HH Emir Basketball Cup Quarterfinals to begin on Saturday

DOHA, April 14, 2018 - All teams are set to begin their last eight stage encounter of the prestigious HH Emir Basketball Cup Championship 2018 will take place Al Gharafa indoor on Saturday.In Saturday's fixtures, Al Shamal will lock horns against Al Ahli, while in the second match, Al Gharafa will shake hands with Al Rayyan.In Sunday's fixtures, Al Arabi will take on Al Khor and Al Wakrah will face Al Sadd.

Qatar confirmed in group B of Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship

DOHA, April 14, 2018 – Qatar's Youth Handball team were pooled in group B in the Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship 2018 will take place from 15-25 July in Oman.The draw ceremony has confirmed Qatar youth team in group B along with Iraq, Palestine and Syria, while group A includes South Korea, Japan, China and Lebanon, Group C, KSA, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, China Taipei, while group D incudes, host Oman, Iran, India and Yemen.The championship serves a qualifying tournament for the Youth World Championship 2019 scheduled in Spain.

Sheikha Asma Al Thani sets off on attempt to become first Qatari to ski to the top of the world

14 April 2018 – Doha, Qatar: Sheikha Asma Al Thani has departed Doha on Saturday with a novice all-female team from the Middle East and Europe to attempt to ski to the last degree of the North Pole. If successful, Sheikha Asma will make history by becoming the first Qatari, male or female, to achieve the incredible and highly challenging feat, which will entail skiing 100km across the treacherous terrain to reach the top of the world.The expedition will see women from fellow Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait come together with women from European countries, Slovenia, Sweden, France, Cyprus, Russia and the UK to achieve the staggering, shared goal in order to foster greater dialogue and understanding between Western and Arabian cultures. The team will spend roughly 10 full days skiing across the shifting pack ice of the Arctic Ocean to reach the Geographic North Pole.Speaking ahead of the expedition, Sheikha Asma said:“I have been training so hard for over two years to prepare for this incredible challenge and now I just cannot wait to get started. I am a passionate believer in the power of personal challenge to bring people closer together, break down barriers and push the boundaries of what is possible. I hope that this expedition will inspire and empower more women to remove their limitations and see that they can achieve more than they think they can and others think they can. We should never stop challenging ourselves or give up on our dreams.“Through this trip, I hope that we are able to create a conversation about how we can all challenge perceptions and reach beyond expectation, not just for these 10 days but long into the future. I would like to thank all the many people that have supported me in my preparations and making it possible for me to participate in this expedition, particularly my generous personal sponsors, Engie and Sports Corner."Sheikha Asma in 2014 became one of the first Qatari females to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro in a charitable endeavour to raise QAR 2 million to build schools in Gaza, showing how the 28-year-old part-time adventurer is not new to pushing outside of her comfort zone in pursuit of greater goals. In addition to the gruelling training schedule, Asma has been juggling her demanding day-job as Director of Marketing & Communications at the Qatar Olympic Committee, as well as the Doha 2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.Doha's desert landscape and climate is in stark contrast to the perilous conditions of the north pole and Sheikha Asma's gruelling two-year training schedule has seen her participate in tailored endurance and weight sessions six times a week, sometimes twice a day to train and condition the specific muscles used to cross-country ski whilst pulling a heavy load, and build her endurance capacity to survive 12 hours straight of skiing every day. The group have also participated in training expeditions in both the heat of the Omani desert and the more North Pole like conditions of Iceland to build and strengthen their team spirit, learn how to function on little sleep and with exhausted bodies, understand how to operate best as a group and practice the practicalities of constructing a tent, whilst surviving storms and freezing conditions.The Euro-Arabian team will be sleeping in tents on the ice when they are not skiing, and will haul in sledges everything they need to survive in the Arctic. As well as the perils of temperatures as low as minus 40C, other hazards the team will face include movements of the pack ice that may split apart to reveal open water or push together to form walls of ice that have to be crossed. There is also the threat of predatory polar bears.The expedition will be led by veteran polar explorer Felicity Aston MBE, who in 2012 became the first person in the world to ski across Antarctica alone and without the aid of kites, machines or dogs – a journey of 1744km that took her 59 days to complete. Commenting on the expedition, Aston said:'We want to send a strong and positive message about gender equality during and the need for greater cultural understanding. The world is facing global problems – such as climate change – that can only be tackled with global solutions. That requires everyone talking to each other more.The team will gather in the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard from where they will fly to the floating ice station known as 'Barneo'. They will start their ski journey across the Arctic pack ice to the North Pole from the station.Sheikha Asma and the team will be conducting two important science experiments during the expedition and will be sharing their experiences live from the ice with schools and via social media. For updates see the expedition website www.euroarabianexpedition.com. You can follow Sheikha Asma's personal expedition on her Instagram account @atalthani and through the hashtag #AsmaOnIce.The expedition is sponsored by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, as well as Engie, Sports Corner, Poseidon Expeditions, OmanTel and I Feel Slovenia.

Al Shamal , Al Gharafa book spots in Emir Basketball Cup Semifinals

​DOHA, April 15, 2018 - Al Shamal and Al Gharafa teams booked places in the semifinals stage of the prestigious HH Emir Basketball Cup 2018 , following their comfortable victories in the last eight stage held in Al-Gharafa indoor on Saturday.In the first quarterfinals game, Al Shamal outclassed Al Ahli 91- 84 to book their sport in the semifinals stage.In the second quarterfinals match, Al Gharafa defeated Al Rayyan 92-83 reached the last four stage.Sunday's schedule will see two games in the last eight stage, where Al Khor will take on Al Arabi and Al Sadd will shake hands with Al Wakrah.

Qatar team all set for AVC Beach Volleyball Tour in Samila

DOHA, April 15, 2018 - Qatar's beach volleyball team comprises of the duo Ahmed Tejan and Sheriff Younis will begin their campaign in AVC Beach Volleyball Tour in Samila, Thailand on Sunday.Qatar team will play two games in its respective group B against Oman (2) and Thailand (2) on Sunday.The four-day event is bringing together strong teams in Asian continent.

Nawaf wins Qatar Asian Junior Tennis Tournament Title

DOHA, April 15, 2018 – Qatar's Rashid Nawaf confidently claimed the title of the second version of Qatar Asian Junior Tennis Tournament (U-14 year) after defeating Indian counterpart Aditya Aditya Cohpra in two sets 6-3- and 6-2 in the final match held at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Saturday.On the same track of victory, the duo Nasser Al Yafe (Qatar) and Teem Al Azamah (Syria) won the double event.The tournament is jointly organized by Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation in cooperation with Asian Tennis Federation.Qatar Asian Junior Tournament is one of the most important events on the QTSBF calendar as the federation is keen to provide the players of this age group with the opportunity to develop their skills