Jubilant Qatar handball players and officials celebrate after winning the gold medal, defeating Bahrain in the final.
Doha: Team Qatar which will return home with 13 medals from six different sports from the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia after two weeks of spectacular performances, has bright future ahead of them as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.
There were more than 30 athletes under the age of 20, showing the huge potential Team Qatar has for future events.
Team Qatar athletes that competed were from 20 different National Sport Federations. With 29 female athletes featuring, it was Team Qatar’s largest female delegation to the Asian Games ever.
Qatar bagged six gold, four silver and three bronze medals during the Games in Indonesia.
Qatar’s gold medals came through Abdalelah Haroun in men’s 400m, Abderrahman Samba in 400m hurdles, Ashraf Elseify in men’s hammer throw, Beach volleyball duo of Ahmed Tijan Janko and Cherif Younousse Samba, beside the men’s handball team and the men’s 4x400m relay team consisting of Samba, Mohammed Al Noor, Mohammed Abbas and Haroun Silver medal winners were in Tosin Ogunode in men’s 100m, Yaser Bagharab in men’s 3000m steeplchase, Fares Ibrahim in Men’s 94Kg Weightlifting and Sheikh Ali Al Thani, in equestrian show jumping event.
The bronze came medals from Abubaker Abdalla in Men’s 800m, Hamad Ali Al Marri, Shooting Double Trap men and for Equestrian: Jumping Team consisting of Hamad Al Attiyah, Salmeen Al Suwaidi, Ali Al Thani and Basem Mohammed.
H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, commenting on Team Qatar’s performance at the Asian Games said: “The success of Team Qatar goes beyond simply the medals that we won. Our athlete delegation is continuing to grow at each Games, and we had athletes competing in new sports such as basketball 3x3, air sports and triathlon for the first time. We also achieved more top-10 finishes than prior Asian Games.
“We would like to thank Team Qatar athletes and officials who have done their best and performed exceptionally well at the Asian Games.”
“Developing the skills and experiences of our athletes is one of the key pillars of the Qatar Olympic Committee’s strategic plan. We aim to continue supporting our athlete’s growth and wish them continued success in upcoming championships,” Sheikh Joaan said.
“Our aim now is to build on the success that we have achieved at the Asian Games 2018 and continue to take sport in Qatar to even greater level. The QOC will work closely with each of our national sport federations to prepare for Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games,” he added.
Jassim bin Rashid Al Buainain, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said: “We aimed to have as many athletes from both genders and from different ages groups participating at the Asian Games. The Qatar Olympic Committee is committed to inspiring, engaging and empowering people in Qatar to take part in sport. This is an important goal and vision for the Qatar Olympic Committee to ensure a sustainable sports development.”
“We hope that the Asian Games experience will motivate our athletes to maintain their performance at the highest level at their upcoming competitions, and at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games,” Al Buainain said.
“We also hope that the whole of Qatar will continue to unite behind our athletes as they strive to achieve their dreams. The support of our nation goes a long way to motivating and inspiring Team Qatar to reach new levels and greater success. We are a young and a small country and our athletes are giving us all a reason to be proud of the success that they are achieving on a global stage,” the QOC Secretary General said.
