ASIAN BEACH GAMES – BAHRAIN will be taking part in four sports at the sixth Asian Beach Games, set to take place in Sanya, China, from April 22 to 30.
A number of the kingdom’s top athletes will be flying the Bahrain flag in beach handball, 3x3 basketball, beach wrestling, and open water swimming under the sport of aquatics, the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) has confirmed.
These are among 14 sports comprising 15 disciplines and a total of 61 events that will be held as part of the highly anticipated meeting, which is set to feature delegations representing 45 National Olympic Committees from across the continent.
The other sports in this year’s Asian Beach Games are beach soccer, beach kabaddi, beach athletics, dragon boat, jiu-jitsu, sailing, speed sports climbing, teqball, aquathlon triathlon, and beach volleyball. Water polo is another discipline under the sport of aquatics.
The administrative team that will be a part of the kingdom’s delegation in Sanya held a co-ordination meeting with the participating sports federations yesterday via video conference.
The gathering was attended by Bahrain’s chef de mission at the sixth Asian Beach Games and BOC executive director of operations Ahmed Abdulghaffar, deputy chef de mission and BOC Arab and international relations head Maryam Mardana, delegation members, and representatives from the Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF), the Bahrain Wrestling Federation (BWF), the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA), and Bahrain Aquatics.
Abdulghaffar delivered an overview of the Asian Beach Games and introduced the administrative and media teams that are accompanying the mission. He also presented detailed information on travel itineraries, arrival and departure schedules, competition timetables, opening and closing ceremonies, competition and training venues, transport arrangements, catering services, and the athletes’ village, including its facilities such as dining halls and accommodation, as well as the distances between the village and competition venues.
Abdulghaffar also reviewed the requirements of Bahrain’s four participating national teams.
The meeting was attended by Ismail Baqer and Fahad Jassim from the BHF, Aabed Alansari and Ahmed Elias from the BBA, and Farhan Saleh from Bahrain Aquatics.
Meanwhile, the BOC announced that, in co-ordination with the Olympic Council of Asia, all GCC delegations will depart on a special flight from Doha to Sanya on April 15, in light of the current regional situation. The Bahraini delegation is scheduled to travel to the Qatari capital the day before.
This year’s edition of the Asian Beach Games will be the first time the multi-sport event is to be held in a decade – with the previous occasion in 2016 when it took place in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Bahrain also participated then, winning two gold medals – one in bodybuilding through Ali Abdulrasool and another in jiu-jitsu with Ali Monfaradi.
The kingdom’s senior men’s beach handball national team were also in action. They finished an impressive fifth overall behind the top three of Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
In the past five editions of the Asian Beach Games, Bahrain have bagged a total of 11 medals, including seven gold, three silver, and one bronze.
The national delegation’s best-ever participation was in the fourth Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand in 2014, when they came away with five gold and two silver medals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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