Thursday 18 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Oman Golf Committee (OGC) is all set to organise the 36th Arab Golf Championship at the Ghala Golf Club from Tuesday.
The championship, which will run till November 13, will see participation of top golfers from 13 Arab countries.
According to OGC chairman Mundhir bin Salim Al Barwani the championship will be officially inaugurated by Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed bin Said Al Mardhouf Al Saadi, the Minister of Sports Affairs, in the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Omar bin Said Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service, and other top sports officials.
The OGC chief also declared the Sultanate’s readiness to host a successful championship while announcing the details of the event.
“Hosting of the Arab championship is in continuation of OGC’s commitment to organise successful tournaments,” Al Barwani said while referring to the success the Sultanate had in hosting the GCC championships in the past.
With the exception of Kuwait and Algeria, the other Arab countries have confirmed their participation and they are the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Lebanon besides hosts Oman.
The Libyan and the UAE teams were among the first teams to arrive.
Favourites
The OGC chief also said that championship will produce exciting golf.
“We are expecting some exciting golf both in the individual and team competitions as all the teams will be looking get good results.”
Speaking about the favourites to clinch the top honours, he said: “Morocco and Bahrain teams will be the top favourites thanks to their experience and talent of their individual players. The Tunisians are the other strong contenders and so are some of the Gulf teams.”
Al Barwani is also expecting a strong show from Oman team, which will comprise Azzan Al Rumhy, Ali Hameed, Fahd Al Kitani and Ahmed Al Balushi.
“We are expecting our stars to do well in the championship. They are in good touch after taking part in the recent Oman Amateur Championship organised on the sidelines of NBO Golf Classic Grand Final. These players have also taken part in different international tournaments in recent time and we hope that experience will come in handy for them.”
AGF meeting
The OGC chief, meanwhile, thanked the Ghala Golf Club for providing the right facilities and technical and administrative staff for organising the tournament. He also thanked the Ministry of Sports Affairs for fully supporting their efforts aimed in organising a successful event.
Al Barwani also informed that the Arab Golf Federation will have a meeting on the sidelines of the championship.
