Ali Thameem
Joali Maldives are once again the champions of Raa Zone. The final was a 13-goal thriller; Joali 7:6 Cora Cora Maldives. JOALI are the current title holders of both Raa Zone and of the Resort Super League.
The defending champions had achieved the result they set out to get; retain the trophy at home in Joali Maldives, and make it to the Resort Super League again, as the manager Nawaaz explained in a post-game interview.
With Joali Maldives winning the final battle, Cora Cora lost the winning streak and their hopes of the Super League; Cora Cora had topped the zone’s league table with three wins in three games. Joali had suffered a 2-3 defeat against the runner-ups in the league stage.
Cora Cora thus directly qualified for the Raa Zone final, while Joali had to go through a playoff against Alila Kothaifaru in the one-legged semifinal.
Although they lost the initial confrontation against Cora Cora, Joali Maldives displayed the team’s attacking prowess against Alila and Emerald Maldives Faarufushi, scoring 7 goals and 14 goals respectively.
Joali Maldives scored seven goals in the semifinal and seven in the final. The champions scored an average of 7.4 goals per game this year; more than any other team in the resort league.
As for Alila Kothaifaru, despite losing against Cora Cora and Joali Maldives, their sole win against Faarufushi was enough to book a spot in the semifinal against the hosts Joali. Faarufushi had to exit the tournament with zero points in hand.
The resort league Raa Zone kicked off on the 21st of July and featured four resorts from the atoll.
The resort league moves to the South Male’ zone for the first half of August, with 12 resorts across four groups competing for the trophy.
