Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari of Team Qatar, Andrei Panyushkin of Team Russia and Lebos Chaguri of Team Lebanon celebrate on the podium during the award ceremony of the Qatar Nations Cup on Corniche in Doha, yesterday. Khalid finished first followed by Abdrei, while Lebos Chaguri came third. Race action begins today at 8.45am.
DOHA: Match race action for Qatar’s inaugural Nations Cup dominated proceedings on Doha Bay on Thursday afternoon and Team Qatar’s Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari beat Team Russia’s Andrei Panyushkin in the Match race final to secure 25 vital points for Team Qatar and put them in contention to win the prestigious cup today.
Team Qatar’s Mohammed Al Obaidly was eliminated by Al Kuwari in the first round after the pair had unfortunately been drawn together.
But Al Kuwari was in inspired form and he disposed of Team UAE’s Rashed Al Qemzi in his quarterfinal and then beat the second Emirati, Mohammed Al-Mehairbi, in a tense semi-final to set up a final clash with Panyushkin in fading light on Doha Bay.
Team Russia will now take a three-point lead over Team Qatar into the sprint races today. Team UAE hold third position.
The Nations Cup is being held in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Qatar, round four of the 2013 UIM F1 H2O World Championship, which gets underway in earnest with free practice today morning.
It was a hectic day for Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari, who also represented the Qatar Team in the UIM F-4S race for the Eurofin Trophy. The Qatari qualified in fifth position in the timed trials and went on to reach the chequered flag for the 20-minute race in a similar position.
Sixteen-year-old Italian rookie Alberto Comparato reached the chequered flag in first position in his first ever F-4S race and Latvian Nikita Lijcs held off a fierce challenge from series leader Mike Szymura of Germany to finish second. Obaidly also enjoyed his first taste of F-4S racing at the rear of the field.
“I am delighted for Khalid and the team that we managed to win the Match race and that has put us in a great position for the Nations Cup,” said Khalid bin Arhama Al Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani.
“Now we need a good finish in the sprint races to stay ahead of Russia. Today was Mohammed (Al-Obaidly)’s first time in a race boat. He usually races aqua bikes, but he did very well and we decided to give him some experience in the F-4 race as well. It’s all part of his development.”
Al Kuwari and AlObaidly qualified for the match races in seventh and 11th positions in a session where Christian Carlsen inverted his Team Norway boat on the far side of the course and Team UAE’s Mohammed Al Mehairbi claimed the quickest time from Team Norway’s Stian Slattendalen.
The draw pitted both the Team Qatar drivers against each other in the first round match race heat and Al Kuwari won his heat to progress to a quarterfinal showdown with Team UAE’s Rashed Al Qemzi. Team Russia’s Andrei Panyushkin and Team Lebanon’s Lebos Chaguri also progressed to the quarters.
Stian Slattendalen barrel-rolled out of contention in his quarterfinal and Panyushkin advanced to the semifinal to face fellow countryman Roman Vandyshev. Al-Kuwari disposed of Mehairbi to set up the final showdown and Panyushkin pipped his team mate to reach the final.
The Peninsula
