• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

CCRICKETRICKET | Page 2 NNBABA | Page 5 India see off Pacers ease Pakistan, set past Hornets, up fi nal vs Celtics surprise Australia Nuggets Wednesday, January 31, 2018 GOLF Jumada I 14, 1439 AH Tiger’s first serious GULF TIMES comeback test a success SPORT Page 3 FOOTBALL TENNIS Federation scales Gharafa survive up preparations for Qatar Total Open QNA Al-Mohannadi had previously Doha announced that the tourna- ment will see the participation of Russian player Maria Shara- late scare to make atar Tennis, Squash pova, a winner in 2005 and 2008, and Badminton Feder- through wildcard. The same goes ation (QTSBF) is beef- for 2012 and 2013 champion Vic- ing up its preparations toria Azarenka who was also in- Qfor the 2018 Qatar Total Open, vited to the tournament. which takes place from Febru- Khalifa International Ten- ary 12-18 at Khalifa International nis and Squash Complex was Tennis and Squash Complex with opened in 1992 and initially had group stage of ACL the participation of some of the a capacity of 4,000-seat before world’s top players. it expanded in 2008 to 7,000. The tournament started in In 2008, there were also other Four Qatar teams, including Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan, now in the tournament 2001 as the fi rst women’s ten- expansions including VIP seats nis championship in the Middle besides upper, lower and mid- By Sports Reporter East, attracting leading players dle sections of the stadium and Doha as a Premier 5 event. zones for VIP and fans as well as Top-seeded players have re- a dining area. cently confi rmed their par- In 2012, two courts were add- l Gharafa survived a mighty in- ticipation, with the federation ed, which means that the com- jury time scare before qualify- announcing that Denmark’s plex now has one main court, ing for the Asian Champions Caroline Wozniacki, Romanian four additional courts, and 20 League group stage with a 2-1 Simona Halep, Ukraine’s Elina outdoor courts, making the Kha- Awin over Uzbek giants Pakhtakor in their Svitolina, Spaniard Garbine lifa International Tennis and West Zone playoff at the Thani bin Jassim Muguruza, Czech Karolna Plsk- Squash Complex the best venue Stadium here yesterday. ova, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, to host one of the most impor- New signing Wesley Sneijder put the Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, tant sporting events in the world. Cheetahs ahead with a successful 21st German Angelique Kerber and This year’s edition, a Premier 5 minute penalty and Portuguese Diogo France’s Kristina Mladenovic. event with a $2.3mn prizes, with Amado, who joined the team last year, Speaking to QNA, QTSBF sec- the participation of the top ten added one more seven minutes later to retary-general Tariq Zeinal said players, making it a top competi- ensure their passage to the tournament the federation aims to organise tion. proper for the fi rst time since 2012. an excellent edition of the tour- The fi rst edition of the Qa- Jasurbek Khakimov pulled one back nament with the participation of tar Total Open was held in 2001 for the Uzbeks three minutes into the the sport’s leading players to en- where the top seed Martina four-minute added time but with barely sure viewers get maximum dose Hingis captured the singles title seconds before the fi nal whistle, Marko of strong matches. after beating Sandrine Testud in Simic fi red the ball into Al Gharafa goal- Zeinal added that QTSBF and the fi nal. Hingis didn’t lose a sin- keeper Qassem Burhan’s body to waste organising committee president gle set during the tournament. a golden chance to send the match into Nasser al-Khelaifi has urged eve- Testud and Roberta Vinci had extra time, soothing the nerves in the Al ryone to do their best in order to won the doubles title then. Gharafa camp. ensure the annual excellence and Al Gharafa will now join UAE’s Al Jazira, success of the event in terms of VANDEWEGHE PULLS OUT Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli and Iran’s Tractor- organisation and viewership by American tennis star CoCo sasi in Group A of the AFC Champions tennis enthusiasts as well as the Vandeweghe has pulled out of League which will kick off on February 12, global coverage. the Qatar Total Open 2018 as ensuring the presence of four teams from As for preparations at Khalifa she recovers from a viral infec- Qatar in the lucrative continental tourna- International Tennis and Squash tion caught while playing at this ment, the others being Al Duhail, Al Sadd Complex, tournament director year’s Australian Open. and Al Rayyan. Saad al-Mohannadi said zones Vandeweghe is committed to Al Gharafa, who lie sixth in the QNB for fans, VIP and children are the US Fed Cup team that plays Stars League, had signed Dutch midfi elder currently being prepared in order the fi rst round in the US, but has Sneijder in early January along with Iranian to turn the complex into an inter- made a decision to limit her trav- Mehdi Taremi in a bid to boost their AFC active and entertaining place. el as much as possible. qualifi cation chances and also improve The fan and children zones of- Vandeweghe made it to the their standing on the domestic stage. Al Gharafa’s Wesley Sneijder (left) celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal against Pakhtakor during their Asian Champions fer entertainment activities for all third round of the Qatar To- And the vastly experienced duo were League group stage West Zone playoff at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium here yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil family members such as dining tal Open 2016, with straight set indeed the mainstays for their team yes- and the federation’s store. The VIP wins over Kirsten Flipkens and terday with their brilliant marshalling of Sneijder, who stepped up to take the ner of the net past Lobanov. point blank range. zone, meanwhile, off ers fans the Belinda Bencic, achieving her the midfi eld, occasionally also troubling shot, coolly slotted the ball home, send- The second half was hotly contested Al Gharafa’s jitters were evident and opportunity to interact with play- fi rst top-ten victory of 2016. the Tashkent-based Pakhtakor’s defence ing Pakhtakor goalkeeper Aleksandr with tempers occasionally fl aring and they almost conceded a second goal, but ers and guests in a luxury and re- “We will surely miss CoCo but by venturing forward. Lobanov the wrong way for only the sec- both defences living dangerously. goalkeeper Burhan foiled Simic’s eff ort laxed atmosphere where they can we wish her speedy recovery as The home team dominated proceed- ond goal for his new team, having ear- With chances being spurned at either from barely fi ve yards by blocking the enjoy high quality international we look forward to seeing her ings right from the word go but the bat- lier scored against Umm Salal in the QNB end, Al Gharafa needed only to hold their shot with his body. cuisine choices while they listen to doing what she knows how to tle-hardened Pakhtakor defence man- Stars League a couple of weeks ago. end, but were a bundle of nerves towards Simic, who had conceded the penalty jazz music. do best on the court as soon as aged to keep their wits about them to The Uzbeks were rattled by the reverse the fi nal moments, especially when four early in the game, slumped to the ground Al-Mohannadi said tourna- possible. This year’s event prom- ward off all danger. but continued to commit defensive er- minutes were added to the game. in despair, having wasted the chance to ment guests can get the event’s ises to be the best ever as all ar- But all that changed when Marko Sim- rors, and one of those proved costly when And sure enough, their defences fell make amends and give his team the life- pamphlet from the VIP reception rangements have been made to ic recklessly fouled Taremi in the 20th they failed to anticipate a Taremi move, with one minute to go when Khakimov line of extra time. offi ce and purchase federation ensure a fun-fi lled week of ten- minute and the referee Mohannad Saray the Iranian ace releasing Diogo, who de- was left unmarked close to the goal, and In sharp contrast, the Al Gharafa camp goods besides meeting tennis stars nis,” tournament director Saad of Iraq pointed to the spot. posited the ball into the bottom left cor- the striker didn’t make any mistake from erupted in joy. and taking photos with them. al-Mohannadi said. Park Ji-sung says programmes such as Generation Amazing are ‘examples to football’ outh Korea’s iconic midfielder the SC for fusing football with social portance to social responsibility endorse that football and sport only Stadium). Park Ji-sung (right) has development through its flagship through football and everyone in unites. If people with vested inter- “We both converted penalties in the Spraised the Supreme Commit- CSR initiative Generation Amazing. the football industry must follow ests want to use the sport to divide tie-breaker, but it turned out to be tee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) for “I understand that Qatar’s 2022 these examples,” he continued. people it is wrong.” a memorable occasion for me as making corporate social responsibil- committee promotes social develop- “Football gives happiness to all chil- As well as praising the work being we became the first and only Asian ity a fundamental part of the 2022 ment through football, and that Xavi dren, and from 2010 it has been my carried out away from the bright nation to reach a World Cup semi- FIFA World Cup legacy plans.

Load more

  8

Copy Link