JEDDAH, 17 July 2007 — Ali Al-Deraan averted a Saudi medal shutout when he won the silver medal in the 800 meters in the World Youth Athletics Championship, which ended on Sunday at the Vitkovice Stadium in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Al-Deraan clocked 1:50.10 in the final of the event during the third day of the competition that attracted 152 countries represented by 1,228 athletes including 672 boys and 556 girls.
The silver medal finish by Al-Deraan gave Saudi Arabia the 26th position in the standings to become the first Arab country along with Morocco, who had 3 bronze medals, to enjoy some measure of success in this world event for youth.
The United States emerged overall champion after six days of action with 14 medals (7 golds, 4 silvers and 3 bronzes), while second place went to Kenya with 11 medals (6-4-1) and third to Russia with 10 medals (4-3-3).
The national youth team had been in training camp in Europe for a month and participated in several events there in preparation for this major event. Eight athletes represented the Kingdom in various disciplines such as the 100 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 200 meters, 400-meter hurdles, 1,500 meters and the relays.
Al-Deraan made his intentions clear from the first day when he topped his heat clocking 1:53.98. Teammate Younis Al-Housa also advanced by clinching third place in 48.14 seconds in the 400 meters heat 4. Mohammed Al-Shabanat placed fourth in the 100 meters in heat 4 clocking 10.91 seconds.
The second day boosted the spirit of Al-Deraan who placed second in the semifinals after clocking 1:50.74. Al-Housa made it a double celebration on the day when he clocked 47.78 seconds for third place in the 400 meters semifinals heat 3.
In the final of both the 800 and 400 meters, however, only Al-Deraan, 17, delivered with Al-Housa missing out on the medal when he clocked 47.53 seconds for fifth place.
The Kingdom missed a potential medal finish in the 4 X 100-meter relay final on the final day when the quartet of Hamed Al-Bishi, Younis Al-Hosah, Adel Al-Nasser, and Ali Al-Deraan came in fourth in 1:53.15.
Earlier in the meet, Faraj Ahmed failed to advance past the triple jump qualifying round. Adel Al-Asseri placed second in 200 meters heat 2 in 22.09 seconds. Adel Al-Nasser was fourth in 400-m hurdles in heat 2 with a clocking of 53.48 seconds. Hamed Al-Bishi placed third in the 400-m hurdles in heat 4 after finishing in 52.76 seconds. Sixth place in the 1500 meters in heat 2 went to Emad Noor who clocked 3:58.58.
After Al-Deraan won the bronze on the third day three Saudis managed to reach the semifinals of their events the following day.
Hamed Al-Bishi moved on to the 400-m hurdles final by clocking 52.27 seconds in heat 2 of the race where the first two of each heat plus the two fastest times qualify.
Adel Al-Nasser and Adel Al-Asseri’s hopes to advance into the final of the 400-m hurdles and 200 meters were dashed after they clocked 53.33 seconds and 21.76 seconds to finish seventh and fifth in their semifinal heats respectively.
Al-Bishi returned to the track for the final on the last day only to perform poorly in sixth place clocking 51.64 seconds.
