Oman sport

Fatma's Grand Slam disappointment
Date - 9 February 2009Description -
She is possibly the youngest person to write a piece of sporting history for the sultanate. Eighteen-year-old Fatma al Nabhani became Oman’s first player ever to feature in a Grand Slam when the precocious teenager made her debut in the Australian Open Juniors last week.
There was no dream start as Fatma lost in the opening round of the singles and doubles events, but the exposure she has gained will stand her in good stead. She was up against Aussie teenager Isabella Holland, who won 6-1, 7-5 in the first round.
After losing the first set in just 27 minutes, Fatma, in fact, took the lead in the second but the Queenslander rose to the challenge and produced a number of well-placed forehands to win the second set.
In the doubles, Fatma along with Slovakian Zuzana Luk-narova lost to Anna Orlik of Belarus and Laura Robson of Great Britain 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round.
The week

Many participate in Muscat Half Marathon
Date - 7 February 2009Description -
Third edition of the Muscat Half Marathon yesterday turned out to be a success as many enthusiastic runners took part seriously besides the fun-loving bunch. Othman al Sheiby ran pretty seriously to win the overall honours in the men's 21 km run, while Almenesh bested seasoned campaigner Solveig Saeby in the women's 21 km run. Cora Volt won the second place while Saeby could finish only third. Essa al Azizi in the men's section and Ann Bokeley in the women's won the 10 km race. The cool, breezy winter morning yesterday saw hundreds of runners and onlookers gathered at the starting point in Athaiba.
Besides Moroccan Olympic bronze medallist Nezha Bidouane, who was present to cheer the competitors at the request of Oman Athletic Association and sponsors Kellogg's (Enhance), many participants took the occasion seriously and ran competitively in quest of a lolly. The champion hurdler Nezha, who has taken part in many such events in the past, was all praise on the organisational aspects as she garlanded the achievers with medals and presented big cash cheques for the top three winners. "I am delighted to be here and I assure all support for Oman Athletic Association (OAA) in their future endeavours," said Nezha.
It was also a delight to watch the winners and other participants sharing their moments with the legendary runner. OAA vice-chairman Dr Mansour al Touqi expressed delight in the grand success and expressed his thanks to all the participants, volunteers and the sponsors. "The event has gradually shunned its tag as an amateur event and this edition has shown that we are moving the professional way," said Dr Mansour. OAA chairman Hamed al Jabri also sounded happy after the race and thanked all those who were involved in making the Half Marathon a grand success. He also presented a memento to the Moroccan athlete.
The winner of the 21 km men's category became richer by $5,000, while the second and third place finishers went home with a purse of $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. The women 21 km winner won $3,000, while the cash prize was $2,000 for the second place and $1,000 for third place. Results: Men: 21 km: 1 Othman al Sheiby (1:04.07); 2 Abdullah Tagrapheet (1:04.56); 3 Qais Al Mahrooqi (1:10.57). 10 km: 1 Essa al Azizi; 2 Sultan Al Khalbani; 3 Said al Jabri. Women: 21 km: 1 Almenesh (1:31.50); 2 Cora Volt (1:32.31); 3 Solveig Saeby (1:32.43). 10 km: 1 Ann Bokeley; 2 Annas Anna Hussain; 3 Twain Anglo.omanobserver

Sultanate's riders bag three more medals
Date - 9 February 2009Description -
Omani riders' excellent show continued on the second day of the second Oman International Tent-pegging Championship being hosted by the Oman Equestrian Federation (OEF) at Al Rahba Farm in Barka yesterday with the local horsemen winning three more medals, including a gold. The Sultanate's gold, their second of the championship, came in the individual tent-pegging (sword) competition when Oman 'B' team's Nasser bin Saqr al Khamisi took the top honours with 36 points. The silver was bagged by Nasser's team-mate Ali bin Saleh al Balushi with 32 points. Egypt's Rannie Hamlet claimed the bronze with 31.5 points.
In lemon and peg (sword) contest, Khalil bin Ahmed al Balushi won Oman's third medal of the day by bagging bronze with 29.5 points. Paksitan's Amor Munawar clinched the top honours, for his second gold of the championship, with 30 points (7.28 seconds) while India's Om Prakash settled for silver with 30 points (7.68 seconds). After yesterday's show, Oman riders have taken their medal tally to five. It may be mentioned that on the opening day, Hilal bin Hassan al Balushi won the gold for Oman with 30 points (6.88 seconds) while Hilal bin Abdullah al Badri won the silver with 30 points (7.19 seconds) individual rings and peg competition.
OEF Chairman Mohammed bin Isa al Fairuz and Syrian equastrian body chief Atif al Zaibaik presented the trophies to the winners of yesterday's contest. After today's rest day, the championship resumes tomorrow with two medal contests, team tent-pegging lance and paired tent-pegging. The championship, which is scheduled to conclude on February 11, has attracted nine teams from eight countries. While Oman have fielded two teams 'A' and 'B', the others paricipating in the event are India, Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt, UK, Sudan and Jordan.omanobserver