TENNIS | Page 5 GGOLFOLF | Page 6 New-look ‘Not ready’ Novak gives Tiger Woods To Advertise here up on Fed postpones Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 Slams record comeback Wednesday, October 12, 2016 CRICKET Muharram 11, 1438 AH Ashwin leads GULF TIMES India’s whitewash of New Zealand SPORT Page 9 SPOTLIGHT Qatar beat Syria to clinch fi rst points in WC qualifi ers Al-Haydos penalty in the 37th minute brought to an end to the run of three consecutive Group A defeats for Qatar Qatar’s coach Jorge Fossati (right) and his Syrian counterpart Ayman al-Hakeem greet each other before the start of the match. By Joe Koraith Youngster Akram Afi f, Ibrahim Majed Doha (made captain for this match) and Ali Asadalla were brought in while Rodrigo Tabata, Abdelkarim Hassan and Ahmed e have lift off ! Qatar fi nal- Mohamed al-Sayed were on the bench. ly scored the fi rst points The home team knew that they would of their 2018 World Cup have to deal with the stubborn defence qualifying campaign when that Syria would put up, but it was the Wthey defeated Syria 1-0 yesterday. Syrians who started the match with an Midfi elder Hassan al-Haydous attacking intent. scored from the spot in the 37th minute They were constantly able to cre- and what a valuable goal that proved to ate pressure on the Qatar defence. The Qatar’s Hassan al-Haydos (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the 2018 Russia World Cup qualifying match against Syria at the be for the hosts. hosts were not being allowed any time Al Sadd stadium last night. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil Before the start of the match, Qa- to settle down and this seemed to dis- tar, having played three matches, were rupt their rhythm. Fossati’s boys were weak and was easily cleared. scored one in the 85th minute. Mah- languishing at the bottom of the stand- looking sketchy and unlikely to score a The second half began with the Qa- moud Almawas let loose a curler that RESULTS ings. A close 2-3 loss to 10-man South goal. tar team again on the attack. They were tipped in towards the top right corner Korea had not done much to change the But then in the 35th minute, Qatar’s creating chances but were also missing but al-Sheeb produced an acrobatic Group A: Uzbekistan 2 (Bikmaev 50, Group B: Australia 1 (Jedinak 52-pen) opinion that Qatar’s chances of quali- workhorse al-Haydous danced his way close ones. Afi f provided a well-timed one-handed save to deny Syria and Shukurov 85) China 0; Iran 1 (S. Azmoun Japan 1 (Haraguchi 5) fying for the Russia World Cup were into the Syria box where he was fouled through pass for Soria but the striker keep Qatar’s qualifying hopes alive. 25) South Korea 0; Qatar 1 (Al-Haydos Iraq 4 (Abdulraheem 7, 25, 87, 90+4) fading fast. by Zaher Medane. The referee had no missed again. And in the end Qatar, despite missing 37) Syria 0 Thailand 0 They had to deliver against Syria – a hesitation in pointing to the spot and In the 68th minute al-Haydous at- those clear chances, were able to hold team that had defeated China in their the midfi elder fi red the ball in, into the tempted a lob after being released by out for a win and happily grab the three previous match. And while it wasn’t the bottom left hand corner to give his team Asadalla with a perfectly-placed pass points. This win will defi nitely give a lot POINTS TABLE best of performances from Qatar, they the lead. but the midfi elder’s lob was palmed off of confi dence to Fossati’s boys. They were able to ride on that penalty strike The goal relieved the pressure that by Syria keeper Ibrahim Alma. play China next on November 15 and GROUP A GROUP B from al-Haydous and give the support- the players seemed to be playing with Qatar enjoyed a brief period of domi- with Syria playing table toppers Iran, Teams P W D L PTS Teams P W D L PTS ers at the Al Sadd stadium a lot to cheer and the home team started to play with nance but the gritty Syrians team were the Maroons have a great chance to IRAN 4 3 1 0 10 AUSTRALIA 4 2 2 0 8 about. more confi dence. Sebastian Soria had a threatening with regular counter at- move to fourth in the standings. UZBEKISTAN 4 3 0 1 9 JAPAN 4 2 1 1 7 This win moves Qatar to fi fth in great chance to double the lead towards tacks. And they dialed up the pressure The screams of delight that Fos- KOREA 4 2 1 1 7 SAUDI ARABIA 3 2 1 0 7 the table, after China lost 0-3 to Uz- the end of the fi rst half. Syria’s Ahmad towards the end of the match. sati let out as the fi nal whistle sounded, SYRIA 4 1 1 2 4 UAE 3 2 0 1 6 bekistan earlier in the day. Qatar coach al-Saleh failed to clear the ball and The home team’s defence were tested showed how much this win meant to QATAR 4 1 0 3 3 IRAQ 4 1 0 3 3 Jorge Fossati made three changes to his Soria was able to rob the defender and to the hilt as the visitors tried desper- him and his team. Now to ride this mo- CHINA 4 0 1 3 1 THAILAND 4 0 0 4 0 starting line-up for yesterday’s match. shoot towards the goal but it was too ately to fi nd the equaliser. And they also mentum and register more wins. ASIAN QUALIFIERS ROUND-UP Uzbekistan outclass China to take charge of group AFP with only a point to show for their eff orts so far. Uzbekistan could have boosted their tally in The frustrated Koreans couldn’t even man- Sainsbury gave away possession and Keisuke Doha The Central Asians, who have never featured injury time only for Jaloliddin Masharipov’s age a decent shot at goal and the result leaves Honda released Haraguchi to advance on the in the quadrennial sporting showpiece, raised shot to ricochet off the post, but the hosts were them with plenty of food for thought before Australian goal. Haraguchi slid the ball through their game in the second half and opened their not complaining as they established themselves tackling Uzbekistan next month. the legs of the advancing Matt Ryan to give the hina’s bid to qualify for the 2018 World account through Bikmaev in the 50th minute, as genuine contenders for a Russia 2018 spot. Earlier in Melbourne, Australia came from Blue Samurai the shock early lead. But Australia Cup suff ered a crushing blow after they the Lokomotiv Tashkent forward blasting the Iran claimed a sombre 1-0 win over South behind through a Mile Jedinak penalty to grab grabbed a lifeline shortly after the resumption were outclassed 2-0 by Uzbekistan in a ball home after playmaker Eldor Shomurodov Korea to jump to the top of Group A. Iran’s de- a 1-1 draw against Japan to remain unbeaten when Haraguchi brought down Tomi Juric for crucial Group A Asian qualifi er yester- had split the Chinese defence with a brilliant fensive minded approach in the qualifi ers has in Group B. The Blue Samurai rocked the Soc- a penalty which skipper Jedinak rammed home Cday. The Chinese, who have invested heavily in pass. The Uzbeks dictated the game thereon worked wonders and they have not conceded a ceroos with a fi fth-minute goal from midfi elder to equalise. Also in Group B, Iraq notched their football and also plan to bid for the 2030 World and came close to scoring again moments lat- single goal in four matches. Genki Haraguchi but skipper Jedinak retrieved a fi rst win, 4-0 over Thailand, with Mohannad Cup, came apart in Tashkent with Uzbekistan er, but Igor Sergeev’s shot crashed back off the After a couple of unsuccessful forays by Iran, point in a tense game with his spot kick. Abdulraheem stealing the show by scoring all scoring twice in the second half through Marat post. But with fi ve minutes remaining, the hosts the Korean goal fell in the 25th minute when “We regrouped at halftime and we were told four goals. Abdulraheem struck twice in each Bikaev and Otabek Shukurov. wrapped up their much deserved three points Ramin Rezaein found himself left with space to have a reaction. There looked like only one half against the hapless Thais but having suf- Yesterday’s victory put the Uzbeks in com- after substitute Shukurov’s speculative eff ort behind defender Oh Jae-suk before fi ring in a team winning the game, it was unfortunate we fered defeats against Japan, Australia and Saudi mand of their group with three wins from four took a lucky defl ection off Zhang Chengdong low ball towards Sardar Azmoun and the Rostov didn’t get that second goal,” said Jedinak. Arabia earlier, the Iraqis will need a miracle to matches, while China languish in fi fth place and rolled into the net. forward scored with his fi rst-time eff ort. Japan struck early after defender Trent make it to Russia. Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, October 12, 2016 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT PREMIER LEAGUE Wijnaldum a FIFA chief Infantino’s major doubt for Red’s United clash grand World Cup Andy Hunter and Nathaniel Clyne also suf- The Guardian fered injuries at Swansea but will be fi t for Monday.