The best of Bahrain sports in 2022

14: Bahrain Raid Xtreme set Dakar Rally record, becoming first team to complete world’s toughest rally with cars running on sustainable fuel as Sebastien Loeb finished as the overall runner-up in the cars class.

31: Bahrain won the silver medals in the 2022 Asian Men’s Handball championship, held in Saudi Arabia.

February

17: Bahraini elite athlete Birhanu Balew set new Asian and Bahraini indoor records in the men’s 3,000 metres after finishing fourth at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-deCalais, held at the French commune of Lievin.

22: Bahrain captured seven gold medals in an impressive 14-medal haul to dominate the 24th edition of the Arab Cross Country Championship

March

11: Al Mohamediya Racing contender Zagato, trained by Hesham Al Haddad and ridden by Neil Callan, captured the His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Cup, King of Bahrain (sponsored by Bapco).

12: Team Bahrain were crowned champions of the first-ever Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Super Cup, taking home a cool $100,000 in prize money.

20: Charles Leclerc was crowned the firstever Grand Prix winner in Formula 1’s new era, leading Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz to a spectacular onetwo in an epic F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2022, held in front of a record Race Day crowd at Bahrain International Circuit

26: Bahraini cyclist Ahmed Madan won the under-23 title in the Individual Time Trial at the 10th Asian Road Cycling Championships in Tajikistan

May

9: Bahrain made a near-clear sweep of the gold medals at the 52nd World Military Marathon Championship held in Lima, Peru.

Bahrainis Shumi Dechasa and Eunice Chebichii Chumba captured the men’s and women’s individual gold medals, respectively, while Dechasa led the men’s squad to securing the team title.

31: Bahrain signed off from the third GCC Games in Kuwait with an overall tally of 64 medals to complete the prestigious multi-sport event.

The Bahrainis finished the GCC Games in second place amongst the competing delegations with 20 gold medals, 23 silver and 21 bronze.

Bahrain’s national athletics team won 13 medals including seven gold while Bahrain’s women’s futsal team captured gold.

June

8: Bahrain kicked off their Group E campaign in AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifying with a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Bangladesh at Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

12: Al Najma were crowned champions of the 38th Gulf Clubs Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait City following a resounding 39-24 victory over Mudhar of Saudi Arabia in the tournament final.

14: Bahrain secured their berth in the AFC Asian Cup 2023.

18: Bahrain’s elite athlete Winfred Yavi claimed an impressive victory while setting the then-world leading time, as well as a new personal best, in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at the Meeting de Paris Diamond League event in France.

24: Bahrain clinched the bronze medals in the third West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Women’s Futsal Championship 2022, held in Jahez, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Kuwait 2-0 in the game for third place.

July

24: Gutsy Japan upset home side Bahrain to claim the gold medals in the 17th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, hosted by the Kingdom.

August

5: Bahrain’s Yusuf Ali Abbas captured the men’s 400 metres bronze medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships held in Cali, Colombia.

14: Bahrain captured an historic bronze medal in the 2022 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Men, held in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, after defeating South Korea 3-0 (25- 23, 27-25, 32-30) in a hotly contested clash for third place.

16: Bahrain won 23 medals at the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya, Turkey, including nine gold, seven silver and seven bronze.

September

2: Bahrain’s women’s volleyball team were crowned champions of the first Fatima bint Mubarak Academy GCC Volleyball Cup for Ladies, held in Abu Dhabi.

October

15: Ahmed Mohamed Al Zayed was crowned champion of the fourth Annual Bahrain Amateur Open golf championship, held at The Royal Golf Club.

15: Bahrain made sporting history after Lesman Paredes won the Kingdom its first two gold medals of the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022, held in Manama.

Competing in the men’s 96kg category, Paredes won his two golds in the Snatch and Overall competitions, while also taking a silver medal in the Clean and Jerk.

16: Bahraini weightlifter Gor Minasyan won two gold medals and one silver competing in the men’s +109kg category at the Asian Weightlifting Championships 2022, and in doing so also set two new Asian records.

23: Sebastien Loeb gave Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) a superb maiden triumph in the World Rally-Raid Championship with a thrilling victory in the Andalucia Rally.

November 

12: Toyota Gazoo Racing roared to a sensational one-two finish in a dramafilled Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, and in the process captured both the Hypercar drivers’ and manufacturers’ world titles to cap an historic 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship at Bahrain International Circuit.

18: Daniel Tudhope celebrated a lucrative, bigrace success as he partnered the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Dubai Future to glory in the £600,000 Group 3 Bahrain International Trophy.

26: Tom Sloman was crowned champion of the 14th King Hamad Trophy golf championship, held at The Royal Golf Club.

December

9: Bahrain Victorious 13 triathlete Vincent Luis and Marjolaine Pierre, both from France, won their respective race categories in the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain.

14: Bahrain weightlifter Lesman Paredes Montano bagged the overall gold in the men’s 96kg weight category at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogota, Columbia.

He clinched first place with a total lift of 397kg, which included 185kg in the Snatch and 212kg in the Clean and Jerk.

17: Gabriel Sandor from Sweden and Alissa Koenig from Switzerland were crowned champions of their respective categories in the 2022 Bahrain Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) Triathlon Asian Cup, held in Diyar Al Muharraq.

23: Sabastian Sawe from Kenya and Tigist Assefa from Ethiopia were crowned champions of their respective race classes in the third Bahrain Royal Night Half-Marathon.

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s achievements in 2022

May

13: Crowned the champion of the 160km race held as part of the Windsor Equestrian Championship.

21: Added another success to his bright record in endurance horseracing at the European level after winning the 160km race of the Montalcino International Endurance Championship in Italy

July

10: Achieved back-to-back victories at the Samorin International Endurance, winning both the 120km race and 160km ride at the event.

October

2: Wrote another chapter in the rich history of the Kingdom of Bahrain by winning the title in the World Endurance Championship for EightYear-Old Horses, held in Spain.

BRAVE CF highlights

BRAVE CF 63

(October 19): Marcin “Bomba” Bandel was crowned the new BRAVE CF Super Welterweight World Champion in the main event of a hugely exciting BRAVE Combat Federation 63.

BRAVE CF 64

(October 22): Roman Bogatov was crowned the new BRAVE CF Featherweight World Champion after defeating Tae Kyun Kim of South Korea by split decision in a hotly contested and gruelling main event headlining BRAVE Combat Federation 64.

BRAVE CF 65

(October 29): Bahrain’s Mixed Martial Arts superstar Hamza Kooheji scored a fantastic triumph against Eduardo Mora from Colombia in the main event of BRAVE Combat Federation 65 via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three exciting rounds in their featherweight bout.

Riffa celebrate after being crowned as the Football League champions