RIYADH: “Help me find him please” was the reaction of Al-Ahli striker Allan Saint-Maximin after he saw a video of a young supporter kissing the team badge in the pouring rain outside the club’s store in Jeddah.
The post on X by the Ahli favorite led to an outpouring of respect for the player, who is currently on loan to Turkish side Fenerbahçe.
The video shows a young supporter wearing the club’s famous green kit amid a heavy downpour and lightning. He kisses the badge then gives a thumbs up.
The poster of the video, Waleed Saeed, told Saint-Maximin that he had tracked down the youngster’s details.
“I found the boy, I will contact with you. Thank You Maximin,” Saeed posted.
“Thanks Alan, you are still one of us,” said one reply to the Frenchman’s tweet. “We Al-Ahli fans love you and know your love to Al-Ahli,” said another.
Saint-Maximin arrived in Jeddah from English Premier League side Newcastle in July 2023, and netted 4 goals in 31 appearances for The Royals.
There was a severe weather warning in place for Jeddah until Tuesday morning. Heavy rain, thunder and lightning impacted the city on Monday as the high summer heat begins to give way to cooler temperatures on the Red Sea coast.
‘Help me find him’: Al-Ahli star Saint-Maximin impressed by loyal young fan in pouring rain
https://arab.news/8eahk
‘Help me find him’: Al-Ahli star Saint-Maximin impressed by loyal young fan in pouring rain
Jordan’s Al-Hayassat not fazed by partisan Al-Qahtani crowd in Riyadh
- PFL MENA 3 will take place in Riyadh on Sept. 20
RIYADH: Jordan’s Abdelrahman Al-Hayassat won’t just be facing title favorite Abdullah Al-Qahtani from Saudi Arabia, but he’ll also be going against a partisan hometown crowd at the PFL MENA 3 in Riyadh on Sept. 20.
The two featherweight contenders will meet in next Friday’s semifinal main event with a chance at moving on to the PFL MENA 3 Championships on the line.
The Saudi fighter, nicknamed “The Reaper,” is undefeated in his PFL career and has been impressive in PFL MENA so far. Facing him in his hometown makes it an even bigger challenge for his opponent.
Al-Hayassat, however, says that he isn’t faced by the hostile crowd.
“Even though the fight is on my opponent’s turf and in front of his crowd, this won’t affect my morale,” he said. “The semifinal match is very important to me. Winning it will take me to the final and bring me closer to achieving the title.”
To prepare for the biggest fight of his life, Al-Hayassat took his training to another hotbed for combat sports: Thailand.
“I’ve prepared well for the fight with a 70-day training camp in Thailand, one of the best camps I’ve had. I focused on the strategy that will enable me to defeat Al-Qahtani,” he shared.
When Al-Hayassat and Al-Qahtani step inside the SmartCage, the former plans on shocking the world and silencing the Saudi fans in attendance.
“I’ve worked hard on the necessary techniques for the fight. My Saudi opponent will be surprised by my level,” Al-Hayassat said.
“He will face a different Abdulrahman than the one he knows. I’m confident that I’ll win and make it to my first final because I’ve prepared everything necessary to achieve victory,” he added.
Al-Mansoori grabs pole position as powerboat title race takes twist in Portugal
- Team Abu Dhabi star grabs the honors as world champion Al-Qemzi finds the going tougher
Peso da Regua, Portugal: Team Abu Dhabi’s Mansoor Al-Mansoori upstaged teammate and hot favorite Rashed Al-Qemzi to secure pole position in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portugal, the penultimate round of the UIM F2 World Championship.
After four-time champion Al-Qemzi surprisingly missed out on a place in the six-boat qualifying shootout, Al-Mansoori underlined his growing championship challenge with a superb performance to take the honors in Peso da Regua.
There was late qualifying drama when Sweden’s Mathilda Wiberg, who trails Al-Qemzi by eight points in the F2 title race, crashed spectacularly, leaving her mechanics with a big repair job to carry out before she starts in fifth place tomorrow.
Lithuania’s Edgaras Riabko, who qualified in third position, is just one point further away in what now promises to be an exhilarating climax to the season in Portugal over the next eight days.
This has been one of the most closely contested seasons in the championship’s 30-year history, and the intensity was evident even in today’s official practice session for the 16 starters.
Wiberg edged out Al-Qemzi by five-thousandths of a second, with Al-Mansoori another fraction away in third and less than a second separating the top seven.
That set the stage for a fascinating qualifying session that saw Q1 and Q2 being combined into a single 40-minute battle to qualify for the six-boat Q3 shootout.
While Al-Mansoori was fastest just past the halfway point, Al-Qemzi was down in eighth spot and went into the pits to allow the Team Abu Dhabi mechanics to fit a new propeller.
Almost immediately, Riabko squeezed his way to the top of the standings, only for Palfreyman to quickly take the initiative before Al-Mansoori set another fastest time as the drama continued.
It was not to be this time for Al-Qemzi, who was unable to improve and will start in eighth place tomorrow, with the world championship hanging in the balance.
Leading championship standings
1 1 Rashed Al-Qemzi UAE 52pts
2 7 Mathilda Wiberg SWE 44
3 41 Edgaras Riabko LTU 43
4 36 Mansoor Al-Mansoori UAE 31
5 14 Matthew Palfreyman GBR 29
6 33 Nelson Morin FRA 24
7 45 Duarte Benavente POR 16
8 74 Giacomo Sacchi MON 12
9 91 David del Pin ITA 12
10 9 Mette Bjerknæs GBR 11
Saudi player in ICU after falling from Dubai balcony
- Officers are investigating the accident
DUBAI: Saudi football player Fahad Al-Muwallad has been admitted to the intensive care after falling from the second-floor balcony of his vacation home in Dubai, the emirate’s police said in a statement.
Officers are investigating the accident, said the Dubai Police.
أعلنت القيادة العامة لشرطة دبي أن لاعب كرة القدم السعودي فهد المولد تعرض لحادث خلال وجوده في إجازة قصيرة في دبي، عندما سقط من شرفة منزله بالدور الثاني حيث أظهرت التحقيقات الأولية، أن الحادث وقع أثناء وجوده في الشرفة.
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 14, 2024
وأضافت القيادة العامة لشرطة دبي أن الحالة الصحية للاعب فهد… pic.twitter.com/zFCdM4yaU3
The Al-Shabab star’s health condition is under supervision at a Dubai hospital where “medical teams are providing the necessary healthcare,” the police said.
Al Muwallad is a winger for Al-Shabab Saudi club in Riyadh and in the Saudi national team.
Kipyegon wins again, Tebogo and Crouser upset at Diamond League finals
- Of the 16 finals on Saturday, the first 16 having been held on Friday, there was a strong showing from Kenyan athletes
- Olympic champion Tebogo was outpaced in the 200m by American Kenny Bednarek, who won in 19.67sec
BRUSSELS: Kenya’s 1500m queen Faith Kipyegon sealed victory in the finals of the Diamond League in Brussels on Saturday, but Botswanan sprinter Letsile Tebogo and American shot putter Ryan Crouser both tasted rare defeats.
Kipyegon, the three-time Olympic and world champion, has had another sensational year over 1500m, even setting a new world record at the Paris leg of the elite track and field circuit.
And she made no mistake at the King Baudouin Stadium, sprinting away to win in a meet record of 3min 54.76sec.
“The world record was not on my mind today, my goal was to finish my Diamond League season in a good way and I did,” said Kipyegon.
“It was good race, but definitely not an easy one. It was a bit cold to run 61 seconds in the first lap and 62 seconds for the next lap.
“I tried to be myself and focus on the finish line.”
Of the 16 finals on Saturday, the first 16 having been held on Friday, there was a strong showing from Kenyan athletes.
Double Olympic 5,000/10,000m champion Beatrice Chebet also set a meet record of 14:09.82 to win the 5,000m in a powerful solo run.
Faith Cherotich outpaced Bahrain’s Olympic champion Winfred Yavi to win the 3000m steeplechase in 9:02.36 and Emmanuel Wanyonyi produced a devastating final flourish to win a high-quality men’s 800m in 1:42.70.
There was a surprise in the men’s shot put as Italy’s European champion Leonardo Fabbri claimed the win with a meet and national record of 22.98m, improving his own personal best by 3cm.
American Ryan Crouser, the three-time Olympic champion and twice world gold medallist, finished second with a best of 22.79m, but there were no sour grapes despite missing out on the $30,000 winner’s cheque.
“I threw pretty well. It was a very solid performance, five times over 22 meters,” Crouser said.
“I just had not that big throw in me like the one Leonardo Fabbri had. He threw a liftetime best so a big throw from him. The level in the shot put was never this high.”
And Olympic champion Tebogo was outpaced in the 200m by American Kenny Bednarek, who won in 19.67sec.
“I wanted to win the Diamond, but it has been a rollercoaster after the Olympics,” lamented Tebogo.
Fabbri’s shot put victory was one of three on the night for Team Italia, high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi (2.34m) and long jumper Larissa Iapichino (6.80m) also winning.
In field events, two other Olympic champions won their events, Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi taking the women’s javelin with a season’s best of 66.13m and Australia’s Nina Kennedy claiming the pole vault with 4.88m.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters edged India’s Neeraj Chopra by just 1cm for victory in the men’s javelin in 87.87m.
In the absence of Olympic gold and silver medallists Rai Benjamin and Karsten Warholm, it was the bronze medal winner from Paris, Alison Dos Santos, who claimed victory in the 400m hurdles.
The Brazilian clocked 47.93sec while Puerto Rico’s Jamine Camacho-Quinn confirmed her seasonal form to win the 100m hurdles in 12.38sec.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won her second invitational race in two days, clocking 22.40sec for victory in the 200m.
“Vacation and waffles!” the American, who won a 400m race on Friday, said after the race.
“It was great to race here, but to be honest I am just happy with my succesful season and with how everything turned out.
“I am happy that I can walk away healthy and look back on a great season.”
In the absence of McLaughlin-Levrone from the 400m hurdles because she was ineligible having not competed on the Diamond League circuit, it was left for Paris bronze medallist Femke Bol to take the victory in 52.45sec.
The 200m final proper saw American Brittany Brown top the podium in 22.20sec. Her teammate Sha’Carri Richardson was a no-show after her eighth-placed finish in Friday’s 100m.
Nelly Korda and the US keep rolling in Solheim Cup and lead Europe 10-6
- US captain Stacy Lewis watched her role players excel, and the Americans concluded a warm, breezy day at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club with a 10-6 advantage
- The US needs 4 1/2 points from a dozen singles matches to win the cup, and Europe needs eight points to retain it
GAINESVILLE, Virginia: Alison Lee sparked a shirtless caddie celebration by spinning a wedge into the cup for eagle. Andrea Lee holed a bunker shot to set up Rose Zhang’s walk-off eagle one hole later. And Megan Khang paused for 10 seconds to let gravity help her out on a critical birdie putt.
The wait was worth it for the US, which maintained a four-point lead over Europe in the Solheim Cup on Saturday.
With top-ranked Nelly Korda getting an afternoon break after winning the leadoff point in three consecutive sessions of team matches, US captain Stacy Lewis watched her role players excel, and the Americans concluded a warm, breezy day at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club with a 10-6 advantage.
“They’re playing the way I expected them to play, so I’m not surprised at all,” Lewis said. “But at the same time, to do it on this stage and in these moments and to pull these shots off and to make the putts and to do it with the joy that they’re doing it with, it’s the coolest part to me.”
Europe, which has captured the Solheim Cup the last three times, won the last two matches to conclude a 4-4 day. But the team in royal blue and yellow will need its largest comeback in Sunday singles to make it a record four in a row. The US rallied from four points down to win in Germany in 2015.
The US needs 4 1/2 points from a dozen singles matches to win the cup, and Europe needs eight points to retain it. Captain Suzann Pettersen drew inspiration from the European Ryder Cup team’s rally from the same deficit to win at Medinah in 2012.
“I was on the opposite side in Germany, and I know what it feels like,” Pettersen said. “Everyone remembers Medinah. I mean, it’s a tough task.”
Lewis has relied on data to find the right combinations, whether keeping Korda and Allizen Corpuz together for alternate shot; sending rookie Lauren Coughlin out with three partners; or giving Zhang a comfortable pairing with Andrea Lee, her fellow Stanford Cardinal.
“I know their games backwards and forward, and it’s allowed me to create some really good pairings,” Lewis said.
Korda and Corpuz fell behind early against Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen but turned it around on the back nine and got a break when Corpuz hit a worm-burner of a fairway wood into the par-5 14th hole that avoided the water and settled within 20 feet. Korda put her hands on her head in disbelief and Lewis gave Corpuz a shoulder rub in the fairway.
Korda holed the putt for eagle, her second in a row on a hole the US has dominated, and she and Corpuz became the first American duo to go 4-0 in foursomes after winning twice last year in Spain.
“The Americans have played unbelievable. I don’t know how many eagles they’ve had. It seems like they’ve had double figures,” Hall of Famer and European assistant captain Laura Davies said. “They’ve just played great golf. Out-putted us at the moment. Deep squad of players. We’ll never say never, but it is going to be very, very difficult to get the cup back.”
A day after transportation problems prevented most fans from getting to the golf course for the opening tee shots, a situation that LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan took responsibility for, the grandstands surrounding the first tee were full and fans lined the gallery ropes shortly after 7 a.m.
The only thing that kept them quiet was a slow start by the Americans, but it got loud once Korda started rolling.
In the first afternoon better-ball match, Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom were 2 down to Khang and Alison Lee when Nordqvist birdied the par-3 11th hole. Khang’s tying putt hung on the lip for 10 seconds before dropping, and she confirmed with a rules official that she had not waited too long for the ball to move.
Needing two putts to win the 14th, Khang made her 15-footer for eagle anyway, setting up the latest fist-pumping celebration for the Americans’ loudest cheerleader, who was next to the green in a cowboy hat when Corpuz hit her approach hours earlier.
Khang and Lee closed it out on the next hole for a 4-and-3 victory, Lee’s first in a Solheim Cup match since 2015. She gave the US an early lead with her wedge from 86 yards for an eagle 2 on the second hole, and the Americans’ caddies stripped from the waist up and chest-bumped to pay off a bet with Lee that they agreed to on the tee box.
“Literally holed out five minutes after that conversation. Great motivation,” Lee said.
Zhang and Andrea Lee never trailed in their 6-and-4 victory over Linn Grant and Celine Boutier. Zhang, the youngest US player at 21 who had a forgettable Solheim debut last year, joined Korda and Coughlin by winning all three of her matches.
Pettersen benched Leona Maguire, a valuable contributor in the last two Solheim Cups who has played poorly this year, for both sessions. Rookie Albane Valenzuela also sat out all day, while Charley Hull and Pedersen played four matches each.
Hull delivered. The excitable English player hit a 300-yard-plus drive on the par-4 18th to set up a wedge to tap-in range by Esther Henseleit for a 1-up victory in foursomes over Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, then did it again as she and Georgia Hall beat Corpuz and Lilia Vu 2 up in better ball.
Lexi Thompson improved her record in alternate shot to 7-2-1 in what is likely her final Solheim Cup, teaming with the unbeaten Coughlin to make four birdies in six holes on the back nine and beat Maja Stark and Hall, 4 and 3.
Thompson and Ewing were beaten 2 and 1 by Ciganda and Pedersen in fourballs. Ewing has lost her last six Solheim Cup matches.
