Qatar’s rising star, Ali Al-Obaidly, won the Arab U-21 Championship 2008 Gold medal. The 16 years old gave his country its first gold medal ever in Arab Championship. This came alongside the team’s first ever Silver Medal in the championship.
Ali started off with wins against Lebanon, Libya and Jordan in the round-robin as he qualified first in his group. He then easily beat Kuwait’s Bader Al-Awadi.
In the semi-final, he had his toughest match in the tournament against one of the favorites to win, Egypt’s Yaser El-Sherbeeni. Ali was 3-2 behind as he forced a decider by nicking the frame on the final black after both players struggled to pot it.
The drama continued in the decider as it also went to a black-ball game. But this time Ali easily pot it in his first attempt.
In the Final, Iraq’s Ali Jaleel looked strong as he crushed Bahrain’s Hussain Mahmoud 4-0 to reach the final but Ali Al-Obaidly took a quick-fire 3-0 lead comfortably. The Iraqi won the next frame, but could not resist Ali’s brilliant pots anymore and offered the handshake as the crowd roared, celebrating Ali’s and Qatar’s first Gold Medal.
On the other hand, Mohamed Shehab won the Singles division after beating his team-mate Mohamed Al-Joker in the final.
In the Team division, UAE, the defending champions, came on top as they beat Qatar (A) in the final.
After the final, Ali received a phone call from his old coach PJ Nolan congratulating him on his triumph.
Ali said ” I am very proud to wear the logo of PJ Nolan’s Academy and it must of brought me some Irish luck in this event. Ali Al-Obaidly is one of the first members in PJ nolan’s (Academy of Champions) , alongside his older brothers, Khamis and Mohana. Khamis reached the quarter-final of the team division with Qatar (B) team in just his second international senior tournament. Mohana Al-Obaidly lost in the quarter-final of the U-21 singles to Egypt’s Yaser Al-Sherbeeni, which his brother Ali beat in the semis.
