Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to host 2016 Asian

BAHRAIN SPORT
Email: sport@gdn.com.bh
Gulf Daily News Monday, 22nd December 2014
35
Bahrain and
Saudi Arabia
to host 2016
Asian Fencing
n Prizes to the winners of Young Goans Club-Alba Eight -a-side Football Tournament were presented at a ceremony. Yuva Kerala won the title defeating Milagres
Boys 3-0 in the final. Other award winners were - best goalkeeper - Priston D’Costa of Bahrain Goans; player-of-the-tournament - Haris AK of Yuva Kerala; top scorer: Antonio Fernandes of Salcette United. Fair play award: Team Vasco Sporting. Above, Yuva Kerala team members with the trophy.
Shaikh Hamad and
Al Kooheji triumph
BAHRAIN and Saudi Arabia
will jointly host the Asian
Fencing Championship to be
held in February 2016, according to the Asian Fencing
Federation who approved the
two Gulf neighbours proposal.
More than 600 players of
both sexes from Asian countries are expected to compete
in various categories. Saudi
Arabia will host the men’s
category and Bahrain the
women’s.
The Saudi Arabia Fencing
Federation president Sami Al
Baker said the two hosts will
work closely under the supervision of the Asian federation
to make the event a huge
success.
He stressed the ability of
both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
in hosting such global events
following the great success of
the National Day International
Fencing Championship.
It was was held under
the patronage of Supreme
Council for Youth and Sports
chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president
Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al
Khalifa.
The event was held at the
Shaikh Khalifa Sports Hall
in Isa Town on Friday and
Saturday.
Al Baker congratulated
Bahrain Fencing Federation
president Shaikh Ibrahim bin
Salman Al Khalifa for the
success of the event.
On his part, Shaikh Ibrahim
thanked everyone involved
with the event for their contributions.
BTA to hold
four-day
tennis camp
n The winners receive their prizes
SHAIKH Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
and Hussain Al Kooheji were the
stars of the National Racing Festival
held last weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The duo enjoyed a fantastic double
in their respective championships amid
a high level of competition along BIC’s
2.55-km Inner Track.
Shaikh Hamad triumphed in both races of round three of the 2014-2015 BIC
2,000cc Challenge while Al Kooheji
made local motor racing history as the
first-ever winner of the all-new BMR
600 Championship. The BMR 600 is a
one-make series for motorbikes, featuring the Honda Hornet 600cc, that made
a rousing debut over the weekend at
“The Home of Motorsport in the Middle
East”.
The National Racing Festival was
organised by BIC in cooperation with
Bahrain Motor Federation and Circuit
Racing Club. It followed a week-long
celebration off the track at BIC commemorating the Kingdom of Bahrain’s
National Day.
In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh
Hamad was once again the man to look
out for as he maintained his perfect start
to the season with another two victories.
He has stretched his winning streak
to six races in a row and now leads the
drivers’ championship standings with a
healthy gap.
Shaikh Hamad headed into the meeting as the firm favourite and did not disappoint from the start. After setting the
n Action from a
motor cycle race
pace in free practice with a best lap of
1min 19.131secs in his Honda Civic, the
veteran racer lost out on pole position
for the meeting’s first race by a mere
0.219secs.
Hussain Karimi captured pole in his
Honda CRX with a best lap time of 1min
18.983secs.
Focus
But that would not affect Shaikh
Hamad’s focus as he responded with a
stellar performance in the opening 15lap sprint where he narrowly outclassed
Karimi by 1.552secs. Shaikh Hamad
took the chequered flag in 19mins
58.238secs. He also clocked the fastest
lap of 1min 18.746secs.
Shaikh Hamad and Karimi were in a
class of their own throughout the event,
engaged in a heated battle while completing the race nearly half-a-minute
ahead of their closest rival Tim Birkin.
Birkin, driving a Honda Integra, finished
third, 29.699secs adrift.
Abdulrahman Ghuloom (Honda Civic, +30.871secs), Alex Longden (BMW
3 Series/F20C, +32.545secs), Mohamed Faqihi (Honda CIVIC, +14 laps)
and Stephen Kellogg (Honda CIVIC,
+41.980secs) rounded out the classification.
In Race Two, Shaikh Hamad enjoyed
a more comfortable victory, completing the distance in 20mins 10.237secs,
while registering the fastest lap of 1min
18.883secs.
Karimi followed, 10.862secs behind,
while Ghuloom clinched the final podium stop, 28.035secs from first place
Birkin
(+37.599secs),
Longden
(+54.006secs), Raed Himmo (Honda
CRX, +1:16.357) and Faqihi (+14 laps)
finished in that order. Kellogg was not
classified with just nine laps completed.
Meanwhile, the BMR 600 had just as
much exciting action on the race track
with competitors steering similar Hon-
da Hornet 600cc motorbikes, and it was
Al Kooheji who dominated from start to
finish.
He led the way in both free practice
and qualifying and then powered to a
fine win in Race One, where he took the
chequered flag in 14mins 05.431secs. Al
Kooheji also clocked the fastest lap of
1min 16.249secs.
Saleh Al Kandari was runner-up in the
11-lap sprint 8.916secs behind, while
Hussain Al Aswad finished 14.936s
back for third place.
Faisal Ali (+21.914secs), Emad
Shehadeh (+30.183secs), Chris Rabie
(+52.074secs), Tim Attwood (+1min
02.684secs) and David Wynne (+1min
09.843secs) completed the top eight,
while the rest of the field saw Thamer
Ibrahim, Harry Johnston, Frank Mobitz
and Abdulghaffar Albastaki in ninth
through 12th place, respectively.
In Race Two, Al Kooheji won in
14mins 07.131secs – just 4.417secs
ahead of second-placed Al Aswad, who
had the best lap oof 1min 16.026secs.
Ali improved to a podium position in
third place, 8.123secs behind the victor,
while Shehadeh (+35.071secs), Rabie
(+41.916secs) and Wynne (+55.251secs)
were in the top six.
The rest of the field featured Al Bastaki, Attwood, Johnston and Mobitz, with
Al Kandari not classified.
To find out more about the weekend’s
upcoming events, visit BIC’s official
website, www.bahraingp.com, or call
the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.
BAHRAIN
Tennis Academy
(BTA) in cooperation with title
sponsors Capital
School will be running an
intensive four-day camp for
children from December 28
at Dilmun Club in Saar .
Children between three
to eight years can join the
first session, from 8.30am
to 10.30am each day (BD40
for all days or BD14 per day)
while children between eight
to 12 years can join the second session from 10.30am1.30pm each day (BD55 for
all days or BD18 per day).
The camps are open to
all boys and girls including
non-members of the club and
no previous experience is
necessary.
“The camp will be an exciting four days of tennis that
will get kids off the couch
and keep them active over
part of their break. Whether
they are regular players or
new to the game we’ll ensure
they have fun while learning
new skills,” said BTA director Dan Barrie.
To register visit the
Dilmun Club or email the
director at dan@bahraintennisacademy.com for more
information.
Registration closes on
Friday.