The Peninsula
Qatar men’s table tennis team yesterday secured silver medal at the third GCC Games after going down against Saudi Arabia in the final at Youth Complex in Kuwait.
On their way to 3-0 win, Saudi Arabia took lead through Abdulaziz Al Abbad, who beat Qatar’s Mohammed Hussein 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 13-11 in a thrilling match. Ahmed Al Mohannadi then gave Qatar hopes of an equaliser by winning the first two games against Ali Al Khadrawi before the Saudi Arabia player bounced back to complete an 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-1 victory.
Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi wrapped up win for Saudi Arabia after his 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 win over Fahad Al Mughanne.
After the completion of team event, Qatari paddlers will be seen in action in the singles and doubles events, which will get underway today.
Meanwhile,Qatari team got off to a winning start in padel team event as they defeated Bahrain 3-0 after a brilliant show. The pair of Mohammed Abdulla and Abdulaziz Al Kuwari defeated Ali Dawani and Husain Dawani 6-2, 6-1 before Mohammed Al Kuwari and Abdulla Al Hijji combined to beat Rashed Alobaidli and Khaled Al Thawadi 6-3, 6-3 to give Qatar 2-0 lead.
Mohammed Al Khanji and Jabor Al Mutawa sealed 3-0 victory for Qatar with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Mohamed Abdulla and Omar Qaed. Qatar will take on Saudi Arabia in their second match tomorrow.
In volleyball, Qatar registered another victory blanking Kuwait 3-0 with a 25-15, 25-21, 27-25 score-line. Al Annabi, who defeated Oman and Saudi Arabia in their first two matches, will now meet Bahrain in their next Group A match, today.
After yesterday’s proceedings, Qatar remained third on medals table with 12 gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals. Hosts Kuwait lead the table with an overall tally of 64 medals including 24 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals while Bahrain are second with 19 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze medals.