NNBABA | Page 5 TTENNISENNIS | Page 7 Team LeBron Tunisian Jabeur edge Team upsets Riske Giannis to win in opening All-Star thriller round Tuesday, February 18, 2020 CRICKET Jumada II 24, 1441 AH Faf du Plessis GULF TIMES quits as South Africa skipper SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL / AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Sadd face high-fl ying Sepahan, Duhail take on Taawoun ‘I saw Sepahan’s last match, and it was a surprise to me that they won by 4-0. There is no doubt it will be a tough match’ By Sports Reporter Doha l Sadd will aim to get the fi rst win of their cam- paign, while Al Duhail will look to keep the Awinning momentum going as the Qatari giants return to AFC Champions League action today. Sadd will have the advantage of playing at home as they play Iran’s Sepahan at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at 6:35pm. For Duhail, though, it’s an away game against Saudi side Al Taawoun at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Buraidah. Sadd, the 2011 AFC Champions League winners came away from Riyadh with a 2-2 draw against Al Nassr in their fi rst match, while Sepahan stunned Al Ain 4-0 in their opening match. On the match eve, Sadd’s head coach Xavi Hernandez said he expected a diffi cult match against Sepahan and was surprised by Iranian side’s one-sided win against Al Ain. “I saw Sepahan’s last match, and it was a surprise to me that they won by 4-0. There is no doubt tomorrow it will be a tough His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani speaks to Al Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez during a match against them, but will do practice session in Doha yesterday. our best and we are very excited to play in the Asian Champions Al Sadd players in action during a practice session on the eve of their AFC Champions League match against League,” Xavi said yesterday. Iranian club Sepahan. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil Last week, Sadd showed resil- ience to come back from a goal but we are ready for all matches Champions League football for League campaign with a goal and down inside the fi rst seven min- and are excited what is in store the fi rst time in three years as Han contributed an assist against utes to snatch a 2-2 draw from a for us,” he added. home side Al Taawoun welcome Persepolis last week. diffi cult Al Nassr side, with Has- For Sepahan, today’s encoun- Qatari powerhouse Al Duhail, The Saudis had the perfect san al-Haydos scoring early in ter off ers an opportunity to ce- who Al Duhail presented their start to their continental cam- the second half after an own goal ment their early lead in the group credentials with a solid 2-0 home paign with Faisal Darwish’s had helped the Qataris equalise. and put themselves in a comfort- win against Persepolis FC. free-kick earning them a 1-0 vic- Since becoming the fi rst Qatari able position, knowing they play Walid Regragui’s Al Duhail will tory over Sharjah last week. Taa- side to win the AFC Champions their last two games of the group be mindful of a repeat of the 2019 woun’s fi rst and only previous League in 2011, Al Sadd reached stage on home soil. scenario, when they travelled to appearance in the AFC Cham- the semi-fi nals twice – in the last The Isfahan-based side might Saudi off the back of a convinc- pions League came in 2017 after two editions. For coach Xavi, the not boast the history or the pop- ing home win against Iranian op- they had fi nished fourth in the 2020 campaign might fi nally be ularity of Esteghlal and Persepo- ponents, but were battered by Al Saudi Pro League and benefi ted the year they go all the way to the lis, but Sepahan are in fact Iran’s Hilal 3-1 in Riyadh. from the ineligibility of third- fi nal, but for now the next chal- most successful side in the AFC The Qatari’s have continued placed Ittihad at the time. lenge is to overcome the high- Champions League, having ap- their Juventus link with their This time around, the Burai- fl ying visitors. peared in the competition 11 January business, adding at- dah side earned their place in the “I hope we can reach the fi - times, reaching the fi nal in 2007 tacking duo Mario Mandzukic group stage after stunning heav- nal and win the title,” said Xavi. – the fi rst Iranian side to achieve and Han Kwang-song from the yweights Al Hilal in the semi- “The AFC Champions League is this feat, which has since been Italian club, a year after they fi nals and Ittihad in the fi nal to a very diffi cult tournament, but replicated by Zobahan in 2010 had acquired Moroccan centre- snatch the 2019 King’s Cup, the my team has capability to win the and Persepolis in 2018. back Medhi Benatia. Mandzukic fi rst major trophy in the club’s title. We are in a diffi cult group Meanwhile, Buraidah hosts started his fi rst AFC Champions history. Players of Iranian club Sepahan take part in a practice session yesterday. RALLYING Al-Attiyah tops quality Qatar Cross-Country Rally fi eld from 17 nations By Sports Reporter Mohamed al-Meer seeded at four as a co-driver and a driver, and the furthest to take part in the Lusail, Qatar in his powerful Chevrolet Buggy returns to action with French- T3 section in a Polaris RZR 1000. and teaming up with Ukrainian man Laurent Lichtleuchter. Qa- The driver hails from Equador navigator Dmitry Tsyro. Abdul- tar-based Manuel Luchesse and and his navigator has travelled efending champion lah al-Rabban also features in T1 Portugal’s Pedro Santos team up from Argentina to cross the Qatar Nasser Saleh al-At- in a Jeep with Russian co-driver with al-Kuwari and Rashid al- deserts for the fi rst time. tiyah tops the entry Igor Chudaykin. Mohannadi and Slovenian Vili The sole entrants in the T4 for next week’s Man- A new QMMF Team has entered Oslaj partners al-Harqan and will section are the American duo of Dateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally a quartet of Can-Am Maverick X3s be using hard signals to guide his Austin Jones and Kellon Walch in (MQCCR) on a quality list an- and a Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo in driver. a Can-Am Maverick X3 entered nounced by the Qatar Motor and the hotly-contested T3 category Former FIA T2 World Cham- by South Racing. Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) that has attracted 11 teams. Khalid pion Adel Abdulla also makes a Manateq – Economic Zones yesterday. al-Mohannadi drives the Polaris welcome return to the champi- Company is the title sponsor for Competitors from 17 nations alongside the experienced French onship after missing the latter the third successive season. Es- will tackle fi ve demanding se- navigator Sebastien Delaunay, part of the 2019 season. He teams tablished in 2011, the company is lective sections across the Qatar while Mubarak al-Hajri, Ahmed up with Frenchman Jean-Michel positioned as a vital component deserts on February 23-27. Al- al-Kuwari, Rashid al-Mohannadi Polato in the T3 category. in achieving the economic de- Attiyah heads a three-car Toyota and Mohamed Harqan drive the Other competitors are tak- velopment goals of the Qatar Na- team that should be challenging Can-Ams. ing part from as far afi eld as the tional Vision 2030, through pro- for overall T1 honours at the top Al-Hajri is a veteran of nu- USA, Hungary, Poland the Neth- viding premium infrastructure of the leader board. merous rounds of the FIA Mid- erlands and Belgium, but the within strategic economic zones Qatari drivers feature in both dle East Rally Championship duo of Gonzalo Guayasamin and to promote the logistics and in- the T1 and T3 categories, with and cross-country rallies, both Ricardo Torlaschi have travelled dustrial sectors in Qatar. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, February 18, 2020 CRICKET SPOTLIGHT Du Plessis, Rabada back in Du Plessis quits as South Africa skipper South African squad AFP my energy towards.” Former captain Faf du Ples- Johannesburg Du Plessis took over as limited sis and fast bowler Kagiso overs captain in 2012 and became Rabada will return to the Test captain in 2016. He built up South African squad for a af du Plessis announced a reputation as one of the coun- three-match Twenty20 series yesterday that he was try’s outstanding leaders with his against Australia, starting stepping down as South achievements including home- at the Wanderers Stadium Africa’s cricket captain and-away series wins against on Friday. Du Plessis, who withF immediate eff ect. Australia in both Tests and one- announced earlier yesterday Du Plessis, 35, said he needed to day internationals. But South Af- that he was stepping down take “a step back” from the cap- rica lost eight of their most recent from the captaincy, is part of a taincy in order to help the emer- nine Tests under his leadership 16-man squad to be captained gence of the next generation of and had a poor World Cup. This by Quinton de Kock. leaders under Quinton de Kock. period coincided with upheavals Both Du Plessis and Rabada De Kock led the team in recent in administration and the fi ring were rested from one-day and one-day and Twenty20 interna- of coach Ottis Gibson and most of T20 series against England tionals against England while Du his backroom staff , as well as the following a Test series be- Plessis was being rested.