ALKHOBAR, 28 March 2003 — Hundreds of cricket fans gathered at the Arab News-Le Gulf Meridien Cricket Pavilion here to witness the first World Cup finals of the new century.
The Al-Mawad Hall of Le Meridien was buzzing as supporters of India and Australia tried to outdo each other with slogans and humorous remarks. By the time the match started more than 300 fans were gathered inside the hall. Arab News and Le Gulf Meridien Hotel in Alkhobar have jointly set up a pavilion which showed all 52 matches live. The hall was fitted with a large screen as well as smaller televisions and special sound effects to create a cricket stadium-like environment in the hall. Saudi Digital Distribution (Pehla) supported the show.
Saudi Arabian Airlines Catering, Dammam took the lead in sponsoring the event and offered numerous prizes throughout the tournament. The deputy general manager of the catering division in Dammam, Khalid Shishah, also offered two return air tickets to Dubai for the winners of the quiz contest in the finals. Bitumat, water-proofing company in Dammam, also supported the event and offered several prizes through out the World Cup series. Bitumat general manager Riad Nimri, who admitted that he did not know anything about cricket, was surprised to see the excitement and charged atmosphere in the pavilion.
Reda Al-Haj, sales manager of JVC in Dammam, said that though he was a soccer fan the excitement in the pavilion turned him into a cricket fan. JVC also offered several prizes during the tournament.
Humayun Muzaffar, Director of Asia International School, said his school would love to support such events in the future.
Asia International School also offered several prizes. Khalid Shishah, said in a speech such sporting events promoted peace and eased tension. He complimented Arab News and Le Gulf Meridien on setting up the pavilion and promoting sports and said Saudia Catering was committed to supporting similar events in the future.
Michael Nugent, general Manager of Le Gulf Meridien, thanked sponsors and fans for their support and promised to join hands again with Arab News in 2007 to set up a cricket pavilion for the live telecast of the World Cup in the Caribbean. He and Arab News complimented Prashant Sharma, the hotel’s revenue manager, for his efforts in making the pavilion a big success.
