الأخضر يرفع رصيده لـ 11 ميدالية.. «الزاكي» يخطف الأنظار في أول ذهبية عربية للألعاب المائية
وعلى صعيد آخر خسر المنتخب السعودي لكرة الماء من شقيقه المصري ثاني مواجهات البطولة بنتيجة 4 - 8، محتلاً المركز الثاني في الترتيب العام، على أن يلاقي المنتخب المغربي اليوم في مواجهة متكافئة من الطرفين.
يذكر أن المنتخب السعودي للسباحة حقق 4 ميداليات، فضيتان ومثلهما برونزيتان في اليوم الأول، عن طريق السباح سلطان العتيبي برونزية الـ 50م صدر فئة العمومي، فيما توج محمد الزاكي بــ«برونزية» الـ 200 م حرة فئة العمومي، كما حقق يوسف بوعريش فضية الـ 50 م فراشة فئة العمومي، أخيراً حصل خالد البلبيسي على فضية الـ 200 م حرة فئة 13-14، كما حقق المنتخب السعودي لكرة الماء فوزه الأول على شقيقه الكويتي بنتيجة 15-6 في البطولة نفسها.
Swimmer Mohammed Al-Zaki gifted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia its first gold medal in the 200m butterfly for the open category, with a time of 2:05.71, finishing three seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Kuwaiti swimmer Mohammed Al-Otaibi, during the second day of the Arab Water Sports Championship hosted in Casablanca, Morocco. Al-Zaki also added his second personal medal after winning a bronze in the 200m freestyle for the open category. His teammate, swimmer Khalid Al-Balbeesi, achieved his second silver medal after finishing second yesterday in the 200m freestyle for the 13-14 age category. Al-Balbeesi completed the 200m butterfly for the 13-14 age group in second place, with a time of 2:15.32, behind Egyptian swimmer Mazen Karim, who finished the race with a time of 2:12.34. Meanwhile, Zaid Al-Saraj snatched the bronze medal in the 100m freestyle for the 17-18 age category with a time of 50.90 seconds. The Saudi team, consisting of (Ali Al-Essa, Sultan Al-Otaibi, Mohammed Al-Otaibi, Mohammed Al-Zaki), secured second place and the silver medal in the 4X200m freestyle relay for the open category. The 13-14 age category team, made up of (Khalid Al-Balbeesi, Ruwad Al-Dosari, Jassim Al-Ghareeb, Ahmed Al-Saeed), repeated the same achievement by adding a silver medal to Saudi Arabia's tally, recording a new record time of 8:20.65, surpassing the previous record of 8:30.26. The 17-18 age category team, consisting of (Ziyad Al-Musailem, Ahmed Al-Muaybid, Imad Al-Sabiani, Mohammed Al-Mahr), finished third in the 4X200m freestyle relay. The 15-16 age category team, made up of (Ghanem Al-Sulhi, Faisal Al-Qahtani, Hamza Al-Aid, Mohammed Obaid), concluded the Saudi achievements by winning the bronze medal in the 4X200m freestyle relay, bringing the Saudi national team's total to 11 medals, marking an unprecedented achievement for the swimming team at the Arab championships.
On another note, the Saudi water polo team lost to their Egyptian counterparts in the second match of the championship with a score of 4-8, placing second in the overall ranking, and they will face the Moroccan team today in a balanced matchup.
It is worth mentioning that the Saudi swimming team achieved 4 medals, two silvers and two bronzes on the first day, with swimmer Sultan Al-Otaibi winning a bronze in the 50m breaststroke for the open category, while Mohammed Al-Zaki secured a bronze in the 200m freestyle for the open category. Additionally, Youssef Bouarish won a silver in the 50m butterfly for the open category, and Khalid Al-Balbeesi earned a silver in the 200m freestyle for the 13-14 age category. The Saudi water polo team also celebrated its first victory over its Kuwaiti counterpart with a score of 15-6 in the same championship.