The ‘Thunder' duo of Sherlen Lei Inciong and Ali Al Safar edged a three-set thriller at Kite Beach on Saturday night to clinch the Mixed 2x2 crown in the Esperia Beach Volleyball Tournament, which was organized as part of Dubai Sports Council's (DSC) Beach Sports Week at the weekend. Inciong and Al Safar cut short a spirited rally by the Al Jabri pair of Kaye Aplascaa and Abduladhim Hilal to clinch the title 21-14, 13-21, 15-6. The Mixed 4x4 and Ladies 2x2 finals were straight set affairs with the Dream Team of Reem Shehab, Hamood Al Fajeer, Saif Abdullah and Ali Abdullah defeating Team Putot, comprising Mia Garrido, Humaid Yusuf, Abduladhim Hillal and Muneer Abdullah, 2-0 (21-13, 21-19), and Team Mia and Kaye (Mia Garrido, Kaye Aplasca) beating Renatalia (Natali Tomaszewska, Renata Silva) 1-0 (21-10) for the title. The first competitive event for beach sport lovers in Dubai in more than five months, the Beach Sports Weeks also saw lively competition in three other tournaments — the SuperSports Academy Beach Sports Tournament, the Dubai Sports Council AirBadminton tournament and the AFC Sports Academy FootVolley Tournament. The pair of Nicola Festelli and Mohamed Zahra took top honors in the Beach Tennis tournament, finishing ahead of Khaled Mousli and Vincenzo Ventricelli, while Emilio Misas and Ahmad Essa al Aaraj took third place. In the FootVolley tournament, Kevin Denecker (France) and Cassiano (Brazil) defeated Mohamed Suweidi (UAE) and Ricardo (Brazil) for the title. — SG
