Team Qatar defeat England in Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Rio

Rio de Janeiro: Qatar's Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan achieved a narrow 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) win over English qualifiers Joaquin Bello & Javier Bello in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.   Men’s main draw action continues with the remaining pool matches on Friday where team Qatar duo will take on Brazil's Arthur Mariano and Pedro Sousa before their match against Steven van de Velde & Matthew Immers of the Netherlands.  After the first day of main draw action, three teams already have a secure passage to the elimination rounds. With two wins each on Thursday, Norway’s Anders Mol & Christian Sorum, Brazil’s Adrielson Dos Santos & Arthur Da Silva and Argentina’s Nicolas Capogrosso & Tomas Capogrosso made sure they will finish at least among the top three in their pools.  

Al Meghaiseeb re-elected President of the Qatar Basketball Federation

Doha: The General Assembly of the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) has re-elected Mr. Mohammed Saad Al Meghaiseeb as President of the Federation for the term 2024-2028. During the meeting, which was held today at the QBF headquarters, Mr. Saadoun Al Kuwari was selected as Secretary-General, and Mr. Ahmed Yousef Al Darwish as Assistant Secretary General of the QBF. Moreover, Mr. Abdullah Sultan Al Jaber, Mr. Abdulrahman Hamad Al Mana, Meshaal Abdullah Al Malki, Ahmed Yousef Al Darwish and Ms. Zahra Majed Borhan Al Zaidan elected as members of the Federation's Board of Directors. The Assembly agenda included the approval of the previous meeting's minutes and the endorsement of the federation's budget. The meeting also highlighted ongoing preparations for hosting the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2030 Asian Games in Doha.

Qatar to participate in Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Rio

Rio de Janeiro: The city that hosted the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, is about to stage the last Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event of the year.   The men’s line-up in Brazil this week, from November 6 to 10, will feature as many as seven Olympic medallists, including the Tokyo 2020 and the Paris 2024 champions.  Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, former World Ranking leaders, who finished third at Tokyo 2020 and fourth at Paris 2024, will have to face the world’s number five duo, Paris Olympians Steven van de Velde & Matthew Immers of the Netherlands, as well as another Paris Olympian, Arthur Mariano, in a first-time collaboration with 20-year-old fellow Brazilian Pedro Sousa.  

Qatar to face hosts China, Australia and Kyrgyzstan at next year’s U-20 Asian Cup

Doha: Qatar were placed in Group A with hosts China, Australia, Kyrgyzstan for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2025 following the conclusion of the official draw in Shenzhen on Thursday. The 42nd edition of the tournament will take place from February 12 to March 1, 2025. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups with not just continental glory at stake but also four tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 in Chile. Qatar won the title in 2014, while China were champions in 1985. Australia were runners-up in 2010 while Kyrgyzstan will be making their third appearance at the tournament. Five-time winners Iraq head the Group B cast with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and North Korea also vying for the two quarter-final spots. North Korea and Saudi Arabia are three-time champions while Jordan were fourth in 2006. Group C will see defending champions Uzbekistan facing four-time winners Iran, Indonesia and Yemen slugging it out. Indonesia won the title in 1961 while Yemen will be making their seventh appearance at the Finals Leading the Group D challenge will be 2016 champions Japan with 12-time winners South Korea, Syria (1994 winners) and Thailand (champions in 1962, 1969) also hoping to advance to the quarter-finals. The Draw Group A: China, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar; Group B: Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea; Group C: Uzbekistan, Iran, Indonesia, Yemen; Group D: Japan, South Korea, Syria, Thailand.

Team Qatar qualify to Arab Volleyball Championship semifinals

Manama: Team Qatar secured their spot in the semifinals of the 23rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 victory over Iraq in Thursday’s quarterfinal match.  In the semifinals to be staged on Friday, team Qatar will take on Tunisia.   Eight teams are participating in the championship, distributed to two groups. Group A includes Oman, Iraq, Tunisia, and Bahrain, while Group B includes Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. 

Final stage of IHF Beach Handball Global Tour begin

Doha: Brazil’s men and women and Croatia’s men have started the first day of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Finals strongly, recording two wins out of their two games each at the season-ending event in Qatar.  Stage 3 of the tour – the final stage – is being played at the Al-Gharafa Beach Venue in Doha across two days (6 to 7 November) and features four men’s and four women’s national teams from six countries playing a total of 16 games (eight each in the men’s and women’s competitions).  Much-changed Brazilian women impress on opening day  Brazil coach Vinicius Carlos de Oliveira is overseeing a team with just three players (Ingrid Frazao, Beatriz Cruz and Mariane Hanthequeste) remaining from their lowest-ever ranking at an IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship, when they finished eighth in China last June.  And it was Hanthequeste who led the way in their opening of her sides’ title defence on Wednesday, as she delivered 12 points to top-score for the South Americans in a 2-0 (14:12, 20:18) victory over the tough Spanish side, who, as always, were led by the effervescent Maria Asuncion Batista Portero (14 points).  The experienced Cruz, top-scorer at China 2024, then led the way in the evening clash for Brazil as they saw off world champions Germany (13:12, 21:20), themselves much changed from the world championship, due to injury and player commitments. The first set had been 12:12 with well over two minutes remaining, but a single-pointer from Camila Queiroga with just over 10 seconds remaining put her side on the path to victory as Ingrid Frazao made the crucial save from Germany after the restart. Alexander Novakovic’s Germany team had impressed in their opening game, demolishing Portugal 2-0 (19:8, 20:12) in a showcase from Isabel Kattner, which saw the China 2024 All-star Team pivot score an incredible 22 points.  The day did not get any better for Portugal, who lost their second match, against neighbours Spain. A tight first set, which saw Spain score the winning point with nine seconds left and Portugal unable to get the following attack organised. It was followed by a clear second period as 13 points from Spain’s Malena Diaz Coppens ensured a 2-0 (19:18, 16:9) victory.  World champions Croatia show intent on day one in men’s competition   The all-European clash between Croatia and Germany opened the men’s competition in superb style, the two teams going toe-to-toe in a heavyweight clash which went to a shoot-out.   Croatia, who took the 2024 world championship title against Denmark last June, won the first set (20:18) but fell to the Germans in the second (21:26). However, the Germans could not make their shots count in the shoot-out, missing two – after Valentino Valentakovic had seen Croatia’s first attempt saved – to hand the Croatians a first win of the day. Captain Ivan Juric, alongside youngster Vigo Konforta, scored 18 points each for Croatia.   Konforta then top-scored again for his side in the closing game of the opening day in Doha, against the hosts and title-holders Qatar. Konforta’s 18 points in a 2-0 (18:16, 20:18) late evening win handed the Asian side their second loss of the day after Brazil had seen them off 2-0 (20:16, 23:16) in the afternoon session, with Nailson Amaral and Aldrin Andrade scoring 14 points a piece for the South American side, who are playing in Qatar without a number of iconic players, including Gil Pires and Bruno Carlos de Oliveira.   The Brazilians ensured their second win of the day with a 9:8 shoot-out win over Germany (25:20, 16:17), with Lennart Wormann missing the crucial shot for the Germans.   “All in all, it was a perfect first day,” said Croatia coach Mladen Paradzik to ihf.info. “We are using this opportunity to give a chance to some of our younger players who are seriously knocking on the door of the senior team, so, from that perspective I am even more happy after this first day because those guys started their journey at the top level with two wins and, best of all, they fully contributed to the results.   “Games against Germany and Qatar are always very equal and we could have quite easily lost both,” he added.   “The games were tight and our youngsters – Vigo Konforta, Ivan Rukljac – did not lose their heads. It is always great to win games and it is also a great thing for the mentality of those young players that have the opportunity to feel our atmosphere for the first time. Again, we have shown the quality and strong mentality to win both games and secure the final spot for tomorrow."  “It was a great atmosphere today, combined with great organisation from the Qatar Handball Association and the IHF, plus top-quality teams. It was a perfect day and we are really happy to be in Doha.”