Action from Al Ahli’s match against Eljaish on day one of the Heir Apparent Cup in Doha yesterday. Eljaish won 76-61.
By Danotzki Santos
DOHA: Al Gharafa, getting off to a blazing start and taking command all-game long, fashioned out a rousing 81-72 victory over Qatar Men’s League champions Al Sadd in the opening game last night of this year’s Heir Apparent Cup at the Al Gharafa Indoor Arena.
Coach Koussay Hatem’s wards had Al Sadd’s numbers from opening tip-off, as they raced to an early 18-10 advantage en route to a 39-30 cushion at halftime behind the prolific tandem of new recruits Victor Hakim Thomas and Calvin Earl Cage.
Thomas continued to dominate both ends of the floor in the third period, and with Awako Emanuel helping out would push the blue shirts farther away at 59-48 after 30 minutes of play.
Al Sadd, starring veterans Sadd Abdulrahman and Mousa Daoud, uncorked a 9-2 assault to cut the deficit to four points, 57-61, barely a minute and a half gone in the final quarter but Gharafa’s other addition to their line-up Robin Omondi Amoke took over and steered an 8-0 counter-offensive to push his team to a 69-57 lead, with 6:15 to go in the game.
Coach Dejan Tomic’s charges would then find their second wind and closed in anew, 67-71, in the next 3 minutes only to succumb eventually to Al Gharafa who capped the match with a 10-5 finish to take control until the final buzzer.
Thomas and Amoke each dished out a double-double, with the former leading in scores and rebounds with 23 and 13, while the latter contributing 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Later in the evening, Eljaish overcame a lacklustre start to overpower Al Ahli in the remainder of the match to register a convincing 76-61 first win and join Al Gharafa on top of Group 1 with a 1-0 win-loss slate.
Al Rayyan, Al Arabi, Al Wakrah, Qatar Sports Club and Al Shamal and in Group 2.
Teams in each group play a single round-robin with the first and second placers in each group advancing to the cross-over semifinals which will be a pair of best-of-five matches, the first between the 1st placer in Group 1 versus the 2nd placer in Group 2, and the other between the 1st placer in Group 2 versus the 2nd placer in Group 1.
The winners battle for the crown in a sudden-death showdown. THE PENINSULA
