BAHRAIN continued their sensational start to the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar last night, winning five more medals – headlined by one gold and including two silver and two bronze medals – on the second day of competition in the multi-sport meeting.
The kingdom’s women’s 3x3 basketball national team – featuring Bayan Salman, Aya Kamali, Maryam Sameer, and Shereen Abdulrahman – struck gold in their tournament to wrap up a dominant campaign on the half-court.
The men’s 3x3 basketball national team and the men’s table tennis national team then came away with the silver medals from their respective competitions.
Bahrain’s medal haul yesterday was completed in the pool, with swimmer Robert Bonsall taking an individual men’s 400m freestyle bronze and then joining his teammates in taking third place in the men’s 400m freestyle relay.
Last night’s five medals brought the Bahraini delegation’s tally to 11 so far after two days of action. Their winnings include three gold medals, five silver, and three bronze medals.
The other gold medals were bagged on day one in taekwondo by Fatema Kalawadh and Muath Ebrahim.
The women’s 3x3 basketball national team were crowned champions last night with a 22-17 win against their Saudi counterparts at Gharafa Sports Hall in the Qatari capital.
After Kamali hit a free-throw that made it 19-13, Sameer scored with a driving lay-up to put them on the brink of securing the victory. Salman then buried a wide-open three-pointer after Sameer grabbed an offensive rebound to seal the result.
Bahrain’s women had earlier punched their ticket to the title game after routing Kuwait 21-7 in their final four contest played earlier yesterday.
They thus completed their GCC Games campaign with four wins from as many fixtures.
Hosts Qatar came away with the bronze medals after beating Kuwait 11-9 in the game for third place.
On the distaff, Bahrain’s men’s 3x3 basketball squad – composed of Bogdan Dragovic, Mohammed Buallay, Austin Ajukwa, and Wayne Chism – came close to giving the kingdom a golden double but had to settle for silver in their tournament, losing in the final to the home town Qataris 12-20.
Earlier yesterday, the Bahrainis outclassed their Emirati counterparts 21-8 in their semi-final contest to book their berth in place in the gold medal game.
It was their second straight win against the UAE, who they also defeated 21-10 yesterday in their concluding preliminary assignment, which earned them second place on the five-nation table. The result added to their victories against Saudi and Kuwait, although they had also lost to Qatar on Tuesday night.
They thus took the second seed heading into the final four, where top seeds Qatar faced Saudi in the other semi-final, which they won 21-11.
In attendance during the 3x3 basketball awarding ceremonies yesterday was Bahrain’s chef de mission in Doha and Bahrain Olympic Committee Arab and international relations head Maryam Mardana.
Bahrain’s paddlers picked up their silver medals in the men’s teams’ competition yesterday at Doha’s Aspire Dome.
The kingdom’s table tennis squad included Rashed Sanad, Sayed Murtadha Mahfoodh, Mohammed Abbas Abdulwahab, Elyas Alyasi, and Mohammed Nader. They joined gold-medallists Saudi on the podium as well as bronze medal winners Qatar.
The Bahrainis signed off from the competition by splitting their two matches yesterday – losing to Saudi in their round two affair but then beating Oman 3-0 in round three. They had earlier defeated Qatar 3-1 in their opening match on Tuesday night to make a winning start.
Following yesterday’s action, the final men’s teams’ standings saw Saudi in first place with six points, Bahrain second with five, Qatar third on four, and Oman fourth with three.
Also yesterday, Bahrain’s Abdulwahab and Dana Alkhayyat lost their mixed doubles table tennis match against Qatar’s Abdullah Abdulwahab and Maryam Ali 0-3.
At Hamad Aquatics Centre yesterday, Bonsall won his individual bronze after completing his 400m freestyle swim in a time of three minutes 57.97 seconds.
Bonsall finished behind Saadeddin Saadeddin, who led a Qatari one-two with Emile Fouzai taking the silver medal. Saadeddin triumphed in 3:50.80 while Fouzai followed in 3:56.05.
Bonsall was also part of the men’s 400m freestyle relay team where he competed alongside Mikhail Arkhangelskiy, Abdulla Jamal, and Ahmed Helal. They finished the race in 3:29.62, not far behind winners Qatar, who captured gold in 3:23.01. Saudi were right ahead of Bahrain in 3:27.72 for the silver medals.
Bahrain Aquatics president Abdulla Attiya was on hand during the awarding.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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