Oman pick seven more medals at GCC Youth Games

Muscat:  Oman’s rich harvest of medals at the inaugural GCC Youth Games continued on the second day in the UAE with seven more medals added on Wednesday to raise the overall tally to 12.

Oman, which won five medals including four gold on the inaugural day, had another successful outing with five gold and two silver medals.

Taekwondo players bagged six of the medals won on Wednesday with four gold and two silver in Fujairah while the sailing team clinched the gold in the Optimist class in Abu Dhabi.

Shahnaz Al Ma'awali snatched a gold medal in the 44 kg competition with a win over Saudi Arabia's Seyouf Hassan while Al Ezz Al Ma'awali won the title in the 68 kg weight class with a win over Kuwait’s Othman Faris.

Fida Al Barwani picked the third gold of the day for Oman in the 52kg class while Abdulrahman Al Jabri earned the fourth gold.

Two silver medals were won by Qaboos Al Balushi in the 68 kg category, going down to UAE’s Mohammed Khaled while Hind Al Balushi lost to Saudi Arabia’s Amam Abdullah in the final. After two days of action the taekwondo team had pocketed a total of 11 medals.

Oman U17 football team wins opener
Following the postponement of the opening match of the football event due to rains on Tuesday, Oman beat hosts 2-0 in the rescheduled match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Oman and UAE were locked in a goalless stalemate at halftime before Osama Al Maamari drew the first blood in the 59th minute. Ibrahim Al Tamimi made it 2-0 for Oman in the 84th minute.

Sailing gold
The other gold was won by Oman sailors in the Optimist class at the Abu Dhabi Sailing Club.

After an exciting competition, Oman sailors won the gold in difficult weather conditions. They beat Qatar in the first round and then overcame the hosts UAE in the final round for the title. The winning squad comprised Tamim Al Balushi, Hood Al Nofali, Tarteel Al Hassani, Mohammed Al Qasimi, and Khamis Al Mashaykhi.

Meanwhile, the national handball team arrived on Wednesday with competition beginning on Friday.

Also chess competition was postponed, due to the non-arrival of some of the Gulf teams, including Oman as flights were postponed due to weather conditions.

Weather conditions in Dubai also led to postponement of athletics events, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday.