Kuwait City, Kuwait, May 27, 2022: Qatar has set their sights high after winning the gold medal in the men’s volleyball tournament at the 3rd GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Games Kuwait 2022 on Friday, May 27.
An emphatic 3-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates was the icing on the cake for Qatar who finished unbeaten in the six-team round-robin competition to be crowned gold medallists.
With the regional crown under their belt, Qatar is looking at taking on all of Asia beginning with the Asian Championship in Chinese-Taipei in August, and then the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games which has been postponed to next year.
“We are looking for podium finishes at the Asian Games and the Asian Championship. We just missed out at the 2018 Asian Games where we finished fourth,” said Qatar national coach Camilo Soto.
The volleyball gold medal at the Gulf Games had already been decided two days ago when Qatar defeated two-time defending champions Bahrain, 3-0, and Friday’s match was just nothing more than a training run against the bottom-ranked Emirates who finished the tournament without a win to their name.
“We not only won the gold medal at the Gulf Games for the first time, but we did it in emphatic fashion - without losing a set. This was our target to win every match without conceding a set. We wanted to make a statement,” Soto pointed out.
Qatar blew the UAE away like chaff, winning 25-14, 25-14, 25-16 in their final round-robin match to top the point standings.
“This set of players has been together for three years now and they gelled together perfectly. Our systems worked sweetly because they know each other’s game well,” said the 46-year-old Soto.
“We have also got a lot of support both from the Qatar Olympic Committee and the Qatar Volleyball Federation who have sent us for many international competitions,” Soto said.
A former Argentine national player, Soto says the focus now shifts to taking on the best in Asia. In August, a total of 12 teams will compete at the Asian Championship. The teams have been drawn into four pools of three teams – Qatar is in Pool D with Australia and Hong Kong.
The level of competition will rise several notches with teams like Iran, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei – gold, silver and bronze medallists at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang respectively – also participating.
Meanwhile, Bahrain won the silver medal after defeating Kuwait 3-2 in the final match in the competition. Kuwait and Oman finished with the same number of points, but Oman claimed the bronze medal, on a count back of sets won and lost.