Qatar to host final meet of FINA World Cup 2019

DOHA, November 07, 2019-The final meet of FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 will begin in Doha today, with the participation of the world's best swimmers competing at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, Aspire Zone.Organized by Qatar Swimming Association QSA, a total of 210 athletes - 134 male and 76 female participants - representing 44 countries, in addition to 60 club swimmers will compete in the event.The competition, which will take place from November 7 to 9, will be the last meet of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 series, involving seven cities. It will be the eighth consecutive year for Doha to host a FINA Swimming World Cup event.Australia will send the biggest team consisting of 22 swimmers to Doha, while Poland will have the second biggest squad comprising 13 athletes. Austria and Chinese Taipei's teams will have 11 swimmers each.Swimmers will come to Doha from Kazan, Russia (November 1 to 3) - the sixth stop, which is hosting the first event of the third and final cluster.Multiple gold medalists at 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju - Cate Campbell (AUS) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN) - will lead the women's field at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, where the winners of cluster 3 and the overall champions will be announced.After the fifth meet in Berlin, Campbell was leading the overall ranking with 243 points, and was followed by the 'Iron Lady' Hosszu with 240 points.Michelle Coleman (SWE), who was third after the Berlin meet, will also participate alongside Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN) and Kira Toussaint (NED) besides several other stars.The men's field includes Vladimir Morozov - the overall leader after the Berlin meet - and Danas Rapsys (LTU) - following the Russian star at second place - competing for medals. South Africa's Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion, Chad Le Clos will also return to Doha.Anton Chupkov (RUS), a world record holder in 200m breaststroke, Michael Andrew (USA) and Arno Kamminga (NED) are among the other leading male swimmers confirmed.Qatar will field 17 swimmers, who will compete against the world's best athletes in front of home fans. The squad includes young talent like Abdulaziz Hassan Al Obaidly, Yacob Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Yousef Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and Mohamed Mahmoud Mohamed.Qatari swimmers showed outstanding performance at the 27th GCC Aquatics Championships in Kuwait in September, winning 34 medals including 17 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze medals.

Qatar defeat Sri Lanka in AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers

​Doha, November 07, 2019-Hosts Qatar powered past Sri Lanka to win 5-1, with striker Mekki Tombari starring with an impressive brace in the AFC U-19 Championship Uzbekistan 2020 Qualifier at the Aspire Pitches yesterday.Playing on home soil, Qatar came into the match as warm favourites and that assessment appeared accurate when Tombari cut inside and scored within five minutes. A brace header from Mostafa Kadira made it 2-0 with 19 minutes gone, and it looked like Sri Lanka would be in for a long night when Tombari scored his second in the 44th minute, tapping into an empty net after Sri Lankan goalkeeper Mohamed Mursith spilled Jassim al-Zarra's initial effort.But just as Qatar looked to be in total control, Sri Lanka struck back with a quite superb long-range strike from substitute Mohamed Shabeer, who left Qatar goalkeeper Yousef Balideh stunned, and the small knot of Sri Lankan fans delighted, in the 45th minute.That goal gave Sri Lanka hope, but there was no stopping Qatar, who went further ahead when Avishka Deshan turned the ball into his own net in the 59th minute, before al-Jarra finished off a lovely move with a sweet strike into the bottom corner five minutes later.Qatar continued to chase goals, and they would have found further joy had it not been for a succession of shots denied by the woodwork, but the margin stayed at 5-1 as the hosts began their AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers campaign in style.Earlier, Yemen withstood a second-half recovery from Turkmenistan to claim a 2-1 win. First goals from Mohamed Abdulwahab al-Thulaia and Ahmed Maher gave Yemen a commanding 2-0 lead at half-time, but a goal from Igor Sekov shortly after the interval gave Amin al-Sunaini's side a challenge in a highly competitive second half.Both Yemen and Turkmenistan showed a desire to hunt for an early goal, but it was the former who were the first to get on the scoresheet thanks to al-Thulaia's penalty kick at the quarter-hour mark.The striker found the back of the net despite a touch from unfortunate Turkmenistan goalkeeper Amanmuhammet Orayev, although the goal owed much to the work of Yemen captain Muneef Jassar, whose ball into the penalty area was handled by Erik Sakayev to win the spot-kick in the first place.Shamammet Hydyrow sent a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar as Turkmenistan looked to strike back, but Yemen promptly extended their lead through Maher, who outpaced two defenders before scoring with a clever toe-poke on the outside of the boot, which snuck in at Orayev's near post to make it 2-0 after 26 minutes.Facing a two-goal deficit and having enjoyed only 30 percent of first half-possession, Turkmenistan had a mountain to climb going into the second period, but they made some headway through substitute Igor Sekov in the 48th minute.Sekov, who had been introduced only three minutes earlier, justified Aziz Kambaraov's tactical switch when he scored with a long-range effort which bounced awkwardly in front of Yemen shot-stopper Abdullah Abdulhakim al-Sadi, who succeeded only in fumbling the ball into the net.The stage was set for Turkmenistan to storm back into contention, but Yemen stood firm – with their cause aided when Turkmenistan's Ruslan Priyev's was sent off in injury time – to claim three valuable points on the road to Uzbekistan.

Qatar’s Al Rumaihi books spot at 2020 Tokyo Olympics

DOHA, Novmeber 7, 2019 - Qatar’s close-knit shooting community erupted in celebration on Wednesday after Mohamed al-Rumaihi booked a quota spot at the Olympics, the first shooter from the country to do so for next year’s quadrennial Games in Tokyo.The 30-year-old made the cut despite finishing fifth in the Men’s Trap final in the ongoing 14th Asian Shooting Championships at the Lusail Shooting Complex.“Congratulations to Mohamed al-Rumaihi, the first Qatari shooter to qualify for next year’s Olympics,” Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani tweeted.Kuwaiti shooters made a clean sweep of the podium with gold medallist Talal al-Rashidi winning the second quota place for his country, but since his country had exhausted its two quotas for the event – Abdulrahman al-Faihan had won one last year – al-Rumaihi was a beneficiary.The Qatari Trap trio of al-Rumaihi, Rashid al-Athba and Saeed Abu Sharib also bagged the team bronze, behind winners Kuwait and runners-up India, thus providing the icing on the cake on the country’s celebrations.The team competition runs concurrently with the individual event with the combined scores of the participants from each participating nation determining the positions.Al-Rumaihi entered the final in sixth place after five rounds of qualifying, each round consisting of 25 shots at clay discs released from computer controlled machines designed to deliver 10 left, 10 right and 5 straight-away targets to each competitor. It calls for immense concentration where one’s natural physical and mental instincts have to be in synchronisation with the technique and methodology delivered by modern coaching.“I am very happy that I could qualify for the Olympics. It is a dream come true for me,” al-Rumaihi said after the competition, which finished as dusk set in.“It was a tough contest. The Kuwaiti shooters were every strong, the others too. I am proud of my effort,” he added.Al-Rumaihi’s Polish coach Robert Mlodzianowski was thrilled with al-Rumaihi’s success.“It was a great effort from Mohamed to come to the final after five tough rounds and then compete in the final in difficult conditions,” said Mlodzianowski.Mlodzianowski said shooters in Qatar are used to strong desert winds, but the light was a problem.“It was the fading light that posed a problem. It makes concentration difficult ,” he added.That probably was the case in the final where al-Rumaihi could only hit 18 targets out of 30. In fact he could only hit one out of his first set of five targets which in the final analysis killed off his chances of finishing on the podium.Not that anyone was too bothered by it .“Our aim was to secure as many quota places as possible for the Olympics. With Mohamed’s success we have got one now and we are very happy with that,” said Ali Mohamed al-Kuwari, the President of the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association.He said with skeet shooter and London Olympics bronze-medallist Nasser al-Attiyah and a few others also in the fray, Qatar was hopeful of winning more spots.“We are hopeful. Especially, we have high hopes from Nasser,” he added .

Top squash stars look for glory in PSA World Championship

DOHA, November 6, 2019 - Qatar's top squash player Abdullah Mohammed Al Tamimi will hope to improve his last PSA World Championship record when he begins his campaign at the PSA Tour calendar at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Friday.Currently ranked No.46, 24-year-old will be looking for a more consistent run while playing before the home crowd.The championship, in which the world's top players will be seen in action, will be held from November 8 to 15.In the 2017 World Championship in London, he lost to Englishman Nick Matthew in the third round and thus will be keen to go beyond the third round.At the last championship, Tamimi started off by defeating German Simon Rosner in the first round and then overcame Mathieu Castagnet of France but crashed in the third round to Matthew.Compatriots Syed Azlan Amjad and Hamad Al Amri, who have received wildcard entries for the prestigious event, will lead the host nation's challenge.Tamimi, who reached a career-high world ranking of 28 in August, 2018, will begin his campaign against France's Gregoire Marche, ranked 16 on the world ranking computer.Tamimi has a good run in the 2018 season and the high point was winning the $35,000 Malaysian Open and breaking into the all-time career high rank of 28.

Stage set for final meet of FINA World Cup in Doha

​DOHA, November 6, 2019 - Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) will organise the FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 Doha (QAT) next month, which will host the world's best swimmers competing at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, Aspire Zone.The competition, which will take place from November 7 to 9, will be the last meet of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 series, involving seven cities. It will be the eighth consecutive year for Doha to host a FINA Swimming World Cup event.Qatari capital, home to the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2014, will also host the FINA World Aquatics Championships in 2023 – the sport's spotlight event.“Doha's presence since 2012 in the World Cup circuit has assuredly reinforced the visibility of this top-notch event in the Middle East region. After the successful staging of the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Doha, the legacy of Swimming has continued in this part of the world," said FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione.The FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 series started in Tokyo (JPN) while Jinan (CHN) and Singapore (SGP) hosted the next two meets, forming cluster 1. Cluster 2 involved stops in Budapest (HUN) and Berlin (GER).The stop in Berlin, which was held from October 11 to 13, witnessed Dutchman Arno Kamminga surpassing Russia's Vladimir Morozov to win the second cluster. In the women's events, Australia's Cate Campbell surpassed Hungary's Katinka Hosszu to win the cluster, taking an overall lead in the series.Swimmers will come to Doha after competing in the Kazan (RUS) meet – the first stop of the third and final cluster – which will take place from November 1 to 3.Exciting races are on the cards in Doha, as it will showcase the cluster 3 winners and the overall winners. The overall winners of the series will receive $150,000.Morozov is ahead in the men's overall rankings in the series with 264 points, followed by Lithuania's Danas Rapsys with 177 points. USA's Andrew Michael is third with 132 points.Campbell is leading the women's overall rankings with a total of 243 points, followed by Hosszu with 240 points. Sweden's Michelle Coleman is third with 135 points.With much at stake, the Doha meet – one of the famous stops for swimmers – is expected to attract all the big names of the sport, apart from the leading swimmers of FINA Swimming World Cup 2019 series.The list of the participants will be finalised soon.Many Qatari swimmers will also take part in the home event after showing outstanding performances at the 27th GCC Aquatics Championships in Kuwait, where they clinched 34 medals including 17 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 7 bronze medals last month .Tickets for the three-day event can be booked at https://www.q-tickets.com/Events/EventsDetails/7281/fina-swimming-world-cup-2019 The races include morning heats and evening finals .The heats will take place from 10:00am to 12:30pm while finals will be held from 6:00pm to 8:30pm.

Qatar Olympic Committee Participates in WADA World Conference on Doping in Sport

WARSAW, November 6, 2019 - HE Second Vice President of Qatar Olympic Committee Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari is taking part in the 5th Conference of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Doping in Sport, which kicked off in Poland Tuesday and will run for three days.The participation of Qatar Olympic Committee in this world conference comes in the framework of the Committee's keenness on supporting the international and regional efforts in combating doping and protecting sports and athletes from doping that negatively affect the safety of athletes and the integrity of sports competitions.