FINA Swimming World Cup 2018: Stellar line-up confirmed for Doha challenge

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FINA Swimming World Cup 2018: Stellar line-up confirmed for Doha challenge

Last year’s overall winners Le Clos and Sjostrom among big names set to light up Hamad Aquatic Centre

Doha (QAT), 04.09.2018: Superstars Chad Le Clos and Sarah Sjostrom will lead an array of world’s best swimmers who will feature in the second leg of FINA Swimming World Cup 2018 to be held in Doha later this month.

Over 100 swimmers representing 20 countries, with almost all the prominent names in the sport have confirmed their participation for the Doha leg (long course), which will take place at state-of-the-art Hamad Aquatic Centre from September 13 to15.

Swimmers will fly to the Qatari capital after competing in the opening leg of this year’s FINA World Cup, scheduled in Kazan, Russia from September 7 to 9.

Doha leg will conclude Cluster 1 comprising long course contests, with the remaining two clusters of the FINA Swimming World Cup to be competed on short course. The Cluster 2 includes Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Budapest (Hungary) meets while legs in Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Singapore form Cluster 3.

Qatar, the host country for 2023 FINA World Championships, has been hosting the FINA World Cup legs successfully since 2012 and, the Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) President Khaleel Al-Jabir said the Organising Committee was confident of delivering another blockbuster event.

 “The Qatar Swimming Association is honored to welcome the world’s best swimmers in Doha for the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018,” Al-Jabir said in a statement on Tuesday.

“One of our main goals when we first hosted the event back in 2012 was to promote swimming in Qatar and in the region as a whole, to inspire new athletes and to introduce new fans to this exciting sport. We thank FINA and its partners for their continued support, which has helped us in achieving our mission. 

“This year’s FINA Swimming World Cup will continue to build on this success,” he added.

 Top stars to take the plunge at Doha pool

Olympic and World Champion Le Clos –the last year’s overall winner at FINA World Cup – will continue his love affair with Doha where he picked six medals including four gold medals last year. Russian world record holder Vladimir Morozov and his compatriot Kirill Prigoda will join the South African maestro in men’s battles.

American Michael Andrew, who won four titles at the US Nationals this year and Aussie Mitchell Larkin have also confirmed their participation.

The women line-up also offers a treat for fans as Sweden’s Sjostrom – the last year’s overall winner – and Hungary’s KatinkaHosszu, famous as the ‘Iron Lady’ will also return to Doha, promising top-notch action.

Hosszu’s compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakabos, Dutchwoman Ranomi Kromowidjojo and China’s Yifan Yang are among the other female stars who will also be seen in action at the Hamad Aquatic Centre.

 Qatari swimmers set to gain valuable experience

Host Qatar will field as many as 20 swimmers who will battle against the big names during the three-day competition.

The Qatar squad mostly includes swimmers who carried the national flag in the recently-concluded Asian Games in Indonesia. The team also includes Yousef Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Omar Ashraf, Noah Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and Abdulrahman Mohammed.

Meanwhile, the Organising Committee has decided to hold the pre-event press conference at Villaggio Mall to give fans a chance to see their favorite swimmers. The press conference will be at 11:30am on September 12 and will be attended by top FINA and QSA officials along with the leading swimmers.

Qatar Squad:

Abdalla Mohamed Aboughazala, Abdulaziz Hassan Al Obaidly, FirasBinmourad Said, Abdulla Nabil Alkhaldi, Ahmad Tarek Samara, Abdulaziz Abdulla Buhendi, Mohammed Ali Al Khanji, NaserYaser, Kareem Salama, Youssef Hesham, Mohamed Mahmoud, Abdulrahman Mohammed, Yacob Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Noah Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Omar Ashraf, Tameea Mohamed, Abdelrahman Hesham, Mohammed Fahad, NourEddine and YousefAbdulaziz Al Khulaifi.

ENDS