The Qatar ExxonMobil Open has been again declared best ATP 250 Tournament of the Year for 2017, it was announced yesterday.
The Qatar event had earlier claimed the accolade in 2015. The award marks another success for tournament which will celebrate its twenty fifth anniversary for the 2018 edition.
The tournament has attracted some of the biggest name in tennis down the years and is usually held in the first week of January.
Tennis greats like Boris Becker, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are among those who have won the tournament. The 2017 edition was won by Serbian star Novak Djokovic who defeated top seed Andy Murray in three sets.
In the doubles competition, the French duo of Jérémy Chardy and Fabrice Martin prevailed over third seeds Vasek Pospisil & Radek ?t?p?nek.
The next edition of the event will begin on January 1, 2018.
Qatar win Arab beach volleyball championship
Qatar’s beach volleyball team won the 26th Arab Championship in the Sultanate of Oman for the third time in a row. Qatar, Oman, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Yemen and Lebanon participated in the championship.
Qatar A, comprising Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, won the final match 21-19, 21-18.
The Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) President and chairman of the technical committee of the championship Ali Ghanem al-Kuwari praised the performance of the team, QNA reported.
Qatar to take on Czech Republic today in friendly
Qatar will get a fine chance to test their mettle against one of the strongest teams in the world when they take on the Czech Republic in a friendly international at Al Duhail Stadium tonight. The match begins at 7.30pm.
The Czech Republic are ranked 46th on the FIFA rankings, while Qatar are 50 spots behind, on 97.
Interim coach Felix Sanchez will use the match to test some of the younger players as the country prepares to host the Gulf Cup in December and the all-important FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Qatar beat Singapore 3-1 in an October friendly but lost 1-2 to the Caribbean island nation of Curacao.
After playing the Czechs today, Qatar will meet Iceland on Tuesday.
United send scout to Iceland but match was in Doha
A Manchester United talent scout travelled all the way to Reykjavic to watch Iceland play the Czech Republic in a friendly only to realise that the match was being played in Qatar.
The premier league club applied to the Icelandic Football association for a match ticket, which was happily issued to them.
But when the scout arrived at the stadium to collect his accreditation he was shocked to see the gates locked and the lights off.
Consequently the scout had to spend a freezing night in the Icelandic capital when he should have been in sunny Doha.
For the record, the Czech Republic beat Iceland 2-1.
Bayern Munich set for winter camp in Doha
German champions and current Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich have announced that they will travel to Qatar for their annual winter training camp.
The Bavarian club, who won the title five consecutive times, said that they plan to hold the training camp at Aspire from January 2 to 7.
The camp is shorter than the club is usually accustomed to due to the fact that the winter vacation is shorter this year.
The Bundesliga will resume after the break on January 12 with Bayern Munich meeting rivals Bayer Leverkusen.
Tunisian Al-Bayawi to coach Al Khor
QNB Stars League side Al Khor have appointed Tunisian Nassif al-Bayawi as their new coach. The decision was taken by the club management, headed by Hassan Juma al- Mohannadi.
Al Bayawi previously coached Saudi Arabian team Al Qadisiya.
Al Khor had parted ways with French coach Laurent Banide following a series of negative results, culminating in their loss to Umm Salal in Round 6 of the QNB Stars League. They had suffered a shock defeat to newcomers Al Markhiya in the previous week.
In between, Banide’s assistant Omar Najhi had guided Al Khor in their 2-4 loss to Al Duhail in the seventh round and also in their 2-1 victory over Al Sailiya in Round 3 of the QSL Cup.
