RRUGBYUGBY | Page 4 CCOMMENTOMMENT | Page 7 Springboks Racists out celebrate win of tune with at legendary changing Mandela site world: Archer Tuesday, November 12, 2019 FOOTBALL Rabia I 15, 1441 AH Ronaldo’s fi tness GULF TIMES and attitude both under the spotlight SPORT Page 3 WORLD SQUASH Momen survives al-Tamimi scare to book spot in last 8 ‘I was 6-3 up, I had my chances. I think I am playing better squash at the moment. I had a couple of good results’ James Willstrop of Abdulla al-Tamimi England plays a shot eyes a shot against against Karim Abdel Tarek Momen during Gawad of Egypt. their third round clash yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma did today. He far exceeded my expecta- and with a rest day, that is quite posi- tions, and played unbelievable squash. tive. It is a fabulous prospect, and I just had to grind it out,” Momen said hopefully I can recover well and do jus- after the match. tice on Wednesday,” added Willstrop While Momen got through, two Willstrop will face German fi fth other Egyptians were sent packing, seed Simon Rosner, who beat 11th seed with Peruvian world number 7 Diego Makin in the shortest match of the day Elias beating Fares Dessouky 3-1 (10- at 47 minutes, in the quarterfi nals to- 12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4), and former world morrow, while Momen faces Elias. number 1 James Willstrop producing Today, the ElShorbagy brothers — a thriller against world number 4 and top seed Mohamed and ninth seed 2016 champion Karim Abdel Gawad in Marwan — are in action in their third a 3-1 (11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10) victory. round matches against Ghosal and A very physical game had the audi- Mohamed Abouelghar respectively, ence at the edge of their seats. With and so is the top non-Egyptian ranked very little to separate the two players, player in the world — Paul Coll of New the referees (court and video) were put Zealand — against 12th seed Omar By Mikhil Bhat “Of course I am disappointed about Tamimi who hit the fi rst serve of the that changed the course of the game. in the spot, even as the rallies were set- Mosaad. Doha the match. I had my chances. The match out, and Momen took his op- After the Qatari hit the court taped up, ting the hearts racing. fourth game I think I had my chance, I portunities well to close it out in eight he often was seen clutching the back of “I am absolutely thrilled. It is hard to RESULTS (Round III) was playing really well, I had my mo- minutes. his right leg and grimacing. say because I am on a rush of adrena- 2-Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Abdulla Mo- or the second straight month, mentum,” world number 47 said after In the second, however, al-Tamimi Momen closed that one out, and the line, particularly in these conditions hamed al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-2: 11-5, 10-12, Egyptian world number three the match. always stayed within striking distance, fi fth was pretty much one-way. where it is shootout squash. The in- 9-11, 11-9, 11-4 (76m) Tarek Momen was pushed be- “Unfortunately I had to stop be- even as Momen managed to level the The 31-year-old from Cairo was all tensity is cranked up and you haven’t 6-Diego Elias (PER) bt 13-Fares Des- yond his wits and into a thrill- cause of the bleeding, and that kind scores at 10-10. However, the 24-year- praise for his young opponent, who got any time to settle,” said 2010 World souky (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 Fing fi ve-setter by Qatar number one of stopped the momentum. And he is old from Qatar, was clinical in cutting had impressed with wins over world Championships fi nalist Willstrop, who (56m) Abdulla Mohamed al-Tamimi. really experienced. So he knew exactly the pace off the next two balls to leave number 14 Gregoire Marche of France, had very dear friend and 10th seed 5-Simon Rosner (GER) bt 11-Joel Makin And while the results may show what to do. He was warming the ball, Momen reeling, even as he pumped and world number 28 Mathieu Castag- Saurav Ghosal in his corner. (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (47m) Momen having won both the matches, so much that the ball was fl ying again. fi sts and got the crowd going. net, also of France, for his place in the “His engine at the minute is strong, James Willstrop (ENG) bt 3-Karim by his own admission, he “thought I “I couldn’t really play the way I was Down 4-7 in the third, al-Tamimi last 16 match. so he is match fi t and sharp, much Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, was going to make an exit today”. playing before that. I was 6-3 up, I had then won fi ve straight points in front “I can’t believe I am making this more probably than I am. Just be- 12-10 (71m) Al-Tamimi’s campaign at PSA Men’s my chances. I think I am playing better of a roaring crowd that had vocifer- speech now. I really thought I was cause of the amount of matches he has World Squash Championship at home squash at the moment. I had a couple ous support for both the players. While going to make an exit today. I had a played, but then I have the advantage Today’s schedule (Round III) was halted in heart-breaking circum- of good results. Momen levelled it, al-Tamimi closed tough loss last week (to Welshman Joel of being fresher. At 10-10, I knew it 3pm: 14-Zahed Salem (EGY) v 8-Miguel stances after an injury and bleeding on “Second time in a month to take it out at 11-9 mixing up the pace well, Makin) in Cairo and the circumstances was a chance, because the momentum Rodriguez (COL) his hand towards the end of the fourth Tarek, number 3 in the world, to fi ve and a bad pick up by Momen handing looked very similar on court today. would have gone with him in the fi fth. 4pm: 7-Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v game hampered his momentum with games, and to have chances to win both his opponent the 2-1 lead. “I was basically being outplayed. He played a blinding three minutes of 9-Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) the last year’s fi nalist pouncing on the the matches, that only gives me posi- Fourth is where al-Tamimi had his In the third and the fourth, he was on squash at that point, but I just had to 5pm: 4-Paul Coll (NZL) v 12-Omar opportunity to close out the game and tive vibe for the next tournament and rival tottering with a 6-3 lead. While fi re, everything was just going in. He try and take the right shot at the right Mosaad (EGY) then the decider, winning 3-2 (11-5, 10- the rest of the season 2020.” Momen came right back into the game, did what he did in the US and I had not time. 6pm: 10-Saurav Ghosal (IND) v 1-Mo- 12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4). It started in ominous fashion for al- it was a blood injury while leading 8-7 thought he could double that, but he “To be here (in the quarterfi nals), hamed ElShorbagy (EGY) AL THUMAMA STADIUM TAKING SHAPE Al Thumama Stadium is starting to take shape, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy has said in a post on its Road to 2022 Twitter page. The 40,000-seat stadium is one of the venues of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, November 12, 2019 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT Sanchez names Qatar squad for Afghanistan match By Sports Reporter Doha oach Felix Sanchez has an- nounced the Qatar squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint Cqualifying match against Afghanistan, which will be held in Tajikistan on No- vember 19. Qatar have already played three joint qualifying matches against Afghani- stan (won 6-0), India (0-0 draw) and Bangladesh (won 2-0) since September. Al Annabi will also use the match against Afghanistan to gauge player fi t- ness and form for the 24th Gulf Cup to be held in Doha from November 27 to December 9. They are also scheduled take on Singapore in a friendly match this Thursday at home. Qatar’s goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb trains at the Aspire Zone yesterday. Meanwhile, Sanchez, who also dou- bles up as Qatar’s U-23 coach, named a QATAR SQUAD Fateh Mohamed, Fahad Ali, Yusuf Ab- 31-man squad for the AFC U-23 Cham- Saad al-Sheeb, Pedro Miguel, Salem dulrazzaq, Musab Kamal, Yusuf Hassan pionship, which will be held in Thai- al-Hajri, Tariq Salman Suleiman, Bualem Mohamed, Almehdi Ali, Ahmed Alaud- land from January 8-26 next year. Khoukhi, Hassan Khaled al-Haydos, din, Moeed Hassan, Abdulaziz Hatem, The Olympic team qualifi ed for the Akram Hassan Afif, Bassam al-Rawi, Fahad Younus, Abdulrehman Mohamed, AFC U-23 Championship winning the Almoez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, Mohamed Abdullah Abdulsalam, Ahmed Moeen qualifying event in Doha. They had Musa Abbasi, Ali Hassan Afif, Ismail and Mohamed Bakari played out a draw with Oman 2-2, beat Mohamed, Mohamed Muntari, Ahmed Coach: Felix Sanchez Afghanistan 2-0 and Nepal 5-0.