FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 2 FF11 | Page 7 Spurs end Hamilton Chelsea’s on pole for unbeaten fi nal race of run in EPL the season

Sunday, November 25, 2018 CRICKET Rabia I 17, 1440 AH Taijul bowls GULF TIMES Bangladesh to 64-run win over WI SPORT Page 4 FOOTBALL/ QNB STARS LEAGUE LA LIGA Duhail, Sadd post Solari and Ramos feel contrasting wins; heat as Real Al Sailiya go third Madrid crash High-scoring striker El Arabi broke the deadlock against Al Khor by easily sending the ball home from the penalty spot

By Sports Reporter Doha Al Sadd’s Baghdad Bounedjah (second left) is congratulated by teammates after he scored against Al Arabi yesterday. l Duhail’s enviable QNB Stars League campaign continued unhindered yesterday as they notched up their 11th victory to Astay unbeaten and eight points clear of second-placed Al Sadd. Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos looks dejected at the end of the match Although it took a Yousef El Arabi pen- against Eibar in the La Liga yesterday. alty for Al Duhail to beat Al Khor 1-0, that was enough to take their tally to 34 points AFP that.” from 12 matches, one of which was a draw. Eibar, Spain Defender Raphael Varane That gives them a whopping eight-point added: “We were not well-or- lead over Al Sadd, who thrashed Al Arabi ganised, we were not comfort- 3-0 yesterday with the prolifi c Baghdad antiago Solari proved able and we did not fi nd any Bounedjah accounting for two of the goals. the perfect caretaker but answers.” Al Sailiya, meanwhile beat Al Gharafa 2-1 his debut as permanent Eibar, meanwhile, shoot up to to go third, overtaking Al Rayyan. coach of Real Madrid seventh, a reward for their fi rst Earlier, high-scoring striker El Arabi yesterdayS ended in a disastrous ever victory over Real Madrid broke the deadlock against Al Khor by eas- 3-0 defeat at Eibar. at the 11th attempt, inside their ily sending the ball home from the spot. Four wins while in temporary tiny 7,083-capacity Ipurua. He was brought down by Khaled Radwan charge earned Solari a contract “We could even have scored inside the Al Khor and the Moroccan him- until 2021 over the international more,” said their coach Jose Luis self took the shot, scoring his 15th goal in break, only for Real to revert to Mendilibar.Solari, meanwhile, this season’s QNB Stars League. Al Duhail’s the kind of chaotic display that must now rally Real ahead of Under-23 player Abdullah al-Ahrak wasted cost Julen Lopetegui the sack. Tuesday’s Champions League a golden opportunity to score from close This defeat also brought into game against Roma, which is range seven minutes into the second half. focus the mindset of Madrid’s likely to decide the winner of Luiz Martin fi red a long-range shot in players, after their captain Ser- Group G. the 60th minute, but the ball slipped past to score as he was either off target or Al gio Ramos faced allegations of They started well enough and the goalpost without causing any damage Arabi goalkeeper Masoud Zarayi, who had an anti-doping violation on Fri- Gareth Bale looked in the mood to Al Khor. a good game, stood in his way. day night from German maga- when he swivelled and sent a Almoez Ali fi red a bullet towards the Al Meanwhile, Al Sailiya stunned Al Ghara- zine Der Spiegel. stunning shot into the top cor- Khor goal, but goalkeeper Mohamed al- fa with a goal deep into stoppage time to Both the club and Ramos have ner from 25 yards, only to be Bakri punched the shot away with a quick register a 2-1 win, with substitute Moham- denied any breach. ruled off side. move. ed Mudather producing a stunning header Eibar were stronger, more ag- Karim Benzema went close, Meanwhile, Bounedjah scored a brace with a full-length forward dive to score the gressive and, worryingly for So- his fi nish cleared off the line by (seventh minute and 45+2 penalty) and winner three minutes into second-half in- lari, appeared clearer about the Jose Cote, but after surviving Hassan al-Haydos added one in the 49th jury time. plan they wanted to execute. the early pressure, Eibar grew in as Al Sadd put it past Al Arabi. Meshaal al-Shammari had scored Al Marc Cucurella, brilliant confi dence. It was Al Sadd’s eighth victory. The Sailiya’s fi rst goal in the 73rd minute. down the left, was instrumen- Kike made the woodwork Wolves had defeated The Dream Team 10-1 Al Gharafa’s goal was scored by Vladimir tal in all three goals, scored by shake with a drive from 25 in the fi rst leg. Weiss off a penalty in the 51st minute. Gonzalo Escalante, Sergi Enrich yards, with replays showing the Bounedjah took his tally on top of the In the 15th minute of the fast-paced and Kike Garcia. dipping shot had been diverted scorers’ chart to 21 goals, while it was al- match, Al Gharafa’s Mehdi Taremi latched Real’s loss halts their revival by an excellent fi nger-tip save Haydos’ third goal of the season. on to a loopy cross inside the Al Sailiya box. under Solari and denies them from . Both Al Sadd and Al Arabi had regis- With only goalkeeper Saoud al-Khater to a golden opportunity to make Madrid’s goalkeeper came to tered victories in the last round, against Al beat from close range, Taremi delayed his up ground on Barcelona and their rescue again in the 16th Kharaitiyat (7-1) and Al Khor (1-0) respec- defl ection allowing Al Sailiya defender Atletico Madrid, who were fac- minute, denying Enrich from tively. Mauricio Junior to block his shot near the ing each other at the Wanda Cucurella’s cross, but this time Al Arabi put up a far better display than goal. Metropolitano later yesterday. Escalante was on hand to bun- they did in their fi rst-leg game. This time In the 22nd minute, Slovakian midfi elder “It is not about fi nding peo- dle in the rebound ahead of the around, they were bogged down by inju- Weiss was brought down with a rough ple to blame,” Solari said af- stumbling Dani Ceballos. tackle by Mirghani Alzain and Swiss referee terwards. “Everything is fi x- Referee Juan Martinez con- STANDINGS Urs Dominik Schnyder promptly penalised able. We had won four straight sulted the video assistant ref- the Al Khor off ender. games, done some things very eree but the delay only earned a Three minutes from half-time, Al well, and we have to get back to repeat of home fans’ cheers. Teams P W D L F A Pts Gharafa’s Abdelaziz Hatem aimed at the Al Khor goalmouth, but his fast-paced shot Al Duhail ...... 12 11 1 0 33 7 34 narrowly missed the target. Six minutes after resumption of play in Allegations a ‘lie’, says Ramos Al Sadd ...... 11 8 2 1 48 10 26 the fast-paced match, Al Gharafa grabbed the lead. Weiss was brought down by the Al Madrid: Real Madrid defender true that it hurts, and obviously Al Sailiya ...... 13 8 1 4 25 14 25 Sailiya keeper. The referee awarded a pen- Sergio Ramos has dismissed I will come out with my legal alty and Weiss easily converted from the anti-doping allegations against team against these people, who Al Rayyan ...... 13 6 5 2 14 12 23 spot. him as a “lie” and a deliberate try to stain my status and my Exactly on the hour mark, Al Sailiya attempt to tarnish his reputa- professional career. Al Ahli ...... 13 7 1 5 22 21 22 brought in Mudather who went on to score tion. “After 15 years, I have never re- the deciding goal. A minute later, Taremi According to the German fused an anti-doping test, I have Al Gharafa...... 13 5 3 5 25 17 18 broke free of his marker after receiving magazine Der Spiegel, Ramos never breached any procedure a cross from the centre, but he ended up failed to declare he had taken and I have passed around 250 Umm Salal ...... 13 4 4 5 17 24 16 overrunning the ball with only al-Khater dexamethasone ahead of the to 300 tests. For this reason, I to beat. 2017 Champions League final am calm.” Al Shahaniya .....13 4 3 6 12 23 15 Al Duhail’s Yousef El Arabi (L) vies for the ball with an Al Khor rival yesterday. Al Sailiya equalised when rival goal- at the Millennium Stadium Ramos added: “When you know keeper Yousef Hassan failed to clear a loopy in Cardiff , in which Real beat the truth, you can act with a Al Arabi ...... 13 5 0 8 12 26 15 ries. cle during their QSL Cup Round 3 match ball that fl ew in his direction. Ali’s shot Juventus 4-1. The club denied lot of tranquillity. You can tell Colombian recruit Franco Hurtado and last week. bounced off substitute al-Shammari who the claims on Friday night and the lie many times over but it is Qatar SC ...... 13 3 2 8 12 22 11 Iraqi player Ahmed Ibrahim were out in- It was Al Sadd more in the game right drove the ball into an open net with a left- Ramos, speaking after Real lost still a lie.” Dexamethasone is a jured, while Abdulla Marafy had already throughout. footed shot. 3-0 at Eibar yesterday, made a glucocorticoid on the banned Al Khor ...... 12 2 2 8 8 22 8 been ruled out for the season. Bounedjah and al-Haydos got on to the Rajeb produced a deft header with a for- staunch defence of his record. list of the World Anti-Doping Al Sadd missed star Spanish midfi elder scoresheet, but it was Akram Afi f who was ward lunge on a loopy cross from the fl ank “I am calm,” Ramos said. “It is Agencwy (WADA). Xavi Hernandez who suff ered a torn mus- in the thick of action. He was unlucky not to secure vital three points for Al Sailiya. Gulf Times 2 Sunday, November 25, 2018 FOOTBALL

PREMIER LEAGUE Ronaldo strikes again as Juventus Super Spurs infl ict brush SPAL aside

Reuters games for the club. Milan Juventus, one of three teams in Europe’s top fi ve leagues to have scored in every league game this uventus moved nine season along with Barcelona and fi rst defeat of points clear at the top of Paris St Germain, doubled their Serie A with a 2-0 win lead on the hour mark shortly af- over SPAL yesterday as ter Douglas Costa had rattled the CristianoJ Ronaldo’s strike made post from a tight angle. him the league’s joint-top scorer. Costa’s powerful shot was Goals either side of the break parried by Gomis into the path of from the Portugal international Mandzukic, who tapped in from and Mario Mandzukic earned close range on the night that season on Chelsea Juve their 12th win of an un- he captained Juventus from the beaten start to the league sea- start for the fi rst time. Manchester City and Liverpool stay unbeaten after wins over West Ham and Watford son, with Ronaldo joining Genoa Ronaldo threatened to add striker Krzysztof Piatek on nine a second, forcing Gomis into a AFP goals. smart save from distance before London ’s side shooting wide from a promising have now collected 37 points position as Juventus strolled to a from a possible 39 and hold a sig- comfortable victory. anchester City nifi cant lead over second-placed In the early kickoff , Dav- stretched a relent- Napoli on 28 points ahead of ide Nicola masterminded a 1-0 less winning run their game against Chievo today. win over AS Roma on his de- to eight games by Juventus appeared to have tak- but as Udinese coach, ending a Mthrashing West Ham 4-0, while en the lead after just 10 minutes 10-match losing run for his new Tottenham ended Chelsea’s un- when SPAL defender Felipe de- club in the fi xture. beaten start to the season with a fl ected a cross into his own net, Rodrigo De Paul scored the stylish 3-1 win yesterday. but the eff ort was disallowed af- only goal of the game early in With Chelsea stumbling, sec- ter Mandzukic was penalised for the second half to move Udinese ond placed Liverpool remain the encroaching in the penalty box as above Bologna into 16th place on most likely challengers for City’s Alfred Gomis took his goal kick in 12 points, while Roma remained title after sweeping to a 3-0 win the build-up. on 19 points in seventh. at Watford that keeps them two After half an hour, Ronaldo points behind the leaders. opened the scoring with a con- RESULTS Manchester United are 14 trolled left-footed fi nish into Udinese 1 (De Paul 54) Roma points adrift of the leaders as the corner from Miralem Pjan- 0 Paul Pogba was hauled off by ic’s free kick, becoming the fi rst Juventus 2 (Ronaldo 29, Jose Mourinho as they failed to player since Pietro Anastasi in Mandzukic 60) SPAL 0 break down Crystal Palace in a 1968-69 to reach nine goals in 13 0-0 draw at Old Traff ord. Everton leapfrogged United to move up to sixth with a 1-0 vic- tory over Cardiff , while won his fi rst match in charge of Fulham in a 3-2 thriller over fellow strugglers South- ampton. City have now won 12 of their last 13 games with the only dropped points coming in a creditable 0-0 draw at Liverpool last month. Pep Guardiola’s men had scored 13 goals in their three previous visits to the London Stadium and had another three before half-time in another dominant display. “If you see the result which was 0-4 especially after the in- ternational break it is good,” said Guardiola. “You see Real Ma- drid, Bayern Munich and Man- chester United they struggle.” David Silva and Raheem Ster- ling continued their scoring streaks inside the fi rst 20 min- utes. The roles were reversed from Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli heads the ball to score their first goal during the English match against Chelsea at the Wembley City’s fl ying wingers 11 minutes Stadium in London yesterday. (Reuters) before half-time when this time Sane showed great composure beaten league run came to a Firmino fed Sadio Mane and his jury, but failed to spark the hosts draw at Brighton thanks to Jamie to turn home Sterling’s pass crashing halt when Son danced cut-back was prodded home by and Pogba was even withdrawn Vardy’s penalty after James and Sane completed the rout in through the visitors’ defence to Salah for his ninth goal of the for Alexis Sanchez in the search Maddison was shown two yel- stoppage time. score a superb third in the 54th season. for a winner that never came. low cards inside 28 minutes. minute. Alexander-Arnold then “We did not have enough ag- ‘DREAM’ FREE-KICK Substitute Olivier Giroud got bagged his fi rst for the campaign gression or intensity,” lamented RESULTS At Wembley, Tottenham put one back in the 85th minute, at club level with a sumptuous Mourinho. Brighton 1 (Murray 15) Chelsea to the sword as goals but it was no consolation for free-kick after opening his ac- “We gave the opponent time Leicester 1 (Vardy 79-pen) from Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Maurizio Sarri’s men, who drop count for England in the inter- to have he ball and did not press Everton 1 (Sigurdsson 59) Son Heung-Min lifted them down to fourth place. national break. enough. We gave them moments Cardiff 0 above their London rivals into Liverpool remain on City’s And despite having captain to breath and relax. We did not Fulham 3 (Mitrovic 33, 63, third place. coat-tails as Mohamed Salah, Jordan Henderson sent-off , Liv- press enough.” Schurrle 43) Southampton 2 Mauricio Pochettino’s side Trent Alexander-Arnold and erpool added a third through Ranieri couldn’t stop Fulham (Armstrong 18, 53) were on fi re from the start and Roberto Firmino all struck in the Firmino a minute from time. leaking goals in his fi rst match Manchester United 0 Crystal Alli headed home from Chris- fi nal quarter at Vicarage Road. How United wish they had the in charge at Craven Cottage, but Palace 0 tian Eriksen’s free-kick in the “The fi rst goal was brilliant same fi repower as after a bright did secure a fi rst win in 10 league Tottenham 3 (Alli 8, Kane 16, eighth minute. football and the free kick from start they again faded and Palace games as Aleksandar Mitrovic Son 54) Chelsea 1 (Giroud 85) With Chelsea looking lethar- Trent (Alexander-Arnold) was held out for just a second point scored twice to edge a fi ve-goal Watford 0 Liverpool 3 (Salah gic, Kane blasted Tottenham’s a dream. It was a good game in seven Premier League games. thriller. 67, Alexander-Arnold 76, Firmino second from long-range in the against a good side,” Liverpool Pogba and Leicester showed great resil- 89) 16th minute. boss Jurgen Klopp said. were fi t enough to start after ience after a diffi cult few weeks West Ham 0 Manchester Chelsea were unable to stem Klopp’s front three clicked missing international duty for off the fi eld to fi ght back from City 4 (D.Silva 11, Sterling 19, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal the tide as their 12-game un- 23 minutes from time when France and Belgium through in- a goal and a man down for a 1-1 Sane 34, 90) during the Serie A match against SPAL in Turin yesterday. (AFP)

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP Three and easy for table-topping Celtic and Rangers

AFP with a fi ne save from Scott Sin- by about three at half-time.” in September. Glasgow clair, while Edouard and Olivier Rangers had to be more patient Hibernian also surprisingly let Ntcham both fi red into the side- at Ibrox than a 7-1 demolition of a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 netting from the edge of the area Motherwell before the interna- with bottom of the table Dundee eltic moved two points as Celtic looked for a second. tional window, but rarely looked at Easter Road. clear at the top of the It duly arrived with a big slice troubled after Daniel Candeias Aberdeen’s confi dence ahead of fortune 22 minutes from time opened the scoring after 20 min- of next weekend’s League Cup fi - as Ryan Christie’s early when Sinclair’s header across utes. nal against Celtic took a battering Cstrike, a Scott Martin own goal goal was fl icked into his own net Gerrard left top scorer Alfre- with a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell. and Leigh Griffi ths’s free-kick by Martin. do Morelos on the bench ahead And Kilmarnock and St John- earned a 3-0 win at Hamilton Griffiths missed Scotland’s of Thursday’s crucial Europa stone remain fourth and fi fth yesterday. success due to a knee injury that League clash with Villarreal, but respectively after a 0-0 draw at Steven Gerrard’s Rang- had kept him sidelined for six the Colombian soon made an McDiarmid Park. ers moved into second with an weeks, but marked his return impact as a substitute to seal the equally convincing 3-0 win over with a goal by drilling home a three points seven minutes from RESULTS Livingston, but Hearts’ slump free-kick low into the far cor- time before Scott Arfi eld added a Hamilton 0 Celtic 3 (Christie continued in a shock 2-0 defeat ner. late third. 13, Martin og-68, Griff iths 82) at St Mirren. “It was a good win, and off the After a brilliant start to the Hibernian 2 (Kusunga 2-og, Christie continued his fi ne back of the international break season to surge ahead of the Porteous 30) Dundee 2 (Miller 45, form of late after playing a big you want to come back and get Glasgow giants to the top of the McGowan 47) role in Scotland’s victories over the points on the board as quickly table, Hearts have now lost four Motherwell 3 (Johnson 25, 30, Albania and Israel in the past as you can,” said Celtic manager of their last fi ve games in all com- Turnbull 54) Aberdeen 0 week by fi ring Callum McGre- Brendan Rodgers. petitions. Rangers 3 (Candeias 20, gor’s cross from a well-worked “We had to generate the Two goals from Adam Ham- Morelos 83, Arfield 88) Living- corner into the roof of the net on rhythm and intensity in our own mill ended St Mirren’s 12-game ston 0 13 minutes. game today. I thought we did that run without a win and handed St Johnstone 0 Kilmarnock 0 Hamilton goalkeeper Gary really well, the passing was really Oran Kearney his fi rst victory St Mirren 2 (Hammill 46, 55) Woods kept his side in the game crisp, and we could have been up since taking over the Paisley side Hearts 0 Gulf Times Sunday, November 25, 2018 3 FOOTBALL

FOCUS SPOTLIGHT Malaysia join PSG beat Toulouse Vietnam in Asean last four Reuters Two minutes into fi rst-half to win 14th straight injury time Safawi Rasid was Hong Kong brought down inside the pen- alty area by Soe Moe Kyaw after alaysia booked their latching on to Sumareh’s through place in the semi- ball and Zaquan scored the re- fi nals of the Asean sulting penalty. Football Federation Myanmar did little to suggest MChampionship yesterday with a they would find a way back into game 3-0 win over Myanmar that en- the game and, with two min- sures they advance to the tour- utes left on the clock, Zaquan nament’s last four alongside fa- added the third goal when an Uruguayan striker Cavani notched his ninth league goal of the campaign vourites Vietnam. attempted clearance by Kyaw Vietnam fi nished top of slammed into the striker’s head group A thanks to a comfort- before looping into Kyaw Zin able 3-0 win over already-elim- Htet’s goal. inated Cambodia while a brace Malaysia will play the winners from Zaquan Adha following of group B, which will conclude Nohshahrul Idlan Talaha’s open- on Sunday with leaders Thai- er earned the Malaysians second land playing Singapore while the place as a result of an impressive Philippines travel to Jakarta to performance against Myanmar. face Indonesia. Myanmar needed only a The Vietnamese secured top draw to progress but, in front spot with a routine win over of a vociferous crowd at Kuala Cambodia, with goals coming Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil Stadium, from Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen the home side made most of the Quang Hai and Phan Van Duc. early running and it came as little Tien Linh gave Vietnam the surprise when Nohshahrul put lead with a 39th-minute header Malaysia in front. and, two minutes later, Park Syahmi Safari’s darting run Hang-seo’s side were two ahead down the right saw him fi nd thanks to Quang Hai’s side-foot Mohamadou Sumareh with time fi nish. and space in front of goal but, Van Duc put the result beyond when his attempt came back off any doubt just after the hour the crossbar, Nohshahrul scored with a clinical shot on the turn from close range. from just outside the area.

SHOCK River fans attack Boca bus ahead of Libertadores fi nal

AFP bus travelling with heavy police Buenos Aires protection ahead of the second leg of the local derby between the two teams — dubbed the biggest n attack on the Boca club match in the history of Ar- Juniors team bus by gentine football. Paris Saint-Germain’s (left) in action with Toulouse’s Kelvin Amian during the Ligue 1 match at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris yesterday. (AFP) River Plate fans left The fi nal of the Copa Liberta- Boca players coughing dores, the equivalent of Europe’s misfi red for much of the rest of Substitute Jimmy Durmaz The win put the Parisians on a ing tackle on Yann M’Vila. andA teary eyed amid the glass of Champions League, is fi nely Agencies Paris the match. was the driving force behind perfect 42 points after 14 Ligue 1 Home goalkeeper Anthony smashed windows ahead of the poised at 2-2 following the fi rst With attacking duo Neymar several promising second-half games, 15 ahead of second-placed Lopes made an excellent late Argentine giants’ “superclasico” leg at Boca’s Bombonera stadium and Kylian Mbappe both side- counter-attacks for the visi- , who beat St save from Remy Cabella as Lyon Copa Libertadores fi nal second two weeks ago. hampions Paris Saint- lined after picking up knocks tors, but the PSG backline, mar- Etienne 1-0 on Friday thanks to a extended their unbeaten run in leg yesterday. There will be no Boca fans at Germain continued on international duty last week, shalled by Gianluigi Buff on in Jason Denayer goal. Toulouse are all competitions to six matches. A group of River fans pelted the second leg as travelling sup- their perfect start to PSG coach Thomas Tuchel goal, managed to hold fi rm. 15th on 14 points. “I’m happy to score and help the bus with stones and gas as port has been banned at all Ar- the Ligue 1 season as started with Julian Draxler and Brazilian defender Dani Alves A largely disappointing the team to a win,” said Belgian it arrived at the Monumental gentine football matches since anC early Edinson Cavani strike Angel Di Maria up front along- came on as a second-half substi- game was decided by Denayer international Denayer. “The stadium in the upmarket Nun- 2013 due to hooliganism. earned them a 1-0 win at home side Cavani. tute for PSG to end a six-month 62-minute header from a Mem- fi rst half was diffi cult... But after ez neighbourhood of Buenos Football-related violence has to Toulouse yesterday, their 14th Despite starting the day two spell on the sidelines with a knee phis Depay corner, with the hosts half-time, we came back with Aires. cost the lives of more than 300 straight victory. points above the drop zone, injury that caused him to miss holding on late in the second half more ideas.” Television pictures showed fans in Argentina over the last 50 Uruguayan striker Cavani Toulouse showed no fear of a the World Cup in Russia. after Rafael was dismissed with Coach Bruno Genesio will Boca players emerge from the years, according to fi gures from notched his ninth league goal of PSG side that has been averaging Neymar and Mbappe are 20 minutes remaining. now turn his attentions towards bus, which had several broken the Salvemos Al Futbol (Let’s the campaign with a close-range over three goals a game at home, also scheduled to return when Former Manchester United Tuesday’s crucial Champions windows, clearing their throats save football) charity. fi nish just nine minutes into the and their strong defending pro- PSG meet Liverpool in a crucial full-back Rafael ensured a nervy League group match against and with eyes streaming from the This local encounter is widely game at the Parc Des Princes, vided a springboard for plenty of Champions League Group C tie ending for Lyon as he was hand- Manchester City at the Groupa- eff ect of the gas. viewed as the fi ercest rivalry in but PSG’s much-vaunted attack attacks of their own. in Paris on Tuesday. ed a straight red card for a lung- ma Stadium. The attack came despite the world football.

BUNDESLIGA Fortuna’s hat-trick hero Lukebakio bags last gasp Bayern draw

AFP of the box after a clever back- quickly, Vedad Ibisevic prod- Berlin heeled assist from Robert ding in a loose ball just two Lewandowski. Yet Lukebakio minutes later. Ermin Bicakcic twice beat the off side trap to headed in a deserved third for odi Lukebakio left score two late goals and leave Hoff enheim in the second half, struggling Bayern Bayern stunned. before Davie Selke put Hertha Munich shellshocked back in the game on 71 minutes yesterday after scoring DORTMUND CONSOLIDATE and Valentino Lazaro blasted aD hat-trick to lead lowly Fortu- Leaders Dortmund took the lead in the equaliser three minutes na Duesseldorf to a sensational at Mainz through substitute Paco from time. comeback from two goals down Alcacer in the 66th minute, but Eintracht Frankfurt also took and snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw Colin Quaison levelled the scores an early lead against Augsburg, in the third minute of added almost immediately, taking ad- Jonathan de Guzman fi nding time. vantage of a lucky defl ection in the net after only 53 seconds. Troubled Bayern slip to nine the build-up. The visitors burst out of the points behind leaders Borussia Piszczek spared Dortmund’s blocks again in the second half, Dortmund, who secured a 2-1 blushes on 77 minutes, smash- Sebastien Haller slotting the win over Mainz thanks to a late ing the ball in off the bar to seal ball home after Luka Jovic’s Lukasz Piszczek winner, after the three points and open up a curling through ball had un- Belgian striker Lukebakio com- nine-point lead over reigning locked the Augsburg defence. pleted his hat-trick with two champions Bayern. Ante Rebic sealed the victory goals in the fi nal 13 minutes to Bayern remain a point behind with a tap-in before Sergio Cor- rob Bayern of what had seemed fourth-placed Leipzig, who lost dova netted a late consolation to be a routine three points. 1-0 away to Wolfsburg, Jer- goal for the hosts. Niklas Suele opened the ome Roussillon’s second-half scoring for Bayern on 17 min- winner decided a hard-fought RESULTS utes, and Thomas Mueller game, and ended a fi ve-game Bayern Munich 3 (Suele 17, doubled the lead with a typical run of clean sheets for Leipzig. Mueller 20, 58) Fortuna Duessel- poacher’s fi nish a few minutes Goals fl ew in elsewhere, as dorf 3 (Lukebakio 44, 77, 90+3) later, bringing down a long ball Hertha Berlin also fought back Hertha Berlin 3 (Ibisevic 12, in the box and bundling it past from 3-1 down to grab a dra- Leckie 71, Lazaro 87) Hoff en- goalkeeper Michael Rensing. matic draw over Hoff enheim. heim 3 (Demirbay 1, Kramaric 10, Duesseldorf snatched a sur- Hoff enheim exploded into the Bicakcic 55) prise goal just before half-time game, taking the lead through Augsburg 1 (Cordova 90) as Lukebakio popped up in the Kerem Demirbay after just 25 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (De Guz- box to fi re the ball in from close seconds. They doubled the lead man 1, Haller 47, Rebic 68) range. nine minutes later as Andrej Mainz 1 (Quaison 70) Borus- Mueller appeared to have Kramaric found space behind sia Dortmund 2 (Alcacer 66, crushed the resistance in the the back line and smashed in a Piszczek 76) second half, when he swept in fi ne half-volley. Wolfsburg 1 (Roussillon 50) Bayern’s third from the edge The Berliners struck back RB Leipzig 0 Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Dodi Lukebakio celebrates his goal during the Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich in Munich yesterday. (Reuters) Gulf Times 4 Sunday, November 25, 2018 CRICKET

WEST INDIES’ TOUR OF BANGLADESH SECOND TEST Azhar and Sohail give Pakistan edge Taijul bowls hosts on tough fi rst day

AFP noon session and scoring at just Dubai over two runs per over. Azhar, who made a valiant 65 in that unsuccessful 176-run zhar Ali and Haris So- chase in the fi rst Test, was shaky to win against WI hail both hit gritty half- at the start as he edged the sec- centuries but Pakistan ond ball he faced off de Grand- ‘Whatever I do, I do for the team, and I’m lucky to have some of these achievements’ were restricted by some homme through the slips. tightA New Zealand bowling and Medium-pacer De Grand- AFP a lifeless pitch to 207-4 on the homme was the pick of the Kiwi Chittagong, Bangladesh opening day of the second Test in bowlers with 2-32 from his 19 Dubai yesterday. overs. Azhar and Sohail added 126 Azhar went on to hit seven aijul Islam claimed 6-33 for the third wicket until a care- boundaries and a six in his 187- as Bangladesh defeated less run out saw the end of Azhar ball stay at the crease before an West Indies by 64 runs for 81. Sohail had also eked out 81 awful mix-up deprived him of a yesterday in the fi rst from 240 balls by the close. 14th hundred. matchT of their two-Test series. After losing the fi rst Test by four He drove left-arm spinner Chasing a target of 204 runs runs, Pakistan were keen to get on Ajaz Patel to mid-off and set off in Chittagong, West Indies stut- to the off ensive early and set the for a single but Sohail failed to tered from the start and were all tone of the match, prompting cap- respond. Substitute fi elder Tim out for 139 on the stroke of tea tain Sarfraz Ahmed to bat when he Southee threw the ball to wicket- on the third day, suff ering their won the toss. keeper BJ Watling who whipped fi rst defeat in Bangladesh in sev- But it was the Black Caps who off the bails to run Azhar out. en Tests. had the better of the morning Patel, who took seven wickets Sunil Ambris was the last man with Colin de Grandhomme, in his debut Test in Abu Dhabi, dismissed after top-scoring for preferred over the more experi- then had Asad Shafi q caught the visitors with 43. He had put enced Tim Southee for the sec- off a miscued drive to backward on a 63-run partnership with ond match running, ripping out point where Neil Wagner took Jomel Warrican for the ninth both openers for nine each. the catch. wicket to lift West Indies from He had Mohamed Hafeez Sohail was joined by Babar 75 for eight to revive an unlikely caught at slip by Tom Latham Azam who was 14 not out at the hope. in the eighth over and the same close by which stage they had But Mehidy Hasan dismissed combination accounted for Im- added 33 for the fi fth wicket. Warrican for 41, and Taijul an-ul-Haq in de Grandhomme’s Pakistan will be aiming to bat sealed the contest in the next next over. through to today afternoon to over with the wicket of Ambris. Hafeez has managed just 66 capitalise on their solid start and Left-arm spinner Taijul led runs in six innings since scor- put the New Zealand batsmen Bangladesh’s attack with his ing a comeback hundred against under pressure. seventh fi ve-wicket haul in Australia at the same venue last Both teams fi elded unchanged Tests, while Shakib Al Hasan Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam (left) celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of West Indies’ Shane Dowrich on the third day of the first Test month. lineups, with Pakistan resisting and Mehidy each picked up two at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Bangladesh, yesterday. (AFP) Pakistan fears of a collapse to the temptation of playing teen- wickets. match the 7-41 they suff ered in age quick Shaheen Shah Afridi West Indies’ chase got off to a sponded almost immediately burst by Taijul, who trapped ond innings, but not before he eem Hasan and Mahmudullah in the fourth innings in Abu Dhabi and New Zealand not playing a disastrous start, sinking to 11-4 when Shakib drew Kieran Powell Roston Chase for a duck and was dropped by Hope off Bishoo a quick succession, while Chase in the fi rst Test were allayed as third spinner. at the lunch break before an at- forward for Mushfi qur Rahim to Kraigg Brathwaite in the same on 15. wrapped up the Bangladesh in- Azhar and Sohail dug in. They The third and fi nal Test is in tacking 27 off 19 by Shimron accomplish a simple stumping, over, leaving the West Indies in Pace bowler Gabriel took the nings by dismissing Taijul. added only 68 runs in the after- Abu Dhabi from December 3. Hetmyer provided the visitors a making Shakib the fi rst Bang- dire straits. fi rst breakthrough of the day West Indies captain brief respite. ladeshi cricketer to claim 200 The collapse dashed any West when he bowled Mushfi qur Ra- Brathwaite hailed Bangladesh Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo wickets in Tests. Indies satisfaction from wrap- him for 19. for their performance. Scorecard earlier claimed three wickets in “Whatever I do, I do for the ping up the Bangladesh innings, Mehidy and Mahmudul- “A tough loss for us. I thought the morning to fi nish with 4-26 team, and I’m lucky to have with the hosts only adding 70 lah tried to rebuild the innings, the Bangladesh team did very PAKISTAN 1st inn B. Azam not out 14 as West Indies bowled out Bang- some of these achievements,” runs to their overnight score af- putting on 37 for the seventh well,” he said. Imam-ul-Haq c Latham b de Extras (nb 1) 1 ladesh for 125 runs in their sec- Shakib said after the match. ter resuming play on 55-5. wicket before Mehidy was re- In the fi rst innings, West In- Grandhomme 9 ond innings. Shakib drew an edge from Mahmudullah top-scored for moved by Bishoo for 18. dies scored 246 runs in reply to Total (for 4wkts; 90 overs) 207 Bangladesh spinners re- Shai Hope before a two-wicket Bangladesh with 31 in the sec- Bishoo then dismissed Nay- Bangladesh’s 324. M. Hafeez c Latham b de Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Hafeez), 2-25 Grandhomme 9 (Imam), 3-151 (A. Ali), 4-174 (Shafiq) Scorecard A. Ali run out 81 Bowling: Boult 18-5-50-0, H. Sohail not out 81 Grandhomme 19-7-31-2, Wagner A. Shafiq c Wagner b Patel 12 22-7-44-0 (1nb), Patel 19-3-60-1, BANGLADESH 1st inn 324 all out M. Hasan c Dowrich b Bishoo 18 (N. Hasan), 9-123 (Mahmudullah), R. Chase lbw b Islam 0Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Powell), 2-11 Sodhi 12-0-22-0 WEST INDIES 1st inn 246 all out Mahmudullah c Hope b Bishoo 31 10-125 (Islam) S. Hetmyer c N. Hasan b M. Hasan (Hope), 3-11 (Brathwaite), 4-11 Bowling: Roach 1-0-11-0, War- 27 (Chase), 5-44 (Hetmyer) 6-51 BANGLADESH 2nd inn (o/n 55-5) N. Hasan c Hope b Bishoo 5 (Dowrich), 7-69 (Bishoo), 8-75 rican 16-2-43-2, Chase 6.5-1-18-3, S. Dowrich lbw b Islam 5 I. Kayes b Warrican 2 T. Islam c Warrican b Chase 1 Bishoo 9-0-26-4, Gabriel 3-0-24-1 (Roach), 9-138 (Warrican), 10-139 S. Sarkar c Brathwaite b Chase 11 M. Rahman not out 2 D. Bishoo b Islam 2 (Ambris) M. Haque lbw b Chase 12 Extras (b2, lb1, nb3) 6 K. Roach lbw b Islam 1Bowling: Shakib 7-0-30-2, N. WEST INDIES 2nd inn Hasan 7-1-29-0, Islam 11.2-2-33- M. Mithun b Bishoo 17 Total (all out 35.5 overs) 125 J. Warrican c Shakib b M. Hasan 41 K. Brathwaite lbw b Islam 8 6, M. Hasan 8-1-27-2, Rahman S. Gabriel not out 0 Shakib Al Hasan c Gabriel b War- Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Kayes), K. Powell st Rahim b Shakib 0 2-0-11-0 rican 12-13 (Sarkar), 3-32 (Haque), 4-35 Extras (b9) 9 RESULT: Bangladesh won by (Shakib), 5-53 (Mithun) 6-69 S. Hope c Rahim b Shakib 3 M. Rahim b Gabriel 19 Total (all out; 35.2 overs) 139 64 runs (Rahim), 7-106 (M. Hasan), 8-122 S. Ambris c Rahim b Islam 43

ENGLAND’S TOUR OF SRI LANKA Five-for Rashid England’s hero as Sri Lanka collapse

AFP ka’s batsmen laid solid founda- ball coming off the toe of his bat Colombo tions. to keeper Ben Foakes off Stokes Danushka Gunathilaka was for fi ve, before Roshen Silva be- the only man out for Sri Lanka came Jennings’s fourth victim ri Lanka threw away a before lunch, caught spectacu- off Rashid for three. decent position in the fi - larly by Keaton Jennings at short Rashid said Jennings’ close nal Test against England leg for 18 off Leach — the first of fi elding had made a “big diff er- yesterday, collapsing four catches at short-leg for the ence”. fromS 183 for 2 at tea to 240 all out Lancashire opener. “This series he’s proved he’s as Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes Dimuth Karunaratne, an exceptional short-leg fi elder. skittled the hosts in Colombo. dropped at slip by Joe Root off He reads the game well. He’s At the close of a rollercoaster Broad early in his innings, then alert. He practises hard in the second day England were three put on a 142-run third-wicket morning and he gets his rewards. without loss after four overs partnership with Dhananjaya de “It’s nice having him in there Pakistan’s Azhar Ali (left) and Haris Sohail run between the wickets when bad light stopped play, 99 Silva. for the spinners. We’re happy!” on first day of the second Test against New Zealand yesterday. (AFP) runs ahead with a 3-0 white- Just before tea, de Silva fell Stokes, hammering in the wash in their sights. for 73, dismissed by another ball with aggression and intent, “We came out after tea, had the England cricketer Adil Rashid (centre) celebrates the wicket of Sri lightning catch by Jennings off then did for Niroshan Dickwella, belief, had the mindset and things Lanka’s Malinda Pushpakumara on the second day of the third Test Rashid. But with Karunaratne caught behind by Foakes for 5, Starc called up for fi nal just changed,” said Rashid, who in Colombo yesterday. (AFP) still in and Root ruing his error, and Sri Lanka were reeling. fi nished the innings with 5-49. Sri Lanka looked comfortable. Number four Kusal Mendis Australia-India T20 “It worked out perfectly, for just 24 runs. Left-arm wrist spinner Lak- But in the fi rst over after tea went for 27, an easy catch for Stokesy at one end bowling nice Resuming on 312-7 after Jon- shan Sandakan was the pick of Karunaratne went for 83, with Stokes at slip off Rashid. Then AFP games as well and we’ve seen and aggressive and me at the ny Bairstow had put his marker the Sri Lankan bowlers, tak- Jennings again the catcher as he a direct throw ran out Sandakan Sydney how dominant he can be when other end mixing it up, bowling down to be England’s perma- ing 5-95 while fi nger spinners edged Rashid, and the collapse for two as he tried to steal a run he gets it right with the ball,” my variations,” he added, after nent Test number three with a Dilruwan Perera and Malinda began. off a misfi eld. skipper Aaron Finch said. Stokes collected 3-30. no-nonsense 110 the previous Pushpakumara took the other “They played exceptionally Pushpakumara survived an itchell Starc was “We’ll have a look at the wicket In the opening session Sri day, Moeen Ali continued his fi ve between them. well before lunch but we had a lbw review and hit the next ball yesterday drafted into this afternoon and discuss the Lanka’s bowlers had wrapped up indiff erent series with the bat, positive mindset and knew if we for four. The next review went MAustralia’s squad for side but coming straight off England’s fi rst innings for 336 falling for 33. SOLID START stick to our plan things would England’s way though, as he their final Twenty20 against a Shield game with an eye on within half an hour, the visitors Stuart Broad followed for a With bat in hand and only fi ve change,” said Rashid. went lbw to Rashid for 13, and India in what could be his first the first Test, his preparations losing their fi nal three wickets duck and Jack Leach for 2. overs of the day played, Sri Lan- Angelo Mathews fell next, the Sri Lanka were all out. short-format international in will be really good.” two years. Australia lead the series 1-0, The pace spearhead had been with Friday’s game abandoned Scorecard left out of the squad for their due to rain. T20 games against South Starc last played a T20 for ENGLAND 1st inn (o/n 312-7) S Broad b Sandakan 0de Silva 5-0-16-0, Gunathilaka M Perera c Foakes b Stokes 0 Bowling: Broad 9-2-36-0, Leach Africa and India so he could Australia in September 2016 focus on the Sheff ield Shield against Sri Lanka in Colombo. R Burns b Perera 14 M Leach c Mathews b Perera 2 2-0-5-0 R Lakmal not out 318-2-59-1, Ali 13-2-55-0, Rashid 13.5-2-49-5, Root 2-0-4-0, Stokes to be better prepared for the His last one on home soil was K Jennings c Silva b Pushpakumara 13 Extras (b7, lb3, nb1) 11 SRI LANKA 1st inn P Sandakan run out 210-1-30-3 upcoming Test series against in Sydney in February 2014 J Bairstow b Sandakan 110 Total (all out, 92.5 overs) 336 M Gunathilaka c Jennings b Leach 18 P Pushpakumara lbw b Rashid 13 the Indians. against England. ENGLAND 2nd inn But fellow fast bowler Billy J Root c Gunathilaka b Sandakan 46 FoW: 1-22 (Burns), 2-36 (Jennings), F Karunaratne c Jennings b Rashid 83 Extras (lb7, w1) 8 3-136 (Root), 4-235 (Stokes), 5-254 R Burns not out 2Stanlake turned his ankle in Australia squad: Aaron Finch B Stokes c de Silva b Sandakan 57 D de Silva c Jennings b Rashid 73 Total (all out, 65.5 overs) 240 the warm-up for the second (capt), Alex Carey, Ashton (Bairstow), 6-265 (Buttler), 7-294 K Jennings not out 1 J Buttler c & b Sandakan 16 (Foakes), 8-328 (Ali), 9-329 (Broad), B Mendis c Stokes b Rashid 27 FoW: 1-31 (Gunathilaka), 2-173 match against India on Friday Agar, Jason Behrendorff , (de Silva), 3-187 (Karunaratne), Extras 0 and has now been ruled out Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris M Ali c Mathews b Perera 33 10-336 (Leach) A Mathews c Foakes b Stokes 5 4-200 (Mathews), 5-205 (Silva), Total (no wickets, 4 overs) 3 of the third and final game in Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Mc- B Foakes c Dickwella b Pushpakumara 13 Bowling: Lakmal 11-2-33-0, Per- A Silva c Jennings b Rashid 3 6-222 (Dickwella), 7-222 (Mendis), Sydney on Sunday. Dermott, D’Arcy Short, Mitchell era 32.5-1-113-3, Pushpakumara Bowling: Perera 2-1-1-0, Pushpa- A Rashid not out 21 N Dickwella c Foakes b Stokes 5 8-222 (Perera), 9-224 (Sandakan), “(Starc has) got so much ex- Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew 20-3-64-2, Sandakan 22-0-95-5, 10-240 (Pushpakumara) kumara 1-0-2-0, de Silva 1-1-0-0 perience in the limited-overs Tye, Adam Zampa. Gulf Times Sunday, November 25, 2018 5 SPORT

NBA NHL Sharks extend Canucks’ miseries Warriors snap worst with 4-0 victory

Reuters San Jose

rik Karlsson scored once and added two assists to pace the losing skid, Raptors attack, and goalie Aaron Dell needed just 19 saves to col- lect his second consecutive shutout as the host San Jose Sharks handed the Vancouver Canucks another loss by a 4-0E count Friday night. After a slow start to his time with the Sharks following the off - season trade that sent him from Ottawa to Northern California, Karlsson has found his form. He’s netted two goals and eight points over the last fi ve games. outgun Wizards The Sharks are also riding a 4-1-1 run that has them back atop the Pacifi c Division. ‘We were pressing, forcing ourselves to win a game and we just relaxed tonight’ Logan Couture scored San Jose’s fi rst of three power-play goals on the night at 10:54 of the fi rst period, as the Sharks fi nished a AFP play right out of the textbook. Los Angeles Kevin Labanc took the puck from a scram- bled faceoff and put it RESULTS evin Durant scored 32 points as back to Karlsson at one the two-time defending NBA point. Karlsson fed the Philadelphia 4-0 NY Rangers champion Golden State Warriors puck across to Couture Anaheim 2-1 Edmonton halted their worst losing streak at the other point, and Minnesota 4-2 Winnipeg Kin over fi ve years with a 125-97 win over he walked in and fi red Buff alo 3-2 Montreal the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. home a wrist shot. “We made shots tonight. It brings en- Timo Meier’s man- NY Islanders 4-3 New Jersey ergy into the building. I am glad we got a advantage score with Washington 3-1 Detroit win fi nally,” said Durant. “We were press- 10 seconds left in the Las Vegas 2-0 Calgary ing, forcing ourselves to win a game and opening period dou- we just relaxed tonight.” bled the lead. Joe Columbus 4-2 Toronto Klay Thompson delivered 31 points and Thornton’s shot was Boston 2-1 Pittsburgh Durant also had eight assists, seven re- denied, but he sent the Tampa Bay 4-2 Chicago bounds and shot 13 of 21 from the fi eld for rebound to the front of the Warriors, who had lost four straight the net, and Meier de- Carolina 4-1 Florida games. Thompson hit fi ve of his fi rst fl ected it into the net Colorado 5-1 Arizona seven shots and grabbed a season-high for his 13th of the sea- St. Louis 6-2 Nashville eight boards for the undermanned Warri- son. ors, who were playing without star guard Karlsson completed Dallas 6-4 Ottawa Stephen Curry. the power-play-goal San Jose 4-0 Vancouver Curry was involved in a multi-car acci- trifecta at 3:43 of the dent earlier in the day that left him unin- third period when he jured but damaged his Porsche Panamera took a pass from Thornton while in the high slot and whipped a sports car. Curry sat out Friday because of high wrist shot through the screen to make it 3-0. Karlsson had a a strained left groin and Draymond Green hand in Melker Karlsson’s even-strength goal at 9:35 of the third also remained sidelined because of a sore period to round out the scoring, fi ring the point shot that Melker right toe. Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points and Karlsson defl ected for his fi rst goal of the season. eight rebounds and CJ McCollum chipped Thornton collected two assists as he moved past Mario Lemieux in 19 points for Portland. for sole possession of 11th place among the NHL’s all-time assist leaders. He has 1,035. Anders Nilsson stopped 20 shots in goal for RAPTORS DEFEAT WIZARDS Vancouver, which has lost seven straight in regulation and is on an Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard scored 27 0-7-1 slide. points and fl irted with a triple double as the NBA-leading Toronto Raptors set a HEISKANEN SCORES TWICE, STARS OUTSLUG SENATORS franchise record for wins in the fi rst 20 Miro Heiskanen scored two goals, and Alexander Radulov, Mattias games of the season with a 125-107 victory Janmark and Devin Shore added a pair of assists apiece as the Dal- over the Washington Wizards on Friday. las Stars defeated the visiting Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Friday. Leonard also added 10 rebounds and The Stars racked up 53 shots on goal in the win, snapping a two- nine assists as the Raptors won their game losing streak. Dallas scored four goals in a 14-minute stretch fourth straight contest to improve to 16-4 that bridged the end of the second and start of the third period. overall. Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby each The Senators’ loss was the third straight and dropped them to scored 15 points and Fred VanVleet had 13 2-7-1 in away games this season. for the Raptors, who ended a two game Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant drives in against Portland Trail Blazers guard Evan Turner (1) during the second quarter Ryan Dzingel lit the lamp fi rst for the Senators just 3:05 into the losing skid at home but still have eight at Oracle Arena. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports game. He cut across the slot and one-timed a backhand feed from wins in their last 10 at the Scotiabank Bobby Ryan past Dallas goaltender Anton Khudobin, who made his Arena. The Raptors were powered by their pressed with the Raptors’ style of play. Doc Rivers. “He is one of the best, if not RESULTS second start in a row in place of the injured Ben Bishop. best three point shooting night of the sea- “They’re hard to beat,” Brooks said. the best free-throw shooter in the league.” The Stars answered as Jamie Benn lifted Tyler Seguin’s pass over son, converting a season-high 17 from be- “You’ve got to really be on-point defen- Gallinari improved to 95.5 percent from Minnesota 112-102 Brooklyn Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson at the 10:22 mark to tie the yond the arc. sively because they have so many good the charity stripe on the season. LA Clippers 112-107 Memphis game at 1. Brady Tkachuk corralled his own rebound and beat Khu- Danny Green, Anunoby and VanVleet three-point shooters and ball-movers and “It’s something I can say I’m pretty Detroit 116-111 Houston dobin for a power-play goal at the 10:02 mark of the second period each made three three pointers as Toronto smart basketball players.” good at. It’s a mental game at the free for a 2-1 Senators lead. But the rest of the period belonged to Dal- shot 43.6 percent from three point range, throw line,” he said. Montrezl Harrell fi n- Boston 114-96 Atlanta las. First, Heiskanen drilled home a wrist shot that changed direc- its highest percentage of the season. ‘MENTAL GAME’ ished with 22 points and 11 rebounds and New York 114-109 New Orleans tion off a defender’s stick with 7:15 left in the second to tie it at 2-2. “When we get those games where we Also, Danilo Gallinari sank all nine of his Lou Williams had 15 points for the Clip- Cleveland 121-112 Philadelphia With just 2:12 remaining in the second, Taylor Fedun scored his can shoot the ball well, it’s a big advan- free throws en route to a 20-point per- pers, who outscored Memphis 11-3 to fi rst goal of the season and gave the Stars a 3-2 lead after Shore fed Toronto 125-107 Washington tage,” said Lowry. Beal scored 20 points formance as the Los Angeles Clippers beat close the fourth quarter. Harrell had fi ve him with a perfect backhand pass. and Otto Porter had 17 for the Wizards, the Memphis Grizzlies 112-107 in over- points in the overtime as the Clippers won San Antonio 111-100 Indiana Heiskanen added to the Dallas lead with his second goal of the who are 2-7 on the road. time. their eighth straight at home. Miami 103-96 Chicago game at the 4:40 mark of the third period off assists from Janmark Wizards guard John Wall shot just fi ve The Grizzlies were up by eight points Memphis’ Marc Gasol overcame a slow Oklahoma City 109-104 Charlotte and Shore. Blake Comeau made it 5-2, tipping in Esa Lindell’s shot of 13, going one for seven from three- with two minutes to go and appeared to start to lead all scorers with 27 points and through Anderson’s pads with 13:48 to go. point range. Wall scored 11 points and had be headed to victory but Gallinari drained 13 rebounds. Gasol’s fi rst basket didn’t Phoenix 116-114 Milwaukee Ottawa cut the lead to 5-3 with 10:36 left on Maxime Lajoie’s a game-high 11 assists. three clutch free throws with three sec- come until just under fi ve minutes left in Denver 112-87 Orlando goal off a Matt Duchene feed. The Senators made it 5-4 with 6:16 Washington attempted a season-high onds left in regulation to force the over- the second quarter. Rookie Jaren Jackson Golden State 125-97 Portland remaining as Zack Smith beat Khudobin after a sweet pass from 46 shots from long range, making just time. “I don’t know if his blood pressure added 20 points and Mike Conley 19 for Ryan. But Gavin Bayreuther’s empty-net goal, his fi rst NHL tally, nine. Wizards coach Scott Brooks was im- ever goes up or down,” said Clippers coach the Grizzlies. LA Lakers 90-83 Utah with 2:10 to play sealed it for the Stars.

NFL ROYAL AIR MAROC ROAD CYCLING LEAGUE Jets look to snap losing streak against Patriots Reuters starting out 1-2, but headed into the bye scored 115-43 and the calls for coach New York week with a 34-10 loss at Tennessee in Todd Bowles to be fi red are intensifying. Week 10. It was a rare sight for the Pa- “It’s a must-win game for the next six triots as Tom Brady was sacked three weeks, let’s put it like that,” Jets safety he New York Jets and New times, hit six other times, didn’t throw Jamal Adams told WFAN. “We’re look- England Patriots are coming a touchdown and did not complete the ing forward to a big game coming up off ugly losses that sent them game as New England struggled to con- and it being back home and just making into their bye weeks on a dis- tain the Titans’ blitzing. a statement. We felt like that past game Tappointing note. The similarities end “We’re playing the Jets here,” Patri- just wasn’t us. We got to come back out there for the AFC East rivals, who face ots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’re not and prove what we can do.” off Sunday when the Patriots (7-3) visit playing Tennessee. So, we’ll have to deal Before the bye week, the Jets took a the Jets (3-7) at MetLife Stadium in East with what the Jets do, what their keys 41-10 home loss to the Buff alo Bills in a Rutherford, N.J. are and who their players are. Whatever game that saw them give up a 47-yard New England sits atop the AFC East else has happened this year has hap- reception on the fi rst play and fall be- with a two-game lead over the Miami pened. We’ve corrected those, talked hind for good 49 seconds in. Dolphins. The Patriots also are tied for about those situations, corrected them, Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold will third in the conference with Houston. but we’re focused on the Jets now.” miss his second straight game due to a “You can make or break your season The rare bad game left Brady with sprained right foot that he suff ered in these fi nal six games, so we’ve got to go 576 touchdowns in the postseason and Week 9 against Miami. Josh McCown out there and compete,” New England regular season. He is three shy of tying will again draw the start. running back James White said. “We Peyton Manning’s all-time record. McCown was 17-of-35 for 135 yards have a lot of division games, which are Brady is 25-7 with 48 touchdowns in with two interceptions as the Jets to- the most important. You’ve got to play 32 regular-season meetings with New talled just 199 yards on off ense. your best football at this point because, York. Since losing to the Jets in the divi- McCown (39) and New England’s like I said, it can make or break you.” sional round in the 2011 playoff s, Brady Tom Brady (41) mark the second-high- While the Patriots are headed toward is 12-2 in the last 14 meetings. Brady will est combined age between starting a 10th straight division title, the Jets get a boost from the expected return of quarterbacks (80 years, 258 days) since Jonathan Parker of Team Botrill Vanguard won the individual time trial – the third stage of Royal Air Maroc (RAM) are careening toward an eighth straight tight end Rob Gronkowski, who missed the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The highest Road Cycling League of the Qatar Cycling Federation – yesterday. He completed the two-round 23.75km stage at Al season out of the playoff s. That would two games with an ankle injury. was 82 years, 44 days old when Caro- Thakira in 30:00.5s. Chris Murin of Veloster clocked 32:29.1s to finish at the fourth spot and managed to stay at the match the second-longest drought in The Jets have lost their last four lina’s Vinny Testaverde (44) started top of the race table. Murin’s teammate James Moff at is in the second position after the stage, which he finished in team history. games. Since a 42-34 win over the In- against Green Bay’s Brett Favre (38) in the fifth position. Fadhel al-Khater came first among the Qatari riders with a two-minute lead over Essa al-Madeed. New England won six straight after dianapolis Colts, they have been out- 2007. Gulf Times 6 Sunday, November 25, 2018 RUGBY

FOCUS All Blacks smash Italy to wrap up European tour Reuters building a claim to the starting fl yhalf now,” he said. Rome spot. Flyhalf Beauden Barrett sliced open “It’s been a great tour for us,” Hansen the early in yesterday’s match said after the game. with sharp passing and some clever ew Zealand smashed Italy 66-3 “We have found some younger players kicks, including one that picked out his in Rome yesterday, fi nishing who have challenged some of the senior high-fl ying brother Jordie to score in the their European tour with an players and have said: ‘Hey, we are here’. corner for his second try. 10-try romp and leaving coach No doubt we will go back and solidify Hooker Dan Coles, making his way NSteve Hansen with plenty to consider as our thinking and our selections.” back to test rugby after a serious knee he looks to settle on a squad to defend Looking back over the past three injury last year and playing with heavy their World Cup title next year. weeks, Hansen said the All Blacks had strapping, performed like an outside Hansen retained just four players shown calm and mental strength to back at times, helping to set up at least from the starting team that lost to Ire- come back from a 15-point defi cit to two tries with deft passing and darts land last week, and a few of his new beat England at Twickenham and that down the blindside. picks took full advantage of the op- the defeat in Dublin had only served to Giant lock Patrick Tuipulotu also portunity on a grey day and on a damp make the team hungrier. proved a handful with ball in hand pitch in front of a big crowd at Stadio “I know that (loss) will make us a little against a physical Italian side, and Olimpico. hungrier and it’s always good if you go blindside fl anker Vaea Fifi ta at times Winger and man-of-the-match Jor- to the table hungry... You won’t win the outshone his more established openside die Barrett scored four tries and fullback World Cup unless you’re hungry.” teammate Ardie Savea. Damian McKenzie, whose selection at Skipper Kieran Read, who led the The Azzurri managed a single penalty fullback has been questioned by some haka for the fi rst time before the game, in a physical encounter up front. Even rugby pundits at home, scored three. said the team had learned a lot from the referee, Andrew Brace, had to be Fly-half Beauden Barrett, seldom un- the tour and were feeling good with substituted in the fi rst half after he col- der the kind of pressure he felt last week just a handful of tests before the lided with a player. against Ireland in Dublin, also scored a World Cup, which gets underway in “They are a very, very good team,” said try before being replaced in the second September. Italy’s coach, Irishman Conor O’Shea. (From left) New Zealand’s loose forward Ardie Savea, New Zealand’s outside back Jordie Barrett and New Zealand’s half by Richie Mo’unga who has been “We are in a pretty good spot right “They are at a diff erent level.” outside back Rieko Ioane acknowledge the public after defeating Italy in Rome yesterday. (AFP)

REPORT SPOTLIGHT Jenkins guides Wales past Springboks Four-try England to extend streak

AFP get South Africa ticking over Cardiff on the scoreboard. Pollard went wide with his second penalty at- tempt as the frenetic pace of the ndefatigable fl anker Ellis opening quarter waned. crush tired Wallabies Jenkins was instrumental in Anscombe, charged with helping Wales extend their Welsh kicking duties in the ab- Victory gave England their sixth win in a row over the Wallabies under Eddie Jones winning run to nine games sence of concussed fullback Ias they racked up a 20-11 victory Leigh Halfpenny, then saw a AFP over South Africa yesterday. long-range kick come back off Twickenham, United Kingdom Tomas Francis and Liam Wil- the posts. liams crossed for fi rst-half tries When Bok scrum-half Em- for Wales, Gareth Anscombe brose Papier shot clear from a ngland ended 2018 with knocking over two conversions. messy line-out and grubbered a 37-18 win over Aus- Handre Pollard got South past George North, it looked tralia at Twickenham Africa on the scoreboard with like he could have been in for a yesterday. a penalty before Jesse Kriel try, but a disorienting, stray arm EVictory gave England their crossed for a try early in the sec- from the Welsh winger and the sixth win in a row over the Wal- ond-half. covering Liam Williams doing labies under former Australia Elton Jantjies kicked the enough to force a knock-on. boss Eddie Jones. Springboks to within three South Africa piled the pres- It also meant they had won points before Dan Biggar banged sure on as half-time beckoned three of their four November over two penalties to ensure the before Jenkins produced argu- internationals, with the lone home side’s longest unbeaten ably the tackle of the match, loss an agonising 16-15 defeat to streak since 1999. Jenkins, a late managing to hold up the ball in world champions New Zealand. call-up to the starting XV after Kriel’s arms over the line. This loss was Australia’s an elbow injury to Dan Lydiate, Pollard spurned a simple ninth in 13 Tests in 2018 – a dominated the loose, produced shot at goal as Wales went off - worrying record ahead of the a couple of vital turnovers and side, Kolisi instead opting for 2019 World Cup in Japan. shored up a creaking scrum in a an attacking scrum, but Jenkins The fi rst half ended all square thrilling match at Cardiff ’s Prin- turned over Eben Etzebeth to at 13-13 but England pulled cipality Stadium. But he was un- leave it 14-3 at half-time. away after the break by scoring fortunately stretchered off after The visitors dominated pos- three converted tries through falling awkwardly in the fi nal session early in the second pe- Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga and play of the game. riod, again going for an attacking Owen Farrell during a run of 24 The victory was Wales’ sixth line-out rather than turn to the unanswered points. win in 35 games against the normally trusty boot of Pollard. By the time Israel Folau Springboks, fi ve of those having With the Welsh scrum also scored his and Australia’s sec- come in six games over the last under enormous pressure, it was ond try in stoppage time it was England players celebrate victory over Australia at the Twickenham Stadium in London yesterday. (Reuters) four years. It also gave Wales a a tactic that fi nally paid off for too little too late for the tourists. fi rst ever four-from-four au- the Boks, Willie Le Roux produc- This win came in the week a 9-6 defeat by Wales in Cardiff England No 8 Mark Wilson conversion still to be taken, ref- the scores – when Australia tumn Tests cleansweep, having ing a brilliant fl ick pass for Kriel of the 15th anniversary of Eng- a fortnight ago. But the bigger broke off the base of a strong eree Jaco Peyper checked on the might have ended the fi rst half gone into the game on the back to cross for a deserved try in the land’s 2003 World Cup fi nal blow to the Wallabies was the set-piece and found Youngs, big screen to rule that Haylett- with a morale-boosting lead. of victories over Scotland, Aus- corner. Pollard was off target victory over an Australia side late withdrawal of No. 8 David whose pass to Jonny May saw Petty’s initial pass to Samu Ker- England, however, were back tralia and Tonga. with the conversion, replace- coached by Jones. Pocock with a neck injury he the wing go in at the right cor- evi had gone forward. in front thanks to Daly’s im- Two thrilling passages of ment Elton Jantjies stepping England co-captain Farrell, suff ered during last week’s 26-7 ner. Farrell’s penalty made it 13-3. pressive 44th-minute try. early play went fully rewarded, up to kick a 62nd minute pen- refl ecting on his side’s second- win over Italy. Farrell kicked the diffi cult Australia, however, hit back From a pass by Farrell, Daly fi rst Exeter prop Francis crash- alty that saw the South Africans, half display, told Sky Sports: Fantastic Farrell England re- conversion to make it 7-0. four minutes before half-time. cut a sharp angle from 35 metres ing over from short range after with Toulouse winger Cheslin “We just played direct and re- verted to their near-strongest Australia fl y-half Matt Haylett-Petty’s break set up out, beating the tackles of both Jenkins fooled South African Kolbe a threat every time he ally took it to them and things line-up following a 35-15 win To’omua reduced the lead to a ruck and prop Sekope Kepu’s Bernard Foley and Genia for a hooker Malcolm Marx with a got the ball, up to within three seemed to go our way after over Japan last week. 7-3 with a penalty before Farrell pass found the onrushing Folau stylish score. smart dummy. points of Wales. that.” Farrell, who came off the landed one of his own. on England’s 22-metre line. England, retaining posses- Anscombe hit the extras as But a crucial Jantjies knock- Australia captain Michael bench at half-time to inspire England with Courtney The fullback evaded Farrell’s sion for 10 phases, went fur- Wales camped out in the Bok on gifted Wales attacking ad- Hooper added: “We felt like we England to victory against Ja- Lawes and Maro Itoje to the attempted tap-tackle, rounded ther in front when Cokanasiga half, showing a slick, clinical vantage and when Aphiwe got a bit of a run towards the pan, started at fl y-half. fore, forced repeated turnovers Youngs and accelerated away brushed off opposite number side to their play that would have Dyantyi held on in the tackle, back end of the fi rst half but England scored the fi rst of – a sign of just how much Aus- from Daly for a try between the Haylett-Petty’s attempted delighted coach Warren Gatland. Biggar booted a penalty to take couldn’t keep it going and un- their four tries in just the sec- tralia were missing breakdown posts that To’omua converted. tackle for a 56th-minute try. Liam Williams crossed for the score to 17-11. Jonathan Dav- fortunately, against some of the ond minute. expert Pocock. Australia came hard again at There was a huge roar from a the home side’s second try on ies then broke clear and should teams we’ve been playing this Australia scrum-half Will Meanwhile England, with England, with only a ‘no-arms’ crowd of over 81,00 when inju- the quarter hour, taking a lofted have done better in drawing the year, we’ve died in those min- Genia, appearing in his 100th prop Kyle Sinckler prominent, block by Farrell on Wallaby lock ry-plagued centre Manu Tuilagi mispass from Anscombe and last line of defence, Pieter-Steph utes of the game.” Test, delivered a poor pass were dominating the scrum. Izack Rodda preventing a likely came off the bench for his rstfi cutting back inside the covering du Toit producing a try-saving Australia announced Friday to wing Dane Haylett-Petty, Nevertheless, Australia try at the end of the fi rst half. England appearance in more Siya Kolisi. tackle on prop Rob Evans. that senior backs Kurtley Beale whose clearing kick near his thought they had scored a Yet South African offi cial than two years. When Adam Beard was pinged Ivan van Zyl went off side at and Adam Ashley-Cooper had own line was charged down 27-minute try through Haylett- Peyper decided a penalty in They were cheering again for off side, Bok skipper Kolisi the resulting ruck, Biggar boot- been dropped as a disciplinary by England scrum-half Ben Petty. front of the posts, rather than a when Farrell crossed for a opted against going for touch ing his second penalty, before measure for inviting women Youngs, with the hosts forcing a But, having seemingly penalty try, was suffi cient pun- 76th-minute try – part of his deep in Welsh territory, Pollard Jenkins fell in agony and was into their hotel room following fi ve-metre scrum. awarded the score and with the ishment and To’omua levelled 22-point haul. instead booting three points to taken off by stretcher.

BOTTOMLINE Scotland beat Argentina in drab fi nal November Test

AFP just three of his six eff orts while alty attempt wide of the target Townsend experimented, with squared the contest at 6-6, be- Edinburgh full-back Emiliano Bofelli also from 25 metres out, head on to his fi rst choice fl y half Finn Rus- fore pushing wide another at- pushed one wide. the posts. The play from both sell starting at inside centre for tempt that would have put his The defeat – their fi fth in a side was pedestrian and Scot- the fi rst time but the Racing 92 side in front for the fi rst time. inger Sean Maitland row against the Scots – means land fl y half Adam Hastings put pivot was also off -form, making Instead, it was the Scots who scored the only try Argentina head into their fi nal his side in trouble with a tel- a hash of a 22 metre drop out and regained the lead courtesy of of a dull Murrayfi eld match of the year, against the egraphed attempted clearance forcing his centre partner Huw a third Laidlaw penalty after a encounter to help Barbarians at Twickenham next kick that was charged down, Jones to race to the left corner to high tackle on Jones by veteran WScotland to a 14-9 victory over week, on a fi ve-match losing leading to the Glasgow player beat Moyano to a touchdown. hooker Agustin Creevy. Argentina in their fi nal Novem- streak. having to hastily backtrack to It took Argentina 27 min- Going into the fi nal quarter, ber international. Scotland attacked from the touch down the loose ball in his utes to get points on the board, Townsend restored Russell to Captain and scrum-half Greig kick off and when prop Santiago team’s in-goal area. Sanchez making no mistake outside half, replacing Hastings Laidlaw kicked three penalties Medrano was penalised for off - A high tackle by Hastings on with a penalty, but fi ve minutes with inside centre Alex Dunbar. from four attempts to help them side Laidlaw stepped up to give winger Ramiro Moyano provided later Scotland were back in front It gave the Scots just enough past Argentina, who paid the the hosts a 3-0 lead with three Argentina with a second penalty thanks to reliable Laidlaw land- composure to fi nish the job. Af- price for failing with four of their minutes on the clock. shot after 22 minutes and this ing his second penalty. ter Sanchez missed a third pen- seven kicks at the post. Six minutes later the Pumas time it was the turn of Bofelli to Three minutes into the sec- alty, Scotland full back Stuart The Pumas’ record points ought to have levelled the scores push his eff ort wide. ond-half Hastings conceded Hogg fed Maitland for a 65th Wales’ Ellis Jenkins receives oxygen as he leaves the pitch on a scorer Nicolas Sanchez nailed but Sanchez sliced his fi rst pen- Scotland coach Gregor another penalty and Sanchez minute try in the right corner. stretcher after sustaining an injury. (Reuters) Gulf Times Sudnay, November 25, 2018 7 SPORT

MOTORSPORT GOLF Rai holds steady to set up dream of Hamilton on pole for fi rst Tour win

AFP Park Hyo-won of Korea, Hong Kong who started the day in second, shot four bogeys and was later docked two strokes to card 73, oungster Aaron Rai putting him nine shots off the fi nal race of F1 season held off fellow Eng- lead. lishmen Tommy Fleet- Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee ‘The emotional roller-coaster that I’ve gone through with this car, I’m probably the wood and Matt Fitz- and France’s Victor Perez both patrickY at the Hong Kong Open shot a four-under 66 to sit closest to this car that I’ve ever been with any car. So I’m emotionally attached’ yesterday, to lead by six strokes eight behind the leader. heading into the fi nal day. After producing a stunning Reuters The 23-year-old, who set a six birdies on the last seven to Abu Dhabi course record on Friday, was make the cut on day two, Mas- seven shots worse on Satur- ters champion Patrick Reed day as he carded a two-under failed to fi nd the magic again. ive-times Formula One par 68 in the third round. The A double bogey on the fourth world champion Lewis round included his fi rst bogeys and a frustrating bogey on the Hamilton led a Mercedes of the tournament but was last green all but put the Amer- front-row lockout with good enough to extend his lead. ican out of the running for his aF blistering pole position at the “Nothing is ever done until fi rst win on the European Tour. season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand it’s done and 18 holes is a lot of Prix yesterday. golf,” said the Wolverhampton LEADING SCORES The pole was a record-ex- native who is seeking his fi rst 194-Aaron Rai (ENG) 65-61-68 tending 83rd of the Briton’s ca- win on the European Tour. 200-Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) reer and 11th of the season, as After bogeying the fi rst hole, 69-65-66, Matthew Fitzpatrick well as the fi fth year in succes- Ryder-Cup star Fleetwood (ENG) 70-62-68 sion that Mercedes have swept carded a 66. 201-Sergio Garcia (ESP) 70- the front row at the fl oodlit Yas “Not an exceptional round 67-64, Jason Scrivener (AUS) Marina circuit. Hamilton’s pole but another good solid round,” 65-69-67 lap of one minute 34.794 sec- the world number nine said, 202-Victor Perez (FRA) 71-65- onds was also a track record. adding that the short fairways 66, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) Finnish team mate Valtteri of Fanling and Rai’s form were 68-68-66 Bottas secured his front-row proving a “test of patience.” 203-Adilson da Silva (BRA) slot, last year’s race winner be- However, the Merseysider 70-64-69, Jake Higginbottom ing 0.162 seconds off the pace, said he believed he was “still (AUS) 69-65-69, Park Hyo-won with the Ferraris of Sebastian well in there” in the chase for (KOR) 68-62-73, Scott Hend Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen fi ll- the title. (AUS) 68-66-69 ing the second row. “It’s quite an Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who 204-David Lipsky (USA) 69- emotional qualifying session for carded a six-under 64 which 66-69, David Drysdale (SCO) me because it’s the last time I’m included an eagle on the tenth, 68-69-67, Jack Singh Brar going to be qualifying in this car,” was in fourth, seven shots off (ENG) 66-70-68, Sihwan Kim said Hamilton after stepping out the lead. (USA) 69-69-66, Ricardo Gou- of the Mercedes to kiss it and Garcia said, that his total veia (POR) 74-65-65, Robert then wave to the crowd. was “still going to be a little MacIntyre (SCO) 71-67-66, “The emotional roller-coaster bit far behind. We’re going to Matthias Schwab (AUS) 69-69- that I’ve gone through with this need a little bit of help from the 66, Shubhankar Sharma (IND) car, I’m probably the closest to leaders fi nishing up.” 69-68-67. this car that I’ve ever been with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (centre) celebrates after taking the pole position in the qualifying session next to Ferrari driver Sebastian Vet- any car. So I’m emotionally at- tel (right, third place) and Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas (left, second place) at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi yesterday. (AFP) tached,” added the 33-year-old. Belgium race to fi ve shot lead at golf WCup “It’s not always been easy, Bottas, without a win this sea- Charles Leclerc eighth in his last it’s been a struggle with her but son while Hamilton has taken Starting grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race for Sauber before taking Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry zeroed in on Belgium’s first it’s been a real privilege to work 10 victories, had hoped to take Raikkonen’s place at Ferrari. ever golf World Cup title yesterday, storming to a five stroke with her this year and I’m just so the top slot for the second year Front row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes), Valtteri Bottas (FIN/ French youngster Esteban lead over the chasing pack with a peerless display of shot- grateful to the team, to everyone, in a row but recognised his team Mercedes) Ocon, who will drop back to a making. The pair began the third day level with An Byeong- for putting it together.” mate had once again pulled a Second row: Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari), Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/ reserve role at Mercedes next hun and Kim Si-woo, but the South Koreans could only man- Saturday was a last chance for stunning lap out of the bag. Ferrari) season, put his Force India ninth age a 68 in the fourball format at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to be- “P2 (second) wasn’t what I Third row: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull), Max Verstappen (NED/ on the grid and ahead of Re- Golf Club, where both players have a ball but only the better come the youngest ever driver on was expecting... but a one-two Red Bull) nault’s Nico Hulkenberg in 10th. score counts for each hole. pole but the 21-year-old ended for the fi nal race is good, ABU Fourth row: Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas), Charles Leclerc (MON/ With nothing at stake for the top In contrast the young Belgians, former University of Illinois up sixth on the grid and behind DHABI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Five- Sauber) teams, and no orders holding an- teammates, sank seven birdies and an eagle in a sizzling Australian team mate Dan- times Formula One world cham- Fifth row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Racing Point Force India), Nico yone back, Sunday’s race promis- nine-under-par 63 - the best of the day - to be 19-under for the iel Ricciardo. Romain Grosjean pion Lewis Hamilton led a Mer- Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) es to be a full-on fi ght for victory. championship. qualifi ed seventh for Haas with cedes front-row lockout with Sixth row: Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Renault), Marcus Ericsson (SWE/ “Today was so much fun,” said Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Renato Paratore stayed in the hunt Charles Leclerc eighth in his last a blistering pole position at the Sauber) Hamilton, who took the provi- with a 66 to be joint second alongside Mexico’s Abraham race for Sauber before taking season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Seventh row: Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas), Sergio Perez (MEX/ sional pole with his fi rst fl ying Ancer and Roberto Diaz (65) and the Koreans. Raikkonen’s place at Ferrari. Prix on Saturday. Racing Point Force India) lap in the fi nal phase of qualify- Pre-tournament favourites Australia - Mark Leishman and French youngster Esteban The pole was a record-ex- Eighth row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/McLaren), Brendon Hartley ing. “To go out there and be able Cameron Smith - remained in touch, six off the pace, tied fifth Ocon, who will drop back to a tending 83rd of the Briton’s ca- (NZL/Toro Rosso) to just express yourself and push with England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter and Sweden’s reserve role at Mercedes next reer and 11th of the season, as Ninth row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/Toro Rosso), Stoff el Vandoorne (BEL/ the car the way you want, there’s Alexander Bjork and Joakim Lagergren. season, put his Force India ninth well as the fi fth year in succes- McLaren) no better feeling.” After battling icy winds and relentless rain on Friday in the on the grid and ahead of Re- sion that Mercedes have swept Tenth row: Sergey Sirotkin (RUS/Williams-Mercedes) Bottas, without a win this sea- foursomes, where teammates take it in turns to play the same nault’s Nico Hulkenberg in 10th. the front row at the fl oodlit Yas son while Hamilton has taken 10 ball, the weather was more benign yesterday. With nothing at stake for the top Marina circuit. Hamilton’s pole going to be qualifying in this car,” it’s been a real privilege to work victories, had hoped to take the And Pieters, 26, and Detry, 25, turned on the style, bisecting teams, and no orders holding an- lap of one minute 34.794 sec- said Hamilton after stepping out with her this year and I’m just so top slot for the second year in a fairways with their approach shots and holing superb putts, yone back, Sunday’s race promis- onds was also a track record. of the Mercedes to kiss it and grateful to the team, to everyone, row but recognised his teammate making light work of the diff icult pin placements. es to be a full-on fi ght for victory. Finnish team mate Valtteri then wave to the crowd. for putting it together.” had once again pulled a stunning They charged through the front nine in five-under 31 after “Today was so much fun,” said Bottas secured his front-row “The emotional roller-coaster Yesterday was a last chance lap out of the bag. Detry eagled the 521-yard ninth, and made another four more Hamilton, who took the provi- slot, last year’s race winner be- that I’ve gone through with this for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to “P2 (second) wasn’t what I birdies on the way home. Belgium has never won a World Cup sional pole with his fi rst fl ying ing 0.162 seconds off the pace, car, I’m probably the closest to become the youngest ever driver was expecting... but a one-two although Ryder Cup player Flory Van Donck, widely-regarded lap in the fi nal phase of qualify- with the Ferraris of Sebastian this car that I’ve ever been with on pole but the 21-year-old end- for the fi nal race is good,” he said. as the country’s best ever, captured the individual title in 1960. ing. “To go out there and be able Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen fi ll- any car. So I’m emotionally at- ed up sixth on the grid and be- “He was performing well, it was “A win would mean a lot for golf in a small country like Bel- to just express yourself and push ing the second row. “It’s quite an tached,” added the 33-year-old. hind Australian team mate Dan- tough to beat his time. He did a gium,” said Detry, who has finished third three times on the the car the way you want, there’s emotional qualifying session for “It’s not always been easy, iel Ricciardo. Romain Grosjean better job in the lap,” said the European Tour, including the KLM Open in September. no better feeling.” me because it’s the last time I’m it’s been a struggle with her but qualifi ed seventh for Haas with Finn.

FOCUS Mickelson beats Woods in $9mn winner-take-all match Reuters picture and it’s the trump card.” heart just can’t take much more New York Golf’s fi rst venture into pay- of it.” per-view was hyped like a Las After the two most popular Vegas prizefi ght but proved more golfers of their era hit their open- hil Mickelson has played of a pillow fi ght with both golf- ing tee shots at Shadow Creek, in Tiger Woods’ shadow ers in jovial mood, playing for a they set off for what proved to for much of his career purse that was put up by spon- be an underwhelming round in but got some semblance sors and will go to a charity of which both failed to deliver the Pof revenge on Friday by winning Mickelson’s choice. highlight reel-type shots that their $9 million matchplay ex- While the event lacked the have defi ned their careers. hibition under the fl oodlights in tension provided by a Sunday Instead, Mickelson and Las Vegas. back nine at the Masters, Woods Woods shared stories, compli- With the match all square set up a dramatic fi nish when mented each other, laughed like through regulation, Mickelson his bump-and-run from beside long-lost friends and made side sealed the win at the fourth hole the 17th green, with the match bets for eye-popping sums. of a sudden-death playoff when on the line, found the cup While the pay-per-view event he drained a four-foot birdie and brought the match to all was priced at $19.99, promoters putt on a makeshift 93-yard hole square. decided to off er it free online at after the duo had teed off from a “I just did not want the match some point during play because practice green. to end on that hole,” said Woods, of what they described as tech- Mickelson, whose tally of fi ve who grabbed his only lead at the nical issues that impacted user major championships is well day with a birdie at 12 but gave it access. It is not yet known if shy of the 14 held by Woods, right back at the 13th. viewers who paid for the event savoured the win over a player Woods’ shot at 17 pumped would be credited. he had a white-hot rivalry with some much-needed life into the Woods and Mickelson, who more than a decade ago and match as the players headed to are among the world’s highest- whom he described as the best to the 18th where Mickelson had paid athletes, put up their own ever play the game. a 32-foot putt for the win but money for the side bets, includ- “A day like today is not going failed to convert. ing a whopping $1 million wager to take anything away from his Nothing was settled when if either made eagle at the ninth greatness. He’s the greatest of all the players returned to the 18th hole. Neither golfer was able to time,” Mickelson said after “The tee for the fi rst extra hole and so cash in. Match” at Shadow Creek Golf they descended on the 93-yard Mickelson also earned Club. hole where they had to wait as $600,000 for winning three “But to be able to have just the grounds crew re-cut a hole closest-to-the-pin side bets af- a little bit of smack talk for the on the 18th green. ter losing $200,000 for failing coming years means a lot to me “To have a day like today, I just to make a birdie at the opening because I don’t really have much never thought we’d go to this ex- hole. Money from side bets will on him. He always drops the big tra hole,” said Mickelson. “My also be donated to charity. Phil Mickelson (right) celebrates with the $9mn winnings after defeating Tiger Woods (left) at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

Sunday, November 25, 2018 GULF TIMES SPORT

EQUESTRIANISM TENNIS/ DAVIS CUP Al-Attiyah shows France stay alive aft er Grand Prix class in doubles win

Reuters set home nerves jangling. Lille Herbert faltered when serv- ing at 3-4 allowing the Croats to break serve and then hold with rance kept their Davis ease to the delight of their noisy Cup fi nal hopes alive followers high in the upper tiers. tie-break thriller as Nicolas Mahut and Alarm bells were ringing at Pierre-Hugues Herbert the start of the fourth when ‘I’M VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY MY HORSE RESPONDED AND PERFORMED’ beatF Croatian pair Ivan Dodig France had to save three break and Mate Pavic 6-4 6-4 3-6 points on the Herbert serve and 7-6(3) in a tense doubles battle he was again made to work hard by Sports Reporter in the Stade Pierre Mauroy yes- at 2-2 as the momentum of the Doha terday. match began to swing Croatia’s Yannick Noah’s champions way. had their backs against the wall France kept their noses in amad Ali al-Attiyah after losing both Friday’s singles front though and the fans ratch- prevailed in an all-Qa- but Herbert and Mahut began eted up the decibel levels as tari three-way jump- the fi ghtback, reducing the defi - Pavic served at 4-5. off to win the Grand cit to 2-1 and ensuring the last The Croat, yet to win a Davis PrixH World Cup competition Davis Cup in its present guise Cup tie, duly buckled with a (1.60m class) in the QNB Qa- will stretch into today. double-fault at 0-30 and bed- tar International Showjumping The odds are still stacked in lam broke out in the stands with Championship 2018 yesterday. Croatia’s favour as no team has opposing fan clubs trying to Al-Attiyah’s tactic of preserv- recovered from 2-0 down to win out-sing each other. ing his horse Clinton for the big the trophy since Australia beat With the umpire struggling show paid dividends as he edged the United States in 1939. to restore order, Pavic showed the in-form Mubarak Yousuf al- But with 26,000 mainly fl ag- incredible composure as he and Rumaihi and Hamad Nasser al- waving French fans set to fl ock Dodig somehow dug themselves Qadi to emerge champion. back into the cavernous home out of a seemingly impossible All eyes at the Qatar Eques- of Lille’s soccer club on Sunday, position to make it 5-5. trian Federation’s outdoor arena hope still remains. Boos rang out as Pavic ges- were fi xated on the fi nal three It had looked like being a tured defi antly at the massed riders, but while al-Rumaihi (on relatively comfortable win for ranks of blue amid the suspicion Vivaldi K) and Al Qadi (riding the French duo when they had that Croatia would be favourites SIEC Lonnie) clipped a barrier points for a double break in the to win the rubber if they could each, Olympian al-Attiyah kept third set, having won the fi rst take the tiebreak. his cool and stayed in absolute two in dominant fashion. Yet Mahut and Herbert sync with his horse Clinton to But Pavic and Dodig, who had jumped into a 4-1 lead and return a fl awless routine. partnered Marin Cilic to a cru- though the Croatians got it back Al-Attiyah’s clean round also cial win over Mahut and Herbert to 4-3, the French pair then kept fetched him an award of €3,300 when the sides met in the 2016 their cool with Mahut’s refl ex besides the top place and valu- semi-fi nals in Zadar, hit back to volley sealing the win. able FEI World Cup qualifying points. Speaking soon after his tri- umph, the 23-year-old soft- spoken al-Attiyah – who was Online ticket sales for Qatar also a member of Qatar’s show- Hamad Ali al-Attiyah clears a hurdle on way to victory in the Grand Prix World Cup competition in the QNB Qatar International Showjumping ExxonMobil Open begin jumping team at the 2018 Asian Championships yesterday. Games – said, “I would like to Doha: The online sales of tick- the ATP World Tour 250 series RESULTS thank the almighty for today’s “Now my horse will go back to “Given the challenging tech- 32.46secs; €2,240 ets for the Qatar ExxonMobil event include world No. 8 success. I’m very happy with Europe as the winter approach- nical course, the fi rst round was Grand Prix - World Cup Com- 2. Nasser al-Ghazali (Aslan 69); Open 2019 will go live today, it Dominic Thiem, Nikolov the way my horse responded and es. We shall give him adequate quite hard for all of us. Since petition | Two Rounds FEI Art. 0; 47.13secs; 4; 34.03secs; €1,800 was announced yesterday. Basilashvili, David Goff in, performed.” rest and hopefully be ready for there are strong horses and qual- 273.3.3.1 & 273.4.3 + 273.2.2 | Min 3. Faleh Suwead al-Ajami (Ul- Fans can purchase tickets for Karen Khachanov and this On the challenge of compet- future global competitions in ity riders, you have to be careful 145-Max 160cm | Prize-money ano); 0; 49.48secs; 4; 34.87secs; the prestigious event by visit- year’s French Open semifinalist ing against al-Rumaihi, he said, March,” he added. and swift at the same time. I had €12,000 | LR (Group E) €1,400 ing www.qatartennis.org. Marco Cecchinato. “Mubarak is one of the bigger A graceful Mubarak al-Ru- a small mistake towards the end, 1. Hamad Ali al-Attiyah (Clin- Tickets will also be available “We are extremely proud to riders in Doha, he’s very danger- maihi was equally happy fi n- but still I did well to fi nish on the ton); Phase 1: Faults: 0; Time: Two Phases FEI Art. 274.5.3 onsite at the Khalifa Interna- host another edition of the ous and he’s very fast. He won ishing second in the Grand Prix podium,” he said. 81.24secs; Jump-off : Faults: 0; | Max. 120cm | Prize-Money tional Tennis & Squash Com- prestigious Qatar ExxonMobil every class he entered in since he event. “My horse (Vivaldi K) has He also credited his success Time: 53.29ses; Prize: €3,300 €6,000 plex and in some malls from Open. The started his show in the last two had too much to do the last fort- to the national equestrian series 2. Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi 1. Hamad Nasser al-Qadi (Hugo December 1. tournament has over the years championships. night. I won quite a few classes Hathab. “Hathab is helping all of Djokovic, the 2018 Wimbledon continued to grow in leaps and (Vivaldi K); 0; 78.83secs; 4; Z); 0; 37.88secs; 0; 26.47secs; “Today, perhaps his horse was with him last week and I’m still us stay in good form and be ready and US Open champion, tops bounds, attracting the world’s a bit more tired than mine be- very happy that he managed to for international competitions 50.55secs; €2,700 €1,500 the entry list of star players top players to Qatar. We are cause of the continuous compe- get me the second place in the like this one. I think the idea 3. Hamad Nasser al-Qadi 2. Ali Mohamed al-Marri (Fernhill billed looking forward to seeing titions over a fortnight. Grand Prix. It is too tough for the to introduce Hathab has been (SIEC Lonnie); 0; 80.42secs; 4; Friendly Touch); 0; 40.86secs; 0; to play at the tournament the fans troop out in large “I luckily saved my horse horses when they jump for two a great one for equestrian as a 50.94secs; €2,100 Two Phases 26.75secs; €1,200 which will be held from numbers to enjoy this amaz- Clinton for this day and the tac- weeks in a row,” he explained. sport in Qatar,” he added. FEI Art. 274.5.3 | Max. 135cm | 3. M Khalid Mohamed al-Emadi December 31, 2018 to January ing experience,” Tariq Zainal, tic paid off . I had the same plan The 22-year-old al-Qadi, who Mohamed Saeed Haidan won Prize-Money €8,000 (Dolce Vita); 0; 38.64secs; 0; 5, 2019. general co-ordinator of the for the last two weeks, and I fi n- had earlier claimed the 1.20m the two phases 1.35m event on 1. Mohamed Saeed Haidan 27.99secs; €900. Other players set to feature at tournament, said. ished third the last time and to- class riding Hugo Z, was delight- his mount Apple Bee. (Apple Bee); 0; 46.53secs; 0; day managed to fi nish fi rst. ed with his podium fi nish.

ARAB SHOOTING Qatar fi nish on top with 18 gold medals

By Sports Reporter Doha

atar’s double trap team won the gold medal as Qatar fi n- ished on top in the 14th Arab Shooting Championship whichQ concluded yesterday. Qatar, who dominated from day one of the eight-day championships, bagged 47 medals, including 18 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze. Second-placed Oman bagged 13 gold, 18 silver and 13 bronze while Ku- wait, clinched the third place with 13 gold, 11 silver and 8 bronze. The Om- ani delegation was crowned as the best fans for their support to the Gulf and Arab teams participating in the tour- nament. (From left) Second-placed Qatar’s Hamad al-Marri, first-placed Kuwait’s Ahmad On the last day, Qatar’s Asian Games al-Afasi and Qatar’s Masoud Hamad al-Athba pose with their double trap medals. bronze medal winner Hamad al-Marri came second in the individual double trap event with a total score of 136. Ku- wait’s Ahmad al-Afasi won the gold with a score of 138, while Qatar’s Masoud Ha- mad al-Athba came third with 135. The 43-year-old al-Marri and al- Athba were also members of the Qatar (From left) second-placed Oman 1, first-placed Qatar 1 and third-placed Qatar 2 pose with their air rifle mixed team junior medals team which won the gold medal. They yesterday. beat Kuwait in the fi nal. Abdulbaset Mohsin was also the members of the zouq Shalwan and Khalid Ayoub Shar- Hamad al-Athba 135, Abdulbaset 2. Oman 1 (Hadil Ahmed al-Harbi and victorious team. Oman team fi nished shani of Qatar 2 came third. Mohsin 125) 396 Yousuf Sulaiman al-Mamari) 443.9 third. 2. Kuwait (Ahmad Alafasi 138, Saad Al- 3. Qatar 2 (Fai Marzouq Shalwan and In the youth section, Qatar’s Shahd RESULTS mutairi 131, Jarrah Alshowaier 116) 385 Khalid Ayoub Sharshani) 389.3 al-Darwish and Nasser Khalid al-Nae- Men’s double trap individual 3. Oman (Hussein al-Shuhoumi 133, 10m air rifle mixed youth mi also combined to win 10m air rifl e 1. Ahmad Alafasi (Kuwait) 138 Ahmed al Hatmi 120, Amar al-Henai 1. Oman 1 (Roaa Hamed al-Housni and mixed silver medal. 2. Hamad al-Marri (Qatar) 136 117) 370 Faham Jamal al Badi) 477.8 In the junior section, Qatar 1 com- 3. Masoud Hamad al-Athba (Qatar) 135 2. Qatar 1 (Shahd al-Darwish and prised of Al Maha Mishal al-Ali and 10m air rifle mixed team junior Nasser Khalid al-Naemi) 477.1 Abdulaziz Thamer al-Turki won the (From left) Second-placed Qatar Team, first-placed Oman team and third-placed Men’s Double trap team 1. Qatar 1 (Almaha Mishal al-Ali and 3. Kuwait (Yara Alkhalaf & Soud Also- 10m air rifl e mixed team gold. Fai Mar- Kuwait team pose with their 10m air rifle mixed youth medals. 1. Qatar (Hamad al-Marri 136, Masoud Abdulaziz Thamer al-Turki) 452.4 biee) 412.5