Category: Sports

Doha: Coach of the Indonesian team Shin Tae-yong said he is hopeful about reaching the pinnacle of success and being qualified for the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024 after Uzbekistan clash scheduled on Monday at Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Stadium in the semi-finals of AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the match, Tae-yong said his team look forward to performing well in the tournament after being qualified for this critical stage, adding that there is one step away from triumph and qualification for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Indonesia made tremendous physical efforts in facing South Korea in the quarter finals and the match was marathonic, he said, affirming that the technical team conducted recovery exercises for the players ahead of tomorrows match.

All players eye writing the history and have great desire to maximize their efforts to reach the finals, Tae-yong stressed, acknowledging the challenging game with Uzbekistan, since the latter had succeeded in d
rubbing Saudi Arabia the title holder. He stated that Uzbekistan have high physical capability of staging rapid attacks, and subsequently Indonesia will hedge the bet and be wary of that to avoid mistakes on the defense line.

The focus will be on exploiting the chances primarily in middle of the pitch that has narrow scale of spaces.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: April 27 – Chairman of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun Committee Mohamed Wahdan praised the State of Qatar’s impressive hosting of the shotgun ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship 2024: the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifier, which wraps tomorrow.

The championship recorded the highest shooter participation record with 433 male and female shooters representing 82 countries.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency Wahdan congratulated Qatar for successfully hosting this very important tournament, which saw eight qualifications, adding that the championship broke a record in ISSF history in terms of the number of shooters participating.

The Chairman of ISSF Shotgun Committee praised the Lusail Shooting Club and the warm welcome and hospitality received, adding that this is not strange for the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association and that everything is running very smoothly with all parties happy, hoping that Qatar hosts even more international tournaments in the future.

Wahdan sa
id that ISSF did not receive any protests against the referees decisions, which comes to prove the high quality arbitration in place, with all shooters praising Qatari and foreign arbitration in the tournament.

Wahdan said that the International Olympic Committee instructed holding a new skeet finals arrangement, to include 8 shooters instead of 6, adding that before this could happen, it was imperative to try this arrangement out, leading the ISSF to decide to try this out in Doha, for the first time, which now will be subject of evaluation and consideration.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: April 27 – Qatar International Junior Squash Open Championship concluded today with the participation of 113 international players at the Khalifa International Complex.

Organized by the Qatar Squash Federation, Kuwaiti player Qader Gul won the title of boys under 19 years event and his compatriot Khaled Al Fawzan won the title of boys under 17 years.

For the boys under 15 years competition, Jordanian player Osama Al Bataineh won the title, while the first place of the boys under 13 years was claimed by Chinese Liu Yuanxi. Kuwaiti Salman Al Saleh managed to win the title of boys under 11 years category.

The first-place winners in the various competitions were crowned by Secretary General of the Qatar Tennis, Squash, Padel and Badminton Federation Tariq Zainal, in the presence of Tournament Director Saad Al Mohannadi.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Al Markhiya coach Bougherra and his opponent Umm Salal coach Patrice Carteron spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 22 match slated for Sunday.

Al Markhiya coach Bougherra said “We must continue fighting until the end and obtain points from the next match against Umm Salal in the 22nd and final week of Expo Stars League, or come out with a point at the very least, to maintain the position.” He added “The match with Umm Salal is no less important than previous games, and we must deal with it as a final, but without greater pressure than the pressure that the team faced in its recent matches.” “We know that Umm Salal won in the previous round and they had a very good season, but now it is our turn to finish the hard work that we did during all the past months in which we endured hardships, and we must endure more so that we do not regret this match. We must continue to act with the same mentality that characterized the team in previous rounds, in order to obtain the re
sult of this match,” said Bougherra.

For his part Umm Salal coach Patrice Carteron said “We enter the Al Markhiya match with strength, looking forward to ending the season with a win and advanced position in the standings.” “I am happy with the strong performance provided by the players, regaining victories and achieving wins over Al Arabi and Al Duhail, and the fighting spirit they display. We are able to continue those victories and win over Al Markhiya in the final round of league,” he added.

“Umm Salal have done a lot this season and our goal is to end the season with a win to advance to a better position. It is definitely an important and strong match,” said Carteron.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins, and Al Shamal coach Poya Asbaghi spoke to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 22 match, slated for Sunday.

“The positive thing is that there are no injuries and that all players are in good condition,” coach Pedro Martins said.

“Al Shamal showed a very good level this season. For our part, we seek to finish the competition in second place and we know that we have no choice but to win the three points. We must focus on our performance only in this match and do our duty to the fullest against a very organized team that has good players and is under a good coach.” he added.

“Of course, it will be a difficult game and we must focus on our match only and provide what is required of us without looking at any other results because we do not have control over the results of the other matches or their course. What we do have is control over the match we are playing and we must achieve victory in the Al Shamal match and wait for what the results of t
he other matches will bring,” said Martins.

For his part, coach Poya Asbaghi said: “A very difficult match awaits us against a good team that has players at the highest level and they will fight and do everything to win to try to get second place.” He added: “We realize that the match will be difficult, but we will do our best and we will play in order to achieve victory, get three points, and end the season in a distinguished manner, and in the best possible position in the league table.” “There was not much time after the last Al Sadd match in the 21st round. The gap was only three days during which the technical staff tried to prepare for the Al Gharafa match after a quick recovery process,” said Asbaghi.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Santiago, Chile has been selected as the host city for the 2027 Special Olympics World Games, making it the first time in the organizations 55-year history that World Games will be held in the Latin America.

The press event of the official signing of hosting this event was held at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington on Saturday.

Additionally, 6,000 special Olympics athletes from both genders from over 170 countries, will participate in 22 Olympic-style sports at state-of-the-art competition venues, alongside over 2000 coaches and thousands of volunteers.

All countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will take part in these games.

Source: Qatar News Agency