Qatar’s national junior team retained its individual and team gold titles in the cross-country, won last season on home soil in Doha, after Qatar’s junior runners led the field at the GCC cross-country, held on Saturday 25/12/2010 at Al Safa Park in Dubai and attended by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Qatar’s win came in both the individual and team gold for Juniors over 5km, after Qatari runners took first, second, third, sixth and seventh places individually — in order, Hamza Deriouche, Jamal Hiran, Hashem Salah, Musaab Adam and Hamza Suleiman — with the best four runners’ places totalling 12 points; Saudi Arabia finished second with 31 points, Oman third with 41 points, Kuwait fourth with 66 points, while the UAE finished fifth with 82 points.
Youth category
In the Youth category, over 8km, contested by 5 countries, our national team finished runner-up with 31 points, behind Oman, who took top spot with 29 points, while Bahrain finished third with 36 points, the UAE fourth with 77 points, and Kuwait fifth with 79 points. Our athletes’ results were: Muath Abdul Rahman finished fourth, Abubaker Al Hajj sixth, Jamal Abdel Nasser tenth, and Ahmed Abdullah Jad eleventh.
Men’s category
In the men’s category, over 12km, contested by 5 Gulf countries, Qatar’s national team fielded three individual runners: Eissa Ismail Rashid, who finished fourth, Felix Kibiwot, who finished sixth, and Zakariya Ali Kamel, who finished seventh just after his teammate. Bahrain were crowned champions with 11 points, Saudi Arabia finished second with 48 points, and Oman and the UAE tied for third with 73 points each; after the tie-break, which stipulates that the team whose fourth-placed runner finishes closer to the individual winner is ranked higher, Oman took third place and the UAE fourth, with Kuwait fifth on 93 points.
Al Zaini praises Qatar’s achievements
HE Abdullah Ahmed Al Zaini, the federation’s president, praised the Qatari athletes’ achievements at this championship, especially in the Juniors and Youth categories, stressing that it is a positive sign of the strength and depth of Qatar’s athletics base and of the soundness of the federation’s approach to selecting and developing athletes in the younger age categories. Al Zaini wished the champions success and continued effort in achieving the best results at coming championships.
Team roll of honour
The Qatari delegation was headed by Mr Adel Al Baker, Secretary-General, a member of the GCC athletics organising committee, and Mr Eissa Al Harami, Assistant Secretary-General, a member of the GCC athletics technical committee, with Mr Ali Ahmed Saleh as administrator. The Juniors team comprised Hamza Deriouche, Jamal Hiran, Hashem Salah, Musaab Adam and Hamza Suleiman; the Youth team was represented by Ahmed Abdullah, Jamal Abdel Nasser, Muath Abdul Rahman and Abubaker Omar Al Hajj; while the Men’s team comprised Eissa Ismail Rashid, Felix Kibiwot and Zakariya Ali Kamel, led by coach Hussein bin Zarqan, with Lyshenko as physiotherapist. A Qatari officiating team took part in judging the championship, comprising Mr Abdul Hakim Al Amri, head of the federation’s officials committee, Mr Musaad Al Hajaji and Mr Masoud Hareb.
