(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain | The Peninsula
Local fencers Abdullah Sayyari and Ali Al Sulaiti displayed impressive performance as prestigious Qatar Fencing Grand Prix got under way with the men's preliminary rounds at Aspire Dome yesterday.
A total of eight Qataris were seen in action alongside fencers from around the world on the opening day of the three-day event which is featuring several Olympic and world champions.
Sayyari and Al Sulaiti impressed in their preliminary round campaigns by notching up a win each. The two fencers though couldn't advanced to the next stage of the event, they can take heart from their wins considering the tough competitions they faced against experienced fencers.
Mohammed Ali Mirzaei, Yousef Al Bader, Khalid Al Mulla, Abdulrahman Al Sowaidi, Soud Al Malki and Mehdi Feriani were the other Qatari fencers who gained valuable experience on the inaugural day.
Over 350 fencers from as many as 45 countries are taking part in this year's edition of Qatar Fencing Grand Prix. The event, which is being held since 2004, is rated as one of the major tournaments in the International Fencing Federation calendar and is counted as among the toughest competitions for fencers.
South Korean star Park Sang-young, an individual gold medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games is also competing in Doha and will start as favourite to win the epee title. He was exempted from the preliminaries along with 17 other top-ranked fencers.
Women's competition, which will begin today with preliminary rounds, will see Tunisian star Sarra Besbes defending her title which she won in the previous edition in Doha.
Qatar's Fatima Hammad, Al Abdulla Thkrayat, Al Abdulla Wadha and Ghada Haroun Hassan will also be seen in action in preliminary rounds today.
The finals of both men's and women's events will be held tomorrow from 5pm to 7pm. The event is offering a total prize money of US$ 30,000.
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