JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — Al-Hilal beat Al-Ahli 3-2 to lift the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup and their fourth silverware of the volleyball season yesterday. The Prince Faisal Cup marked the end to the Al-Nokhbah Championship. The Hilal spikers also won the GCC championship as well as the Saudi Volleyball League and the Saudi Volleyball Federation Cup. In this encounter Ahli were trying hard to save their faces due to their previous losses against the same team and in the Arab Volleyball Championship where they failed to duplicate their runner-up finish last year by taking the fifth position.
The first set ended 25-21 for Hilal but Ahli came back to win the second set 25-23. The third frame was a marathon contest that ended 36-34 for Hilal, who benefited from an error by Ahli’s Asaad Azouz. Ahli then claimed the fourth set 25-18 before Hilal reasserted their superiority in the deciding frame 15-12 to emerge champions. Ahli placed second and Al-Safa third.
Ahli Capture 8th Handball League Title
JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — Al-Ahli underlined their superiority in the sport of handball by defeating Al-Nour 29-27 in the final on Thursday for their eighth consecutive title in the Saudi Super Handball League at the Youth Welfare Stadium here. The match needed three extra periods to decide after the sides drew 20-20 in regulation play. After the first two extras, both teams were still tied 24-24 but Ahli pulled through in the third extra time by blasting in five goals against three by Nour. Mohammed Al-Matroud, president of the Saudi Handball Federation, presented the champion trophy to Ali. Al-Kahleej downed Al-Qadisiya 29-21 on Wednesday in the battle for third place.
Water Polo National Team Bounce Back
JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — The Saudi water polo national team rebounded from a 9-6 defeat by Kuwait in their first match by beating Chile national team 13-9 in the Water Polo World Cup for category B dubbed FINA Men’s Water Polo Development Trophy being held in Kuwait. The event, which kicked off on May 2, attracted teams from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iran, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Porto Rico, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, South Korea, and hosts Kuwait.
Damk Club Take SAF Cup
JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — Damk Club won the Saudi Athletics Federation Cup at Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium in Riyadh. In winning the cup Damk collected 248 points from this event and the previous championship held in April. Second place went to Al-Ittihad, third to Al-Hilal, fourth to Najran, fifth to Al-Jubail, sixth to Al-Ahli, seventh to Al-Nakheel, eighth to Okaz, ninth to Al-Tarf and 10th to Mudar. Meanwhile, the best 10 track athletes received financial rewards in recognition of their improved performances. They were Ali Al-Diraan of (Hilal), Mubarak Al-Jasir (Al-Tarf), Hamid Al-Bishi (Al-Nakheel), Hussain Al-Zahir (Al-Safa), Yassir Al-Darweish (Ittihad), Mohammed Sharahili (Damk), Younis Al-Houssa (Ahli), and Sultan Jabran (Najran). Most distinguished athlete award went to Sami Al Haidar of Al-Watani and the youngest athlete award to Hamzah Shareif of Okaz.
Ittihad Cagers Face Punishment
JEDDAH, 5 May 2007 — Al-Ittihad faced punishment for not playing their match against Al-Manamah of Bahrain to decide the 5th and 6th places on Thursday in the GCC Basketball Championship for Clubs in Bahrain. Ittihad had been relegated to play in the consolation pool after losing their third match against Al-Wassel of UAE 115-103. Al-Wassel went through by virtue of the winner over the other rule after both teams finished the preliminaries on 2-1 cards. Ittihad forfeited their consolation match citing they had to catch the flight home, but their excuse was rejected by the Supreme Organizing Committee for the GCC Basketball. Manamah were awarded fifth place by forfeiture and Ittihad sixth. The committee members are to meet soon to discuss possible sanction against Ittihad for not finishing the tournament.
