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Raa jiv Tripat hi DOHA Defending champions Al Rayyan Club and arch-rivals Al Arabi Club will renew their long rivalry at the Qatar Women’s Sports Committee Indoor Hall when they clash for the title of the Qatar Cup Volleyball Championship on Saturday at 6.30 pm. Both the outfits would be more than keen to alleviate their pain of disappointing QVA League in which Al Arabi Club finished third behind champions Police and runners-up El Jaish. Al Rayyan, who had beaten Al Arabi Club in both the matches in the League, were fourth – their worst placement in recent years. Then Al Rayyan Club suffered more reverses when they were all set to win the GCC Clubs Championship in Doha recently but lost the last round-robin league match badly and came third. Even there, they had beaten Al Arabi Club. However, Al Arabi Club, who earlier in the season claimed the Federation Cup and followed it with their Super Cup victory over Al Rayyan, have set their eyes on the Qatar Cup and are keen to grab the first opportunity to settle scores with their perennial opponents. This is the 22nd final for both, with 15-time winners Al Arabi Club having a clear edge over Al Rayyan Club in terms of the titles. Al Rayyan have won the crown on nine occasions. Also this is the 17th appearance for them in the title clash in this event, which became the Qatar Cup from the Heir Apparent Cup in the 2013-14 season. Al Arabi Club have beaten Al Rayyan 10 times in the Qatar Cup finals and their new French coach Patrick Duflos, during a press conference on Friday, said his team would put in their best to make up for the earlier setbacks of the season. “We’re happy to be in the final, which was one of our goals. And another goal is to win the final. We’re ready to fight mentally, physically and tactically. We’ve to control our emotions and I hope it is a good day for us on Saturday. “The final is just one match. We’ve to be prepared well as it’s going to be quite tough and long. We’ve to stay focused right from the first to the last point. We’ve a good team and so do Al Rayyan, who have Camejo and Petkovic. Also both teams have players who can win the final on their own. “After the League and GCC Championship (setbacks), Al Arabi have a big motivation to do well and win the final,” added Duflos. His Al Rayyan Club counterpart Carlos Schwanke said: “We had difficult semi-finals. Our team is happy to enter the final after a fine victory over Police. We’ll have to battle hard in the final against Al Arabi as well. “We finished the semifinals on Friday and I hope we’ve enough time to prepare for Saturday’s big match.” Talking about the service problems his team has been experiencing, he said, “Sometimes, we need to take risks and minimise the problems. Service is one point and we lost too many yesterday. But we’ll try to do better tomorrow as the final is always a special match. As Patrick said there will be a lot of emotions. We’ll have be ready and play well in this special match.” Also present on the occasion were Al Arabi players Gyorgy Grozer, Taylor Sander and Juma Faraz (captain). Al Rayyan were represented by skipper Usman Ajab and Cuban wing spiker Oreol Camejo. Saeed Salem, a QVA Board Member (administration), gave details about the preparations and protocol for the Qatar Cup final. Cuban Camejo, who played for El Jaish last season, said, “There are a lot of good players in the final. I hope we can play at good level (after recovering from the Police match) tomorrow. We’ll try to put up a good show for our fans.” “The Al Rayyan vs Al Arabi finals are usual in Qatar. Both are strong and balanced. I just wish that the better team, both technically and game wise, wins the cup tomorrow,” said Al Rayyan Club’s captain Ajab. German Grozer and Sander are both excited to be in the final. “The Qatar Cup has been interesting till now. I imagine we’ve a strong team to win the title. “Volleyball has good level in Qatar. This is a second time for me to be playing here. The sport is growing in Qatar and I’m enjoying being here. I’ll be happy every time I get an opportunity to play here,” added Grozer. Sander, who won the bronze medal for the US team in the Rio Olympics last year, commented, “I’m excited that our team was able to make the finals. I think it is going to be a high-level final with a lot of good players playing it. “We’re prepared. Our team played well and I’m proud to represent the club in the finals. We’ll be trying to put up a good show tomorrow,” added the American.
