Oman players gain points in World chess meet
Oman are placed in Group B for the Asian Under-16 Football Championship to be held in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur in September.
The Sultanate’s team are clubbed along with Yemen, DPR Korea and Jordan for the event scheduled to be held in September, it was announced at the official draw ceremony held yesterday.
The 16 participating teams are clustered into four groups.
Defending champions Iraq will play in Group D comprising Australia, Korea The Oman chess team players gained some crucial ranking points when they participated at the World Amateur Chess Championships in Cagliari, Italy. Some of the club players from Salalah represented the Sultanate in this international event under the sponsorship of the Salalah Methanol Company.
Abdullah al Mashani gained three points when he played in the Class A, Category 1, which is for the rating range of 1800-2000.
Amer al Mashani and Said Fadhil played in the 2200-2300 rating range where the former accrued two points while the latter increased his tally by two and a half points. Republic and Afghanistan. Japan, Thailand and Tajikistan are placed in Group A along with Malaysia, the host nation. Iran, who finished as the runner up in last edition in India, will face off against Vietnam, India and Indonesia in Group C. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the next round. Also, the teams who will reach the semifinals will secure the chairs in the
Said Qatan got three points in the under 1700 ranking.
In the fifth round, Said Qatan beat Russian Saferja Sufiya while Abdullah al Mashani won against Italian Neesi David. The match between Salim Fadhil and Columbia’s Henry Alperto finished in a draw.
Musalam al Amri won against Brazilian George Alperto while Said Fadhil achieved a stalemate with Mongolian Etiget Chgeoset. Amer al Mashani defeated Argentina player Lopez Pablo while Ameen al Ansi lost his match against Italian Sana Yari.
This is the second tournament where Omani players are participating. Said Fadhil achieved a third place in the Greece tournament in the under 2000 ranking category in 2016. U-16 World Cup.
The Oman National (U-16) football team secured the berth in the Asian Cup after they finished second in the Group B in Asian Qualification with six points. The Oman U-16 team had thrashed Maldives and Syria 8-0 and 6-0 respectively and suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tajikistan.
The Oman U-16 team are continuing their external camp in Tajikistan in preparation for the Asian Cup in Malaysia in coming September. The Oman U-16 team will face off Tajikistan today in the second friendly match in the camp. Oman had lost their first friendly match against Tajikistan team 1-0.
Head coach of Oman national team, Yaqoob al Sabahi, has selected the best players from the league after an evaluation of their technical and physical performance during the last internal camps and last rounds of league.
Squad: Maitham al Ajmi (Al Etihad), Abdullah al Alawi (Yanqul), Qusai al Jaradi, Mountaser al Zadjali, Harib al Adawi, Osama al Hadabi (Seeb), Essa al Naabi (Muscat), Mulham al Sunaidi (Ahli Sidab), Al Azhar al Balushi, Abdullah al Faliti, Abdul Hakim al Owaisi, Nasser al Na’abi, Muayad al Subhi (Al Shabab), Mohammed al Balushi, (Al Suwaiq), Omar al Salti, Hamad al Mukhaini (Al Oruba), Fahd al Rasabi (Al Kamil W’al Wafi), Tareq al Moashri (Jaalan), Dawood al Abri (Samayil) Suliman al Mazroui (Al Salam), Firas al Suri (Dhofar) Rashad al Habsi (Al Nasr) The draw: Group A: Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Tajikistan. Group B: DPR Korea, Oman, Yemen, Jordan Group C: Iran, Vietnam, India, Indonesia Group D: Iraq, Korea REP, Australia,
Afghanistan