Kuwait City, Kuwait, May 26, 2022: Veteran Ibrahem Al-Hasan won a brace of gold medals in table tennis to help hosts Kuwait maintain their position at the top of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Games Kuwait 2022 medals standings on Thursday.
The 35-year-old Al-Hasan won gold medals in the men’s doubles as well as the men’s singles events in table tennis to enable Kuwait to sit on top of the six-country standings with a total of 74 medals, including 28 golds, 21 silvers and 25 bronze, with just five days remaining in the Games.
Al-Hasan, who had represented Kuwait at two Olympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London – was in fine form at the Kuwait Olympic Committee headquarters youth complex as he first partnered Marzooq Al-Rashidi to win the men’s doubles encounter defeating Saudi pair Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi and Ali Al-Khadrawi 3-2.
Al-Hasan then returned later in the afternoon to battle to a 4-1 victory (12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 14-12) over Saudi’s Bu Shulaybi and win the gold medal in the men’s singles.
“It was a tough encounter as he pushed me all the way, but I believe my experience helped me win in the end,” the long-reigning Kuwaiti national champion Al-Hasan said afterwards.
Saudi Arabia had some consolation winning the men’s team gold with Qatar taking silver and Bahrain the bronze medal.