Qatar Open Shotgun Championship 2023 kicks off

Doha: The 11th edition of the Qatar Open Shotgun Championship 2023, organized by Qatar Shooting & Archery Association (QSAA) kicked off Monday at the Lusail Shooting Range Complex with the participation of 156 players representing 52 countries including 30 world and Olympic champions. Monday's competitions witnessed holding of the first and second rounds of  skeet competition for men, women, and young men and women. Irishman Jack Fairclough led the standings of the men's category while  Slovakia's Vanessa Hauff came first in women’s event, with 46 out of 50. The skeet competition will continue on Tuesday with the third and fourth rounds. The fifth round will be held on Wednesday, followed by the coronation of the winners, while the Trap competitions will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Qatar Open Shotgun Championship to begin on Monday

Doha: The 11th edition of the Qatar Open Shotgun Championship will begin at the Lusail Shooting Range Complex on Monday. The championship will bring together 156 players representing 52 countries including 30 world and Olympic champions. The Skeet event will be held from Monday to Wednesday while Trap event will be staged on Saturday and Sunday.  The championship will witness the participation of a large number of Qatari shooters, as 50 male and female shooters will take part. They have prepared through intensive training at Lusail after their recent participation in the World Cup in Morocco.  

Stage set for Qatar TotalEnergies Open

Doha: Former two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, and Veronika Kudermetova will take to the Centre Court at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex on Monday as the $780,637 WTA 500 Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023 swings into big action. Belarusian Azarenka will take on 23-year-old Turkish Ipek Oz while Russian Kudermetiva will lock horns with former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round. The winner of that match will take on either Liudmila Samsonova or former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Earlier in the day, Czech Karolina Pliskova will play former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada in a qualifying round. The first main round action will see Czech Karolina Muchova against Martina Trevisan of Italy. Later in the evening, there will be exciting doubles action where Qatar’s Mubaraka Al Naimi will team up with Russia’s Ekaterina Yashina against Poland’s Alicja Rosolska and Kiwi Erin Routliffe. Doubles top seeds Coco Gauff and Jesica Pegula of the US will play Slovak Tereza Mihalikova and China’s Yifan Xu. Seven of the Top 10-ranked players are competing for the top honours and the beautiful Falcon Trophy in Doha. Defending champion Iga Swiatek heads the draw as the top seed. After her first-round bye, World No.1 Swiatek is expected to face Danielle Collins. A possible match against Collins could be tricky -- the American knocked Swiatek out in the 2022 Australian Open semi-finals. No.7 seed Belinda Bencic or former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka could be potential quarter-final opponents for either Swiatek or Collins. In the second quarter, No.4 seed Coco Gauff has a first-round bye, and will face either Zhang Shuai or two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in her first match. The third quarter is led by No.3 seed Caroline Garcia (with a first-round bye) and No.5 seed Maria Sakkari. Sakkari has a tricky opener against Zheng Qinwen, last season’s WTA Newcomer of the Year. The final quarter sees No.2 seed Jessica Pegula at the very bottom of the draw, with a first-round bye. Pegula will meet either her fellow American Madison Keys or former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in her first match. No. 6 seed Daria Kasatkina is also in the bottom quarter. Kasatkina will play a qualifier first up, with the winner of that match facing either Paula Badosa or Beatriz Haddad Maia in a tough second-rounder. Meanwhile, Australian Open 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina has pulled out of the tournament citing scheduling issues leaving the field open for the likes of Swiatek, Kvitova, Pliskova, Azarenka, Garcia and others to take a shot at the title.  

Team Qatar athletes win 5 medals at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

Astana: Qatari   middle   distance   runner   Mohammed   Al   Qarni yesterday clinched the gold  medal  in  the  3,000m  final  while  pole  vaulter  Saif  Hamida won the silver medal as Qatari  athletes  continued  to  impress  at  the  Asian  Indoor  Athletics   Championships   in   Astana, Kazakhstan. Al Qarni stopped the clock at 07:55.25 at the Kazakhstan Sports Palace on  the  final  day  of  the  Championships which saw ath-letes from 30 nations in action. Earlier, on Saturday, sprinter Ammar Ismael won Qatar's first goal medal  when  he  won  the  400m final with a time of 46.25 seconds.Meanwhile, Al Qarni also won the  silver  medal  in  the  1500m  race while his teammate Musaab Adam won the bronze in the same event. Apart   from   them,  Femi   Ogunode,  Musab  Balla,  Abdul-rahman Saeed, Saeed Zamzoum, Hussein Ibrahim and Ismael Daod also took part in the track and field events. President of the Asian Athletics Association,  Dahlan  Al  Hamad, expressed his happiness with success of the 10th edition of the Championships, and said that the championship witnessed a record participation of male and female Asian athletes, and rep-resents Kazakhstan’s keenness to develop athletics and spread the  culture  of  the  game  which  coincides with the principles of the Asian Athletics Federation. He also congratulated Qatar Athletics on winning the medals.  

Team Qatar win Rugby Division 3 West

Abu Dhabi: The Qatar Rugby team claimed the title of Asia Rugby Division 3 West after defeating Iran 40-12 in a thrilling match held at the Al Ain Amblers Rugby Club in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The Qatar team dominated the game with relentless pressure and a solid performance, with hooker Wade Lotter scoring a hat-trick and playing a crucial role in the victory. As champions of the regional division, Qatar will now join India and Kazakhstan in the Division 3 Championship playoffs soon. The winner and runner-up of the playoffs will gain promotion to Division 2 and keep their dreams alive of a pathway to the Asia Rugby Championship and further progress to qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2027.  

Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad chairs QOC General Assembly meeting

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) held its 37th General Assembly meeting in Doha on Sunday, February 12, 2023.  The QOC President H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani chaired the meeting, which also attended by the QOC First Vice President H.E. Mohamed bin Yousef Al Mana, the QOC Second Vice President H.E Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, the QOC Secretary General H.E Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, Presidents of National Federations, and Chairpersons of the committees affiliated to the QOC. H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani thanked the National Federations for their efforts over the past year and encouraged them to continue supporting Team Qatar in achieving the best results and in their preparations for the upcoming events including the 19th Asian Games to be staged in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 08, 2023.  The meeting began with approving the minutes of the previous general assembly meeting held in December 12, 2021 and discussed a number of topics tabled on the agenda including QOC Strategy 2023-2030, Team Qatar preparation strategy for 2030 Asian Games and the preparations to host IJF World Judo Championships-Doha 2023 and FINA Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.  The meeting also highlighted Qatar's participation at Hangzhou Asian Games later this year, the qualifications for Paris 2024 Olympics and Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games- Thailand 2023.