Dubai: Iraq and Qatar dominated the junior boys’ under-12 gymnastics competition, while the UAE bagged its first medal on the opening day of the Gulf School Games that got underway across Dubai on Saturday.
Iraq grabbed the overall team gold medal in the boys’ under-12 event, while Saudi Arabia took silver and Qatar and the UAE shared the bronze.
In the individual category, Raslan Anees of Qatar won the gold and teammate Tameem Mosaad took the bronze, leaving Iraq’s Mohammad Al Hanash with the silver medal.
In the boys’ under-15 contest, Qatar and Kuwait were joint gold medallists after finishing the team competitions with an identical tally of 281.55 points, while Iraq claimed the bronze with a score of 280.80 points.
Ahmad Nabeel of Qatar bagged the individual gold in the boys’ under-15, Kuwait’s Hisham Talal took the silver and Hussain Ziad of Iraq had to settle for the bronze medal.
In the table tennis for girls under-15, Bahrain and Iraq ended the opening days with two wins each. Iraq beat the UAE and Kuwait 3-0, while Bahrain stayed abreast with 3-0 wins against Kuwait and Oman.
The UAE’s first medal of the championship came through Ahmad Atiq when he was placed third in the 50 metre butterfly behind Qatar’s Abdullah Al Kuwari and Mazen Al Kalibe of Oman.
But it was Oman’s Abdul Rahman Al Kalibe who impressed as he picked up the gold in the 200 metres individual medley in a time of 2 minutes, 22.57 seconds and then claimed the silver in the 100 metre breaststroke.
Held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Education and the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, the five-day championships comprises four competitions to be held at different venues in Dubai. Athletes from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait will be competing with hosts UAE in four different competitions in the under-14 age category.
The competition is scheduled to conclude with the track and field at the Dubai Police Officers Club and Al Wasl Club on February 11-12.
