DOHA: Qatar Boxing Federation (QBF) will stage a test event next month ahead of this year’s AIBA World Championships to be held in October, it was confirmed yesterday.
The May 19 to 24 test event to be held at the state-of-the-art Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Stadium will feature more than 100 boxers from across Asia, QBF said.
The AIBA 2015 World Boxing Championships will be held from October 8 to 18, officials had announced last year.
“We have our organizing committee working round the clock to complete our preparations for the test event,” QBF President Yusuf Ali Kazim said.
“The test event will be a dress rehearsal for the World Championships to be held later in October. We are making plans to attract youth to our test event,” he added.
QBF in conjunction with Ministry of Youth and Sports and Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) is also making final arrangements to welcome a working delegation from world governing body AIBA in the first week of May, QBF said yesterday.
The October World Championships will offer international boxers an opportunity to grab 23 spots at the Rio de Janeiro Games’ boxing competitions, officials said.
“Given that the 2015 World Championships will be beamed live to over 20 international TV channels, we expect to see a high level of competition in October,” Al Kazim said.
“As we see it, for many boxers their road for Brazil for the Olympic Games starts in Doha,” he added.
“Since the World Championships have come to our region for the first time, Qatari boxers also stand to gain a lot,” he said.
“It is exciting time for all those associated with the test event in May and the World Championships in October,” Al Kazim added.
“From the organizational part of the show, we are preparing to put our best step forward.
“We are confident we’d add a sparkle to Qatar’s sports calendar,” he said.
“I have urged my team to ensure that we do a fantastic job during the test event and during the World Championships,” Al Kazim said during his first address to the newly-formed Organizing Committee.
Qatar will feature eight boxers at the World Championships, Al Kazim said.
“We are looking forward to the visit of AIBA officials in the first week of May,” the QBF President said.
The meeting, which was headed by Al Kazim, was attended by Ahmed Ismail, Hassan Abdullah Al Mohammadi, Khaled Youssef, Abdulrahman Saud, Akram Ibrahim Hammad, Colonel Jassim Alhail, Dr Rashid Bouras, Saleh Al Yafei, Yusuf Rashid Al Suwaidi, Khalifa Abdullah Ibrahim and Ebeid Siddiqi at QBF headquarters in Doha.
“We thank Ministry of Youth and Sports and QOC for their stupendous support in helping us prepare for the two events mentioned,” Al Kazim said.
In February this year, Qatar unveiled the AIBA World Boxing Championships logo at the Sports Village on Corniche, almost eight months before the 11-day tournament kicks off in Doha.
QOC Secretary-General Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani joined QBF President Al Kazim in unveiling the World Championships logo.
Al Kazim said the hosts can confirm that 65 countries will be represented at the event.
Al Kazim said he is confident the number will see a gradual increase with final tally to be announced in August.
“Normally there are 196 countries that feature at an event like this. However, we will know more about the exact number of countries represented at our event in due course of time,” Kazim said.
“I think we will get record number of entries.”
“Competitions will be held in 10 categories,” Al Kazim said.
Al Kazim said the logo was designed by QOC in conjunction with QBF.
“This will be the first time that an AIBA World Championships will be held in the Middle East,” Al Kazim said.
“We will be approaching BeIN and Al Kass Sports Channel to see who will cover our event live,” he said.
“Boxing has huge following around the world and we expect the World Championships to go all over the world.”
Two years ago, Doha beat Thailand in the race bid to host this year’s premier boxing championships.
“It is very exciting for AIBA to explore new horizons and we are looking forward to visit Doha in 2015,” AIBA President C K Wu said at the time.
“We are delighted with the trust and confidence of the AIBA Executive Committee,” Al Kazim said after event was awarded to the Qatari capital.
“We have no doubt that the AIBA World Boxing Championships Doha 2015 will be one of the best in the history of the sport and that new standards will be set in this brand new region for AIBA,” he added. “The AIBA EC Members know that we will not let them down,” he said at the time. THE PENINSULA