President optimistic about hosting 2013 World Fencing Championship

DOHA, January 19, 2008 (Afzal Mehmood Shaikh): HE Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman – Secretary General of Qatar Olympic Committee and President of Qatar Fencing Federation told reporters that Qatar has strong chances of hosting the 2013 World Fencing Championship.

“We have strong chances of getting the rights to host the 2013 World Fencing Championship; it is unlikely to have any tough competitor in the race to bid for the games.

“Next year (2009) we are going to submit the bid documents and then the decision will be taken in 2010, ‘Inshaallah’ we will win the rights to host the games,” claimed HE Shaikh Saoud after the final of individual event in the ongoing fifth Qatar International Fencing Championship – Grand Prix 2008 at the Aspire Academy on Saturday.

Speaking about the tournament HE Sheikh Saoud said, “The individuals final was quite interesting, Radoslaw Zawrotniak of Poland was a deserving winner, it was surprising for me not to see the Frenchmen in top four this year, sure the competition level is high and we had 54 top fencers in the world so you can expect anything,” said the QFF President.

Qatar’s 14-member squad faltered in the preliminary round to finish at the bottom of the standings.

“It is tough for the local fencers to compete against worlds best at this level. However, we have placed in development programs at Aspire and other vicinities for our fencers and will also promote fencing by encouraging youngsters in schools, and clubs to generate big assets,” explained HE Sheikh Saoud.

Federation Internationale D’Escrime (FIE) President - Rene Roch handed over the medals to the top four fencers.

The title holder, Zawrotniak also received a gold sword worth US$ 100,000 alongside prizemoney for his remarkable feat.

Roch lauded Qatar’s organisation abilities and the already in placed infrastructure, “Qatar has high-standard venues, hotels, and the know-how of organising such events, the competition was tough and the participation is immense, it is a good platform for the Olympic Games as this is the first competition this year,” said Roch.

Talking about the recent development of Fencing in Asia, Roch said, “The federation has planned more programs for fencers and coaches to promote fencing in Asia. We would like to see more competitions outside Europe and for countries with such facilities in place, it is good to have tournaments here.”