WTT Contender Doha 2024 gets underway

Doha: The qualifiers of WTT Contender Doha 2024 began at Lusail Arena in Doha on Monday.  Alexandre Cassin of France defeated Andrej Gacina of Croatia 3-0 while Ibrahima Diaw  of Senegal edged past Feng Yi-Hsin  of Chinese Taipei.  Moreover, Cho Daeseong of South Korea overpowered Filip Zeljko of Croatia and Emmanuel Lebesson of France beat Adrian Rassen of Belgium  3-1.  Headlining the Men's Singles entries is Lin Yun-Ju. While Lin was absent from the 2023 edition, the Chinese Taipei star is more than familiar with Lusail Sport Arena. In 2021 the World No.6 made a run all the way to the final, before going down to Dimitrij Ovtcharov.  Another 2021 standout making a return to Contender Doha this year is Tomokazu Harimoto. Falling in the semifinal at his last showing in Qatar to Ovtcharov, Harimoto will be a favourite for the title this time around. With just a quarterfinal Contender appearance to his name in 2023, the World No.11 will want to kickstart the new season on a better foot. WTT Series stalwarts Jang Woojin, Mattias Falck and Patrick Franziska will also all be headed to Doha in search of the first Contender title of the year.  

Sheikh Joaan meets with former team Qatar handball coach

DOHA - His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), met on Tuesday with Mr. Valero Rivera Lopez, the former team Qatar handball coach. H.E QOC President, thanked the Spanish coach for his astounding contributions, and achievements during his period as the national handball team coach, most notebly, securing the second place in the Men’s Handball World Championship Qatar 2015 and winning the Asian Handball Championship 5 times consecutively. For his part, Mr. Valero expressed his sincere gratitude to H.E QOC President for his support and said he was truly proud to work with the national handball team to secure these amazing achievements. The meeting was attended by His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Rashid Al-buenain, the Secretary General of Qatar Olympic Committee.

Team Qatar defeat Kuwait in Asian Handball Championship

Manama: Qatar men’s handball team defeated Kuwait 24-20 on Tuesday to keep their perfect record at the Asian Men’s  Handball  Championship  2023 .  With the two teams already secured their places in the  main  round  of  the  event, Tuesday’s victory braced Qatar to lead group A. Team Qatar  are  looking  to  extend  their  remarkable  legacy, having clinched the Asian title in the last five editions  (2014,  2016,  2018,  2020,  and  2022). Additionally, they aim to secure their  spot  in  the  World  Championship for the 10th time  in  history,  following  successful appearances in Portugal   2003,   Tunisia   2005, Germany 2007, Spain 2013,  Qatar  2015,  France  2017,     Germany     and     Denmark 2019, Egypt 2021, and  Poland  and  Sweden  202  

QSF 1 PSA Satellite Squash Tournament begins

Doha: The competitions of QSF 1 PSA Satellite Squash Tournament began at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.  The event brings together 16 national and international players.  Team Qatar squad includes Salim Al Malki, Waleed Zaman, Khalid Al Mohannad, Marawan Hussain, Mohammed Al Khalaf and Abdullah Khalifa.  The Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi said, “It is an important tournament for our young squash players as it provides them with opportunity to gain more ranking points."  Al Mohannadi also stressed that the federation is keen to organize this type of events to promote squash in the state of Qatar and help national team’s players participate in international tournaments.   

Curtain comes down on WTT Star Contender Doha 2024

Doha: Wang Chuqin is the talk of the town in Doha for the second week running, after landing his second Men’s Singles title in eight days with a 4-2 win over Lin Shidong (11-8, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5) in a thrilling conclusion to WTT Star Contender Doha 2024. Celebrating a magnificent end to the 2023 season with his run to a second WTT Finals title at last week’s WTT Finals Men Doha 2023, Wang was ready to double down in the Qatari capital as he looked to reduce the gap to Fan Zhendong at the top of the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings. With injury prompting Fan to withdraw from the title race on Day 3, Wang was presented with the perfect opportunity to close in on the World No.1, with 600 world ranking points up for grabs for the event winner. But his first focus was on Lin Shidong. Two players at different points in their careers, the odds were heavily stacked in Wang’s favour heading into the final. But the World No.2 wasn’t prepared to take his opponent lightly, especially off the back of Lin’s crushing 3-0 win over No.4 seed Liang Jingkun in the last four (11-6, 14-12, 11-6). Ruthlessly dispatching every opportunity that came his way, Wang wasn’t feeling in a charitable mood in Saturday’s final, and looked a class above in the early stages of the match, pouncing on every loose ball as Lin struggled to keep pace. Wang Chuqin is the talk of the town in Doha for the second week running, after landing his second Men’s Singles title in eight days with a 4-2 win over Lin Shidong (11-8, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5) in a thrilling conclusion to WTT Star Contender Doha 2024. Celebrating a magnificent end to the 2023 season with his run to a second WTT Finals title at last week’s WTT Finals Men Doha 2023, Wang was ready to double down in the Qatari capital as he looked to reduce the gap to Fan Zhendong at the top of the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings. With injury prompting Fan to withdraw from the title race on Day 3, Wang was presented with the perfect opportunity to close in on the World No.1, with 600 world ranking points up for grabs for the event winner. But his first focus was on Lin Shidong. Two players at different points in their careers, the odds were heavily stacked in Wang’s favour heading into the final. But the World No.2 wasn’t prepared to take his opponent lightly, especially off the back of Lin’s crushing 3-0 win over No.4 seed Liang Jingkun in the last four (11-6, 14-12, 11-6). Ruthlessly dispatching every opportunity that came his way, Wang wasn’t feeling in a charitable mood in Saturday’s final, and looked a class above in the early stages of the match, pouncing on every loose ball as Lin struggled to keep pace. Facing a mammoth task just two games into the contest, Lin couldn’t afford to let the margin widen to three games, and looked much more at it in game three, showing better composure in the fast exchanges to open up a promising 8-10 lead. The 18-year-old then opted for time out at 9-10, a decision that would eventually pay off as he closed out the game 10-12 to make things interesting. It didn’t take long for Wang to dampen Lin’s spirits again, hitting back immediately in game four to inch closer to the title. Lin was now in must-win territory, and put up a brave fight, showing great defensive prowess to catch Wang out with a high lob at 4-8. Showing signs of frustration for the first time in the final, Wang struggled to move on from the missed opportunity, allowing Lin just enough room to pull a game back. The crowd inched closer to the edge of their seats as Lin won three of the opening four points in game six to threaten a comeback. But Wang kept his cool, claiming 10 of the following 12 points to kickstart the celebrations with a fist pump to the crowd. Wang Chuqin now has clear daylight as the leading name atop the list of WTT Series event champions, boasting seven Men’s Singles trophies. The 23-year-old left-hander also came away with another accolade earlier in the day, as he and Sun Yingsha combined to beat Lin Shidong and Kuai Man in an end-to-end Mixed Doubles final (12-10, 14-12, 3-11, 5-11, 11-6). While it may not have been Lin Shidong’s day, the 18-year-old star can leave Doha with his head held high, proving he has the ability to compete with the best. His day will surely come, but for now it’s Wang Chuqin who takes the plaudits. on the other hand, Sun Yingsha has started the new season just as impressively as she finished the last, picking up a ninth Women’s Singles title on the WTT Series with a 4-1 victory over Chen Meng (11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 11-7, 12-10) on the final day of play at WTT Star Contender Doha 2024.

Curtains come down on Arab Aquatics Age Group Championships

DOHA – The  six-day competition of the Arab Aquatics Age Group Championship 2024 were successfully concluded at the Aspire Dome on Monday. The event closing day has seen a perfect swimming from teams in  open water class , Tunisia team claimed the first  place, Morrocco finished second , while the third place went to Syrian team. Earlier in Sunday’s  competitions,  team Qatar won two medals including one silver medal and one bronze medal at the 5km open water event of the Second Arab Aquatics Age Group Championships.  Mohamed Ismail took the silver medal of boys event (14-15 years) after finishing the race in 1.09.29 hours behind Rami Rahmouni of Tunisia who claimed the gold medal while Adam Ahmed of Sudan finished third.  At the medal ceremony on Monday,  Khaleel Al Jaber, Director General of the local Organising Committee of Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships and Taha Al Kishry, President of Arab Swimming Federation crowned the top three winners.