Sporting world

Stan Wawrinka Q. Welcome back to Doha. It's ten years after your first final here. You didn't play for two months I guess, so how do you feel exactly right now with this new season? STAN WAWRINKA: I feel good. I'm very happy to be back. I arrived on Wednesday here. I have been practicing really well. I had two great months practicing and some good preparation physically. So I'm happy, I'm fit, I'm ready for the season and I'm looking forward to starting it. Q. Can you talk a little about how you are feeling coming into - I am sorry, that was the first question already - but how you feeling coming into the new year and given that you finished 2018 in a strong way? STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, as I say, I'm happy to start again. I think I'm playing well. I'm physically fit and ready for the season. Looking forward to starting. I did great preparation, great off season. I was working hard. And good to be ready for the year and, as I say, I'

Novak Djokovic Q.  Welcome back to Doha. You are starting a new campaign in a few hours. How excited are you? And what are your new challenges for this new season? NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I'm glad to end up 2018 with a win with my brother on the court. That was a very special moment. We played so far I think maybe four or five tournaments together, doubles, and we've never won a match, so today was a day we will remember together. And yeah, just starting the new year with a good intention, good energy, trying to be present, be happy with everything that I have that is happening to me. You know, I'm obviously very blessed to play the tennis. I love this sport. And I keep on striving in a way to accomplish great things and see how far I can really go you know with my career. Obviously, main focus and objectives are Grand Slams. That's where I want to be able shine and play my best. And the top ATP tournaments, of course, I will try to play with full season as I have in

Dominic Thiem Q. Can you say what your expectations are for the new season? How do you look at it? How are you coming off the pre season? DOMINIC THIEM: Yes, it's tough to say. I had a good pre season for sure, but obviously all the other players still are working hard for sure. So, I'm really happy to be back on tour actually, but the first tournament is always tricky. I played in Abu Dhabi last week but still the first official tournament is a bit different. I'm looking forward to my first match. But I guess that many things can happen. And in general, my last three seasons were amazing and if I can keep up to that, I would be very happy. Q. This is your second time here in Doha. Do you think you will be luckier, more lucky than last year because you had to withdraw, you were a little bit sick, so do you see yourself playing the semi-final or the final? And if you can talk a bit about the draw. DOMINIC THIEM: I was very sad last year because I played very good.

Khachanov-Wawrinka set for opening blockbuster https://youtu.be/pmyM32bjVO0 Novak Djokovic played sensational tennis at the end of the 2018 season. In his final five tournaments of the year, Djokovic won the Western & Southern Open, the US Open and the Rolex Shanghai Mastersbefore finishing runner-up at the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals. Now back at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, the Serbian will look to use that momentum to get off to a fast start in 2019. Djokovic opens his season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he will face Damir Dzumhur in the first round. In the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting just two months ago in Paris, Djokovic led 6-1, 2-1 before three-time ATP Tour champion Dzumhur was forced to retire. The 31-year-old Djokovic will try to extend his 10-match winning streak in Doha, as the 72-time tour-level titlist has triumphed at the season-opening event in his past two appearances (2016-17). If he gets by Dzumhur, the top

Social Media Has Not Killed Us, Says Gianni Merlo on Journalists The AIPS President spoke ahead of the ‘AIPS Executive Committee / Jury Meet – 2018’ at the Sharq Village & Spa, in Doha on Monday. Doha, Qatar- AIPS President Gianni Merlo has stressed on the fact that the primary goal of the ‘AIPS Executive Committee / Jury Meet – 2018’ starting here tomorrow, was to select the “best” entry for the AIPS Sports Awards scheduled for January in  Lausanne, Switzerland. Merlo, who is leading the AIPS Executive Committee members and jurors from across the world in this 4-day event, spoke to renowned sports journalist Rhodri Williams of AlKass Sports Channels, ahead of the meet at the Sharq Village & Spa – the venue for the meet. “We have to judge all the entries and after that we will chose the best. The situation is this one – We have received 1276 entries submissions in eight categories – So that is a huge amount of work and they are coming form 119 countries. This is

We are committed to AIPS' objectives: Mubarak Al Boainin The Qatar Sports Committee Board member was speaking to the reporters on the sidelines AIPS Executive Committee / Jury Meet in Doha, on Tuesday. Doha, Qatar- Qatar Sports Press Committee board member, Mubarak Al Boainin, highlighted the importance of hosting the AIPS Executive Committee & Jury Meet, here on Tuesday. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines on the Meet that is focusing on the 'AIPS Sport Media Awards' scheduled for Lausanne, Switzerland, in January 2019. "Qatar today is the sought after destination in terms of sports and promoting sporting culture. In such a scenario, it is but obvious that we members of the Qatar Sports Press Committee are playing host to this prestigious event." "As AIPS President Mr. Gianni Merlo, yesterday pointed out that, they have received 1276 submissions in eight different categories; it means that the journalists from across the world a

Gianni Merlo plays down sociopolitical factors as a hindrance for journalists "Yes he can be independent and I am one of them," the AIPS President was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the ongoing 'AIPS Executive Committee / Jury Meet' here on Wednesday.   Doha, Qatar- The AIPS President Gianni Merlo on Wednesday stressed that despite the sociopolitical or geographical roadblocks, a journalist can still be independent or vociferous in his writing. "Yes, if he wants. Yes he can be independent and I am one of them," said Merlo. He was speaking to Qatar Sports Press Committee's Anam Arsalan on the sidelines of the 'AIPS Executive Committee / Jury Meet', here on Wednesday. "In many countries they live in a difficult situation, but this doesn't mean we are judging anybody. We are only judging [the entries] from the journalistic point of view; it's not the politics that is moving us. For example, today we saw an article th

AIPS Sport Media Awards', an important step in a journalist's life: Zsuzsa Cisztu The Hungarian actress and journalist spoke during the Executive Committee & Jury Meet at the Sharq Village & Spa, in Doha, on Wednesday. Doha, Qatar- AIPS Executive Committee member from Hungary, Zsuzsa Cisztu, on Wednesday highlighted the importance of the AIPS Sport Media Awards saying, "I think this is very important new step in every journalist's life." She was speaking on the sidelines of the Executive Committee & Jury Meet at the Sharq Village & Spa - the venue for the four-day event, with the primary aim of shortlisting the candidate for the 'AIPS Sport Media Awards' function scheduled for Lausanne, Switzerland, in January 2019. "Basically, to have international recognition for your work in a stage like this. This is something we had never had a chance to reach, not even to think about. When I was a young jou

      Sports Betting Gets New Meaning as Startup Invests in Athletes  The "Moneyball” era has revolutionized sports, letting teams capitalize on huge troves of data to fine-tune their rosters and win championships. Now an upstart investment firm wants to take the idea a step further. Home Court Capital -- backed by the son of a National Basketball Association deputy commissioner and a former chief investment officer of Israel’s largest bank -- will crunch data to assess pro athletes and then bet on their earnings potential. Home Court has raised $150 million that it will put toward early-career athletes in the NBA, National Football League and Major League Baseball. The idea is to pinpoint individuals after their rookie years and give them millions of dollars upfront in exchange for a slice of their future salary and other revenue, say, from endorsement deals. The approach isn’t entirely new: It’s common for young golfers to accept investments in excha

When November swings around it’s time to roll out the red carpet as a plethora of mega stars from Bollywood fly into Goa to celebrate the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The week long extravaganza brings glamorous actors and directors from the film fraternity in contact with fans of the big screen. This year’s event happened between the 20 th  and 28 th  of November in Panjim and was extra special for me. On the sidelines of the main event, an open air football film festival was organised by Serendipity, which took place from the 22 nd  till the 27 th  of November at the Children’s park in Campal. The idea behind the screenings was that Goans love football, so this would attract them towards attending the glitzy annual event. The friendly German professor, Jans Tilman was the curator of the football documentaries and was present to interact with the audience before and after the movies. This was actually Jan’s second trip to Goa as he previously organised similar foo