Doha, October 17 (QNA) - The sixth Qatar Open Taekwondo Championship will kick off Sunday at the Ladies' Sports Hall in Doha, bringing together 1,152 athletes from more than 46 countries through next Wednesday across four age categories: cadets, juniors, youth, and seniors.

Organized by the Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation, the championship is classified as a G-1 event, awarding world-ranking points. It brings together 1,152 athletes- 697 men and 455 women- including more than 20 Olympic and world champions.

The four-day competition spans 76 weight categories across four divisions, with morning and evening sessions and daily medal ceremonies.

The cadet and junior divisions each feature 10 weight categories for boys and 10 for girls, as do the youth divisions for male and female athletes. The senior divisions comprise eight categories each for men and women.

Qatar fields six national-team athletes: Noor Mohammed, Maram Al Fetnasi, Widad Al Dosari, Ali Emam, Mohammed Ashraf, and Mohammed Yassin Bali, alongside 113 athletes from local clubs.

In preparation, the national team held overseas training camps in Spain and Egypt, supplemented by domestic camps, and competed at the Asian Games in Japan.

The Federation also held an international training camp in Doha from Oct. 12-16, featuring teams from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, Yemen, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.

Supervised by Olympic coaches from Egypt, Spain, and Tunisia, the camp aimed to sharpen athletes' technical prowess and physical readiness while providing valuable opportunities for coaching exchanges ahead of the championship.

Speaking at a press conference in Doha, Federation Executive Director Adel Al Marzouqi said all organizational and coaching preparations had been finalized to host the tournament, including preparations for the competition venue and accommodation for delegations.

Al Marzouqi said he was pleased to see the tremendous participation in this edition, which he described as more attractive than the previous edition. He noted that the tournament had earned a good reputation on the global stage by virtue of the strength of its contests and the importance of awarding athletes ranking points that help improve their world rankings.

The success of the previous edition serves as a catalyst for further advancement, he pointed out, while simultaneously posing a challenge for the organizing committee to deliver a phenomenal edition in terms of coaching, organization, and administration.

Al Marzouqi further highlighted that this global participation creates an important opportunity to raise coaching standards and increase international exposure for GCC players and athletes from other Arab countries.

In addition, Al Marzouqi lauded Qatar's broad-based participation, noting its role in advancing the sport and expanding its grassroots base.

He also commended the Federation's successful pre-championship training camp for sharpening participants' technical prowess and physical readiness, expressing hope that the sixth edition would succeed on all fronts and wishing all athletes Godspeed. (QNA)