JEDDAH, 24 May 2008 — Al-Ittihad needed to win consecutive matches against upstart Al-Qadisia to win the Al-Nokhbah Water Polo League.

Ittihad evened up matters with Qadisia with a 10-8 victory on Thursday then returned to the Youth Welfare Hall’s swimming pool with fire in their eyes yesterday, scoring a crushing 11-5 victory that completed a Saudi League and Nokhbah League double.

Qadisia were looking to claim the title with a win on Thursday after their 7-5 victory at home. Instead, they would be going home to the Eastern Province with broken dreams and without the title.

Ittihad finished strong in the mach watched by a crowd of 1,000.

The match was tied 5-5 at the end of the third period in which one Ittihad player was ejected along with the Qadisia team manager.

But in the fourth period, Qadisia had no answer to Ittihad’s steady stream of points.

At the end of the match, Ittihad’s Adel Al-Malki and Bandar Al-Zahrani were adjudged Best Player and Best Goalkeeper.

“Thank God it’s the third time I receive this award. We were a bit sad on the death of our teammate last week, but we tried to do our best and we are glad we managed to add another success this season after winning the Saudi League last month,” said Al-Malki.

Ittihad players then went to the hospital where former president of the club Mansour Al-Balawi was confined due to illness.

“We just wanted to celebrate our victory with a dear person who had been supporting us all the way,” said Al-Malki.

The tournament marked the end of the local water polo season. But Ittihad are to continue training for competitions abroad.