64 teams to participate in Katara Beach Volleyball Cup

DOHA, February 18, 2020- The organizing committee of Katara Beach Volleyball Cup met in Doha yesterday in preparation for the event to be organized by the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) in cooperation with Katara. The meeting was attended by the QVA President Ali Ghanim Al Kuwari. The tournament will be held from March 9-12 with participation of 64 from 28 countries including Qatar, Oman, Turkey, USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Austria, the Netherlands, England, Gambia, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine, Latvia, Slovenia, Hong Kong, France, Estonia, Chile and Iran.

Students display high football and basketball skills in SOP competitions

DOHA, February 17 , 2020 – Students from government and private schools displayed impressive football and basketball skills in the competitions of the 13th edition of Schools Olympic Program (SOP) 2020 held in Doha on Sunday.In the football competitions (boys) for group A and B took place at Al Sailiya club playgrounds, Al Shahaniya preparatory school defeated MES Indian school 3-2 in group A , while MES Indian overcome Shantiniketan Indian school 4-0 in the same group.In the group B, Doha school outclassed Machael E. DeBakey 1-0 and beat Ali Ibn Abi Taleb 2-0.In the basketball competitions for secondary schools for girls, Al Sheimaa school outclassed Rowda bint Mohammed 12-6, while Al Wukair won Umm Hakeem 17-10.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of to encourage hundreds of students athletes competing from all over Qatar.The SOP Committee aims to spread a culture of sports through Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

Beck and Olivier clinch thrilling victories at Katara Beach

Doha, February 16, 2020,Leonie Beck (GER) and Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA) won the women and men's titles respectively after thrilling races in the season-opening FINA /CNSG Marathon Swim World Series Doha (QAT) 2020 at Katara Beach on Saturday. Both the 10km races were exciting with Beck clinching her first major gold medal with a time of 1:56'41.1 in the women's race, which went down to wires. Olivier clocked an impressive 1:49'46.6 to top the men's race.“The races were very exciting and we are happy to start the FINA Marathon series in a thrilling fashion," said Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) President Mr. Khaleel Al Jabir. “Fields for both the races were very strong in presence of many Olympic and World champions. We now wish all the athletes the best in this important Olympic year," he added. In the women's race that started at 11am, Germany's Beck shocked many top-ranked athletes to win her first title in FINA Marathon.She outpaced last year's Doha winner Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) – winner of multiple major FINA events, and reigning Olympic champion Sharon Van Rouwendaal (NED) by just 0.2sec.Cunha secured silver medal after she was shown slightly ahead of Sharon – who took bronze – on camera. Beck's best show came in the final lap of 2km after Sharon dominated most part of the grueling 5-lap race. “I am very happy, this is my first international title," Beck said after her victory.“My target was to finish among the top three or four swimmers and I am surprised to win the race. In the final lap I didn't know what was happening as I was only focusing to finish the race fast," the 23-year-old added. “The temperature of water was fine as the sun was shining. The conditions were good to compete," said Beck. Former European champion Arianna Bridi (ITA) was fourth in the race with a time of 1:56'42.4, while Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson (USA) finished fifth, clocking 1:56'42.9. 2019 overall champion of this FINA series, Rachele Bruni (ITA) 1:56'43.9 came in sixth position.All the 53 swimmers finished the women's race.Meanwhile, in the men's race that started at 1:30pm, the 24-year-old Olivier, who won bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, was outstanding as he registered the commending win with a margin of 12.6sec. “I am very happy to win the first race of the season like this," said Olivier.“It was technically a different and difficult race for me and winning in it will give me confidence for the other events especially for the Tokyo Olympics. I will work more to give myself a chance to win gold medal at Olympics," he added. Rob Muffels (GER) won the silver medal with a time of 1:49'59.2 while world champion Florian Wellbrock (GER), who was also defending his title in Doha, had to content with a bronze medal after he finished the race in 1:49'59.3.Fares Zitouni (FRA) and Gregorio Paltrinieri got fourth and fifth positions respectively, while Ferry Weertman (NED), who won the 2018 meet in the Qatari capital, completed the race in 1:50'02.6 to finish sixth.2019 overall champion Kristóf Rasovszky (HUN) endured a shaky start to the season as he took 1:52'08.9 to reach the finish line. A total of 75 completed the tiring race.This was the third consecutive year when Doha hosted this FINA marathon. The second meet of the 2020 series will be held in Victoria (SEY, May 3).Budapest (HUN, June 6), Setubal (POR, June 13), Lac St-Jean (July 19), Lac Megantic (August 1), Ohrid (MKD, August 30), Nantou (TPE, September 19), Chun'An (CHN, October 15) and Hong Kong, China (HKG, October 24) will be the other host venues of the series. Medals WinnersWomen's RaceGold - Leonie Beck (GER) 1:56'41.1Silver - Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) 1:56'41.3 Bronze - Sharon Van Rouwendaal (NED) 1:56'41.3 Men's RaceGold - Marc Antoine Olivier (FRA) 1:49'46.6 Silver - Rob Muffels (GER) 1:49'59.2 Bronze - Florian Wellbrock (GER) 1:49'59.3

Qatar Golf Association set to host Qatar Open Championship

Doha, February 15, 2020 - Qatar Golf Association is upping its preparations to host the 34th edition of Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship, which will take place from February 20-22, 2020.The event is one of the oldest in the region and sees wide participation from players all over the world. This year's edition will see 110 players participating from 35 countries.The organizing committee will hold a press conference on Tuesday to announce the details of the competition.

Stage set for FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series

Doha, February 14, 2020-The Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) is ready to stage the season-opening FINA /CNSG Marathon Swim World Series Doha (QAT) 2020 to be held on Saturday at iconic Katara Beach, which will provide a stunning setting for elite athletes in the 10km races.The QSA, which organized the last two meets of the series in Corniche waters, is confident that athletes will have an amazing experience competing at this world class venue, which successfully hosted Open Water events at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games last year.This year's FINA Marathon at Katara Beach will add to Qatar's vast experience in hosting multiple world-class FINA events, including eight FINA World Cups and the 2014 World Swimming Championships (25m), as it builds up to the 2023 FINA World Championships, the pinnacle event of the aquatics calendar.At the pre-event press conference on Thursday at Katara Beach, QSA President Mr. Khaleel Al Jabir said arrangements have been completed for the first competition of 10-meet series.“I would like to thank FINA for giving us opportunity to host event like this. We consider it as a test event as we prepare for the 2023 World Championships," said Mr. Al Jabir.“I would also like to thank Katara for giving us this place. Katara has done a great job for us. We are ready to organize the event and I wish the best for all athletes in the competition," he added.The QSA President was accompanied by FINA Technical Delegate Mr. John West, reigning world champion Florian Wellbrock (GER) and Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson (USA) at the press conference.Mr. West praised Qatar's effort in promoting swimming in the region and predicted thrilling races on Saturday.“This is a very strong year for us and we have very very strong field for this competition. Big teams from countries such as France are participating as we build up to Olympic qualifying competition. We have a large field for this event, 82 men and 54 women, and this competition is probably stronger in depth of the field than the Olympic Games," said Mr. West.“We want to thank from FINA's perspective our colleagues in Qatar Olympic Committee and Qatar Swimming Association for their support and hosting this event on our behalf. Without their support and consideration we wouldn't be able to run this series. The work, which we have done so far with the organizing committee, is very good and we are looking forward to a very good competition on Saturday," he added.The highly-anticipated Doha event has attracted all the leading long-distance swimmers, who are starting their final round of preparations for this year's Tokyo Olympic Games.The men's race will see 2019 overall champion Kristóf Rasovszky (HUN) vying against top-ranked athletes like Olympic champion Ferry Weertman (NED), and Wellbrock (GER), who will be defending his Doha title.“I won the race last here and I am very happy to be back here. Last year we had water temperature of around 20 degrees and this time we have 16 degrees or 17 degrees so it could be harder to defend the title," Wellbrock said at the press conference.“Doha is a special venue for me because we can see buildings around the venue, we don't have something like that in Germany," he added.Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), Simone Ruffini (ITA), and veteran swimmer Igor Chervynskiy (UKR) are other top athletes to compete in men's race. Qatar will be represented by Abdelrahman Hesham Mohamed and Ahmad Tarek A K Samara.In the grueling 10km women's race, 2019 overall champion Rachele Bruni (ITA) will be up against Rio Olympic gold medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) and defending Doha champion Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA).Former European champion Arianna Bridi (ITA) will be the other main contender for women's crown besides other star athletes.“We have a tough field in women's race but I am very excited to start the Olympic year in Qatar. Venue is different from last year but it looks really nice out there," said Anderson.Action at the Katara Beach will begin on Friday when over 150 swimmers will take the plunge at Doha Open Water Challenge – a subsidiary event involving different categories – that takes place one day earlier from FINA Marathon, and features amateur swimmers of the host country.There will be three categories available for the public in the Doha Open Challenge: 400m for boys and girls aged 11-14, 800m for boys and girls aged 15-17, and 1,200m for boys and girls aged 18 and over.The races will start at 1pm after Friday prayers.

Team Qatar look for glory in FIVB Beach World Tour

DOHA, February 13, 2020 – The Qatar's national beach volleyball team including Cherif Younousse and Ahmad Tijan look ambitiously to secure a new achievement when they start campaign in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2020 will be held from 7-9 March, in Bandar Abbas city of Iran.The Qatari duo are classified as favorite team to win Bandar Abbas's tour.Now the duo occupying the 13th place according to the FIVB world ranking issued recently.