16 Jan 2019
Doha, 16 January 2018. Aspire Academy continues it rich relationship and partnership with Qatar Fencing Federation as the official technical and logistical sponsor of the 2019 Qatar Fencing Grand Prix championship, a three-day event that runs from 25 to 27 January 2019 at Aspire Academy. A good number of some of the world’s best fencers will be in competition along with Qatari fencers who include Aspire student athletes. The Fencing Grand Prix du Qatar 2019 which will bring top male and female epee fencers of the world will compete in the annual event, which is carries a total of prize money of $12,000 each in both categories. The winner will take home $5000, while the runner-up gets $3000.
The announcement was made at Aspire Academy by Qatar Fencing Federation Secretary General Khalid Issa al-Hamadi and Aspire Academy deputy director for Sport, Dr Hazem Anebtawi on Wednesday 16th January. The QFF Secretary General: Khalid Al-Hammadi went on to say, “This is the 17th edition of the championship organised by the Qatar Fencing Federation and it is widely considered to be one of the top three tournaments in the world, with a total of 221 male and female players.
Our partnership with Aspire Academy is not limited to organising the Grand Prix. This growing alliance will also be of mutual benefit to the development of young Qatari and Italian fencing players by providing them with quality training and competition opportunities. For example, athlete Ali Turki, whom is ranked as world's youth No. 46, is an exciting prospect who we hope to see reach the world top 20 soon. I would like to extend my appreciation to all the Arab countries participating in this year’s tournament, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia; to our main sponsors, Aspire Academy and QNB; and to all the media representatives in Qatar who have helped to make this such an exciting tournament.”
Dr Hazem Anebtawi expressed the Academy’s preparedness to host the three-day event in collaboration with the Qatar Fencing Federation, and said, “This is another year of fruitful continuation of our sponsorship agreement as we build on our existing partnership with the QFF. I would like to extend my appreciation and gratitude to the Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation and our sponsorship partner, QNB, for the success of this tournament. We are proud to host the fencing championship at Aspire Academy. Through our partnership with the Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation, we have inaugurated a youth centre at the Academy in which we choose the best players who wish to continue fencing. This and the various competitions we enter, and host give our players unrivalled opportunities to compete with advanced fencers from around the globe.
We have 15 fencing players at Aspire Academy, who we train with the cooperation of the Qatar Fencing and Weightlifting Federation. Our partnership, signed four years ago, has helped us tackle the various obstacles facing each individual athlete as we nurture their development. We have also discovered 12 promising Qatari fencers and 3 others born in Qatar thanks to the partnership. With the help of the Italian Federation and the partnership with the Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation, we have greatly enhanced their development and training. One example of this can be seen with athlete Ali Turki, whose training sessions in London under the Academy’s supervision have yielded impressive results. Furthermore, there is now an agreement between Aspire Academy and the Italian Fencing Federation to host a series of joint training sessions. This builds on the Italian federation training camp that took place at Aspire Academy four weeks ago, during which our student-athletes learned from and competed with their Italian counterparts. In the not too distant future, Aspire Academy athletes will have the opportunity to go on a training camp to the Italian federation for a similar experience, which will be another big positive for their development.”