Qatar team gear up for FIBA World Cup qualifiers

DOHA, November 23, 2017 – Qatar's senior basketball team intensified its training sessions at Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyiah indoor on Wednesday in preparation for Asian Zone qualification for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2018 in China.National basketball team is due to lock horns against Kazakhstan on November 24 in the Asian qualification for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2018 in China.Qatar team will also shake hands with Iran in the second match of the qualification stage scheduled in Tehran on November 27.Qatari team is pooled in group C with Kazakhstan, Iran and Iraq, where the top two in each group will book their spots in the second round.

Secondary School students shine in SOP Football event

DOHA, November 23 , 2017 – The football competitions for secondary schools (boys) of the prestigious Schools Olympic Program (SOP) 2017 received an overwhelming response from students and fans at both Al Sailiyah and Al Markhia clubs playgrounds on Wednesday.In Wednesday's football competitions, students from different secondary schools in country had shown impressive performance and high skills in the game.In the first match, Gulf English School secured double victory over Cairo Private 4-1 and Jordanian counterparts 3-1 at Al Sailiya playgrounds.While at Al-Markhia playgrounds , Syrian school defeated Debakey school 1-0, Lebanese school overcome Syrian counterparts 1-0 and Lebanese school were held 1-1 to Debakey school.An estimated 214 schools for boys and girls are competing in the schools Olympic Program (SOP) this year.The SOP is held annually as a collaborative effort of Qatar School Sports Federation (QSSF) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with hundreds of student athletes competing from all over Qatar. The SOP committee aims to spread a culture of sports throughout Qatar's schools and to engage the entire community in active and healthy lifestyles while retaining local values and traditions.

IBSF World Snooker Championship enters crucial stages

DOHA, November 23, 2017 - Two-time IBSF world snooker champion Pankaj Advani compiled the tournament's highest break so far to breeze into the knockout stages of the 2017 IBSF World Snooker Championship at Al Arabi Sports Club Indoor Hall on Wednesday.Advani, who won the 150-Up format of the IBSF World Billiards Championship last week at the same venue, is a strong title contender in the snooker event too.Yesterday, in his final group match against Victor Sarkis of Brazil, Advani's 138-point break in the last frame of the game brought down curtains on the one-sided game.Advani's effort surpassed the 136-point break by Sarkis' compatriot Igor Figueiredo from a few days ago. The 32-year-old from Indian city of Bengaluru has now entered the last-64 single elimination round winning 16 frames in four matches at the deficit of two, one each to Khamis Alobaidli of Qatar and Karl Fitzpatrick of Ireland.Last year's finalist Andrew Pagett beat Ali Hussein of Iraq 4-1 for his place in the knockout stages. Pakistan's Mohamed Asif, the 2012 world champion, overcame a 1-3 deficit against Poland's Mateusz Baranowski in emphatic fashion to post a 4-3 win for his place in the last 64. On Tuesday, Asif had suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Myanmar's Ko Htet.Wednesday, Asif might have seen his chances slip away despite a brilliant start that saw him stitch together an 89-point break to take the first frame. Baranowski took the next three games armed with breaks of 76 and 50 in the second and fourth frame.However, Asif came back strong to win three frames on the trot for a thrilling victory.A day after Qatar's Bashar Abdulmajeed made it to the knockouts, compatriot Ahmed Saif too beat Austria's Andreas Ploner 4-2 for the knockout rounds that start today.Three teenagers, Ivan Kakovsky (18) of Russia, Mohamed Naseem Akhtar (16) of Pakistan and Yazan Alhadad (15) of Syria, also advanced to the next round.

Riders ready for Al Rayyan Show Jumping Championship

​DOHA, November 23, 2017 – The competitions of the prestigious Al Rayyan International Show Jumping Championship 2017 organized by the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) will get underway at Al Rayyan area on Thursday.The prestigious event will see 9 matches in heights 140/160 m and will be concluded by Grand Prix event.The championship will bring together 51 riders (male and female) from 11 countries, including Kuwait, UK, Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and hosts Qatar.

Qatar’s Bashar edges out Balsara to reach knockouts

DOHA, November 22, 2017 - Qatar's Bashar Abdulmajeed was taken the full distance by Omar Balsara of the United States before notching his third victory in the round robin stages to make it to the knockout stages of the 2017 IBSF World Snooker Championship at Al Arabi Sports Club Indoor Hall on Tuesday.Having won the first frame with a 58-point break, Bashar lost the second, which was well controlled by Balsara with a 62-point break. From there on both won alternate frames and stayed level after six frames, having won three apiece. The decider saw both the players in a battle of attrition, with Bashar eventually coming out on top, courtesy some high-quality safety shots.Bashar, who won three out of his four round robin matches, finished second in Group C and made it to the last-64. In another match, India's Laxman Rawat stitched together two century breaks apart from a 91 to beat Luo Honghao of China 4-1.After winning the scrappy first frame, Rawat lost the second after the Chinese player had a century break of his own – 109 points. Luo was hoping to take the lead but lost the position after putting 46 on board.The Indian responded with a 91-point clearance to take that frame, before wrapping up the game 4-1 powered by two centuries in next two frames (101, 100). In a curious turn of events, Malaysia's Moh Keen Hoo was warned by the referee for conceding the second frame in the match against Jack Bradford.Moh didn't score much in the first and the second frames. The score was 2-38 with 67 available when he opted to concede the frame. Though he scored a break of 62 to recover in third but faltered in next two frames and lost 1-4 against the Welshman. Team manager later defended Moh, saying that the player had struggled to see the angles properly, and hence he conceded.Last year's runner-up Andrew Pagett stayed unbeaten with a 4-0 win over Mohamed Lababi of Iran, while two-time IBSF snooker champion Pankaj Advani beat Qatar's Khamis al-Obaidli 4-1 to stay unbeaten. Qatar's Ali al-Obaidli posted a win beating Ukraine's Anton Kazakov 4-1.Among the women, Amee Kamani's winning streak at the event came to an end at the hands of former European champion Tatjana Vasiljeva. India's Kamani, also world number two, has now completed her group stage matches with three wins out of four. However, Vasiljeva is now in comfortable position to top the group, which will allow her to advance to quarter-finals directly.Vasiljeva and Kamani were level after the first two frames. In the third frame, the Latvian edged out her Indian rival 57-51, before two breaks of 32 and 48 helped her close out the match 3-1.

Historical win for Curling Team Qatar

DOHA, November 22, 2017 - The Qatari Men's Curling team were competing at the World Curling Federation's Pacific Asia Curling Championships 2017 this November in Australia. This is the greatest continental level in Curling in Asia completed with Australia and New Zealand. The stake was high, the first three countries qualified for the World Championships 2018 and got involved in the next Olympic qualification system first. This was only the second time when Qatar played on this highest continental level. The Nabeel Alyafei, Ahmad Al-Fahad, Abdulrahman Alyafei and Salem Ali formed Men's team represented Qatar and in the round robin beat Kazakhstan 8-5 and obtain Qatar's first international win on this WCF stage. The team played well and focused and Nabeel Alyafei the Qatari team's captain played his best and led the team to Victory. In the short history of Qatar Curling Federation this is really huge and an important milestone. Qatar finished 8th at the Championship which is the best result so far on this level of Curling for the Men's team.„It was a great Championship and our feeling with this win is wonderful. In the same time it gives us a push to improve more and play better at other competitions. At the end I can guarantee that we will challenge the best teams. Hayul Annabi!" Said Nabil Alyafei after the competition.The Qatari National Team's and the Curling program is practicing in the Villaggio on weekly basis.Did you know that Qatar was the first Country in the Middle East who established a Curling Program? As a progressive leader in Sports Qatar has female and male teams as well and still welcome new players. Do you want to try it out?