JEDDAH, 9 September 2007 — The Saudi National Youth Water Polo team returned home last night after finishing second in the Arab Water Polo Championship for under 23s. The team beat Kuwait 11-8 on Friday.
The championship, which was held in Egypt, was won by the hosts. Algeria came third. Saudi Arabia’s Salim Shahein won the best player award at the event, which was contested by five countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt.
The Saudi team had a disappointing start, losing their first match 9-6 against Egypt. The team then beat Morocco the following day 13-3 and got past Algeria 7-6.
The Saudi-Kuwait encounter was keenly-contested. Kuwait played tough and took a 4-1 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Saudi Arabia tried to keep up and succeeded in doing drawing level 7-7 by the third quarter. Walid Al-Ghamdi received a red card in the fourth quarter, but the Saudis, reduced in strength by Walid’s dismissal, held on to win 11-8.
Adel Al-Malki said, “It was not easy to play with less players but we managed to overcome this, by concentrating on winning.”
Team captain Ahmed Al-Shammari said it was not an easy game. “Although we trained in Jeddah, Eastern Province and then for around three weeks in Montenegro, the camp in Montenegro was very helpful,” he said. He also praised the performance of other teams. “Overall it was an enriching experience.”
The team included Hussain Al-Jizani, Rida Al-Sadiq, Yassir Birnawi, Yassir Al-Zahrani, Walid Al-Ghamdi, Ayman Al-Oryani, Muhammad Gahal, Faisal Birnawi, Hattan Al-Olayan, Abdullah Al-Zahrani, Hamid Al-Nufaiyei, Adel Al-Malki, Mitib Al-Malki, Muhammad Al-Jubairi, Salim Shahein and team captain Ahmed Al-Shammari.
