Top seed Thiem wins opening match in Qatar Open

Doha, January 2, 2018-Qatar Open top seed, Austria's Dominic Thiem, won a hard-fought opening round match in Doha on Monday, beating Russia's Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.The world No.5 was pushed hard by his opponent, especially in the first set where Donskoy threatened an early upset.But he won in a tie break, before breaking the Russian's serve twice in the second set, in the sixth and ninth games to claim victory.Thiem, one of the players predicted to break through this year amid injury concerns for the game's traditional big stars, hit more than 30 winners to secure his passage into the second round.The 24-year-old was installed as the tournament's top seed after the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic because of a persistent elbow injury.Second and third seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and Tomas Berdych play on Tuesday.

QSAA discusses its new calendar of events

DOHA, January 2, 2018-The Qatar Shooting and Archery Association(​QSAA) has prepared a plan with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games and development of an elite team and young shooters. The Qatar Olympic Committee Secretary-General Jassim Rashid al Buenain held a meeting with the top officials of the QSAA in Losail on Sunday and got a feedback on the association's early steps in this regard. Shooting is considered potentially an international medal sport for Qatar, apart from athletics and handball. Under President His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani's direction, the QOC has made a pool of elite sports persons who will be given special attention and help for winning medals for the country in global events, especially the Tokyo Olympics. Also the QOC is concentrating heavily on creating a base at the youth level to get a supply of talented male and female players. During the meeting, Buenain met with QSAA President Ali Mohammed al Kuwari, Secretary-General Majid al Naimi, Assistant Secretary-General Hussein al Sada, Executive Director Mohammed Taher and Board Members Abdullah Ali al Mutawa al Hammadi and Abdul Rahman al Malki.The QSAA President Kuwari, who thanked Buenain for his visit, said the association is committed and working hard towards raising the general level of shooters and archers."We feel proud that we're able to bring international laurels home. We are always striving hard towards achieving our international goals. We're also concentrating on the development of our young players." "We express our heartiest thanks to HE Sheikh Joaan and the QOC for the support. We will continue to push our level up and try to live up to expectations that the QOC has," added al Kuwari.The QSAA Secretary-General Al Naimi highlighted the comprehensive plan of international events and competitions for the development of shooters and archers, elite team programme and early buildup process for the shooters for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Al Buenain expressed his confidence in the able leadership of Kuwari and the kind of efforts the QSAA board members are making. He also said that the QSAA has been a valuable contributor for the QOC, headed by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, at the international levels. The idea of putting an early plan of preparations in place is that Qatar aims to get more medals in the 2020 Olympics and we hope that the QSAA would help the QOC secure these dreams," he added.

Bayern Munich to hold short training camp in Doha

DOHA, January 2, 2018 - After a 12-day break, Bayern Munich are set to pick up training again in preparation for the business half of the season with a now customary winter training camp in Qatar.Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes has named a squad of 25 players, featuring new recruit Sandro Wagner and a selection of promising youngsters, for a six-day visit to Doha, starting Tuesday. However, Thiago Alcantara, who tore a thigh muscle at the end of November, will remain in Munich to focus on his recovery, together with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.Ron-Thorben Hoffmann (18), Lukas Mai (17), Niklas Dorsch, Marco Friedl and Felix Götze (all 19) will train with Heynckes' charges, on the other hand, as the record champions prepare for what they hope will be a packed schedule of fixtures right through to the end of May.

Al Qadhi leads Hathab Equestrian Series

DOHA, January 2, 2018-The organizing committee of Hathab Equestrian Series announced the general standings of the event on Monday. A brainchild of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, the President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, the 12-leg series is open for Qatari nationals and residents of Qatar. The event is being conducted jointly by th Qatar Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon Federation and Al Shaqab.The series is spread across seven months. A total of QR1mn in prize money is available for grabbing for the competitors.Hamad Nasser Al Qadhi leads the standings of the event with 134 points ahead of Nasser Al Ghazali in the second place with 97 points. Yousef Al Rumaihi settles in the third place with 91 points. Haya Al Marri occupies in the first place in juniors event. Mohammed Al Ghazali and Mohammad Al Marri settle in the second and the third places respectively.

Al-Qahtani claims his 2nd successive win in Hathab series

DOHA, December 31, 2017-Awad al-Qahtani took his second successive win at the Hathab Tour, after he emerged victorious in the fifth leg of the national equestrian series yesterday.Al-Qahtani had won the Big Tour class in the fourth leg a fortnight back and he repeated the feat on the final day at the Al Shaqab Indoor arena. The Qatari rider produced a slick routine with Gerenice of Colors, coming home fastest in 59.03 seconds to take the top spot, which earned al-Qahtani QR7,500 in prize money.The second place once again went to Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi, who astride Siec Cosmos Wijngaardhoeve Z clocked 59.41 secs. Al-Rumaihi took home QR6,000. Rashid Towaim al-Marri was third with Chupa Chups 12 as the pair finished their round in 59.51 secs, which fetched the rider QR4500.In the Medium Tour 120/130cm class, Mohamed Taleb al-Saaq piloted Diamond Delemma to victory. The pair were in sync on the day as they completed their round in 51.60 secs for top place finish, which made al-Saaq richer by QR5000.Mohamed Sultan al-Suwaidi was a second behind the winner, as he took the runner-up spot with Numero Uno T. Saeed Nasser al-Qadi, who had won and finished third in the same competition on Friday, was off colour yesterday. Al-Qadi had to be content with just the third place with Daydreamer EC, which clocked 53.78 secs. In the Future Riders, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ali al-Thani (Sita) won the 70/85cm class. He was followed by Fahad Abdulkarim Abed (Kashmir) in second place and Lolowa Ali Atat (Farinelli SWB) in third. The 85/100cm Future Riders title went to Tamim Nasser al-Qadi (Aqueena). Tamim also took the third place with Crispin, while Abdulaziz Majid al-Ghanim clinched the runner-up spot with Ziza. Hathab, meaning 'Canter' in Arabic, is an initiative launched by Qatar Olympic Committee president HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani.The series, which carries a total prize money 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. Results of the competition will be used in the selection process of riders to represent Qatar in future international competitions. Each leg will carry points, with only top seven results to be counted, and an overall winner to be declared at the end of series.

Draw held for Qatar ExxonMobil Open

Doha, December 31, 2017-Austrian Dominic Thiem, who suddenly finds himself the top seed after the withdrawal of two-time defending champion and former World No.1 Novak Djokovic, will take on Russian Evgeny Donskoy in the first round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open which starts at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Monday.Fast-improving Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, the second seed will have a tricky first round match against promising Croat Borna Coric while the draw held in Doha on Saturday also pitted third seed Tomas Berdych against Jan Lennard Struff in what would be a battle of power hitters.Another Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas will take on Argentina's Guido Pella while elegant Frenchman Richard Gasquet will take on Dominican Republic's Victor Estrella Burgos.Promising Qatari Jabor Al Mutawa, who was given a wildcard will face a qualifier.The withdrawal of Djokovic, owing to an elbow injury has definitely taken some shine off the tournament which is into its 26th edition.Djokovic will surely be missed but we understand that his health and fitness come first. We wish him the best as he recovers from the injury while we hope to welcome him at the 2019 tournament said tournament director Karim Alami.Feliciano Lopez, who meets fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round, said though he was disappointed with Djokovic's absence, it gives other players a better chance to win.“It's very sad for the tournament and for all of us that he is not coming but at the same time, it's true that we have a better chance to do something big here in Doha.“But it's really sad that he's not coming. He's the champion in the last two years, he's a great player and I hope he'll get better soon and be able to play in Australia," said Lopez.