Doha gears up for Qatar ExxonMobil Open

Doha, January 01, 2020-The world tennis stars will begin arriving in Doha on Wednesday to participate in Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2020 to be held from January 6 to 11.Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and 2012 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France are among the stars set to open their season on the courts of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. In all, 21 players made the entry list for the singles event of the annual ATP World Tour 250 series tournament with three slots allotted for wild card entrants and four for qualifiers while 16 teams are taking part in the doubles event. Other key players expected to feature at the event include 2013 champion Richard Gasquet, 2018 finalist Andrey Rublev, 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and Doha-resident Fernando Verdasco, the 2009 Australian Open semi-finalist and finalist at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

Sanchez announces Qatar squad for AFC U-23 Championship

DOHA, December 30, 2019-Qatar coach Felix Sanchez yesterday announced the national team squad that will be seen in action for the AFC U-23 Championship to be held in Thailand from January 8 to 26.Qatar who finished third in the last edition in China, are placed alongside 2016 champions Japan, Saudi Arabia and Syria in Group B.Qatar Squad:Amro Abdulfatah, Abdullah Ali, Hamam Al Amin, Salah Hassan, Khalid Mounir, Ahmed Suhail, Ali Malallah, Mohammed Al Bayati, Hassan Ahmed, Tariq Sulaiman, Meshaal Barshim, Hashim Ali, Adel Al Ahmed, Ahmed Al Menhali, Abdulrashid Amaro, Abdullah Al Ahraq, Mohammed Adel, Abdulrahman Mohamed, Khalifa Al Bakri, Yousef Abdulrazaq, Jassim Jaber, Yazan Al Sheikh, Nasser Al Yazidi, Nasser Al Ahraq, Mohammed Al Bakri and Nayef Abdulrahim.

Stage set for 2020 Qatar ExxonMobil Tournament

Doha, December 29, 2019- (QNA) - Secretary-General of Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) Tareq Zainal said that the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open Tennis Championship for men has become one of the most important tournaments in the 250-point category on the ATP schedule, due to its world-class outstanding level.Zainal told reporters yesterday, in the presence of director of the tournament Karim Al Alami that the Qatar Exxon Mobil Championship, which will be held from 6 to 11 January 2020, with a large participation of the top players, has reached this outstanding global level due to the great facilities offered by the committees working in the tournament for the participating players, starting from their arrival at Hamad International Airport, through their stay in five-star hotels, and providing them with all the amenities at the hotel, on the field, and on all their movements, which makes the player focus only on his performance on the field.He explained that, due to the global professional level provided annually by the tournament, it was chosen by the players and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as the best in the category of 250 points in 2019, for the third time after 2015 and 2017.QTF Secretary-General said that after the last edition, the organizing committee sensed great satisfaction in the players and members of the ATP, who praised the level of organization that compares with what they see in the 1000-point Masters tournaments.He explained that the professional players who participate tournaments around the world throughout the year give their best performances when they receive the appropriate attention from the tournaments officials. "In all our work, we seek to promote the name of Qatar by improving the organization, which makes players, and although there are more than one championship held at the same time, prefer to participate in Qatar Exxon Mobil Open," he said."Tourist sites, such as: Souq Waqif, Lusail, museums, Aspire Zone, shopping malls, and the cultural village contributes to the success of our championship , in addition to the good weather," Tareq Zainal added pointing to the world trend of sports tourism." In QTF, our goal is to promote the game and sports tourism, and we also keen to have our players watch these big tournaments, which motivate and encourage them to advance their performance," Zainal said.

Qatar handball team defeat Iran in a friendly match

Doha, December 29, 2019- Qatar's handball team defeated Iran 31-16 in a friendly match in Doha on Saturday in preparation for the upcoming Asian Championship, which is set to take place in Kuwait from January 16 to 27.The competition also acts as a qualifier to the world cup that will take place in Egypt in 2021.The team will leave for Croatia to take part in a friendly tournament to be held from January 2 to January 7. Qatar are in Group B of the Asian Championships alongside Japan and China.They start their campaign on January 16 with the match against China

Team Qatar continue preparations for Asian Handball Championship

Doha, December 28, 2019- Qatar handball team are continuing their preparations for the upcoming Asian Championship, which is set to take place in Kuwait from January 16 to 27.The competition also acts as a qualifier to the world cup that will take place in Egypt in 2021. The team will play a friendly match with Iran on Saturday before leaving for Croatia to take part in a friendly tournament to be held from January 2 to January 7. Qatar are in Group B of the Asian Championships alongside Japan and China.They start their campaign on January 16 with the match against China.

Team Qatar begin preparations for 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games Asia volleyball qualifiers

Doha, December 25, 2019-The Qatari national volleyball team launched the preparations for the Asian qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games at the QVA Headquarters Gym in Doha on Monday. The Asian qualifiers are scheduled in China from January 7 to 12.Ali Abdullah al Haddad has been named the head of the national team. Camilo Soto is the coach, while Carlos Jermain is the fitness coach. Cornel Klinsky and Abdul Hafeez Asmawi are the statistician and therapist, respectively.At the moment, 16 players have been selected for the camp. They are: Mubarak Dahi Waleed, Sultan Abdullah, Ahmed Jamal, Mohamed Ibrahim Said, Bilal Nabil, Suleiman Saeed, Milos Stevanovic, Nader Abu Bakr, Renan Rebeiro, Assam Mahmoud, Geraldo, Nagy Mahmoud, Khaled Samiah, Nikola, Othman Abdul Wahid and Ahmed Bassam.The QVA League first phase will restart on December 25 with Al Shamal taking on Al Khor in a lone match. Then the last match between Qatar Sports Club and Al Rayyan Club will be held on January 18 after all the players return from the China assignment.Former champions Al Arabi Club have clean-swept all the nine matches in the first phase and lead the table with 25 points. Police, with seven wins and two losses, are in the second spot, trailing the leaders by five points. In the third spot are Al Wakrah, who have tallied 19 points from seven wins in nine matches.Al Rayyan, after five wins in eight matches, are holding the fourth spot with 17, while Al Ahli have 15 points from five victories in nine games.