Dubai:The UAE added another three silver medals to their tally at the end of the fourth day of the second GCC Games being held in Dammam.
On Sunday night, the UAE’s Mohammad Al Muaimi clinched the second place in the snatch and clean and jerk categories and was placed second overall in the men’s 105kg weight category. Al Muaimi lifted a total of 240 kgs, including a final snatch of 105 kgs that was good enough for a second place.
Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Kamel claimed the gold medal with a total of 287 kgs, while Qatar’s Amir Hamad Al Shahrani took the bronze medal with a total of 150 kgs.
The three silver medals took the UAE’s tally to nine gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze after only four days of the two-week long competition being held in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Abdul Mohsin Al Dossary, Chairman of the UAE delegation in Dammam has urged the country’s athletes to give off their best and achieve even more success on the remaining days of the competition that is scheduled to conclude on October 25.
“So far, the UAE has done well while dominating two sports like camel racing and endurance. But now is the time for the individual athletes to shine and bring glory to the country,” Al Dossary told Gulf News.
“All our athletes here [in Dammam] have undergone good preparations during the summer for these Games and we would expect each of them to target at least a podium finish in the rest of the sporting disciplines,” he added.
Over the next few days, the UAE is scheduled to take part in individual sports such as swimming, karate, bowling, athletics, showjumping, judo and table tennis. “In the team sports we still have to play in the basketball competition and we expect the boys to do well,” Al Dossary said.
“We are here to uphold the vision of our leaders with our chairman Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum showing us the right path through personal example. Now that we have crossed the medals tally of the first edition, we are keen to raise the bar even higher,” he added.
The UAE has sent a strong contingent of 114 athletes for the Second GCC Games being held in the eastern city of Dammam in Saudi Arabia till October 25. The UAE had won a total of 21 medals at the end of the inaugural edition held in Bahrain in 2011.
The UAE is currently in second place overall in the medals standings with 31. Hosts Saudi Arabia is in first with 23 medals, including 18 gold, three silver and two bronze. Qatar is in third place with one gold and 13 bronze for a total of 14 medals. Kuwait is the only country not participating with a last-minute withdrawal from the Games.