Qatar Basketball

Al-Rayyan Claims the title of Qatar Cup

With a sizzling out-of-the-arc finish, Malek Seleem Abdulla powered Al Rayyan Club to dethrone defending champions Al Gharafa Club by 83-71 at home on Tuesday. This was the second title of the season for them after having clinched the QBF League earlier.

Qatar Basketball Federation President Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al Thani was the chief guest and presented the awards. Al Rayyan were rewarded with QR700,000 for winning the title eighth time in 11 finals. Three-time winners Al Gharafa, featuring in their sixth final, were handed a prize money of QR350,000.

The final was expected to be a thrilling affair and within nearly the first eight minutes when the two shared the lead five times between them, it indeed looked headed for a close finish.

As Al Gharafa switched to the zone defence, Al Rayyan altered their game plan and resorted to outside the key shooting, getting much more what they might have expected.

After 11-11, which was the third and last time when the teams were locked, forward Abdulla, from left of the court, sank two three-pointers in a row.

And then point guard James Dominic Davon pulled off another one before veteran forward Tanguy Ngombo posted the fourth one in a row.

Though Al Gharafa replied strongly when Al Rayyan had a series of three-pointers with point guard Kevin Galloway and forward Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad scoring mainly, they failed to match after Ngombo fired his lone beyond-the-arc shot in three attempts.

Forward Lawrence Hill then pushed the advantage to seven points with a jumper for Al Rayyan and thereafter, the winners brooked no significant resistance. In the second quarter, they stretched the lead to double digits with Abdulla again collecting another three-pointer.

After the interval when Al Rayyan were 43-34 ahead, they started pushing the rivals further behind and were 62-45 up after the third quarter. Soon after the five minutes into the final quarter, they extended the lead to maximum 21 points in the match (75-54).

Al Gharafa however finished the match rather strongly, edging Al Rayyan 26-21 in the last 10 minutes play.

Abdulla top-scored for the champions with 25, including seven three-pointers off 14 attempts. In all, he shot nine field goals out of 16."Yeah, I'm delighted with my personal contribution. I always try my best for the team but earlier, I've not been as successful as I was tonight.

"The match wasn't easy. But Al Rayyan are a big team and know well how to play the crunch match. When we're in the final, we're too difficult to stop. The entire team played superbly after the initial resistance from Al Gharafa.

"We're happy for this victory but we've more to play for (Emir Cup)," added Abdulla.

Al Rayyan captain Yaseen Ismail Musa, who had to be replaced after getting injured, said,"My team played a wonderful game tonight. In the beginning, Al Gharafa were quite hard and matched us shot for shot. But we managed to control the match after we got the lead.

"I want to thank my teammates for another title. This is my last season before I retire from the club basketball. I want to finish it on a high. Now we'll focus on the Emir Cup and GCC championship," added the 36-year-old Musa, who has been associated with Al Rayyan for about 17 seasons.

Hill said,"We played tough against El Jaish in the semi-final playoffs. We knew that Al Gharafa would be difficult but we believed that if we could play hard basketball, we could overcome them. We were quite hard and clinical in the second half and managed to win."I'm enjoying my time here and I'm happy that I'm able to help my team," added the forward.

Al Rayyan Club Head Coach Koufos Stergios commented after the final,"We're really proud of our performance as it was not an easy win. We've been here close to two years now. There are many differences here compared to the other places.

"We've come here to work hard and show that with professionalism, any difficult target can also be achieved easily. We're delighted with our team's display till now. We won the League and now the Qatar Cup.

"Against the El Jaish, we played without our point guard (Davon). Still we won the third match and qualified for the final. We're not depending on just one player. Rather we tried to develop the team all-round.

"Even today, our American player had four fouls in the first half. But we used other players and they also delivered for us. Sometimes our professional approach may be quite demanding. It may be painful as well but that is the only way we know how to secure successes," he added.

Stergios also added that,"We'd assess the injury of Musa and then we'll decide if we want to have the same team or any changes for the Emir Cup."

Result

Qatar Basketball Cup final

Al Rayyan Club beat Al Gharafa Club 83-71 (halftime 43-34)

Main performers – Al Rayyan Club: Malek Seleem Abdulla 25, James Dominic Davon 22, Tanguy Ngombo 14 & 13 rebounds,

Al Gharafa Club: Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad 25, Jeremiah Massey 23 & 20 rebounds, Kevin Galloway 12 & 13 rebounds

Teams:

Al Rayyan Club:

0 Mohamed Elsayed, 1 Malek Seleem Abdulla, 8 Tanguy Ngombo, 10 Yaseen Ismail Musa, 14 James Dominic Davon, 15 Lawrence Hill, 6 Omar al Khanji, 9 Mohamed Rashed Abdulla, 11 Meho Haracic, 13 Majid Abdulla, 22 Abdulla Matalkeh, 24 Mohamed Hassan Mohamed, 35 Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem

Head Coach: Koufos Stergios. Assistant Coach: Thanasis Giaples

Al Gharafa Club:

0 Ali Abdullah Juma al Kuwari, 4 Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad, 5 Nedim Muslic, 6 Mohammed Nayef, 7 Feisal Mohammed Esmaeili, 8 Hassino Ndoye, 10 Raslan al Abdulla, 11 Jeremiah Massey, 12 Salama Ali el Sakka, 13 Kevin Galloway, 15 Omar Abdelkader Salem

Head Coach: Koussay Hatem. Assistant Coach: Yasser Abdul Waab.

Referee: Jassim M Nader. Umpires: Baker al Kuwari & Khalid al Hebabi

HEIR APPARENT CUP FINALS

Year Winners Runners-up

1999-2000 Al Ahli Al Rayyan

2000-2001 Al Ahli Al Sadd

2001-2002 Al Rayyan Qatar SC

2002-2003 Qatar SC Al Rayyan

2003-2004 Al Rayyan Qatar SC

2004-2005 Al Rayyan Al Sadd

2005-2006 Al Rayyan Al Gharafa

2006-2007 Al Arabi Al Sadd

2007-2008 Al Rayyan Qatar SC

2008-2009 Al Rayyan Qatar SC

2009-2010 El Jaish Al Gharafa

2010-2011 Al Gharafa Al Sadd

2011-2012 Al Arabi El Jaish

2012-2013 Al Rayyan El Jaish

Qatar Cup (name changed)

2013-2014 Al Gharafa Al Rayyan

2014-2015 Al Gharafa El Jaish

2015- 2016 Al Rayyan Al Gharafa

Club wise record (finals)