MUSCAT: The Omani national bocce team achieved the first medal for the Sultanate of Oman by securing third place and the bronze medal for teams in the competitions of the Fourth West Asian Para Games (WAPG) at the Trust Club for the Disabled in Sharjah, UAE, from January 27 to February 3.
The Omani team came in third place after the team, consisting of Sultan al Wahibi, Samir al Sulaimi and Arwa al Harthy, defeated the Iraqi team 6-5.
Widad al Daifi, the coach of the national bocce team, expressed her happiness at the team winning the bronze medal, saying: “The participation of the bocce team was good and successful. Winning a bronze medal in Oman’s first participation in the West Asian Para Games, which includes international players and players with long experience in the sport of bocce, and achieving third place is an achievement for the players and motivates them to exert more effort and dedication in the upcoming competitions.”
She added: “Such participation is very important for assessing the players’ level and developing suitable plans to improve it. Such participations also give the players more experience and enthusiasm to enhance performance and raise the level of play, explaining that the will and determination to achieve success were present among the players despite the minimal capabilities in terms of preparation, camps, and external participation, which were far exceeded by the other participating teams. Still, they nevertheless succeeded excellently in reaching the podiums. We look forward to achieve more accomplishments in the upcoming competitions with continued support for this team.”
Goalball and Basketball
On the other hand, the national goalball team for the blind lost to the Jordanian team with a score of 18-8 and the wheelchair basketball team lost to the UAE team 49-35.
In the goalball match for the blind, despite an improvement in the performance of the national team players, especially in scoring, the defence couldn’t handle all the Jordanian balls. In the first half, Oman scored three goals while conceding 8 goals, ending the first half with the team trailing 3-8. In the second half, the national team players managed to add 5 goals, while conceding 10 goals, ending the match 18-8 in favour of Jordan.
In the wheelchair basketball match, the Oman team lost to the UAE team 49-35 in an exciting encounter.
The first quarter started with the UAE taking a six-point lead, but the Omani team fought back to equalise the score at 7-7. However, individual mistakes allowed the UAE to score 4 additional points, but Oman’s Younus al Tabi reduced the gap to one point. The teams continued exchanging attacks, with each team scoring several points, ending the first quarter with the UAE leading 16-11.
In the second quarter, the competition continued, but strong focus from the UAE players gave them a significant lead at half-time with a score of 31-13.
In the third quarter, the gap continued to widen in favour of the UAE, with the Oman players only managing to score 8 points, while the UAE scored 16 points, ending the third quarter with a lead of 47-21.
In the fourth quarter, Oman reduced the gap well, but it wasn’t enough to come back in the game, as they ended up losing with a score of 49-35 against the UAE team.
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