Injury saw the Olympic champion dubbed an underdog going into the race he won in record-breaking fashion in Rio. But it’s a position he knows well, and now he has an extra year to heal and train
The runner smashed her personal best in 2019, and will feel confident going to Tokyo in August
As Qatar maintains there is ‘no legitimate justification’ for the blockade, the Gulf Cooperation Council turmoil remains unresolved one year later
The UN climate talks in Doha have yet to produce a deal the day after their scheduled close, with negotiators locked in a stand-off about funding.
Leaders and officials attending the third World Investment Forum on Saturday called for channeling more investments to poor nations.
Fabrice Santoro was shorn of all magic while going down 6-0 6-1 to world number-one Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday.
Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war. The deal, concluded after six days of Arab-mediated talks in Qatar, paved the way for parliament to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, filling a post vacant since November because of the political deadlock.
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/ 25 January 2008
Swede Johan Edfors shot a scintillating six-under-par 66 to take a two-shot lead going into the third round at the ,5-million Qatar Masters on Friday. South African Charl Schwartzel, who was on two-under at the end of the first round, picked up five shots in a flawless round of 67.
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/ 23 January 2008
Defending champion Retief Goosen has been forced to withdraw from the ,5-million Qatar Masters suffering from vision problems, he announced on Wednesday. He has been replaced by Sweden’s Henrik Nystrom. Goosen came to Doha for the European PGA Tour event after undergoing corrective laser surgery ten days ago.
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/ 23 January 2008
Retief Goosen is hoping to become the first golfer to win the European Tour’s Qatar Masters on two occasions when the 11th edition of the ,5-million event gets under way on Thursday at the picturesque Doha Golf Club. The South African responded with a confident ”You mean not yet” when told that no player has won the tournament twice since its inception.
Nikolay Davydenko, the world number four from Russia who remains at the centre of an investigation into a betting scandal, on Tuesday described his treatment by the Association of Tennis Professionals as ”idiotic”. Davydenko recently had a fine, for allegedly not trying at the St Petersburg Open, overturned.
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/ 3 December 2007
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, wary of the repercussions of Iran’s nuclear programme, opened a two-day summit on Monday at which they were joined by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was the first Iranian president to attend the gathering of the neighbouring bloc of wealthy Gulf Arab oil producers.
Egyptian Energy Minister Sameh Fahmi said on Sunday that forming an Opec-like gas cartel was not a good idea as the world is not prepared to have a new energy organisation. ”It’s not a good idea at this stage,” Fahmi said when asked about the idea of forming a cartel for the gas-producing and -exporting countries.
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/ 28 January 2007
South African Retief Goosen won the ,2-million Qatar Masters with a one-stroke victory over Australian Nick O’Hern on Sunday. The South African, aiming for his first win in more than a year after a disappointing 2006, held his nerve on the final hole to curl in an eagle to finish the tournament on 15-under-par 273.
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/ 26 January 2007
Retief Goosen continued to impress at the ,2-million Qatar Masters with a second-round four-under-par 68 at the Doha Golf Club on Friday. The South African, who teed off in the morning with a one-shot lead after the first round, is in the comfort zone, his 11-under-par aggregate of 133 giving him a share of the lead with Australian Richard Green.
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/ 25 January 2007
Retief Goosen took a big step towards re-discovering the form he lost in 2006 with a clinical seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the ,2-million Qatar Masters on Thursday. The South African held his own in the sometimes blustery conditions in the afternoon to take a one-shot lead over Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez and Aussie Nick O’Hern, who shot both shot 66.
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/ 22 January 2007
Amaglug-glug beat Japan 1-0 during their first opening match of the under-23 international friendly in Doha, Qatar. The only goal of this Group A encounter was scored by the deadly Cosmos striker, Sibusiso Hadebe, in the fourth minute. The next Amaglug-glug game is against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
Nikolay Davydenko of the Russian Federation defeated Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday, leading the top six seeds into the quarterfinals of the -million Qatar Open. Second-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, number three Marco Baghdatis and number four Andy Murray also advanced with straight-set victories.
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/ 16 December 2006
There was doping. There was a death. There were more medals and more countries than ever before. And there was no stopping the Chinese. Tiny Qatar’s effort to prove that the Arab world is ready to host the Olympics came to a close on Friday as the 15-day Asian Games wrapped up.
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/ 13 December 2006
Shivering in a corner at Qatar’s al-Sadd Stadium stands security guard Nasser Abdullah, his traditional white robe and headdress no protection against freak weather wreaking havoc at the Asian Games. Since the start of the Asian Games on December 1, more rain has fallen than the desert state has seen in 40 years.
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/ 4 December 2006
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had not envisaged how fast Beijing’s traffic situation would worsen, and are waiting to see the city’s plans for avoiding gridlock during the 2008 Summer Games. Hein Verbruggen, who leads the IOC’s coordination commission for the Beijing games, said the rise in vehicle numbers had taken the IOC by surprise.
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/ 29 November 2006
The Asian Games has been hit by a chickenpox outbreak amongst the Maldives team but organisers insist that the problem will not affect the 10 000 athletes taking part. The disease hit three members of the Indian Ocean island’s volleyball squad.
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/ 15 November 2006
Al-Jazeera’s English-language news channel hit the airwaves on Wednesday with a heavyweight cast of presenters and the ambition to compete with Western broadcasting giants. Al-Jazeera English, sister channel of Qatar’s Arabic television al-Jazeera, said its launch ushered in "a new era in international news" as it began broadcasts.
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/ 7 November 2006
The ball used in this year’s World Cup final between Italy and France has sold at an auction for a staggering ,4-million. Signed by the Italian team which beat France on penalties, it was snapped up by Qatar’s emir-in-waiting Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani.
Passengers and stewards on board a Qatar Airways plane heading to Qatar from Jordan overpowered an Eritrean passenger who tried to force his way into the cockpit on Thursday, an airline spokesperson said. She told Al Jazeera television that the Eritrean man (21) was carrying a box containing an unknown substance, prompting the captain to return to Jordan immediately.
Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal has opposed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s referendum call, protesting that it would annul the results of the January elections. ”This matter represents a nullification of the legislative institution and an annulment of the outcome of the elections,” Meshaal told the Qatari daily al-Watan.
America’s Justin Gatlin set a new 100m world record at the Qatar Super Grand Prix on Friday with a time of 9,76sec. The Olympic champion bettered the old mark of 9,77sec held by Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, which was set in Athens last year. The 24-year-old American, who clocked 9,85sec in the semifinal, was overjoyed by his record.
Roger Federer went a long way towards dispelling doubts about his fitness to remain world number one for a third successive year with a successful defence of his Qatar Open title in Doha on Saturday. Federer celebrated a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win in a fine final over Gael Monfils, the exciting 19-year-old Frenchman.
Roger Federer’s preparation for the year’s first grand slam, the Australian Open in 10 days’ time, gathered momentum as he reached the final in defence of his Qatar Open title on Friday. The world number one from Switzerland produced his best performance of the week so far as he overcame Tommy Haas.
Roger Federer’s preparation for an attempt at recapturing the Australian Open title gathered momentum as he reached the semifinals in defence of his title at the Qatar Open on Thursday. The world number one from Switzerland showed signs of developing rhythm and improving movement during a 6-4, 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis.
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/ 24 November 2005
Journalists in several Arab capitals on Thursday staged protests over reports that Unied States President George W. Bush wanted to attack Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera’s Doha headquarters. Dozens of staff turned out for a symbolic sit-in at the Doha headquarters, with similar protests at the channel’s foreign bureaux.
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/ 17 November 2005
Football legends Pele and Maradona were headlining the guest list for the official unveiling in Doha on Thursday of the world’s biggest covered sports dome. The Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence venue is the work of French architect Roger Taillibert and funded by the oil and natural gas revenues which have turned this tiny Gulf state into one of the richest countries in the world.