In what is their only knock-out competition to date of a successful and busy tour of Wales, the ASPIRE squash students turned in an impressive performance in winning two out of three age group categories last week.
Competing in the Vale Junior Open, a long established and prestigious tournament in the principality, five ASPIRE students in total finished in the top three placings in their respective categories in a performance that Head Coach Geoff Hunt described as an ‘exceptional set of results for such young players.’
Ali Jumah triumphed in the under-17 age group, the oldest section of the competition, whilst Abdullah Al Tamimi went unbeaten in the under-13s.
Seeded as number two, Abdullah was too strong for his opponent in the final, Jordan Davies of Wales, the pre-tournament favourite and ranked number one. A straight sets victory (9-6, 9-4, 9-0) was a great achievement.
It could have been an all ASPIRE final had Abdullah not met team-mate Omar Abdullah at the semi-final stage. Abdullah again won that contest in straight sets and, indeed, did not drop a game in the whole competition. Omar went on to win his third place play-off against Jacob Minett 3-0 (9-3, 9-6, 9-4).
In another competitive field of 32 players Ahmad Al Tamimi, Mubarak Al Qashoti and Khalid Al Hindawi from ASPIRE entered the under-15 age group. All three won their first round matches.
In his second round match, Ahmad won against Sam Ings from Wales 3-0 (9-6, 9-2, 9-0). Despite twisting his left ankle during the second game of his subsequent quarter-final match and having to call a break in the play so that he could receive treatment, Ahmad was still able to complete the match and beat Nyall Driscoll of Wales comfortably 3-0 (9-5, 10-9, 9-4).
In the semi-final he was matched against the number two seed, Sam Huxtable, and played some good squash before losing to a strong opponent 1-3 (2-9, 9-7, 3-9, 3-9). He eventually finished third overall.
Khalid Al Hindawi also progressed beyond the second round after dispatching another Welsh player, Gareth Pitt (9-3, 9-6, 9-7). He faced strong opposition in the quarter-finals in Rory Challenger, once more from Wales and, despite fighting hard and playing excellent attacking squash, especially early in the game, eventually lost 1-3 (9-7, 3-9, 4-9, 2-9).
Mubarak showed his potential in a comprehensive straight set win in the first round (9-0, 9-0, 9-3) but was unable to carry his form in to his next game and was out-played by a tougher opponent, Nyall Driscoll.
Ali Jumah was awarded the top seeding in the under-17 category in which Qataris Mohamad Massoud and Mohamad Al Qashoti also played. And the matches followed the form book as Ali strode to victory, accounting for both his team-mates en route.
In his first round match Ali had a bye and in the second round was able to beat Jashua Baker of Wales in straight sets. He then went on to beat team-mate Mohamad Al Qashoti, again in straight sets, in the quarter-finals match (9-7,10-9,9-2) after a relatively hard first two sets.
At the semi-final stage he accounted for his other team-mate, Mohamad Massoud, 3-0 after a one sided encounter (9-3, 9-3, 9-2). The final itself was decided in Ali’s favour when he was able to overcome a tough Welsh opponent, David Haley, 3-1 (5/9,9/7,9/2,9/1).
About ASPIRE
ASPIRE, the Academy for Sports Excellence, Doha, was created with the dual aims of identifying and transforming promising student athletes into world renowned champions across a wide range of sports and to act as a beacon to draw sporting culture into the centre of life in Qatar and the surrounding region.
The Academy is distinguished by a philosophy which aims to develop the whole student, providing them with full academic, social and sporting development.
Unrivalled facilities mark the Academy out as one of the world’s foremost sporting and educational institutions, and entice an ever increasing number of visitors from across the spectrum of world sports to use or simply view them. These same facilities will also play host to events during the forthcoming Asian Games 2006.
With one indoor and seven outdoor football pitches, athletics tracks, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas, gymnastics arena, specially designed weight rooms, lecture halls, dormitories to accommodate what will eventually become 1,000 students, a medical centre and more besides, much beneath the world’s largest purpose built indoor sports dome, every aspect of the development of elite athletes is catered for. ASPIRE is a place for those who dare to dream.
ASPIRE TODAY, INSPIRE TOMORROW
www.aspire.qa
