Hosts UAE top medal table at 11th NAS Sports Tournament fencing

Led by Khalid Mubarak, who struck the only gold in the Senior Men's Saber competition, the UAE finished the competition with a total of seven medals, including three silver and three bronze apiece.

Contesting in a field of 13 fencers from various countries, Khalid Mubarak secured a narrow 15-13 win against countryman Khalifa Alebri to pocket the gold medal. Hamad Al Maazmi beat Saudi Arabia's Ahmad Alomran to take the bronze and complete the clean sweep for the UAE.

At the end of the four finals, Engineer Shaikh Salem Bin Sultan Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman, UAE and Arabic and Asian Fencing Federation was joined by His Excellency Saeed Harib, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council and Mahmoud Bassiony, Assistant Brand Manager of Pocari Sweat, in presenting the various winners with medals.

Egypt's Abdel Rehman Haffour topped the Senior Men's Foil competition as he skipped past the UAE's Faris Al Blooshi 15-8 in an engrossing final. Tunisia's Mohammed Ayoub Ferjani had to settle for bronze after getting the better of Hungary's Daniel Robert Kiss in the fence-off for third place.

The Senior Men's Epee competition attracted the biggest field of 28 fencers, and it was Saudi Arabia's Faisal Abed coming through with top honours with a hard-fought 12-11 win against Estonia's Sten Priinits in the final.

The UAE's Khalifa Al Zarooni took the bronze with a win against Egypt's Ahmed El Saghir in the third place fence-off.

Tunisia's Sarah Besbes proved her superior fencing skills as she picked up the gold medal in the Senior Women's Epee.

On a night that witnessed some high level of fencing, Sarah Besbes won 15-7 against home favourite Al Anoud Al Saadi to take home the top prize and the gold medal. Shaikha Al Zaabi of the UAE had to stay content with the bronze medal, while Mira Al Hammadi, also of the UAE took fourth place.

The competition was held on a format of direct elimination with the complete tableau of top 16 given an opportunity to fence their way to the final.

The UAE topped the medals table with seven medals, including the lone gold of Khalid Mubarak in the Senior Men's Saber, while Tunisia was second with two medals, Saudi Arabia was third with one gold leaving Egypt and Estonia in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands and Iran were the big winners of the night in the mens Padel competition also being held at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

The Netherlands swept aside Qatar 3-0, while Iran dug in deep for a 2-1 win against the UAE in Thursday's late matches. Despite the loss, the hosts will advance to the semi-finals along with Iran from Group A, while Kuwait will join The Netherlands in the last four from Group B.

The semi-final line-up on Friday night will see the UAE play Group A toppers The Netherlands, while Iran will take on Kuwait to decide which two teams advance to the finals scheduled to be held on Saturday.

The boy's Under-18 Padel competition also entered the quarter-final stages with Saif Al Hammadi Talal and Qasem Al Sharafi advancing with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Mohammed Al Ali and Abdulla Al Ali.

Maktoum Bin Ghadyer and Maktoum Al Ketbi also made it to the next stage with a 6-0, 6-0 swamping of Turki Abdulwahed Faisal and Hamdan Hamid Almaazmi, while Ahmed Al Hashemi Ismaeli and Martin Martinez defeated Nasser Al Nassr and Abdulla Al Aqili Ishaq 6-1, 6-1.

Mahmoud Abdul Hameed Al Attar and Ahmed Al Muhairi also advanced with a 6-4, 6-0 win against Ahmed Al Alawi and Aly Elnahas, while Fahad Alhooli and Hamad Al Kokhardi won 6-4, 6-0 against Sayed Mohammed Al Hashimi and Faris Al Muhairi.

Arguably the biggest sporting event of its kind during the holy month of Ramadan, the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament is being held at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex under the slogan 'Limitless Possibilities.'

Consisting of nine different sports events, including volleyball, padel, jiu-jitsu, fencing, wheelchair basketball, road running, cycling race, tug-of-war and obstacle course race, the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament will conclude on March 31.