Al Joker on a perfect path in Dubai Ramadan futsal tournament

Ahmed Rizvi reports on the progress of the Nad Al Sheba Ramadan Sports Tournament's futsal competition.

DUBAI // Al Joker are hoping to reach the knockout stages of the Nad Al Sheba Ramadan Sports Tournament’s futsal championship with a perfect record after sealing their place in the last eight on Monday night with a big win over Samba.

Al Joker, who won their opening match against RBH by an emphatic 7-1 scoreline on Saturday, overcame early jitters to down Samba 6-1 to book their place in the knockout stages of the tournament with a match to spare.

They take on Sport 4 All in their final Group D match and Miguelin Sayago, Al Joker’s Spanish pro, is keen to make sure they finish their preliminary engagements with an all-wins record.

“The key of the match was the early part of the second half,” said Sayago, who scored once in the first half that finished with Al Joker leading 3-1. “We needed to make sure we made no mistakes whatsoever early in the second session and allow them to fight back. I think we executed this plan well and caught them on the quick counters for our second win.

“We still have one more group match left against Sport 4 All and we hope we can get into the knockouts with a clean slate.”

Al Wasl and YLS-1 also booked their place in the knockout stages of the tournaments on Monday night, though in contrasting fashion.

YLS-1, who had edged Surprise 5-4 in their opening Group C game on Saturday, were awarded a 7-0 win as per the rules after their opponents for the night, Jumeirah, failed to show up.

Al Wasl, however, were made to fight by Surprise before they clinched the second qualifying spot from Group C with a 6-3 win, thanks mainly to Spaniard Carlos Gonzalvez Corvo’s four goals.

Al Wasl, who had started their campaign with a crushing 10-1 win over Jumeirah, had to fight back after Sergio Jumar De Sousa had given Surprise an early lead. De Sousa then scored two more, but, with the scores level at 3-3, he received a straight red card early in the second half and that was the end of Surprise’s resistance.

Meanwhile in the padel competition, the Uncle Saeed team of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, the president of the UAE Padel Association, will meet the M5 team in the final.

The Uncle Saeed team defeated Valencia 2-0 in the semis, but M5 had to work a bit harder for their 2-1 win over SHM, a team led by Saeed Al Marri, the general secretary of UAE Padel Association.

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