Qatar begin their handball title defence against Hong Kong today.
Doha, Qatar The 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will be in full swing today following yesterday’s opening ceremony, with Qatari athletes beginning their campaigns across several sports as the country targets another strong showing at the continental event.
Leading Qatar’s charge will be the men’s handball team, who begin their title defence against Hong Kong today, targeting a fourth consecutive Asian Games gold.
Qatar have won the last three editions at Incheon 2014, Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022. Drawn in Group A alongside hosts Japan, China and Hong Kong, Qatar will need to finish among the top two to advance to the quarter-finals.
The team will face China in their second group match before concluding the preliminary round against Japan.
Qatar also have high hopes in shooting, with the women’s air rifle individual and team events opening the competition today at the Aichi Prefecture shooting range. Al-Maha Al-Ali and Retaj Al-Yafei will represent Qatar.
The shooters will draw confidence from their three-medal haul at the Hangzhou Games, where Qatar won one silver and two bronze medals. The silver came in the men’s skeet team event, while Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah won individual skeet bronze and Rashid Saleh Al-Athba and Reem Al-Sharshani claimed bronze in mixed skeet.
Qatar have high hopes in shooting, with the women’s air rifle individual and team events opening the competition today.
In beach volleyball, Qatar’s women’s Team 1 of Haya Abu-Issa and Laila Mohammed begin their campaign against hosts Japan at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court. They are in Group F with Japan and Kazakhstan.
Qatar have four teams in the tournament, with two men’s and two women’s pairs. The second women’s team, Malak Mohammed and Shaghaf Amin, are in Group H with Hong Kong, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Table tennis also gets underway, with Qatar competing in both the men’s and women’s team events. The men face China, while the women take on Thailand before meeting China.
Qatar are represented by five men and five women in the table tennis competition, with the teams looking to gain valuable continental experience against some of Asia’s strongest sides.
In swimming, Mohamed Mahmoud will compete in the men’s 200m individual medley qualifiers, Ali Tamer in the 100m freestyle and Abdullah Ahmed Al-Ghamri in the 100m backstroke. Qatar have seven swimmers in the Games, also including Saad El-Din Saad El-Din, Emile Mounir Fouzaei, Tamim Mohamed Al-Hamaida and Mohamed Aziz Jilani.
Mohamed Mahmoud will compete in the men’s 200m individual medley qualifiers.
Karate will see Abdulrahman Mustafa begin Qatar’s campaign in the men’s under-60kg individual event. He is joined in the national team by Yaman Ashraf in the under-67kg category and Abdullah Rashad in the under-84kg event.
Karate will see Abdulrahman Mustafa begin Qatar’s campaign in the men’s under-60kg individual event.
The women’s volleyball team will also be in action, facing the Philippines in a placement match for positions 9-14 after group-stage defeats against Vietnam, Republic of Korea and Hong Kong.
