Home swimmers set multiple records; Qatar also shine in 3×3 basketball and fencing
Published: 14 May 2026 - 10:08 am | Last Updated: 14 May 2026 - 10:26 am
Members of Qatar's men's 400m freestyle relay team celebrate with a selfie after winning the gold medal.
Doha, Qatar: Qatar swimmers enjoyed another golden day at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, clinching five more gold medals with record-breaking performances as hosts Qatar leapt to the top of the 4th GCC Games Doha 2026 standings.
Qatar’s 3×3 men’s basketball, showjumping and fencing teams added three more gold medals as the home contingent wrapped up the second day with a total of 29 medals, including 11 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze medals.
Saudi Arabia slipped to second with nine gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, while Bahrain followed with three gold, five silver and three bronze.
After bagging three gold and two silver medals on the opening day, Qatar made a clean sweep in yesterday’s events.
Saadeddin, who won the 800m freestyle on Tuesday, opened the day by securing gold in the men’s 400m freestyle with a Games record time of 3:50.80 seconds. It was a Qatari one-two finish, as Emile Fouzai took silver in 3:56.05, with Bahrain’s Robert Bonsall winning bronze in 3:57.97.
Mohamed Mahmoud reigned supreme in the men’s 50m breaststroke, claiming gold in 28.38 seconds - another Games record. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alotaibi (29.32) finished second for silver, with Qatar’s Hamza Shalan (29.53) earning bronze.
In the men’s 100m freestyle, Ali Tamer Hassan set a new Games record of 49.78 seconds to win gold. Emad Addin Zaben (50.58) of Saudi Arabia secured silver, while the UAE’s Hussein Abdelsalam (51.84) took bronze.
Abdalla Elghamry sparkled in the men’s 200m backstroke, winning gold in 2:05.91 to set another Games record. He won comfortably ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alessa, who took silver in 2:07.88, while Kuwait’s Abdullah Sultan settled for bronze in 2:12.23.
“I am surprised with my time. It was a tough contest and the other competitors brought the best out of me. Ali Alessa was really impressive. I loved the crowd which was special,” said Elghamry.
Qatar capped a successful day in the pool by clinching the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay gold, finishing ahead of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Members of the gold-winning Qatar men’s 3×3 basketball team celebrate on the podium with Qatar’s women’s 3×3 basketball team who won the bronze.
Qatar excel in 3×3 basketball
At Al Gharafa Hall, Qatar’s men’s 3×3 basketball team beat Bahrain 20-11 in the gold medal match.
Their campaign featured group-stage victories over the UAE (22-9), Bahrain (21-15), Kuwait (21-7) and Saudi Arabia (19-12), before defeating Saudi Arabia again 21-11 in the semi-finals.
Saudi Arabia later claimed bronze with a 13-9 win over the UAE.
Qatar’s women’s 3×3 basketball team secured bronze, beating Kuwait 11–9 in the playoff.
“Winning the men’s gold and women’s bronze at Doha 2026 is a historic achievement that reflects the progress of Qatari basketball at the national team level,” said Qatar Basketball Federation President Mohammed bin Saad Al-Mughaseeb.
“The women’s bronze is particularly significant as it marks our first medal in Gulf Games history, highlighting the success of our development programmes and the growing base of the sport.”
Team showjumping, fencing golds for Qatar
At the Qatar Equestrian Federation indoor Arena, Qatar clinched team showjumping gold with a combined time of 206.37 seconds despite four penalties. Team UAE took silver in 208.89 seconds with eight penalties, while Kuwait secured bronze in 209.44 seconds after collecting 12 penalties.
At the Aspire Dome, Qatar secured gold and silver in the men’s foil event, with Ali Owaida overcoming compatriot Khaled Hussein in the final. The UAE’s Faris Alblooshi claimed bronze.
Qatar's Ali Al-Obaidali claimed the silver medal in the men’s 10-ball singles.
Al-Obaidali seals silver; strong show in taekwondo
Qatari cueist Ali Al-Obaidali claimed silver in the men’s 10-ball singles after a 5-7 defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Baabad in the final at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall.
Al-Obaidali had earlier outclassed UAE’s Mahmoud Charif 7–2 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Qatar taekwondo team added two silver and three bronze medals at the Aspire Dome.
Ali Alarimi won silver in the men’s +80kg category after losing to Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhaibari 2–0 in the final.
Qatar’s Maram Fatnassi also claimed silver after being edged 2–1 by UAE’s Amna Alloghani in the women’s -67kg final.
In the women’s +67kg category, Qatar’s Noor Mohammed settled for bronze, with Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Saber winning gold and UAE’s Salma Alketbi taking silver.
Qatar’s Mohammad Awadalla claimed bronze in the men’s -68kg category, while Njoud Al Fahad added another bronze in the women’s -57kg category.
Bowling and table tennis medals
Qatar’s bowling duo of Talal Al-Marri and Bader Al-Sada secured silver in the doubles event, finishing second overall with 2,481 points from six games. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Sultan Al Saud and Abdulmajid Al-Aslani took gold with 2,652 points, while Kuwait’s Mustafa Al-Mousawi and Faisal Salim claimed bronze with 2,467 points.
In table tennis, Qatar added bronze in the team competition, finishing third on four points after a 3–0 win over Oman and 3–1 defeats to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia won gold with six points, Bahrain took silver with five, and Oman finished fourth with three.
