Qatar beat South Korea to take third place

Kunshan, January 26, 2018- Akram Afif scored the only goal of the game as a penalty save from Yousof Hassan sealed a 1-0 win for Qatar over South Korea in the third place play-off of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship on Friday evening.Afif claimed the winner in the 39th minute before Hassan kept out Hwang Hyun-soo's spot-kick, earning Felix Sanchez's side the consolation of the tournament's bronze medal.Played in frigid conditions after heavy overnight snow, both teams cancelled each other out in a tense opening 30 minutes that yielded little in goal mouth action.Yoon Seung-won's glancing header – which was well wide of the mark – was a rare sight of goal for the Koreans while at the other end Afif fed the ball through to Abdelrahman Moustafa, but was shepherded to safety by Hwang Hyun-soo.As the half wore on, though, Qatar started to find pockets of space to exploit. Moustafa's low driven cross from the right caused concern in the Korean backline as it eventually fell at the feet of Almoez Ali, but his shot was deflected wide.With six minutes remaining in the half, Sanchez's side took the lead. Afif raced in behind the Korean defence as Qatar broke quickly and the Belgium-based attacker scored at the second attempt after Kang Hyeon-mu saved his initial shot on goal. Five minutes into the second half, the Koreans were handed the opportunity to level the scores when the assistant referee decided Tameem Al Muhaza had handled Park Jae-woo's driven cross into the area.But Korean captain Hwang saw his penalty saved by Hassan, the Qatar goalkeeper diving to his left to push the shot to safety and keep his side's lead intact.Afif squandered the opportunity to double his side's advantage soon after when he latched on to Ali's throughball, only for Kang to save, while Lee Keun-ho – on as a halftime substitute for the ineffective Yoon – was causing problems for the Qatar defence.Twice the Ulsan Hyundai striker had a sight of goal, but both times Hassan was equal to the task while Cho Jae-wan was denied by the post after Hassan was beaten by his low shot.The Koreans kept probing for the equaliser but the Qatari defence held firm to claim third place.

Qatar qualify to Asian Handball Final

Suwon, South Korea, January 26, 2018- Qatar defeated hosts South Korea 31-21 on Friday to qualify to the final match of the 2018 Asian Handball Championship being held in Suwon, South Korea.In the final match, Qatar will take on the winners of the second semifinals match between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Two-time defending champions Qatar had assured their berth in the 2019 IHF World Handball Championship to be staged in Germany and Denmark.

Hathab seventh leg to begin on Friday

DOHA, January 26, 2018-The Hathab Equestrian Series will resume today with the seventh leg of the competition to be held at the Al Shaqab equestrian centre. The 12-leg series has received an overwhelming response so far, with the young Qatari riders getting much-needed experience as they look to go to the next level.The series, which carries a total prizemoney of QR1 million, is open for Qatari nationals and also to residents of Qatar. The 12-leg event is being conducted jointly by Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) and Al Shaqab and will run until April 2018.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.

Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship to begin on Thursday

DOHA, January 25, 2018-The WAGR-2018 Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship will be held at the Doha Golf Club Championship Course from January 25 to 27.The 32nd edition of the prestigious event, to be held in three-day individual stroke play format, will see around 100 golfers form 40 countries vying for honours.The winner of the event will also get a berth in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters to be held in February.This edition of the championship will be even more challenging as 11 professionals —Anwar Ali, Michele Cea, Carlos Del Moral, Sean Einhaus, Michael Robert Elliott, Jean Michel Hall, Simon Khan, Paul Maisey, Jordan Massey, Langasque Romain, Michaell-James Steyn — will also compete for top honours.The long list of sponsors and supporters include Royal Air Maroc, InterContinental Doha Hotel, Al Muftah Rent a Car, Alkalive water, Doha Golf Club, Qatar Olympic Committee and Qatar Golf Association.

Qatar Athletics Federation General Assembly Meeting held

DOHA, January 25, 2018 – The Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) held its annual General Assembly meeting at the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Lusail building on Tuesday.The meeting was chaired by HE Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kawari, the Second Vice President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC and President of QAF also attended by HE Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani, the President of Al Ahli SC, HE Jassim bin Hamad bin Nasser Al Thani, the President of Qatar SC alongside senior QAF officials and sport clubs. After satisfying the meeting quorum, a number of vital topics related to development of athletics movement in the country were exhaustively discussed . Also a general review on the Qatar achievements at both the local and international levels were reviewed.The attendees also have unanimously approved the time schedule of the local championships prepared for the sport season 2017-2018.

Qatar thrash UAE, to meet Korea in Asian handball semifinals

Suwon, South Korea, January 25, 2018- Qatar thrashed UAE 34-20 on Wednesday to complete their group engagements unbeaten at the Asian Handball Championship in Suwon, South Korea.Two-time defending champions Qatar had already assured their berth in the semifinal where they take on the hosts on January 26th.In another match in the group, Bahrain defeated Japan 29-21 to qualify as runners-up, behind Qatar.Bahrain will take on Saudi Arabia in the other semifinal.Meanwhile, Iran will take on Japan in the fifth-place match while Oman play UAE in the seventh-place play-off.