Qatar Beach Volleyball Team to Face Guatemala, China in FIVB World Championships

DOHA -  (QNA) - The Qatari beach volleyball team consisting of the duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will face teams of Guatemala and China in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships competitions on Sunday in Mexico. The draw placed the Qatari beach team in Group G along with China, Brazil and Guatemala. The teams will play in a league system during the first stage of the tournament with the champion and runner-up of each group and the four best teams in third place qualifying directly to the round of 32.   

Team Qatar win Handball Gold Medal

Hangzhou: Qatar overcame Bahrain to clinch their third consecutive Asian Games gold in men’s handball in Hangzhou, China, on Thursday. The first half of the match witnessed Bahrain in the lead with a 14-12 score. In the second half, Qatar bounced back to take the lead and never relenquished it. Mohamed Habib Hasan Ahmed of Bahrain was given a red card for a foul just 13 minutes into the final, allowing Qatar to bounce back in the second half to take a 32-25 victory. The Middle Eastern battle was characterised by clinical shootings from around the perimeter. The Qataris netted more than three-quarters, 76 per cent, of their shots to add to the Incheon 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018 titles. Qatar’s captain Ahmed Maddi was delighted with his team’s achievement. “We are very happy to win the gold medal, especially since the competition was very strong,” he said. With just three days remaining for the conclusion of Asian Games, Qatar has won 14 medals, including five gold, six silver and three bronze. Reigning Olympic champion Fares Ibrahim will look to secure a gold for Qatar as he competes in 109kg weight class today. The star weightlifter clinched silver medal at 2018 Asiad. Qatari ju-jitsu athlete Ahmed al-Jehani will also be seen in action today as he takes part in the men’s 77kn Round of 32 at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium. Al-Jehani faces a challenge from Kazakhstan’s Azbek Shamshev for a place in the top 16. Meanwhile, Ali al-Jalahma lost to Jordan’s Khalil Arnaout in the men’s 69Kg round of 32 while another Qatari athlete Karateka Adham Hashem also went out of medal race in men’s individual kata. After winning a silver medal in team event on Wednesday, Qatari showjumpers Basem Hassan Mohamed (Incredible W), Faleh al-Ajami (Ghana), Sheikh Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani (Ireland VDL) and Rashid al-Marri (Concordess NRW) will target medals in the individual event today.  

Team Qatar wins silver medal in 4x400m relay at Asian Games

HANGZHOU - Qatar’s 4x400M relay team of Abderrahman Samba, Ashraf Osman, Ismail Abakar and Bassem Hemeida took silver with a season’s best time of 3mins 2.05sec.  India team produced a better performance to win the  gold (3:01.58), ahead of Sri Lanka team who  finished third (3:02.55). This took Qatar’s medal count at the Hangzhou Asian Games to 13, including four gold, six silver and three bronze.  

Abdulla Al Tamimi claims Asian Games bronze medal

Hangzhou: Team Qatar star Abdulla Al Tamimi claimed the bronze medal of men's squash event at the 19th Asian Games currently held in Hangzhou, China until October 08.     In the semifinals match held on Wednesday, Al Tamimi suffered a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng to secure the bronze medal.      Al Tamimi booked his spot in the semifinals after beating Malaysia's Addeen Idrakie 3-0 in the quarterfinals.     “Eain Yow played very well and took advantage of my mis-takes. He did everything right in the  match.  Even  though  my  target was to win a gold medal I am content with a bronze. I am looking forward to bounce back strongly and win titles for Qatar,” said Al Tamimi after the match.     Tariq Zainal, Secretary General of the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation congratulated Team Qatar champion Abdulla Al Tamimi on his achievement as he has added a new bronze medal to Qatar rich haul of medal at the Asian Games.     Zainal also lauded Al Tamimi performance at his Asian Games campaign specially at his semifinals match against the top seeded player and stressed that the federation will continue to support the player to achieve his future goals  

Barshim equals Asian Games record for third gold

HANGZHOU - Qatar’s high jump legend Mutaz Barshim sailed to his third Asian Games title in Hangzhou on Wednesday, adding another medal to an impressive collection for the reigning Olympic champion. Based on form and previous performances it looked like South Korea’s Woo Sang-hyeok would be 32-year-old Barshim’s biggest challenger for gold. In the end that’s what transpired in an almost carbon copy of the duel they had in the world championships in Eugene in 2022, which Barshim also won. Barshim took the title with a jump of 2.35m, equalling his Asian Games record he had set in Incheon, South Korea in 2014. Woo cleared 2.33m for silver, while Japan’s Tomohiro Shinno got the bronze with a season’s best leap of 2.29m. From the start Barshim and Woo looked a class above. Several times other athletes either struggled to clear or just made a height before Barshim sauntered in with his familiar rangy stride and cleared the bar by a big margin, triggering audible gasps from the spectators. Woo, who has a much more direct and speedier run-up than Barshim, also looked confident early on. Once Shinno failed on his third attempt at 2.31m it was left to Woo and three time world champion Barshim to fight it out. The volume from the stadium announcers and the crowd was considerable, but Barshim, sporting his customary sunglasses under the floodlights, was the picture of calm. Both he and Woo cleared 2.31m and 2.33m. But then Woo failed at 2.35m, a height Barshim cleared at his first attempt. Woo pushed the bar up to 2.37m and called on his fans and others in the crowd to get behind him, but the bar fell both times, handing victory to the Qatari. Barshim then attempted 2.37m which would have beaten his Games record and season’s best of 2.36m. On his last jump, the bar looked like it might hold for a moment and spectators roared. But immediately after it fell, Barshim smiled and then joined several Qatari teammates who had just won a medal in the 4x400m relay in a huddle and jig. “It feels amazing to be honest,” Barshim told reporters. “It has always been my dream to get three golds at these Games, especially because I could not participate last time because of my injury.” Barshim could not compete in Jakarta in 2018 as he was nursing a serious injury, but against doctor’s advice and while still on crutches he went anyway to support his teammates. “I really wanted to be there so bad, because when I was young in 2006, the previous Asian Games before I compete, I was a volunteer and holding the basket for the high jumpers,” he said. “I really wanted to win that. So winning today my third goal after a bad injury, I think I should be really happy and satisfied. I hope this becomes the motivation for the next season, the Olympics season.” Barshim was arguably the biggest track and field name at the Games. His personal best of 2.43m from 2014 is the second-highest jump of all time, behind Cuban great Javier Sotomayor’s world record mark of 2.45 set in 1993. His long list of medals include silver at both the London 2012 and the Rio 2016 Olympics, then gold in Tokyo in 2021 which he famously shared with his rival Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi. He became the first high jumper in history to win consecutive world championship golds in 2017 and 2019, then added a third in the Covid-19 delayed Eugene championships in 2022. He also won world silver in 2013 and world bronze earlier this year in Budapest. “We are very greedy as athletes, so we always want to do more. And that’s the nature of it. And I love it, but that’s the reality as well. So you need to go and push yourself to the extreme to the limit. I need a good vacation now, and then we’ll see what happens next.”  

QOC organises visit to HBKU to enhance employees experience and knowledge exchange

DOHA - The Qatar Olympic Committee  has organized a two-day educational visit  to Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) to  enhance experience & knowledge exchange  between the two  organizations on Tuesday and Wednesday. On the opening day of  the visit , the employees exchanged experience and knowledge on key topics including,  strategic plan development, strategic management framework, integrated annual planning process and, annual performance process and risk assessment and management. This  visit   aims to help  the QOC employees  exchanging  experience and building up a valuable  knowledge with others . It also empowers the   QOC’s  young employees to get through  daily  challenges of work  and learning how to  apply the best administrative measures they learned into the QOC system.  The visit  objectives come  in tune with  the strategic goal of the QOC Human Resources & Administrative Services Department :” Create  an attractive and   an ideal working environment for  better talents and experiences”. Mrs. Noora Hussain Al-Ahbabi, head of  training and development unit,  said the  visit  comes as  an integral part of  the QOC’s  ongoing effort to achieve  sustainable development and  adopt   better measures that meets  the world standards and cope with the QOC’s vision that is derived from  2030 Qatar National Vision. Most notably, the Qatar Olympic Committee spares no effort to improve  the professional and administrative level  of Qatari employees. To  this end, the QOC had organized  a number of programs and visits, namely post- FIFA World Cup 2022 experience exchange and knowledge transfer workshop  and  field visits to other organizations. These programs will help developing the organizational and administrative abilities of Qatari employees during   major sport events , namely in  the fields of  mobility management,  communication & Media management, Security Services Management and  venue management, sustainability management,  manpower management, volunteers management, visitor event management, fan zone management.