JEDDAH, 9 August 2006 — The Saudi judo team returned yesterday from a triumphant campaign in the 10th Gulf Championship in Kuwait where they won the overall title for the sixth consecutive year. The Kingdom judokas dominated all levels of the competition namely under- 13, under-17 and first division.
In addition to Saudi Arabia and the hosts, teams from Qatar, UAE and Bahrain saw action in the tournament. Khalifa Abdullah Al-Sabah, president of Kuwait Judo Federation, handed the gold, silver and bronze medals to the winners during the awards ceremony.
Under-13:
The Saudis won eight medals in the eight weight categories. Abdul Lateef Al-Faraeidi and Anas Al-Toum clinched gold medals in above 56kg. and 46kg. The Kingdom haul in the division included the five silvers courtesy of Khaled Al-Shammari, Suleiman Hammad, Ahmad Aref, Abdullah Hammad and Abdul Aziz Al-Subaie in the 56kg., 52kg., 34kg., 30kg. and 38kg in that order.Abdul Aziz Al-Subyani added the bronze medal in the 42kg.
Under 17:
In a show of force, Saudi collected four golds, three silvers and one bronze. Suleiman Al-Dossari in the under 50kg., Ahsraf Abdullah in the 60kg., Muhnnad Al-Shareef in under 66kg. and Munawer Al-Shammari were the quartet who won gold medals.
Receiving the silver medals were Muhannad Al-Onaizi in under 45kg., Badi Al-Shammari in under 55kg. and Majed Madani in above 81kg., while Ibrahim Al-Faraedi took the bronze medal in the under 81kg.
First Division:
Abdul Rahman Al-Hazmi of the Saudi judo first division team captured the gold in under 66kg. and Essa Majrashi the silver medal in under 60kg. Naif Ammar (under 73kg.), Emad Al-Dossari (under 81kg.), Muhammad Al-Kurashi (over 100kg.) and Ahmad Al-Malki (under 90kg.), each won bronze medals in the named weight categories.
The Saudi team received a warm welcome at the King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh after they arrived from Kuwait.
Members of the Saudi delegation expressed their happiness from the great achievement. Delegation head Suleiman Al-Huraish credited the dedication to win and teamwork spirit for the team’s great achievement. He said Saudi players supported each other in the championship all the way.
