Doha: In the presence of H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Olympic Council of Asia, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the 2026 GCC Games Organizing Committee, the Qatar national padel team opened their campaign at the GCC Games Doha 2026 with a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia today, Saturday, at the Aspire Academy.
Team Qatar dominated all three matches, as the duo of Rashed Nawaf and Mishari Nawaf secured a comfortable win in the opening match against Saudi Arabia’s Sattam Al Shahrani and Mohammed Al Jaziri in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-1. In the second match, the pair of Issa Shanan and Khalid Saadoun Al Kuwari defeated Ali Al Buraik and Abdullah Al Zayed 7-6 and 6-4. In the third match, Mohammed Saadoun Al Kuwari and Hassan Wali completed the sweep with an emphatic 6-0 and 6-0 victory over Mohammed Al Sulaiman and Abdulrahman Al Jabrin.
The matches were also attended by H.E. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 4th GCC Games, as well as Tareq Darwish Zainal, President of the Asian Padel Federation and Secretary General of the Qatar Tennis, Squash, Padel and Badminton Federation. The Qatar players expressed their happiness after securing their opening victory in the tournament. Mohammed Saadoun Al Kuwari told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the team had made a very strong start and expressed hope that the players would maintain their momentum in the upcoming matches and reach the podium on the final day of the competition.
For his part, Issa Shanan expressed his delight at securing Team Qatar’s first victory at the GCC Games, saying in similar remarks to QNA that defeating Saudi Arabia in all three matches would serve as a major motivation for the players to continue achieving positive results in the upcoming encounters.
Shanan stressed that the Qatar team is fully prepared for the tournament, noting that the players had undergone several training camps and competed against strong international teams as part of their preparations for the GCC Games. The Team Qatar player also expressed the ambition shared by all members of the squad to win the gold medal. share icon
