Dubai: Thais Vieira of Brazil combined with Gladys Pressense from French Polynesia to win the women’s section while the Lebanese duo of Chafic Saliba and Joe Azzi took the men’s title at the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Residence Beach Volleyball held over the weekend.
Organised in cooperation with the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) to mark the occasion of the 49th UAE National Day, the tournament was put together by MVP Sports in coordination with main sponsors Arc Tech, Dubai.
The tournament attracted players from Argentina, Brazil, US, France, Serbia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Poland, Germany, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, UK, Philippines, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE.
In the women’s final, Vieira and Pressense secured a convincing 21-16, 21-16 win over the team of Mira and Aya, representing Lebanon. Mercedes and Anja later got the better of the Rally team of Renata and Alena 21-18, 21-14 to clinch third place.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Vieira and Pressense had brushed aside Renata and Alena) 21-7, 21-13, while Mira and Aya had fought their way past Mercedes and Anja 20-22, 21-16, 15-11.
The men’s competition was evenly poised with Chafic and Joe making their way past the AUD 1 team of Aleksa and Ilya 21-14, 21-8. The third place was a one-sided affair with the AUD 2 duo of Bouzar and Jaralla getting past the Serbian-Kazakh pair of Nemanja and Pedja Shlyivovica 15-0, 15-0.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Chafic and Joe had defeated AUD 2 21-10, 21-14, while AUD 1 had to fight their way past the Shlyivovica pairing 18-21, 23-21, 18-16.
Mounir Abbouchi, main organiser and owner of MVP presented the trophies and medals to top teams in the company of Osama Saeed from main sponsors, Arc Tech.
RESULTS
(Women) First place: Thais Vieira (Brazil) and Gladys Pressense (French Polynesia); Runners-up: Mira Adra (Lebanon) and Aya Matar (Lebanon); Third Place: Mercedes Basutto (Argentina) and Anja Borsheim (Norway).
(Men) First place: Chafic Saliba (Lebanon) and Joe Azzi (Lebanon); Runners-up: Aleksa (Serbia) and Ilya (Kazakhstan) representing American University in Dubai; Third place: Bouzar from Algeria and Jarallah from Yemen representing American University in Dubai.