Kingdom aims high as GCC Women’s Games kicks off

Manama : Fencing team member Maram Mohammed was the Bahrain flag barrier at the opening ceremony of the Fifth GCC Women’s Games held at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. 

The 11-day event brings more than 890 athletes representing Bahrain, Oman, UAE and hosts Qatar competing in 10 different sports events .

The ceremony was held under the patronage of Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, HE Shaikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani.

Bahrain is taking part in all events except for the chess and looking to complete a hat-trick having won the 2013 and 2015 Games held in Bahrain and Oman respectively. 

The Bahrainis suffered a setback as they lost 25-11 to hosts and defending champions Qatar in the handball championship at Aspire Dome. 

Today Bahrain play their second match against Oman, who lost their opener to the UAE  23-11 earlier. Other venues hosting the games are the Ladies Club in Aspire Zone, the Equestrian Federation, and Lusail Shooting Circuit, Qatar Sports Club, Qatar Bowling Centre and Qatar Chess Association.

The volleyball team will also face highly-favoured UAE at 4.30pm in the Aspire Zone after completing their preparations under national coach Yasine Al Meel and his assistant Younes Al Haddar.

Fencing events also start today with the flores and epee group contests taking place at Aspire Zone from 10am onwards.

Elsewhere, the athletics and shooting teams arrived  in Doha yesterday. The shooting event gets underway today while athletics competitions are set to take place tomorrow. 

Bahrain’s delegation is headed by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Deputy General Secretary and Bahrain Olympic Committee (
BOC) board member and Women’s Sport Committee chairwoman Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.

Shaikha Hayat visited the Bahrain teams’ training to follow their preparations in an attempt to boost their confidence ahead of their respective competitions.