Oman has a big chance of winning a medal at the 2028 Olympics and hopes to qualify in more than one class at the 2024 Olympics, said Rashid bin Ibrahim Ahmed al Kindi, Oman Sail’s Acting Director of Sailing.
Al Kindi revealed the long term prospects of Oman’s sailing fortunes on the opening day of International Optimist Dinghy Association’s (IODA) Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship.
“An Olympic medal is possible. For the 2024 Olympics, the big goal will be to qualify in more than one class and at the 2028 Olympics we have a big chance to win a medal. Also, don’t forget the 2022 Youth Olympics, many things can happen there. Our young sailors will start winning age-group events along the way,’’ he added.
Al Kindi was happy with the sailing talent that is emerging out of Oman and felt the future is indeed bright.
“Last year at the Asian Games in Jakarta, we equalled the points with India, as they won bronze and we finished fourth. It was Musab al Hadi and Waleed al Kindi in the 49er class,’’ he explained.
Talking about the ongoing event, Al Kindi felt it would be a great exposure for the young Omani sailing talent.
“This is the first time Oman will be hosting the IODA Optimist Asian Oceanian Championship. It is an opportunity for our kids to compete against the champions. This is an opportunity for our sailors to take up the challenge in a tough draw.’’
Al Kindi also felt the Omani contingent at the event have their share of chances.
“Well, we have 16 Omani sailors in the fray. We have 12 boys and four girls participating in the event. We have our chances in two events. One is the fleet event which will be individual races and team racing. Four Omani sailors will compete in team racing and we have chances there,’’ he added.
With 147 sailors from 21 countries competing at the prestigious event, Al Kindi explained it would be an open field and everyone has a shot at winning medals. “The event is open for everyone who is here. They are all here to perform well and get good opportunities. Our team has been preparing well in the last four-five years. With the 2022 Youth Olympics and 2024 Summer Olympics in mind, our young sailors have been preparing well, so we are optimistic,’’ he added.
Al Kindi said some of the sailors competing here are in contention for blue-riband events in the future.
“Some of the Omani sailors here are in contention for the 2022 Youth Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics. Some of the older sailors have performed well at the Asian level like Abdulmalik (Hinai) and Moatasim won silver medal last March on a different boat,’’ he said.
With regard to the training and coaching programme of the young sailors, Al Kindi said they used the summer holidays constructively.
“We use the maximum opportunity during the school holidays. We got three months of summer holidays. It is at that time when we have training. This year we took part in the European Optimist championship, similar like this one. We also took part in the World Optimist Championship in Antigua. One of our sailors came in the 54th place out of 265 participants. Last year we had some Asian level places as well,’’ he added.
Al Kindi also expressed his satisfaction at the involvement of a great number of Omani officials in the conduct of the event.
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