JEDDAH, 19 February 2007 — Al-Qadisiya’s judokas dominated the boys under 12 age group in the Kingdom Al-Nokhbah League for clubs held in Riyadh recently.
The two-day championship attracted 30 players from six clubs, Al-Shabab, Al-Waseel, Al-Tai, Al-Wehda, Gafar and Qadisiya, who pitted skills against each other at the indoor hall of Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium.
In addition to the team gold Qadisiya also claimed gold medals in two individual events courtesy of Muhsin Hazzazi in the -30kg class and Abdullah Al-Osaimi in the -42kg. They also took home two silver and three bronze medals.
Qadisiya club underlined its reputation as the hotbed of judo when it also won the team and individual competitions for first division teams.
Al-Wehda stole some of the thunder from Qadisiya when they ruled the individual contests via the three gold medals from Arif Aitha in -26kg, Abdullah Hammad in -34kg, and Usamah Al-Githami in +52kg. Wehda also won a silver and two bronze medals.
Al-Shabab placed third in the individual contests with two gold thanks to Usamah Al-Zahrani in -38kg and Abdulkarim Hijji. Shabab also took two silver medals and one bronze and Taie two silvers and three bronze medals.
Wehda placed second in the team event with Taie and Shabab tied for the third position. All told Qadisiya won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals and Wehda three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. With two gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze Shabab finished third in a tie with Taie who received two silver and four bronze medals.
Muayid Sarouji from Wehda was awarded best player in the championship for his outstanding performance and his display of sportsmanship even at the tender age of nine.
Family members of the players attended the second day where Abdulilah Al-Dlak, member at the federation administration council, offered awards to the young athletes.
Al-Dlak also said during the awards ceremony that judokas in the under 9 bracket are now undergoing trainings and should move up to the under 12 class and be able to compete in the 2008 Gulf Championship in UAE.
Abdulatif Al-Salih, team manager and member of the administration council at Al-Qadisiya club, told Arab News in a telephone interview from the Eastern Province that these victories are not new to an ancient club like Qadisiya.
The popularity of judo used to be better 30 years ago when he himself started playing at Qadisiya, which was the first club to get into judo in the Kingdom in 1974. “They were supported better back then even financially,” he said.
