This was the first time Qatar Taekwondo organized an event in large scale under the umbrella of the World Taekwondo Federation. Over 800 athletes from 45 countries, representing different age groups, and around 55 international judges participated in the championship, making it the strongest Taekwondo tournament ever in the history of the sport.

QTJF president Mohammed Ahmed al-Sulaiti was pleased with the turn out and called the event successful. He said Qatar was called upon by the World Taekwondo Federation to host the event after seeing the impressive infrastructures in place in the country.

“The WTF were impressed with the excellent infrastructure in place in Qatar during one of their visits and they compelled us to host the event which we accepted after necessary discussion with the Qatar Olympics Committee (QOC),” Sulaiti said.

He added that the country will greatly benefit from hosting such an event as it provides exposure to region’s athletes and give them a chance to qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

 

Children

It rained medals for Qatar on the concluding day of the 1st Qatar International Taekwondo Championship, at the Indoor Hall of the Women Sports Committee at the Aspire Zone.

Yesterday, Qatari’s won 7 gold and 14 silver medals in what was a very successful campaign for them. Sara Mohamed Khalil beat compatriot Anna Sanchez quite easily 26-10 to come first in the 27kg Children’s category. In other all-Qatar finals, Aly Moustafa defeated Mohamed Darwish 6-3 in the Cadets male 45kg, while Ghanim Alhamadi overcame Moustafa Said in Cadets 61kg category.

Karim Badawy added one more gold for Qatar, when he outplayed Mohammed Alqaoud of Saudi Arabia 19-2 in Children’s 27kg category. Later Sondous Galal joined in the gold rush, after she scored an easy 20-3 win over United Arab Emirates Sherin Alrahma in Cadets 59kg category. Qatar’s other gold medal came through Shahd Alaa in children’s 23kg, after she beat United Arab Emirates’ Maha Alfardan.

 

Qatar’s Abdullah Khalil won gold in the children’s 31kg category at the 1st Qatar International Taekwondo Championship, at the Indoor Hall of the Women Sports Committee at the Aspire Zone yesterday.

On the penultimate day of the event, Khalil beat Lebanon’s Alex Barakat 10-9 in a closely-fought encounter. It was one of many medals that Qatar won as the youngsters put in an impressive performance in the Juniors, Cadets and Children categories.

 

Cadets

In the Cadets, Qatar’s Sally Amer and Nour Moustafa clinched gold in the 55kg and 29kg categories respectively.

Later, Mayar Mukhtar added one more gold to Qatar’s tally in the Cadets female 59kg category, after she beat Shamsa Albetaihi of United Arab Emirates.

However, Qatar’s Anas Ben Sahra had to settle for silver in the junior’s 63kg category, after he went down to Saudi Arabia’s Ali Almabrouk 0-1.

There were more medals for Qatar, with Mohamed Osman and Ibrahim Ibrahim winning bronze in the Cadet’s 57kg and 33kg respectively.

 

Juniors

In the juniors, Uzbekistan won four of the five gold medals on offer. Saidolim Numonov (73kg men), Niyaz Pulatov (48kg men), Kamronbek Yakhshiboev (63kg men) and Vlada Pan (63kg women) came out on top. Tunisia’s Ranya Naghmouchi won the other gold on offer in the juniors (49kg) catergory.

 

Senior

Meanwhile, South Korea’s De Hyn Lee and Frenchwoman Happy Neri were adjudged the best male and female players respectively in the senior category. South Koreans had dominated at the senior level, having won five gold and two silver. Qatar’s Marim bin Aly also did her country proud by making the podium with a bronze medal finish in the senior Female -73kg category.

 

Other winners

 

Kuwait

Al-Sarraf was able to make it to the juniors’ under-73kgs competitions with a spectacular performance before losing to his Uzbekistan opponent in the semi-final match, Ahmad Al-Attar, team official, stated to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Al-Arabi’s Athbi Al-Azmi took silver in the male juniors’ under-63kgs on Sunday after losing the final to Kamronbek Yakhshiboev of Uzbekistan.

Kuwait’s Al-Arabi Sports Club’s taekwondoka Ahmad Al-Sarraf took the bronze medal at conclusion of the 2015 Qatar International Taekwondo Open on Monday.

The Kuwaiti team attained positive results in this tourney, achieving three different medals, Al-Attar said, pointing out this championship is a strong preparation for the team.

Pakistan

Ghulam Murtaza and Saaim Sikandar Janjua won bronze medals for Pakistan in the 1st Qatar International Taekwondo Open WTF G1 Official Ranking Tournament held at Doha, Qatar on Monday. Pakistan Taekwando Federation (PTWF) president Lt Col (r) Waseem Ahmed Janjua said: “Ghulam lost his semifinal fight in the-63kg category against Kuwaiti Athbee Alazemi 21-10. We will continue to provide opportunities to players like Murtaza and Saaim, who won bronze in -61kg cadet category. Saaim lost semifinal against Ghanim Alhamadi of Qatar 12-7 and won bronze. Saaim became first Pakistani U-14 medalist who won an international event. The successful participation of Pakistani players showed the efforts of PTWF and support of IPC and PSB for promotion of the game.”

 

MasTKD Team

Sources: Bahrain News, Gulf Times
MasTKD.com
info@mastaekwondo.com