Dubai: UAE sailing champion Adel Khalid is leaving for Italy today on the final leg of his preparations for next month's Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China.
Khalid, who came in third in the Standard Class at the Beach Games held in Bahrain earlier this month, will join his sail coach Trevor Miller at one of the numerous sailing clubs housed on the famed Lake Garda in Italy for the last leg of training.
"The next 10 days are meant to be a pretty intense time for me as I need to focus all my energies on fine-tuning my tactics as we approach the Asian Games," Khalid told Gulf News.
In Bahrain, Khalid contracted an allergy that laid him low, but in the end he did enough to come in third.
On track
"We had the worst conditions in Bahrain, but the challenge lay in adapting to these conditions and finding the positives so that I could come up with the results and keep my preparations on track," Khalid said.
In addition, the UAE sailor was up against the top two duo from the host nation, who were working in tandem to ensure the title stays at home.
"For me, it was a battle and a challenge at the same time.
"But I made use of the opportunities that came my way and managed a third spot, with which I am quite happy," he added.
Khalid is one of two sailors who are expected to represent the UAE at next month's Guangzhou Asian Games from November 12 to 27.
The other sailor is Hamoud Salem Zeyadi who will participate in the Optimist Class, while Khalid will be sailing in the Radial Class.
Asian medal
"Everything that I have been doing for the past few months has been aimed towards the Asian Games.
"I am focused on what I want to achieve, and now this is the last leg of my preparations and I am willing to give of everything to achieve my dream of bagging a medal at the Asian Games," Khalid said.
After spending 10 days in training in Italy, Khalid will return to Dubai on November 7 before departing for the Asian Games two days later.
The sailing competitions in Guangzhou are scheduled to be held from November 14-21.
"Personally for me this has been a huge challenge as sailing is not so popular among the officials here.
"But I have persisted as I have a dream and I can see myself doing well in this final leg of my training schedule.
"I have put in a lot of hard work so far and this is one final push that I need to give myself to at least give myself a proper chance for a medal in China," Khalid said.
