Oxford Saudi Students Club (OSSC) football team beat Sheffield Saudi Students Club 21 to clinch the 6th Saudi Ambassador Football Championship crown after a month of heated competition here recently. The annual event witnessed the highest participation with 33 teams and up to 392 footballers representing the Saudi Students Club Teams in the UK and Ireland (SSCUK&I). The tournament ran under the supervision of Prince Bader Bin Saud, President of the SSCUK&I. The champion, OSSC, was awarded £1,500, while the runner-up was given £1,000 and third (Liverpool) £500 by the sponsor, Al-Sharq newspaper. Four additional prizes of £250 each were handed out to Saud Al-Siyari, 25, Bachelor in Business Management at Luton for the Best Player award; Naif Flimban, 23, Bachelor in Computer Sciences at Oxford for winning the Best Goalkeeper award; Hassan Ganash, 21, Mechanical Engineering student at Sheffield for the Top Scorer award; and the fourth to Saudi Students Club's football team for winning the Fair Play award. Al-Siyari said it was his first experience in the championship. “Our team worked really hard two to three times a week and we were eyeing the title, but we managed to place fourth and that's a great thing in a big competition like this. And I dedicate my prize to the whole team.” Other footballers had a fair share of experience and a few were taking it more professionally. The 194 cm height goalkeeper, Flimban, explained how enriching the experience was for him. “We as a team from Oxford had been trying to win this title for three years, and this year we were lucky to win this and the Saudi Cultural Attaché Volleyball Cup too,” he said. He managed to organize several football leagues at his university to fulfill his sport passion. Flimban who already had a professional experience as a goalkeeper at Al-Ittihad club six years ago, is now looking forward to his new challenge at the Qatari Al-Arabi football team in September. He added: “We are really excited the London 2012 will take place soon and close to us. We can't wait to watch and cheer our athletes and teams, and if lucky maybe get a ticket too.” “The London Olympics is something my friends and I look forward too. It's a big thing I really wish I could be part of it or even support our national teams,” said Ganash, who scored eight goals for his team and dreams of joining Al-Ittihad Football Club once he is back home. Commenting on his prize he said: “I think I'll definitely spend it on a gift for my fiancé since I'm newly engaged.” He also praised the support and the organization of the event, and said, as students the prizes were really a great motivation, in addition to being able to make new friends who share similar interests. Unlike the previous years where it was limited to two rounds and a finale, Oxford Saudi Students Club President Waheed Baghdadi and organizer of the event said, the teams this time had more chances as the event extended to four rounds, followed by a finale. This event this year was unique since it allowed the participation of an Arab and a foreign footballers in each team in addition to a Gulf player to offer cultural harmony among the students. “All I could say is that we are really happy everything went as planned. Organizing this huge event in such a short time and within a month, not to mention most of the bachelor and master degree holders are having their finals, is a proof we could do it and sports does unite us all,” said Baghdadi. Baghdadi said they also organized, for the first time, a friendly match between the Saudi Cultural Bureau officials and the SSCUK&I members. The former came on top 4-0. The matches ran for 40 minutes (with 20-minute halves), with a 10-minute break. The first round included the following groups and were distributed according to their geographical location; Group A (Oxford, Reading, Portsmouth, Southampton) held in Oxford; Group B (London, Colchester, Luton, Plymouth, Cranfield) held in London; Group C (Cardiff, Exeter, Swansea, Bristol) held in Cardiff; Group D (Darby, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham) held in Darby; Group F (Bradford, Leeds, Wolverhampton, Derum) held in Bradford; Group G (Hull, Sheffield, York, Noreigh) held in Hull; Group H (Edinburgh, Newcastle, Dundee, Glasgow) held in Edinburgh; and Group E (Manchester, Liverpool, Bangor, Huddersfield) held in Manchester. __
