Podium ceremony of 5km open water team swimming.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Oman dominated the 5km Open Water Swimming competition at the second GCC Beach Games, winning gold in both the individual and team events yesterday.
At the Katara Beach, Mohammed bin al-Habsi clinched the top spot after the Omani touched the shores first in 1:1.22 seconds. He was followed by compatriot Musallam bin Abdullah al-Khadury (1:01.25) for silver medal. UAE’s Abdullah Ali al-balooshi came home in 1:01.26 to take the bronze.
Qatar swimmers had a disappointing outing with Walid Dalloul and Omar Abdullah Abu-Ghazaleh finishing 13th and 14th, respectively. The Qatari’s were affected by strenuous schedule and were coming into the GCC event having competed in UAE.
In the team competition, Oman comfortably won gold ahead of Kuwait and UAE. The trio of Mohammed bin al-Habsi, Musallam bin Abdullah al-Khadury and Khalid bin Mohammed al-Kalibi timed 3.04.13 seconds to come first. The ten kilometer race will be held today morning.
In the sailing competition which began on Monday at Katara Beach, Qatar’s Faris al-Bakri took the lead after overnight leader Bahrain’s Jassim Showaiter slumped to fifth place in the Laser Radial Class. Bakri was second after three rounds but took the leap and benefited after Showaiter faltered. Saeed al-Zaidi of UAE was in contention for sliver medal, while Dawood al-Sadiq was in third slot.
In Optimist Class, overnight leader Zakarixa al-Wahabi of Oman maintained his lead after six rounds. Al-Wahabi’s compatriot Marwan al-Jabri jumped from third to second, while Abdullah al-Bishr of UAE slipped to third spot on the penultimate day.
Qatar’s Ghanim al-Sewaidi, who was in fourth spot after three rounds, slipped four positions to seventh.
In Laser 4.7 Class, Oman’s sailor Khamis al-Wahaibi was firmly in grip for the gold medal after extending his lead over Saoud al-Naar of Bahrain. Abdulrahman Ajinah of Qatar was lying in third spot.
Meanwhile, 3x3 basketball event will start today at the Al Gharafa court. Eight teams have been divided into two groups. The first group consists of Qatar ‘A’ and the UAE ‘A’ and Bahrain ‘B’ and Kuwait ‘B’, Group B is made of Qatar ‘B’, Kuwait ‘A’, Oman and UAE ‘B’.

(Below left) Oman team celebrate after winning 5km open water swimming title. (Below right) Participants in action on day one of the sailing competition.