Shooting team to participate in ISSF World Cup in China

DOHA, April 20, 2019 – Qatar's shooting team will participate in the 2019 ISSF World Cup series will take place in Beijing, China until 29 April.The prestigious championship will bring together 588 shooters, representing 67 countries including China, Korea, Japan, USA and Thailand alongside a number of Arab teams.Qatar's team is represented by Osama Abdulnasser Al Sheeba, Mohammed Hassan Al Tamimi, Al Dana Al Mubarak, Nasrah Mohammed.The World Cup series will be also as the qualification tournaments for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Swimmers sparkle in GCC Championship

DOHA, April 20 , 2019 – Qatar swimming team (13 to 14 years old) claimed the first place in the 17th edition of the prestigious GCC Swimming Championship (Open water) held in Kuwait on Friday.Swimmers Kareem Salah, Omar Ashraf and Abdullah Al Khaledi grabbed the gold medal in the team event, 13-14 years category.On the same track of victory, Qatar's Kareem Salah won the gold medal in the individual event , while his teammate, Omar Asharaf clinched the silver medal.In 15-17 year category, Qatar's Mohammed Mahmood won the gold medal in 5km event, while his teammate Abdurrahman Mohammed grabbed the gold medal in 5km event (senior class).Qatar swimming delegation is headed by Ahmed Al Nimah, Assistant Secretary General of Qatar Swimming Federation, alongside Ibraheem Al Rumaihi, the team director and the technical staff alongside 8 swimmers.

Curtains come down on SOP competitions

Doha, April 20, 2019-The 12th edition of the Schools Olympic Program (SOP) was concluded at Aspire Academy on Thursday.The 2019 edition featured 12 sports including Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Fencing, Gymnastics, Athletics, Swimming, Chess and Taekwondo. The title-deciding matches played Thursday included finals in football, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and tennis.In basketball competitions for primary schools, DBS School claimed the title after beating Al Shahaniyah School in the final match while Saad bin Abi Waqas School finished third. Hamza bin Abdulmotaleb emerged victorious in basketball competitions for preparatory schools. In volleyball event for primary schools, Next Generation School took the first place ahead of Royal International School in the second place while MIS school settled in the third place. Abdullah Al Misned hoisted the trophy of preparatory schools' event while Ahmed bin Hanbal School claimed the title of primary schools' event. Hassan Hissam Al Hebabi, Director of the QOC Human Resources Department hailed the level of the SOP competitions in its 12th edition. “The QOC is always keen to provide the program will all possible means of support" he said.

World’s largest ever athletics exhibition opens in Doha

Doha, April 20, 2019-The IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition opened at the City Center Doha on Thursday in the presence of a host of world and Olympic champions.The exhibition, the largest ever of its kind, celebrates the history of the IAAF World Athletics Championships whose first edition took place in Helsinki, Finland, 36 years ago, and which remain today the third most important sporting event on the planet.The evening was hosted by IAAF President Sebastian Coe and Dahlan Al Hamad, IAAF Vice President and Director General of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 Local Organising Committee.The exhibition, which occupies 400m2 of space in the largest shopping mall in Qatar will be open daily to the public for six months, closing on Monday 7 October. During this time the Asian Athletics Championships, Doha Diamond League and IAAF World Athletics Championships will be hosted by Doha, drawing thousands of athletes, official, media and fans to Qatar.“Athletics is an ancient sport but there is nothing old about how this exhibition displays our history," commented Coe. “There are huge audio photo walls, LED screens showing archive competition action. There's the chance to explore the heights and weights of champions, lift the throwing implements, touch the hurdles and stand back in awe and admire the world record heights and distances of the jumpers."“Add to those attractions, there are 100s of items of wonderful athletics clothing and equipment donated and loaned by some of the greatest stars of our sport on display. This exhibition is a must see for all sports fans," concluded Coe.During the ceremony, donations and loans of kit were made by six global champions.Four-time Olympic champion Lasse Viren donated the pair of Onitsuka Tiger ASICS shoes which he wore when running the marathon at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.Following his second Olympic 5000m and 10,000m double, Viren took 5th place in the marathon.Coe then stepped-up to hand over his 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games spikes and national vest from his second 1500m Olympic victory.Another British running great Liz McColgan, the 1991 world 10,000m champion, was next up on stage. McColgan loaned her winning spikes – already donated to the ASICS museum in Kobe – for display at the Heritage Exhibition.The most-weighty of the donations in two respects came from Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk. Firstly, the two-time Olympic and three-time world champion was the most bemedaled of all tonight's guests. Secondly, Wlodarczyk donated the 4kg hammer to the IAAF Heritage Collection, with which she set the first 80m+ world record by a woman.Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Abderrahman Samba then came to the stage to officially hand over their preannounced donations of kit. Barshim, the reigning world high jump champion, presented his London 2012 Olympic Games competition vest and number, while Samba handed over the bodysuit which he wore when winning the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup Ostrava 2018 400m hurdles title.It was an evening that summed-up the past, present and future of athletics.Immediately before the official tape cutting to open the exhibition took place, the talented young Qatari national 4x100m relay squad, who will compete in the World Championships, also made an appearance on stage.

Qatar to participate in Xiamen Beach Volleyball Tour in China

DOHA, April 19, 2019 – Qatar's Beach Volleyball team (1) consists of Sharif Younis and Ahmed Tijan will participate in Xiamen Beach Volleyball Tour 4-star, double gender , one of FIVB World Tours 2019 will take place from 24-28 April in China.Qatar's team will leave Doha to China on Friday, after finishing a productive training camp took place at Al Gharafah SC beach playgrounds.The prestigious event will bring together 60 world teams representing 23 countries. This tour acts a qualifying tournament for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

QOC Secretary General Praises Success of School Olympic Program

Doha, April 19, 2019- Secretary-General of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Jassim Rashid Al Buenain said that the Qatar School Olympic Program aims to promote sports and leading a healthy life in school, in a bid to encourage the Qatari society to do more sports, as part of the Qatar National Vision 2030 which focuses on human capital.He attended the conclusion of the 12th edition of the program and praised the efforts made to ensure this year's edition was a success. He added that they were satisfied with the outcomes of this year, given the large number of participation from schools. He also said that QOC will remain committed to supporting sports in school and praised the cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. He also thanked Aspire Zone Foundation for hosting the conclusion of this year's event.He stressed that this year's edition saw large participation from public and private schools for boys and girls alike. He added that there was a high level of cooperation with various sports federations to benefit from the program.The Secretary-General of the Olympic Committee said that the achievements of the program helps build a better future, reiterating the committee's commitment to sports in school and to realizing the strategic goals of the program.For his part, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi praised the efforts made to ensure the success of the program's 12th edition. He added that this year saw an even stronger cooperation between the ministry and QOC.He added that the strong participation from schools reflect the desire to compete, expressing hope that this will in turn reflect well on the future of sports in the country. He said that the program also helps introduce future talents.He also praised the strong solidarity and cooperation between all parties involved to ensure the success of the program, adding that the ministry looks forward to further cooperation in the future to ensure the program can continue uninterrupted. (QNA)