Football Is Not Without Surprises, Says Jovovic As Ahli Face
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FFOOTBALL|OOTBALL Page 3 BASEBALL | Page 5 City stumble Buehler again as Utd propels and Chelsea Dodgers play out draw into lead Sunday, October 25, 2020 FORMULA 1 Rabia I 8, 1442 AH Hamilton poised for GULF TIMES record aft er grabbing Portugal GP pole SPORT Page 7 HORSE RACING BASKETBALL Jalela and HM Al Wakrah storm into Jalfane do Qatar semis of Amir Cup By Sports Reporter they were comfortably placed proud in France with a 22-point advantage (70- Doha 48) with the fi nal quarter re- maining. Jalela is from the first crop of Al Shaqab Purebred Arabian sire Mister Ginoux ewly-crowned Qa- Julius V Coles was the lead- tar Cup champions Al ing scorer for Al Wakrah with 24 By a correspondent Mahabb mare, Nefertarie, who Wakrah stormed into points, while Erfan Ali Saeed was Toulouse, France is from the direct family of the Nthe semi-fi nals of the also impressive with 19. foundation French Purebred 2019-20 Amir Cup with a re- Nicholas Stover with 17 points Arabian mare Mandore. sounding 90-66 win over Al and Abdullah Matalkeh with 13 l Shaqab Racing’s Later, the fi nish of the Prix Gharafa yesterday. ensured Al Wakrah were never off Jalela and Abdullah Cheri Bibi (Group 3 PA) was The match was a one-sided the pace. For Al Gharafa, Abdul- bin Fahad al-Attiyah’s hotly contested. With just aff air from the word go as Al rahman Sadd scored 29 points, HM Jalfane registered 400m to the fi nal post, the sev- Wakrah led for almost 38-and- his match-high eff ort eventually Ablack-type victories in Toulouse en runners were still all togeth- a-half minutes, hardly giving going in vain. yesterday. er making it nearly impossible their rivals any hope of causing Earlier, Al Sadd beat Qatar While Jalela demolished the to call the winner. In the fi nal an upset. Sports Club 72-65 in a play-off opposition in the Prix Nevada II, strides, HM Jalfane came with Al Wakrah were 28-18 ahead to qualify for the quarter-fi nals. a Group 3 race for Purebred Ara- a late run, with Julien Augé in at the end of the fi rst quarter and It was a close encounter, with bian fi llies, HM Jalfane topped the saddle, to snatch victory by never looked back. By the time Al Sadd’s fi nal quarter tally of 21 Prix Cheri Bibi (Group 3 PA) in a quarter of a length. the match was 30 minutes old, points proving decisive. thrilling fashion. Sheikh Mohamed bin Faleh In the fi rst race of the card al-Thani’s homebred A’them yesterday, quickly up to the lead, Bahar fi nished runner-up for Jalela settled in behind the lead- trainer Mrs F Bernard and er, Guiness D’vialettes, by jockey jockey Ioritz Mendizabal. Al Jerome Cabre in the mile race Shaqab Racing’s homebred Al- on the turf track which read 3.3 hafar came in third by further (good to soft) on the going-stick. one-and-a-quarter lengths for Moving up to join the leader the same trainer of the runner- coming out of the fi nal turn, Julien Auge (left) rides Abdullah bin Fahad al-Attiyah’s HM Jalfane to victory in the Prix Cheri Bibi up and jockey Jean-Bernard Jalela quickly asserted her su- (Group 3 PA) in Toulouse yesterday. PICTURE: Robert Polin Eyquem. periority, going six lengths off Winning trainer Fourcy said, her rivals by the 200m post. “He gave me a scare on his de- The offi cial winning distance but as he sat in last position for was fi ve and a half lengths, with a long time. He gave me a bit of Guiness D’vialettes holding on a scare today too despite hav- to second place her trainer Mrs ing a better position in running. JF. Bernard with Antoine Werle At one point in the straight, I in the saddle. thought he was going to be last, HM Al Mamika fi nished a but when Julien Augé asked him, further half-length behind in he responded well like a good third under Julien Auge. Tho- horse. In the future, he will be mas Fourcy was the trainer of better over 2,000m. It’s a good both the winner and the third result for his new owner.” placed fi lly. Bred by Hassan Mousli and Jalela is from the fi rst crop Nada Mousalli, HM Jalfane is of Al Shaqab Purebred Arabian a son of Dahess and out of Al sire Mister Ginoux. She debuted Musck. Flamme De Syrah, the in the Group 3 PA Prix Razzia III second dam, produced two in July for second place before a Group winners, Al Jalfane, win- fourth place in the Group 2 PA Jerome Cabre (left) rides Al Shaqab Racing’s Jalela to Prix Nevada II (Group 3 PA) victory in Toulouse ner of three Al Maktoum Chal- French Arabian Breeders’ Chal- yesterday. PICTURE: Robert Polin lenges (Group 1 PA), and Jawad lenge Pouliches. On her previ- Al Kheir, winner of the Jumeyrah ous run, in the Gr 1 PA Qatar on October 2 at Saint-Cloud, hind Al Shaqab Racing’s Alaw- her fi rst Group victory in domi- International Stakes (Group 2 Erfan Ali Saeed of Al Wakrah scores against Al Gharafa during their Arabian Trophy des Pouliches she fi nished a good second be- sj. Yesterday, she fi nally earned nant fashion. She is out of the PA). Amir Cup quarter-final yesterday. FOOTBALL Real boost Zidane with rousing Clasico victory AFP ther evidence of two heavyweights in pressure Zidane would have felt from a lona were beaten by Getafe. Barcelona decline. loss is now transferred to the Dutch- Yet a dip in quality does not have to “You always have bad spells in a sea- man, who has overseen only three wins mean a drop in drama and any doubts son and hopefully this one only lasted from his fi rst six games in charge. about the thrill of this fi xture were an- eal Madrid averted a crisis in a week,” said Ramos. “To win in the Barcelona face Juventus on Wednes- swered in eight minutes, as both teams the best possible way yester- home of your oldest rivals is always day in the Champions League, without had scored. day by beating Barcelona 3-1 satisfying.” the suspended Gerard Pique. Madrid made the start they dreamed in the fi rst empty Clasico, Barcelona might feel hard done Every Barca setback now refl ects of when Karim Benzema drifted deep Rlanding an early blow in La Liga’s title by, especially as Ramos’ penalty was on the future of Messi, for whom this into the right channel and was allowed race. awarded after a check by VAR and a could even have been the last Clasico to turn, with the sprinting Valverde go- Barca had the chance to infl ict a hugely exaggerated fall by Madrid’s at Camp Nou. The Argentinian, who ing beyond him. third consecutive defeat on their rivals captain after Clement Lenglet tugged failed in his attempt to leave last sum- Valverde pierced the gap before lift- and increase the pressure on Zinedine his shirt. mer, has still to score from open play ing a curved shot past Neto and into the Zidane. “Maybe one day you can explain this season. far corner. Instead, Madrid’s win earns them a how VAR works here in Spain,” said Mundo Deportivo had declared the But within three minutes, Barcelona six-point lead over the Catalans, hav- Koeman. “We’ve had fi ve games in the match “The least Clasico of Clasicos” were level. Messi, from almost left- ing played one game more. league and VAR has only intervened on its front page yesterday morning. back, chipped a ball over the top free- “They are only three points but we against Barca.” The coronavirus pandemic meant ing Jordi Alba, who fi red into the front have to enjoy them, especially after But aside from an impressive spell the biggest football stadium in Europe post where Fati had nipped ahead of everything that has been said about the in the fi rst half, when Lionel Messi was silent for the game that La Liga Ramos and turned in. squad,” said Zidane. threatened to win the game on his president Javier Tebas had claimed is It was fast and open for the rest of Sergio Ramos’ penalty and a late own, Madrid were dominant for longer “still the biggest football match in the the half, with Messi enjoying a golden Luka Modric goal fi nished Barcelona spells and pulled away when it mat- world”. spell. He glided past Casemiro and off after Federico Valverde and Ansu tered. In the previous week, Real Madrid then swerved around Ramos, but onto Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric (C) celebrates with teammates Fati had traded early strikes in a frantic This was Ronald Koeman’s fi rst Cla- had lost to Shakhtar Donestsk and his right foot, the fi nish stabbed into after scoring against Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. game that defi ed those expecting fur- sico as Barcelona coach and some of the newly promoted Cadiz, while Barce- Thibaut Courtois at the near post. Gulf Times 2 Sunday, October 25, 2020 FOOTBALL QNB STARS LEAGUE Football is not without surprises, says Jovovic as Ahli face Sadd Ahli have been the surprise package so far this season, winning four out of four matches to lead the table By Sports Reporter and focus on ensuring that the team ful team with distinguished players, es- Doha is one unit in all its matches.