CASABLANCA, 25 March 2008 — Hopes are high Saudi Arabia may yet have the judo team along with that of equestrian, athletics and athletics with special needs teams in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August.
To qualify for the Beijing Games Saudi judokas must hurdle the final phase of qualifying which is the Asian Judo Championship to be held in South Korea starting April 22.
The team, however, need to collect points from participation in several international open championships in north African countries to give them the chance to satisfy the Olympic qualifying standard in the Asian tournament.
Saudi national judo team coach Mohammed Subai said expectations are high for the judo team to qualify and join the Saudi delegation in the Olympics. “I have big hopes on this team that they could qualify to the Olympics for the first time in Saudi history. They are very persistent and disciplined and I believe they could do it,” said Subai.
The coach said, “to win the Olympic medal is the dream of any athlete and it is the most important medal in the history of sports and these players know it very well by heart.”
“This is what they all look forward to, to participate in these qualifying events for the Olympics and their previous records we hope would help them to advance,” said Subai.
Meanwhile, the trio of Abdulrahman Al-Hazmi, who plays in the (-66 kilograms), Eissa Al-Majrashi (-60 kilograms), and Naif Mezu (-81 kilograms), who are all 23-year-olds, ended their participation in the two-day 6th Mohammed the 5th International Judo Championship here on Sunday.
The team’s showing was not as encouraging as expected with Al-Hazmi the highest placed among the three in fifth place, the same finish he got during the Asian Judo Championship in Kuwait in 2007. Mezu, who placed third in the Arab Judo Championship in Syria in 2007, and Al-Majrashi, a gold medalist for Saudi Arabia in the 11th Pan Arab Games in Egypt late last year, both were failures.
Despite the failed mission here Al-Hazmi and Al-Majrashi, by virtue of their credentials, qualified for berths in the Asian Judo Championship, but the road to South Korea is a bit difficult for Mezu.
Mezu was philosophical about the debacle, saying, “This is over now. We have to concentrate on the Tunisian event. We are capable of performing better and hopefully we would perform better there.”
Despite that the Saudi team’s performance received admiration from President Syrian Judo Federation President Jamal Nasser. He said, “the championship is very strong with the participation of international athletes from France and Italy, yet we saw a progress in the performance especially from the Saudi team. “We have a great relationship with Saudi Arabia and seeing the victory of Al-Majrashi during the Arab Games for example made us all happy that he earned it,” he said.
Bubakr Binbadah, head of the Arab International Judo Referees, said he knows for a fact that there are around 22 countries that are trying to qualify for the judo event in the Olympics.
The president of the Morocco Judo Federation and vice-president of the Arab Judo Federation Duhami also said they were surprised with the Saudi team performance. “I believe this is due to the supervision of the veteran coach and judo expert Subai and the players’ enthusiasm. Honestly, Saudi judo is progressing and this honors us too as Moroccans and as Arabs,” he said.
He said gathering players from all around the world in Casablanca to compete with each other helps in enriching their experiences.
“If we continue to organize such event in the Arab countries, I believe our judo will be going in the right direction and more athletes would be seen during the Olympics,” he said.
On Thursday, the Saudi team fly to Tunisia for an international championship then proceed to Algeria for another tournament.
