DOHA : Aspire Academy hosted a six-day international fencing training camp featuring 66 fencers from six countries, as Qatari athletes stepped up preparations for the upcoming season and the Asian Games in Japan.
Fencers from the Netherlands, Greece, Argentina, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia joined Qatari competitors, Aspire Academy students and graduates for the camp, which included 12 sessions totalling 36 hours under the guidance of 16 coaches from Aspire Academy and abroad.
Among the participants were Saudi epee fencer Khalifah Al Omairi, a bronze medallist at the recent World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong, and Dutch Olympian Tristan Tulen, who won the Doha Grand Prix in January.
Aspire Academy Senior Epee Coach Hugo Dergal said the camp had received positive feedback from visiting athletes and coaches and provided valuable experience for the academy’s young fencers.
“We hope to build on this camp, expand it and invite more fencers, not only from the Middle East but from around the globe,” Dergal said.
Tulen praised Aspire’s facilities and the professionalism of its young fencers, saying they had the potential to reach international level.
Among the Qatari participants was Ali Turki Owaida, who last season became the first Qatari fencer to reach the last 64 at the World Championships.
Owaida will represent Qatar at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, which begin on Sept. 19. He said continued development remained the priority despite his breakthrough result.
“I think it’s easy to see one result and feel happy and satisfied, but our goals have always been to develop and improve,” Owaida said.
He will join five other Aspire Academy graduates and two current students at a training camp in Japan from Sept. 13, ahead of the fencing competition at the Asian Games.
