Basketball: Qatar ramp up Asian Games preparations

DOHA: Qatar’s men’s basketball team is stepping up preparations for the upcoming Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya 2026, with the team aiming for a strong showing in one of the continent’s biggest sporting events. newsbetting.cv

The Games will be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4, but the men’s 5×5 basketball competition will begin earlier at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya. Qatar will open its Group B campaign against Iran on Thursday, September 10, at 4:00 a.m. Doha time.

Qatar will then face Jordan on September 12 at 7:00 a.m. before taking on Chinese Taipei at the same time on September 13. Group A features Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, while Group C comprises China, the Philippines, Bahrain and Kazakhstan.

The quarter-finals are scheduled for September 16, followed by the semifinals on September 18. The competition will conclude on September 20 with the third-place playoff and final.

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DOHA: Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan advanced to the Round of 16 of the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship 2026 in Shangluo, China, after topping Group B with a perfect three-win record.

The Qatari duo sealed their third victory by defeating Thailand’s Netitorn and T. Poravid 21-18, 21-11 in straight sets.

Younousse and Tijan opened their campaign with a straight-sets win over Malaysia’s Teh and Yong Jian before overcoming New Zealand’s Sam and Ben Odia in a three-set encounter, 21-14, 19-21, 21-15.

The Group B winners now advance to the Round of 16 as they continue their bid for the title and qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Moussa Al-Khair and Mohamed Ehab Zaki ended their group-stage campaign with their first victory, beating Hong Kong’s pair 21-12, 21-12 in straight sets.

Al-Khair and Zaki had opened the tournament with a 0-2 defeat to China’s Wang and Du Hongjun before losing 2-0 to Thailand’s Pitak and Watchrawit, 21-19, 21-18.

The championships feature 24 pairs divided into six groups of four, with teams playing a single round-robin format.

Doha: Qatar revived their AFC U-20 Asian Cup China 2027 qualifying campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Hong Kong, while Saudi Arabia maintained their perfect start with a 3-2 victory over Oman.

Qatar, who had suffered a 2-1 defeat to Oman in their opening match, dominated from the start at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium and took the lead in the 10th minute through captain Ahmad Al-Sayed. Omar Ali doubled Qatar’s advantage seven minutes later before forward Yazan Mohamed added a third in first-half stoppage time to seal Qatar’s first win.

The result moved Qatar level on three points with Oman, while Saudi Arabia sit top of Group E with six points after winning both their matches.

At Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium, Saudi Arabia took the lead in the 18th minute when Awaji Mohammed’s header from Yasir Al-Dhafeeri’s corner deflected off Fahad Abdullah and into his own net. Oman responded five minutes later, with Aly Al Alawi setting up Hassan Al Qassmi to score from close range following a well-worked free-kick.

Saudi Arabia regained the lead two minutes after the restart when Faris Yousef’s cross was headed by Elyas Abu Bakr, with the ball looping over goalkeeper Hassen Al Hinai before crossing the line off the underside of the bar. Yousef then made it 3-1 in the 66th minute, acrobatically steering Fawaz al-Mashhur’s cross into the net.

Ghanim Al-Samin reduced the deficit three minutes later, sidefooting home from the edge of the box after combining with Al-Alawi, but Oman could not find an equaliser as Saudi Arabia held on for the win.

Monza, Italy: Charles Leclerc topped the times ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari registered a clear 1-2 to dominate Friday's opening practice on home soil at the Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc, sporting a special livery to celebrate Michael Schumacher's first Monza win 30 years ago, clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 23.008 seconds to outpace the seven-time champion by 0.173sec with Mercedes' George Russell adrift by three-tenths of a second in third.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth for Mercedes ahead of McLaren's world champion Lando Norris, but the Briton's team-mate Oscar Piastri came in 11th in the second McLaren.

Ferrari's performance, using upgraded engines, delighted their fans at the historic high-speed circuit with Hamilton hoping to take advantage of Antonelli's engine penalties that will see him start from the back of the grid.

Hamilton and Russell trail the 20-year-old Italian by 59 points in the title race and can trim his lead substantially if he is unable to gain a high points-scoring finish.

Four rookies were in action -- Ayuma Iwasa deputising for Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Luke Browning for Alex Albon at Williams, Paul Aron for Pierre Gasly at Alpine and Colton Herta for Sergio Perez at Cadillac.

As the drivers settled in, the result of the International Court of Appeal relating to the Monaco Grand Prix was announced with McLaren and Red Bull succeeding in overturning the outcome.

This meant that Gasly, who had finished third after an appeal by Alpine, had his post-race penalties reinstated and was replaced in third position by Hadjar and a reshuffled result saw him drop to his original seventh place.