Qatar Squash star and Aspire Academy Graduate Abdulla al-Tamimi says that he is targeting gold at September’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.The Asian games, which were postponed from last year due to Covid-19 restrictions, is due to start on September 23, with the squash events starting three days later. As well as the Professional Squash Association (PSA) event in France, al-Tamimi will also compete on home soil at the QTerminals Qatar Classic from September 9.The events are the latest after his recovery from hip surgery in March that saw him miss the last few months of the squash season. "All the focus this year is on the Asian games at the end of September,” he said, after competing at a PSA tournament in Canada, which was his first in almost 6 months."My summer training and the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments before that are working towards getting ready and being in the best shape as possible for those Asian Games. After that, I will worry about getting my ranking back as it has dropped from 17 to 29 due to being out of competition for 6 months.”He paid tribute to Aspire Academy for its continued support for him. "Aspire Academy has been helpful all the time... since 2006,” he explained. "I’ve been looked after since the surgery that I had in London, as it was emergency surgery, and I was lucky enough to have my physio from Aspire with me the whole time there. Even after the rehab Aspire have been helpful too as they sent the physio with me to my first camp after surgery which helped me a lot to recover quicker.”The graduate admitted that he has very mixed emotions about the last few months after reaching a career-high 17 on the PSA rankings before injury cut short his season. "Last season is something that I’m really proud of, to be honest,” he insisted."I had a lot of people doubting whether I could succeed after becoming the father to two kids and how hard it is to manage family life and a professional sports career. Last summer’s training was really good, and it paid off as I jumped from 48 in the world to 17 in the first half of the season.”"I had to go for surgery, which was heartbreaking, especially with the way I was playing and competing, but again I always remind myself everything happens for a reason. It could even be a blessing in disguise as I had time out and spent some quality time with the family.”Al-Tamimi urged the current crop of Aspire Academy student-athletes to not give up when confronted with setbacks like injury. "Always keep fighting through hard times, because when you get through them nothing will seem hard anymore and you will find everything is easier,” he urged the student-athletes."Put in the hard work and believe in yourself first and then in all the people in your team trying to help you achieve your goals. The most important thing for me is always to keep humble.”
August 28, 2023 | 11:57 PM