Heslop claims high diving gold medal

Doha: Aidan Heslop produced a breath-taking closing dive to become world champion for the first time in his young career in the Men's 27m high diving event in Doha. On the other hand, China’s Pan Zhanle backed up his men’s 100m freestyle world record by winning the world title in Doha on Thursday in a warning to rivals for the Paris Olympics gold medal. The 19-year-old did not threaten the stunning 46.80 seconds mark he set with the leadoff swim in Sunday’s relay at the World Championships but 47.53 was enough to secure his first individual world gold at the Aspire Dome pool. He had to fight for it, though, with Italian runner-up Alessandro Miressi and Hungary’s bronze medallist Nandor Nemeth threatening to upset the Chinese favourite in a furious finish. “I was a bit nervous because this is my first individual final at the World Championships,” Pan told reporters. “My time was just so-so. I tried my best but my level was not that strong. I know it’s only the beginning. Let’s meet in Paris.” Pan was strong favourite for the title but Canadian Finlay Knox’s 200 metres individual medley title was something of a surprise. The United States’ Fukuoka runner-up Carson Foster had bigger claims but Knox took him down from lane seven in the final freestyle leg to win in 1:56.64. Italy’s Alberto Razzetti claimed bronze. “Historically, I’m pretty slow with backstroke (but) the last 50 everyone knows you just have   to dig deep and go for it,” said Knox. In a modest field lacking all of the Fukuoka medallists, Briton Laura Stephens won the women’s 200m butterfly title in 2:07.35, pipping Denmark’s Helena Bach by less than a tenth of a second. Bosnia’s 18-year-old Lana Pudar took bronze and enjoyed the biggest cheers of the night from a rowdy pocket of Bosnian fans. CURZAN WINS AGAIN American Claire Curzan continued her fruitful campaign by winning the non-Olympic 50m breaststroke in 27.43 seconds, pipping Australian surprise package Iona Anderson by 0.02 seconds. Having missed out on a spot in the United States’ World Championships team to Fukuoka last July, Curzan now has four medals, including golds in the 100m backstroke and mixed medley relay. Olympic silver medallist Siobhan Haughey eased into the women’s 100m freestyle final, a day after becoming Hong Kong’s first swimming world champion with her 200m win. Haughey, runner-up behind Mollie O’Callaghan in the 100m at last year’s event in Fukuoka, qualified second behind the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen. World record holder Sarah Sjostrom was entered in the 100m but did not swim. The Swedish veteran told home media this month she is not planning to compete in the event at Paris. With world champion Tatjana Schoenmaker skipping Doha, American Kate Douglass is on track for a second title at the meet, qualifying second for the 200m breaststroke final on Friday. The Netherlands’ Tes Schouten is top seed with a time of 2:21.50. Douglass, who won the 200m individual medley this week, was runner-up to South African Schoenmaker in the 200m breaststroke last year. Finland’s Olympic bronze medallist Matti Mattsson qualified fourth for the men’s 200 breaststroke final on Friday, with American Jake Foster top seed with a time of 2:08.78.  

Sheikh Joaan meets Yusra Mardini and World Aquatics Refugee team athletes in Doha

Doha- His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani today met with World Aquatics Refugee team athletes Mohamad Eyad Masoud and Alaa Maso and World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 ambassador and former refugee athlete Yusra Mardini at the Qatar Olympic Committee. HE Sheikh Joaan, President of the Doha 2024 Organising Committee and Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) welcomed the athletes for the first-ever World Aquatics Championships to be held in Qatar and the Middle East and reiterated Qatar’s long-standing commitment to supporting refugees through sport. The QOC is a proud partner of the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF), and HE Sheikh Joaan serves as a board member of the organisation which supports the training of refugee athletes across the globe.  During the meeting the athletes shared their experiences of competing in Doha with Masoud competing in the men’s 50m and 100m butterfly and Maso in the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle in Doha. Mardini retired from competitive swimming following her participation at Tokyo 2020 in the Refugee Olympic team, but the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador is here in Doha as an Ambassador to encourage more young people in the region to get involved in aquatics.  HE Sheikh Joaan said: “It is inspiring to see both Mohamed Eyad Masoud and Alaa Maso compete at the World Aquatics Championships, and it was a pleasure to speak with them and former Refugee Olympic Team athlete Yusra Mardini.  “We praise World Aquatics and an increasing number of International Federations, in opening up their events to refugee athletes. This is vitally important not just in giving refugee athletes access to sport and its transformative power, but also in giving them a platform to showcase their talent, raise awareness, and inspire millions around the world.” Masoud currently lives and trains in New Zealand and Maso in Germany with both athletes supported by the ORF, who also helped Mardini achieve her Olympic dream. During the meeting, HE Sheikh Joaan focused on the important role that sport can play in unifying different cultures and its position as a powerful tool to help refugees and other displaced people integrate into their new societies. After the meeting, Masoud emphasised the role of the ORF in ensuring refugees across the world can continue training and competing and thanked all ORF’s partners for their continued support. “Unfortunately, conflicts across the globe have destroyed sports facilities and forced athletes to flee their homes, and their countries. With the support of the ORF and World Aquatics athletes like myself, Alaa and Yusra are able to achieve our dreams, despite the difficulties we have faced. We cannot thank them enough.” Masoud said .  

Swiatek on course for third title, Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reach semi-final

Doha: World number one Iga Swiatek moved closer to a third successive Qatar TotalEnergies Open title when she defeated 2012 and 2013 champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 in 74 minutes in the quarter-finals yesterday to set up a semi-final clash with 2017 champion Karolína Plíšková, who knocked out Japan’s Naomi Osaka 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-5) in the last match of the day. Polish 22-year-old Swiatek is now 12-1 at the Gulf tournament, with her only defeat coming in the 2020 second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Former World No.1 Azarenka double-faulted in the ninth game to hand Swiatek the first break. The top seed served it out before racing through the second set without facing a break point. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will clash for a place in Saturday's final. Third seed and former Wimbledon champion Rybakina came from 4-2 down in the first set to defeat 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-2. Pavlyuchenkova secured her first 1000-level hardcourt semi-final in 14 years with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Danielle Collins of the United States. "I hope it will be a good match, we know each other well, both on and off the court," said Rybakina, of her clash with Pavlyuchenkova. Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 32 in the world, needed one hour and 34 minutes to see off Collins, a former world number seven who had to qualify this week. The 32-year-old player only stutter came in the first set when she coughed up a 5-2 lead, but she regrouped to take it 7-5 and went on to claim victory on her first match point. "I was injured for a long time, so I'm happy to be back and able to fight on all points, and victories give me confidence," said Pavlyuchenkova in the post-match court interview.

Quadarella regains 1500m freestyle title; Hwang wins in 200m

Doha- Simona Quadarella regained the 1500m freestyle world title in Doha yesterday while the United States dominated the backstroke and Hwang Sun-Woo reached out to grab his first world title Quadarella, a 25-year-old Italian, won her first world title in the longest pool distance in Gwangju, South Korea, in 2019, when the dominant women’s middle-distance swimmer, Katie Ledecky was absent, ill. The American has won every major 800m and 1500m since then, but with Ledecky skipping Doha ahead of the Paris Olympics, Quadarella leapt up to the top step of the podium with a dominating swim. She finished in 15min 46.99sec, 9.63sec ahead of Li Bingjie of China with German Isabel Gose just behind in third. None of the other finalists broke 16 minutes. Hwang, a 20-year-old South Korean, made the most of the absence of world record holder David Popovici to win the men’s 200m freestyle. After losing the lead on the third 50, the South Korean then caught American Luke Hobson in the final metres to win in 1:45.05. Lithuanian Danas Rapsys also finished fast to take second, 0.3sec behind, with Hobson third at 0.51. Claire Curzan, a 19-year-old American, led from the start to win the women’s 100m backstroke in a time of 58.29sec. She was 0.83 ahead of Australian 18-year-old Iona Anderson. Hunter Armstrong immediately followed by taking the men’s race edging his university teammate, Hugo Gonzalez, a Spaniard by 0.2sec. Another 19-year-old, Tang Qianting of China won the closing event of the evening, the women’s 100m breast-stroke by 0.55 sec from Tes Schouten of the Netherlands. Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, previously a freestyle specialist, faded to third on the second 50.  

Sheikh Joaan Meets with IOC Member Anant Singh

Doha – His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the World Aquatics Championships - Doha 2024, met today with Mr. Anant Singh, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), on the sidelines of the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024, currently taking place in Doha. The meeting focused on a number of topics of common interest, particularly with regard to the Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled to take place in July and August. Additionally, His Excellency Sheikh Joaan attended the final of the women’s high diving competition at the World Aquatics Championships taking place today at the Doha Old Port.

Rhiannan Iffland claims fourth high diving world title in Doha

Doha: Rhiannan Iffland made up a 14.50-point deficit on her final two dives on Wednesday to win her fourth consecutive world title. Canada’s Molly Carlson earned her second straight silver. Jessica Macaulay closed her career with her third bronze in a row. On another competitive day of World Aquatics Champions - Doha 2024 on Wednesday, Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong captured her first long-course world title in the women’s 200-meter freestyle while Japan’s Tomoru Honda claimed the biggest victory of his career in the 200 butterfly. Matching the feat, Daniel Wiffen used a strong finishing kick to capture the men’s 800 freestyle for Ireland’s first medal ever at the world championships. Meanwhile, Sam Williamson gave Australia their first swimming gold of the competition in the 50m breaststroke. For British star Adam Peaty, it was another disappointment at the Aspire Dome after a long layoff to deal with mental health issues. The world-record holder finished fourth in the 50 breast, just missing the podium after a third-place showing in the 100 breast. Haughey, a three-time champion at the short-course worlds, finally touched first in the big pool after years of close calls. She was the Olympic silver medalist in both the 100 and 200 free at the Tokyo Games, in addition to a runner-up finish in the 100 free at last summer’s world championships in Fukuoka. Also, Haughey finished fourth in the 200 free - just off the podium - at both the 2019 and 2023 worlds. “This really means a lot to me,” she said. “It’s nice to finally see the No. 1 next to my name.” Haughey added to a bronze medal she won a day earlier in the 100 breaststroke, a surprising result in an event she swam “just for fun.” She will face a much stiffer challenge at the Paris Olympics, where the 200 free will include Australian stars Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus, who were among the many no-shows for Doha. “I feel like I can do a lot better,” Haughey said. “Paris is the main target, so hopefully tweak and fine-tune some things the next few months and I can have an even better swim in Paris.” The first swimmer from Hong Kong to capture an Olympic medal was under world-record pace through 150 meters and held on at the end to win in 1 minute, 54.89 seconds. She finished well off O’Callaghan’s mark of 1:52.85 set at last year’s worlds. The silver went to New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather at 1:55.77, giving her another medal after a victory in the 400 free. Australia’s Brianna Throssell took the bronze at 1:56.00. Honda, who was silver medalist in the 200 fly at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medalist in the event at the last two worlds, was first this time in 1:53.88. “I’m so happy,” Honda said. Italy’s Alberto Razzetti claimed the silver in 1:54.65, with the bronze going to Austria’s Martin Espernberger at 1:55.16. Wiffen used a strong finishing kick in the grueling 800 free to capture the historic gold for Ireland in 7:40.94. “I really wanted to win this one,” said Wiffen, the short-course world record holder in the 800 free. Elijah Winnington of Australia claimed the silver at 7:42.95, while Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri - the 2019 world champion in the event - faded at the end to settle for bronze in 7:42.98. Australia, which sent a small team to Doha that didn’t include most of its top stars, finally reached the top of the medal podium with Williamson’s victory in the 50 breast. He touched first at 26.32 in the furious dash from one end of the pool to the other, followed by Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi (26.39) and American Nic Fink (26.49). “I’m really at a loss for words,” Williamson said. “Just getting a chance to race these guys, they’re my heroes. It’s pretty special.” Peaty was a bit further back at 26.77. Fink returned for the final event of the night, helping the U.S. to a dominating victory in the mixed 4x100 medley relay. Fink, Hunter Armstrong, Claire Curzan and Kate Douglass posted a time of 3:40.22, nearly 3 seconds ahead of silver medalist Australia at 3:43.12. Britain took the bronze in 3:45.09. At the halfway point of eight days of swimming in Doha, the Americans lead the table with five golds and 10 medals overall. In water polo, United States and Hungary advanced to the Friday final in women’s water polo. In the semifinals, the Americans knocked off Spain 11-9 and Hungary defeated Greece 13-11.