General Abdulla Hails GCC Youth Games

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: General Abdulla Al Hashmi has hailed the success of the inaugural staging of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Youth Games.

General Abdulla, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and a Board Member of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), said golf’s inclusion in the Youth Games will help in raising the profile of the sport across the region.

Golf was one of the disciplines in the multi-sport event that took place from April 16 to May 2, featuring 3,500 male and female athletes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

In total there were 36 individual and team sports through 41 sporting competitions. The golf competitions were hosted by the EGF at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

In the team event, the UAE quartet of Rayan Ahmed, Mohammed Skaik, Rashid Al Jassmy and Thomas Nesbitt struck gold. Oman captured the silver medal and Saudi Arabia claimed bronze.

The UAE swept all three medals in the individual segment with gold going to Ahmed, who posted rounds of 70, 71 and 73 for a championship total of two-under-par 214. The silver went to Skaik (81-77-72) with bronze going to Nesbitt (78-78-74).

Reflecting on the gathering, General Abdulla said: “It is always great to bring our brothers from the GCC together to compete.

“This is a sport that we all love and that we work collectively to try to develop within the region. Of course, we are proud of our team and these accomplishments but, more importantly, we look forward to the future of the GCC nations growing the game of golf.

“Lastly, I would like to thank our leadership at the United Arab Emirates Olympic Committee for organising these Youth Games. These platforms will continue to push the next Olympians for the UAE.”