Oman wins six medals in athletics

Dubai: Oman’s athletics team won six medals, with regular and Paralympic athletes contributing three each, on the fourth day of the inaugural GCC Youth Games in Dubai on Friday. The event, held in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman in the UAE from April 16 to May 2, will see around 3,500 male and female athletes from all GCC countries compete in 24 individual and team events.

Around 200 Omani athletes competed in 16 events, including Para athletics. At the end of the fourth day, Oman’s total medal tally reached 23. Omani Para athlete Faisal al Balushi won gold in the long jump, ending his competition with three medals (two gold and one silver). Omani female Para athlete Maryam al Badi won another gold medal in the long jump. In the afternoon competition, Maryam won another bronze medal in the 200m, ending her competition in the UAE with three medals (one gold, one silver and one bronze).

Abdullah Anbari, coach of the Omani Para Athletics Team, expressed his joy at receiving the medals. “We thank Allah for allowing us to fulfill our promise and achieve such a great achievement. Despite the simple preparations due to time constraints and weather conditions, Faisal Baroohi and Mariam Badie won these medals for the first time.”

He added: “We thank the Oman Olympic Committee for all their efforts and for overcoming difficulties to provide the Paralympic Committee with the opportunity to represent Oman in foreign forums.”

Summer wins women’s 100m gold

The combined athletics competition continued with its second day at the Dubai Police Club Stadium on Friday evening, with Ghaya al Saadi competing in the shot put and finishing fourth. Kaltham al Jabri won bronze in the hammer throw. Al Ayham al Fudaili won bronze in the long jump. Samer al Yarubi won gold in the women’s 100m. Fawzi al Kiyoumi, administrator of the Oman Athletics Association, said Omani athletes had made a brilliant start.

“Omani athletes had a good start and we won three medals despite most of the athletes competing abroad for the first time. The purpose of this competition was to hone our talents and benefit from the experience. The postponement of the competition was deliberate due to climatic reasons as we could not reach the stadium and training was restricted,” he said.

The Omani chess team started the competition after arriving in the UAE on Thursday evening. The competition was held at the Sharjah Cultural Chess Club and started with the team competition. In the Under-18 men’s category, Oman lost 1-2 to the UAE and 2-5 to Kuwait. In the Under-14 men’s category, Oman lost 3-0 to the UAE and 2-5 to Kuwait. In the Under-18 women’s category, the UAE beat Oman 3-0 and lost to Qatar 2-1. In the Under-14 women’s category, the national team lost 0-3 to the UAE.

The organizing committee has opened a media center at the Dubai Marriott Marquis Hotel to receive all media delegations accompanying the GCC delegations. The handball championship will kick off on Saturday at the Al Bataeh Cultural and Sports Club Hall, with six GCC teams participating in a single round league. Three matches will be played on the opening day, with Saudi Arabia facing Bahrain, Qatar facing Kuwait and Oman facing the UAE.

The handball tournament will last for seven days and end on Friday, with three matches – Bahrain vs. Oman, UAE vs. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia vs. Qatar. The tournament will be handled by six referee teams, including Uzbekistan, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. The draw for junior table tennis will be held on Tuesday, and the tournament will be held in the closed hall of Shabab Al Ahli Club in Al Mamzar, Dubai from April 24 to 27.