Team Qatar to take on Cambodia in Football Friendly

DOHA - Qatar players continued their training camp at the Aspire Academy on Wednesday, ahead of the two friendly matches against Cambodia and Jordan, which itself is a tune up for Al Annabi’s Asian Cup title defence next month.  The camp began last Sunday under the watchful eyes of new coach Marquez Lopez, who replaced Portuguese veteran Carlos Queiroz recently. Lopez has picked 27 players for the friendly matches before he trims down the squad for the Asian continental showpiece.  Qatar will take on Cambodia on December 31 in the first friendly, before facing Jordan on January 5. At the Asia Cup, which Qatar will host from January 12-February 10, Lopez’s men are grouped with Lebanon, China and Tajikistan.  Qatar will kick off their campaign against Lebanon at the iconic Lusail Stadium in front of 80,000 spectators on January 12  

Arab Masters Tennis Championships to conclude on Thursday

Doha: The Third Arab Masters Tennis Championships will wrap up in Doha on Thursday when Syrian Mohamed Hazem and Tunisian Mohamed Aziz Dougaz go head-to-head in the final match. The event is being organized by the Qatar Tennis Federation for the first time in Doha from Dec. 24 - 28. Hazem knocked Egyptian Mohamed Safwat 6-0 6-2 in the semifinals while the Tunisian reached the finals by defeating Lebanese Hadi Habib 6-3 7-6.  The Syrian player hailed Qatar's impressive hosting of the event, saying that the Qatari Federation provided everything that would achieve success. Dougaz expressed happiness for playing on the courts that annually host the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, one of the key world tournaments. Tournament Director Sultan Khalfan lauded the high-octane tournament as a good preparation of Arab players for their upcoming continental and international matches, a role played by the Qatar Tennis Federation to back tennis in the Arab world.   

Nada Radwan wins women’s silver medal at GCC Golf Championships

Muscat: Team Qatar star Nada Radwan claimed the silver medal of women’s individual event at the GCC Golf Championships being held at Ghala Golf Club in Muscat, Oman. The event brings together five GCC countries including Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and hosts Oman.  Intissar Rich of UAE claimed the title of Women’s event while her compatriot Alia Alemadi finished third.   

Preparations for 2025 ITTF World Table Tennis Championship to begin in January

DOHA  -  (QNA) - President of the Qatari Table Tennis Association (QTTA) and president of the Arab and Asian federations, First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation Khalil Al Mohannadi revealed that the official preparations for hosting the 2025 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Table Tennis Championships will get underway on Jan. 25, 2024. In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Mohannadi said the federation is due to begin the preparations for the tournament as a committee has been created for that purpose. He added that the official preparations will start out once the hosting contract is signed with ITTF, along with the launch of the game's logo on Jan. 5, 2024, in Doha. He said the official regulatory operation will commence once the hosting flag is handed over to Qatar during the world championship due to be held in the Korean city, Busan next February. Commenting on the preparations for hosting the World Table Tennis (WTT) tournaments at Lusail Multi-Purpose Sports Hall during January 2024, Al Mohannadi indicated that Qatar will host the combined tournaments of the table tennis for the third time, emphasizing the significance of this event because it will be held before Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. He added that all world champions are keen to participate in order to elevate their points credits, affirming that the supreme organizing committee is ready to launch the tournament, as all preparations have been finalized and the committee is expecting the arrival of guests and players in Qatar. QTTA has become one of the best associations and the first one globally in organizing the tournaments, Al Mohannadi confirmed, adding that the tournaments organized in Qatar and China are the best ones globally and this is corroborated by the testimonies of players and all people, he affirmed. He outlined that QTTA has succeeded in overcoming the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic which engulfed all countries of the world, during which QTTA's activities were suspended, but communications were underway with officials in Qatar and the Ministry of Public Health, he said. Subsequently, 6 or 7 international tournaments were organized in Qatar via the quarantine system for one moth and half with the participation of over 800 people and world's champions and were good experience full of success albeit the hard slogs experienced, he noted. Al Mohannadi recalled that 2026 marks the centenary anniversary of the establishment of ITTF, as it prepares for this occasion by holding the celebration event.   

Arab Masters Tennis Championship enters semifinals stage

DOHA - The third edition competitions of Arab Masters Tennis Championship 2023 organized by the Qatar Tennis Squash and Badminton (QTSBF) have reached  the last four stage  at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash complex on Monday. In the quarterfinals stage held on  Monday, Mohammed Hazem of Syria powered past Lebanese opponent Bejamin Hassan with two sets 7-6 and 6-2 and booked spot in the semifinals stage. Egypt’s Mohammed Safwat reached the semifinals stage after defeating Algerian Sameer Raqeeq 6-2 and 6-2, likewise Lebanese Hadi Habeeb beat  Moroccan Yassin Delmi 7-5 and 6-2 to advance to the semifinals and  Tunisia’s Mohammed Aziz got better of  Egyptian Kareem Mamoom  6-2  and 6-3. The event is brining together 16 players, representing eight Arab countries.  

Vale announces Qatar U-23 squad for training camp

Doha: Olympic team coach Ilidio Vale yesterday announced the 30-player national squad for a training camp to prepare for the next year’s AFC U-23 Cup. The players will train in the United Arab Emirates with their camp getting underway on January 7. Qatar will host the AFC U-23 Cup, which will serve as a qualifying event for the Paris Olympics, from April 15-May 3, 2024. The top three finishers of the tournament will directly qualify for Olympics, while the fourth-placed team will face the fourth-placed side of the African U-23 Cup of Nations finals for a ticket to Paris. Qatar are seeking their third appearance at the Games after Los Angeles in 1984, and Barcelona in 1992. SQUAD: Tamim Mansour, Nayef Abdul Rahim, Abdullah Ismail, Khaled Ali, Ahmed Hisham, Hassan Mohamed, Mustafa Essam (Al Rayyan), Youssef Abdullah, Abdullah Badr, Ahmed Mohamed, Mohamed Salem, Naif Humaid (Al Sadd), Abdullah Sir al-Khatm, Jassim Fahd (Al Gharafa), Nabil Irfan, and Youssef Tariq ( Al Wakrah), Mohamed Imad and Jassim Mohamed (Al Ahly), Mahdi Salem and Faisal Mohamed (Al Shamal), Ali Nasser and Mohamed Manai (Al Markhiya), Ali Nader and Ahmed Riyad (Al Khor), Fares Saeed (Al Duhail), Amir Hassan (Al Arabi), Youssef Mohamed (Qatar), Ali Mohamed (Muaither), Al Makki Mohsen (Al Sailiya), and Mustafa al-Sayed Omar (Lusail).