Qatar’s Younousse and Tijan advance to next round

DOHA, March 8, 2018 - Qatar's Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan defeated Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger of Switzerland 21-15, 16-21, 15-10 to enter the knockout round of the FIVB World Tour Katara Beach Volleyball Cup on Wednesday .Younousse and Tijan lost their opener against Ryan Doherty and William Allen 18-21, 21-17, 15-8, but they came back strongly to beat the Swiss pair and progress to the next round as the third team from Pool H.While Doherty and Allen won the group to directly book their place in the last 16, Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands finished second and, like the Qataris, will have to play another round for a pre-quarter-final berth.Younousse and Tijan clinched the opening set against American qualifiers Billy Allen and Ryan Doherty but could not sustain the momentum and were upset in three sets. The Qataris however lifted their game superbly in the group losers' match against qualifiers Beeler and Krattiger and posted a fine victory in 47 minutes to enter the next stage. This was the first meeting between the two pairs on the Tour.“We're a new team, while most of other teams have been playing together for a long time. Many of the top pairs in the world are competing here so no match is going to be easy, but we're delighted to get through the group" Younousse said.“We're very happy with our first win in the tournament and it is a big step for us. We had poor service in the first match in the morning. Also we made other mistakes and lost the first game. The level of this event is very high in general. We're relieved and will focus on the next match," he said.Talking about his partner Tijan, Younousse said, “He is complimenting me very well. He is reading the game nicely and defending strongly. We feel we have the potential to become a very strong team in future. The process to gel well has already started and we'll see how high we can finish in front of the home fans."Younousse and Tijan will take on Canada's Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter in the knockout round today morning with the winners taking on Norway's Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sorum later in the day. Schachter has been to Doha twice before and had finished runners-up with Josh Binstock to Germans Tim Holler and Jonas Schroder in 2014. The Canadians contested in the 2016 event as well but finished in the 17th spot. Qatar's other two teams failed to progress after losing both their group matches. Benlouaer Ziad Ziad and Ahmed Nassir, who were playing for the first time in the World Tour, lost to top seeds Philip Dalhausser and Nicholas Lucena of the USA 13-21, 15-21 in their opening match before going down to Dries Koekelkoren and Tom Van Walle of Belgium 8-21, 9-21.In Pool F, Olympian Jefferson Santos Pereira and Julio Cesar Do Nascimento Junior began with a straight loss to sixth seeds Martin Plavins and Edgars Tocs from Latvia. Then they took on Brazilians Saymon Barbosa and Alvaro Filho in the losers' game. They had to win it to stay in the tournament but the 2017 Fort Lauderdale Major five-star event champions managed to overcome the challenge of the Qataris in three sets.The other Asia and Oceania zone team Likejiang Ha and Jiaxin Wu from China also lost both their matches. The Chinese pair was first outplayed by third-seeded Italians Daniele Lup and Paolo Nicolai in the first match but they fought hard in the losers' clash against Canadians Grant O'Gorman and Ben Saxton, 14th seeds, before bowing out.Australians Christopher McHugh, who won the Asia Championship with Issac Kapa, and Damien Schumann survived the first qualifying round against Indonesians Koko Darkuncoro and Danangsyah Pribadi 2-0 but lost to Poles Kacper Kujawiak and Maciej Rudol Poland in straight sets in the next on Tuesday.Another Indonesian pair also suffered a first qualifying round defeat against Swiss Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich.

Qatar Futsal Team ready for Kuwait Friendy Tournament

DOHA, March 8, 2018-The Qatari futsal team will resume their training sessions on Saturday in preparation for Kuwait Futsal Friendy Tournament .The training sessions will be held at the QFA Arena under the leadership of Qatar's Coach Ahmad Al Manai.The tournament will be staged from March 27 to April 01, 2018 with participation of Qatar, Brazil, Italy, England, Iran, Egypt, Bahrain and hosts Kuwait.

All teams ready for Katara Beach Volleyball Cup

DOHA, March 3, 2018 – The competitions of the prestigious Katara Beach Volleyball Cup 2018 will get underway at the Katara Cultural Village on Tuesday amid participation of 56 teams representing 28 countries from across the world .Three Qatari teams are going to take part in the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup, which is being staged from Tuesday0. at the Katara Cultural Village. Qatar has fielded Cherif Younousse-Ahmed Tijan, Jefferson Santos Pereira-Julio Cesar do Nascimento and newcomers Benlouaer Ziad-Ahmed Ali Nassir with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games. Earlier, Jefferson is used to play with Younousse as the No. 1 team of Qatar, but last year the Qatar Volleyball Association decided to change the top pair and replaced Jefferson with Tijan. Younousse and Tijan have already played two World Tour events after reuniting the first time since the 2014 Doha Open, while Pereira and Julio have yet to launch the New Year together. Both the Qatari teams appeared in the Palembong AVC Beach Tour Event in November last year in Thailand. Younousse and team bagged the title, while Pereira and Julio finished third. Pereira and Younousse had indeed formed a potential combo. Besides clinching the three-star Kish Island Open in 2016, they figured in two World Championships and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. With a new test coming up at home, Pereira and do Nascimento would be more than keen to give it a good shot and make up for the lost time on the Tour.The Katara event is the second of the 10 competitions called FIVB four-star organised during the 2018 season by the International Volleyball Federation worldwide. This is the only four-star event the FIVB has allotted in the Middle East and will see the participation of 56 teams from 28 countries. The Qatari capital is hosting a World Tour event for the fourth time as Doha staged its first event in 2014 followed by two tournaments during the Olympic qualifying process for the Rio 2016 Summer Games in November 2015 and April 2016.One of the featured pairs this week will be Markus Bockermann-Lars Fluggen as the Germans defeated Americans Phil Dalhausser-Nick Lucena for the 2015 crown followed by a fourth-place finish in 2016 when Italians Alex Ranghieri-Adrian Carambula topped the podium.

A Singapore affair! Ng bowls out Goh to clinch Emir Cup

DOHA, March 6, 2018 - Singapore dominated the finals of the 17th Emir Cup Bowling Tournament as Basil Dill Ng beat compatriot Muhammad Jaris Goh 387-374 to claim the $10,000 prize money at the Qatar Bowling Center on Monday. Ng becomes the 14th different winner of the tournament and the first from Singapore. After six of qualifying rounds, the top 32 were grouped into four groups in which the top four qualified into the next Step finals. Michael Mak of Hong Kong led the international players qualification group while Ghanim Aboujassoum led the Qatar players. In the Step two finals, Qatar was left with one representative as Ghanim Eril Tseng of Hong Kong but fell in the next step to Ivan Tse of Hong Kong. The 2017 champion Jassim al Muraikhi failed to make it past the step two finals. However, it was all about 21-year-old Ng who managed to edge Darren Ong in the last eight 418-411 before cruising past another Singaporean Suresh Elangovan in the semi-final. Ng who was part of the Singapore team gold medal winners at the 29th South East Asia Games in Kuala Lumpur last August, said it was 'overwhelming'playing his friend in the final. "I feel overwhelmed. This is my first open win. "I think it's interesting playing my friend in the final, definitely didn't expect this competition. The youngster who is on his second visit to Qatar added,"This is my second time in Qatar and the hospitality we receive while we are here is great and I am always happy to come here to compete." The final match up saw Goh edge Ng 204-196 in the first game as both players tried to overcome the nerves on the big stage. With the prize in sight, the 23-year-old Goh suffered a shocking meltdown, failing to knock down pins while his opponent was more consistent.Ng held on to outscore his friend 191-170 for an average of 193.50 to 187. "The lanes got a little bit tricky and I did not catch everything on time, but somehow I managed to stay calm, but it was not enough," Goh said. "I have been bowling great this week anyway so I'm fine with the result."With $6,000 to show for his effort, the former Singapore Sportsboy of the Year said,"I'll save it for rainy days and definitely pay my bills with it. "This is not my first time in Doha, I have been here four times already and everytime I improve my game. Last year I managed to get into the second round and the year before that I didn't even make it past the qualifying round. The tournament has always been great for me," he added. Suresh Elangovan of Singapore and Hong Kong's Ivan Tse finished third and fourth respectively. The Emir Cup is an ABF Tour Ranking 2018 stop and ranking points will be awarded to the top 16 Asian men in the final standings. Over 60 players participated in this year's event which had a total prize money of $61,400.

Qatar Swimming Team win 26 medals in Dortmund Championship

DORTMUND, March 6, 2018-The Qatari swimming team claimed 26 medals in the 2018 Dortmund Swimming Championship concluded on Monday، The event featured the participation of 11 nations، On the second day of the event, Qatar won 14 medals، Qatar's Abdullah Ahmad took the gold medal of 50m freestyle event and the gold medal of 200m freestyle event. Saif Adel clinched the gold medal of 100m butterfly event and the gold medal of 200m Individual Medley، Tamim Mohammad clinched the gold medal of 100m butterfly event and the silver medal of 100m backstroke، Ibrahim Ahmad claimed the gold medal of 100m backstroke and Abdulaziz Al Obaidli took the bronze medal of 100m backstroke event. The Qatari squad included; Abdulaziz Al Obaidli, Mohammad Mahmoud, Mohammad Fahad, Karim Salama, Tamim Al Hamayda, Abdullah Al Khaldi, Omar Ashraf, Saif Al Burashid, Abdullah Ahmad, Abdulrahman Al Khenji, Khalid Fahad, Ibrahim Ahmad and Abdullah Al Khenji.

ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open from March 06

DOHA, March 6, 2018-The ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open will begin at Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena on March 6, 2018، The tournament will bring together world's top players from 43 countries. Doha is the first stopover of the six Platinum events, which was only a part of ITTF World Tour, and Qatar will be hosting the 23rd edition at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena from March 8-11, with qualifying rounds on March 6-7، China's Olympic champion Ma Long won the men's singles title last year, beating compatriot and No.2 seed Fan Zhendong 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 11-4 in a gruelling final.Among the women, Chen Meng defeated Wang Manyu 12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6 in an all-China final. Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov will lead the men's pack in Ma's absence، Zhendong and Timo Boll are seeded second and third respectively، In the women's category, Chen and Zhu Yuling are the top two seeds followed by Singapore's Feng Tianwei, Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa and Wang.