Injury to Go to Achieve What I Want,” Bouchard Said
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TENNIS | Page 2 CRICKET | Page 7 Bouchard South To Advertise here sets up Africa move Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 SF clash on from with Konta ‘disruption’ Thursday, January 12, 2017 FOOTBALLFOO Rabia Il 14, 1438 AH Mourinho GULF TIMES tells fans and players to step up SPORT PagePag 4 TENNIS Kerber, Radwanska headline Qatar Total Open fi eld By Sports Reporter Defending champion Carla Angelique KerberDoha Suárez Navarro of Spain is Agnieszka Radwanska also set for her title defence in Doha and she will be hoping to he 2017 Qatar Total join the likes of Maria Open, the 15th edi- Sharapova, Anastasia tion of the prestig- Myskina and Victoria Azaren- ious WTA Premier ka as the only two-time win- Ttournament, will witness a ners of the tournament. star-studded fi eld, featuring In all, 32 players will com- seven of the world top 10 play- pete in the singles while 16 ers, who will be strutting their pairs will be showcasing their stuff at the Khalifa Interna- skills in the doubles of the six- tional Tennis & Squash Com- day tournament. plex from February 13 to 18. “It’s a great privilege to host The array of amazons for these bevy of stars once again this year’s tournament in- in Doha. Qatar has become a clude world No. 1 Angelique home for tennis and we are Kerber of Germany, who will ready as usual to showcase the be joined by the likes of Ag- best the game can off er. nieszka Radwanska, the world “All hands are on the deck No. 3, No. 5 Dominika Cibulk- to ensure a very successful ova, No. 6 Karolina Pliskova, tournament and it is our belief Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, that this year’s event will be the world No. 7, besides Svet- greater than all the previous in lana Kuznetsova and Johanna all ramifi cations,” tournament Konta among others for the director Saad al-Mohannadi $776,000 prize money event. said in a release yesterday. HANDBALL Qatar open Worlds campaign against Egypt tomorrow Qatar finished runners-up to France at the Doha Worlds two years back and have been a force to reckon with in the region By Sports Reporter Doha The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is illuminated with images of the 25th World atar will take on Egypt tomor- Handball Championship. row in their opening match of the 2017 World Handball Championship, which began Qyesterday in France yesterday. The biennial event, last hosted by Qatar, is expected to be among the most intense to date for a number of reasons. While Qatar shone bright as France snatched the title in 2015 in Doha, one cannot ignore Germany’s resurgence and its 2016 European ti- tle, as well as Denmark’s gold medal in Rio last summer, meaning that this year’s tournament will see unprec- edented intensity. Qatar are placed in Group D, along- side Denmark, Sweden, Bahrain, Ar- gentina and Egypt. They fi nished run- ner-up to France at the Doha Worlds two years back and have been a force to reckon with in the region. They form of Danijel Saric, who saved at an went from second at London 2012 to arrived rather late at the top level of average of 35% through the Olympic fi nish 11th at the Rio Games, and have men’s handball, but when they did ar- tournament. Left-back Rafael Capote subsequently undergone a change in rive, it was with a bang. was the sixth top goal-scorer with a coaching staff . The Asian champions went from tally of 40, while right-back Zarko The Handball Worlds is returning 20th at the 2013 World Championship Markovic was eighth with 33. All to France following a 16-year absence to an unprecedented second at the 24th three were a key component in Qatar’s and the country’s second world ti- Worlds in Doha in 2015. Prior to that World Championship success, with tle. At the last Worlds in France, Arab their highest ranking on the world stage Saric stopping a total of 75 shots to teams began posting improved results, was 16th, though they had experienced rank as third-best keeper and Capote as Egypt became the fi rst Arab and continental successes including win- and Markovic named as the All-Star African team to reach the semi-fi nals, ning the Asian Championship in 2014. players in their respective positions. followed by Tunisia in 2005. Qatar Last year Qatar again claimed the Under the leadership of 2013 World stole the spotlight in the 2015 tour- Asian title, only months after they Championship winning coach Valero nament, becoming the fi rst Arab and won the Asian Olympic tournament to Rivera, who led Spain to the title two non-European team to reach the fi nal. secure their nation’s fi rst ever berth at years before guiding Qatar to silver, the Olympic Games. Considering their the Asian champions have become Qatar Files success at the 2015 World Champion- one of the top forces in men’s hand- Coach: Valero Rivera ship, Qatar were one of the favourites ball. After the disappointment of leav- Key players: Danijel Saric (goalkeeper), to win a medal at Rio 2016, but they ing Rio 2016 empty handed, the squad Rafael Capote (left-back) were eliminated from the gold-medal will undoubtedly be set on a stronger Best finish: Runners-up at 2015 World race in the quarter-fi nal stage by Ger- showing at France 2017. Championship in Doha many — the very team Qatar knocked Qatar appear to have a good chance Past showing: 1954-2001: DNQ; 2003: out of the running at the World Cham- of fi nishing near or at the top of the 16th; 2005: 21st; 2007: 23rd; 2009-2011: pionship 18 months before. Group D table at the end of the prelim- DNQ; 2013: 20th; 2015: 2nd Qatar nevertheless fi nished eighth inary round, where they will meet Rio Qatar are placed in Group D at 2017 overall, and boasted the second-best 2016 gold medallists Denmark, Egypt, Worlds, alongside Denmark, Sweden, goalkeeper of the competition in the Bahrain, Argentina and Sweden — who Egypt, Bahrain and Argentina Gulf Times 2 Thursday, January 12, 2017 TENNIS SPOTLIGHT Recharged Bouchard sets up Sydney semi-fi nal with Konta On a stifling day where temperatures topped 42 degrees Celsius, former world number one Wozniacki goes down AFP Gastao Elias before clinching a quarter-fi nal been great here over the last three years.” Sydney spot at the Sydney International yesterday. German fi fth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber Thiem, the world number eight, had sev- knocked out Australian Jordan Thompson eral chances to put away the plucky 81st- 7-5, 6-4 and will face the two-time defending ugenie Bouchard reached her fi rst ranked Elias, only to be broken back before he champion Viktor Troicki. Third seed Troicki semi-fi nal for 10 months as she eventually won 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5 in a match from Serbia won his 13th consecutive match battled intense heat to down high- that fi nished at midnight. Thiem will now at the Sydney international with a 6-3, 6-4 er-ranked Russian Anastasia Pav- face Britain’s number three Daniel Evans in win over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi. Elyuchenkova at the Sydney International yes- today’s quarters. Kohlschreiber needed just 84 minutes to terday. The former Wimbledon fi nalist wore “That’s three times I’ve played Gastao and cruise past Thompson, who failed to save a down the 27th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, each time it has been very close matches,” single break point. 6-3 in 76 minutes to set up a semi-fi nal with Thiem said. “He was running unbelievable Spanish fourth seed Pablo Carreno-Busta Britain’s world number 10 Johanna Konta. with long rallies and I’m very happy to be in dropped the fi rst set before overcoming Ger- It will be the 49th-ranked Canadian’s fi rst the quarter-fi nals.” man Mischa Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. WTA Tour semi-fi nal since the Malaysian Evans fought back from dropping the Carreno-Busta will face Andrey Kuznetsov Open in March last year. “It’s a good step in opening set to down Spanish eighth seed in the last eight after the Russian beat Aus- the right direction. I know there is a long way Marcel Granollers 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Gilles Muller tralian teenager Alex De Minaur on an injury to go to achieve what I want,” Bouchard said. earlier beat the heat to be one match away retirement at the start of the second set after “But to match up against solid players like I from a third straight semi-fi nal appearance winning the opening set 6-2. have this week, it’s a very tough tournament at the Sydney International, following a big- here. So I’m proud of that, for sure.” serving victory over Australian Matt Barton. RESULTS Bouchard beat Konta in three sets in the The sixth seed from Luxembourg prevailed (x denotes seed): second round at last year’s Wimbledon, but over Barton 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 as temperatures Women’s singles Quarter-finals it was a battle. “I barely got through the last nudged 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) to reach Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Caroline Wozniacki one. She’s a top-10 player. She’s playing the quarter-fi nals. Muller, who lost to Grigor (DEN x10) 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4; Eugenie Bouchard her best tennis right now,” Bouchard said of Dimitrov in last year’s semi-fi nal, will next (CAN) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-2, Konta.