Shabab was the only Saudi club to make it to the field Tuesday and came out a 3-1 winner over Qatar's Al-Gharafa in their AFC Champions League opener in Doha. The other Saudi Arabian club in the competition Al-Hilal's match against Saba Battery of Iran had to be postponed due to a severe sandstorm in Riyadh. Spectators were already in the stadium when it was announced that the Group A game would instead be played on Wednesday. AFC Officials decided to postpone the match after taking into consideration the zero visibility in the Saudi capital and the risk to the health of the players and spectators. In case the match is not possible on Wednesday either, it will be postponed to another date, AFC officials told the Saudi Gazette. In Doha, the three first-half goals were enough for Al-Shabab to seal a memorable victory over the squad of former Saudi national team coach Marcos Paqueta. Al-Shabab took an early lead minutes after the kick-off when Brazilian Marcelo Camacho netted the opener for the Saudi side. Abdul Aziz Al-Saran doubled Al-Shabab lead after 15 minutes before Brazilian Araujo pulled one back for Al-Gharafa but Saudi international striker Nasser Al-Shamrani scored a late goal before the break to increase the margin for good. Al-Shabab now sits on the top of Group B with three points alongside Iran's Piroozi Athletic, which won 3-1 over Sharjah of the UAE at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran. Al-Shabab plays its second fixture next Wednesday when it hosts Piroozi Athletic of Iran in Riyadh. In Osaka, Yasuhito Endo and Hayato Sasaki scored second-half goals as defending champion Gamba Osaka began defense of its Asian Champions League title with a 3-0 win over China's Shandong Luneng. Endo, last year's player of the tournament, gave Gamba a 2-0 lead with a penalty in the 72nd minute after Shandong defender Alejandro was called for a handball in the area. Sasaki put the game out of reach seven minutes later, picking up a loose ball off an Endo cross and firing home with a long-range right-foot blast. Brazilian Leandro, acquired from J-League side Vissel Kobe in January, put the host up 1-0 in the 20th minute when he drove in a low, angled shot from the top of the area. Japanese clubs have won the last two ACL titles. The Urawa Reds won the competition in 2007. In other Asian Champions Leauge matches Nagoya Grampus Eight won 3-1 at Ulsan Hyundai; Beijing Guo'an blanked Australian Newcastle Jets 2-0; Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan edged Al-Ahli of the UAE 2-1; and Seoul of South Korea humbled Sriwijaya FC of Indonesia 4-2. Al-Hilal's match was not the only tie to be postponed Tuesday. The Al-Nasr vs. Al-Wehdah match in the Saudi Premier League was also postponed. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation will announce the date for the match later since Al-Nasr will be taking on Al-Shabab in the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup final on Saturday. __
