A star cast of swimmers will be in action when the FINA/Airweave Swimming World Cup (25m) Doha edition sets waves at the Hamad Aquatic Complex on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) yesterday announced the line-up of its swimmers for the event which will bring together 153 swimmers.
The Qatari squad includes; Hassan Mohammad Al Ebaidan, Mohammad Mahmoud, Yossef Hesham Mohammad, Abdullah Mohammad Abu Ghazallah, Yaqoub Abdulaziz Al Khelaifi, Nasser Yasser Hassan, Abdulraheem Abdulali Hussain, Feras Murad Al Saidi, Abdulrahman Hesham Mohammad, Musalam Abdullah, Abdulaziz Hassan Al Obaidli and the country’s first female swimmer to compete in the Olympics, Nada Mohammad Arakji.
The FINA airweave Swimming World Cup 2017 includes eight legs in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
This year, the competition kicked off on August 2 in Moscow and will conclude on November 19 in Singapore. Berlin, Hong Kong, Doha, Beijing, and Tokyo complete the list of host cities for 2017.
The swimmers, who will arrive in Doha following the Hong Kong leg which concluded yesterday, will be targeting to earn maximum points as the competition will reach the mid stage, which promises thrilling competitions during the two-day contest.
The Hamad Aquatic Centre which will host the FINA/Airweave Swimming World Cup (25m) Doha edition.
The Qatari swimmers also participated in the previous legs of the event. Abdullah Abu Ghazallah took part in the first leg in Moscow ( August 2-3). Abdulrahman Hesham abd Abdulaziz Al Obaidli participated in the second leg in Berlin (August 6-7) while Abdulaziz Hassan, Abdulrahman Hesham and Feras Al Saidi competed in the third leg in Eindhoven (August 11-12).
Yaqoub Al Khelaifi and Yousef Hesham took part in the fourth leg in Hong Kong.
Ibraheem Al Rumaihi, Head of Swimming section at the Qatar Swimming Association (QSA), said that the participation in FINA/ Airweave Swimming World Cup championship – Doha Tour acts as a considerable opportunity for local swimmers to interact with the world champions and to gain international experience.
“Our swimmers are ready for the world swimming event in Doha, they had already shown impressive performances in the both 9th Asian Age Group Championship took place in Uzbekistan and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Turkmenistan,” said Al Rumaihi.
Qatar’s first female swimmer to compete in the Olympics, Nada Mohammad Arakji in action in this file photo.
“We have a great ambition to honour the country in the event, we are looking for new records to prove the progress of Qatari swimming movement,” added Al Rumaihi.
Top favourites for the Doha leg, the most successful man in the competition’s history with 116 gold medals under his belt, Chad le Clos of South Africa as well as Olympic and Swedish world champion Sarah Sjostrom accounted for top honours at the Hong Kong leg of the event which concluded yesterday.
Le Clos and Sjostrom maintained their overall series leads following the closing night of the event in Hong Kong.
Sjostrom bagged a hat-trick on Saturday and took the first event yesterday, the 100m free, from Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED).
She then finished runner-up to three-time Olympic and seven-time world champion Katinka Hosszu of Hungary in the 100m IM before jumping back in the pool 10 minutes later to sprint home in 24.62 in the 50m fly. Hosszu had beaten Emily Seebohm (AUS) into second place in all three of their clashes on Saturday, and it was a similar story in yesterday’s 100m back/100m IM.
The five-time World Cup series champion went on to land the 400m IM to complete a clean sweep from her six events to close the gap marginally on Sjostrom in the standings.
Le Clos twice denied Tom Shields of the USA, in the 200m free and 100m fly, then finished runner-up to Russian star Vladimir Morozov in the 50m free. Shields had got the better of Le Clos in the 200m fly on Saturday.
Qatar Squad
Hassan Mohammad Al Ebaidan
Mohammad Mahmoud
Yossef Hesham Mohammad
Abdullah Mohammad Abu Ghazallah
Yaqoub Abdulaziz Al Khelaifi
Nasser Yasser Hassan
Abdulraheem Abdulali Hussain
Feras Murad Al Saidi
Abdulrahman Hesham
Mohammad
Musalam Abdullah
Abdulaziz Hassan Al Obaidli
Nada Mohammad Arakji
