Dubai: The UAE women’s team will look for a hat-trick at the GCC Golf Championship in Oman’s Ghala Golf Club from December 10-13, having won the title for the past two years running.

Reema Al Heloo will be hoping to better her third place individual finish of last year after appearing in the Summer Youth Olympics and Asian Games, and will be supported by Hamda Al Suwaidi and Alia Al Emadi.

Ahmad Skaikh in the UAE men’s team will also be hoping to defend his individual title, alongside Khalid Yousuf, Saif Thabet and Daood Jaffal.

With Skaikh, Yousuf and Thabet having played in the World Amateur Championships and finishing fourth at the Pan Arab Championships, the UAE team is looking for a strong finish in Muscat. Jaffal meanwhile will be playing in his first international tournament for the UAE.

Playing for the Under-18s will be Mohammad Adel Al Hajeri, Rashid Al Qubaisi and Rashid Al Emadi. Al Hajeri will be playing in his last international event before heading to the US to study. He too had a busy summer with the Youth Olympics, Asian Games and Pan Arabs but will look for a good send off in Oman.

The Under-15s boast new faces making their first international appearances. Brothers Rashid and Sultan Al Jassmy are products of the Emirates Golf Federations Arab Schools Initiative along with Obaid Al Heloo.

EGF secretary general and UAE team manager Khalid Al Shamsi said: “UAE teams are well prepared and we’re looking forward to strong finishes in all divisions. For the ladies to have the chance to win this event three years in a row is a great achievement. Also to have the Al Jassmy brothers competing at such a young age (Rashid is 12 and Sultan is 10) is a great boost for our junior programme. We are excited for this week and hope to make the UAE proud.”

Ladies and junior divisions are run over three rounds with the best two scores in a team of three counted each round. The men’s division is over four rounds with the best three rounds from four counted. Individual scores are also counted for awards parallel to the team events.

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