By Ravi Kant Singh, IANS
Hyderabad : Qatar has begun reaping the dividends of having hosted the Asian Games last December. The tiny Gulf nation, always a force to reckon with in athletics, has also begun making its presence in other games.
The 2006 Asian Games has worked wonders for Qatar, just as the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Olympics did for South Korea and the 1990 Asian Games for China.
Apart from athletics, where Qatar picked up five medals – one gold and two each of silver and bronze – they also made the semi-finals of football and are medal contenders in volleyball. They also performed creditably in handball.
The prized gold medal came in men’s 100 metres, where Samuel Adelbare Francis clocked 10.10 seconds to better the old meet record of 10.18 set by Talal Mansoor, a former multi-gold medallist the Asian Games in 1986 and also a Indoor World championship medallist in 60 metres.
Francis believes that Mansoor is the inspiration for all young Qatari athletes. “When you have a world class athlete from your country he becomes an example for others to follow,” Francis told IANS through an interpreter.
“I grew up watching Talal and wanted to win medals for Qatar. The Doha Asian Games have given us the right kind of exposure to compete in international meets. It is very important to know how to train the right way and prepare for big meets.”
Mansoor, incidentally, was also involved in training Qatari athletes, and at the Doha Asian Games he was also associated with kabaddi competition as a technical official.
Qatar’s other successful athletes at these Military Games were Esaama Mohammad (silver in 110 metres hurdles), Khaled Al Suwaidi (silver in shot put), Rashid Shafi Al Dossare (bronze in discus) and Ahmed Hassan Musa (bronze in decathlon).
Qatar made a mark in some team games, too.
The football team reached the semi-finals after surprising fancied teams like Brazil, China and Ireland but came a cropper against Egypt.
After being drubbed 0-5 by Egypt, a dejected Qatari skipper, Ahmed Ali, said “We do not have too many clubs in Qatar. So there are very few opportunities for young players to make a mark. But the Asian Games has given us look at how the other top countries train and perform. We are happy to see that two Asian countries reached the football semi-finals.”
It’s been an eye opener for Qatar as they are in medal contention in volleyball after having reached the four-team super league alongside China, South Korea and hosts India.
“Volleyball is big in Europe so it is a matter of great pride that the countries fighting for the medals here are from Asia. Qatar prepared hard for the Doha Asian Games and this team for the Military World Games has nine players from that side,” said coach Atiq Shadad Al Ghanim.
“We must prepare for the Gulf games and we hope to win a medal there. Iran are a very strong team but now with this confidence, we can aim for a good performance.”
Handball was one arena where they narrowly missed out on being in medal reckoning, losing to Latvia in the group league.
“This is not a very popular sport in Asia but we have been working hard. The team has a Croatian coach (Fero Mohosevic) and this is a result of the popularity that sports has gained after the Asian Games,” reveals handball captain Nasser Saad Al Saad.
“We lost to a more experienced team from Latvia, who regularly play in Baltic league but in a few years we are sure work hard and win a medal.”
Apart from the traditional sports like diving, table tennis and badminton, the Chinese and Koreans have become a threat in field hockey as well, something that was unthinkable two decades ago.
Now Qatar is proving the same by making a mark at the Military World Games in disciplines they were never really known for.