NBA | Page 6 FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 11 Duncan held Hiddink off To Advertise here scoreless the mark as Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 but Spurs still Chelsea crush perfect Palace Monday, January 4, 2016 CRICKET Rabia I 24, 1437 AH Stokes blasts brilliant GULF TIMES 258 as England make SA suff er SPORT Page 4 FOCUS Boy, 10, among injured in Dakar crash AFP Guo’s car veered off the course at ground, as emergency workers carted “It was important to clear the pro- 2008 DKR, having raced almost ex- Buenos Aires the 6.6-kilometre mark of the 11-kilo- the injured off on stretchers. logue and avoid any mistakes on the clusively for another French manu- Opening stage cancelled metre prologue on a stretch of straight An inquiry has been opened by lo- fi rst day,” said Loeb, driving a Peugeot facturer, Citroen. due to weather country road near Arrecifes, a small cal authorities with the Chinese team ten-year-old boy and his town 200 kilometres (120 miles) from to be questioned by police shortly. Poor weather has forced the cancellation father were seriously in- the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. Between 50,000 and 60,000 peo- of yesterday’s Dakar Rally opening stage jured when a speeding car Race chiefs immediately deployed ple were expected along the route of because of safety concerns, race director smashed into spectators four medical helicopters, three medi- the prologue. Etienne Lavigne told AFP. Aduring the prologue of the Dakar Rally cal vehicles belonging to the organis- In 2015, Polish motorbike rider Thunderstorms and heavy rain prompted on Saturday. ers and eight local ambulances to the Michal Hernik died at the end of a organisers to scrap the scheduled 600-kil- In total ten people—all spectators— scene of the accident. stage, but the last accident involving ometre plus route from Rosario to Villa were hurt in the accident on the fi rst A 34-year-old man and his son spectators at the Dakar Rally was in Carlos Paz, with the conditions grounding day of the endurance race, with eight aged 10 were the two most serious 2011, when one person was killed. safety helicopters and leaving parts of the others suff ering less serious injuries. cases and had to be rushed to hospital course flooded. “The joint resources of the organi- with one suff ering head injuries and LOEB FINDS HIS RHYTHM “The Dakar doesn’t stop when it rains but sation and local forces have taken over the other chest trauma, said race di- Nine-time world rally champion Se- when it’s not possible to guarantee the and evacuated four injured, includ- rector Etienne Lavigne. bastien Loeb had safely negotiated normal security presence” for the rally, ing two seriously aff ected,” organisers The injured were brought to hospital the prologue in his debut on the Dakar Lavigne explained. said in a statement early yesterday. at Arrecifes, with the two more serious- Rally. “The weather conditions are very bad. The “Police have indicated that six more ly injured later transferred to a hospital Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke, relay plane (which helps with radio com- lightly injured have been transferred at Pilar, 50km from Buenos Aires. driving a Toyota, had claimed victory, munications) was unable to fly. Helicopters to hospital.” “In total, we had 10 patients, in- taking 6min 08sec to cover the 11km can’t take off . The situation isn’t going to The incident, which involved the cluding four children and one preg- special, beating Carlos Sainz (Peu- improve in terms of visibility,” he added. Mini of Chinese driver Guo Meiling, nant woman, who is ok,” said Daniel geot) and Xavier Pons (Ford Ranger). The first stage was supposed to include a saw the prologue—which takes place Modesto, head of the local hospital. Frenchman Loeb is seeking to fol- 258km timed special for cars and a 227km before the fi rst stage yesterday— “Medical assessments are ongo- low in the footsteps of Ari Vatanen, section for motorcycles, but the entire “neutralised” and immediately sus- ing,” organisers added. who won the Dakar in his fi rst attempt field will instead travel to Cordoba under pended in horrifi c scenes, race organ- The accident left Guo’s car bat- in 1987, back when it was raced in Af- Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah drives his Mini through the water during the Buenos link section conditions. isers said. tered, its bonnet strewn on the rica. Aires-Rosario prologue stage of Dakar Rally on Saturday. (Reuters) Gulf Times 2 Monday, January 4, 2016 TENNIS QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN Spotlight on Nole, Rafa as new season begins in Doha ‘I went out in quarter-finals last year. That motivates me to try and go as far as I can and compete for the trophy’ TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAY Centre Court (start 3:30 pm) R Nadal (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) vs T Gabashvili (RUS) / A Ramos- Vinolas (ESP) Not Before 5:30 pm [1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] D Brown (GER) D Muñoz de la Nava (ESP) vs [5] F Lopez (ESP) [WC] M Ilhan (TUR) vs A Kuznet- sov (RUS) Court 1 (start 3:30 pm) [7] J Chardy (FRA) vs [WC] M Zayid (QAT) [Q] K Edmund (GBR) vs M Klizan (SVK) J Chardy (FRA) / P Mathieu (FRA) vs [WC] J Ali Mutawa (QAT) / M Jaziri (TUN) Court 2 (start 3:30 pm) M Cecchinato (ITA) vs D Dzumhur (BIH) D Marrero (ESP) / A Seppi (ITA) vs Holder David Ferrer arrives to defend his title. P Andujar (ESP) / L Mayer (ARG) R Haase (NED) vs [Q] A Karatsev (RUS) the big guns. Nadal will know that bet- I do look forward to competing, be- ter, with the Spaniard at the receiving cause I haven’t done that for a month RESULTS end on two occasions, the last time at and a half. The last match that I played Qualifying Singles (Round II) 2015 Wimbledon when he lost in four was in London, World Tour Finals, and (Seedings in bracket) sets. I haven’t played any lead-up exhibi- [2] B Becker (GER) bt [6] M Berrer Brown, though, is known for his in- tion events to Doha, haven’t played any (GER) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 consistency as his 82nd ranking sug- IPTL. [3] K Edmund (GBR) bt [8] R gests and will also be fatigued as the “The reason for that is because I felt Albot (MDA) 6-2, 6-4 31-year-old has played two qualifying like it was too many matches already in A Karatsev (RUS) bt [5] L Lacko matches in as many days to make it to the entire season and that I needed some (SVK) 6-4, 6-4 Rafael Nadal of Spain is welcomed on his arrival in Doha for the 2016 Qatar ExxonMobil Open yesterday. the main draw. time to regroup, recuperate, spend time [7] D Brown (GER) bt M Basic Djokovic, who was taken out by the with the family, and do something else, (BIH) 6-4, 7-5 By Sahan Bidappa Nadal, with the Spaniard’s recurring This time though, Djokovic’s sub- big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic in as well, and just recharge for, you know, Doha injuries a major bane as he has slipped lime form and Nadal’s resurgence in three sets last year, wants to turn it another long season. That, of course, SEEDINGS to No 5. Djokovic, meanwhile, ran amok late 2015, gives rise to a possibility of a around this time in Doha. “Of course includes the Olympic Games that is 1. Novak Djokovic in 2015, coming within a French Open mouth-watering clash between the two I do feel very motivated to do well in going to be very demanding, but I look 2. Rafael Nadal he last time Novak Djokovic title for a calendar-year Grand Slam, in the title clash this Saturday. Doha because it’s a new tournament for forward to that,” the 28-year-old said. 3. Tomas Berdych was coming off a successful and clinching a record six Masters ti- The $1.2 million prize money tour- me. It’s only the second time that I’m Also in action today will be Spain’s 4. David Ferrer season like the one he had in tles, the ATP Word Tour Finals and nament kicks off today with Nadal in playing it in my life, and, I mean I went fi fth seed Feliciano Lopez, who will 5. Feliciano Lopez 2015, it was Rafael Nadal who went 82-6. action only in the doubles along with out early in quarter-fi nals last year to take on countryman Daniel Munoz de 6. Andreas Seppi Tbrought the Serbian down to earth. It’s in these situations that the two compatriot Fernando Verdasco, as they Karlovic. That actually motivates me la Nava. 7. Jeremy Chardy In 2011, Djokovic reeled off victories of the best of the current era, will be take on the pair of Russia’s Teymuraz even more to try and go as far as I can Mubarak Shannan Zayid, the 1761st 8. Leonardo Mayer at will, clinching three Grand Slam ti- in spotlight at the Qatar ExxonMobil Gabashvili and Spain’s Albert Ramos- and compete for the trophy. Of course ranked Qatari has received a wild card tles and leapfrogging Nadal and Roger Open, which begins today at the Kha- Vinolas in the fi rst round. I want to do that,” the World No 1 said and will be playing at the centre court PRIZE MONEY Federer to World No 1 spot.