Qatar Winter Sports Committee holds its 2020-2021 General Assembly Meeting

The Qatar Winter Sports Committee (QWSC) held its ordinary general assembly meeting for the sports season 2020-2021 at the QOC headquarters yesterday. The meeting was attended by the QWSC President Rashed Majed Al Sulaiti, the QWSC Secretary General Hassan Hissam Al Hababi and representatives of the QOC Sports Affairs Department. The meeting highlighted the participation of Qatar's Thawab Al Subaie in the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics held in Lausanne, Switzerland. The meeting also dealt with the challenges facing the winter sports in Qatar including Covid-19 pandemic. During their meeting, the QWSC members discussed the future projects, financial statements of the last year and budget of the upcoming year.  

Qatar Total Open 2021 draw ceremony to be held virtually on February 27th

As parts of the measures taken to ensure all participants' health and safety, the draw ceremony of the Qatar Total Open 2021 will be held virtually on February 27th. The media and all interested tennis lovers can log in to follow the draw ceremony proceedings from the venue via the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) Facebook account https://facebook.com/qatartennis/. The entry list of the $565,530 total prize purse tournament is out and it featured many superstars including eight of the World's top-ten players after the withdrawal of The American World No. 4 star; Sofia Kenin due to illness. The list is led by World No.1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia, World No.2 Simona Halep, the 2014 champion and the 2019 Wimbledon Open semi-finalist the World No. 5 Elina Svitolina Others on the cards for the 19th edition of the annual tournament are 2017 champion Karolina Pliskova, 2020 champion Aryna Sabalenka, 2018 champion Petra Kvitova, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and Kiki Bertens, andthe 2016 French Open semi-finalist. The list also includes three Grand Slam titles winner and 2014 finalist Angelique Kerber of Germany, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 2018 finalist Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, USA's Madison Keys, Poland's Iga Swiatek and USA's Jennifer Brady, among others. In all, a total of 32 players, including four qualifiers, are expected to feature in the singles event while 16 teams will slug it out in the doubles. Tariq Zainal, QTF Secretary-General, said, "It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to Doha once again for another edition of the prestigious Qatar Total Open. As much as we would have loved to have a glittering draw ceremony as our usual tradition is, we are, however, constrained by the current global situation to restrict the ceremony to a virtual event in adherence to the necessary safety and health protocols. Nonetheless, the event remains unique as usual, and we look forward to our media friends, partners, and all lovers of tennis following the proceedings live on our channel on the day." The WTA Tour event, held since 2001, has grown to become one of the signature events on the WTA Tour calendar and a most sought-after tournament in the region. Since inception, only three players Anastasia Myskina (2003 and 2004), Maria Sharapova (2005 and 2008) and Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2013) have been able to win the golden falcon trophy on more than one occasion. Last year, Aryna Sabalenka out-served and out-hit former champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to clinch her maiden title in Doha. Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi said, "The health and safety of all participants are our top priorities at the Qatar Total Open, and we are not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring that. This year's draw ceremony is different from the previous for obvious reasons, but the glamour and glitz associated with it remain the same despite that. We look forward to welcoming the stars at the event." The Qatar Total Open has always garnered massive coverage in the broadcast, prints and online media through the works of the over 90 accredited local and international media personnel who covered it. In 2020, the event was broadcasted to a TV audience in excess of 250 million in over 115 countries across all the continents of the World.  

International beach volleyball competitions to kick off in Doha on February 23

Doha, The International Volleyball Federation announced that its international competitions will kick off in Doha on February 23. The Doha international cup (one-star rating) is hosted and organised by the Qatar Volleyball Federation until February 26 at Al Gharafa beach playgrounds. In a statement on its website, the International Federation confirmed that the resumption of the international beach volleyball rounds will start from Doha, with the participation of 33 teams from 16 countries representing all five continental confederations. The Federation added that the Qatari duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, ranked 13 in the world, will be at the forefront of the participating teams in the tournament, in which prominent teams from the United States, Canada, Turkey, Morocco, the Sultanate of Oman, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and The Gambia, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Brazil, and Venezuela will take part. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Volleyball Federation Ali Ghanem al-Kuwari chaired the meeting of the organizing committee for the two rounds of the Doha international cup (February 2021) and the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup(March 2021). The meeting discussed the latest preparations for the two world rounds (4-star category) which will be held at Katara in March, and the one-star category that will be organised by Qatar Volleyball Federation in February at Al Gharafa beach playgrounds. The meeting confirmed the Federation's keenness to hold the two rounds while taking all necessary precautionary and preventive measures to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus and to follow the safe health bubble system in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health. QNA  

Qatari Athlete Musab Adam Qualifies for Tokyo Olympics 2020

Doha, - Qatari athlete Musab Adam officially qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, in the 1500-meter race, after achieving a time of 3.32.41 minutes during the qualifying race that was held Sunday in cooperation with the Qatar Athletics Federation, Aspire Academy and Aspetar. The Summer Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo from July 30 to August 8 this year. Musab Adam, Jamal Hayran, Ismail Noureddine, and Abdulrahman Hassan participated in the qualifying race today, and Musab succeeded in finishing the race at the top to successfully achieve the required qualification number. Musab Adam joined the list of "Al-Adaam" champions who had previously qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, namely Moataz Barshim in the high jump, Abdelrahman Samba in the 400-meter hurdles race, Ashraf Al Saifi in the hammer toppling, and Abu Bakr Haidar in the 800-meter race. (QNA)  

QOC signs MoU with Indonesian Olympic Committee

Doha, The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian Olympic Committee on Wednesday to boast the sports cooperation between the two parties. It also covers the exchange of technical and administrative expertise between the sports federations and Olympic committees of the two countries The MoU was signed by HE First Vice President of the QOC Sheikh Saud bin Ali al-Thani and HE President of the Indonesian Olympic Committee Mr. Raja Sapta Oktohari. The signing ceremony was attended by HE the QOC Secretary General Mr. Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buenain and Secretary General of the Indonesian Olympic Committee Mr. Ferry J Kono.

Joaan bin Hamad meets Saudi Minister of Sports

Doha-HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani met on Wednesday with HRH Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, upon his arrival and his accompanying delegation at Hamad International Airport. The visit of the Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee to Doha comes at the invitation of HE QOC President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani to attend the final of the FIFA Club World Cup tomorrow at the Education City Stadium. HE President of the Qatar Football Association Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani, HE QOC Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid Al-Buenain and several QOC officials attended the meeting.