25th GCC Swimming Championships: Issa al Adawi leads Oman's gold rush
(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Talented Omani swimmer Issa al Adawi scooped five gold medals and helped the sultanate capture 30 medals - including seven gold seven silver and 16 bronze - as the 25th GCC Swimming Championships concluded in Doha Qatar on Friday.
The team returned home on Saturday and was given a warm welcome at the airport by Qais al Zakwani the Oman SwimmingAssociation (OSA) general secretary and other officials.
Issa who had won the 200m and 400 freestyle races in the men's category on the first two days continued his impressive form as he won the 800m freestyle (age-group 15-17 years) event in a time of eight minutes 57.67 seconds on Thursday.
Later he stamped his authority in the 400m freestyle (15-17 years) contest with a gold in 4m19.09s on Thursday night.
The youngster then capped his golden campaign on the concluding day on Friday when he grabbed his fifth gold of the championships winning the 200m freestyle race (15-17 years) in 1m59.36s.
Oman's other two gold medals were both won by Abdulrahman al Kulaibi - in the 200m and 400m individual medley. Issa and Abdulrahman were also part of the bronze medal-winning relay quartet in the 4x200m and 4x100m freestyle races; and the 4x100m medley (15-17 years) along with Nazem al Harrasi and Mohammed al Kulaibi.
Abdulrahman failed to match his gold-winning spree in the 15-17 years age-group events settling for three silver medals. He finished second in the 200m backstroke (2m21.74s) 100m backstroke (1m03.59s) and 50m backstroke (29.77s) events.
In the 15-17 age-group category Oman's other medal winners were Nazem in 400m individual medley (5m58.76s) and 200m individual medley; and Mohammed al Kulaibi in 50m backstroke (34.19s).
Oman also won medals in the 13-14 age-group events with Ayham al Ismail taking bronze in the 50m freestyle (27.70s) and Shehab Rezeq claiming the third spot in the 200m backstroke (2m41.29s).
At the end of the first two days' action on Wednesday Oman had claimed four gold one silver and four bronze medals while over the next two days the sultanate's swimmers collected three gold six silver and 12 bronze medals.
In the overall table Oman took the third place in the men's category (18 years and above) with four gold medals while UAE finished on top with nine gold and hosts Qatar second with five.
Taha al Kishry the OSA chairman congratulated the team and its coaching staff for their overall performance. The team's delegation in Doha included Abdulmoneim al Alawi OSA board member Ahmed al Husseini and Zaher al Qasbi.
Other medal winners:
(11-12 years): 50m freestyle: Omar al Balushi (silver 30.69s); 50m backstroke: Omar al Balushi (silver 37.11s) Muhannad Auladthani (bronze 37.31s); 100m freestyle: Abdullah al Hinai (silver 1m17.40s) 4x100m relay: Omar Muhannad Bashar al Kulaibi Khalfan al Wahaibi (bronze 4m46.07s); 100m backstroke: Muhannad (bronze 1m20s) and 4x100m medley relay (Muhannad Omar Khalfan Abdullah (bronze 5m31s).
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