CAIRO - Egypt grabbed three gold medals and one silver medal on the first day of the 2011 Arab Games competition that runs from 9 to 23 December in the oil-rich Gulf city of Doha, Qatar. The Egyptian shooting team shot their way to first place and gold in the shooting competition, while the Saudi team came second and the Kuwaiti team third. The Egyptian team featured shooters Mohamed Hassan, Peter Soleiman and Mohamed Abdel Qader. Qatar is hosting the 12th edition of the Games ahead of the 2022 World Cup for football, which will also be held in this Gulf state. Hassan also snatched first place and the gold medal in the 10m individual competition, while Saudi shooter Khaled el-Enzi snatched silver and a Kuwaiti shooter bronze. The Arab Games, the biggest sporting event in the Arab world, were first held in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1953. The Games were planned to be held every four years, but, for political and financial reasons, they have only been held 11 times in the past 58 years. Meanwhile, Egypt's bodybuilder Mohamed el-Fadali snatched the gold medal and first place in the U-80kg category, while the Libyan bodybuilder Hussein Abdullah came second and Kuwaiti bodybuilder Jassem Hassan snatched bronze. Egypt's Mohamed Abdel Rehim seized silver in the U-90kg; Qatari bodybuilder Kamal Abdel Rahman picked up gold and Oman's Abdullah el-Rahbi bronze. This is the first time for the Arab Games to be held in a Gulf country, with the participation of around 5,400 athletes from 21 Arab countries, after the withdrawal of Syria. The Egyptian basketball team Saturday defeated their Sudanese counterparts in the first match in the basketball competition. The Egyptian team did very well, stunning Sudan 107-56. The player of the match was Mo'men Abul Einin, whose treble throws gleaned a lot of points for the Pharaohs. Sunday, the national basketball team will play Iraq, in what promises to be a tough game. Meanwhile, the Egyptian handball team, who have won the Arab Games title three times, start their campaign Sunday, with their most dangerous rivals being Qatar, Bahrain and Tunisia. Lebanon will host the 13th edition of the Arab Games in 2015.
