Oman all set for Beach Handball World Championships

Deu Oman Daily Observer Wed, 18 April 2012

Al Hinai unveils tournament logo, draw scheduled for May 5 — By A Seshagiri Rao — MUSCAT — The Oman Handball Association (OHA) yesterday unveiled the logo of the Beach Handball World Championships while the Sultanate declared the readiness to successfully host the first ever world championship in the country.

During a simple ceremony organised at the City Seasons Hotel, Organising Committee Chairman, Rashad al Hinai, who is also the Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, officially unveiled the logo after briefing the local media about the preparations in place for the championship.

The Beach Handball World Championships, to be hosted at Al Musannah Sports City from June 8 to 14, will see participation of the top men’s and women’s teams from across the world. Al Hinai said: “The preparations are in full swing and everything is progressing as we planned. “We have formed five committees and each committee is entrusted with special tasks like medical, accommodation, security and public relations that will help in smooth running of the championships.”

“We are involving people from the handball association and the Ministry of Sports Affairs besides other organisations like ROP. We are in constant touch

with these organisations and co-ordinating with all the committees as we get ready for the championships,” he added. He also informed that all the teams will be staying in Musannah during the event.

“The accommodation for all the 24 teams (12 men and 12 women) will be provided at Al Musannah Sports City,” he said. Speaking about the draw ceremony, he said: “The championships draw will take place on May 5. It’s going to be a big day for us. There will be representatives from the participating teams and we are also expecting the top officials of the International Handball Federation, including chairman Dr Hassan Moustafa to arrive for the ceremony.”

NATIONAL TEAM FOR EURO EVENTS

Meanwhile, OHA Chairman Said al Busaidi, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Organising Committee, expressed confidence in hosting the championships successfully.

Speaking about the Oman national team, he said: “Our national team are currently camping in Turkey and they will return home on April 24, after which we are planning to host a tournament involving four or five teams.”

“We are also planning to send our team to Hungary and Switzerland where they will also be playing two tournaments," he informed.

“After they will travel to Thailand to defend the title at the annual international tournament hosted by Thailand.”

The national team are scheduled to take part in the third Asian Beach Games to be organised in Chinese city of Haiyang from June 16 to 23.

“After the Asian Beach Games, the team will be training in a country which more hotter than Oman to prepare them for the hot weather we will experience during the championships. During the championships the matches will be played from 6.00 pm to 12 midnight. Most probably they will be training in Qatar and Kuwait,” he said. “We will also host a four-day test event prior to the championships,” he added.