Xinhua
GAZA : Racing against time, a five-member beach volleyball team from Gaza has been busy training for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The team, including four athletes and a coach, told Xinhua they spend eight hours a day in order to be able to challenge their competitors in China.
“Even though we know very well that our mission of medaling in China will not be easy, we are really chasing the honor,” Gaza-based player Abdullah Al-Arqan told Xinhua.
The 20-year-old said he had dreamed of representing Palestine in an international tournament since he was a child.
“I started to play volleyball when I was six years old as I used to attend matches with my father, who was the most famous volleyball player in Gaza,” he said.
“I saw my first-ever dream of carrying a cup in this sport and I told my father about it. My father encouraged me to go ahead towards my dream and do my best to achieve what I want through playing volleyball.”
However, Al-Arqan’s path to competing was not smooth, as he was physically very thin.
Moreover, the instable political and economic situation in the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2.3 million people, also dampened his spirits.
“From time to time, I thought I would never reach my goal, mainly because I live in a war-torn area and witnessed four large-scale military operations and scores of military tensions between armed factions,” he said.
Yet, he added, “every time we survived death over each conflict, I felt that it was another message to me that I have to continue my plan and work a lot to reach my dream.”
Adopting a healthy lifestyle, Al-Arqan decided to take matters into his own hands and improve his physique through attending sports classes in local gyms.
In 2018, he joined Al-Sadaqa club in Gaza to play with its beach volleyball team and compete with other local teams. In record time, Al-Arqan managed to win many local medals, gaining the title of “comprehensive strategic player.”
Officially, Al-Arqan presented Palestine in Arab tournaments and succeeded in taking bronze medals in two competitions held in Qatar in 2022 and 2023.
“I was so proud of myself as well as my team which was born from the suffering,” Al-Arqan proudly said. Such Arab competitions helped Al-Arqan and his team to look forward to the future of success.
“The latest magic win in Qatar encouraged me to make a greater effort to compete in the China Games and raise the Palestinian flag in a country I had always dreamed of visiting someday,” he said.
In fact, he explains, China is not only a host country for one of the most international competitions, but is also a country that inspires others to change, improve and develop their lives.
“For many years, I had hoped that my son would compete for international teams in China as I did in 2018 when I participated with my teammate in the Asian Games,” Khalid Al-Arqan, Abdullah’s father and coach told Xinhua.
“Visiting China positively impacted our playing skills in local stadiums. We learned how to organize ourselves.”
The 50-year-old expressed his happiness to represent Palestine for a second time in China, adding that he was hoping to gain more experience through dealing with other players from Asia.
The 19th Asian Games will take place from September 23 to October 8 in China’s Zhejiang Province, and will see over 12,000 athletes from all over Asia take part. ■