November 22, 2017
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SPORT Wednesday 22 November 2017 PAGE | 30 PAGE | 32-33 PAGE | 35 ‘Cheeky’ Neymar Untested but defiant NBA: Irving seals doesn’t worry Aussies seek to strike 16th straight win coach ‘fear’ for Celtics Champions League: Real Madrid reach last 16 CHAMPION LEAGUE RESULTS Nicosia UEFA Champions League results yesterday AFP Group E At Seville, Spain olders Real Madrid and pow- Sevilla (ESP) 3 (Ben Yedder 51, 60-pen, Pizarro 90+3) Liverpool ered into the last 16 of the (ENG) 3 (Firmino 2, 30, Mane 22) Champions League yesterday At Moscow as Cristiano Ronaldo struck Spartak Moscow (RUS) 1 (Ze Luis 82) Maribor (SLO) 1 (Mesanovic twice in a 6-0 rout of APOEL 90+2) Hin Nicosia. Group F Karim Benzema also scored a brace At Manchester, England alongside goals from Luka Modric and Manchester City (ENG) 1 (Sterling 88) Feyenoord (NED) 0 Nacho, although Real will advance as run- At Naples, Italy ners-up of Group H after Tottenham Napoli (ITA) 3 (Insigne 56, Zielinski 81, Mertens 83) Shakhtar Hotspur secured top spot with a win 2-1 Donetsk (UKR) 0 at Borussia Dortmund. Group G In Manchester, Pep Guardiola’s Man- At Istanbul, Turkey chester City secured top spot in Champions Besiktas (TUR) 1 (Talisca 41) Porto (POR) 1 (Felipe 29) League Group F after Raheem Sterling’s At Monaco late strike snatched a 1-0 win over Monaco (FRA) 1 (Falcao 43) RB Leipzig (GER) 4 (Jemerson 6-og, Feyenoord. Werner 9, 31-pen, Keita 45) Group H In Istanbul, Turkish champions Besik- At Dortmund, Germany tas reached the Champions League last 16 Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1 (Aubameyang 31) Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in 31 years yesterday, as (ENG) 2 (Kane 49, Son 76) a 1-1 draw with Porto in Istanbul wrapped At Nicosia up top spot in Group G. Porto silenced the APOEL (CYP) 0 Real Madrid (ESP) 6 (Modric 23, Benzema 39, vociferous home crowd with the opening 45+1, Nacho 41, Ronaldo 49, 54) goal through defender Felipe, but Besik- tas equalised before half-time as Talisca It is the first time Besiktas have pro- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (right) and Sevilla’s Clement Lenglet vie for ball possession scored his third goal in the competition gressed from their group since the during tier Champions League match Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, in Seville, Spain, yesterday. this season. competition was reformatted in 1992. Squash: Qualifying round of Qatar Circuit begins today Armstrong Vas The Peninsula he qualifying round of the Qatar Circuit squash tournament will begin from today at Khalifa International Tennis and TSquash Complex, organisers of the event informed here yesterday. Twenty-six players drawn from six countries will be vying for Qatar’s Tamimi eyes the eight spots at the main draw of the PSA event in the two days of qualifying action. top-25 PSA ranking The main round matches begin on Friday and will feature 24 play- ers, who have earned direct Armstrong Vas qualification for the tournament, The Peninsula and eight qualifiers. Players from England, India, atar rising squash star and world No. 43 Abdulla Al New Zealand, Iran, Pakistan, Tamimi - who has had an off-and-on season so far - France, Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, Qis aiming to be in the top-25 when the end of the season Germany and Zimbabwe will be PSA rankings are announced. seen in action in the tournament The 22-year-old, Qatar’s first professional squad player which ends with the final on and a product of Aspire Academyis eager to move up the Monday. ranking hierarchy. The quarter-finals will take “End of season will be in May next year, so I am looking place on Saturday and the semi- to be at least in the top-30, top-25, it’s a big gap between the finals on Sunday. Qatar’s Syed Azlan Amjad (right) in action during the second Aspire Academy Professional Squash top-30 and top-40, you need to win few good tournaments, Qatar will have 12 players in Association (PSA) Satellite Tournament at the Academy’s squash courts in this March 2017 file few matches against the big guys, its tough but looking for- the qualifying rounds. picture. ward to it,” said Tamimi while speaking to The Peninsula. In the main draw, the hosts Tamimi broke into the world’s top-40 for the first-time challenge will be led by Abdulla Al performances on the PSA World three other home players who will players who has got a first-round last year following strong performances on the PSA World Tamimi, an Aspire Academy Tour and is the top seed at the vie for the top prize in the main bye. Tour . He has had moments this season against players ranked graduate. home tournament. draw. Five other players who will not much higher to him but has not been consistent. The 22-year-old broke into the Tamimi, who has scripted a The other seeded players see action today but will be play- “Start of the season I had some good wins against some world’s top 40 for the first-time few memorable wins this season include World No. 49 Nathan Lake ing tomorrow include Tobias of the top twenty players, I lost to James Willstrop, top-five last year following strong against players ranked much of England, Ben. Coleman (Eng, Weggen of Germany, Muhammad in the world, I lost 3-2, a very close game. I have been per- higher to him is eager to do well 52), Youssef Soliman (Egy, 56), Farhan of Pakistan, Abdullah Al forming well at the start of the season, and as in any sports Top seed Abdulla in the championship. Angus Gillams (Eng, 67), Shehab Muzayen of Kuwait, Ahmed Has- there are up and down. I have had a couple of bad losses “I have many challenges ahead Essam (81, Egy), Karim Hammamy san and Faisal Hassan, both of which everyone has in a season,” he said. Aspire Academy of me and the Qatar Circuit will be (Egy,77) and Ammar Altamimi (117, Zimbabwe. Tamimi said he worked on his shortcomings in the break graduate Al Tamimi, an ideal preparation for next Kuw). The other players from Qatar, between tournaments and was looking to the remainder of the who broke into the month’s World Championship in Tamimi will begin his chal- who will be seen in action in the season. world’s top 40 for the Manchester. I have been training lenge against Victor Crouin of qualifying, include Mohamed “I am looking forward to the next section of the season, first-time last year very hard for the Qatar Circuit and France on Friday while Umair Tarek Desouky Ouda, Ibrahim I feel confident again and looking forward to play my best following strong it is a challenge for me to play well Zaman and Syed Azlan Amjad, Ahmed Al Darwish, Mohammad squash. I have showed that I got it, but I need to be consist- performances on PSA and perform well before the home both will take on qualifiers and Salim Saadi Al Yaafei, Ali Saeed Al ent at it.” World Tour is crowds,” said Tamimi, who turned Abdulrahman Al Malki faces Dar- Dosari, Yousuf Al-Kubaisi, Waleed Tamimi said the upcoming Doah event will be an ideal tournament’s top professional in 2011. ren Rahul Pragasam of Malaysia. Zaman, Salem Yousaf Al Malki, preparation for next month’s Worlds in England. seed. Besides Tamimi, Umair In the qualifying rounds Qatar Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq, Deepak “My main focus is the Qatar Circuit which takes place in Zaman, Syed Azlan Amjad and challenge will be led by Hamad Al Nalla, Yousef Essam Farag and Doha from Friday. It will be good preparation for the World Abdulrahman Al Malki are the Amri, who is one of the six Ahmad Mohammed Al Tamimi. Championship which takes place in Manchester next month.” 30 SPORT WEDNESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2017 ‘Cheeky’ Neymar doesn’t worry coach Paris AFP aris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery In training, he (pictured right) insists he is not concerned is great. He is about Neymar’s life- young and he Pstyle after the Brazilian superstar was photographed at a Paris also needs to nightclub in the early hours of Sunday. go out but “Outside of his work, his football, he can enjoy himself he is still with his friends,” Emery said yes- terday, at a press conference responsible,” Paris Saint-Germain’s ahead of today’s Champions says PSG coach League meeting with Celtic at the Brazilian forward Parc des Princes. Unai Emery Neymar smiles during “In training he is great. He is a training session at young, and he also needs to go the Parc des Princes out, but he is still responsible,” 84 million followers. row he will be fine.” stadium yesterday the coach added There have been regular Neymar has scored in each in Paris, on the eve Neymar was pictured at a media reports in recent weeks of PSG’s four Champions League of the Champions nightclub in the Paris suburbs that Neymar, 25, is struggling to outings. The French club have League match against attending a private concert held settle at PSG since his August taken maximum points and qual- Celtic Glasgow. by the American rapper Tyga, move from Barcelona, with sto- ified for the last 16 with two according to a report in Le Paris- ries of rifts with team-mates and games to spare. ien. Earlier he had played 90 disagreements with Emery. They top Group B with 17 this competition.