FFORMULAORMULA 1 | Page 2 FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 5 Eight titles ‘easy’ Olympic chiefs for Hamilton, talk Tokyo amid says former coronavirus champ Prost surge Friday, July 17, 2020 MOTORCYCLING Dhul-Qa’da 26, 1441 AH Marquez chases 7th GULF TIMES title as Rossi hopes to prolong career SPORT Page 6 SPOTLIGHT Qatar to host 2020 AFC Champions League in West region AFC Starting at Al Bayt Stadium a great Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia he Qatar Football Asso- motivation for us: Qatar coach Sanchez ciation (QFA) has been Tconfirmed as the host By Sports Reporter front of an 80,000 crowd. cilities in the country, will be a Member Association for the Doha The Supreme Committee milestone for Qatari football. 2020 AFC Champions League for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on He said with Qatar set to play matches in the West region Wednesday announced that Al the traditional opening game as from the Group Stage to the elix Sanchez, Qatar’s Bayt Stadium will host the fi rst the hosts of the 2022 FIFA World semi-finals, which will take Asian Cup winning match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the opening match at the place from September 14 to coach, said yesterday Al Cup. new venue will give an added October 3, 2020. Annabi playing the fi rst “Of course to see the date of value to the atmosphere. The AFC had earlier reiter- Fmatch of the 2022 FIFA World the match and schedule is a re- The World Cup, the fi rst edi- ated its commitment to Cup would be “a great motiva- minder of how near the competi- tion to be held in the Arab world, complete the 2020 AFC Club tion” for the national squad. tion. It is another motivation for will make the occasion a historic Competitions in a centralised Al Bayt Stadium, a us to be ready and to give a mem- one for the entire region, al- venue with all matches in the 60,000-capacity arena that orable performance,” Sanchez Kaabi said in his remarks. Group Stage for both the AFC takes its name and shape from said in reaction to the match He added that the fi rst match Champions League and AFC the traditional tents used by schedule being announced. for the Qatari squad in 2022 Cup to be played in full and nomadic peoples in the Gulf re- “It’s nice to see when we start would be a culmination of a long the knock-out stages consist- gion, will be the stage for hosts and where,” Sanchez added. journey that will also take a step ing of single match ties. Qatar to kick off the tournament Talal al-Kaabi, Executive Di- into another chapter of memo- The deadline for bids to host the centralised AFC Champions on November 21, 2022, at 1pm. rector of the National Football rable matches. League West region matches was on July 13, 2020. The local kick-off times for the last round of group games will be the setting for the play- Teams, yesterday said the open- He said watching Qatar play Member Associations have until July 24 to submit their interest group matches have been set for and knockout-stage timings be- off for third place on December ing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in front of home matches would to host the AFC Champions League matches in the East Zone and 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm, with ing 6pm and 10pm. 17. The fi nal will kick off one day at Al Bayt Stadium, one of the certainly inspire a future gen- July 17 to stage the AFC Cup matches. the simultaneous kick-off s for Khalifa International Stadium later at 6pm at Lusail Stadium in most important football fa- eration of players. CRICKET / ENG VS WI Sibley leads England recovery against Windies ‘I think we’re in a good position, obviously we need to bat well tomorrow and capitalise on it’ Scorecard AFP ENGLAND 1st innings Manchester, United Kingdom R. Burns lbw b Chase 15 D. Sibley not out 86 om Sibley’s painstak- Z. Crawley c Holder b Chase 0 ing unbeaten 86 helped J. Root c Holder b Joseph 23 England recover from an B. Stokes not out 59 early collapse to be 207- D3 at stumps on the fi rst day of the Extras (b4, lb6, nb5, w9) 24 second Test against the West In- Total (3 wkts, 82 overs) 207 dies at Old Traff ord yesterday. Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Burns), Warwickshire opener Sibley 2-29 (Crawley), 3-81 (Root) batted out the day’s 82 overs during more than six hours at the crease Bowling: Roach 20-4-37-0 (1w, on the way to posting his second 3nb); Gabriel 10-1-32-0 (4w, 2nb); successive fi fty of the series. Joseph 15-3-41-1; Holder 20-8-33- England, in a match they have 0; Chase 16-1-53-2; Brathwaite to win to level the three-match 1-0-1-0 contest, were in trouble at 29-2 after off -spinner Roston Chase last week’s fi rst Test at Southamp- took two wickets in two balls ei- ton to attend the birth of his second ther side of lunch. child, survived the hat-trick. But the twice dropped Sib- He helped Sibley add 52, with ley and Ben Stokes (59 not out) much of that stand compiled shared an unbroken stand of 126 while West Indies fast bowler after they lost the toss in over- Shannon Gabriel — man-of-the- cast, bowler-friendly conditions. match at Southampton — was off “I think we’re in a good posi- the fi eld injured. tion, obviously we need to bat But young paceman Alzarri well tomorrow and capitalise on Joseph, using the width of the it,” England coach Chris Silver- crease, lured Root, then on 23, wood told Sky Sports. into chasing a ball outside off “We’ve seen two very good stump, with second slip Holder partnerships there. Dominic catching a thick edge. concentrates very well, he’s will- Sibley had a let-off shortly ing to bat for long periods of time before tea when, on 44, a tough and that’s what we needed at the chance went down at short leg top so the middle order can come off Chase. in when the bowlers are a bit And he was reprieved again more tired.” on 68 when the usually reliable England suff ered a setback be- Holder dropped a routine slip fore play started when they were chance off Gabriel. forced to leave out Jofra Archer Sibley then survived an lbw after the fast bowler admitted to appeal on 82 from Kemar Roach breaking coronavirus protocols. due to umpire’s call. Archer left the bio-secure Meanwhile normally fl uent all- bubble where his teammates were rounder Stokes, back among the staying to go home to Brighton on ranks after standing in as skip- Monday following the end of the England’s Ben Stokes (left) celebrates his half-century with Dom Sibley on the first day of the second Test against West Indies at Old Traff ord in Manchester yesterday. (Reuters) per at Southampton, needed 119 fi rst Test, before the team trav- balls to reach fi fty on a day where elled up to Manchester. as James Anderson. up here. I spoke to (West Indies has made a mistake. He is a young win would see the Caribbean side England’s 29-1 become 29-2 a sluggish outfi eld deprived Eng- The Barbados-born quick’s coach) Phil Simmons this morn- man and he’s made a bad judge- secure a fi rst Test series victory in when Zak Crawley fell for a land of several boundaries. absence deprived England of ‘BAD JUDGEMENT’ ing and am grateful for the way ment call. He knows he’s done England for 32 years. golden duck after tamely turn- As in the fi rst Test, players genuine speed on a pitch that “He went home,” said Silverwood they have reacted.” that and we will support him as But on the stroke of lunch, ing Chase straight to West Indies from both teams and the umpires traditionally assists fast bowlers of Archer. Asked if he felt let down by best we can.” Chase struck with just his second captain Jason Holder at leg-slip. took a knee in support of the after the hosts had already de- “Obviously that breaches the Archer, former England bowler West Indies’ quicks made a ball to have Rory Burns lbw for 15. England captain Joe Root, who Black Lives Matter campaign be- cided to rest Mark Wood, as well protocol of what we have set Silverwood added: “We feel he wayward start in a match where a And the fi rst ball back saw missed his side’s four-wicket loss in fore play started at Old Traff ord. Gulf Times 2 Friday, July 17, 2020 SPORT FOCUS SPOTLIGHT Archer apologises for breaching virus bubble Uncapped trio in AFP A spokesman said the His absence deprives England Australia squad for Manchester, United Kingdom breach had come to light late of genuine speed on an Old Traf- on Wednesday. He could not ford pitch with a reputation for confi rm if Archer would face aiding fast bowlers. potential England tour ngland paceman Jofra disciplinary action in addition The 25-year-old hit the 90 Archer apologised yes- to missing the second Test on miles-per-hour mark during AFP Nathan Coulter-Nile, who both terday after he was ruled health grounds.