BAHRAIN secured a spectacular golden double at the fourth GCC Games last night, with the kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball and handball national teams both winning their respective tournaments in Doha, Qatar.
The Bahraini spikers captured their crown with a resounding 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-23) sweep of the home side Qataris at Aspire Women’s Sports Hall.
The handball squad set the tone earlier yesterday evening, securing their title with one game still to play after defeating the hosts 24-19 at Duhail Handball Hall.
With those results, the two newly crowned champions lived up to their billing as one of the favourites to challenge for gold at the Qatari capital.
For the volleyball team, it was their third title triumph in the four editions of the GCC Games. Last night’s crown added to their championships in 2015 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and at the inaugural GCC Games in 2011, hosted by the kingdom. They were then silver-medallists in the previous edition in 2022 in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
The handball team, on the other hand, were crowned GCC Games champions for the second time. They had also won in 2011, but then were silver-medallists in 2015 and 2022.
The two sides spearheaded an impressive seven-medal haul yesterday for Bahrain’s delegation in Doha. The kingdom’s women’s and men’s shooters also climbed the podium at Lusail Shooting Range, coming away with two silver medals and three bronze medals in their respective events.
The seven medals brought Bahrain’s overall tally to 62 so far heading into the concluding three days of action in this year’s regional multi-sport extravaganza. Their harvest includes 24 gold, 22 silver, and 16 bronze medals, placing them third on the standings behind Qatar and Saudi, and ahead of Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE.
Bahrain needed to dig deep in the closing contest of the men’s volleyball tournament last night to oust their Qatari rivals, who had the support of the home crowd.
The nationals were first to double digits in the opening set after a Hasan Alwarqaa spike put them up by two. Qatar then roared back and edged ahead 16-15, but Alwarqaa had a big block on Qatar’s Mohamed Ibrahim to tie the score.
Mahmoud Abdulwahed then hit a powerful spike that could not be received by Qatar’s Nikola Vasic on the opposite side of the net. He had another scintillating smash to later give Bahrain a 20-18 advantage, and a service error by Qatar followed by a Mahmood Abdulhussain attack put the Bahrainis up 22-19. The nationals then sealed the 1-0 advantage after a block out on an Abdulwahed effort.
The two teams matched each other point for point for much of the second frame. An Abdulhussain attack broke a 22-all deadlock, but Qatar’s Mubarak Dahi was able to extend the proceedings after tying it at 24-apiece. Bahrain eventually escaped with the 2-0 advantage with back-to-back points by Abdulwahed that clinched the set.
The nationals were then determined to close things out in the third, and they began to pull away from their opponents with three unanswered points – first on a block out on an Abdulhussain attack that gave them a slim 16-15 edge, followed by an Abdulwahed spike and a Mohammed Abdulla block on Qatar’s Ibrahim.
Alwarqaa later made a key stop on Dahi and then a Mahmood Alafyah ace and an Ali Ebrahim block put Bahrain in charge at 22-19. After another Ebrahim stop, recently signed senior men’s head coach Ivan Joksimovic had a successful challenge on an Abdulwahed touch out that made it 24-20. The Qataris then put up one last stand with three straight points to get back to within one, but a block out on an Abdulhussain smash on the very next rally ended the match, earning Bahrain their crown.
Following last night’s clash, the Bahrainis were awarded their gold and the Qataris their silver medals in the podium ceremonies. Oman joined them in the prize presentation as bronze-medallists following their 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17) triumph against the UAE in their final head-to-head yesterday.
In attendance at the awarding was Bahrain’s chef de mission in Doha and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) Arab and international relations head Maryam Mardana, amongst other officials.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s senior men’s handball stars put in a class performance against Qatar to secure their title in their penultimate assignment of the fourth GCC Games.
The nationals overturned a 2-3 deficit early in yesterday’s contest with successive goals by Mohammed Habib Ahmed and Ahmed Kadhem. Inspirational skipper Hussain Al Sayyad then fired in to make it 6-4, and later an Ahmed Fadhul penalty broke a 7-all deadlock.
Jassim Khamis was then on target on a fastbreak to help the Bahrainis finally wrest away control, and after Al Sayyad scored once more, goalkeeper Hesham Issa made a key stop to help Bahrain take a 13-10 advantage into the locker rooms.
Right after the re-start, Bahrain remained resilient defensively, and veteran custodian Mohammed Abdulhussain had a brilliant save on a Qatar penalty. Fadhul then added a fastbreak goal to put Bahrain firmly in command at 17-12, and later Ali Alasheeri scored from the left wing for a six-goal cushion at 19-13.
Abdulhussain and Issa once again came up big for the nationals – with Abdulhussain saving another penalty from the hosts after they strung together two unanswered goals and with Issa making his own stop on a quick Qatar counter-attack.
Bahrain’s lead was cut to four after a brief dry spell on offence, but Al Sayyad answered with a timely strike from six metres to make it 20-15. An Al Sayyad stunner from well beyond nine metres then extended the gap, and goals from Kadhem and Fadhul pushed them to the brink of the crown.
Mohammed Habib Naser delivered the knockout blow, firing in Bahrain’s final goal from the free-throw line to wrap up their victory.
BOC board member and Bahrain Handball Federation president Ali Issa Eshaqi was on hand for the game.
With gold in the bag, Bahrain’s senior men’s handball national team will be looking to end their GCC Games campaign on a high when they face off with their UAE counterparts tomorrow at 6.30pm. The men’s handball tournament will then officially bring the curtains down on the fourth GCC Games on Thursday, when Qatar take on Saudi, also at 6.30pm. Both times are Bahrain. That match will be followed by the awarding ceremony.
Elsewhere yesterday, Bahrain’s shooters put in strong performances in their penultimate day of action.
Taking the two silver medals were the trio of Aysha Albraiki, Badreya Alatwai, and Qamar Ali in the women’s 10 metres air pistol teams’ competition, and Mohamed Zaman in the men’s 10m air pistol individual contest.
The bronze medals were won by Albraiki in the women’s 10m air pistol final, Marwa Buarki in the women’s trap final, and the triumvirate of Buarki, Maryam Sulaiti, and Samah Hejres in the women’s trap team 75 targets event.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))