RIYADH, 7 April 2006 — Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal clash today in the Crown Prince Cup final soccer tournament at King Fahd International Stadium here.
Riyadh Governor Prince Salman will attend the match in behalf of Crown Prince Sultan.
On their way to the final Ahli beat Abha 4-0 in the first match. They faced rival Ittihad in the quarterfinals and eliminated their city rivals 5-3 on penalty kicks. Against Shabab in the semifinals Ahli managed to win the home tie 2-1 and drew the away match 3-3 for a 5-4 aggregate victory. Hilal started their journey with a huge win against rivals Al-Nasr 1-0, then beat Al-Qadisiya in the quarterfinals 2-0. Hilal faced Wehda in home and away semis match and won the home 3-2 and the away match 2-0 to face Ahli in the final.
The stadium will be open to the public at 4 p. m. and security forces will enforce strict security check against fireworks and sharp objects to ensure public safety.
Take a Bow, Salim: Salim Al-Ahmadi, the veteran national track and field athlete who for the past 15 years has brought glory and honor to Saudi Arabia, is to bid athletics goodbye.
The farewell and retirement ceremony for Al-Ahmadi starts at 6 p.m., before the final match of the Crown Prince Cup between Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli, his club team. The president of Saudi Track and Field Federation Prince Nawwaf ibn Mohammed said that because of Al-Ahmadi’s glowing achievements he deserves to be honored at a huge event like the Crown Prince Cup final.
The Kingdom’s No. 1 in the jumping events (long jump, pole vault, triple jump), Al-Ahmadi has had a distinguished career at the Gulf and Arab levels. He achieved personal bests of 17.07 meters in triple jump in Riyadh (1997), 2.07 meters in pole vault in Doha, Qatar (1994) and 7.62 meters in the long jump in Taif (1997). During his stint for club and country, Al-Ahmadi won a chockful of gold, silver and bronze medals.
To underscore the respect Al-Ahmadi commands from his fellow athletes big names from the national, Gulf and Arab athletics will be in attendance during the ceremony. Among them are Khalid Al-Bkhit from Kuwait, Tariq Qutub from Morocco and Mohammed Hazzouri from Syria.
Equestrian Tournaments in Najran: On Wednesday Najran hosted an equestrian tournament at Taslal Field. The tournament consisted of five races. First race was for local horses at 1, 400 meters. The second open race was for imported horses at 1, 400 meters. Third open race was for local horses, at 1, 400 meters. The fourth race was for imported novices horses, at 2, 000 meters and the final race for mares at 2, 000 meters.
National Athletics Games: The Saudi national athletics team arrived in Mauritius last week to participate at the meet that will prepare them for the upcoming 10th Gulf Championship to be held in Al-Qateef Province April 20 to 22 at Prince Naif ibn Abdulaziz sport city. Mohammed Al-Zahrani, supervisor at the youth and novices at the Saudi Track and Field Federation, accompanied the team along with Yousif Al-Busaidi, director of the team and Mohammed Al-Dousari, the administration official. Coaches Khalifah Omar and Al-Katheif Hassan also joined the team.
The athletes are: Ismael Al-Hibani, Mohammed Idrees , Mohammed Shawin, who will all race in the 800 meters and Saad Al-Saii and Bashir Al-Ghatani both in 3, 000 meters. Nasser Al-Tuwairgi is entered in javelin throw and Hamad Al-Bishi in the hurdles.
Arab Karate Championship: The Arab Karate Championship started on Wednesday. Ten countries represented by 200 karatekas are in the fold. These are Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, United Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the hosts Tunisia.
