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Qatar clinch gold in 10-ball doubles at Gulf Games Doha 2026
Doha, Qatar: Team Qatar claimed the gold medal in the 10-ball doubles billiards event at the 4th Gulf Games Doha 2026, currently being hosted in the Qatari capital through May 22. freshyourfeel.org
The Qatari duo of Ali Al Obaidly and Abdul Latif Al Fawal, with Mansour Al Obaidly serving as reserve player, secured the title after a commanding 7-1 victory over Kuwait in Thursday's final.
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The Qatari pair delivered an outstanding technical performance, controlling the match from start to finish.
They established an early lead by more than one frame before extending their advantage to seal the contest with a dominant six-frame margin.
Qatar advanced to the final after defeating Saudi Arabia 7-4 in the semifinals, while Kuwait edged past the United Arab Emirates 7-6 in the other semifinal clash.
Five teams competed in the 10-ball doubles tournament, representing Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE. Each team featured two players and one reserve.
The billiards and snooker competitions at the Gulf Games Doha 2026 include 10 events - five in billiards and five in snooker. The billiards events comprise 10-ball singles, 9-ball singles, singles billiards, team billiards, and 10-ball doubles. The snooker program features singles snooker, team snooker, 6-red singles, 15-red singles, and 15-red team events.
Qatar is represented in the billiards and snooker competitions by seven players: Ali Al Obaidly, Muhanna Al Obaidly, Mansour Al Obaidly, Ahmed Saif, Bashar Hussein, Mishal Turki Al Ali, and Abdul Latif Al Fawal.
جاسم البوعينين: تجسد التنافس الأخوي وتعزز الرياضة الخليجية
أكد سعادة السيد جاسم بن راشد البوعينين أمين عام اللجنة الأولمبية القطرية، نائب رئيس اللجنة المنظمة لدورة الألعاب الخليجية الرابعة ، أن استضافة الدوحة لمنافسات للدورة تمثل امتدادا للدور الرائد الذي تضطلع به دولة قطر في دعم الرياضة الخليجية وتعزيز مسيرة العمل الرياضي المشترك بين دول مجلس التعاون، وقال إن الدورة تشكل مناسبة مهمة تجمع الرياضيين الخليجيين في أجواء تنافسية وأخوية مميزة.
وأضاف أن الدورة تمثل فرصة لتعزيز أواصر الأخوة والتواصل بين أبناء دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، مشيرا في هذا السياق إلى أن التجمع الرياضي الخليجي يجسد قيم التلاحم والوحدة التي تجمع شعوب المنطقة، ويعكس حرص الجميع على مواصلة العمل المشترك في مختلف المجالات، وفي مقدمتها القطاع الرياضي. وقال : إن اللجنة المنظمة تعمل بالتنسيق مع مختلف الجهات المعنية لتوفير أفضل الظروف التنظيمية والفنية للدورة، بما يضمن خروجها بالصورة التي تليق بالرياضة الخليجية وتحقق تطلعات الرياضيين والوفود المشاركة.
ولفت إلى أن الدورة تكتسب أهمية فنية كبيرة كونها تشكل محطة إعداد مهمة للرياضيين الخليجيين قبل الاستحقاقات المقبلة، وفي مقدمتها دورة الألعاب الآسيوية العشرين التي ستقام في آيتشي وناغويا باليابان خلال شهري سبتمبر وأكتوبر القادمين، حيث تمنح الرياضيين فرصة مهمة لاختبار جاهزيتهم الفنية والبدنية في أجواء تنافسية مميزة. وأكد البوعينين أن الدورات الخليجية تسهم في دعم تطور الرياضة في المنطقة، من خلال تبادل الخبرات التنظيمية والفنية، واكتشاف المواهب القادرة على تمثيل الرياضة الخليجية بصورة مشرفة في المستقبل.
Madonna, Shakira, BTS to headline first World Cup final half-time show
New York: Madonna, Shakira and K-pop megastars BTS will headline a Super Bowl-style half-time show at the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, FIFA said Thursday.
Coldplay's Chris Martin is curating the show, which is a first for a football World Cup final but has raised concerns about how long half-time will be.
The biggest-ever World Cup, with 48 teams, kicks off on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced in March last year that there would be "the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA World Cup final".
He did not say at the time who would be performing or how long the show would last.
"This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world," he said on Instagram.
The move mirrors the show held during the final of the 2024 Copa America in Miami, when Colombian star Shakira performed at half-time at the Hard Rock Stadium.
There was also a half-time show at last year's FIFA Club World Cup final, also at MetLife Stadium, which stretched the break in excess of the regulation 15 minutes.
Infantino added that FIFA also planned to "take over" New York's Times Square on the final weekend of the World Cup.
The half-time extravaganza will support FIFA's Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative working to raise $100 million for children worldwide during the World Cup.
Shakira last week teased the new official song for the World Cup, releasing a brief video of the track filmed at Brazil's iconic Maracana Stadium.
The singer -- who also created the 2010 World Cup anthem "Waka Waka" -- announced the song, titled "Dai Dai" in a post on her Instagram account.
In the 67-second video, Shakira appears on the pitch at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, where she performed in a free concert at the city's Copacabana Beach before two million people.
Holding the "Trionda", the official match ball of the 2026 World Cup, Shakira performed excerpts of the song in English, joined by dancers dressed in the colors of teams including the United States and Colombia.
The song was produced with Nigerian artist Burna Boy and is set for official release on Thursday. The clip, also shared by the FIFA World Cup account, ends with the message: "We're ready!"
Shakira has a long association with the World Cup, performing at the 2006 and 2014 World Cup finals in addition to producing "Waka Waka" for the 2010 tournament.
Swimmers strike five more golds as hosts Qatar go top at GCC Games
Doha, Qatar: Qatar swimmers enjoyed another golden day at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, clinching five more gold medals with record-breaking performances as hosts Qatar leapt to the top of the 4th GCC Games Doha 2026 standings.
Qatar’s 3×3 men’s basketball, showjumping and fencing teams added three more gold medals as the home contingent wrapped up the second day with a total of 29 medals, including 11 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze medals.
Saudi Arabia slipped to second with nine gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, while Bahrain followed with three gold, five silver and three bronze.
After bagging three gold and two silver medals on the opening day, Qatar made a clean sweep in yesterday’s events.
Saadeddin, who won the 800m freestyle on Tuesday, opened the day by securing gold in the men’s 400m freestyle with a Games record time of 3:50.80 seconds. It was a Qatari one-two finish, as Emile Fouzai took silver in 3:56.05, with Bahrain’s Robert Bonsall winning bronze in 3:57.97.
Mohamed Mahmoud reigned supreme in the men’s 50m breaststroke, claiming gold in 28.38 seconds - another Games record. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alotaibi (29.32) finished second for silver, with Qatar’s Hamza Shalan (29.53) earning bronze.
In the men’s 100m freestyle, Ali Tamer Hassan set a new Games record of 49.78 seconds to win gold. Emad Addin Zaben (50.58) of Saudi Arabia secured silver, while the UAE’s Hussein Abdelsalam (51.84) took bronze.
Abdalla Elghamry sparkled in the men’s 200m backstroke, winning gold in 2:05.91 to set another Games record. He won comfortably ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alessa, who took silver in 2:07.88, while Kuwait’s Abdullah Sultan settled for bronze in 2:12.23.
“I am surprised with my time. It was a tough contest and the other competitors brought the best out of me. Ali Alessa was really impressive. I loved the crowd which was special,” said Elghamry.
Qatar capped a successful day in the pool by clinching the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay gold, finishing ahead of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Members of the gold-winning Qatar men’s 3×3 basketball team celebrate on the podium with Qatar’s women’s 3×3 basketball team who won the bronze.
Qatar excel in 3×3 basketball
At Al Gharafa Hall, Qatar’s men’s 3×3 basketball team beat Bahrain 20-11 in the gold medal match.
Their campaign featured group-stage victories over the UAE (22-9), Bahrain (21-15), Kuwait (21-7) and Saudi Arabia (19-12), before defeating Saudi Arabia again 21-11 in the semi-finals.
Saudi Arabia later claimed bronze with a 13-9 win over the UAE.
Qatar’s women’s 3×3 basketball team secured bronze, beating Kuwait 11–9 in the playoff.
“Winning the men’s gold and women’s bronze at Doha 2026 is a historic achievement that reflects the progress of Qatari basketball at the national team level,” said Qatar Basketball Federation President Mohammed bin Saad Al-Mughaseeb.
“The women’s bronze is particularly significant as it marks our first medal in Gulf Games history, highlighting the success of our development programmes and the growing base of the sport.”
Team showjumping, fencing golds for Qatar
At the Qatar Equestrian Federation indoor Arena, Qatar clinched team showjumping gold with a combined time of 206.37 seconds despite four penalties. Team UAE took silver in 208.89 seconds with eight penalties, while Kuwait secured bronze in 209.44 seconds after collecting 12 penalties.
At the Aspire Dome, Qatar secured gold and silver in the men’s foil event, with Ali Owaida overcoming compatriot Khaled Hussein in the final. The UAE’s Faris Alblooshi claimed bronze.
Qatar's Ali Al-Obaidali claimed the silver medal in the men’s 10-ball singles.
Al-Obaidali seals silver; strong show in taekwondo
Qatari cueist Ali Al-Obaidali claimed silver in the men’s 10-ball singles after a 5-7 defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Baabad in the final at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall.
Al-Obaidali had earlier outclassed UAE’s Mahmoud Charif 7–2 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the Qatar taekwondo team added two silver and three bronze medals at the Aspire Dome.
Ali Alarimi won silver in the men’s +80kg category after losing to Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhaibari 2–0 in the final.
Qatar’s Maram Fatnassi also claimed silver after being edged 2–1 by UAE’s Amna Alloghani in the women’s -67kg final.
In the women’s +67kg category, Qatar’s Noor Mohammed settled for bronze, with Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Saber winning gold and UAE’s Salma Alketbi taking silver.
Qatar’s Mohammad Awadalla claimed bronze in the men’s -68kg category, while Njoud Al Fahad added another bronze in the women’s -57kg category.
Bowling and table tennis medals
Qatar’s bowling duo of Talal Al-Marri and Bader Al-Sada secured silver in the doubles event, finishing second overall with 2,481 points from six games. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Sultan Al Saud and Abdulmajid Al-Aslani took gold with 2,652 points, while Kuwait’s Mustafa Al-Mousawi and Faisal Salim claimed bronze with 2,467 points.
In table tennis, Qatar added bronze in the team competition, finishing third on four points after a 3–0 win over Oman and 3–1 defeats to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia won gold with six points, Bahrain took silver with five, and Oman finished fourth with three.
هانز فليك بين علم فلسطين وشارة الحريات: جدل ازدواجية المواقف
في مشهد يعكس جدلية العلاقة بين الرياضة والسياسة، أثارت تصريحات المدرب الألماني هانز فليك جدلًا واسعًا بعدما انتقد موقف النجم الشاب لامين يامال الذي رفع علم فلسطين خلال احتفالات برشلونة بلقب الدوري في شوارع المدينة. فليك اعتبر أن هذه الخطوة تمثل خلطًا بين الرياضة والسياسة، وهو أمر لا يفضله ولا يراه مناسبًا في ساحات كرة القدم التي يجب أن تبقى، بحسب رأيه، بعيدة عن التجاذبات السياسية.
مفارقة غريبة
لكن المفارقة تكمن في أن فليك نفسه كان قد دخل في مواجهة مباشرة مع الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم فيفا خلال بطولة كأس العالم 2022 في قطر، حين اعترض بشدة على قرار منع المنتخب الألماني من ارتداء شارة دعم حقوق المثليين. آنذاك، وصف فليك المنع بأنه انتهاك للحريات، وأكد أن الرياضة يجب أن تكون مساحة للتعبير عن القيم الإنسانية، لا لتقييدها.
هذا التناقض بين موقفه من علم فلسطين وموقفه من شارة الحريات يفتح بابًا واسعًا للنقاش حول المعايير التي يعتمدها المدرب الألماني في الفصل بين ما يعتبره سياسة وما يراه حقوقًا إنسانية. فبينما يرى أن رفع علم فلسطين يسيّس الرياضة، اعتبر أن الدفاع عن شارة المثليين جزء من حرية التعبير التي يجب أن تُصان.
الجدل حول تصريحات فليك يعكس في جوهره سؤالًا أكبر: هل يمكن للرياضة أن تنفصل تمامًا عن السياسة، أم أنها بطبيعتها مرآة تعكس القضايا الإنسانية والاجتماعية الكبرى؟ في النهاية، تبقى مواقف المدربين واللاعبين جزءًا من هذا التفاعل المعقد بين المستطيل الأخضر والعالم الخارجي، حيث لا يمكن فصل الرياضة عن القيم التي يحملها الأفراد والجماهير.