Arab Cup of Ice Hockey, 16th-20th June 2008

[Al-khiyal]

Hockey in the desert — cool

ABU DHABI, June 21, 2008 -- Hundreds of fans stream into the arena: from teenage boys in shorts and sandals to little girls zipping up fur-lined parkas as they head into the cold.

Rinkside, dozens of men wearing traditional dishdashes wave United Arab Emirates flags and homemade signs. They bang drums and chant team cheers in unison, led by a bellowing voice over a megaphone - more akin to a soccer match than a hockey game.

Hockey is not a sport many would associate with the 40-plus-C. degree heat and desert sands of the Middle East.

But Faisal Al Fuwaidi, an Emirati who plays on the UAE national team, is hoping all that will change with this tournament - the first Arab Cup of Ice Hockey.

Thousands of hockey lovers have piled into the Abu Dhabi Ice Rink at the Zayed Sports City complex over the past week to watch teams from Algeria, Kuwait, Morocco and the UAE face each other on the ice. Last night, it was the home team that took the cup by outscoring Kuwait 4-1, to the delight of the rowdy crowd.

"I think that it's great that there's a new sport," says Quathar Faisal, 14. "This cup gives us a chance to show off our skills. Most people don't know that locals here can skate and play."

She herself has been skating since she was four years old, she says: "[My friends and I] either go to the ice rink or to the beach."

It was on the lone ice rink in Abu Dhabi eight years ago that Mr. Al Fuwaidi caught his first taste of the sport - watching Canadian expats, he says. A few months later, he found himself out on the ice with those Canadians, learning the game himself.

"It's definitely because of the Canadians that we're playing here," he says.

Mr. Al Fuwaidi continued playing in leagues and watching NHL games while studying in the United States for seven years, cementing his love for the game.

Hockey's popularity is spreading in the region as those studying abroad, or those of Middle Eastern descent growing up in North America, are exposed to the sport. But it is the large expat community, many of them from traditional hockey-playing nations, that drives much of the growth.

It is a trend that is obvious at this tournament: A quarter of the Algerian hockey team and more than half the Moroccan hockey players are Canadian.

Among them, Alex Ennaffati, a 21-year-old York University student who plays forward for his school's hockey team. Of Moroccan descent but born and raised in Toronto, he said it has been strange playing his childhood sport in the middle of the desert.

"It's a little surreal," he says. "Outside it is humid and dusty, but you step inside and it's freezing. It's unexpected, I'm not used to it. But we've had a good time ... we're here to play for our country."

And they are watching. The games are being broadcast via satellite to Morocco and Algeria, says Mr. Ennafati, and an audience is building.

"We've been getting good feedback," says the six-foot-four defence-man. "Apparently, we're a big hit."

Last night, Morocco defeated Algeria 7-5 for the third-place spot. While they didn't win the championship, it is quite a step for a country that only got it's first ice rink two years ago.

After the Moroccan team was assembled in Montreal, the players flew to Morocco to spend three weeks training on the tiny rink located in a mall in Rabat. The rink, used mainly for ice skating, is one-quarter the size of a standard hockey rink, team member Habib Alaoui says.

"It's funny, telling people [in Morocco] that we're on the ice hockey team. You try to explain to them the sport," he says, lifting up his arms to mimic a slapshot. "But they don't understand. There were a group of girls who thought we were playing polo."

[Al-khiyal]

Ice-cool Abu Dhabi win Arab Hockey final against Kuwait

Abu Dhabi, June 22, 2008: A sizzling display in the middle period helped Abu Dhabi get the better of a tenacious Kuwait 4-1 and lift the inaugural Arab Ice Hockey title at the Abu Dhabi Rink on Friday night.

Earlier in the match for third place Morocco scored a 7-5 win over Algeria in the four-team event held under the patronage of Shaikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE Ice Hockey Association.

As expected the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait final turned out to be an exciting affair and after the triumph it was a proud moment for Ahmad Mubarak Al Mazroui when he received the trophy from Shaikh Saeed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of Al Wahda Sports & Cultural Club.

Abu Dhabi, who yielded two early goals to Kuwait in the league stage before coming back to win via the penalty shootout 4-3, tightened their defence with Vladimir Dmitry and Mohammad Aref Al Jachi keeping a tight vigil on the Czech-dominated Kuwait front line.

With both sides playing fast and incisive hockey in the first period the crowd was treated to some thrilling moments and both teams had six shots apiece on goal.

But Kuwait, who had the advantage when twice Abu Dhabi was reduced to four-men as two were serving their two-minute suspensions, failed to make use of their numerical strength.

After the barren first period the game came alive in the middle period. Again they hosts had one player off the action for the initial four minutes but again Kuwait could not take advantage while it was their own goal the fell.

Egar came up with a fine effort to evade a Kuwaiti defender and shoot home for the first goal. Eight minutes later came goal number two, this time the hard-working Youra putting the finishing touches to a move that started at the other end.

And two minutes before he end of the 20-minute middle period Abu Dhabi struck again this time through their UAE national player Juma Mohammad Al Dhaheri.

With Abu Dhabi goal-tender Sergeh in superb form, Kuwait failed to score despite piling some intense pressure.

However with four minutes left Martin Petovsky pulled one back for Kuwait and then went on an all-out attack.

Abu Dhabi punished them with their fourth goal when Egar found himself unmarked and he made no mistake which started off wild celebrations among the home supporters.

In the match for the third place, Morocco's Omar Ennafati scored a hat-trick while Mehdi Ghazi scored two and Samir Bouchaoui and Yassine Ahrazem got one each.

For Algeria the goals were scored by Yassine Fahas, Hakim Boukhaloua, Mohammad Benyaha, Haroud Litim and Djilali Hamri.

[La-Casbah_com]

Algerians not discouraged by loss

Thats me in the 2nd pic

[La-Casbah_com]

Morocco are off the mark

ABU DHABI, June 19, 2008 -- Morocco won their first game at the Arab Cup in thrilling fashion last night.

They defeated Algeria 9-6 in a close game at Zayed Sports City to get their first points of the campaign in their final league match of the group stages.

Having been beaten 9-0 by the UAE on the opening day of the event, and then defeated 6-3 by Kuwait in their second game, they bounced back well to see off the Algerians.

The tournament's finale is tomorrow when the final, as well as the third and fourth place play-off takes place.

i scored the 1st algerian goal in this game.

[Al-khiyal]

salam, akhi, I noticed you'd 'gone off radar' for the duration of the competition, so I guessed you were there. mabrouk to you and the team, it was an honorable first run out and insha'allah you'll pick up more experience and soon get more fixtures and plenty of victories too! It can't be easy 'gelling' when the team has so little time to practice, but your team got some goals (and so did you!) so the skill is obviously there. Well done, and good luck!

[La-Casbah_com]

salam, akhi, I noticed you'd 'gone off radar' for the duration of the competition, so I guessed you were there. mabrouk to you and the team, it was an honorable first run out and insha'allah you'll pick up more experience and soon get more fixtures and plenty of victories too! It can't be easy 'gelling' when the team has so little time to practice, but your team got some goals (and so did you!) so the skill is obviously there. Well done, and good luck!

salam, thanks, yea was a good experience and we learned alot. I think algerian ice hockey will grow from now.

[La-Casbah_com]

some pics from Team Algeria (ask plz before using them)