WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017 SPORTS

TENNIS Kerber survives as leading seeds stumble in Dubai DUBAI: Former world number one “I’m happy about my performance, I was sets by France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-4. utes on court, retiring at 1-4 in the first set “Every time you walk, to kind of have a Angelique Kerber survived as three of the trying to play my game and focus on every Number three seed Dominika Cibulkova fell with a foot injury in her second round match pain there. It’s kind of (a) new one, honestly.” top five seeds were bundled out of the point, I felt strong,” Kerber said. victim to Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, against Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine. Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Dubai Tennis Championships yesterday. The German next plays Puerto Rico’s having also lost to the Russian in the The physio called it an ankle problem while 2012 tournament winner, beat Belgian Elise The top seed and winner of two Grand Monica Puig, whom she lost to in the Rio Melbourne third round. “It was a tough Muguruza insisted it was an Achilles tendon Mertens 6-3, 6-2 to progress to the third Slams in 2016 dispatched fellow German Olympic gold medal match last August. match again against Domi,” said Makarova. “I worry left over from last week in . round to help save some dignity for top Mona Bartel 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round “That match will be completely different,” started really good with aggressive tennis. “It’s not (the) ankle, that’s ridiculous. The five seeds. Elena Vesnina, seeded eight, match. World number two Kerber is battling Kerber said. “I will try to do my best against “Beating her at the (Australian) Open doctor said maybe it’s just inflammation. I beat Misaki Doi of Japan 6-2, 7-5 while to recover the WTA top ranking she claimed her.” Puig ousted 15th seed Caroline Garcia of helped a lot, I was believing more and I have to do an MRI,” Muguruza said. tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki stopped last September when winning the US Open, France 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. US Open finalist Karolina knew what to do, how to play, where to go.” “I don’t think it’s something big, but it’s Swiss Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-2 and Ana only to see Serena Williams reclaim it with Pliskova, last week’s Doha winner and the Roland Garros champion and fifth seed very irritated and it’s really bothering me Konjuh eliminated Australian 12th seed victory at last month’s Australian Open. second seed, was dumped out in straight Garbine Muguruza lasted less than 30 min- every time I have to run on the court. Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-3. — AFP

SOCCER Incredible Hulk blasts Shanghai to victory

SEOUL: Brazilian forward Hulk blasted Shanghai REDS RUN RIOT SIPG to a 1-0 victory over FC Seoul but the big- Six minutes later Damjanovic tumbled in the spending Chinese giants needed to survive a box, earning a soft and a second yellow penalty and a red card before winning their AFC card for He Guan-but the striker’s scuffed spot- Champions League opener yesterday. kick was easily saved by SIPG’s Yan Junling. Hulk’s rocket of a strike on 53 minutes got Earlier, Japan’s Urawa smashed four second- Andre Villas-Boas’s team off to a winning start in half goals past Western Sydney Wanderers to Group F, where they lie second on differ- open their campaign with a thumping win. ence after ’ 4-0 demolition Shinzo Koroki and Tadanari Lee struck within of Western Sydney Wanderers. In Group E, two minutes of each other before Tomoaki beat Ulsan Hyundai 2-0 and Makino and Rafael Silva also got on the score- Brisbane Roar were held to a 0-0 home draw by sheet as the Group F visitors ran riot in Sydney. Thailand’s Muangthong United. SIPG have The result gives Urawa an early boost in their splashed out 60 million euros on Brazilian mid- campaign for a second Champions League fielder Oscar, among other buys, in their bid for crown, but dents the Wanderers’ chances of glory after they reached last year’s quarter-finals emulating their fairytale title run of 2014, when under Sven-Goran Eriksson. the club was just two years old. It was Lee who But a speculative effort from Hulk and anoth- prised open the home defence on 56 minutes, er shot way over the bar from the Brazilian were when his perfectly placed through-ball released the closest SIPG came in a tepid first half in front Koroki who finished smartly with the outside of of a noisy Seoul crowd. At the other end, Dejan his right boot. Damjanovic had a chance to finish off a sweep- Two minutes later and Urawa took a stran- ing move from the hosts but the Montenegrin glehold on the game, when the Wanderers’ striker shot tamely at goalkeeper Yoo Hyun from defenders failed to clear and stood watching close range. each other as Lee swept home the second goal. Oscar’s most significant moment of the first Urawa capitalised on yet more slack defend- half came when he petulantly raised his hand to ing when Makino, unmarked on the back post, Lee Sang-Ho’s throat and shoved the Seoul for- prodded home a loose ball from a corner on 68 ward, earning a yellow card. But the muscular minutes to make it 3-0. Hulk brought the game to life with a moment of And four minutes from time, Brazilian for- magic on 53 minutes, when he smashed a left- ward Silva was afforded plenty of space when he footed shot from well outside the box which raced clear and beat Janjetovic on his near post swerved into the top corner. from the edge of the box. — AFP

GLENDALE: right wing Shane Doan (19) back checks center Nate Thompson in the third period during an NHL hockey game, Monday, in Glendale, Ariz. Arizona defeated Anaheim 3-2. — AP

NHL Trocheck’s late goal lifts Panthers past Blues, 2-1

ST LOUIS: The began their five- game road trip near the back of a crowded field NHL results/standings in the Eastern Conference playoff race. After sweeping the trip they’re near the top of the Atlantic Division. Arizona 3, Anaheim 2; Florida 2, St. Louis 1. KASHIMA: Kashima Antlers midfielder Mu Kanazaki (#33) heads the ball to score a Vincent Trocheck scored with just under 5 sec- Western Conference Eastern Conference goal against Ulsan Hyundai during the AFC Champions League group E football onds remaining to lift the Panthers to a 2-1 victo- Central Division Atlantic Division match between Kashima Antlers of Japan and Ulsan Hyundai of South in ry over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night. “It felt Montreal 31 20 8 166 153 70 WL OTLGFGAPTS Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture, yesterday. — AFP like we won the Stanley cup for just a second,” Ottawa 31 20 6 156 152 68 Trochek said. “I think to do it with four seconds on Minnesota 39 13 6 195 133 84 Florida 28 20 10 149 162 66 the clock, we showed a lot of poise there in the Chicago 36 18 5 172 151 77 Boston 30 23 6 159 156 66 third period, even when they tied it up.” Jonathan St. Louis 31 24 5 170 173 67 Toronto 27 20 11 181 173 65 HK’s ‘Beef Ball’ takes Buffalo 26 24 10 147 168 62 Marchessault also scored and James Reimer Nashville 28 22 8 164 159 64 Tampa Bay 26 24 8 160 166 60 stopped 26 shots to help the Panthers complete a Winnipeg 28 29 5 180 194 61 Detroit 24 25 10 149 175 58 bite out of gender gap 5-0 road trip - their first perfect trip of at least that Dallas 23 27 10 165 193 56 Metropolitan Division many games in franchise history. Colorado 16 38 3 113 190 35 Washington 39 12 7 195 126 85 HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s Chan Yuen-ting will year award and a place in a BBC list of the Reimer has won five straight decisions and has Pacific Division Pittsburgh 36 14 8 204 165 80 Columbus 37 16 5 187 143 79 smash another hole through football’s glass ceil- world’s 100 most influential women. Eastern not lost in regulation since Jan. 7 against Boston, San Jose 35 18 7 166 144 77 going 6-0-1 since. The Panthers moved into a tie NY Rangers 38 19 1 196 152 77 ing when she makes history in the AFC then became Hong Kong’s first club to be hand- Edmonton 32 19 8 171 152 72 Champions League today-but it couldn’t be a ed an automatic berth in the Champions League with Boston for third place in the Atlantic NY Islanders 27 21 10 174 174 64 Philadelphia 28 24 7 154 179 63 tougher debut for the trailblazing female coach. group stage, thanks to the recent performances Division, but have the edge because they have a Anaheim 31 20 10 156 154 72 New Jersey 25 24 10 138 170 60 Chan, nicknamed “Beef Ball” and just 28 years of the city’s teams in AFC competitions. game in hand on the Bruins. “It’s a great group of Calgary 29 26 4 153 167 62 Los Angeles 28 26 4 143 145 60 Carolina 24 23 8 141 162 56 old, will etch her name in the record books as the Chan said Eastern would concentrate on players and everybody deserves it,” said Panthers Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in first woman worldwide to lead a professional defending on Wednesday-understandably, interim coach Tom Rowe, “It’s been a long season, Vancouver 26 28 6 142 172 58 the standings and are not included in the loss col- men’s team into continental competition, at the against a team which can call on the Brazilian it’s been a hard season and now everything is Arizona 21 30 7 140 183 49 umn (L) helm of Hong Kong’s Eastern. The game is not far firepower of Paulinho, Ricardo Goulart and Alan. coming together but again we’ve got a long way from Hong Kong, in southern mainland China- to go. It’s going to be a dog fight until the end of but it is against Guangzhou Evergrande, the ‘I FORGET MY GENDER’ the season.” Kyle Brodziak, playing for the second Reimer for his seventh. Trocheck won it with his for Arizona, and starting goalie Mike Smith had 27 mega-rich “Manchester United of Asia” with two “We need to focus on defence, and especially time after missing 10 games due to a broken foot, team-leading 21st. St. Louis dominated the offen- saves before leaving about 4 1/2 minutes into the our discipline and attitude during the match,” scored for the Blues and Jake Allen finished with Chan said. “At this moment I don’t want to create sive action in the first period, outshooting Florida third period after a collision in the net. Marek 31 saves. St. Louis lost its second straight since extra pressure for myself and my players so we 12-8. The Panthers then outshot the Blues 25-15 Langhamer helped kill a power play after being just want to do our best and try to go as far as we winning six in a row. the rest of the way. pressed into action for his NHL debut and can.” Chan, whose nickname “Beef Ball” refers to “We had 30 seconds left to salvage a point in a St. Louis dropped to 7-3 under Mike Yeo and stopped seven of the eight shots he faced. her competitive spirit and is often chanted by game that we played not good,” Allen said. “Those remains third in the Central Division, three points The Coyotes have won four of their last six. Eastern’s fans, first caught the football bug when are huge points right now. Couldn’t end up with ahead of Nashville. The Blues don’t play again Langhamer gave up Ryan Getzlaf’s second she was 13 and had a crush on David Beckham. two points and it slipped away.” Marchessault until visiting Chicago on Sunday. goal of the night with 26.8 seconds to play, but She followed Manchester United games on TV opened the scoring when he beat Allen short side thwarted two quality shots in the final seconds. and her passion eventually led her into coaching, for his 17th goal of the season in the middle of COYOTES 3, DUCKS 2 Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on six despite opposition from her parents. “On the the first period. Radim Vrbata capped Arizona’s three-goal first shots in the first period for the Ducks. John pitch I forget my gender as a woman. I just hope Brodziak tied about three minutes into the period and the Coyotes held on to beat Anaheim. Gibson came on to start the second and stopped to show my abilities,” Chan told AFP last year. “I second when he put Ryan Reaves’ rebound past Christian Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun also scored all 14 shots he faced. — AP think no matter your age or your gender, what you need is hard work.” Hong Kong Football Association chief execu- SOCCER tive Mark Sutcliffe said Chan had become a shining light for women involved in sport across the world. “We are proud that Hong Kong has Isco ready to walk out on Real Madrid provided an opportunity for a female coach to operate at the highest level,” Sutcliffe told AFP. MADRID: Spain international Isco will look to Manchester City his number one choice. of a player is very short,” he told BeIN sports. Chan Yuen-ting “I am sure she will act as an inspiration for women in sport across the world,” he said, leave Real Madrid in the summer after growing Isco scored a crucial goal in Real’s 3-1 at “I’m very happy here and I would like to Champions League titles and six straight domes- adding: “(But) let’s not kid ourselves - it’s going tired of a lack of first team opportunities with Osasuna on Feb. 11 but was left out of the stay for many more years. We’ll take a deci- tic trophies to their name. But for Chan, who last to be very, very tough.” Evergrande will be gun- the European champions, Spanish media team in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Napoli in sion at the end of the season, because my year became the first female coach to win a top- ning for their third Champions League title in reported yesterday. Europe’s elite competition. future is at stake.” Isco became one of Spain’s flight men’s league, it will be an honour to face five years, and as an added incentive real-estate Spanish sports daily Marca reported that He is ranked 15th in the squad for the num- hottest prospects in his second season with Evergrande and their World Cup-winning manag- billionaire club chairman Hui Kayan has offered the midfielder, who cast doubt on his future at ber of minutes played this season and rarely Malaga as he inspired his local team’s march er, Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari. “I never imagined or a 300 million yuan ($43.68 million) bonus per the club on Saturday, is unhappy with his role starts when coach Zinedine Zidane has a full to the quarter-finals of the 2012/13 expected this could happen but now we’re going win in the tournament. in the team this campaign, citing information squad available. The Spaniard, however, played Champions League. to play against him so I feel excited and I’m look- But whatever the result on Wednesday, the coming from the player’s representatives. a starring role in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over He joined Real for a reported 30 million ing forward to meeting him,” she told the Asian debut of Chan and Eastern will remain a signifi- Isco has started 11 of 21 games in La Liga Espanyol on Saturday, setting up goalscorers euros in July 2013, winning two Champions Football Confederation (AFC) website. cant moment for women in football, and for the and only one in the Champions League. Marca Alvaro Morata and Gareth Bale, but after the Leagues and the King’s Cup. Last April his for- “All I need to do is focus on our team and sport in Asia. “It is a ground-breaking moment reported the 24-year-old was also unhappy game said he was uncertain whether he would mer coach at Malaga, Manuel Pellegrini, told concentrate on the work that we are for football in Asia, for the women’s game and for with Real Madrid’s offer of an improved salary remain at the club beyond the summer. Marca that Isco had been on the verge of join- doing.”Chan’s ground-breaking 2016 Hong Kong the global game,” said AFC president Sheikh in negotiations to renew his contract and that “I’m calm but I’m concerned about the num- ing him at City before he finally opted to move title with Eastern made headlines around the Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. “The world will be he wants to move to the , with ber of minutes I am playing because the career to the Spanish giants. — Reuters globe, and earned her the AFC’s coach of the watching.” — AFP