Team Qatar to face Bahrain for bronze in Asian U-17 Handball Championship

Amman: Qatar’s U-17 men’s handball team will meet Bahrain tomorrow (Thursday) in the third-place playoff of the inaugural Asian U-17 Men’s Handball Championship, currently taking place in Amman, Jordan. The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the upcoming World Championship in Morocco.Team Qatar will be looking to secure victory and claim the bronze medal after narrowly missing out on a spot in the final and World Championship qualification, following their 36–35 defeat to South Korea in the semifinals yesterday.Qatar reached the semifinals by finishing second in Group B of the main round with four points, registering two wins — 32–25 over Jordan and 26–22 against Kuwait — before falling to Iran 46–25 in their last group match.Earlier, in the preliminary round, Qatar topped Group B with four points from two victories: 38–24 against China and 27–23 over Saudi Arabia.The championship’s final will bring together South Korea and Iran, both of whom have secured qualification to represent Asia at the inaugural IHF U-17 Men’s World Championship, set to be held in Morocco from October 24 to November 1, 2025. 

Qatar to take on Oman in U-17 Gulf Cup

Doha: Team Qatar will face a new challenge this evening when they take on Oman at 8:00 PM at Grand Hamad Stadium, in the second round of Group A of the ongoing U-17 Gulf Cup in Doha. Earlier in the day, the other Group A match will feature Yemen against the UAE at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium at 6:00 PM.Team Qatar opened their campaign with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Yemen, while Oman suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat to the UAE in their opening match.Today’s encounter is expected to be tough, with Oman determined to bounce back from their first loss and avoid an early exit, while Qatar will be striving for a second consecutive win to secure a place in the semifinals and continue their journey in the tournament with confidence.Qatar delivered a strong performance in their opener against Yemen, showing superiority despite Yemen’s reputation as a competitive side. Head coach Álvaro Mejía will be looking to build on that display in today’s match against Oman. The Spanish coach expressed satisfaction with his team’s level in the first match, voicing optimism that performance will improve as the tournament progresses and stressing the importance of maintaining momentum against Oman. 

Team Qatar to participate in Rio de Janeiro Elite16

Rio de Janeiro: Team Qatar’s beach volleyball duo, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, will compete in the Elite16 World Tour stop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, scheduled from September 24 to 28, 2025. This prestigious event is part of the International Volleyball Federation’s Beach Pro Tour, attracting the world’s top-ranked players.The Qatari pair enters the competition with high ambitions, aiming to strengthen their position in the world rankings, where they currently sit in ninth place with 5,720 points.Meanwhile, the draw for the West Asia Women’s Volleyball Championship was conducted yesterday in Doha via videoconference. The tournament will take place in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from October 1 to 10, 2025, featuring six national teams from across the region.The ceremony was attended by Mohammed Salem Al-Kuwari, Secretary-General of the West Asia Volleyball Association, and Yousef Ahmed Kanoo, Treasurer of the Association, along with representatives from the participating national federations. The teams were placed in a round-robin schedule, with results counting toward the official International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) rankings.The second edition of the championship will see participation from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and host nation Jordan. Strong competition is expected, reflecting the rapid growth of women’s volleyball across the region. 

Team Qatar fall to South Korea in Asian U-17 Handball Championship Semifinals

Amman : Team Qatar’s U-17 men’s handball squad narrowly lost to South Korea 35–36 in the semifinals of the inaugural Asian U-17 Handball Championship, currently taking place in Amman, Jordan, and running until September 25. The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the World Championship in Morocco.The match went into extra time after finishing 31–31 in regular time, with South Korea edging past in the additional minutes.With this defeat, Team Qatar saw their hopes of qualifying for the upcoming World Championship come to an end.The squad reached the semifinals after finishing second in Group B of the main round with four points. They recorded victories of 32–25 over Jordan and 26–22 against Kuwait, before falling 25–46 to Iran.Earlier in the group stage, Team Qatar had topped Group B with four points, claiming wins of 38–24 over China and 27–23 against Saudi Arabia.A total of 13 teams are competing in the first-ever Asian U-17 Men’s Handball Championship. The top two finishers will qualify for the inaugural IHF U-17 Men’s World Championship, set to be staged in Morocco from October 24 to November 1, 2025. 

Botswana claim men’s 4x400m gold; Qatar finish 5th

Tokyo: Botswana’s burning desire to win a global men’s 4x400m title could not be quenched either by a torrential downpour or a United States quartet set on maintaining its huge tradition in an event where gold has gone to the Stars and Stripes in nine of the past 10 editions.When US anchor leg runner Rai Benjamin, the 400m hurdles champion, carried a two-metre lead into the final straight it, seemed as if the USA – despite what looked like a catastrophic start to this competition in the previous day’s heats – were set for another visit to the top of the podium.Behind him, South Africa – winners at the World Athletics Relays – and Olympic silver medallists Botswana appeared to be contesting silver.And when Zakithi Nene, added to the team having finished fifth in the individual final, came on strong on the outside, it looked as if South Africa would win that contest and perhaps even put final pressure on Benjamin.But there was one final twist remaining on a track glistening with rain under the aptly named floodlights as the slight figure of Collen Kebinatshipi somehow floated through the middle of his two challengers, just as he had in winning the individual 400m title, to bring Botswana home to their longed-for gold in 2:57:76.Benjamin, who had no chance to react to this final surge, edged the United States to silver by two-thousandths of a second as they shared the same given time with South Africa of 2:57:83.No one would have been happier for the result than Botswana’s second-leg runner, Letsile Tebogo, who had helped them take Olympic silver in Paris after winning the individual 200m title but who had seen the other side of fortune in Tokyo after being disqualified for a false start in the 100m final and missing out on a 200m medal by one place, despite clocking 19.65.Tebogo had put Botswana back level with the United States after making up ground on Jacory Patterson on the second leg with a super-fast split of 44.05.Bayapo Ndori, the 400m bronze medallist and another of the Paris 2024 silver medallists, kept them in the hunt before handing over to the ethereal talent of Kebinatshipi – who delivered once again in stupendous fashion.Tebogo, delighted, was the one to instigate Botswana’s celebrations as the four young men in pale blue shirts high-stepped their way deliriously through sloshing puddles with the zest of Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain.A United States quartet entirely different from the one that contested the final had finished outside qualification after coming home sixth in their heat. But they were able to progress after beating Kenya in a run-off earlier in the day after it had been decided that they had both been impeded by the Zambian team who were subsequently disqualified.South Africa’s challenge had been kept alive by an inspired third-leg run from their 33-year-old 400m world record-holder Wayde Van Niekerk.Fourth place went to the consistently talented Belgian team, who clocked 2:59:48 ahead of Qatar in 3:01:64, with Great Britain taking sixth place in 3:03:05.Qatar wrapped up their campaign at the 2025 World Athletics Championships with a single medal, courtesy of Abderrahman Samba’s bronze in the men’s 400m hurdles, but the national 4x400m relay team narrowly missed out on the podium in the final.The quartet of Abderrahman Samba, Yahya Ibrahim, Bassem Hemeida, and Ismail Dawood had already made history by reaching the relay final for the very first time, clocking a national record of 3:00.15 in Saturday’s heats.But under pouring rain at the National Stadium, they couldn’t replicate that amid puddles of water, finishing a creditable fifth. 

Qatar’s Aya Mohamed wins singles crown in Arab Table Tennis Championship

Doha: Aya Mohamed etched her name in history by becoming the first Qatari woman to win the women’s singles title at the Arab Teams Table Tennis Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, on Sunday.The 31-year-old defeated Jordan’s Tima Abu Yemen 3-2 in a thrilling final at the Mohammed V Indoor Complex, clinching Qatar’s 20th medal and fourth gold of the tournament.Mohamed also secured silver in doubles with Maryam Ali and another silver in the team event alongside Ali and Serena Sheikh.A pioneer for Qatari table tennis, Mohamed competed at the London 2012 Olympics and earlier this year, alongside Mohamed Abdulwahab, broke into the ITTF world’s top 100 in mixed doubles for the first time in Qatar’s history.Following her victory, Mohamed expressed pride in her achievement: “I am honoured to be the first Qatari to win this title. This moment will stay in my memory forever. The final was tough, but with focus and determination, I was able to deliver this gold medal for Qatar.”Head of the Qatari delegation, Khalid Ali Al Kuwari, hailed Mohamed as a “champion of gold,” calling the triumph a reward for years of dedication and sacrifice, and credited Federation President Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi for his unwavering support.