CAIRO - Egypt maintained their lead in the medals table on the third day of the 2011 Arab Games that run from December (9-23) at the oil-rich Gulf city of Doha, Qatar. The Egyptian athletes now have 30 medals – 14 golds, 11 silvers and five bronzes. Qatar are second with 21 medals, (eight golds, five silvers and eight bronzes), while Morocco are in third place with 16 medals (five golds, eight silvers and three bronzes) and Tunisia are fourth with 11 medals. Qatar is hosting the 12th edition of the Games ahead of the 2022 Football World Cup, which will also be held in this Gulf state. Bowlers on fire Egypt's bowlers grabbed the gold and silver medals in the individual competitions, courtesy of Tareq Helmi and Karim Sherif, while Qatari player Mansour el-Hagri snatched bronze. This is the first time for Egypt's bowlers to grab gold in an Arab tournament. Ibrahim el-Grifani, President of the Arab and Saudi Bowling Federation, is delighted that this sport has been included in this year's Arab Games for the first time. Helmi was just as delighted to have grabbed Egypt's first gold medal in this discipline. “I hope that Egypt can continue to dominate this sport in the Arab world. The competition was tough, as the bowlers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab of Emirates are all very good," he said.
Nice arrows Egypt's archers snatch three golds, two silvers and four bronzes on the third day of the Arab Games. Ahmed el-Amir grabbed gold in the men's 90m individual competition, while Morocco's Mohamed Boshaan scooped the silver medal and Egypt's Mohamed Abdel-Hadi and Mohamed Kholousi shared third place, each picking up a bronze. In the women's 70m individual competition, Egypt's Amira Mansour grabbed gold, while her teammate Nada Kamel came second and Morocco's Ebtissam Feranga secured bronze. In the women's 60m event, Egypt's Nada Kamel claimed gold, her teammate Aya Kamel scooped silver and their teammate Hania Fouda cornered the bronze.
Shooting their way to two golds The Egyptian shooting team shot their way to first place and gold in the shooting competition, while the Saudi team came second and the Kuwaitis third. The Egyptian shooters included Mohamed Hassan, Peter Suleiman and Mohamed Abdel-Qader. Hassan also grabbed gold in the 10m individual competition, while Saudi shooter Khaled el-Enzi snatched silver and a Kuwaiti shooter 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.
Basketballers progress The Egyptian basketball team for men defeated Iraq team 92-59 in the second game in the competition, with Egypt's playmaker Wael Badr man of the match. The Pharaohs' two victories have sent them hurtling into the second round. "We thank God for this," said Badr after the match, adding that Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia and Jordan are the favourites to ‘net' the basketball title. The Pharaohs, earlier, had stunned their Sudanese counterparts in the first match in the basketball competition, winning 107-56. The man of the match was Mo'mein Abul Einin, whose treble throws gleaned a lot of points for the Pharaohs. Elsewhere, the Saudi basketball team defeated the Palestinians 82-79, while the Algerians sunk the Sudanese team 88-37. Meanwhile, the Egyptian women's basketball team defeated their Qatari counterparts 3-0 (25-7, 25-10, 25-10); they will face the UAE Wednesday. The Egyptian women's beachball team were edged out by their Lebanese counterparts, who beat them by just one point – 67-68.
Table tennis joy for Egypt, Qatar The Egyptian team defeated Morocco 3-0 in the men's tennis table competition. Maged Ashour, the team's technical coach, said that the players dominated the match. "The Moroccans are a strong team, but we had the edge," said Ashour, pointing out that some very good players are competing in the Games, such as Qatar's Ahmed el-Mohanadi, Saudi Arabia's Abdel-Aziz al-Abaad and Kuwait's Ibrahim el-Hassan. Elsewhere, the UAE team defeated Bahrain 3-2 in a tough clash, while the Qataris pipped the Kuwaitis by the same scoreline.
Tunisia's tennis triumph The Tunisian women's tennis team snatched gold, defeating Egypt 2-0 in the final. The female Pharaohs had qualified for the semi-final by beating Kuwait 3-0, Iraq by the same scoreline and Morocco 2-1. They then beat Oman in the semis, having to settle for silver when the Tunisians won the final.
Judo gold Egypt's judoka Hussein Hafez snatched the gold by beating Algeria's el-Arabi el-Gerinin in the 73kg final, while the bronze medal went to Morocco's Alaa Basou.
