In glorious hot sunshine today, Qatar put out the welcome mat for Waterskiers, Wakeboard Riders and the team of the International Waterski Federation World Cup as they arrived in Doha to prepare for the major weekend events ahead. The atmosphere is electric as the huge construction projects throughout the City all aim for completion before the December Asian Games. These Games will rival the Olympics for scale. The world’s largest Sports Dome, within view of the IWSF World Cup competition venue, is a truly  impressive sight.

 

Doha’s exclusive Diplomatic Club hosted the IWSF Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup Press Conference on Tuesday evening. Qatar TV and the Press covered the details. Kuno Ritschard, IWSF President  and Des Burke-Kennedy, IWSF Media & Marketing Chairman, outlined the IWSF Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup programme for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Conference highlights were featured on TV an hour later.

 

The impact of the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup is far greater than anticipated by the IWSF when the event was first staged here in 2004. While the World Cup will be in progress at the Corniche promenade on the shores of the Persian Gulf, Qatar Marine Sport Federation, one of the major Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup sponsors, will simultaneously stage the first Arab Waterski Championships of this century at the nearby Diplomatic Club. Athletes from Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are expected to participate. They will also feature the Qatar Open Championships. The World Cup impact since its first arrival here has been a real catalyst for this development.

 

In addition to these developments, Aspire (Academy for Sports Excellence) and the driving force behind the creation of the spectacular Sports Dome in Doha, will stage a special youth programme beside the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup site over the coming days. The latest count is that 160 children will receive expert tuition in both Waterskiing and Wakeboarding. As excellence is the key to all Aspire  programmes, they have invited Patrice Martin and Rodo Vinh-Tung to be the instructors. Martin has twelve World Waterski titles to his credit and Vin-Tung is a legend in the sport of Wakeboarding. The combination of the IWSF Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup, the Arab Waterski Championships, the Qatar Open Championships and the Aspire youth project proves that big oaks from little acorns really do grow !

 

Training for the Shortboard Skiers and Wakeboard Riders starts at 09.00 on the Doha Corniche on Thursday morning. The first Rounds will be featured on Friday with all the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup Finals on Saturday. 

 

 

Web Sites :
IWSF : http://www.iwsf.com/
WORLD CUP : www.iwsftournament.com/wordpress
QMSF : http://www.qmsf.com/
MasterCraft : http://www.mastercraft.com/

 

 

 

 

CONTACT : Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski Federation

For Sponsorship opportunities, contact marketing@iwsf.com

 

International Waterski Federation

Qatar Marine Sports Federation