Gulf Times

12 Wednesday, June 23, 2021

QATAR

Aspire Academy celebrates

largest ever batch of graduates

Officials with a student-athlete. The graduating class.

A
spire Academy recently
celebrated its 14th gradu-
ation with a record 52
student-athletes capped at a
ceremony to mark the end of the
2020-21 academic year.
In keeping with the current
application of precautionary
measures against the spread of
Covid-19, the limited-attend-
ance graduation ceremony was
held in the Aspire Auditorium
with Aspire Academy director
of Education and Student Care
Badr al-Hay and school princi-
pal Jassem al-Jaber officiating
and presenting certificates to the
graduating student-athletes.
In his address, Aspire Acad-
emy deputy director-general
Ali Salem Afifa commended the
resilience, dedication and men-
tal strength of the graduating
student-athletes for overcoming
challenges, including the pan-
demic.
“Most congratulations to you
for celebrating today an amaz-
ing moment in your lives: gradu-
ating from Aspire Academy as
the 14th batch, the largest batch
ever so far in the history of our
Academy. You have reached this
important day in your long jour-
ney while courageously facing
an unexpected global health cri-
sis - the coronavirus pandemic
for the second academic year
on end. I sincerely hope you and
your families are staying safe and
in good health. On behalf of all of
us at Aspire Academy, I would
like to say that we are proud of
you and your determination and
perseverance to overcome and
challenge the difficult moments
dictated by this pandemic,” said
Afifa.
The 14th graduation batch
comprised student-athletes
across seven sporting disci-
plines: athletics (14), fencing (2),
football (26) as well as referees
(4), gymnastics (1), squash (1),
table tennis (1) and shooting (3).
It is the highest number of
student-athletes to graduate
since the first batch in 2008,
Aspire Academy said in a state-
ment.
Al-Hay told the graduates
they have to forget all the hard-
ships that may have passed
through and celebrate the joy of
the ceremony on such a day. “We
are tremendously proud to see
you embark on the next chap-
ter in your lives, and know that
the qualities of true champions
that you learnt during your time
with us will serve you well and
we look forward to you joining
the ever-growing list of some
of Qatar’s top and fast rising
sportsmen and Aspire Academy
graduates, such as Mutaz Essa
Barshim, Ashraf El-Seify, Ab-
dulla al-Tamimi, Abdelkarim
Hassan, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali
Abdalla and Abubaker Haydar
Abdalla, Owaab Barrow, Bassem
Hemeida, Ali Turki and Moham-
ed Adbulwahab, to mention but
a few.
Badr al-Hay
“We faced some challenges
along the way, so we struggled
and came out stronger than be-
fore.... We have all reached a
common goal - to encourage
and develop ongoing learning in
young people - and now we see
the fruitful results of this whole
year in front of our eyes.”
Among this year’s graduates is
Al Sadd FC and Qatar U-23 Ol-
ympic team upcoming goalkeep-
er Youssef Abdullah Balideh.
Speaking about Aspire Acad-
emy, graduating student-ath-
lete Balideh said: “I wouldn’t
have been the athlete I am
today if it weren’t for Aspire
Academy, and for that I’m eter-
nally grateful. The Academy
plays an important role in the
development of youth talents
in Qatar who aspire to be the
best in their chosen field.”
Haitham Oussama Abbassi,
another student-athlete who
graduated, is a youthful football
referee whose career is rising
fast. Abbasi is one of the refe-
rees who were developed during
his time at Aspire by the Qatar
Football Association refereeing
department and was assigned
to officiate a range of matches
from U-13 right through to
the second-division Qatargas
League. He was trained in video
technology (VAR) and assigned
to officiate matches as a VAR
operator.
Speaking after the graduation
ceremony, Abbassi said: “There
are not enough words that one
can use to describe the value and
importance of Aspire Academy
to the youth of this country, Qa-
Ali Salem Afifa
tar, who want to develop a sport-
ing career. Those of us privileged
to have joined and study at As-
pire will testify to how this great
institution builds and prepares
you for a disciplined and focused
outlook to life. I am grateful
for the way Aspire contributed
to building my character and I
learned how to be committed to
my tasks, respect time and the
importance of being disciplined
in my work. These attributes will
serve me well in my Refereeing
career and in life in general and
for that l am thankful to Aspire
Academy.”
Talal Yasser al-Ali represent-
ed Qatar in the Arab Shooting
Championship and Asian Shoot-
ing Championship while he was
still a student-athlete at Aspire.
In his graduating remarks, the
gifted shooter spoke about the
great memories and lessons he
will take with him from Aspire,
saying: “While studying at As-
pire, l had my confidence boost-
ed and discipline instilled in me.
I can train hard, be persistent but
patient with myself when l work
towards my goals. I will always
treasure the lessons and values
Aspire taught me.”
Another graduate, Faisal Ab-
dulla al-Sowaidi, reflected on
how it was at Aspire Academy
that he started and learnt about
the sport of fencing. “As I gradu-
ate, l am happy but sad at the
same time because Aspire Acad-
emy is home that means so much
to me and l will miss this great
institution. I will enrol at uni-
versity for further studies and
continue with my fencing career
at the same time, l want to do the
best I can and go as far as l can
in fencing and the coaching and
knowledge Aspire invested in me
will assist me in the pursuit of
my goals.”
Speaking on behalf of the
graduating class of the 14th
batch, student athlete Youssef
al-Ishaq said: “We passed
through many challenging situ-
ations because of the Covid-19
pandemic, but thanks be to God
and with the unlimited help and
support of our Academy man-
agement, we succeed in getting
through in the right way. I would
like to thank all teachers, coach-
es and staff for their support and
help they provide to us during
our long stay at the academy.
We promise them all that we will
be the best ambassadors of the
academy and to be their source
of pride.”
The graduation “marks yet
another milestone for Aspire
Academy an institution that is
now recognised as the world’s
leading sports academies in the
development of young athletes,
which it has achieved through
a comprehensive curriculum
focused on both academic and
athletic achievement. Several
of the young Academy leav-
ers are now set to pursue their
sporting careers and further
studies at prestigious universi-
ties around the world over the
next few years”, the statement
added.

CMU-Q students win Qatar national England top group, Croatia

through to the last 16
Arabic debate championship Agencies and Grealish let fly.
London England broke the deadlock in

A
team of students from Carnegie a scientific perspective. At CMU-Q, we the 12th minute, when Grealish,
Mellon University in Qatar (CMU- learn to solve a problem, then question on the left side of the penalty area,

Q), a Qatar Foundation partner
university, took the national champion-
ship title at the 2021 Arabic university
debate tournament.
Rahaf Abutarbush, Ammar Karkour
and Abdullah Shaar swept the first three
rounds of the tournament to earn a place
in the grand finale against a team from
Doha Institute. CMU-Q won the final
round in a debate on the topic of social
media and free speech. All three team
members placed in the top 10 list of
speakers.
The team members all study in sci-
entific fields, which is uncommon in
university-level debate. Abutarbush is
studying information systems, Karkour
is a computer science major, and Shaar is
pursuing dual degrees in biological sci-
ences and computer science.
Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, con-
gratulated the students on their ac-
complishments: “Rahaf, Ammar and
Abdullah are exceptional ambassadors
for CMU-Q on the national and inter-
national debate stage. They have shown
tremendous initiative pursuing Arabic-
language debate, and they are an inspi-
ration to other students who want to ex-
plore language, culture and thought.”
While CMU-Q has been active in
that solution so we can make it stronger.”
The three students attended high
schools in Qatar where they studied in
Arabic. “We are all Arabs, and we want to
cultivate our language skills, even though
we currently study in English. Our team
has embraced Arabic debating, and we
think other students would enjoy the op-
portunity to hone their Arabic skills this
way.”
As all three team members enter their
final year of studies, they hope to inspire
younger students to take up Arabic de-
bate. Abutarbush said: “We were the first
team in Qatar to represent an English-
speaking university in an Arabic debate.
Now we see the other QF partner univer-
sities fielding teams, and this year CMU-
Q had a second team competing. As we
approach our graduation, we want to see
more students get involved and continue
Rahaf Abutarbush, Ammar Karkour and Abdullah Shaar. the CMU-Q legacy of excellence in Ara-
bic-language debate.”
English-language debate for many years, Later that year, they placed third at the CMU-Q offers undergraduate pro-
Abutarbush, Karkour and Shaar are the Asian Arabic Language Debating Cham- grammes in biological sciences, business
first Arabic-language debate team from pionship in Malaysia. About 50 teams administration, computer science and
an Education City partner university. In from across Asia participated in the tour- information systems. Although the lan-
early 2019, they competed at the fifth In- nament. guage of instruction at CMU-Q is Eng-
ternational Universities Debating Cham- Karkour believes that having a scien- lish, Arabic-speaking students can take
pionship, hosted by QatarDebate, placing tific background gives the team an ad- courses - or pursue a minor - in Arabic
ninth in a field of 107 teams. vantage: “We approach problems from Studies.
E
ngland found an attack-
ing spark to beat the Czech
Republic 1-0 at Wembley
yesterday and clinch top spot in
Group D at Euro 2020.
Raheem Sterling, who kept
his place alongside Harry Kane
in a rejigged attack, settled fans’
nerves with an early headed goal,
which ultimately proved decisive.
Both teams had already quali-
fied for the last 16, but top spot
in the group was on the line, and
with it the dubious privilege of
a potential clash against world
champions France, holders Por-
tugal or Germany.
The home side started brightly
in the evening sunshine and Ster-
ling went agonisingly close in just
the second minute but could only
watch as his deft chip over the
goalkeeper come back off the post
after he collected a raking pass
from Luke Shaw.
As chants of “Football’s Com-
ing Home” rang around the
stadium, captain Harry Kane —
heavily criticised for his tooth-
less performances in the tourna-
ment so far — shot from distance
lifted the ball to the back post,
where Sterling headed in for his
second goal of Euro 2020.
There was a further cheer
among the 22,500 fans when it
was flashed up on the stadium
screens that Scotland were losing
1-0 to Croatia in Glasgow.
Grealish and Sako were inven-
tive and direct on either side of
Kane, showing a willingness to
run at their opponents and Kane
went close midway through the
first half, forcing a fine left-hand-
ed save from Tomas Vaclik and
thumping the ground in frustra-
tion
In Glasgow, Luka Modric in-
spired Croatia to a 3-1 win over
Scotland that took the World Cup
runners-up through to the last 16
of Euro 2020.
Nikola Vlasic’s opener was
cancelled out by Callum McGre-
gor for the Scots, but Modric put
Croatia back in front and set up
Ivan Perisic to seal the win.
Croatia go through in second
place in Group D behind England.
The Czechs go through as one of
the best third-placed teams.