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GCC Games wins for Kuwait in basketball, volleyball as hosts top medals haul

KUWAIT, May 20 (KUNA) -- Kuwait clinched their fourth successive basketball win, beating the United Arab Emirates, 81-75, while the volleyball side had the upper hand across all three sets, also against UAE, as the hosts climbed to the top of the GCC Games medals table on Friday.
The basketball event also saw Saudi Arabia triumphant against Qatar, 53-44, ahead of the final two corresponding matchups on Saturday between the Saudis and Bahrainis alongside the Qataris and Emiratis.
Some five nations, excluding Oman, are taking part in this particular event which sees the top four teams qualify to the semi-finals, where the top side plays the fourth-placed and the second-placed plays third ahead of a final between the two fixture's winners.
In volleyball, Kuwait play Oman on Saturday, alongside the corresponding fixtures, Saudi Arabia v Qatar and Bahrain v UAE.
Host nation, Kuwait, leapfrogged Bahrain to the top of the medals count with a significant margin after the day's proceedings, raising their tally to a total 56 medals (21 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze), at the games which kicked off on Monday and conclude on May 31.
Up to this point, Bahrain with 43 medals (17 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze), had dominated the earlier part of the tournament while Qatar trail in third with 39 medals (12 gold, 15 silver and 12 bronze).
Earlier, Kuwait added five gold, two silver and two bronze medals in various disciplines across the swimming and shooting events which both drew to a close earlier today.
The quadrennial six-nation multi-sport event, which reaches its third edition, was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 before being delayed due to fears over the coronavirus pandemic. (end) kt.sd