Doha: Qatar Volleyball Association League winners Al Arabi will be looking to pick up their third successive Emir Cup when they take on El Jaish in the final of the season ending championship.
The defending champions will also have revenge on their mind in the title clash as the Qatar League winners lost to the Armymen in the semi-final of the Qatar Cup.
Al Arabi’s professional player Ivan Zaytsev sounded optimistic on the eve of the final.
“El Jaish is playing very good volleyball but we are also a strong side and we have belief in our game and think we can do it,” said the Italian, a member of the national team which won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“It was a bitter taste in the mouth after losing to El Jaish in the Qatar Cup semi-final and now we have a chance to take revenge of that loss. I think we have played a good level of volleyball and now we have a chance to beat them in the prestigious Emir Cup final,” added the 27-year-old.
“Their game plan is very good and they receiving is also very good. I think their attack revolves around (Robertlandy) Simon. For us the key of the match will be our service. We have to serve strong,” he said.
On Wednesday, Robertlandy Simon displayed why he is rated as the best middle player in the world as the Cuban spearheaded El Jaish into their first final of the Emir’s Cup Volleyball Championship on Wednesday.
Simon netted 29 points and forged a potent attack with Oreol Camejo and Bojan Dokic to spark the army team to a 27-25 25-22 23-25 25-19 victory over strong contenders Al Rayyan.
Their one-hour-and-50-minute victory sealed the semi-final playoff series 2-1 and set up the thrilling final showdown against Al Arabi.
Twenty-one time winners Al Arabi had handed a 2-0 blowout to Police in the other semi-final playoff en route to their 28th final. Both Al Rayyan, who have won the Emir’s Cup 11 times out of their 24 finals, and El Jaish had clashed in the Qatar Cup final recently, with the former winning in five sets.
El Jaish and Al Arabi Club are clashing for a title second time in the current season. Earlier, they were pitted in the season-opener QVA Cup final and the army team emerged the champions 3-1, after rallying from one set down.
Simon played for the Cuban national team for five years and was a silver medallist in the 2010 World Championships. He also bagged the bronze medal in the 2005 World League.
The winner of today’s final, which begins at 6.30pm, will take home QR 500,000 and the runners-up 250,000. The best player of the final will get QR 10,000. The Inter-communities Volleyball Challenge Cup final will follow the Emir Cup final. Teams from India Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka, consisting of local and outstation players, are part of the Inter-communities Volleyball Challenge Cup.
The Peninsula
