Last round of group stage begins

Manama: The third and last round of the group stage of Nasser 9 Ramadan Football Tournament will begin today with two matches part of Group 1. In the first match, Al Ameed and Nomas will square off at 9:00am, but all the eyes will be on the following match between Victorious and Suqoor Al Bahrain. The latter have already secured their progression, but a loss against their opposing team will drop them to second place as Suqoor Al Bahrain have four points. 

Al Ameed, on the other hand, have one point and if they are to advance to the last eight, they will need to beat their opponents and await a gift from Victorious.

Penalty-kick contest to be held today

A special penalty shoot-out contest will be hosted today as part of the supporting entertainment programmes to Nasser 9. 

Mahdi Abduljabar powers Al Fakhar rout over Ahlam Batelco

Defending champions Al Fakhar have come within touching distance in their progress to the last and eighth round after hitting seven goals against Ahlam Batelco.

The match ended 7-0. The shining Star for the winners was Mahdi Abduljabar who found the net on three occasions. On target were also Mahdi Humaidan, Hussain Salman, Mustafa Yaqoob and Jawad Abdullah, with the last three names participated as substitutes. 

Al Fakhar rally so far has got six points from two games, while Ahlam Batelco officially have waved goodbye to their qualification hopes after losing their second match.

The defending champions took the lead after just nine minutes into the first half thanks to their attacker Mahdi Abduljabar. 

Ahlam Batelco’s defence line continued its shaky display as Al Fakhar doubled their lead in the 16th minute with Mahdi Humaidan on target again. Three minutes later, Mahdi Abduljabar slotted home to make it 3-0 as Ahlam Batelco looked completely lost. Nine minutes before the halftime break, Mahdi Abduljabar scored his third goal of the match after converting from the penalty spot. 

Galacticos hold Al Wehda

Galacticos in a great comeback stunned Al Wehda who were leading 2-0 in a match. 

The game which ended 2-2, was held late Wednesday night. With this draw Galacticos is now second in Group 2 with three points, while Al Wehda is third with two points. 

This stalemate, meanwhile, has sent the group leaders Al Fakhar to the next stage as they have six points under their belt going to the last round of the group stage. Muneer Ali’s first half goals gave Al Wehda a great start.

However, Mohammed Ajjaj of Galacticos rescued his team by scoring twice in the second half. 

His first goal arrived in the 65th minute before he slotted home in the last minute of the stoppage time, much to the frustration of Al Wehda who played with ten men for almost 25 minutes after one of their players was sent off.

VKL Holding, Al Namal Group 

honoured 

Al Namal Group of Companies and VKL Holding joined the sponsoring companies for the second edition of HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa Ramadan Games “Nasser 9”.

Commenting on this, HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bahrain Olympic Committee, heaped praised on Al Namal Group and VKL Holding for taking this step, highlighting that the sincere role being played by both companies in support of the Bahraini society. Shaikh Nasser stated that the backing of both companies will undoubtedly contribute to raising the bar of the tournament.