KUWAIT — Ali Abdulghani grabbed Saudi Arabia's first gold medal in the 3rd Gulf Games, which kicked off in Kuwait on Monday. He emerged tops in the javelin throw by hurling a distance of 71.15 meters. The Saudi stars who sparkled on the first day of the event also included sprinters Abdullah Abkar, Mohammed Daoud Tolo, and Mazen Al-Yassin, who won silver medals, from among a contingent of over 250 Saudi athletes who are participating in the Games. Female sprinter Mizna Al-Nasser won the bronze medal in the 10,000-meter race with a time of 45:32 minutes. Mizna's bronze was the first medal for the Kingdom in the Games, in which female athletes are competing for the first time. In the men's 100-meter race, the silver went to Saudi sprinter Abdullah Abkar with a time of 10.21 seconds, while sprinter Mohammed Daoud came in fourth in a time of 10.32 seconds. Mazen Al-Yassin bagged the silver medal by finishing second in the men's 400-meter race with a time of 45.83 seconds. Mohammed Daoud Tolo claimed silver in the shot put with a throw of 20.49 meters, while Hammoud Al-Alwani took bronze in the long jump by clearing a distance of 7.15 meters. Female athlete Roaa Al-Sulaimani finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles for women with a time of 18.83 seconds and in the women's 100-meter race, Saudi Arabia's Olympic runner Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh finished fifth with a time of 12.90 seconds while Lujain Al-Hamid came in the seventh position with a time of 13.72 seconds. Saja Jalal finished sixth in the women's shot put with a distance of 6.84 meters. She also came fifth in the long jump with a leap of 3.98 meters. In the futsal competitions, the Saudi men's team clinched a 3-1 win over Bahrain while the women's team lost to Bahrain 4-1 in their opening matches. The third Gulf Games were scheduled to begin on Friday, May 13, but was postponed for three days due to the death of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. The Games will run through until the end of May at a dozen venues in Kuwait. Monday's events included athletics for men and women at Ahamad Al-Rashdan Track and Field in Keifan area; Futsal and basketball at Sheikh Saad Al-Abdallah complex in Sabah Al-Salem area in addition to shooting training at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex. In the second edition of the Gulf Game, which was held in Dammam in 2015, Saudi Arabia emerged the champions with 115 medals, including 57 gold, 35 silver and 23 bronze. Around 1,700 athletes from six GCC nations are competing in the Gulf Games in 16 disciplines including handball, volleyball, basketball, futsal, swimming, athletes, shooting, karate, judo, tennis, cycling, ice-hockey, table tennis, padel and e-sports. Women are competing for the first time in seven sports, including futsal, e-sports, athletics, cycling, 3x3 basketball, padel and table tennis.
