UAE bring GCC championship home with eighth title in a row

The Emirates' joy was doubled when up-and-coming youngster Khalid Ali Kamali took home more gold when he claimed the Junior Singles title.

The team comprising top Emirati player Mohammad Mustafa Shehab, Mohammed Al Joker, and veterans Obaid Khalifa and Abdullah Attar, won all five of their matches to return home with the trophy.

Victory

They blanked Saudi Arabia 3-0 in the first match and claimed another comfortable 3-1 victory over Bahrain in the second outing.

Shehab and company crushed hosts Qatar 3-0 in their third match and later ran roughshod over Kuwait and neighbours Oman, winning by identical 3-0 margins, proving the rest of their competition in the region have much catching up to do to even offer some kind of resilience.

In the Men's Singles event, Eisa Al Syed finished third on the podium behind local hero Ahmad Saif and Saudi Arabia's Omar Al Ajlan.

Meanwhile, Kamali rewrote the history books when he won the Junior's Singles event as he became the first player to hold both the Pool-Billiards and Snooker titles.

Kamali thrashed opponents from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, winning 3-0, 3-1, 3-1 and 3-1, respectively.

A total of 60 leading cueists from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and hosts Qatar participated in the championships.