Saudi fencer Ali Al-Bahrani takes silver at GCC Games in Kuwait

Saudi fencer Ali Al-Bahrani, right, took silver at GCC Games in Kuwait. (SOPC)
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Updated 30 May 2022
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Saudi fencer Ali Al-Bahrani takes silver at GCC Games in Kuwait

  • Misfir Al-Asmari took bronze in men’s karate, while Saudi women’s team fell just short of winning bronze in the 3x3 basketball competition

Saudi fencer Ali Al-Bahraini has claimed second place and the silver medal in fencing at the third GCC Games, currently taking place in Kuwait.

Al-Bahrani finished behind Kuwaiti Ammar Al-Ammari in the saber category, while Saudi Adel Al-Mutairi placed third place and the bronze medal.

Prince Fahd bin Jalawi, head of the Saudi delegation to the games, and Sheikh Fahad Nasser Al-Sabah, president of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, presented the winners with their medals.

Misfir Al-Asmari of the Saudi national team won the bronze medal in the individual kata category of the karate competition.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian national tennis team defeated the UAE 3-0 in the tennis competition.

Saud Al-Haqbani won the first match against the Emirati Fahd Al-Janahi in two sets (6-2, 6-1). This was followed by another straight win (6-1, 6-2) by Ammar Al-Haqbani over Abdulrahman Al-Janahi to give Saudi a two-match lead.

Having both won the singles matches, the Saudi team completed the 3-0 win when Abdullah Al-Faraj and Omar Ahmed teamed up to defeat Emirati opponents Omar Al-Hammadi and Abdullah Al-Marzouqi by two clear sets in the doubles competition.

In the women’s basketball 3×3, Saudi Arabia missed out on the bronze medal after going down 10-9 to Bahrain in the third-place play-off. Earlier, the Saudis had lost the semi-final 14-12 to the UAE.

The Saudi men’s handball team suffered a 35-27 defeat to their Bahraini counterparts.


Siniakova ends Andreeva Indian Wells defense in third round

Updated 13 sec ago
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Siniakova ends Andreeva Indian Wells defense in third round

  • Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals

INDIAN WELLS, United States: Unseeded Katerina Siniakova ended a frustrated Mirra Andreeva’s Indian Wells title defense on Monday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the eighth-ranked Russian.
The 18-year-old Andreeva had opened her repeat bid with an imperious 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Solana Sierra.
But she was in trouble early and often against 44th-ranked Siniakova in a rollercoaster contest that featured seven service breaks for each player and 43 break chances between them.
When she sailed a swinging volley long to surrender the second set, Andreeva threw her racquet in disgust.
She regrouped to break Siniakova for a 3-2 lead in the third, but Siniakova won the next four games.
The Czech saved a pair of break points in the final game before sealing the match with a shot that struck the net cord and dribbled over as Andreeva could only watch, disappointment sparking another outburst from the Russian as she departed the court.
Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals.
In other early matches, fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula shook off a slow start to beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula, coming off her fourth career WTA 1000 title at Dubai last month, fired 11 aces with just one double fault as she rallied for the win.
“I think today I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in to not let that get away from me,” said Pegula, who said she was in danger of letting negativity and frustration get the better of her.
“I didn’t think I was playing bad. It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there (get away), maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on.”
Later on Stadium Court, world number two Iga Swiatek took on Greece’s Maria Sakkari — the woman she beat in the Indian Wells finals in 2022 and 2024.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who lifted the Indian wells Trophy in 2023, played Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final match of the night.