Team Qatar win Inaugural Winter Camp Basketball Tournament with stunning performance at Sea Line Beach

DOHA, January 27, 2018-Sealine Beach, Qatar: The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Team Qatar Winter Camp has seen an action-packed afternoon as the finale of the first-ever 3x3 basketball tournament concluded with Team Qatar announced as the winners. The hugely successful tournament saw eight teams compete across three weeks in the huge beach-front sports zone on Sealine Beach.

Qatar beat Lebanon in a close-fought final that finished 13-11 taking home 10 thousand Qatari Riyals. The camp welcomed the different participating expat communities where they showed great support to their teams. The president of Qatar's national basketball federation Mr. Ahmed Al Muftah was also present amongst the crowds to present the prizes to the winners.

The tournament featured many of Doha's expat communities, including teams from Egypt, Jordan, Philippines (1) and Indonesia in Group A while Group B included teams from Qatar, Philippines (2), Lebanon and India.

The President of the Qatar Basketball Federation, Ahmed Al Muftah, emphasised the importance of organising such tournaments at the Winter Camp saying:

“Organising the 3x3 basketball tournament contributed greatly to the spreading of this game among the different communities in Qatar, and I would like to thank the President of the QOC H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and H.E. Jassim Al Buenain, Secretary General of the QOC, for their great contribution in the development of all sports, especially basketball, and for giving us the opportunity to participate in organising the various activities at our Winter Camp. Congratulations to the winners!".

Sponsored by Seashore Group and Kahramaa, and in partnership with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, the Team Qatar Winter Camp has successfully completed two of its tournaments. For the very first time, the QOC in collaboration with its National Federations has organised competitive tournaments for the community to participate in at its Winter Camp to provide further opportunities for sports participation and encourage fun and competitive activities.

Qatar's basketball star Yasseen Ismail, who was the Director of the 3x3 Winter Camp basketball tournament, said: “I've had an amazing three weeks passing on my knowledge and expertise to the participating teams. It makes me happy to see how much passion there is for basketball in Qatar and how sport is bringing so many different communities together. The atmosphere, excitement and passion on display shows that people are taking to sport and basketball in Qatar like never. It is now the job of the QOC and us all to continue providing the platforms to get involved. Bring on next year!"

Mohammed Al Mesnad, Team Qatar Winter Camp manager and Sports Affairs representative at the QOC pleased for the great success that the activities of the Team Qatar Winter Camp witnessed, coinciding with the launch of the new brand of the QOC, saying:

“On behalf of the Qatar Olympic Committee, I would like to thank the participating federations for their exceptional support in organising the Winter Camp tournaments. We are keen to introduce new events in line with the new brand of the QOC. These events include the 3x3 Basketball and the Rugby Tournaments, which were held at the camp for the very first time. The coming weeks will feature Volleyball Tournament in February and Football Tournament in March. I would like to thank everyone who cooperated with us including the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Kahramaa (Tarsheed), productive families, Seashore Group (Sponsor of the maintenance work at the camp), Al-Meera which is the Support Sponsor, and Hot Shot for Electronic Games. The coming weeks will also feature the participation of the Traffic Department, Community Police and the Impact Wing. I would also like to thank the Al Gharrafa Club who helped us decorate the camp's ground".

The Touch Rugby tournament is another sporting competition that also kicked off three weeks ago with the participation of 14 female and male teams formed by the expat communities. The Touch Rugby tournament also concluded this Friday with Doha Rugby Club beating the Hurricanes from the men's team, taking home 7000 Qatari Riyals. Doha Rugby Club beat Sand Storm team from the women teams, taking home 3000 Qatari Riyals.

The Winter Camp contains a multitude of activities including beach volleyball, football and basketball areas, a laser field, a kids' zone with inflatable slides, swings and games as well as pony rides. There is also an arcade dome with table tennis, billiards, video games and a food and beverage area for guests to re-energise and relax.

The Winter Camp is open every Friday from 1pm-8pm and can be found by entering 'Qatar Olympic Committee Winter Camp' into Google Maps. It is free for everyone to enter and you can keep up to date with all information on the Team Qatar social media pages.