Australia beat New Zealand for third title

DOHA - Australia beat New Zealand, 79-76, in the Final to claim the FIBA U16 Asian Championship title, while China defeated the Philippines in the battle for third place at the Al Gharafa Hall on Sunday. Australia won their third consecutive U16 Asian Championship title by beating New Zealand who were making their first ever final appearance. It was a final to remember between the two rivals that was only decided in the final seconds. Australia were led by Dash Daniels who scored the basket to give his team the lead for good and finished with a team-high 17 points to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. After also winning the U16 Asian Championships in 2018 and 2022, Australia are the second team after China to have won three consecutive titles. Both teams are tied for the most U16 Asian Championships won in the history of the competition with three titles each. China claimed their sixth podium finish in the competition with a win over the Philippines, 87-59. In the classification games, Japan finished in fifth with another comeback win over Iran, 73-71, while Qatar completed a historic run to seventh with a win over Jordan, 97-75. Australia, New Zealand, China, and the Philippines have qualified for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 which will be played in Turkey from June 29 to July 7.  

Qatar’s Younousse and Tijan reach beach volleyball semi-finals

HANGZHOU - On a day of mixed fortunes, Qatar’s beach volleyball pair of Ahmed Tijan & Cherif Younousse cruised into the semi-finals but the volleyball team’s gold medal hopes were cut short ruthlessly by Iran at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Monday. Tijan and Younousse, the defending champions and bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, had a comfortable 21-17, 21-9 win over Iran’s Bahman Salemi and Sina Shoukati 21-17, 21-19 at Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Centre in the quarter-finals. The Qatari duo will meet Kazakhstan’s Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy Yakovlev in the semi-finals on Tuesday, which is scheduled at 12pm Qatar time. But Qatar’s spikers were in for a rude awakening as the two-time defending champions Iran swept past them 3-0 (25-20, 25-20 and 25-22) at the Linping Sports Centre. Iran’s Amirhossein Esfandiar had 14 kills, two blocks and three aces to top the scoring chart with 19 points. Iran reaped 41 points from attacking, compared to 32 for Qatar. Iran, who will meet China in the final, also led in aces at six to Qatar’s one. FIVB Challenger Cup silver medallists Qatar still will have a shot at a medal though as they face off against World No. 3 Japan in the bronze medal play off. The second string Japan side slumped to a straight-sets loss to China 25-15, 25-20, 25-21.  

Qatar to face Japan in basketball event at Asian Games

HANGZHOU – Qatar basketball team will lock horns against Japanese counterparts in their opening game of basketball event  at the 19th Asian Games  Hangzhou 2022, which run from the 8th  to 23rd  October in Chinese city of Hangzhou. Team Qatar is playing in group D, alongside Japan, Republic Korea and Indonesia. On the same day,  Qatar 3x3 basketball team will shake hands with Thailand, followed by a match against Kazakhstan. In the dressage event-Equestrian,  team Qatar  consists of  Mariam Al-Sameet ,  Mariam Al-Buanain and Jassim Al Kuwari hopeful to begin their campaign on high note in both team and individual events. In  other scenes, team Qatar stars , with outpour of hope and hard work  will do their best  to step up podiums in  the shooting, swimming, tennis and squash.  

Qatar gets better of Hong Kong in Handball pool stage of Asian Games

HANGZHOU - Qatar Handball Team's first match in the pool stage  of Group B in the 19th Asian Games, currently held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, witnessed the presence of President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani and ended with the Qatar team's victory over the Hong Kong team with a score of (36/18). The first half ended with the Qatar team leading (20/11) and establishing its control throughout the match. Qatar is participating in the tournament with a delegation of 185 male and female athletes competing in 27 sports: archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, e-sports, equestrian, football, fencing, gymnastics, golf, handball, jiu-jitsu, karate, windsurfing, squash, swimming, tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, table tennis, volleyball, 33 basketball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, and bow and arrow.  

Sheikh Joaan attends opening ceremony of Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games

HANGZHOU: The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani attended the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games – Hangzhou 2022 held on Saturday.  Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Asian Games open at the ceremony that lasted over 90 minutes, launching a two-week sporting extravaganza that boasts more athletes than the Olympics.  

Sheikh Joaan visits athletes village of Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games

Hangzhou: The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani visited athletes village of the 19th Asian Games-Hangzhou 2022 on Sunday. During his visit, the QOC President met with administrative delegation members and team Qatar champions and encouraged them to double their efforts and deliver their best performances to do their nation proud during the Asian Games. H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani was accompanied by Qatar’s Ambassador to China H.E. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Dehaimi, the QOC Second Vice President H.E. Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, the QOC Secretary General H.E. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain and Presidents of national federations participating in the games. Earlier on Sunday, the QOC President attended Qatar Handball team match against Hong Kong where Qatar won 36-18 and Qatar volleyball team match where they qualified to semifinals after their 3-1 victory over Pakistan.