Stage for Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship

DOHA, January 20, 2018 - Qatar Golf Association (QGA) will hold a press conference on Monday at the QGA conference hall to announce the details of the upcoming 32nd Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship 2018.The prestigious championship will take place from 25-27 January and bring together 120 golfers representing 30 countries from across the world.The three –day event will be the first major event which is annually organized under the sponsorship of the Qatar Olympic Committee ahead of Qatar Masters.

Defending champs Qatar take on NZ in Asian handball tourney on Thursday

DOHA, January 18, 2018 -Defending champions Qatar will take on debutant New Zealand in the first match of the 2018 Asian Handball Championship on Thursday.In all, 14 teams are participating in the tournament which will be held from January 18 to 28 in Suwon, South Korea. Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh are participating for the first time in the tournament which is a qualifier for the World Cup in Germany and Denmark in 2019. Al Annabi will be attempting to make it a triple victory after securing back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2016. Qatar's coach Valero Rivera L'f3pez will be counting on his more experienced players including Rashid Youssef, Anis Zouaoui, Abdel Razzaq Mourad, Alaeddine Balrachid, Mostafa Amir, Hossam Ruman, Kamal Al-Din Malash, Hassan Awwad, Mahmoud Hasaballah, Youssef Ben Ali, Djovo Djajnovic, Ahmed Meddi, Firas Mustapha and Daniel Saric, to overcome any resistance from the Kiwis. Qatar, who are in Group D, have always been the team to beat on the continent in recent years. Five other games are scheduled for Thursday with China going up against Saudi Arabia in the same group as the Al Annabi. Japan will play Uzbekistan in Group A while Australia will slug it out with Bahrain in Group B. Korea face Bangladesh and India will meet the UAE in Group C. Speaking about the match, Lopez said,"I do not have a lot of information about New Zealand but I'm confident of my team winning our match tomorrow. In general, we are ready, we know the difficulty of the matches in the tournament and we hope be at our best performance and win the game. This is important for us and in all matches of the tournament.""We are playing three matches in the group stage, the same as Group C. We are lucky to play our match early as this will give us more time to rest so we play two matches and get enough time to rest.""For us, I hope we will be in the highest level of preparation for the matches and perform well as we are the defending champions and what is most important to us in this tournament is to start the journey well and continue strongly. We respect the aspirations of all the teams in the competition for the championship title while seeking to reach the next world championship in Germany and Denmark." Ahead of the tournament, the 14 participating teams held a technical meeting with the organising committee on Wednesday. Youssef al Moallem, the administrative manager of the Qatar team, represented Qatar at the event. During this meeting, the lists of the participating teams were adopted and the full system of the tournament was explained. The meeting reviewed the colours of the teams' jerseys, the dates and venues of the matches, the mechanism of entering the lounges and the number of seats allowed to sit on the bench.Muallem pointed out that Al Annabi players are aware of their responsibility in terms of achieving the goal of reaching the World Cup in Germany and Denmark next year."Defending our title is very important to us and we have confidence in the players and their abilities," he said.

Qatar to face Palestine in AFC U23 Championship

CHANGZHOU, China, January 18, 2018 - Striker Almoez Ali has set his sights on continuing the rich vein of form he is currently in after scoring twice against China in a 2-1 win that saw Qatar finish top of Group A, and seal a place in the AFC U23 Championship 2018 quarter-finals.The 21-year-old's brace took his tally for the tournament to three, and with a last eight tussle against Palentine to come at Changzhou's Olympic Sports Center on Friday, Ali is in no mood to stop hitting the back of the net just yet."Of course, I feel very happy that we have qualified for the next round and I want to say congratulations to my teammates," declared the Al Duhail forward who added to his Matchday One strike in a 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan as host nation China were eliminated."I am also very happy that I scored the goals. "I now hope I can continue scoring and (in the process) help my team carry on winning." Ali is more than aware of the test that awaits his side as they look to improve on the fourth-place finish they achieved at the competition's last edition in 2016."We have played every game as if it was a final and won all of our three games," he said. With Korea Republic and Vietnam sealing their progress to the knockout phase of the AFC U23 Championship China 2018 on Wednesday, the tournament's quarter-final line-up has now been confirmed.Quarter-final Line-UpsQatar v Palestine: Changzhou Olympic Sports Center, January 19 Japan v Uzbekistan: Jiangyin Sports Center, January 19 Iraq v Vietnam: Changshu Sports Center, January 20 Korea Republic v Malaysia: Kunshan Sports Center, January 20How They QualifiedQatar: Finished top of Group A with three wins from their three games.Palestine: Tournament debutants who were second in Group B.Japan: Were top of Group B with a perfect record thanks to their three victories.Uzbekistan: Group A's second-placed team who beat China 1-0 in the group stage.Iraq: Group C winners with two wins and a draw to their name.Vietnam: Came second in Group D thanks to a win and a draw.Korea Republic: Topped Group D with seven points.Malaysia: The competition's other debutants finished second in Group C.

Qatar to host FINA Marathon Swim World Series

DOHA, January 18, 2018 – Qatar will act as hosts nation for the upcoming FINA Marathon Swim World Series (10km) at the Doha Corniche in March 2018.The event's organizing Committee which is chaired by Mr. Khaleel Ibraheem Al Jaber held a productive meeting recently to coordinate managerial and technical efforts needed to host the championship.In the meeting also tasks were distributed among officials and organizers and working committees were established to intensify the organizational arrangements.

Qatar set to take on New Zealand in Asian Handball Championship opener

Suwon, South Korea, January 17, 2018- The Qatari national handball team will open their campaign against debutants New Zealand in Group D when the 2018 Asian Handball Championship kicks off tomorrow in Suwon, South Korea.Group D also includes China and Saudi Arabia.The 18th edition of the championship will be held under the aegis of Asian Handball Federation over a period of 10 days.The tournament also acts as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship.The top four teams will qualify for the world championship to be held in January next year.The Spanish Coach of Qatar handball team Valero Rivera has selected 18 players for the tour.Qatar handball team: Danijel Saric, Firas Chaieb, Rasheed Yusuff, Rafael Capote, Mahmoud Hassaballa, Abdulrazzaq Murad, Ahmad Madadi, Kamalaldin Mallash, Bertrand Roine, Hassan Mabrouk, Houssem Romane, Aljosa Cudic, Youssef Ali, Jovo Damjanovic, Moustafa Heiba, Anis Zouaoui, Allaedine Berrached and Frankis Marzo.

Qatar to meet Palestine in quarterfinals

Changzhou, January 17, 2018-The Qatari U23 team will take on Palestine in the quarterfinals of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship on Friday. The Qatari team led the standings of group (A) while Palestine secured their spot in the quarterfinals with a comprehensive 5-1 win over Thailand on Tuesday. Striker Almoez Ali has set his sights on continuing the rich vein of form he is currently in after scoring twice against China PR in a 2-1 win that saw Qatar finish top of Group A, and seal a place in the AFC U23 Championship 2018 quarter-finals.The 21-year-old's brace took his tally for the tournament to three, and with a last-eight tussle against Palestine, runners-up of Group B, Ali is in no mood to stop hitting the back of the net just yet.“Of course, I feel very happy that we have qualified for the next round and I want to say congratulations to my teammates," said the Al Duhail forward, who added to his Matchday One strike in a 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan, as host nation China were eliminated from the competition.Ali is more than aware of the test that awaits his side as they look to improve on the fourth-place finish they achieved at the competition's last edition in 2016. “We have played every game as if it was a final and won all of our three games," he said.