FOUR Bahraini teams have landed in Phuket, Thailand, to take part in the Fourth Asian Beach Games which gets underway on Friday.

Bahrain will be taking part in beach football, handball, volleyball and swimming.

Ahmed Al Amer is heading the football delegation. Other delegation members are administrator Bassim Mahjoob, coach Joao Almeida, assistant coach Mahmood Al Ghawi, physiotherapist Abdulla Arafa and 10 players.

The players are Ayoob Naseeb, Ebrahim Hasan, Mohammed Ashoor, Thani Al Dossary, Jasim Al Dossary, Isa Al Dossary, Abdulla Abdullatif, Mohammed Al Ghawi and goalkeepers Salah Salman and Saleh Al Dossary.

The teams were received on arrival at Phuket International Airport by Bahrain delegation chef de mission Mohammed Al Ghunaim, technical director of Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) Lounes Madene and committee treasurer Yaqoub Abdulmohsin.

Bahrain, who had their first training session yesterday, will play Kuwait in a friendly before the start of the tournament.

Bahrainis are also taking part in athletics, sailing, triathlon and weightlifting. These teams are expected to arrive in Phuket in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s handball team began preparations in Phuket with a 0-2 defeat to hosts Thailand in a friendly match. The Bahrainis, coached by Khalid Al Hiddi, are spearheaded by Jaffer Abdulnabi, Abdulla Ali, Mohammed Habib, Fahad Jassim, Jaffer Abbas, Mohammed Jawad, Belal Basham, Mahmood Ali, Hussain Al Qaydoom and Sayed Shehab.

This 10-day event will see athletes from 45 nations compete in 26 disciplines and 169 events.
The official opening of the Games is on Friday, but squash started yesterday while sambo, ju-jitsu and beach football will commence today.