JEDDAH, 29 May 2007 — Saudi Arabia won their third silver medal from the trio event in the 2nd GCC Bowling Championship for the Deaf.
The event that began Saturday at the Sultana Center on Tahlia Street here attracted teams from Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and host Saudi Arabia. The tournament ends on Thursday.
The singles took place on Saturday, doubles on Sunday and the trios (three-man team event) yesterday. On tap today is the five-man team event followed by the centerpiece Masters event tomorrow and the closing ceremony on Thursday.
Mohammed Al-Oraif opened the Kingdom’s medal account in the competition by winning the gold medal in the singles with teammate Fahd Al-Rumaih taking the silver. Nidal Al-Miheizea of Bahrain took the bronze. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, director of the Bowling Committee for the Deaf, handed out the prizes during the medal ceremony.
In the doubles, Bahrain outbowled everyone to win the gold courtesy of Abdulnassir Abdullah and Nidal Al-Miheizea who combined for total pinfalls of 2,487. Second place went to the Saudi pair of Fahd Al-Rumaih and Mohammed Al-Oraif with 2, 421 pinfalls and third to UAE’s Walid Ahmed and Ali Jabir with 2.254.
Bahrain landed another gold in the three-man team event thanks to Abdulnassir Abdullah, Nidal Al-Miheizea and Mustapha Faid who carded 3,713 pinfalls.
The trio of Fahd Al-Rumaih, Mohammed Al-Oraif and Ali Al-Malki rolled 3,383 pinfalls to give Saudi Arabia the silver medal. The bronze went to UAE with Walid Ahmed, Ali Jabir and Hussain Al-Hakam combining for 3,322 pinfalls.
Saudi coach Majid Aslani said that he has been with the team from day one in 2001. “We found them interested and investing time on them would be for their good and the country’s good too.”
The team have had exposure in competitions abroad. Gaining experience in the 2001 Olympics in Rome, the team placed fourth in the World Deaf Bowling Championship in 2003 in Taipei. In 2005 they finished second with six silvers and one bronze medal in the first GCC Bowling Championship for the Deaf in Bahrain.
The team’s latest achievement was a third-place finish in the Asian Bowling Championship for the Deaf held in Korea last month.
After this championship the team would continue training to prepare for the 2008 Asian Olympics, to be held probably in Singapore. The committee will also build a 10-lanes bowling center in the Deaf Club of Jeddah to make it easier for the bowlers to play. “This will be for men and another one will be for women soon,” said Aslani.
This club is like a sporting village and the public may use its facilities for a fee. The club proceeds go to a fund that wil be used to defray the expenses of the club members.
“It was a great idea Al-Qahtani suggested doing because we always suffer from financial problems,” Aslani said. The bowlers’ average ages are now from 27 to mid-30s. “But we look forward to train more and have the younger ones too who are at least in their 20s.”
