The Seashore Doha 4×4 Water Polo Championship concluded today, Saturday, and was organized by the Qatar Water Sports Federation over three days in the Old Port of Doha, with the participation of 12 Qatari, Gulf and Arab teams.
The Sharks team won the overall title and won gold medals, while the Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait settled for second place and silver medals, while the Tunisian Carthage team came in third place and won bronze medals.
In the junior category, the Al-Safliya team was crowned champion, ahead of the Al-Alia team, which came in runner-up, and the Sherawa team took third place. At the level of individual awards, the players of the winning teams made their presence known, as Yaqoub Al-Tamimi, the goalkeeper of the Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait, won the best goalkeeper award in the general category, while his teammate Saud Al-Otaibi was crowned the top scorer of the tournament, while the best player award went to Ahmed Barakat, the Sharks player.
In the junior category, Ahmed Muhammad Al-Bakri won the Best Goalkeeper Award, while Hamad Al-Ali won the Championship Top Scorer Award, while Muhammad Ali Al-Anazi won the Best Player Award.
Mubarak bin Ali Al Nuaimi, President of the Qatar Water Sports Federation, confirmed in a statement that the Seashore Doha Water Polo Championship 4×4 represents part of the Federation’s strategy to develop the game, pointing out that the ambition does not stop at organizing local tournaments, but rather extends to building a Qatari team capable of competing and achieving results in foreign competitions.
Al-Naimi revealed that the federation is working to include 4×4 water polo competitions on the agenda of the Olympic Games, in addition to seeking its presence in the Doha 2030 Asian Games, considering that developing this type of competition can give the game a wider space to spread and reach new segments of players and audiences.
The President of the Qatari Federation said that the tournament represented an opportunity to discover a number of Qatari talents, pointing out that the participation of teams from Qatar and Gulf and Arab countries added artistic value to the competitions and provided important interaction for the players. He explained that the federation is working to equip and prepare a team capable of achieving achievements and medals, stressing that forming a strong national team represents one of the main goals in the next stage, in order to participate in foreign tournaments and compete for advanced positions.
In the same context, Engineer Mohammed Al-Atwan, Head of Operations Sector at Old Doha Port, expressed his happiness at hosting the championship competitions, stressing that the competitions were characterized by strength and competition among the participating teams.
Al-Atwan said that Old Doha Port continues to support Qatari sports by hosting sporting and community events and initiatives, explaining that the water polo tournament represents the third cooperation between the port and the Qatar Water Sports Federation.
For his part, Fahd Saeed Al-Shahrani, Director of the Seashore Doha Water Polo 4×4 Championship, confirmed that the tournament witnessed the participation of 12 teams, with eight teams in the general category and four teams for juniors, praising the public attendance that added a distinctive atmosphere to the competitions.
Al-Shahrani pointed out that the organizing committee paid great attention to the junior category, based on the fact that they represent the future of the game in Qatar, stressing the importance of giving this category continuous opportunities to participate in tournaments and gain technical and physical experience.
For his part, Ali Hassan Al-Muhannadi, International Relations Officer at Seashore Group, stressed that cooperation with the Qatar Water Sports Federation resulted in organizing a successful tournament, praising the level at which the competitions appeared and the public interaction that accompanied them.
Al-Mohannadi explained that the group views supporting sports and youth as part of its responsibility towards society, stressing its aspiration to expand the scope of support for sports tournaments and initiatives targeting Qatari youth.