Team Qatar to participate in GCC U-16 Basketball Championship

Jeddah: Qatar Junior basketball team will participate in GCC U-16 Basketball Championship that will kick off in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and run until Jul. 31. Three teams are set to participate alongside Qatar Junior basketball team, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, where they will compete in a league or round robin tournament and all four teams will qualify for semi-finals. The QBF Secretary-General Saadoun Sabah Al Kuwari expressed his great happiness for the full completion of all arrangements to hold the tournament, adding that the Qatari team is fully ready for the competitions through a camp held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stressing that the team is determined to be crowned. During the upcoming period, the Qatari team will be well equipped and be in a perfect standby ahead of the Asian championship which is scheduled to be held in Doha next September, Al Kuwari added.

Barshim finishes 2nd in London Diamond League

London: Qatar’s Olympic and world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim settled for second place at the London Diamond League meet, with his best attempt of 2.33m, behind winner JuVaughn Harrison’s 2.35m at the London Stadium on Sunday. The sterling high jump star has had a dazzling connection with his earlier London athletic meetings having won his first Olympic medal at the 2012 London Olympics and later the 2017 World Championships. Barshim has also delivered a series of impressive competition performances in the UK including a silver at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham (2018) and clearing 2.40m – one of his all-time top ten jumps – for victory in the 2017 Diamond League meeting at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium . The three-time Diamond League champion Barshim, however, termed his yesterday’s performance, in the final Diamond League meeting before the August championships in Budapest, as satisfactory. In preparation mode for Budapest where he will be aiming to win his fourth Worlds title, Barshim said, “I think I had a good performance today, solid jumping and I’m happy about it. I didn’t get that 2.35 today but in general I’m really happy. “The Worlds are around the corner so I’ve got to go and fix what needs to be fixed and come back. I’m used to not having long between competing so being in Monaco a few days ago is nothing new to me, sometimes the body isn’t as fresh as you want it to be but I plan on focusing on recovery and training between now and Budapest,” he said. Harrison was the only one to successfully get over 2.35m, giving him a welcome confidence boost ahead of the World Championships. Meanwhile Marie-Josee Ta Lou showed that she will be a force to be reckoned with at the age of 34 at next month’s world championships as she claimed another Diamond League 100m win in a scorching 10.75 seconds. Noah Lyles (200m), Femke Bol (400m hurdles) and Jackline Chepkoech (3,000m steeplechase) also produced stellar performances. They were roared on by the biggest Diamond League crowd anywhere for five years as around 50,000 fans created a fabulous atmosphere as the event returned to London’s Olympic Stadium for the first time since 2019. Flying past her was Ivory Coast’s Ta Lou to claim her third Diamond League win of the season, with slow-starting Jamaican Shericka Jackson third in 10.94. American champion Sha’Carri Richardson withdrew from the race after feeling a tight hamstring in her warm-up. World champion Lyles also surged through late to win a stacked 200m as the American’s 19.47-second run improved his own fastest time in the world this year by two tenths. Letsile Tebogo was second in an African record 19.50 while Zharnel Hughes, who took the 30-year old British 100m record last month, completed a notable double by also erasing John Regis’s long-standing 200m mark with 19.73 in third. Bol also showed that she is in the hottest form when she blasted to a European record of 51.45ss in the 400m hurdles Only American world record holder (50.68) Sydney McLaughlin has ever gone faster and Bol, second behind McLaughlin in last year’s world championship and third behind her at the Tokyo Olympics, will be hoping to finally bag global gold in Budapest. Sifan Hassan looked short of race sharpness as Ethiopian world champion Gudaf Tsegay swept past her old rival on the home straight to win the 5,000m in a personal best 14:12.29s. In the 3,000m steeplechase Jackline Chepkoech also produced a brilliant personal best of 8:57.35s.

Barshim eyes London win ahead of Worlds

Doha, Qatar: After getting back to form, high jump superstar Mutaz Barshim is eyeing his second successive Diamond League victory in a week’s time as he is set to compete in the star-studded London meeting today. The reigning Olympic and world champion Qatari is among an array of champion athletes taking part at the London Stadium in what is the last Diamond League stop before the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, which will take place from August 19 to 27. Barshim has enjoyed many memorable moments in London starting with his maiden Olympic podium at the 2012 Games where he clinched a silver medal. The lanky athlete’s unprecedented hat-trick of world titles also started in London in 2017 followed by his victories in Doha 2019 and Eugene 2022. “To open my Diamond League season in Doha was special as there is no support quite like the support you get at home, but returning to London, where I won my first World Championships title, is always close to my heart,” Barshim told the Diamond League website. “I know I’ve achieved a lot, but I’m still chasing and aiming for more. I have set my own goals and targets for 2023 and the World Championships and the Asian Games are at the top of that list. Competing in London is the perfect preparation for Budapest where I’m aiming to win my fourth global title,” he added. He also excelled in other venues in the UK including a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham in 2018. Barshim will compete in London following his winning jump of 2.36m at the Silesia meeting – a world lead – last week. He will get a challenge from Germany’s Tobias Potye, who cleared 2.34m in Silesia, besides USA’s JuVaughn Harrison and Australia’s Joel Baden. It will be third Diamond League competition of the ongoing season for Barshim as he finished third in his season-opening meet in Doha in May. Meanwhile, Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, shot putter Ryan Crouser and pole vaulter Katie Moon, the world and Olympic champions in their respective disciplines are among top stars taking part in the London meeting, which will also witness a 100m battle between world 200m champion Shericka Jackson and US champion Sha’Carri Richardson.

Team Qatar eyes promising participation in FISU World University Games Summer

DOHA -  The Qatar Collegiate Sports Federation (QCSF) team  has  completed all technical  and managerial preparations to begin its debut participation in  the 2023 FISU World University Games Summer, which will run from 28 July to August 8,  in the Chinese city of  Chengdu. The QCSF team delegation to the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games is  chaired  by  the QCSF Secretary General , Mr. Rashid Adiba, Mr Rashid Ali Al- Tamimi,  the QCSF board member (delegation staff)   and players,  Elhafiz Medani Mahadi and  Hamdi Ali ( Athletics), Ahmed Mohammed  Saadawi ( table tennis),  Mohammed Samer Shalan,  Maram Assam Fatnassi and Wadah Al-Ahmed ( Taekwondo).  The QCSF team delegation will fly to Chengdu on July 26 , for  its debut participation in the  FISU world games that after  recently named as  a member of Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF) in May,  it will be a new member of FISU by the end of this year.   On this occasion , the QCSF Secretary General , Mr. Rashid Adiba  said: “ Our top priority is to promote technical and physical talents of  all the QCSF teams ,  strengthening their presence at the heart of  regional, continental sport events and creating an ideal competitive environment that could  help them bring titles and trophies back home. FISU World University Games is the biggest students sport event worldwide, in which  international students compete in a fair environment with spirit of sportsmanship and mutual respect. For  two weeks in row, the global university teams will be competing in 18 sport disciplines, including  athletics, archery, badminton, basketball, diving, swimming, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, fencing, volleyball, tennis, shooting sport, taekwondo, table tennis, judo, rowing, water polo and wushu. QCSF team will be competing in three sport disciplines, including athletics, table tennis and taekwondo.

Team Qatar defeat Poland 2-1 in Beach Handball Global Tour

Poland: Qatar beach handball team defeated Poland 2-1 yesterday in stage 3 of the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour. The teams of Qatar, Croatia, Denmark and Poland are participating in this stage. The Qatari team played a second match yesterday against the Danish team, which ended with a 2-0 victory for Denmark. The Qatari team will take on Croatian team in the third match on Sunday. The third place and fourth place match will be held on the same day, followed by the final match.  

Team Qatar to participate in World Aquatics Championships in Japan

Tokyo: Qatar swimming team is participating in the ongoing World Aquatics Championships - Fukuoka 2023 - Japan, which will continue until July 30. The team is represented by Abdulaziz Al Obaidli, Tamim Mohammed and Nada Mohammed Wafa. The Qatari team seeks to present good levels in competitions in which the best male and female swimmers in the world are taking part. Meanwhile, Khaleel Al Jabir, President of the Qatar Swimming Federation and Director of the World Aquatics Championships to be held in Doha from February 2 to 18 next year, accompanied by Kuwaiti Dr. Hussein Al Musallam, President of the International Aquatics Federation, inspected the progress of work in the facilities of the Fukuoka 2023 as part of preparations for Doha to host the next edition of the championship. Al Jabir will also participate in the international federation General Assembly scheduled to be held on Tuesday, in the presence of representatives of more than 200 countries on the sidelines of the World Championship held in Fukuoka.