ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY GAMES – BAHRAIN added two more medals to their already impressive haul yesterday in the sixth Islamic Solidarity Games, currently being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball national team and paddlers Rashed Rashed and Kenda Mohamed both claimed bronze in their respective competitions.
Bahrain’s spikers took third place overall in the men’s volleyball tournament in the Saudi capital, while Rashed and Mohamed claimed a share of the bronze medals in the mixed doubles in table tennis.
In volleyball yesterday, the Bahrainis secured their place on the podium after battling past Qatar 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20).
It was their second successive victory against their Gulf rivals in as many days, after also defeating the Qataris in their concluding assignment of the preliminary stage, also in four sets.
The Bahrainis did well to take the early advantage in the contest but after Qatar levelled the proceedings, regained control in the third set. They then rode their momentum into the fourth frame to secure the win and their historic medals.
Mohamed Jassim Abdulla scored 12 points, including four on blocks, to spearhead the nationals. Others making timely contributions for the Arnaud Josserand-coached side were Naser Anan, Mahmoud Abdulwahed, Hasan Al Warqaa, Sayed Hashem Issa, and Ali Ebrahim.
Meanwhile, in table tennis, Bahrain’s Rashed and Mohamed lost to Bangladesh’s Md Javed Ahmed and Khoy Khoy Sai Marma in the mixed doubles semi-finals.
Rashed and Mohamed put up a spirited fight but bowed to their opponents in four games 1-3 (11-13, 11-7, 10-12, 3-11). They thus claimed a share of third place in their competition category, joining Azerbaijan’s Marziyya Nurmatova and Adil Ahmadzada, who lost to Sibel Altinkaya and Ibrahim Gunduz of Türkiye in the other last-four affair.
Altinkaya and Gunduz went on to capture the gold medals after beating Ahmed and Marma 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-6) in the final.
The bronze medals in volleyball and table tennis brought the kingdom’s tally so far in this year’s Islamic Solidarity Games to 12, including five gold, three silver, and four bronze. The other medals were claimed in weightlifting, judo, and esports.
Elsewhere yesterday for Bahrain, Mayoof Abdulaziz Alromaihi and Hussain Mohamed Dadalla competed in the second qualifying competition in showjumping, which was an against-the-clock event.
Alromaihi was riding his horse Kornets Darco BH, and he finished 20th amongst 24 competitors in a time of 80.38 seconds with 11 penalties. Dadalla, riding his horse Verdi de Hus Z, came 24th at 90.61s with 17 penalties.
Showjumping’s final round is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Action continues today in the Islamic Solidarity Games, with Bahrain’s senior men’s handball national team beginning their medal bid.
They will be taking on Kuwait in their Group B contest, scheduled for a 2pm start, Bahrain time.
Also in Group B in men’s handball are Iraq and hosts Saudi, while Qatar, Iran, the UAE, and the Maldives make up Group A.
Following their opening assignment today, the Bahrainis take on Saudi on Sunday and Iraq on Tuesday. The top two teams from each division move on to the semi-finals on Wednesday next week, while the bronze medal game will be held on Thursday and the gold medal match on Friday.
Bahrain’s handball squad includes skipper Hussain Alsayyad, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Mohammed Abdulhussain, Hesham Isa, Ahmed Kadhem, Mohamed Rabea, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Hasan Madan, Ali Mohammed, Jassim Khamis, Hasan Ali, Ali Abdulla, Salman Alshowaikh, Hasan Alsamaheeji, Qassim Qambar, and Mohammed Habib Ahmed.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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