Qatari stars look for glory at Doha Swimming World Cup

The Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) announced the line-up of its swimmers to participate in the 5th round of FINA Swimming World Cup (25m) to be staged at the Hamad Aquatic Centre from October 4th and 5th. The event will bring together 153 swimmers. The Qatari squad includes; Hassan Mohamed al-Ebaidan, Mohamed Mahmoud, Yossef Hesham Mohammad, Abdullah Mohammad Abu Ghazallah, Yaqoub Abdulaziz al-Khelaifi, Nasser Yasser Hassan, Abdulraheem Abdulali Hussain, Feras Murad al-Saidi, Abdulrahman Hesham Mohamed, Musalam Abdullah, Abdulaziz Hassan al-Obaidli and Nada Mohammad Arakji. The Qatari swimmers participated in the previous legs of the events as Abdullah Abu Ghazallah took part in the first leg in Moscow (August 02-03). Abdulrahman Hesham abd Abdulaziz al-Obaidli participated in the second leg in Berlin (August 06-07) while Abdulaziz Hassan, Abdulrahman Hesham and Feras al-Saidi competed in the third leg in Eindhoven (August 11-12). Yaqoub al-Khelaifi and Yousef Hesham took part in the fourth leg in Hong Kong (September 30-October 01).  In a pre-event press release, Ibraheem al-Rumaihi, Head of Swimming section at the Qatar Swimming Association (QSA), said that the participation at the Swimming World Cup championship – Doha leg acts as a considerable opportunity for local swimmers to interact with the world champions and to gain international experience.“Our swimmers are ready for the world swimming event in Doha, they had already shown impressive performances in  the both 9th Asian Age Group Championship took place in Uzbekistan and the  Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Turkmenistan” said al-Rumaihi.“We have a great ambition to honour the country in the event, we are looking for new records to prove the progress of Qatari swimming movement,” added al-Rumaihi. Among international stars, fans-favourite Chad Le Clos, the most successful man in the competition’s history with 116 gold medals under his belt, will be looking to extend his medals streak in Doha. The 25-year-old, who won the 200m championship in Budapest World Championships earlier this summer, won three gold medals in the 2016 leg in Doha while in 2015 he clinched four gold medals.But, the South African superstar will not be alone to spearhead the men’s competitions as his compatriot  Cameron van der Burgh – the gold medallist at FINA World Championships Winsdor 2016 (50m breaststroke), Russia’s Vladimir Viktorovich Morozov – Winsdsor  2016 champion at 100m breaststroke are also set to compete in the gala. Russian swimming ace Kirill Prigoda will also be seen in action during the event. Also joining the star-studded in men’s events will be Italy’s Gabriele Detti, who is expected to excel in Doha after his golden run at this year’s World Championships.  The 23-year-old displayed a stunning performance in Budapest to clinch 800m freestyle gold. Radoslaw Kawecki of Poland – the former world champion will also be joining the top names at the next week’s Worlds.   Hungary’s ‘Iron Lady’ – Katinka Hosszu – will lead the star cast in women’s events, which will also see Olympic champion and world champion Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in action. Crowd-puller Hosszu has a staggering number of 226 gold medals to her name which makes her the best swimmer in the competition’s history. The 28-year-old will be looking to maintain her 200m and 400m Individual Medley dominance along with other events.Sjostrom, 24 will set alight the pool as she will also be targeting maximum number of medals. The Swedish double gold medallist at the FINA World Championships 2017 in Budapest, she had also clinched the 100m butterfly at Rio Games last year.Triple Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands, Rio gold medallist Rie Kaneto of Japan and Jamaica’s star Alia Atkinson, the 2016 world champion are among the other stars to take part in the competition.