Al Ain Ends as Runners Up of the UAE Handball Cup

Al Ain Handball First Team placed second in the UAE Handball Cup 2021 behind the top club, Al Sharjah, on goal difference.

In their championship journey, Al Ain achieved the full mark in the group stage as the team won Bani Yas, Al Wahda, and Al Jazira to qualify to play against Al Sharjah. Al Ain Lost to Al Sharjah but won Shabab Al Ahli Dubai by 10-0 and ends as a runner up on goals difference.

On his part, Saleh Al Shouaili, member of the Board of Directors of Al Ain Sports Games Company and the Supervisor of Al Ain Handball Team, praised the team’s players’ effort during their journey in the championship.

He said: “We aspired to maintain the title of the competition in our cabins, but we faced certain challenges such as injuries continued to occur during the whole rounds and lack of players on the bench. The majority are still young players who still need more time to experienced players and be ready to play competition.”

He went on to say that Al Ain Team was the only team that played many matches after the technical error committed in the team’s game against the Al Jazira. “We won the second match and it was an important victory as we proved to everyone that we deserved to be at the top spot of Group “A”. We did not get enough break time as we played against a strong team and a candidate to win the title, that is Al Sharjah.”

“Our opponent took the advantage during the break time use after our second match against Al Jazira. However, we were not lucky enough and lost to Al Sharjah only after three days of our last match. We did not have time to recover as several players suffered from injuries.”

Al Shouaili hailed for their dedicated efforts and being able to end as runners up. He also expressed his sincerest appreciation for the coaching teams, medical and administrative staff, who could present the team in an outstanding image despite losing the top spot and the title.

“We are proud of them and everything they did, and we expect more from them in the remaining tournaments of this season,” he said.

Regarding the team’s chances to win the titles of the other competitions of the current season, Al Shouaili said: “Praise be to God, we still holding the second spot of the Men’s League as we have not lose any match. Thanks go to the coaching teams, administrative and medical staff and the players.”

He went on to say: “We hope to continue at this level, but we may face circumstances outside of our control, such as injuries and relying on the young players who lack experience to play big matches. Such conditions may lead to losing any match.”

He concluded his testament by saying: “We have full confidence in the young players’ skills and the role of experienced team players to help them in their career. We are looking forward to seeing them to compete in the Handball General League and the President’s Cup and be able to clinch more titles to the team’s record as we did last season and to win the title of the UAE Handball Cup.”