JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — Members of the Al-Ittihad football team, who won the King’s Cup on Friday after beating Hilal 2-1 in the final, each received a bonus of SR150,000 from Ittihad president Mansour Al-Balawi for a well-deserved victory that averted a winless season. Meanwhile, Balawi announced he would be seeking a fresh four-year term as club president after being prevailed upon by club directors to reconsider his earlier decision to resign.
Tabuk Governor’s Generous Gesture
JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — Prince Fahd ibn Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz, governor of Tabuk, has offered to shoulder the expenses of bringing three professional football players to Al-Watani club there. The prince also donated SR1 million to help develop the team and improve the team’s performance next season. The amount was in addition to the SR1 million for players and the technical committee as incentive money for the victory of Watani in the First Division.
Hilal Smashers Lose Against Paykan
JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — Paykan of Iran handed Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia their first defeat, scoring a 3-1 victory yesterday in the 2007 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship held at the Juffair Youth Center in Manama, Bahrain. Paykan won the first set 25-23. Hilal took the second after a marathon battle that ended 30-28 for the Riyadh-based spikers. But Paykan played like the defending champions in the competition to smother Hilal 25-21 and 25-18 in the last two sets and win the match. Hilal face Shanghai Oriental of China in a must-win game at 3 p.m. today.
Saudi Cagers Get Ready for FIBA-Asia Tilt
JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — The Saudi national basketball team are now deep in training here in preparation for the 24th FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship to be held in Tokushima, Japan from July 28 to Aug. 5. After the 20-day first training camp here the team fly to Manila for further training and tune-up matches for 21 days prior to the big event. Argentinian coach Ricardo Daniel is joining the team along with assistant coach Ali Al-Sinhani and team manager Fahad Al-Hujairi. The squad includes Jabir Kaabi, Fahad Al-Qinaisi, Yahya Al-Jzani, Adil Al-Muwwalad, Ali Al-Maghrabi (Al-Ittihad), Mohammed Abu Jabal, Mohammed Al-Huwaifi, Walid Al-Madani (Ohud), Ayman Al-Muwwalad, Hashim Al-Futawi (Al-Ansar), Mahmoud Al-Tawwal, Yasser Mukhtar (Al-Ahli), Adil Al-Yami, Ahmed Samantarah (Al-Qadisiya), Yazid Al-Dossari, Abdulrahman Al-Dossari, Hani Al-Mohammed (Al-Hilal), Mohammed Al-Saqr (Al-Fath), Salih Al-Takrouni (Al-Wehda), and Abdullah Quraish (Al-Safa).
