Draw held for Qatar TotalEnergies Open

Doha: Defending champion Iga Swiatek faces the likelihood to meeting Danielle Collins in her opening match following a bye of the WTA 500 $780,637 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, the draw for which was held at the Khalifa International Tennis & Sports Complex on Saturday evening. Pole Swiatek heads the draw as the top seed and after her first-round bye, the World No.1 could face Danielle Collins or a qualifier. A possible match against Collins could be tricky -- as the American had knocked out Swiatek in the 2022 Australian Open semi-finals. Seven of the Top 10-ranked players will contest the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on hard courts starting on Monday. The tournament will run February 13-18. Swiatke had lifted the Falcon Trophy last year defeating Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in straight sets. No.7 seed Belinda Bencic or former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka could be potential quarter-final opponents for either Swiatek or Collins. The 29-year-old Collins, who was present during the draw ceremony, said she was glad to be in Doha. “Yeah, first time here. So this is a part of the world that I haven’t really gotten to travel to before and really looking forward to being able to discover the city and be able to play some good tennis too. “I’ve always heard great things about the event here and it being one of the most well ran tournaments and one of the most hospitable tournaments to. So everyone looks forward to coming here and it’s great to be here for the first time,” she said. When asked about the draw she said, “I haven’t had the best luck with the draws recently, but I think starting off the year facing such strong opponents with Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko (at the Australian Open) and now potentially Iga (Swiatek) in the second round - I’m being challenged with playing the best players in the world and I think it’s a good challenge. “That’s the position you want to be in, right? Playing against the best people in the world. So hopefully I can just try to play my best tennis and I certainly will have to do that and maybe some better draws in the future,” stressed Collins hoping for better luck with the draws. The 28-player draw in the second quarter has No.4 seed Coco Gauff, who has a first-round bye, and will face either Zhang Shuai or two-time Wimbledon and former Doha champion Petra Kvitova in her first match. At the bottom of that section, No.8 seed Veronika Kudermetova will meet 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. 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 the qualifying rounds for the tournament are being played at the Khalifa International tennis complex.  

Team Qatar athletes shine at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

Astana/Kazakhstan: Team Qatar sprinter Ammar Ismael won the gold medal for the 400m event on Saturday in the tenth edition of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships (Kazakhstan 2023), with a time of 46.25 seconds. Meanwhile, Qatar's Mohamed Al Garni grabbed the silver medal of the 1500m race and his teammate Musaab Adam won the bronze medal of the same event. Ten Qatari athletes are participating in the track and field events of the tournament, namely Femi Ogunode, Musab Balla, Musab Adam, Ammar Ismael, Abdulrahman Saeed, Saeed Zamzoum, Mohamed AL Qarni, Seif Abdulsalam, Hussein Ibrahim and Ismael Daod. President of the Asian Athletics Association, Dahlan Al Hamad, expressed his happiness with the good start of the 10th edition of the Asian Athletics Championship in Kazakhstan. At a press conference held in Astana, Al Hamad said that the championship is witnessing a record participation of male and female Asian athletes, pointing that the opening ceremony, which took place in the complex of sports halls hosting the tournament, represents a major shift that shows Kazakhstan's keenness to develop athletics and spread the culture of the game as one of the principles of the Asian Athletics Federation. He also congratulated Qatar Athletics on winning three colored medals in the championship.   

QOC to celebrate National Sports Day through its ‘Team Qatar Village.’

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) announced its’ event to celebrate the National Sport Day in its 12th edition taking place on Tuesday, February 14.  The QOC will organize several events and activities at Oxygen Park in Qatar Foundation, with participation of National Federations, Team Qatar athletes, People with special needs, the QOC Family, Schools and Community members.  The new edition of National Sport Day will underline Qatar’s Commitment to sport as Qatar is one of the first few countries in the world to dedicate a national holiday for sport to raise awareness for the importance of sport and its vital role for the life of individuals and communities.  While marking the National Sport Day, the QOC aims to highlight the concept of unity in sport by inspiring community members especially youngergenerations to take up sport and welcoming people of all backgrounds, genders, and abilities to join the National Sport Day festivities.  During the National Sport Day, the QOC will focus lights on Qatar’s image as a sustainable global sporting hub, utilizing sport as a mean for positive change and living a healthy balanced life. The QOC will also promote upcoming edition of Judo World championship to be staged at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena from May 7-14, 2023 and celebrate the year of the Asian games by organizing the Asian Games fun run.  It's worth mentioning that, the QOC organizes many community events and activities throughout the year to raise awareness among all segments of community about the importance of sport.

World No. 1 Swiatek to headline Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023

DOHA: The Qatar TotalEnergies Open is returning with a big bang, with nine out of the world's top ten players confirmed to participate in the 2023 edition, which will be held from February 13 to 18 at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha. Of the world's top-ten superstars, only Greece's Maria Sakkari, the world No. 6, will likely not be in action in Doha for the $780,637 total prize-money event. The world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland leads the star cast of 32 players for the singles and 16 pairs for the doubles events of the 21st edition of the WTA 500 tournament. Swiatek defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in straight sets last year to lift the golden falcon trophy for the first time in her career in Doha. The 21-year-old Warsaw-born player, who went on to add two Grand Slams (French Open and US Open) to her trophy cabinets after the victory in Doha, besides wins at Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and San Diego; in what was her best year so far on the tour, will be joined by superstars including Ons Jabeur, Jessica Peluga, Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, and Belinda Bencic to give tennis fans in Qatar and the region a treat of a lifetime. For World No. 2 Ons Jabeur, the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP history, a victory in Doha will not only cement her legendary status in the region but will also ensure the tournament has an Arabian or African winner for the first time in its history – a record many people are looking forward to. The 28-year-old Tunisian narrowly missed out twice on having a Grand Slam crown on her head last year, having suffered disappointing defeats at Wimbledon and at the US Open. While all eyes will be on the top-ten stars as the favorites, two-time winner Petra Kvitova will also be waiting in the wings with the expectation of making history of her own as the first player to lift the coveted trophy thrice. Of the four lucky players who have been two-time champions in Doha, namely Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, and Petra Kvitova, only the 32-year-old Kvitova, and Belarussian Azarenka remain in contention to break the record and make history. While Kvitova is one of the confirmed players for the main draw, Azarenka, on the other hand, is on the alternate players list at this year's edition. The Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2023 is the 21st edition of the annual tennis tournament that has grown to become one of the main signature events on the Qatar sporting calendar.  

Stage set for Qatar Open Shotgun Championship

Doha: Qatar Shooting & Archery Association (QSAA) has revealed the details of the 11th edition of the Qatar Open Shotgun Championship 2023, which will be held at the Lusail Shooting Range Complex during Feb. 11 to 20, with the participation of 156 players representing 52 countries including 30 world and Olympic champions. This came during a press conference held by QSAA at its headquarters in the presence of championship director, assistant secretary and executive director Jassim Shaheen Al Sulaiti, championship technical director Abdullah Ali Al Mutawa Al Hammadi, and deputy director of the championship Antonella Bartolomei. Al Sulaiti said that Qatar has been hosting this championship since 2011. It was suspended during the period of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic to return this year in its new version. It is the first time that a large number of players are participating in the championship which is considered a preparation for the 2023 ISSF World Shotgun to be held in Qatar next March. Al Sulaiti added that the QSAA will continue to organize the Qatar Open every year and use this period to prepare for the upcoming tournaments. Al Sulaiti noted that important prizes have been allocated for the tournament amounting to QR 650,000 which will be distributed to the first four places for the trap and skeet competitions as well as the first three places in the junior category for trap and skeet. 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, said Al Sulaiti.   

Curtain comes down on Doha Elite 16

Doha- With attendance of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President H.E. Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, the 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour- Doha Elite16 for men and women was concluded at Aspire Zone on Sunday. The Elite16 event in Qatar which was held from February 01-05, 2023 also opened the qualification phase for Paris 2024 Olympics. 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 and other QOC senior officials also attended the closing day of the event. Anders Mol and Christian Sandlie Sørum of Norway claimed the title of men's event after beating Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig 21-19 21-19 in the final match. In third place match, Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula of Italy defeated Poland's Bartosz Łosiak and Michal Bryl 22-20 22-20 to take the bronze medal. Katja Stam and Raïsa Schoon of the Netherlands clinched the gold medal of women's event. In the final match, they defeated Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland 2-1 (20-22 21-14 15-11). Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho Del Solar of Australia took the bronze medal of beating Latvia's Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina 2-1 (12-21 21-15 15-10) in the third-place match. Qatar participated in the tournament with two teams, the first is the duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, while the second is Mahmoud Essam and Abdullah Nassim. The latter was eliminated from the tournament.