Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar welcomed members of Bahrain’s national billiards and snooker teams on return from the recently-concluded GCC Championships in Dubai.
Askar congratulated the team on coming second overall at the championships, taking home 12 medals in total – including 4 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze – in this week-long championships, which featured senior and youth age category events.
Askar conveyed the congratulations of Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman, and BOC President to all members of the team and his best wishes for them in future challenges.
He commended the results, which he attributed to the motivational initiative launched by Shaikh Nasser, who declared 2018 as the ‘Year of Gold’ early on.
Askar also noted the efforts of the Bahrain Billiards and Snooker Federation, headed by president Dr Saeed Al Yamani, which contributed to this honorable finish.
Host nation the UAE were crowned overall champions with 20 gold medals, 2 silver and 12 bronze. Saudi Arabia were third with 3 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze, while Oman came in fourth place with 6 bronze medals.
Snooker ace Habib Subah spurred Bahrain to glory, taking home the 6 red snooker singles gold medal, while compatriot Majed Dhaif settled for the eight-ball event bronze.
Late on, Dhaif teamed up with Talal Jassim to win the snooker doubles silver, then Hisham Al Saqer and Khalil Ebrahim took a gold medal each in the above-40 year masters and youth snooker contests, respectively.
Bahrain also clinched the 9-ball billiards team silver, while Wesam Ratib added another silver medal after coming runner up in the youth age group singles event.
In the eight-ball billiards doubles, the pair of Fahad Khalaf and Ali Abdulkarim reached the final tie before settling for the competition’s silver.
Three other countries – Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE were also in the fray at this regional competition, which was held under the patronage of UAE Billiards and Snooker Association president Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum.