Her Highness attends Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB closing

Doha: HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) attended, Saturday evening, the conclusion of the 10th edition of the premier equestrian competition "Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB", sponsored by Longines and organized by Al Shaqab, for three days. Today's competitions were also attended by HE the President of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, and a number of dignitaries in the country. At the end of the competitions, Her Highness crowned the top three winners of the Grand Prix show jumping, with German Marcus Ehning crowned first place, French Simon Delester in second place, and Japanese Mike Kawai securing the third place. Her Highness also honored the competition's sponsors. (QNA)

Stage set for Ooredoo Qatar Major Premier Padel

Doha: The Premier Padel will launch its eagerly anticipated 2023 season with the Ooredoo Qatar Major Premier Padel. The tournament will be the inaugural event of the 2023 season, as padel continues to go global with Premier Padel’s premium, professional and unmatchable events across South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, gracing venues including the world-famous Stade Roland Garros and Foro Italico amongst many others. The Ooredoo Qatar Major Premier Padel will take place from February 26 to March 5 at the internationally renowned Khalifa International Tennis & Squash complex in Doha. Premier Padel added the further events from the highly anticipated 2023 calendar will be announced in the coming days as the excitement grows around the global padel tour schedule. Premier Padel is the official global padel tour, governed by the International Padel Federation (FIP) and backed by the Professional Padel Association (PPA) and Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). The world class professional facilities, prize money and player care at tournament will be in line with other ‘Major’ events. Premier Padel is the only tour to offer official ranking points to players and ‘Major’ tournaments will earn the winners 2000 points. The Ooredoo Qatar Major Premier Padel will be broadcast live around the world in more than 180 territories on the likes of ESPN (South America, Central America, Mexico and Caribbean), Sky Sports (Italy, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland), beIN SPORTS(MENA, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey), Viaplay (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands), SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), Canal+ (France & other global territories) and many more.

HH the Amir Attends Qatar ExxonMobil Open for Men Final

Doha: HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani attended the final of the 31st edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis championship for Men, which was held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex Saturday evening. HH the Amir watched the tournament's final match, which saw the World's No. 8, Russian player Daniil Medvedev and No. 70 UK Andy Murray compete for the championship's title, with the victory being on the side of Medvedev in two sets, 6-4 and 6-4. The final of the tournament was also attended by a number of Their Excellencies sheikhs, ministers, senior officials, tournament's guest and a large audience of tennis fans. (QNA)

Two-time champion Murray enters semifinals, Lehecka sends Rublev packing

Doha-Two-time champion Andy Murray secured his spot in the semifinal with a comeback 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win against Alexandre Muller in two hours and four minutes to set up a clash with Jiri Lehecka, who earned the biggest win of his career after the upset of world No. 5 and the tournament's top seed Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first match of the day. Murray, ranked 70, reached the last-four less than 24 hours after coming off a three-hour battle with the tournament's fourth seed, Alexander Zverev, in the round of 16, and the three-time Grand Slam winner is just two matches away from equaling Roger Federer’s record of three-time champion in Doha. Murray's next opponent, the 21-year-old Lehecka (ranked 52), broke twice to seal his victory after one hour and 41 minutes, thereby improving his ATP Head2Head series against Rublev, the 2020 winner, to 1-1. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, survived Christopher O’Connell's resilience to book his semifinal clash against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the world No. 9, who edged out Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the seventh-seed, in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(5). The world No. 8 posted a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win in one hour, 59 minutes to extend his head-to-head advantage against O’Connell to 2-0, following his 2020 US Open Round of 64 victory. Medvedev, who is appearing in Doha for the first time, defeated Liam Broady in straight sets in his opening match, while second-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime staged a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback victory against Jason Kubler.  

QOC President crowns winners of Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB's future riders

Doha: H.E. President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani crowned the winners of the future riders' competition, which was held this evening as part of the activities of the second day of Commercial Bank CHI AL SHAQAB Presented by Longines. The competition is seeing participation of the best knights in the world in show jumping, dressage, and dressage for people with special needs. Approximately 26 male and female knights participated in the tour of the future rides.

Murray to take on Medvedev in Qatar Open final

Doha: Andy Murray snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after churning out another sensational comeback win, saving five match points, to beat Jiri Lehecka and thus reach the final in Doha for the fifth time in history, to the admiration of the overwhelming crowd yesterday. The 2008 and 2009 champion will be up against world No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, who knocked out Felix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, 6-4, 7-6 (6), in one hour and 57 minutes in the other last-four clash, in today's final. Murray, who is on the verge of joining Roger Federer as the only three-time champion in Doha, beat the 21-year-old Lehecka, ranked 52, 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(6) in yet another grueling encounter that lasted two and a half hours. Murray saved two match points on his own serve and three as Lehecka served for the match before somehow rallying to win the deciding tie-break. It was the first-ever encounter between the two players. "I don't know - that was one of the most amazing turnarounds I've had in my career. I have no idea how I managed to turn that one around, to be honest. I will enjoy this evening and hopefully put on a good performance tomorrow," the three-time Grand Slam winner said in his post-match interview. Murray, ranked 70th, will be hoping to post a first-time victory over Medvedev in today's encounter. Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, has a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over the two-time Olympic gold medalist, having beaten the 35-year-old first in the Round of 16 at the 2019 Brisbane International and then at last year's ATP Masters 1000 in Miami.