Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

The venue is the tennis courts of Al Ghazal Club. Al Ghazal Club was originally a sports club for Qatar Petroleum junior staff members but since the Falcon Club, its counterpart for senior staff members has closed, even the senior staff employees avail of the Al Ghazal Club. Membership is QR50 per month for the entire family. Non-Al Ghazal members can come only as guests of club members and will have to pay QR10 each. Members can avail of the different facilities such as swimming pool, a tennis court, a basketball ground, a football ground and a garden for children. The club is open everyday, 8am-10pm on weekdays and until 11pm on weekends. For inquiries, you can call Tel. 4433030.

On Monday at 8:00 pm, my friend, her friend and I all showed up at the Al Ghazal tennis court. Our husbands and kids came along too. The temperature was just fine although a bit humid. First, we met with our tennis-trainer-to be, he then gave us forms to fill out. It was some kind of student info sheet that he keeps. Then he left as our formal lessons won’t start until Thursday night. So there we were, all geared up but not knowing what to do. Till we were told to do some “walling”, there at one end of the court was a big wall. So we started hitting the ball against the wall but it was more of chasing the ball once it bounced away. We spent the first 30 minutes mostly running after the ball. Then a guy came, he was an officemate of a friend, and started to teach us the basics. Thank God he knew what he was doing as he is a tennis player himself. With his training skills, one and a half hours proved to be very productive. We all wished that he’d be our trainer but I think giving the other trainer a chance is also worth a try.