“Rest in peace Captain Saharti. My second father died today.” “Captain Saharti will stay in my heart forever.” “You not only shared our happiness and laughed with us in our happy and good times and occasions. You also shared our sorrows and cried with us in our difficult times.” “On behalf of HMEM Nubar basketball team I would like to express our condolences to his family and all our brothers in Ararat team.” These were some of the words of many which eulogised basketball coach Ahmed Al-Saharti who died last week at age 62. Al-Saharti was in charge of the Armenian Homenetmen Ararat basketball men's team since 2010, and was also its head from 2004 to 2008. Al-Saharti, an ex basketball player himself, had just last month taken over as head of the basketball youth sector in Zamalek. Before that he was Zamalek's first team basketball trainer. Al-Saharti's fans updated their statuses on their Facebook page just a few minutes after the news of his death spread, especially in the Armenian community. They were expressing their sorrow for the big loss they had suffered with the sudden passing away of a “real gentleman”. The community's basketball fans were the first to break the news, even before the club that was dear to Al-Saharti's heart, Zamalek. The community was busy with a tournament that started the day he passed away, the day they saw him last. Al-Saharti died on Friday 16 November during the 2012 Pan-Armenian Egyptian basketball tournament in Homenetmen Ararat Club. He had left after his Ararat won 79-51. “He had to go to Geish Club to supervise the Zamalek-Gezira under-18 basketball game,” said an Ararat player who was very close to Al-Saharti. “We parked the car and were heading to the stadium on foot when suddenly Captain Al-Saharti fainted. We took him to the nearest hospital accompanied by a doctor, but unfortunately couldn't save his life as he went into a diabetic coma that led to a drop in blood pressure”. The sad news spread fast and the tournament was postponed indefinitely (the next and last Pan Egyptian-Armenian basketball tournament in the 2012 season is to be organised by St Therese club on 29 November). “The sudden death of Captain Al-Saharti left us in a state of shock” said a member of Ararat Club's organising committee. This reporter remembered one day when her son came home from basketball training, happily waving a brand new LE5 banknote, given to him and his teammates by Al-Saharti on the occasion of the Bairam Feast. Al-Saharti was one of a kind. He used to respect and love children and adults alike, and the feeling was mutual. Many times he played the role of mediator in solving problems that faced Zamalek's management, sometimes assisting in appointing employees who would work for the club without a contract. Whenever Al-Saharti realised that the opposing team was weak, he never flexed his muscles and never won by a big difference in points, always respecting the opposition. He was that kind. According to his colleagues, he worked for a long time without getting paid yet never complained. His patience would rub off on other coaches he worked with in Zamalek. “Al-Saharti started playing basketball when he was a child,” head of the under-12 basketball team in Zamalek, Sayed Abul-Dahab, who introduced the young prodigy to the club, told Al-Ahram Weekly. Al-Saharti took part in several international championships, including the Olympic Games in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976), the African Championships in Alexandria (1970, 1975), Senegal (1972) and Nigeria (1973). In 1973 he was chosen the best basketball player in Africa. Al-Saharti took part in European and African championships in Spain, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Ghana, Central Africa and Egypt. He was captain of the Egyptian national basketball team from 1969 to 1979. Al-Saharti travelled with his team to Lebanon (2004) and Greece (2005) to take part in the Pan-Homenetmen games. Homenetmen Ararat won 14 cups in the years he coached them. Al-Saharti stopped playing professionally at the age of just 29. Ahmed Abdel-Hamid Al-Saharti was born in Cairo in August 1950. He was married and is survived by three children, Mohamed, Haitham and Dina, and two grandchildren. Haitham and Mohamed are basketball players on Zamalek's first team. “We will be missing a generous, lovable, kind hearted and professional trainer and player too,” said Abul-Dahab, his lifetime friend and brother-in-law.
