BEACH GAMES – BAHRAIN had mixed results yesterday in the third GCC Beach Games in Muscat, Oman.
The kingdom’s athletes had positive results in both beach volleyball and sailing, but also suffered losses in beach handball and beach soccer.
In beach volleyball, the Bahrain Two pairing of Ali Marhoon and Hassan Nasser won both their opening games yesterday, both in straight sets.
They first edged past Saudi Arabia One 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) and then outclassed Qatar Two 2-0 (21-5, 21-5).
The Bahrain One duo, however, lost both their assignments yesterday. They lost to Saudi Two and Oman Two, both in two sets.
Meanwhile, in sailing, four of Bahrain’s youngsters stayed within the top three of their respective fleets after the first day of racing.
In the ILCA 7 category for boys, Bahrain’s Ahmed Sadiq was in third place behind leader Hussain Saeed Al Jabri of Oman and second-placed Adel Khaled Al Bastaki of the UAE.
In the ILCA 6 for boys, Dawood Abdulla Sadiq was second and fellow-Bahraini Waleed Tawfiq Abdulla was third. They both trailed leader Othman Abdulkarim Al Hammadi of the UAE.
In the ILCA 4 class for girls, Bahrain’s Amina Mohammed Sadiq ranked second at the end of day one. She trailed Marwa Hassan Al Hammadi of the UAE in first place, while Alyazia Hassan Al Hammadi, also of the UAE, was in third.
In beach handball yesterday, the Bahrainis suffered their second straight defeat after bowing to the UAE 1-2 in a penalty shootout.
The result followed the beach handball national team’s defeat to hosts Oman the day prior, which came after a hard-earned win against Saudi in their opening assignment.
Today is a rest day for the competition. Bahrain return to action tomorrow when they take on the Saudis once again at 5pm, before facing off with 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. That match is scheduled for an 8am throw-off.
In beach soccer yesterday, the Bahrainis had a disappointing start after losing to Oman 1-5.
Coming up today in the third GCC Beach Games will be beach athletics and tent pegging. Marathon swimming will then be the last of the sports to be held tomorrow.
The third GCC Beach Games is bringing together more than 300 athletes from Saudi, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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