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Qatar Grand Prix 2008 gets underway
 DOHA,
January 18, 2008 (Afzal Mehmood Shaikh): The fifth edition of Qatar
International Fencing Tournament – Grand Prix 2008 for Men in Epee,
got underway Friday at the Aspire, Academy for Sports Excellence.
The opening day witnessed 64 epeeists who locked their epee in men’s
individual heats (preliminary round). The victorious 32 fencers from
preliminary round registered their berth for the finals on Saturday
where they meet top 32 seeded fencers.
Hosts Qatar fencers faltered in the preliminary round on day one,
they will now be focusing on the team event which kicks off Sunday.
Qatar Coach - Chirstophe Clement, who’s been working hard with the
Qatari youngsters, wants to mould them and help them benefit from
their participation in such events, aiming to improve their
performance to match the international standards.
“This is a hard competition to expect any positive results, here are
worlds best fencers competing this year, there is a huge difference
between them and us, our fencers need to work really hard to match
these standards,” said the 34 year-old Frenchman Clement, who was
appointed as Qatar’s epee coach 18 months ago.
Clement was hoping to attain some results in team event, but his
hopes were all shattered as the top two from the four-member Qatar
team are not able to participate due to their exams.
“We had some chances in the team event, but the two top fencers are
not available due to their commitments at school for exams, so it is
not easy,” assumed Clement.
Clement started fencing when he was 8-years-old. The Frenchman
trained France’s national team for eight years before taking up the
job in Qatar in 2006. He believes there are a lot of cultural
differences, due to which the Qataris are not able to perform at
high level international tournaments.
“Worlds best fencers train minimum 15 hrs a week, but fencers in
Qatar don’t even workout 15 hrs a month. There are few fencers who
train 7-8 hrs a day prior to any major participation, this is the
culture we need to adopt to gain and raise the standard,” explained
Clement – level II coach.
64 fencers will compete in the final round on Saturday, followed by
the teams event on Sunday.
The event features a total prize of $31,000. First place gets
$5,000, second gets $3,000 while third and fourth take $2,000
apiece. Fifth through eighth place take home $1,000.
PROGRAMME:
Saturday – 19/1/2008 Individual Event (continued)
09:00 - 64 Fencers Schedule
18:00 – Finals
Sunday – 20/1/2008 Team Events
09:00 - Direct elimination per team
18:00 - Finals per team
20:00 - Dinner offered by the Organising Committee
Monday – 21/1/2008 Departure of Delegations
REWARDS:
Total prize money of US$ 31,000 will be offered as follows:
INDIVIDUAL TEAM
1st Place: 5,000 US$ 1st Place: 6,000 US$
2nd Place: 3,000 US$ 2nd Place: 5,000 US$
3rd Place: 2,000 US$ 3rd Place: 4,000 US$
3rd Place: 2,000 US$
5th to 8th Place: 1,000 US$ |
