DOHA : Abdulhadi Al-Buraidi struck his second hat-trick of the tournament as Qatar News Agency (QNA) secured a 5-3 victory over Al-Sharq in the third round of the 12th Super Grade Championship for the QNB National Bank Cup.
QNA and Al-Watan both recorded valuable wins in the competition, which is being staged at the Arab Club Hall with the support of Al-Haydar Holding Group, Ansar Gallery and Al-Jazeera Perfumes.
Al-Buraidi, who had earlier netted three goals against Al-Watan, took his tally to six in the tournament to lead the scoring charts. Abubakr Mubarak and Hatem Hazem were also on target for QNA, while Adham Mahmoud, Mohamed Shafiq and Amr Mohsen scored for Al-Sharq.
In the second match, Al-Watan edged defending champions Al-Arab 2-1 despite several key absences in their squad.
Captain Jihad Al-Rabi guided his side to victory, with Mohammed Arafa scoring both goals. Abdullah Fawaz pulled one back for Al-Arab, who were hampered by injuries and missing players, including captain Sameh Al-Siddiq.
The tournament features five media institutions — Al-Arab, Al-Raya, Al-Sharq, Al-Watan and QNA — competing for the title.
Action resumes on Saturday after a rest day on Friday, with Al-Sharq facing Al-Watan at 3:20 p.m., followed by Al-Raya taking on tournament leaders QNA, who top the standings with six points, at 4:00 p.m.
