By Sports Reporter/Doha
As many as 71 boxers will go head to head in the Doha International Boxing Tournament 2015 over a four-day period starting Wednesday, May 20, at the Ali bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena here.
The tournament, which will see strong participation from as many as 12 countries, namely Qatar, Egypt, Tunis, Morocco, Australia, Philippine, Jordan, India, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan and Nepal, is being held as a test event ahead of the 2015 World Boxing Championships to be held in Doha from October 5 to 18 this year.
“We have tried selecting strong teams from different regions for the world and I think the tournament will see some good, strong matches. I hope that all the teams treat this tournament as a final,” said Qatar Boxing Federation president Yusuf Ali al-Kazim yesterday at a press conference held at the federation’s Al Bidda Tower office.
“All the teams travelling for the tournament will get a glimpse of Doha and the World Championship venue ahead of the big event.”
Al-Kazim added that nine boxers will represent Qatar at the tournament.
“They were training abroad but are back ahead of the tournament. I hope they do well against all the strong teams that are participating in the tournament and that they will get a lot to learn from the competition,” al-Kazim said.
“Normally for the world championship, we send eight but this time we have put in nine boxers. Let’s see how it goes.”
Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia excused themselves from the competition due to other commitments.
On the organisation side, the Asian Boxing Confederation will be helping with the organisation of the event.
“They will arrive on Tuesday and take charge of the final arrangements. Referees and judges will also be provided by them. Our people will also will be working right alongside the Asian federation officials taking care of the logistics, hospitality, etc.,” al-Kazim informed.
The organisers, in a bid to boost interest and audience support, have decided to do away with the tickets for the event. “Fans can catch some strong boxing action free of cost.”
While the athletes will be staying at Gloria Hotel, the officials, delegations will be put up in Hilton.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) had recently visited Qatar to inspect preparations for the World Championships.
The delegation that made the four-day tour of the World Boxing Championship venues included AIBA executive director Ho Kim, championships supervisor Adam Kusior, Competitions director Kristin Brynildsen and Kwang Soo Na of TV Broadcast Services.
After a series of meetings, Ho Kim said they were happy with the progress made by the Qatar Boxing Federation. “We are very happy with progress done by the organising committee. We inspected two venues — the Losail Multipurpose Hall and the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena at Al Sadd. We also inspected the hotels for the participating teams and other facilities. And what we saw were very impressive facilities. Losail hall is the new one and it’s something phenomenal. This is the best facility I have seen at the last four World Championships,” Ho Kim said.
AIBA delegates are scheduled to visit Doha twice more before the World Championship to give fine tuning to the preparations.
A total of 65 countries have confirmed their participation at the Worlds up until now, with the final tally to be announced in August. The October event will act as a qualifier for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, offering as many as 23 places across 10 weight categories.
Qatar Boxing Federation president Yusuf Ali al-Kazim addresses a press conference held at the federation’s Al Bidda Tower office yesterday.
