DOHA, 13 December 2006 — “Qatar has plenty of talented athletes. You just have to give them a chance, instead of focusing on foreign players,” says Talal Mansour, the three-time Asian sprint king, who successfully completed his job as the competition manager of the Asian Games kabaddi section — a game the host nation watched with anticipation.
Talking to Arab News, Talal took strong exceptions the way things are going in his nation’s athletic arena.
He cites the case of Said Saaeed Shaheen, the Kenyan-born world record holder in the 3,000m steeplechase, who withdrew from the games with an Achilles’ tendon.
Shaheen’s exit dampened Qatar’s medal hopes in athletics as he was also hopeful of winning a gold in the 5,000 meters.
“I have said it two months ago that Shaheen could be out of the Asian Games. But nobody took my words seriously,” says Talal, who in 1986 Seoul Asian Games wrote a new chapter in the region’s athletics history by becoming the fastest man in Asia. It was Qatar’s first gold medal and for Talal, his best effort, with a time of 10:30 seconds.
“Athletes need to acquire the spirit that places the common good above their personal interests. They should think out of themselves. Shaheen failed to do that. He didn’t take rest, instead ran for more Grand Prix and other competitions. Asian Games is more important than any Grand Prix,” says Talal, who was honored by his nation to hand over the Asian Games Flame to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani during the grand opening ceremony. Qatar is still looking for a successor to Talal Mansour even a decade after he bowed out from the international athletics. Recalling the days when he, Mohammad Sulaiman and Ibrahim Ismail raised the country’s flag high, Talal says there is a lot to be done to improve the country’s fortune in sports.
Ten-time gold medal winner in international athletics, feels that the country should finish at least at the sixth place in the medal tally, to do justice to the potential it has. Qatar’s best showing in the Asian Games was the eighth place it secured, including four gold medals held in Hiroshima in 1994. Ironically, it was Talal’s swansong too. After the exit of its champion, Qatar’s ranking slipped to 17th in the 2002 Busan Games although it managed to retain its gold tally.
The lanky Talal was the center of attraction at the kabaddi court at the Aspire indoor complex. He hopes that there will be a Qatari squad to represent the country in the next Asian Games. “We are slowly learning the know-how. I am sure we will have a kabbadi team soon,” he says.
How will it be possible without the support of a federation undertaking the task of setting up the building blocks? Talal, who had visited India and Sri Lanka to learn the techniques of the game, has only one answer: “Wait and see.”
