Sports Sunday, April 28, 2019 19 Younousse, Tijan Bottas on Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole in line for another AFP BAKU VALTTERI Bottas took pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes bronze medal secured a front row lockout for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In treacherous cooling conditions on the The Qatari pair demanding Baku street circuit, the Finn pro- duced an outright record lap in one minute lose Xiamen and 40.495 seconds to outpace the champi- onship leader and defending world cham- Open semis to pion by 0.059 seconds. sixth seeds It was Bottas’s first pole in Baku and the eighth of his career. For Mercedes, it was a fourth consecutive one-two in qualifying. Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK while his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas (left) DOHA had been fastest in practice, crashed out of Mercedes AMG GP celebrates as he took when he rammed into a wall, during the Q2 pole position together with his teammate Brit- QATAR’S Cherif Younousse part of a prolonged and incident-hit qualify- ish driver Lewis Hamilton after the qualifying and Ahmed Tijan will be look- ing session. of the Formula One Grand Prix of Azerbaijan in ing to add another FIVB Beach The session lasted almost two hours over- Baku on Saturday. (AFP) Volleyball World Tour bronze all after big accidents for both Leclerc and in medal to a pair they have al- Q1 for Robert Kubica of Williams. was wrecked after running over a loose drain ready bagged as they clash “I am really happy with that,” said Bot- cover at high speed in opening practice, with Italian giant-killers En- tas. “It was a nice lap and Ferrari has been which was abandoned and cancelled. rico Rossi and Adrian Caram- really strong. Obviously Charles was out by Bottas was the first pace-setter in Q1 be- bula in the Four-Star Xiamen a mistake and as a team we feel really good fore Vettel responded. Bottas then reclaimed Open third-place playoff on to be where we are now. It’s all about small top spot before Leclerc, in 1:41.426, blew his Sunday. margins.” rivals away. At this early stage, Hamilton was Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull 12th before bouncing back to third. The seventh seeds first ahead of Sergio Perez of Racing Point, Daniil The Baku straight is the longest on the Kvyat of Toro Rosso and British rookie Lan- calendar and rewards power at a circuit disposed of sixth seeds do Norris of McLaren. where 75 per cent of the lap is run at full Polish Piotr Kantor and Antonio Giovinazzi was eighth ahead of throttle. Bartosz Losiak 21-17, Alfa Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen with Almost immediately after the chequered 24-22 in 43 minutes. They Leclerc taking 10th despite not running in flag, Kubica lost control of his Williams af- followed it up with a big the session. ter clipping a wall at Turn 8, the castle inside comeback victory over “I am stupid, I am stupid,” said Leclerc af- corner, and spearing across track into the third seeds Aleksandrs ter his smash into the same wall that claimed barriers. Kubica’s Williams earlier in the session. It was a heavy impact, but he was unhurt Samoilovs and Janis Qatar’s Cherif Younousse tries to block Spain’s Pablo Herrera Allepuz during their Xiamen Open semi-finals Kubica’s accident was further bad news and apologised to the team. Smedins from Latvia (3) in Xiamen, China on Saturday. for the luckless Williams team. This accident resulted in a 15-minutes 17-21, 21-18, 15-12. On Friday their British rookie driver delay, which meant drivers faced running to strong winds and lost the George Russell escaped unhurt when his car into a falling sun and colder temperatures. Earlier at the Guanyinshan match and the opportunity RESULTS Beach, Younousse and Tijan, with 17-21, 17-21 defeat. ROUND 2 Anders Mol / Christian Sorum Norway (1) 18-21, who won the third place in It was really a topsy-turvy Match 41: Anders Mol / Christian Sorum Norway (1) 21-18, 17-15 (0:48) def. Sam Pedlow / Sam Schachter Canada (19) 29-27, Match 50: Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (7) def. the Katara Open in Doha and day for the major seeds. After 21-19 (0:45) Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins Latvia (3) the Vienna Major last season the third eliminator, top three Match 42: Pablo Herrera / Adrian Gavira Spain (5) def. 17-21, 21-18, 15-12 (0:47) after forming the team, were seeds had been forced out of Taylor Crabb / Jake Gibb United States (10) 21-19, Match 51: Oleg Stoyanovskiy / Viacheslav Krasilnikov on the way to their first final the tournament. 14-21, 15-10 (0:40) Russia (4) def. Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen Rajasthan cruise past SRH Match 43: Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (7) def. Netherlands (9) 21-13, 21-15 (0:30) after winning two matches in Rossi and Carambula are Piotr Kantor / Bartosz Losiak Poland (6) 21-17, 24-22 Match 52: Enrico Rossi / Adrian Carambula Italy (27) the day. also in good form, having ac- (0:43) def. Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (2) 19-21, IANS fectively while Steven Smith could rise to the occasion as The seventh seeds first dis- counted for 16th seeds from Match 44: Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins 21-19, 15-7 (0:49) JAIPUR also chipped in with 22 runs Rajasthan bowlers jolted visi- posed of sixth seeds Polish Pi- Germany Julius Thole and Latvia (3) def. Clemens Doppler / Alexander Horst to help their side cross the line tors at regular intervals after Austria (17) 21-18, 21-15 (0:36) SEMI-FINALS otr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak Clemens Wickler in three ab- Match 45: Oleg Stoyanovskiy / Viacheslav Krasilnikov Match 53: Pablo Herrera / Adrian Gavira Spain (5) def. A good bowling effort followed with five balls to spare. For the duo’s departure. 21-17, 24-22 in 43 minutes. sorbing sets in the pre-quar- Russia (4) def. Alison Cerutti / Alvaro Filho Brazil (23, Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (7) 21-17, 21-17 by some valuable top-order Hyderabad, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaydev Unadkat, Shreyas They followed it up with a big ter-finals. Then they shocked Q2) 21-15, 21-18 (0:37) (0:35) contribution with the bat Rashid Khan and Khaleel Gopal, Varun Aaron and Os- comeback victory over third second seeds Michal Bryl and Match 46: Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen Match 54: Oleg Stoyanovskiy / Viacheslav Krasilnikov helped Rajasthan Royals seal Ahmed picked a wicket each. hane Thomas picked two wick- Netherlands (9) def. Andre Loyola / George Wanderley Russia (4) def. Enrico Rossi / Adrian Carambula Italy seeds Aleksandrs Samoilovs Grzegorz Fijalek of Poland 19- Brazil (22, Q1) 21-15, 21-11 (0:31) (27) 21-14, 21-19 (0:33) a comfortable seven-wicket Earlier, some disciplined ets each for the home side. and Janis Smedins from Lat- 21, 21-19, 15-7 before reaching Match 47: Enrico Rossi / Adrian Carambula Italy (27) win over Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling by Rajasthan had via (3) 17-21, 21-18, 15-12. the semi-finals. def. Julius Thole / Clemens Wickler Germany (16) Sunday’s fixtures in an Indian Premier League helped them restrict Hy- BRIEF SCORES: 21-16, 20-22, 15-12 (0:54) Bronze Medal Rajasthan Royals (161/3 in 19.1 overs - Then pitted for a spot in Just like the Qatari team, Match 48: Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (2) def. Match 55: Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (7) vs. (IPL) tie at the Sawai Mansin- derabad at 160/8. the final against fifth-seeded the Italians fumbled against Peng Gao / Yang Li China (8) 21-12, 15-21, 15-12 Enrico Rossi / Adrian Carambula Italy (27) gh Stadium, here on Saturday. Despite a valiant 75-run Sanju Samson 48 not out; Liam Livingstone Spaniards Pablo Herrera Russians Oleg Stoyanovskiy (0:44) Ajinkya Rahane (39), stand between opener David 44; Shakib Al Hasan 1/26) beat Sunrisers and Adrian Gavira, the 2016 and Viacheslav Krasilnikov, Gold Medal Liam Livingstone (44 off 26) Warner (37 off 32) and Man- Hyderabad (160/8 in 20 overs - Manish ROUND 3 Match 56: Pablo Herrera / Adrian Gavira Spain (5) vs. Pandey 61; David Warner 36; Jaydev Unadkat champions, the Qatari duo the fourth seeds, and were Match 49: Pablo Herrera / Adrian Gavira Spain (5) def. Oleg Stoyanovskiy / Viacheslav Krasilnikov Russia (4) and Sanju Samson (48 un- ish Pandey (61 off 36), no made some costly errors due beaten 14-21, 19-21. beaten off 32) contributed ef- other Hyderabad batsman 2/26) by 7 wickets. Saeed Abusharib, Hajar Mohamed Skeet winners after thrilling finals and sixth, respectively. Hajar Mohamed had 99 during the qualifying rounds, which were topped by Reem al Sharshani and Sarah Mo- hamed, who shot 113 each. But the latter had the strange final as she was the first one to bow out, after getting 11 in the first 30 shots. Later in the finals, Mo- hamed shot brilliantly and got the better Sharshani 46-45 to land the gold medal. Hanan Haji secured the bronze med- al, hitting 38. Amal al Rafea was fourth with 27 and she was followed by Lulwa Hamad Amir shooting and archery women’s Skeet winner Hajar Mohamed al Mulla (18). Caption (centre) with silver medallist Reem al Sharshani (left) and bronze The Skeet competitions medallist Hanan Haji with QSAA official in Losail on Saturday.