Al-Attiyah Equals Record with 12Th Jordan Rally Win Win Was Al-Attiyah’S Record-Breaking 67Th in MERC History and 16Th for His French Co-Driver Baumel
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FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 2 TTENNISENNIS | Page 7 Bayern Munich Nadal into beat Eintracht, Barcelona fi nal Cologne with 400th relegated clay win Sunday, April 29, 2018 FORMULA 1 Sha’baan 13, 1439 AH Third straight pole GULF TIMES for Vettel, Hamilton shares front row SPORT Page 6 FIA MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP Al-Attiyah equals record with 12th Jordan Rally win Win was al-Attiyah’s record-breaking 67th in MERC history and 16th for his French co-driver Baumel By A Correspondent Emad Juma had hoped to challenge al- Dead Sea, Jordan Thefi ri over the closing stages, but had to be satisfi ed with fourth overall and maximum points on the second round asser Saleh al-Attiyah of the Jordan National Championship. matched another major mile- Local rivals Ahmad and Shadi Shaban stone in the history of the FIA fi nished fi fth and Ihab al-Shorafa and Middle East Rally Champion- Yousef Juma were classifi ed in sixth Nship by equalling Mohamed Ben Su- place. layem’s 12 victories at the Jordan Rally Lebanon’s Henry Kahy had to send yesterday. his Skoda Fabia to Jordan via Jeddah Al-Attiyah and French navigator and his hard work with Jordanian co- Matthieu Baumel began the fi nal day driver Musa Djiyerian was rewarded with a lead of 4min 20.9sec and reached with seventh overall and two-wheel the Dead Sea fi nish of a rally that had drive honours. been modifi ed because of freak heavy Salameh al-Gammaz led the way rains on Thursday evening with a win- in the Jordan National category from ning margin of 8min 03.2sec. Zeid Miqdad, Tareq al-Taher and Raed The success was al-Attiyah’s record- al-Advan, but Juma was registered for breaking 67th in MERC history and a both rallies and claimed maximum 16th for Baumel, who drew level with points in the local series. Al-Gammaz John Spiller as the fourth most success- slotted into third position. ful co-driver in regional history behind Action in the FIA Middle East Rally Ronan Morgan (41 wins), and a tying Championship continues with the Cy- Giovanni Bernacchini and Chris Pat- prus Rally on June 15-17. terson (25 wins apiece). A delighted al-Attiyah said: “I think POSITIONS AFTER SS14 (top five) we did a clever race. I am happy with 1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mat- the performance and to equal the thieu Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr record of wins here is a nice feeling. We 56min 30.3sec already have the record of winning the 2. Vojtech Stajf (CZE)/Markéta Skáce- most number of Middle East rallies. We lová (CZE) Škoda Fabia R5 2hrs 04min will try and get the new record for the 33.5sec Middle East Championships this year.” 3. Meshari al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al- Vojtech Stajf and Marketa Skace- Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X lova overcame a substantial fi rst day 2hrs 06min 50.3sec time loss because of a puncture to re- 4. Khaled Juma (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) gain second place in their Skoda Fabia Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hrs 14min R5. A good tyre choice worked in their 16.1sec favour as they set a target of overhaul- 5. Ahmed Shaban (JOR)/Shadi Shaban ing Kuwait’s Meshari al-Thefi ri. The Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (right) and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel celebrate their victory in the Jordan Rally yesterday. (Twitter/LordPerkins) (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hrs Czech belied his limited experience of 18min 45.2sec gravel rallying to shadow al-Attiyah to I heard great things about the stages. I harsh conditions. The pace notes were and a good measurement for me.” Al-Thefi ri said: “It has been a good the fi nish. could not believe that we did the recce in not perfect and I was not able to trust Al-Thefi ri and navigator Nasser al- rally, big gap, about fi ve minutes. We FIA MERC STANDINGS (top five) “The priority is the Czech Champi- temperatures of 37°C and sun and then them. We had to play catch up but we Kuwari were the class of the MERC 2 start the second day in second over- 1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT) 39pts onship for my sponsors and I always try the stage by the Jordan River would be are happy to fi nish second. It’s a good fi eld in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution all. But the Czech driver was very fast. 2. Vojtech Stajf (CZE) 29pts and fi nd some more rallies that are inter- cancelled because of the bad weather. start to the MERC for us. On some X and the Kuwaiti was rewarded with Third is a good start for me and a good 3. Meshari al-Thefiri (KWT) 26pts esting,” said Stajf. “This rally was a part “The fi rst leg was very hard because events I would like to try and catch a maximum haul of showroom class step for the championship.” 4. Khaled Juma (JOR) 20pts of the World Rally Championship and we had never driven an R5 car in such Nasser on some stages. He is a fast guy points and third overall. The Jordanian crew of Khaled and 5. Ahmed Shaban (JOR) 16pts FOOTBALL / EMIR CUP Al Khor dash Markhiya’s dream to enter quarters By Sports Reporter Rafi ei strike was initially blocked by In today’s third round matches, Me- Doha Khuroob but the rebound landed in front saimeer will face Al Sailiya at 5:15pm, of Ngueukam, who dived to slot the head- while Al Wakrah take on Al Arabi at 8pm. er past hapless Al Markhiya goalkeeper. Both the matches will be played at the l Khor held their nerves to beat Markhiya went all out for the equal- Grand Hamad stadium. Al Markhiya 10-9 on penal- iser, playing mainly on the fl anks and Second League side Mesaimeer had ties and secure a place in the using long balls to good eff ect. But they stunned Al Ahli 3-1 in the penalty shoot- quarter-fi nals of the Emir Cup failed to fi nd the net as Al Khor held on out in the second round last week. They Ayesterday. to the lead in the fi rst half. will be hoping to be the winning side Both the teams were locked at 1-1 af- After the breather, Markhiya were against another QNB Stars League side ter regulation time in their third round given a lease of life when Saleh Bader Al Sailiya today. match at the Abdulla bin Khalifa Sta- al-Yazidi scored in the 56th minute after Meanwhile, another Second Division dium. The penalties that ensued saw a receiving a delightful pass from attack- side Al Wakrah will be on a high after marathon session after both the team’s ing midfi elder Eric de Oliveira Pereira. they beat Qatar SC 3-2 in round two. players converted their spot kicks to The Brazilian’s pin-point pass sent al- After trailing 2-0 at one time, Wakrah make it 9-9. Then it was the turn of Yazidi racing clear of Al Khor defence staged a remarkably fi ghtback through goalkeepers to take the strike and it was and the on-loan midfi elder from Al Sadd Prince Ibara and Hasan al-Hassan. Al Khor’s Khalifa Ababacar Ndiaye who lashed past Ndiaye. Wakrah will rely on the two again if they emerged as the hero for his team. Markhiya looked good for more but have to get past Al Arabi at the latter’s Al Markhiya’s goalkeeper Moham- were dealt a body blow after being re- home ground. ed Khuroob shot wide of the post and duced to 10 men. Aden Ali Quilnela was The top four teams in the QNB Stars Ndiaye duly converted the next one past sent off in 68th minute after he fouled League – Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan Khuroob to send his team to the quarter- Ndiaye in the Al Khor box. and Al Gharafa — will kick off their cam- fi nals. Awaiting Al Khor in the last four Pereira had ran clear of Al Khor de- paigns directly from the quarter-fi nal stage are Al Sadd, who were one of the fence and picked out Quilnela in space, stage of the competition. top four QNB Stars League teams to re- but the midfi elder, in eagerness to score, The Emir Cup is the most prestig- ceive a bye into the quarter-fi nals. lunged into Ndiaye, injuring him in the ious domestic football tournament and Al Markhiya, who were relegated from process to pick his second yellow card. brings down the curtains on the nine- the QNB Stars League this season, put With a man down, Markhiya never month long football season in Qatar. The on a spirited fi ght but it wasn’t enough looked like scoring and in the penalties event off ers a chance for lower division in the end. suff ered heartbreak. teams to test their mettle against the big Al Khor took the lead in the ninth In the second match of the day, Umm guns as they bid to qualify for the fi nal at minute courtesy Ariel Ngueukam’s head- Salal beat Al Kharaitiyat 5-0, and will the Khalifa Stadium on May 19. Al Khor players celebrate their victory over Al Markhiya after the penalty shootout in the quarter-finals of the Emir Cup at er. Al Khor’s Iranian midfi elder Soroush face Al Duhail in the quarter-fi nals.