Qatar Handball team lead their group

Hangzhou: The defending men’s handball champions Qatar yesterday   continued   their   unbeaten run by defeating Kaza-khstan 46-13 in the first of three main-round matches at the Zhejiang  Gongshang  University  Sports Centre. Qatar  will  take  on  China  today, and Japan in their final Main Round match as they target an  unprecedented  third  gold  medal  in  a  row  at  the  Asian  Games  

Team Qatar stars participate in Golf, Swimming, Triathlon Competitions

Hangzhou: The Qatari golf team began their campaign at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, yesterday.  Saleh Al Kaabi, Ali Al Shahrani, Abdulaziz Al Mohannadi and Abdul Rahman Al Shahrani participated in the men's competition, while Nada Mir participated in the second round of the women's competition. On the other hand, the  swimming  events  concluded  with  none  of  the  Qatari  swimmers  -Abdalla  Al  Khaldi (men’s 50m breaststroke and 400m freestyle), Abdalla El Ghamry  (men’s  200m  back-stroke),  Diab  Ahmed  (men’s  400m     freestyle),     Ismail     Mohamed,    and    Tameem    ElHamayda (men’s 200m butterfly) - advancing to the finals. Qatar's duo consisting of Tamim Al Kuwari and Salman Al Farsi, faced great difficulty in cycling and triathlon competitions and fail to finish the race due to the high temperatures.   

Younousse and Tijan bag Qatar’s first gold

Hangzhou: Much to the expectations, Qatar’s top beach volleyball pair and World No. 3 Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan claimed gold and in fine style at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists went through their campaign in Ningbo, China, without dropping a single set in six matches to defend the Asian Games gold, which they had won in Jakarta in 2018. In the gold medal match on Thursdayday, the Qatari standouts secured a 2-0 (22-20, 21-16) victory over China’s Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin. This was Qatar’s first gold at the Hangzhou Asiad, with the skeet mixed team featuring winning bronze. The two medals won on Thursday took Qatar tally to four. On Wednesday, Nasser Al Attiyah won bronze in the individual skeet event, while the Qatar team picked up a silver. Younousse and Tijan were considered overwhelming favourites and they lived up to the expectations. But they were pushed to their limits by Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin in the first set, before the Qatari pair prevailed in 24 minutes. In the second set, they jumped into an early and never relinquished the grip on the match. Moments after their triumph, Younousse and Tijan set their eyes on winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “It wasn’t an easy final. It’s an honour to win consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games. We will give our best to continue winning titles for Qatar,” Tijan said. “The first set was not easy because China was fighting and they also were playing at home. We are going to do our best in Paris, and we are hoping for different coloured medal this time,” he added. Tijan hoped to continue title wins for Qatar as the World No.3 pair will now prepare for next month’s World Championship in Mexico. The bronze went to Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakovlev & Sergey Bogatu, who managed a tight 2-0 (25-23, 30-28) win over Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari & Alireza Aghajanighasab.

Qatar beat South Korea in handball

Hangzhou: Qatar’s men’s handball team continued its dominant show at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday defeating South Korea 31-27 in a clinical show in their second Group B match at the at the Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre. Qatar lead 16-12 at half time after their players demonstrated high technical abilities by shooting from outside the circle and on the right and left sides. Youssef Ali and Mustafa Haiba in particular stood out. Qatar excelled in the second half as well especially in defence, relying on the “fast break” to challenge the speed of the South Korean players and succeeded in maintaining the goal difference with great defensive prowess. Qatar had begun their campaign by beating Hong Kong 36-18 in the opening match. Qatar player Wajdi Sinan said the team is focused on making it to the gold medal match. Against South Korea, he said that the players did not fall short and played with focus throughout. He added that the team came to China setting sights on the gold medal that it has won in the past two Asian Games. Player Youssef bin Alistressed that the team is looking forward to maintaining the momentum. “We realize the difficulty of the task with the presence of strong teams in this tournament, but with determination and persistence, we can win gold for a third time in a row,” he said. Qatar’s beach volleyball stars to battle for gold today On Thursday, Qatar’s beach volleyball stars Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will be gunning for their second consecutive Asian Games gold as they take on home favourites Abuduhalikejiang Mutailipu and Wu Jiaxin in the final. The World No. 3 - Younousse and Tijan- bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, who brushed off the challenge from Kazakhstan’s Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy Yakovlev 21-9, 21-19 in the semi-finals will start as favourites against Chinese pair Mutailipu and Jiaxin, who beat Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari and Alireza Aghajanighasab 26-24, 21-16 in the second semi-final.  

Qatar’s men’s skeet team wins silver

Hangzhou: Qatar’s men’s skeet shooting team claimed a silver while Nasser Al Attiyah won a bronze in men’s individual skeet event as Team Qatar began its medal hunt at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday. At the shotgun ranges in Hangzhou on Wednesday, Qatar’s men’s skeet team comprising Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Rashid Saleh Al Athba and Masoud Saleh Al Athba shot a total of 359 points to finish behind China’s Han Xu, Liu Jiangchi and Wu Yunxuan (362). India’s Angad Bajwa, Gurjoat Singh and Anant Jeet Singh (355) finished third. Later, Al Attiyah clinched bronze in the individual event as he shot 46 targets to finish behind Kuwait’s Abdullah Alrashidi (60) and India’s Anant Jeet Singh (58). Al Attiyah had earlier won gold medals in the skeet team event at the 2022 Busan and 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Masoud won both individual and team skeet gold at the 2022 Busan Asian Games and was also a part of the gold medal-winning skeet team at Guangzhou. The Qatar shooters’ feat was applauded by President of Qatar Olympic Committee HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, who tweeted: “Congratulations to our shooting champions Nasser Al-Attiyah, Rashid Al-Athba and Masoud Al-Athba for capturing silver in team skeet at the Asian Games - Hangzhou 2022.. We also congratulate once again our hero @AlAttiyahN Bronze for singles in the game, and we wish our heroes and heroines in various competitions good luck and more brilliance and success..” Rashid Al Athba stressed that winning the silver medal was wonderful because the competition was very strong. He thanks the almighty for the achievement and hoped that the win pleases Qatari fans.”This medal win will be an incentive for us before travelling to South Korea to participate in the qualifying rounds for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” he said. Meanwhile, Al Attiyah after the medal presentation ceremony said that he was looking forward to achieving gold but he was completely satisfied with the bronze pointing to the strength of the competition. Al Attiyah also said that his next goal will be to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and that his success at the Hangzhou Asian Games acts as an incentive to achieve Olympics qualification. Al Attiyah had won a bronze at the London Olympics. He attributed his Hangzhou medal win to the great support of officials of the Qatar Olympic Committee, indicating that the great interest in shooting and all sports will result in achievements at the continental and international levels and enhance Qatari Olympic aspirations. Meshal Al Nasr, President of the Qatar Shooting Federation, while speaking to QNA said that he considered the Qatari shooting team’s winning of the silver medal as a sporting achievement of the nation. Kuwait’s 60-year-old Abdullah Al Rashidi, who won the men’s skeet - his fourth Asian Games gold medal and Kuwait’s first gold medal here in Hangzhou, said: “I am happy to win a fourth gold medal because I am over 60 years old.“Today I only missed one target from 110 targets. This happens when you play every day, you exercise, go swimming, and eat well.”  

Qatar defeat Kyrgyzstan in Hangzhou Asian Games

Hangzhou: Qatar’s 3x3 basketball continued their impressive run at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games as they overpowered Kyrgyzstan 21-5 for their third successive victory. They had earlier defeated Thailand and Kazakhstan. The Pool D toppers will next meet Cambodia today. But there was disappointment today in basketball, as the men’s team lost 64-76 to South Korea in Group D. Earlier they had lost to Japan. In the equestrian dressage intermediate freestyle, Jassim Al Kuwari riding Handretti finished a creditable 10th with a total aggregate score of 66.915. On Friday, Qatar handball team will take on Kazakhstan in their Group B match eyeing their third straight victory. The defending champions defeated Hong Kong and South Korea in their first two games.  Team Qatar track and field stars will also start their medal hunt as athletics competition kicks off on Friday.