Ali al-Hitmi, president of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation, addresses a press conference along with other officials yesterday. PICTURE: Mamdouh

By Sports Reporter/Doha


The 7th Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup 2014 will be held March 26-28 at the Aspire Dome. Organised by the Qatar Gymnastics Federation, the annual event which started in 2008, has attracted more than 200 world class gymnasts from 37 countries.
This is one of the seven World Cup Series events organised in the world. Qatar will host the second leg with the first leg having got completed in Cottbus, Germany, on Sunday. The championship will be held for both men and women and after each event there will be a World Ranking lists for each piece of apparatus, six for men and four for women. The competitions will feature qualifications, which will be held on March 26 and the finals – where best eight gymnasts per apparatus will feature – will take place on March 27 and 28.
The total prize money for the event is 50,000 USD, with first-placed apparatus walking away with 1,500 USD, while the second and third placed gymnasts with take home 1,200 and 800 USD respectively.
Ali al-Hitmi, president of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation, said the event will be of the highest standard and that his association is focusing towards hosting the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, of which Qatar is the only bidder.
“It is our pride that we have earned the trust of the International Gymnastics Federation to host such an important event in Qatar. We have the best possible facilities and infrastructure to host any world class event. Our ambition is bigger, since we are gearing up to host 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships,” said al-Hitmi, who is also the chairman of the Higher Organisation Committee of Artistic Gymnastics World Series.
It is more than likely that Qatar will host the event as Bruno Grandi, president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), has said Qatar is “now ready to host World Championships”. The governing body sees this as an opportunity to promote the sport a wider audience.
The Gulf state is the only bidder to have been named by FIG for the 2018 event and the host will officially be named at the FIG Council’s next meeting in Kuwait on May 9 and 10.
“We are working hard to realise the dream of hosting the World Championships in 2018. I am hopeful we will be able to achieve it. We have a very good chance,” al-Hitmi said.
The FIG is also impressed with administration of Qatar Gymnastics Federation and the way it has grown and promoted the sport in the region. Since its creation in 2000, the Qatar Gymnastics Federation, which became affiliated with the FIG in 2002, has become a pioneer for several gymnastics disciplines in the Gulf region.
If Qatar does go on to win the hosting rights for the World Championships it will be just the latest in an already long list of major international sporting events due to take place in the country in the coming years.
The three-day World Challenge Cup, meanwhile, has attracted the best in the business. The men’s challenge, which has attracted 99 entries, will be led by 2012 Olympic Champion Epke Jan Zonderland of the Netherlands. The 27-year-old, nicknamed ‘The flying Dutchman’, was gold medalist at the London Games in the high bar and the next year he sealed his supremacy in the event, winning the 2013 World Championship in Antwerp. At the moment, he holds the European, Olympic, and World championships titles.
In the Pommel Horse competition, Olympic champion Krisztian Berki of Hungary will be the star attraction. He is also the 2010 and 2011 World Champion, and was a silver medallist in the 2007 and 2009 editions.
Parallel bars World Champion Mitja Petkovsek of Slovakia will also be in action. He won the world title in 2005 and 2007, and was the World Cup Final champion in 2000 and 2004, having also won European title three times.
Among women – all eyes will be on Larisa Andreea Iordache of Romania. She won a bronze medal as part of the Romanian team at the 2012 Olympics. At the World Championships last year, she won bronze in the Floor Exercise events and has also won two golds and a silver at the 2012 European Championships.
The other star athletes to take part in the event are Marcel Nguyen of Germany, who won silver in London in the all-round gymnastics category and Swiss world number four Giulia Steingruber.
There will be six Qatari gymnasts in the competition. Mahmoud Alsaadi, Ahmed Aldyani and Malik Alyahri will feature in the men’s events. While in the women’s, Shaden Wohdan, who won two gold medals at the Arab Games in 2011, Farah Mahmoud and Ahlam al-Habshi will be in action.
The tickets are available for free at the City Center and Landmark malls Thursday, March 20 onwards between 4pm and 10 pm.


2012 Olympic Champion Epke Jan Zonderland will lead the men’s challenge. RIGHT: In women’s, Larisa Iordache of Romania will be the one to watch out for.