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NBA | Page 6 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 3 LA Clippers Guptill, Munro To Advertise here down Hornets Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 shine as NZ for eighth thrash Lanka in straight win 2nd T20 match Monday, January 11, 2016 GOLF Rabia II 1, 1437 AH Stenson confi rms GULF TIMES participation in Qatar Masters SPORT Page 12 FOOTBALL Qatar target win over China ‘It’s a quite tough group. We saw all the teams and they have diff erent styles, with their own strength’ AFC the teams and they have diff erent styles, soil given the number of talented play- Doha with their own strengths, but they all ers Sanchez has at his disposal includ- have their weaknesses as well. Hopeful- ing Ahmad Moein and Akram Afi f, MVP ly, we are going to perform well against and Top Scorer respectively at the un- atar coach Felix Sanchez has them.” der 19s in Myanmar, as well the vastly his sights fi rmly set on their For some teams having the mantle experienced Abdelkarim Hassan, who AFC U23 Championship of tournament hosts can be a double- was part of Al Sadd’s 2011 ACL-winning opener against China amidst edged sword, with the possibility of squad, then aged just 17, and has already Qinterest in tournament hosts’ title cre- buckling under the pressure of the ex- amassed over 40 caps for the senior dentials and a squad that could be at pectations but for former Barcelona team. their peak when the 2022 FIFA World academy coach Sanchez, home fi eld But for Sanchez it is about the team Cup takes place in the country. advantage could count in Qatar’s favour. rather than the individuals. Sanchez’s side kick off their con- “We play in our country which should “I expect all my 23 players to do their tinental quest tomorrow when they motivate us,” continued the 40-year- bit and do very well to help and support take on the Chinese at the Abdulah bin old Spaniard, who led Qatar to the 2014 the team go through to the next round,” Khalifa Stadium before shifting to the AFC U19 Championship title. he said. Jassim bin Hamad Stadium to face Iran “We are used to playing in these con- “Qatar is putting in a lot of eff ort and three days later. The tournament hosts ditions which are exceptional. The fi elds they are investing a lot in youth devel- remain at the home of 2011 AFC Cham- are also very good. Hopefully, we will opment. pions League winners Al Sadd when to go game by game. We’ll put our objec- opening day and we hope to do well have our supporters helping and push- “The players will learn a lot from they round off their Group A campaign tives game by game,” Sanchez told www. against them and the start the tourna- ing us to go through.” these competitions. And hopefully, Qa- Qatar coach Felix Sanchez is under against Syria on January 18. the-afc.com. ment strongly. Qatar fans have every reason to be tar will reach a very good level before the no illusions about the challenge his “It’s a tough tournament and we have “The fi rst challenge is China on the “It’s a quite tough group. We saw all confi dent of a good showing on home World Cup in 2022.” squad faces. Gulf Times 2 Monday, January 11, 2016 TENNIS SPOTLIGHT DOMINANT Wawrinka starts season with fourth Djokovic: I was Chennai title close to perfection against Nadal ‘I’m hoping I can continue this run and this great level of performance’ Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland poses with his trophy after beating Borna Coric of Croatia in the final of the Chennai Open yesterday. AFP “It’s a really important tour- Chennai nament for me to start here. I love to come back here. It’s the perfect condition to start in,” the op seed Stanislas 30-year-old Swiss said. Wawrinka beat Croatian “Tonight with the trophy, it’s youngster Borna Coric a really great feeling... I’m go- yesterday to capture the ing to enjoy this trophy fi rst and TATP Chennai Open for a third see what’s going to happen in the straight year, kicking off the new Australian Open.” season in winning style. Two years ago Wawrinka The Swiss world number four had followed his triumph at the overcame Coric in the $480,000 Chennai Open by beating Rafael season-opening event with Nadal in the Australian Open a 6-3, 7-5 win in the nearly fi nal three weeks later, his fi rst 90-minute fi nal, claiming his Grand Slam title. fourth victory since 2011 in the And in 2015, after winning in southern Indian city. Chennai, Wawrinka defeated Scores of Indian fans at the Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros Nungambakkam tennis stadium to win the French Open in June. Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates cheered wildly as the popular Eighth-seeded Coric, who after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain Wawrinka, making his eighth ap- earned $39,870 and 150 points, in the final of the Qatar Open on pearance in Chennai, outplayed had hoped to become this year’s Saturday. his 19-year-old opponent—the Chennai Open champion in his youngest fi nalist on the ATP Tour fi rst appearance at the tourna- in eight years. ment but said his opponent’s “I was expecting (a) really “serve, backhand, forehand” got tough match. He’s young, he’s the best of him. By Sahan Bidappa proved he could and in fact, raise the level Staying in the moment and focusing ent interesting things that you can read really good,” said the two-time “I knew it was going to be a Doha a notch higher. In his 6-1, 6-2 win over on the future is what Djokovic says he there,” he explained. Grand Slam winner. very tough match... But it was a Nadal, Djokovic played with the kind of has been doing. Easier said than done, Looking ahead to the Australian Open, “Today again for me was a re- very nice tournament and I have form so rarely exhibited from a player in considering that he has won three Grand the year’s fi rst Grand Slam, which he has ally tough one, I had to play my enjoyed being here,” said Coric, fter his mauling of Rafael Nadal the opening week of the season. Slams and six Masters titles in 2015. Add won fi ve times, the last four in fi ve years, best game. I would like to con- who is the youngest player in the for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open There was no early-season rustiness to that the arrival of his son, Stefan, in Djokovic said his triumph in Doha and gratulate Borna for his fi rst fi nal, world top 50. title on Saturday, Novak Djoko- from Djokovic, or lack of playing time, October 2014, and life can get busier. the confi dence it gave him, would not just fi rst tournament of the year,” he “I want to say thanks to the vic said it was one of those days having taken six weeks off after his title- An avid reader, Djokovic says his inter- keep him in good stead for Melbourne but said. crowd, they are unbelievable. Awhen he was seeing the ball like a water- winning spree in 2015. So does Djokovic est in knowing more about psychology also for the rest of the season. The defending champion I was running because of you melon. Well, he has been sighting the ball feel invincible? “No, I don’t feel invin- has surely helped. “Interest for reading “Well, I haven’t dropped a set the entire pocketed $75,700 and 250 rank- guys,” he said. like that for more than 12 months now. cible. Nobody is invincible,” the 10-time shifts a lot but mostly I am interested in week (in Doha). When it was most needed ing points for his eff orts. But his The world number 44 player It was the kind of a display which drew Grand Slam champion off ered after win- psychology. I’m interested, as well, in against, you know, one of my biggest ri- biggest gain was a timely tune- reached the fi nal after beating admiration not just from the connois- ning his 60th-career title. things that are concerning a little bit vals, I managed to play the best tennis in up for the Australian Open, Britain’s Aljaz Bedene in a nearly seurs of the game, but even from his van- “But I’m playing the tennis of my life, more, say, holistic approach to life. a match where I fought for the trophy. So which starts in Melbourne on three-hour semi-fi nal match on quished rival Nadal. The Spaniard called and I will try to nurture and cherish those “So I have read a couple of things, cou- it does defi nitely give me a great deal of January 18. Saturday. it ‘stratospheric’, and the 14-time Grand moments on the court. I will use this ple of books, but one of the things that I confi dence for the rest of the season. Slam couldn’t have put it more aptly. confi dence level in every tournament that was reading most in the last month and “But, you know, my thoughts are only At the Khalifa Complex, the World No. I play on. I know that it can’t go on for- a half was the magazine that it’s called directed to Melbourne and what I need to ILLNESS AND INJURIES 1 Serb’s domination was such that Djoko- ever, but I’m not thinking too much ahead Original.

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