DOHA, 9 December 2006 — Having ended a fruitless campaign in swimming, shooting, gymnastics and judo, Saudi Arabia send their veteran equestrian team in action today in hopes of winning further medals in the Asian Games.
The five Kingdom riders arrived straight from Europe where they have been training after a stint in the equestrian World Cup in Aachem, Germany two days before the competition on Thursday. After their horses were checked and declared fit for the competition, the team open their bid at 9 a.m. today in the preliminary round of the team show jumping event at the Doha Racing and Equestrian Club.
Sydney Olympics bronze medalist Khaled Al-Eid, 35, and his horse Al-Riyadh will join forces with Prince Abdullah ibn Miteb,22, aboard Saudi Mare, Kamal Bahamdan,35, aboard Campus 8, Abdullah Sharbatly,24, aboard Hugo and Prince Faisal Al-Shallan,20, aboard Roudan as they attempt to bring honors for their country. With a wealth of experience, the Saudi riders are considered a dark horse in the competition with Korea, Japan and host Qatar the fancied teams. For about two years the five show jumpers have been honing their skills in local and international championships winning a number of medals in the process.
Meanwhile, at the Aspire Hall 1 the cycling track competition gets going with the men’s individual pursuit qualifying and the men’s 1km time trial Finals. Bader Al-Yasin, 22, is the Saudi cyclist in action today.
Assistant coach Mudhi Al-Doussari and team manager Abdullah Al-Sarhani both said that they are happy with their boys’ performance.
“We could not ask for more especially that they are young and for many it is their first participation in such a huge event with huge components,” said Al-Doussari. He said the gifted Al-Yasin won one silver and two bronze medals in the 2004 Arab Championship in Algeria.
Al-Doussari said a gold medal is out of the question since they are here to gain more experience and blood their young players.
The water polo team try to recover from Uzbekistan defeat when they play Japan in the preliminary Group B match at 5p.m. tody at the Al-Sadd Aquatic Center. Wrestling matches kick off at 9 a.m. at the Aspire Hall 4 with Saudi bet Yasser Fallatah, 24, going up against Japanese Makoto Sasamoto in the men’s Greco-Roman 60kg preliminary bout. Saudi bowlers also see action in the men’s Masters qualifying round starting at 9 a.m. at the Qatar Bowling Center. Saudi cue artist Yousef Al-Wadi, 22, launches his campaign in the billiards nine-ball round of 64 at 10 a.m.
