JEDDAH, 12 February 2007 — Riyadh’s Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium and Qateef’s Prince Naif ibn Abdulaziz Sport City will host the Kingdom Athletics Championship for clubs in the super division and first division Feb. 14 and 15. Entered in the super division league in Qateef are Ahli, Hilal, Al-Safa, Damk, Al-Khaleej, Ittihad, Okaz, Najran, Al-Watani, Al-Jubail, Al-Nakheel and Al-Rawdah. The first division teams to be hosted by Riyadh are Al-Sawab, Al-Huda, Al-Tarf, Al-Nour, Al-Ansar, Hittein, Mudar, Al-Khuwaildiya, Al-Tasamuh, Al-Adalah, Al-Surah and Al-Washm.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Athletics Federation bared a five-year development plan aimed at discovering and training new skilled athletes in long distance events. The long distance track athletes will be under the supervision of former athlete Saad Al-Smari, coach and general-supervisor, his deputy Mohammed Al-Doussari, Khalid Al-Sabri, Mohammed Salim, Karim Al-Haj, Khalifa Khalifah, Saad Al Thabit, Atiyah Al-Khathmi, Othman Othman and physiotherapist Radwan Al-Budani.
Gulf Tennis Tourney in Dubai
JEDDAH, 12 February 2007 — The president of the Saudi Youth Welfare and Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Prince Sultan ibn Fahd has approved the participation of the Saudi national tennis team in the 7th Gulf Tennis Singles Championship to be held in Dubai from Feb. 13 to 19. The Saudi delegation includes Abdulaziz Al-Dilak, member of the council at the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF), coach Abdulrahman Abdu-Almomin and referee Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani. The players are Omar Al-Thaqib from Al-Washm club, Fahd Al-Saad from the Federation Training Centre, Salih Al-Rajih from Al-Jeel club and Abdulilah Abu Rasheed from Hilal. According the STF Secretary General Abdulaziz Abu Rasheed the team entered training camp in Riyadh recently and are ready to compete. He also said he is hopeful the team would bring great results especially since Fahd Al-Saad won the bronze medal at the previous championship.
Gulf 5th Festival for Sports for All
JEDDAH, 12 February 2007 — Saudi Arabia are vying in the Gulf 5th Festival for Sports for All being held in Muscat, Oman. The event started on Friday and ends next Wednesday. The Saudi delegation comprised Saudi Sports Federation Secretary-General Essam Al-Khamis, and administrators Abdulrahman Al-Qubaisi, Abdullah Al-Humaidan, Abdullah Al-Hussain, and sport supervisors Walid Al-Dilak and Obaid Al-Otaibi. The representatives from the Kingdom’s various districts are Mohammed Al-Amrani (Tabuk), Salih Al-Jihani (Al-Qassim), Ali Maseikh (Sibya Governorate), Mansour Ghalfis (Wadi Al-Dawassir Governorate) and Bandar Al-Dilaye (Al-Aflaj Governorate), while Riyadh Sport Hall has sent Tariq Al-Ghamdi, Abdulaziz Al-Gaoud. All these members are participating in various sports events.
“There will be no winners nor losers,” according to the federation secretary Mohammed Bashir. They just participate and mix all teams together from all the different countries with the goal of supporting sports, he said.
