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BIC announces last two weeks Late winner as Aussies of discount for F1 tickets down Syria to go through A creditable draw with Jordan and a late goal against Syria kept Palestine in the Asian Cup for the time being F1 cars during a race at BIC (file photo) TDT | Manama 15 per cent for the highly an- An injury time long ticipated Formula 1 weekend, range• effort from Tom ahrain International Cir- which takes place over four Bcuit (BIC) announced that exciting days from March 28 Rogic was enough to the fantastic Early Bird dis- to 31 in Sakhir. seal Australia’s place count currently being offered The Bahrain Grand Prix is in the Round of 16 on tickets to the Formula 1 set to be the second of 21 rac- Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix es on the 2019 FIA Formula 1 and eliminate Syria 2019 will end on January 31. World Championship, and it With the most popular tickets will be the 999th World Cham- AFP | Al-Ain already selling fast, fans are pionship race in the history of urged to book soon to avoid Formula 1. om Rogic’s injury-time disappointment. It is being held as part of thunderbolt settled an In the current offer, ticket the landmark 15th season of TAsian Cup thriller yes- prices are reduced by up to BIC, and it will also be the terday as defending champions sixth time it is taking place Australia beat Syria 3-2 to reach under BIC’s state-of-the-art the last 16 and knock out their floodlights as a night race, war-torn rivals. th making it one of the most cap- The result meant the hold- tivating and visually exciting ers finished second in Group B events of the entire Formula 1 behind Jordan, whose simul- 999 season. taneous 0-0 draw with Pales- World Championship These Early Bird discounts tine gave the Palestinians hope race in the history of give fans the best value for of qualifying as one of the best Formula 1 is to be held money with so much on offer third-placed teams. in Bahrain both with on-the-track action Syria, vocally backed by thou- Syria’s midfielder Zaher Midani jumps for the ball against Australia’s defender (C-face) and off-the-track entertain- sands of their fans in Al Ain, ment all weekend long. twice fought back from a goal on Mark Milligan. tant referee, who was surround- low shot cannon off the base of behind before Rogic slammed But Australia were getting ed by Syrian players. the upright. home the winner in the third close and , after But Mexican referee Cesar minute of injury time. seeing one raking shot blocked, Syria penalty Ramos threw Syria a lifeline Injury-hit Australia, with unleashed a fabulous effort The incident silenced the when he gave them a penalty Man City striker Jesus vows no only six outfield players on the which curled into the top cor- massed ranks of Syrian fans after Omar Al Soma went down bench, needed just a draw to go ner four minutes before half- but there was uproar around in the box -- and the striker let-up in Liverpool title chase through as they kicked off at time. the stadium shortly afterwards stroked them level once more the same time as Jordan against However, the lead lasted just when their team vehemently with 10 minutes to go. AFP | Manchester League leaders Liverpool. Palestine. two minutes as Mouaiad Ala- claimed a penalty for a Milligan It looked like Syria would es- The Brazil striker scored Syria looked an early threat jaan’s cross picked out Omar handball. cape with a vital point before anchester. another two, taking his tally before Australia started to get a Khrbin, who on his 25th birth- Australia looked firmly in Celtic’s Rogic, playing the tour- M In the current offer, to seven in three appearanc- grip on the game and Hibernian day saw his header saved by Mat control and they could have nament with a broken hand, ticket prices are reduced by up es, as City beat Wolves 3-0 on striker flashed Ryan but then gobbled up the had a third goal when substi- belted Australia’s third from to 15 per cent for the highly an- Monday to cut Liverpool’s lead a header just wide. rebound. tute saw a distance. ticipated Formula 1 weekend, back to four points. There was drama on the half- On 54 minutes, Chris Ikono- which takes place over four The 21-year-old, who has hour when a Syrian free-kick midis’s shot was hooked away English FA Cup exciting days from March 28 now 14 goals for the season, bounced through a packed pen- by Omro Al Midani -- but the Palestine 0 - 0 Jordan to 31 in Sakhir. said: “I am feeling good and my alty area and into the net, but ball was judged to have crossed Manchester City will not let confidence is better for scoring the goal was ruled out for a foul the line by the additional assis- Australia 3 - 2 Syria up in their pursuit of Premier goals.

Indian footballers win hearts S Korea seek to lift ‘curse of the fake gold’ despite Asian Cup exit AFP | Seoul

outh Korean football officials Shave presented the children of four dead players with gold medals in what is being seen as an attempt to lift a supposed curse on the team at the Asian Cup. The Taeguk Warriors are an Asian footballing powerhouse, making nine consecutive ap- pearances at the World Cup since 1986, reaching the semi-fi- nals in 2002, and taking bronze India’s defender Sandesh Jhingan (L) protects India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet at the 2012 London Olympics. Singh Sandhu A day before the current tournament opened, relatives of four more deceased 1960 players were presented with pure But they have not lifted the gold medals at the KFA headquarters in Seoul AFP | New Delhi ing match in the United Arab Asian Cup since winning its first ootball fans and pundits Emirates. two editions in 1956 and 1960. eted the money earmarked for ceive them. world’s most technologically Fwere full of praise for In- Having lost to the hosts in They have qualified from the the precious metal -- and South In 2014, the KFA finally made advanced countries, many Ko- dia yesterday even as an inju- their second match, the 0-0 group stage at the current tour- Korea’s hopes of winning the pure gold medals for the 1960 reans remain superstitious and ry-time penalty cost the Blue scoreline going into injury time nament in Qatar, and face China tournament have gone down team, but could only contact consult shamans for medical Tigers an unlikely spot in the in their final match Monday on Wednesday to decide who like a lead balloon ever since. three surviving footballers and reasons, divination or just per- Asian Cup knockout stages and against Bahrain would have will top Group C, boosted by “The gold medals we received family members of three more sonal advice. prompted the coach to resign. been sufficient to see India the arrival of talismanic Tot- were fake,” Park Kyung-hwa, a who had died. The following Widely held beliefs include Despite its giant population through. tenham Hotspurs striker Son former footballer with the 1960 year the national team reached associating the number four India is a footballing minnow But a rash foul by skipper Heung-min. national team, told Yonhap the Asian Cup final for the first with death and that writing at a lowly 97th in FIFA’s world Pronay Halder gave Bahrain Among some superstitious news agency. time since 1988, but lost 2-1 to your name in red ink will bring rankings, and its players are a penalty, converted coolly by South Koreans, the title drought “They were coated with cheap Australia in extra time. bad luck, while a dream featur- used to being overshadowed Jamal Rashed. is blamed on fake gold medals gold, and the coating peeled off “Giving back six gold med- ing pigs will invoke wealth. by the nation’s glamorous mil- The Hindu daily said India the Korean Football Association easily,” he added. als wasn’t apparently powerful A day before the current tour- lionaire cricketers. had “won hearts aplenty” with handed their players to cele - The outraged players re - enough to fully break the curse,” nament opened, relatives of four They did not even qualify for their performances, earning brate the 1960 victory. turned the fake medals and de- Yonhap said, adding the KFA was more deceased 1960 players the last Asian Cup, but dared to plaudits as they “threw their The decorations turned out manded the KFA present them “hoping” for “more power” to were presented with pure gold dream of glory after stunning bodies at the ball, and put up a to be gold-plated lead -- many real ones, but have had to wait lift the spell. medals at the KFA headquarters Thailand 4-1 in their open - fearless display.” believe a corrupt official pock- for more than 50 years to re - Despite living in one of the in Seoul.