Doha: The Qatar beach handball team is busy preparing for the sixth edition of the Asian Beach Games, which will be held in the Chinese city of Sanya from April 2 to April 10, 2021. The team’s training continues daily at the Al Gharafa beach stadiums, with the participation of 11 players including Ibrahim Shebel Obaid, Mirza Kabitch, Syed Ali Kenawy, Mirans Kriecho, Muhammad Ahmad Zaki, Rashid Youssef, Hani Marawan Kakhi, Ahmed Rajab Morgan, Ali Ahmad Muhammad, Omar Jalul Dhiab, and Muhammad Hassan Saleh. The 6th Asian Beach Games were scheduled to be held from November 28 to December 6, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Games programme includes competitions in 16 sports spread over 82 competitions. The Qatar beach handball team is hoping for top preparation as it targets a gold medal Asian Beach Games for the fourth time in a row. Qatar clinched top spots in the past three editions - Huang 2012 (China), Phuket 2014 (Thailand), and Danang 2016 (Vietnam).
The Qatari national team had also won the Asian Men’s Beach Handball Championship in the last five editions in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. Team Qatar also secured third place twice in the 2014 World Championships in Brazil and the 2016 World Championships in Hungary, and also ranked third in the World Games (held every four years and one year after the Summer Olympics) that was held in Wroclaw, Poland, in 2017.
