Check out these great photos from the thrilling 3-day event on JBR Beach in Dubai. Organized by MBM Holdings and DUPLAYS, over 4,000 people attended the FootVolley World Cup 2011 to cheer on 32 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams from 27 countries. Brazil took home the title, defeating Paraguay in close fought match Saturday night with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum and many other distinguished guests in attendance.

Write-up from Sport 360: “Brazilians Display Silky Samba Skills in Dubai” by Reem Abulleil

Brazilian teams stole the show at the Footvolley World Cup UAE 2011 yesterday, stunning the crowds with some mind-blowing skills at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

The sport which combines both football and volleyball originated from the beaches of Brazil and it’s no surprise they came to Dubai with nine teams in total, five men’s and four women’s.

The day started with group stage matches that were left over from Thursday, before things heated up in the last 16.

All five men’s teams from Brazil were placed in one group, which meant that Group A saw the hottest matches of the tournament. Brazil1 and Brazil2 advanced to the last-16 before they dominated in their matches against Netherlands1 and England2.

Both Brazilian teams will face-off again in the quarter-finals today.

“It’s always very tough to face another Brazilian team,” said Brazil1 star Piao. “But we are looking forward to a good match and we are hoping to give the crowd another entertaining match.”

The ladies of Brazil wowed the audience with two exhibition matches, and one of the contestants, Vanessinha, who has been playing footvolley for 11 years, said she was amazed by the reaction from the stands and how far the sport has come.

She said: “It’s so amazing to see footvolley here, and seeing people watching with surprised eyes. It makes me feel really happy because footvolley was created in Rio and now to see it being played here in Dubai by all these people, it’s just great.”

The tightest affair of the day was between Paraguay1 and Portugal2, where Paraguayans Victor and Oddi pulled off a terrific comeback to win 23-21 and book themselves a quarter-final spot against their compatriots Jesus and Quicho (Paraguay2), who beat Netherlands2.

“The tournament is number one, it’s very special,” said Victor. The UAE team comprising of Jamal Seif – also the tournament director – and Mohammed Rashed Al Sewedy had lost all their group stage matches the previous day to Spain, Norway and Uruguay, but Seif said he finds solace in the fact that the tournament has proven a big hit amongst both the players and the spectators.

“I would like to apologise for our level in the matches, but if we are talking about the level of organisation, we have done a fantastic job.

“The feedback has been great and the players and their teams explicitly told us that this is the best footvolley event they have attended across the world,” said Seif.

The UAE team is ranked 11th in the world and have won some impressive matches prior to the World Cup but unfortunately could not replicate that form in Dubai.

Alongside the FootVolley World Cup, DUPLAYS organized a 2 day beach volleyball tournament – JBR Beach Sport Fest. Enjoy these photos of the action:

DUPLAYS was proud to organize the UAE vs Duke basketball game in Dubai on 25-Aug-2011. In front of over 2,000 fans the UAE National Team played exceptionally well against one of the best teams in US college basketball, Duke.

DUPLAYS handled everything from planning, ticketing, and promotion to setup, manpower, event day management. Want DUPLAYS involved in your next large scale event? Contact us at info@duplays.com.

Enjoy these photos and videos from the game below:

Gulf News business featured DUPLAYS co-founders Derv Rao and Ravi Bhusari talking about the company’s growth and potentital. Read the Gulf News full article here: “Thriving on sport’s social side” (27-Jan-2011). Excerpts below:

A quick visit to the 14th floor offices of Duplays in JLT reveals a business environment as fresh and as active as the company’s central nervous system, a website chocked full of sports league games scheduled across the UAE in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Soccer balls, basketballs, Frisbees and giant Duplays banners punctuate the office where Canadian founders Ravi Bhusari and Davinder “Derv” Rao work daily to build up the company.

…

Duplays is doubling in growth every year from 5,000 members in 2008, to 10,000 members in 2009, and to its current roster of 20,000.

“We arrived at 20,000 members as of December 31, 2010 and our goal for 2011 is to double that to 40,000,” Rao said.

Rao said the hard work to start a company from scratch is paying off judging by the numbers.

…

Hillary Lawson, 29, is a Duplays client who says mixing her love for sport and socialising has found a home in the sports company.

When Lawson moved to Dubai two years ago, the financial analyst was like many expats and eager to meet others shortly after arriving.

“When I moved here, I didn’t know anyone,” she said.

Lawson discovered the Duplays website after a Google search and joined amateur volleyball and ultimate Frisbee leagues offered in Dubai.

“I love sports to meet new people. It’s the best way to meet likeminded people. There are new faces every year,” said Lawson.

Duplays is helping expats to bridge barriers by using sports as a touchstone for people from different cultures to meet and interact, she said.

“Duplays is doing a very good job of organising sports. They’re appealing to the many nationalities here,” she said. “People are always looking for something new to do.”

Roxanne Brouille, 33, a real estate consultant, has been a member of Duplays since the early days of the company and values her weekly volleyball and Frisbee games.

“There are all age groups, professions and nationalities,” said Brouille. “The one thing we have in common is sports. Duplays has helped me feel a bit more well rounded because I have friends from many nationalities.”

Brouille looks forward to regular amateur games not only as a way to keep a body healthy, but to also stay in touch with new friends in a city that can be a very transient place.

“I look forward to my weekly appointments with my friends,” Brouille said. “I’ve made some really good friends, I’d say 20 or 30, from playing sports.”

DUPLAYS closed out 2010 with a bang, crossing the 20,000 member mark on Dec 31, 2010. Three years after we started, 2010 was by far our biggest and best year yet. Below is our 2010 highlight reel in rough chronological order:

• 1st, 2nd, and… 3rd Beach Games
• 4 corporate “Beach Games” events: DPG, Brooks Multiplex, Lloyds TSB,  Johnson & Johnson
• Snickers World’s Longest Football Match 42 hours 5 minutes = new Guinness World Record!
• UAE Nations Cup by Gillette 48 teams from 27 nations playing  5v5 football over 2 days
• 1st investor in DUPLAYS
• 1st office opened at JLT
• 4 corporate leagues (ADAT, Standard Chartered, Al Tayer Group, ADIB) plus 1st sector league
• 1st facility to call our own: Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park with 4 beach volleyball courts+
• Presented at Abraaj Capital’s awesome Celebration of Entrepreneurship 2010
  • won “Pitch your business” contest before panel of VC judges/audience
• NBA Jam Fest Abu Dhabi 2010 5 divisions, 128 teams, 490 players over 3 days
• 1st title sponsor: Al Nabooda Automobiles VW
• 4 new full time team members (Suraj, Katie, Raza, Maz), doubling our full time staff
• 10,241 new members, doubling+ from 9,760 on Jan 1, 2010 to 20,001 on Dec 31, 2010

And that’s not to mention the heart and soul of DUPLAYS: our social and competitive sport leagues in the UAE. Thanks 2010 for being so good to us, and thank you for your support!

Here’s to a great 2011!

We want to hear from you. Tell us what you liked or disliked from your last DUPLAYS league, event or class. Just like in sports, we can only improve if you tell us the parts we need to get better at. Click “Submit” below when you’re done.

Ravi and Derv tell Wamda (http://www.wamda.com) how they started DUPLAYS to help residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi connect and organize after-work sports activities. They describe how DUPLAYS works to break down social barriers in the UAE.

Time Out Dubai recently came down to Barasti Bar for some summer beach volleyball action in Dubai.

Dubai’s brave fitness fans head down to Mina Seyahi every Wednesday night for Duplays’ 10-week beach volleyball league. We went to watch and were soaking within the hour, so imagine the players – some had trouble with ball handling as arms and hands were so slippery from sweat. The night ended with a casual half-hour of play, which was our favourite part: pop to Barasti, hit a ball or two, pop back to Barasti – our favourite kind of exercise. Fancy playing? The next league starts mid-September: see duplays.com.

Check out the feature on Time Out Dubai’s website and see all 11 (sweaty!) photos from the night.

Are you fit? Just how active are you? Take 2 minutes to fill out a survey below, depending on what type of athlete you are!

Choose one of the three:

1. This survey is for the EXTREME ATHLETES.
2. This survey is for people who like to STAY FIT AS PART OF THEIR LIFESTYLE.
3. This survey is for the RUNNERS.

Thanks!

Team DUPLAYS

The DFL boys retained their title as DUPLAYS Ultimate Frisbee champions when they convincingly defeated the Dubai Flying Carpets on Monday evening at the Metropolitan fields.

DFL 10 – Fly Carpets 3.  Ryan stars as DFL retain Spin Doctors title. By Mohamed Suleman

14 June, 2010, Dubai. Nine weeks of grueling Ultimate Frisbee culminated in a re-match of last season’s final, with the Dubai Flying Carpets taking on the DFL’ ers.

Although the match did not live up to the nail-biting encounter the two teams produced last time around, high quality Ultimate was still in the cards and in the end, it was DFL who took the crown.

The game got off to a tentative start as both teams passed the disc around in search for an opening. The Carpets Patrick tried to hit Chilly going long, but the throw was just wide.

A victorious DFL team

It was DFL who got on the board first through a towering Ryan catch. But the Carpets equalized soon after through Andrea, who finished off a pretty passing play.

However, the tie did not last long as Jack set up Dina in the end-zone to get DFL up by one again. The point opened the floodgates as they started to dominate proceedings, and were soon ahead by a handful.

Chilly got one back for the Carpets when the ever-reliable Led hit him with a delectable forward-flick from a whopping forty feet.

The Carpets tried to seize on the momentum, but were met by airtight defense from the DFL boys. They restricted them to short passes and kept the disc away from their end-zone. “We tried to keep the disc moving and stay smart on defense,” said DFL’s Robin after the game.

DFL were strong offensively as well. They circulated the disc superbly and hit the open man more often than not. The height of Ryan helped as well, as he made a few smart catches closer to the stars above, than the grass below.

Paul gave the Carpets supporters’ something to cheer about when he made a splendid jump and pick in the end zone

The game ended with Chilly, who once broke the sound barrier with a forward flick, holding on to a tight catch in the end zone to salvage some pride for the Carpets.

“I think we played pretty well,” said Chilly after the game. “Congratulations to DFL, they played a great final.”

All in all, it was an enjoyable final to watch between the two best teams in the league.

The season ended with Captain Led enlightening the players as to how he invented the game of Ultimate Frisbee decades ago, and how he proudly introduced it to the ‘nation of Dubai’.

It was a cracking end to what had been a memorable season. Spin Doctors III kicks off on June 28th. Expect some more pulsating disc action from DUPLAYS, the UAE’s largest sport and social club. http://duplays.com/ultimate-frisbee

Forty-eight teams  represented 27 nations and competed in DUPLAYS 2-day 5v5 futsal tournament — the UAE Nations Cup by Gillette.

The indoor football action was intense with lots of great goals and gritty defense.  Congratulations to all the teams and a special thanks to Gillette for making the tournament possible with their generous support.

1st place: UAE Legions

2nd place: Iran Fabexi

more photos from the event below…

DUPLAYS is the UAE’s largest sport & social club with over 14,000 members.

Play sport. Be social. DUPLAYS.com