JEDDAH, 12 April 2007 — Al-Ittihad emerged Asian champions after defeating Iran’s Nift Ghaz 8-5 in the final of the 5th Asian Water Polo Championship held in Kuwait. Al-Ahli placed third and received the bronze medals.
Ittihad joy of winning was doubled when in addition to the golden medals, Ukraine professional Denis Surdan was picked the best scorer award.
“We are glad we won. It was a tough match and we are happy that Ahli too proved their mettle. Thank God we succeeded,” Nasser Al-Dheghether told Arab News.
Surdan later dedicated his award to Al-Dheghether for complementing him in the pool, and the Saudi ace added, “This award (dedication by Surdan) is very dear to me and I am so proud he dedicated it to me.”
A jubilant Ittihad Manager Majid Al-Malki said they are happy with the laurel, but most of all are glad that they managed to emphasize the advancement of water polo in Saudi Arabia. The sport is fast catching up in the Kingdom with a growing fan base. Undefeated Ittihad led their final game all through the four quarters. Starting with a 2-1 score in the first, Ittihad scored three more points for a 5-3 edge by the half. Ittihad sustained their domination in the third to boost their score to 7-4 with both the teams showing fine defense in the final quarter which saw a goal apiece from both the sides. This was enough for Ittihad to emerge champions with an 8-5 verdict.
Ahli handed Friday Zanjah Ram a 13-4 drubbing to seal third place, with the fifth spot being taken by Al-Arabi and Al-Qadisiya finishing at the bottom of the six-team contest. Ittihad have participated twice in the championships, first in 1999 in the first Asian Water Polo Championship held in Iran and placed third, and this year they improved on that this year with the golden haul. While Ahli had earlier participated once in 2005 when it had placed third. Both the teams, Ittihad and Ahli, returned from Kuwait to Jeddah yesterday and were welcomed with flowers and celebration at King Abdul Aziz Airport. An awards ceremony for Ittihad will be held today in the Youth Welfare basketball hall after the Al-Nokhbah basketball final match where Ittihad meets Ohud.
The Saudi federation, meanwhile, has protested to the Asian and Kuwait federations following the rumpus in the Ahli-Qadisiya tie when Ahli’s profession was roughed up by Qadisiya’s players and fans during the match. The Saudi federation had threatened to pull both the teams out of the event, and only after the Kuwait federation apology did the Saudi teams continue in the championships.
Nasser Al-Dheghether, Ahmed Al-Shammari and Bandar Al-Khalaf from Al-Qadisiya played for Ittihad. The rest of Ittihad squad included professionals Denis Surdan and Dijan Pupovas from Croatia, and nationals Adel Al-Malki, Khalid Al-Malki, Mitib Al-Malki, Bandar Al-Zahrani, Mohammed Al-Zahrani, Adil Al-Najjar, and Abdullah Al-Harbi. Team Manager: Majid Al-Malki. Coach: Dragon. Assistant Coach: Salih Al-Zahrani. Ahli team was managed by Ba Muflih and coached by Sergio.
The team: Salim Al-Harbi, Hussain Al-Jizani, Khalid Al-Harbi, Yousri Al-Layli, Ali Al-Mansouri, Walid Al-Ghamdi, Ayman Al-Oryani, Mohammed Abdouh, Mohammed Sharahili, Saeed Sagar, Mamdouh Al-Zahrani and professionals Zadseif Genadi of Ukraine and Galktion Letadez of Georgia.
