17 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 sports Brave CF announces Yates steps out of Sky open workouts in UAE shadows to reign in Spain AFP | Madrid imon Yates stepped out of the shadows of British cycling giants Sky yester- S I was very day to secure his maiden Grand Tour triumph at the Tour of disappointed after Spain for his Mitchelton team. the Giro. It took a Yates, a former track racer long time to really whose road racing talents took get over that but him to the brink of victory in I came here with this year’s Giro d’Italia, all but Jarrah Al Selawe the first welterweight contender from the Middle East wrapped up overall victory renewed motivation, along with his coach on Saturday after yet another and I finally pulled strong finish on the final moun- it off TDT | Manama pion, Carlston Harris for the tain stage. SIMON YATES championship. In the co-main After a largely processional rave Combat Federation event, Elias Boudegzdame final stage to Madrid on Sun- ning streak came to an end in Bwill host the open work- from Algeria, will defend the day claimed by Elia Viviani in July, when teammate Geraint outs in Abu Dhabi at 06:00 featherweight championship a bunch sprint, the 26-year-old Thomas, who also honed his PM on 19th September at the against Bubba Jenkins from Englishman triumphed with skills on the track, upset the Primal Gym at Reem Island, the USA. a winning time of 82hr 5min Kenyan-born Briton to triumph Abu Dhabi. The event also features 58sec, Enric Mas finishing sec- at the Tour de France. The open workouts will be major superstars including ond overall at 1:46 and Miguel Yates’ win on Sunday meant held ahead of Brave 16 marking 10 times IBJJF legend, Bruno Angel Lopez completing the British riders have dominated the return of the event to Abu Malfacine, Team Lakay Fight podium. all three Grand Tours in 2018. Dhabi, UAE. Brave 16 is held Team from Philippines, Mo- “It’s a really unbelievable ex- He also took Britain’s impres- under the patronage of His hammad Fakhreddine from perience. You know I was even sive streak of consecutive Grand Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Lebanon and the undefeated nervous today coming into the Tour victories to five; although Hamad Al Khalifa. Mounir Lazzez. circuit. Anything could happen, it won’t be lost on British cy- The open workouts features The open workouts is aimed but now I finally pull it off, it’s Simon Yates cling aficionados that it was the the top fighters who are being to promote martial arts and the unbelievable,” said Yates. first British win outside of Team represented in the fight card message of adopting a healthy It was Yates’ first victory in On that occasion, Sky leader Spain in 2017. Sky. at Abu Dhabi. The open work- and disciplined lifestyle among a three-week race and comes Chris Froome capitalised on “I was very disappointed after Thanks to their multi-mil- outs will be followed by fan the youth. A total of 16 nations months after the stinging dis- Yates’ collapse in the mountains the Giro. It took a long time to lion pound budget and ability interaction and contests for will be represented in the 16th appointment of losing the Giro to secure the race’s pink jersey really get over that but I came to attract the best cyclists for the fans to take part. edition of the promotion soon d’Italia, having controlled the and seal his third consecutive here with renewed motivation, specific roles and races, Sky are The main event features to be hosted on 21st Septem- race for much of the opening Grand Tour after winning the and I finally pulled it off.” considered the ‘Real Madrid’ of Jarrah Al Selawe from Jordan ber at the Mubadala Arena in two weeks last May. Tour de France and Tour of Froome’s Grand Tour-win- the professional peloton. facing the welterweight cham- UAE. Nibali, Aru make provisional Italy team for cycling worlds Finch faces dilemma for Test debut AFP | Milan AFP | Sydney United Arab Emirates, raising cessfully for more than a dec- the dilemma of whether to stay ade, Australia’s T20 skipper and eteran Italian cycling ard-hitting Australian Aar- true to his natural style or tone one-day international deputy is Vstars Vincenzo Nibali and Hon Finch has been a dom- it down. inclined to simply do what he Fabio Aru have been selected inant opener in shorter forms He said yesterday it will de- does best -- score runs however for a provisional 12-man Italy of the game but admits he may pend where they want him to he can. team for the road race world have to curb his natural aggres- play. “After 10 or 12 years you build championships in Austria this sion if he makes his Test debut “Being aggressive has made up a game plan that works well month. against Pakistan. me reasonably successful in in- for you and it’s not about going Vincenzo NIbali The two all-rounders strug- The 31-year-old master-blast- ternational cricket in the two right away from that because gled during the Tour of Spain, zovivo, Gianluca Brambilla, er has played 135 times for his shorter formats so I suppose it it’s Test cricket or playing in the which ended on Sunday. Damiano Caruso and Gianni country in the one-day and depends where in the order they sub-continent,” he said. Former ‘Vuelta’ winner, Aru, Moscon, winner of the Italian Twenty20 formats, earning a see me fitting in if there is a spot “I think it’s about just chang- 28, crashed on the Spanish one-day race the Coppa Agos- reputation as one of the world’s for me in the XI,” he said. ing your mindset slightly.” stage race while 33-year-old toni at the weekend, who has fastest-scoring batsmen. “If it’s at the top, I think As well as his batting prowess, Nibali, who has won all the returned in form from his five- But the burly right-hander it’s about playing your natu - Finch brings vast experience to Grand Tours including the week suspension for violent has never played a Test. ral game, if it’s in the middle Aaron Finch a squad missing Steve Smith and Tour de France in 2014, has conduct during the Tour de This is likely to change next there’ll obviously be times you coach and captain over the next David Warner due to suspension struggled for form. France. The world champi- month after he was a surprise come in against a lot of spin and week or so and start nutting out over the South Africa ball-tam- The pair were selected onships are held in Innsbruck call-up for Australia’s two-Test the ball’s reversing. some plans.” pering scandal, and including alongside Domenico Poz - from September 22 to 30. series against Pakistan in the “So I’ll sit down with the But after plying his trade suc- four other debutants. Cibulkova to get first shot at US Open champ AFP | Tokyo it’s going to be packed and I hope for a good match.” ig-hitting Dominika Cibulkova Earlier, Spain’s former world num- Bwill get her first crack at newly ber one Garbine Muguruza breezed crowned US Open champion Naomi into second round, the sixth seed beat- Osaka after squeaking into the last ing Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 6-2, 16 of the Pan Pacific Open yesterday. 6-4. In other first-round matches, at Seef District too The beefy Slovak overcame the ef- Italian Camila Giorgi overpowered fects of jet-leg and pesky local qual- Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-1 while Esto- ifier Nao Hibino 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 to set nia’s Anett Kontaveit floored French- up a potential slug-fest with Osaka woman Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 7-6. in her first match since becoming Naomi Osaka Australia’s Daria Gavrilova will Japan’s first-ever grand slam singles need a lengthy ice bath after a mar- champion. Osaka),” said Cibulkova after a sur- athon 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 victory over Czech “I’m still fighting with jet-leg but prisingly tough first match in Tokyo. Kristyna Pliskova that went to 10-8 in Um al Hassan +973 17728699 Seef District +973 17364999 it’s going to be a tough match (against “She has just won a major so I hope the third-set breaker..