JEDDAH, 6 May 2008 — The Saudi national team will participate in the fourth GCC Indoor Football Championship for deaf to be held May 9 to 17 in Kuwait.
The defending champions and winners of the past three stagings of the event are looking forward to keeping the cup and winning this year’s championship, according to Saudi Sports Federation for the Deaf Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Eissa.
All six GCC countries namely, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are sending teams in the tournament.
“What is nice about the team is that even their technical administrators are also deaf and are doing a great job as well,” Al-Eisa said. This Saudi team managed to win Arab championship twice and also placed third twice at the Asian championship to qualify for the Deaflympics, he added.
Al-Eissa said Bahrain used to be a strong competition for Saudi Arabia but now its Oman who have emerged a tough rival and other teams are expected to show improvement this year.
Ranging in age from 21 to 29, Al-Eissa said their performance is already amazing others and Majid Al-Asmari, 29 years old, managed to become among the best 20 world deaf footballers.
Though Saudi Sports Federation for the Deaf is a new federation and not more than seven years old Al-Eissa said, “This is a success on its own and that is why we became a federation on our own instead of being under the umbrella of the Saudi Sports Federation for Special Needs four years ago.”
Meanwhile, three other deaf teams are preparing to compete in the 7th Asian Pacific Deaf Games to be held in Kuwait June 13 to 21 under the supervision of the Kuwait Sport Club for the Deaf. “This will be even a stronger and more important championship,” said Al-Eissa.
The Kingdom will send a delegation of 48 members including the athletics team, bowling team and football team. “We wish we could send more teams but we only rely on the General Presidency of Youth Welfare’s financial support, and unfortunately the private sector is not supporting us at all,” he said.
Saudi Arabia and hosts Kuwait are among the 22 countries taking part. Iran, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, China, Japan, United Arab of Emirates, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia, Iraq, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Korea, Singapore, Jordan, Macau, India, Yemen, and the Philippines round out the participants.
The sports featured in the event are athletics (men and women), football, bowling, table tennis, and swimming for men. Saudi Arabia are participating in football, bowling, and athletics.
In the football, Saudis are bracketed in Group C with Kuwait, Korea and Jordan while Group B includes Japan, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Korea, and Group A consists of Iran, Malaysia, China and Iraq.
The swimming events to be contested are: Freestyle — 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m (women only), & 1,500m (men only) breaststroke (50m, 100m, 200m), backstroke (50m, 100m, 200m), butterfly (50m, 100m, 200m), individual medley (200m, 400m), while team relay events include free style (4x100m, 4x200m), and medley (4x100m).
Titles up for grabs in athletics are the following: Men: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500 m, 5.000 m, 10,000m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 3,000m steeplechase, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, High jump, Long jump, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot put, Discus, Javelin, and Hammer Throw. Women: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, High jump, Long jump, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot put, Discus, Javelin, and Hammer Throw. Asia Pacific Games for the Deaf are held every four years. Taipei hosted the 6th games.
