BASKETBALL | Page 6 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 11 Bryant goes Qalandars lose To Advertise here out a winner to Gladiators Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 in his fi nal in a last over All-Star Game thriller Wednesday, February 17, 2016 FOOTBALL Jumada I 8, 1437 AH Blatter tries to GULF TIMES reverse ban in FIFA appeal SPORT Page 2 SHOWJUMPING Emir’s Sword meet gets 5* status, international riders Global Champions Tour winner Luciana Diniz will be among the stars lining up at the three-day event starting Feb. 25 By Yash Mudgal at stake. Out of nine classes, seven are rank- Doha ing points’ classes and the Sword event is in the Category A so it has big ranking points at stake for those riders who are still hoping questrian is getting bigger and bet- for Rio qualifi cation.” ter every year in Qatar, and this He said the change in status of the cham- year’s HH The Emir’s Sword Inter- pionship will help the riders to get more national Show Jumping is not only mileage and will also boost the profi le of the Egoing to be an exceptional one but also event. highly competitive. World No 13 Brazilian-born Luciana Di- It is the fi rst time that the three-day niz of Portugal, who won Longines Global event, which will be held at the Al Rayyan Champions Tour last November in Qatar Main Arena from February 25-27, will have will lead the star-studded line up. Morocco international participants and ranking rider Abdelkebir Ouaddar, who is looking points will be awarded to individual riders. for his Olympic berth, is also taking part in “It will be an exceptional one,” Qatar the event. Equestrian Federation (QEF) president Ha- Asian Games gold medal winner Qatar mad bin Abdulrahman al-Attiyah told Gulf rider Ali al-Rumaihi, who is eyeing an Ol- Times yesterday. ympic medal, said: “When the Doha Tour Qatar’s equestrian team, comprising ends, we will head directly to Europe. We Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani, Ali al-Ru- will feature in the Longines Global Cham- maihi, Khalid al-Emadi and Bassem Hassan pions Tour. It is going to be a long and Mohamed, is among the fi rst to qualify for tough season. This (tour) will make us ready Rio 2016. Qatar won gold in the 2014 Asian for the Olympics because we will be rid- Games in Incheon but it was during the Fu- ing against the best ahead of the Olympic rusiyya 2015 Series in Abu Dhabi where the Games.” team secured their well-deserved qualify- ing spot for Rio – the fi rst time Qatar quali- fi ed for the Olympic equestrian competi- tion. With the team and the sport in the spot- light, the QR2.5 million event will be a CSI5* global event for the fi rst time. “We are very close to Olympics and our Rio-bound team will compete against world’s best riders taking part in the prestigious event, which will be held over three days for the first time,” al-Attiyah said. “Our team is very much geared up for the Rio Games. It’s still five months Al-Attiyah added: “We believe in win- away, but we are taking it as if it’s only ning. Our target is gold in Rio, but you never two months away.” know its sport; anything can happen. We The Qatar riders have a very busy sched- will be competing against world’s best rid- ule for the next couple of weeks. ers who have 20-30 years’ experience be- “Our riders are taking part in Nations hind them. Our riders are relatively young Cup in Al Ain this weekend and then they but we have confi dence in our ability.” will be here for Emir’s Sword, CHI Al On how they take care of horses, al- Shaqab and Doha Tour in March before go- Attiyah explained, “We have a good team ing to Europe where they will take part in a and good system in place. Trainers and horse show in Paris. They will then begin a riders manage the horses according to very competitive European tour. So they are their condition and utility. We make sure on the right track as far as preparations are that the horses do not get exhausted and concerned,” he said. we are selective about the events we par- Apart from these four Qatar riders, the ticipate in.” hosts will have a strong presence in the The qualifi ed Qatar team has no plan to championship with over 60 riders likely to take part in pre-games events in Rio. “We take part. will go from Europe and as of now we don’t The points awarded to individual riders have any pre-games events lined-up,” he could potentially earn them a ticket for this said. year’s Games in August. Entry for fans and spectators to the HH “For the fi rst time, the event is an inter- The Emir’s Sword International Show national fi ve star aff air with ranking points Jumping competition is free. Qatar’s show-jumping team of Sheikh Ali bin Khaled al-Thani, Khalid al-Emadi, Ali bin Yousuf al-Rumaihi and Bassem Mohamed celebrate after qualifying for Rio Olympics by winning the the Furusiyya 2015 Series in Abu Dhabi in February last year. Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, February 17, 2016 FOOTBALL FOCUS Arsenal defeat will not stall Leicester’s season’ Reuters Leicester off the top of the table, al- Arsenal are third in the Premier London though it did cut their lead to two League behind Tottenham Hotspur on Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Wes Morgan look dejected points. goal diff erence and face potentially de- aft er the game against Arsenal. (Reuetrs) Manager Claudio Ranieri gave the cisive fi xtures over the next few weeks. kipper Wes Morgan is confi dent players a week off to recharge their bat- They take on Championship (second- that Leicester City will leave be- teries before their next game against tier) side Hull City in the FA Cup on Sat- hind their dispiriting defeat by Norwich City on Feb. 27. urday followed by the fi rst leg of their Arsenal and get their Premier “We’ll have a little rest and take our Champions League last-16 tie against LeagueS title challenge back on track. minds off the game,” Morgan added. Barcelona in midweek and a Premier Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck scored a “It’s been a tough last three games so League trip to Manchester United the last-gasp winner at the Emirates Sta- we’ll have some time off from football, weekend after. dium on Sunday night to condemn and come back with a fresh mind raring “For Danny to go through a bad, in- Leicester to just their third league defeat to go. We’ll be back on it.” jured period where he kept believing in of the season and Morgan stressed that himself, when everyone maybe doubted the players would bounce back quickly. Mertesacker welcomes Welbeck him, it was a great chance for him to “It’s a disappointing result. To con- return at key juncture come in and show he was ready to give cede with the last kick of the game like Danny Welbeck’s return from a long everything for the team,” Mertesacker that and to come away with nothing injury layoff will give Arsenal a much- told the club’s website (www.arsenal. is hard to take,” the defender told the needed boost as they enter the business com). club’s website (www.lcfc.co.uk). end of the season, defender Per Merte- “We have long-term injuries, which “We’re the type of team to fi ght for sacker has said. gave us a bit of a struggle, especially in each other, have each other’s backs and Welbeck, sidelined since last April January, where we played in December do what’s necessary to try to help each with knee injuries, made his comeback and January with almost the same team. other out. against Leicester City on Sunday, grab- “We are happy to have Danny now “We’ll dust ourselves off and bounce bing an injury-time winner against the and a few others are not far away. We back against Norwich in our next game.” league leaders to keep Arsenal fi rmly in need our players—you could see that The defeat was not enough to knock the title race. makes a diff erence.” SPOTLIGHT COMMENT We need to win trophy to Blatter tries to reverse save season, says Rooney London ban in FIFA appeal Reuters anchester United need to ‘If I had anything to feel guilty about, I would be in Siberia, hiding in shame’ end their trophy drought by winning either the Europa League or the FA Cup and Mfi nish in the Premier League’s top four SEPP BLATTER this season to get the fans back on board, captain Wayne Rooney said. Knocked out of the Champions League and six points behind Manchester City at fourth in the Premier League, United face Danish side FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday before a trip to third-tier Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup. The club last won a trophy in 2012-13, when they romped to the Premier League title in Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge, and have struggled so far under manager Louis van Gaal. Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Sunderland led the Dutchman to all but rule out their chances of fi nishing in the Champions League positions.