Qatari women make host nation proud at Arab Games Doha 2011

The Arab Games 2011 has seen one of the best ever performances by Qatar’s female athletes – of the 110 medals won by Qatar, 32 were earned by female individual athletes and teams, including eight gold medals. Furthermore, the best overall two athletes were females: Bahiya Al Hamad (Shooting: 3 Gold and 2 Silver ) and Shaden Wahdan (Gymnastics: 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze).

Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Chairman, Arab Games Organising Committee (AGOC), and Secretary General, Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), said: "It is my hope that the Arab Games will provide inspiration to the next generation of Qatari athletes to embark on a journey to one day become Olympic champions in front of their home fans in the years ahead. Furthermore, a higher involvement of women in sport means more female role models whom our children can look up to. This can only be good for the future of Qatar."

Almost 100 Qatari female athletes took part in 16 of the 29 individual and team sports featured in Arab Games Doha 2011, including swimming, athletics, gymnastics (artistic and trampoline), basketball, handball, table tennis, and volleyball, as well as archery, chess, fencing, judo, taekwondo, sailing, shooting, and golf – which has been introduced for the first time in the history of the Arab Games.

Yasmine Al-Sharshani, the only Qatari female golfer to participate in Arab Games Doha 2011, said:

"Golf is a game that needs patience and an immense amount of concentration – it’s a tactical sport, and that is what I love about it. I started playing 3 years ago, and participate in local tournaments on a weekly basis. My participation in Arab Games Doha 2011 is an extremely important experience for me," said Al-Sharshani, who represented Qatar at the Arab Golf Championships, in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, in September.

"There aren’t a lot of Qatari or Arab female golfers due to a lack of knowledge about women participating in less conventional sports like golf. Therefore, I feel like lucky that my country provided me the opportunity, through an education in sports, to learn about golf. My studies encouraged me and I loved the game so I started reading and learning more about it," said Al-Sharshani.

Qatar also introduced its first female swimmer to the 2011 Arab Games with Nada Abdul Waffa [17] taking part in her first regional swimming competition as she competed alongside fellow Arab female swimmers at Arab Games Doha 2011. A student at Doha College, Waffa trains at the state-of-the-art Hamad Aquatic Center six times a week.

"At the Arab Games, my goal was to be the best I can – and I achieved it. I owe my accomplishment to the faith that has been put in me by my coach, my family, and most importantly my country, Qatar. The training facilities are excellent, my coach is great, and even as the only female swimmer on the team, my needs are catered to beyond expectations," she said.

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