Qatar’s Shewaiter claims third gold at World Aquatics Masters

Doha: Qatar’s Mohamed Ahmed Shewaiter won his third gold of the World Aquatics Masters Championships – Doha 2024 yesterday. Shewaiter topped the Platform diving event in the 30-34 age group category at the Hamad Aquatic Centre.  He tallied 289.80 points to finish ahead of Britain’s Stephen Raine, who won the silver with 185.70 points. The bronze medal went to Finland’s Aatu Keranen with 179.10 points. Shewaiter had earlier won gold in the 1m and 3m springboard diving. The World Aquatics Masters Championships are the largest aquatic championships dedicated to masters-level athletes. Masters athletes are those aged 25 & over or 30 & over in water polo. The Championships include five of the six disciplines contested at the World Aquatics Championships (there is no high diving competition at the masters championships). The Championships run over ten days across the same venues used for the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.  

Team Qatar to participate in Asian Age Group Aquatics Championship

 Manila -  Team Qatar all set to begin its campaign on Monday at the 11th Asian Age  Group Aquatics Championships , which will run from 26th of February to 9th of March, 2024 in New Clark City in Capas, Philippines. Team Qatar will be represented in the event by 12 swimmers,  Mohammed Mamoud, Abdullah Al Khalidi, Ali Al-Naimi, Tamim Mohammed, Ahmed Ziab, Abdulla Al-Ghamri, Hamza Shaalan, Mohammed Aziz Ismaeel, Abdulla Mohammed , Saad Al Sulaiti, Marwan Ahmed, Ziyad Morsi and Rashid Al Rumaihi. Most notably, team Qatar had a productive training camp in Philippines recently as the team now hopefully to get  better results in this championship.   

Swimming competitions at World Aquatics Masters Championships to begin on Monday

Doha: The swimming competitions at the World Aquatics Masters Championships will begin at Aspire Dome on Monday.  The swimming program follows the full individual event card of the World Aquatics Championships except the 1500m Freestyle in both genders. All six relays are 4 x 50m, with a female medley and freestyle relay, male medley and freestyle relay, and mixed medley and freestyle relay. Swimmers can enter a maximum of five individual events.  In diving competitions, Hironori Tomita and Irina Leontevskaia took the gold medal of 3m Synchro Mixed. Germany's Erik Seibt and Kerstin Happke claimed the silver medal while their compatriots Ulf Krum and Christine Krum finished third.  The World Aquatics Masters Championships are the largest aquatic championships dedicated to masters-level athletes. Masters athletes are those aged 25 & over or 30 & over in water polo. The Championships include five of the six disciplines contested at the World Aquatics Championships (there is no high diving competition at the masters championships). The Championships run over ten days across the same venues used for the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.   

Qatar Officially Receives Flag Ahead of Hosting 2025 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships

BUSAN  - Qatar officially received the flag for the 2025 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships ahead of hosting it in Doha. The tournament will be held in Qatar mid-next year at the Lusail Sports Arena. Concluding the competitions of the 2024 Busan World Championships in South Korea, President of the Korean Table Tennis Association, Ryu Seung Min, handed over the hosting flag to ITTF President Petra Sorling, to be delivered to President of the Qatar Table Tennis Association Khalil Al Mohannadi, during a ceremony attended by a large number of continental federation presidents, ITTF officials, and World Table Tennis (WTT) officials, as well as Qatari federation officials and dignitaries. The Qatari delegation attending the flag handover ceremony in Busan, South Korea, was headed by Khalil Al Mohannadi, included Secretary-General of the Qatar Table Tennis Association Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, Assistant Secretary-General of the Association Ali Sultan Al Muftah, and Abdullah Al Mulla, a member of the Association's Board of Directors. This will be Qatar's second time hosting the championship, making it the only Arab country and the only one in the Middle East to have this honor after successfully hosting the event in 2004. The tournament will feature singles and doubles competitions, totaling 5 events for men's and women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles with a total of 443 matches. The championship will be the ITTF's final test before celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first World Championships in the history of the game in 1926, which will take place at the famous Wembley Stadium in 2026. The Doha 2025 World Championships will also host the ITTF General Assembly meetings, which have been merged to be held annually in the same country hosting the World Championships after the majority approval of votes at the last meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, to reduce costs and to give the opportunity for the largest number of countries to participate. The decision will be implemented immediately starting from the 2025 edition in Doha. The meeting will also witness the election of the ITTF President for the next 4 years until 2029, and the meeting will continue for 4 days after the conclusion of the World Championships. It is worth mentioning that Qatar won the honor of hosting the 2025 World Table Tennis Championships during the voting of member associations to choose the host city on the sidelines of the ITTF General Assembly meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in December 2022, after receiving 57 votes compared to 39 votes for the Spanish city of Alicante.   

Qatar’s Mohamed Shewaiter Wins Second Gold Medal in Diving

DOHA  - Qatar’s Mohamed Shewaiter won gold in the 30-34 age group category of the 3m springboard diving at the World Aquatics Masters Championship, currently held in Doha and will run until Mar. 3. Shewaiter tallied 318.85 points, to finish ahead of Finland’s Aatu Keranen (202.20 points) and Austrias Makro Pervan (223.70 points) as the second gold medal for Shewaiter who was crowned Friday with a gold medal. With the participation of 2,600 male and female athletes, the championship includes five aquatic sports, namely swimming, diving, water polo, rhythmic swimming, and open water swimming held at Aspire Dome, Hamad Aquatic Centre and Hamad Old Port. The World Aquatics Masters Championships are being held for the first time in Doha after it successfully hosted the World Aquatics Championships whose contests wrapped up last Sunday.   

Khachanov ends Mensik’s run to claim Falcon Trophy

DOHA - US-based Russian, Karen Khachanov fulfilled his dream of lifting the Falcon Trophy as he saved four set points before overcoming the fairytale run of teenager Jakub Mensik of Czech Republic 7-6(12), 6-4 in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Saturday. It was the 27-year-old Khachanov’s his sixth tour-level crown and first of this season. The victory also fetched Khachanov the glittering Falcon Trophy which he received from Minister of Sport and Youth HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, and a cheque of $212,300 from Qatar Tennis Federation President Nasser bin Ghanim Al Khelaifi. In a heavy-hitting battle, Khachanov ensured that he did not drop a set all week. Khachanov fended off four set points in the opener before he stepped in on the 18-year-old’s second serve at 12/13, crushing a forehand return to gain a one-set advantage on his fourth set point. Khachanov, who is up two spots to No. 15 in the ATP Live Rankings, built upon his momentum to break Mensik’s serve in the opening game of the second set. It deflated a dream week for the teen, who was competing in just his third tour-level event and had become the youngest finalist in Doha tournament history. “Every title is a special one,” Khachanov said in his on-court interview. “Every time, you want to win. We play around 22 tournaments per season and at the end of the day, you compete every week. For sure here in Doha it is one of the nicest trophies. “I thought yesterday’s (tie-break) was preparation for today, 14/12 [against Alexei Popyrin]. Today I couldn’t believe it was the same score, same tie-break... I stayed strong, I’m extremely happy that I won the first set. It lifted me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence to step up in the second.” Both players fired booming serves throughout the one-hour, 49-minute encounter, precisely hitting their targets and searching for the first opportunity to step inside the court. “For a minute, I thought I was playing John Isner and not Jakub Mensik today,” Khachanov said with a laugh during the trophy presentation regarding Mensik’s 16 aces. Khachanov did not face a break point all match as he won 83 per cent of points behind his first delivery. He maintained hefty firepower from the baseline and held the advantage in backhand cross-court rallies to claim his first title since Zhuhai last September. Mensik impressed throughout the entire week in Doha, where he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and three former champions — Andy Murray, top seed Andrey Rublev and Gael Monfils — en route to his first tour-level final. The Prostejov native is up to a career-high No. 87 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and will make his Top 100 debut on Monday. Mensik also holds the top spot in the ATP Race to Jeddah as he aims for his first trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals. The 6’4” Czech took advantage of a Next Gen reserved spot into the ATP 250 as part of new opportunities for players aged 20 and under. Players inside the Top 350 receive up to eight ATP Challenger Tour 100 and 125 opportunities. But as a Top 250 player Mensik also receives one opportunity in an ATP 250 main draw (and two ATP 250 qualifying events). “For sure this week will be unforgettable for me,” Mensik said. “From the beginning, I didn’t even get to this tournament on my own ranking. I had to use the Next Gen spot, so I tried to enjoy every moment on the court. I didn’t expect that I will go through to the final. So I’m really happy with my performance.” Jamie Murray, Venus win doubles title Jamie Murray and Michael Venus collected their first title of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open after they survived Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(0), 2-6, 10-8 in Saturday’s final. The British-Kiwi team, who won four team titles in 2023, dropped just one set all week en route to the ATP 250 crown. The Doha triumph comes as a welcome sight for Murray and Venus, who entered the week winless in 2024 (Murray playing two events, Venus playing five events). Musetti and Sonego, both Top 50 singles players in the ATP Rankings, were competing in their first tour-level doubles final as a team.