A week after winning the handball league title, Al-Ahli were again in celebratory mood as they won the Al-Nokhbah Water Polo Championship last week at King Fahd Coastal City. The victory couldn’t have been sweeter, coming as it does against bitter rivals Al-Ittihad, who recovered some lost ground, however, by taking the overall club swimming title for the 2005-2006 season.
Ittihad’s coronation came at the end of the top tier swimming season of the Saudi Arabian Swimming Federation (SASF) last week at the Jeddah Olympic Center pool.
Besides the club title the final senior age group championship was also contested in the competition sponsored by Mobily and attended by Saudi Arabia’s top 7 club teams namely Al-Adala, Al-Itifaq, Itihaad, Al-Khaleej, Al-Qara, Al-Safa and Al-Taraji. Al-Safa claimed its first championship title of the year at the senior division, with Ittihad and Qara placing second and third. Under the SASF schedule of competitions, clubs vie for championships in three separate age divisions: youth (10 years and under, 11-12 years, 13-14 years), junior (15-17 years) and senior (open category). Using an international system of calculation, points are tabulated during competitions for swimmers in the 1st through 8th places. A running tally is kept throughout the season and SASF is then able to determine both divisional club champions and the overall club champion.
The Youth and Junior club champions were determined at competitions earlier this month with Ittihad winning both divisional titles.
The final Second Tier club rankings for 2005-2006 will be determined later this month after which a system of relegation will be used to decide which clubs will compose the top tier in the 2006-2007 season.
Basketball: The Saudi Arabian Basketball Federation held a meeting in which they finalized moving the organizational committee for the basketball from Saudi Arabia to Oman. First Attaché at the GCC Sport Administration Ali Hassan, SABF General Security Abdulrahman Al-Musaad and Oman Basketball Federation Secretary General Khalid Al-Husani attended the meeting. Hassan thanked Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, president of the Youth Welfare Presidency and his deputy Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal for their support. Prince Tala ibn Badr, president of the SABF and the Organizational Committee, also received a letter from Muscat Minister and Governor Al-Mutasem Al-Bousaidi acknowledging the prince’s efforts in running the 26th Gulf Clubs Championship, which was held in Muscat from April 10 – 17. Al-Bousaidi in addition said that such events help enhance the relationships between the Gulf countries’ youths.
Sixth International Football Championship for Police: The Italian Federation for Police will be hosting the sixth International Football Championship for police in Italy and around 40 countries are taking part. Saudi Arabian security forces’ national team are among the participants and till now are the only Arab team so far in the competition. The President of the Italian Organizational Committee Mario said that the competition would formally kickoff today while the semifinal and final matches will take place tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Saudi team had night training during the previous four days under the supervision of coach Yousif Khamis and his assistant, Abdullah Al-Dhayaan. “We are fully prepared for this competition and are looking forward to go back home as winners especially as we had won this competition four years ago,” said Maj. Sultan Al-Wadaani, director of the Saudi national team and secretary-general at the Saudi Sport Federation for Interior Security Forces.
Saudi Football Federation Website: According to Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, president of the Presidency of Youth Welfare and Saudi Football Federation, people can get all information regarding the Saudi Arabian football team’s participation at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany through the website www.saff.com.sa which will run through May 29 in both Arabic and English languages. The prince said this website will give an opportunity to all fans to share their views through online forums. The website would also include links in which individuals can look it up for additional information related to other international sport federations’ websites.
Athletics Games: The record-breaking eight Saudi athletes have qualified to participate at the 11th World Cup Championship for Youth Athletic Games to be held in Beijing, China. They are; Ahmed Al-Obaid who won the 100-meter race with the time of 10, 72 seconds; Mohammed Al-Bishi the 200 meters in 21, 25 second; Ali Saad Al-Daraan the 800 meters race in 1,49,97 seconds; Bandar Sharahili the 400 meters hurdles in 52,06 seconds; Mohammed Daak the 400 meters hurdles in 53,34 seconds; Hamid Al-Bishi the 400 meters hurdles in 53,34 seconds; Ali Al-Amri at the 3,000-5,000 meters hurdles in time of 9,10 and 14,15 respectively and Ahmed Al-Shurafa in the long lump with 7, 55 meters. In addition, Dr. Yousif Al-Bousaidi, supervisor at the youth division at the Saudi Athletic Games Federation, said there is still chances for a larger number of Saudi athletes to qualify before the competition begins.
