EGYPT's military delegation, with its 85 players, took 11th place at the CISM World Games held in Mungyeong, in South Korea. Egypt collected 12 medals: three gold, four silver and five bronze. The games lasted from 2-11 October and 7,000 athletes representing 117 nations participated. The closing ceremony was called “The Festival of Peace”, promoting friendship between nations and love for humanity. The International Military Sports Council was established in February 1948 in Brussels, Belgium. Its mission is to contribute to world peace by uniting armed forces through sports. This was the sixth Military Games. The first was held in Rome in 1995 with the participation of 84 nations competing in 17 events, followed by Croatia in 1999 in which 80 nations competed in 18 events. In 2003, Italy's Catania was the host city and 81 countries participated in 11 events. The fourth Games were held in India's Hyderabad where 101 nations competed in 15 events. In 2011, Brazil's Rio de Janeiro hosted 113 nations in 20 events. In South Korea, Egypt's military handball team won the first gold medal in the history of its participation after defeating Qatar 29-26 in the final. Egypt's journey started alongside the Republic of Korea, Brazil and Oman in Group A. The Pharaohs reached the final after defeating Lithuania, while Qatar advanced by defeating the hosts South Korea. Egypt's volleyball team came second after losing 3-1 to Brazil in the final. In wrestling, Haitham Fawzi collected the silver in the 59kg weight category while Ibrahim Ghoneim took the bronze in the 73kg. Egyptian taekwondo girls consisting of Hedaya Malak, Nour Hussein and Seham Al-Sawahli collected two gold medals and one bronze. In the modern pentathlon, Amr Al-Geziri collected the bronze and Islam Hamed the silver. Marawan Al-Kamash captured the bronze in the 200m sprint while Mohamed Sami took the silver in the 100m freestyle. Omar Ehab took the bronze in judo and teammate Ali Eid the silver in over 100 and 60 kg weight categories respectively. “What has been achieved is unprecedented,” Youssri Al-Lozi, head of the Egyptian military delegation, said on the Egyptian performance. “Military teams are becoming very talented and the competition is fierce as all the teams around the world have started paying attention to preparing strong military teams in all sports. I am very happy and satisfied with what has been achieved,” Al-Lozi said.
