Meinhardt, Deriglazova crowned Grand Prix Doha 2021 champions

Doha-Gerek Meinhardt of the USA, the 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, and world No.1 Inna Deriglazova of Russia claimed the men and women titles of the FIE Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021, respectively, at the Aspire Dome in Doha on Sunday. The world No. 3 Meinhardt secured a 15-11 victory over the 20th-ranked Takkahiro Shikine of Japan in the final, while Deriglazova, a three-time world champion and winner of a massive 13 World Cups, trounced China's Qingyuan Chen, a bronze medalist at the 2019 Asian Championship, 15-5. The two winners walked away with the $5,000 prize money while the runners-up and the semi-finalists each got $3,000 and $1,500. The QOC Secretary-General HE Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buenain gave away the prizes to the respective winners with attendance of HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, former president of the Qatar Fencing Federation, Donald Antony, Vice President of the International Fencing Federation and Mohamed Yousef Al Mana, President of the Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation. "I'm very excited to win here in Doha. This is the first competition in over a year and to emerge champion is quite remarkable. The competition is well organized, and I'm very impressed. I hope to continue in this form and win in Tokyo," Meinhardt said. The three-day 2020 Summer Olympics qualifying event had attracted a total of 296 male and female fencers from 51 countries who were in Doha to secure either direct qualifications for Tokyo or points that add to their rankings in the quest for a berth at the Games. The competition was the first major event to be held in over a year due to the COVID 19 pandemic. It took place with strict adherence to the health authorities and the International Fencing Federation's health and safety protocols. The top-16 finishers in Doha are guaranteed automatic slots in Tokyo, while the rest will have to go through the continental qualifiers' route to reach Japan. "We are happy that the competition ended on a successful note. This tournament has further enhanced Qatar's reputation as a top destination for global sports. We thank the QOC for their great supports, and I also thank all the members of the organizing committee for ensuring the success of the tournament," said Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation (QWFF) President Mohammed Yousef Al-Mana. On a day of many surprises, particularly in the men's event, the world's No. 1 Alessio Foconi's failure to make it out of the Last-64 stood out as the most shocking. The 31-year-old three-time World Cup champion and a gold medalist at the 2018 World Championship in Wuxi, China, suffered a 14-15 defeat in the hands of 350-ranked Tyvan Bibard of France. The clash was the first between Foconi and the 21-year-old right-handed fencer from Paris, who went all the way to the round of 16 before being stopped in his tracks by Brazil's Guilherme Toldo, the world No. 26. Except for the third-ranked Meinhardt, his compatriot Race Imboden, the world No.8 and the 12th-ranked Chun Yin Ryan Choi; all the world's top-16 fencers in the men's event failed to reach the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Meinhardt claimed a convincing 15-8 over his compatriot Race Imboden, the world No.8, while Shikine narrowly edged out Alexandre Ediri, the 106th-ranked Frenchman, 15-14 after a very keen contest. Ediri, one of the major revelations of the competition, dispatched Russia's Kirill Borodachev, ranked 45th, in the round of 16 before dispatching compatriot Alexandre Sido 15-6 in the quarter-finals. While the top-ranked fencer in the men's event had a disappointing outing in Doha, things were however different in the womens's as Deriglazova eviscerated all obstacles on her way to reach the semi-finals, where she was pitted against Frenchwoman Ysaora Thibus, the world No.6 and the silver medalist at the 2012 European Fencing Championships in Legnano. The 2016 Olympic champion Deriglazova defeated Italy's Beatrice Monaco 15-9 in the round of 16 before claiming a 15-11 victory against her compatriot Adelina Zagidullina in the quarters. Deriglazova withstood a late rally from Thibus, who almost overthrew a six-point deficit in their clash before eventually winning 15-10 to set up the final match against Chen. Chen had defeated another Russian, Marta Martyanova, gold medalist at the 2019 Tashkent Grand Prix, 15-13 in the other semi-final encounter.  

Qatar to take on Azerbaijan in European Qualifiers

Debrecen -A confident Qatar take on Azerbaijan in their second match of the European Zone FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary on Saturday. On Wednesday, Mohamed Muntari’s strike had earned Felix Sanchez’s men a 1-0 victory over Luxembourg, in their first of the three friendly fixtures they will play on the European tour. On the eve of the match, Sanchez cautioned his players to be ready for a tough fight against a physically strong Azerbaijan side. Qatar are 58th on the FIFA ranking list, while Azerbaijan are placed 108th but rankings matter for little in these encounters. On Wednesday, Azerbaijan had lost by only a solitary goal to European champions Portugal. Sanchez called on his players to give their best. “Azerbaijan are a physical team and they play with a high pace. They are a hard-working and talented too so we need to be at our best to be able to compete against them,” the Spaniard said on Friday. Against Luxembourg started strongly but at many moments struggled to match the pace of their opponents. “Generally teams is Europe play with good pace and high quality and we have to adapt to that. It’s a new thing for us, which we don’t see in the Qatar Stars League. But we need to adapt and gain experience. If we want to compete at this level, we’ve to do it fast. Otherwise it’s going to be difficult,” Sanchez said. The Qatar coach indicated he would rotate players for the next two games. “We will wait till final training session before finalising the team. All players are available for the game. There will be some changes in the playing eleven,” he said. The Asian champions Qatar were invited by UEFA as a guest nation to take part in the European qualifiers as they fine tune their preparations for the next year’s World Cup at home. Their matches against Group A rivals will not count towards qualifying and will be labelled as friendlies. After the Azerbaijan encounter, Qatar finish their European sojourn against the Republic of Ireland on March 30. Qatar will return in September to take on European champions Portugal and Serbia – the two other teams in Group A.  

Llavador, Abouelkassem fail to make the cut on first day

Doha-The preliminary rounds of the men's event of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021 threw up only a few surprises at the Aspire Dome in Doha on Friday, with almost all the world's top-ranked players easily securing their berth into the last-64 of the Tokyo Olympic qualifying event. Save for world No. 18 Carlos Llavador of Spain, who suffered a third-round 13-15 loss at the hands of the 29th-ranked Wallerand Roger of France; and the top-most ranked Arab fencer Alaaeldin Abouelkassem, who also lost 13-15 to Russia's Dmitry Zherebchenko; the first day of the competition was otherwise an easy ride for the rest of the top fencers as they secured their round of 64 berths in style. According to the rules, the top 16 qualifiers from the first round of the preliminary, which involved a total of 136 fencers, automatically join the world's top-16, who got preliminary rounds byes into the last-64. In contrast, the rest athletes competed for the remaining 32 slots via the second and third rounds of the preliminary on the day. Abouelkassem, a silver medalist at the London Olympics and world number 19, had gotten off to a flying start after emerging joint runner-up in his pool, but the Egyptian’s efforts in the subsequent round proved too little against the 30-year-old Russian gold medallist in the 2017 World Championships in what was arguably the most entertaining clash of the day. While Abouelkassem lost, it was however, a different tale for his compatriot Hamza Mohamed, the world No. 30, who ensured that the Arab world's flag remained flying at the tournament after emerging among the top-16 players from the first round. Up next for the 20-year-old is France's Alexandre Ediri, ranked-106, who threw up one of the day's surprises with his 15-8 defeat of the world No. 60 Andrii Pogrebniak in the third round. Meanwhile, Qatar's Ali Turki Owaida, Abdullah Ismail, Khaled Aref, Hussein al-Mutawa, and Faisal al-Suwaidi all failed to make the last-64 cut. Only Owaida made it into the second round, where he was stopped by Austria's Johannes Poscharnig, who claimed a 15-9 victory over the Aspire Academy graduate. "Although we couldn't qualify for Tokyo through this tournament, I believe we are all winners as we had the opportunity to participate in the tournament. For me, it has special importance as it precedes the Olympic Games in Tokyo and will help me prepare for the Olympic qualifiers next month in Uzbekistan," Owaida said. He added that competing in the Grand Prix has provided the Qatari athletes with an opportunity to compete at top-levels, which has boosted their confidence in the quest for Tokyo Olympics qualification. "Participating at this level provides us with great experience, and I hope we can benefit from it during the continental qualifiers for the Olympic Games. I'm a graduate of Aspire Academy, and I've been participating in some major competitions, but the Grand Prix is special considering that it involves the world's top players. So, I count it a privilege to be here," Owaida said. Meanwhile, Hans Dieter Lammer, FIE's President of the Technical Directorate, has applauded the athletes and the organisers for their impressive performance so far. "I'm highly impressed with the quality of performance from the athletes at this competition, considering that this is the first top-level competition after about a year of no action due to the coronavirus pandemic. I believe that this is a pointer to what to expect in Tokyo. I also would like to thank Qatar for organising such a great event," he said. Lammer added that the standard of the organisation has been exceptional. Donald Anthony, president and chairman of the board of USA Fencing and vice-president of the FIE Executive Committee, too praised Qatar for its world-class infrastructure and its ability to organise such a high-profile competition amid the pandemic. "Doha has regularly continued to prove itself as a top host of major events, and I think that hosting a tournament the size of the Grand Prix amid the global pandemic is a new success for the Qatari sports officials. I'm delighted with the health and safety protocols for this tournament, and I think the Qatari authorities have done a great job," he said. The competition continues today with the preliminary rounds of the women's event.  

Qatar Fencing Grand Prix to begin on Friday

Doha- The Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation (QWFF) and Aspire Academy underlined Wednesday Doha's readiness to host the Fencing Grand Prix Qatar 2021 Foil, which will kick off Friday and run over three days at Aspire Dome. This was announced during the press conference held yesterday and witnessed the signing of the contract to host the tournament between Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation and Aspire Academy, in the presence of Secretary-General of QWFF Khalid Issa Al Hammadi and Deputy Director General of Aspire Academy Ali Salem Afifa. Speaking at the press conference, Afifa expressed pleasure that the Fencing Grand Prix Qatar 2021 will be held at Aspire Academy Dome, and welcomed the partners in QWFF, noting that the joint strategy between Aspire Academy and QWFF is based on preparing players capable of competing at the highest levels and present them to the team, in addition to highlighting the ability of Qatar to host major events that have become the focus of everyone's attention, which is reflected in the passion of international sports bodies to come to Doha which provided an ideal and safe place for hosting various events during the coronavirus pandemic. For his part, Al Hammadi, who is the director of the tournament, thanked Aspire Academy for the good hosting of all tournaments, as well as Qatar Olympic Committee under the chairmanship of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani for providing all means of support for hosting the tournament. He stressed the importance of hosting this edition of the Grand Prix championship in Foil as it is the last tournament before the Tokyo Olympic Games and its points are doubled, so it will witness the participation of the top players who wish to qualify for the Olympic Games. He noted that 493 athletes from 51 countries, including 296 players, 89 coaches, 108 auxiliary cadres and 20 referees will take part in the tournament, adding that there are 4 Arab teams taking part in the championship which are Egypt (10 players), Tunisia (4 players), Algeria (1 player), and Qatar (9 players). Al Hammadi noted that the partnership with Aspire Academy is not limited to this tournament, it is rather a clear strategy to prepare a Qatari team that is capable to compete in the Asian Games 2030 which Doha will host. Head of the stadiums committee of the championship Khaled Suweid confirmed the full readiness of the championship stadiums at Aspire Dome, noting that the main hall contains 16 stadiums and the training hall contains 10 stadiums, in addition to a special stadium for the final and the coronation ceremonies. He underlined that all preparations have taken into account the precautionary measures in a way that does not affect the ease of movement, entry and exit to and from the main hall.  

Team Qatar defeat Luxembourg

Debrecen-Mohammed Muntari's first-half goal helped team Qatar beat 10-man Luxembourg 1-0 in European Zone qualifiers at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Hungary on Wednesday. Felix Sanchez's side went ahead in the 12th minute through Muntari's side-footed shot. Luxembourg's Aldin Skenderovic was dismissed following a second yellow card in the 87th minute. Qatar, who have qualified automatically for the World Cup and must rely on friendly games to prepare for the tournament, have been included as a guest team in European World Cup qualifying Group A. The move mirrors the approach taken by France for the 2016 European Championship that they hosted. They will play against whichever team has a free date on a given matchday in Group A - which includes Portugal, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg and Ireland.  

QBWF holds Ordinary General Assembly Meeting

Doha-The Qatar Boxing and Wrestling Federation (QBEF) chaired by Dr. Yousef Ali Al Kazim  held   its   2021   ordinary general Assembly meeting at the QOC headquarters on Monday. Dr. Al Kazim opened the GA meeting with a welcome speech, greeted the representatives  of the QOC and thanked Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the President of QOC for his constant support to  the Qatar sport movement in general and the boxing and wrestling sport in particular. The  QBWF president has also extended thanks to the  QOC Vice-Presidents and the Secretary General for their effort and care that  making the  sport federations more successful and effective. During the  fruitful meeting , the QBWF statutes and the minutes of the previous General Assembly meeting have been  approved collectively by all the attending members.