Khalid al-Kuwari celebrates with his gold medal after winning the Match Race final yesterday.
Khalid Abdullah al-Kuwari beat Team Russia’s Andrei Panyushkin to secure 25 vital points for Team Qatar and put them in contention to win the prestigious Nations Cup today.
Team Qatar’s Mohamed al-Obaidly was eliminated by al-Kuwari in the first round after the pair had unfortunately been drawn together. But al-Kuwari was in inspired form and he disposed of Team UAE’s Rashed al-Qemzi in his quarter-final and then beat the second Emirati, Mohammed al-Mehairbi, in a tense semi-final to set up a final clash with Panyushkin in fading light on Doha Bay.
Team Russia will now take a three-point lead over Team Qatar into the sprint races today. Team UAE hold third position.
The Nations Cup is being held in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Qatar, round four of the 2013 UIM F1 H2O World Championship, which gets underway in earnest with free practice today morning.
It was a hectic day for al-Kuwari, who also represented the Qatar Team in the UIM F-4S race for the Eurofin Trophy. The Qatari qualified in fifth position in the timed trials and went on to reach the chequered flag for the 20-minute race in a similar position.
Sixteen-year-old Italian rookie Alberto Comparato reached the chequered flag in first position in his first ever F-4S race and Latvian Nikita Lijcs held off a fierce challenge from series leader Mike Szymura of Germany to finish second. Obaidly also enjoyed his first taste of F-4S racing at the rear of the field.
“I am delighted for Khalid and the team that we managed to win the Match race and that has put us in a great position for the Nations Cup,” said Khalid bin Arhama al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani.
“Now we need a good finish in the sprint races to stay ahead of Russia. Today was Mohammed (Al-Obaidly)’s first time in a race boat. He usually races aqua bikes, but he did very well and we decided to give him some experience in the F-4 race as well. It’s all part of his development.”
Today marks the first time that the F1 H2O entrants will take to the water for a first free practice session at 10am and this follows another practice stint for the Nations Cup teams.
The first of two UIM Nations Cup sprint races starts at 13.10hrs and this is followed by the crucial three F1 qualifying sessions at 2pm. A second Nations Cup sprint race brings the day’s action to a close from 15.10hrs.