The draw of handball and football events at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 will be held at the QOC headquarters on Tuesday.
The international beach multi-sport event, organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), will be hosted by the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) from October 12 to 16 in Doha.
The draw will be attended by QOC Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid al Buenain, ANOC Secretary-General Gunilla Lindberg and representatives of the participating nations.
The men’s handball event will be contested by 12 teams - Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Hungary, Oman, Sweden, Tunisia, Uruguay, USA and hosts Qatar. There are also 12 teams in the women’s event. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Tunisia, the USA and Vietnam are the contestants.
Sixteen teams will feature in the men’s football, including Brazil, El Salvador, Spain, Iran, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, Paraguay, Russia, Solomon Islands, Switzerland, UAE, Ukraine, Uruguay and Senegal. The women’s event will attracted eight teams - Brazil, Cape Verde, Spain, Britain, Mexico, Paraguay, Russia and the USA.
The two football events will be held at Katara beach while the two handball events will be staged at Al Gharafa Club. The third venue is the Aspire Zone.
The Games will have about 1,230 athletes from more than 90 National Olympic Committees in 14 disciplines.
Team Qatar have launched intensive preparations for the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019.
Most of the athletes are already in training camps and the national sports federations have developed detailed training programme to prepare them for the competition and ensure a very successful outing.
Beach sports have witnessed a huge development in the country over the years with national teams winning medals at major regional and international competitions.
Qatar beach handball team is the current Asia champion and dominant force, having claimed the title for a fifth time in a row (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). The team are also a two-time bronze medalists at the IHF World Championships (2014 and 2016).
The national beach volleyball team made the Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games while Qatar’s 3x3 basketball team have won the Asian title twice - Phuket 2014 and Danang 2016.
Naji al Amri, Chef De Mission to the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019, said that Qatar’s participation at the event is in line with QOC’s commitment to taking part in at any sports competition that brings glory to the country and help develop the athletes.
“Qatar’s delegation will be participating in eight sports events during the competition. The national federations, in cooperation with the QOC, have designed a detailed training programme to prepare Team Qatar in the best possible way. We believe that the national team will give their best and bring honour to the country,” he added.
On female’s participation in the competition, Amri said, “We are proud of our female athletes’ participation in the games especially in swimming and tennis events in addition to the other sports where they will compete with the world’s top athletes.”
