Shahin wins wrestling bronze as Cherif and Tijan reach beach volleyba…

Doha, Qatar: Qatar added a bronze medal at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 yesterday as wrestler Shahin Mohammed finished third in the men’s Greco-Roman 77kg category, while beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan advanced to the final.

Shahin’s bronze took Team Qatar’s medal tally to 14, comprising three gold, six silver and five bronze.

Shahin opened his wrestling campaign with an 8-0 victory over Tajikistan’s Alisher Ruzimadov in the Round of 16 before defeating India’s Aman 9-0 in the quarter-finals. somethingsdifferent.biz

The Qatari wrestler lost 9-0 to Iran’s Alireza Abdevali in the semi-finals but bounced back strongly in the bronze-medal bout, beating Indonesia’s Andika Sulaiman 8-0.

The achievement caps a strong year for Shahin, who also won gold at the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships in Kyrgyzstan.

Qatar's Shahin Mohammed (bottom) won the bronze medal in the men’s Greco-Roman 77kg category.

Cherif, Tijan on course to retain gold

In beach volleyball, Qatar 1’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan booked their place in the final after defeating Thailand’s Paravid Taovato and Pithak Tipjan 2-0 in the semi-finals.

The Qatari pair won 23-21, 21-12 to move one step closer to retaining the gold medal they won at Hangzhou 2022.

The opening set was closely contested before Cherif and Tijan held their nerve in the decisive stages to take it 23-21.

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan booked their place in the final for the third consecutive time.

The Qatari duo carried that momentum into the second set, putting pressure on their opponents before sealing it 21-12.

Cherif and Tijan will face Indonesia’s Rachman Efendi and Akbar Bintang in the final tomorrow as they bid to retain Qatar’s Asian Games beach volleyball title.

Team Qatar reach padel semi-finals

Team Qatar’s padel pair Rashid Nawaf and Mishari Nawaf advanced to the semi-finals after defeating UAE’s Fares Al-Janahi and Abdulla Al-Abdulla 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

The Qatari duo will face Iran’s Hami Golestan and Arya Roghani today for a place in the final.

The top-seeded pair had earlier defeated Kuwait’s Abdulaziz Redha and Fouad Behbehani in straight sets in the Round of 16 and have progressed through the competition without dropping a set.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Daniil Sokolov advanced to the third round of the men’s individual stroke play after completing the first two rounds with a total of five-over 146.

Saleh Al Kaabi and Ali Shahrani bowed out after carding 12-over 152 and 18-over 158 respectively over the opening two rounds.

The Qatari trio also finished their team event with an aggregate of 17-over 297 after two rounds.

Volleyball team falls in quarters

Team Qatar’s volleyball medal campaign came to an end in the quarter-finals following a 3-0 defeat to hosts Japan.

Japan won 25-14, 25-13, 25-12, controlling most of the contest to advance to the semi-finals.Qatar’s Daniil Sokolov advanced to the third round of the men’s individual stroke play.

Meanwhile, Team Qatar finished fourth in the team show jumping competition.

The Qatar team featured Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani, Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim Al Thani, Faleh Suweid Al Ajami and Bassem Mohammed.

Saudi Arabia won gold, with the UAE taking silver medal in the event. Hosts Japan claimed bronze.

The Qatari riders will now turn their attention to the two-day individual show jumping competition starting tomorrow.

Doha, Qatar: Qatar will face hosts Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup semi-final tomorrow in Jeddah, with striker Almoez Ali confident the Asian champions can reach the final despite expecting a tough challenge in front of the home crowd.

Saudi Arabia topped Group A to set up a semi-final against Qatar, who finished second in Group B after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with the UAE.

Almoez, who scored Qatar’s goal against the UAE, said the team had shown good form during the tournament and was ready for the knockout stage.

“We put in a good performance in the first half against the UAE. In the second half, we dropped back quite a bit, to be honest, but we will learn from these mistakes. The team is what matters most,” he said after the match.

The forward also highlighted the number of players used by coach Julen Lopetegui during the group stage, saying it had helped the team manage the demands of the tournament.

“We managed to field 20 or 21 players across these three matches. The coach gave some players a rest ahead of the next match and was able to field a large number of players. We are grateful for the result and satisfied with the performance,” Almoez said.

Reflecting on the draw with the UAE, he said Qatar could take positives from the result despite not securing top spot in the group.

“A 1-1 draw is still a positive outcome, and there are valuable takeaways from this match. The players managed to play well, and I expect our team is ready for the next stage, the semi-finals,” he said.

Almoez also praised the team’s approach throughout the tournament, saying the players had maintained a strong spirit and confidence under Lopetegui.

“Our team is excellent both with and without the ball. The coach instills confidence in the players, and we all share the same desire and spirit,” he said.

He added that the competitive nature of the Gulf Cup meant Qatar would have to be ready to beat any opponent if they wanted to lift the title.

“A champion must beat everyone. This is a highly competitive tournament that the entire Gulf region vies for. All teams are preparing hard, showing great spirit and improving. You have to try to beat everyone and secure a positive result.”

Ahmed Al-Janahi also acknowledged the difficulty of facing the hosts but said Qatar were confident of reaching the final.

“Next up is a match against the hosts, in front of the Saudi fans, which will be tough, but Al Annabi is ready. The Saudi national team is a formidable opponent, especially playing on their home turf and before their crowd,” he said.

“Remember, we are two-time Asian champions. We aim to reach the final and win the title, InshaAllah. We are fully confident in that.”

Sepang, Malaysia: Max Verstappen chose to go his own way on Friday when he rejected using soft tyres to embark on a long run on mediums in fear of rain in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

His decision resulted in him finishing fourth fastest behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar, but he gained valuable data and insight into conditions that were close to those expected for Sunday's race.

"I think we had a decent start, but it's tricky," said the four-time world champion, who won the last Formula One race at the Sepang International Circuit in 2017 and topped the times on softs in opening practice.

"The track is really hot. A lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it's been positive.

"I wanted to do a long run in case there was some rain coming in. It's hard to know if we made progress, but there are a lot of things to try and to understand."

The abrasive conditions on the low-grip circuit in sweltering conditions -- with a track temperature of more than 60C -- have led to forecasts of a three-stop race on Sunday.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who was sixth, said he had been impressed by Red Bull's opening day pace.

"It looks pretty close amongst the top four teams," he said.

"I think Red Bull have looked very strong through the day. Mercedes as well have looked strong, at points, and obviously Ferrari were pretty good.

"Everyone's kind of had their turn being reasonably competitive. I think we're maybe a tiny step behind, but we made a lot of progress from FP1.

"Hopefully, we can keep that trend going -- and we'll see where we end up."

On a relatively inconclusive day, with teams diverging on planned run programmes, Mercedes' George Russell and championship leader

Kimi Antonelli were seventh and eighth in their heavily updated cars.

"I think at the moment that Verstappen is looking the quickest in a single lap and McLaren are looking quickest on the long runs," said Russell.

He added that it was difficult to judge the success of Mercedes upgrades to the floor, sidepods and rear suspension.

"When you bring an upgrade to any circuit, it's difficult to know what your pure performance is and what it isn't," he said.

"If we had our new car last week, we would have said things were absolutely incredible, but if we had our old version today, I don't think it would have been much different."

Jeddah: Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said his side were ready to face Saudi Arabia in Saturday's Gulf Cup semi-final in Jeddah.

Lopetegui said Qatar had prepared well and that the players were determined to reach the final.

He added that the expected home crowd would provide motivation rather than pressure.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis said he expected a difficult match against an experienced Qatar side.

He called for concentration, confidence and a repeat of Saudi Arabia's strong defensive and attacking performances in the group stage.

The semi-final will be played at King Abdullah Sports City, with the winners advancing to the Gulf Cup final.

Motegi, Japan: Spain's Alex Marquez set a new lap record at the Japan MotoGP Friday in a practice session dominated by the Ducati-Gresini rider in only his second season at the top level.

Marquez flew around the dry Motegi circuit in 1 minute 42.81 seconds, ahead of second-fastest Pedro Acosta, with KTM, who trailed by 0.076 seconds.

Reigning world champion Marc Marquez, Alex's brother, clocked the third-fastest time for Ducati Leonovo as he chases season leader Jorge Martin, who settled for eighth.

Martin holds a 12-point lead over Marc Marquez with seven rounds remaining -- including Sunday's race.

Local favorite Ai Ogura of Aprilia-Trackhouse finished 15th fastest in practice, but his bike spewed thick white smoke and spilled oil, triggering a red flag and causing the session to be temporarily suspended.

Japanese wild card Takaaki Nakagami on Honda was ruled out of the remainder of the weekend after crashing only minutes into the morning free practice and fracturing his collarbone.