ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2021 SPORTS 15

Hamilton shares front row Verstappen claims Styrian GPrix Vasilevskiy shines again, qualifying for 3rd pole of season SPIELBERG, Austria, June 26, finished 14th and went out in (AP): Formula One championship Q2, a day after he was runner- leader Max Verstappen took pole up to Verstappen in the second position for the Styrian Grand Prix practice. Lightning blank Islanders on Saturday. Earlier Saturday, Hamilton The Red Bull driver became the timed the fastest lap in the third fi rst this weekend to complete a lap and fi nal practice as he was just below 1 minute, 4 seconds as he over two-tenths of a second faster timed 1:03.841 than Verstappen. in Q3 to beat Verstappen, who leads Hamilton Mercedes driv- by 12 points in the season stand- er Valtteri Bot- ings, was fastest in both practices tas by .194. Friday. With Bottas getting a three- MOTOR RACING place grid pen- alty from a pit- lane incident in Hamilton also timed the quickest Friday’s prac- lap in Friday’s second practice but tice, Verstap- Hamilton went too wide on a turn, making pen will share the front row with him one of many drivers who had defending champion Lewis Ham- lap times deleted for exceeding the ilton, who trailed his Mercedes track limit. teammate by .032 in third. A day after getting a three- McLaren’s Lando Norris and place grid penalty for spinning Red Bull’s Sergio Perez will start while leaving the Mercedes box, from row two. Bottas had another pitlane scare It’s Verstappen’s second straight as he narrowly avoided Pierre pole and third of the season, com- Gasly, who overlooked the Finn- pared to Hamilton’s two. ish driver when leaving the Al- At the French GP last week, phaTauri box. Verstappen completed a hat trick With a track record of just under of pole, fastest lap, and victory. 1 minute, 3 seconds, the Red Bull Red Bull has won the last Ring has the quickest lap times of three races, while Hamilton is the F1 season. looking for a first triumph since However, it is only the fi fth- winning the Spanish GP seven shortest track, behind Monaco, weeks ago. Netherlands, Mexico, and Bra- Charles Leclerc had the sev- zil. It has three long straights and enth-fastest time after both Fer- features the fewest corners - 10, raris finished outside the top and three of them are taken at full 10 in practice Friday. Leclerc throttle. earned pole position in two of It leaves drivers few opportuni- the last three GPs. ties to fi nd time, usually making McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo for a tight qualifying. New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) blocks a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning center Ross Colton (79) during the second period in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinal playoff series, on June 25, in Tampa, Florida. (AP) Tampa Bay heads back to Stanley Cup Final

TAMPA, Florida, June 26, (AP): Andrei Vasilevskiy Vollering wins La Course in sprint finish had 18 saves and Yanni LANDERNEAU, France, June 26, Vollering de France. Gourde scored a short- (AP): Dutch rider Demi Vollering won edged Cecilie Ut- A women’s version of the Tour de handed goal to help the a sprint fi nish on Saturday to claim a trup Ludwig of France will return from next year, with Tampa Bay Lightning beat maiden victory in La Course, the wom- Denmark in the a start in Paris after the conclusion of en’s one-day race organized as a Tour last meters and the men’s event. the New York Islanders 1-0 de France curtain-raiser. Vos - another The “Tour de France Femmes” aims in Game 7 of their NHL Dutch rider - fi n- to become a permanent fi xture on the playoff semifinal series. ished third. women’s world tour cycling calendar CYCLING Vollering won after various failed attempts in the past. The defending champions ad- the prestigious A women’s Tour stage race took vanced to a Stanley Cup Final There were several unsuccessful at- Liège-Bastogne- place from 1984 to 1989, running par- matchup against the surprising tacks in the last three kilometers uphill Vollering Liège classic ear- allel with the men’s race before later Montreal Canadiens, who upset Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands makes a fist after win- before former champion Marianne Vos lier this season. being shortened. the Vegas Golden Knights in the ning the qualifying at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, launched the sprint from a reduced group It was the last La Course. Organizers The latest version of the women’s other semifinal. Game 1 is Monday Saturday, June 26, 2021. The Styrian Formula One Grand Prix will be held in the fi nal stretch leading to Landerneau, ASO had been holding the event since Tour is scheduled to start on July 24, night in Tampa. on June 27. (AP) in the western Brittany region. 2014 in the absence of a women’s Tour 2022. Gourde beat Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov off a pass from Anthony Cirelli at 1:49 of the second Lee and Chiles on verge of Oly dream Stevenson scores two tries period. Vasilevskiy turned away sev- en shots in the fi nal period to post his fi fth career playoff shutout - fourth Biles soars to lead at US Olympic Trials New Zealand Maori cruise to this postseason. It marked the fi rst time in NHL history a Game 7 ended ST. LOUIS, June 26, (AP): Simone 35-10 win over rusty Samoa 1-0 with a short-handed goal. Biles is primed for Tokyo. Vasilevskiy, vying for his second The world and Olympic gymnas- WELLINGTON, New Zealand, June Vezina Trophy in three years, also tics champion put on a dazzling dis- 26, (AP): Winger Shaun Stevenson beat the Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 play during the U.S. Olympic Tri- scored two tries for the New Zealand NZ crush Australia and shut out Florida and Carolina to als, pulling out all the stops - well, Maori in a 35-10 victory over Samoa clinch series wins over Panthers and almost all of them - on her way to a in a rain-swept rugby international on at Oceania Sevens Hurricanes in the fi rst two rounds. Saturday. The Lightning improved to 14-0 commanding lead and a spot in Ja- Stevenson touched down twice in TOWNSVILLE, Australia, June 26, in games following a playoff loss pan next month. the fi rst half and fellow winger Sean (AP): New Zealand dominated the since beginning last year’s champi- Her all-around total of 60.565 Wainui also scored as the Maori took Australian women’s side to hand the Rio Olympic gold medalists a onship run. They also bounced back included a 15.133 on beam that charge of the match, leading 21-7 at from losses to beat the Islanders in featured the “double-double” dis- 34-5 defeat at the Oceania Sevens halftime. rugby tournament on Saturday. Games 2 and 5 and haven’t suffered mount named for her, a maneuver Captain Ash Dixon and backrower The New Zealand women turned consecutive playoff losses since be- she’s kept under wraps since the Whetukamokamo Douglas scored in back early Australian pressure ing swept by Columbus in the fi rst 2019 world championships. She the second half as the Maori dominat- and then turned its game over to round in 2019. opted to skip the dou- ed territory and possession in challeng- a strong offensive attack, taking ble-pike she unveiled in com- ing conditions. an early 22-0 lead. The win came petition last month and still posted in the third of six rounds during a ICE HOCKEY three-day tournament featuring the top score on the event. RUGBY some of the Tokyo Olympics fa- Her fl oor exercise - the one that reacts to her performance on the during the vorites in action. The Islanders, who were aiming includes not one but two epony- women’s U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, on June 25, in St. Louis. (AP) Samoa was playing its first match “We were sitting there watching for their fi rst Stanley Cup Final berth mous elements in the sport’s Code since the 2019 World Cup and com- them, waiting for them to play . . . in 37 years, forced a winner-take-all of Points - was both spectacular peted well despite a truncated prepa- we have to start better,” Australia showdown by rallying to win Game and spectacularly controlled. Clear- Qatari runner Haroun dies ration. coach John Manenti said. 6 on Anthony Beauvillier’s overtime “It was a tough game to be hon- Fiji’s women’s side beat Oceania goal. ly frustrated after stepping out of 21-12. bounds several times while winning DOHA, Qatar, June 26, (AP): in a car crash.” est. We didn’t have our way at all,” But with the Lightning playing Dixon said. “We had to work pretty In the men’s tournament, the her seventh national title earlier this Abdalelah Haroun, a Qatari run- Born in Sudan, Haroun gained Rio Olympic-champion Fijians relentless defense, while also out- ner who won bronze in the 400 eligibility to represent Qatar in hard but I’m really stoked with the won their third consecutive match, shooting New York 31-18, opportu- month, Biles kept her toes well meters at the 2017 world cham- 2015, World Athletics said. result. inside the white lines during her handing New Zealand its first loss. nities were limited Friday night. pionships, died Saturday, the Haroun ran the 400 in 44.48 “We wanted to take them on up Tampa Bay reached the Cup Final law-of-physics pushing tumbling Qatar Olympic Committee said. seconds to fi nish third at the 2017 front because of the conditions,” he for the fourth time in franchise his- passes. He was 24. worlds in London behind winner continued. “I would have loved to played in lashing rain. They kept the ball in hand more in the second half tory despite not getting big nights The committee announced Wayde van Niekerk of South Af- have a dry ball and see both teams offensively from playoff scoring Haroun’s death on its social media rica and Steven Gardiner of the throw it around a bit but hopefully and also spent long periods in Samoa GYMNASTICS territory. leader Nikita Kucherov and Brayden accounts but did not specify how Bahamas. next week we can do that and see Point, whose streak of consecutive he died. Haroun competed in the 2016 some good footy.” Stevenson scored the fi rst try of the World Athletics said the former Rio de Janeiro Olympics, reaching The teams meet again next weekend match after nine minutes, running onto games with at least one goal ended “I was super excited going into at nine - one shy of the NHL playoff this one,” Biles said. “I know ex- world junior champion “has died the semifi nal heats. before Samoa faces Tonga in a World a wide kick from Otere Black to put Cup qualifying match. him outside the Samoa defense. record. actly what to expect. And I feel The Maori were dominant in scrums Samoa had a try disallowed for Kucherov played despite missing like I’m very ... like I’m a lot more to the title at Winter Cup in Febru- the energy inside an electric Dome throughout the match and controlled obstruction before leveling with a try most of Game 6 with an injury. Point emotional this time around, which ary and has been a fi xture in the top at America’s Center, Skinner fi n- possession with judicious kicking, to winger Neria Fomai, who chipped failed to score a goal for just the sec- is so crazy. Even walking out of the three in event meet since. Perhaps ished in the top fi ve in three events, especially in the fi rst half which was ahead and recovered his own kick. ond time in the past 13 games. tearing up and crying. The girls are just as importantly, she’s seeming- imploring the crowd to roar at the Kucherov left Game 6 after a like, ‘Are you OK?’ I’m fi ne. It’s ly become immune to the pressure. end of every dismount. taking a hit to the lower back from just like, I can’t believe the time is She’s now completed 20 events Skinner, Grace McCallum and Islanders defenseman Scott May- here. It’s been fi ve years and I’m over the last four months, without a Kayla DiCello are separated by just fi eld. His status for Friday night was grateful.” fall on any of them. three-tenths of a point, with Kara uncertain until just before faceoff. The top two all-around fi nishers Not even Biles, who came off Eaker a little further back. DiCello Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak Sunday night after the fi nals auto- uneven bars at the U.S. Classic in bounced back from a sluggish per- also returned to the lineup after miss- matically qualify for the Olympic May, can say that. formance in which she fell on mul- ing the previous two games. team. Biles is a lock no matter what The selection committee has set tiple events to fi nish in the top six in The Islanders fell to 4-6 all-time in happens Sunday. aside 30 minutes after the end of fi - three of four events. Game 7s, 4-5 on the road. It was fi rst and nals to put the team together. They The race for the “plus-one” spe- Game 7 the team has played in the are nearing that territory, too. They semifi nal round since facing Phila- might need every last second of it to cialist spot appears to be Riley Mc- delphia in 1975. The Islanders were might already be there. see who earns the fourth spot. Cusker’s to lose. Her bars routine trying to earn their fi rst Stanley Cup The trio of Biles, Lee and Chiles Skinner, 24, is making a pretty is world-class, her 14.800 score Final berth since 1984. came in 1-2-3 at nationals. They’re compelling case. An alternate in would put her in the mix for a Point was trying to match Reg- in the same positions heading into 2016, Skinner went to college after medal in Tokyo if she were able to gie Leach’s playoff record with the fi nals after Lee put up a 57.666, the Rio Olympics before returning replicate it. goals in 10 consecutive games in followed by Chiles at 57.132, more to the elite level in 2019. She spent , who earned a nomi- the same postseason. Leach had a than a half-point ahead of MyKayla part of the COVID-19 pandemic native individual spot through the 10-game streak for the Philadelphia Skinner. shutdown battling the novel coro- World Cup series, is the only gym- Flyers in 1976. With 14 goals in 18 While many of her competitors navirus and pneumonia. nast who entered the meet with her Toulouse’s Cheslin Kolbe, (left), is tackled by La Rochelles’s Geoffrey Dou- games, Point has a chance to become eased back into competition fol- Health scares behind her, she is spot already secured. She drilled mayrou during the Top 14 final rugby union match between Toulouse and the fi rst player to lead the league in lowing a long break due to the CO- putting on some of the best gym- her vault, her score of 15.2 La Rochelle at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis, north of Paris, playoff goals in consecutive seasons VID-19 pandemic, Chiles sprinted nastics of her career. Feeding off second only to Biles on the event. on June 25. Toulouse beat La Rochelles 18-8. (AP) since Jari Kurri in 1987 and 1988.