CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Sports / Olympics

Team Qatar athletes eye glory at Tokyo Games

Published: 13 Jul 2021 - 09:55 am | Last Updated: 02 Nov 2021 - 11:42 am
Cherif Younousse (right) and Ahmed Tijan

Cherif Younousse (right) and Ahmed Tijan

The Peninsula

Doha: Qatar will participate in the 32nd Summer Olympic Games 2020 to be held in the Japanese capital of Tokyo from July 23 to August 08.

A total of 15 athletes will represent Qatar in seven sports at Tokyo 2020 Olympics as Team Qatar will compete in a total of seven sports and 6 track and field disciplines.

Here are profiles of some Qatar’s top stars who will be aiming to return with medals.

Mohamed Al Rumaihi 

Mohamed Al Rumaihi is one of those complete athletes who represented Qatar in a number of world and Asian events.  Mohamed Al Rumaihi booked a quota spot at the Olympics during the 14th Asian Shooting Championships at the Lusail Shooting Complex.

Fares Ibrahim Hassouna 

Qatar’s Fares Ibrahim Hassouna earned his ticket to Tokyo 2020 Olympics when he bagged two gold medals at 2019 Qatar International Cup

Weightlifting Championships.  Fares also participated in Rio 2016 Olympics but his first international appearance with Team Qatar was in 2014 edition of Qatar International Cup Weightlifting Championships. 

Nada & Al Obaidly 

Team Qatar swimmer Abdulaziz Hassan Al Obaidly will participate in 200m breaststroke event in Tokyo Olympics.  Al Obaidly sparkled at 2018 Asian Games and 2018 World Championships and claimed a huge number of gold medals on GCC level. 

It is worth mentioning that team Qatar swimmer Nada Mohamed Wafa was the first Qatari women to participate in Olympic Games when she competed in 50m Freestyle event at 2012 London Olympics.  

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan 

The Qatar beach volleyball team consisting of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games following the newly-announced rankings by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).

In a statement, the FIVB said that 13 teams have guaranteed direct qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games after the end of the last three Olympic qualifying rounds in Mexico. Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan claimed their first gold medal in FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star events in Cancun. They also participated in Rio 2016 Olympics. 

Tala Abujbara 

Team Qatar rower Tala Abujbara has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after clocking a time of 8.20 minutes in the 2,000m race during the Asia and Oceania Rowing Qualification Championships held in Kuwait recently. 

Tala had previously won the gold medal at the second Arab Championships in Indoor Rowing, which was hosted by Kuwait in 2018. She also claimed the bronze medal of 2017 Arab Championships held in Tunisia. 

Ayoub El Idrissi 

Team Qatar Judo star Ayoub El Idrissi, has officially qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Japan from July 23 to August 8.

Al Idrissi qualified for the Olympics well after collecting 699 points thanks to the good results he obtained during his participation in international tournaments in 2020 and 2021, especially in the recent Grand Slam tournaments in Georgia, Turkey and Russia, and the World Championships in Hungary in last June.

El Idrissi claimed the gold medal of 2019 Arab Championships in Morocco and the 5th place of 2019 Asian Championships in Uzbekistan.