By Bader Al-Sulaihem
ABU DHABI, Dec 24 (KUNA) -- The Kuwaiti team on Saturday won the 8th GCC Wheelchair Basketball Championship in a row after beating Saudi Arabia 62-56 in the final.
The winners are likely to be honored late Sunday in Abu Dhabi following the match between UAE and Bahrain for the third and fourth places.
Saudi Arabia dominated today's game at the beginning, but the Kuwaiti players managed to perform well in the second half, raising their points until the end of the match.
There were a number of counter-attacks made by both teams, but Kuwaitis could at the end of the match outperform the rivals.
Following the win, Shafi Al-Hajri, president of Kuwait Disabled Sport Club, extolled Kuwaiti players' performance during today's competition so as to maintain the title for the 8th year in a row.
He told KUNA in a statement that the Kuwaiti players made a brilliant show, despite the difficulty of the competition and the developed levels of the Gulf teams in this tournament in particular.
Today's achievement was made due to excellent team-work and experiences for the tournament as well as technical skills of Kuwaitis, he said.
Fahad Abdullah, a member of Kuwaiti administrative team, told KUNA in a statement that the players won the tournament, thanks to excellent exercises and training.
He said the team was determined to snatch the championship and return home with the trophy.
For his part, Ahmad Al-Shatti, the team's assistant coach, lauded the Kuwaiti team for adherence by the directions and instructions made by the technical and administrative teams that contributed to wining the match.
The training camp held in Turkey in preparation for the game helped the team achieve its goals, he stressed.
Abdul-Elah Al-Megren, head of Saudi team's delegation, congratulated the Kuwaiti team on maintaining the title, noting that his country's team was about to win the game, but failed as Kuwaitis were determined to snatch the title.
Bahrain defeated Oman 54-49 today. (end) bsu.hm