JEDDAH, 8 June 2007 — Al-Hilal outplayed Al-Najma of Bahrain 3-1 and advanced to the final today against the winner of the semifinal match between Paykan of Iran and Al-Arabi of Qatar in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship held at the Juffair Youth Center in Manama, Bahrain. GCC champions Hilal claimed the first set 25-23 but Al-Najmah struck back to win the second 25-21. In the third, Yassir Al-Makawni gamely blocked Najma’s sallies as Hilal closed the set at 25-21. With momentum on their side, Hilal clinched the decisive fourth 25-21 thanks mainly to service winners from Ahmed Al-Bakheit and Naif Al-Bohassoun. On the way to the semifinal Hilal won four matches and lost one in the group stage. “They will be the Asian champions, they are fit and capable of achieving that,” said the national team manager Saleh Al-Qasem, who joined the team in Bahrain to lend moral support.
Saudi National Team Training for Asian Cup
JEDDAH, 8 June 2007 — The Saudi national football team flew on Wednesday to Turkey for a 21 days training camp there in preparation for the Asian Football Cup (AFC) to be held in four countries for the first time, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, from July 7 to 27. The Kingdom is bracketed in Group D with Bahrain, Indonesia, and South Korea. Named by Brazilian coach Holio Angos on the team were Walid Abdullah, Assaf Al-Qarni, Yassir Al-Missaileim, Talal Al-Khaibary, Kamil Al-Moussa, Abdullah Shuhail, Ahmed Al-Nahari, Ibrahim Hazzazi, Walid Abdrabbuh, Majid Al-Amri, Usamah Hawasawi, Usama Al-Muwwalad, Hamad Al-Muntashiri, Reda Tukar, Tayseer Al-Jasim, Khalid Aziz, Sahib Al-Abdullah, Omar Al-Ghamdi, Saud Kariri, Ahmed Darweish, Ahmed Al-Moussa, Moutazz Al-Moussa, Abdouh Atif, Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani, Malik Mouath, Saad Al-Harthi, Naji Majrashi, Yousif Al-Salim, Nassir Al-Shamrani, Salih Bashir and Yassir Al-Qahtani.
Meanwhile, Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Daeya decided against a switch of clubs when he accepted his team’s offer of SR3 million over Al-Ittihad’s offer of SR 8 million. The contract is for two seasons.
AFC Asian Cup Ticket Sales
JEDDDAH, 8 June 2007 — The second phase of AFC Asian Cup 2007 ticket sales started yesterday in all the four venues, according to the Asian Football Confederation website. Fans are advised to purchase their tickets through the only four local authorized ticketing agents as follows: Indonesia: Axcess Ticketing Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia: Tickets2u, Thailand: Thai Ticket Master, and Vietnam: Ale (Vietnam Football Development). Tickets will be available on a first-come-first-served basis from today at select kiosks in key locations in the four host countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Fans could continue ordering tickets online via www.the-afc.com and www.afcasiancup.com.
Shahween 6th in Congo GP Meeting
JEDDAH, 8 June 2007 — Saudi middle distance runner Mohammed Shahween placed sixth in the Grand Prix meeting held in Brazzaville, Congo recently. He clocked 3:43.22 in the 1, 500-meter race. It was his best time so far in 2007. Shahween told the press while in Morocco for a training camp that he remains optimistic and believes he could get the qualifying record in the following Grand Prix meeting in Algeria on June 24 and earn a spot on the Kingdom team to the World Cup in Osaka, Japan.
