Sport MONDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2021 Bring on the Melbourne crowds: Djokovic I had goosebumps coming into the court playing in front of the fans again after 12 months of not experiencing that. After playing professional tennis for more than 15 years, this is one of the biggest driving forces or motivations, inspirations that I have, playing in front of a crowd. World number one Novak Djokovic Sport |09 PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS: Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0; Leeds United beat Leicester City 3-1; Liverpool beat West Ham United 3-1 Qatari drivers dominate in opening round of FIA Middle East Rally Championship Al Attiyah cruises to record 15th win – DOHA THE PENINSULA The podium winners of the Qatar International Rally, confirmed before the restart that Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Matthieu Baumel; Abdulaziz exhaust sensor issues had forced Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah Al Kuwari, James Fulton and Khalid Al Suwaidi and him to retire as well, as Al continued to rewrite his own Hugo Magalhães celebrate on the podium. Attiyah headed to the 18.30km history by securing a of the Al Khor opener. He carded comfortable victory in the Qatar the target time of 9min 47.1sec, International Rally yesterday. although Al Kuwari claimed the The Qatari and French co- fastest time by 0.7 seconds. Al driver Matthieu Baumel Thani slipped to ninth after managed the pace perfectly over losing over five minutes, but the the closing stages and guided special spelt the end of the road their Autotek Motorsport for Kuwait’s Jassim Al Muqahwi Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 to a after engine problems. winning margin of 1min 48.4sec A cautious Al Attiyah over Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and stopped the clocks in the new his new Irish co-driver James seventh stage in 11min 11.2sec, Fulton. but Al Kuwari gained another Al Attiyah duly broke his stage win by six seconds and own record of achieving a 15th reduced the defending cham- victory in Qatar and a record pion’s overall advantage to 1min breaking 77th MERC win in the 33.9sec. Al Saif set the fifth 218-event history of the series. quickest time and moved up to Baumel earned his 26th regional sixth at the expense of Al Aufi, rally victory on the 41st running but the loss of over 12 minutes of the Qatar event to overhaul pushed Al Thani down to 10th both Chris Patterson and Gio- overall. A fastest time enabled vanni Bernacchini in the Hall of Ahmed Allouh to snatch a 24.6- Fame. He now has his sights set second lead in the Qatar 2021 QATAR INTERNATIONAL RALLY – POSITIONS AFTER SS11 Qatar National Rally winners Khalid on Ronan Morgan’s record of 41 National Rally. 1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 1hr 50min 48.5sec Al Mohannadi and co-driver Kirill successes. Fourteen cars remained in 2. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QAT)/James Fulton (IRL) Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 1hr 52min 36.9sec Shubin celebrate. “Today we did a really good the main event as Al Attiyah 3. Khalid Al Suwaidi (QAT)/Hugo Magalhães (POR) Škoda Fabia R5 1hr 57min 16.9sec job,” said Al Attiyah. headed to the new stage at Ras 4. Nasser Khalifa Al Atya (QAT)/Georges Nader (LEB) Ford Fiesta R5 2hr 09min 41.6sec “Leg one was a nice fight Laffan in the north-east of Qatar. 5. Meshari Al Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (MERC 2) 2hr 17min 10.9sec between me and Kris (Meeke). A time of 11min 59.0sec enabled 6. Saleh Al Saif (SAU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4) 2hr 19min 45.2sec It was (becoming) a nice race but the Volkswagen Polo driver to 7. Rashid Al Mohannadi (QAT)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Subaru Impreza (MERC 2) 2hr 22min 31.3sec when Kris get out from the race regain 6.8 seconds of his over- 2021 QATAR NATIONAL RALLY – POSITIONS AFTER SS11 (UNOFFICIAL) it was an easy day for us today. night lead. Al Kuwari increased 1. Khalid Al Mohannadi (QAT)/Kirill Shubin (RUS) Polaris RXR 1000 (T3) 2hr 17min 42.6sec It was great to have some high his cushion over third-placed Al 2. Ahmed Allouh (QAT)/Firas Allouh (QAT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 26min 15.3sec level in the Qatar Rally. If you Suwaidi to 51.6 seconds, as 3. Ahmed Al Mohannadi (QAT)/Mubarak Al Khulaifi (QAT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 42min 24.3sec look this year we had seven R5s. crews returned to Losail for the It was an amazing race. Thanks mid-session regroup and to the QMMF. I hope to continue like a jigsaw puzzle and to try to and Oman’s Zakariya Al Aufi service. in this level for this champi- work it out is a challenge reached the finish in seventh Al Attiyah was 0.8 seconds onship and this year.” enough.” and eighth and Lebanon’s faster on his second pass Al Kuwari won three of the Nasser Khalifa Al Atya and Ahmad Khaled was ninth. Rally through Al Khor and 8.5 seconds second’s day’s six special stages Lebanese co-pilot Georges first timer Sheikh Suhaim Al clear of Al Kuwari to extend his in his Tok Sport Škoda Fabia R5 Nader gave the host nation a Thani retired his R5 Škoda lead to 1min 49.2sec. Al Thani and was pleased with the another driver inside the top before the last stage and missed was running near the rear of the runner-up spot after infrequent four and Kuwait’s Meshari Al out on a potential top 10 finish. field after his morning issues but rally appearances in recent Thefiri began the defence of his Oman’s Zakariya Al Amri Mohamed Al Attiyah retired at seasons. Khalid Al Suwaidi and MERC 2 title in impressive duly rounded off the top 10 and the midday halt and Shadi El his navigator Hugo Maghalães fashion by winning the Lebanon’s Henry Kahy clinched Fakih went OTL with electrical rounded off the podium places showroom category and fin- maximum points in the MERC 3 issues and a fuel pump failure. to make it a Qatari driver 1-2-3. ishing fifth overall in his Mit- category for two-wheel drive Al Attiyah shaved 1.1 seconds Any hope of seeing Al subishi Lancer Evolution X. vehicles after another measured cost Allouh his chance later on Al Kuwari. Both Ahmad Khaled off his morning’s sprint through Attiyah and visiting WRC star FIA T4 cars are permitted in drive in his Škoda Fabia 1.6 to and Khalid Al Mohannadi and Al Thani incurred one- the QMMF stage but he ceded Kris Meeke battling for stage gravel rounds of the series this take 11th place. secured the win by the margin minute time penalties after the the stage win to Al Kuwari. The wins on the final day fizzled out season and Saudi Arabia’s Saleh A furious three-way battle of 8min 32.7sec after problems Stewards’ meeting for route vio- top group held station and when the Ulsterman was unable Al Saif showed that the Can-Am waged for outright success in the for his rivals. Lebanon’s Jad Al lations, the latter losing a place headed to the final stage of the to restart after the team dis- Maverick X3 is a competitive Qatar National Rally between Aawar retired before the end of in the overall rankings. Meeke rally at Ras Laffan. covered engine damage on his package, setting a fifth fastest Ahmed and Khalid Al the morning’s loop. did not restart after the engine There were no late dramas SRT Škoda Fabia R5 that was stage time on the way to a Mohannadi and Ahmed Allouh. Yesterday, Al Attiyah headed damage caused to his car on the for Al Attiyah and the stage win sustained on stage five. superb sixth place. They each won a stage on the out into the remaining six stages fifth stage. confirmed the title for the 15th “Unfortunately no day two Qatar’s Rashid Al Mohannadi morning loop but time delays with a lead of 1min 40.6sec over Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi time, as Al Kuwari and Al for us,” said Meeke. Suwaidi rounded off the podium “On the last stage on Sat- places. Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah urday, quite close to the finish, This weekend’s event was and his navigator Matthieu there were some waves (bumps) held under the chairmanship of Baumel of France driving their and I was on a similar line to my QMMF President Abdulrahman Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. first pass in the morning. But the Al Mannai, senior committee car skipped and landed nose on member Abdulrazaq Al Kuwari the next dip. This damaged the and the QMMF’s Executive front bumper and took the water Director Amro Al Hamad. pipe off the radiator. That put an Action resumes in the FIA end to our rally. I really enjoyed Middle East Rally Championship the experience. It’s a different with the Oman International kind of rallying here. It’s a bit Rally at the end of February. Denmark edge Sweden to retain world handball crown Salah double powers REUTERS – CAIRO Liverpool to victory Denmark won their second REUTERS – LONDON successive men’s world handball championship after an Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah ended his Premier outstanding performance by League goal drought in style by scoring twice goalkeeper Niklas Landin helped as the champions raided the capital again to them to a pulsating 26-24 win crush West Ham United 3-1 yesterday.