Buoyed by the qualification for next year’s FIVB Men’s World Championship Russia, coach Camilo Soto is aiming to prepare Qatar in the best possible manner for the global event.
Qatar qualified for the World Championship for the first time earlier this month after the Al Annabi finished fifth at the Asian Volleyball Championships in Japan. Al Annabi climb to 20th in the world rankings, ensuring their qualification for the Worlds.
On Saturday, the Qatar Volleyball Association hosted a reception to honour the national team for their feat of qualifying for Russia 2022. Soto said players’ hard work over the years has helped Qatar make remarkable improvement. “When I joined Qatar team, they were No.38 in the world rankings and now we are 20 which is a result of consistent hard work by the team,” the Argentinean told reporters. “My players with their hard work and by respecting the training schedule make my job easy. They want to rise further in the global rankings, which is very important,” he added.
Soto also hailed recent strides by his team including a good finish in Japan and a rise in the FIVB world rankings. “The feeling is amazing. Those are remarkable achievements which show the team is headed in the right direction. Attaining 20th spot in the world rankings and qualifying for the World Championship is huge for the team and surely, there will be more progress for team Qatar,” he added.
The coach added he is eyeing to give best possible preparations to the team for Worlds, which will take place from August 26 to September 11 next year.
“We have a GCC event in January which is our first target now. I would like to give my team extensive preparations by playing more tournaments and facing top sides before the World Championship, which will involve best sides. We will have to raise our standards and prepare accordingly and we are planning for that,” he added. “The objective in the World Championship would be to give a strong performance.”
Meanwhile, Qatar captain Ibrahim Ibrahim said his team missed a medal in Asian Championship and added his team’s performance was still impressive. “Our performance in Japan helped us to qualify for the World Championship, which is fantastic as we improved in the rankings,” Ibrahim told reporters.
“It was really a good tournament for us but defeat to China in the quarter-final cost us the medal,” he added.      
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