Qatari athletes arrive in Rio for the Olympic Games

The Qatar handball team, shooter Rashed Saleh, his coach Rashid Al Kuwari and members of other disciplines arrived in Rio on Sunday to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The mission also included Qatar Handball Association president Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi and team manager Yusuf Mohamed, the players and other members of the coaching staff.

Upon arrival, Al Shaabi said, "We aim to win the first match against Croatia. That’ll determine our journey in the competition as we aspire to do our best to reach the top. We wish the best for our team."

Faris Ibrahim arrived in #Rio to join #Team_Qatar in the #Olympic_Games @Rio2016_en #YallaQatar pic.twitter.com/6qEcxdUkma

— Qatar Olympic Team (@qatar_olympic) August 3, 2016

He added that he was satisfied with what the Anabis did during the preparations where they took on several strong teams and managed to win against a number of favourites. He hoped the team would do its best at the quadrennial Games.

Femi Ogunode arrived in #Rio to participate in the #Olympic_Games#YallaQatar pic.twitter.com/nTWliarSao

— Qatar Olympic Team (@qatar_olympic) August 2, 2016

Qatar has been placed in strong group at the Rio Games which includes France (world champions), Croatia, Denmark, Tunisia and Argentina.

The other group includes Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Slovenia and Egypt.

Qatar will face Croatia on August 7 and will play the second match against France on August 9. The third match against Tunisia is scheduled for August 11 while Qatar will meet Denmark on August 13. Qatar will play their last match against the Argentinians on August 15.

The Qatar handball team trained at a preparatory camp where they played several friendly matches with the national teams of Portugal, Poland, Iran and Norway.

Rashed Saleh and national coach Ahmed Rashid Al Kuwari joined the Qatar shooting team participating at the Olympics. Ace shooter Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and the coaching staff for the team had arrived in Rio last week.

Speaking on arrival in Rio, Rashed Saleh said, "I finished a training camp in Italy and I aspire to achieve positive results in what’s an opportunity to represent my country in the biggest sports event in the world."

Also arriving in Rio were Qatar athletes of other disciplines. Members of track and field events and table tennis and were greeted by sports missions. They included the Qatari delegation head Mohammed Issa Fadala and its members.

On Tuesday, the Qatar national flag will be raised at a ceremony at the Olympic Village at 5pm local time.

The Qatar contingent of 38 athletes is it’s biggest ever since their participation in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

Courtesy: Qatar-tribune.com