Top-seed Wawrinka starts season with straight set victory

Doha, January 8, 2020-Tournament's top-seed Stan Wawrinka extended his head-to-head advantage over Frenchman Jérémy Chardy to seven wins in seven encounters after posting an emphatic straight-set 6:3, 6:4 win in 1 hour and 27 mins in their round of 16 clash on Tuesday.Unlike their last match at the US Open 2019, the 32-year-old Frenchman was unable to take a set off the three-time Grand Slam winner, who fired 12 aces en route his triumph, this time around.With the victory, Wawrinka sets up a quarter-final clash with Slovenian Aljaz Bedene (ATP 58) who accounted for the 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Kazakhistan's Alexander Bublik in the other match of the day.“I'm happy to start on a winning note at this tournament. Chardy is a very good player and matches against him has not always been easy. I hope to maintain the momentum and hopefully win the tournament this time around," Wawrinka, a finalist at the 2008 tournament said.Meanwhile, eight-seed Frances Tiafoe suffered a shocking 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 defeat in the hands of Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, a qualifier, in their encounter.This is the second time the duo will be meeting after their maiden clash at the round of 16 of the 2018 Geneva Open where Fucsovic also triumphed.In the other matches of the day, Turkey's Cem Ilkel, a wildcard entrant, defeated Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 while Serbia's Laslo Đere posted a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.​

Qatar beat India in Olympic qualifiers

Jiangmen, January 8, 2020-Qatar opened their campaign at the 2020 Men's Volleyball Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jiangmen, China, with an emphatic straight-set victory against India on Tuesday.Qatar, placed in Pool B, were in fine form right from the start at Jiangmen Sports Center and won 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 in an hour and 24 minutes.Geraldo Goiano, Nader Abu Bakr, Bilal Nabil and captain Mohamed Ibrahim Said were the star performers for Qatar who will play Australia on Wednesday.In the other match in the pool Australia defeated South Korea 23–25, 25–23, 26–24, 20–25, 9–17 in a thrilling five-setter.Meanwhile in Pool A, Iran blanked Chinese Taipei 25-16, 25-17, 25-14 and hosts China eased past Kazakhstan 25–19, 25–14, 25–18.The winner of the eight-team tournament will book their berth at Tokyo Olympics.​

Qatar to take on India in Olympic qualifiers

Doha, January 7, 2020- Qatar, hoping to book Olympic tickets for the first time in history, will take on India in their opening match of the 2020 Men's Volleyball Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jiangmen, China, on Tuesday.Qatar are in Group B of the tournament, where they will be joined by South Korea and Australia as well. Camilo Soto-coached Qatar will play Australia on January 8 and South Korea on January 9. Group A comprises Iran, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, and hosts China with only the winner assured of a berth at the Tokyo Olympics. Qatar were undergoing training in China in preparation for the tournament.Qatar squad: Mubarak Dahi Waleed, Sultan Abdullah, Ahmed Jamal, Mohamed Ibrahim Said, Bilal Nabil, Suleiman Saeed, Milos Stevanovic, Nader Abu Bakr, Renan Rebeiro, Assam Mahmoud, Naji Mahmoud, Khaled Samiah, Othman Abdul Wahid, Ahmed Bassam, Nikola

Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2020 gets underway

Doha, January 7, 2020-The Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2020 got off to a good start on Monday with seven exciting encounters in the singles event and four in the doubles.Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik got the best of tournament's seventh-seed Adrian Mannarino of France with a 6-3, 6-4 straight set victory to book a second round clash with Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene, who staged a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback win against Sweden's Mikael Ymer, while Frenchman Corentin Moutet, a qualifier, advanced into the next round after defeating USA's Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.For Doha-resident and former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco, his pre-tournament prediction of going as far as possible at this year's event remains firmly on course as he racked up six aces en route his 6-4, 6-3 defeat of fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in their 90-minute encounter.Meanwhile, top-seed Stan Wawrinka, who got a first round bye in the singles, was in the thick of the action in the doubles event on Monday. The three-time Grand Slam winner paired up with USA's Frances Tiafoe to defeat the duo of second-seed Andrey Rublev and Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).Wawrinka, who was a runner-up to Britain's Andy Murray in 2008, will begin his quest for the golden falcon trophy in Doha with a second-round action against France's Jeremy Chardy, who sent his compatriot Gregoire Barrere packing with 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Thawab Al-Subaey to participate in Winter Youth Olympics

Doha, January 7, 2020- The delegation Qatar Winter Sports Committee left for Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday to participate in the third Winter Youth Olympics to be held from January 9-22, 2020. Qatar's Thawab Al-Subaey will participate in Boys' 3x3 Mixed Ice Hockey Tournament in the first Qatari appearance in Winter Youth Olympics. Thawab Al-Subaey is one of three Qatari players who led the standings of Ice Hockey Skill Challenge organized by Qatar Winter Sports Committee in September 2019 to select one player to qualify to Youth Winter Olympics.

Qatar handball team lose to Croatia in friendly

Zagreb, January 6, 2020- Qatar handball team suffered a 28-33 defeat at the hands of Croatia in the friendly international championship concluded in Zagreb on Sunday. In their match, Qatar defeated Bosnia Herzegovina 30-27. Qatar's participation in the friendly championship comes in light of the preparations for the 19th Asian Handball Championship, to be held in Kuwait from 16 to 27 January.The event also serves as a qualifier for the world championship that in Egypt in 2021.Qatar were pooled in Group B at the Asian Championship alongside Japan and China. They will start their campaign on January 16 with the match against China.