The third GCC Games is currently taking place in Kuwait with the participation of almost 1,700 athletes from the region.
Qatar’s padel team claimed the gold medal at the GCC Games Kuwait 2022 on Saturday, beating the Kuwaiti team at a crushing 3-0 score.
According to Qatar’s state news agency (QNA), the Qatari handball team also beat its Kuwaiti counterpart by 24/23 during the third match at the games in Kuwait City.
This is the Qatari handball’s team’s third consecutive victory, with six points required to obtain a gold or silver medal in the final match.
The upcoming match is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, when Qatar will take on Bahrain.
In another triumph at the GCC games, the Qatari women’s basketball team defeated its Omani counterpart by 16-12 as well as the Kuwaiti team by 12-10. The Qatari women’s team also lost against Bahrain at 8-6 and Saudi Arabia at 13-11.
The third GCC Games kicked off on 16 May. It is currently taking place in Kuwait with the participation of almost 1,700 athletes from the region. Around 173 athletes from Team Qatar have finished their training sessions and are taking part at the games.
The athletes are competing in 16 different sports, from volleyball, basketball, futsal, swimming, among several others.
The Qatari team, however, is not competing in futsal and ice hockey.
This year witnessed the participation of female athletes for the first time since the sporting event was inaugurated. The women competing in esports, athletics, and cycling will be included in the games for the first time.
Some of the new additions to this year’s event include men and women’s table tennis, women’s 3×3 basketball, and women’s football. Qatar’s top athletes include fencer Haya Diab, Tokyo Olympics rower Tala Abujbara, and paddler Abdul Wahab.
By the end of the fourth day of the event, Qatari athletes claimed 39 medals, including 12 gold, 15 silver, and 12 bronze.
Fastest growing sport
Padel is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and has over 25 million players around the world, a number that has doubled over the past five years alone.
The growing sports has witnessed particular popularity in Qatar, where the country has promoted the growth of padel by opening various courts to cater to the increased interest.
In March, Qatar hosted the 2022 Padel tournament, the first leg of the newly-announced Category 1 of the Premier Padel, which is set to have at least 10 tournaments scheduled for 2022 and 2023.
Registration for the event broke new records with 123 pairs from 19 different countries. This was not the case for international padel tournaments, where registration reached a maximum of 50 pairs.
