Sudanese Teams Score Well In Chess, Football
25 September, 2016KHARTOUM (Sudanow.info.sd) - The recent Baku, Azerbaijan, 42nd Chess Olympiad has seen a Sudanese comeback to gold winning, an event that also coincided with two other successes for the country in the arena of African football.
Sudan had clinched a gold medal in the Baku Olympiad and enhanced her rating in the mental sport after winning fourth place at the African level and third place at the Arab level, according to global classification.
For their part, Sudan’s youth football team and the country’s under 17 years team are resolvedly fighting their way towards the finals of the two African football contests.
Speaking to Sudanow, Sudan chess champion Asim al-Obaid said 172 countries had contested in the Baku Olympiad in which Sudan won a gold medal as the champion of group D and ranked fourth and third in the African and Arab regions, respectively.
He said Sudan’s achievement in the 0lympiad was acclaimed by the organizing panel that also honoured another eight countries. The panel had honoured the U.S.A, Russia and the Ukraine as Olympiad winners in addition to five other nations who topped the contest’s five groups that included Sudan.
Sudan has, for the first time, been classified in the powerful Group D.
Sudan, according to Obaid, had entered the contest tailing Group D (the participants are divided into five groups A.B.C.D.E, each embodied 36 states). But performing with excellence in 11 matches, Sudan managed to rank first, winning the group’s cup.
The Sudan team comprised five players: Nadir Sameer (Captain), Abubakr Taj al-Sir, Abdel Aziz Mohammad and Hassan Abubakr. Abdel Aziz and Hassan in addition to myself, had also won the title of Master, said Obaid.
He said Sudan had used to take part in the Olympiad, but this one is the country’s biggest achievement. Sudanese females had entered this contest twice before but with little achievement save that of Dr. Ibtihal Mohamed who won title C. But God-willing we will see more feminine achievements very soon, he said.
Obaid was bitter about the fact that his team had had no coaching as Sudan has no certified coach yet, but the players did what they could on their own. ‘’We need a qualified coach on equal footing with other teams all of whom have their qualified trainers,’’ he said.
The Sudan is to organize on 25 October the ‘’Individual Arab Contest’’ for the first time, said Obaid, urging the media to promote and cover the event in the best possible way.
Upon arrival from Baku the Sudanese team was greeted by the Khartoum State Minister of Youth and
Sports and representatives of Zain Telecom at the VIP lounge of Khartoum Airport as well as a group of sportsmen and well-wishers. They will also receive honours from the Khartoum North Youth Center in early October.
“These players had sacrificed a lot and played under inconvenient conditions in order to represent Sudan in the best way. It is our hope that the Government would take care of these players and honour them in keeping with the present concern with sporting activity,’’ said Obaid.
In keeping with this sporting achievement, the Sudan Under 17 football team is preparing for the home match against the Republic of Zambia, having obtained a goalless draw with them in Lusaka a fortnight ago. The Sudan team and its Zambian guest will clash at the Shaikan Stadium of the City of al-Obayyid in the Central West on Sunday. The Sudan and its guest are fighting for the qualifying card for the contest finals in Madagascar next year.
Meanwhile, the Sudan national youth football team that qualified for the African youth football contest among eight other nations, is bracing for a tough match against the Cameroon having won the first leg 4/2 at the Shaikan Stadium also.
In the first leg the Shaikan Stadium had seen a ferocious battle in which the Cameroon side stood fast in the defence, often launching splendid counterattacks. The Sudan team, made up of mostly new names, had utilized this advantage netting four goals from well orchestrated attacks.
Observers attribute the Sudan victory to the fact that the Sudan side had known nearly everything about its foe, while the latter had no knowledge about the elements of the Sudan team.
The contest finals will take place in Lusaka, Zambia in 2017.
E N D
YH/AS
Photo of the Week
Khartoum (SudanNow) — The denial of Sudanese students the opportunity to sit for the Sudanese Certificate exams will remain a black mark in the record of Chadian authorities. It represents a clear violation of one of the fundamental human rights principles enshrined in international law and a denial of the historical relations between the two peoples. It also disregards Sud...
More-
19 January, 2025
Fate Tragedies
Port Sudan (Sudanow) - Magda's tears rolled down her cheeks, as she threw her exhausted body on the dilapidated car seat next to the window. She cast a look at her house, her home. But it never occurred to her that this would be the last time she would behold that place dear to her, that neighborhood where she was born and raised, now she was sixty-seven.She was immersed in her reveries when the car set off, jostling her and brining her...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547