By Azmat Haroon
Doha: Qatari gymnasts will soon be ranked among the top eight teams in the world, a senior national gymnastics coach said yesterday.
With the promotion of women’s sports in the country, an increasing number of young girls are joining the gymnastics squad.
“In four to five years, Qatar will be in the top eight teams in the world,” Razvan Celario, the Qatar women’s gymnastics coach, told The Peninsula.
Celario, who is coaching Qatari girls for four years now, said that he does not want to reveal his strategy yet.
“All the coaches are asking me about what I’m doing. But I cannot say what my plan is. I cannot reveal my secret,” Celario said while answering a question about his plans for the team.
He said that participating in the 6th FIG World Challenge Cup is a ‘big step’ for his girls and the team plan for now is to do well in all the exercises.
Qatari gymnasts, however, feel that there is a need for creating more awareness about the sport in the country.
Shahden Wohdan and Al Jazi Hanshi, representing Qatar at the Challenge Cup, said their aim is to qualify for the finals and get good rankings.
They said that the tournament this year was very competitive with many world champions vying for top ranks.
“We have been training well. I started concentrating more on my exercises in the last few months for this competition,” said Hanshi.
Wohdan, who is currently with the Academic Bridge Program (ABP) at Qatar Foundation, said she also tries to strike a balance between studies and play.
“As soon as I get done with the university I directly go to the gym. I’m trying to get back to my old performance,” said Wohdan, who hopes to join North Western University Qatar next year. The duo, however, said that they want more people to cheer female gymnasts.
“I think it perhaps needs more advertising. We like to perform in front of big crowds,” said Hanshi.
Unlike sports such as football and tennis, gymnastics does not have a very large fan following but the sport is ‘getting there’, she said.
“A few youngsters think gymnastics is a very difficult sport but I think it’s exciting and spectacular,” she added.
Three young girls have recently joined the squad and are competing in the junior category.
“Many Qatari women have begun to participate in sports. But I wish more people would come to see us perform,” Hanshi said, adding that many girls in the squad need more encouragement.
With the attendance of more than 130 gymnasts from around 37 countries, Doha is once again playing host to the world’s best gymnasts.
“I’m sure that fans will enjoy this world class competition and encourage our national gymnasts and support the promotion of gymnastics,” Ali Al Hitmi, President of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF), said.
“I wish to extend my gratitude to our partners for their unconditional and absolute support. In 2011 we had more than 2,000 fans during the championship. We hope to cross that figure this time,” he said.
When asked about home expectations, Al Hitmi said: “We don’t put pressure on our gymnasts. We want our gymnasts to get experience. This event provides the opportunity to compete and learn against the best. The result of national teams at the Arab Games (in December 2011) showed Qatari gymnasts have improved their experience and overall performances. They have learned so much in recent times”
Al Himti added: “The international gymnasts prefer to come to Qatar because of the high reputation of our events. Top officials say Qatar event is one of the best in region.” The Peninsula
