10th leg of Hathab series concludes

​DOHA, April 1, 2018-Salman Mohammed al-Emadi emerged triumphant in the Big Tour class during the 10th leg of the Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour yesterday.At the Al Shaqab Indoor arena, al-Emadi guided his 17-year-old gelding Zorro Z to a comfortable win. The pair was comfortably the fastest in the field, as they finished their jump-off in 39.55secs, which earned al-Emadi QR7500 in prize money.Saeed Nasser al-Qadi continued his terrific form as he finished runner-up with Desperadito. Abdullah Ali al-Ajeil had to contend with third place despite timing second fastest Blanca, as he was penalised four second seconds for a fall.Saeed Nasser al-Qadi collected his second win of the leg after clinching the Open Class title. Al-Qadi had won Medium Tour class on the opening day and he was in fine form yesterday too.The Qatari rider piloted Daydreamer EC to victory in 58.62 secs. Mohamed al-Ghazali (Casanova SCH) finished second, while Ahmed Mohamed al-Badi (Latino 291) completed the podium.In the Dressage events, Ali Mohamed al-Marri won the Level 1 competition with Fernhill Friendly Touch as the pair tallied 70.000 points. Saeed Hamad al-Rashdi (Graffiti De Lully CH) was second, followed by Hassan al-Nuaimi (Santa Cruz III) third.In Dressage Level 2, Saoud Ahmed al-Boinin came on top with Champion's Prince. Sheikha Alanoud al-Thani (Candyman) finished second, while Paula Vazquez Morales (Whisper Magic) and Mia Kardos (Toberlina T) shared the third respectively.There are two more rounds of Hathab remaining with the 11th leg to be held on April 13 and 14. The 12th and final round is scheduled for 26th, 27th and 28th of April. Hathab, meaning 'Canter' in Arabic, is an initiative of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee. The championship is jointly organised by Al Shaqab and Qatar Equestrian Federation.The series, which carries a total prize money of QR1mn, is open for Qatari nationals and also to residents of Qatar. Organisers aim to improve the standard of horse riding among Qatari youths through Hathab, while also encouraging the involvement of private stables and individual horse owners to increase awareness of horsemanship as part of Qatar's history and tradition. Results of the competition will be used in the selection process of riders to represent Qatar in future international competitions. Each leg will carry points, with only top seven results to be counted.

Ninth leg of Hathab series from today

DOHA, March 30, 2018-The 9th leg of the Hathab Equestrian Tour National series will be held at Al Shaqab Indoor Arena today and tomorrow.The mandatory veterinary check for the horses was done yesterday followed by riders' warm-up sessions. The competition today will begin with Small Tour and Medium Tour events.Tomorrow, dressage events (Level 1 and 2) will be held in the morning and will be followed by the Open Class and Big Tour events later in the afternoon and evening.

Qatar's Taleb Al Marri to officiate at FIFA World Cup

DOHA, March 30, 2018- Qatar's Taleb Al Marri will make his debut appearance at this summer's FIFA World Cup in Russia taking up his position as an assistant referee in the 32-team tournament.World governing body FIFA today released the final list of referees and assistant referees who will be seen in action at the Jun 14-Jul 15, 2018 event.Al Marri will join nine other assistant referees representing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)."I am proud to be the first referee to represent Qatar in a World Cup," Al Marri said yesterday.Iran, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia each will have two representatives in the list of 10 assistant referees. Other AFC assistant referees are from the Bahrain, the UAE and Japan.Al Marri featured as an assistant referee in the matches of the 2016 FIFA World Club Cup held in Osaka in December that year.

HH the Emir Beach Volleyball Cup to conclude on Friday

​DOHA, March 30, 2018- The inaugural edition of HH the Emir Beach Volleyball Cup will be concluded on Friday at the QOC Winter camp.In the final match, Qatar (1) team including Julio and Martinez will take on Qatar (3) team including Cherif Younousse and Tajin Ahmed.Qatar (1) team reached the final match after beating Al Khor 21-14 21-8 in the semifinals while Qatar (3) team edged past Al Shamal.

QATAR’S BASKETBALL LEGEND YASEEN ISMAIL INSPIRES SCHOOLCHILDREN

​On Thursday 29 March, the Year 7 students at Qatar International School (QIS) were surprised with a visit from Qatar's 3x3 basketball World Champion Yaseen Ismail. The legend visited the school to share his experiences and advice with the students who have been working hard on an Olympic project in their English class for the past term.Yaseen awarded prizes to the best student projects, before speaking to them about his achievements in basketball, the benefits of participating in sport and what it takes to make it to the top. He then took them outside for a masterclass on how to perfect the basketball shooting technique, with every student having the opportunity to shoot a hoop and gain tips from Yaseen.Speaking to the students, Yaseen said:When I was your age I never played or liked basketball but from the age of 14 I tried and never stopped playing ever since. I would like to see you try the sport as well - come down to the Qatar Basketball Federation where I'm giving 3x3 basketball classes. Sport is very important but balancing between studies and exercise is vital to any athletes' success in life. Take advantage of the summer season - do not eat junk food, practice 2 hours a day and who knows you might become a professional player one day!"The students were assigned to work in groups and come up with an advertising campaign for Qatar to host the Olympics. The students were required to use different types of persuasive and descriptive writing for their projects and come up with creative ideas for the Opening Ceremony of the Games. The standard of the projects was incredibly high, with the students encapsulating the true spirit of Qatar and of the Olympics in their campaigns.Yaseen Ismail was a professional basketball player for more than 20 years and helped Team Qatar win multiple World, Asian, Arab and Gulf titles. In 2014, he made history as part of the 3x3 team that became the Middle East's first-ever World Champions. Other titles he owns with the team include Asian Champions, Arab Champions, 8-time Gulf Champions and 8-time Emir Cup Champions.The students were incredibly excited by Yaseen's visit and inspired by his motivational words and basketball coaching and guidance. There were final opportunities for selfies before he left so that the students could have their own memories from the day that a basketball legend came to school.

Al-Shamal stun Al-Gharafa in HH the Emir Basketball Cup

DOHA, March 29, 2018-Hrvoje Pulijko reeled off 30 points as Al Shamal scored a 93-81 win over Al Gharafa in the Emir's Cup basketball tournament yesterday. Pulijko scored as many as 18 points from the three-point mark and got good support from Dominic Davon James and Mansoor Atif Elhadry, who chipped in with 19 and 15, respectively.James and Elhadry each scored a trio of three-pointers as Al Shamal led for almost 31 minutes of the match. Al Gharafa got close at the end of the third quarter when they trailed 68-69, but the Al Shamal defence restricted them to just 16 points in the final period. On the other hand, Al Shamal excelled with 24 tilting the match heavily in their favour.Sammy Monroe and Michael Taylor scored 22 points each for Al Gharafa, while Omar Abdulqader Salem and Travis Franklin had 13 and 12 respectively.In the second match of the day, Al Sadd edged Al Khor 70-68 in a tense match that saw the lead change 28 times.Darrius Oldham with 23 points and Mustafa Essam Fouda with 15 excelled for the winners, while Nasser Khalifa al-Rayes and Alvin Mofunanya chipped in with 13 and 11.There was precious little to choose from between the teams but Al Sadd maintained a psychological advantage by marginally leading Al Khor after each quarter. At 55-54 going into the final period it appeared anybody's game but Al Khor couldn't come up with anything extra to go down by two points.Dominique Lacy top-scored for Al Khor with 22, while Khobi Williamson had 17 and Mustafa Lasheen 11.