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


medium








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





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Incredible Football Festival of India (IFFI)

Image
When November swings around it’s time to roll out the red carpet as a plethora of mega stars from Bollywood fly into Goa to celebrate the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The week long extravaganza brings glamorous actors and directors from the film fraternity in contact with fans of the big screen. This year’s event happened between the 20 th  and 28 th  of November in Panjim and was extra special for me. On the sidelines of the main event, an open air football film festival was organised by Serendipity, which took place from the 22 nd  till the 27 th  of November at the Children’s park in Campal. The idea behind the screenings was that Goans love football, so this would attract them towards attending the glitzy annual event. The friendly German professor, Jans Tilman was the curator of the football documentaries and was present to interact with the audience before and after the movies. This was actually Jan’s second trip to Goa as he previously organised similar foo
Read more

Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’

Image
Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’ Aryna Sabalenka eased past Petra Kvitova to win the Qatar Open and then dedicated the title to her father Sergey, who passed away in November. The 21-year-old secured her sixth WTA Tour title and third Premier 5 trophy with a solid victory over the eighth-seeded Kvitova, winning 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes. The ninth seed broke in game four of the first set and games seven and nine of the second to ease to victory. Sabalenka revealed afterwards how tough the past few months have been on her following the death of her father. “It was a long journey here and I put everything on tennis,” the Belarusian said. “I was actually only playing tennis and focusing on tennis and nothing else. And I think I gave everything for tennis. “I just lost my dad in the pre-season and he was my biggest motivation, and I’m doing it for him.” The world No 13’s last four titles were all w
Read more

Peace Beyond the Pitch: Prevention of Violent Extremism through

  Sports Online, 28 September 2023 08:00 AM New York Time; 14:00 PM Madrid Time; 21:00 PM Tokyo Time Concept Note Background and rationale In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) established 21st September as the International Day of Peace to commemorate a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace. In 2011 the UNGA voted unanimously for this date to be a period of non-violence and cease-fire. Each year, on the International Day of Peace, a different theme and planned series of events is celebrated accordingly. Sports go beyond borders defined by nations, cultures, socioeconomic statuses, and politics. They serve as a means of social cohesion, bridging gaps, and as a tool to tackle a wide array of societal and economic issues. This contribution extends to supporting the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030 recognizes the “growing contribution of sport and culture to the realization of development and peace
Read more