Dubai: The UAE's Yahya Mansour won the country's first-ever judo gold medal when he triumphed in the 100 kilogramme men's event at the 13th GCC Judo Championships that concluded in Kuwait on Wednesday.
Riding on Mansour's fine performance, the UAE was placed third overall in the five-nation competition held in the Kuwaiti capital. Oman was the only Gulf country that did not participate in the two-day competition.
The hosts topped the overall tally with 24 medals, including 16 gold, six silver and two bronze gongs, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in second and third places respectively.
The competition was organised by the Kuwait Judo Association under the patronage of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports with the host country represented by 24 athletes in the three divisions.
The Kuwaiti men's team had a training camp in Uzbekistan while the youth and junior teams prepared for the event in Cairo, Egypt.
The hosts were fittingly rewarded for their hard work when Kuwait topped the tally in the junior category with seven gold and one silver, followed by Saudi Arabia with one gold and three silver and the UAE in third with three silver and three bronze medals.
Kuwait dominated the youth category too, winning five gold, two silver and a bronze medal, while Saudi Arabia once again came in second with three gold, two silver and four bronze medals and the UAE had to again be content with third and a haul of three silver and two bronze medals.
The junior competitions were held along with the senior men's event in an attempt to prepare the teams from the region for the World Judo Championships to be held in Hungary next month.
Fayez Al Daihani, president of the Kuwait Judo Federation, said that all GCC countries would continue to support such regional judo competitions in an attempt to help judokas from the Gulf achieve a higher standard.
"Eventually, we would want to see our athletes competing against the best in the world," Al Daihani was quoted by Kuwait's official news agency Kuna as saying.
