A new year meant a new season in the Ball Above All Sports calendar. The league hosts several categories, including Elite Men Elite Division 1, Women, Semi Elite Division 2, Division 3, Mixed, Masters 40+, Youth Boys 12-15 and 15-18.
During the first week, it was the young people who shone the most. Specifically, the 12-15 age category turned out to be a competition with Phases Basketball beating Desert Raiders 72-68 in a clincher.
Last season, they went to compete 2 games against each other in the regular season and a 3rd time in the semi-finals which ended in favor of the Phases. Nothing changed in 2021 as the two teams clashed again until the last second. Kazi Sta Mari led the Desert Raiders with 35 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast and 7 stl but that was not enough because Phases Academy emerged victorious thanks to a team effort led by Robin Zumbuehl (22 pts and 12 reb), Lexi Calueng (17 pts, 5 reb, 4ast, 3stl).
All in Sports Juniors played against BasicBall Juniors with a final score of 52-21 for All In Sports. Joseph Jabbour led his team with a double double 22 pts and 11 reb.
In other games, the week started with the elite women and men on Sunday. In the women’s league, the Amazons beat BasicBall 63-42, player of the match Luiza Selisteanu scored 16 pts and took 13 reb, Hoopless defeated Pheonix 78-26 led by 37 pts from Jessica Ross.
Men Elite League, has seen some of the UAE’s top talent compete against each other at a high level. It started with Brotown playing Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia coming out on the top 84-70, Player of the Match was Djordge Kocic who had a double double, 21 pts and 19 reb. The competition was heated when Dubai Fire and Dubai Heat played a close match with the latter 93-90 winner, led by ex Lebanese pro Tarek Merhabi 26 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast and 5stl. The last game of the evening was a rematch of last season’s finals: Triple Threat and B26 Falcons, 25 points from Seraphin Mboma and Ibrahima Haidare 22 pts, 15 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, carried the Falcons to a victory. Final score 91-77.
Tuesday’s semi-elite league started with a 50C ball beating Dubai Heat 75-65 with center Ibrahima Haidare knocking down 7 3 pointers and finishing with 32 pts, 14 reb, 4 ast and 5 stl. Desert Dawgs defeated Dubai flight 101-72, led by 32 pts, 6 reb and 7 ast and Ahmed Tartoussi 21 pts, 13 reb, 7 ast and 5 stl of Giorgos Kalyvis. YouBetterFly beat the Vikings 110-90, former Lebanese pro player AlHassan Dandash burned the stats sheet with an absurd triple double performance of 46 pts, 11 reb and 13 ast and ex professional Michel Hakim added an impressive 32 pts, 7 reb and 6 ast. with 8 3pts made.
Division 3, Week 1 started on Monday and ended on Wednesday. Bad News Bears defeated Reptiles 46-43. Dubai Royals lost to We Not Me 71-53, Hustlers also lost to Agents 971 84-64. The Blues beat the Dubai Bulls 55-46, All In Sports won against Flying Phoenix 53-32, the Black Panthers beat the LCT Squad 78-36. Dubai Fusion defeated BFD 67-51, Hoopers DXB came out on top against DXB Magic 59-54, and finally the Oryx defeated the Titans 78-53.
The Mixed League, the first round was also fun to watch. Dubai Jedis and Kings & Queens fought to the end with a final score of 62-59 in favor of the latter. ManChestHair United defeated the Wreckers 87-76.
The last league of the week was the Masters League for basketball players aged 40 and over. Don’t get me wrong, this league has a lot of talent and has proven that you never underestimate an old man with a basketball. Brotown DXB reached a total score of 112 beating the Amigos’ 79, with Durica Zarkovic in the lead with 41 pts. NMG also scored above 100, beating RHRN 110-49. Carlos Salvatori led the team with 36 points and Charbel Sawaya triple double 25 pts, 19 reb, 13 ast and 4 stl.
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