Dubai: The UAE team took a monumental step towards success after reaching the semi-finals of the Nad Al Sheba Padel Championship, that is being held as part of the 12th edition of the ‘Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament’.
The UAE team secured its second successive win with a hard-fought 2-1 result against Bahrain to enter the last four stages of the padel competition
Bahrain started strong with Rashid Al Obaidli and Ali Al Dhawani defeating the UAE’s Rashid Walid and Arnau Ayats 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. But the hosts drew level with Majed Al Janahi and Ignacio Villarino managing a 6-2, 6-4 win against Hassan Al Qattan and Hamad Al Nusuf. Fares Al Janahi and Enric Goinaga were at their very best to secure the deciding 6-3, 6-1 win against the Bahraini duo of Omar Qaed and Ahmed Khalid and book their place in the semi-finals.
Kuwait also qualified for the semi-finals following a smooth 3-0 blanking of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait took the lead through Abdulaziz Reda and Talal Al Qahtani winning 6-3, 7-5 against Qasim Obaidan and Abdulrahman Al Zam. Youssef Saleh and Abdulrahman Al Awadhi also won 6-3, 6-3 against Faisal Al Rubaie and Stam Al Shahrani, while Ahmed Shaaban and Mishaal Al Duwaij completed the blank-out with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Nawaf Al Qadi and Abdulrahman Al Jabreen.
The Netherlands and Iran also booked their places in the semi-finals with contrasting wins. The Netherlands had won 2-1 win against Australia a day earlier, while Iran went on to secure a thumping 3-0 result against Bahrain.
Dominic Bashard and Marius Zelba gave Australia the lead with a lop-sided 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win against Merlegen de Corm and Nicolas van Beto. But the Dutch fought back with Jort Nolten and Quentin Vos fighting hard for a 7-5, 7-6 win against Oliver White and Ross Taylor.
In the decisive round, The Dutch duo of Daniel van Dijk and Kai Groen took the decisive third match with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Tim Brown and Fok Velikovic and book their rightful place in the semi-finals.
