Qatar prepare for Iran clash as Australia eye win in Japan

DUBAI, UAE - Qatar will hope they have turned the corner after Thursday’s 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan when they face Asian giants Iran in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. Qatar, the two-time AFC Asian Cup champions, entered last Thursday’s tie with just a point to their name and another negative result would have had drastic implications on their qualification hopes. However, the Marquez Lopez-coached side lifted the home gloom with a fighting 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan on Thursday at Al Thumama Stadium where the home side totally dominated the first half and did enough in the second to secure a welcome win. Lopez welcomed back Abdelkarim Hassan to the side after more than two years in the wilderness and the Al Wakrah defender delivered with threatening runs and astute defence. Al Duhail striker Almoez Ali, who opened the scoring in the 39th minute against Kyrgyzstan, kept the visitors backline busy on Thursday. Mercurial Akram Afif – shortlisted for this year’s AFC Player of the Year award – and his teammates will be aiming for a win against Iran and a victoryon Tuesday will complete their turnaround and Qatar can then optimistically look forward to the rest of their campaign. In other Group A games on Tuesday, points leaders Uzbekistan will host the United Arab Emirates looking to return to winning ways after drawing 0-0 with Iran last week. Kyrgyzstan, who were beaten by Qatar, on Tuesday face North Korea in the group’s other game. The first two finishers in each group qualify automatically for the World Cup with the third and fourth-placed finishers advancing to another round of preliminaries. Meanwhile Australia coach Tony Popovic will look to continue the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying renaissance against a familiar foe on Tuesday as he takes his team to Saitama Stadium to face ex-teammate Hajime Moriyasu and his rampant Japan team. Popovic led Australia to a 3-1 win over China on Thursday in his first game since replacing Graham Arnold, reinvigorating the team’s hopes of an automatic berth at the 2026 World Cup. Australia picked up one point from their opening two matches but victory over the Chinese has moved them up to second in Group C as the Japanese defeated Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were held to a 2-2 draw by Indonesia.  The Samurai Blue lead the standings by five points having won all three of their games so far, scoring 14 times without conceding to go into the clash as favourites with the Australians having never won in Japan. Despite the odds being heavily in the home side’s favour, the journey will hold few concerns for Popovic, who spent four years playing alongside Moriyasu at J-League outfit Sanfrecce Hiroshima. “I know the coach very well, he was my captain when I played in Japan, a wonderful person that’s been there several years now,” the former defender said. “You can see the evolution of Japanese football and how he’s changed, bringing players in and out, how they’ve improved their style of play. “Obviously, it’s a big challenge but also a big opportunity as well to win in Japan,” Popovic said. While Japan and Australia meet in their top-of-the-table encounter, Saudi Arabia host Bahrain in Jeddah aiming to bounce back from their loss to Japan while Indonesia travel to face pointless China looking to pick up a win after three draws.  

QOC hosts workshop on Cybercrime Prevention

DOHA – The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), in collaboration with National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) ,  has organized a one-day awareness workshop on Prevention against Cybercrime at the QOC Building on Sunday. The  workshop was attended by the QOC's employees from different departments, sections and units alongside  representatives from the sport federation’.  The Workshop key speaker and the NCSA accredited trainer, Sharifa Al-Khalidi, delivered a productive  presentation that focused light on the concept and the meaning of  cyber security as a preventive measure in fighting cyber-attacks that harm  individuals, networks, data and systems.   Mrs. Al Khalidi has briefed the attendees with a examples of cybercrimes that  occur against individuals and organizations, including cheating, stealing, violation of privacy, data transfer. She provided number of protective measures to be taken against these cybercrimes. Mrs. Al Khalidi pointed out the role of artificial intelligence in  cyber security and highlighted its positives and negatives. In a post- workshop statement, Mr. Noora Al-ahbabi ,the Head of Training and Development Unit said this  workshop is held to  enhance the employee’s role on how to protect data and systems against cyber-attacks.  In the same context, the QOC’s  Human Resources and Administrative Affairs Department  is keen to host  these educational workshops  with the objective of increasing employees awareness on how  to adopt better measures in safeguarding  the data and systems of the QOC.  

Curtain comes down on WTT Youth Star Contender Doha 2024

Doha: The WTT Youth Star Contender Doha 2024 was concluded on Saturday after five days of thrilling matches at the Lusail Arena. A total of 120 players from 40 countries participated in the tournament. The competition featured various categories, including boys' and girls' singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles for both under-19 and under-15 age groups. In the under-19 boys' singles final, China's Li Hechen claimed the title by defeating India's Ankur Bhattacharjee 3-1. The under-19 boys' doubles saw the Indian duo of Sarth Mishra and Ankur Bhattacharjee edge past Croatia’s Ivan Hencl and Leon Benko 3-2 in a thrilling match. In the under-15 boys' doubles, China’s Yu Haiyang and Wang Zining emerged victorious, beating India’s Rupam Sardar and Sahil Rawat 3-1. Japan's Yuna Ojio took the under-19 girls' singles title with a dominant 3-0 win over South Korea’s Yoo Yarin. Meanwhile, the under-19 girls' doubles crown went to South Korea’s Heo Yarim and Yoo Yerin, who overcame China’s Zhu Qihao and Yang Huize 3-1.

Al-Mohannadi retains Asian Table Tennis Union presidency

Astana - Qatar Table Tennis Association President Khalil bin Ahmed al-Mohannadi was officially re-endorsed as the President of the Asian Table Tennis Union for the next electoral cycle (2025-2028) during the General Assembly held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the 27th Asian Championship. Al-Mohannadi, who was the sole candidate for the presidency, secured his position after the nomination period closed in August. He first assumed the role in October 2021 and is the first Arab and Qatari to hold this prestigious position since the Federation’s establishment in 1972. In his acceptance speech, Al-Mohannadi expressed gratitude to the Kazakh Federation and its president for their excellent organisation of the championship, which marks the first time the event is being hosted in Central Asia. Representatives from 31 member countries attended the meeting, forming the legal quorum required for the elections. The assembly also conducted elections for vice-presidents and regional deputies and reviewed reports submitted by various committees, including financial audits and updates on regional activities. The assembly highlighted key achievements made by the Federation from 2021-2024, including the development of table tennis in Asia and enhanced cooperation among member states. Al-Mohannadi also announced the launch of the Asian Table Tennis Union Academy in partnership with Aspire Academy, which will focus on improving junior talent and human resource efficiency. Future championships were confirmed, with Uzbekistan and North Korea set to host major events, and China assigned to organise the Asian Cup from 2025-2027.  

SOP Football Competitions get underway

Doha: The 18th edition of the School Olympic Program (SOP) kicked off with football competitions, as the first round of matches took place at Aspire Dome. These games featured primary school students born in 2013-2014 competing in the second level.   In Group A, Ahmed Mansour Primary School for Boys defeated Saad Bin Muadh Primary School for Boys  5-1, while Al-Zubair Bin Al-Awwam Primary School for Boys secured the same score against Muadh Bin Jabal Primary School for Boys.   Al-Zubair Bin Al-Awwam Primary School currently leads Group A with 7 points, followed by Ahmed Mansour Primary School in second place with 6 points. Saad Bin Muadh Primary School holds third with 4 points, while Muadh Bin Jabal Primary School sits in fourth without any points.   In Group B, Abdullah Bin Rawaha Primary School for Boys leads with a perfect score of 9 points, followed by Al-Khor Model School for Boys in second place with 6 points. Al-Shahaniya Model School for Boys is in third with 3 points, while Rawdat Rashid Preparatory Secondary School for Boys is in fourth with no points.   Group C sees Ibn Al-Haytham Primary School for Boys topping the standings with 4 points, edging out Abdullah Bin Jassim Al-Thani Primary School for Boys on goal difference, both having 4 points. Al-Dhakhira Model School for Boys rounds out the group in third with no points.  

QOC Boxing Tournament – Knock Out 2024 concludes

DOHA - The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), in collaboration with the Qatar Boxing Federation has organized  the first edition of the  Qatar Olympic Committee Boxing Tournament – Knock Out 2024  at  the Oasis Stage in Mall of Qatar on Friday. The event  received  a big turnout from different age groups and public. The participants have shown good technical skills in  the boxing competitions, where in Junior’s (46kg), Mohammed Al Marri won the first place and   Hamad Al Tamimi finished in the second place , while in  (60kg) Abdulaziz Abdulatif  won the first place and Mohammed Al Sharqawi settled in the second place. In the youth’s (77kg),  Majid Al Edris took the first place and  Ahmed Waleed finished the second place, while in (63.5 kg), Yousef Al-Saied finished in the first place and Faisal Al-Nuaimi took the second place, in  the (75kg), Fras Garmil won the first place and the second place went to Mishaal Dergam, while in the (+ 92), Fares Ali finished in the second place and Cezar Ehab occupied the second place. In the Men’s (80kg),  Abrer Gakooga won the first place and Yahaya Omar finished  in the second place , as in  the  (+92), Mohammed Faras won the first place and Younes bin Tamo took the second place. At  the Award ceremony,  the winners of the three categories were crowned by Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid Al-Athani, the  President of  Qatar Boxing Federation, Mr Serik Sapiyev,  Vice  President for Work with National teams of the Republic of  Kazakhstan in Olympic Sports and  Mr Salah Al-Saadi, Assistant Director of the Sports Events Department at the Qatar Olympic Committee, This event comes  in line with  the QOC’s message of  promoting  sports and physical activities among different segments of  the society.   Notably, the organisation of  these events annually will help discovering new talents who will feed the national teams in the local and international competitions.  Today , Qatar has turned into a capital of the regional and global sports. It annually hosts many major sport events  and  provides a world class infrastructure to  support and develop the sport in all fields . By hosting QOC Tournament-Knock Out 2024, Qatar showcases its commitment to promote the sport culture and  encourages the fair game among all segments of the society . It also maintains its  position as a global hub to discover new talented- youngers and paves their way to the  international competitions.