A charged third day

On the third day of the Dubai International the tension was in the match between Al Riyadi of Lebanon and Al Ittihad Alexandria of Egypt — a meeting of two champions. Al Riyadi have held this tournament's titles over many years, and Al Ittihad have won it before as well as being the most recent Arab club champions. More than that, Al Ittihad currently field on loan Ismail Ahmed, who played a long time for Al Riyadi and is now in the Lebanese league, which gave the match plenty of push and pull between Ismail Ahmed and the Al Riyadi supporters. It finished as a thoroughly enjoyable game, won by Al Riyadi 94-89.

The national team had played a strong match against Ezzahra Sports of Tunisia and held together until six minutes from the end, when experience and fitness told and the Tunisian side won 81-71.

In the day's opening match Sale of Morocco beat American University in Dubai 91-84, and in the fourth and last match Beirut of Lebanon beat Al Ittihad of Syria 88-74.

Marei: defensive errors behind the defeat, and I am not satisfied with our professional

Ahmed Marei, technical director of Al Ittihad Alexandria, said the main reason for today's defeat to Al Riyadi in round two of Group A was the players continuing to make the same defensive errors.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of the team's only overseas professional, who had not produced what was expected during the tournament, explaining that the player's failure to settle into the team was one reason Harris had not supported Al Ittihad at the Dubai tournament.

Marei expected the team's performance to improve considerably in the matches ahead: “I expect the performance to improve once the players get into the tournament's rhythm quickly, especially given the high technical level of the Dubai tournament, which our players are not used to in the domestic competition they play in Egypt.”

Mounir Ben Habib: we held out for 34 minutes and lost the bet at the critical moment

Mounir Ben Habib, coach of the national basketball team, said the team produced a decent performance and held out for 34 minutes before losing the bet, and that the lack of cohesion in defence over the last six minutes and the errors committed had their effect in losing the result against Ezzahra Sports.

He said the players missed many easy chances in attack from under the basket, and that any team losing that quality will lose the match.

He noted that the team rotated its players successfully during the second period and matched the Tunisian side for most of the time, but that rebounds made the difference for Ezzahra.

He closed by saying the team's performance was relatively better than in the first match against Mighty Sports of the Philippines.

Fadi El Khatib: proud of my experience with the UAE team

Fadi El Khatib, the Lebanese basketball star, said he was very proud of his experience with the UAE national team, describing it as excellent and saying he was very comfortable and pleased to pass on the experience he has accumulated in basketball to the Emirati players.

He said the UAE team lacks only the making of the right decisions during a match and playing well under match pressure, which is a very important factor for basketball players.

El Khatib described the Dubai International, which has run for 31 years, as one of the finest tournaments of recent times, saying that as basketball players and lovers of the game they await it eagerly and that it is an honour to be part of it.

He explained that he has announced his retirement from the Lebanon national team but continues to play at club level, and that activity in Lebanon is currently suspended. He said advancing age does not greatly affect basketball players.

El Khatib stays top of the scoring

Fadi El Khatib, playing for the UAE, retained the lead in the scoring charts on 53 points, followed by Al Ittihad of Syria's Coleman on 49, with Jeron Johnson of Beirut and Zeid El Chennoufi of Ezzahra level third on 45, and Anthony of Ezzahra and Michael of Al Riyadi a point behind.

Prepared by: Safaa Amer