Draw held for IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship

Cairo: The first edition of the IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship will take place in Casablanca, Morocco, between 24 October and 1 November, with 12 teams at the start.The draw for the preliminary round of the competition took place on Thursday, 2 October, on the outskirts of the 2025 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, providing four well-balanced groups.The competition will see three groups of four teams each in the preliminary round, with the winners of each group, plus the best second-placed side qualifying for the semi-finals.Morocco, as the hosts, had the prerogative to choose their group after three teams were already drawn and they chose Group A, where they will face Egypt, Brazil and the United States of America.In Group B, Spain will meet Tunisia, Republic of Korea and Qatar, with the other four teams – Germany, Argentina, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Puerto Rico – heading to Group C.Five continents – Africa, Asia, Europe, the North American and Caribbean and the South and Central America – will be represented at the start of the competition, with three teams from Africa and Asia each, plus two teams from Europe, the North American and Caribbean and the South and Central America taking part.Hosts Morocco, plus Egypt and Tunisia will represent Africa, while the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Korea and Qatar – the top three teams at the 2025 AHF Asian Men’s Under-17 Handball Championship – will represent Asia.Germany and Spain will be featuring from Europe, while Argentina and Brazil are the South and Central American teams participating. The line-up is completed by Puerto Rico and the United States of America. 

Coll overcomes Abouelghar challenge; Al Tamini retires hurt

Doha: No.2 seed Paul Coll of New Zealand came through an almighty battle with World No.23 Mohamed Abouelghar for the second time this season as he booked his place in the semi-finals of QTerminals Qatar Classic 2025 for the first time since 2021, while local favourite Abdullah Al Tamimi was forced to retire due to injury after being level against Jonah Bryant.Coll, who has failed to make it past the second round in his three previous attempts, has already narrowly avoided defeat to the Egyptian at the London Classic earlier this month, and he once again had to dig in to oust Abouelghar at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Thursday.Abouelghar, bidding to reach his first major semi-final in over six years, played some tremendous squash throughout as his clinical attacks to the front of the court saw him outplay the Kiwi.However, in the third game, Abouelghar strained his achilles when stretching for the ball and, while he was able to take the game to go 2-1 up, he was inhibited for the rest of the match.Abouelghar’s impressive racket skills still made Coll have to work for the win but despite the best efforts of the physio at the end of the third and fourth games, he was unable to fully recover as Coll closed out the win.Coll will play either Englishman Jonah Bryant or home favourite Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi for a place in the title decider.“It was a very physical match on this court, you have to do a lot of deep movements,” said Coll.“It was nice to have a clean battle that was all about the squash. I was annoyed because I had game ball in the third and shanked it into the tin. I think he did that in London, so it was roles reversed this time.“I’m very happy with the game, I could have been a bit more consistent if I’m being picky, my length dropped off a bit and he’s too deadly when that happens.”It was unfortunate for Al Tamimi as he had to pull out after he posed a challenge to Englishman Jonas Bryant winning the first and fourth games. The tie was locked 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9 and 7-6 for Al Tamimi when he was forced to retire due to injury.El Sherbini comesback from brinkIn the women’s section, eight-time world Champion Nour El Sherbini came back from the brink of defeat as she overturned a two-game deficit to defeat France’s Melissa Alves.The World No.20 hadn’t beaten El Sherbini in any of their four previous matches on the PSA Squash Tour, but she came out firing today in Doha. Alves was the more attacking player in the early stages as she took the game to the former World No.1, going short often and really putting work into the legs of the Egyptian.At 6-5 down in the third, the ‘Warrior Princess’ showed her mental resilience and stormed right through, with five successive points seeing her half the deficit.From that point onwards, Alves was on the back foot as El Sherbini turned the tables. The fourth game followed, with the Egyptian dropping just four points, and she ran away with things in the decider, with Alves serving out at 6-4 down to compound her misery.“Melissa played amazingly, she was very accurate and attacking better than me in the first two games,” said El Sherbini afterwards. “She was hitting her targets and I was a bit surprised at the beginning. I’m happy to find a way back and to grab the win at the end.”Gilis halts FaridaBelgium’s Tinne Gilis earned her spot in the semi-finals in Doha for the second time and first since 2023 after toppling Egypt’s Farida Mohamed 11-2, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6.Gilis will appear in just her third Platinum semi-final and will take on World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the next round.The World No.8 lost out to Mohamed on their last meeting in September of last year, but held her nerve after conceding the third game to win 11-2, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6.“Even when you’re 2-0 up against Farida, you never know what’s going to come,” said Gilis.“It’s a cold court and she started firing from all over the place. I needed to ask for a new ball [at the end of the third] and I think that made a difference.“It’s always a clean and fair match against Nour. I’ve always looked up to her. But I want to win, so I’ll give it my all tomorrow and see what happens.” 

Qatar athletes win 6 medals on Day 1 of Youth meet in Beirut

Beirut: The Qatar athletics team won six medals - four gold and two silver - on the opening day of the 3rd West Asian Youth Championships in Beirut on Thursday.The four gold medals were won by Mubarak Saeed (3,000m), Abdulrahman Mohammed (400m hurdles), Dana Salem (100m junior women), and Maryam Al Salik (3,000m junior women).Abdulrazzaq Idris won silver in 400m hurdles while Saleh Mahmoud won silver in shot put competition.Qatar currently top the four-day championship standings for both youth and women. 

Egyptian stars shine in QTerminals Qatar Classic quarter-finals action

Doha: Egyptian squash stars dominated the opening day of quarter-final action at QTerminals Qatar Classic 2025, with world champion Mostafa Asal, Fares Dessouky, Hania El Hammamy and Amina Orfi, all on Wednesday booking their places in the semi-finals of the event at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.World No.1 Mostafa Asal stormed into the last four after completing his eighth successive win over fellow Egyptian Youssef Soliman on the PSA Squash Tour.The pair met at the same stage of the CIB Egyptian Open in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza earlier this month, with Asal emerging the victor after three straightforward games.Soliman put Asal under more pressure, initially holding an 8-5 lead in the opening game and amassing a game ball in the third. But Asal was always able to move up the gears at critical moments as he raised his accuracy to complete an 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 victory.“He’s a very solid player, a fighter,” said Asal. It was a fair and good battle today, I like it when things are calm and there is respect between us, he’s a good friend. I’m really looking forward to the next one.”Egypt’s World No.15 Fares Dessouky reached his first major PSA Squash Tour semi-final in over four years after he upset World No.10 Youssef Ibrahim earlier in the day.Injury problems have seen Dessouky slip down the rankings and fall out of contention for the sport’s biggest honours in recent years, but he put in a masterclass of accuracy to announce his return to the last four of a Platinum-level event.“I’m so happy to be back at this stage again,” said Dessouky. “I played very well today and hopefully I can in the next match. He’s in the top 10, so I was the underdog today. I used to play with these guys a lot, so I’m used to dealing with them.“I’m going to play my best squash, but I have to focus and make it as clean as possible. I hope it will be a good match for both of us.”Dessouky will play in his first Qatar Classic semi-final since 2020 and will take on World No.1 Mostafa Asal for a place in the title decider.On the women’s side, World No.2 Hania El Hammamy booked her spot in the semi-finals for a third year in succession in Doha after laying down a marker with a convincing win over World No.7 Sivasangari Subramaniam.El Hammamy madę a winning start to the season after taking the CIB Egyptian Open title earlier this month and picked up where she left off in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza with an 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 victory.It was a masterful display from the 25-year-old Egyptian, who recovered from 7-4 down in the opening game to take seven points unanswered as she ramped up the pace to test the Malaysian.Siva began the second game well too, getting in front of El Hammamy and attacking on the volley, but El Hammamy had the superior accuracy in the back corners and was able to hit her targets to take momentum away from her opponent.The third game swiftly followed for the Egyptian, who will move on to play either Egyptian Open runner-up Amina Orfi or Malaysia’s Aira Azman in the last four.“I have my visuals of what I want to do this season and I hope this is not the end. It’s a prestigious event and I love it here in Qatar, we’re always getting pampered by the organisers. I’m very excited and hopefully I can produce a good level of squash,” said El Hammamy.World No.5 Amina Orfi continued her strong start to the season as she claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory over Malaysia’s Aira Azman to set up a nail-biting semis clash with World No.2 Hania El Hammamy.The 18-year-old picked off loose shots from her opponent in the middle of the court and hit her targets in all four corners of the court to book her spot in the last four in Doha for the first time.“I’m excited to make the semis of these Platinum events, it feels great,” said Orfi. 

Team Qatar to participate in West Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Lebanon

Beirut: The Qatar Athletics Association has announced the national team squad that will take part in the third edition of the West Asian Youth Championships, scheduled to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, from October 2 to 5 with the participation of 12 countries.The Qatari squad includes 16 male athletes and two female athletes who will compete across track and field events. Among the sprinters, Timo Jassim will contest the 100m, while Ahmed Haroun is entered in the 200m. Youssef Abdulaziz and Mohamed Kali will run the 400m, and Hatem Hameed is set for the 800m and 1500m. Mubarak Saeed will also compete in the 1500m in addition to the 3000m. In hurdles, Hussein Mohamed and Idris Abubakr are lined up for the 110m hurdles, while Abdulrahman Mohamed and Abdulrazzaq Idris will run the 400m hurdles. Younis Al Baloushi and Ibrahim Zakaria are slated for the pole vault, and Mohamed Faisal will participate in both the long jump and triple jump. In the throws, Saleh Mahmoud and Mohamed Jimi will take part in shot put and discus, while Abdulrahman Ibrahim is set for the hammer throw.The women’s team will feature Dana Salem, who will race in the 100m and 200m, and Mariam Al Salik, who will compete in the 800m and 1500m.In its official statement, the Qatar Athletics Association emphasized that this year’s participation involves a strong group of promising talents across both track and field disciplines, with the goal of winning medals and continuing the success of Qatari athletics on the regional stage.

Qatar to field men’s and women’s teams at U-18 Beach Volleyball World Championships

Doha: Qatar is preparing to participate in the U-18 Beach Volleyball World Championships, which will be hosted in Doha from October 7 to 11 on the Al Gharafa Beach Courts.The country will be represented by two teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions. For the men, the first team includes Moussa Al-Khair and Ahmed Ziyad, while the second features Jassim Al-Tamimi and Saad Al-Awad. On the women’s side, the first team will consist of Banda Ibrahim and Maryam Mouhoub, and the second team will include Lujain Mahmoud and Celine Mahmoud.A total of 64 teams will compete in the tournament, divided equally between men’s and women’s categories, with 32 teams in each. Matches will be held daily across four courts, running from 3:00 PM until 11:00 PM.This is the first time the Middle East has hosted the championship, following previous editions in Thailand (2021), Turkey (2022), and China (U-19 category in 2024).In the last edition, Poland won the men’s title, while Latvia finished second and Iran third. In the women’s competition, the United States claimed gold, Spain took silver, and the U.S. also secured bronze.Participating teams have already begun arriving in Doha, with Chile’s delegation being the first to land on Monday evening. The arrivals take place amid strong organizational efforts and thorough preparations by the Qatar Volleyball Association to ensure the success of this major international event.