China claim team gold in gymnastics Worlds

DOHA, October 30, 2018- China claimed the gold medal of Men's team event in the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Doha on Monday. The Chinese team led the standings with 256.634 points ahead of the Russian team in the second place with 256.585 points. The Japanese took bronze with 253.744 points while the US team finished fourth on 252.994 points. In addition to hosts Qatar, five Arab countries: Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Syria and Jordan are taking part in the championship, along with the world's top stars such as Olympic champion Oksana Chusovitina, Olympic gymnast Emily Little and Japanese Kohei Uchimura who has won 6 consecutive world championships.

Qatar to host PSA Men’s World Championships next season

DOHA, October 29, 2018-The Men's World Championships will make a return to Qatar for the fifth time as the Professional Squash Association (PSA) announced on Sunday that Qatar will be the host of the 2019/20 edition of the prestigious tournament.The 40th edition of the iconic championships, the most prestigious and lucrative tournament of the PSA Tour Calendar, will take place between October 31 - November 8, 2019 at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.In all, 64 players including the 56 highest ranked players and 8 wild card entrants will compete for the share of the $325,000 total cash prize up for grabs at the tournament.Qatar had previously hosted the sport's pinnacle tournament in 1998, 2004, 2012 and 2014, with the 2014 final between Egyptian duo Ramy Ashour and Mohamed ElShorbagy going down in history as one of the sport's greatest ever matches."We are delighted to announce that the 2019/20 PSA Men's World Championships will take place in Qatar next season and are looking forward to seeing the world's greatest players return to the country for what promises to be an exciting week of action," said PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough."Qatar is a major destination on the international squash scene and has hosted some incredible tournaments and matches down the years. There is also a promising crop of young Qatari players starting to make their mark on the PSA Tour, including Abdullah Mohd Al Tamimi, who is on the verge of making the world's top 20.""The Qatar Squash Federation has taken the tournament to another level in terms of the presentation and production values of the event in recent years and we are looking forward to working with them over the coming months." He addedTournament Director Tariq Zainal said: "Hosting the PSA Men's World Championships for the fifth time is another proof of Qatar's commitment to the development of our sport. Over the years, Qatar has grown to be a global destination for top sporting events of which squash occupies a major place in the top hierarchy. We are happy and prepared to host once again a memorable event that promises to be the best ever."I'm sure all the players and participants are looking forward to the wonderful hospitality and superb organization of which Qatar is reputed for. We believe the championships will be another opportunity for squash fans, especially in the region, to enjoy watching their beloved players compete at the topmost level of the game. It will also provide an opportunity for upcoming stars to gain valuable experience which a tournament of such nature provides. We are delighted to host this tournament and we look forward to welcoming the world in 2019." Tareq added.The 2019/20 PSA Men's World Championships will replace the Qatar Classic, PSA World Tour Platinum event on the PSA Tour calendar next season. The Qatar Classic will return to the calendar for the 2020/21 campaign.

Qatar football team qualify for U-20 World Cup

Jakarta, October 29, 2018-Qatar U-19 team qualified for the FIFA U-20 Football World Cup to be held in Poland. The Qatari team beat Thailand 7-3 in Jakarta yesterday, in the quarter-finals of the U-19 Asia Cup, thus becoming the first team from Asia to qualify for the World Cup. In semi-final Qatar will face the winners of South Korea and Tajikistan quarter-final. At the end of regular time both teams were tied three goals each. Qatar players changed the level of their game in extra time scoring four goals without conceding any taking the final tally to 7-3.Qatar led the group stage with six points from three matches. They lost to the UAE, then defeated both Indonesia and Chinese Taipei. The Qatari team's coach Bruno Pinheiro said ahead of their meeting with Thailand that qualifying for the youth world cup was a huge motivation for the players.The Poland World Cup will be held from May 23 to June 15, 2019.

QOC, QTA sign Memorandum of Understanding to manage sport activities at winter camps

DOHA, October 29, 2018 – The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supervise the sports activities during winter camping (Al Enna Project) in the country which will get underway from November1.According to the MoU, Qatar Olympic Committee will acts as partner in Al Ennah Project which aims to strengthening winner camping experience in the country. The MoU will mainly enhance the common cooperation between the two organizations in different fields by hosting the sport events and tourist festivals during winter season. QTA will arrange 6 playgrounds equipped with electric power, lights, storage sites, offices and other necessary facilities for winter camps pioneers. These six playgrounds include, two beach football playgrounds ( 26x35m), two beach volleyball grounds ( 12x20m) and two beach 3x3 basketball grounds ( 225m).On other hand, the QOC will supervise and stage all the sport events and competitions at its annual winner camp, these events include, football, basketball and volleyball where winners will get valuable financial and in kind awards.In a press release on such productive project, Mr. Jassim Rashid Al Buenain, the QOC Secretary General said that QOC since the launch of its inaugural winner camp in 2008 has been keen organizing the sport and community activities for all age groups , bringing together a biggest category of the society to QOC camp (Enna Al Adam) for the tenth year on row.This partnership between the QOC and QTA comes in the frame of QOC and responsibility towards the community, by popularizing the sport and physical activity among both nationals and expatriates in the country.The QTA acting chairman Hassan al-Ibrahim said, “The QTA aims at developing the sport tourism in the state Qatar and promoting Qatar as a major destination of sport tourism"“We signed this MoU with the QOC to benefit from their experience and knowledge in organizing the sport events at Al Enna Project to attract the highest possible number of visitors" He added. As per the MoU, the QOC will join Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Ministry of Interior, Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Batabit (Qatar Centre for Motorcycles) and Mawater as a partner in Al Enna Project.

Qatar classic 2018 gets underway

DOHA, October 28, 2018-The 2018 Qatar Classic began at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Saturday.World No. 24 Abdulla Mohammed Al Tamimi of Qatar crashed out unexpectedly after suffering an opening round 1-3 (11-3, 8-11, 9-11, 5-11) defeat in the hands of Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng in just 40 minutes on Saturday.Home favourite Tamimi was widely tipped to continue his fine form in Doha on the back of a successful run on the PSA Tour this season. It was, however, not meant to be as he had to make an early exit to the surprise of the fans that trooped out in impressive numbers to support their star player.The first game was a pointer to what was to expect on the day as it was over in a flash, seven minutes precisely.Tamimi bounced back in the second game, taking it in 10 mins but that was all the Qatari could muster as he eventually bowed to the superior play of the 42-ranked Malaysian." There was no pressure on me today. I fought back very well in the third game after being down and just kept focusing and believing that I could do it, and it paid off!" Yow said. “The win means a lot to me. I've fell short at a very major events of making the main draw but finally have made that first win, thanks to the new rules I can play the first round of all the Platinium events. So I will just keep pushing."Australia's Cameron Pilley celebrated his 36th birthday in grand style with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-5) defeat of Abdulrahman Al Malki of Qatar on Day 1.It took just 26 minutes for the hard-hitting player, who in May 2014 hit a ball at 176 mph to break his own record, to advance into the next round of the annual tournament.The tournament which was witnessed by an impressive crowd, despite the inclement weather, saw the New South Wales-born world No. 23 Aussie prove the gulf in class between the two players as he effectively frustrated any chances of an upset by the Qatari who is one of the hosts' two wildcard entrants.

USA's Biles shines in Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

DOHA, October 28, 2018 - Simone Biles launched herself and her U.S. squad to first place Friday as women's qualification began at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Doha (QAT), where the 21-year-old Olympic champion unveiled a new ultra-difficult vault.At stake in qualification are spots in the team, individual All-around and apparatus finals in the qualification competition advance to the finals at the world championships. The three medal-winning nations in the team final earn berths to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (JPN). Additionally, the top 24 teams in Doha advance full teams to the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart (GER).Biles made her return to international competition in Doha after taking a break in 2017. She amazed on all four events in Friday evening's fifth subdivision of qualification, electrifying the Aspire Arena as she shot to the top of the individual rankings in the All-around, Vault, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise, and second place on Uneven Bars.One overarched handstand on Bars and two small wobbles on Beam were the talented Texan's most noticeable errors. With a total of 60.965, she leads the All-around by 4.5 points, an astonishing margin, over her teammate Morgan Hurd, the defending world champion.Biles' performance was all the more remarkable considering her late-night visit to the emergency room on Thursday for an untimely kidney stone, which she said caused her to skip Friday's training sessions. She showed no signs of a struggle in competition, even debuting her new vault of Yurchenko half-on, double-twisting layout handspring front off, which was given a Difficulty rating of 6.4. With just a small hop on the landing, Biles scored 15.966, the highest score of both the men's and women's competition so far. She scored the same Execution mark of 9.566 for her second vault of 2 1/2-twisting Yurchenko, valued at 5.8.Hurd, who took the All-around gold and Balance Beam silver at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal (CAN), showed world champion form as she helped the U.S. women tally 174.429, more than 12 points ahead of Japan, currently in second. Mai Murakami (JPN) is currently ranked third ahead of Nina Derwael (BEL) and Riley McCusker (USA), who fell on her layout, layout series on Beam.The top eight gymnasts on each apparatus advance to the individual finals, with a limit of two gymnasts per nation in any one event. Asian Games Vault champion Yeo Seojeong, a first-year senior, turned in two difficult vaults, though her average of 14.483 is more than 1 point behind Biles. Seven-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina (UZB), a crowd favourite, also vaulted cleanly for third so far.Derwael, the two-time European champion on Uneven Bars, confirmed her favourite status on the event with a highly difficult 6.5 routine that earned 15.066. Three-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz delivered a third-best 14.566 that helped Germany to third place currently.On Balance Beam, American newcomer Kara Eaker matched Biles' Difficulty to score 14.466, currently second behind Biles. Olympic champion Sanne Wevers (NED) is sitting in third place after missing a connection that lowered her Difficulty score.Murakami, the defending world champion on Floor Exercise, is currently second to Biles, followed by Hurd. Qualification concludes Sunday in Doha, where former world champions China and Russia will take the floor and try to shake up the standings.