Bahrain strike badminton gold!

TDT | Manama              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain continued to strike gold yesterday at the 15th Arab Games in Algeria, with badminton star Adnan Hasan claiming the men’s singles title. The Kingdom’s rising swimming superstar Amani Alobaidli also added to her stunning medal haul, bagging her fourth medal at the multi-sport event with a bronze in the women’s 50 metres freestyle.

The two medals brought Bahrain’s tally to 33 in all sports so far at the Arab Games. These include 16 gold medals, nine silver medals and eight bronze medals. Two of the medals Bahrain have won were in athletics for people of determination. These were gold by Elias Alyassi and silver by Amal Fardan.

The medals won in this sport are not counted on the overall table for the nations’ final classification. Hasan’s gold last night was the first medal for Bahrain in badminton at this year’s Arab Games, while Amani’s bronze was the national team’s fifth medal won in swimming.

In the men’s singles final, Hasan faced Algeria’s Adel Hamek, and won 21-16, 21- 13. Meanwhile, Amani completed her 50m freestyle race in 26.74 seconds, just narrowly behind leading medallists Amel Melih and Nesrine Medjahed, who made it an Algerian one-two.

Amel took gold in 25.66s and Nesrine won silver in 26.46s. Also competing in the final was Bahrain’s Noor Taha, who claimed fifth place in 28.71s. Amani’s achievement earned her her second bronze of the Arab Games, adding to the one she won in the women’s 200m backstroke.

She has also captured two silver medals in the women’s 50m backstroke and women’s 100m backstroke. Meanwhile, in table tennis yesterday, Bahrain’s women’s team defeated Tunisia 3-0. The squad featured Maryam Al A’ali, Fatima Al A’ali, Phadke Amruta and Rayan Rashed.

It was their second successive triumph, after previously also winning against Jordan. The women’s table tennis teams’ competition is being played in league format, with the squads determining their final ranking after a single round-robin. The men’s table tennis team also won yesterday, defeating Iraq 3-1.

The Bahrainis included Mohamed Saleh, Salman Abuhamada, Rashed Rashed, Alyassi Alyas and Sayed Murtadha Mahfoodh. Like the women, the men claimed their second successive victory, after previously overcoming Palestine.

Bahrain are in Group A for the men’s event, along with the Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordan and hosts Algeria. Group B features Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Qatar, the UAE and Libya. Action continues today for Bahrain at the multi-sport event.