DOHA, 30 November 2006 — The Saudi flag-raising ceremony took place yesterday at the Athletes Village ahead of tomorrow’s opening ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games here.

In attendance at the 1 p.m. ceremony were athletes and officials of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee.

The Saudi colors rose alongside Iraq’s and Palestine’s in keeping with tradition observed by the three countries. Each of the countries’ delegation received souvenirs from the village director.

After the three national anthems were played a documentary movie was shown depicting the history of Qatar and how a desert area transformed to a fully equipped sport village in around five years. The documentary which found appreciation from the crowd also showed the longest torch relay in the history of the Games as it traveled over 50, 000 kilometers to 15 countries and regions in more than 50 days.

Assistant Secretary General Fahad Al-Athel of SAOC told Arab News in an exclusive interview “The expectation is high on the performance of the Saudi national teams. They have a been a great competitor with high skills and will continue to be so as long as they put in dedication and hard work in their preparations.”

“Thank God, then thanks to Prince Sultan ibn Fahd and Prince Nawwaf ibn Faisal for making the road easier for us and for the players with their continued support,” he added.

Al-Athel added that all countries have been preparing for this Asian Games and it is important to them as it is important to us, and he expected teams like China, Iran, Japan, Qatar and Kuwait would to deliver great performances.

Mohammad Al-Johar, the technical affairs and administrator at KSANOC, told Arab News “So far five out of the 17 teams arrived here and they are judo, athletics, volleyball, swimming and artistic gymnastics.

“The rest would be here by tomorrow or by Thursday. The delay is probably because some of the sports the players entered do not start now, so they continue to train at their training camps and work on their skills,” he said.

The athletes number 153 and the Saudi delegation totals 214 including officials and media persons.

The Saudi athletes to watch in the Games are swimmer Ahmed Al-Kudmani and track and field athlete Hadi Soaan as well as the equestrian team.

The delegation’s physician Dr. Walid Al-Rumaih said each team arrived with their medical staff and his job is to supervise them all.