Sheikh Joaan meets Kuwait Olympic Committee President

Tokyo : H.E. President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani met today in Tokyo with H.E. President of Kuwait Olympic Committee Sheikh Fahad Nasser Al Sabah on their visit to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The meeting reviewed aspects of sports cooperation and ways to support and develop them. The meeting was attended by H.E. Secretary General of Qatar Olympic Committee Jassim Rashid Al Buenain and H.E. Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Japan Hassan bin Mohammed Al Emadi.

Sheikh Joaan visits Team Qatar at Olympic Village

Tokyo :H.E. President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani visited Team Qatar athletes and delegation at the Olympic Village in Tokyo on Saturday where he met with Team Qatar stars and argued them to do their best to do their nation proud at Tokyo Olympics. H.E. Sheikh Joaan toured the Qatari quarters at the Olympic Village and commended the officials for their efforts in ensuring a comfortable stay for the athletes.

Qatar’s Younousse and Tijan start as favorites for an Olympic medal

Tokyo- Qatar's Beach Volleyball duo of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will begin their campaign at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games on Sunday. The Qatari duo will take on Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland at the Shiokaze Park. Their Pool C also includes Jacob Gibb and Taylor Crabb of the United States in addition to Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi of Italy. For his part, Qatar's Judoka Ayoub El Idriss will kick start his campaign in Men's 66 event on Sunday at Nippon Budokan Mat 1. Tala Abujbara finished third in the repechage race of the women’s singles sculls rowing competition held on Saturday. As a result, she will participate in the minor placing races on Sunday. On the other hand, Qatar's weightlifting star Fares Ibrahim Hassouna and the ace swimmer Abdulaziz Al Obaidly arrived in Tokyo on Saturday.  Hassouna secured his spot at Tokyo 2020 Olympics when he bagged two gold medals at 2019 Qatar International Cup Weightlifting Championships.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics get underway

Tokyo-The opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games took place at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021. The opening ceremony was attended by Japan's Emperor Naruhito who announced the games open. In attendance also were H.E President of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach and Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain. Four-time major tennis champion Naomi Osaka had the honour of lighting the Tokyo2020 Olympic cauldron. Mohammed Al Rumaihi and Tala Abujbara carried Qatar's national flag at the opening ceremony. Earlier yesterday, Tala Abujbara finished fifth in heat number 5 of the women’s singles sculls rowing competition on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Tala, who was in lane number three, failed to match the pace set by others and finished outside the top three in a time of 8min 6.29sec. The winning time in the heats at the Sea Forest Waterway was 7:37.91 by Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig. Canada’s Carling Zeeman (7:40.72) and Namibia’s Maike Diekmann (7:56.37) followed in that order. The top three qualified for the quarterfinal. Tala still has a chance to make the last eight needing to place in the top two in the repechage race on Saturday. Her race is scheduled for 8.30am (2.30 am Doha time). The Qatari rower was excited to take part in her first Olympics. “It feels amazing. When I woke up this morning, I was really excited, more excited than nervous. I raced at the Olympics. It’s been a dream of mine for many years now. I’ve nothing but positive energy today,” she said. Qatar's Judoka Ayoub El Idriss will begin his campaign in Men's 66 event on Sunday while Abdulaziz Al Obaidly will participate in Men's 200m breaststroke swimming event on Tuesday. The official training sessions of men's trap event will begin on Monday. Qatar's Mohamed Al Rumaihi will begin his campaign at Tokyo Olympics on July 28. Men's beach volleyball competitions will get underway on Sunday. In their opening match, Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will take Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland at the Shiokaze Park.

Tala and Al Rumaihi named as Team Qatar's flag bearers at Opening Ceremony

Tokyo- The opening ceremony of the long-awaited Tokyo Olympics will take place on Friday, July 23, 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. Tala Abujbara and Mohamed Al Rumaihi have been named as Team Qatar's first joint flag bearers for Friday's opening ceremony. The pair will share the honour following a directive by the International Olympic Committee in March 2020 where each team could have a flagbearer to represent both genders. During the opening ceremony, Greece will be followed by the Refugee Olympic Team which had a short training camp in Doha, Qatar before arriving in Tokyo. The refugee team is comprised of athletes who were displaced after fleeing their home country. On the other hand, Qatar’s Bashayer Al Manwari arrived in Tokyo on Thursday to participate in 2020 Olympics.   Al Manwari will be the first Qatari athlete to hit the track at Women’s 100m event. Started out as a triple jump athlete, then found herself in short distance running, Almanwari is a West Asian champion in 2013 and 5-time GCC champion. For her part, Tala Abujbara, who stepped up her preparation for the games, said that she is proud of her participation at this mega sporting event. Tala also stressed that she will do his best to do her nation proud during Tokyo Olympics.

Team Qatar defeat Honduras to advance to Gold Cup quarterfinals

Houston -Gold Cup debutants Qatar defeated Honduras in a tightly contested 2-0 match to decide first place in Group D of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on Tuesday at BBVA Stadium in Houston. The win at the BBVA Stadium meant Felix Sanchezs side finished top of Group D with seven points, one ahead of Honduras, with both sides advancing to the quarter-finals. Honduras came into the tie on the back of consecutive victories. At the same time, Qatar playing in the competition on an invitational basis, started their campaign with a 3-3 draw against Panama before collecting a 4-0 win over Grenada. Honduras was on the attack early and looked to be picking up where they left off against Panama, but then Romell Quioto picked up an injury in the 15th minute during the run of play and could not continue. After holding off pressure, Homam Ahmed struck to give Qatar the lead in the 25th minute of the match. It marked the third straight match in which the champions of Asia scored the opening goal. Qatar kept pressing forward, but Almoez Ali was denied by Honduras goalkeeper Luis Lopez. Lopez provided another vital save after Qatar were awarded a penalty. The San Pedro Sula native denied another star for the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts, Akram Afif, from the spot to keep it a one-goal affair. Honduras would lose another vital player to injury when team captain and all-time appearances leader Maynor Figueroa had to be pulled just before the half. Honduras remained on the hunt for an equalizer into the second half, and Alexander Lopez, who scored for Honduras in the previous game against Panama, tried his luck in the 67th minute but was denied by defender Abdelkarim Hassan. Abdelaziz Hatem was another player looking to score in his second consecutive match but was denied by Honduran defender Kevin Alvarez. Hatim eventually got his second of the competition to secure the victory five minutes into second-half stoppage time, polishing off the three points with a strong finish. Afif, Ali and Hatem lead Qatar in scoring in the Gold Cup with two goals each. Qatar also finished the group stage undefeated, with two wins and a draw in their first Gold Cup participation. They move on to face El Salvador, while Honduras will be matched with Mexico in the quarterfinals.