With the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) World Beach Games Qatar 2019 scheduled to start on Saturday, excitement has reached a fever-pitch and all hands are on the deck to ensure an amazing experience for all participants, Ishaq al-Hashmi, Director of Sports Committee for the LOC of ANOC Beach Games, has said.
“We are really excited about hosting this event as it is another wonderful opportunity to host the world and showcase how passionate we are about sports in Qatar. All arrangements have been perfected to ensure a hitch-free event and, as usual, the world will witness Qatar at its sporting best come October 12. This is another history in the making and it is a great privilege that we are the first country in the world to be opportune to host an event of such magnitude,” he said.
The five-day ANOC World Beach Games, also known as Qatar 2019, will kick off with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Beach side of the Katara Cultural Village in Doha on Saturday.
“Aside from having some of the best sports facilities in the world, organising mega sports events have almost become a second nature to us in Qatar. We have held some of the biggest events in global sports with great applause and the ANOC World Beach Games comes as part of our commitment to the development of sports worldwide as well as promoting global peace through sports,” al-Hashmi said.
He added that with over 1,200 athletes from 97 NOCs, representing all the five continents, participating at the event, Qatar 2019 is a sort of “Olympics for Beach Sports”.
“As we all know, there has never been anything like this in the history of beach sports. There’ve been several competitions at continental levels but never something that brings the whole world together for beach sports. It is a unique experience for us in Qatar and I believe the effects of this event will last for a long time not only in Qatar but the entire region as well. It is a thing of pride to us and to the region,” he added.
Al-Hashmi noted that hosting the event in Qatar will have tremendous impacts on beach sports in the country as it has the potential of popularising the sports and at the same time attracts more participants.
“One of the great legacies of hosting Qatar 2019 is the benefits to beach sports in Qatar. We have beautiful beaches all around the country and I believe we’ll be witnessing interests from the populace in beach sports in Qatar going forward. 
“We’ve been doing well in some of the disciplines like volleyball and handball, where we’ve conquered the continent of several occasions, now it is the time for us to have major impacts in other disciplines as well and the competition will definitely help us in achieving that,” he said.
ANOC World Beach Games is featuring 13 sports across 14 disciplines. Featured sports include aquathlon, 3X3 basketball, climbing bouldering, beach handball, karate kata individual, kitefoil racing, skateboarding, beach soccer, open water 5km swimming, beach tennis, beach volleyball 4X4, waterski, wakeboard and beach wrestling.
As per the schedule, aquathlon, 3X3 basketball, karate kata individual, kitefoil racing, beach soccer, open water 5km swimming, beach tennis and beach wrestling will all take place at Katara Beach while Al Gharafa will be the venue for beach handball and beach volleyball 4X4. 
Climbing bouldering and skateboarding, on the other hand, will be hosted at Aspire Park and Ritz Carlton Canal will take care of the waterski and wakeboard events.