Team Qatar win Skeet Mixed Team gold medal at ISSF World Cup

Cairo: Team Qatar stars Rashid Al Athba and Reem Al Sharshani claimed the gold medal of Skeet Mixed Team at ISSF World Cup to be concluded in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday.  On other hand, Team Qatar star Reem Al Sharshani took the bronze medal of women's skeet event during the same tournament.  Team Qatar Squad:  Rashid Al Athba, Mohamed Dablan, Saeed Abu Shareb, Reem Al Sharshani, Hager Mohammed, Sarah Mohamed and Kholoud Al Khalaf. 

Team Qatar claim 4 medals at West Asian Para Games

Sharjah: Team Qatar stars claimed four medals at the 4th West Asian Para Games being held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates until February 03.  The 4th edition of the Games brings together 513 athletes from 12 countries including Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Yemen and hosts UAE.  Ali Radi Arshad claimed the silver medal of 400m event and the bronze medal of 100m event.  Abdulrahman Abdulqadir took the bronze medal of men's shotput event while Sara Masoud clinched the bronze of women's shotput competition.  In goalball competitions, Qatar defeated UAE 13-5 and Oman 9-5.  On the other hand, Team Qatar stars will participate in Sharja Para Athletics Meeting to begin on February 03. 

Fencers shine in Grand Prix Epee Championship

DOHA -  Fencers kept impressive performance in the  second day’s competitions of Fencing Grand Prix Epee Championship 2024   for men and women , which is  running  from 29 to 31 January, 2024 at lusail Sport Arena. In the Men’s preliminary stage competitions,  British Alec Brooke got better of  Hungarian David Nagy 15-11,  France’s Luigi Middleton defeated Korean Kim Jayon 15-9, Japanese  Masaro Yamada edged out Andre Ligons of Argentine 15-6 and Japanese Akira Komata beat Italian Simon Mankarilly 15-9. The three- day tournament brings together 500 fencers, representing 60 countries, among them 11 Arab countries, Qatar, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Lebanon. Fencing Grand Prix Epee Championship Qatar 2024, one of the most significant world tournaments annually hosted by the Qatar Fencing Federation and  attracts top seeded fencers who fight tooth and nail to collect points that can help them improve their world ranking.

Doha International Equestrian Tour to be staged again in 2025

Doha: Following the exceptional success achieved by this year’s edition of the Doha International Equestrian Tour Championship, the tournament’s organizing committee has announced the decision to continuously hold the event in the coming years starting 2025, with the participation of more quality of riders locally, regionally and internationally, and categories with different grades, multiple heights, and prize-money of more than Euros 2 million. The 2024 Doha Tour held over three rounds, by the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) in a strategic partnership with the Qatar Olympic Committee and Al Shaqab, in as many weeks recently concluded at Al Shaqab’s Longines outdoor arena on January 27 and with stupendous success. It saw a high percentage of public attendance with more than 15,000 tickets sold. As many as 201 riders from 21 countries took part in the opening round including 93 Qatari riders and 32 from GCC countries. The second round had 248 male and female riders, including 89 internationally ranked riders. The third round had the highest participation with 265 male and female riders, including 93 internationally ranked riders. The Tour consisted of 3 international rounds, where the first and second rounds were allocated to the two-star and four-star categories, while the third and final round was allocated to the five-star and two-star categories. The Tour also witnessed the allocation of rounds for future riders, with the Qatar Equestrian Federation providing them the opportunity to compete at international level. Sheikh Ahmed bin Noah Al Thani, Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee of the tournament, praised the great success achieved by the Doha Tour, stressing that this success was an impetus in taking the decision to extend the contract for organizing the tournament. Sheikh Ahmed stressed that the championship embodies one of the most important strategic goals of the QEF, which is to develop and raise the level of riders’ performance and enhance their experience, especially giving them the opportunity to interact with the best riders in the world in the sport of show jumping. He stated: “We look forward to organizing the next edition with higher financial prizes with an increase in the number of riders and the number of rounds. All of this will be after an evaluation study of the current edition by the relevant work teams of the organizing committee. The Doha International Equestrian Tour has become a tournament approved on the federation’s calendar. “The International Equestrian Club will give participating riders the opportunity to earn points that will enhance their international ranking,” he added. It is worth noting that the Doha International Equestrian Tours reflect the efforts of the QEF, in cooperation with relevant authorities, in promoting sports tourism and Doha as the sports capital. Saudi rider Abdullah Al Sharbatly won the Grand Prix title for the five-star category at Doha Tour 2024 after an exciting round of distinction in which four riders competed, achieving a time of 39.43 seconds. Brazilian rider Santiago Lamber had finished second place and Denmark’s Rikki Belinda Parker was third.  

Qatar Goalball Team hold Saudi Arabia to draw in West Asian Para Games

Sharjah: Qatar goalball team began their campaign at the 4th West Asian Para Games with a 8-8 draw with Saudi Arabia on Monday.  The 4th edition of the Games is held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates until February 03 with participation of 513 athletes from 12 countries including Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Yemen and hosts UAE.  Team Qatar will play another two games on Tuesday where they will take on UAE and Jordan.  Team Qatar squad:  Mohammed Hamam Al Hamad, Ikrami Ahmed, Basheer Al Kahlout, Abdulhadi Al Marri, Abbad Al Shamali and Nouradin Ahraf. 

Hosts Qatar power past Palestine to reach AFC Asian Cup last eight

DOHA - Impressive Qatar continued to show steel and cohesiveness as the defending champions booked their place in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 quarter-finals with a 2-1 comeback win over Palestine at Al Bayt Stadium on Monday. With the win, the host nation are set to return to Al Bayt Stadium to face the winners of the Uzbekistan and Thailand last 16 tie on Saturday, while Palestine’s journey ends after a historic first knockout stage appearance and six goals scored, having previously only ever netted one AFC Asian Cup goal in six matches across the 2015 and 2019 editions. Emotions flowed as a young girl in the crowd held up a sign that said “Sorry Palestine” after the final whistle. Palestine coach Makram Daboub said he was proud of his “champions” as their best Asian Cup came to an end in the last 16. Daboub said his players “gave everything despite the very difficult circumstances”. “I can’t ask any more of them – they have honoured Palestinian football,” he said. Palestine were playing in the knockout rounds for the first time and, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. After a cagey start to the game, the first challenge for Meshal Barsham came in the 19th minute when Amid Mahajna tried his luck from 25 yards out, but the Qatari goalkeeper made a fine diving save. Barsham was called into action again minutes later when Mahmoud Abu Warda moved into the free space down the left flank and met Zeid Qunbar’s lay-off with the outside of his left boot, but once more the Qatar keeper was able to make the save. It was third time lucky for the Palestinians when Oday Dabbagh took matters into his own hands, embarking on a mazy solo run and making his way past two Qatari defenders before aiming for and finding the bottom corner of the goal to open the scoring with his third AFC Asian Cup goal eight minutes before the break. Dabbagh’s strike was the first goal Qatar conceded in the tournament, and only the second in the AFC Asian Cup since 2015. Seconds before the first half came to a close, Akram Afif and Hassan Al Haydos combined from the corner-kick just like they did for the winner against China. This time, Afif’s delivery was along the floor and Al Haydos made the run towards the penalty spot before hitting it first-time, his shot was deflected off Musab Al Battat and landed in the back of the Palestine net for the equaliser. The hosts picked up right where they left off after the restart and their attacking momentum forced defender Mohammed Saleh into a mistake as he caught Almoez Ali inside the box with a sliding tackle. Afif stepped up and emphatically converted home his side’s second. The playmaker’s goal and assist on the night took his tally to 17 goal contributions in the AFC Asian Cup, including 12 assists, three times as many as any other player in the tournament since 2011. Afif came close to doubling his tally for the night late into the second half when he lined-up a free-kick from 20 yards out, curling it past the defensive wall, but his shot passed just over the crossbar. Goalkeeper Rami Hamada made a confident save to deny Qatar a third goal through Abdulaziz Hatem’s strike from the edge of the box and at the other end, Islam Batran looked to find the net from distance but skied his effort for the game to end with a 2-1 win for the hosts.