CCRICKETRICKET | Page 2 NBA | Page 5 Bangladesh’s Warriors fall Shakib and to Kings with Nurul fi ned Durant out, for fracas Casspi hurt Sunday, March 18, 2018 CRICKET Rajab 1, 1439 AH Salah star show GULF TIMES as Liverpool thrash Watford SPORT Page 4 HATHAB RECORD, Al-Emadi rides Zorro Z POLE FOR to victory ZARCO French rider breaks Jorge Lorenzo’s 10-year-old lap record in stunning fashion By Sports Reporter (Zorro Z) Time: 65.49 secs. Prize Doha Money: QR7,500 2 Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi (Bolan- dro) 69.66secs. QR6,000 alman Mohamed al-Ema- 3. Rashid Towaim AL MARRI (Be- di astride his trusted gelding yonce) 70.25secs. QR4,500 Zorro Z clinched the feature Open Class, Table A, One round Sevent during the ninth leg of against the clock, Art. 238.2.1, the Hathab Equestrian Series at the 115/125cm, Prize Money: QR15,000 Al Shaqab Indoor arena yesterday. 1. Saeed Nasser al-Qadi (Jessico 4). Al-Emadi and the 16-year-old 58.81secs. QR3,750 Zorro Z hit the straps to clear the hur- 2. Mohamed Said Haidan (Corrado’s dles without much diffi culty to fi nish Coriana) 64.62. QR3,000 well ahead of rest of the fi eld. The 3. Mohamed Said Haidan (Damo- pair came home in 65.49 seconds as rano) 65.58. QR2,250 al-Emadi took home QR7,500 for his Future riders class, Table A, One victory. round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1, Mubarak Yousuf al-Rumaihi was 85/100cm second with Bolandro, while Rashid 1. Tamim Nasser al-Qadi (GK Towaim al-Marri came third piloting Aqueena) 31.94 secs. Beyonce. 2. Kanz Azzam Abdulla Saleh (Cun- The Open Class title went to Saeed era). 38.13secs. Nasser al-Qadi, who emerged fastest 3. Abdulaziz Majid al-Ghanim (Zuno- Johann Zarco in action during his record-breaking eff ort at the Losail International Circuit yesterday. Inset, he with Jessico 4. Mohamed Said Haid- flaire) 44.15secs. celebrates with his teammates. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil an took both the second and third Future riders class, Table A, One with diff erent horses – Corrado’s round against the clock, Art. 238.2.1, Coriana and Damorano respectively. 70/85cm By Sahan Bidappa “Johann was riding amazing, I follow him, he was 1. Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al-Thani (Sita) Doha one step in front of us. But anyway tomorrow the RESULTS 33.26 secs. race is long, many laps, time to be constant and try to Big Tour, Table A, One round against 2. Fahad Abdulkarim Abed (Kashmir) manage,” the 22-year-old Spaniard added. the clock, Art. 238.2.1, 130/140cm, 33.93secs. aving taken a tumble during the fi nal prac- LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow too got the better Prize Money QR30,000 3. Barzan Azzam Saleh (Ilse) tice session, Johann Zarco threw caution of Dovizioso for fourth place. Alex Rins completed 1. Salman Mohammed al-Emadi. 39.14secs. to the wind in qualifying as the Frenchman the second row on the best of the Suzukis behind grabbed pole position in stunning fashion Dovizioso, ahead of Dani Pedrosa’s Honda and Valen- Hfor today’s Grand Prix of Qatar. tino Rossi, who was 0.709s off the pace on the quicker SPOTLIGHT At the Losail International Circuit last evening, the of the two works Yamahas. Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider set the track on fi re as Meanwhile, Marc VDS’ Alex Marquez claimed the he smashed Jorge Lorenzo’s ten-year-old lap record. pole in Moto2 ahead of Pons rider Lorenzo Baldas- Zarco showed why he his highly-rated as the sarri. In Moto3, SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Nico An- Morocco plans to 25-year-old produced best lap time of 1:53.680 sec- tonelli will start from the front after setting a fastest onds. The eye-catching lap beat the previous record lap by just a thousandth of a second. of Lorenzo set in 2008 by 0.247s. spend $15.8bn if it It was his third premier class pole by 0.202s ahead of reigning champion Marc Marquez’s Honda. Danilo Petrucci set a lap just 0.005s slower than Marquez Marc Marquez celebrates second position. gets 2026 World Cup to take the fi nal spot on the front row and end up the best of the Ducati runners on his Pramac-run GP18. QUALIFYING RESULTS Reuters able after the tournament and keeping Zarco later said the crash in practice was not on his Casablanca down construction costs. mind as he went for broke in the qualifying 2. “I am At least fi ve stadiums, termed legacy pretty happy, it’s the best way to start the season,” MotoGP modular stadiums and with largely said Zarco. 1st row: orocco has proposed using temporary capacity, will be downs- “I had a crash on FP4 but I didn’t have any doubts 1. Johann Zarco (FRA/Yamaha Tech3) 1min 53.680sec, 14 stadiums and budget- caled after the fi nals to meet the spe- over that crash. It’s not funny to be down before qual- 2. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) at 0.202sec, 3. Danilo ing to spend15.8bn dollars cifi c needs of their local communities. ifying. But then I knew that with a new tyre and light Petrucci (ITA/Ducati Pramac) 0.207 on infrastructure if it wins Casablanca and Marrakech will both bike I was feeling good. Since this morning, I got back 2nd row: Mthe right to host the World Cup soccer have two stadiums with other venues my feeling that I had during the test. And to beat the 4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/LCR Honda) 0.392, 5. Andrea fi nals in 2026, the country’s bid com- being the capital Rabat, Agadir, El Jad- lap record, that makes me really happy,” he added. Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 0.394, 6. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) mittee announced at a news confer- ida, Fez, Meknes, Nador, Ouarzazate The 2015 Moto2 champion admitted, despite being 0.659 ence yesterday. Oujda, Tangier and Tetouan. on front, a victory under lights was not a guarantee. 3rd row: But Morocoo will not build any new “The World Cup is a national prior- But starting from pole position would give him a best 7. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 0.688, 8. Valentino Rossi stadiums for the tournament, prefer- ity for our government and that is why chance to stand on top of the podium. (ITA/Yamaha) 0.709, 9. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Ducati) ring to renovate and modify existing it has guaranteed the required invest- “Tomorrow is the main thing. I will try to win, try 0.751 venues and add temporary capacity ment in our exciting and innovative to be on the podium. It looks the pace is not the best to others, said candidature chairman stadium plans,” added Elalamy. one, but at least to start from pole is the best chance MotoGP2 Moulay Hafi d Elalamy, who is also a “Our beautiful and welcoming na- to catch a good result,” Zarco said. 1st row: government minister. tion off ers players and fans something Marquez was quickest on the fi rst runs and led on a 1. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 2min 00.299sec, 2. Loren- The North African country is up very special with just one timezone, 1m54.368s, but was then knocked off the top spot by zo Baldassarri (ITA/Kalex) at 0.308sec, 3. Francesco against a joint bid from Canada, Mex- one currency and all host cities are Andrea Dovizioso, who set a 1m54.074s on his Ducati. Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 0.544 ico and the United States when world within a 550km radius from Casablan- Dovizioso impressed the most in the practice ses- 2nd row: soccer governing body FIFA’s member ca, meaning limited travel and simple sion and looked good for pole heading into the fi nal 4. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 0.547, 5. Romano Fenati countries decide in Moscow on June logistics. stages. But the Italian was shunted down to fi fth in (ITA/Kalex) 0.600, 13 who will host the tournament eight “All host cities are also all located the fi nal order amid a late fl urry of improvements led 6. Danny Kent (GBR/Speed Up) 0.666 years from now. within an hour’s drive of an airport, so by Zarco and Marquez. 3rd row: Yesterday’s news conference re- players and fans need only focus on the “I am happy because normally in Qatar I have 7. Jorge Navarro (ESP/Kalex) 0.739, 8. Mattia Pasini vealed details of Morocco’s bid book, one thing that matters most — foot- struggled quite a lot. My target was to try and be on (ITA/Kalex) 0.763, which was presented to FIFA on Friday, ball.” Morocco bid unsuccessfully to the front row. I feel like I am on pole position,” said 9. Marcel Schrötter (GER/Kalex) 0.830 with the central theme being making stage the 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 Marquez. Valentino Rossi shows off his skills yesterday. their football infrastructure sustain- World Cups. Gulf Times 2 Sunday, March 18, 2018 SPORT Bangladesh’s Shakib, Nurul fined following Friday’s fracas Reuters batsmen Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain to come off the “I understand that it was a tense and an edge-of-the-seat Bangladesh team in certain instances was unacceptable on Colombo fi eld after the second bouncer was not called a no-ball. match with a place in the fi nal on the line, but the actions of a cricket fi eld,” BCB said in a statement on the ICC website Nurul, who had entered the playing area carrying a team the two players were unacceptable and cannot be condoned (www.icc-cricket.com).