The Al Sadd striker scored a contender for goal of the tournament after 27 minutes before grabbing a second just before the break to steer his side to their first win in Group A.

The Chinese had been hoping build on their opening-game victory over Kuwait and they created the first chance after six minutes when Rong Hao crossed from the left for Deng Zhouxiang, who directed a header straight at goalkeeper Qasem Burhan.

Qatar's first opportunity came four minutes later when Ahmed shot from outside the area but it caused no danger for China shotstopper Zhao Peng, before China again had a chance through Gao Lin.

It took a goal of real quality to put Qatar ahead just before the half-hour mark when Ahmed controlled the ball with his thigh before unleashing an unstoppable volley from outside the area into the top right corner of Zhao Peng's net.

It almost became even better for the Qataris when they went close to doubling their advantage in the 31st minute as Sebastian Soria beat the offside trap but shot narrowly wide.

But the second goal did arrive in the first minute of first-half stoppage time when Ahmed, with his back to goal, hit a shot on the turn between the legs of defender Du Wei and into the net, sending the home fans into raptures.

It was always going to be difficult for the second half to match the pace of the first and it took until the 61st minute for either side to fashion a noteworthy chance as China'sYang Xu sent an effort just wide of the right post.

Soria could have added a third goal for his side four minutes later but failed to get his shot on target, and although China pushed in the closing stages, they never really threatened to stage a late rally as Qatar closed out an ultimately comfortable win.