Oman meet UAE in football opener as GCC Youth Games begins on Tuesday

Muscat: The inaugural GCC Youth Games, featuring all the six Gulf nations, and hosted in the five emirates of the UAE - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah – will be inaugurated in Dubai on Tuesday.

Oman will be competing in 15 events at the Games. The Games will be held from April 16 to May 2 and will see 3,500 athletes, both boys and girls, compete in 25 individual and team sports under the theme “Our Gulf is One... Our Youth is Promising”.

Oman will kick start their campaign at the Games with a football match against the hosts UAE in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday while taekwondo competitions will also begin in Fujairah on the same date.

Only four U17 teams will compete in the football event - Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE.

Oman football team coach Anwar Al Habsi said: “The team is in good shape. We have previously played with UAE and the boys are looking for a positive start.”

Abu Dhabi will host football, swimming, judo, track cycling, sailing, jiu-jitsu and boxing. Dubai will host table tennis, athletics, volleyball, e-sports and golf competitions.

Sharjah will host basketball 3×3, handball, karate, chess, archery, equestrian events such as show jumping and dressage, and track cycling. Fujairah will host taekwondo, fencing and badminton, while Ajman will host triathlon.

Dubai Opera, showcasing culture and unity, will launch the Games on Tuesday. Nearly 1,500 people will attend the opening ceremony, which will focus on a treaty of sustainability, unity and youth.

It will last 40 minutes and feature traditional music and acrobatics. The opening ceremony will be a creative celebration of the culture and heritage of the Gulf region. It will feature a variety of performances from the six countries, including traditional dances, music and acrobatics.

The opening ceremony will focus on sustainability, using sustainable materials and practices with the aim to create a beautiful event that respects the environment.

Young athletes from the participating countries will march past. The ceremony will highlight the importance of sport in promoting physical and mental health.

Oman will participate in 15 sports, including taekwondo and fencing in Al Fujairah, chess, handball, equestrian and basketball (3x3) in Sharjah, athletics, snooker and billiards, volleyball and table tennis in Dubai, and football, sailing, golf and aquatics in Abu Dhabi.
On the first day of taekwondo competitions, Oman’s Dawod Al Youssoufi, Ziad Al Balushi, Muhannad Al Hajri, Dania Al Abdali and Youssef Al Zadjali will be in action.

Meanwhile, the Oman Paralympic team of Ali Saeed Al Harithi, Ammar Faisal Al Isayi, Faisal Samir Al Balushi and Maryam Ahmed Al Badiah – arrived on Sunday and will compete in 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and shot put events.

Oman Paralympic delegation also comprises Abdullah Al Anbari, Asaad al Qarni, (both coaches, and Hani al Mashaykhi (therapist).