Qatar to take on Republic of Ireland in European Qualifiers

Debrecen- Team Qatar will take on Republic of Ireland in the European qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The match will be played at Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary on Tuesday. Team Qatar, who are preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2022, won against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan as an invited team in Group A of the European Qualifiers. Felix Sanchez’s side, seeking to confirm their berth at the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals, are scheduled to play India and Oman in the Asian Qualifiers in June with top spot assuring the defending champions a place in the Continental showpiece. Qatar began their European sojourn with a 1-0 victory over 10-man Luxembourg last Tuesday, thanks to Mohammed Muntari’s 12th minute strike before coming back from a goal down to defeat Azerbaijan 2-1 through a Hassan Al Haydos double. The Asian champions did not pick up any injury problems during their win over Azerbaijan on Saturday, meaning that Sanchez will have the same squad to choose from for Tuesday’s clash. Meanwhile, Republic of Ireland will be looking for a confidence booster with head coach Stephen Kenny expected to shuffle his pack from the side that started in their 1-0 defeat to Luxembourg on Saturday.  

Qatari woman set to make historic Everest ascent

Doha-Sheikha Asma Al Thani aims to become the first Qatari woman to climb Mount Everest in April/May this year as part of her drive to inspire women and young people in the region to challenge stereotypes and fulfil their dreams. Everest represents the toughest challenge yet on Sheikha Asma’s journey to become the first woman from the Middle East to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, which involves climbing all of the Seven Summits and reaching the North Pole and South Pole. She is only the third Qatari to ever attempt the climb and, if successful, would become the first Qatari woman in history to stand 8,849 metres above sea level. Sheikha Asma Al Thani said: “I have dreamed of climbing mountains ever since I was young. A dream which has always been ignited by my love of sport and its ability to inspire.  “In my extensive work within sport in Qatar, I have seen first-hand the powerful impact that sport and its incredible athletes can have on the lives of so many. If they fall, they always get up and try harder. And if they lose, they always rise stronger. Ultimately, they inspire us all to be better versions of ourselves. “I climb mountains because it challenges my limits. And it is my hope that, by taking on the world’s highest mountains, I can challenge the stereotypical image of the traditional explorer and empower women and youth in the region to challenge themselves and dream bigger.” An avid adventurer, Sheikha Asma has already completed three of the nine Explorers Grand Slam challenges. In 2018, she became the first Qatari to ski the last degree to the North Pole as part of an international team of women from across Europe and the Middle East, and the first Qatari woman to summit Aconcagua in 2019. Prior to this, in 2014, she was among the first group of Qatari women to summit Kilimanjaro.  “This has been a journey of firsts, but this is not my focus. My ultimate dream is to be the first of many Qatari women to achieve such feats. Together we can all work to inspire the next generation of women to achieve their dreams,” said Sheikha Asma. Sheikha Asma will travel to Nepal on 1 April to begin her trek to Everest Basecamp for acclimatisation, before attempting to summit Everest in mid-May if conditions allow.  

Rio Games bronze medalist Boubakri, world No. 30 Walczyk dumped out of Grand Prix Doha 2021

March 28, 2021 - Tunisia's Ines Boubakri, the bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the World No. 30 Julia Walczyk of Poland sensationally failed to make it into the round of 64 at the end of the preliminary rounds of the women's event of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021 at the Aspire Dome in Doha on Saturday. More than 260 fencers from 51 countries are competing for points that help towards qualification for the Tokyo Olympics at the three-day tournament, which ends on Sunday. Unlike the men's event on Friday, the first stage of the qualifying rounds (the pool stage) involved 128 female fencers with the top-16 finishers automatically securing their last-64 tickets, where they joined the world's top-16 ranked athletes who got the preliminary rounds bye. The rest qualifiers from the opening stage slugged it out for the remaining 32 slots. In the end, Jacqueline Dubrovich (USA), Eleanor Harvey (Canada), Leyla Pirieva (Russia), Valentina From Costanzo (Italy), Fanni Kreiss (Hungary), Erica Cipressa (Italy), Elisa Vardaro (Italy), Maia mei Weintraub (USA), Minami Kano (Japan), Anne Sauer (Germany), Qingyuan Chen (China), Morgan Patru (England), Coralie Brot (England), İrem Karamete (Turkey), Camilla Mancini (Italy) and Anita Blaze (France) all made it straight into the Last-64 from their pools. While it was a smooth sail for most of the top-ranks, Boubakri and Walczyk failed to make it. Boubakri, the highest-ranked Arab fencer, succeeded out of her pool, but she later fell 15-7 to South Korea's Mi Hye Oh in the last round. On the other hand, Walczyk could not make it past the pool stage as she could only manage to secure the fifth position with her 20 points from Pool 10. Walczyk's pool, which comprised 53rd-ranked Yana Alborova of Uzbekistan and Brazil's Ana Beatriz Bulcao, ranked 83, was surprisingly led by 16-year-old Kristina Petrova from Ukraine, ranked 275; who garnered a total of 27 points as against 24 for Alborova and 16 for Bulcao. The 27-year-old Bulcao, a bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, also failed to go beyond the pool stage. Petrova could have qualified directly for the Last-64 from the initial stage if not that she finished joint-fifteenth overall with Mancini and Blaze with the same points, and the subsequent decider went in favour of Blaze. However, the teen sensation confirmed that her pool stage performance was no fluke as she secured a 15-9 victory over France's Ilona Henaff in the third round to eventually earn her well-deserved qualification for Sunday's round of events. For Boubakri, the first Tunisian fencer ever to win an Olympic medal, the road to Tokyo still remained opened as she could qualify from the African continental qualifiers to be staged later in the year. The 32-year-old left-handed fencer is the defending champion of Africa. Meanwhile, Egypt's Noura Mohamed was dumped by Italy's Elisabetta Bianchin in the second stage, while her compatriot Hany Noha, who defeated Slovakia's Kitti Bitterova 14-13 in the second stage, was eventually defeated 15-6 in the last stage by Japan's Sumire Tsuji to put paid to the hopes of the Arab athletes at the competition as the four Qatari representatives - Amira Boujbara, Lina Al Buainain, Ghraiba Dhahi, and Rana Ibrahim – could not make it out of the pool stage. In the meantime, Feras Btaddini, Head Of Aspire Academy Venues & Facilities, said, "Aspire Academy is accustomed to the challenges associated with hosting a high-profile event of this nature. We are happy that the competition has been going on smoothly considering the challenges of hosting such a large number of contingents in this period of the global pandemic." "We have successfully hosted 17 editions of the Grand Prix tournaments, though not on this scale, which have continued to receive praises both at the regional and international level. We are happy to extend the partnership with the Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation even further. We look forward to an exciting finale on Sunday," Btaddini, who is also a member of the Grand Prix Doha 2021 Organizing Committee, added. The competition ends tomorrow with the men and women's Last 64 to quarter-finals events taking place in the morning, while the semi-finals and finals take place from 6 pm at the same venue.  

Haydoos stunner hands Qatar a valuable 2-1 win over Azerbaijan

March 28, 2021 - Hassan Haydoos scored a stunning winner as Qatar continued their perfect start to their European preparations for the FIFA World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan.  Azerbaijan carved the first chance of note with ten minutes on the clock. Mahir Emreli spurned a cutback from Ramil Sheydayev over the bar. The visitors had the better of the early exchanges in terms of possession. The Asian champions found their feet in the contest moments later as smart individual work from Abdullah Al-Ahrak saw his shot headed away from danger by Bahlul Mustafazade.  Azerbaijan took the lead in slightly fortuitous circumstances from the penalty spot. Mohammed Wadd carelessly bundled down Anatoliy Nuriyev and Ramil Sheydayev stepped up to send Saad Al Sheeb the wrong way.  Qatar looked frustrated for parts of the first half and it showed as Asim Madibo saw yellow with just twenty minutes on the clock. The first half of the contest ended on a feisty note as the tackles flew in and Homam Ahmed and Shahriyar Aliyev picked up further cards.  After a frustrating first 45, Qatar rallied style with two quick-fire goals from Hassan Haydoos. Sərtan Taşkın was adjudged to pull Almoez Ali in the box, and Haydoos stepped up to confidently dispatch the penalty past keeper Emil Balayev.  The Qatar national team captain only needed three minutes to fire Al Annabi into the lead with a goal of sensational quality. Good work off the ball saw Almoez Ali win the ball high in midfield, and wingback Pedro Miguel surged forward creating space, a quick pass to Haydoos saw the Al Sadd man smash an unstoppable shot into the top corner.  Qatar grew in confidence as the second half progressed and held off their opponents to register back to back wins as they prepare for the FIFA World Cup on home soil.    

QOC President crowns winners of Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab

Doha-(QNA)- HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani crowned the winners of the fourth season of Longines Qatar Equestrian Tour Hathab, which was concluded Yesterday.   His Excellency also honored the competition's sponsors. Nasser Al Ghazali won the title after collecting 196 points in the main event. Cyrine Cherif and Khalifa Abdullah Al Khaldi collected 198 points and 200 points to win in their respective categories. As for team event, Business Trading won after collecting 194 points. Director of the tournament and Ali Yousef Al Rumaihi said that the tournament, which concluded after 12 rounds, was strong this year. He added that the organizing committee will look to build on this year's strong points, and learn from the weaknesses for future editions. He said that the most prominent benefit of holding this year's event was to improve the preparation of participants and the level of competition between them. He expressed his hope that the next rounds would see even more competition and a higher level. For his part, the vice chairman of the organizing committee Omar Khaled Al Mannai expressed his satisfaction with the success achieved in this year's edition, despite the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the current season. He added that the organizational level of the tournament was remarkable, especially with the challenge posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Regarding his evaluation of the teams' competitions that were held this year during this tournament, Al Mannai explained that the teams' championship was a great addition to the competition over the last three years, noting that there was great demand to participate in it. (QNA)  

QOC to conduct Gender Equality Review

Doha- The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) today announced that it will undertake a comprehensive Gender Equality Review to determine how Qatari sport can build on recent progress and where further advancements can be made. Promoting gender equality across Qatari sport has been a central element of the QOC’s long-term strategy. Working in partnership with the Qatar Women’s Sport Committee since 2001, the QOC has made significant advancements in women’s participation in sport and sports administration. Female Qatari athletes have competed at every Olympic Games since London 2012 and within the QOC itself, more than 37% of employees are women. However, the QOC is committed to making further advancements and ensuring that there are equal opportunities for women and men to build careers in sport, whether as athletes, coaches, officials or sports administrators.  The Gender Equality Review will evaluate progress across five focus areas of the IOC Gender Equality and Inclusion objectives for 2021-2024 – Participation, Leadership, Safe Sport, Portrayal and Resource Allocation. The findings of the review will be used to develop a first-of-its-kind Gender Equality Policy which will ensure the promotion of gender parity at all levels of Qatari sport, not just within the QOC but also within Qatari National Federations. The QOC will aim to increase gender balance at governance level by creating clear pathways for women to move into leadership positions through tailored career development plans. QOC President HE Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani said: “Promoting gender equality has been, and remains, a long-term commitment for the QOC. We are proud of the progress that we have made, which is reflected in the ever-growing diversity of our athletes and sports officials. However, we recognise that there is plenty of room for improvement.  “Before we can improve we must identify our shortcomings so that we can develop tailored policies and programmes to address them. That is why we have launched this Gender Equality Review because we want to use its findings to create a Gender Equality Policy which enshrines gender equality within Qatari sport and delivers meaningful action. In sport, as in society, we are strongest when we embrace the variety of perspectives, insights and experiences of women and men.” QOC Director of Marketing and Communications Sheikha Asma Al-Thani added: “Women’s participation in sport in Qatar has developed significantly over the last 20 years and we are seeing an increasing number of women pursue careers in sport outside of competition. However, we are committed to creating clearer pathways so that more women have the opportunity to move into leadership positions. Gender equality across sport is the ultimate outcome, but to get there we need to focus on gender equity and providing equal opportunities for men and women to inspire the next generation.”