Oliver Fisher, Eddie Pepperell in joint lead at Qatar Masters

Doha, February 25, 2018-Oliver Fisher finished with four straight birdies as he carded a seven under par 65 to take the joint lead with fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell on Saturday an set up an intriguing final round in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Pepperell himself carded an impressive 66, comprising seven birdies and a bogey for a total of 16 under while American Sean Crocker made sure he was in with a chance on Sunday with a solid 67 for a 14 under.Another Englishman David Horsey also carded a 65 to be placed at 12 under alongside Italian duo Lorenzo Gagli and Andrea Pavan, Frenchman Gregory Havret and Swede Marcus Kinhult.Earlier, Fisher, who had started with a birdie on the third hole, continued his progress with furthermore birdies in the fifth, eighth and 11th holes, before a bogey in the 12th. But he then proved in irresistible form to surge to the top.“It was a little bit cloudier than the other days and it's a bit different cos you have to adjust your eyes. The wind moved around a fair bit out there. So it was important to make sure that I was hitting with the right club," said Fisher. “The thing with this course is that you can quite easily make bogeys without doing much wrong. So it was important to be patient and keep giving yourself chances."Pepperell started with a birdie in the very first hole and made more birdies in the fifth, seventh, 10th 13th, 16th and 18th holes.Adrian Otaegui, the overnight leader had a disappointing day as he shot three bogeys and two birdies in a one over par 73 for a total of 10 under.

Curtains come down on Emir’s Sword Festival

DOHA, February 25, 2018- Pleaseletmewin, ridden by Martin Harley, yesterday handed popular Qatari trainer Jassim Ghazali his third big win of the day by clinching the honours in the feature race on day two of the Emir's Sword Festival.Ghazali, who had won two key races earlier in the day, saw Pleaseletmewin seal a nail-biting victory at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) where the four-year-old gelding edged Vitally Important and Diplomat to the finish line in a dramatic late lunge that required a photo-finish to identify the winner.The victory was worth $114,000 for Harley who seemed thrilled with the outcome on a cold evening.“It feels nice to have won the feature race of the day. It was not easy but I have to say I have a great horse," Harley said after the race. “We had a bit of fun at the start and I told Jassim 'we will win'. But overall I know the horse. He's a great ride. He has been running well and strong. He is the reason we ended so well today.“It was great to be here with him. He ended so strong against a good field," Harley, who had won race two also, added.Qatari jockey Faleh Bughanaim, who was astride Vitally Important, picked up $44,000 while third-placed Alexander Pietsch got richer by $22,000.Trainer Ghazali, beaming from ear to ear, said: “Nobody could have thought I would not just win one or two but three races including the main race. Pleaseletmewin rode a fantastic race. I have to say that he (Harley) a great rider."Earlier in a shock result, Omani jockey Almotasem Al Balushi guided Meblsh to a big win in the Gulf Cup. Owned by Saad Suhail Salim Al Mukhaini Bahwan, Meblsh finished the race ahead of Zahwa who had Gerald Avranche in the saddle.Shanesa, ridden by Cristian Demuro, clinched the third place but it was Al Balushi who won the top prize of $57,000.“Thank God for this great win. I expected him to do well and he did more than that. Normally you can't promise wins but he did not disappoint us today," Al Balushi said after the race.Minutes after nailing win the race five, the popular Harry Bentley-Ghazali duo came to the fore once again this season when the British riding star posted his second win of the day in the Purebred Arabian Sprint Cup.Bentley guided Ghazali-trained Caid De L'Ardus to a convincing win in the 1200m race. Six-year-old Caid De L'Ardus finished ahead of Almuheet, ridden by Pierantonio Convertino, while Kasser, who had Marvin Suerland in the saddle, settled for the third-place finish.“It was a nice win. Am very pleased the way things have gone today. I obviously won the previous race also so I was in the right mood," Bentley said.“It was not easy as there were riders shoulder-to-shoulder," the Briton added. “I have done well throughout the season so I am happy about that. It is definitely a good day for me since I have won two races so far," he added.In race five, Bentley guided Mosayter to a win in the Local Thoroughbred Trophy contest. Mosayter clocked a time of 1:26.41 in the 1400m race where Al Lusail - ridden by Bughanaim - finished in second spot. Muraqabah, also trained by Ghazali, ended in third spot with JP Guillambert in the saddle.In race four, jockey Eduardo Pedroza made the most of a superb run in the final stretch by Mango Tango to win the honours in the Class 3 Thoroughbreds. Mango Tango finished 1.5 furlongs ahead of Botanica who was ridden by Guillambert in the 1600m race. Ghazali-trained Stars N Angels was placed third with jockey Oisin Murphy.In race three, Black Orange produced a late burst to nail win in the Class 4 Thoroughbred Plate. With Pierantonio Convertino in the saddle, Black Orange cornered glory ahead of Ghazali-trained Beckton who was guided by Guillambert. Murphy, astride Ghazali-trained Masked Defender, secured the third spot.In race two, Harley guided Ishfaq to a narrow win over Mohssn in the Purebred Arabian Maiden Plate. Ishfaq clocked 2:17.45 in the 2000m marathon. Mohssn was ridden by Cristian Demuro. Glory boy on day one of the Emir's Sword Festival Theo Bachelot rode Julian Smart-trained Hatem to third place.In race one of the day, Naomie Heller sailed to a smooth win with Semaisima, clinching the top honours in the Longines World Fegentri Championship. Semaisima clocked a time of 1:49:24 to bag the top spot in the 1600m turf race as Heller picked up $17,100. Smart-trained Al Ghawja finished second with Josephine Chini in the saddle while Virginia Drexler guided E'zaaz to the third spot in the 10-rider field.Today the three-day horse racing gala will end with four major races -the Emir's Shalfa (sponsored by Manateq, 2000m), the Emir's Silver Sword (sponsored by Al Hazm, 1850m), the Emir's Trophy (GR 1, presented by Longines, 2400m) and the Emir's Sword (GR1 PA, sponsored by Total, 2400m).The total prize money in the Emir's Sword race is $1m with the winning rider set to claim $570,000.

Al Rayyan book place in Arab Club Volleyball Championship Final

TUNISIA, February 25, 2018 – Qatar's Al Rayyan confidently cruised their way to the final of the prestigious Arab Club Volleyball Championship 2018, following a deserving 3-0 victory over Al Hilal of KSA in the last four stage clash held in Tunisia on Saturday.Al-Rayyan produced impressive performance against Saudi side and secured convincing victory ( 25-15, 25-14 and 25-18) to reach the final stage. While in the second semifinal clash , the Espérance Sportive de Tunis outclassed Qatar's Al Arabi 3-0 ( 25-19, 25-19 and 25-15) to book spot in the final match.Qatar's Al Rayyan will lock horns against Espérance Sportive de Tunis in the title clash on Sunday.It is worth mentioning that the prestigious championship is bringing together 18 teams distributed into four groups.

Doha to host 2018 Swimming World Cup

DOHA, February 25, 2018-The World Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that Doha will host the second round of the highly-coveted 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup. A total of seven internationally renowned hosts in Europe, Middle East and Asia will be staging the 2018 World Cup in grand style. The swimming Series will get off the blocks in Kazan (RUS), on September 7-9. The following weekend, from September 13-15, the swimmers will race in Doha (QAT), also a fantastic host of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in December 2014.Both meets will be held in a 50m-pool, with a total of 32 individual events and 2 relays.The second Cluster however will be raced in 25m-pools, with the 17th FINA World Championships organiser Budapest (HUN) to welcome the circuit from October 4-6. A city to be confirmed yet will organise the first leg of the second Cluster prior to the Magyar capital, on September 28-30.Finally the third and final Cluster (25m-pool) of the 2018 World Cup will take place in Asia: Beijing (CHN, from November 2-4), Tokyo (JPN, November 9-11) and Singapore (SGP, November 15-17).Clusters #2 and #3 comprise of 34 individual events and 2 relays.All meets will run across three days (including mandatory heats) and swimmers are allowed to swim an unlimited number of individual events, however only the best 3 results will count toward the ranking/scoring.

Qatar boys lose to Poland in World Schools Handball

DOHA, February 24, 2018 - Qatar boys lost to Poland in their second match of the ISF World Schools Handball Championship on Friday. The hosts went down 18-24 at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena. On the opening day of the event, Qatar had thrashed Morocco 39-12. On Friday, against a much stronger Poland side, Qatar fought hard but could fell short. Qatar still has matches to play against Austria and Denmark in Group A. Yesterday, Austria scored an easy 23-12 win over Denmark. This was Austria first match in the tournament, while Denmark had beaten Poland on Thursday. Meanwhile, Croatia and France boys registered their second successive win. Croatia had it easy against Bulgaria 31-12, while France outplayed Serbia 30-19.In the girls section, Turkey beat Bulgaria 35-16, while Slovenia overcame Greece 23-12. Sweden had it easy against Poland 6-0, Romania downed 28-28 Israel 15. Croatia outplayed Georgia 26-9, Hungary 29 beat Czech Republic 16 and Denmark 45 thrashed Belgium 10.The tournament for 16-18 year olds will run until next Wednesday. For the first time in 24 editions, the championship is taking place outside of Europe and the competition is set to be fierce with 19 girls and 18 boys teams from 21 countries across Africa, Asia, Pan America and Europe competing for glory.Morocco are the sole representative from Africa, while Brazil will fly the flag for Pan America. Hosts Qatar will represent Asia. Europe is the dominant continent with 18 countries playing in the tournament, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey. The preliminary round matches will be held till tomorrow and sees both boys and girls competitions split over four groups each – Group A, B, C and D. ResultsBoys: Austria 23 bt Denmark 12; France 30 bt Serbia 19; Croatia 31 bt Bulgaria 12; Poland 24 bt Qatar 18; Germany 31 bt Israel 20; Romania 30 bt Georgia 15Girls: Turkey 35 bt Bulgaria 16; Sweden 6 bt Poland 0; Slovenia 23 bt Greece 12; Romania 28 bt Israel 15; Croatia 26 bt Georgia 9; Hungary 29 bt Czech Republic 16; Denmark 45 bt Belgium 10

Al-Qahtani shines in Big Class at Emir’s Sword championship

DOHA, February 24, 2018 - Awad al-Qahtani was in prime form as the Qatari rider excelled on his 15-year-old grey stud Cassander Van Het Bremhof to win the Big Tour's feature class on the second and penultimate day of the HH The Emir's Sword Equestrian competition on Friday.At the outdoor arena of Qatar Equestrian Federation, al-Qahtani and Cassander Van Het Bremhof were in sync during their routine to top the Table A, One round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1 (140/150cms). The winning time was 66.93secs.The course was a twelve-obstacle ride which needed fourteen efforts comprising two double barriers and al-Qahtani sailed all with ease and quick time to take home a whopping QR37,500 in prize money.Salmeen Sultan al-Swuadi came second with his gelding Cantaro 32, needing 70.75secs to finish as the runners-up. He won QR30,000. Coming in a creditable third was Hamad Nasser al-Qadi on mare St. Lucia in 72.34secs as he claimed a prize of QR22,500.Today, the feature event of the HH The Emir's Sword Equestrian championship will be held at 2:30pm with a total prize money worth QR250,000 up for grabs. In the absence of last year's winner Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani and his Olympic teammate Bassem Hassan, it will be an open field. Sheikh Ali and Bassem have skipped this year's prestigious championship as the international riders are competing in the FEI championships in Europe. A total of 11 riders will be in action in the marquee event, with regulars at the national Hathab series vying for the top honours. Salman Mohamed al-Emadi, Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi, Rashid Towaim al-Marri, Hamad Nasser al-Qadi, Awad al-Qahtani and Hamad Ali al-Attiyah will all fancy their chances.Today's action though will start with dressage competitions at QEF's indoor arena at 10am. While the showjumping competitions will begin at 2.30pm at the outdoor arena. Meanwhile yesterday, the Medium Tour class of 125/135cm was clinched by Saeed Nasser al-Qadi on Jessico 4. He clocked 69.90secs which fetched him the prize of QR17,500.Mohammed Said Haidan on Corrado's Coriana was second in 77.33secs (QR14,000), while Mohammed Khalifa al-Baker on Davidoff Du Bois was third clocking 77.95secs (QR10,500).In the Small Tour (110/120cm), Abdulla Rashid al-Amri rode Cinderella B to victory faultlessly in 63.61secs (QR12,500) beating Saeed Hamad al Rashdi, who clocked 64.77secs with Graffiti De Lully CH to win QR10,000.Mohammad Hazim Abara astride Ambre Del Bosco was third with a time of 68.46secs and was awarded QR7,500. The Future Riders (85/100cm) event was won by Tamim Nasser al-Qadi riding Crispin, while Fahad Abdulkarim Abed rode Kashmir to victory in the 70/85cm class.