Sport SATURDAY 12 JUNE 2021 11 Pavlyuchenkova, Krejcikova Fahd wins set to make history in Paris triathlon REUETRS – PARIS sport’s four majors. Previously, Italian Roberta Vinci has played the most Grand gold in Egypt After one of the most wildly unpredictable Slams before reaching her first title match, women’s singles draws in French Open contesting the 2015 U.S. Open final in her 's Fahd Al Mohammed and history, Russia’s Anastasia Pavly- 44th. Abdullah Shaheen Al Kaabi with uchenkova stands on the threshold of Should Pavlyuchenkova, who turns officials after wining medals finally delivering the title long predicted 30 next month, avoid that fate she will be at the 2021 Africa Triathlon since she was a precocious teenager. the second oldest first-time Grand Slam Championships in Sharm El It has been a protracted journey for women’s winner in the professional era, Sheikhm Egypt, yesterday. Fahd the 29-year-old, who at the 52nd time of behind Flavia Pennetta (aged 33 at 2015 won the gold medal in the asking has reached her maiden Grand U.S. Open). 30-34 Age Group Sprint while Slam final in which she takes on unseeded Whatever the outcome on Court Abdullah clinched a podium Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who has also Philippe Chatrier today, a first-time spot when he finished second broken new ground this fortnight. No women’s Grand Slam winner will be in the 35-39 years age group. other player has ever had as many crowned in Paris for the sixth successive attempts to reach a final of any one of the year. NEWS IN BRIEF Danes relishing ‘dark Spain horse’ tag ahead of vaccinates team after clash against Finland virus scare REUTERS – COPENHAGEN Denmark are relishing their status as Euro 2020 dark horses ahead AP – MADRID of their opening Group B clash with Finland today, the first of three home games at the Parken Stadium for the Danes. Worried that a coronavirus A string of good performances has many commentators tipping outbreak could derail its the Danes as possible winners of the tournament, which they won chances at the European in stunning fashion in 1992 after being called up as late replace- Championship, Spain sent in ments for the former Yugoslavia. the army yesterday to “It’s probably because we’ve got good results, played football vaccinate the national football that’s worth watching and won some matches that we take with team three days before its us,” playmaker Christian Eriksen told a media conference. opening match at the tour- “We have a lot of confidence, but to go and win, that’s what nament. we have to do if we want to go far. I think there’s a lot of bumps Medics from Spain’s we need to get over first,” he added. Armed Forces administered ’s Michy Batshuayi trains Denmark face Belgium, the top-ranked side in the world, in the shots at the team’s training with team-mates yesterday. their second Group B match, likely adding to the pressure for a facility near Madrid. result against Finland, who next take on Russia. “We have had the privilege Coach Kasper Hjulmand, who has taken over the reins after and the good fortune that the Age Hareide orchestrated the successful Euro qualifying cam- government decided to vac- paign, bristled with confidence as he said the tournament was cinate us,” said Spain mid- Euro 2020: De Bruyne to the biggest thing ever to happen on Danish soil. fielder Thiago. “We are in a good place, we have a good balance in the squad. Spain will play Sweden in We are well-prepared, we are full of energy, we are excited, we Seville on Monday in its are confident and respectful of our opponent. We are where we opening Euro 2020 match. ’s opener need to be,” he told reporters. AP – ST. PETERSBURG really important, just to get him when Martinez expects De back to really being able to Bruyne to play a part. Mostovoy will not play move freely and start getting Another key Belgium player for Belgium today's opening the exercise needed before he missing against Russia will be tests positive, group game against Russia at can come to the group,” Mar- defensive midfielder , the European Championship tinez said of De Bruyne, who who was surprisingly included cut from because he is still following an was recently voted as the in the Euro 2020 squad despite individual training program ’s player of the missing the final four months of Russia squad after an operation on his frac- season for the second straight the club season with Borussia tured nose and eye socket. year. Dortmund because of a torn AP – MOSCOW Belgium coach Roberto De Bruyne only linked up Achilles tendon injury. Martinez said yesterday he with the squad on Monday after Martinez said Witsel, who Russia winger Andrey expects the Manchester City having a minor operation fol- didn’t play in Belgium’s Mostovoy was cut from the midfielder to join full training lowing the injuries sustained warmup games ahead of the national team for this year’s with the squad when the during City’s loss to Chelsea in tournament, was “progressing European Championship players return to their training the Champions League final on well” and had been training yesterday after testing positive camp in Tubize, near , May 29. with the full squad. for the coronavirus. after the game against Russia Belgium’s second game in “I don’t expect Axel will Mostovoy is the first player in St. Petersburg. Group B is against Denmark in need a lot more work with the Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel during a training session. to be cut from a team at the “The next two days will be Copenhagen on Thursday, group,” Martinez said. tournament because of the virus. The team wrote on Twitter that Mostovoy has been Conway, Young put New Zealand South Africa grow lead replaced by defender Roman Evgeniev “in connection with over in 1st Test an unfavorable result of PCR in charge against testing.” Russia is scheduled to AP – GROS ISLET, ST. LUCIA play its opening Euro 2020 match against Belgium today REUTERS – EDGBASTON Former captain Quinton de Kock pushed South Africa’s lead past in St. Petersburg. 100 against West Indies in the first Test yesterday. Mostovoy made his debut Devon Conway and Will Young De Kock was 44 not out at lunch on the second day in St. Lucia for Russia last year and played scored half-centuries as New and South Africa’s main hope of a sizeable first-innings advantage eight of the team’s last 11 Zealand finished the second day as it ended the session on 205-5. games, mostly as a substitute. on 229-3, 74 runs behind South Africa blew West Indies out for 97 on the first day and Evgeniev’s only appearance England’s first innings score in reached 128-4 at stumps. The Proteas continued to forge ahead on for his country was in a 5-0 the second and final Test against day two. Rassie van der Dussen made 46 to build on Aiden loss to Serbia last year. at Edgbaston yesterday. Markram’s 60 from day one. West Indies were fighting to stay in Left-handed batsman the game but had one positive in the performance of 19-year-old New Zealand’s Conway, fresh from his brilliant fast bowler Jayden Seales, who had figures of 3-50 in his debut Devon double hundred on debut at Test. Seales removed Keegan Petersen (19), Markram, and Kyle Pukki set to Lord’s in the opening Test, Conway bats Verreynne (6) late on the first day. smashed 12 boundaries for his as England But after a 14- opening day at Darren Sammy Stadium, start against 80 and alongside Young added players look West Indies broke through only once in the first session yesterday 122 runs for the second wicket. on. when Jason Holder pitched up to Van der Dussen and produced Denmark Young showed incredible an edge to Shai Hope at gully. patience for his 82 off 204 balls SCOREBOARD De Kock, in his first test since giving up the captaincy and taking STOCKHOLM REUTERS – before he became Dan Law- ENGLAND 1st Innings (overnight: 258-7) Bowling: Boult 29-6-85-4; Henry 26-7-78-3 a break for mental health reasons, steadied his team with five fours rence’s maiden test wicket in the R. Burns c Latham b Boult ...... 81 (2nb, 1w); Wagner 21-6-68-1; Mitchell 11-2-23-0; and a 43-run stand with Wiaan Mulder, who was 21 not out. Striker Teemo Pukki raised the final over of the day. D. Sibley c Blundell b Henry ...... 35 Patel 14-4-34-2 BRIEF SCORES fever of Finnish fans a notch The tourists finished the day Z. Crawley c Mitchell b Wagner ...... 0 NEW ZEALAND 1st Innings WEST INDIES: 97 (L. Ngidi 5-19, A. Nortje 4-35) vs SOUTH AFRICA: 205-5 (A. by declaring has himself fit to with Ross Taylor unbeaten on J. Root c Blundell b Henry ...... 4 T. Latham lbw b Broad ...... 6 Markram 60; J. Seales 3-50) lead the line against Denmark 46 at the other end. O. Pope c Blundell b Patel ...... 19 D. Conway c Crawley b Broad ...... 80 in their opening Euro 2020 New Zealand’s stand-in D. Lawrence not out ...... 81 W. Young c Pope b Lawrence ...... 82 Group B clash at the Parken skipper Tom Latham was J. Bracey c Mitchell b Boult ...... 0 R. Taylor not out ...... 46 O. Stone lbw b Patel ...... 20 Extras (b4, lb10, nb1) ...... 15 Islamabad United Stadium today. trapped leg before with just 15 M. Wood b Henry...... 41 Total (3 wkts, 76.3 overs) ...... 229 Pukki, who scored 10 of runs on the board before S. Broad c Blundell b Boult ...... 0 To bat: H Nicholls, T Blundell, D Mitchell, N Wagn- win by 10 Finland’s 16 goals as they came Conway and Will Young went J. Anderson lbw b Boult ...... 4 er, M Henry, A Patel, T Boult runner-up to Italy in their on to frustrate the English Extras (b5, lb10, nb2, w1) ...... 18 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-137, 3-229 group to qualify for the finals bowling attack. Total (all out, 101 overs) ...... 303 Bowling: Anderson 18-5-45-0; Broad 15-6-22-2 Mohammad Wasim of a major tournament for the Conway was spared on 22 Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-73, 3-85, 4-127, 5-169 (1nb); Wood 14-0-43-0; Stone 15-4-58-0; Root 13- of Islamabad United first time, told reporters he has when the South African-born (Burns), 6-175, 7-222, 8-288, 9-289, 10-303 3-39-0; Lawrence 1.3-0-8-1 celebrates after taking fully recovered from an ankle batsman edged seamer Stuart a wicket during the injury he sustained in May. Broad to Zak Crawley in the certainly out for seven but end. Young, playing only his third Pakistan Super League “I’ve been training normally slips. But with on-field England captain Joe Root test, built a 92-run partnership match against Quetta for the past week and a half, as Richard Kettleborough having dropped a seemingly com- with Taylor as England struggled Gladiators in Abu Dhabi, all the other player have, and I made a soft signal of not out, TV fortable chance at first slip to make an impact without a full- yesterday. Wasim took played 30 minutes in the last umpire Michael Gough decided despite getting both hands to the time spinner in their lineup. 2 for 12 as Gladiators preparation game, I haven’t had there was insufficient evidence ball. Conway missed out on Earlier, tailender Mark were bowled out for 133. any issues with the ankle and for him to overturn that decision. another triple-figure score when Wood’s flashy 41 helped England Islamabad United won I’m ready to play as much as the Young, who replaced injured he holed out to Broad in the final to 303 all out in their first the match by 10 wickets coach will allow me to,” the skipper Kane Williamson in the session, but Young continued to innings, with Mark Lawrence with 60 balls remaining. Norwich City player said. top order, should have been show great maturity at the other finishing unbeaten on 81. Sport SATURDAY 12 JUNE 2021 FrenchF Open: Pavlyuchenkova and KrejcikovaK set to make history in Paris EspeciallyE mentally I think I'm just there. I just think (the final)f it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to enjoy it because I wasw never expecting to be this far in this tournament.

Barbora Krejcikova Sport | 11

EURO 2020: GROUP STAGE TODAY'S FIXTURES: Wales vs Switzerland (4.00pm), Denmark vs Finland (7:00pm), Belgium vs Russia (10:00pm) Qatar to train in Croatia ahead of Gold Cup QATAR SQUAD: THE PENINSULA – their departure to the United States. before facing Honduras three days At the Gold Cup, debutants and later. Coach Felix Sanchez has announced Asian Cup champions Qatar will play The top two teams from the four , Meshaal Barsham, Mahmoud Abunada, Yusuf Hassan, Pedro Miguel, a 30-member Qatar squad ahead of their Group matches against Hon- groups will advance to the quarter- , Tariq Salman, Ahmed a training camp which will be held duras, Grenada and Panama in finals on July 25. Suhail, Musab Kheder, Bassam Al Rawi, in Croatia as the national team gears Group D. Qatar are the seventh guest Homan Ahmed, , Mohammed up for the participation in the Qatar, the only invitee in the nation to compete in a Gold Cup and Waad, Assim Madebo, , Jassim CONCACAF Gold Cup. 13-nation tournament, will play their the first since 2005, joining the ranks Gaber, Ismail Mohammed, Abdullah Al Ahrak, The Al Annabi con- first match at the BBVA Stadium in of Brazil (1996, 1998, 2003), Abdullah Marafia, , Khalid tingent will today Houston, at 2:00am Qatar time on Colombia (2000, 2003, 2005), Peru Munir, , Hassan Al Haydos, Sultan leave for Croatia July 14, (2000), Ecuador (2002), South Africa Al Braik, Abdulrashid Ibrahim, Hashim Ali, where they will train Qatar, drawn in Group D, will (2005) and South Korea (2000, Youssef Abdurisag, , Mohammed until July 04 ahead of then take on Grenada on July 17, 2002). Muntari, Ahmed Alaaeldin

Qatar 2022 Qualifiers: Italy down Turkey in Euro opener Oman beat Afghanistan

AP – ROME to keep hopes alive AFC – DOHA Italy waited a long time for this European Championship to start and Oman boosted their hopes of advancing to then showed yesterday just how the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the eager the team was to play the tour- FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a 2-1 win nament opener. over Afghanistan in Group E yesterday. After humiliatingly failing to With Qatar having sealed top spot in qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Italy Group E with an unassailable 22 points, was already back on track with a Oman’s hopes depend on them finishing as perfect qualifying campaign of 10 one of the best five runners-up and Branko wins in 10 matches. Now Roberto Ivankovic’s men saw off an Afghanistan side Mancini’s team has begun its first who will now have to defeat India in their major international tournament in final match on Tuesday to finish third and five years with a convincing 3-0 win book a spot in the final round of the Asian over Turkey. Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023. Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Oman, with second place confirmed, play Insigne both scored after an own- bottom-placed Bangladesh in their final goal from Turkey defender Merih game. Demiral had given Italy the lead - all Oman, who defeated Afghanistan 3-0 in in the second half. their previous encounter in October 2019, Demiral redirected a cross from enjoyed the early possession and took the Domenico Berardi into his own net lead just inside the quarter of an hour mark after attempting to intercept the pass. with Abdullah Fawaz scoring from distance Immobile then poked in a rebound off Salah Al Yahyaei’s assist. of a shot from Leonardo Spinazzola Ivanovic’s charges continued to dominate on another play that began with play and came close to extending their lead Berardi, and Insigne later curled one in the 20th minute but Afghanistan’s David in after a failed clearance by Turkey Nejem was quick to block Abdul Gheilani’s goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır. effort from inside the box. Italy’s Lorenzo Insigne Italy dominated from the start but Despite falling a goal behind and being celebrates scoring their third was denied in the first half by a restricted to counter-attacks, Afghanistan’s goal with team-mates. superb save from Çakır and a patience paid off handsomely four minutes decision by the referee not to award later when they equalised through Omid a penalty for an apparent handball. the largest gathering in Italy since the Giorgio Chiellini. The Italy captain arm. Then Turkey defender Zeki Popalzay’s header after Nejem had done well The victory extended Italy's pandemic took hold. was left unmarked on a corner and Çelik stuck out his hand and stopped to supply the cross from the right flank. unbeaten run to 28 matches and Wales and Switzerland, the other directed a header toward the target a cross from Spinazzola. Oman started the second half with boosted the Azzurri's status as a title teams in Group A, will play in Baku, before Çakır leaped up, extended his Çelik himself appeared to feel renewed purpose and their dominance was contender. Azerbaijan, on Saturday. right arm high into the air and pushed guilty, quickly pulling his arm behind rewarded in the 52nd minute when Fawaz The tournament, which is still Italy appeared energized from the the ball over the bar with his his body after making contact with doubled his tally when he beat Afghanistan being called Euro 2020, began a year start and dominated possession while fingertips. the ball. There was a VAR check goalkeeper Ovays Azizi from outside the box. late because of the pandemic. Turkey sat back and waited for rare Italy protested vehemently for several moments later but the The win takes Oman to 15 points and they The Stadio Olimpico was still only counterattacks. two handballs in the match but Dutch decision to play on was upheld. will aim for another victory against Bang- 25% full because of coronavirus In the first half alone, Italy pro- referee Danny Makkelie ruled to play In the next set of group matches, ladesh on Tuesday to tighten their grip on measures and fans sat in small groups duced 13 attempts and Turkey none. on. Italy stays in Rome to play Swit- one of the five places available for the best safely distanced from one another. Midway through the first half, First, Immobile’s shot appeared zerland while Turkey travels to Baku runners-up in the final round of the FIFA Still, the crowd of about 16,000 was Çakır made an acrobatic save to deny to be knocked down by a defender’s to play Wales. World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers. Brisbane 2032 Djokovic stuns champion Nadal in not a done deal yet, says Coates French Open thriller to reach final AP – PARIS Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates REUTERS – SYDNEY after defeating Spain's Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic stopped Rafael Nadal’s bid for in the semi-final yesterday. Australia’s top Olympic official John Coates said a 14th French Open title and handed the King yesterday that Brisbane winning the right to host the of Clay just his third loss in 108 matches at the 2032 Summer Games was not a done deal, despite tournament by coming back to win their thriller the International Olympic Committee’s executive of a semi-final 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 yesterday. board approving the bid. Terrific as the play was for most of the four The IOC executive board signed off on the bid hours, the match ended with a bit of a whimper: on Thursday and, under a new system designed to Djokovic grabbed the last six games. make bidding cheaper and more efficient, a full So Djokovic will be seeking his second session of the sporting body will now vote on it on trophy at Roland Garros and a 19th major July 21. championship overall when he plays in tomor- With Brisbane the sole preferred candidate, some row's final. media critics have suggested the IOC session will The top-seeded Djokovic’s opponent will simply rubber-stamp the decision but Coates, who be fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas. was a key figure in the reform of the bidding process, It will be the 29th career Grand Slam final said that was not the case. for Djokovic, and the first for Tsitsipas. Tsit- “I was very, very pleased to get this vote of con- sipas beat Alexander Zverev in the fidence ... this was the next step along the way,” the semifinals. Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president and Nadal had won the past four titles in Paris, IOC vice-president told reporters in Sydney part of his collection of 20 Slams, tied with yesterday. Roger Federer for the most by a man in tennis “You never know with the IOC members. A 50% history. vote in favour is required even if there is only one The 35-year-old Spaniard is 105-3 for his two-set lead in his semifinal earlier Friday That hold pushed the No. 5-seeded Tsit- candidate. I’ve been around long enough never to career - and Djokovic is responsible for two when he double-faulted to trail love-40 in the sipas back in the right direction. take it for granted.” of those defeats. opening game of the fifth. Tsitsipas broke to go up 3-1 in the fifth with Coates, who was recused from the vote of the exec- Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Serbia, will But Tsitsipas steeled himself to win five plenty of help from Zverev, who double-faulted utive board, said that the IOC was still talking to other face Tsitsipas, a 22-year-old from Greece, who consecutive points, including one with a cross- and flubbed a trio of groundstrokes. Eventually, countries that had expressed an interest in hosting edged Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, court forehand passing shot he celebrated by Tsitsipas served out the biggest win of his the Games, which include Indonesia, the Netherlands, 6-3. shaking his racket as the crowd chanted his career, ending it after more than 3 1/2 hours Hungary, Germany and Qatar. Tsitsipas already had given away all of a last name. on his fifth match point.