Advani and Chandra World Champs After Thrilling Final
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FOOTBALL | Page 3 GOLF | Page 6 More woe ‘Tiger has for Wenger shown he as City cruise is a threat past Arsenal again’ Saturday, March 3, 2018 CRICKET Jumada II 15, 1439 AH Starc attack leaves GULF TIMES South Africa reeling in Durban Test SPORT Page 7 FOOTBALL WINNERS ALL Ibrahimovic set to leave Man United AFP away from Manchester. Manchester “For Zlatan, we all think it’s his last season at Manchester United and it will be a very personal decision for ose Mourinho says Zlatan Ib- him to play or to stop,” Mourinho told rahimovic has “won the right reporters yesterday. to choose his future” after ac- “I think he won the right to choose Jknowledging that the striker is his life, his future, such an amazing likely to leave Manchester United at player and an amazing career. the end of the season. “Only that awful injury in the Ibrahimovic, 36, is out of contract wrong moment broke a fantastic cou- at Old Traff ord at the end of the cur- ple of seasons he could and should rent campaign and has been heavily have with us. linked with a move to MLS club Los “This season has been really dif- Angeles Galaxy. fi cult for him. He’s not injured. Does The former Paris Saint-Germain he feel totally happy, ready and con- forward has not played for United vinced that he’s in the condition to since their 2-2 draw against Burnley help the team in this moment? No. on December 26, having decided that “But he’s such an honest guy and he was not in the right shape after Cup loss at Bristol City. such a champion he only wants to be recovering from career-threatening He hopes to return in time for back with that feeling of: ‘I’m totally cruciate knee ligament damage sus- the second leg of the Champions ready for it’. tained in April. League last-16 tie against Sevilla “So he’s working hard and hope- (L-R) Silver medallist Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, gold medallist Authorised Neutral Athlete Danil Lysenko and Ibrahimovic has made only seven at Old Trafford a week on Tuesday, fully his evolution brings him to that bronze medallist Germany’s Mateusz Przybylko pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the appearances for United this term, but United boss Mourinho said the level he wants to have a positive an- men’s high jump at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at the Arena in Birmingham on March 1. scoring just once in a shock League Swede’s long-term plans may lie swer.” WORLD TEAM SNOOKER Advani and Chandra world champs aft er thrilling fi nal Indian pair bounce back from two frames down to beat Pakistan’s Masih and Asif in decider By Mikhil Bhat Doha n a blockbuster fi nal, India-2, com- prising Manan Chandra and Pankaj Advani, rallied from a 0-2 defi cit to claim the inaugural IBSF-ACBS IWorld Team Snooker Cup with a 3-2 win over Pakistan-1’s Mohamed Asif and Babar Masih at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Hall yesterday. With Pakistan-1 up 2-0, Masih had just put his team in control of the fi nal with a 30-point break in the doubles frame. But then, he missed the pot on a red and opened it up for Chandra. The 37-year-old stitched together a 39-point break and got some breathing space. “If he hadn’t given me that opening where I could come back; it gave me a lot of confi dence making that 39 break,” Chandra said. Further down in the frame, Chandra’s partner, Pankaj Advani, wrapped up the frame potting the colour balls 4, 5 and 6 to keep India-2 in the game. Advani then worked like clockwork in the fourth frame, once Masih missed potting the black after being 20-0 up. them, I guess. All thanks to my partner. like to make a mention of the organisers, ment, like their fi nal opponents. Advani, who had won his last two world Both of us contributed equally in the the QBSF, the ACBS, the IBSF, they have “Overall, we played well in the tour- titles – IBSF World Billiards Champion- whole tournament, and gave our best.” done a fantastic job.” nament. It happens sometimes that ship (150-up) and IBSF World Snooker Advani added: “At one stage when Talking about the fi nal, former strategy doesn’t work out the way you Championship – in Doha in November, we were down 30 points, it was looking snooker world champion Asif said, “I expect it to. And team events are actu- put together a 37-point break, before like 3-0, I think Manan made that 39. missed some easy ones because of which ally very short. So if you don’t make cleaning up with a 69-point break and Babar had missed a sitter, and some- it became diffi cult to control the game. good use of your chances, then you fall pushing the game into the decider. times it requires just one opportunity. In the last frame, he had some lead and under pressure,” Asif said. In the fi fth frame, Chandra, who had It changed in the doubles frame. That’s we were at a point that I could have at For Chandra, however, losing the won the deciding frame earlier in the why the doubles frame is so crucial and least cleared his lead, but missed an easy tournament opener was not really bad semi-fi nal against Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh that changed the momentum of the pink. I was trying to not play a powerful news. “We knew we had to win one and Ehsan Heydari Nezhad, put togeth- game. Had it been all singles, we would shot, and trying to get to a selective po- match out of two to qualify. And in er a 22-point break to lead the frame India’s Pankaj Advani (R) hugs teammate Manan Chandra after their victory over have been hammered today. I am just sition. But it so happened that the pink fact I was joking around with Pankaj 38-17. Pakistan’s Mohamed Asif and Babar Masih in Doha yesterday. At right, the happy that we lifted the fi rst edition of left its spot and got kicked a bit. It went that the last time I won the Asian team At 20-38, just when it looked like Asif winners and runners-up pose with their prizes. PICTURES: Ramchand this World Cup, and full credit to my a bit too far, and after that I couldn’t championship here in Doha, we had had the chance to get going, he missed partner, who just pulled off two amaz- make a comeback into the game. I was lost the fi rst match then as well. After potting the pink at the top of the table. Asif-Masih received USD7,000 for tough fi nal against Pakistan, a dream fi - ing deciders.” mentally disturbed because of that.” we lost the fi rst match here, I had told That and a couple of more misses fur- their runner-up eff ort. nal actually, old rivals. He added: “Although it is a short for- Asif and Masih, the team that won the Pankaj then itself that last time this ther in the frame cost Pakistan-1 dearly “For me it is my biggest achievement. “We were 2-0 down but we managed mat and you tend to play a little tacti- world championships in August 2017 in had happened, so let’s hope it repeats as India-2 picked up the unprecedented I have never won a world title before,” to take it frame by frame, make small but cal but you still enjoy good conditions Hurghada, Egypt, had made a losing again.” USD15,000 prize money. Chandra said after the win. “It was a crucial breaks, and that put pressure on when you get them. That’s why I would start to their campaign in the tourna- It did. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, March 3, 2018 FOOTBALL QNB STARS LEAGUE FOCUS Umm Salal face Al Ahli edge out Qatar SC, aim to get back to fourth By Sports Reporter Brazilian striker Patrick Fabiano, Doha who had a long injury layoff af- Al Kharaitiyat ter signing for them ahead of the second phase, is ready to play. atar SC will have a The teams had played out a 1-1 Brigadiers’ goals came in the second half through Chikhaoui, Muntari and Younes tough task on hand draw in the fi rst phase. when they are up Meanwhile, Al Arabi, having By Sports Reporter against Umm Salal received some confi dence boost- Qin the QNB Stars League to- er after their third win, against Al Doha day. Umm Salal, with 27 points, Kharaitiyat last week, will look to are fi fth place after losing a build on that when they face Al l Ahli secured all three points with spot and are keen to get back to Markhiya today. a 3-2 victory at home against Al fourth positon. For that, the Or- It will be hard for Al Markhiya Kharaitiyat in a closely-contested ange Fortress cannot aff ord any to stay motivated following the QNB Stars League match yesterday. slip-ups as Al Gharafa are going decision to overturn their victory AThe Brigadiers’ goals came in the second strong and have two points more over Al Gharafa for breaching the half through Yasine Chikhaoui, Mohamed than them.