CRICKET | Page 5 TENNIS | Page 11 Not just Djokovic To Advertise here Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 drummers in downs Goffi n Windies band, to reach says Simmons Miami fi nal Saturday, April 2, 2016 FOOTBALL Jumada II 24, 1437 AH Barcelona honour GULF TIMES Cruyff as Real Madrid seek redemption SPORT Page 3 QATAR STARS LEAGUE Wakrah out of danger zone aft er shocking Lekhwiya El Jaish held by Qatar Sports Club, Champions Rayyan shocked by Al Gharafa By Sports Reporter Doha l Wakrah staved off relega- tion in the Qatar Stars League with a 2-0 upset victory over Lekhwiya yesterday evening. AGoals at the end of each half from Mouhcine Moutouali and Mahir Yousef gave the Blue Waves a much-needed win despite Lekhwiya enjoying an as- tounding 62% of possession in the match. The four-time champions were, however, wasteful in front of the goal, missing several chances that came their way. Al Wakrah opened the scoring in the 37th minute, courtesy of Moutouali. A bulldozing run from the impressive Yousef pushed the Lekhwiya defence back. At the second time of asking, Yousef slipped the ball to the Moroc- can midfi elder who calmly curled the ball past Lekhwiya keeper Ivanildo Ro- drigues. In the second half, Lekhwiya came out with renewed vigor, and had two headed chances that should have found the back of the net — fi rst from Span- ish defender Chico Flores and the sec- ond from striker Alain Dioko, whose fl icked header frustratingly trickled Top: Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi out of play. watches his team battle it out against Lekhwiya continued to push and Al Wakrah (R). At left, Al Rayyan’s brought on midfi elders Karim Boudiaf Rodrigo Tabata attempts to get and Nam Tae Hee. It didn’t take them past a host of Al Gharafa players. long to open Wakrah up with an intri- cate passing move but unfortunately the bottom right hand side of the goal Alain Dioko fl uff ed his lines at the vital to give Mauricio Larriera’s side the vi- al-Rabiei on target. Emiliano Vechio’s SC box in the eighty sixth minute. moment. tal three points. perfectly delivered corner kick found The match ended in a 1-1 draw and Wakrah were without striker Se- Meanwhile, second-placed El Jaish Rabei in a crowded box and the Qatari this means Qatar SC are still in the bastian Saez through injury, but had and relegation threatened Qatar Sports defender made no mistake as he headed drop zone level on points with twelfth an able replacement in the form of Club played out a 1-1 draw at the Le- the ball straight past Khalifa Abubakar. placed Al Kharaitiyat, but behind on Yousef who put in a man-of-the- khwiya Stadium. Abderrazak Hamdallah equalised goal diff erence. El Jaish remain in sec- match performance for his side. After The fi rst half was a cagey aff air with for El Jaish from a spot kick in the 68th ond spot with forty-four points from being pinned back for the majority of both goalkeepers producing some fi ne minute. The Moroccan calmly slotted twenty-four games. the second half, Wakrah sprung on the saves to keep their teams in the game. home the penalty which brings his sea- Meanwhile, in a late match, champi- break to deliver a second goal and guar- Qatar SC had the majority of chances son tally to seventeen goals. The pen- ons Al Rayyan fell to a 2-1 defeat to Al antee all three points. in the fi rst half but El Jaish stopper alty came after Hamdallah was brought Gharafa. A fi ne run in the 84th minute from Khalifa Abubakar produced some vital down in the box by Qatar SC’s defender For Al Rayyan, who won the touna- Moutouali pulled in the Lekhwiya de- blocks to keep his side in the tie. and goal-scorer, Mohammed al-Rabiei ment with several games to spare, it fence, and a pass to the unmarked In the fi nal play of the fi rst half, the Jassim al-Mullah got himself a red was only their third defeat in 24 QSL Yousef saw him calmly slot the ball into Kings took the lead with Mohammed card for a rash challenge in the Qatar matches. CRICKET Dhoni laughs off retirement talk aft er T20 exit AFP The light-hearted exchange dre Charles, went on to smash a balls, other than that we tried our Mumbai came at the end of a painful loss match-winning 82 off 51 balls. best,” he said. for the wicketkeeper-batsman’s If Simmons and the West In- “Luck is a factor defi nitely but team who had been red-hot fa- dies rode their luck, Dhoni was at the end of the day you have to ndia captain Mahendra vourites to win the trophy on left to curse his bad fortune play good cricket. There’s none Singh Dhoni laughed off home soil. which began when he lost a cru- of the tournaments we have talk of retirement as he put a After India had scored a cial toss and was made to bat won was because of good luck. brave face on the devastating slightly below-par total of 192 for fi rst. There’s nothing called good luck, IWorld Twenty20 semi-fi nal loss two in their 20 overs, the West “The diff erence between the you have to execute your plans to the West Indies. Indies’ run chase got off to a ter- fi rst innings and the second in- well.” The hosts came into the tour- rible start when Chris Gayle was nings when it comes to the sur- Before the match, West Indies’ nament with sky-high confi - bowled for just fi ve. face was too much,” said Dhoni skipper Darren Sammy had said dence but also widespread spec- But fi rst Johnson Charles and as he spoke about his bowlers’ the semi-fi nal was a “David and ulation that it could be the last then Lendl Simmons and Andre struggles. Goliath” encounter, with more international outing for Dhoni, Russell started thrashing the In- “In the fi rst innings you will than a billion Indians willing 34. dian bowlers around the ground have seen there was a bit of as- their team to win. But after India’s stunning de- India’s Virat as they struggled to make the ball sistance for the spinners, it was Victory in the tournament feat by seven wickets, it was left Kohli and grip in heavy dew. gripping a bit, but there was would have been the icing on the to an Australian journalist to put skipper M S Their cause was not helped nothing much in the second in- cake for Dhoni who also skip- the burning question to Dhoni at Dhoni pictured by the agony of seeing Simmons nings.” pered India to victory on home Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. after the defeat twice dismissed only to be re- Although India’s star batsman soil in the 2011 World Cup and in Dhoni then asked the some- on Thursday. prieved both times when slow Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten the inaugural World T20 in South what stunned Sam Ferris of the motion replays showed that 89, Dhoni acknowledged that Africa in 2007. cricket.com.au website onto the he said. “Do you think I am unfi t, indeed looked more than capable “I wished it was an Indian Ravichandran Ashwin and then they were about 10 runs short in Kohli has already replaced him dais, put his arm around him, looking at my running? Do you of staying in shape until the next media guy because I would have Hardik Pandya had overstepped. their innings but refused to criti- as Test captain but Dhoni, who is and turned the tables by becom- think I can survive until the 2019 50-over World Cup, a laughing asked him if he had a son old Simmons, playing in his fi rst cise his players. India’s most successful captain, ing the interviewer. World Cup?” Dhoni then responded: “Then enough, and a wicketkeeper, to match of the tournament as a “The only thing I am disap- remains a popular fi gure in the “Do you want me to retire?” When Ferris replied that Dhoni you have answered the question.” play!” he said. late call-up for the injured An- pointed about is the two no- dressing-room. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, April 2, 2016 FOOTBALL QATAR STARS LEAGUE / PREVIEW LOOKING AHEAD Mesaimeer tussle against Al Ahli with Al Sailiya take on one eye on Emir Cup Al Sadd looking to improve position ‘The game against Sadd is not very easy but what we are focused on is to find the Mesaimeer coach Rodion Gacanin (L) and Al Ahli assistant coach right balance in the team. We are not the strongest team but we all play as one...’ Stanislav Moravec during the pre-match press conference. By Sports Reporter What we improved in the last Doha half of the season is that we fo- cused on local players. Now we are training twice a day and our ottom side Mesaimeer players have become more pro- take on in form Al Ahli fessional,” said the fi fty-two- at the Al Arabi Stadium year-old at the press conference today. This match will on Thursday. Bbe good preparation for the Emir Al Ahli has grabbed all six cup for Mesaimeer and must win points from their last two games for Al Ahli as they hope to stay in and they will be hoping to con- the league.