Qatar line up for second match at 2018 AFC U-19 Championship

Jakarta, October 20, 2018 - Qatar U-19 team are set to take on Indonesia on Sunday in Group A second match at 2018 AFC U-19 Championship, currently held in Indonesia.Indonesia lead Group A with three points after defeating Chinese Taipei 3-1.The first and second teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals, which will be played on October 28-29.The first four positions in the AFC U-19 Championship advance for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.Qatar's coach Bruno Miguel started the training by explaining the players' mistakes in the UAE game, which the UAE won 2-1 in the first match in the group stage.Miguel explained to the players several tactical options and urged them to adhere to the plan.Qatar's game against Indonesia is a must win for the Qatari side in order to secure a position in the quarter-finals.

Al Sharshani shines in Laser Europa Cup

MADRID, Spain, October 20, 2018 – Qatar's sailing team star, Waleed Al Sharshani made impressive performance in the opening of 2018 Laser Europa Cup on Friday.Al Sharshani confidently excelled his rivals in the Radial Laser class on Friday to claim the first place in the event's general standings, after winning both first and second races.The prestigious 2018 Laser Europa Cup is bringing together some 75 sailors representing 18 countries from worldwide.

Qatar to host Asian Men's Handball Qualification Tournament for 2020 Olympic Games

Doha, October 19, 2018- The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) has chosen Qatar to host Asian men's qualification tournament for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. The AHF Men's qualification will be organized from October 17 to 27, 2019.This came during the meeting of the AHF Executive Committee held in Doha on the sidelines of the 2018 IHF Super Globe, in the presence of Ahmad Al Shaabi, President of the Qatar Handball Association and Vice President of the AHF, and Yoshihide Watanabe (Japan) and Mohammed Shafiq (Pakistan) Bader Diab and Ahmed Abu Al Lail (Kuwait), and members of the Executive Committee, as well as Jassim Diab, AHF Technical Manger.For the second time in a row, Qatar will host the men's handball qualification tournament for the Olympic Games. In 2015, it hosted the qualifications for the men's handball tournament for Rio 2016 Olympic Games during which Qatar's handball team qualified for the first time.The AHF's executive office also assigned China to host the Asian women's qualifiers for the Olympic Games from September 23-29, 2019, as well as the 7th Asian beach handball championship for men and women (men's and women's beach 2020 world cup qualifiers) in March 2019.It decided to hold the 21st Asian club league handball championship in India from November 10 to 23, the third West Asian women's handball championship in Lebanon from February 6 to 13, 2019, and the 15th Asian women's youth handball championship (2020 World Cup qualifiers) in Lebanon in July 2019, and the 22nd Asian club league handball championship in South Korea in November 2019 .The meeting also signed the minutes of the previous meeting held in Kuwait on August 3, 2017. It reviewed the final reports of the 2017-2018 Asian Championships, the schedule of AHF activities for 2019-2020, and the report on South Korea's match against Iraq during the eighth Asian youth championship held in Jordan from September 16 to 26, and decided to impose a fine of $30,000 on both teams.​

Qatar to face UAE in AFC U-19 Championship

JAKARTA, Indonesia, 18 October, 2018 - Former champions Qatar will be hoping to reclaim the AFC U-19 Championship trophy as the biennial event kicks off Thursday in Indonesia with 16 continental teams targeting title glory.​Qatar won the 2014 edition held in Myanmar after defeating North Korea in the final and subsequently qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup staged in New Zealand the following year.The 2014 triumph helped Qatar significantly in strengthening their pool of players as it unearthed stars like Akram Afif, who is now a key member of senior Qatar team. Afif scored the winning goal in Qatar's 2014 title win.The Qatar U-19 team - under coach Bruno Miguel - has been preparing for the event for the last few months playing a series of friendlies.Last week the Qatar squad reached Indonesia well in advance to acclimatise with the conditions.The young Al Anabi brigade is undergoing intensive training in Indonesia ahead of their tomorrow's opening match against regional rivals UAE.Qatar are placed in Group A along with the hosts and Chinese Taipei besides the UAE. The former champions will play their second match against Indonesia on October 21 before taking on Chinese Taipei in their final group game on October 24.Japan will be defending the title as they won the previous tournament two years ago in Bahrain, thanks to a tense penalty shootout win against Saudi Arabia.Hosts Indonesia will begin their bid for success against Chinese Taipei at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium tomorrow.Japan, who sailed through their qualifiers, are in Group B alongside five-time champions Iraq, while Korea Republic find themselves in Group C from where they will look to add to the 12 titles they have won since the competition began in 1959.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will have Tajikistan, China PR and Malaysia for company in Group D as they seek to claim a third title.Three stadiums will be used for this year's AFC U-19 Championship, namely the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta itself, the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium which is to the east of Jakarta's metropolitan area and the Pakansari Stadium in Bogor located directly south of Indonesia's capital.The quarter-finals of the tournament will be played on October 28 and 29 while the semi-finals are scheduled to be played on November 1. The final will be played on November 4.Then known as the AFC Youth Championship, the competition burst into life some 59 years ago when Korea Republic claimed their first of 12 titles in 1959.Played annually until 1978, it became known as the AFC U-19 Championship from 2008 and now appears on the footballing calendar every two years.Besides Japan and Qatar, recent winners include: Korea Republic (2012), DPR Korea (2010) and the United Arab Emirates (2008).

Qatar prepare for Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

DOHA, October 18, 2018 - In what is a further boost to the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships to be held in Doha, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) signed agreements with two national suppliers and a radio partner at the Westin Hotel on Tuesday.The national suppliers for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, which will begin from October 25 until November 3, are: Alka Live and LuLu Hyper Market. The radio partner is Olive, Suno Radio.Ali al-Hitmi, Executive Director of the Organising Committee thanked the sponsors for their unstinted support. “The countdown has begun, as the delegations are arriving in Qatar and training is underway at Aspire Dome. Qatar has a long history of organising major tournaments, and we want to spread a message of love and peace to all the participants and spectators. “On behalf of the Organising Committee of the championships, I would like to thank all the sponsors who have joined us to ensure that we stage a world-class event," said al-Hitmi, who is also the president of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation. Qatar will be the first Arab and third Asian nation to host the Worlds after Japan (1995 & 2011) and China (1999 & 2014). The Doha Worlds will also have six Arab nations – Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Jordan besides hosts Qatar.After signing the sponsorship, Aamer Salameh, Operation Manager at Alka Live, said: “We are proud to be one of the national suppliers of the championships and we will make sure to support the organising committee with water during the competitions. Our water is the first alkaline water in Qatar."Shanvas, Regional Manager of LuLu Hyper market said: “We have always placed an emphasis on taking part in any CSR activities and we would will to continue doing so. We have been the silver sponsor of the National Sport Day for three consecutive years, we have distributed healthy food and water for the public. We have a dedicated area in our stores for healthy food, including gluten free, organic and other notorious food. Lulu has an expansion plan for the future in Doha, we believe sponsoring this World Championships will be an opportunity for us to showcase the products and services that Lulu provides and will help us expand in social responsibility we hold for this country."Krishna Kumar, Manager at Olive Radio, said: “Today we are one of the biggest medium in the market, as our target audience is 1.6 million of the population and we can provide them with information of the World Championship and let them know of the daily details of the event. We are happy to mention the World Championships during our live programmes and engage with our listeners through contests that would encourage them to participate and win tickets to attend the World Championship."​

Sport delegation appreciates Qatar Embassy services in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, October 17 , 2018 – Head of Qatar's sport delegation to Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Argentina , Mr. Abdullah Hashim handed over a memorial shield of Qatar Olympic Committee to HE Fahad Al Mane, the Qatar Ambassador to Argentina , that in recognition to the good services provided by the Embassy in favor of the country's sport and administrative delegation.His Excellency the Ambassador lauded the Qatar athletes performance and positive results in the prestigious Youth Olympic Games and wished them good luck in the upcoming sport events.It is worth mentioning that , Qatar has participated in the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina's city capital, Buenos Aires with five promising athletes who competed in Swimming, Equestrian and Athletics.Also during the prestigious games, the QOC organized a number of awareness and cultural programs for the players to increase their knowledge about prevention against injury, anti-doping, media training and life skills.