Qatar soar in FIFA's first ranking of 2019

Zurich, February 08, 2019 - Newly crowned Asian champions Qatar have climbed to 55th in the latest FIFA World Ranking, gaining 38 places and reaching their best position since 1993 - on the back of their stunning success in Asian Tournament.The Asian runner ups, Japan, gained 23 places climbing to the 27th, whereas South Korea reached 38th, climbing 15 places.Jordan jumped 12 positions to reach the 97th place, Iraq eight positions to reach the 80th and Iranian team, the leader of the Asian Ranking climbed seven steps to occupy the 22nd place in the international ranking.The top ten positions remained unchanged toped by Belgium, followed by France, Brazil, Croatia, England, Portugal, Uruguay, Switzerland, Spain and Denmark, respectively.As for the African teams, Senegal maintained their lead in the 24th position of the FIFA ranking, followed by Tunisia in the 28th and Morocco in the 43rd place.

300 student participate in SOP Special Day for girls

Doha, February 08, 2019 - The sport day competitions for people with special needs concluded on Thursday with girls competitions, organized by school Olympic program on the field and stadium of Suheim bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar Sports Club.Girls competitions witnessed good participation, where more than 300 female students competed in 9 sports categories, and the audience was very much involved with athletics competitions, which included running and jumping.The organizing committee of the school Olympic program is used to organize the special day activities for boys and girls on an annual basis as a program accompanying the school program in order to give this important community the opportunity to practice sport, and to emphasize their important role in society.Qatar Foundation for Rehabilitation of Special Needs gives great attention to this program as it is seen as a source to discover talents, who will join the national team to participate in various Paralympic competitions, in which Qatar has achieved great results.The Organizing Committee held yesterday the boys day competitions. 76 boys and girls participated in various competitions amid strong competition between the participants who showed high abilities after receiving full training and qualification by the Federation, which closely monitors competitions.In a press statement, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Fawzia Al Khater praised the organization of the day for people with special needs within the school Olympic program, adding that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education pays special attention to people with special needs at all levels, not only for the development of students in the academic aspects, but also in other aspects because sport is an important part to complete the student's personality such as communication, capacity developing and social networking as well as developing his sports capabilities.Al Khater thanked the organizers of the event and the Olympic Committee for organizing these sports events because they have already achieved great interaction among the students and motivated them to participate, stressing that this is a part of the Ministry of Education's strategy that addresses their needs.President of Qatar Women Sport Committee (QWSC) Lulwa Al Marri affirmed the importance of holding this special day annually within the framework of the school Olympic program in order to give people with disabilities an opportunity to compete and highlight their sporting potential that can be used in the future.Lulwa Al Marri hailed the idea of school Olympic program and the allocation of a special day for people with special needs within the program, pointing to great interaction between nearly 700 male students and nearly 300 female students during the two-day event in the Qatar Sports Club, which hosted the competitions.She added that the interaction and participation is increasing year after year and this confirms the success of the school Olympic program, adding this affirms the keenness of the leadership and the state on sports excellence at all levels.President of QWSC stressed the importance of continuing this success and work in the future to discover new talents and highlight them, especially at the level of people with special needs, adding this category is very important and constitutes an integral part of our society and it is necessary to develop their abilities in the field of sports.Aisha Askar, an expert on scouting and guidance activities at the Qatar Scout Association and the special needs division manager in Doha schools, said this is the first participation by these schools and all our schools for people with special needs participated in this special day.She described the participation as great and effective, and the annual competitions as an opportunity to discover talents among people with special needs who have unique sporting potential, adding it is an opportunity to integrate them into society because sports are a passion for participants.While expressing her happiness at participation and interaction, she noted that the school program is a great idea that contributes to detecting talents and developing their abilities at all levels, especially among people with special needs.

Qatari Player Rashid Nawaf Secures Second Place in Le Petit AS Tennis Tournament in France

PARIS, France, February 7, 2019 - Qatar's promising young tennis player Rashid Nawaf secured the second place in the French Le Petit AS tennis tournament held in France in cooperation with the European Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation ITF.Le Petit AS is one of the most prestigious tournaments in Europe and in the world because it attracts a large number of international players, as well as the stars who have won the titles in previous years, such as Spain's Rafael Nadal, Swiss Martina Hingis and Belgium's Kim Clijsters.The tournament witnessed the participation of 64 players in the main rounds of individual boys from all over the world, where about 7,000 tennis players participated in the pre-qualifying rounds and then only 350 qualified for the final stage.On the same level, Qatari player Rashid Nawaf secured ninth place in the European rankings after his successful participation in Le Petit AS tournament.Nawaf will start his first tour of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for the first time in March in Doha with the aim of winning his first spot in ITF category and he intends to participate in the U-14 World Championship qualifiers.

Qatar Total Open 2019 to begin on Monday

DOHA, February 7, 2019-Former world number one and 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki has received a wild card entry to participate in the Qatar Total Open 2019 to be held from February 11 to 16 at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha.The 28-year-old Dane, a two-time finalist here (2011 and 2017), will be joining the likes of world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka of Japan, world No. 3 Simona Halep of Romania, 2017 champion and world No. 5 Karolína Plíšková, Angelique Kerber; a three-time Grand Slam champion and 2014 finalist as well as Netherland's Kiki Bertens among others for the week-long fiesta of tennis at the Premier 5 WTA Tour event.Besides Wozniacki, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur and Fatima Al Nabhani of Oman will also be featuring in the main draw as wild card entrants.Currently ranked 56, the 24-year-old Jabeur, a winner of seven singles on the ITF Women's Circuit, is one of the best-known Arab players on the WTA Tour. She won the girls singles title of the 2011 French Open having already reached the final of the same event the previous year.Nabhani, on the other hand, has a win-loss record of 13–7 playing for Oman at the Fed Cup. The 27-year-old has 10 ITF career titles under her belt and she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 362 on October 4, 2010.Meanwhile, Qatar's Mubaraka Al Nuaimi and Julia El Baba of Lebanon will have the opportunity of playing in the main draw should they successfully navigate the qualification stages. The two players have been given wild cards to participate in the qualifiers to be held from February 9 to 10.Held since 2001, the Qatar Total Open has grown to become one of the biggest WTA Tour events in the region and it has consistently featured the world's top ten players on a regular basis.The last edition was won by Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova who recorded her 13th consecutive victory by beating Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in a highly entertaining encounter.

Special Day for Students with Special Needs Held within Schools Olympic Program

DOHA, February 7, 2019 - The organizing committee of the Schools Olympic Program organized Wednesday the competitions of the Special day for student with special needs, at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar Sports Club with the participation of a large number of students.A total of 76 schools form different parts of Doha took part in the various games of the competitions, which were opened by HE Secretary-General of Qatar Olympic Committee Jassim Rashid Al Buainain.The Special day draws great attention mainly of the Qatar Paralympic Committee which seizes this opportunity to identify the talents and sponsor them to join the national teams, in order to participate in the various Paralympics games, in which Qatar has made great achievements.The organization of a Special day for student with special needs aims to develop the capabilities of this category through the Schools Olympic Program, which is a means of change in the society that goes beyond being a sports event to be a social, cultural and health event.HE President of Qatar Sports School Federation (QSSF) Rabia Al Kaabi praised the activities of the Special day which represents a precious category that has been keen on taking part in the community, being effective and achieving remarkable successes.He added that champions of this category has achieved many successes and accomplishments through their participation in different foreign tournaments, stressing that the Schools Olympic Program is keen of allocating a special day for their competitions as an important part of the society.

QGA prepares to host Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship 2019

DOHA, February 6, 2019 – The Qatar Golf Association (QGA) announced on Tuesday that its managerial and technical arrangements are completed to host the prestigious Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship 2019 from 14- 16 February at Doha Golf Club.The annual event brings together elite amateur golfers across the world also acting as a qualifying tournament for Commercial Bank Masters 2019 which will follow this tournament.This championship represents a real challenge for the local golfers who ambitiously looking for spots in the Commercial Bank Masters 2019.