Doha: The Ramadan Sports Festival (RSF), conducted by the Aspire Zone Foundation’s (AZF) witnessed the conclusion of action filled Cricket Tournament and Table Tennis Tournament for persons with special needs in front of enthusiastic crowds.
The Cricket and Table Tennis Tournaments were introduced in line with AZF’s commitment to offer the local community new and exciting sports with every edition of the RSF.
Team Blasters emerged inaugural champions of AZF’s Cricket tournament amidst unprecedented spectatorship and enthusiasm
AZF’s first Cricket Tournament concluded late on Wednesday night following two days of exciting competition which saw six teams from the South Asian expat community in Qatar battle it out for glory.
Team Blasters eventually overcame the other five teams to take home the title following an intense final match that was marked by a fine battling display, with the Blaster reaching a score that made a run-rate rebuttal seemingly impossible for their opponents.
Shivani Mishra, a cricket coach and referee, commended this new initiative, saying it had expanded the horizon of sports tournaments offered in Qatar, and draws new fans and enthusiasts into the sport of cricket.
She added AZF’s organisation of the tournament helped elevate its value in Qatar, making it possible for cricket enthusiasts to take part in their favourite sport and opening the door for the sport to grow further in Qatar and change the industry’s landscape.”
“Unique evening for table tennis enthusiasts with special needs in Aspire Dome
The fourth annual Table Tennis Tournament for Persons with Special Needs also took place on Wednesday, which was organised at Aspire Dome in collaboration with the Qatar Paralympic Committee. Forty of the sport’s enthusiasts competed across four categories including physical disability, mental disability, hearing disability and visual disability.
At the end of the one-day tournament, Khalid Al Yafei earned first place in the physical disability category, while Hamad Al Marri took home first place in the visual disability category. Mohammad Mousa finished first in the mental disability category, and Abdullah Taleb first in the hearing disability category.
Commenting on his fourth win in the tournament, Khalid Al Yafei said: “I am happy with my fourth win in the Aspire Ramadan Table Tennis Tournament.”
“The tournament has improved year after year in terms of organisation and quality of competition, and I wish everyone could see how much care AZF gives to athletes with special needs,” he sais.
“The initiative to organise this tournament helps shed light on this niche category of athletes and hopefully helps open the door for organising more tournaments of this kind”.
Hussain Al Haddad, member of the Qatar Paralympic Committee and Chairman of the Aspire Ramadan Table Tennis Tournament, commented on the tournament, saying: “AZF deployed all its efforts and logistical expertise in support of the tournament, which brought together people with different kinds of disability under one roof.”
“This year’s edition was made even more unique with the newly added category of visual disability, and we look forward to organising new tournaments in collaboration with AZF in the near future.”
Crunch matches await the Ladies’ Volleyball and Junior Futsal competitors. Some high-stakes matches, including semi-finals and finals in the Ladies’ Volleyball and Junior Futsal tournaments took take place on Thursday and yesterday.
In the latest round of the Junior Futsal Tournament, Al Aziziya beat San Siro with a score of 7-2, while Backstreet Boys played a one-sided match against Samba that ended in a 6-0 win for the former. In the match between Black Star and Legend, the teams tied with a score of 2-2, while Bayern trumped Immortal with an 11-1 victory.
In the Ladies’ Volleyball Tournament, competition favourites Hyper Spikers reached the quarter-finals where they will compete against QVIB, while TWS faces off with Aktor.
The Peninsula
