Qatar qualify to semifinals of U12 West Asia Regional Qualifying event

Beirut, March 29, 2018-The Qatar junior tennis team qualified to the semifinals of the U12 West Asia Regional Qualifying event after beating Syria 2-1 on Wednesday.The qualifying event is held in Lebanon under the umbrella of the Asian Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation until March 31.Meshari Nawaf defeated Gheith Salim of Syria in the first singles match but his compatriot Ghanim Al Sulaiti retired from the second match. In Double match, Qatar's Meshari Nawaf and Nasser Al Khelaifi recorded a 6-0 6-0 victory over Gheith Salim and Majd Assem of Syria.The Qatari team began their campaign in the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Yemen Tuesday.As per the draw held recently, the Qatari team were pitted in group (A) alongside Iran, Syria and Yemen while Group (B) includes Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.Coached by Anas Lamrani, the Qatari squad includes Meshari Nawaf, Nasser Al Khelaifi and Ghanim Al Sulaiti. Ibrahim Al Sheraim chairs the Qatari delegation to the event.The two top teams in the qualifying event will quality to the 2018 ITF Asian U12 Teams Championships to be staged in Kazakhstan in November.The Qatar team claimed the first place in the last year's west Asian qualifying event held in Lebanon and took the second place in the ITF Asian U12 Teams Championships held in Kazakhstan.

HH Sheikha Moza Meets International Olympic Committee President

​Geneva, March 29, 2018 - HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of the Education Above All Foundation (EAA), met on Wednesday with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach at the U.N. office in Geneva.The meeting discussed ways of cooperation between EAA and Olympic Refuge Foundation in providing sports facilities for refugees. (QNA)

HH the Emir Table Tennis Cup to begin on April 20

DOHA, March 29, 2018- The draw of HH the Emir Table Tennis Cup for the sports season 2017-2018 will begin on Friday, April 20.The draw of the event was held at Ras Abu Aboud hall on Wednesday. In attendance were Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, Secretary General of the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA), Naji Al Aji, the QTTA Board Member, Mohammad Al Rumaihi, the QTTA Executive Director and Thani Al Zaraa, the QTTA Board Member.One match will be played on April 20, as Al Gharafa will take on Al Shamal in the opening match.The final match will be staged on Thursday, April 26.

Students shine in SOP Table Tennis competitions

DOHA, March 28, 2018 – The indoor hall of Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) hosted the table tennis competitions for boys in the prestigious Schools Olympic Program on Tuesday.Sultan Khalid Al Kawari from Al Maha Academy was crowned with gold medal in the individual event, Laith Baroodi from Khalifa Model school managed in the second place, while the bronze medal went to Mohammed Khalifa of Ozfaz school.In the individual event – second level, Dani Kumar from DBC Modern Indian School claimed the gold medal, while Khalid Mohammed Al Yafe from Umm Al Qura school took the second place and Abdulrahman Bali from Jaber bin Hayyan school seized the third place.At the preparatory school level, Omar Bardoodi of Yarmook school won the gold medal, while in the secondary school competitions, Goblan Sonil from DBC Modern Indian School claimed the gold medal.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Federation (QSSF) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with hundreds of student athletes competing from all over Qatar.The SOP committee aims to spread a culture of sports throughout Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

Doha to host FINA WC 2nd round in September

​DOHA, March 28, 2018-The Qatar Swimming Federation will host the second round of the FINA World Swimming Cup from September 13 to 15 for the seventh consecutive year. The event is the second international swimming event to be hosted by Qatar this year. The first round of the 10-kilometre Open World Swimming Championships was recently held in Doha, in which Dutchman Ferry Fertman and his wife Sharon van Ruendal won first place in their respective categories.The 2018 World Swimming Cup in Doha will be different from the last six years. It will be held on the 50 metres long course and will last three days. Previously, it was contested over the short course of 25 metres and finished within two days.This year's World Swimming Championships will consist of seven rounds. The first round will take place in Kazan (September 7-9), the second round in Doha (September 13-15), the third round in Eindhoven (September 28-30), the fourth round is scheduled in Budapest (October 4-6), the fifth round in Beijing (2-4 November), the sixth round in Tokyo (November 9-11) and the seventh round in Singapore (November 15-17). The first two legs will be contested over 50-metre course, while the rest over short course of 25 metres. South African Chad le Clos and Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom had won the men's and women's World Cup titles last year.

Qatar win International Friendship tournament in Iraq

Basra, March 28, 2018-Qatar won the International Friendship Championship at Basra Sport City Stadium in Iraq by virtue of a better goal-difference after Syria were held to a 1-1 draw by the hosts on Tuesday.The Felix Sanchez-coached side ended the tournament with four points from two matches, having scored five goals and conceded four while Syria scored three and conceded as many.Syria needed to win by 2-0 to top the standings on goal difference and beat Qatar to the title, but Muhaned Ali's 56th minute goal against Iraq dashed their hopes.Though Firas Al Khatib equalised for Syria in the second half, it wasn't enough to challenge Iraq, who finished on two points.The tournament was organised to celebrate after FIFA lifted the long-standing ban on Iraq hosting international matches