Al Hamad dedicates cross-country gold to HH the Amir and his trusted Crown Prince
Gulf cross-country titles go to Qatar in Saudi Arabia
Our champions deservedly claim the youth and junior titles
Qatar’s runners sweep the top five individual places in the junior race and take runner-up in the youth race
Qatari athletics’ stars earn their medals, confirming their regional class
Dahlan Al Hamad, President of the Qatar Athletics Federation, dedicated our national cross-country teams’ gold achievement to HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his trusted Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, and to our loyal fans. Our national cross-country teams had deservedly topped the GCC cross-country championship for youth and juniors
hosted by Saudi Arabia on Thursday 27 December 2012 in the city of Jubail, with the participation of 90 runners representing the six Gulf states — Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and host nation Saudi Arabia. Al Hamad also congratulated the Qatari athletics family and its loyal champions, saying: we thank God greatly for this new achievement for Qatari athletics at the end of an exceptional year, noting that these achievements are among the fruits of the support of our wise leadership. Al Hamad praised the effort of our champions, saying they had been loyal men who proved Qatari athletics’ superior class and its dominance of cross-country racing, adding: undoubtedly this new achievement for Qatari athletics will motivate our champions and give them a huge morale boost to continue their victories and maintain their leadership on every front. He closed his remarks with heartfelt congratulations to the champions and the technical and administrative staff for the effort and achievement they delivered in confirming our regional standing and leadership, wishing everyone success in the challenges ahead.
Our champions shine in the cross-country challenge
Our champions swept the top five individual places in the junior race, with runner Mohammed Al Nazir taking first place, Idris Musa second, Abubaker Hassan third, Ibrahim Abdi fourth, and Mohammed Al Noor fifth.
Saudi Arabia’s Nayef Obaid finished sixth, Oman’s Salem Al Rawahi seventh, Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Adam eighth, Kuwait’s Khalid Al Suwaidi ninth, and Qatar’s Joulaid Saeed tenth. Qatar’s team won the junior team title with a total of 10 points, Saudi Arabia’s team took second with 37 points, and Oman’s team came third with 59 points
At individual level in the youth race, Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Salehi took first place, while Qatar’s Hamza Idrisi came second, his teammate Jamal Hairan third, Qatar’s Hashim Salah fourth, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Barakati fifth, Qatar’s Musaab Adam sixth, Qatar’s Muayad Ibrahim seventh, Oman’s Imran Al Nubi eighth, Sami Daghriri ninth, and Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Al Mejrashi tenth.
Qatar’s youth team also won the team title and first place, with Saudi Arabia’s team second and Oman’s team third — Qatar’s youth team taking the team title, Saudi Arabia’s team finishing runner-up in second, and Oman third.
Qatari brilliance and total dominance
The GCC cross-country race had got under way amid a festive atmosphere at Ladfi Park in Jubail Industrial City
under the patronage of Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan, president of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and in the presence of Mohammed Al Kuwari, head of the Qatari delegation, and the heads of the participating delegations. After the competition concluded, Dr Musleh Al Otaibi, chief executive of the Royal Commission in Jubail, and Suleiman Al Zaidi, deputy president of the Saudi Athletics Federation and head of the organising committee, presented the trophies and medals to the champions who won the top places at the GCC cross-country championship.
Al Kuwari: Qatari athletics deserves the podium
Mohammed Al Kuwari, the federation’s secretary general, extended his deep thanks and gratitude to Qatar’s cross-country champions for their effort and excellence during the Gulf cross-country challenge, saying: this gold achievement has a special flavour because it comes through a young and promising generation from whom we expect much in future in carrying the banner of athletics
stressing that this new victory represents an extension of Qatari athletics’ string of achievements, which we hope will continue and be reinforced with many more, considering that a gold cross-country achievement is nothing unusual for our stars or for Qatari athletics, which has grown used to the podium. He closed his remarks by repeating his thanks and appreciation to the Qatari champions and the technical and administrative staff for their efforts in preparing the champions for various international events.
Captain Ali: through combined effort we achieved excellence
Captain Ali Saleh, known as “Al Dollar”, expressed his happiness and joy at this new achievement for Qatari sport, saying our champions had honoured us and lived up to expectations as stars who kept their word and promise, winning titles and leadership for Qatari athletics, which confirmed its prestigious standing and deservedly topped the Gulf cross-country table. He wished for Qatari athletics’ run of victories to continue, expressing his confidence and optimism in the abilities and qualifications of our promising champions, and stressed that the base of Qatari athletics is rich with outstanding stars capable of carrying the banner and flag of Qatari athletics and honouring their country in future.
A rose-strewn welcome for the champions
Qatar’s victorious cross-country delegation, returning from brotherly Saudi Arabia, received a champions’ welcome on its return yesterday afternoon, with a number of board members, the champions’ guardians, friends and family, as well as coaches and officials, among those at the front of the welcoming party, and garlands of roses were placed around the champions’ necks in appreciation and gratitude from the federation family for this gold achievement by the champions of the future.
Qatar’s roll of honour.
Qatar’s roll of honour includes 12 outstanding champions who won the most prestigious trophies and titles for Qatari athletics. The champions are: for the youth category — Hamza Idrisi, Jamal Hairan, Hashim Salah Abbas, Musaab Adam Mahmoud and Muayad Ibrahim — while the junior category was represented by Mohammed Al Nazir Fadlallah, Idris Musa Hamed, Abubaker Hassan Abdullah, Ibrahim Omar Abdi, Mohammed Al Noor Adam and Joulaid Saeed. The delegation was headed by Mohammed Al Kuwari, the federation’s secretary general, along with Captain Abdulhakim Al Omari as accompanying official, Captain Ali Ahmed Saleh as team manager, and Captain Khamis Abdullah as coach.
