Sporting world

      10th Katara Traditional Dhow Festival begins, brings alive tradition and culture   Captivating and full of enthusiasm as always, the 10th Katara Traditional Dhow Festival got off to a sedate but colourful start on a cloudy yet breezy afternoon by the beach of Cultural Village Foundation – Katara on Tuesday. HE Minister of State and President of the Qatar National Library Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Former Minister of Energy and Industry HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al-Sada, HE Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, General Manager, Cultural Village Foundation — Katara, Ambassadors, and other dignitaries marked the opening by taking a ride in a traditional dhow boat. Expressing pleasure at the launch of the 10th edition of the Katara Traditional Dhow Festival -- which now is renowned for reviving maritime heritage and history besides culture and folk tradition -- His Excellency Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, General Manager of the Cultural Village Foundation — Katara

    Fatorda Stadium, venue of ISI matches in Goa shut down due to rising Covid cases   The Pandit Jawaharlal Stadium in Fatorda – one of the three venues for the upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) – will remain closed till 29 September on account of the rising Covid19 cases in the case, a top government official said on Sunday. “On account of the rise in COVID-19 cases at the PIN Stadium at Fatorda, the Stadium office is hereby directed to be closed till 29/09/2020 with immediate effect,” VM Prabhu Desai, Executive Director of SAG has said in a letter circulated to the concerned departments. “Further, beyond 29/09/2020, if any of the employees have symptoms of COVID-19 such as, fever, breathlessness, severe body ache or cold shall continue to remain home till 05/10/2020, under intimation their immediate supervisor. This is for strict compliance,” the letter adds. The closure of the stadium has raised apprehensions among the minds of the ISI teams which started arriving in the

NEW DELHI: Indian National Team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, and Sanju are the winners of the 2019-20 AIFF Men's Footballer of the Year Award, and the 2019-20 AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year Award respectively. This is the first time Gurpreet has received this prestigious award, and in the process he became the second goalkeeper after Subrata Paul in 2009 to be named the AIFF Player of the Year. The Blue Tigers custodian was elected as the winner on the basis of votes from Hero Indian Super League and Hero I-League club coaches. “There was always a desire to reach this point and this is an Award which I have always looked up to. Chhetri-bhai (Sunil Chhetri) has won it so many times and I have always thought when I can be worthy enough to win it,” Gurpreet said. “Huge thanks go to AIFF and everyone who has supported and helped me relentlessly to help me achieve this today” he added. “Garnering the all-important draw against Asian Champions Qatar in Doha, eleven clean sheets

 Al Sadd lose to Sepahan but qualify; Al Taawoun shatter Al Duhail dreams Doha: Qatar's Al Sadd and Al Duhail had contrasting fortunes in the  2020 AFC Champions League West Zone matches played in Doha. Al Sadd qualified for the round of 16 while Duhail failed to make the cut. On Thursday, Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sepahan FC ended their 2020 AFC Champions League on a high after defeating Al Sadd SC 2-1 in Group D . Sepahan had already been eliminated, having collected just four points from their previous five games, while Al Sadd had booked their place in the Round of 16 with a game to spare. Al Sadd coach Xavi made 10 changes to his starting XI that played out a 1-1 draw against Al Nassr three days earlier, with only centre-back Tarek Salman retaining his place in the team, before being swapped for Abdelkarim Hassan at half time. After a lively start to the game, Sepahan found the back of the net with their first major chance. Daniel Esmaeilifar sent a long ball down the right f

  Obiena of Philippines to miss Doha leg of the Diamond League   A week back at the Rome leg of the Diamond League Armand Duplantis of Sweden caught the eye balls of the world-wide audience with his record-breaking leap in the Pole Vault where Ben Broeders of Belgium took the silver and EJ Obiena of Philippines took the bronze. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XoTZREAgMQ Chances of the trio finishing on the podium at the Doha leg to be held on Friday September 24 at the Qatar Sports Club sans spectators has dismissed with the Filipino pole vaulter pulling out of the event due to visa and passport problems. Armand Duplantis of Sweden leaped to a height of 6.15m in Italy to break a 26-year-old world record of Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka on September 17 Both Obiena and Broeders finished with identical 5.80 clearances, but the Belgian needed two attempts to clear the height and took the silver while Obiena settled for the bronze. “I will not be doing Doha because of v

  The Qatar Athletics Federation is working round the clock in preparation for this year's Diamond League athletics meeting in Doha which will take place on September 25 at Qatar Sports Club Stadium. The event in Doha, which serves as the traditional season opener, had previously been pushed back from its April 17 slot due to the coronavirus pandemic. The competitive season began in Monaco on August 14 followed by meeting in Stockholm. Naples will hold the third meeting on September 17 while Doha will host the last leg.   Diamond League meetings in Eugene, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead and Shanghai were cancelled while events in Oslo, Zurich, Lusanne and Brussels were just exhibition events. Doha will host the revised 12-event programme - the fourth and final competitive meeting of the truncated Diamond League season - which includes sprint hurdles and 800m for both men and women; 100m, 3000m and long jump for women; and 200m, 400m, 1500m and pole vault for men. For loc

  Continental event group matches kick off from Monday in Qatar Clubs from Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan and Iraq along with Qatar to be seen in action in the 11-day competition   By Armstrong Vas Defending champions Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia along with a host of former winners including Qatar’s Al Sadd will be seen in action in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions’ League group matches of the West Zone to be hosted by Qatar at four different stadiums from Monday, September 14.   The AFC Champions League will welcome the return of Asia’s top clubs after more than six months of waiting and 15 clubs competing in Qatar will be looking to keep alive their hopes of securing a place in the Knockout Stage.   Strict measures have been put in place by the AFC as well as the Qatar Government and all matches will be played under strict health regulations to protect players and officials from the COVID-19 pandemic.   Clubs from Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbeki