Ferran Torres hits hat-trick as PSG wallop Slovan in Champions League

Paris, France: Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick and Ousmane Dembele also starred as Paris Saint-Germain began their quest to win a third consecutive Champions League title by thrashing Slovan Bratislava 6-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. sports24.club

Last year's Ballon d'Or winner Dembele had bagged a brace by the midway point in the first half in the French capital, and then set up Spain's World Cup final hero Torres to make it 3-0 by the interval.

Torres, a close-season signing from Barcelona, added two more just after the restart to complete his hat-trick, with Suleiman Camara pulling one back for the Slovakian champions and Fabian Ruiz sealing PSG's win.

"It is impossible, you cannot expect to score a hat-trick," Torres told broadcaster Canal Plus when asked if he imagined such an outcome.

"The only thing that we knew before the game was that we had to play with the right intensity, press when we lost the ball, and we did that really well. We did a really good game."

The French club are bidding to follow in the footsteps of the Real Madrid side of 2016 to 2018 and become just the second team in the history of the modern Champions League to win the trophy three years running.

Real, Ajax and Bayern Munich were the only teams to achieve that feat in the days of the old European Cup.

PSG's next games will be against teams hoping to end their reign, with a trip to Manchester City and a home clash with Barcelona coming in October -- Torres is a former player of both clubs.

"It is the Champions League, we always play against tough teams, but we have to be focused first in Ligue 1 because we didn't start in the right way," he added, with PSG yet to win a domestic game this season.

Tokyo: The Asian Games began in Japan on Thursday with Qatar beating Iran in men's basketball, the first action in the continental multi-sport showpiece that has more participants than the Olympics.

Over 17,000 athletes and officials are expected to take part in 43 sports at the Nagoya-Aichi Games -- which do not officially start until the opening ceremony on September 19 and will run until October 4.

Several events such as basketball, football, cricket, hockey and modern pentathlon will get under way before the opening ceremony.Qatar held off a comeback from Iran to win their Group B encounter 59-35 at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya in the first match of a men's basketball competition that will hold medal finals on September 20, the day after the opening ceremony.

"We know we need to win at least one game so we can qualify for the next round," said Qatar's Michael Lewis, the United States-born player who scored a game-high 21 points.

"Feels good to get some team camaraderie back, and now we have got to keep going."

Later in Group B, Taiwan beat Jordan 83-80.

Los Angeles 2028 Olympics qualifying spots are up for grabs in several sports at the Asian Games, which are returning to Japan for the first time since 1994.

Organisers hope the athletes will have a "unique experience" staying in accommodation ranging from a cruise liner and wooden containers to standard hotel rooms.

Officials are confident that the plan will not be affected by Japan's typhoon season, which is usually in full swing in September-October.Weather has already caused disruptions, with record rainfall on Tuesday forcing hundreds of athletes briefly to evacuate their accommodation.

Rainwater also leaked into some competition venues, with more wet weather forecast for the coming days.

Among those in action at the Games will be Philippine tennis sensation Alexandra Eala and a pair of world-class teenage talents in 15-year-old Indian cricketer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and 13-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi.

أكد علي الهتمي رئيس الاتحاد القطري للجمباز تطلع المنتخب القطري إلى تحقيق نتائج مميزة في دورة الألعاب الآسيوية آيتشي - ناغويا 2026، المقررة في اليابان خلال الفترة من 19 سبتمبر الجاري إلى 4 أكتوبر المقبل، وتعزيز حضور الجمباز القطري في هذا المحفل القاري.

وقال الهتمي، في تصريح خاص لوكالة الأنباء القطرية قنا، إن المعسكر الإعدادي الذي يخوضه المنتخب حاليا في أرمينيا يمثل محطة مهمة ضمن خطة التحضير للدورة، ويهدف إلى رفع مستوى الجاهزية الفنية والبدنية للاعبين واللاعبات قبل خوض المنافسات.

وأضاف أن المنتخب استفاد بصورة كبيرة من برنامج الإعداد، الذي تضمن تدريبات مكثفة ركزت على تطوير الأداء الفني ورفع معدلات اللياقة البدنية، إلى جانب معالجة الجوانب الفنية وتحسين مستوى الأداء بما يتناسب مع طبيعة المنافسات المنتظرة.

وأوضح رئيس الاتحاد القطري للجمباز أن لاعبي المنتخب ولاعباته يملكون الإمكانات التي تؤهلهم لتقديم مستويات قوية وتحقيق نتائج جيدة ورفع علم قطر في المحفل القاري، مشيرا إلى أن المشاركة تمثل أيضا فرصة مهمة لاكتساب المزيد من الخبرات من خلال الاحتكاك بأفضل لاعبي الجمباز في آسيا والعالم.

وأشار إلى أن اللاعبين واللاعبات يواصلون تدريباتهم وفق البرنامج الذي أعده الجهاز الفني، بهدف الوصول إلى أعلى درجات الجاهزية قبل السفر إلى اليابان، مع التركيز في المرحلة الأخيرة من الإعداد على تقديم أفضل مستوى ممكن خلال المنافسات، بما يعكس التطور الذي تشهده رياضة الجمباز القطرية.

ويمثل المنتخب القطري في منافسات الجمباز الفني اللاعبان راكان الحارث ومهيرداد قديمي، إلى جانب سلمى ناصر، حيث يشارك كل منهم في الأجهزة المقررة له، وسط طموحات بتحقيق نتائج إيجابية والاستفادة من الاحتكاك بمستويات فنية متقدمة.

ويتضمن المعسكر الإعدادي في أرمينيا برنامجا تدريبيا مكثفا يشمل الجانبين الفني والبدني، مع التركيز على تطوير الأداء وتحسين الجاهزية على الأجهزة، إلى جانب رفع معدلات التركيز والثبات خلال المنافسات، بما يساعد اللاعبين واللاعبات على التعامل مع طبيعة المنافسة القارية.

ويتطلع المنتخب القطري إلى تقديم مستويات قوية في ظل المنافسة المرتقبة أمام نخبة من أبرز لاعبي الجمباز في القارة الآسيوية والعالم، ومن بينهم عدد من أبطال العالم والدورات الأولمبية.

ويأتي البرنامج الإعدادي ضمن إستراتيجية الاتحاد القطري للجمباز الرامية إلى توفير أفضل برامج التحضير للمنتخبات الوطنية، بما يسهم في تطوير المستوى الفني وصقل المواهب وتعزيز قدرتها على المنافسة.

وتشارك دولة قطر في دورة الألعاب الآسيوية العشرين بوفد يضم 243 رياضيا ورياضية، بواقع 184 لاعبا و59 لاعبة، يمثلون 18 اتحادا رياضيا، ويتنافسون في 26 رياضة و32 تخصصا، وسط تطلعات إلى تحقيق نتائج مميزة وتعزيز حضور الرياضة القطرية في هذا المحفل الرياضي القاري.

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Sports for All Federation, operating under the umbrella of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, has resumed its weekly school tours at boys’ and girls’ schools to coincide with the start of the new academic year. The initiative aims to encourage students to take part in sports and physical activity, while identifying and developing young talent.

The tours included Ahmed Mansour Primary School for Boys, where 90 students took part in self-defense training and a range of physical exercises. At Al Khor Primary School, 307 female students participated in a variety of sports activities and exercises.

Muaither Secondary School for Girls also hosted a sports tour attended by about 226 students. The program included a range of exercises supervised by specialized female coaches, with the aim of encouraging physical activity and identifying the abilities and talents of the students.

Executive Director of the Qatar Sports for All Federation, Abdullah Al Dosari, underscored the importance of school visits as part of the federation’s strategy to promote a culture of sports in the community and instill the practice of physical activity from an early age. He noted that the federation’s programs target people of different ages and backgrounds.

He added that the federation continues to implement its plans and programs in line with the Ministry of Sports and Youth’s goals of promoting a culture of sports and physical activity in the community.

Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s fencing team is heading to the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with a clear goal: win the country’s first-ever medal in the sport at the Games. The event runs from September 19 to October 4.

Nine fencers will represent Qatar: Ali Turki Awida, Khalid Arif Hussein, Abdullah Ismail Khalifa, Abdulrahman Bourghrib, Abdulrahman Al-Jadra, Mohammed Abdulali, Yousef Abdul-Tawab, Ali Al-Khalif, and Isabelle Bettadini, the team’s only female competitor. They are part of a much larger Qatari delegation of 243 athletes — 184 men and 59 women — competing in 26 sports at the Games.

Zamel Al-Shammari, a board member of the Qatar Fencing Federation, is leading the delegation. Three coaches — Ines Boubakri, Alvaro Felipe Monteiro, and Hugues Thierry Dergal — oversee the team.

The team has trained hard for this moment.

The men held a camp at Aspire Academy from August 23 to 29, while the women trained in Italy from August 17 to 25.

الأخبارتسلم علم 2030 يؤكد أن الدوحة على العهد دائماً.. عبدالله المري رئيس الوفد الإعلامي: التغطية الإعلامية واكبت الحدث لحظة بلحظةأكد عبدالله محمد المري رئيس الوفد الإعلامي القطري في دورة الألعاب الآسيوية آيتشي - ناغويا 2026 أن التغطية الإعلامية القطرية للحدث الآسيوي جاءت بالشكل المميز والمثالي الذي يليق ب...فتح →

Both squads will finish their preparation with one last camp in Tokyo, from September 13 to 20, just before competition begins.

The Aspire Academy camp drew fencers from six countries besides Qatar: the Netherlands, Greece, Argentina, Malaysia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.

In total, 66 fencers took part, including Saudi Arabia’s Khalifa Al-Amiri, who won bronze in épée at the World Championships in Hong Kong, and the Netherlands’ Tristan Tullen, an Olympic fencer who won the Doha Grand Prix in January.

Sixteen coaches ran 12 training sessions over six days, giving Qatari fencers a chance to test themselves against different styles from Europe, Asia, and the Arab world.

Khalid Suwaid, senior administrative expert at the Qatar Fencing Federation, said the camp was a major boost for the team.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency, he said the goal now is not just to compete, but to finish among Asia’s top four teams and fight for medals.

Qatar first competed in fencing at the Asian Games when it hosted the event in 2006.

Since then, the team has taken part in every edition — Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018, and Hangzhou 2023 — without winning a medal.

That changed in October 2025. At the Asian Fencing Championships for under-23s in Kuala Lumpur, Qatar’s épée team beat the Philippines and Thailand before losing the final to Uzbekistan by a single point. The silver medal was Qatar’s first-ever Asian medal in fencing. The team behind it: Abdulrahman Al-Jadra, Yousef Abdul-Tawab, Mohammed Abdulali, and Ali Al-Khalif.

The Kuala Lumpur medal was part of a wider run of good results. At the 2023 World Combat Games in Riyadh, Qatar won four medals: gold in men’s foil team (Awida, Hussein, and Khalifa), individual bronze in foil for Khalifa, bronze in men’s épée team (Meshal Al-Qahtani, Mohammed Al-Awlan, Mohammed Abdulali, and Mohammed Al-Hazza), and bronze in women’s épée team (Haya Diab, Sara Diab, and Sheikha Jassim Ali).

At the 2025 West Asian Championships, Qatar won 12 medals in total — six gold, two silver, and four bronze.

The team also took gold in team foil at the 2025 Arab Championships in Bahrain, thanks to Abdullah Ismail and Khalid Aref, and added a gold and a silver in foil at the 2026 Gulf Games in Doha.

There is young talent coming through too.

Isabelle Bettadini reached the quarterfinals at the Asian Junior Fencing Championships in Singapore last month.