DUBAI: Oman fencing team made a great start by winning eight medals on Monday in the first GCC Youth Games in the UAE, which will continue until May 2. The Omani fencers bagged two gold, two silver and four bronze.
The swimmers snatched two bronze on Monday as Oman’s medal tally rose to 53 medals. Oman athletes were able to collect 16 gold, 12 silver and 25 bronze medals from 15 sports, including sailing, football, golf, taekwondo, water sports, athletics, handball, volleyball, basketball, chess, fencing, table tennis, billiard, snooker and equestrian.
In fencing, Ahmed bin Anwar Kaskas snatched the gold medal, while Saeed bin Khaled al Shuaibi claimed the bronze in cadet men's epee.
Ahmed bin Anwar Kaskas claimed silver medal in cadet men's foil competition, while Saeed bin Khaled al Shuaibi and Ali bin Hamad al Busaidy earned a bronze each.
Jana bint Mohammed al Sharijiyah won the gold in cadet women's epee event and her teammate Salma bint Saeed al Daghishiyah won the bronze in the same category. Israa bint Saif al Siyabiyah grabbed silver medal in cadet women's foil.
Oman national swimming team continued the competition for the third day in Abu Dhabi Club. Oman's Hilal bin Sulieman al Mashari snatched the bronze medal in the 200m backstroke race. Mishal bin Salim al Kelabi won the bronze in 100m freestyle, and finished fourth place in 50m butterfly for ages 16 and 17.
Ali bin Adil al Hesani finished sixth in the 400m freestyle race. Mohammed bin Khamis al Wahaibi came fourth in the 50m butterfly race. Mohammed Abdulrahman came eighth in the 200m backstroke race. Moath bin Khamis al Shebani won fifth place in the 100m freestyle race.
Taha bin Sulaiman al Kishri, Secretary-General of Oman Olympic Committee, commented on the competitions in the UAE. “Our attendance in the Games is positive. The sports committees vision was agreed to achieve certain medals, there was a technical team that met the teams and sports committees. There were more than 15 teams that wanted to participate, but the executive office worked on the recommendations of the technical committee to choose teams according to their performance and preparations, also some teams were given the opportunity to be present in the GCC event for the first time.”
“The Oman national teams until day 13th have achieved 53 medals in addition to the para athletes, this is the purpose of selecting the sports that have the greatest chance of being crowned. It is also an opportunity and a good preparatory station for these age groups for upcoming competitions,” he added.
“The Omani athletes were supposed to win more medals. So, we will have a dialogue session with all participant teams, to research ways to improve the performance in different events. The teams must go beyond the observations in order to increase their chances of being selected for foreign participation.”
“We thank the organising committee and everyone who cooperated and helped us. We all are part of one Gulf, we complement each other and cover all lapses, if any. We cannot fail to thank all members of the Oman delegation who were present, especially during the first days, where they facilitated what they could do for the national teams,” he concluded.
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