SPORT SPORT | 18 SPORT | 19 Djokovic through Al Sadd's to last 16 as 'excellent start' bizarre delay to new season shrouds US open delights Xavi SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2020 Thompson-Herah headlines strong 100m field in Doha THE PENINSULAPENINSULA – DOHADOHA Thompson-Herah, the first woman Talou finished third in the 100m at Thompson-Herah’s season’s best of to win gold in the 100m and 200m at the the World Athletics Championships in 10.88 set in Kingston on August 8 is the DoubleDouble OlympicOlympic sprint chchampion Elaine same Olympics (Rio 2016) since Florence Doha, but was second in London 2017 - second fastest of the year to date. Thompson-Herah (Jamaica),(Jam Olympic Griffith Joyner achieved the feat in Seoul behind the dominant Schippers - in a She will race outside of Jamaica for silversilver medallist DafneDaf Schippers 1988, finished fourth in the 100m at the National Record (22.08). the first time in 2020 when she lines up (Netherlands)(Netherlands and multiple World Athletics Championships in Doha She was also runner-up in the 100m, in Doha. WorldWorld ChampionshipsCh in 2019. this time to the USA’s Tori Bowie, with Doha’s Qatar Sports Club will host medallistmedallis Marie-Josée Former heptathlete Schippers, world Schippers in third. the revised 12-event programme - the TaTa LouLou (Ivory Coast), champion over 200m in 2015 and 2017, Schippers will make her season’s fourth and final competitive meeting of willwill gogo head to head is the European record-holder (21.63) debut over 100m in Doha while Talou the truncated 2020 Wanda Diamond overover 100m at the and third-fastest woman of all time over will be looking to build on her Wanda League season - which includes sprint WandaWa Doha the distance. Diamond League performances in hurdles and 800m for both men and DiamondD She was runner-up to Thompson- Monaco and Stockholm where she fin- women; 100m, 3000m and long jump League on Herah over 200m in Rio and fifth in the ished fourth (11.39) and third (11.32) for women; and 200m, 400m, 1500m September 25. 100m. respectively. and pole vault for men. An official picks Qatar during the 1 minute 18.887 seconds draw ceremony yesterday. Hamilton smashes F1 lap record Egypt 2021: Qatar placed in Group C with Croatia, Japan Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton driving during practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, yesterday. THE PENINSULA – DOHA REUTERS – MONZA afternoon, with Racing Point’s Lewis track record with a 1:19.092 lap in Asian champions Qatar have been placed Sergio Perez fourth in his ‘Pink Hamilton the second -- only for Bottas to in Group C as the draw for the 2021 IHF Six-times world champion Lewis Mercedes’. produce a 1:18.952 effort. Men’s World Championship was held Hamilton smashed the Monza track Hamilton’s closest champi- The Finn was unable to improve yesterday at the Giza Pyramids Plateau record to take pole position for the onship rival Max Verstappen, 47 on that time in the surprisingly in Egypt. Italian Grand Prix with the fastest points behind after seven races, chaos-free final phase, his best a Qatar, who lap in Formula One history qualified for Red Bull in fifth place. 1:18.956, but Hamilton could and did played the yesterday. Another win for Hamilton on to pip him by 0.069. final of the While Mercedes soared, Ferrari Sunday would be his sixth in eight The previous track record, and event in 2015, slumped to further humiliation with races and career 90th -- one short fastest ever lap, of 1:19.119 (at an are bracketed neither of their cars starting their of former Ferrari great Michael average 263.587kph) was set by Kimi among home race in the top 10 for the first Schumacher’s all-time record. Raikkonen on his way to pole Croatia, Japan time since 1984. There will be no crowd at the position for Ferrari in 2018. and Angola. Hamilton’s lap was simply sen- most passionate and atmospheric “Fantastic performance from the The IHF Men’s sational, a prodigious one minute of venues on Sunday, due to team today and I think just in terms Handball 18.887 seconds at an average speed COVID-19 restrictions, which may of timing, when they put us out on World Cham- of 264.362kph to lead Finnish team be just as well for Ferrari as they track. It really demanded a clean lap pionship- mate Valtteri Bottas in another front endure their worst season in and I think I got that on both. Egypt will take row lockout. decades. “Valtteri was very very close, place from January 13 to 31. It was the 94th pole of Hamil- Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and pushing. I made some big changes Reigning champions Denmark are in ton’s stellar career, and his seventh Sebastian Vettel will line up 13th going into qualifying, so I was a little Group D along with Argentina, Bahrain, at the ‘Pista Magica’, and shattered and 17th respectively. bit nervous going in that it was the D R Congo in the 32-team event. the idea that a clampdown on so- “(It was) the best I can do,” said right thing to do but it worked just Al Anabi will undergo an extensive called engine ‘party modes’ would Leclerc over the team radio. fine.” Lando Norris qualified sixth preparation for the event and will also affect his team’s performance. Vettel, in his last Italian Grand “What a mess!,” exclaimed the for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo host four-nation Qatar International “No party. No problem,” said the Prix as a Ferrari driver with his four-times world champion, who seventh for Renault and Canadian Championship from December 25 to 29 team on its official Twitter feed. future uncertain, was caught out in took his first F1 win at Monza with Lance Stroll eighth for Racing Point. in build up for the IHF World Champi- McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, who is a messy first phase with drivers Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in Thai racer Alex Albon and onship. Qatar will also fly to Spain for a joining Ferrari next year, burnished jockeying for position in an attempt 2008. Frenchman Pierre Gasly completed short training camp in Spain in first week his credentials with an impressive to slipstream and gain an aerody- Hamilton was fastest in the the top 10 for Red Bull and Alpha- of January. third place on the grid on a sunny namic tow. opening session before breaking the Tauri respectively. Qatar has become a strong side under Spanish coach Valero Rivera Lopez. The Al Anabi qualified for the tournament Daniil Medvedev after winning the Asian Men’s Champi- of Russia returns onship 2020 - their fourth consecutive a shot during his Medvedev dismantles Wolf to continental title after their triumphs in Men’s Singles 2014, 2016, and 2018 editions. third round The 2021 edition will be the biggest match against storm into US Open fourth round event in term of participation as it will be JJ Wolf of the the first time that 32 teams will feature United States, REUTERS – NEW YORK his opponent and appeared totally in control in the competition. yesterday. as he fired off eight aces, including one to Russian Daniil Medvedev rolled through the close out the set. 27TH IHF WORLD US Open third round by demolishing Wolf handed Medvedev his first service CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW American JJ Wolf 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 yesterday. game loss of the tournament with a break The third seed seized the early in the second set, matching the hard-hitting GROUP A: Germany, Hungary, Uruguay, Cape-Verde momentum, breaking Wolf’s serve for a Russian’s power, but a flurry of unforced GROUP B: Spain, Tunisia, Brazil, Poland 3-2 lead in the first set in which errors - 41 in the match compared to 10 from GROUP C: Croatia, Qatar, Japan, Angola he committed just two Medvedev - proved his undoing. GROUP D: Denmark, Argentina, Bahrain, D R Congo unforced errors in a show of “I’m sure he’s going to be climbing up GROUP E: Norway, Austria, France, NACHC* near-flawless play. the rankings,” Medvedev said of his GROUP F: Portugal, Algeria, Iceland, Morocco, Russia’s 2019 US Open opponent Wolf. GROUP G: Sweden, Egypt, Czech Republic, SCAHC* runner-up won the first “I did everything I could for it to be tough GROUP H: Slovenia, Belarus, South Korea, Russia break point in the (for him),” the world No. 5 added. second set after a He next faces either Marton Fucsovics * NACHC : North America and Caribbean Handball pair of unforced of Hungary or Frances Tiafoe of the United Confederation errors from States in the fourth round. * SCAHC: South and Central America Handball Confederation 18 SPORT SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2020 Djokovic through to last 16 as bizarre delay shrouds US Open AFP — NEW YORK Croatia’s 27th seed Borna pip American number 19 Novak Djokovic celebrates Coric staged a remarkable seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, Novak Djokovic sailed into his win over Jan-Lennard Houdini act to stun fourth 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 Fritz, 22 the last 16 of the US Open on Struff of Germany. seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a was within two points of Friday as off-court intrigue 4hr 36min late-night thriller. victory before the 21-year- forced the delay of a men’s Coric appeared to be old Shapovalov completed Britain’s Mo Farah singles match over issues heading for certain defeat a remarkable comeback.