JUSTINE EYES DOHA RETURN - Qatar Olympic Committee

News
in Brief
Qatar’s paddlers trained
at Aspire in preparation
for the West Asian
qualification matches taking place
in Jordan in which the winners will
qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games and the World Championship
to be held in China in February 2008.
The sessions were organised by the
Qatar Table Tennis federation, which
has also planned outdoor training
camps in Germany and Spain later
this year.
The national bowling
team put in a series of top
class performances at the
Qatar International Open Bowling
Tournament hosted by the Qatar
Bowling Center in January. Qatar
head coach, Franc Buffa of Canada
was pleased with the performances
as Qatar gears up for the Asian
Championship and World Cup which
are scheduled for later in the year.
Scotland’s Andy Murray
won the $1.05m Qatar
ExxonMobil Open 2008. The
third seed beat the Swiss Stanislas
Wawrinka in the final at the Khalifa
Tennis and Squash Complex. During
the Championship, Anil Khanna,
president of the Asian Tennis
Federation said that if the sport is to
become truly global the possibility of
a fifth Grand Slam in Asia should not
be ruled out.
The New Year’s sporting
calendar in Qatar teed
off on January 4 when
128 golfers form 26 countries
took part in the 22nd Qatar Open
golf tournament at the Doha Golf
Club. The tournament is one of
the most prestigious events on the
GCC amateur circuit and attracts
players in large numbers every
year. The event was sponsored by
Commercialbank and Pearl Qatar.
Some of the world’s best
fencers featured at the
fifth edition of the Qatar
International Fencing Tournament
Grand Prix 2008, which took place in
January at the ASPIRE Academy for
Sporting Excellence. Participating
countries in this year’s tournament,
including a 12 member squad from
Qatar, increased to 41 as compared
to last year’s 31.
The bold and
the beautiful
Qatar’s sports facilities have won accolades in the world’s most
prestigious sports architecture awards.
Qatar’s outstanding outdoor and indoor
sports facilities won two of the most prestigious
prizes in sports architecture when the ASPIRE
Dome and Khalifa Stadium won silver
and bronze awards respectively at the 20th
International Association for Sports and Leisure
Facilities (IAKS) Congress.
The Doha venues finished in the medal
places in the 2007 contest, involving 88 sports
and leisure facilities from over 27 countries.
Having successfully hosted the 15th Asian
Games in 2006, Qatar finished ahead of all
other competition from the Gulf Co-operation
Council region.
“The facilities have become a fantastic symbol
of the continuing growth of the region,” said
Dr. Thomas Flock, ASPIRE Director General.
“These iconic buildings are also part of the
attraction for the hundreds of visitors to the
Aspire Academy in recent months.”
Designed by French architect, Roger
Taillibert, the multi-purpose ASPIRE Indoor
Hall is home to the ASPIRE Academy for Sports
Excellence and boasts the world’s largest indoor
sports dome. Covering 290,000 square metres,
it stands 46 metres high and seats 15,000
spectators.
Within the ASPIRE complex’s facilities there
are one indoor and seven outdoor football
pitches, an athletics track, an Olympic-sized
swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas,
gymnastics arena, specially designed weight
rooms, lecture halls and dormitories to
accommodate up to 1,000 students.
As part of the 250-hectare ASPIRE Zone
sports precinct built for the 15th Asian Games,
the venue hosted seven sports during the Doha
2006 event - badminton, gymnastics, wushu,
wrestling, kabaddi, boxing and cycling.
Also designed by Roger Taillibert,
Doha’s 50,000-capacity Khalifa Stadium is
acknowledged as the best of the region’s sports
stadiums. The host venue for the track and
field contests and the Opening and Closing
Ceremonies for Doha 2006, the stadium
is uncovered around three-quarters of its
circumference, but can comfortably host any
outdoor event. During the Games the facility
unveiled the largest custom-made LED screen
ever used for a live event. At 165 metres-wide
and 39 metres at its highest point, the screen
provided a spectacular backdrop for the action.
HE Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-
Thani, the Secretary General of the Qatar
Olympic Committee, received the medals
from IOC Deputy President, Thomas Bach, at
the ceremony in Cologne, Germany, last year.
“This achievement is a matter of great pride
for all Gulf sports fans, as Qatar was the only
Arab State that entered the IOC competition,”
said Sheikh Saoud. “The high standard of
architecture is one component among many
that have contributed to Aspire’s international
reputation. Gaining the silver medal further
demonstrates the Academy’s emergence as a
major landmark in the sporting world.”
The prestigious awards, sponsored by IAKS
and the International Olympic Committee,
have been awarded every two years since 1987
and are known as the only architecture award of
international importance for existing sports and
leisure facilities.
10 QatarSport Q1.08