The Qatari chess team won the gold medal yesterday in the under-10 category, as part of the Arab Championship for age groups from 8-20 years old, which concluded yesterday in the Tunisian city of Sousse.
The Qatari team player Khaled al-Jumaat won first place in the championship, obtaining 8 and a half points in the nine rounds he played.
An Egyptian player won the silver medal, while the bronze went to the Emirati player Khamis Issa Saqr.
In the under-14 category, Lian al-Qassabi won the bronze medal after collecting 5.5 points.
The Algerian Iman Zabarqa won the gold medal, while the silver went to the Egyptian Zakaa Ahmed.
The Qatari team that participated in the Arab Championship included: Turki al-Kuwari, 18 years old; Rawda al-Qasabi and Fatima al-Hammadi, 16 years old; Ibrahim al-Janahi, Hamad al-Kuwari and Layan al Qasabi, 14 years old; Amer al-Hammadi, 12 years old; Khaled al-Jumaat and Asma al-Hammadi, 10 years old; and Abdul Aziz al-Mahasneh, 8 years old.
Mohammed al-Mudhahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association (QCA) and Vice-President of the Arab Chess Federation, expressed his great happiness with the team’s results in the Arab Championship, praising the distinguished levels shown by all players.
Al-Mudhahka stressed the importance of participating in this type of championship in order for the players to gain international experience and competitive skills through interaction with about 255 players from participating Arab countries. The president QCA indicated that the past local championships were a good opportunity to raise the level of readiness of the players before moving to the Tunisian city of Sousse to participate in the championship and compete to achieve positive results.
For his part, Hamad al-Tamimi, Executive Director of QCA, thanked the players for the effort they made during the past period to appear in a decent manner during the Arab Championship competitions.
