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Muscat: After four days of racing, Oman’s sailing squad continues to excel at the 2023 Pan Arab Games in Algeria. At the halfway point in the competition, all seven sailors remain in contention for medals across all three classes with Omani sailors occupying first, second and third in the Optimist event.
Tuesday’s racing was halted by a lack of wind, so Tamim Suleiman Al Balushi retained his place atop of the leaderboard after a series of strong performances. He extended his lead over Feras Haitham Al Nabhani in second to eight points, while Hassan Nasser Al Wahaibi rebounded well today after a setback on Monday to finish just one point behind in third.
Soud Talib Al Shaqsi is currently in sixth place, level on points with Mallim Zakaria of Algeria in fourth after a competition best performance in race six, and just five points behind Idriss Dardaoui of Tunisia fourth.
Hatem Mohsin Al Oreimi moved up a place to second in the ILCA 4, six points behind leader Waleed Daraan of Bahrain who posted two perfect runs in races six and seven. Teammate Abdullatif Zaid Al Qasmi stays in fifth, seven points from the podium positions.
Abdulla Janahi of Bahrain continues to be unbeatable in the ILCA 7, notching seven straight wins to take command of the competition. Oman’s Ahmed Hassan Al Balushi remains in third place with Adil Khaled of the United Arab Emirates in second.
National Team Manager, Ahmed Al Qasmi, said, “The Pan Arab Games, so far, has been a very valuable experience for our sailors. We have worked on the technical and mental aspects of racing and prepared for a variety of scenarios. It is good to see these lessons in action and show that our methods are working. All of the sailors are performing very well, and we are optimistic or the remainder of the competition.”
Speaking about his performance so far, Tamim Al Balushi, leader in the Optimist event, added, “I am very happy with my performances over the first four days, and the performances of my teammates. We are helping each other as a team and supporting each other. There is a lot of racing still to come but we are calm and sailing well together, and we hope to win medals for Oman at the end of the competition.”
The Omani team joins nearly 4,000 athletes from 18 countries from across the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa at the 15th edition of the Pan Arab Games, being held in Algeria for the first time since 2004.
After wrapping up competition in Algeria, the team will then return home for the Oman Sailing Championship in Ras Al Hadd from 24-28 August 2023, and then begin to prepare for this year’s Mussanah Race Week,from 18-24 October 2023, at Barceló Mussanah Resort.
