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| FROM LEFT: Dr Mostafa Diab, QBF Technical Expert, Qatar Women’s Sport Committee (QWSC) President Ahlam Salem Al Mana, and QWSC Assistant Secretary General Maha Abduljabar, during the GCC Basketball Organising Committee press conference at the QWSC headquarters yesterday. PICTURE BY: KAMMUTTY VP |
DOHA: Qatar Women’s Sport Committee (QWSC) President Ahlam Salem Al Mana insists the hosts will ‘give their best’ when they begin their GCC Girls Basketball Championship against Oman this week.
The Qatar team is due to arrive in Doha today after undertaking a two-week training camp in Turkey, in preparation for the five-day competition that is being held for the first time.
“Our team has been training hard for the last two weeks, and have been training two times a day. The camp in Turkey will help the players be ready for this competition (GCC Girls Basketball Championship),” said Al Mana, after she and Dr Mostafa Diab, Qatar Basketball Federation’s Technical Expert addressed journalists at a press conference at the QWSC headquarters, yesterday.
Al Mana also added that the girls team, of whom the members will be under 18-years-old, will gain match practice and experience with friendly matches before the competition begins on Tuesday.
She said: “Qatar will play friendly matches against schools and regional teams in Doha to get as much match practice and experience before the competition starts.”
Kuwait, Oman, UAE and Bahrain will also be participating in the competition that begins on December 11 and concludes on December 15
The QWSC which already organises a basketball league for women in Qatar, hopes the competition will be a stepping stone for bigger events in the future.
“This kind of competition will allow the players to work hard and develop their skills in the tournament. The QWSC will also continue to work with the national team in order to reach big tournaments,” the QWSC President said.
“We all at QWSC try to prepare our national teams of any sport for the big tournaments,” she said.
“With the Olympics, everybody hopes that Qatar (women’s basketball team) can reach the Olympics one day. We are working hard to achieve that in the future,” she added with a smile.
The QWSC helps to promote and organise events for women in Qatar.
At the London 2012 Games, shooter Bahya Mansour Al Hamad became the first woman to represent Qatar in an Olympic Games.
Qatari women, Ayah Magdi (table tennis), Noor Al Malki (sprinter) and Nada Mohammed (swimmer) also competed in the two-week long event that were held in July/August this year.
THE PENINSULA
Source: http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/sport/217315-qatar-ready-to-host-gcc-basketball-event-for-girls.html
