DOHA, 15 December 2006 — Let the celebration and breastbeating begin. Saudi Arabia sealed their best-ever performance in the history of the Asian Games with a bronze medal courtesy of the volleyball team yesterday at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall here.
The first Asian Games medal by any Saudi volleyball squad came after one hour and 42 minutes of battle of wills against Qatar, bringing the Saudi medal tally at the end of the last full day of competition in the Doha 2006 Games to eight gold and six bronze for a total of 14.
The Saudis won three sets to two with both teams taking the first four sets in alternate fashion.
Saudi Arabia clinched the first and third sets 25-20 and 25-21 and Qatar the second and fourth 25-16, 25-17.
In the deciding fifth frame, Qatar started strong start but the Kingdom held fast to win by 15-11 in the bronze medal contest in the volleyball competition.
Team captain Esmael Al-Khaibary led by example as he emerged the top scorer in the match. Prince Nawaf bin Mohammed, president of the Saudi Athletics Federation, was present during the match and congratulated the team and the team manager for their victory.
“Having faith in God and confidence in themselves helped the team a lot in winning the medal,” said Prince Nawaf.
He said that the volleyball team has tremendous skills and the way it was managed has set an example for all other Saudi sports team to emulate.
“Saleh Al-Qassem, volleyball team manager, was the star in the Saudi participation in the Asian Games. He prepared his team very well and made sacrifices for the team. He is one of a kind manager that must be an example for all the other team managers,” he added.
Prince Nawaf pointed out that Saudi players have the talent to excel as long as they have the dedication and the technical and administrative support. “We were so close to the gold medal. However, God might have a reason for us to lose the match against China.
The volleyball team did not expect to reach this far thinking that the East Asian countries would beat them, but now we won the volleyball bronze medal in the Asian Games and will compete in the world championships,” he said.
Inspired by the exploits of the overachieving volleyball team, Prince Nawaf said he will see to it that they be sent to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
“I promise that I will pay all the effort to support and set the volleyball team in a way that it can compete with the world’s strongest teams and I wish that the Saudi Volleyball Federation will cooperate with me.” He was not pleased with the Saudi television coverage of the Saudi participation in the Asian Games 2006. The Saudi television did not broadcast the match live for Saudi spectators in their homes.
“This is not new for the Saudi TV that they ignored the Saudi participation in this championship. The news they are covering about the Saudi participation in the Asian Games is very basic,” he said.
“We tried very hard to have the Saudi TV honor the country’s participation at these Games by broadcasting the matches. But unfortunately they didn’t.
The Saudi TV is a total failure and I request the minister of information to be strict in broadcasting the Saudi participations in different international championships. People behind Saudi TV have a limited point of view when covering events outside local sports,” he added.
Team Manager Saleh Al-Qasem explained the match was great but it could have been even better because “ I believe in them that they can do way better than that. However, from now on, they will dish a better performance and hopefully get greater support from all.
“They deserve all additional support because what happened today never happened before and they earned it with their efforts,” he said.
For Serbian volleyball coach, Radoslav Svircev, steering Saudi Arabia to the bronze medal was probably one of the biggest thrills in his coaching career.
Catching his breath, shouting and jumping up and down in celebration of the team’s improbable finish, Svircev said “I promised my team that we will get a medal in this championship. The team spirit of the players is the strongest factor in the victory. The players played very well today and deservedly won. Qatar was also a strong team.”
“This medal goes to all the Saudis who like volleyball,” he said.
In equestrian endurance individual ride yesterday, Nawaf Al-Otaibi was ranked 11th and Homoud Al-Shammari 15th. The rest of the riders, Prince Abdullah Al-Saud, Prince Saud Al-Saud and Abdulhafedh Al-Turkmani finished out of the rankings.
In the team ride, the Saudi team consisting of Homoud Al-Shammari, Prince Abdullah Al-Saud, Abdulhafedh Al-Turkmani and Prince Saud Al-Saud finished 6th with a time of 06:48:40 in the grueling race that began at daybreak.
