Category: Sports

Doha: Qatar Olympic football team finished its preparations to face Indonesia in the opening match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 tomorrow at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, within the Group A which also includes Jordan and Australia.

The AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifies the top three ranked teams to the football competition of the upcoming Summer Olympic Games (Paris 2024), while the fourth-ranked team will play a playoff match against Africa’s representative team Guinea.

Seeking a third appearance in the Olympic Games after the Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992 editions, the Qatari team held its training session at the Aspire Academy under head coach Ilidio Vale.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The Olympic team delegation arrived in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday morning, to enter a short training camp, including a friendly match with its Japanese counterpart next Thursday, in preparation for the Asian qualifying finals for the Paris Olympics.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Doha: Curtains came down on Week 20 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League, held over three days from April 5 to 7, 2024, and witnessed six matches. Five of them ended in victory and one was drawn between Al Gharafa and Umm Salal.

The top-of-the-bill clash between Al Sadd and Al Duhail ended with Al Duhail winning 3-1, keeping Al Sadd in the lead despite the loss with 43 points, while Al Duhail are sixth with 25 points.

Al Gharafa failed to achieve victory as they tied with Umm Salal, leaving Al Gharafa in second place with 41 points and Umm Salal in eighth place with 21 points.

Al Rayyan are considered as one of the biggest beneficiaries during this round as they achieved a 1-0 victory over Muaither, climbing to third place with 38 points, while Muaither remained in 11th place and penultimate position with 14 points.

Al Arabi came from behind to secure a thrilling 4-2 victory over Al Wakrah, raising their points tally to 26 in fifth place, while Al Wakrah fell to fourth place with 37 points.

Qatar S
C also succeeded in returning to winning ways and snatched an exciting 2-1 victory Al Shamal, bringing The Kings to 19 points in 10th place, while Al Shamal remained on 21 points in seventh place on goal difference from Umm Salal in eighth place.

Al Markhiya succeeded in holding on to the hope of escaping relegation, being in last place, by achieving their third victory this season, over Al Ahli with a score of 4-1, to remain in 12th place with 11 points and reduce the difference to three points with Muaither (11th), while Al Ahli remained on 20 points in ninth place.

The week witnessed 21 goals scored and the largest number of goals was in the match between Al Wakrah and Al Arabi (six goals), then Al Ahli and Al Markhiya (five goals).

Al Rayyan came away with a clean sheet and Al Arabi striker Omar Al Somah, Al Wakrah forward Mohamed Benyettou and Al Markhiyas Bashar Resan scored two goals each in this round.

Returning to the matches, the confrontation between Al Duhail and Al Sadd ended with Al Duhail w
inning by three goals to one, causing Al Sadd to suffer their second loss this season. The first half ended with the two teams tied 1-1 and the excitement reached its peak in the second half after Al Duhail scored two goals, so the match ended with Al Duhail winning 3-1.

Al Arabi overturned a deficit with a goal down to win 4-2 against hosts Al Wakrah. Benyettou scored for Al Wakrah in the fourth minute and 90+2 minute from a penalty kick, while Al Arabis Alaaeldin Hassan scored in the 37th minute, Omar Al Somah scored in the 64th and 87th minutes, and Yousef Msakni in the 90+10 minute.

Qatar SC achieved a valuable victory over Al Shamal, strengthening their position in 10th place and taking a step towards moving away from the relegation zone or playing the Play-Off match and they are close to ensuring their survival in the competition.

Al Rayyan also achieved an exciting victory over Muaither with a 1-0 victory as The Lions succeeded in deciding the first half in their favour with a goal scored by Morocca
n Achraf Bencharki. In the second half, the match was evenly balanced between the teams amid strong attempts by Muaither to score the equalizer, but Al Rayyans defence was solid.

In the most exciting match, Umm Salal achieved an exciting draw against Al Gharafa. The first half ended in a goalless draw and Al Gharafas advantage continued in some minutes in the second half through continuous pressure that resulted in a goal scored by Tunisian Ferjani Sassi. Umm Salal succeeded in regaining their balance and scored the equalizing goal through striker Kenji Gorre in 90+3 minute, stopping The Cheetahs winning run.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Al Duhail started preparations for facing Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE on Saturday at Rashid Stadium in Dubai. The team is set to depart for the United Arab Emirates on Friday ahead of the encounter.

The reigning champions of the EXPO Stars League trained with a full squad with a high morale following their victory over Al Sadd in the previous round with a score of 3-1.

Al Duhail are gearing up to clinch their first title of the current season. Having missed out on the league title contention this season, currently standing sixth with 25 points after 20 rounds, the team aims to make the most of the remaining three rounds.

French coach Christophe Galtier is expected to announce the squad for the upcoming match in the coming days. The coaching staff will assess the players’ physical and technical readiness during the training sessions leading up to the game.

The organizing committee for the Qatar-UAE Super Cup announced in January the launch of the joint tournament between Qatar and the United Arab Emir
ates under the name “Super Shield,” featuring Al Duhail against Shabab Al Ahli, champions of the Emirati league in the previous season, and the “Super Cup,” featuring Al Arabi and Sharjah FC, winners of the cup in both countries, in a match scheduled for Friday at Al Thumama Stadium.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: April 07 – The draw for HH the Amir Basketball Cup for the sports season (2023-2024) was held at the headquarters of the Qatar Basketball Federation on Sunday.

The men’s competitions will begin on April 13, with nine teams taking part.

The draw split teams into two groups, the first included Al Arabi, Al Wakrah, Al Gharafa, Qatar, and Al Khor, while the second featured four teams Al Ahli, Al Rayyan, Al Sadd, and Al Shamal.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The organizing committee of the 16th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup (Taishan) continues preparations for the global event to be staged from April 17 to 20 in the Women’s Sport Committee hall at Aspire Academy. It is organized by the Qatar Gymnastics Federation for the eleventh year in a row, with the participation of 150 male and female players representing 50 countries, and it qualifies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

In a press statement today, head of the organizing committee Ali Al Hitmi confirmed that preparations are underway to organize a distinguished edition, as the committee seeks to complete all arrangements for the tournament will all committees working at different times, especially in the holy month of Ramadan, praising the great role played by all the employees to complete the preparations of the tournament hall and the warm-up and training hall.

Al Hitmi noted keenness on providing all that related to the organization in terms of the main playing hall and checking on the equipment, es
pecially since the tournament is being held in a hall different from that of the previous editions, which is the Women’s Sport Committee hall, as the Aspire hall is busy with preparations for the world swimming championships that Qatar hosted recently.

Source: Qatar News Agency

London: Manchester United drew 2-2 with Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday as they bounced back from their late collapse against Chelsea on Thursday night.

Liverpool took the lead after 20 minutes and would have been disappointed to only be leading 1-0 at the break, but United sparked a comeback and led 2-1 after the hour mark.

Mohamed Salah then converted a penalty with 10 minutes remaining to ensure a point for his side.

Liverpool’s draw means Arsenal are top of the table, with Jurgen Klopp’s side second and Manchester City in third.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Lisbon, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and his co-driver Edouard Boulanger sealed a hard-earned victory at the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in Grandola on Sunday.

The Prodrive Hunter crew had to defend an overnight lead of 2min 41sec over Portugal’s Joao Ferreira and the second quickest time on the day’s stage enabled the Qatari to move 12 points clear of Carlos Sainz in the unofficial FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) Drivers’ Championship standings and lift Nasser Racing by Prodrive into contention for the W2RC Manufacturers’ crown.

Al Attiyah had a winning margin of 2min 49sec.

The final stage was split into two sections with the first looping around Grandola for 101km before a final regroup took competitors into a short 3.7km sprint in front of live television cameras and thousands of spectators.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The 2023-2024 season of the Qatar Drift Championship came to an end with the conclusion of the fourth and final round of the championship, which was organized by the Qatar Racing Club (QRC) over two days at the drift circuit in the Industrial Area, amid wide participation from an elite group of champions.

The fourth and final round of the championship resulted in the crowning of Ali Al Jabsha with the season championship title in the local category, while the championship title in the overall standings went to the winner for the fourth consecutive time, the Omani racer Ahmed Al Amri.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Al Markhiya tasted success as they bounced back from being a goal down to beat Al Ahli by a 4-1 margin in their Week 20 match of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.

The goals for Al Markhiya came from Mohammed Khaled Al Naimi (30th minute), Bashar Resan (43rd and 90th minutes), and Naoufal Bannis (83rd minute). Julian Draxler scored for Al Ahli in the 22nd minute.

It was a telling performance from Al Markhiya who are looking to wriggle out of a difficult position, now having raised their tally to 11 points with their third win of the league though they are still in 12th place. Al Ahli are in ninth spot with 20 points.

Al Markhiya made a fluent attacking start, with their star Yusupha Nije making a big strike in the 20th minute, but his kick went just wide to the left of goal.

Two minutes later, Al Ahli shocked their rivals as Draxler struck after exciting goal-mouth action. Draxler first moved in from the left to provide a pass to Al Dokali Al Sayed, who dro
ve from just outside the box and goalkeeper Loukay Ashour made a save with both hands, but the ball fell to Oumar Sekou who made a back flip and Al Markhiyas Naby Sarr rushed in to head the ball out, but Draxler was again waiting to put the ball back into the goal.

Al Markhiya did not take long to hit back and as Al Naimi made a spectacular header off a long free-kick to draw parity.

The contest became livelier as Al Markhiya matched their rivals and went up the lead just before the break, with Abdulrahman Moustafa moving down the right to pass the ball to Al Dokali who sent in a cross for a waiting Bashar Resan to make a rasping volley kick into the left corner of the net (2-1).

The second session was a long-drawn battle between the two sides as Al Ahli looked to make openings, but could not succeed.

Eventually, Al Markhiya dashed all Al Ahli hopes as Bashar cut through from the right to send the ball to Njie, who made a back pass for a waiting Naoufal Bannis to strike powerfully into the far left corner
(3-1).

Bashar Resan towards the end provided more icing on the cake as he hit from left top of the box to beat a diving goalkeeper for Al Marhkiyas fourth goal of the match.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Qatar SC beat Al Shamal 2-1 in Week 20 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday.

All three goals of the match came through Qatar SCs players, with Bruno Tabata (23rd minute) and Yousef Mohammed (28th minute) scoring for coach Helio Sousas side, while Al Shamals goal came courtesy of an own goal by Khaled Mahmoudi in the 41st minute.

Qatar SC advanced to 19 points in the standings with the result, while Al Shamal remained on 21.

The match was evenly balanced with not much difference between the two sides until Qatar SCs Tabata opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after finishing off an impressive overlapping run by Yohan Boli, who made a good sprint with the ball from their own half of the field before perfectly setting up the Brazilian for the sublime finish.

The goal was, however, without incident, as Al Shamals Jassim Ali Al Hashemi, who was making a run to tackle Tabata, suffered a likely harmstring injury in the attempt and had to be stretchered out shortly a
fter the goal.

Six minutes later, an error in the midfield by Al Shamal resulted in the ball falling into Qatar SCs Raoul Sanda, who made a dashing run before firing a right-footed shot that was parried by goalkeeper Abdalla El Rady into the waiting legs of Ali, who only had to tap in to bag the second goal for Qatar SC.

With two goals down, Al Shamal started seeking a way back into the game with some brilliant attacking runs and their effort eventually paid off in the 41st minute when Mahmoudi mistakenly headed the ball into his own net in an attempt to clear the ball away to pull Al Shamal back into the game.

The scoreline remained the same as the team headed into the dugout for the break.

Al Shamal were the better side for most of the second half, but for all their superior ball possession, they could, however, not get the needed equliser as Qatar SC stood determined to run away with the maximum points.

Al Shamals closest attempt at securing the equaliser was in the 80th minute, when Yousef Belhandas
curling shot grazed the upright on its way out.

Without many other opportunities, Qatar SC cruised to a very important win, while Al Shamal were left to rue their luck.

Source: Qatar News Agency

DOHA, The Kuwaiti racer Salem Al-Sarraf came second in the fifth and final round of the 2023-2024 Season of Qatar Drift Championship on Friday.

Ahmad Al-Ameri, of Oman, led the race while the Jordanian Ali Jabsha came third in the general rankings of the championship which started in November. Al-Sarraf noted that he ranked second in the first round and the first in the third round.

In statements to KUNA, he thanked the organizers of the championship, notably the Chairman of Qatar Racing Club Sheikh Jabr bin Khalid, for their hospitality and efforts to ensure the convenience of participants.

Source: Kuwait News Agency