Draw of ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 Held

Doha, August 27 (QNA) - The draw of handball and football events at the ANOC World Beach Games, Qatar 2019 was held at the QOC headquarters on Tuesday. The international beach multi-sport event is organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and hosted by the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) from October 12 -16 in Doha. The draw was attended by HE QOC Secretary General Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg, representatives of the FIFA and the International Handball Federation (IHF) and participating teams. The draw for Men's Handball event, which will bring together 12 teams, placed Qatar in Group B alongside Croatia, Hungary, Spain, Uruguay and Tunisia, while Group A included Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Oman, USA and Australia. For the Women's event, which will bring together 12 teams, the draw placed Brazil, Denmark, Hungary, Argentina, USA and Tunisia Group A, while Group B was Greece, Spain, Poland, China, Australia and Vietnam. In Men's football event in which 16 teams will participate, the participating teams were divided into four groups. Group A (Brazil, Switzerland, UAE and Morocco), Group B (Italy, Spain, Mexico and Solomon Islands), Group C (Iran, Paraguay, Senegal and Ukraine), and Group D (Russia, Japan, Uruguay and El Salvador). In the women's football competition in which eight teams will participate, Group A included Spain, Brazil, Cape Verde and Mexico, while Group B was Britain, Russia, USA and Paraguay. Speaking ahead of the draw, HE QOC Secretary General Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain welcomed all guests to Doha on this occasion of holding the draw of handball and football events at the ANOC World Beach Games, Qatar 2019, while thanking the ANOC for the confidence in choosing Qatar to host this edition of the games. He added that the draw of handball and football competitions is a distinctive step to start the actual steps to host this tournament after several joint meetings between the QOC and the ANOC during the last period. HE QOC Secretary General hoped that the first edition of the ANOC World Beach Games, Qatar 2019, would be a success. In her speech, ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg expressed her happiness at visiting Qatar again after very successful and intensive meetings in Doha in July. She thanked the State of Qatar and the QOC for hosting this special event. After great preparations, 46 days remain until the start of the tournament, she added, confirming at the same time her confidence in the success of the first edition which will be held in October despite the short period of time. The Secretary General added that the best teams in the world will be in Doha to participate in the ANOC World Beach Games, Qatar 2019, hosted by the QOC, and wished success to all participants and the organizing committee of the tournament. For his part, Assistant General Manager for Operations for Qatar 2019 ANOC World Beach Games Khaleel Ibrahim Al Jaber expressed his great confidence in the ability of Qatar to organize the games in a great manner, especially as Qatar has the experience and cadres ready to host any sporting event. He added that all the Qatari teams, whether in team or individual games, have been preparing well for the tournament for some time by participating in major tournaments and holding external camps in order to reach the best degree of readiness for the tournament. Al Jaber said that after the end of the tournament, the event will be followed by the General Assembly of ANOC and the ANOC awards ceremony for the best athletes on October 17-18. Executive Director of the Qatar Handball Association Yousef Al Hail stressed that the beach handball competitions at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar will be strong as the participating teams are currently the best in the world. Al Hail stressed that the Qatari team's chances are good because it had already achieved third place twice in the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, as well as winning in Asian Men's Handball Championship five times, pointing out that the absence of some players will not be an obstacle to the team, which includes great members and able to achieve the desired results in this big tournament. (END)