Dubai: Dubai Police women’s team dominated the opening day of the first Government Games (Gov Games) on Wednesday at Kite Beach.
Some 64 women’s teams from local and international government entities battled head-to-head in seven specially designed obstacles during the Gov Games.
It was a close showdown between Dubai Police and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) who came in second, with just a one-point difference. The former got 85.5 points and the latter 84.5.
Dubai Health Authority (DHA) came third followed by Dubai Municipality, the US Consulate General in Dubai and Ministry of Education.
All six teams will vie for the championship on Saturday and the winner will take home Dh1 million.
One of the team leaders, Sara Bin Thaiban from Dewa, said bagging the second spot in the Gov Games is no easy feat. During their turn, the team finished first in the Muscle Crusher, The Wall, Burner and Human Ladder obstacles.
“I do not think that we didn’t win. We are all one team. The team spirit is the main force [we overcame many obstacles] because in this kind of sports, you have to give all your efforts not for yourself but for your team. My team was supportive. We know our strong points and weak points. We complement each other. We got support was from everywhere: managers, colleagues, and even from Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council,” she told Gulf News.
“We are ready for the Storm. We have only one goal: to win.”
Dr Mehnaz Kamali, the team leader and a consultant periodontist at DHA, said their team is extremely proud and excited to qualify for the finals and getting third place out of 64 teams.
“We were hoping to come first but the challenge was difficult physically and mentally. We are ready for the finals on Saturday and hope to win. Ever since we found out about the challenge we immediately started training for it by first assessing our levels and then working on advancing our level of fitness in the limited time of 6 weeks, so we can qualify,” she said.
The two-day men’s qualifying round began on Thursday. The top six teams out of 90 will also progress to the finals on Saturday at Kite Beach and the winning team will get Dh1 million.
Top six women’s teams:
Dubai Police — 85.5 points
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority — 84.5 points
Dubai Health Authority — 75.5 points
Dubai Municipality — 69.5 points
US Consulate General in Dubai — 66 points
Ministry of Education — 66 points
