BBADMINTONADMINTON | Page 4 FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 7 Players thrilled Al Sadd, Al to be back Duhail face in action at off today in a Thailand Open marquee clash Tuesday, January 12, 2021 CRICKET Jumada I 28, 1442 AH Defi ant India stand GULF TIMES fi rm for fi ghting draw in third Test SPORT Page 2 DAKAR RALLY Al-Attiyah adds another stage win, Peterhansel keeps lead Qatari picks up 40th Dakar stage victory and is now 3rd overall for stage wins behind Peterhansel (47) and Vatanen (50) AFP Neom, Saudi Arabia atari driver Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah won stage eight of the Dakar Rally yesterday while Qnine-time rally world champion Sebastien Loeb was forced out after two punctures. Three-time Dakar winner al- Attiyah covered the 375 kilome- tres of the timed special between Sakaka and Neom in Saudi Arabia in just under three hours. He has won four of eight stages of this year’s edition as well as the prologue but trails Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel in overall rankings by 4min 50sec. Since his fi rst special win in Nema, Mauritania, in 2007, there has not been a single Dakar where al-Attiyah has not tasted victory on at least one stage, a feat which no other driver has achieved over 14 consecutive editions in the history of the rally. On the way to Neom, the Qa- tari driver picked up the 40th stage victory of his career and is now in 3rd position on the roll of honour for stage wins, with Pe- terhansel (47) and Ari Vatanen French driver Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Edouard Boulanger (50) in his sights. compete during stage 8 of the Dakar Rally yesterday. (AFP) Last year’s winner Carlos Sainz fi nished 52sec behind al-Attiyah along the Red Sea coastline, with Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and his co-driver Matthieu Baumel of France compete during stage 8 of the Dakar Rally 2021 between Sakaka Peterhansel third as he stayed on and Neom, in Saudi Arabia, yesterday. (AFP) course to capture a record-ex- tending 14th Dakar title. motorbike category with his fi rst Monday’s special, with Brabec in phy (RSA/RSA/Toyota) +18:51 3. Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) Sainz is third overall at 38min stage victory. sixth at 17min 42sec. 8. Vladimir Vasilyev/Dmitro Tsyro +2:50 55sec ahead of today’s ninth Cornejo gained over a minute on (RUS/UKR/Mini) +19:05 4. Sam Sunderland (GBR/Ktm) stage, a 579km loop on sandy nearest rival Toby Price, having led STAGE 8 RESULTS 9. Martin Prokop/Viktor Chytka +3:46 tracks around Neom that should by just one second on Sunday. Cars (top 10) (CZE/CZE/Ford) +21:37 5. Kevin Benavides (ARG/Honda) be one of the toughest of the rally. American Ricky Brabec, win- 1. Nasser al-Attiyah/Matthieu 10. Christian Lavieille/Jean-Pierre +5:29 Loeb, taking part in his fi fth ner of the 2020 rally, was almost Baumel (QAT/FRA/Toyota) 2:56:56 Garcin (FRA/FRA/Optimus) +22:06 6. Joan Barreda Bort (ESP/Honda) Dakar, suff ered his fi rst punc- three minutes adrift in third. 2. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/ Overall standings (top 3) +5:47 ture 43 kilometres into the stage. French rider Xavier de Soul- ESP/Mini) +00:52 1. Stephane Peterhansel/Edouard 7. Daniel Sanders (AUS/Ktm) +6:29 After he blew another tyre at trait withdrew following a heavy 3. Stephane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger (FRA/FRA/Mini) 8. Matthias Walkner (AUT/Ktm) kilometre 83, the Frenchman sig- crash. He was taken to hospital in Boulanger (FRA/FRA/Mini) +3:03 29:36:49 (1min penalty) +6:32 nalled his retirement to his team, Tabuk for observation. 4. Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi/Xavi- 2. Nasser al-Attiyah/Matthieu 9. Skyler Howes (USA/Ktm) +6:53 the British outfi t BRX. De Soultrait was among the er Panseri (UAE/FRA/Peugeot) Baumel (QAT/FRA/Toyota) +4:50 10. Sebastian Bühler (GER/Hero) This year’s Dakar had not been favourites and briefl y occupied +12:44 3. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/ +7:58 a kind one to Loeb, who had been fi rst place last week following 5. Cyril Despres/Michael Horn ESP/Mini) +38:55 Overall standings (top 3) beset with mechanical problems stage four. He was fourth overall (FRA/SUI/Peugeot) +12:49 1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo and was more than 13 hours be- when he crashed. 6. Jakub Przygonski/Timo Bikes (top 10) (CHI/Honda) 32:00:11 hind his compatriot Peterhansel. Britain’s Sam Sunderland is Gottschalk (POL/GER/Toyota) 1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo 2. Toby Price (AUS/Ktm) +1:06 Chile’s Jose Ignacio Cornejo third overall, 5min 57sec off the +18:23 (CHI/Honda) 3:08:40 3. Sam Sunderland (GBR/Ktm) Boys react as a biker competes during stage 8 of the Dakar Rally 2021 extended his advantage in the pace after crossing fourth in 7. Shameer Variawa/Dennis Mur- 2. Toby Price (AUS/Ktm) +1:05 +5:57 between Sakaka and Neom, in Saudi Arabia, yesterday. (AFP) FOCUS QMMF tweaks route for MERC opener in Qatar By Sports Reporter some 40km north of the Lusail The Al Khor special (18.30km) permitted homologated T4 pro- Doha Sports Complex, where the rally has also been used before and is duction vehicles to tackle gravel is based,” said Almeida. “We will a highlight of leg two. Both the rounds of the MERC in Qatar, run 11 special stages again, but QMMF (22.02km) and Ras Laff an Oman, Jordan, Cyprus and Ku- he Qatar Motor and we ran 203.72 competitive kilo- (21.39km) stages are completely wait. Eligible vehicles must have Motorcycle Federation metres in 2019 and this has been new and also fi t into Saturday’s an FIA technical passport. (QMMF) has made sev- increased to 208.36km for 2021. (January 30) itinerary. They too are Forty-four of these relatively eral tweaks and improve- There are 130km less of road sec- repeated in the afternoon and may low-cost vehicles entered the Tments to the route and itinerary tions than 2019 and 36.06% of provide an exciting sting in the tail Dakar Rally at the start of Janu- for the forthcoming Qatar Inter- the route is competitive, com- for entrants on the fi nal day. ary and the relaxing of border re- national Rally, which will kick- pared to 28.79% in 2019 and The QMMF is hopeful that strictions may enable some com- start regional action in the 2021 24.43% in 2018.” spectators will take the oppor- petitors to take part in the Qatar FIA Middle East Rally Champi- The start ceremony will be tunity to see the action up close International Rally after the fi n- onship from January 28-30. held at Katara at 8:15pm on Janu- and personal at Katara before the ish of the Dakar event in Jeddah Speaking from the Dakar Rally, ary 28, where QMMF offi cials meat of the event switches to the on January 15. Clerk of the Course Pedro Al- are also planning to host a brand northern Qatar deserts over the This year’s rally will be held meida confi rmed that the event new opening four-kilometre su- weekend. under the chairmanship of would be more compact and with per special stage on Katara Beach The QMMF is hopeful that QMMF President Abdulrahman slightly more competitive dis- from 9:30pm onward. entrants from many of the GCC al-Mannai, senior committee tance than the last event that was The Eraida (20.13km) and Al countries will support the MERC member Abdulrazaq al-Kuwari staged before the Covid-19 pan- Thakira (20.34km) special stages opener. and the QMMF’s Executive Di- demic in 2019. are already well known to com- Potentially boosting the en- rector Amro al-Hamad. “All the stages have been or- petitors and will be run twice on try, both this year and in the fu- The fi nal date for entry applica- Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel celebrate their victory in the 2019 Qatar ganised in the Al Khor area, leg one (January 29). ture, is the news that the FIA has tions has been set for January 13. International Rally at Souq Waqif in Doha. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, January 12, 2021 CRICKET AUS VS IND Defi ant India stand fi rm for fi ghting draw in third Test Vihari and Ashwin face 256 balls in their unbeaten partnership of 62 as visitors deny Australia advantage in the series AFP PANT ONSLAUGHT Sydney, Australia Scorecard Australia removed openers Shubman Gill for 31 and Rohit Sharma for 52 be- AUSTRALIA 1st innings 338 fore stumps on day four, and when Lyon courageous and injury- INDIA 1st innings 244 accounted for Indian skipper Rahane wracked India pulled off a re- AUSTRALIA 2nd innings 312-6 dec. without adding to his overnight four markable draw in a tense third in yesterday’s second over the end ap- Test against Australia yester- INDIA 2nd innings (o/n 98-2) peared nigh. Aday as they survived against the hosts’ R. Sharma c Starc b Cummins 52 But Pant, who took a nasty blow to much-vaunted bowling attack to take S. Gill c Paine b Hazlewood 31 his elbow while batting in the fi rst in- the series into a decider. nings and didn’t keep wicket on Sun- C. Pujara b Hazlewood 77 They resumed day fi ve at 98-2, need- day, surprisingly came in at number ing a further 309 runs after being set a A.