Sport

ARAB GAMES DOHA 2011, IN BRIEF

December 09, 2011 | 12:00 AM

ALL SMILES: Members of the Qatar team take part in the opening ceremony of the Arab Games at the Khalifa Stadium yesterday

Four golds up for grabs on day oneFour sets of medals will be on offer when the finest torsos in the Arab world descend upon Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex for the first day of the 2011 Arab Games bodybuilding competition today.Athletes will compete in the -65kg, -75kg, -85kg and -100kg catergories. They are pre-judged in the morning before moving to the finals in the afternoon.In the -100kg category, Egypt’s Moustafa Alasar is the standout competitor after he moved up from the -90kg division in which he won bronze at the 2010 IBFF World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.Alasar will face stiff competition from one of the sport’s elder statesmen, 38-year-old Ahmad Naji Alsaafeen from Jordan, who shows no sign of hanging up his fluorescent trunks any time soon. Alsaafeen will use his experience to push Alasar hard. Kuwait hope they can cause double trouble for Egypt in the -85kg category as both sides have two competitors each in a field of eight. Mohammad Alrashed and Mohammad Alhawaj compete for Kuwait, while Ahmed El.Sadany and Sherif Mourad will flex up for Egypt. In the -75kg category, Libya’s Hussein Benabdalla shows no sign of slowing down at 40-years-old, while in the -65kg division Egypt’s Anwar Elamawy is another relative veteran. He will be out to prove to the young athletes that age is no impediment to winning a medal eight days before his 52nd birthday. In both pre-judging and the final, the athletes have to demonstrate the seven compulsory poses before they come together for the highly competitive final posedown, which can make or break their chances of winning a medal.

Tunisia target golden haulThe heavyweights of Arab judo take to the mat on day one of competition with the men’s +100kg, -100kg, -90kg and women’s +78kg and -78kg weight categories competing for gold at the Qatar Sports Club today.In the men’s +100kg, Tunisia will be looking to man mountain Faical Jaballah to get them off to a winning start. The 135kg star of Tunisian judo is their main hope for a medal in the men’s competition and the current African champion.Algeria’s Yacine Meskine is hard to look past in the -100kg weight group. He won a bronze medal at the African Championships in September and is one of the most experienced players in the competition.With Egyptian star Hesham Mesbah not competing, the -90kg category is wide open. Morocco will be looking to the experienced Mohamed El Assri to take advantage of his absence.In the two women’s competitions taking place on Saturday it should boil down to a battle between Tunisia and Algeria.In the +78kg class, Tunisia’s Nihel Cheikh Rouhou is the big favourite and at over 100kg the biggest athlete in the women’s draw. On form she will meet Algeria’s Sonia Asselah in the final. The pair finished first and second in the African Championships, although Cheikh Rouhou won the final easily by ippon.Tunisia’s Hana Mereghni is the woman to beat in the -78kg class. She comprehensively defeated her major rival for Arab Games glory, Algeria’s Amina Temmar, by the maximum score at the African Championships.The contests will last five minutes. If the scores are level there will be a three-minute “sudden-death” period in which the first score or penalty ends the contest. If the score is still tied the referees will award the fight.A knockout system will be applied in the preliminary rounds, with a double repechage from the quarterfinals.

Egypt target 4th handball titleThree-time champion Egypt is the team to beat at the men’s handball tournament of the 2011 Arab Games starting tomorrow at the Aspire Zone’s Women’s Indoor Hall. Tunisia is heading the field of contenders, followed by emerging teams from Qatar and Bahrain. As well as winning three gold medals at the Arab Games, Egypt finished the 24-team 2011 World Championships in 14th place and won silver at the 2010 African Championships. Key player Ahmed Elahmar has been a national team member since 2003 and has received offers to play professionally in France and Germany. Tunisia will give their North Africa rivals a run for their money in Doha. Tunisia was ranked 20th at the 2011 World Championships and won the 2010 African Championships. Goal-getter Selim Hedoui is currently playing for Qatari club Al-Arabi. Hosts Qatar are aiming to break the dominance of the North African countries at the Arab Games. With the 2015 World Championships being awarded to them to host, they will want to impress.The team from Bahrain just participated in their first world championships and is looking to crown a successful year with an Arab Games medal.The women’s handball tournament is back on the schedule of an Arab Games for the first time since 1999. Algeria, Jordan, hosts Qatar and Tunisia will decide the medals in a round-robin tournament.Tunisia won the 2010 African Championships. Although their top players are participating in the 2011 World Championships in Brazil, the traditionally-strong handball nation is expected to be a medal contending team at the 2011 Arab Games. The women from Algeria will try their best to repeat their success from 12 years ago, when they took gold at the Arab Games ahead of Tunisia. Algeria finished fourth at the 2010 African Championship.There is a growing women’s handball league in Jordan, but the team is lacking international experience.Hosts Qatar also have a very young team with no match experience - there is no women’s league in the Qatar. The result of their training will be on show in the first match of the 2011 Arab Games on Monday 12 December.

Egyptian, Algerian shooters aim to make a markRifles and pistols will be on show at Lusail Shooting Complex when the opening day of the 2011 Arab Games shooting competition gets under way today.The day is devoted to the men’s competiton, with four gold medals up for grabs in the 10m air rifle and 50m pistol individual and team events.In the 10m air rifle, Egypt’s Peter Soliman will be looking to go one better than the second-place finishes he registered in Cairo at both the Arab Games and African Championships in 2007.While Soliman is the only competitor in the field ranked in the world’s top 100 (No. 81) he will likely face strong challenges from Khalid and Faiz Alanazi of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait’s Abdullah Alharbi.In the team’s 10m air rifle, the Saudi pair will be joined as medal contenders by compatriot Nasser al-Harthi.The men’s 50m pistol individual and team’s events will not feature any previous Arab Games medallists although Algeria’s Fateh Ziadi, Badreddine Khelifi and Nacer Guerroudj will be hoping for a repeat of their African Championships success in their homeland last year when they swept the podium to capture gold, silver and bronze.Competition starts at 9:30 with qualification rounds for both individual competitions.

Today’s Medal EventsBodybuildingStart Time Venue Event18:30 Al - Danna Hall Men´s -65Kg18:50 Al - Danna Hall Men´s -75Kg19:40 Al - Danna Hall Men´s -85Kg20:00 Al - Danna Hall Men´s -100Kg

Chess Start Time Venue Event 14:00 Aspire Ladies Club Men’s Blitz Indiv Swiss Rd 1-914:00 Aspire Ladies Club Women’s Blitz Indiv Swiss Rd 1-9Gymnastics Artistic Start Time Venue Event 14:00 Aspire Dome Men’s Qualif. and Team Final Subdivision 1-2 Rotation 1-6

Judo Start Time Venue Event13:56 Qatar Sports Club Men’s +100 kg14:04 Qatar Sports Club Men’s -100 kg14:04 Qatar Sports Club Women’s -78 kg14:20 Qatar Sports Club Women’s +78 kg14:36 Qatar Sports Club Men’s -90 kg Shooting Start Time Venue Event9:30 Lusail Shooting Range Men’s 50m Pistol TEAM9:30 Lusail Shooting Range Men’s 10m Air Rifle TEAM12:45 Lusail Shooting Range Men’s 10m Air Rifle13:15 Lusail Shooting Range Men’s 50m Pistol

Tennis Start Time Venue Event16:00 Khalifa Int. Complex Women’s Teams Semis

December 09, 2011 | 12:00 AM