Officials of Al Arabi and Al Rayyan attend the technical committee meeting on the eve of the GCC Clubs Championship in Doha yesterday. Picture by: Mohammed Faraj
Defending champions Al Rayyan will be looking to retain the GCC Clubs Championship title they won last year when they open their campaign in the regional event which begins today at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena.
The 36th edition of the Championship is consented by a second Qatari team in the form of Al Arabi, who start proceedings with a match against Oman’s Al Salam of Oman on the opening day of the event.
Al Rayyan, which finished fourth in the local league one place below Al Arabi, will see action on the second day of the event take against Saudi's Al Hilal club tomorrow.
Seven clubs from the region will be vying for the top place in the tournament which will be played on round-robin league system with the teams with the maximum points emerging winner.
Last year in Oman, three-time champions Rayyan defeated Al Arabi in straight sets to win the title. The two are set to renew their rivalry at the regional competition when they clash on March 11.
Rayyan are two-time defending champions while Arabi last won it in 2010, when the tournament was held in Muscat, Oman.
The duo have been engaged in some of the most compelling duels in the Qatar League and this season was no different, with the former winning a five-set thriller at the latter’s backyard in the first phase.
Al Rayyan will be looking to put behind the disappointment of finishing third at last month’s 35th Arab Clubs Volleyball Championship in Manama.
The former league champions from Qatar, finished third by beating Oman’s Al Salam 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 in play-off.
Rayyan had also maintained a clean sheet in the group stage and beat Saudi Arabia’s Al Wahda 16-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 in the quarterfinal before going down 23-25, 17-25, 20-25 to eventual champions Al Ahli in the semifinal.
This is Rayyan’s second podium finish in the championship history. They were runners-up in the 2012 edition held in Lebanon
Qatar’s El Jaish finished second in the same championship, going down 25-27, 28-26, 25-21, 21-25, 13-15 to Bahrain’s Al Ahli in the final.
“Finishing third in the Arab Clubs championship was certainly not our target, we wanted to finish much higher,” said Karim, assistant coach of Al Rayyan. In the GCC event Al Rayyan aim to raise the bar.
“We have added a few new players after the league. Another positive point is the return of Sulieman, our libero, from a six-month layoff due to injury. Hopefully, we will live up to the expectations,” added the assistant to head coach Carlos Schwanke from Brazil. The last time Qatar hosted the GCC Clubs Championship was in 2011 when Rayyan won their maiden title, beating Bahrain’s Al Muharraq SC 3-1 at their own backyard. Two Bahrain clubs, Al Ahli and Dar Kulaib, Al Ain of UAE, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia are the other teams in the championships, which ends on March 17.
