Sport | Other Sports
Morocco eye maiden medal
Morocco are hoping to break their Olympic medal drought after launching an extensive training programme held in Dubai.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:04 July 10, 2008
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
- Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (top row, fourth from left), with the Morocco National taekwondo team at the Zabeel Club in Dubai.
Dubai: Morocco are hoping to break their Olympic medal drought after launching an extensive training programme held in Dubai.
"We are confident of bringing home at least one medal from Beijing," Hassan Esmaili, Morocco's chief taekwondo coach told Gulf News.
The Moroccan national squad have been training in Dubai on the personal invitation of Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Since April, the squad have trained on two occasions to prepare for the Arab Taekwondo Championships in Bahrain last month and the Beijing Olympic Games next month.
"We are so proud to be here and the facilities here are amazing," Esmaili said.
The Moroccan taekwondo team made a clean sweep at the Arab Championships Cup held in Bahrain last month.
They later presented the Cup to Shaikha Maitha in appreciation of her support to the national team.
Rich haul
The Moroccan women's team secured the top honours among the ten participating countries winning four gold, one silver and two bronze.
Ghizlan Toudali who competed in the 51kgs weight category was judged the best player in Bahrain as Morocco collected 55 points to rank third best overall.
The team were scheduled to hold training camps in Tunisia, Korea and France during their build-up to the Olympics.
But these were shelved after Shaikha Maitha's invitation.
Representing Morocco in Beijing will be Ghizlan Toudali in the under 49kgs category, while Mona Bin Abd Al Rasool will participate in the under 67kgs category - the same as Shaikha Maitha. Abdul Kader Zaroori will take part in the over 80kgs category for men.
"Given the talent these players have shown in the past, I won't be mistaken if we do win our first ever Olympic medal for Morocco," the coach said.
Zaroor won a silver at the World Taekwondo Championships in Spain (2005) and followed this with a bronze at the World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing last year.
"The competition is going to be tough at the Olympics, but we feel confident we will realise the dream for Morocco," Esmaili said.
The Moroccan team will continue training in Dubai till later this week. Their next stop will be a camp in Tunisia before leaving for Korea for one final training stop and their departure to China for the Olympics.
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