Action continues at Gulf Games
KUWAIT: The third Gulf Games enter the second day with the start of shooting competitions at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex. Competitions will start with trap, as shooters will shoot a round of 75 targets, with the 10m air pistol at 10:30 am followed by the finals. The morning period will witness the 50m rifle three positions competition, while the finals will be held at 2:00 pm.
Secretary General of Kuwait and Arab Shooting Federations Obaid Al-Osaimi welcomed the Gulf teams that are participating in the Gulf Games, adding that everything is ready for the competitions under the new law that will be implemented for the first time at the Gulf Games, adding that the changes will be implemented officially during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
He said Kuwait Shooting Federation and Club are keen on providing all participating teams with their requirements in cooperation with Kuwait Olympic Committee and its President Sheikh Fahad Al-Nasser Al-Sabah and Public Authority for Sport and its Director General Dr Humoud Fulaiteh.
Meanwhile, Head of the Shotgun Referees Committee Hamad Al-Ruwaisan said the games will apply the new law of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in both the skeet and trap events.
He said six shooters qualified for the final round under the previous rules to compete for the medals, but the new rules allow the best eight shooters to enter the final rounds in two groups of four shooters each, with the first and second place shooters of each group competing for the medals.
The athletics competition will have three morning events for men including the 100m dash (decathlon 1), long jump (decathlon 2) and shotput (decathlon 4). Meanwhile, in the evening, there will be the finals of the discus throw, long jump (decathlon 4), 400m hurdles, triple jump, 800m race, 3000m hurdles and 400m hurdles.
The second round of the men’s basketball preliminaries will be held on Tuesday with Kuwait meeting Bahrain at 8:00 pm, while Saudi Arabia and UAE will face each other at 5:00 pm.
Media committee official of the games Sattam Al-Sahali welcomed the media personnel who accompany the delegations and colleagues who are representing various media. He said the Higher Organizing Committee was keen on providing all the necessary facilities for media covering the events.
He announced the opening of media centers to serve media delegations at Sheikh Saad AlAbdullah Sports Complex in Sabah Al-Salem and the other at the Avenues Hilton, in addition to other mobile centers.
Director of the padel competitions at the Gulf Games Abdelghafour Teefouni said padel has started to impose itself lately among the most popular games around the world and the region, so it was not strange for officials to include the game, as padel associations are being established in rapidly in the Gulf.
He thanked the Olympic Committee for including the game for the first time as it enjoyed vast expansion in the region and around the world. He said Kuwait Padel Association made available all the necessary requirements to make sure everything is ready to organize the first official competition of this magnitude under its supervision. He said the men’s round robin matches will be held at Yarmouk Club, while the women’s matches will be held at Kuwait Sports Club.