BEACH GAMES – BAHRAIN’S beach handball national squad and the delegation’s administrative team have arrived in Muscat, Oman, for the third GCC Beach Games.
The six-nation, multi-sport event is scheduled to get underway tomorrow with the official opening ceremony and the start of action in two of the eight sports, namely beach handball and paramotor.
The other sports at this year’s GCC Beach Games are beach soccer, beach athletics, sailing, tent pegging, beach volleyball, and marathon swimming.
The kingdom’s delegation at the Omani capital is headed by Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) Arab and international relations head Maryam Mardana. The administrative team, made up of other BOC officials, is residing at JW Marriott Hotel Muscat for the duration of the event.
Upon reaching Oman, the beach handball national team played a friendly game against the hosts as part of their final preparations for tomorrow’s start of play.
The nationals, who are one of the kingdom’s top hopefuls for a gold medal in Muscat, are coached by Hussain Al Qaidoom. They have a 10-player roster for their tournament, including former senior men’s national team member Bilal Basham, Moayed Sameer Shuaib, Sayed Ahmed Marzooq, Ali Mahmood Mohamed, Adam Isa Alnasheet, Mahdi Ali, Ali Abdulhasan Alhayki, Komail Fuad Ali, Abdulla Radhi Alzaimour, and Ali Ghassan Aryash.
The beach handball competition is set to feature two rounds. The Bahrainis play their first match tomorrow morning at 9.30am against Saudi Arabia, and then take on Oman at 5pm on Sunday. They then lock horns with the UAE on Monday at 4pm.
After a rest day, Bahrain play their second game against the Saudis on Wednesday next week at 5pm, before taking on Oman on Thursday, also at 5pm. Their final fixture will be against the Emiratis on the last day of the third GCC Games on Friday next week, scheduled for an 8am throw-off.
The kingdom’s beach handball national team will be looking to secure their third successive podium appearance at the GCC Beach Games and second title overall.
The nationals bagged the first-ever gold medals at the inaugural edition of the GCC Beach Games in 2010, held at home. They then came up agonisingly short in defending their title in the second GCC Beach Games in 2015, held in Doha, Qatar. There, Bahrain had to settle for the silver medals after losing to the host Qataris in the final.
Following tomorrow’s start of competition, sailing will begin their contests on Sunday and then beach soccer will kick off on Monday. Beach volleyball, beach athletics, and tent pegging will then take place from Tuesday onwards.
Marathon swimming is the last of the sports that will get underway. It will be on Wednesday next week.
The third GCC Beach Games will be bringing together more than 300 athletes from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and hosts Oman, competing in 39 events across eight sports.
The first-ever edition of the GCC Beach Games was organised by Bahrain in 2010. The kingdom’s athletes participated in six sports then, including beach soccer, beach handball, beach volleyball, bodybuilding, sailing, and open water swimming.
The second edition took place in the Qatari capital in 2015. The Bahrainis also competed in six sports, including beach soccer, beach handball, beach volleyball, 3x3 basketball, sailing, and swimming.
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