CCYCLINGYCLING | Page 3 FOOTBALL | Page 7 France’s Mourinho Cosnefroy showers praise claims on ‘happy’ Under-23 gold Martial Saturday, September 23, 2017 TENNIS Muharram 3, 1439 AH Merciless Muguruza GULF TIMES powers into Tokyo semi-finals SPORT Page 2 QNB STARS LEAGUE Al Rayyan stay unbeaten; close wins for Sadd, Qatar SC Rayyan beat Kharaitiyat for their second straight win; Sadd post 3-2 victory over Sailiya; Qatar SC register first points Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata celebrates a goal with his teammates during the match against Al Kharaitiyat yesterday. PICTURE: Othman Iraqi Action from the QNB Stars League match between Al Sadd (in white) and Al Sailiya (in blue and black) yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma Qatar SC players celebrate a goal against Al Markhiya. PICTURE: Nasar TK By Sports Reporter that was defl ected off the wall past an area, Hamdullah was able to play the the outset with both sides coming close started to assert their dominance on the QATAR SC PICK UP FIRST WIN Doha outstretched goalkeeper, for the Rayyan ball across the goalkeeper to Soria who but it was Al Sailiya who opened the game. They were duly rewarded in the At Al Duhail Stadium, Qatar SC regis- captain’s third goal of the season. tapped in from close range to kill the scoring off a corner. The ball dropped 64th minute when Hamroun, beating tered their fi rst win in the QNB Stars The Lions were quickly able to dou- game off . loose to Abdulkarim al-Ali who drilled the off side trap just inside opposition League with a 1-0 win over Al Markhiya. l Rayyan’s perfect start to ble their advantage when Hamdullah The Thunders will take heart from the ball through the Al Sadd defence. territory, broke into the penalty area The game started with both teams the season continued at the won the ball in the centre of the park their second half performance but head Moments later parity was restored as and played the ball back to Khouki, who sharing the possession of the ball, but Al Khor stadium as Michael before spreading it out wide to Mouta- coach Ahmad al-Ajlani knows that their Xavi rose to convert a free header follow- was on hand to record his fi rst goal of the deadlock was fi nally broken in the Laudrup’s side came up ouali who played a superbly weighted next fi xture against Al Khor holds extra ing some smart attacking play down the the season for the Wolves. 23rd minute with a great eff ort from the Aagainst an Al Kharaitiyat eventually ball into the area, which was met by Se- importance. Meanwhile Al Rayyan will left hand side by Jugurtha Hamroun. Al Sailiya were off ered a lifeline on Kings midfi elder Michael Babatunde. running out 3-1 winners. bastian Soria to poke home. go forward in the knowledge that their Not long after Al Sadd had a goal dis- 83 minutes as Al Sadd ‘keeper, Saad al- The Nigerian cut in from the wing and With an energetic looking forward Al Kharaitiyat started the second exciting attack will cause problems for allowed for off side, Hamroun narrowly Dosari failed to hold onto a shot before scored with a powerful low shot from line Al Rayyan were straight into action half with renewed vigour and, after any defence in the QNB Stars League. beat the off side trap to bear down on bringing down the oncoming player. 23 yards. with shots from Moutaouali, Viera and a couple of early chances, they were goal and fi re the ball past Al Sailiya’s Temurkhuja Abdulkhoikov stepped up The results leaves Al Markhiya bot- Abdulrazaq Hamdullah being denied by awarded a penalty on 62 as Tiberka- AL SADD WIN goalkeeper. With Al Sadd now in con- to take the penalty and struck it low tom of the QNB Starts League and still the Kharaitiyat keeper Saeed Monfared. nine was impeded. Moroccan Mid- Looking to improve on last week’s per- trol they were awarded a penalty before into the corner beyond the Al Sadd searching for their fi rst win of the 2017- The deadlock was fi nally broken in fi elder Diba stepped up and confi dently formance, Al Sadd ran out 3-2 winners the break. However, Hassan al-Haydos No.1. Deep into injury time The Per- 18 campaign. Meanwhile Qatar SC con- the 21st minute after Al Rayyan won a scored to bring the game back to life but of the contest against Al Sailiya at the saw his strike saved by the watchful egrines thought they had secured a dra- tinued their impressive start to the cam- free kick 30 yards out. Captain Rodrigo Al Rayyan soon restored their advan- Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium. Abdraman Aziz. matic equaliser but the goal was ruled paign and will go into their next fi xture Tabata stepped up and drilled a free kick tage. Following some neat play in the The game was full of chances from Into the second half and Al Sadd out for off side. against Al Arabi full of confi dence. ASIAN INDOOR AND MARTIAL ARTS GAMES Al Arabi in Arab Qatar stay unbeaten in 3x3 basketball, reach snooker quarters handball fi nal QNA Agencies tournament.” Aziz Dordiev, before Ali al-Obaidli beat resented by Faleh al-Ajami, Hamad bin Oujda, Morocco Ashgabat, Turkmenistan If Qatar are the side to beat in the Ibrahim Sedanzov. Ali al-Attiyah and Salman al-Emadi. men’s tournament, the Uzbeks seem Saif then teamed up with Khamis al- In the chess competition, Qatar’s to be an emerging force in the women’s Obaidli to beat the Dordiev-Sedanzov Husein Aziz Nezad fi nished the day l Arabi beat Al Safa of atar stole the show on the last game at the event. combing for a 3-0 victory. with two draws, against Mohall Abdul- Saudi Arabia 29-27 to day of the 3x3 Basketball Pre- The last of the team to take the stage Qatar will now meet Thailand in the lah al-Rakib of Bangladesh and Parham Aqualify for the final liminary Round yesterday. at the Games, Uzbekistan eased to vic- quarter-fi nals today. Maghsoodloo of Iran. match of the 33rd Arab Hand- The Qatari men, the 2014 tories over the Cook Islands (21-10) and In the swimming competition, 50 In the fi rst game of the day, Moham- ball Championship being held QFIBA 3x3 World Cup winners, are big Jordan (17-12) in one hour, giving them meters freestyle swimmer Abdul- ed al-Sayed shared points with Jasem in the Moroccan city of Oujda. favourites to win gold. On Day 5 they fi rst place in Pool C and the prize of a lah Abu-Ghazaleh ranked 24th in the al-Huwar of the UAE. Al-Sayed picked The final match will pit Al Arabi overwhelmed Afghanistan 22-8 and quarter-fi nal tie with Indonesia. overall standings, while teammate Firas up a point against Eugenio Torre of the against Tunisia’s CS Sakiet Ez- Jordan 21-9 to take fi rst place in Pool C The action at 3x3 Basketball Arena Saidi was 27th in the heats. Philippines later in the evening. zit, who edged past Al Khor in with a perfect 3-0 record and advance Qatar’s Erfan Saeed celebrates a point continues today with eight quarter-fi - In the 100m breaststroke heats, After registering two wins on the the semi-finals. to a quarter-fi nal against Turkmeni- during a 3x3 basketball game in Ashgabat. nals to decide the teams that will battle Nasser Yaser and Abdulrahman Hisham fi rst day, Zhu Chen suff ered two defeats Al Arabi’s road to the finals stan. for medals. were 22nd and 23rd respectively. yesterday. saw them defeating Al Safa, It will be a rematch of the Islamic have the support of their fans,” Qatar’s In the 200 individual medley heats, Olympic Council of Asia president Al Khor, Mouloudia Oujda and Solidarity Games semi-fi nal this year Tanguy Ngombo said of the Turkmen. QATAR SNOOKER TEAM REACHES Hisham fi nished 13th in the qualifi ers, Sheikh Ahmed al-Fahad al-Sabah met Widad Smara while losing only in Baku, Azerbaijan. In that game Qatar Teammate Nedim Muslic, after the QUARTERS while Abdulaziz al-Obaidli was 15th. with the Qatari delegation on the side- one game, against defending cruised to a 21-14 win over Turkmeni- win over Afghanistan, had said, “There Elsewhere in Ashgabat, Qatari snooker The Equestrian competitions will lines of the Asian Indoor and Martial champions CS Sakiet Ezzit. stan before losing the fi nal 13-9 to the are many people who consider us fa- team advanced to the quarter-fi nals continue today, with Qatari riders aim- Arts Games. The delegation comprises Al Khor had qualified for the host team. vourites. I believe that we have the best after beating hosts Turkmenistan yes- ing for glory in the individual events, Qatar Olympic Committee deputy sec- semis after beating Mouloudia “Now it will probably be another team here, but we have to prove it in terday. after having picked up a silver in the retary general Jassim al-Buainain, and Oujda and Widad Smara. story, because they play at home and three more games until the end of the In the fi rst game, Ahmad Saif beat team event on Thursday. Qatar is rep- Sports Aff airs director Khalil al-Jaber. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, September 23, 2017 SPORT TENNIS GOLF Stanley leads Tour Muguruza powers Championship, into semi-fi nals Spieth in the wings AFP tournament, he wins the FedEx Cup, Atlanta something he did in 2015.