Dubai: Despite the Kuwaiti water polo team having to withdraw from next week’s 9th Asian Swimming Championships following a car accident in Greece last week, in which several of the team members were injured, organisers are hopeful of tiding over the unfortunate incident and successfully hosting the aquatic extravaganza at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex from November 15-25.
Ahmad Al Sharif, the Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council and Chairman of the Organizing Committee said: “It is a great pity that the Kuwaiti water polo team will be unable to compete in Dubai, particularly as they were part of the International Water Polo and Synchronized Swimming Championships here last month. We wish them all a speedy recovery.”
With final preparations in full swing, the Organizing Committee has confirmed that everything is in place to host all four sports under one roof for the first time.
The official draw for the water polo competition will take place on Thursday. The competition will see six women’s teams and eight men’s teams battling it out for continental honors.
The women’s teams taking part are: China, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Uzbekistan and the men’s teams are: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
The Organizing Committee of the Championships met to finalize preparations in a meeting chaired by Al Sharif and attended by Ahmad Al Falasi, President of UAE Swimming Federation and Deputy Chairma of the Organizing Committee; Abdullah Shahdad, Championships Director, and members of the OC.
Al Sharif added: “As an Organizing Committee we are keen to organize an event befitting the distinguished position of Dubai, which has become one of the most in-demand sports destinations for international events.
“Dubai deservedly won the award for Best Sports City in the Middle East and Africa at the SportBusiness Group’s Ultimate Sports Cities Awards 2012, and that should be reflected in staging such big events like these Championships. That has certainly been the case at the great aquatics events we have hosted over the last two years.”
President of UAE Swimming Federation, Al Falasi, said: “We are proud to have such a state of the art venue such as the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex and look forward to welcoming athletes and spectators from all over Asia to be part of a wonderful and historic occasion when Dubai hosts the 9th Asian Swimming Championships with all four disciplines contested in one venue.”
Championship Director Shahdad, added: “The venue is now ready to welcome the continent’s finest athletes. The International Water Polo and Synchronized Swimming Championships, hosted at the venue last month, provided great preparation and were a resounding success, acknowledged by the Asian Swimming Federation. The countdown is now truly on for the start of these Championships, which begin next week.”
Speaking about the Kuwaiti team, Al Sharif added:
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Tickets to the 9th Asian Swimming Championships will be available at the entrance to the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex on the Dubai Bypass Road. Regular day tickets are Dh20 while season tickets (which allow entry for all 11 days) are Dh80. Regular VIP tickets are Dh40 and season VIP tickets are Dh160.
The swimming and synchronized swimming competitions will kick off the Championships, running from 15-18 November. Next on the program is the water polo, running from 19-25 November and the diving from 22-25 November.
