This is “Al-Reeh”, one of the three 2nd Asian Beach Games mascots. It is a rare desert bird called the Houbara Bustard and this is its serving pose.
We watched the Men Bronze Medal Match for Beach Volleyball between Oman and Brunei on Dec. 16th at 10am at Al Musannah Sports City.
It was not a close game at all. The Omani athletes, Haitham and Ahmed, dominated the match from beginning to end!
The fans were really encouraging the hometeam! 🙂
These same players, Ahmed Khadoom Al Hosni and Haitham Kulham Al Shuraiki, are two-time champions in Arab Beach Volleyball.
From the “Muscat 2010 Promotion Brochure III”: “Making its Summer Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996, beach volleyball has been a popular sport since the 1920s. Originally played to give bored surfers something to do when the surf was down, the game quickly grew in recognition and is now a regular sight on some of the most famous beaches in the world.”
You can almost feel the effort being exerted by Ahmed Al Housni here!
Haitham Al Shereiqi looks on while his partner battles it out at the net!
One of the athletes from Brunei took at least 2 big falls during the match. This second fall took too much out of him and he wasn’t able to keep playing, thereby losing the match for his team and guaranteeing the victory for Oman!
He must have really hurt himself as he was lying there for quite a few minutes before the officials declared the match over. There really was no point in going on though as the Omani team had already won the first set (by a long shot) and were close to winning the 2nd set anyway.
A very sad way for any athlete to leave the battlefield I can only imagine.
Ahmed showing some love and gratitude to the fans!
It was cool to attend one of the matches in which Oman got a medal! 🙂 Oman did far better than anyone could have imagined! Oman came in 3rd place with 15 medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze)! Thailand was 1st with 36 medals (15 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze). China came in 2nd, earning 12 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze for a total of 26 medals. “Mubaruk!” to all Omani athletes and to all Beach Games organizers and volunteers! 🙂 The Games were a smashing success!
Andy in Oman 