Rio de Janeiro – The Qatar handball team, shooter Rashed Saleh and his coach Rashid al Kuwari and members of other disciplines arrived in Rio on Sunday to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The mission also included Ahmed Mohammed al Shaabi, President of the Qatar Handball Federation and team manager Yusuf Mohamed, the players and other members of the coaching staff.
Upon arrival, Ahmed Mohammed said,“We aim to win in the first match against the Croatian team. That will determine our journey in the competition as we aspire to do our best to reach the top. We wish the best for our team.”
He added that he was satisfied with what the Anabis did during the preparations where they took on several strong teams and managed to win against a number of favourites. The achievement of the team at the world championship was also well-deserved. He hoped the team woul do its best best at the Olympic Games.
Qatar has been placed in strong group at the Rio Games which includes France (world champions), Croatia, Denmark, Tunisia and Argentina.
The other group includes Brazil, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Slovenia and Egypt.
Qatar will face Croatia first up on August 7 and will play the second match against France on August 9. The third match against Tunisia is scheduled for August 11 while Qatar will meet Denmark on August 13. It concludes Anabi group matches against Argentina on 15 of the same month.
The Qatar handball team trained at a preparatory camp where they played several friendly matches with the national teams of Portugal, Poland, Iran and Norway.
Team manager Yusuf Mohamed said that despite being in a difficult group, the Qatar team would be well up to the task.
