Sports Thursday, April 15, 2021 13 Al Rayyan, Goa kick off with a stalemate AFC Goa The draw means Al Rayyan and FC Goa are now third India’s FC Goa kicked off in Group E, two points their AFC Champions League behind Iran’s Persepolis debut with a 0-0 draw against FC, who defeated Al Al Rayyan of Qatar in a Group Wahda of UAE 1-0. E tie at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. The draw means FC Goa Al Rayyan custodian Fahad and Al Rayyan are third in Younis for a corner. Group E, two points behind The hosts then had to en- Islamic Republic of Iran’s dure some tense moments in Persepolis FC, who defeated the closing stages of the half The Qatar National Sports Day celebrations taking place in Russia in February earlier this year. Al Wahda of UAE 1-0 in their when Dheraj Singh was called match earlier on Wednesday. into action once again to save Al Rayyan started brightly Hadhrami’s angled long- and had their first look at goal range effort before Abdelaziz Qatar and Russia mark on six minutes with captain Ya- Hatim’s drive from distance cine Brahimi pulling his effort sailed over the crossbar. wide from outside the area. Eager to assert themselves International Day of Sport Two minutes later, FC Goa in the game, FC Goa started goalkeeper Dheraj Singh came aggressively after the restart off his line to block Naif Al with Sanson Pereira and Ivan for Development & Peace Hadhrami’s close-range effort Gonzalez operating deep in Al with the latter then feeding Yo- Rayyan territory but the visitors Tribune News Network Olympic gold medal winners fundamental right, a power- han Boli, who made a run in- held firm as the score remained Moscow Nikita Nagorniy and Beslan ful tool to strengthen social side the box before firing wide. goalless at the hour mark. Mudranov alongside with ties and promote sustain- Al Rayyan dominated pro- Al Rayyan were left frus- On the occasion of the UN’s other prominent athletes able development and peace ceedings with Boli in the thick trated two minutes later when International Day Of Sport from across the world partici- as well as solidarity, and re- of action once again just after Brahimi exchanged a neat For Development And Peace, pated in the event. spect. That was the aim of the the half-hour mark but his ef- one-two with Boli on the edge which was recently celebrated The event was designed QNSD event in Russia and we fort from outside the area left of the area but the latter fin- globally during the first week to help the community grow are incredibly proud of the much to be desired. ished wide off the mark. of April, Qatar and Russia in four main areas: mindful- outcome,” said Kirill Lata, FC Goa finally got their Next for FC Goa is stern affirm their commitment to ness, motion, inspiration and Head of QR Sports. shooting boots on five minutes Action from the Al Rayyan vs FC Goa Group E AFC Champions League test against Henk Ten Cate’s bilateral sports engagements nutrition. This is not the first time before the interval when Alex- match played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Al Wahda on Saturday, while between the two countries. The five-day event saw Qatar and Russia have part- ander Romario’s attempt from Wednesday. The match ended in a goalless draw with both sides Al Rayyan face last year’s AFC In 2013, the United Na- more than 12,000 total par- nered to bring sport to the distance was parried away by picking up a point each. CL runners-up Persepolis. tions chose this particular ticipants, that could attend forefront of developing bilat- date because the first mod- offline sports such as yoga, eral relations. ern Summer Olympic Games trampolining and ice-skating “There are already strong were opened in Athens on 6 as well follow online training ties between Qatar and Rus- April 1896. The day is de- and educational programs all sia. Through QRCC and QR Pochettino says PSG are Flick leaves future open as signed to raise awareness of through the website. Sports, these ties are being the importance of sport and QR Sports also collabo- more profoundly developed,” spirited Bayern lick wounds physical activity for educa- rated with the Supreme Com- – Lata added. not UEFA CL favourites tion, human development, mittee for Delivery and Leg- As consecutive host na- DPA support me and stand behind health and peace. acy alongside football stars tions of the FIFA World Cup, DPA Bayern now in two games too. Berlin me no matter what I do,” Flick The Embassy for The Tim Cahill and Roman Pavly- Qatar and Russia have been Paris “I think we deserved to win said, then adding that work- State of Qatar to the Russian uchenko who discussed play- a part of one of the biggest both ties, but I don’t think PSG Hansi Flick was proud of ing for the German Football Federation with the support ing in the Premier League, sporting events in the world, Paris Saint-Germain head are the main contender to win how his Bayern Munich Federation was a “different of QR Sports, a subsidiary of football knowledge, and the using their platforms to coach Mauricio Pochettino Champions League. There are team took the fight to Paris rhythm”. the Qatari-Russian Centre for upcoming 2022 FIFA World spread the message about the does not believe his team are still rivals in. We have qualified Saint-Germain and won 1-0 Many pundits have taken Cooperation (QRCC), cele- Cup in Qatar. importance of sport in today’s favourites to win the Champi- and Chelsea did today as well. in France, meaning the hold- this to mean he is likely to brated Qatar’s National Sport They also discussed the world in arenas of global har- ons League after eliminating “We will see in the ties Man ers narrowly went out 3-3 on take the Germany job if it is Day (QNSD) in Russia in Feb- importance of sport to the mony and sustainable devel- holders Bayern Munich. City versus Dortmund and away goals in the Champions offered. ruary 2021. The initiative was Qatari and Russian popula- opment. PSG advanced to the semi- Liverpool versus Real Madrid. League last eight. Flick was Joachim Loew’s hosted under the theme Team tions and the positive impact As the host nation of the finals for the second succes- Any team which is in semi- Perhaps his pride at the assistant when Germany won in Motion, which calls for the of the Qatar National Sports 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qa- sive season on away goals after finals has the same options unlucky exit is why he dropped the 2014 World Cup. Loew is community to unite through Day celebrations in Russia. tar gave fans a taste of things the blockbuster tie ended 3-3 to win.” PSG’s elimination of his guard in a television inter- leaving in July. sports despite challenges that Those attending had ac- to come in 2022 during the following Tuesday’s 1-0 loss at Bayern is the first instance in view after days of saying he did Flick said he does not yet humankind faces. cess to online classes such 2018 FIFA World Cup held in home to Bayern. Champions League history of not want to discuss his future - have an appointment to meet With the spread of the as Yoga with Olympic silver Russia. Ligue 1 champions PSG the previous season’s losing fi- amid speculation of a rift with future Bayern chief executive COVID-19 pandemic, ac- medalist and three- time With exhibits like Qatar exacted some revenge after nalists eliminating the holders sporting director Hasan Sali- Oliver Kahn. cessing and enjoying sport world champion Nikita Na- Elements, the world’s first moving through to the final in the knockout stages. hamidzic. “If Oliver wants to talk to has become difficult for most gorniy or practice their ice floating multimedia museum four, having lost last season’s SG have reached the semis He openly admitted he is me, he will tell me in time. I around the world. However, skating skills at the Tagans- and Qatar-Russia portals, decider to Bayern. for the second season in a row, considering the Germany job have time, so it’s not an issue QR Sports’ event for QNSD kiy Park ice rink. fans experienced Qatari cul- Pochettino, though, dis- after managing to reach the fi- and whether it might be time for me,” Flick said. allowed the participants to All online classes are cur- ture and life first-hand. missed the idea that PSG are nal four only once in their pre- to leave Bayern, having won Media reports say the rows overcome these challenges rently available to the public Since 2019, some of the the main contender to win the vious 11 campaigns in the com- six trophies in just 18 months with Salihamidzic have been as there is no doubt that via @qnsd.ru on Instagram, biggest Russian football Champions League this season. petition before that - their first in charge. over transfer policy and last sport has always played an where people from around teams have also played the “I don’t think so,” Pochet- in 1994-95. PSG, though, failed “You always wonder week Flick told a news confer- important role in every so- the world can learn the tools Match Premier Cup tourna- tino told reporters when asked to score at home in the Cham- about what’s going to hap- ence that his team last year, ciety, whether in the form of to practice physical and men- ment in Qatar. Zenit St. Pe- if PSG are favourites. “We pions League for the first time pen, what’s going to pan out when winning the Champions competition, physical activ- tal well-being. tersburg’s U-17 team also have beat Barcelona in last 16 in 24 games, since a 0-0 draw next,” he told Sky. League, was better than this ity or play. “Sport has the power participated in the Al Kass in two games, we have beat with Madrid in October 2015. His family would “always season’s version. Renowned athletes like to change the world. It is a International Cup in 2020. Tokyo marks 100 days to go until Olympics

DPA Tokyo

Tokyo marked 100 days to go until the postponed Olympics on Wednesday amid lingering uncertainty over whether the Games can be staged safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympic host city has been under a month-long semi-state of emergency over the pandemic since Monday . “During this period, we will put our efforts to prevent the spread of infections and beat letics, Seb Coe, has warned that the coronavirus, and would a generation of athletes could like to be able to hold the miss out on going to the Olym- Games with everyone,” Tokyo pics if the Tokyo Games are can- Governor Yuriko Koike said at celled or postponed again. an event marking the occasion. (L-R) Japan Olympic Committee president Yasuhiro Yamashita, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Tokyo 2020 organ- Coe said the organization of Tokyo confirmed 510 new izing committee Vice-president Toshiaki Endo, Ryoichi Ishikawa, Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly President and Kuni- this year’s Tokyo Olympics is daily infections on Tuesday, hiko Koyama, Chairperson of special committee on measures to promote the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in “incredibly chal- exceeding 500 cases for the of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly pose with the statues of Miraitowa (C-L) and Someity (C-R), the official mascots lenging times”, but added there first time in three days, while for the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics and Paralympics Games, to mark 100 days before the start of the Olympic were several Covid-19 proto- the western prefecture of Games Tokyo 2020 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Tokyo on Wednesday. (AFP) cols in place and the organiz- Osaka reported a record 1,099 ers were working hard to reas- cases amid the rapid spread of vaccinated, according to the the pandemic forced the Inter- pandemic, a survey conducted sure the Japanese locals. new variants of the virus. Ministry of Health, Labour national Olympic Committee by Kyodo News showed on “There would not be a re- Speaking at a lower house and Welfare. and Japanese organizers to Monday. The survey indicat- mote possibility of a postpone- committee, Shigeru Omi, who Despite the pandemic, the delay the Games by one year ed that 39.2 per cent of those ment again,” Coe told British chairs the government’s coro- Olympics “certainly will hap- in an unprecedented move. polled favoured the cancella- broadcaster the BBC. “That navirus advisory panel, con- pen,” John Coates, Tokyo 2020 “I have no hesitation in tion of the Games, while 32.8 would be a cancellation and firmed “the fourth wave” of coordination commission chair saying that the Games will take per cent said the event should the athletes who we are work- coronavirus infections. said in a video message. “They place and they’ll be the safest be postponed once again. ing absolutely flat out from The roll-out of Covid-19 will commence the Games on Games possible,” Coates said. Only around a quarter of around the world to provide vaccines has been extremely the 23rd of July,” Coates said. However, 72 per cent of those polled, 24 per cent, sup- this competition would have slow since its start in mid- He called the Tokyo people in Japan want the To- ported the Olympics and Para- probably, for a generation of The 100 days countdown till the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic February. Only 0.4 per cent of Games “the best-prepared kyo Games cancelled or re- lympics going ahead this year. them, missed the opportunity Games displayed on the illuminated Tokyo Skytree in Japan. (AFP) the population has been fully ever Games.” In March 2020, scheduled due to the ongoing The president of World Ath- to go to a Games.”