Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani honors graduates of Masters of Sports Law and Sports Management Diploma

Doha- The Qatar Olympic Committee President H.E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani honored the graduates of Qatar Olympic Academy’s (QOA) two flagship programs at a special ceremony on Wednesday. Thirty graduates of the Masters of Sports Law Program (Class 2019, 2020, 2021) and 27 graduates of the Advanced Sports Management Diploma (Class 2021) were presented their certificates by the QOC President. The Masters of Sports Law Program is organized in cooperation with University of Lleida (Spain) alongside a number of international organisations such as International Olympic Committee, Olympic Council of Asia, Court of Arbitration for Sport, Qatar Olympic Committee and Qatar's Ministry of Education and Higher Education.  Advanced Sport Management Diploma is one of  most important pillars of Qatar Olympic Academy’s annual agenda. It  has been launched in 2008 by  the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) , making the QOC among  the  first ever twenty NOCs worldwide and the first at GCC and Arab level to adopt  this program. At the Qatar Olympic Academy, the Advanced Sport Management Diploma students receive educational sciences  that will serve their sport and administrative career later . These six – chapter sciences could empower every single graduate to be a vital element in setting up the organizational chart of a NOC and playing a center stage role in the strategic planning and  mega events management.  

Draw held for Asian Men’s Junior & Youth Handball Championships 2022

Kuwait: The draw for the 17th Asian Men’s Junior (U21) Handball Championship and the 9th Asian Men’s Youth (U19) Handball Championship was held  in Kuwait on Wednesday. The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) Treasurer Bader Mohammed Al-Theyab (Kuwait), AHF Executive Director Dr. Ahmad Abu Al-Lail (Kuwait), Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) President Ali Mohamed Isa Eshaqi, Qatar Handball Association (QHA) President Ahmed Mohammad Al-Shaabi, QHA Secretary General Mohamed Jaber Al-Mulla and representatives of the participating teams were present during the draw ceremony. The hosting contract for both the championships were also signed after the draw ceremony by AHF Treasurer Bader Mohammed Al-Theyab and BHF President Ali Mohamed Isa Eshaqi. As the host, Bahrain has the right to choose the group in which they want to play. Draw results of 17th Asian Men’s Junior (U21) Handball Championship Group A: Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait Group B: Bahrain, Japan, India, Pakistan The top 4 teams from the junior championship will qualify for the 24th IHF Men’s Junior (U21) Handball World Championship to be held from  20th June to 2nd July 2023 in Germany / Greece. Draw results of 9th Asian Men’s Youth (U19) Handball Championship: Group A: Bahrain, Islamic Republic of Iran, India, Republic of Korea, Uzbekistan Group B: Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait The top 5 teams from the youth championship will qualify for the 10th IHF Men’s Youth (U19) Handball World Championship to be held in July / August 2023 in Croatia.

QGF ready to host Asian Artistic Gymnastics

Doha: The Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) is gearing up to host the 9th Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championship, which will be held from June 15-18 at the Aspire Dome in Doha. As many as 137 male and female gymnasts representing 21 countries will be eyeing titles during the event with QGF, which has hosted major gymnastics competitions over the years, is eyeing to make the competition a huge success. “The preparations for the event are on track and we look forward to welcome athletes in Doha,” QGF president Ali al-Hitmi said in a statement. “Doha, which has unparalleled sports infrastructure, has been home to many major events including the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. We are confident of organising the Asian Championship successfully like we did in the past,” he added. “We are receiving full support from various parties including the Qatar Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports and Youth to host an exceptional event.” Al-Hitmi informed the participating delegations have already started arriving in Doha in order to set up preparatory camps for the championship. “The delegations of Hong Kong and Kazakhstan were the first to arrive a few days ago, and all things are going according to plan to deliver a blockbuster edition of the continental championship,” he said. The QGF president added exciting contests are on the card for the upcoming event. “The Doha edition is expected to be one of the strongest Asian Championships ever in presence of continent’s leading gymnasts including several world champions. The event will see the participation of a huge number of gymnasts from all over Asia,” he said. Al-Hitmi, meanwhile, hoped Qatari gymnasts will give best performance in the competition. “It is a tough competition but the Qatari team has prepared well. The gymnasts have undergone series of preparations including their participation in domestic and international events. We expect a good show from Duha al-Habashi in the home event. “It will be a good experience for our team as they will be up against the best in Asia,” he said.

Qatar to take on Turkmenistan in AFC U23 Asian Cup

Tashkent: Head coach Nicolas Cordova is confident Qatar can turn around their fortunes when they face Turkmenistan in their final AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2022 Group A fixture on Tuesday. Qatar have their work cut out for them after conceding six goals to Uzbekistan on Matchday Two and will face a resurgent Turkmenistan side, who came from a goal down to edge Islamic Republic of Iran 2-1. The defeat saw Qatar drop to the bottom of the Group A standings but Cordova remained defiant of his team’s chances against Turkmenistan at the Bunyodkor Stadium.  “After our heavy defeat against Uzbekistan, we now face a must-win match against Turkmenistan to have at least a fighting chance of advancing to the quarter-finals,” said Cordova. “We were taken aback by Uzbekistan’s attacking display and we have been working on fixing these areas. “A good thing about football is that it will always give you opportunities to bounce back. It’s important now to focus on the team’s recovery. We will do everything to get them ready for Turkmenistan. Apart from Uzbekistan (who have already qualified), all three teams still have a chance to qualify.  “Of course it will be hard after a defeat like this. We have identified a lot of things to improve on. We also have to prepare the team mentally for the next game.” After claiming their first AFC U23 Asian Cup victory, Turkmenistan are second in the standings, three points behind Uzbekistan. Head coach Ahmet Agamyradov has reminded his players that the job is not done yet and they must now focus on avoiding defeat against Qatar. “We won our first AFC U23 Asian Cup match after we beat Iran and the team played well and now we have another match against Qatar. The players had a good rest and we must do everything we can to qualify for the next round,” said Agamyradov.  “After the Iran victory, I celebrated with my players in the dressing room. We were all very happy after beating Iran. My players deserved to celebrate after their performance. However, I reminded them afterwards that they must focus their attention on our next match against Qatar.”

Cherif and Tijan claim second place in Latvia Tour

Jurmala: Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan suffered a 1-2 at the hands of Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava in World Beach Volleyball Pro Tour Jurmala final in Latvia on Sunday to settle for the second place.  The Qatari Olympic medallists stormed into final after beating top Estonian pair of Kusti Nolvak and Mart Tiisaar 21-11, 21-14 in a thrilling semi-final at the Majori Beach.  Nicolai and Cottafava edged past Brazilians Andre and George 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) in their semi-final. World’s Elite 16 pairs are competing in the tournament.  

Qatar beat UAE to top 2025 Asian Cup Pre-Qualifiers first round

Doha: Qatar got the better of United Arab Emirates 54-48 in their final 2025 Asian Cup Pre-Qualifiers at the Al Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall on Saturday. With this win the hosts emerged on top of Group A and entered the second round of the Pre-Qualifiers with an unbeaten record. Babacar Dieng was the top-scorer for Qatar with 13 points while Moustafa Essam Al Fouda added 11 points.  Fouda also made seven rebounds while Nadim Muslic made a valuable contribution with 10 rebounds and three assists. Qatar lead Group A with four points having defeated Oman and UAE while the latter is placed second with three points.  The second round will see the three best-ranked teams in Groups A and B competing in Group E while the top three teams in Groups C and D will combine as Group F. The top four teams in each group will qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.