Saudi swimmer Rami Bilal Al-Rahmouni was crowned with the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle race, within the competitions of the Fourth Youth Olympic Games “Dakar 2026”, after clinching first place with a time of 3 minutes and 47.86 seconds.
Russian Bogdan Torobkin came in second place, winning the silver medal with a time of 3 minutes and 50.46 seconds, 2.60 seconds behind Rahmouni, while Mexican Daniel Saborio won the bronze medal after recording 3 minutes and 52.72 seconds.
Al-Rahmouni succeeded in outperforming his competitors in the race held on Tuesday in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to give Saudi Arabia a gold medal in the swimming competitions at the Youth Olympic Games.
Serbian Vuk Razovic, Al-Taawoun coach, confirmed that his team is aware of the difficulty of the confrontation that awaits it against Al-Faisaly of Jordan, on Wednesday, in the fourth round of the AFC Champions League 2, indicating that the competitor is looking forward to avenging its loss in the last round, while his team seeks to continue its victories and get close to qualifying for the next round.
Razovic said, during the press conference preceding the confrontation: “We played against Al-Faisaly five days ago, and we know his personality and style well, and we realize that he is coming to take revenge for his previous loss. “So we prepared for the match well, and we brought back some players who missed the last match.”
The Serbian coach stressed that his team would not wait for any help in its quest to qualify, saying: “We do not expect any gifts tomorrow, and we will fight to achieve victory.” We have great ambitions in this tournament, and if we have the opportunity, we will try to qualify for the second round.”
Al-Taawoun defeated Al-Faisaly with two goals to none in the third round, raising its score to seven points at the top of the third group, before the meeting between the two teams was renewed in Buraidah.
Razovic refused to delve into the reasons for the discrepancy between the results of the cooperation locally and continentally, preferring to postpone discussion of the file until after the match. He said: “Our focus is currently on tomorrow’s match, and after that we can talk about the reasons for the difference in results between the local and Asian championships.”
Regarding the players’ readiness, Al-Taawoun coach expressed his satisfaction with the return of Moroccan Abdel Razzaq Hamdallah, stressing his aspiration to recover the rest of the injured players, and said: “I am happy with Hamdallah’s return, and I look forward to the return of all the injured players. Al-Kawkibi will also return, and after the training session we will confirm the readiness of some players, while Oscar still needs more time before returning.
Razovic also called on Al-Taawoun fans to come and support the players, saying: “I look forward to the return of the fans, and I am eager to see them on the field. Because it gives the players enthusiasm and motivation to give their best.”
For his part, Algerian Zinedine Belaid, defender of Al-Taawoun, confirmed that his team has completed its preparations for the confrontation, and that the players realize the importance of achieving victory in their continental journey.
Belaid said: “We prepared well for this match, and we hope that we will live up to the responsibility, achieve victory and qualify for the second round.”
He added: “I came to Al-Taawoun to give my maximum effort in every match, and all the players realize the extent of the responsibility, and we will work to give our best.”
Brazilian Fabio Carelli, Al-Fayhaa coach, decided to give his team’s players an eight-day vacation, after postponing the thirteenth round of the Saudi Professional League, and rearranging the competition’s calendar, before facing Al-Qadisiyah scheduled for Thursday.
The postponement of the thirteenth round came after the Asian Football Confederation announced, on Tuesday, the rescheduling of the 2027 Asian Cup, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia, and moving its date from the period extending between January 7 and February 5, 2027 to December of the same year, which provided additional space to rearrange the Saudi League rounds.
Al-Fayhaa had resumed its training on Tuesday evening, in the last training session before the start of the vacation. The training included retrieval and recovery exercises for the muscles, followed by various fitness and technical exercises, in addition to running and speed exercises, before concluding with a technical maneuver in the middle of the field.
After the end of the training session, the Al-Fayha administration, headed by Dr. Tawfiq Al-Mudahim, held a simple celebration for the promising player Ali Al-Hussein, on the occasion of his receiving the Most Promising Player Award for the month of October, in the presence of the technical and administrative staff and all the players.
