JEDDAH, 22 May 2008 — After the east coast swing for the away game, Al-Ittihad water polo team host Al-Qadisia today in the home game in the west coast in Jeddah in the final at the Saudi Youth Welfare indoor hall.
In a strange twist to the Saudi Water Polo League, Qadisia club downed defending champions Al-Ittihad 7-5 on Friday in the Eastern Province.
Had Ittihad won that game they clinch the title outright. Now, they have to play an extra match to decide their fate.
Al-Ahli won the cup for five consecutive years before Ittihad clinched it last year.
The league began with a four-team field composed of Ittihad, Ahli, Qadisia and Safa. The bizarre turn of events started when Safa players failed to book airline tickets and missed three games. That forced them to withdraw from the league. Ahli quit too, walking out at one of their matches in the first round and leaving Ittihad and Qadisia as the only teams left in the tournament.
Qadisia battled back from a 3-1 first set deficit to take the measure of the fancied Ittihad.
In a sidelight to the match, Qadisia captain Nasser Al-Dughaither played alongside his 14-year-old son Bader.
Nasser said, “It is a dream come true to play with my son and I was finally glad to see it happening. He is passionate about water polo and I wish him all the best.”
One of the rising players at Qadisia, Ahmed Al-Shammari scored four goals in the game against Ittihad. “I had to give my best. It’s been so long since we won the Saudi league. It had always been Ahli and Ittihad, and now it is our chance to win and we do not want to lose it,” Al-Shammari said over the phone from the Eastern Province.
Meanwhile, Ittihad suffered a big psychological blow with the tragic news of the death of one of their players Mohammed Al-Mishaikh, 25, who was killed in a car accident in Jeddah. Al-Mishaikh was left behind in Jeddah while his teammates traveled to the Eastern Province for the Qadisia match.
