Bahrain’s women’s futsal team triumph, men suffer setback

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s women’s and men’s futsal teams had mixed results yesterday on the opening day of the third GCC Games in Kuwait. The Bahraini women enjoyed an emphatic 4-1 victory over their Saudi Arabian counterparts in the first match of their competition, while the Kingdom’s men’s squad suffered a 1-3 defeat against their Saudi opponents.

Today is a rest day for the futsal competitions and action will resume tomorrow. For the women, four different players were on target for the nationals, including Manar Yaqoob, Amira Sowar, Hessa Alisa and Eman Alkhattal.

The Bahrainis were the first to get onto the score board when Manar found the net in the 16th minute. But it didn’t take long for the Saudis to equalise through Seba Tawfiq. The nationals were also quick to react, going back in front once more with Amira’s goal, which was enough to put Bahrain in the lead heading into the half-time break.

In the second half, Hessa made it 3-1 for Bahrain with a goal six minutes into the concluding period, and then Eman applied the nail in the coffin with her goal three minutes from full time. It was a rousing start for the Bahraini women in the competition.

They will be back on the court tomorrow with their second match against the UAE. It is scheduled for a 4.30pm kick-off. Following that contest, they will return to action on Thursday against Kuwait, after which the women’s semi-finals will be held on Saturday.

The bronze and gold medal games are then scheduled for Monday next week. Meanwhile, the men’s squad had a disappointing start to their tournament campaign. All four goals in the match came in the second half.