QSF 5 2023 gets underway

Doha: Day one of the QSF 5 2023 came to an end yesterday as 16 players looked to secure places in round two of the Challenger 30 event. France’s Maceo Levy scored the only seeding upset of the round as he overcame Egypt’s Khaled Labib in straight games. The Frenchman has never met Labib before on the PSA World Tour but showed no signs of nerves in the opening two games as he was firing from the first point and established a 2-0 lead in no time, wining 11-4, 11-6. Labib started to wake up in game three and made life uncomfortable for the confident Frenchman. Despite the Labib comeback, Levy did enough to hang on as the game entered a tiebreak and won 14-12 to move into round two. He’ll now face top seed and local hero Abdulla Al Tamimi. The successful Commonwealth Games doubles pair Declan James and James Willstrop were both in action in round one and both secured their spots in the second round. The returning Declan James needed to recover from a game down to defeat Hong Kong’s Matthew Lai, whereas Willstrop had no trouble in beating Belgium’s Joeri Hapers 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 in just 23 minutes. There were two further English winners on day one as James Peach and Finnlay Withington both won 3-0 against Qatari opposition. Egyptian duo Seif El-Shenawy and Aly Hussein ensured they would be facing a top eight seed after they scored contrasting wins on the opening day. El-Shenawy had to battle hard against talented Malaysian Ong Sai Hung, battling back from a game down to clinch the final two games both 11-9. Hussein had no such trouble as he defeated one of two event wildcards Yousef Essam Farag 3-0. Results: Round One Macéo Lévy (FRA) bt [9/16] Khaled Labib (EGY) 11-4, 11-6, 14-12 (28m) [9/16] Declan James (ENG) bt Matthew Lai (HKG) 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (42m) [9/16] Seif El-Shenawy (EGY) bt Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 (42m) [9/16] Ivan Pérez Saavedra (ESP) bt Tomo Endo (JPN) 11-13, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (51m) [9/16] James Peach (ENG) bt Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (30m) [9/16] Finnlay Withington (ENG) bt [WC] Waleed Zaman (QAT) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (22m) [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [WC] Yousef Essam Farag (QAT) 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 (34m) [9/16] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Joeri Hapers (BEL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (23m) Draw: Round Two [1] Abdulla Altamimi (QAT) v Macéo Lévy (FRA) [8] Simon Herbert (ENG) v [9/16] Declan James (ENG) [6] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [9/16] Seif El-Shenawy (EGY) [3] George Parker (ENG) v [9/16] Ivan Pérez Saavedra (ESP) [4] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) v [9/16] James Peach (ENG) [7] Rui Soares (POR) v [9/16] Finnlay Withington (ENG) [5] Lucas Serme (FRA) v [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY) [2] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v [9/16] James Willstrop (ENG)  

Qatar Olympic Academy to celebrate graduates of Advanced Sport Management Course on Tuesday

DOHA – The  Qatar Olympic Academy (QOA) will hold the graduation ceremony for students of batches 12th and 13th of  Advanced Sport Management Course for the  academic year  2022-2023 at  the Qatar Olympic Committee Headquarters on Tuesday. Tuesday  graduation ceremony  will  be  organized  under  the auspices of  the  President of  the  Qatar Olympic Committee and the QOA ,  H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani at  9:30  AM at the  Losail Hall at  the QOC building.     On this occasion, the  Qatar Olympic Academy will  launch its new  look website to  help  students and trainees be more accessible to the  educational, academic and sport services proved by the QOA. The QOA was selected by the IOC to be among the first 20 Olympic committees in the world to implement this program, which was launched in 2008. Since its inception, more than 500 students from inside and outside the country have taken part in the program.   

Turkmenistan’s Matyakubov secures two gold medals

Doha: Turkmenistan’s Shahzadbek Matyakubov stood out in the men’s 96 kg category, securing two gold medals at the Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II on Monday. At the Ladies Hall of Aspire, Matyakubov topped the clean and jerk lifting 167-204-371 while Armenian Davit Hovhannisyan claimed the gold in the snatch, lifting 170 kg, while finishing with 170-200-370. North Korea’s Yang Tae Bong won the silver in clean and jerk, lifting 161-201-362 to also secure the overall bronze medal. Belarusian Petr Asayonak secured the bronze medal in the snatch by lifting 162 kg while finishing sixth overall. In the women’s 76 kg category, Chun Hui Jong showed North Korea’s dominance in the Championship once again, winning a trio of gold medals in 115-135-250. Lithuanian Gintare Brazaite won three silver medals with lifts of 100-125-225, while USA’s Alexia Gonzalez claimed all three bronze medals, lifting 93-114-207. HE Mohammed bin Youssef Al Mana, First Vice-President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, President of the Qatari and Arab Asian Weightlifting Federations, participated in the champions’ crowning ceremony on Monday. Meanwhile, Qatar’s weightlifter Fares Ibrahim said he feels confident of a good performance when he competes on Tuesday in the 102kg competition starting at 6pm. “I am confident of doing well,” he said after an extensive training session. He added that his sights are firmly set on breaking his own personal record. Fares, Qatar’s first ever Olympic gold winner,recently secured his official qualification for the Paris 2024 Games at the World Weightlifting Championships in Saudi Arabia, The 25-year-old booked the Olympic ticket after recording a lift of 218kg in clean & jerk, taking silver medal in the contest. He lifted 170kg in snatch finishing on overall seventh position in the competition. This upcoming appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be Fares’ third consecutive participation in the prestigious event, following his feats at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.  

QOC Fitness & Health Event attracts different age groups

DOHA – The  Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) organized on Saturday,  the 21st  edition of its annual  Fitness and Health event  at the Bidda Park (Expo Doha Cultural Zone)  from 4  to 6 PM. This Fitness and Health Event has brought together different age groups, especially children who participated in multiple sport, physical and entertainment activities,  running, jumping, throwing, karate , gymnastics and time measurement for any player who completed sport distance.  The fitness and health event  has seen physiotherapy ,  health tests , physical and physiological measurements for all age groups that  to inform participants of their fitness , which  are key indicators of health fitness and motivation to exercise sport regularly and moderately. The  body measurements  included,  height, weight, and the relationship between them using BMI to determine body fat ratios. Meanwhile,  physical measurements included,  the strength of the grip, a pointer to the general strength of the body, the flexibility to measure the motor range of a group of joints, and aerobic fitness. In addition to physiological measurements, which included  blood pressure, heart rate, and diabetes. The event  aims to promote  awareness on the  importance of physical fitness and exercise , as well as to promote  sports and health values among the community. This event is part of the community programmes through which  the QOC aims to make sports an integral  part of life which contribute to the development of health as well as to deepen  its relations with the local community. The event director, Mrs Fajr Abdumohsen appreciated the effort of participating federations ( Karate and gymnastics), said that among top objectives of this event is to discover talented children and promising sport names. Mrs  Fajr,  thanked Expo Doha Cultural Zone’s  cooperation to allow the event became  true and successful, she said the top objective of this event is to  achieve  sport sustainability in conformity with  the general sustainability principle.  The event director also  appreciated the efforts of  the Qatar Cancer Society,  َthe Qatar Diabetes Association and  the Qatar Anit Doping Commission  that made  the event successful and amazing.  

Steady progress for Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II

Doha: Qatar’s Olympic gold medalist Fares Ibrahim completed his rigorous training sessions on Sunday as he gears up for the much-anticipated 102 kg competition at the ongoing Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II in Doha on Tuesday. Fares, Qatar’s first ever Olympic gold winner,has already secured his qualification for Paris 2024 Games. This upcoming appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be Fares’ third consecutive participation in the prestigious event, following his feats at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Meanwhile, on Sunday at Aspire’s Ladies Hall, Bulgaria’s Karlos May Nasar shattered two world records on his way to win the men’s 89kg category and clinch his country’s first gold medal at the Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II. The 19-year-old rewrote the senior world record in clean and jerk with an astounding 223 kg lift, surpassing the previous record of 222 kg held by Chinese weightlifter Tian Tao. That lift also renewed his own junior world record which the Bulgarian set on April 20 in Yerevan, Armenia. In fact, Nasar has renewed his own record five times since June 2022. He also holds the junior world records for snatch and total in his weight category. Nasar had lifts of 170, 223 and 393 to go three kilograms better than his closest rival Yeison Lopez Lopez of Colombia who recorded 180-210-390 to win the overall silver medal. Italy’s Antonio Pizzolato lifted 170-210-380 to win the bronze. North Korea’s Ryol Kwang Ro won the silver in snatch, lifting 211 kg while Lopez Lopez came third with a 210kg mark. In snatch, earlier, Lopez had topped the snatch rankings with his 180 kg lift, while Canadian Boady Robert Santavy came second with a 172. Keydomar Giovanni Sanchez of Venezuela was third lifting a kilogram less than Sanchez. In the women’s 71 kg, North Korea’s Kuk Hyang Song won a trio of gold medals, topping all three categories with impressive lifts of 120-149-269. China’s Guifang Liao came second in 116-148-264. USA’s Olivia Reeves was overall third with 115-147-262. All the three finished in the same order in snatch, and clean and jerk.  

Ri Suk takes eight world records in five lifts

DOHA - Twenty-year-old lifter from North Korea, Ri Suk took a senior world record from one of the best weightlifters of the 21st century in a stunning performance at the IWF Grand Prix in Doha on Saturday. Ri broke seven junior world records in five good lifts in the 64kg category.  When she made 146kg on her final attempt she also bettered the senior clean and jerk world record set four years ago by Deng Wei, the Chinese star who won Olympic gold and five world titles before retiring in 2020.  To complete a golden day for PRK, Ri Chong Song won the men’s 81kg to give his team its seventh victory in Doha and an unassailable lead at the top of the Grand Prix medals table.  Rahmat Erwin from Indonesia failed with a clean and jerk world record attempt and finished second.