Dubai: A strong delegation of shooters and track and field athletes are hopeful of the UAE returning with a rich medal haul from the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this month.
The fourth edition of the Games, that has attracted participation from all 56 member nations, is scheduled to be held in the Azerbaijan capital from May 12-22.
Though the Kuwait Olympic Committee has been suspended, athletes from the Gulf nation will be allowed to participate under the banner of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF).
The opening ceremony will be held at the Baku National Stadium on May 12.
The shooting squad consists of Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Mohammad Hussain Ali Ahmad, Saif Bin Futais, Abdullah Al Falasi, Hamad Al Kindi, Dhaher Al Aryani, Ahmad Al Hafiti and Latifa Yaqoub Al Mazmi.
A total of nearly 4,000 athletes from 56 nations will participate in 24 disciplines from 20 sports, including some sports for the disabled in this edition of the ISG.
Besides shooting, the UAE is sending a total of 78 athletes representing teams for the track and field, weightlifting, judo, taekwondo, karate and table and a team of special needs athletes.
The Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG) is a multi-national, multi-sport event with previous editions held in Saudi Arabia (2005) and Indonesia (2013).
The second event, originally scheduled to be held in Iran in 2009, was re-scheduled and then cancelled without being held.
The UAE delegation is being headed by Dawood Al Hajri, Acting Secretary General of UAE NOC along with Abdul Malik Jani, Director, National Olympic Academy and Ahmad Al Tayeb, Director of Technical and Sports Affairs.
“Our shooters will be our strength as we have traditionally been successful in this sport,” Abdul Jani told media.
“Our track and field athletes also have the capacity of winning medals,” he added.
Ahmad Al Kamali, President, UAE Athletics Federation (UAE AF) and IAAF Council Member said that the UAE athletics team is capable of returning with at one medal. “If they don’t come home with one medal, I would be a disappointed man,” Al Kamali said.
“But if they do bring home two or more medals, that means we have made a lot of progress with our pre-season training programme,” he added.
