Muscat – Oman Sail capped off an excellent week of racing at the 2023 Pan Arab Games by claiming five medals across all classes.

The Omani team occupied the top four spots in the Optimist class with Tameem Suleiman al Balushi taking gold after eight superb races, Hassan Nasser al Wahaibi winning silver, Feras Haitham al Nabhani picking up bronze and Soud Talib al Shaqsi winning the last race of the competition to move up to fourth. The team scored an overall team gold in the Optimist class following its fantastic performance.

This success was followed by an equally impressive performance in ILCA 4, where Hatem Mohsin al Oreimi finished second behind Waleed Daraan of Bahrain who led throughout, and teammate Abdullatif Zaid al Qasmi ended the race in fourth.

Ahmed Hassan al Balushi finished fourth in the ILCA 7 competition, level on points with Boussouar Abdelkhalid of Algeria in third. The event was won by Abdulla Janahi of Bahrain who won eight of the ten races to seal victory with a day to spare.

The Oman sailing team ended the 2023 Pan Arab Games in Algeria with one gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze, as well as the team prize, after what was an incredibly successful campaign. Abdulaziz al Shadi and Nawaf al Ghadani from Oman Sail were also selected to be part of the race committee.

Dr Khamis al Jabri, CEO of Oman Sail, praised the team’s efforts. He said, “We are very proud of the entire team. This is an excellent achievement for the sailors, the technical staff, coaches and everyone at Oman Sail who has supported its journey. Competition within the region is very tough and it takes strong character to maintain such a high level of performance day after day. We hope this is just the start of a successful career on the water for our young talents and will serve as motivation to reach the very top of the sport.”

Following conclusion of racing in Algiers, the fleets came together to celebrate each other’s achievements at a prize giving ceremony attended by H E Saif al Badai, Oman’s Ambassador to Algeria, and Sheikh Khalifa Abdullah al Khalifa, President of Arab Sailing Federation.

The 15th edition of the Pan Arab Games featured 3,800 athletes from 18 countries competing in 20 sports across five cities.

Upon returning to Oman, the busy season will continue for the youth squad. First on schedule is the Oman Sailing Championship in Ras al Hadd from August 24 to 28, 2023, and then the team will prepare for this year’s Musannah Race Week taking place from October 18 to 24, 2023 at Barceló Musannah Resort.