Courtesy: Gulf Daily News


Riffa beat KHCB to book final slot

Friday, July 15, 2011

RIFFA barged into the semi-finals of the inaugural Bahrain Futsal Championship following a convincing 6-3 victory over Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB) at Juffair Youth Centre. Brazilian dynamo Leandson Dias Da Silva, more popularly known to Bahrain's football fans as 'Rico', spearheaded the victors. He registered a hat-trick to help lift his side to a big win.

The others to score for Riffa were Mohammed Noor, Mohammed Mohammed and Mohammed Abdulla.

For KHCB, Abdulla Ahmed scored twice while Humaidan Alunanan scored once.

The other teams to advance to the final four were Busaiteen, BBK and Bahrain Defence Force (BDF).

Busaiteen registered a crushing 9-2 triumph over Al Malkiya, BBK defeated Muharraq 3-1, while BDF edged past Al Ahli 3-2.

In Busaiteen's high-scoring win, Yasser Ismail Hassan was the star of the match after scoring three goals. He was ably assisted by Ali Saleh and Ayman Al Rahim, who added another two goals apiece to their team's hard-to-defeat tally.

BBK, meanwhile, came through with a brace by Hussain Baba while Mohammed Alsatrawi scored the team's other goal.

Muharraq's Ahmed Adnan Alhazaa scored his team's lone goal.

Finally, BDF relied on the scoring prowess of Hussain Ali, nicknamed 'Pele', in their win over Ahli.


Supplied
Ali scored two goals for the victors while Rashid Jamal supplied the other.

Ahli's Sayed Mansoor and Hussain Kazaroona were on target for the losers.

In the semi-finals, Riffa are set to clash with Busaiteen while BBK will be locking horns with BDF.

The BBK and BDF match was widely hoped to have been the dream final match-up in the competition, but now they will battle each other for a place in the title-decider tomorrow.

On the sidelines of the championship, a pair of friendly matches will be played at the same venue today and tomorrow between Bahrain's national futsal team and their Emirati counterparts.

The UAE squad arrived in the kingdom yesterday. The exhibition matches are being held on the invitation of the Bahrain Football Association, who are organising this maiden championship for the first time.

Tonight's friendly will kick off at 6.30pm. Tomorrow's game will be held right before the final, which is scheduled to also start at 6.30pm.

Fifteen companies are sponsoring the competition. They include golden sponsors Batelco, and silver sponsors Diyar Al Muharraq and Kuwait Finance House.

Bronze sponsors are Chevron Bahrain and Kia Motors, while other sponsors are BBK, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Samsung, Ahmed Sharif Furniture, Kuwait Airways, Soccer Scene, Shoot, Al Ahmar Magazine and Al Qawasem Forums.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com