UAE women win Excellence Shield

By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter from Gulf News

• A UAE player (in green) attempts to spike the ball as a Bahraini player tries to block it during the volleyball final at the GCC Women’s Games in Abu Dhabi. Image Credit: Abdel-Krim Kallouche/Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The UAE won the Excellence Shield of the Second GCC Women's Games after winning the most medals in the 7 sports which were contested in the tournament with 12 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze medals.

Bahrain came second with 8 gold, 8 silver and as many bronze followed by Qatar with 5 gold, 9 silver and 8 bronze, then Kuwait with 4 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze while Oman finished fifth with one gold, one silver and 4 bronze.

The UAE teams dedicated the Excellence Shield to Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, the Supreme Chairperson of the UAE General Women's Union and the Patron of the Games, for her continuous support to the women in all fields of life in general and in the sports field in particular in a gesture of gratitude and thanks.

Noura Khalifa Al Suwaidi, the Chairperson of the local Organising Committee, expressed her pleasure with the achievement of the UAE teams in the Games and said, "This victory would not has been achieved if it wasn't for the continuous and unlimited support of Shaikha Fatima to the women not only in the UAE but in the GCC states as well as we have seen the improvement in the teams recently and since the first Games two years ago.

"We, organisers, officials and players, dedicate this victory to Shaikha Fatima in recognition of her support and encouragement and we promise that we will achieve more brilliant results in the future in all levels, regional, continental and international," she said.

The last day of the Games witnessed the end of the athletics competitions which were dominated by Bahrain with Mariam Al Ansari winning the long jump event registering 5.16 metres followed by Riam Allen Thomas from Qatar in second place with 5.16 metres and Nour Ebrahim from Bahrain with 5.11 metres.

Bahrain added the gold of the Discus with Basma Mohammad throw of 32.78 metres leaving the silver medal to Shahd Salah, from Kuwait, with 24.53 and the bronze to Buthaina Nabil from Qatar with 24.49.

Oman won their only gold medal in the Games when Shannona Al Hibsi finished first in the 200 metres race in 26.4 seconds followed by Noura Al Malki of Qatar, in second place in 26.6 seconds and Fatima Amr from Bahrain who came third in 27.7 seconds.

UAE's Alya Saeed won her second gold medal in athletics as she finished first in the 800 metres race in 2.15 minutes followed by Nada Nabil from Qatar in 2.34 and Shahd Jasem from the UAE in 2.43.

The competitions came to an end with the 4x400 metre relay which was won by Qatar in 52.3 seconds with Bahrain in second with 52.5 as the UAE won the bronze in 55.9 seconds.

Source: http://gulfnews.com/sport/other-sports/uae-women-win-excellence-shield-1.775395

UAE get off to impressive start in Games volleyball

• Defending champions UAE in action against Oman in GCC Women’s Games volleyball at the Al Jazeera Indoor Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The hosts cruised to victory. Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News

By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter

Abu Dhabi: The UAE team look set to defend the volleyball title they won in the first GCC Women's Games in Kuwait two years ago as they trounced Oman 2-0 at the Al Jazira Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

The UAE dominated the match, winning 25-10, 25-9, with good striking, solid defending and accurate service.

The team was represented by Fatima Hassan, the captain, Alya Nasir, Abrar Ali, Nadia Ali, Samiha Hassan, Fatima Mohammad, Rawiya Mubarak, Muna Abbass, Sana'a Aref, Kolaithim Rahma and Muna Haider.

In the first match of the opening day, Kuwait beat Bahrain 2-1 (22-25, 28-26, 25-18) in an encounter that lasted more than 90 minutes.

In the final day of competition, Oman will face Kuwait while Bahrain will play against the UAE.

Meanwhile, Haya Sameer added another gold medal to the UAE haul after winning the 53kg taekwondo competition in the GCC Women's Games held under the patronage of Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union and patron of the Games.

Haya was followed by Kothom Mubarak from Qatar who won the silver, while Zuwaina Abdullah from Oman and Noura Adil from Bahrain shared the bronze.

• Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, captain of the UAE taekwondo team, won the gold in the Open Category of the over 73-kg in the GCC Women's Games in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Shaikha Maitha was in a class of her own against Oman's Niven Khalfan, winning 12-4 in her first bout, before defeating Kuwaiti champion Hamayel Gazi Al Yagoot 6-1. Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News

Support

"I dedicate this victory and the gold medal to Shaikha Fatima and to Shaikha Maytha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for their unlimited and continuous support.

"I was confident of winning the gold medal because we are well prepared for the competition in addition to the fact that the presence and support of Shaikha Maytha was a motive to all of the UAE players to excel and do their best in the competitions.

"I believe such competitions will encourage more women to practice the game and will lead to its spread and improvement in the region."

Dina Eid Mahbout from Bahrain won the gold medal in the 46kg category, with the UAE's Al Ghaliya Askar winning the silver and Aisha Salem from Qatar taking the bronze.

Dina Al Mansouri from Qatar won the 62kg category leaving the silver to Anood Al Malkawy from Kuwait and the bronze went to Muneera Al Ka'abi from the UAE.

Sameer Juma, the coach of the UAE team, said: "I am happy with this performance because it is the first participation for our players in the taekwondo competitions."

Source: http://gulfnews.com/sport/athletics/uae-get-off-to-impressive-start-in-games-volleyball-1.774506