Leclerc ends Ferrari drought with emotional win in Belgium page 15

MONday, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Ooredoo Cup 2019: Al Sadd and cricket test Al Rayyan drawn in Group A page 15 West Indies vs India Attiyah breaks the jinx for Rally of Lebanon triumph Tribune News Network

Qatar’s star rallyist Nasser It was a tough win. We’d bin Saleh al Attiyah eventu- been waiting for it for a long ally clinched the elusive Rally time. I’m very happy to end Roger Federer of Switzerland at of Lebanon, the third round the jinx in Lebanon. Wish to the US Open on Sunday. (EPA-EFE/ of the Middle East Rally thank co-driver Matthieu Championship, in Zabbougha on Sunday. (Baumel) for his great job. Federer This rally had been pos- It’s our eighth consecutive ing a big challenge to Attiyah. win this year. What made routs Goffin, Crashes and dominance by the difference this year was local drivers, especially 14- simply a better preparation. makes 56th time champion Roger Fegha- li, made it difficult for him ’s ace rallyist Grand Slam to win. As a result, he could Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah manage runner-up finish on quarter-final three occasions. However, the Qatari three- Just like yesterday, he DPA time Dakar Rally winner and clean-swept all the four stages New York his French co-driver Matthieu ahead of Rahi and co-driver Baumel were determined this Georges Nader in Mitsubishi Roger Federer slammed 10 time around and drove their Evo9 to emerge the cham- aces and 37 winners as he de- Volkwagen Polo GTi R5 to vic- pion for the first time. Henry stroyed David Goffin 6-2, 6-2, tory in the 42nd edition with Massaad (Citroen DS3 R3) 6-0 at the US Open to move an overall gap of more than reached the finish line in into his 56th career Grand 7 minutes and nine seconds fourth overall and first in RC3 Slam quarter-final. against Group N winner Rod- and front-wheel drive. Fifteen-seed Goffin teased rigue Rahi of Lebanon. Tarek Younis (Mitsubi- the Swiss great, a winner of After the race, Attiyah shi Evo IX) ended up third in a record 20 titles at the ma- commented, “It was a tough Group N, whilst Albert Hay- jors, by breaking him in the win. We’d been waiting for aeck (Renault Clio R3) and Joe third game for a 2-1 lead. But it for a long time. Finally, we Qatar’s Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel on the podium after they won the Rally of Lebanon on Sunday. Azzi (Renault Clio RS) com- Federer punished the Belgian won it and I’m very happy to pleted the top three in RC3. instantly as he won 17 of the end the jinx in Lebanon. Wish Henry Kahy ( Skoda FA- remaining 19 games for victo- to thank co-driver Matthieu BIA 1.6-16V ) snatched the ry in a mere 1 hour 18 minutes. for his great job. The best part win in the RC4 category, while “When I was up I felt he of the rally was that we won 10 Christopher Njeim (Suzuki wasn’t playing the same any- out of 11 stages and it requires Swift Sport) triumphed in RC5 more. I am very happy with both courage and craft. Rahi said on the rally my level of play,” the third- “It’s our eighth consecu- website: “The competition seeded Federer said. tive win this year. What made with Patrick was very good. Federer, who dropped one the difference this year was I was lacking power in the game less than in the third simply a better preparation. first local rounds, but now I round against Daniel Evans, The competition was fair and can say I got the optimal per- next meets Australia’s Alex de we were all pushing to the formance with this car. We Minaur or Grigor Dimitrov of max,” Attiyah added. insisted on winning the co- Bulgaria in his 13th New York Patrick Njeim finished drivers championship as we quarter-final on Tuesday. third, becoming the young- weren’t able to do so in the Later, Czech third seed est Lebanese winner, in Mit- drivers championship.” Karolina Pliskova was foiled in a subishi Evo9. Njeim said: “We had a bid for her first Grand Slam title On the third and final strategy since the beginning. losing to British 16th seed Jo- competitive day, four stages We wanted to be safe, and fo- hanna Konta 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 7-5. were to be contested and Atti- cus on the Championship. We Konta booked a quarter- yah, resuming the action with sill have a big margin to im- final date against the winner of overnight five minutes and prove our pace. “Thankfully the match between Ukraine’s 39.1 seconds lead, continued we did! Thanks for Castrol fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, and to drive mixing aggression and Lebanon Motortune Racing US 10th seed Madison Keys. caution well. Nasser al Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel in action on the last day of the Rally of Lebanon in Zabbougha on Sunday. Academy and Roger Feghali.” Qatar football team for qualifiers against Afghanistan and India named THE SQUADS The team is set to play Coach Sanchez the first friendly against Jor- qatar national team dan on September 6 at Aspire also picks , , Pedro Miguel, Pitch No. 4, before playing Salem al Hajri, , , Khoukhi Boualem, Hassan al Haydos, , them again on September 9 on Olympic team for Abdulaziz al Ansari, (Al Sadd), Bassam al the same ground. Rawi, , , , Ali Qatar qualified for the Jordan friendlies Afif, Mohammed al Bakri (Al Duhail), Yousuf 2020 AFC U-23 Champion- Abdurrazaq, Musab Kheder, Ahmed Fathi (Al Arabi), Almahdi Ali, (Al Gharafa), Abdulaziz ship after topping their group Tribune News Network Hatem (Al Rayyan), Abdullah Abdulsalam (Al Ahli). with seven points from three games, finishing ahead of qatar olympic team The Qatar national football Mohammed Ismail Abushanab, Amro Seraj, Nasser Oman on goal difference. Af- team for the forthcoming 2022 Abdulsalam, Ilyas Ahmed, Andiy Syahputra, Abdullah ghanistan and Nepal came FIFA World Cup qualifiers has Ali al Saai, Ahmed al Janehi, Salah Hassan (Al third and fourth respectively. been named. Gharafa), Khaled Muneer, , Sanchez was appointed (Al Wakrah), Ahmed al Sebaei, Coach Felix Sanchez an- Shehab al Leythi, (Al Duhail), to the post of head coach of nounced the squad after the Hazem Shehata, Yazan Naim, Hassan Balank (Umm the Olympic team in August, end of the Week 2 matches Salal), Abdulrahman Mohammed Fahmy, Abdulrashid replacing his compatriot Al- of QNB Stars League. Qatar Umaru (Al Ahli), Adel Bader, Ahmed al Menhali (Al bert Fernandez. Sailiya), Bahaa al Leythi, Youssef Ayman (Qatar), began preparations on Sun- Hussain Bahzad (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Masoud (Al The new post will be in day with some light training. Rayyan), Khalifa Al Malki (Al Arabi). addition to Sanchez’s job as The team is looking to get off coach of the senior national to a good start in Group E of team, which he has held since the qualifiers by winning their 26-member Olympic team July 2017. first two games against Af- for friendlies against Jordan The 43-year-old Sanchez ghanistan and India on Sep- Sanchez also announced a has a great track record with tember 5 and 10 respectively. 26-member Olympic squad Qatar’s various national In addition to Afghanistan for the two upcoming friend- teams, starting with the AFC and India, the group also con- lies against Jordan. U-19 Championship victory in sists of Oman and Bangladesh. The matches are being 2014, followed by a 3rd place While Qatar have already played as part of the prepa- finish at AFC U-23 Champi- qualified for the next World host for the AFC Asian Cup ance in the FIFA World Cup China 2023 Finals and the fi- joint qualifiers will compete rations for the AFC U-23 onship in 2018 and finally the Cup as hosts, topping their 2023, will have to navigate Finals. nal round of qualifying for the in a separate competition for Championship to be held in historic triumph with the sen- group will ensure a direct spot past Syria, Philippines, Mal- The eight group winners FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. the remaining 12 slots in the Thailand in January and will ior team at Asia’s most pres- at the 2023 Asian Cup. dives and Guam in Group A and four best runners-up will The next best 24 teams 24-team AFC Asian Cup Chi- serve as qualifiers for the tigious tournament – the 2019 Meanwhile, China, the their bid for a second appear- advance to the AFC Asian Cup from the second round of the na 2023. Tokyo Olympics. AFC Asian Cup.