Gym team will meet the Sharjah Self-Defence Club, while the Sharjah Sports Council will cross swords with the Sharjah Academy for Police Sciences.