Qatar defeat Palestine in West Asian U-23 Volleyball Qualifiers

MANAMA, Bahrain, June 30 , 2019 – Qatar's Men U-23 Volleyball team opened its campaign in the West Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship qualifiers with 3-0 victory over Palestinian counterparts in Bahrain's capital of Manama on Saturday.Both teams displayed impressive performance in Saturday's game, but the Qatari side was stronger enough to notch up a deserving victory (25-15, 31-29 and 28-19). The West Asian group bringing together Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq , Palestine ,where three teams only will qualify to the finals. West Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship acts as a qualifying tournament for Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship 2019 scheduled in Myanmar in August. ​

Qatar team continue impressive run in FIVB Beach World Championships

HAMBURG, Germany, June 30, 2019 Qatar's duo , Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, kept their winning streak at FIVB Beach World Championships 2019 with a second 2-1 victory over opponents from Czech Republic in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday . Saturday's victory over Czech Duo (18-21, 13-21 and18-16) has braced national team to book place in the second round ( 32nd round).Meanwhile, Qatar's second duo Tamer Abdelrasoul and Assam Ahmed Mahmoud will take on USA duo on Sunday, in quest to eliminate impact of their first defeat at the hands of Russian counterparts on Friday.It is worth mentioning that Younousse and Tijan have been the leading duo in Asia, having won the Asian Games and Asian Championship staying undefeated throughout. Besides, they have won three bronze medals in high-ranking events on the FIVB Beach World Tour. Their confidence level should be high, entering the event. In three last events on the World Tour, Younousse and Tijan secured the third spot in the Four-Star Xiamen Open and followed it up with a 17th spot in the Four-Star Ostrava Open and were placed ninth in the Four-Star Warsaw Open. They also featured in two non-Tour events and won them to give a winning lift to their confidence and form. There are 48 pairs in the men's and women's sections. They have been divided into 12 groups on single round-robin format. After the pool stage, top two pairs will advance directly to the knockout phase. While four best pairs out of the 12 third best pairs will automatically be placed in the first knock-out, the remaining eight will battle it out for four slots in the Lucky Loser elimination phase. ​

Qatar keep winning streak in Asian U-23 Volleyball Qualifiers

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 1 , 2019 – Qatar's Men U-23 Volleyball team recorded a second victory in West Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship qualifiers after beating Saudi Arabia 3-0 in Manama, Bahrain on Sunday.In Sunday's match, Qatar was the dominant side that displayed high volleyball skills to beat Saudi opponents ( 25-17, 25-22 and 25-22) and notched up its second victory on row.The West Asian group bringing together Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq , Palestine ,where three teams only will qualify to the finals.West Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship acts as a qualifying tournament for Asian Men's U-23 Volleyball Championship 2019 scheduled in Myanmar in August.

Qatar’s Bassem finishes second in Global Champions Tour thriller in Monaco

Monaco, July 01, 2019-Qatar's Bassem Hassan Mohamed finished second with Gunder at the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco on Saturday night. Maikel van der Vleuten won the event in a tight finish where the top four in the elite show jumping event were separated by a little over a second.The Dutchman and Beauville Z put in a flawless performance in the 10-way jump off and clocked in at 33.06 seconds, 0.06 seconds faster than Bassem and Gunder. The lightning-quick combination of Julien Epaillard and Usual Suspect d'Auge could only manage a third place finish.Bassem had made history in Monaco in 2014 by taking Qatar's first ever GCT Grand Prix win with his horse Victoria. This year he had to settle for second, but was delighted nonetheless and the Qatari rider said: “Gunder is always very good in the jump-off and today he jumped really amazing. With all these top riders it is never over until the end."Bassem and Gunder pivoted round the opening few roll-backs. The Qatari rider pushed every button and, accelerating round the latter fences, the brilliant pair scorched home and into the lead, clear in 33.12, to appreciative cheers.However, Maikel van der Vleuten increased the pace further still with the magnificent nine-year-old Beauvuille Z and the pair clearly had the magic touch. A breathtaking shot to the last rocketed them into the lead with a clear in 33.06.A thrilled van der Vleuten said: “It's incredible – this horse really fights for me. I spoke with my dad earlier this week as to whether it was too early to bring him (Beauville Z) here as first horse but it happens sometimes. When I saw Julien on the screen, I could bet on it that he should win; he went full out everywhere. I was just a bit faster and I gave it everything today. I had some nice forward distances and the horse really worked for me."The Dutchman, who becomes the 10th rider to qualify for the GCT Super Grand Prix at the GC Prague Playoffs in November, said: “A few times I've come very close to qualifying, but that was really my goal to be one of the riders to take part in the Super Grand Prix this year, so now it's done it feels good."There is no change at the top of the leader board in the Championship race, with Pieter Devos still leading the way but Ben Maher jumped ahead of Daniel Deusser and this win in Monaco pushed Maikel van der Vleuten up to fourth position with nine events left.

Qatar to take on Sri Lanka in Davis Cup

SINGAPORE, June 29, 2019 - The Qatari men's tennis team recorded a 2-1 victory over Iran on Friday in their third encounter at the 2019 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III which is taking place in Singapore from June 26-29.In the first singles match, Qatar's Mousa Shannan defeated Iran's Mahdi Souri 6-0 6-1 while his brother Mubarak Shannan edged past Iran's Shahin Khaledan 7-6 6-2.In the doubles match, Qatar's Rayane Alami and Rashed Nawaf suffered a 6-2 6-3 defeat the hands of Mahdi Souri and Shahin Khaledan.After the conclusion of the first round, Syrian led the Group (A) with three victories ahead of Qatar in the second place and Malaysia in the third place while Iran finished fourth.On the other hand, Vietnam led Group (B) ahead of Sri Lanka in the second place then Kuwait in the third place while hosts Singapore occupied the fourth place, so Syria and Vietnam secured their spots in the 2020 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II while Qatar and Sri Lanka will fight for the third and final spot when they meet on Saturday.The Qatari delegation is chaired by Ahmed Sultan Al Obaidly and includes Mousa Shanan, Mubarak Shanan, Rayyan Alami, Rashed Nawaf and the team captain Sultan Khalfan in addition to the head coach Oliver Gross, fitness coach Luis Lobez and physiotherapist Alex.Ahmed Al Obaidli, Head of Qatar's delegation to the event was delighted by the victory over Iran and securing the second place in Group (A).“The Qatari performance lived up to our expectations in the three matches" he said.“Qatar now has a great opportunity to qualify to 2020 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II after defeating Sri Lanka in today's match." He added.Al Obaidli stressed that the Qatari players are confident that they can reach the goals of Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation under the leadership of Nasser bin Ghanim Al Khelaifi.For his part, Qatar's Captain Sultan Khalfan said that the Qatari players are one step away from a great achievement which is qualifying to 2020 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II.“The Qatari players deserved the qualification after the level they have shown during the previous three matches, but we are confident that we can reach our goal today." Khalfan Said.

Qatar open World Beach Volleyball Campaign with victory

HAMBURG, Germany, June 29, 2019 Qatar's duo , Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, began their quest for glory in the FIVB Beach World Championships with a narrow 2-1 victory over Italian opponents in Hamburg, Germany on Friday. Meanwhile, Qatar's second duo Tamer Abdelrasoul and Assam Ahmed Mahmoud suffered defeat at the hands of Russian counterparts in their debut match in FIVB Beach World Championships.It is worth mentioning that Younousse and Tijan have been the leading duo in Asia, having won the Asian Games and Asian Championship staying undefeated throughout. Besides, they have won three bronze medals in high-ranking events on the FIVB Beach World Tour. Their confidence level should be high, entering the event. In three last events on the World Tour, Younousse and Tijan secured the third spot in the Four-Star Xiamen Open and followed it up with a 17th spot in the Four-Star Ostrava Open and were placed ninth in the Four-Star Warsaw Open. They also featured in two non-Tour events and won them to give a winning lift to their confidence and form. There are 48 pairs in the men's and women's sections. They have been divided into 12 groups on single round-robin format. After the pool stage, top two pairs will advance directly to the knockout phase. While four best pairs out of the 12 third best pairs will automatically be placed in the first knock-out, the remaining eight will battle it out for four slots in the Lucky Loser elimination phase. ​