Dubai: The UAE crashed to their third straight defeat as they went down 23-34 to Bahrain in the handball competition at the Second GCC Games being held in Dammam.
At the end of the fifth day of the competition at the Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Sports Hall on Monday, the UAE battled hard against Bahrain, but didn’t enjoy much success countering their rivals’ moves.
The UAE had opened with a loss against the hosts on Saturday and subsequently went down to Oman late on Sunday. Monday’s loss all but puts an end to the UAE’s hopes of a medal in handball.
The UAE’s last medal had come late on Sunday after Mohammad Al Muaimi had clinched the second place in the snatch and clean and jerk categories along with a second overall in the men’s 105 kg weightlifting category. Al Muaimi lifted a total of 240 kgs, including a final snatch of 105 kgs that was good enough for the silver medal.
Al Muaimi’s three silver medals took the UAE’s tally to nine gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze after five days of the two-week long competition being held in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia.
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.
Despite not winning any more medals, the UAE continued in second place overall in the overall standings with 31 medals. Hosts Saudi Arabia are in first with 23 medals, including 18 gold, three silver and two bronze. Qatar are in third place with one gold and 13 bronze for a total of 14 medals.
