FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 4 NNBABA | Page 5 ‘Sanchez Celtics erase future is 26-point anyone’s defi cit to guess’ stun Rockets Saturday, December 30, 2017 CRICKET Rabia II 12, 1439 AH Cook carries GULF TIMES bat as rain hits Melbourne Test SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL Bahrain qualify for semis aft er 1-1 draw with Qatar A second-half strike by Ali Jafaar Madan helped Bahrain get the one point to finish above Qatar in Group B In the 27th minute, al-Haydos covered plenty of ground with a solo eff ort that ended near the Bahrain box but surprisingly his Qatar’s Hassan al-Haydos (R) celebrates his goal fellow strikers were not in against Bahrain in the Gulf Cup yesterday. Picture position to take the fl ying cross at bottom shows fans cheering the Qatari team. - following a crisp cross by Qatar’s Miguel on the fl ank. The referee waved play on despite protests by the Qatar players. Immediately afterwards, Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Ebrahim emerged as a hero by stopping a low shot by al-Haydos who fi red from close to the edge of the Bahrain box. Seconds later, forward Almoez Ali - one of Qatar’s brightest prospects from the junior ranks - weaved his way into the Bah- rain box but his deft low cross was missed by team mates Abdulakreem and Akram Afi f. Barely two minutes from the fi rst- half whistle, Qatar’s Pedro clipped a near-perfect cross for Ismail Mo- hamed whose snap-header from close range narrowly missed the Bahrain crossbar. Qatar’s brave show in the fi rst half bore fruit when Bahrain goalkeeper brought down Afi f inside the box with the wiry Al Anabi striker ready to shoot. Uzbek referee pointed to the spot before showing a yellow to keeper Ebrahim. Al-Haydos stepped up and went for the top of the net for Qatar’s goal that silenced a big Bahrain crowd. It was al-Haydos’ second goal of the tournament. With their tails up, Qatar launched attacks from the fi rst minute of the By a Correspondent points while Iraq (7 points) sealed the Qatar goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb. second half. Three minutes after the Kuwait City top position with a 3-0 win over Iraq Qatar sustained pressure with moves resumption of play, al-Haydos at- yesterday. into the Bahrain box but their backline tempted a long-range shot to add more Qatar, winners in 2014, fi nished in third stood fi rm to keep their slate clean. In pressure on the Bahrain backline. With ahrain reached the semi-fi nals place with 4 points from three matches. the 15th minute, Qatar captain al-Hay- Bahrain trailing in the do-or-die game, of the Gulf Cup following a Yemen ended the tournament without a dos nearly pulled off a stunner with a friction started to increase with con- thrilling 1-1 draw with de- win in three matches. Qatar opened the shot that missed the target by inches stant shoving and pushing by the play- Bfending champions Qatar in tournament with a 4-0 win over Yemen off an indirect free-kick. ers on the pitch. their fi nal Group B clash yesterday. but lost to Iraq 2-1 last Tuesday. In the 27th minute, al-Haydos - the In the 58th minute, Bahrain found A second-half strike by Ali Jafaar A couple of tackles from both the team’s fi ttest athlete by far - covered the equaliser when Jaafar converted Madan helped Bahrain get the much- teams in the fi rst three minutes got the plenty of ground with a solo eff ort that from close range after a cross from the needed one point to fi nish above Qatar fans involved at the Jaber Al Ahmad ended near the Bahrain box but sur- fl ank. In the 80th minute, Afi fi drib- in the fi rst phase of the Gulf Cup. Stadium. prisingly his fellow strikers were not in bled past a couple of Bahrain defenders For Qatar, their goal was scored off Early in the match, Bahrain’s Jamal position to take the fl ying cross. but failed to fi nd the target from close a penalty kick by captain Hassan al- Rashed, after receiving a cross from Ten minutes later, Uzbek referee range by smashing the ball wide. Haydos in injury time of the fi rst half at eventual match hero Jaafar, broke free Asimov Aziz clearly missed a hand- In the semi-fi nals, Bahrain will play Jaber Al Ahmed Stadium. Bahrain fi n- of his marker inside the Qatar box but ball infringement by Bahrain’s Ahmed Oman on Jan 2. In the other semi-fi nal, ished the Group B standings with fi ve his low shot was smartly gobbled up by Abdulla - standing inside his own box Iraq will battle UAE. TENNIS SPOTLIGHT Djokovic comeback delayed as he pulls out of UAE cancels Tunisia Abu Dhabi event, doubts over Australian Open handball matches Agencies vic released a statement on his web- Abu Dhabi site announcing his intention. It is not amid row over women clear still if he will play the Qatar Open where he is top seed next week. ovak Djokovic’s latest inju- “I am terribly disappointed that I AFP flights between Tunis and Dubai. ry problem has cast a shadow am forced to withdraw from the Mu- Tunis Handball federation secretary over his participation in the badala World Tennis Championship,” general Amir Saadi said women had ExxonMobil Qatar Open be- Djokovic said in the statement. been appointed as referees for a Nginning on Monday and also the Aus- “Unfortunately, in the past few days he UAE men’s handball team friendly match between the two na- tralian Open in mid-January. I started to feel pain in the elbow and cut short a trip to Tuni- tional teams yesterday. Former world number one and 12- after several tests, my medical team sia yesterday, the Tunisian But, according to Saadi, the UAE time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has advised me not to risk anything, to federation said after it ap- team announced it was forfeiting yesterday withdrew from the Mu- withdraw from the tournament and to Tpointed female referees for a game that game and another scheduled badala World Tennis Championship in immediately continue with the thera- in apparent solidarity with women for Saturday for “technical reasons”, Abu Dhabi yesterday with elbow pain pies.” in a row with Emirates Airline. citing the absence of 10 players and much to the disappointment of his He added: “Now I need to accept The Gulf visitors forfeited two injuries of four others. They had fans. this situation, and to wait for the re- games after Emirates received in- said “there was no link with politi- “I am waiting for his call tomorrow sults of the therapies, in order to start structions to deny Tunisian women cal affairs”, he added. after his medical test and he will tell us to Doha and then decide. Djokovic was scheduled to play playing tennis again and getting back access to its planes over a feared Tunisian social media users (whether he is fi t),” Qatar ExxonMo- The 30-year-old Serbian star had Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the to full rhythm. This might aff ect the “terrorist attack” involving a wom- have slammed the travel measures bil Open Tournament Director Karim targeted Abu Dhabi for his fi rst match semi-fi nals of the exhibition tourna- start of the season and the tournament an carrying a Tunisian passport. against women from their country Alami told Gulf Times. Reports from since his quarter-fi nals loss at Wim- ment at 1900 local time. plan, but the decision will be made in In response, the North African as “discriminatory” and “humiliat- Abu Dhabi however said he will travel bledon in July this year. But four hours before that, Djoko- the following days.” country on Sunday halted Emirates ing”. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, December 30, 2017 CRICKET ASHES T20 Beaten Windies say one bad over England deny cost them dearly AFP It left the West Indies at two for 19 Nelson, New Zealand and they never recovered from the ini- tial setback. After 16 overs they were 103 for eight ball-tampering he West Indies were left ruing when a late slog by Jerome Taylor (20) one bad over by Kesrick Wil- and Ashley Nurse (not out 20) pro- liams after being trounced by duced 28 off 12 balls before Rance came New Zealand in the opening back for his fi nal over to end the West TTwenty20 game in Nelson yesterday. Indies innings with six balls to spare. Set a target of 188 to win, the reign- ing world champions suff ered a bat- New Zealand ting meltdown after star opener Chris M. Guptill lbw Taylor .....................................................................5 as rain halts play Gayle fell cheaply for 12 and were even- C. Munro c Brathwaite b Nurse ....................................53 tually all out for 140 in the 19th over. G. Phillips b Badree ....................................................................56 But captain Carlos Brathwaite said T. Bruce lbw Taylor .........................................................................2 Cook carries bat with unbeaten 244 X Playing hours to be extended today the real damage was done in New Zea- R. Taylor c J. Taylor b Brathwaite ...............................20 land’s fi nal over when Mitchell Santner A. Kitchen b Williams ................................................................12 and Tim Southee plundered 25 off Wil- M. Santner not out ...................................................................... 23 liams in a wild over that included three D. Bracewell c&b Brathwaite ...............................................0 no balls.