Sharjah: Athletes from the hogged the limelight with four golds, two silver and a couple of bronze during the second day of the Fifth Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST, which got under way on Monday. Organised by Sharjah Women’s Sports, the tournament that concludes on February 12, has a record 78 clubs from 18 Arab nations participating.

Hawra Al Ajami from the hosts opened the competition with a gold medal in the Kumite under-50kg category, while Fatima Khaseef doubled the gold medal tally while taking top spot in the above 68-kg category.

The UAE’s third gold medal came in the Class 2 equestrian event that was held at the Sharjah Equestrian Club. Shamma Al Hameli (Don’t Worry’), Lama Al Ajami (Alaska) Eman Al Muhairi (Douwecara) and Nadia Taryam (Askaria) were unstoppable in the team competition as they finished at the top to win a cash prize of Dh25,000.

And it was a fourth gold medal in the individual category of Class 1 with the top honours going to Kanna Al Hashemi from Fatima Bint Mubarak Academy, riding Angelina, followed in second by clubmate Khawla Al Hameli on Valentino.

The home team also won a silver when Salamah Jasim was placed second in the individual Kata.

There were a couple of bronze medals for the home team with Al Yazia Esmail taking third spot in the under-55kg and Sara Al Amiri placed third in the under-61kg category.

Athletes from Egypt also fared well with Radwa Ahmad from the Al Ahli Bank Club clinching gold in the individual Kata leaving Kuwait’s Yasmeen Al Mutaiwei for the silver, while Saudi Arabia’s Manal Al Zaid took the bronze.

Ahlam Hamdi snatched a second gold medal for Al Ahli Bank Club in the under-55kg category, while teammates Farah Mousa and Nada Eid took a silver apiece in the under-68kg and the 68kg categories.

There were wins for two of UAE’s teams as the volleyball competition got under way. Al Wasl Club, Dubai and Sharjah Women’s Sports Club secured identical 3-0 wins against De La Salle Club, Jordan and Princess Noura University Sports Club, Saudi Arabia, respectively. Algeria’s Le Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers also won with a smooth 3-0 margin over Bahrain’s Al Ahli Club.

The SWS team also got their campaign in the basketball under way with a 115-36 hammering of Elite Athletes Club from Saudi Arabia.

A total of 39 shooters representing the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Algeria will participate in the shooting competition that is scheduled to kick off at Al Dhaid Sports Club from Wednesday. The draws for the rifle and pistol 10m and pistol shooting 25m was held at a meeting headed by Nabil Ashour, Chairman of AWST’s technical follow-up committee and Salim Naser Al Dahesh, Head of the technical committee for shooting competitions.