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انطلاق التصفيات الخليجية لكرة السلة تحت 18 عاما بالدوحة في 25 يوليو الجاري
اعتمدت اللجنة المنظمة للتصفيات الخليجية المؤهلة إلى نهائيات كأس آسيا لكرة السلة تحت 18 عاما جدول مباريات البطولة، التي تستضيفها الدوحة، خلال الفترة من 25 إلى 30 يوليو الجاري، بعد تأجيلها عن موعدها السابق الذي كان مقررا خلال الفترة من 17 إلى 22 يوليو.
وتكتسب البطولة أهمية كبيرة باعتبارها البوابة الرسمية إلى نهائيات كأس آسيا تحت 18 عاما، التي تستضيفها الهند خلال شهر أغسطس المقبل، حيث تتنافس خمسة منتخبات خليجية على ثلاث بطاقات مباشرة للتأهل إلى النهائيات القارية، وهي قطر، والسعودية، والكويت، والبحرين، وسلطنة عمان.
وستقام المنافسات بنظام الدوري من دور واحد، على أن تحسم المراكز الثلاثة الأولى بطاقات العبور إلى البطولة الآسيوية، في ظل توقعات بمواجهات قوية تعكس تطور مستوى كرة السلة الخليجية في الفئات السنية.
ويستهل المنتخب القطري مشواره في التصفيات يوم الأحد 26 يوليو الجاري بمواجهة المنتخب السعودي، ثم يلتقي في اليوم التالي مع نظيره الكويتي، ثم يواجه سلطنة عمان يوم الأربعاء 29 يوليو، ويختتم مشاركته أمام البحرين يوم الخميس 30 يوليو الجاري.
وتنطلق منافسات البطولة يوم السبت 25 يوليو الجاري بلقاء الكويت مع سلطنة عمان، ويليه لقاء يجمع السعودية والبحرين.
ولا تقتصر أهمية التصفيات على بلوغ كأس آسيا، إذ تمثل النهائيات القارية المحطة الحاسمة في سباق التأهل إلى كأس العالم لكرة السلة تحت 19 عاما، حيث ستضمن المنتخبات الأربعة الأولى في بطولة آسيا مقاعدها في مونديال الشباب، المقررة إقامته في جمهورية التشيك خلال الفترة من 26 يونيو إلى 4 يوليو 2027.
وفي إطار التحضيرات للاستحقاق الخليجي، يواصل المنتخب القطري للشباب معسكره الداخلي بالدوحة، بعد أن خاض معسكرا تدريبيا خارجيا في مدينة يلوا التركية، خلال الفترة من 6 إلى 15 يوليو الجاري.
وتضم قائمة المنتخب القطري 11 لاعبا هم: تميم أشرف أبوعيسى، ومشعل خالد المغني، ومعاذ عمر موسى، وعزام محمد يكن، وزياد تامر الجوهري، ومحمد سعيد بدري، ومحمود تامر إبراهيم، وعامر إبراهيم موسى، وأوين إيكينا، ويوسف وليد عبدالقادر، وشاهي محمد.
Types of Gym Flooring Explained
The main types of gym flooring are rubber rolls, rubber tiles, rubber mats, artificial turf, vinyl, foam tiles, and hardwood. Each type serves a different training zone: rubber for free weights and machines, turf for functional training, vinyl for studios, and foam for light home use. Choosing the right combination protects your floor, your equipment, and your members. blablasex.es
At Sports Village Qatar, we have planned and installed gym flooring for commercial gyms, hotels, schools, and home gyms across Doha since 2006. This guide explains every major flooring type, where each one belongs, and how to choose the right option for your facility.
Rubber Rolls: The Commercial Gym Standard
Rubber rolls are large continuous sheets of rubber flooring, typically supplied in long rolls and glued or loose-laid across the entire gym floor. Rubber rolls create a seamless, professional finish with very few joints, which makes them the first choice for large commercial facilities.
Rubber rolls suit main gym floors, machine zones, and cardio areas. Because the surface is continuous, dirt and moisture cannot collect between pieces, and cleaning is fast. Installation requires professional handling due to the weight and precision involved, which is why Sports Village Qatar includes expert installation with every flooring project.
Best for: commercial gyms, hotel fitness centres, large facilities, cardio and machine zones.
Rubber Tiles: Flexible and Easy to Replace
Rubber tiles are square sections of rubber flooring, usually interlocking or glue-down, available in multiple thicknesses and colours. Rubber tiles deliver the same protection as rolls but with one major advantage: if a single tile is damaged, you replace that tile only, not the whole floor.
Tiles also allow creative layouts. Many gyms use coloured tiles to mark training zones, walkways, or branded areas. Thicker tiles of 15mm to 20mm work well under racks and free weight sections where dropped weights are constant.
Best for: free weight areas, medium-sized gyms, facilities that want zone marking or easy future repairs.
Rubber Mats: Targeted Heavy-Duty Protection
Rubber mats are individual heavy-duty pieces placed exactly where the hardest impacts happen — under squat racks, deadlift platforms, and plate-loaded machines. Mats are the thickest rubber option available, often 20mm and above, and they absorb the extreme forces of Olympic lifting.
Mats are also the simplest entry point for home users. A few quality mats under a rack and bench protect villa tiles and marble without a full installation. Best for: lifting platforms, squat racks, home gyms, physiotherapy rooms.
Artificial Turf: Built for Functional Training
Artificial gym turf is a synthetic grass surface designed for sled pushes, agility drills, lunges, and functional training. Turf provides grip and a forgiving surface that supports explosive movement without damaging knees or equipment.
Most modern commercial gyms in Qatar now dedicate a turf strip or functional zone alongside their commercial gym equipment layout. Turf lanes typically run 10 to 20 metres and are often marked with distance lines for sprint and sled work.
Best for: functional training zones, sled lanes, CrossFit-style areas, sports performance facilities.
Vinyl Flooring: Studios and Multi-Purpose Rooms
Vinyl gym flooring is a smooth, resilient surface used in group exercise studios, yoga rooms, and multi-purpose halls. Vinyl is comfortable underfoot, easy to sanitise, and available in wood-look finishes that give studios a premium appearance.
Vinyl is not designed for free weights — dropped dumbbells will dent it — but for aerobics, dance, yoga, and Pilates studios it delivers the right balance of grip, glide, and comfort. Many hotels choose vinyl for their wellness and studio rooms and rubber for the main gym floor.
Best for: group exercise studios, yoga and Pilates rooms, dance floors, wellness spaces.
Foam Tiles: Light Home Use Only
Foam interlocking tiles are the budget-friendly option many home users start with. Foam is soft, lightweight, and easy to install, which makes it fine for bodyweight exercise, stretching, and light dumbbell work.
However, foam compresses permanently under heavy equipment and tears under racks and machines. For any serious home gym setup with a treadmill, multi-station, or free weights, rubber tiles or mats are the safer long-term investment. Foam is a starting point, not a destination.
Best for: kids’ play areas, stretching corners, very light home workouts.
Hardwood Flooring: Courts and Specialty Studios
Hardwood gym flooring is the classic surface for basketball courts, squash courts, and traditional aerobics studios. Wood offers excellent energy return and a premium look, but it is expensive, sensitive to moisture, and requires ongoing maintenance — a real consideration in Qatar’s air-conditioned, humidity-controlled environments.
Hardwood belongs in sports halls and specialty studios, not in weight rooms. Schools and sports clubs often combine a hardwood court with rubber-floored fitness rooms in the same facility.
Best for: basketball and multi-sport courts, school sports halls, premium dance studios.
How to Choose the Right Gym Flooring
Choosing gym flooring comes down to four questions. What activities happen in each zone? How heavy is the equipment? How much traffic will the floor take daily? And what is the building situation — ground floor concrete or an upper floor above hotel rooms or apartments?
Most complete facilities use a combination: rubber rolls or tiles across the main floor, thick mats under lifting stations, turf for the functional lane, and vinyl in the studio. Sports Village Qatar supplies premium flooring from Ecore USA and Paviflex Spain, and our free 3D gym design service maps every flooring zone before installation begins — so you see the complete layout before a single roll is laid.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best type of flooring for a gym?
Rubber flooring is the best all-round choice for gyms because it protects the subfloor, absorbs impact, reduces noise, and handles heavy equipment. Rubber rolls suit large commercial floors, tiles suit free weight zones, and thick mats suit lifting platforms. Most gyms combine rubber with turf and vinyl for specific zones.
What thickness of gym flooring do I need?
Cardio and machine areas need 6mm to 8mm flooring. Free weight zones need 10mm to 15mm. Olympic lifting and deadlift areas need 20mm or more to absorb dropped barbells. Sports Village Qatar assesses your equipment layout and recommends the correct thickness for every zone before installation.
Is foam flooring good enough for a home gym?
Foam flooring works only for bodyweight training, stretching, and very light weights. Under treadmills, racks, or heavy dumbbells, foam compresses and tears quickly. For a lasting home gym in Qatar, rubber tiles or heavy-duty rubber mats are the better investment and still affordable for villa and apartment gyms.
Where can I buy gym flooring in Qatar?
You can buy all types of gym flooring in Qatar from Sports Village Qatar, the authorised supplier of Ecore USA and Paviflex Spain. We supply rubber rolls, tiles, mats, and turf with free delivery and professional installation for commercial gyms, hotels, schools, and homes across Doha and all of Qatar.
Not sure which flooring combination your gym needs? Sports Village Qatar supplies every major flooring type — with free delivery, expert installation, and a free 3D gym design service that plans your zones before you spend a riyal.
Get a Free Flooring Consultation
Sports Village Qatar Building No 86, Street 340, Zone 39, Near Jarir Book Store, Ramada Signal, Salwa Road, Doha, Qatar Phone: +974 44501166 | +974 55156973 Email: [email protected]
Xhaka -- Switzerland's World Cup rock born to be skipper
Paris, France: Switzerland's World Cup captain Granit Xhaka says leadership is a role he learned aged four when he was handed the house keys as his Albanian parents worked overtime to make ends meet in their adopted country.
The 33-year-old midfielder has the opportunity to prove that that tough experience paid off by leading the Swiss into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954 if they beat Colombia on Tuesday.
Those early years, though, when he and his brother Taulant, who is a year older, were left to their own devices have left their mark on a player who has at times let his emotions get the better of him on the pitch.
"I think I learned about leadership already when I was four years old," he told Stan Sport Football earlier this year.
"My parents were working during the day, extra work just to get us what we wanted and it is why we are where we are today.
"I was four and I was given the keys to the house, so already I had responsibility," he added.
Xhaka, who like Taulant was born in Switzerland, said he and his brother would spend 18 hours alone together at the house.
"My two older daughters are six and four and I cannot see my kids staying alone for 18 hours today," he said.
"But we had this, my brother and I. My mother (Elmaze) would start work at four in the morning, prepare the lunch before she left, come back at three and make dinner before going to a second job.
"My dad (Ragip) was the same," he added, tearily.
'There were beatings'
Xhaka's parents met and married in Kosovo, at the time an autonomous province in Yugoslavia and later Serbia with a predominantly ethnic Albanian population.
Ragip fell foul of the regime of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and aged 22 was handed a six-year prison sentence for taking part in an anti-government demonstration.
"Nobody knew if he is still alive or not," Xhaka told The Times in May.
"So even with this ten minutes (of daily exercise), sometimes he had months without speaking with his family members.
His father told his sons of the beatings he suffered in prison. "He starts to tell you a little bit, but then he feels like he needs to stop," Xhaka said.
His father emerged from this hellish existence after three years and the family packed up their belongings and fled to Switzerland by bus. "My mom (was) legal, my dad not legal," he recalls.
Xhaka and Taulant rewarded their parents for their courage and sacrifices by becoming successful footballers.
Both played for Swiss club Basel, but while Xhaka opted to represent Switzerland -- he has 150 caps to his name -- Taulant chose Albania.
Xhaka has shown the steeliness he gained from his childhood in rebounding when times have been tough.
The lowest perhaps was when he was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after blowing a gasket when he was substituted by then manager Unai Emery in October 2019.
Xhaka had a love-hate relationship with Arsenal fans.
"The darkness (after being substituted] was only when I was alone, but it was a nice darkness because I learnt a lot from it," he told The Times.
He stayed and re-established himself in the Arsenal set-up when Mikel Arteta took over and won a second FA Cup before heading to Germany.
There he played a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen's league and cup double in 2024, going unbeaten through the domestic season.
A successful return to England with Premier League surprise package Sunderland and now the possibility of a first World Cup quarter-final for Switzerland in over 70 years -- life surely could not be sweeter.
However, he keeps his feet firmly on the ground.
"We never forget where we come from."
أريدُ راعياً رسمياً للاتصالات لبطولة «تحدي الجاذبية»
أعلنت أريدُ، شركة الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات الرائدة في قطر، عن دعمها بطولة «تحدي الجاذبية» بصفتها راعي الاتصالات الرسمي، وهي سلسلة دولية للوثب العالي أسّسها معتز برشم، البطل العالمي والأولمبي القطري وسفير علامة أريدُ التجارية.
ولا تقتصر بطولة «تحدي الجاذبية» على كونها منافسة رياضية، بل تمثّل منصة عالمية تجمع بين نخبة من رياضيي ألعاب القوى والثقافة والمجتمع، وتحتفي بالهوية الفريدة لكل مدينة مستضيفة، فيما تُلهم الجيل القادم من الرياضيين.
وتسهم هذه البطولة في تعزيز الانتشار العالمي لرياضة الوثب العالي وترسيخ مكانتها بوصفها إحدى أبرز الفعاليات على الرزنامة الدولية لألعاب القوى. وبعد انطلاقتها الناجحة في الدوحة، تواصل البطولة رحلتها الدولية بإقامة جولات في كلٍّ من هايلبرون بألمانيا، وموناكو، وبانسكا بيستريتسا في سلوفاكيا.
وقال صباح ربيعة الكواري، مدير إدارة أول اتصالات التسويق في أريدُ قطر: «تتمتع الرياضة بقدرة كبيرة على الإلهام وتوحيد المجتمعات وإحداث أثرٍ مستدام يتجاوز حدود المنافسة. وتجسّد شراكتنا مع بطولة تحدي الجاذبية التزام أريدُ الراسخ بدعم المبادرات التي تحتفي بالتميّز، وتتيح فرص المشاركة، وتبرز مكانة قطر على الساحة العالمية. ونفخر بشكل خاص بدعم معتز برشم، الذي لا تزال إنجازاته مصدر إلهام، في حين تُعيد رؤيته الجريئة تشكيل مستقبل رياضة الوثب العالي».
ومن جانبه قال البطل العالمي والأولمبي معتز برشم، مؤسس بطولة «تحدي الجاذبية» وسفير علامة أريدُ التجارية: «أُطلقت بطولة تحدي الجاذبية لتطوير رياضة الوثب العالي وإلهام الرياضيين الشباب في مختلف أنحاء العالم لتكون أحلامهم أكثر طموحاً. ويحمل انضمام أريدُ بصفتها راعي الاتصالات الرسمي أهمية خاصة، نظراً لما يجمعنا من التزام مشترك بتمكين المجتمعات وإتاحة الفرص للأجيال القادمة. ونتطلع معاً إلى الوصول بالبطولة إلى جماهير جديدة وجعل كل جولة تجربةً لا تُنسى».