30 Nov 2015
Casablanca, 30 November 2015. Qatar’s gymnastic team enjoyed great success at the “2015 Arab Junior Gymnastics Championship” which took place in Morocco from 25 to 30 November. Between them, the five student-athletes of Aspire Academy competing in the event managed to win 14 medals.
Abdullah Romaitti (Grade 11), Ahmed Nabeel (Grade 10), Abdullah Al-Hareth, Hussam Abdul Aziz and Raslan Saoud (all Grade 9) represented Qatar in Casablanca and showed great team spirit against strong competition from countries including Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon and hosts Morocco. Qatar finished third overall, winning bronze in the team competition.
In the U16 age group, Ahmed Nabeel won bronze in the “all-around” category, and one silver and three bronze medals in the “individual apparatus” category. In the U14 age group, Hussam Abdul Aziz won gold in the “all-around” category as well as gold, silver and two bronze medals in the “individual apparatus” category. Abdullah Al-Hareth won three silver medals in the “individual apparatus” category.
Commenting on the team’s performance and achievements, Ali Hamad Al-Hitmi, President of the Qatar Gymnastics Association said: “This was the first time we’ve competed in a pan regional event, and we also had the youngest team of any country in the competition. We expected our boys to do well, but not necessarily to win as many medals as they have – it’s an incredible achievement. We are now looking forward to the Arab Individuals competition event set to take place in January 2016 in Tunisia.”