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FOOTBALL | Page 2 CRICKET | Page 7 Alli and Kane Warner ton earn Spurs takes H’bad Stirring win to win over over Arsenal Kolkata Monday, May 1, 2017 FORMULA ONE Sha’baan 5, 1438 AH Bottas claims fi rst GULF TIMES win for Mercedes ahead of Vettel SPORT Page 6 ATHLETICS Mansour exhorts young Qataris to conquer world It was Mansour who put Qatar on the world sports map in the 1980s and early 90s during which he scorched the track with his trailblazing runs and came to be known as the ‘Sprint King of Asia’ Talal Mansour (second from left) with Qatar Athletics Federation off icials and young Qatari athletes at a press conference yesterday. By Anil John meets. “They feared me, the Japanese, Public to participate in Doha Diamond Doha the Chinese. I would like the young Qatari athletes to do the same to their League press conference rivals as they progress in their careers,” hree decades before high- Mansour said. By Sports Reporter jumper Mutaz Barshim, rally He singled out hammer thrower Doha driver-cum-shooter Nasser Ashraf Elseify, middle distance spe- Saleh al-Attiyah and a few oth- cialist Abdulrahman Samba and fe- Ters captured the imagination of the male sprinter Mariam Farid for special he Qatar Olympic Commit- sporting world with their sensational praise. tee and the Qatar Athletics performances at the Olympics and “I have been watching Mariam dur- Federation have announced other prestigious events, Qatar’s iden- ing her training sessions at the Aspire T that the Doha Diamond tity on the global stage was almost ex- Academy and I would like to see her im- League 2017 press conference will be clusively defi ned by the exploits of just prove a lot with her participation at the open to the public for the first time one person — Talal Mansour. Doha Diamond League. She has great ever. To be held at City Center Mall The now 52-year-old Mansour may talent. Abdulrahman has been also do- from 11:30am to 12:30pm on May 4, not ring a bell among the current gen- ing well and should touch new highs,” the conference will discuss the ath- eration of sports fans, but it was he who said the Qatari legend. letes’ hopes for the upcoming season, put Qatar on the world sports map in The 19-year-old Mariam was en- which kicks off on May 5t at Qatar only IAAF Diamond League meeting the 1980s and early 90s during which thused by the praise and promised to Sports Club. Tickets are on sale now in the Middle East and is one of he scorched the track with his trailblaz- do her best. “It’s a matter of great pride at www.q-tickets.com to be part of the the most exciting sporting events ing runs and came to be known as the and honour for me to be applauded by action-packed evening of world-class hosted annually in Qatar. The best ‘Sprint King of Asia’. a legendary athlete like Talal Mansour. athletics. athletes from around the world will Mansour made the world sit up and His words will surely inspire me,” she The new and innovative format to the be competing, including Olympic take notice when he broke Japan’s and added. press conference will be hosted by and World Champions, together with China’s stranglehold in the sprints Thirteen Qatari athletes will com- World and Olympic triple jump Cham- Qatar’s own world-class athletes such by winning the gold at the 1986 Asian pete in the Doha Diamond League meet pion, Team USA’s Christian Taylor, as Mutaz Barshim, Ashraf Elseify and Games in Seoul. He repeated the feat at which 16 reigning Olympic and world and reigning Olympic Champion in Ahmed Bedeir. We aim to organise four years later at the Beijing Asian champions have been confi rmed. the shot put, Michelle Carter, who will the event to the highest possible Games and in 1994 claimed the 100 and The competition will be also an op- discuss the exciting start to the Dia- standards and provide the very best 200m sprint double at the 1994 event portunity for Qatar’s two-time Olym- mond League with fellow World and conditions for athletes and spectators in Hiroshima. pic medallist Mutaz Barshim, who is Olympic Champions, including Qatar’s alike. ” It’s safe to say that had this happened gunning for Cuban Sotomayer’s world sporting legend, Mutaz Barshim. The in this era of all-pervasive television record of 2.45m. Barshim’s best is press conference will be open to the The press conference will and information overload, Mansour 2.43m, set in 2014. public for the first time ever, with be open to the public for the would have been the stuff of celluloid Femi Ogunode, who set a world lead- the aim of encouraging and inspir- fi rst time ever, with the aim dreams. In fact, his background and ing time of 9.82 seconds at the Emir ing Qatar’s residents to engage in of encouraging and inspiring his rise to global fame could well form Cup athletics meet will be another athletics through the Doha Diamond Qatar’s residents to engage in an attractive topic for a blockbuster bi- athlete to watch out for. Others in- League. The public will be able to find athletics opic, or even a full length feature fi lm. clude his younger brother Tosin Ogu- out more about what this year’s Doha Imagine this: a large family of no- Femi Ogunode, Qatar’s current 100m star node (100m), Mohamed Nasir Abbas Diamond League has to off er and Commenting during a question and mads wander into Qatar from the Rub (400m), as well as Qatar’s Youth Ol- there will be opportunities following answer session at Sunday’s media Al Khali Desert (Empty Quarter), the Mansour now plays an active role introduce some of the Qatari athletes ympic silver medallist Hamza Driouch the press conference for photos and briefing, Bedeir said: largest contiguous sand desert in the with the Qatar Athletics Federation participating in the Doha Diamond (1,500m). autographs. “The level of the Doha Diamond world with an area spanning 650,000 (QAF) in spotting talented young ath- League meeting on May 5, Mansour Samba will compete against some Dr Thani al-Kuwari (pictured), League is very high as it is attended square kilometres which include parts letes and nurturing them. He means spoke highly of them, saying they have of the best athletes in the world in the President of the Qatar Athletics Fed- by the world’s greatest athletics stars, of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and business when he speaks and when he the potential to make their mark on the 400m hurdles event. Earlier in March, eration and Secretary General of the so the competition will be very tough. Yemen. They set up base in Doha, and says certain athletes would go far, it world scene if they kept their focus. the 22-year-old cruised to victory in Qatar Olympic Committee said during I have been training hard and cannot from such beginnings rises a boy who would be foolhardy to dismiss him off - He spoke of the days when his rivals the Sasol-NWU International meeting a media briefing on Sunday: wait to compete and I hope to honour would go on to become a role model for hand. would panic when they saw him lin- in South Africa with a time 48.31 sec- “The Doha Diamond League is the Qatar and make everyone proud.” the country. Yesterday at a press conference to ing up alongside them at international onds. Gulf Times 2 Monday, May 1, 2017 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT BLOCKED Sigurdsson dents Alli and Kane earn United’s CL dreams Spurs stirring win Dele Alli and Harry Kane kept Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League title hunt as their side torpedoed Arsenal 2-0 in White Hart Lane’s last north London derby Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson (C) celebrates after scoring. AFP “We have a squad of 22 that London is reduced to 13 or 14 players. The players are very tired. I am more than happy with sublime free-kick by the players, they gave Icelandic international everything they could. I Gylfi Sigurdsson gained have zero criticism” Premier League strug- Aglers Swansea a deserved point in a “We lost players and we lost 1-1 draw with Manchester United points, so yes today was a bad yesterday, dealing a blow to the day,” Mourinho told the BBC. latter’s Champions League hopes. “We did not look tired and Sigurdsson’s 10th goal of the exhausted, we are tired and ex- season but fi rst in 11 matches can- hausted. You cannot isolate the celled out veteran Wayne Rooney’s performance out of the context. contentious penalty in time added This is the ninth match of April, on in the fi rst-half when Mar- it is not human. cus Rashford made the most out “We have a squad of 22 that is of minimal contact with ‘Swans’ reduced to 13 or 14 players. The goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. players are very tired. The point saw United move “I am more than happy with level on points with city rivals the players, they gave everything Manchester City but remained they could. I have zero criticism. fi fth, a place outside the auto- “I don’t know about the inju- matic spots for the Champions ries. I think Luke Shaw’s must be League, because of a poorer goal a big injury, because to leave the diff erence.