Heroes of Heliopolis
Heliopolis won in water polo in a championship which has made it famous,
writes Mohamed El-Sayed
Heliopolis won an international water polo championship, named after it, for the fourth time thanks to a hard-fought 8-7 win over South Africa in the dying seconds.
The Danes finished third with four points and Al-Qadisiya fourth with two points. The Heliopolis juniors came in last after going winless.
Heliopolis and South Africa dominated from the start, going undefeated en route to the final. Heliopolis had beaten Denmark 13-10, Al- Qadisiya of Saudi Arabia 9-4 and the Heliopolis junior team 19-5. South Africa edged Denmark 8-7, Al-Qadisiya 12-9 and manhandled the juniors 12-2.
Al-Qadisiya's Yugoslav player Zoltan Boros was selected the best player while Sherif Khalil of Heliopolis was top goal-getter with 15 goals.
In the championship's other event, synchronised swimming, England dominated the solo and duet categories. Chesea Luker won the solo while Carly Grimshaw and Luker shared first place with Russia's Natalia Zloina and Olga Larkina in the duet. Heliopolis managed a second and third place finish in both events. Samar Osama finished second in the solo and Henzada Omar and Samar Osama came third in the duet.
In the team event, Heliopolis swimmers Samar Osama, Henzada Omar, Injy Ashraf, Rolla Nabil, Hind Radwan, Yara Gamal, Bassent Yehya and Hagar Yehya took first place. However, in the total score of the three disciplines, Rushmore Synchro Club of England came first after collecting 551 points, followed by Heliopolis with 539 points and Aqua Ventura of Hungary with 142 points.
This year's championship, held in Heliopolis from 14-18 October, had fewer participants. "We had invited several European teams to take part but most of them did not show up since local tournaments in Europe began earlier this month," Kamel El-Bassiouni, director of the Heliopolis Sports Club, said. Iran and Hungary were also invited but they, too, declined.
"The performance of synchro swimmers this year was outstanding, especially that of the English and Egyptian players," said Ray Geier, a British referee who has been in six previous Heliopolis tournaments. "Although this edition had fewer participants, the competition was fierce and offered a great aquatic show."
Since its inception in 1990, the Heliopolis championship has helped make a name for the club at the international level and allowed it to dominate locally.
Trying to capitalise on the organisation and the Egyptian results, Heliopolis officials sought to rally support from the participating countries for the Egyptian bid to host the 2010 football World Cup, "We wanted to capitalise on this international event to boost Egypt's chances of hosting the World Cup," Fouad Sultan, president of Heliopolis Sports Club, said.
To this effect, Heliopolis club distributed T- shirts bearing the logo of the Egyptian bid to the foreign athletes. The players also took a Nile cruise, visiting historic sites in Cairo to get a clearer idea about the country.
