DUBAI, 12th April 2025 (WAM) -- The UAE national beach football team secured the silver medal at the 3rd GCC Beach Games - Muscat 2025, following a commanding 5-1 victory over Kuwait on the final day of the tournament, which ran from 5th to 11th April.

The event featured 330 athletes from Gulf Cooperation Council countries, with the UAE delegation comprising 77 athletes.

Salem Al Baloushi added a bronze to the medal tally in the men's long jump with a distance of 6.55 metres, bringing the UAE's final count to 23 medals: 8 gold, 8 silver, and 7 bronze.

The UAE competed across all eight beach sports on the programme: football, handball, volleyball, athletics, tent pegging, sailing, swimming, and paragliding.

Oman topped the final standings with a total of 45 medals (20 gold, 18 silver, and 7 bronze). Saudi Arabia rose to third place with 18 medals (4 gold, 6 silver, and 8 bronze), while Bahrain dropped to fourth with 17 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, and 9 bronze).

Qatar finished fifth with 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze), and Kuwait placed sixth with 8 medals (2 silver and 6 bronze).

The UAE sailing team earned the highest number of medals within the national delegation, claiming 11 medals in total. These included gold in the Optimist team event and a K4 gold won by Marwa Al Hammadi.

Al Yazia Al Hammadi secured silver in the same race. In the K6 category, Dhooha Al Beshr won gold and Kamilia Khalifa took bronze.

Zayed Al Hosani won gold in the Optimist (junior) category, with Khalifa Al Rumaithi taking gold in the overall classification for the same class. Othman Al Hammadi captured gold in the boys' K6 race.

Adel Khalid Al Bastaki secured silver in the youth K7 category, while Mohammed Al Marzouqi claimed silver in the K4 event. Madia Al Niyadi won bronze in the girls' Optimist class.

The UAE athletics team captured six medals-three silver and three bronze. Silver medals were earned by the men's 4x relay team (Naseeb Salmeen, Mohammed Al Nubi Al Hammadi, Salem Al Baloushi, and MoazFawzi), the women's 4x relay team (Fatima Al Baloushi, Mahra Abdulrahim, Fatima Khalil, and Jawaher Fareed), and Alia Yousif Al Hammadi in the women's high jump.

Bronze medals were won by Abeer Ibrahim Al Baloushiin in the women's triple jump, Roqaya Al Marzouqi in the athletics mile race, and Salem Al Baloushi in the men's long jump.

The UAE aerosports team also delivered a strong showing, winning three medals-two golds by Abdullah Nasser Al Hammadi in paragliding (target landing and cone slalom), and a team silver in paragliding.

In tent pegging, the UAE team claimed bronze in the javelin team event through athletes Fahad Shanwan Al Shammari, Saif Mubarak Al Harthi, Mohammed Abdullah Hussein, Khalid Al Masoud Al Hashemi, and Eisa Abdulmajeed Al Baloushi.

The national beach handball team earned bronze after securing four wins against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, despite two losses to Oman. The competition followed a double round-robin format, with each team playing the others twice.