Samba and Hemeida lead charge as Qatar extend GCC Games dominance

Dhoa Qatar: Abderrahman Samba and Bassem Hemeida claimed another Qatar one-two in the men’s 400m hurdles as the hosts enjoyed another day of strong performances to strengthen their grip on top spot at the 4th GCC Games Doha 2026 yesterday. newsbetting.cv

With more medals coming in athletics, shooting, table tennis and snooker, the home contingent raised their tally to 96, including 36 gold, 32 silver and 28 bronze medals.

Saudi Arabia remained second with 21 gold, 16 silver and as many bronze medals, while Bahrain followed in third with 18 gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze.

At Qatar Sports Club, Samba and Hemeida, who have delivered several Qatari one-two finishes, including at the 2023 Asian Games and last year’s Asian Athletics Championships, once again dominated the track.

Samba clinched gold in 48.85 seconds, while Hemeida followed in 49.28.

Abderrahman Samba storms to victory in the men’s 400m hurdles final.

UAE’s Muath Abdalla took bronze in 58.04.

Qatar’s Sara Ali added another gold in the women’s 400m hurdles, clocking 1:01.94, ahead of UAE’s Mahra Enqelya and Bahrain’s Oluwakemi Adekoya, who claimed silver and bronze respectively.

Qatar also earned two athletics silvers yesterday, with Samar Mansouri finishing runner-up in the women’s triple jump behind Kuwait’s Aisha Alkhedher.

The hosts also finished second in the mixed 4x400m relay in 3:23.37, with Bahrain taking gold in 3:21.44.

Bassem Hemeida secured the silver medal in the men's 400 metres hurdles.

The Al Annabi athletics team has now collected 10 gold, nine silver and six bronze medals at the Games so far.

Shooters continue dominant form

Meanwhile, Qatari shooters maintained their fine form, adding more medals at Lusail Shooting Range yesterday.

Star shooters Rashid Saleh Al Athba and Reem Al Sharshani teamed up to win the mixed skeet team event, with Kuwait’s Saud Al Kandari and Afrah Al

Mohammad taking bronze, and Bahrain’s Tamer Al Watae and Maryam Al Aasam taking bronze.

Abdullah Al Sunaidi and Al Maha Al Ali won the mixed 10m air rifle event with a score of 495.4 after edging Oman’s Salem Al Nabi and Al Anoud Al Khalili, who took silver with 494.7.

UAE’s Fatima Al Suwaidi and Salem Al Yamahi earned bronze medal.

Yesterday’s success takes Qatar’s shooting team’s medal tally to 11, including five gold, one silver and five bronze medals.

Gold and bronze in table tennis

At Aspire Dome, Qatar’s table tennis players secured one gold and a bronze medal in the mixed doubles category.

The pair of Mohammed Abdulwahab and Aya Mohammed clinched the gold medal after defeating UAE’s Ali Al Hawai and Noura Al Mazmi 3-0 in the final.

Mohammed Abdulwahab and Aya Mohammed clinched the gold medal after
defeating their UAE counterparts in the final.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Abdullah Abdulwahab and Mariam Ali took the bronze medal after beating Bahrain’s Rashid Khalid Sanad and Rayan Emad 3-0 in the third-place playoff.

The table tennis competition continues with the third-place matches in the men’s and women’s singles, as well as the men’s doubles category, followed by an all-Saudi men’s singles final.

The women’s singles final will feature Qatar’s Aya Mohammed against Mariam Ali, while the men’s doubles final will see Qatar’s Mohammed Abdulwahab and Abdullah Abdulwahab take on Saudi Arabia’s Ali Al Khudrawi and Abdulaziz Boushalibi.

Al-Obaidli claims snooker silver

Ali Al Obaidli secured the silver medal in the men’s 6-red snooker singles at the billiards and snooker competitions of the 4th GCC Games Doha 2026, after a narrow 3-4 defeat in final against Kuwait’s Ammar Taqi at the Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation Hall.

Qatar's Ali Al Obaidli in action during the men’s 6-red snooker singles.

The billiards and snooker programme features 10 events - five in billiards and five in snooker - with Qatar represented by Ali Al Obaidli, Muhanna Al Obaidli, Mansour Al Obaidli, Ahmed Saif, Bashar Hussein, Mishal Turki Al Ali, and Abdul Latif Al Fawal.

Victory in volleyball opener

Meanwhile, Qatar volleyball team opened its campaign blanking the UAE 3-0 at Aspire Women’s Sports Hall.

Qatar dominated the match winning the first set 25-17 before wrapping up the match with 25-13, and 25-13 wins.

In the other match, Bahrain defeated Oman 3-0. Qatar will take on Oman at 6:30 PM today.

At Aspire Dome, Qatar men’s padel team also started their campaign on a winning note defeating Saudi Arabia 3-0.

Rashed Nawaf and Mishari Nawaf opened proceedings with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win, while Khalid Saadoun and Issa Shanan followed up with a 7-6, 6-4 victory in the doubles match. Mohammed Saadoun and Hassan Wali completed the sweep with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win in the third rubber.

Qatar will face Kuwait in its second match today.

Qatar top handball table

Qatar moved to the top of the handball standings after a dominant 34-19 win over Kuwait, controlling the match from start to finish and leading 19-8 at half-time.

Qatar clinched a dominant 34-19 win over Kuwait in men's handball.

It was Qatar’s second straight victory, following an opening 28-20 win over the UAE, taking their tally to four points.

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia sit on two points each, while Kuwait and the UAE are still without points. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia beat the UAE 34-21.

The six teams have a rest day today before action resumes tomorrow, with Kuwait facing the UAE and Bahrain meeting Saudi Arabia.

Tuesday will see Saudi Arabia play Kuwait, followed by Qatar’s highly anticipated clash with Bahrain.

Iran have named their preliminary World Cup squad as they prepare to face New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in Group G.

Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has named a 30-man preliminary squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Mehdi Taremi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Saman Ghoddos, Ehsan Hajsafi, and Alireza Beiranvand included. Sardar Azmoun was left out of the initial list.

The squad includes four goalkeepers, nine defenders, 10 midfielders, and seven forwards. Taremi leads the attack, while Beiranvand, Hajsafi, Jahanbakhsh, and Ghoddos give Iran an experienced core.

Iran held a public send-off in Tehran before the tournament, where the team’s World Cup kit was unveiled. The squad will continue preparations at a training camp in Turkey before relocating to the United States.

FIFA held talks with Iranian football officials over operational concerns, including visas, security, and travel arrangements. Iran had previously raised 10 issues with FIFA.

Team Melli will play in Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand. They open their campaign against New Zealand, before facing Belgium and then Egypt.

The match against Egypt will close Iran’s group-stage campaign, and could prove decisive for both sides’ hopes of reaching the knockout rounds. The fixture is scheduled for June 26 in Seattle.

The post Iran Name World Cup Squad Ahead of Preparation Camp appeared first on KingFut.

Tokyo: Japanese baseball has adopted a rule to punish players for dangerous swings, as an umpire remains unconscious almost a month after being accidentally hit on the head by a bat.

Umpire Takuto Kawakami was behind home plate during a game in Tokyo on April 16 when slugger Jose Osuna swung his bat, which flew out of his hands and struck the left side of Kawakami's head.

The 30-year-old fell to the ground and was rushed to hospital, where he had emergency surgery and was placed in intensive care.

Latest reports say he has still not regained consciousness and is undergoing treatment.

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) on Monday approved a rule change to punish players if they swing their bats in a dangerous manner.

Under the new rule, which comes into force on Tuesday, players will receive a warning if they make a dangerous swing but their bat does not hit anyone.

They will be ejected from the game if they do it twice, or if they make a dangerous swing and their bat hits someone.

A dangerous swing is defined as when a batter releases their bat mid-swing, including when it slips out of their hands.

Venezuelan batter Osuna, who plays for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, apologised after his bat struck Kawakami.

"I'm very sorry about what happened today when my bat hit the main umpire. I hope he's well, I'm really sorry," he wrote in a post on X soon after.

Two days after the incident, NPB implemented a rule requiring all umpires to wear helmets.

Kawakami was wearing a face protection mask and baseball cap, not a helmet.

Umpires across Japan wore the number 29 on their helmets last week in solidarity with Kawakami.