Qatar’s players celebrate after retaining their Asian Handball title in this file photo.
Doha: Team Qatar will begin their campaign at the 2018 Asian Games tomorrow when the Handball team will face Malaysia in the preliminary round match, five days ahead of the opening ceremony.
The handball team will be looking to defend the title they won four years back and thus join the ranks of Republic of Korea, as only NOCs to win consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games. Republic of Korea for the records had won five gold medals in a row from 1986-2002.
Team Al Annabi have been performing consistently over the last few years.
They won the last three Asian championships, including earlier this year in Suwon in January.
Qatar also finished second at the world championship in 2015 on home soil, when they lost 25-22 to France. It was the first time an Asian men’s team finished on the podium of the world championship.
The 18th edition of the Asian Games will be held in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2. Team Qatar forms a strong team and is eager to return home with many medals. There will be 222 athletes proudly representing Team Qatar at the continental championship.
The diverse and ambitious team includes 29 females who will take part in new and exciting sports, everything from shooting to taekwondo. Qatar Shooting and Archery Association will have the maximum number of athletes (27) at the Games followed by Qatar Athletics Federation (26).
The 2012 London Games bronze medal winner in shooting Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Abderrahman Samba, the 400m hurdles sensation are some of the high profile athletes who are part of the Qatar squad.
The opening ceremony will be held on August 18 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
Showing his support to Team Qatar, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Jassim Al Buenain said: “With the directions of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the QOC President, we are committed to always support our National Sports Federations in delivering the appropriate environment for our athletes to train and achieve excellence, as this is a key strategic goal for the QOC.”
Al Buenain added: “Qatar is a nation passionate about sport and we strongly believe in the power of sport to unite, inspire, empower and educate people of all ages and abilities.”
“Today we stand behind our athletes and confident that they will make us proud. We hope that their success will inspire young athletes in Qatar to follow in their footsteps and one day represents Team Qatar,” Al Buenain said.
“It is with no doubt that our athletes at the Asian Games 2018 will be holding a huge responsibility to showcase the Qatari sport at its best. The Games act as a great opportunity for our athletes to shine and gain wonderful experiences. Wishing them all the best of luck at their competitions,” he added.
Fans can follow Team Qatar’s final preparations for the Asian Games 2018 on Team Qatar’s social media channels and website.
