Saudi athletes close out GCC Games in Kuwait with haul of 67 medals

RIYADH: The Saudi fencing, karate, and tennis teams closed out the third GCC Games on Tuesday by winning eight medals to take the Kingdom’s total to 67.

By the time the tournament in Kuwait wrapped up, the Saudis had claimed 16 gold, 22 silver, and 29 bronze medals.

The Saudi fencing team were first on the board by achieving gold in the team competition, thanks to the efforts of Hussein Al-Taweel, Zakaria Al-Daoud, Ahmed Al Hussein, and Jawad Al-Taweel.

In the karate competitions, Olympic silver medal hero Tarek Hamdi led the way as three golds and two silvers were added to the tally.

Across the tournament, athletics proved to be the most fruitful source of podium finishes for the Saudi contingent with 24 medals consisting of five golds, seven silvers, and 12 bronzes.

Karate came second with seven medals (four gold, two silver, and one bronze), then fencing with six (one gold, two silver, and three bronze), swimming with five (one gold, one silver, and three bronze), and tennis with five (one gold, one silver, and three bronze).

There were four medals each for table tennis (one gold, two silver, and a bronze), shooting (one gold, one silver, and two bronze), and judo (three silver, and one bronze), while there were two golds for electronic games — one for the women’s team — and a silver and bronze in women’s cycling.

In addition, there was success in the team sports with the Saudi futsal teams taking silver in the men’s tournament, and bronze in the women’s, while the Saudi men’s basketball team won bronze, and the men’s ice hockey team secured the silver medal.