Matthew prevails in Classic battle

DOHA, October 31, 2017Three-time World Champion Nick Matthew yesterday put all his experience to good use on the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Glasscourt to overcome the challenge of German qualifier Raphael Kandra to advance to the second round of the Qatar Classic 2017.The 37-year-old Englishman, who is set retire from professional squash at the end of the season, showed that he has a lot to offer for the game in the coming months before he calls it a day.Nicknamed 'The Wolf', the World No.5 survived a tricky first round test to advance to the next stage where he will be joined by Mathieu Castagnet of France, Cameron Pilley of Australia and Egyptian duo of Tarek Momen and Omar Mosaad.If day one of the championship had it share of upsets, the second day saw German Kandra nearly pulling off one.However, the Sheffield Wednesday football fan, playing for the 15th year in Qatar, came out flying in the grueling five-game test.Matthew, who has played countless memorable matches on the PSA World Tour won 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, in a match which last for a little over an hour.“The wolf just had a fight with an octopus here in Doha," tweeted Matthew after his match.Matthew won the first two games but the German made a remarkable comeback to take the next two and force a decider.In the decider, when everything seemed lost for Matthew and a huge upset seemed well on the cards the Englishman went back to play his normal clinical squash to lives another day in Qatar.Matthew was delighted with the end result and said the first round matches are always difficult to negotiate.“It's a tricky first round. He played on this court before as he qualified. He was sharper than me, it was experience that saw me through," said Matthew.“I was hitting hard and running with him which was silly because he's much younger, but finally at the end I started to use my brain and my experience which shows you it's never too late, even 8-8 in the 5th," he said, after winning the decider 11-8.Matthew added; “I played a five setter in 60m, that's not my squash, I'm more of a 3/0 for that length of time! I got out of jail today, but in the middle of the game I was mentally booking my flight back home."“I have to go away and learn and focus on my own thing and not worry about anyone else. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow."Incidentally last year, Matthew, who beat Egypt's Karim Darwish in the 2009 Qatar Classic final, came within two points of falling to a shock defeat to tournament wildcard Abdulla Al Tamimi of Qatar but survived the test.“Survival mode. Deja vu from last year. Hopefully can improve through the rounds again the same way. Credit to Rafa who has improved immensely," tweeted Matthew.The Englishman will face Frenchman Castagnet in the pre-quarter-final test today.Castagnet triumphed 3-1 over Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne in a mammoth battle of 66 minutes.Elsewhere, Australian Pilley once again saw off England's Adrian Waller, by an identical 3-1 to book a last-sixteen clash with Tarek Momen.The Egyptian produced an almost error-free performance to down compatriot Mohamed Abouelghar 3-1 and move into the second round.Mosaad, survived two match-ball situations to over come Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez in three games to win 13-15, 11-5, 12-10, 10-12, 14-12 in a marathon battle of 108 minutes.He will take on countryman Marwan El Shorbagy in the second round. El Shorbagy defeated New Zealand's Paul Coll 13-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.

Younousse and Tejan win QVA Beach Volleyball Series

DOHA, October 31, 2017- Cherif Younousse and Ahmad Tejan claimed the title of the QVA Beach Volleyball Series after beating Julio and Martino of Qatar Sports Club in the final match. Mohammad Eshaba and Abdulaziz Khalouf of Al Shammal finished third following their 2-0 victory over Hamad Al Elg and Mamadu of Al Arabi in third place match. Ali Ghanim Al Kuwari, President of the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) crowned the winners. In attendance also were Mohammad Anbar and Ahmad Hessain.

Al Gharafa qualify for quarterfinals of Arab Basketball Championship

Morocco, October 30, 2017-Qatar's Al Gharafa qualified for the quarterfinals of the 30th Arab Basketball Championship, which is currently held in the Moroccan city of Sale until November 03 with the participation of 12 teams.Al Gharafa qualified after beating Morocco's Royal Army Club (FAR Rabat) 64-60 at Fathallah Bouzawy Arena in Sala.Al Gharafa won their first match over Oman's Nizwa 91-51, before losing to a Lebanon's Homenetmen 68-80.In the quarterfinals, Al Gharafa will shake hands with Sale of Morocco.

Qatar Classic gets underway

DOHA, October 30, 2017-The main event of the 2017 Qatar Classic started off on an exciting note with two-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy of Egypt flying past England's Chris Simpson at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha on Sunday.The World No. 3 launched his bid for the elusive triple crown in Doha by overcoming a brave challenge from the 30-year-old English opponent, posting a 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 win in just over half an hour to move into the second round of the $165,000 total prize money event.The first game was routine for the Bristol-resident but a slight loss of focus in the second saw him losing ground to Simpson before he bounced back to tie the game at 9-9 and consequently claim it 11-9.Learning from the mistake of the second game, the 26-year-old 2016 finalist left no stone unturned in the third game as he subdued Simpson 11-5."I like playing here. I come back year after year and would love to get my name on the trophy again. This is where I won my first-ever World Series title back in 2013 and I feel this year the event has raised the bar and I'm looking forward to having a good week," said El Shorbagy after the match.For World No. 1 Gregory Gaultier of France, it was another day at the office as he steamrolled his Mexican opponent Cesar Salazar 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 in 37 minutes.The Frenchman, who didn't play a single PSA event since the World Series Finals back in June after suffering an ankle injury which also saw him withdraw from both the NetSuite Open and US Open, appeared slim and relaxed. Although he made a few errors in the first few points, understandably taking a few seconds to get used to the court and lights, he was on a rampage.Making 10 winners in the first game, then 9 and 9 in the next two, he did not give any chance to the Mexican to get a sniff at opening the door.In a big upset, a hugely impressive performance from Diego Elias saw the Peruvian defeat former World No.1 and 7th seeded James Willstrop in straight games.The victory, which follows Elias's win over Nick Matthew at the NetSuite Open, saw Elias come from behind to win a close first game to set up the platform for the 3-0 win.The opening game saw the two matched evenly, with Willstrop's precise ball placement nullifying Elias's superior movement, but after taking the opener 12-10 it was all Elias from then on as he grew in confidence and stature on court ultimately leaving Willstrop looking heavy and flat footed at the end."It's aways hard playing experienced players like James and Nick," said Elias. Meanwhile, Qatar's Abdulla Mohammed al Tamimi, a wildcard entrant, suffered a 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 defeat at the hands of Egypt's Fares Dessouky.The Qatari commited five errors in the first game (4 winners) and 7 errors in the second (still 4 winners) as he went down to his opponent in the sixth fixture of the day.

SOP Football competitions get considerable response

DOHA, October 30, 2017 – The football competitions for primary and preparatory schools (boys) at the prestigious Schools Olympic Program (SOP) 2017 received considerable response from students and fans on Sunday.In group A competitions (first level), Umm Slal school led the group holds 4 points, following their 5-1 victory over Simaisma school while Abdulhameed Al Dail seized the second place after defeating Simaisma 2-0.In group B, Arabian Gulf school booked place in the last eight stage, after defeating Al Wikair 5-1, while in group C, Saad bin Abi Waqas cruised their way into the quarterfinals stage after beating El Khlas 3-2.In the preparatory schools competitions, Mohammed bin Jassim school topped the group B with (12) points, while Al Shahania school took the second place .An estimated 214 boys schools (including 119 government schools and 98 private schools) along with 186 girls schools (105 government schools and 81 private schools) are participating in this edition.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Federation (QSSF) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with hundreds of student athletes competing from all over Qatar. The SOP committee aims to spread a culture of sports throughout Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

Second leg of Qatar Mountain Bike League held

Al Khor, October 30, 2017-The Qatar Cycling & Triathlon Federation and United Filipino Mountain Bikers Qatar the recently organized the 2nd Leg of the Qatar Mountain Bike League which was held in Al Khor on the 27th of October. The race saw 157 riders participating on the race. And again, with the late winter and longer summer heat this year, the race was so tough and a bit technical, that only 146 riders finishes the race while the other 11 abandoned the race for some reasons such as broken bike parts and flat tires among the others.The 5 km route features many different technical sections from flat start, fast descents, steep climbs and sandy patches, off camber bends, open flats and a good sprint finish. Trail also features the Al Khor Sea front when you are on the top of some of the hills. It also features a narrow trail crossing in between a hill and grassy portion very near the sea. One might wonder, there is a really good mountain biking spot here in Qatar.Although the Trail is newbie friendly, riders must be strong enough to climb the hills (one of the climbs had a nickname called Cardiac Hill, where you experience high heart rate during the climb), and riders must have the technical abilities to stay on the bikes on some tricky area specially those tight corners and downhill spots. It's a perfect mix of what a mountain bike trail should be. Davy Muller of Carbon Wheels Racing won the Open Category with a margin of 2 minutes ahead of the current league leader for Open category and his team mate and 2nd place for this race, Dave Nichols. Kevin Hickey of Qatar Chain Reaction placed 3rd place.The event also saw the participation of the Junior Qatar National Team in the Under 23 Age Category. But still on the Lead for points and back to back winner for U23 age category is Ernie Daniel Francisco of team El Padyakero placing 1st on this race with a final time of 00:39:18 for 3 Laps leading 4 minutes ahead of Mohammed Abougabarah as 2nd and Zaid Hamza as 3rd Both are from Junior Qatar National Team.Qatari National, Fawaz Alshammri of Qatar Cyclists team won the 23 to 34 Age category, with a split second difference with 2nd place Carlo Maniebo of FIT-Q who is still the current league leader for this category. Another Qatari National, Mubarak Allaji of Lusail Team won the 3rd place.For the 35 to 40 Age Category, Allan Navarro of team SMCC APO lakay made back to back victories and still the league leader placing 1st place again on this race, Dennis Dalupang of Team El Padyakero placed second, while our very own Andrej Filip of Qatar Cycling Federation placed 3rd.A new comer for the League, Spanish guy Alberto Soto Campos from TriClub Doha took the 1st place for the 41 & Above Age Category, 32 seconds behind him is Rogelio “Ibrahim" Fernandez as 2nd and Jovedell Gonzales of team El Padyakero placing 3rd. Winner for the 1st Leg, Fernan Louien Anciado of Team BPMQ place 4th event after experiencing technical difficulties in the middle of the race.Another new comer for the Mountain Bike League, South African Tessa do Toit won the Ladies Category, followed by Maricar Estacio of Team Rasen Sports, who is now league leader for this category, and Jennifer KaouushSurprising result also came from the Beginners category when the 9 year old mountain biker from Spain, Hugo Hernandez Moya, dominated the riders who are decades older than him.The Race is Organized by United Filipino Mountain Bikers Qatar in partnership with Qatar Cycling Federation.Race is sponsored by Rayyan Water, and supported by Qatar Chain Reaction & Qatar Cyclists.The 3rd leg will be in held in Duhail on December 8.