The Peninsula
Curtains will come up on the third edition of the 2022 GCC Games, which will kick off officially today at the Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Shooting Complex Kuwait.
Almost 1,700 athletes from six GCC nations will battle for top honours in 16 sports, namely - handball, volleyball, basketball, futsal, swimming, athletics, shooting, karate, Judo, tennis, cycling, Ice hockey, table tennis, Padel and e-sport.
The 2022 edition of the prestigious Games has many firsts associated with it.
It will be the first time women athletes will take part in the Games.
Three new disciplines have been added to this year’s event – men’s and women’s table tennis, women’s 3x3 basketball and women’s futsal.
Also featuring in the Games for the first time will be women’s competitions in e-sports, athletics and cycling.
Approximately, 173 team Qatar athletes have completed their training sessions yesterday and will compete in all sports except Futsal and Ice hockey.
Qatar’s volleyball, handball and athletics teams as well as the nation’s talented stars in individual sports including paddler Abdul Wahab, fencer Haya Diab and Tokyo Olympics rower Tala Abujbara will compete in cycling, targeting podium finishes in their respective events.
The first two editions of the GCC Games were held in Bahrain (2011) and Saudi Arabia (2015).