Bahrain wrap up remarkable campaign in Military Games

Bahrain won three gold medals yesterday as they wrapped up their spectacular campaign in the seventh CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, China. The men’s military football team outplayed their counterparts from Qatar to win their tournament final 3-1, while Bahraini athletes Shumi Leche and Eunice Chumba clinched first place in the men’s and women’s marathons, respectively. Thiago Fernandes scored a brace to help spearhead Bahrain in their victory against the Qataris on the football pitch.

He found the net in the 73rd minute with his team’s second goal, and then once again in the fourth minute of stoppage time to put the nail in the coffin. “It’s my job as the number nine to score,” Fernandes was quoted as saying. “I feel very happy and proud to help my team.” Just moments before Fernandes’s first, the Bahrainis were gifted an own goal by Qatar’s Naif Mubarak Alburaiki. The Qataris then managed to get one back in the 81st minute through Meshaal Abdulla Al Qebaisi to cut their deficit to 1-2, but Bahrain were able to close the match strong and secure the gold medal.

Bahrain’s military football team was coached by Ahmed Alamrei, who had a starting 11 yesterday of Hamad Aldoseri in goal, along with Yahiya Infahi, Ebrahim Khojali, Qutubaldeen Hausa, Khalifa Yuse, Moses Jona, Abdulla Faraj, Habib Saeed, Marcus Pereira, Ali Kamel and Fernandes. “I am so happy and proud of all of my players,” said coach Alamrei. “I selected these players because they are fighters. Even if maybe sometimes they have less technique or less of something else, they fight and they have spirit and this is very important.”

Algeria joined Bahrain and Qatar on the football podium as bronze-medallists following a 4-0 win over North Korea in the match for third place. In athletics, Leche raced to a fine victory amongst a field of 84 participants in the Men’s Marathon. He claimed first place with a time of two hours eight minutes 28 seconds, well ahead of his closest challengers who were more than two minutes behind. Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania was the silver-medallist in 2:11:16, while John Hakizimana of Rwanda claimed the bronze medal in 2:11:19.

Leche was the only Bahraini competing in the event. Meanwhile, Chumba also enjoyed a clear win in the Women’s Marathon. She completed the distance in 2:30:10 – 16 seconds ahead of runner-up Il Sim Park of North Korea. China’s Dan Li finished in third place in 2:30:33. “We are proud of our country,” said Chumba. “We did a very good job with the training on us, the support of our fans, of our nation and of the federation officials.” A total of 43 athletes participated in the race. Bahrain’s two marathon victories pushed them up to second place in the athletics medal table, equal on eight golds and 15 overall with powerhouses China who retained the top spot by virtue of winning five silvers to the Bahrainis’ one.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s three gold medals yesterday helped bring their overall medal tally to 17, including nine gold, one silver and seven bronze medals. The Bahraini delegation finished an impressive eighth overall on the medal standings in the ranking by gold medals. They were also the top-ranked Arab country overall. Bahrain’s medals came from Men’s Football, Track and Field, and Judo. The Military World Games is a multi-sport event for military sportspeople, organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). This year in Wuhan, more than 9,000 athletes took part, contesting 329 events in 27 sports.