Qatar Spikers Shine As Asian Games Officially Kicks Off Today

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar's volleyball team entered the quarter-finals, while the beach volleyball pair Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan reached the last 16 at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China on Friday.
Qatar's volleyball team secured a convincing 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 25-17) win over Bahrain in the pre-quarters at the China Textile City Sports Centre Gymnasium. The spikers, who had earlier defeated Thailand and Hong Kong, will face Pakistan in the quarter-finals tomorrow. Pakistan beat fancied South Korea in the pre-quarters earlier on Friday.
Meanwhile, 2018 Gold medallists Younousse and Tijan crushed the Philippines Alnakran Abdilla and Jaron Requinton 21-9, 21-7 in their last Group B match on Friday and sealed their place in the last 16.
The top seeds had little trouble in getting past their opponents and look in fine form to defend their gold. Qatar's second pair Mahmoud Essam and Abdullah Naseem had on Thursday booked their place in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Qatar U-23 football squad were held to a goalless draw by Palestine at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium in Hangzhou on Friday. Qatar, who were outclassed by Japan 1-3 in their opening match, failed to breach the defence of Palestine. After Friday's draw, Qatar are third place in three-team Group D.
The top two teams from the six groups qualify for the round of 16, along with four best third-placed teams. Qatari hopes of qualifying for the next round depends on the result between Palestine and Japan. If Japan, who have already sealed their place in the last 16, beat Palestine by more than two goals then Qatar will qualify as the second best team. A draw or loss by one goal will be sufficient for Palestine to progress. Friday, Qatar was the better side for most of the match and created many opportunities but did not succeed in translating any of them into goals.
Al-Attiyah and al-Buainain to carry Qatar's flag at opening ceremony
Meanwhile, rally champion and shooter Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and women's dressage star Maryam al-Buainain will carry Qatar's flag today at the opening ceremony, which will officially open the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Al-Attiyah is undoubtedly a legend in Qatar sport. Besides his exploits in rallying, he has also won bronze at the skeet competition at the Olympic Games in London in 2012. Al-Buainain has proved her talent in dressage, having competed in international events and secured commendable results.
Qatar has sent 185 male and female athletes, who will compete in 27 sports: archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, electronic sports, equestrian, football, fencing, gymnastics, golf, handball, jiu-jitsu, karate, windsurfing, squash, swimming, tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, table tennis, volleyball, 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball and weightlifting.
With more than 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competing across a whopping programme of 40 sports, the Games will be China's first mega-event since last year's Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held under strict Covid protocols.
Following the scrapping of China's“zero-Covid” policy in late-2022, Hangzhou promises to be a more festive event and a welcome diversion from the property market woes and high youth unemployment that have dogged the domestic economy.
Fans, athletes and officials will move freely between shiny, new stadiums in Hangzhou and five other Yangtze River Delta cities in one of the country's most prosperous regions.
Like the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, local organisers will hope Hangzhou can showcase the nation's strength and that home athletes will put China top of the medals table as they have done at the last 10 editions.
Given the quality throughout China's 886-strong delegation, there should be little doubt of the latter, at least. The Games' novelty factor will instead lie in new competitions, even if some stretch the definition of sport to its limits.
Organisers have jumped aboard the Olympics' youth push, adding breakdancing – or 'breaking' – to the programme a year out from its Olympic debut at Paris. Esports will be a medal event for the first time after being a demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Celebrity gamers like South Korea's Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as 'Faker', will compete for seven esports golds across seven titles, including 'League of Legends' and 'FIFA Online 4'.
After being dropped from the 2018 programme, cricket returns at Hangzhou in the Twenty20 format to give the sport another push before its expected addition to the Olympics for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Cricket powerhouse India will be busy preparing for the 50-overs World Cup starting in October but will send men's and women's squads to the Asian Games for the first time in a coup for Hangzhou.
Nine of the sports in Hangzhou come with the additional prize of qualification for the Olympics including archery, boxing, breaking, hockey, sailing, tennis and water polo. Some of the events lack big names due to scheduling clashes but there is a sprinkling of stardust in swimming, athletics and gymnastics, and heaps of it in the table tennis, badminton and weightlifting competitions, Asia's traditional strengths.
China's butterfly queen Zhang Yufei will bid for a fourth gold in the pool at her third Asian Games to add to her two Olympic and two world titles. The hosts' newly crowned women's world number one golfer Yin Ruoning will tee off in the individual and team events, five years after taking a team bronze for China at Jakarta. Indian fans will cheer on their first Olympic athletics champion when Neeraj Chopra throws in the javelin.

MENAFN22092023000067011011ID1107124597