Younousse and Tijan qualify to semi-final

Paris: Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan stormed into the semi-finals of the beach volleyball competition at the Paris Olympic Games on Wednesday. The 13th seeds did not leave many chances to ninth-seeded Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh with a convincing 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) win over the Americans in the quarter-finals at the Eiffel Tower Stadium. The Tokyo Games bronze medallists are undefeated after five matches played in Paris. The Qatari duo will take on world number one, Swedish duo David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, in the semi-final today at 11pm. Younousse and Tijan had defeated Ahman and Hellvig in the group stage and will be hoping for a repeat in the semis. The playful Qatari pair had clearly set out to enjoy themselves with a cheeky style earning the support of a thunderous crowd as they spun the ball on their fingers, clapping and dancing with the crowd between serves. After their victory against Partain and Benesh, they earned a standing ovation and leading the crowd in a dance after reaching victory. In the first set, Partain and Benesh stayed competitive through 12-11 in their favour, when the Qatari pair went on a seven-point run, which pre-decided the outcome. In the second, Younousse and Tijan broke away after 5-5 and never looked back, staying well in control through the end, which came on a Younousse’s ace for 21-16. Younousse’s tally also included five kill blocks and 13 kills in attack towards a 19-point match high. Tijan added 11 points, also including on ace. Benesh, on the other side, also put up five kill blocks to lead his team with a total of 15 points. Meanwhile, Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum will meet Germany’s Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler in the other semi-final today. Second-seeded Mol & Sorum improved to a 5-0 win-loss record in the tournament, after playing a solid match against 18th-seeded Pablo Herrera & Adrian Gavira and eliminating the Spanish team in a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) straight-setter. The end of the match was truly emotional for the thousands of fans at the Eiffel Tower Stadium as they all paid due respect with standing ovations for Athens 2004 Olympic silver medallist Herrera, for whom this was the last Olympic match in his record-breaking six participation. In both sets of the match, the reigning Olympic champions managed to run off with an early lead and then just kept pace to keep the Spaniards at bay and close the sets victoriously, the first one with a kill block by Mol, the second with a successful spike by Sorum. Herrera finished as the best scorer of his last Olympic match with 20 points, including one block. Sorum led the Norwegian team with 19 points, all in attack. Mol added another 16 towards the victory, including five blocks and an ace.  

Qatar’s Samba eyes medal in 400m hurdles

Paris: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba will carry the big hopes of providing the nation with a first medal at the Paris Olympics on Friday when he competes in the men’s 400m hurdles final at Stade de France at 10.45pm Doha Time. The two-time Asian Games champion and 2019 World Championships bronze medallist has been confident throughout of not just qualifying for the final but also winning a medal. Samba had finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. In the semi-final, Samba appeared to have clipped one of the hurdles which slowed him down a bit but he held on to qualifying for the final as one of the two fastest finishers, clocking 48.20 secs. The 28-year-old has had a season’s best time of 47.97secs and a personal best of 46.98secs. He would surely need to push more on that to make his dream of maiden Olympic podium come true. But Samba has been focused. “Good preparation for the semi-final is crucial to achieve my goal of winning a medal. I hope to achieve the desired goal,” he had said prior to the semis. Samba will be facing a fearsome field which includes world record-holder Karsten Warholm – in a fight to retain his title as he goes up against Rai Benjamin, the Tokyo silver medallist who sits second on the world all-time list, and 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos, who claimed bronze in Tokyo and is third fastest in history. Benjamin is the world leader following the 46.46 he registered at the US trials, ahead of Dos Santos, who set his fastest time of the year so far of 46.63 when beating Warholm with 46.70 in Oslo. Between them they have the 17 fastest performances of all time and 24 of the top 25. Warholm had set a world record of 45.94 in Tokyo and would seek an encore.  

Sheikh Joaan meets International Olympic Committee Member

Paris: The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani met with Member of the International Olympic Committee Samira Asghari, on the sidelines of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Asghari is actively promoting sports among Afghan women, having had an inspiring journey from refugee to international basketball player and then the youngest member of the International Olympic Committee.

Sheikh Joaan attends FIFA reception at Paris Olympics

Paris: The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani attended the FIFA reception held at the FIFA House in Paris on Thursday on the sidelines of the 2024 Olympic Games. QOC Secretary-General and Qatar Football Association President Jassim al-Buenain also attended the reception along with members of the FIFA Council and the International Olympic Committee. The FIFA House included a section highlighting the successes of the last edition of the World Cup hosted by Qatar in 2022, highlighting the significant positive impact of this event on world football. This occasion was an opportunity for Qatar to confirm its commitment to continuing to achieve the legacy of the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East and the Arab world. This achievement paved the way for making the region an active partner in the growth and development of football at the regional and international levels, and enhancing the role of sport in promoting understanding and co-operation between peoples. This success also contributed to building confidence in the ability of the countries of the region to host one of the largest sporting events in the world in the future.

Qatar's Fares gears up for 102kg weightlifting challenge at Paris Olympics

Paris: Qatar’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist Fares Ibrahim continues his preparation for the Paris Games, hoping to bag second consecutive title after his triumph in Tokyo. The weightlifter shattered two Games records, setting new marks for the clean and jerk (225kg) and total lift (402kg) to win in the 96kg category in the Tokyo Games.  The 26-year-old will now compete in 102kg starting on Saturday as the 96kg category has been eliminated.  Fares moved his training camp to Paris from Italy where he was training along with the Italian weightlifters. Fares’ father Ibrahim Hassouna, who is also his coach, said that the Italian camp was successful by all standards and that Fares benefited greatly from the coaches.

Samba aims high in 400mh semis

Paris: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba will be in action on Wednesday at 8:35pm in semi-final 2 of Men’s 400m hurdles and will be hoping to finish in top two to reach the final. Samba finished fifth in Tokyo three years ago but has struggled with injuries since then. Samba qualified for the semis after finishing third in his heat in a time of 48.35 seconds, behind Norwegian Karsten Warholm, the defending champion, and Frenchman Clement Ducos.