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FOOTBALL / QATAR CUP 5:30PM Xavi’s Al Sadd has ‘extra’ motivation against Duhail ‘We lost 1-4 to Duhail (in QSL) and that is an extra motivation for us. But this is the final... that’s what makes it diff erent’ Xavi says Barca off er came ‘too early’

By Yash Mudgal I hope he succeeds with the Doha team,” he said. Xavi is said to have met three times with Abidal and Grau l Sadd coach Xavi Her- in Doha last weekend, and he nandez said yesterday admitted the uncertainty made Athat he will stay put with it diff icult to focus on his job at the Qatari club till the end of Al Sadd. the football season. “I wasn’t in my best position dur- “I am with Al Sadd at least until ing the last three days, because the end of the season,” said Xavi, I was thinking about that off er, who rejected an off er from his but I’m now totally focused,” the former club Barcelona, admitting former midfielder said. that it was “too early” for him to things will go,” the Barca legend When asked who first learned coach the Catalan giants. said. he had turned down Barca’s “Yes, I received an off er from Barcelona Sporting director approach, he said: “My family Barcelona, but I did not agree Eric Abidal and CEO Oscar Grau was the first to know about my with that off er because I see met with the former central decision. Then my players as that it is too early to go now. midfielder in Qatar last Friday, they were following the devel- I dream of training them one where they made the off er of opments. I respect them a lot.” day, but the time has not come the position to Xavi. Xavi made 767 first-team yet,” the 39-year-old said on the Eventually, former Real Betis appearances for the Catalan eve of his side’s Qatar Cup final coach Quique Setien was giants between 1998 and 2015, against Al Duhail. appointed as the new boss at alongside winning 133 caps for Xavi signed a two-year contract Camp Nou this week with cur- the Spanish national team. with the QNB Stars League club rent Netherlands Coach Ronald He won eight La Liga titles Al Sadd in last May. Koeman also reportedly reject- alongside three Copa del Rey “My goal is to continue until the ing an approach from the club. crowns and four Champions end of the season with Al Sadd. “I love Barcelona’s new coach, League trophies in his total of After that, nobody knows how I love his way of working and 25 titles with the club. Al Sadd players take part in a training session ahead of their Qatar Cup final against Al Duhail. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Yash Mudgal while Al Sadd are third with 21 Al Sadd captain and striker Mourinho for 17 years at some of Duhail’s Karim Boudiaf felt Doha points and one match in hand. Hassan al-Haydos also echoed the world’s biggest clubs, Duhail they have to be well organised The Wolves lost 1-4 to Al Du- his coach’s views. have performed quite well to re- against Al Sadd. hail when the teams last met in “The match will be diffi cult be- main unbeaten in the league. The “It is not the fi rst time that we l Sadd coach Xavi Her- the QNB Stars League in Novem- cause we will face one of the best Red Knights had an eight-match face Al Sadd in the fi nal. I agree nandez insisted his side ber, and it is payback time for teams in Asia. It is certain that winning run which ended in a with the coach that small de- have “extra motivation” them. reaching a high level is diffi cult, goalless draw with Qatar SC at tails will be important, but if we for the Qatar Cup fi nal “Yes… we lost 1-4 to Duhail but it is tougher to maintain that. the start of the month. avoid mistakes, we will be close Aagainst arch-rivals Al Duhail. and that is an extra motivation We hope we maintain the level that “We have prepared well and we to winning. Generally, the team Xavi’s boys perhaps played for us,” said Xavi. we showed in our last two games know that we are facing a strong that controls the midfi eld wins. their best match of the season to “But this is the fi nal. This time and our target is to put in all our team, so our target is collective I know Al Sadd players as I have defeat Al Rayyan 4-1 in the semi- we will be playing for the title eff orts to win the title to make our display, which should help us played with them in national fi nal and are now aiming to clinch and that’s what makes it diff er- fans happy,” Al-Haydos said. win. We have full confi dence in team and know that this team their second title of the season at ent. It will be a tough match but The Red Knights, who defeated our ability.” prefers to take possession of the the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. we are ready. It will be an excit- Al Sailiya 2-0 in the fi rst semi- Talking about new faces in his ball. My advice to my teammates “This is the fi nal and we as a ing match, we will put in our 100 fi nal, are also confi dent of a win. team, the Portuguese said: “The is to be well organised and also to team are eyeing our second title of per cent and will fi ght to win the “It is a fi nal. As everyone new players have played and we play with our distinctive style,” the season,” said Xavi, whose team title,” said Xavi. knows, it is one game that gives hope they will soon settle into the 29-year-old midfi elder said. won the Sheikh Jassim Cup with a Barcelona legend also praised you the opportunity to win the their stride, but certainly, when Commenting on Mario Mand- win over the same opponents. “friend” Rui Faria and his side Al Al Duhail coach Rui Faria (right) and player Karim Boudiaf address the title. We know that small details you bring new players, they need zukic inclusion, he said: “Mario The season-opening trophy Duhail. media on the eve of their Qatar Cup final against Al Sadd. will be of importance, we have to time to gel well because the play- is wonderful. He has rich experi- victory was also Xavi’s maiden “Duhail is one of the best Asian be at the highest level of readi- ers get to know each other after ence, but it is diffi cult for a player title as coach. teams. They have won several need our fans’ support as well. experience having worked with ness technically and collectively, many games. That will, in turn, to get adapted quickly when he In the ongoing season of the domestic titles. We have to play “Faria is a great coach techni- Jose Mourinho. My relation- and also focused,” Faria said. help the coach implement his joins a new team. We expect him QNB Stars League, Duhail are at our best to beat them and I am cally and I respect him a lot. He is ship with him is good and we are Under Faria, who joined Duhail ideas fully, so we need more time to give us an additional value in the table toppers with 30 points, confi dent of doing that, but we doing a great job, he has a lot of friends,” said Xavi. last January after assisting Jose to get to that stage.” the coming games.”

DAKAR RALLY Peterhansel sneaks stage win as Sainz takes lead into fi nale

AFP team,” said Peterhansel. ished eighth on the day to sit 13th Brabec going into the fi nal stage. 6. Giniel De Villiers/Alex Haro Haradh, Saudi Arabia Spanish veteran Sainz, 57, is 10 overall, four hours and 43 min- “I’m really happy with this Bravo (RSA/ESP/Toyota) 12:14. minutes and 23 seconds ahead of utes behind Sainz. stage. It is always a nice feeling to 7. Yazeed al-Rajhi/Konstantin Peterhansel, who is third in the Two-time world rally champi- win a stage. It was really diffi cult Zhiltsov (KSA/RUS/Toyota) 15:14, tephane Peterhansel overall standings going into to- on Sainz, whose son Carlos Sainz and I gave it my 100% from the 8. Fernando Alonso/Marc Coma snatched a dramatic 11th day’s fi nal 374-kilometre stage Jr drives for McLaren in Formula beginning,” said Quintanilla. (ESP/ESP/Toyota) 16:25, 9. Wei stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Qiddiyah, One, previously won the Dakar in “I took back a lot of time from Han/Min Liao (CHN/CHN/2wd) yesterday when he pipped and the Spaniard is still on course 2010 and 2018. Ricky, but there is still a bit of dif- 18:53, 10. Orlando Terranova/Ber- NasserS al-Attiyah to the line by for his third Dakar victory. On the bikes, Pablo Quinta- ference between us. We still have a nardo Graue (ARG/Mini) 23:19 just 10 seconds, as Carlos Sainz “Just one day to go. I’ll keep an nilla won the 11th stage by just few kilometres to push tomorrow.” maintained the overall lead head- eye on the gaps and stay focused nine seconds ahead of Red Bull’s OVERALL STANDINGS (top 5) ing into the fi nal day. for tomorrow,” said Sainz. “We Matthias Walkner, signifi cantly STAGE 11 RESULTS (Cars top 10) 1. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/ Frenchman Peterhansel won have a little work to do on the car closing the gap between him and 1. Stephane Peterhansel/Paulo ESP/Mini) 41hrs 37min 51sec, his fourth stage of this year’s race but everything is working well.” overall leader Ricky Brabec, who Fiuza (FRA/POR/Mini) 4hrs 2. Nasser al-Attiyah/Matthieu in his Mini ahead of Toyota’s al- However ‘Mr. Dakar’ Peter- fi nished the stage 11 minutes 48 14min 11sec, 2. Nasser al-Attiyah/ Baumel (QAT/FRA/Toyota) at Attiyah in Haradh, and fi nished hansel, who has won the rally seconds back in 10th. Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA/ 10min 17sec, 3. Stephane Peter- more than eight minutes ahead of 13 times (seven in a car, six on a “It could be a really great day Toyota) at 10sec, 3. Carlos Sainz/ hansel/Paulo Fiuza (FRA/POR/ teammate Sainz. bike), is just six seconds behind for us so we have to keep our fi n- Lucas Cruz (ESP/ESP/Mini) 8min Mini) 10:23, 4. Yazeed al-Rajhi/ “We fought hard, we pushed all Qatari defending champion al- gers crossed and keep a positive 03sec, 4. Bernhard Ten Brinke/ Konstantin Zhiltsov (KSA/RUS/ day long and we gained some time, Attiyah, who sits second. mindset,” said Brabec. Tom Colsoul (NED/BEL/Toyota) Toyota) 47:57, 5. Giniel De Villiers/ French driver Stephane Peterhansel reads his road book during the but not enough. Now, if Carlos can Two-time Formula One world Chilean Quintanilla is however 10:14, 5. Jakub Przygonski/Timo Alex Haro Bravo (RSA/ESP/Toyo- Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2020 yesterday. (AFP) bring it home, it’ll be great for the champion Fernando Alonso fi n- still nearly 14 minutes behind Gottschalk (POL/GER/Mini) 10:39, ta) 1hr 06:34 Gulf Times 2 Friday, January 17, 2020 FOOTBALL

LIGUE 1 Mbappe returns to haunt Monaco, hits 20th goal ‘We have the best players but I also want to have the best team in each match’

AFP rout of the club he had joined in Paris 2015. “With our four attackers, we can carry out our plan,” added ylian Mbappe scored Tuchel. “For Icardi, it wasn’t a twice to take his season negative game. It’s a good mix. tally to 20 as the French “Kylian and Neymar carry the World Cup winner ball a lot, Mauro is used to work- Kshone in Paris Saint-Germain’s ing with us, for the team, to open 4-1 rout of his former club Mo- spaces. He hasn’t scored in two naco on Wednesday. matches, but he works. There are The victory kept PSG eight no doubts over him. points clear at the top. He added: “The objective was They also registered their 50th to win the game, take the three goal of the league campaign from points to improve our position. 20 matches. “We have the best players but Monaco came away from PSG I also want to have the best team with a point in a thrilling 3-3 in each match.” draw in the capital last weekend For Monaco coach Robert but they posed no similar threat Moreno, the defeat was a so- just three days later. bering experience coming after Mbappe was on target in the Sunday’s encouraging draw in 24th and 90th minutes with the French capital. Neymar tucking away a penalty “I am very happy and proud of in fi rst-half stoppage time. my team,” said Moreno after his Pablo Sarabia added another fi rst home game in charge saw in the 73rd minute, just seconds Monaco’s six-match win streak after coming on as a substitute. at Stade Louis II end. Ibrahima Bakayoko grabbed “It’s a diff erent result to Sun- a late consolation for Monaco, day but tonight we conceded beating the impressive Kaylor three goals on the counter-at- Navas in goal. tack and a penalty. “In every area, we were bet- “At 3-1, we took risks but had ter than Sunday,” said PSG coach we scored a second then the Thomas Tuchel. mental situation would have “It’s a deserved victory, we changed and the last few min- had lots of possession.” utes would have been interest- Tuchel fi elded his ‘Fab Four’ ing.” attacking stars in Mbappe, Ney- Rennes are third in the table, mar, Mauro Icardi and Angel Di fi ve points behind Marseille and Maria. It was a decision which 13 off PSG after a 1-0 win over paid dividends when Di Maria Nimes. Adrien Hunou scored the fl oated over a cross for Mbappe winner in the 64th minute to en- to score the opener. sure a sixth win in the last seven Monaco goalkeeper Benjamin games. Nimes are second bot- Lecomte denied Mbappe on two tom, three points behind Amiens further occasions in the fi rst who drew 1-1 at home to Reims. half. Neymar made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in injury-time after Kamil Glik had fouled Lay- vin Kurzawa. Paris St Germain’s Kylian Sarabia’s goal was set-up by Mbappe celebrates after scoring fellow substitute Marco Verratti a goal against Monaco during before Mbappe completed the their Ligue 1 match. (Reuters)

BUNDESLIGA FOCUS Bayern face Hertha, leaders Leipzig ready for Union Grand reception for Qatar Cup at Toyota showroom

atar Cup Trophy was Relations at Qatar Stars League 2021 and 2021-2022 season. sponsor this prestigious tour- given a grand recep- management. Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. nament. tion at the Toyota RK Murugan, AAB Acting Co. are the “Offi cial Automo- AAB as part of its corporate Showroom, Al Ab- CEO along with senior man- tive Partner” of Qatar Stars policy, has been always sup- dulghaniQ Tower by the rep- agers were present to receive League and the Qatar Cup while porting major activities in resentatives of Abdullah Ab- the cup upon its arrival at the they are the “Offi cial Amir Cup the country, be it sports, cul- dulghani & Bros. Co. (AAB) on Toyota Showroom. Car”. tural, social, educational, etc., January 9, 2020. Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Abdullah Abdulghani & with the intention to provide a The trophy tour to the Toyota Co. had recently renewed their Bros. Co. has been supporting strong national feel and show Showroom was part of the pro- agreement with Qatar Stars football in the country for the their respect to the great nation motion of the Qatar Cup fi nal League Management and Qa- past many years and the man- of Qatar. that will be played today, be- tar Football Association for agement of AAB took the op- Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. tween Al Duhail & Al Sadd at the sponsorship of Qatar Stars portunity to thank Qatar Stars Co. is a leading company in the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. League games, Qatar Cup and League management for bring- Qatari automotive market with The Trophy was accompa- HH the Amir Cup for three ing the esteemed trophy to the customers appreciating the nied by Nasser Mubarak al- consecutive football sports Toyota Showroom as well as quality, durability & reliability Kuwari, Head of Community seasons: 2019-2020, 2020- giving them an opportunity to of Toyota products.

Hertha Berlin coach Juergen Klinsmann

Reuters the goods in three competitions. races to get his coaching licence Berlin Among his wishes are a winger up to date after having spent and a defender. most of the past decade working “We all have high goals and we and living in the United States. undesliga’s tight- need to form the basis to reach Leaders RB Leipzig, top est title race in years those high goals,” Flick had said on 37 points, kick off 2020 at resumes this week fol- during their training camp in home against Union Berlin. lowing the winter break Qatar earlier this month. Striker Timo Werner, who with withB champions Bayern Mu- “We have to see that maybe 18 league goals is one behind nich planning their comeback during the winter period we can Lewandowski, has one eye on after a shaky fi rst half to their regulate a few things.” So far the title. “On a national level it campaign. Bayern have made no move on would be nice to win the Cup (af- The Bavarians, in third place the transfer market. ter reaching the fi nal last year)... four points behind leaders RB They fi nished 2019 strongly, but if I had to chose then win- Leipzig, take on former coach with 11 goals in their last three ning the league title is the ulti- Juergen Klinsmann’s Hertha league games to climb back up mate,” Werner said. Berlin on Sunday with several to third but they will need to Borussia Dortmund’s title players still nursing injuries, in- pick up where they left off with hopes have been dented by an cluding winger Serge Gnabry, Klinsmann eager to give his inconsistent fi rst phase that has Niklas Suele and Javi Martinez. former club a run for their mon- seen them drop seven points be- There is some good news for ey. The former Germany coach hind Leipzig into fourth place, interim Bayern coach Hansi took over at Hertha Berlin in No- and tomorrow’s trip to Augsburg Flick, who took over from Nico vember and has pledged to turn could prove to be a tricky start Kovac in November, as Robert the club’s fortunes around. to their year. Augsburg has won Lewandowski, the league’s top “I have played in cities like three of their last four league scorer, returned to training this London and Milan where the games to climb out of trouble week after minor surgery late last club’s importance is extremely and into 10th place. Second- year. But Flick has openly de- high. Berlin deserves that as placed Borussia Moenchengla- manded reinforcements during well,” Klinsmann said. Whether dbach, on 35 points, will provi- the winter transfer window if his he will be sitting on the bench, sionally go top of the table if they team are to continue delivering however, is still unclear as he beat Schalke 04 today. Gulf Times Friday, January 17, 2020 3 FOOTBALL

FA CUP Mata’s cool fi nish sends Man United through Reuters “That backfi red, but you’ve The visitors also went close from London got to go for them once in a a corner when Matt Doherty while,” manager Ole Gunnar fl icked his header onto the post. Solskjaer told BT Sport. Even if the score remained goal- uan Mata sent Manches- The injury left the England less at the break, there had still ter United into the FA Cup striker a doubt for Sunday’s Pre- been fi ve shots on target with fourth round with a neat mier League clash against runa- United providing three of them. dinked fi nish in the 67th way leaders Liverpool at Anfi eld. “I think you can see there’s minuteJ to secure a 1-0 win over “It seems like he’s got a knock two teams there that towards Wolverhampton Wanderers in there and he couldn’t run, so the end were tired. End-to-end, their replay at Old Traff ord on let’s test him in the next couple an open game which sometimes Wednesday. of days. Hopefully, he’ll be OK doesn’t suit us. We wanted to Mata was played clean through for Sunday, I don’t know,” said control the game more,” said by Anthony Martial and calmly Solskjaer. In the night’s other re- Solskjaer. “Juan Mata is diff er- chipped goalkeeper John Ruddy play, Cardiff City beat fourth tier ent class. He’s got the skill, the for the only goal against Wolves strugglers Carlisle United 4-3 in composure and even pace to get who knocked United out of last a livelier game to set up an all- through there.” season’s FA Cup and had a 10th- Championship (second tier) clash Wolves manager Nuno Es- minute eff ort ruled out by VAR. with Reading in the fourth round. pirito Santo said his side had not The fi rst match at Molineux United will next play either defended the goal well but it had between the teams, both in the Premier League rivals Watford, been a good game and he was frus- last 32 of the Europa League and last year’s runners-up, or third trated with the outcome. “That’s with plenty of tired legs, had tier Tranmere Rovers whose re- VAR, you cannot do anything. ended goalless with United fail- play on Tuesday was postponed We are celebrating non goals. It ing to land a single shot on tar- due to a waterlogged pitch at doesn’t make sense,” he added. get. United’s celebrations were Prenton Park. muted, however, by an injury to Solskjaer’s side were let off their top scorer Marcus Rashford the hook after 10 minutes when Manchester United’s Juan Mata who came on as a second-half a VAR review showed the ball celebrates scoring opening goal substitute for Daniel James and had bounced off Raul Jimenez’s during FA Cup match against played only 16 minutes before hand before Portuguese teenager Wolverhampton Wanderers. limping off injured. Pedro Neto scored for Wolves. (Reuters)

EPL FOCUS Juventus score ‘goal of rare beauty’ in Man United bid to Italian Cup cruise

AFP In Milan, Krzysztof Piatek, Milan who is reportedly on the verge of a move to Tottenham Hotspur, outpaced the sluggish SPAL off - ristiano Ronaldo was side trap to give the home team halt Liverpool too ill to play, while Zla- the lead after 20 minutes. tan Ibrahimovic spent Samuel Castillejo curled a the evening resting precise left-foot shot inside the onC the bench, but even with- far post just before half time. out their biggest stars, Juventus Fullback Theo Hernandez and AC Milan cruised into the added a third in the 66th minute, last eight of the Italian Cup on surging upfi eld and smashing Wednesday. home a left-foot shot from just juggernaut again Juventus beat visiting Udinese outside the penalty area. 4-0 in the late game, after Milan In Tuscany, Spaniard Pol Li- had dispatched SPAL, 3-0. rola collected Erik Pulgar’s long Liverpool have won their last 18 matches at Anfield and not lost at home since April 2017 In the fi rst game of the pass before charging towards evening, 10-man Fiorentina beat goal and slotting home his fi rst Reuters Atalanta 2-1. Fiorentina goal six minutes from London Ronaldo was sidelined after time, winning the tie for the suff ering an attack of sinusitis in hosts despite German Pezzella’s the afternoon, but he is not the sending off 14 minutes earlier. anchester United only ace in the Juventus pack. Patrick Cutrone also scored are the only club to After 16 minutes, Paulo Dyba- his fi rst goal for the club when take points off run- la carved through Udinese with a he put Fiorentina ahead in the away leaders Liver- series of quick one-twos, fi nish- 11th minute of his fi rst start since Mpool in the Premier League this ing with a couple of exchanges arriving on loan from Wolver- season and they will try and do with centre forward Gonzalo hampton Wanderers last week. so again in Sunday’s match at Higuain. The away side scored a de- Anfi eld. When his Argentine com- served leveller when former Even the dreamiest of dream- patriot played a pass one little Fiorentina man Ilicic turned in ers from the Old Traff ord Thea- behind him, Dybala spun and a superb Ruslan Malinovskiy tre of Dreams would recog- fl oated the ball onto Higuain’s cross. nise, however, that it would be chest and he strode forward and But Lirola won the tie to set up against the odds to come away scored. a tough match with Serie A title from Merseyside with another “That was a goal of rare beau- chasers Inter Milan. The winner positive result after the 1-1 draw ty, to see three or four exchanges of that clash face either Lazio or in October. like that at high speed. It was Napoli in the semifi nals. One of the fi ercest rivalries in worth the price of the ticket,” On Tuesday, Inter thumped English football has been one- said Juve coach Maurizio Sarri. Cagliari 4-1 with Romelu Lu- sided of late. “I love to see goals like that kaku scoring twice. Liverpool, the European with fast passing, but they can Holders Lazio, who are on a and world club champions and only work with players of great club-record run of 10 straight on course to become Premier technical quality.” wins in Serie A, made short work League invincibles, have won Ten minutes after the opener, of Cremonese in their 4-0 vic- their last 18 matches at Anfi eld Udinese goalkeeper Nicolas tory in Rome. and not lost at home in the top tripped Federico Bernardeschi Troubled Napoli eased into fl ight since April 2017. and Dybala converted the pen- the quarters with a 2-0 win over The Reds have 61 points from alty. Perugia thanks to two Lorenzo a possible 63 and are on a club Dybala scored a in the 58th Insigne penalties. record 38-match unbeaten run minute, clipping the ball over In the last eight, AC Milan will – their last defeat coming in Nicolas from the right edge face Torino who beat Genoa on January last year against Man- of the box. Two minutes later penalties last week. chester City. Douglas Costa converted Juve’s Juventus will play the winner Juergen Klopp’s men have second penalty after Bram of the last tie of the round, Roma also scored in every league Nuytinck handled. at Parma on Thursday. match this campaign, equalling the club’s best streak from the Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp gestures from the touchline during the English Premier League match against Tottenham start of a season while going 585 Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on January 11, 2020. (AFP) minutes without conceding – six successive clean sheets. United striker Marcus Rashford, OLD BOSS blow to the 16th-placed Ham- Chelsea are at Newcastle Unit- United have lost six times who scored against Liverpool at Liverpool’s city rivals Ever- mers’ bid to stay well clear of ed while Arsenal, in 10th, host this season and are fi fth in the Old Traff ord, started Wednes- ton will be in London for a the relegation zone with only a high-fl ying Sheffi eld United at league, 27 points adrift of their day’s FA Cup third-round replay clash at West Ham United on point separating them from As- the Emirates. arch-rivals having played one against Wolverhampton Wan- Saturday that pits the Toffees ton Villa in 18th. Arsenal have top scorer game more. derers on the bench but he was against their old boss David Second-placed Manches- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Klopp, however, is preparing sent on in the second half and Moyes. ter City, the champions, host suspended, however, after he for another tricky challenge. lasted only 15 minutes before The Scot spent more than 11 Crystal Palace on Saturday collected a red card in the last “The rest of the season is still leaving the fi eld due to injury. years at Everton, before mov- while Leicester City, third, are match against Crystal Palace. quite long and we have a lot of That will be a major concern ing to Manchester United for a at Burnley in Sunday’s early Bournemouth will be hop- tough games to play, the next one for manager Ole Gunnar Sol- short and unhappy tenure, and kickoff . ing to leap clear of the drop especially tough, and we have to skjaer but better news for him guided them to fourth in the Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham zone when they travel to make sure we are ready for that,” is the likely return of defender league in 2004-05. Hotspur travel to Watford, re- Norwich City for a basement he said after Liverpool beat Tot- Eric Bailly, sidelined since July Fond memories aside, defeat vitalised under new manager battle between the two bot- tenham Hotspur 1-0 on Sunday. with a knee injury. by Everton would be a serious Nigel Pearson. Fourth-placed tom sides.

Moyes hoping to repeat Everton stability at West Ham

West Ham United boss David and was linked by British media the clubs.” West Ham lost 1-0 at zone, and Moyes said he needed progress.” Moyes expects a Moyes said he will put fond with a return to Goodison Park Sheff ield United last weekend more time to bed in his ideas. diff icult test against 11th-placed memories of his spell at Everton before Carlo Ancelotti replaced in their second league match “One thing it is hard as a man- Everton who have won three of on the back-burner ahead of to- sacked Marco Silva last month. under Moyes, who returned ager to ask for is time but I need their four league games under morrow’s Premier League meet- “I spent 11-1/2 great years there, to replace Manuel Pellegrini that to put my design down, get Ancelotti. “He’s had a good ing, but hopes to bring a similar but everything now is geared after saving the east London players in and get them ready start. Incredibly experienced sense of stability to his current towards West Ham,” Moyes told club from the drop during a for where we’re going to go,” manager, maybe only Jose team. Moyes enjoyed a lengthy reporters yesterday. “I would six-month stint in 2017-18. West Moyes added. Mourinho and Alex Ferguson tenure at Everton from 2002-13, like to do something here, Ham are 16th in the table with “We need the crowd behind have more medals than he does. a period in which they regularly get regular top six or seven 22 points from 21 games, just us, willing us on. We want to He’s decorated. It’s a tough Juventus’ Argentine forward Paulo Dybala (right) celebrates after challenged for a top six spot, football... there’s a similarity in one point above the relegation get better, continue making game coming up,” he said. scoring a penalty during the Italian Cup round of 16 match against Udinese at the Juventus Stadium in Turin. (AFP) Gulf Times 4 Friday, January 17, 2020 CRICKET

THIRD TEST SECOND ODI Australian skipper wary of India fi ghtback Stokes, Pope lead AFP The openers put on a record New Delhi 258-run stand — the highest for any wicket in a 50-over game against India — as Aus- ustralia are braced tralia reached their target with for an Indian back- almost 13 overs to spare. lash when they meet Finch said Warner is playing today in their second unbelievably well. England fi ghtback one-dayA international, captain “I think it’s so hard to bowl Aaron Finch said. to him once he gets in,” he said. The hosts suff ered a crush- “His footwork is pretty ing 10-wicket defeat Tuesday good, his mental state is unbe- in the opening game of the lievable when he is out in the three-match showdown af- middle. He is just so clear with ter Finch and opening partner his thoughts and his game. He David Warner hit unbeaten is in top shape.” aft er early wobble centuries in Mumbai. Australian bowlers also Finch, who smashed 110, played their part, with pace ‘If we can get in the late 300s it might be a very good score for us on this pitch’ believes the loss will sting In- pair Mitchell Starc and Pat dia into action in Rajkot today. Cummins sharing fi ve wickets. AFP “They will fi ght back, no Finch lauded his lead bowl- Port Elizabeth doubt,” Finch told the Cricket ers, but hinted paceman Josh Australia website. “They are Hazlewood could still be in- a great side, got some world- volved in the series which ends orld cricketer of the class players.” in Bangalore on Sunday. year Ben Stokes sur- Left-handed Warner led “With back-to-back vived three reviews the rout of the Indian bowlers games... and a reasonably by South Africa as he with a destructive 128 off 112 heavy Test load, I’m sure Josh andW Ollie Pope regained the initia- deliveries in Australia’s chase will come in for one of them at tive for England on the fi rst day of of 256. some point,” he said. the third Test at St George’s Park yesterday. England were 224 for four at the end of an attritional day dur- ing which South Africa had briefl y claimed the advantage. “It was a very good day for us in the end,” said opening batsman Zak Crawley, who made 44 and shared an opening partnership of 70 with Dom Sibley. England were 148 for four when Stokes and Pope came together, in danger of failing to capitalise on batting fi rst on a placid pitch on a hot, sunny day. But the pair added 76 without being parted and were able to lift a slow scoring rate after England Aaron Finch plays a shot during a practice session at Saurashtra were able to score only 117 for two Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot yesterday. (AFP) in 58 overs before tea. Stokes was unbeaten on 38 at the close while Pope made 39 not out. “They played brilliantly to put us in a very BCCI drops Dhoni from central contract good position,” said Crawley. “If we can get in the late 300s it might MS Dhoni was absent on the captaincy to Virat Kohli be a very good score for us on this from the list of centrally in 2017. pitch.” contracted players published However Dhoni may be Crawley said the pitch was slow, by the Indian cricket board eyeing a last hurrah at the which made run-scoring diffi cult. yesterday, raising fresh Twenty20 World Cup in “But there wasn’t a lot of quick speculation about the October and November in nip so it was tough for the bowl- 38-year-old warhorse’s future. Australia. He is expected to ers as well. It was very attritional,” England’s Ollie Pope (right) jumps in the air after playing a shot during the first day of the third Test against South Africa at the St George’s Dhoni has not appeared for lead the Chennai Super Kings he said, adding that the pitch was Park Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth yesterday. (Reuters) club or country since the in the Indian Premier League taking some spin and it would be World Cup in July and the (IPL) this April-May. an advantage for England to bowl ets for South Africa but the more deliveries in the fi rst few wicketkeeper-batsman has The Indian selectors have last. home team’s most impressive Scorecard overs. The tactic did not succeed been expected to announce been grooming young Stokes came into the match bowler was left-arm spinner Ke- ENGLAND 1st innings as Crawley and Sibley gave Eng- his retirement for some time. stumper Rishabh Pant, 22, to two days after being named player shav Maharaj who took one for 55 Z. Crawley c Van der Dussen b Nortje 44 land a solid start before both fell The former captain of the fill Dhoni’s gloves. of the year by the International in 32 overs. to catches at backward square national side, who serves Previously Dhoni was in the Cricket Council and on the back He bowled an unbroken spell D. Sibley c Elgar b Rabada 36 leg. as an honorary lieutenant A-grade category of the Board of a man-of-the-match perform- of 30 overs which enabled cap- J. Denly lbw b Maharaj 25 Langeveldt said Sibley’s wick- colonel in the army reserves, of Control for Cricket in India ance when England levelled the tain Faf du Plessis to rotate his J. Root b Rabada 27 et was a deliberate tactic based spent part of last year with (BCCI) central list, earning a four-match series by winning the fast bowlers as England strug- on the way he played in making a his unit in strife-torn Kashmir guaranteed $715,000. B. Stokes not out 38 second Test in Cape Town by 189 gled to assert themselves. century in the second Test. — missing an ODI tour of the Pant is among 11 players listed runs. “He was brilliant,” South Af- O. Pope not out 39 England brought back fast West Indies. in the A-grade contract with Stokes made a shaky start, sur- rican bowling coach Charl Lan- Extras (lb8, nb3, w4) 15 bowler Mark Wood in place of He has not featured in any batsman KL Rahul taking viving three reviews by South Af- geveldt said of Maharaj. “He Total (4 wkts, 90 overs) 224 the injured James Anderson. series since and was not Dhoni’s place. rica, two for leg before wicket, one created a lot of chances and kept Fall of wickets: 1-70 (Sibley), 2-103 (Crawley), 3-134 (Denly), 4-148 Wood has not played since the named as part of the squad Kohli, senior batsman Rohit of which was umpire’s call, and the run rate down. He looked the (Root) World Cup fi nal in July because to tour New Zealand later this Sharma and paceman Jasprit one for a catch when South Africa most threatening of the bowlers. of a knee injury but has been month. Bumrah are guaranteed at Bowlers: Philander 11-5-15-0, Paterson 15-1-46-1 (1w), Rabada 17-3- thought he had edged the ball onto “It’s hard to get wickets and working on his fi tness since the He quit Test cricket in 2014 least $1mn each in the A-plus 48-2 (3nb, 2w), Nortje 15-4-52-1 (1w), Maharaj 32-11-55-1 his pad before it carried to slip. you have to stay patient. On a beginning of the tour. but continued to be India’s category for the period slow surface the batsmen can decision for new cap Dane Pa- the faster Rabada and Anrich He has not played in a red-ball batting mainstay in limited- October 2019 to September IMPRESSIVE MAHARAJ adjust.” terson to share the new ball with Nortje, was motivated by a de- match since a Test series in the overs cricket despite passing 2020. AFP Kagiso Rabada took two wick- Langeveldt said a surprising Vernon Philander, instead of sire to make the batsmen play West Indies last February.

TWENTY20 SELECTION Stirling stars as Ireland stun Hafeez, Malik return to Pakistan squad Windies by four runs in opener for Bangladesh T20Is AFP game having swept the ODI se- we felt we were in the game the AFP Grenada ries 3-0. whole way through,” said Stir- Karachi “Everyone is ecstatic, we ling. came so close in that second “It was touch and go, but reland rode a career-best ODI (lost by one wicket) and it we’re enjoying the tight games akistan recalled veter- 95 from opener Paul Stir- maybe aff ected us in that third — we came out the right side ans Mohamed Hafeez ling before keeping their ODI, so to show the bottle and this time, so it’s a nice feeling.” and Shoaib Malik, but nerve in a nail-biting fi nal come out against one of the top Ireland made 100 off just 6.3 surprisingly dropped overI to pull off a four-run win teams in T20 cricket and get a overs and 150 in the 12th over pacemenP Mohamed Amir and over world champions West win was great for the vibe of the before the West Indies bowl- Wahab Riaz from the 15-man Babar Azam (left) and Misbah-ul- Indies in the fi rst of a three- team,” said Ireland skipper An- ers applied the brakes after the squad for the three-match Haq address a press conference match Twenty20 series on drew Balbirnie. openers fell within two runs of Twenty20 series against Bang- in Lahore yesterday. (AFP) Wednesday. For the home side, opener each other. Bravo, playing an ladesh starting next week. The burly Stirling steered Evin Lewis top scored with 53 international match for the fi rst The squad announced by a one-day international and two Ireland to 208-7 in their 20 off 28 balls with six fours and time since September 2016, was chief selector and head coach Tests on two separate visits to overs. three sixes. taken for 18 runs by Stirling in Misbah-ul-Haq is a total re- Pakistan. Hafeez, 39, played the However, the home side ap- It was Lewis’s sixth T20 half- his fi rst over. vamp to the team which lost last of his 89 Twenty20s against peared comfortably on course century and followed knocks of But the veteran star recovered 3-0 to Sri Lanka in October last New Zealand in November 2018, for victory — bringing up their 95 and 102 in the one-dayers. to fi nish with 2-28 off his four year, and then 2-0 to Australia while Malik’s last of 111 Twen- hundred inside 10 overs with West Indian captain Kieron overs, clean bowling O’Brien. in November. It comes as Pa- ty20 matches was in South Af- just two wickets down — un- Pollard hit a breezy 31 from 15 Leg-spinner Walsh took 1-25, kistan hopes to hang on to its rica last year. Misbah defended til the game was decided in the balls, threatening to take the his sole victim being Stirling world number one rankings in Malik and Hafeez’s recall. last over. game away from Ireland. caught at deep-midwicket go- the shorter format as well as “When Malik and Hafeez Needing 15 to win, all-round- But the Irish fi elders contin- ing for the big shot which would prepare for the Twenty20 World were dropped for the Sri Lanka er Josh Little (3-29) got rid of ued to hold their catches to take have brought him a century. Cup in Australia in nine months. series we had said that both are the dangerous Dwayne Bravo, the game into the last over. The second and third games Eight players who were part experienced and doors were not one of two wickets to fall in the Earlier, Stirling carted six in the series take place tomor- of the squad in the Australia shut on their selection,” he said. last over. fours and eight sixes in his 47- row and Sunday in St Kitts. Twenty20 series — opener SQUAD: Babar Azam (captain), With fi ve needed off the last ball innings for his seventh T20 Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul- Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Haris ball and seven wickets down, half-century. BRIEF SCORES: Haq, paceman Mohamed Irfan, Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Hayden Walsh could only wave He put on 154 for the fi rst Ireland 208 for 7 (Stirling 95, Amir and Riaz, batsmen Asif Ali Wasim, Khusdil Shah, Mohamed his bat into thin air in a desper- wicket with fellow opener O’Brien 48, Bravo 2-28, Cottrell and Haris Sohail — have been Hafeez, Mohamed Hasnain, ate attempt to win the game. Kevin O’Brien (48). 2-37, Pierre 2-45) beat West dropped. Mohamed Rizwan, Musa Khan, It was only Ireland’s second “It was a really good pitch Indies 204 for 7 (Lewis 53, Pol- The three matches are sched- Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah victory in T20 cricket over the and I think we put a par score lard 31, Little 3-29, Young 2-31) uled in Lahore on January 24, 25 Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman West Indies who went into the on which showed in the end, by four runs. File photo of Ireland’s Paul Stirling. (AFP) and 27. Bangladesh will also play Qadir. Gulf Times Friday, January 17, 2020 5 SPORT

NBA NHL Flyers beat Blues in OT thriller Magic end Lakers’ Reuters cross-ice pass to Faulk break- Los Angeles ing toward the left post for the point-blank conversion. Pitlick tied the game at 12:43 akub Voracek scored in of the second period with an overtime as the visit- accidental goal. He circled the ing Philadelphia Flyers net and threw a centering pass snapped the St. Louis toward Scott Laughton driving win streak; Heat, Blues’J nine-game home win- the net. David Perron tied up ning streak with a 4-3 victory Laughton on the back-check, Wednesday. but the puck bounced off the The Blues had not lost a Blues winger into the net. game at Enterprise Center Raffl put the Flyers up 2-1 since Dec. 7. They outscored three minutes later. Robert opponents 36-15 during the Hagg fi red a shot on goal from winning streak, which tied for the left point and Binnington 76ers remain hot the longest in team history. allowed a long weak-side re- Tyler Pitlick, Michael Raf- bound — right to Raffl for an ‘WE DIDN’T START THE GAME OFF THE RIGHT WAY. WE JUST GOT TO BE BETTER’ fl and Travis Konecny also uncontested shot into a half- scored for the Flyers, who have empty net. Konecny made it won three of their last four 3-1 with a power-play goal 26 games. Brian Elliott, a former seconds into the third period. Blues goaltender, stepped up James van Riemsdyk redirect- with the Flyers’ top goalie, ed a pass from Claude Giroux Carter Hart, sidelined with an through the crease to Konecny abdominal muscle strain. Elli- for a tap-in at the left post. ott stopped 30 of 33 shots. But the Blues erased that Justin Faulk, Ryan O’Reilly lead to force overtime. O’Reilly and Alexander Steen scored scored by defl ecting Brayden and Jordan Binnington made Schenn’s pass on goal, then 21 saves for the Blues, who took banged home his own rebound over the top spot overall in the with 9:25 left. NHL standings with the point. Steen tied the game about The Blues outshot the Flyers three minutes later, going to 14-8 in the fi rst period and his backhand to beat Elliott af- took a 1-0 lead with a power- ter Robert Thomas found him play goal by Faulk. Steen curled with a centering pass from be- in the right corner and fi red a hind the net.

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz (centre) shoots a layup past Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee (third left) during the second half at Staples Center. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

AFP Nets. He also had 10 rebounds and scored from three-point range in front of the RESULTS Los Angeles 11 of his points in the fi nal fi ve minutes for crowd of 19,600 at the American Airlines the 76ers in front of a crowd of 20,100 at Arena. Detroit 116-103 Boston the Wells Fargo Center arena. “He was able to get into a great rhythm,” Philadelphia Flyers’ center Tyler Pitlick (front) and Boston Bruins arkelle Fultz fi nished with 21 Philadelphia 117-106 Brooklyn Harris fi nished off Philadelphia’s 19th Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Nunn, defenseman Charlie McAvoy battle for the puck during the first points, 11 rebounds and 10 as- Miami 106-100 San Antonio home win in 21 games this season by hit- who was eight for eight in the fi rst half. period at Wells Fargo Center. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports sists, and the Orlando Magic ting two free throws with 31 seconds re- Goran Dragic fi nished with 17 points, Chicago 115-106 Washington snapped the Los Angeles Lak- maining. Bam Adebayo had 14 points, 13 rebounds Mers’ nine-game winning streak with a 119- Indiana 104-99 Minnesota “When we got together in the huddle and seven assists for the Heat, who im- 118 victory on Wednesday. Toronto 130-121 Oklahoma before the fourth quarter, we said that we proved to an NBA best 18-1 at home. Saints FB Line retires aft er seven seasons The triple-double was the second of Denver 100-86 Charlotte were going to have to hold them to under Jimmy Butler had 12 points and Duncan New Orleans Saints fullback them, and choosing to instead Fultz’s career with the other coming in 20 points to win the game,” said Harris. Robinson was Miami’s fi fth double-fi gure Zach Line retired Wednesday believe in myself, my faith, April 2018 when he played for the Phila- Portland 117-107 Houston Ben Simmons scored 20 points and 11 scorer with 11 points. after seven NFL seasons. and the support of my loving delphia 76ers. Dallas 127-123 Sacramento rebounds for Philadelphia, which shot DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points to The 29-year-old rushed for 114 wife and family is something Aaron Gordon also scored 21 points, Orlando 119-118 LA Lakers 51.1% from the fl oor. lead the Spurs. DeRozan, who shot 12 of yards and two touchdowns I am proud of. “The decision Wes Iwundu scored 19 points, Nikola Furkan Korkmaz and Josh Richardson 14 from the fi eld, has scored 20 or more and added 161 receiving yards to retire is NOT easy, which Vucevic had 19, and Terrence Ross came “I am not disappointed,” said James. added 15 points apiece while Al Horford points in 12 consecutive games. and four touchdown catches is true for most competitors. off the bench to score 15 for Orlando. “We didn’t start the game off the right contributed 14. San Antonio’s Patty Mills fi nished with in 75 games (22 starts) with the This decision is something LeBron James scored just 19 points but way. We just got to be better.” Spencer Dinwiddie had 26 points and 21 points and converted fi ve of 12 three- Saints (2017-19) and Minnesota I have prayed about and added 19 assists for the Lakers, who were Elsewhere, the Miami Heat got a huge eight assists for Brooklyn, who shot point attempts. The Spurs were 10 for 33 Vikings (2013-16). communicated with those that playing without injured Anthony Davis. performance from rookie Kendrick Nunn, 43.7% overall and fell to 2-9 in their past 11 overall from three-point range. “As I look back on the last I love. The game of football will “We didn’t play well enough to win,” and Philadelphia made the right plays games. Nets’ Jarrett Allen added 17 points “It’s tough. It’s hard to win when we seven seasons in the NFL never leave me and I hope to said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “They down the stretch as the two Eastern Con- and 10 rebounds and Kyrie Irving was held shoot that bad from the three,” San Anto- I cannot help but to feel share and teach the positive made us pay.” ference juggernauts continued their dom- to 14 points in his third game back from nio’s LaMarcus Aldridge said. extremely proud,” Line experiences I had along the The Magic won despite missing their inant play at home. right shoulder injury. Also, Luka Doncic fi nished with 25 wrote on Instagram. “I way in the future.” He missed leading scorer guard Evan Fournier, who Tobias Harris scored 34 points and In Miami, Nunn scored 33 points to lead points, a career-high 17 assists and 15 re- have never bragged about the final regular-season game has been averaging 19.2 points per game. nailed three clutch shots late in the game the Heat to a 106-100 victory over the San bounds for his 12th triple double of the my accomplishments, but and the Saints’ playoff loss to He missed the contest due to a right quad as the 76ers won their fi fth straight game Antonio Spurs. The 24-year-old shot 13 of season as the Dallas Mavericks beat the knowing the odds and ignoring the Vikings with a knee injury. injury. with a 117-106 victory over the Brooklyn 18 from the fi eld, including fi ve of seven Sacramento Kings 127-123.

NFL Packers aim to forget past in 49ers rematch for title Reuters this time around will be as easy as the fi rst clash. but totalled just 43 receiving yards. Los Angeles “Don’t be that stupid,” Shanahan told re- The 49ers will try to keep Rodgers and Adams porters of his message. “That’s not real. This under wraps again behind a stout defense that is about Sunday’s game.... And this is the NFL, includes veteran cornerback Richard Sherman an Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan so no team, the game before never matters like and rookie defensive end Nick Bosa. is adamant that what happened in late that.... San Francisco’s defense was stellar in last November doesn’t come into play on “We know it will be diff erent. We know that weekend’s 27-10 win over the Minnesota Vi- Sunday. game got away from them early and that’s defi - kings. The 49ers allowed only 147 total yards in SHowever, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaF- nitely not the team we’re going to see this week. the win, bottling up star running back Dalvin leur actually was OK with a reminder. Everyone knows how good Green Bay is, how Cook (18 yards on nine carries) and limiting The top-seeded 49ers face the second-seed- good their coaching staff is, how good their quarterback Kirk Cousins to 172 passing yards. ed Packers in the NFC Championship Game in players are, how good their quarterback is.” San Francisco sacked Cousins six times, with Santa Clara,California, and the contest is a re- The Packers rebounded from the debacle with Bosa recording two. match of the regular-season meeting in which fi ve straight wins to close the regular season “Obviously making the plays is good,” Bosa San Francisco obliterated Green Bay 37-8 at the before notching a 28-23 victory over the Seat- told reporters. “But, I mean, I try and bring the same site. tle Seahawks in last weekend’s NFC divisional same eff ort, same technique, same everything “I think you have to look at everything,” LaF- round. Rodgers passed for 243 yards and two every week. I got a couple sacks (against Minne- leur told reporters about viewing the unfl atter- touchdowns, both to wideout Davante Adams, sota). That always helps. But most of the plays ing evidence. “You have to learn from your mis- who made eight catches for a franchise-playoff - that I’m most proud of are the plays that weren’t takes, so you don’t repeat them. record 160 yards. Former tight end Jermichael the sacks.” “I’m going to go back and watch that tape Finley held the mark of 159, set against the Ari- Off ensively, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo again to really try to grasp what happened and zona Cardinals during the 2009 postseason. passed for just 131 yards — his lowest output why it happened, and how can we adjust, and “It means a lot, but I’m not after the records,” of the season — and star tight end George Kit- what are we going to do to ensure it doesn’t hap- Adams told reporters. “Doing what I do on the tle had just three receptions for 16 yards. Kittle pen.” fi eld, those will come. I don’t go into a playoff injured an ankle during the game and missed What happened in Week 12 included the 49ers game saying I need a buck-sixty to beat Jer- Wednesday’s practice. limiting Green Bay to 198 total yards. San Fran- michael Finley. While Rodgers still makes the Packers’ attack cisco harassed Aaron Rodgers into a season-low “If I go out there and have a really good game, go, running back Aaron Jones is an important 104-yard passing performance and sacked him that puts us in a better position to win the game, cog. Jones rushed for two touchdowns against fi ve times. so that’s the goal.” the Seahawks after producing 19 (16 rush- The domination has Shanahan in the position Adams had a touchdown on seven receptions ing, three receiving) during the regular season, of guarding against any of his players thinking in the November meeting with San Francisco which tied for the NFL lead. File photo of San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle. (TNS) Gulf Times 6 Friday, January 17, 2020 SPORT

GOLF SPOTLIGHT Kenyan athletics authority says top Koepka makes athlete escaped anti-doping testers

Reuters or not the athlete being sought Nairobi had won any international strong start to year races. “He is a fairly well known top Kenyan athlete athlete,” he said when asked ran away from anti- for more details yesterday. doping testers who In the latest doping re- had visited their lated case, the AIU said on its trainingA camp unannounced to website it had issued a charge take samples, a senior athletics against Kenyan middle dis- with bogey-free 66 authority offi cial said, as the tance athlete Alfred Kipketer East African nation ramps up for what it said were wherea- ‘Played really solid and if I really want to pick it apart, I missed a few putts early in the round eff orts to combat doping. bouts failures. Kenya is famous for its long The AIU did not give any and middle-distance run- more details on the case. Kip- ning prowess, but it has been keter was not immediately caught up in a series of dop- reachable for comment. ing scandals over the last fi ve Under anti-doping regula- years, a period over which tions, athletes have to inform around 60 of its athletes have testing authorities of their been sanctioned for anti-dop- whereabouts for a one-hour ing violations. window of every day and three A World Anti-Doping Agen- failures — not being present cy (WADA) report in Septem- at the said time — within 12 ber 2018 said 138 Kenyan ath- months leads to an automatic letes tested positive from 2004 ban. to August 2018. In 2016, WADA put Kenya Barnaba Korir, Athletics on its Category A list of na- Kenya Executive Committee tions on watch for anti-doping member, said a top athlete had violations. escaped when anti-doping Kenya plans to impose testers from the Athletics In- criminal penalties — includ- tegrity Unit visited their camp ing possible jail terms — on this week in Kapsabet, Nandi athletes caught doping, and County in the country’s west. was preparing new laws to deal “After testers introduced with this, its sports minister themselves and why they vis- said in December. ited the camp, one athlete left Last week, the AIU provi- as if to answer a call of nature sionally suspended Wilson only to jump through the win- Kipsang, Kenyan former mar- dow and over the fence,” Korir athon world record holder and told Reuters by phone late on bronze medallist at the 2012 Wednesday. Olympics, for failing to report “They won’t escape from his whereabouts and tamper- the tough measures put in ing with samples. place, however fast they run Kipsang’s management away and however long it company denied the case in- takes.” volved the use of doping and Korir declined to divulge tampering with the doping more details and say whether test.

Tata Communications ends F1 partnership Brooks Koepka of the US in action during the first round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship yesterday. London: Tata Communica- this marketing partnership.” AFP “It’s good to be back. I missed the row from the 14th onwards. disappointing start. tions has ended a partner- Roy said Tata, who had been Abu Dhabi competition, obviously,” he said. “Played “I have been joking with my mum and Hamamoto was a shot ahead of Ameri- ship with Formula One after the sport’s off icial con- really solid and if I really want to pick it brother that I am like wine, maturing can Matt Kuchar, the bronze medallist at eight years working together nectivity partner, remained apart, I missed a few putts early in the with age,” said the 37-year-old. the Rio Olympics, Richard T. Lee of Can- on the sport’s digital trans- committed to customer rela- orld number one Brooks round. “I hit the ball nicely today. Gave my- ada, Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand and formation, the Indian-owned tionships with broadcasters Koepka made a superb “But I drove the ball well, controlled self a few chances... “As soon as I made Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino. company said. such as Sky and Star Sports comeback from a 14-week the ball fl ight and controlled the distanc- the putt on the eighth, and then ninth, Rose was three shots behind the leader, Formula One confirmed television. injury layoff , shooting a bo- es really well and that’s what you have to just started feeling like it’s snowballing. as was Rio silver winner Henrik Stenson they were no longer off icial They would also continue gey-freeW six-under par 66 on the open- do out here.” Koepka, who had to undergo I started hitting better shots closer to the of Sweden. With all three men’s golf partners, without further working “behind the scenes ing day of the Abu Dhabi Championship stem cell treatment late last year for his holes.” The 23-year-old Paratore, looking medallists from the 2016 Games appear- comment. for now” with other F1 part- yesterday. left knee, said he felt fi ne after walking 18 for his second European Tour win follow- ing at the SMBC Singapore Open, it is Amit Sinha Roy, vice presi- ners and customers. In the opening Rolex Series event of holes for the past three days. ing his triumph in the 2017 Nordea Mas- being viewed as a warm-up for the Tokyo dent of marketing, said the Those included the Williams the European Tour season, that round “The knee feels fi ne. It was a little sore ters, closed with four straight birdies. Olympics which start in July. But it was deal ended on Dec. 31 and team and world champions left Koepka two shots behind leaders last night,” he added. “Just did some “I started really good and made some 20-year-old Hamamoto — whose moth- Tata wanted “to explore Mercedes last season. Renato Paratore and Shaun Norris, but treatment on it. That’s expected. This is good putts on the fi rst two holes. That er is Thai and father Japanese — who im- other platforms that will Formula One launched a tele- it laid to rest all speculation about the a fi rst week I’ve walked 18 holes and I’ve gave me good confi dence for the rest pressed with a strong debut performance allow us to showcase the full vision subscription stream- fi tness of the American four-time major done it three times already. of the day, and I keep making putts. It’s at the tournament. power of our digital services ing service in 2018, targeting champion. “I’m very pleased with how I played been a really enjoyable day,” said the Ital- “Today I just had a lot of fun and did to our key customers.” an estimated 500mn fans The 29-year-old Koepka was tied for today. It will be nice to be able to prac- ian who fi nished second in his last tour- not really put a lot of pressure on myself,” “Our eight-year F1 journey, worldwide as part of a digital third alongside Jason Scrivener of Aus- tice again. I haven’t been able to practice nament of 2019 in Mauritius. he said after the fi rst round interrupted spanning 150+ races, was transformation. tralia, with six players in joint fi fth on much last year... I just couldn’t. It was “I just tried to stay focused on my for over an hour due to stormy weather. all about driving innovation Tata had arrived in the sport fi ve-under, including former Masters too painful and wasn’t being able to do game on every shot, and I managed to Rose, the highest-ranked player in the in the sport,” he added in a under former commercial champion Sergio Garcia. the things I wanted to do... fi nish really good making some nice fi eld at world number nine, had a shaky statement to Reuters. supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Defending Abu Dhabi and British Open “You don’t forget how to swing the golf putts on the last four holes.” Two-time start with a bogey on the 10th — his fi rst “As we had achieved what we who was ousted by the champion Shane Lowry of Ireland start- club.” Italian Paratore and South Africa’s Abu Dhabi champion Tommy Fleetwood hole of the day — but immediately got set out to do, we feel it’s the sport’s new owners Liberty ed his campaign with a two-under par Norris had just one blemish each on their opened with a one-under par 71, while back the shot with a birdie at the next. right time for us to conclude Media in January 2017. 70. Paired in the same group as Koepka, cards, both dropping shots on the diffi - three-time champion Martin Kaymer of The English player’s game improved the world number 19 paid for a double cult par-three seventh hole. Germany shot a four-under 68. with three birdies on his back nine, but bogey on the par-three 12th hole. Norris, who fi nished second in the Ja- Singapore: Thai golfer Kosuke he was nevertheless disappointed. Koepka was well in control of his pan Golf Tour Order of Merit for the past Hamamoto took a surprise early lead “My game was not exactly great,” said FOCUS game and rarely courted trouble. He also two years, was one-under through seven with a six-under-par 65 in the opening the 39-year-old. “I did not hit many wielded a hot putter, making four of his holes before making four birdies around round of the Singapore Open yesterday good shots today but I think I managed six birdies from well outside 12 feet. the turn and then added three more in a as Olympic champion Justin Rose had a my game very well.” Formula One BOTTOMLINE link-up boosts Mickelson has Ryder Cup, not senior circuit, in his sights all-female W Series

Reuters be a pretty obvious goal so I need squad for the Sept. 25-27 Ryder Reuters incidence that improving the La Quinta, California to play enough tournaments out Cup against Europe at Whistling London diversity of the F1 grid by sup- here and play well to be able to Straits in Wisconsin. porting and promoting driver achieve that particular goal.” Mickelson was one of four of talent from under-represented hil Mickelson will be In 20 PGA Tour events last Jim Furyk’s captain’s picks for Series organis- backgrounds is one of our stra- eligible for the PGA season, Mickelson made the cut the 2018 edition of the biennial ers say they have tegic objectives.” Formula One Tour’s senior circuit 12 times and had two top-10 event and he had an 0-2 record as moved a step has not had a female racer line this year but the fi ve- fi nishes, including a three-shot Europe regained the Ryder Cup. closer to getting up on the starting grid since Ptimes major champion said on victory at the Pebble Beach Pro- His overall Ryder Cup record is Wa woman driver into Formula 1976 but W Series chief execu- Wednesday he has not given it Am in February. far from spectacular, having won One after announcing yester- tive Catherine Bond Muir told much thought and is focused The left-hander will be in ac- only 18 of his 47 matches in 12 day a deal to be on the support reporters the new deal was of instead on making the US Ryder tion over the next four weeks appearances, but he said he had programme for this year’s US crucial importance. Cup team. with starts at La Quinta followed let Stricker know how badly he and Mexican Grands Prix. “Progressing within motor- Mickelson, who turns 50 in by the Farmers Insurance Open wants to be on this year’s team. Conceived as a platform to sport requires people to have June, feels that a decision he in San Diego, the Saudi Interna- He does not, however, want to help women gain experience to access to a lot of money,” she made years ago to have a greater tional and then back to Pebble get on by virtue of being a cap- compete with men further up said. “You need the support work ethic and commitment to Beach to defend his title. tain’s pick. the motorsport ladder, the all- and the sponsorship as well as physical health has left him in no “There’s a chance that if I do “If I play to the level that I be- female series started last year the talent. rush to tee it up on the PGA Tour what I expect then I may end up lieve I’m capable of I’ll make the with six races in Europe along- “I think what this will give Champions with players he idol- competing for years out here. team. But if not, you’ve got to side the DTM German Touring our drivers is a much bigger ised as a child. And there’s a chance that maybe give those spots to some younger Car championship. and better platform in which “It’s nice to have the option to I am misguided in my thinking guys that haven’t had the chance “In just one year, W Series to promote themselves... so move over to another tour, but and that I should move over,” to play and compete the way I has contributed signifi cantly they will be able to attract it’s also nice to have the chal- said Mickelson, who added that have,” said Mickelson. to increasing interest in the more sponsorship. I think we lenge of competing out here,” he feels better now than 15 years “So I have six, eight months to topic of diversity and inclusion are already starting to achieve Mickelson told a news confer- ago. get it done and I’ve got plenty of in motorsport,” Ross Brawn, our ambitions. We are closer ence in La Quinta, California, “But a lot will be decided or time, every bit of fair opportu- Formula One’s managing di- to getting women into Formula where he is tournament host for seen in the fi rst six months, be- nity to go out and prove myself rector for motorsport, said in a One.” this week’s The American Ex- cause I feel like I’m ready to play.” and play some great golf. statement. “We are convinced Bond Muir said there could press. Apart from aiming for his fi rst “So there’s not much he’s go- that our sport must off er equal be further expansion into Asia “And I don’t often voice too major title since the 2013 British ing to be able to do as a captain opportunities for men and next year, with Formula One’s many goals, but one of them is Open, Mickelson is eager to earn because I need to... earn my way women to compete together,” season-opener in Australia to make the Ryder Cup, it should a spot on Steve Stricker’s US on the team.” added the Briton. “It is no co- still a possibility. Gulf Times Friday, January 17, 2020 7 TENNIS

SPOTLIGHT Wozniacki set to retire but with legacy unsure Reuters and produces fatigue, but made it clear $35.2mn in prize money in a fi rst round to all-time great Serena Williams. Melbourne last month that her illness had nothing loss to Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder in Wozniacki politely batted the criti- to do with her decision. Cincinnati. cism away, although her father was Instead, she was keen to move on After bouncing between the WTA more pointed. aroline Wozniacki will, fi t- with her life after getting married to and lower level tours, she came of age “Caroline is in tennis history,” Piotr tingly, take her fi nal bow former basketball player David Lee, a in 2008 when she won her fi rst senior Wozniacki told the New York Times in over the next fortnight at two-time NBA All-Star, last June. titles and fi nished the year ranked 12th. 2012. “It takes only one Grand Slam, CMelbourne Park, the scene of “In recent months, I’ve realised that She made her fi rst Grand Slam fi - and Caroline is a legend.” her only Grand Slam victory in a career there is a lot more in life that I’d like to nal in 2009, losing to Belgium’s Kim Her 2018 victory on a sweltering Rod that earned her praise for her tenacity accomplish off the court,” Wozniacki Clijsters at the US Open before she Laver Arena over Romania’s Simona and approachable character but also wrote on Instagram in making the an- became the fi rst Dane to reach the Halep, another player to reach the top saw her acquire detractors. nouncement. number one ranking in 2010. ranking before winning her fi rst Grand The 29-year-old said last month Injuries to her knees, ankles, back, That rise caused some contro- Slam, should help in debates over her that the Australian Open would be her calf and shoulder in recent years, how- versy, with Wozniacki — like Dinara legacy. fi nal tournament, ending a 14-year ever, may have made the decision to Safi na and Jelena Jankovic before her It at least stopped the question professional career that delivered 30 hang up her racket a little easier. — reaching the pinnacle of the rank- she suspected she had been asked singles titles, 71 weeks as the world She also made just one fi nal last year ings without having won a Grand Slam “100,000 times”. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark number one and elevated Danish ten- and dropped to 38th in the world, her singles. “It’s really nice not to have to answer during a practice session in nis to the global stage. lowest year-end ranking since 2007. The ranking system itself was pillo- the ‘no Grand Slam’ question ever Melbourne yesterday, ahead of the Wozniacki only revealed in late 2018 Coached by her father Piotr from ried and she was criticised for playing again,” she told reporters. Australian Open beginning Monday. that she had been battling with rheu- age seven, she played her fi rst WTA too many tournaments that aff ected In three weeks, she will not need to matoid arthritis, a painful autoim- event just weeks after her 15th birth- her play at Grand Slams, while her ten- answer any more tennis questions. At mune disease that aff ects the joints day, earning the fi rst $1,260 of her ure also coincided with serious injuries all.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN FOCUS Shapovalov falls to French qualifi er Djokovic faces Humbert in Auckland

AFP Auckland

orld number 13 Struff , Barty takes Denis Shapovalov crashed out of the ATP Auckland Clas- Wsic yesterday, beaten in straight sets by French qualifi er Ugo Hum- bert. There was only one break in each set of the evenly contested on Lesia Tsurenko clash with Humbert winning 7-5, 6-4, clinching the victory with the Canadian’s sixth double fault. Serena Williams, the 38-year-old eighth seed begins her bid for an eighth “I’m really, really, happy, it’s one of the biggest wins of my ca- Melbourne Park crown with a first-round tie against Russian Anastasia Potapova reer,” the 57th-ranked Humbert said as he advanced to a semi-fi nal Reuters bian, Nadal and Roger Federer. showdown big-serving American Melbourne With Djokovic and Nadal now John Isner. in their 30s and Federer, who will “I tried to play each ball, I tried open his quest for a 21st major to stay focused and my plans were op seed and world title with a fi rst-round match working.” number one Ash Barty’s against Steve Johnson, heading Isner survived on his thunder- bid to end the host na- towards his 40s, all eyes are on ous serve with an impressive 25 tion’s long wait for a the young guns who might break aces to overcome Kyle Edmund in homegrownT Australian Open their grip. the opening quarter-fi nal. champion will begin against “Daniil (Medvedev) is play- While Edmund had the better The Frenchman made a nervous Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko when ing great tennis, he’s defi nitely of the fourth seed for much of the start, dropping his fi rst serve and the year’s fi rst Grand Slam gets in that small group of players match, Isner served his way out of losing the opening set 6-3. under way next week. who are getting closer to a Grand trouble when it mattered and the But once he added a touch of Men’s champion Novak Slam title,” Djokovic said. Briton was unable to convert any fi nesse to his power game, draw- Djokovic will begin his quest for “Alongside him is Dominic of his nine break points. ing Millman forward with delicate an eighth Australian Open ti- Thiem, who is knocking on the Both sets went to a tiebreak be- drop shots, Paire won the next two tle against Jan-Lennard Struff , door, and (Stefanos) Tsitsipas, fore the American won 7-6 (7/5), sets 6-1, 6-4. while the man he beat in last who won a big tournament at the 7-6 (7/5) and expressed relief at Hubert Hurkacz, the 20-year- year’s fi nal, Rafa Nadal, will take (ATP) World Finals. making the fi nal four. old sixth seed from Poland, out- the top seeding into a contest “We are hoping this is not go- “I know I was a bit fortunate to lasted the 38-year-old Feliciano against Bolivian Hugo Dellien. ing to be the year they make the win today, that’s how tennis goes, Lopez in a titanic three-set battle Serena Williams arrived in breakthrough, but it’s inevitable but I’m happy I’m in the semi- to determine Paire’s semi-fi nal Australia with confi dence high and that it makes it exciting.” fi nals,” said the two-time Auck- opponent. after a title win in the warm-up Russian fourth seed Medvedev land champion who holds the After taking the fi rst set 6-4, tournament in Auckland as she faces the toughest challenge of world record for the most aces in a Hurkacz held three match points looks to fi nally match Margaret the trio in the fi rst round against match with 113 against Frenchman at 6/3 in the second set tie break Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam American Frances Tiafoe, who Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon two but Lopez, who had knocked out titles. reached the Australian Open years ago. top seed Fabio Fognini in three The 38-year-old eighth seed quarter-fi nals last year. “That match point, I played it sets the previous day, refused to begins her bid for an eighth Mel- Austrian Thiem, seeded fi fth, very aggressively and very well. quit. bourne Park crown with a fi rst- Novak Djokovic of Serbia poses with the men’s singles championship trophy during the draw plays France’s Adrian Mannari- Winning a match like this can give He won three consecutive round tie against Russian Anas- ceremony for the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday. no, while Greek sixth seed Tsit- me a lot of confi dence going for- points to draw level and the pair tasia Potapova. sipas takes on Italian Salvatore ward for the rest of this tourna- then went point for point until The players already in Mel- nus, who will face fellow Ameri- sons and won her second Grand said before making a hasty exit. Caruso. ment, the Australian Open and for Lopez triumphed at 13/11. bourne awoke yesterday to skies can Coco Gauff . Slam crown in Australia last year. Another former champion, Nick Kyrgios looms as a tricky the rest of the year.” Hurkacz broke immediately at clear of obvious signs of the Gauff , 15, exploded onto the The 22-year-old will start Maria Sharapova, needed a wild potential hurdle in Nadal and Fifth-seed Benoit Paire battled the start of the deciding set and bushfi re smoke that choked the tennis map at Wimbledon last her title defence against Czech card to get into the tournament Thiem’s quarter of the draw but through his third three-setter in held the advantage until the end city on Tuesday and Wednesday year when, as a qualifi er, she beat Marie Bouzkova, although she and could present quite a chal- most Australian hopes of success as many matches to beat Austral- to complete a 6-4, 6-7 (11/13), 6-4 and disrupted qualifying. twice Australian Open champion may not know it yet after vacat- lenge for 19th seed Donna Vekic. will rest on the shoulders of Bar- ian John Millman. victory. The draw, which took place in Venus on her main draw Grand ing the stadium court before the Djokovic won a record seventh ty, who is out to end the 42-year the evening in the arena named Slam debut. draw was revealed. Melbourne Park crown last year wait since Chris O’Neill won the in honour of Australian Court, Japan’s Naomi Osaka has en- “I don’t even like seeing who to extend a still unbroken three- title at Kooyong in 1978. threw up an intriguing clash for joyed an even more stratospheric I’m fi rst playing until the day year dominance of the Grand The Australian Open runs Serena’s 39-year-old sister Ve- rise over the last couple of sea- before the match,” the third seed Slam titles by the trio of the Ser- from Jan. 20 to Feb 2. Smoke clears, organisers defend playing qualifi ers BOTTOMLINE Melbourne: The Melbourne ‘playable’. Were they healthy?” skies were largely clear of he posted in a note on Twitter. bushfire smoke yesterday as Australian Open tournament Barty advances in Adelaide aft er re-run of French Open Australian Open organisers director and Tennis Australia defended their decision to chief Craig Tiley, however, told AFP “She plays extremely aggres- lep’s fourth, won her fi rst match just four points on serve during continue playing qualifiers dur- reporters that he was confi- Adelaide, Australia sive. I’ll need to put on my run- after two losses to the Romanian, the rout. ing two days when a thick haze dent in the systems they had ning shoes tomorrow.” coached by Australian Darren “This is as good as it gets enveloped the city. in place to protect the players There was a quarter-fi nal Cahill. for sure,” the 19-year-old said. Severe criticism has been lev- from harm. shleigh Barty won a shock for two-time Grand Slam “It feels great, we had a tough “It was my best match ever on elled at Tennis Australia after “Our medical team were satis- re-match of last year’s winner Simona Halep, who match and she played well,” serve, one of my most solid of qualifying for the first Grand fied with the conditions that French Open fi nal yes- heads into the Australian Open Sabalenka said. the year. Slam tournament of the season the players were competing in, terday as the Australian with room for improvement af- “I tried to stay focused on Auger-Aliassime faces a semi- went ahead at Melbourne Park per all of the research and the reachedA the semi-fi nals of the ter being upset 6-4, 6-2 by Ary- each point. “I don’t care about fi nal with Russian third seed An- with minor disruptions despite data and the science that they ATP-WTA Adelaide Interna- na Sabalenka. the Grand Slam, I’m just playing drey Rublev, who defeated Brit the smoke. have,” Tiley said. tional. The reigning Wimbledon each match. “I didn’t care about Daniel Evans 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic was “But they also make an assess- The top seed dominated champion and former world the past, I stayed in the moment, won the title last week in Doha to forced to retire after suff ering ment. You could have been Czech tournament number eight number one dropped serve fi ve that helped me to win.” start the season. a coughing fit in the second set two hours into those matches Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3, times and was fl attened in the Yastremska, ranked 24th, was “He’s one of the hottest play- of her match on Tuesday and and have 25 people present- to thrill home fans at Memorial second set by her opponent from thrilled to get past Vekic. ers right now,” the Canadian several other players said they ing themselves with a medical Drive in the inaugural edition of “I feel my game is getting bet- Belarus. The 71-minute rout “It’s nice to be in the semi- said. had found it diff icult to breathe. condition that may be related the event. ter and better,” Barty said. leaves Halep standing 1-1 for the fi nals just in the beginning of the “If I can bring my ‘A’ game, I Britain’s Liam Broady, who lost to the pollutants. Vondrousova was playing her “I could have been a bit more season with the fi rst Grand Slam year,” she said. believe in my chances.” his first round qualifying match “If that’s the case, inform me fi rst tournament in six months clinical in my game, but it was of the year starting on Monday in “I have a big goal for Aus- South African Lloyd Harris on Tuesday, said the decision and we stop.” after injuring her left wrist. good to generate opportunities Melbourne. tralia, but I’m going to try to stay beat Spanish fourth seed Pablo to continue playing while Mel- Australia is experiencing one Barty will meet American Dan- for myself. Sabalenka will battle Dayana really realistic and play match Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3 to book bourne residents were being of its worst bushfire seasons ielle Collins, a 6-3, 6-1 winner Barty, who also beat Collins Yastremska on Friday for a place by match. That’s all I can think only the second semi-fi nal of his warned to keep pets indoors on record with blazes killing over Swiss fourth seed Belinda on the way to her Paris trophy is in the fi nal after the Ukrainian about.” career. “boiled” his “blood”. 28 people, destroying more Bencic. She won the opening set expecting a battle in the semi- 19-year-old beat a second top In men’s play, Canadian sec- The qualifi er, who lost just “We can’t let this slide. The than 2,500 homes and razing with just one break, but was made fi nal. “Danielle is an exceptional 20 opponent this week when she ond seed Felix Auger-Aliassime seven points on serve, will face e-mail we received yesterday forests and farmland over an to work in the second, saving four ball-striker, she can take the put out Croat Donna Vekic 6-4, swept the last 10 games to crush Tommy Paul of the US, who beat from the ATP and AO was a slap area equivalent to the size of break points to hold on for 5-3 be- match right out of your hands,” 6-3. Australian wild card Alex Bolt Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the face, conditions were Bulgaria. fore putting away the win. she said. Sabalenka, ranked 12th to Ha- 6-3, 6-0 in 54 minutes, losing 6-3, 6-4.

Friday, January 17, 2020 GULF TIMES SPORT

HORSE RACING COMMENT Izzthatright regains Qatar coach Sanchez Muaither Cup sprint rues missed Four winners for trainer Alban de Mieulle and two for Julian Smart opportunity

AFC individual mistake cost us one Bangkok goal, but the team kept pushing and we could score. “We have to congratulate the atar coach Felix players because they were push- Sanchez claimed his ing until the last moment to try team’s inability to get the result to give us the op- keep possession was a portunity to play in the quarter- keyQ factor in their exit from the fi nals. We couldn’t do it this AFC U23 Championship Thai- time, but it was a good experi- land 2020 as the two-time semi- ence for the players because we fi nalists missed out on the last have a very young team.” eight as a result of their 1-1 draw Hajime Moriyasu’s side went with Japan on Wednesday. into the game with only pride to A point was not enough for play for, having been eliminated Sanchez’s side to climb above from the competition due to de- either Saudi Arabia or Syria and feats at the hands of Saudi Arabia into the top two places in Group and Syria. B, leaving the Qataris to pack But the Japanese put on a de- their bags and head home along termined show to eke out a draw with the Japanese. despite playing the entire second Abdullah al-Ahrak’s penalty half with 10 men. secured the draw for the Qataris “We started well and in the after Japan, who had been re- fi rst half we had some chances QREC deputy chief steward Abdulla al-Kubaisi (right) presents the owner’s trophy duced to 10 men following Ao and the players were aggressive to Injaaz Stud representative Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari after Izzthatright won the Tanaka’s sending off in first half towards the opponents’ goal, and Muaither Cup at Al Rayyan Park yesterday. PICTURES: Juhaim Theo Bachelot rides Izzthatright to Muaither Cup victory yesterday. injury time, had taken the lead it was the same in defence,” said through a long range strike from the former Sanfrecce Hiroshima By Sports Reporter ing a one-two for the champion his third career victory when he 4, 3 ¼. Time: 2:02.84. Owner: Al Won by: 2, Hd, 3 ¾. Time: 1:32.36. Koki Ogawa. head coach. Doha trainer. Harry Bentley rode Take won a 2200m graduation race Rabban Racing. Trainer: Alban Owner: His Highness Sheikh “We know Japan and how they “In the second half, we were A Nap to second place. for Purebred Arabians. de Mieulle. Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani. like to play, to have possession missing a player but the players In the penultimate race of Ghazali’s son, Mohamed, Race 3: 1. Al Kharu (Soufiane Trainer: Julian Smart. and they display their way to talked to each other at half time njaaz Stud’s Izzthatright the day, Methgal opened his ac- saddled a winner in the opening Saadi), 2. Al Hindi (Ryan Curato- Race 7: 1. Bin General (Ronan play,” said the AFC Asian Cup- and said they wanted to make the made it two wins in a row count at Al Rayyan Park in only race of the day as Bentley guided lo), 3. Arkiyah (Ronan Thomas), Thomas), 2. Evolution Du Croate winning Spanish coach. “I think situation better. This spirit led when the Jassim Mohamed his second outing, with Tomas Angelic Queen to her maiden 4. Mater (Carlos Henrique). Won (Ryan Curatolo), 3. Maxr (Tomas we were quite well organised. them to the fi rst goal, but unfor- Ghazali-schooled gelding Lukasek guiding the Smart ward victory. by: 2 ½, ¾, 6 ¾. Time: 1:15.55. Lukasek), 4. Fuwairat (Anas “But we missed to keep a little tunately the game ended in a draw. Ibagged the Muaither Cup at Al to a Purebred Arabian Handicap Brazilian jockey Leo Salles more the ball, which was diffi cult “But the players showed their Owner: Umm Qarn. Trainer: al-Seyabi). Won by: 1 ¾, Nk, 2 ¾. Rayyan Park yesterday, even as victory yesterday. Earlier, Ennab made a winning debut in Qatar Alban de Mieulle. Time: 2:29.91. Owner: Umm Qarn. for us. For all of the tournament pride and their toughness as well Alban de Mieulle saddled four topped a claiming race, also un- after riding Mohamed Hamad Race 4: 1. Mizoun (Leo Salles), Trainer: Alban de Mieulle. it was the same problem, in many as their spirit to fi ght until the winners on the day, including der Lukasek. al-Attiyah-schooled Mizoun to 2. Al Khor Surprise (Eduardo Race 8: 1. Methgal (Tomas Lu- phases of the game.” last minute. The result of the three in Umm Qarn colours. Al Rabban Racing’s RS Rash- maiden victory. Pedroza), 3. Al Shomos (Pier Con- kasek), 2. AJS Al Moheeb (Harry “In the second half, playing tournament is disappointing, Also, Julian Smart and the eeda was the fi rst winner on the vertino), 4. Ajal (Soufiane Saadi). Bentley), 3. AJS Al Maha (Theo against 10 men and with us need- but we want to learn from this for silks of His Highness Sheikh day for De Mieulle and the four- RESULTS Won by: 1, ½, 1 ¼. Time: 1:25.43. Bachelot), 4. Haddaj Dukhan ing to win the game, we tried to the better development for the Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani year-old fi lly was in fantastic Race 1: 1. Angelic Queen (Harry Owner: Al Sakab Stud. Trainer: (Meteb Ali al-Marri). Won by: 2, 1 be more off ensive and I think one future.” entered the winner’s circle twice form in local Arabian maiden, Bentley), 2. Nishan (Tomas Mohamed Hamad al-Attiyah. ¾, 1 ¼. Time: 1:44.94. Owner: His yesterday. winning the 1850m race by an Lukasek), 3. Forced (Ryan Race 5: 1. Djamil (Ronan Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Izzthatright had won the fi ve- eye-popping 12 lengths on her Curatolo), 4. Al Ruwais (Ronan Thomas), 2. Albasos (Faleh Khalifa al-Thani. Trainer: Julian furlong sprint feature two years third outing under Ronan Tho- Thomas). Won by: ½, ½, ¾. Bughanaim), 3. Starlit D’Ibor Smart. ago before losing out narrowly mas. Time: 1:12.73. Owner: Al Azraq (Theo Bachelot), 4. AJS Al Zaeem Race 9: 1. Izzthatright (Theo to another Ghazali ward, Anima De Mieulle’s charges won two Stable. Trainer: Mohamed Jassim (Harry Bentley). Won by: Nk, Shd, Bachelot), 2. Take A Nap Rock, last year. Yesterday, un- more maidens — Umm Qarn’s Al Ghazali. 2 ¼. Time: 1:46.07. Owner: Umm (Harry Bentley), 3. Munira Eyes der Theo Bachelot, who rode Kharu and Djamil. Djamil was Race 2: 1. RS Rasheeda (Ronan Qarn. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle. (Eduardo Pedroza), 4. Top Face the winner last year, the eight- Thomas’ second winner on the Thomas), 2. Noor Al Meydan Race 6: 1. Ennab (Tomas Lu- (Tomas Lukasek). Won by: 1, ¾, year-old gelding made his way day, while another Umm Qarn (Anas al-Seyabi), 3. Monati (Ali kasek), 2. Echo De Faust (Anas ¾. Time: 00:59.33. Owner: Injaaz back into winner’s circle for the colt, Bin General, was the jock- Khalid al-Mosallam), 4. Enfrad al-Seyabi), 3. Diese (Ronan Stud. Trainer: Jassim Mohamed race for Thoroughbreds, lead- ey’s third. Bin General registered (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: 12, Thomas), 4. Zakho (Ivan Rossi). Ghazali.

Qatar beat China 49-18 in Asian men’s handball

Action from the match between Qatar (in maroon) and China (in white and blue) during their Asian Men’s Handball Championship Kuwait 2020 Preliminary Group B match in Kuwait City yesterday. Qatar won the match 49-18. (Twitter/Qatarhandball)

FOOTBALL Bayern Munich conclude successful winter training camp in Qatar

By Sports Reporter adding to its impressive portfolio ally, two lucky, lifelong Bayern bian Gulf Cup Qatar 2019 and Doha of global sport alliances. Munich fans from Germany were the IAAF Athletics Champion- Qatar Airways Group Chief Ex- granted VIP access to meet the ship. Qatar will again host the ecutive HE Akbar al-Baker said, club’s players after winning an FIFA Club World Cup in 2020 ayern Munich men’s “Qatar Airways is delighted to all-expenses paid trip to Doha ahead of the FIFA World Cup senior team spent last have welcomed the most deco- courtesy of Qatar Airways. Qatar 2022. Furthermore, Qatar week in Qatar at their rated German football club, FC On 20 January, Bayern Mu- Airways’ football partnerships annual winter training Bayern München, to Doha. We nich’s women’s senior team will include long-term agreements camp.B The German champions are dedicated to being associated also travel to Doha to start its with Italian football giants AS were based at the Aspire Acad- with top global names in football winter preparation for the cur- Roma; Belgian top division club emy in Doha from 4 to 10 Janu- such as FC Bayern, who consist- rent campaign at Aspire Acad- KAS Eupen; and Boca Juniors, ary and utilised its world-class ently demonstrate an ambition to emy. Qatar Airways supports the Argentina’s most successful club. facilities in preparation for the be the best. The world-class sport women’s winter camp of Bayern, Qatar Airways has been serv- remainder of the 2019-2020 sea- facilities available here in Doha, which will include social activi- ing the people of Germany for son, when they will challenge for coupled with the warm Qatar hos- ties such as girls practise sessions over 20 years. The carrier now the Bundesliga title, DFB Cup and pitality, make it the perfect winter delivered by Bayern coaches to operates 35 weekly fl ights be- the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich players take part in a training session during their winter training camp at Aspire Academy destination for many top European promote grassroots sport. tween Doha and Germany – dou- Qatar Airways is a proud Plati- in Doha earlier this month. football clubs.” The national carrier of Qatar ble daily non-stop to Munich and num Sponsor of the fi ve-time During the club’s visit, the is a strong advocate for global Frankfurt – as well as daily non- European champions whose stars and Lucas Hernandez, Germany’s stars such as Philippe Coutinho, number one airline became Plati- airline invited children from the sport, with Qatar having hosted stop to Berlin, providing onward include among others, current world champions of 2014 Manuel along with Robert Lewandowski num Sponsor of Bayern in 2018, Qatar Cancer Society to meet the several high profi le events re- connections to more than 95 des- French World Cup winners Ben- Neuer, Thomas Muller and Jerome who stars in the Qatar Airways securing a long-term partnership football stars on the sidelines of cently, including the FIFA Club tinations across the Middle East, jamin Pavard, Corentin Tolisso Boateng as well as international top in-fl ight safety video. The world’s with the Bundesliga club, further their training session. Addition- World Cup Qatar 2019, the Ara- Africa and Asia Pacifi c.