Sulaima Al Marri in action at the GCC Women's Games in Doha last month. Sulaima was voted Qatar’s best handball player at the Games.
A number of talented athletes continue to emerge across a wide variety of sports from Qatar demonstrating the continued strength and depth of sports development in the country.
The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) yesterday introduced a new wave of talented athletes that are achieving success for Qatar on the international stage.
Athletes representing Team Qatar in gymnastics, beach volleyball, and at the recent GCC Women’s Games were among those celebrated at the QOC’s meet.
Commenting on Team Qatar’s talented athletes, Secretary General of the QOC, Dr Thani Abdulrahman Al Kuwari said: “The QOC is committed to working closely with each of our National Sport Federations to provide the highest level of support for all our athletes and ensure that they have everything they need to reach their full potential.
"We are very pleased to witness the number of talented athletes that continue to emerge across wide variety of sports and represent Team Qatar at the highest possible level, particularly in women’s sport and para-sport. This demonstrates the progress that we continue to make on the sporting field and suggests a bright future for sporting excellence in Qatar. We are very proud of all our athletes and hope that their success will capture the attention of young people around the country and inspire them to take up sport at any level.”
Team Qatar’s female athletes excelled at the recent GCC Women’s Games hosted in Doha when they topped the medals table with a total of 60 medals – 21 gold, 20 silver and 19 bronze, ahead of Bahrain in second place with 40 medals and UAE in third place with 32 medals.
Over 350 athletes in total from across the GCC participated in 10 sports with 88 athletes representing Team Qatar.
The performance of Qatar’s athletes is a huge improvement from the last edition of the Games in 2014 when Qatar finished fourth in the medal’s table with 29 medals, including seven gold, eight silver, and 14 bronze medals. Team Qatar’s gold medals came in a variety of sports including table tennis, chess, fencing, athletics, shooting, taekwondo, handball and basketball.
Gold medal-winning handball captain, Sulaima Al-Marri, who was voted Qatar’s best handball player in 2015 and 2017, said: “Our success in the GCC Women’s Games inspired lots of new females in Qatar to want to play handball and to join the national team. During the tournament, we saw many players registering to join, which was amazing to see. It is also good to see the international media coverage of the event and show that there are females in Qatar playing sport and that we are playing at a high level.”
In March, Doha also hosted the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup for the tenth consecutive year.
240 gymnasts from 33 countries participated, including Team Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Dayani, Ahmed Nabil and Jenna Al-Kiki, who had the opportunity to compete against Olympic and World Champions and Doha’s Aspire Dome.
For 17-year-old Nabil, who is a current student at the Aspire Academy, the competition provided valuable international experience on his journey to qualifying for next year’s 2018 World Championships in Doha and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The 2016 Arab Gymnastics Champion is currently preparing for next month’s Asian Championships in Thailand.
Doha will be hosting further major international events in May when the Doha Diamond League will be returning to Qatar Sports Club and the AVC Aspire Beach Tour will be hosted in the Aspire Park.
The AVC Beach Tour will feature the best beach volleyball teams from 24 countries across Asia. This year’s AVC Beach Tour in Doha is the first Master tournament – allowing the teams to gain more points versus the previously held Open tours.
Three Qatari teams will be competing in Doha in May and will be looking to use the support of the home-crowd to their advantage.
This year’s Doha Diamond League will take place on May 5 from 5-9pm at Qatar Sports Club and the AVC Beach Tour will take place in the Aspire Park from May 3 to 6.
