Qatar defeat Chile to book place in Beach Volleyball 4x4 Semifinals

DOHA, October 15, 2019 – Impressive home side, Qatar defeated Chile in the last eight stage of the beach volleyball 4x4 men's tournament at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Doha on Monday.Monday's victory came after the home side Qatar defeated Chile 2-0 ( 21/13, 21/18) at Al Gharafa Arena. Qatar team will face Poland in the semifinals round on Tuesday. It is worth mentioning that, Qatar defeated both USA and Germany on Sunday to please the home fans as Pool A winners in the beach volleyball 4x4 men's tournament at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Doha. Comments from ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 athlete Cherif Younousse (QAT) after Qatar's 2-0 victory against Chile in their men's Beach Volleyball 4x4 quarter-final match at Al-Gharafa Sports Club on 14 October 2019." It's a big step, yes, but I think we can do better. There are some things we missed, but inshallah, the next game we try to avoid that. Now everybody has their eyes on us, so we need to be ready 100%, to beat each team that is in front of us. It's a good experience." said Younousse.Also he spoke about injured teammate Ahmed Tijan:" “Yeah, he's still hurt. He's out of the tournament. He just supports the team. He's out for a few weeks. It's a big blow. But we can manage."“We focused for every single ball. Fight, fight for each ball. We'll try to keep that focus the next two games."

Hosts Qatar still unbeaten as handball gears up for semi-finals

DOHA, October 15, 2019- Qatar handball team, cheered on by a packed-out Central Court, pushed past Australia 24-17, 24-10, continuing an unbeaten record on home sand at Al-Gharafa and setting up a mighty clash with Brazil's men today evening, who needed three sets to move past Croatia to the business end of the tournament.On the other hand, Spain's Kevin Vinales and Francisca Tous (ESP) both were crowned Aquathlon Individual gold medallists after physically taxing, fast races at Katara Beach on 14 October. Challenging conditions defined the event, which consisted of a 2.5-kilometre run, a 750-metre swim and a second 2.5 kilometres on the pavement. Mark Devay (HUN) nabbed silver in 26:29, with reigning world champion Rostislav Pevtsov (AZE) in third with a time of 26:43. On the women's side, Azerbaijan's Kseniia Levkovska took silver with a time of 30:03, followed by Antoanela Manac (ROU) with bronze in 30:17. In the men's race Vinuela stayed with the lead pack through the first run, and entered the water in fifth position behind Belgium's Emmanuel Lejeune, Pevtsov, Devay and Jaime Gonzalez (MEX). But a strong swim - his specialty - gave him a slight advantage as he emerged from the water just ahead of the Hungarian. He was able to maintain, and even slightly extend, this lead on the final leg, despite the fact that both Pevtsov and Devay are superior runners, finishing with a time of 26:22. "I can't swim in warm water," said a disappointed Pevtsov, who led the field through the first running portion. "It's not my strong side, and then in the second [running] segment, I didn't have any power."Colombia's Hugo Ruiz had an impressive performance to place fourth. Tous proved to be the athlete to beat for the majority of the race in the women's event. She paced the first leg in a pack along with Mexico's Itzel Arroyo, Marharyta Krylova (UKR) and Manac. Through the transition, she entered the water third, but exited after the swim leading the race in step with Chloe Pollard (GBR), who had made up more than 30 seconds on the swim. The Spaniard, though, quickly found her second gear on the final run and cruised to a 25-second victory in 29:38.Pollard eventually placed sixth, while compatriot and one of the race favourites Hannah Kitchen (GBR) did not finish.Aquathlon's Mixed Team Relay will take place on 15 October starting at 6 a.m.

Qatar Olympic Committee Signs Cooperation Agreement with Thai Counterpart

DOHA, October 15, 2019 (QNA) - Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) has signed a cooperation agreement with the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, on the sidelines of the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019.The agreement was signed in the presence of Director of Support Services at the Qatar Olympic Committee Hamad Lahdan Al Muhannadi, Director General of Aspire Logistics Abdulla Al Naimi, and officials from the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and the Thai delegation.The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and the Kingdom of Thailand in the field of sports during the next phase.

Sheikh Joaan Honors Champions Mutaz Barshim, Abderrahman Samba

DOHA, October 15, 2019 (QNA) - HE President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani honored Monday Qatari champions Mutaz Barshim, the gold medalist of the high jump and Abderrahman Samba, the bronze medalist for the 400 meters hurdles at the IAAF World Athletics Championships, recently held in Doha.HE Second Vice-President of QOC Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, HE Secretary-General of QOC Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, and members of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Athletics Federation attended the honoring ceremony.HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani congratulated the champions Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba for their achievements, praising their great efforts and the achievement of two medals that pleased everyone in Qatar and increased the success of the IAAF World Athletics Championships. He urged them to achieve more glory in the upcoming entitlements, especially the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.His Excellency thanked the Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Athletics Federation, the technical and administrative staff, and players for the great efforts exerted.HE President of QOC stressed QOC's keenness to provide all the possibilities to achieve more achievements in the upcoming events.HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani has awarded Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba the gold decoration, which is given to athletes who achieve international and Olympic achievements.

QOC Second Vice President meets Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sport

Doha, October 15, 2019 - HE Second Vice President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari met yesterday with HE Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sport Dr. Ahmed Riad Obeidi, on the sidelines of ANOC World Beach Games, Qatar 2019. The meeting reviewed aspects of sport cooperation and ways to enhance and develop them in the upcoming stage.

Guidi (ITA) and de Jesus Soares (BRA) take first Beach Games gold

DOHA, October 14, 2019 - Marcello Guidi (ITA) and Brazil's Ana de Jesus Soares wrote themselves into the history books this morning at Katara Beach in the Open Water 5 Km swim by not only winning the first gold medals awarded at the World Beach Games Qatar 2019, but the first in the history of the event. Despite an earlier-than-usual start time of 6 a.m., the water temperature still hovered over 30 degrees Celsius at the start of the race, and choppy surf nearly toppled some athletes off the pontoon before the horn.For the 5 Km distance, competitors navigated four laps of a 1.25-kilometre course. In the men's race, Germany's Soeren Meissner swam to the head of the lead pack of about 10 swimmers after one and-a-half laps and led for the majority of the race. Guidi, who had not won an international event prior to this, sprinted ahead with only 40 metres to go to take gold in a time of 55:25. As Meissner faltered in the last few metres, Denis Adeev (RUS) was also able to pass the German for silver in 55:26. Meissner, part of the powerhouse German world champion squad in the team event, rounded out the medallists in 55:28. "It was really hard in the end, and two guys passed me," Meissner admitted after he emerged from the water. "I was first at the last buoy, but it was so hard for me at the end."Heavy favourite Kristof Rasoovszky, who won the 2019 World Championships in the 5k by an astonishing 10 seconds, placed 17th. On the women's side, de Jesus Soares, the reigning World champion in the 5k and Pan American champion in the 10k, placed herself in the lead early on and never relinquished it, winning gold in a time of 59:51. "When you race, you know when you have space," the Brazilian said. "You feel the touch of others at your feet. Today, I didn't feel them touching my feet, so I knew I had a little more space for the finish."Although the Brazilian felt metres ahead of her competition, China's Yawen Hou hit the board a second later, with Leonie Beck (GER) in third in 59:53 to add to her bronze in the same distance from the world championships earlier this year.Local swimmers, Abdurrahman Mohammed Hisham and Nada Mohammed Wafa made impressive participation in the swimming event.