Team Bahrain set to go for gold!

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s national teams kick off their highly anticipated medal bids in the third edition of the GCC Games today, with a packed schedule in three sports.

Bahrain’s women’s and men’s athletics teams will be in action on the track and in the field, as will Bahrain’s women’s and men’s futsal squads and the men’s basketball team. All the action will be a part of an action-packed first day of competition at the multi-sport meet.

Athletics

In athletics, Bahrain will have a chance to go for as many as 11 gold medals. Among those who will be looking to secure a GCC Games title in women’s athletics are Noora Jasim in the women’s shot put final; Aminat Jamal and Saleha Lahdan in the women’s 100 metres hurdles final; Fatima Mubarak in the women’s long jump final; Bontu Rebitu and Violah Jepchumba in the women’s 10,000m final; Hajar Alkhaldi in the women’s 100m final; and Muna Mubarak and Awatif Ahmed in the women’s 400m final.

Meanwhile, amongst the men, Abdelrahman Mahmoud will be hoping to go for gold in the men’s shot put final; Basel Mohamed and Sayed Mustafa Alqarooni in the men’s long jump final; and Abraham Cheroben and Albert Rop in the men’s 10,000m final Four other men will be hoping to make it through to their medal rounds today.

They will first need to compete in the semi-finals before going on to their respective finals. They include Barak Abdou and Abdulraof Rashid in the men’s 100m, and Abbas Ali and Musa Isah in the men’s 400m.

Their semis are scheduled in the morning, and should they advance, the medal rounds will be held this evening. The women’s and men’s athletics programmes were originally scheduled to be held separately over two three-day periods, but they have now been combined and will take place between today until Wednesday.

Futsal

Bahrain’s women’s and men’s futsal teams will also be taking to their playing courts today. They both will be going up against their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, with the women’s match scheduled for a 2pm start and the men’s game set for a 4.30pm kick-off.

Bahrain’s women’s futsal squad features 14 of the Kingdom’s best players, including Hessa Al Isa, Shaikha Alanood Al Khalifa, Wesal Alyassi, Eman Alkhattal, Fatema Alnesuf, Leleya Sabkar, Amira Sowar, Yasmeen Tobellah, Manar Yaqoob, Hajar Alansari, Rose Tobellah, Rawan Alali, and goalkeepers Dalal Saleh and Zahra Ali.

The men’s team consists of 13 talents. They are Ali Alalwani, Ammar Ali, Mohamed Abdulla, Jassam Anan, Saleh Sanjar, Hasan Marzooq, Mohamed Alsandi, Ahmed Antar, Falah Yusuf, Salman Muhammad and goalkeepers Yusuf Faleh, Mohamed Sayed Abbas and Sayed Fadhel Mahfoodh. Both squads will be looking to go for gold and are among the favourites to do so.

Men’s basketball

Bahrain’s senior men’s national basketball team will begin their quest for GCC supremacy today when they lock horns with the UAE at 5pm. The nationals have been busy over the past few weeks gearing up for the competition.

It will be the first tournament for newly signed head coach Mindaugas Lukosius from Lithuania, who will also be leading the Bahrainis in their upcoming campaigns in FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualifying as well as in the FIBA Asia Cup 2022, both in July.

Bahrain have put together an exciting team for the GCC Games, featuring a mix of some of the Kingdom’s best young talents and veterans returning to international play. Muzamil Ameer will be one of the main men to look out for as he is back with the national team after missing some of their previous assignments being a student-athlete in the NCAA First Division in the U.S.

The versatile forward is joined amongst the young standouts by guard Mustafa Hussain. Bahrain’s veterans making a comeback to international duty are Bader Abdulla Malabes, Hussain Shaker and Hassan Nowrooz, and they will be teaming up with mainstays Ahmed Salman Ramadhan, Mohammed Ameer, Maitham Jameel, Hesham Sarhan, Ali Jaber and Ali Shukrallah.

Bahrain’s roster is then bolstered by naturalised players CJ Giles and Wayne Chism. Bahrain are participating in 16 sports at this year’s GCC Games.

Aside from athletics, futsal and basketball, the others are volleyball, judo, karate, fencing, shooting, tennis, cycling, swimming, ice hockey, Esports, table tennis, padel, and handball.

Basketball includes 5x5 for men and 3x3 for women.