KUWAIT - Qatar’s Rashed Nawaf stormed into the semi-finals of men’s singles tennis event at the GCC Games in Kuwait on Monday. Nawaf sailed past local favourite Ali al-Shati 6-4, 6-4 at the Sheikh Jaber Al Abdullah International Tennis Complex.

The other Qatari players, however, bowed out of event after suffering defeats in their respective quarter-finals. Qatar’s Mousa Shannan was beaten by Kuwait’s Essa Qabazard 6-3, 6-3 while Saudi Arabia’s Ammar Alhogbani prevailed over Isa Shannan 6-0, 6-2. Mubarak Shannan was ousted by Kuwait’s Abdulhamid Mubarak in straight sets (6-1, 6-1).

Meanwhile, Qatar continued their fine performance in men’s table tennis team event, blanking Kuwait 3-0 for their third straight victory. The Qatari paddlers also defeated Bahrain and UAE with identical scorelines on Sunday.

Qatar are third on the GCC Games table with an overall 39 medals including 12 gold, 15 silver and 12 bronze medals. Kuwait are currently on top with 22 gold, 19 silver and 19 bronze medals followed by Bahrain, who have secured a total of 46 medals including 17 gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze medals.  

The GCC Games which began on May 16, feature the participation of more than 1700 athletes competing in 16 sports including athletics, 3x3 basketball, basketball, cycling (road), e-sports, fencing, futsal, handball, ice hockey, judo, karate, padel, shooting, swimming, tennis, table tennis and volleyball.  

The state of Qatar is represented by 170 athletes.