Saudi Arabia surpasses Qatar on penalties and reaches the 27th Gulf Cup final, and achieves achievements in jiu-jitsu and equestrian games at the Asian Games

The Saudi Green delighted its fans on a Gulf Cup night, after reaching the final of the 27th edition in Jeddah, with an exciting victory over its Qatari counterpart, with a score of 3/2 in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw in regular and extra time of the semi-final match on Saturday.

The match was tied for 120 minutes at Al-Enmaa Stadium in Jeddah, as the two teams failed to score. It is the first match without goals since the start of the current version of the tournament.

The Saudi national team will meet in the final of the tournament with the UAE, which defeated Oman.

Saudi Arabia's goalkeeper, Mohammed Al Owais, excelled greatly in the penalty shootout, but his country's team in general had the most overall control over the course of play in the match, while Qatar's team relied on defensive insurance and counterattacks.

The Greek coach of Saudi Arabia, Donis, resorted to unconventional options to compensate for the absences that struck the back line specifically due to the injuries of Hassan Kadesh and Zakaria Hawsawi, in addition to the absence of midfielder Alaa Al Hajji for the same reason, and the readiness of Al Hilal defender Hassan Timbukti, who performed qualifying exercises in the last training session, was not complete.

Donis relied on Mohamed Mahzri in the right defender position, as his mission was to stop the runs of the dangerous Akram Afif, along with Abdel-Ilah Al-Omari, Jihad Zakry, and on the left, Miteb Al-Harbi.

The Saudi national team largely controlled the course of the game, amid a defensive decline from Qatar, and reliance on counterattacks.

The most prominent Saudi attempts to break the Qatari defensive steadfastness were a close-range shot from Firas Brekan in the 11th minute, then a shot from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat in the 28th minute, but it reached goalkeeper Mahmoud Abu Nada.

The Qatari national team gradually began to release the pressure and tried to launch attacks on the Saudi national team's goal, but without any real danger.

Akram Afif seemed to be the only focus of Qatar's attack on counterattacks, but it was not enough in light of the absence of numerical density in Qatari attacks.

Saleh Abu Al-Shamat almost completed a joint sentence with Firas Al-Braikan into the Qatar penalty area in the third minute of stoppage time for the first half.

In the second half, the Saudi pressure continued, and was met with a retreat from the Qatari team, but the attempts did not reach the stage of danger.

As the tie continued, each coach resorted to his alternative cards, as Denis relied on Abdullah Al-Hamdan as an attacking solution instead of Sultan Mendesh in the 66th minute. He was met by the Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui, the Qatar coach, who brought on Jassim Jabeur, at the expense of Karim Boudiaf.

After that, Muhammad Al-Qahtani and Muhammad Abu Al-Shamat participated instead of Hammam Al-Hammami and Saleh Abu Al-Shamat.

In the 80th minute, Firas Al-Braikan shot a strong left shot that was blocked by the Qatari goalkeeper and turned into a corner.

The Qatar national team almost scored in the fatal seconds, after Edmilson shot a powerful ball that touched the right post of goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, in the 88th minute.

Edmilson had participated as a substitute for captain Akram Afif, who seemed angry at the coach's decision.

The tie prolonged the match, extending to extra time, at the beginning of which the Saudi national team made two substitutions, with Mukhtar Ali and Hassan Timbukti participating instead of Jihad Zakry and Mohamed Mahzri.

For the first time since the 2010 final, the Saudi national team went into extra time in a match in the Arabian Gulf Cup, as the final that was held 16 years ago against Kuwait also extended for more than 90 minutes after a draw with the same score, before the Kuwait national team won in the end with a goal.

The Saudi national team's advantage continued, but without a real translation on goal, as control remained in favor of the hosts, with repeated attempts to penetrate the clustered defence.

Lopetegui resorted to strengthening his defense with a new card, as Sultan Al-Breik replaced Hammam Ahmed in the 99th minute.

The Saudi national team called for a penalty kick in the 100th minute after a shot from Mohammed Al-Qahtani hit the hand of a Qatari defender, but Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro indicated that play should continue.

The situation did not change much in the second extra half, as the Saudi pressure and Qatari defensive steadfastness continued.

The scene of the Saudi objection and demand for a penalty kick was repeated, this time with a shot from Abdullah Al-Hamdan, and the ball collided with Khoukhi Boualem’s hand while sliding, and the referee also indicated that there was no violation.

Nasser Al-Dosari shot a powerful ball in the 117th minute, but it reached the Qatari goalkeeper Abu Nada.

In the penalty shootout, the Qatari team missed 3 kicks, while Saudi Arabia missed only two kicks, so qualification went to the hosts and the fans.

The Saudi Jiu-Jitsu team continued to record its achievements at the 20th Games in Nagoya, Japan, after Abdullah Nada (19 years old) clinched the gold in the 85-kg competition, raising the green tally to 14 medals (3 gold, 2 silver, and 9 bronze).

Abdullah Nada won the gold medal in his first participation in the Olympics, after defeating his Mongolian counterpart, Altengril Bjarkhu, by submission in the eighth final, then his victory with the same score in the quarter-finals over Japanese Gwatsuki, and his superiority in the semi-finals over South Korean Mingyu Kim with a score of 6-2, and his sweep of Kazakhstan’s Miri Kabdulaev in the final with a score of seven clean, announcing his entry into the list of jiu-jitsu champions. Saudi Arabia, alongside his golden brother Omar, who won the 94-kilogram gold medal on Friday.

With Abdullah Nada's gold, the jiu-jitsu team concluded its third participation in the Asian tournaments, after being included for the first time in the "Jakarta Masters 2018", by winning 5 medals in the current edition (two golds, 3 bronze), in addition to two bronzes in the "Hangzhou Masters 2022".

Saudi player Abdullah Nada, who won the 85-kg gold medal, said that the victory achieved by his brother Omar in the 94-kg gold medal had a positive impact on his success in winning the second gold medal for the Saudi team in this game.

He stated in a special statement to Asharq Al-Awsat after the coronation that he prepared for this tournament with his brother through a year-long camp, noting that he succeeded in winning all the matches, the last of which was against the Kazakh player, and that he is happy to have achieved this gold medal in his first participation after his brother Omar had won two medals, the first a bronze in the Hangzhou Olympics, and the second in the current Olympics tournament.

He dedicated winning the gold medal to his homeland, to the Saudi team for all the support, to his parents, and to everyone who supported him in his career.

Abdullah is the youngest Saudi player to win a gold medal out of the 3 medals achieved in the current Masters tournament.

In turn, Rakan Al-Fuhaid, Executive Director of the Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation, confirmed that the players “did not fall short, and achieved honorable achievements in the Asian Games competitions in Nagoya.”

He explained in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the ceiling of ambitions is always high in order to make the players provide the best and be up to the responsibility, indicating that what is coming is better.

He praised the support that Saudi sports, including jiu-jitsu, enjoy from the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, as this game is included in the incentive support for clubs.

Regarding the challenges ahead after the achievements achieved, he explained that this is an advantage of being a leader, living up to aspirations and achieving achievements, and what is coming is better, and the challenges are greater.

Meanwhile, Anas Orfali, President of the Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation, pointed out that the Saudi team’s completion of this game by winning 5 medals, including two gold and three bronze, represents an achievement for this sport in the Kingdom, indicating that the two brothers Omar and Abdullah Nada achieving the two gold medals, in addition to the trio Abdul Malik Al Mardi, Muhammad Al Huraymel, and Khaled Habab also achieving bronze medals, are unprecedented achievements.

He stressed in a special statement that there is also interest in the future and the Sunni groups in order to continue with more achievements in this game, especially since the names that have also achieved are still young.

Regarding the ceiling of ambitions, he said that they always seek to raise the ceiling of ambitions, and that they have achieved the ambitions, and it is important for them to continue progress and ambition. Because the Saudis always have a high ceiling.

Regarding the spread of the game across the Kingdom for men and women, he pointed out that there is a good spread of game players in all weights for men and women as well, but the goal is to expand the base as well.

Regarding the future of the game, specifically the upcoming Asian Games in Doha 2030, he said that the future is great for this game, especially since those who achieved achievements from the young groups, starting with the player Khaled Habab, who won a bronze medal at the age of 17 years, passing through Abdullah, who achieved gold at the age of 19 years old, and his brother Omar at the age of 21 years old, and the rest of the accomplished players.

On the other hand, the riders of the Saudi show jumping team topped the standings of the first day’s competitions for the first and second groups of the individual competition in the Asian tournament.

Equestrian Khaled Al-Mubti came in first place in the first group competitions held at a height of 1.45 metres, with a time of 74.38 seconds and without errors, leaving second place to his fellow knight Saad Al-Ajmi with a time of 75.18 seconds and without errors.

In the second group competitions, held at a height of 1.55 metres, jockey Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi topped the ranking list, with a time of 72.87 seconds in a clean round, and jockey Ramzi Al-Dahami came in third place with a time of 73.95 seconds without errors.

The second round competitions for the two groups will be completed, starting at nine-thirty in the morning on Sunday for the first group, followed by the second group at eleven-thirty in the morning.

The organizing committee of the equestrian competition at the Asian Games had approved, for the first time in the history of the Masters, the holding of the individual competition, in a two-group system, with the distribution of 3 medals (gold - silver - bronze) for each group.