Doha: As many as 12 teams will vie for top honour at the Beach Touch Rugby Challenge, one of a kind in the Middle East, to be competed tomorrow at the Cultural Village Foundation, Katara.
This was announced during a press conference yesterday in the presence of; the Director General of Cultural Village Foundation, Katara, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, President of Qatar Touch Rugby (QTR), Samuel Rico, IEC General Manager, Joe Kharrat, and Jim Hamilton, the Marketing and Sponsorship Director of DRFC.
The event is being hosted by QTR with the participation of the Cultural Village Foundation, Katara as a cultural partner.
Commenting on the occasion, Katara’s Director General said: “The hosting of this tournament at Katara beach comes from the interest of the Cultural Village which sees as a vital aspect of holding several tournaments, championships, and sporting events.”
Al Sulaiti added: “Although Katara is a comprehensive cultural city that aims to uplift the cultural and creativity movement, it tries to make sport a culture and lifestyle. This is done through hosting numerous and various sporting events all year round.”
All in all there will be 39 matches consisting of five-minute halves except the finals which will be extended to seven minutes.
All players will receive a participation award with the winners and runners up all receiving trophies and medals.
The QTR President said: “It is QTR’s vision to facilitate and nurture the development and expansion of touch rugby in the country, holding first class international Touch Rugby meets including the World Cup. QTR further wishes to create and develop competitive national teams that can participate on the global stage.”
He explained that the competition on the day will kick off at 8.00am and continue till the evening. Each participating team is guaranteed four games before advancing into the elimination knockout phase.
Speaking to reporters, Hamilton said: “We at Doha Rugby concur and support QTR and its initiatives to develop the game. We share the same vision as Touch for Rugby and we are always exploring avenues that best suite rugby and its development. It is worth noting that Rugby will be catapulted to the international stage at the next Olympics making it one of the most popular sports in the world”.
The IEC General Manager, Kharrat indicated the importance of sponsors and partners saying: “Their presence not only provides plenty of entertainment and activities on the day but it reiterates their commitment to Qatar’s national Vision 2030”.
VIP’s, dignitaries, families, friends and lovers of sport are expected to attend the daylong event. THE PENINSULA
