FOOTBALL | Page 4 NBA | Page 5 Lewandowski’s Cavaliers stop treble in Bayern rot but still romp delights trail Celtics in Ancelotti standings Sunday, April 2, 2017 GOLF Rajab 5, 1438 AH Tiger Woods GULF TIMES will not play in the Masters SPORT Page 6 ABU DHABI DESERT CHALLENGE Qatar’s al-Attiyah wins special stage in Abu Dhabi Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah, Englishman Sam Sunderland and Kuwait’s Fahad al-Musallam claimed the fastest times in the car, motorcycle and quad categories respectively at the short super special stage held yesterday By Our Correspondent Standings Abu Dhabi 2017 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – positions after SSS: atar’s Nasser Saleh al-Atti- yah, Dubai-based English- CARS man Sam Sunderland and 1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mat- Kuwait’s Fahad al-Musallam thieu Baumel (FRA) claimedQ the fastest times in the car, Toyota Hilux Overdrive 1min 46.7sec motorcycle and quad categories on the 2. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek two cross-over laps of the very short (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo 1min 51.1sec super special stage of the Abu Dhabi 3. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Desert Challenge, held at the Al-Forsan Zhiltsov (RUS) Mini All4 Racing International Sports Resort, yesterday. 1min 51.6sec Behind the early pace-setters in their 4. Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier respective categories, former Czech Panseri (FRA) WRC star Martin Prokop (Ford) and Mini All4 Racing 1min 51.7sec Russian Vladimir Vasilyev (Mini) and 5. Aron Domzala (POL)/Szymon were second and third quickest in the Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux cars behind al-Attiyah’s Toyota Hilux. Overdrive 1min 52.7sec Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi’s fi rst com- petitive kilometres in his new Abu BIKES Dhabi Racing Peugeot 3008 DKR re- 1. Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM 450 sulted in a cautious sixth. Rally Factory 1min 47.5sec Frenchman Antoine Meo (KTM) and 2. Antoine Meo (FRA) KTM 450 Rally Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) Factory 1min 48.1sec rounded off the top three on two wheels 3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna behind Sunderland’s factory KTM. 450 Rally 1min 50.2sec Aussie Lee Stephens pushed hard on 4. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM 450 his KTM 500 EXC to fi nish sixth, but is Rally Factory 1min 50.6sec not eligible for the FIM World Champi- 5. Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA) onship. Husqvarna 450 Rally 1min 51.3sec Yamaha-mounted al-Musallam, the winner of the recent Dubai Interna- QUADS tional Baja’s quad section, snatched a 1. Fahad al-Musallam (KUW) 4.8-second lead over Dutchman Kees Yamaha Raptor 700R 1min 49.2sec Koolen, while Peru’s Alexis Hernandez 2. Kees Koolen (NED) Barren Racer Ponce was third quad home. One 690 1min 54.0sec Cars were fl agged away from the 3. Alexis Hernandez Ponce (PER) start by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Yamaha Raptor 700 R 1min 54.8sec al-Nahyan, Minister of Culture and 4. Maxim Antimirov (KAZ) Knowledge Development and Chair- Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah in action at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge yesterday. Honda TRX 700 1min 56.4sec man of the General Authority for Youth 5. Lucas Innocente (ARG) and Sports Welfare, and event founder was handed to the duo of Koolan and Prado. Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed al-Malki, First blood in the T3 section went to Dhabi Waste Management, Rotana and Yamaha Raptor 700 R 1min 57.6sec and ATCUAE President Mohammed Guatemala’s Rodolfo Schippers. Quads meanwhile, switched his Isuzu D-Max the Frenchman Patrice Garrouste in his Centro Hotel – Yas Island, the Qasr Al- Ben Sulayem. and motorcycles ran in pairs in reverse from T2 to the T1 category, but Colom- Polaris RZR 100. Ahmed al-Maqoodi, Sarab Resort and Al-Forsan Circuit. “It’s all systems go now for everyone order, although local rider Mohammed bian driver Antonio Marmolejo suf- the winner of the 2016 Dubai Interna- Today the real meat of the desert ac- “It’s all systems go now for for the next fi ve days,” said Ben Su- al-Balooshi was given the task of being fered mechanical issues and was not tional Rally, was second. tion gets underway with the fi rst of fi ve everyone for the next fi ve layem. “We had a competitors’ brief- the fi rst bike and moving ahead of Pablo able to start at the 11th hour. The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is selective sections of 276.59km. The days. We had a competitors’ ing at Yas Marina this morning and Quintanilla for the ceremonial start on Seven cars started the event in the T2 taking place under the patronage of stage starts to the east of Arjan, south briefi ng this morning and our our team emphasised, once again, the his Ride to Abu Dhabi Team KTM. category for series production cross- Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, and fi nishes 19km to the team emphasised, once again, importance of safety and personal well Qatar’s Mohammed al-Meer and country vehicles and the fastest time the Ruler’s representative in Al-Dafra north of Hameem on a major truck road the importance of safety and being on the rally, as we head deep into Khalid al-Mohannadi were non-start- fell to Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Saeidan in his region, and has invaluable support from en route to the event’s purpose-built personal well being on the some of the most beautiful desert ter- ers from the original entry list and Toyota Land Cruiser by a mere tenth of a Al Dafrah Region Municipality, Abu bivouac near the remote Qasr Al Sarab rally, as we head deep into rain on the planet.” Dubai-based American dentist Mike second from the local driver Mansoor al- Dhabi Municipality, the UAE Army, desert resort. some of the most beautiful Twenty-fi ve motorcycles, 14 quads Ziegler was demoted to a national cat- Helai. Defending FIA T2 World Champi- Abu Dhabi Police, National Ambulance This is situated close to the desolate desert terrain on the planet” and 34 cars left the start and the honour egory running behind the last T3 car af- on Adel Hussein fi nished several seconds Service, Yas Marina Circuit, ADNOC, Rub Al-Khali and the Saudi Arabian — Mohammed Ben Sulayem of running fi rst on the road for the stage ter homologation issues with his Toyota behind in his Nissan Patrol. Abu Dhabi Aviation, Al-Ain Water, Abu frontier. QATAR STARS LEAGUE Lekhwiya take on El Jaish in crunch clash By Sports Reporter for the remainder of the season with a hopes of their local rivals. Jaish coach Doha shoulder injury. “We proved this sea- Sabri Lamouchi spoke with the local son that we can play without key play- media ahead of the match. ers. Our strength is our squad. It’s not a “The preparations have gone well, able-toppers Lekhwiya are just major blow for my side. I have players we played two friendly games. We have three wins away from lifting who can step up and cover his absence. a fully fi t side and we are ready for the their fi fth Qatar Stars League Hopefully we will show this again to- diffi cult match. Lekhwiya have won title. They take on El Jaish in morrow.” everything in Qatar, and my side is mo- Tone of the standout fi xtures of round tivated for this game,” said Lamouchi. 24. Red Knights coach Djamel Belmadi MENTAL STRENGTH “We just want to focus on ourselves spoke with the local media ahead of the “We are used to the situation of inter- and we want to fi nish the League crunch match. national players being away for two strongly. At the end of the day if Le- The Algerian boss opened up the weeks, but that’s a regular feature with khwiya or Al Sadd win the League it press conference stressing the impor- a team like ours. Psychologically, the doesn’t matter to my side” added Lam- tance of the tie against their local rivals. Qatar national team players are a lit- ouchi when asked about his side’s say in “Three games left till the end of the tle down but now they are back with the destination of the QSL title. season and it’s just a two-point diff er- the club, they can start again and focus Lamouchi ended the press confer- ence between us and Al Sadd. It’s a key on lifting the League title” added Bel- ence with a word on his Uzbekistan game for us and we have a big desire to madi when asked if the absence of in- international winger Sardor Rashidov win this match.” ternational players aff ected Lekhwiya’s who has enjoyed his best season to date Belmadi also revealed that he was preparation for the match. in the QSL. “Rashidov has the quality confi dent his side could continue their As for El Jaish, they can confi rm their to be the best player in Qatar. He is fast form in the League, despite leading place in the Qatar Cup with a victory and has the quality to change the game scorer Yusef El Arabi being ruled out Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi (left) and Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi. PICS: Othman Iraqi whilst simultaneously denting the title and a match at any time” Gulf Times 2 Sunday, April 2, 2017 FOOTBALL QATAR STARS LEAGUE Al Wakrah demoted aft er defeat at the hands of Khor Al Kharaitiyat boost survival chances with 2-0 win over Al Ahli; Al Shahania come from a goal down to beat Al Arabi 4-1 By Sports Reporter Doha l Wakrah crashed out of the top fl ight after Al Khor con- demned them to their 14th Adefeat in 24 games in the Qa- tar Stars League yesterday.