NBA | Page 5 BBADMINTONADMINTON | Page 6 Butler Sindhu sparks Bulls conquers as Lakers Marin for lose again Indian title Monday, April 3, 2017 FOOTBALL Rajab 6, 1438 AH Di Maria GULF TIMES sparkles as PSG retain League Cup SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL Federer downs Nadal again, Lekhwiya, wins Miami title Miami: Roger Federer defeated long-standing rival Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 to win the Miami Open yesterday and continue his outstanding start to the year. Since returning from his six month injury lay-off , Al Sadd grab the 35-year-old Federer has also won the Aus- tralian Open and Indian Wells and he heads into the clay season as, once again, the dominant presence on the ATP Tour. Federer has beaten Nadal in all of those events this year and has now won his last four meetings between the pair. The Spaniard was playing in his fifth Miami final big victories but remains without a win in the Masters series event. The first set was a tight aff air with both players With only two points separating the teams, the Qatar having their opportunities to break but it was not until the eighth game and 10th break point Stars League is set for a thrilling finale later this month of the set that one of them was able to get ahead. Nadal could only find the net from a Federer backhand and the Swiss grabbed a 5-3 lead and he comfortably held the next game to secure the first set. There has always been a marked contrast between Federer and Nadal’s diff ering styles and with time it has become further accentuated. Nadal was working hard in the 83 degrees after- noon heat, thrusting himself into his shots while the elegant Federer’s poise appeared almost casual. The second set took an almost identical path, albeit with fewer openings to break for both players until Federer again pounced, to grab a 5-4 lead when Nadal went long returning a fine backhand. By Sports Reporter Doha Al Sadd (top) and Lekhwiya players celebrate their big CRICKET wins in the QSL yesterday. ekhwiya moved into pole po- sition to capture their fi fth Qatar Stars League title after Shehzad hits 53 as Pakistan beat Lrecording a crushing 5-1 win over El Jaish yesterday. They are ahead of Al Sadd by just Windies in 4th T20 to win series two points but with both teams fa- voured to win against minor opposi- tion in the fi nal two matches, Lekhwi- AFP ya are now clear favourites for the title, Port of Spain SCOREBOARD unless, of course, there is an upset. Lekhwiya continued to pile on the West Indies Innings Pakistan Innings pressure from the off , which eventu- hmed Shehzad E. Lewis c Ali b Wasim ........................................................ 7 A. Shehzad b Williams ...................................................... 53 ally paid off on the 29th minute when struck a patient C. Walton c Malik b Khan ............................................40 K. Akmal c Williams b Samuels ...........................20 they were awarded a penalty after half-century as Pa- M. Samuels b Ali .....................................................................22 B. Azam c sub (Powell) b Williams .................... 38 Jaish’s goalkeeper clumsily brought kistan cruised to a J. Mohamed b Ali ....................................................................... 1 S. Malik not out ............................................................................ 9 down Almoez Ali who was running Aseven-wicket win over West L. Simmons run out ................................................................1 S. Ahmed not out ..................................................................... 3 into the box to connect with a chipped Indies in the fourth and fi nal K. Pollard b Raees .................................................................... 3 Extras (lb-1, w-3) .........................................................................4 through ball. fi nished off the tie when Edgar made it game tilted in Sadd’s favour when T20 international in Trini- C. Brathwaite not out ........................................................ 37 Total (3 wkts, 19 overs) .................................................127 The referee was quick to blow for a 4-1 with a fi ne fi nish on the inside of midfi elder Daniel Goumou saw red for dad yesterday. J. Holder c sub (Nawaz) b Khan .............................0 Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Akmal), 2-110 whistle and Lekhwiya’s captain, Mo- his right from 16 yards out. a second yellow after a reckless elbow Pakistan’s bowlers re- S. Narine b Riaz ..........................................................................9 (Shehzad), 3-115 (Azam) hamed Musa, stepped up and smashed Lekhwiya weren’t fi nished with four on Hassan Haydoos. stricted West Indies to 124 S. Badree not out ........................................................................1 Bowling: S. Badree 4-0-38-0, J. Holder 3-0- it down the middle of the goal to give though and made it fi ve in injury time Sadd didn’t waste any time in for 8 before Shehzad (53) Extras (lb2, w1) .......................................................................... 3 24-0, K. Williams 3-016-2 (1w), S. Narine 4-0-19- the Red Knights the lead. when Moez headed home a rebounded pressing home their advantage. De- helped the tourists reach Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) ...............................................124 0, M. Samuels 2-0-11-1, C. Brathwaite 2-0-13-0 Things went from bad to worse for corner kick after some more scrappy fender Pedro Miguel made a surging their target with six balls to Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Lewis), 2-52 (Walton), 3-59 (2w), J. Mohammed 1-0-5-0 Jaish who lost possession from kick- defending from Jaish. run which saw the Qatari internation- spare to complete a 3-1 series (Mohamed), 4-73 (Simmons), 5-73 (Samuels), Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets. off and gifted Lekhwiya a second after Meanwhile, Al Sadd kept the pres- al brought down in the box, leaving victory. 6-82 (Pollard), 7-83 (Holder), 8-121 (Narine) Toss: Pakistan some poor defending. After a number sure on league leaders Lekhwiya with a the referee little choice but to award Earlier, excellent seam Bowling: I. Wasim 4-0-25-1, H. Ali 4-2-12-2 Umpires: Joel Wilson (TRI), Gregory of lazy and ill-advised back passes, comprehensive 4-1 Qatar Clasico win a penalty. Leading scorer Bounedjah bowling by Pakistan limited (1w), R. Raees 4-1-25-1, W. Riaz 4-0-44-1, S. Khan Brathwaite (BAR) Lekhwiya pressured and dispossessed over Al Rayyan. Michael Laudrup’s made no mistake from the penalty the West Indies to 124. Hasan 4-0-16-2 a lacklustre looking Jaish defence side saw midfi elder Daniel Goumou spot, calmly slotting the ball down the Ali and Rumman Raees, who which enabled South Korean interna- sent off midway through the fi rst middle of the goal. tional Nam Tae-hee to pick the ball up half, and Al Sadd made their advan- On the stroke of half time Al Sadd replaced fellow left-arm noon heat, Ali returned the match. He claimed two for in the 18 yard box and hit a low hard tage count scoring three goals in what scored a third through Iranian inter- seamer Sohail Tanvir from outstanding fi gures of two 16 off his four overs, remov- shot to make it 2-0 and take his indi- proved to be a comfortable victory for national Morteza Pouraliganji. who the previous match the day for 12 from his four overs, ing opener Chadwick Walton vidual tally to 13. the side. planted a fi ne header into the bottom before, displayed admira- including two maidens. He for a top score of 40 before It didn’t take long for Lekhwiya to The Wolves broke the deadlock on right hand corner. ble accuracy and discipline, breached the defences of coming back in the midst of fi nd the back of the net in the second the 12th minute though midfi elder Al Sadd didn’t let up and scored combining for three impor- Marlon Samuels and Ja- the West Indies collapse to half and make it 3-0 to all but secure Jugurtha Hamroun who smashed the the fourth goal of the tie through Ab- tant wickets and also deliv- son Mohammed to leave remove Jason Holder for a the three points and keep them top ball from outside of the box to beat dulkarim Hassan in the 51st minute. ering three maiden overs. the home side’s innings in duck. of the table. Ali Afi f found himself in Rayyan keeper Omar Barry and give Xavi picked out the Qatari interna- It is the fi rst time ever that ruins after they had started With his side tottering at space in the 18 yard box after just a Sadd a early lead in the 12th minute. tional defender, who hit his shot past Pakistan managed to bowl brightly. 83 for seven, captain Carlos minute of play in the second half and Two minutes later Jugurtha Ham- Omar Barry who should of done better as many as there maidens in Leg-spinner Shadab Brathwaite eff ected a bit of a able to easily hit a low shot home on roun was on the other end of a similar to stop the ball. a T20 International and also Khan, who suff ered along- repair job with an unbeaten his right following some scrappy de- chance from closer range but the sum- The 10 men of Al Rayyan valiantly the fi rst occasion the West side the other bowlers as 37, although a fi nal total again fending from Jaish. mer signing spurned his eff ort well tried to get back into the game, and Indies, the reigning World opener Evin Lewis blazed under 130 left Pakistan as fa- Jaish hit one back just a minute later over. Rodrigo Tabata did grab a consolation T20 champions, conceded 91 in pacing the home side vourites to complete victory after a goal from their Brazilian for- Omar Barry kept Al Rayyan in the with fi ve minutes left to play.