FORMULA 1 | Page 3 SPOTLIGHT | Page 6 ‘F1 will seek Tokyo 2020 to reschedule organisers Chinese GP if say Games postponed’ will go ahead Friday, February 7, 2020 CRICKET Jumada II 13, 1441 AH Pakistan target GULF TIMES consolidation in 1st Bangladesh Test SPORT Page 2 RALLYING Al-Attiyah takes special stage win in Oman By Sports Reporter before the FIA protagonists took to the 7. Khalid al-Manji (OMN)/Rony Bou Muscat stage. The Omani guided his Subaru Abdo (LEB) Subaru Impreza STi 3min Impreza STi to a time of 3min 57sec to 54.1sec take a lead of 8.7 seconds over Ghaith 8. Abdullah al-Zubair (OMN)/Emad aleh al-Attiyah and French al-Qassimi into the night halt. Juma (JOR) Subaru Impreza STi 3min co-driver Matthieu Baumel Qatar’s Nasser After offi cial scrutineering, 11 54.2sec cruised to the fastest time of Saleh al-Attiyah in started the FIA event and seven were 9. Faisal al-Rashdi (OMN)/Waleed S3min 25.6sec on the opening action in the Oman permitted to take part in the National al-Rashdi (OMN) Subaru Impreza STi 3.55km super special stage of the Oman International Rally Rally. Teams face two loops of three 3min 59.7sec International Rally, round one of the yesterday. special stages today, starting with the 10. Henry Kahy (LEB)/Rony Maroun 2020 FIA Middle East Rally Champi- fi rst pass through the 19.20km of Al- (LEB) Škoda Fabia 4min 05.8sec onship (MERC), yesterday afternoon. Misfah at 09.59hrs. The 16.1km of Saal 11. Jassim al-Muqahwi (KWT)/Thamer After the ceremonial start at the follows at 10.32hrs and precedes Madi- al-Mutairi (KWT) Mitsubishi Lancer Oman Automobile Association, teams nat Al-Irfan (11.6km) from 11.20hrs. Evo X 4min 10.6sec tackled the fi rst FIA stage in Oman for The stages are then repeated in the af- fi ve years before the action switches to ternoon. 2019 Oman National Rally – positions the famous sinuous gravel trails in the after SS1: Al-Hajar mountains today and tomor- 2019 Oman International Rally – posi- 1. Zakariya al-Amri (OMN)/Abdullah al- row. tions after SS1: Amri (OMN) Subaru Impreza STi 3min Al-Attiyah guided his Volkswagen 1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mat- 57.0sec Polo GTI R5 to an overnight lead of 5.9 thieu Baumel (FRA) Volkswagen Polo 2. Ghaith al-Qassimi (OMN)/Moham- seconds with Oman’s Abdullah al-Ru- GTI R5 3min 25.6sec med al-Amri (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer wahi, partnered by Jordanian navigator 2. Abdullah al-Ruwahi (OMN)/Ata Evo VI 4min 05.7sec Ata Al-Hmoud, getting to grips with Hmoud (JOR) Ford Fiesta R5 3min 3. Hamid al-Qasim (OMN)/Ahmed al- his Ford Fiesta R5 for the fi rst time to 31.5sec Sadi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Vi snatch second place. 3. Meshari al-Thefiri (KWT)/Derek 4min 08.2sec Kuwait’s Meshari al-Thefi ri con- O’Brien (IRL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4. Waheed al-Kharusi (OMN)/Wadi tinued his recent domination of the 3min 35.0sec al-Kharusi (OMN) Toyota Yaris 4min MERC 2 category into a new season 4. Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah (QAT)/Gio- 09.8sec with the third fastest time and the lead vanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta R5 5. Haitham al-Zadjali (OMN)/Sana al- in the showroom section in his Mit- 3min 42.4sec Shakaili (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo subishi Lancer Evo X. He and Irish co- 5. Zakariya al-Ofi (OMN)/Ammar Al- VIII 4min 10.8sec driver Derek O’Brien fi nished the stage Balooshi (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6. Yaqhdan al-Rashdi (OMN)/Saif al- 10.9 seconds ahead of Oman’s Zakariya his Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernac- defence of his ERC 3 title in solid style the international fi eld after incurring a IX 3min 45.9sec Hinai (OMN) Toyota Yaris 4min 13.1sec al-Ofi , who was second in MERC 2 and chini. by holding the two-wheel drive advan- jump-start penalty. 6. Jarah al-Tauqi (OMN)/Issa Al-Wardi 7. Mohammed al-Mazrui (OMN)/Wail fi fth overall, behind fourth-placed The Lebanese duo of Henry Kahy tage in their Škoda Fabia. Kuwait’s Jas- Zakariya al-Amri claimed the fast- (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 3min al-Shaibani (OMN) Toyota Yaris 4min Qatari Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah and and Rony Maroun began the driver’s sim al-Muqahwi brought up the rear of est time in the National Rally that ran 48.7sec 20.6sec FOOTBALL/ AMIR CUP Bounedjah, Song shine as Sadd, Duhail reach quarters Al Sadd’s Salem al-Hajri to miss rest of season after suff ering injury; North Korean Song opens account for Duhail By Sports Reporter Doha atar big guns Al Sadd and Al Duhail have ad- vanced to the quarter- fi nals of the Amir Cup, Qdashing the hopes of two second division teams in their round of 16 clashes yesterday. While Al Sadd accounted for Al Kharaitiyat 3-1 thanks to Bagh- dad Bounedjah’s brace, defending champions Al Duhail posted a 4-0 win over Muaither with their new North Korean recruit Han Kwang Song scoring two of them. Both victories however can be hardly classifi ed as convincing or even particularly thrilling. While Al Sadd huff ed and puff ed, Al Rayyan were restricted to just one goal by Muaither in the second half after having conceded three in the last fi ve minutes of the fi rst session. Song, the 21-year-old North Akram Afif is all smiles as he celebrates with teammates after Al Sadd’s victory over Al Kharaitiyat. At right, Al Duhail’s North Korean striker Han Kwang Song (R) is congratulated by Sultan al-Brake after scoring against Korean striker played for Perugia Muaither. PICTURES: Noushad and Anas in the Italian Serie A before join- ing Juventus where he didn’t get struck from close in the 42nd Mohamed Muntari punished right. Kharaitiyat, however, had ball into the box for Bounedjah, al-Ansari and Yasir Abubakar, as our thoughts on the upcoming a game and was relegated to their minute after receiving a pass from them for a rare mistake when a chance to draw level in the 14th who headed in past Al Kharaitiyat the Wolves looked to score an- AFC Champions League game. reserve team. He was sold to Al the left and hoodwinking a de- their backline moved upwards minute when they were awarded keeper Shehab Mamdouh. other goal to secure the result. It was possible to score more Duhail during the January trans- fender and scored the second two exposing the goalie. The goal was a penalty for a foul by Hamed Is- Salem al-Hajri thought he had And Afi f duly provided an assist goals, but after the third goal, we fer window. minutes later in similar fashion cleared after a VAR decision fol- mail in the box but Rachid Tiber- made it 3-1, when he scored in the for Bounedjah to score in the 82nd clinched the game in our favour,” The ambidextrous forward – except the pass this time came lowing a protest for off side by kanine’s spot kick hit the post. 48th minute but the referee after a minute as Sadd secured the result. the Spaniard said. was playing his fi rst match for Al from the right. Muaither. Tiberkanine made amends VAR review ruled out the goal for Xavi was delighted with the On the injury of midfi elder Sa- Duhail and put up an impressive The panic in the Muaither de- Earlier, Al Sadd had a dream though in the 20th minute a foul in the build-up. To make it performance of his players. “I’m lem al-Hajri, Xavi said: “Salem show, scoring two goals in a mat- fence was palpable and they let start to their last 16 encounter though, with the Moroccan strik- worse for al-Hajri, he sustained happy to win and qualify (for the al-Hajri suff ered an Achilles tear ter of as many minutes at the Ab- in another goal two minutes later, when Abdelkarim Hassan put the er unfurling a superb free-kick an Achilles tear and later Sadd quarter-fi nals) after playing a and will be absent for a long time. dulla bin Khalifa Stadium. with Almoez Ali scoring from a reigning QNB Stars League cham- from the edge of the box. confi rmed he will miss the rest of very diffi cult match against Al The season is over for him. He is Defensive laxity contributed to tight angle from outside the box pions ahead after just 54 seconds. Al Sadd soon restored their the season. Kharaitiyat,” he said. an excellent player and he was at both goals but Song’s fi ne drib- off a corner. With the Kharaitiyat defence all one-goal advantage, with Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernan- “We faced an organised team. his best levels recently. We will bling skills and sense of tim- Muaither tightened their de- over the pitch, Hassan headed in Bounedjah scoring in the 25th dez brought it Nam Tae-hee and We played a good match; we made miss him a lot, especially as he ing were pretty obvious. He fi rst fences in the second half, but from Hashim Ali’s cross from the minute. Ali Asad deftly lifted the Akram Afi f, in place of Abdulaziz some changes in the team, with was helping the team in a big way.” Gulf Times 2 Friday, February 7, 2020 CRICKET FOCUS SPOTLIGHT Rain hits star-studded Australia bushfi re Pakistan target fundraiser match AFP teams.