RIYADH, 4 December 2005 — Under the theme “intelligent thinking is needed for a healthy body” that could help foster acquaintances among foreign students, the First International Schools Basketball Championship kicked off here last weekend at the General Presidency of Youth Welfare’s Stadium.
The first tourney is organized by the General Directorate of Education in Riyadh in cooperation with the GPYW.
Sixteen teams representing various International Schools took part in the championship. “We never expected these enthusiastic interest from these foreign students,” Abdulelah Al-Mouina, member of the organizing committee said.
“They’ve shown their happiness and excitement in playing with young players of different nationalities at the indoor court of the high-tech club in Riyadh,” Al-Mouina explained.
Al-Mouina said that the objectives of the tournament are to enhance relations between students of these international schools, to have fun and pave the way for them to get acquainted about Kingdom’s sports facilities that undoubtedly provides different areas for fitness and sports in general.
The preliminary round of the tournament showed keen competition and high level of performance by competing teams. The competition started with the Turkish and Pakistani schools, with the Turkish school winning the opener with 46-37.
In the second encounter, Nafethat Al Mostaqbal School and Al-Fares School saw the former win the match 35-22.
The most exciting game that showcased some fantastic performance and attracted a big crowd was the third game between the International Philippine School (IPSR) and Al-Sulaimaniya School. IPSR’s dominated the court to post a 54-32 victory.
In the fourth match, King Abdul Aziz School slipped to a 1-31 defeat against French School in their showdown.
Dr. Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz Al-Meaily, director of education, also attended the IPSR and Al Sulaimanish School match. He commended the level of the championship and the competition between the schools. Barrak Bin Saad Al-Barrak, chief of the Foreign Education of the Directorate of Education in Riyadh, supervised the championship.
Referees from the Saudi Arabian Basketball Federation, officiated. They are Saud Abdulaziz Al-Zuwayed, Badr ibn Abdulrahman Al-Mutawwa, Abdulelah Abdurahman Al-Shuail, Abdullah Al-Ajalan, Khalid Saleh Al-Besher, Ahmed Yahia Kariri, and Mohammed Ahmed Al-Naghi.
Al Barrak thanked SBF for providing technical support to make the championship a success. He also extend his gratitude to the Sport Hall Management for providing the required facilities.
The championship also showed, as expected, the difference in capabilities with the giant clubs namely A-Riyadh School, Al-Sulaimaniya, King Abdul Aziz School and French School to the fore.
