DUBAI 'A' powered to an impressive 19-9 win over Abu Dhabi 'A' yesterday to clinch the Championship Cup in the Riffa Views Inter-Gulf Netball Championships.
The victors secured back-to-back titles in the annual event, while also claiming their eighth victory in the past nine competitions.
The event, at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club in Saar, was held for the 23rd year and featured 20 teams from across the region, as well as visitors Hucclecote Netball from the UK. Hucclecote took home the Invitational Cup after defeating Abu Dhabi 'A' 11-9 in a well-contested final match.
Meanwhile, coming away with the Plate was Abu Dhabi 'B', and securing the Bowl was Doha.
Bahrain's best performers were the 'A' team, who were classified fifth overall for the second year in a row. The hosts' men's squad also did well, defeating Dubai's men's team in their group.
"It has been an incredible tournament," Dubai 'A' captain Rhonda Parker told the GDN. "It's great to win again. We worked fantastic as a team throughout the competition, and I'm very proud of our girls - they all played amazing."
Parker, a towering goal shooter, spearheaded Dubai 'A' in the title-clincher, scoring 13 of her team's goals despite strong, physical defending from Abu Dhabi's players.
Parker was unstoppable in the goal circle. She partnered well with goal attack Shannon Lowe, who was later substituted by Lole Turner, to take leads as big as 10 goals in the second half.
Dubai 'A' goal defence Kelly Cook and goal keeper Lisa Crampton also did well for the winners. They were able to deny Abu Dhabi 'A' goal shooter Anna Rainey easy attempts at the ring, and often sparked their team's quick ball movement up the court.
"Our players deserve this championship," winning coach Dave Evans said. "The final match was very tight. We always have a great match-up with Abu Dhabi 'A'.
"We honestly didn't expect to beat them by so many goals. The competition they put up against us was a lot tougher than the score suggests. But the girls wanted to go out there and make sure they won; and I think they stamped a bit of authority as well."
The champions were presented their winners' trophy and individual medals by Riffa Views chief executive Richard Browning during the awarding ceremony following the final day of play. Browning announced that Riffa Views will be open to once again supporting the competition, should it return to Bahrain in 2009 and should they be approached by organisers.
Parker commented of a possible 'three-peat' in next year's event: "Every year, we are getting more and more players. We have an amazing base and there's continuous development, so we're looking forward to the next championships wherever it will be held, and hopefully we can get another one then."
Also presenting awards to the various winning teams were Helen Edwards from DHL, Amer Ahmed of Coca-Cola and Danny Barranger from Gulf Air.
Further honours were presented to Saudi Arabia player Sarah Wade, who was selected by her peers as the Player of the Tournament, and former Bahrain Netball League chairwoman Jo Reed, who was named the top umpire.
"The tournament has been very good, and we've enjoyed ourselves a lot coming to Bahrain," expressed Hucclecote's 19-year-old goal attack Carly Taylor. "I think the level of netball here is definitely higher than what we expected. It's really nice to see different countries that we've never heard of or never visited be really good in this sport."
Teammate Rachel Aston added: "We've already hinted at an invite for future tournaments."
Yesterday's results:
Championship Cup: First round: Dubai 'A' bt Dubai 'C' 20-2; Dubai 'B' bt Oman 7-1; Dubai Veterans bt Bahrain 'A' 7-5; Abu Dhabi 'A' bt Dubai 'D' 22-6. Semifinals and classification matches: Dubai 'A' bt Dubai 'B' 8-4; Abu Dhabi 'A' bt Dubai Veterans 11-8; Oman bt Dubai 'C' 8-4; Bahrain 'A' bt Dubai 'D' 15-1Bahrain 'A' bt Oman 8-5; Dubai 'D' bt Dubai 'C' 6-5; Dubai 'B' bt Dubai Veterans 7-6.
Final: Dubai 'A' bt Abu Dhabi 'A' 19-9.
Plate competition: First round: Abu Dhabi 'B' bt Bahrain 'C' 9-5; Kuwait bt Bahrain Babes 5-2; Bahrain 'B' bt Doha Veterans 11-6; Al Ain 'A' bt Saudi Arabia 5-2. Semifinals: Abu Dhabi 'B' bt Kuwait 12-8; Al Ain 'A' bt Bahrain 'B' 8-7. Final: Abu Dhabi 'B' bt Al Ain 'A' 8-4.
Bowl competition: Semifinals: Doha bt Bahrain 'D' 10-7; Al Ain 'B' bt Doha Youth 9-7. Final: Doha bt Al Ain 'B' 9-1.
Hucclecote match results:
First round: Bt Dubai 'A' 8-4; Bt Dubai 'D' 11-6; Bt Bahrain 'A' 9-5; Bt Oman 21-1; Bt Dubai 'C' 13-4; Bt Dubai Veterans 8-6; Bt Abu Dhabi 'A' 10-8; Bt Dubai 'B' 13-6. Final: Bt Abu Dhabi 'A' 11-9.
