The Syrian Homs Al-Fidaa team secured a well-deserved victory over their compatriots, Al-Wahda Damascus, with a score of 77-65 on Sunday during the third round of the group stage of the «Dubai International» tournament. The tournament, in its 35th edition, is currently being held at the Al-Nasr club's hall in Dubai and will continue until February 1st. In the same round, for Group A, the UAE national team defeated the Libyan Al-Ittihad by two points with a score of 97-95. With this victory, Homs Al-Fidaa regained its balance after a setback in the opening round, where they lost to the national team with a score of 70-97. Meanwhile, Al-Wahda faced tough luck in their second match, despite a successful start by winning their first game against the hosts, Al-Nasr, with a score of 87-75. At the end of the round, the UAE national team leads Group A with four points, one point ahead of Al-Ittihad (Libya), Homs Al-Fidaa, and their compatriots Al-Wahda (Syria), who share the second place. Al-Nasr holds the fifth and last place with two points. Homs Al-Fidaa found their way to victory by outperforming their opponents in the first and third quarters (22-12 and 24-14), while Al-Wahda players only managed to excel in the second and fourth quarters (23-20 and 16-11). These results were not enough to turn the game around. Al-Wahda will return to action on Monday to face Al-Ittihad in another group stage match, while Homs Al-Fidaa will enter a rest period before resuming their matches on Tuesday against Al-Ittihad. It is worth noting that the tournament's draw placed the national team in Group A alongside the UAE's Al-Nasr, the Syrian teams Homs Al-Fidaa and Al-Wahda, and the Libyan Al-Ittihad. Group B consists of the defending champion, Lebanese Beirut, the Syrian Al-Karamah, the Libyan Ahli Tripoli, the Tunisian Africain, and the Filipino Zamboanga.
