MUSCLE POWER
Coach Krug calls for Becker effect from Qatar’s young starsQatar’s German coach Joachim Krug believes one of his young stars could be “the Boris Becker of Qatari athletics” if they strike gold at the 2011 Arab Games.Krug, who has coached in Qatar for 30 years, has targeted four gold medals and a handful of silver and bronze from his 27-strong squad when the five-day athletics programme gets under way at Khalifa Stadium on December 15.Qatar’s medal hopes include 20-year-olds Femi Seun Ogunode and Mutaz Essa Barshim, plus 17-year-old Hamza Driouch.Ogunode was eighth over 400m at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu while Barshim was seventh in the high jump after winning the Asian Championships in June.Driouch won a 1000m silver medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and holds Asian youth and junior records for 1500m.“We have a relatively young team here but we are expecting a personal best from every athlete,” said Krug.“Having these Arab Games in our own country are very important for us to build from. Remember in Germany when Boris Becker came along? Then they had a tennis boom.“One of these youngsters could be the Boris Becker of Qatari athletics. Why not? They are young and can be around for a long time.”He added: “If we can get four medals it will be very good for us, and one or two silver and bronze too.“A big competition like this can have a huge impact. Athletics is an important sport and if we win medals here it could be great boost for Qatari athletics.”
Egypt lay down marker ahead of semi-finalsEgypt ended the day in the men’s team competition with a 2-1 win over Tunisia at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.With Egypt and Tunisia jostling for position at the top of Group A, the win sets Egypt up as the likely winner and means they should go into Monday’s semifinals unbeaten.Sherif Hussein got Egypt off to a winning start with victory over Tunisia’s Mohamed Ameur Ben Hassen, but Tunisian Malek Jaziri hit back with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win against Egypt’s Mohamed Mahmoud.Egypt were stronger in the deciding doubles match, where Hussein and Karim Mostafa teamed up to beat Jaziri and Ben Hassen.Host nation Qatar kept their semi-final hopes alive by beating Sudan 2-1. Jabor al-Mutawa won the opening singles match, before Sudan’s Noureldin Yahia and Khalid Mahmoud beat Al-Mutawa and Mousa Zayed 2-1 in the men’s team competition.In the deciding doubles match Al-Mutawa and Zayed needed only two sets to beat Yahia and Khalid Mahmoud 6-4, 6-4.There were also 3-0 wins for Kuwait against Iraq and UAE against Libya.In snooker, Ahmed Saif will lead the way in the singles as a strong Qatar squad look to dominate the 2011 Arab Games cue sports tournament which starts today.Saif claimed victory at the QCS Championship in September and will be looking to repeat the trick on his return to Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation headquarters. He gets his campaign under way against Libya’s Khaled Abumdas at 12:00.Bashar Abdulmajeed, Qatar’s top pool player and the world No. 54, has set his sights on winning gold medals in 8-ball and 9-ball singles and 9-ball scotch doubles. He joins the 8-ball singles competition in the second round at 14:30 when he meets the winner of the match between Iraq’s Ali Ali Jalei and Mohammed Attia of Sudan.Mohammed Albinali, who partners Abdulmajeed in Scotch doubles, is also hopeful of claiming medals for the host nation in both singles events. He faces Morocco’s Ameur Abdelati Riad in 8-ball.