Alkass Digital
President of the Qatar Boxing Federation (QBF) Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid Al Thani has said the country has a bright future in boxing with many youngsters joining the sport.
Sheikh Fahad, who was a successful professional boxer before becoming the boxing chief, said he saw many talented pugilists in recent boxing events.
“We conducted an event at Katara in March this year. That was the first event after I got elected as the president of the Qatar Boxing Federation. As you know, as a professional before, I was not really in contact with the boxers before. But it was really impressive on the number of club boxers who participated. The level of boxers was good at the junior, senior and in the elite class,” the QBF President told a press conference.
He said Qatari boxers were also doing well in international events.
“Our boxers featured in the Elite Men’s Championship held in Kuwait in July. We had Abdullah Al Badr and Abdul Hadi Al Marri representing Qatar. Both did well, especially Abdul Hadi Al Marri."
“After that, we featured in the Arab Youth Boxing Championship which was also a very important event on our calendar.”
Sheikh Fahad hoped to prepare a group of boxers, who will win accolades in major events.
“We are keeping a keen eye on these boxers because this is the generation that will be competing at the 2030 Asian Games in Doha. From our perspective, it (the Katara event) was key to have a starting point towards that goal of the Asian Games in 2030,” he said.
The QBF President said the federation is setting his sights on initiating a boxing league in the future.
“The ambition is to have a boxing league in the future. It is early days. We are not there. We want to build such a league along with the clubs and the federation and do it on a monthly basis. This will keep the boxers active. The plan is to have a league that runs for a few months. That would give them (the boxers) something to look forward to even when they are not competing at international level.”