DOHA: Eighteen qualifiers will compete in the second edition of Qatar’s Strongest Man today and tomorrow from 3pm to 9pm at Aspire Park.
Aspire Zone’s Qatar’s Strongest Man is divided into two categories: An open race for residents today and citizens tomorrow.
Nine men, including Daniel Dache Athiambo and Christopher Oktech (Kenya), Nicolas Nassif (Lebanon), Joseph Iroo Ekadeli (Last year’s winner from Kenya), Meshack Otieno Ogola (Kenya), Rafed Assef Ahmed (Syria), Basheer Mohamed (Saudi Arabia), Abdelmalek Aouatia (Algeria) and Abdelrahman Abdelrahman (Egypt) have been selected to participate in the open race category.
Fahad Mohammed Alhaddad, Abdulla Majid Allaq, Abdulla Essa Albinali, Ali Essa Albinali Mohammed Jarlla Almarri, Talal Belal Alkuwari, Rashid Abdulla Alfehaida, Hamad Salem Alnaimi and Salah Abdulrahman Zaenalabdeen have been selected in the citizens’ category, in what is tipped to be the ultimate ‘Clash of the Titans’.
Abdulla Al Khater, Aspire Zone Events Manager, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting the second edition of Qatar’s Strongest Man, and we had a fantastic response with a lot of applications.
“Aspire Zone is committed to promoting activities and organising events the whole community can enjoy, and plans are underway to have a GCC category added to next year’s event.”
The second edition focuses on testing the physical strength of each participant. The two-day event over National Day weekend sponsored by Sports Corner, consists of strength tests including weight lifting, lifting a fixed car, pulling a truck, moving a giant tyre and moving an atlas stone and sand bags.
Ekadeli, winner of the inaugural event, said: “It’s fantastic to be participating in the second edition and I will have the opportunity to defend my title. The competition is challenging and hopefully I can once again walk away with the title.”
Qatari brothers Abdulla Albinali and Ali Albinali who are participating in the citizens’ category, said: “The event focuses on challenging you physically and mentally, as well as being a test of endurance. We both had the opportunity to participate in the first edition and we are happy to have passed the selection stage this time around.
“We have been training intensively for this and hopefully it pays off and one of us is crowned Qatar’s Strongest Man.”
The top three participants who get the highest points in all five series will win the challenge.
An honouring ceremony will be held today and tomorrow at 6pm where a trophy and prize money will be awarded to the top three. The first five qualifiers will also be rewarded.
The event will also witness an attempt by Abdel Latif Sadek (Guinness Records achiever) to break his record in push-ups.
The Peninsula
