FOOTBALL | Page 3
TENNIS | Page 7
Juventus win
Coppa Italia
to keep treble
dream alive
Djokovic on
track for Paris,
sets up Del Potro
Rome clash
Friday, May 19, 2017
Sha’baan 23, 1438 AH
CRICKET
GULF TIMES
SPORT
KKR look to quell
Mumbai challenge
in Qualifier 2
Page 4
FOOTBALL
Sadd take on Rayyan in
historic Emir Cup final
Today’s final will be remembered as the match that inaugurated the first-ever stadium for the Qatar 2022 World Cup
By Sports Reporter
Doha
T
he Emir Cup in itself is the most
prestigious tournament in Qatar. Teams are eager to lay their
hands on the exquisite trophy
and end the domestic season on a high.
But today’s final between Al Sadd and Al
Rayyan is an historic occasion, even before the kick-off. This final always be remembered as the one where the first-ever
stadium for the Qatar 2022 World Cup
was inaugurated. The iconic Khalifa International Stadium is the first World Cup
stadium to be completed and that too, five
years before the event.
When Sadd and Rayyan step onto the
pitch at the Khalifa Stadium, it will be a
momentous occasion. The 2022 World
Cup is an immense matter of pride for
this region and the completion of the first
stadium for that event will be remembered for a long time to come. So whether
Sadd or Rayyan want it or not, they will
be going down in history books.
And that means that both teams will
go into today’s final with
that added pressure. The
winner will get the
exclusive bragging
rights of being
the first-ever
team to have
won the Emir
Cup at the
first-ever
stadium for
the
2022
World Cup.
A lot of firsts
to be won
and
both
teams will
be eager to
have
their
name on the
trophy as this
year’s winners.
This is the
45th edition of
the Emir Cup. It
started way back in
1972 and has since
then been a grand
finale of the domestic football season.
The two teams facing
each other in the final
today are veterans –
as a team and when it
comes to this competition.
Sadd have won it
an incredible 15 times
with them also having
claimed back to back
titles thrice — 1985 &
‘86, 2000 & ’01 and
most recently in 2014
& ’15. In addition to
this the Wolves have
been in the finals for
eight times with the
last one being the
previous edition.
In the 2016
Emir Cup final, they lost
to Lekhwiya
in the penalty shoot-out after the match
had ended 2-2 at regulation time. That
was the first time Lekhwiya had laid their
hands on this trophy.
Rayyan, though not as successful as
Sadd, have still won the Emir Cup a commendable six times. They have been the
losing finalists a painful nine times out of
which four times they have lost to Sadd.
In last year’s Emir Cup, Rayyan had lost
to Sadd in the semi-final stage. In this
season’s Qatar Cup final, Sadd defeated
Rayyan 2-0. The Lions will be eager to
not repeat these results.
If you consider the 2016-17 Qatar Stars
League season, the stats don’t look too
good for Rayyan. In the two matches that
they have played against Sadd, they have
lost 4-1 and 5-0. Conceding nine goals is
an embarrassing scenario for a team of
Rayyan’ stature.
Last season’s QSL champions have
been struggling to replicate the lethal
form they showed during their title-winning run. They finished 12 points behind
champions Lekhwiya. But they were able
to produce a performance when it mattered to defeat the fancied Lekhwiya in
the Emir Cup semi-finals. A
brace from Rodrigo Tabata and a strike from
Musaab Khodor had
helped the Lions
down the Red
Knights. Rayyan
will be looking
towards skipper
Tabata to lead
the team from
the front and
continue
his
goal-scoring
form.
Sadd
finished second in
the QSL, having
pushed Lekhiwya all the way
to the end. In the
Emir Cup semifinal, they were
able to get the better of El Jaish with a
clinical 2-0 victory.
Goals from Baghdad
Bounedjah and Hassan al-Haydous had
helped seal that win.
With the likes of striker
Bounedjah,
midfielder
al-Haydous and their
mercurial skipper Xavi
Hernandez, Sadd definitely have the firepower
to win today’s clash. They
will be favourites going into
today’s match but the lure
of the Cup competitions
is its unpredictability. Can
Rayyan step up to the occasion and deliver a knockout punch or will Sadd add
Title No. 16 to that already
crowded trophy cabinet?
Will the Lions be roaring
at the end or will the wolf
pack emerge victorious?
Lots to play for. Lots
for the spectators to
cheer for.
Game on.
Al Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira (centre) speaks to his players during a training session ahead of today’s Emir Cup final against Al Rayyan at the Khalifa
International Stadium. The title clash will begin at 7pm. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil
HOW DO WE BEAT SADD! Al Rayyan manager Michael Laudrup (centre) discusses strategy with his coaching staff.
2
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
FOOTBALL
SPOTLIGHT
Monaco clinch first
French title in 17 years
Monaco’s 11th straight victory bumped them up to 92 points, six ahead of defending champs PSG
AFP
Monaco
T
eenage star Kylian Mbappe
helped Monaco secure their
first Ligue 1 title in 17 years
with his 15th goal of the season
in Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory at
home to Saint-Etienne. The 18-yearold raced clear of the visiting defence
to nervelessly roll in the opening goal
after 19 minutes at the Stade Louis II as
Paris Saint-Germain’s four-year reign
as French champions came to an end.
Valere Germain added a second with
the final kick of the match. “We can finally say we are champions. I’m very
proud of this team, of these players. It’s
a dream for me, I’m very happy,” Monaco captain Radamel Falcao said.
Leonardo Jardim’s side were effectively guaranteed the title after Sunday’s 4-0 win over Lille due to their
vastly superior goal difference and
needed just a point to secure an eighth
league crown.
Monaco’s 11th straight victory
bumped them up to 92 points, six ahead
of PSG, and they can match the capital
club’s single-season record of 30 wins
in Sunday’s final game at Rennes.
“We’ve been able to hold on all the
way against teams like Paris and Nice
who kept up with the pace until the
end,” said Mbappe. “Unfortunately for
them but luckily for us, we’re the ones
leaving with the trophy.”
Not since Claude Puel guided a
squad featuring Fabien Barthez, David Trezeguet and Willy Sagnol to the
1999-2000 title had Monaco been
crowned kings of France. Saint-Etienne
held Monaco to a 1-1 draw in October,
but Christophe Galtier’s side arrived in
the principality low on confidence after
their 5-0 thrashing by PSG and decimated by injury. Mbappe’s meteoric rise
this season has seen him torment some
of Europe’s leading clubs and it was
hardly surprising the teenager made the
crucial breakthrough after a cautious
start. Stephane Ruffier palmed away
a Mbappe snapshot with the first real
chance, but there was little he could do
moments later when the striker latched
Monaco players celebrate after winning the French Ligue 1 title at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco on Wednesday night. (AFP)
onto Radamel Falcao’s threaded pass
and calmly rounded the Saint-Etienne
goalkeeper before slotting home.
Monaco were far from their freeflowing best which had seen them become just the fifth team to rack up over
100 goals in a French season, with Danijel Subasic forced to save from a Florentin Pogba header. However Falcao came
close to providing Monaco with added
breathing space when his powerful
header from a corner was superbly kept
out by Ruffier.
Saint-Etienne youngster Arnaud
Nordin charged through the left-hand
side of the Monaco defence after setting off from inside his own half, but his
final effort lacked the pace to trouble
Subasic. Jordan Veretout then skipped
beyond Subasic following Henri Saivet’s
through ball, but Poland international
Kamil Glik recovered in time to deny the
on-loan Aston Villa midfielder.
Germain, who was with the club in
2011 when Monaco were languishing at
the foot of the second divison, should
have sealed the victory on 74 minutes
when Mbappe slid the ball across only
for him to shin wide with Ruffier well
out of the picture.
But he made amends deep into stoppage time as Thomas Lemar sprang a
counter-attack that left Germain with
the simplest of tap-ins to complete
a memorable evening. “We’ve had a
superb season both individually and
collectively. We fully deserve it,” said
Germain. “This year we’ve been uncompromising. You have to congratulate the whole group and especially
everyone in the ground who was magnificent tonight.”
FACTFILE ON MONACO
Name: AS Monaco
PREMIER LEAGUE
Founded: 1924
Home ground: Stade Louis II (capacity
18,523)
Coach: Leonardo Jardim
Captain: Radamel Falcao
Honours: French champions (8): 1960-61,
1962-63, 1977-78, 1981-82, 1987-88, 1996-97,
1999-2000, 2016-17
French Cup (5): 1959-60, 1962-63, 1979-80,
1984-85, 1990-91
League Cup (1): 2002-03
Champions' Trophy (2): 1997-98, 2000-01
Champions League runners-up: 2003-04
Most appearances: Jean-Luc Ettori (FRA) 754
Most goals: Delio Onnis (ITA/ARG) - 223
FOCUS
Romero stars in Man United's draw
FA to bring in
retrospective
diving bans
AFP
London
E
Southampton’s Cedric Soares (left) attempts to score past Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero on Wednesday night. (Reuters)
AFP
Southampton, United Kingdom
S
ergio Romero displayed some eyecatching pre-Europa League final
form by saving a penalty as Manchester United drew 0-0 at Southampton in their penultimate Premier League
game on Wednesday night.
United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed Romero will start against Ajax in
Stockholm next Wednesday and his early
save from Manolo Gabbiadini helped the
visitors stop the rot after successive losses
to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Argentina international, deputising
for the rested David de Gea, also produced a
string of saves early in the second half at St
Mary’s to keep Claude Puel’s Southampton
at bay. “We played a good team, a team who
tried to win and tried to finish well. I think
we did more than OK,” Mourinho said.
“Sergio had a very good performance,
more than very good. The team wasn’t perfect, but individually they gave me good
things. They showed me they want to be an
option for the final.”
The result had no material impact
on United’s season, given they were
already guaranteed to finish sixth, and
means Mourinho’s men have now drawn 15
times this season.
Mourinho is also guaranteed to finish his
first United season with fewer league victories than either of his two maligned predecessors, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal,
mustered in the previous three seasons.
Southampton have now gone four top-flight
home games without scoring for the first
time and remain eighth, which is the highest
position they can hope to achieve ahead of
Sunday’s final game at home to Stoke City.
The game was only five minutes old when
an impulsive decision by Eric Bailly, and
some generous officiating, gifted Southampton a chance to go ahead. After sizing
up Cedric’s crossfield pass as it sailed towards him, Bailly inexplicably chose to control it using his upper left arm and although
he was outside the box, referee Mike Dean
pointed to the spot. Fortunately for the Ivorian, Romero spared his blushes, brilliantly
throwing himself to his right to palm away
Gabbiadini’s low spot-kick. Eager to start
afresh, Bailly soon found himself in an advanced position and after ghosting past
Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens, he bludg-
eoned a shot straight at Fraser Forster.
United, who lined up with Wayne Rooney
up front, went close twice in the first half,
Anthony Martial dragging wide from Rooney’s pass and Henrikh Mkhitaryan drawing a
low save from Forster. Southampton did not
trouble Romero again until the brink of halftime, the former Sampdoria man fielding a
powerful drive from Nathan Redmond.
But the United goalkeeper found himself
in the firing line early in the second half as he
was successively forced into action by a Dusan Tadic free-kick, a powerful Oriol Romeu
strike and a curling effort from James WardProwse. United’s next opening sprang from
an unfamiliar source, centre-back Chris
Smalling haring down the right and crossing
for Rooney, whose lay-off was curled over by
Juan Mata.
The visitors went even closer five minutes later, Martial driving infield from the
left and arcing a shot against the righthand post. Southampton fashioned one last
chance, but substitute Jay Rodriguez could
do no better than shoot wide from the edge
of the box. “We needed to be clinical, perhaps, but we played good football and had
chances to win the game,” said Southampton manager Puel.
ngland’s
governing
Football Association
has voted in favour of
bringing in retrospective bans for players who dive
or feign injury from next season. Yesterday’s annual general meeting at Wembley saw
the FA create a new offence
of “successful deception of a
match official”, which is based
on a regulation already used in
Scottish football.
Incidents will be reviewed
by a panel made up of a former
player, a former referee and a
former manager. The trio will
all look at footage independently and if they all agree a
player has deceived a match official then a two-game ban will
be imposed.
The new rule will be administered in similar fashion to the
one that already covers red card
offences which were missed by
the match at the time of the incident but recorded by television cameras. An FA statement
said: “Although attempts to
deceive the referee by feigning
injury or pretending to have
been fouled is a cautionable
offence for unsporting behaviour, the fact that the act of
simulation has succeeded in
deceiving a match official and,
therefore, led to a penalty and/
or dismissal, justifies a more
severe penalty which would act
as a deterrent.”
If a player admits to a charge
of successfully deceiving an
official, or is found to have
done so, any yellow or red card
given to an opposing player, as
a result of the deceit, can be rescinded.
The new rule will apply
across English football. There
have been several high-profile
incidents involving alleged
‘simulation’ this season, including a dive by Robert Snodgrass to earn a penalty for
Hull against Crystal Palace.
Swansea manager Paul Clement claimed that Marcus Rashford’s
fall to the Old Trafford turf to win a penalty for Manchester
United against his side was simulation.
Deschamps
lashes out
at ‘pitiful’
Benzema
Paris: Didier Deschamps
took a swipe at Karim
Benzema yesterday as the
French coach again left the
Real Madrid forward out of
his 26-man squad for three
key matches next month.
The 29-year-old Benzema
has not figured for France
since October 2015 over allegations of his involvement in
a sex-tape scandal featuring
midfielder Mathieu Valbuena. Benzema and former
international teammate
Valbuena exchanged barbs
this week and Benzema also
“liked” an Instagram photo
ridiculing Deschamps and
striker Olivier Giroud. Investigators suspect Benzema
of acting as an intermediary between the presumed
blackmailers and alleged
victim Valbuena.
The case is likely to go to
court later this year.
Asked about Benzema’s
recent actions, Deschamps
said: “I would say only one
word: it’s pitiful. The French
team was built before the
Euro (last summer), it was
consolidated through the
competition, where we
managed to reach the final,”
he added of Benzema’s continued omission. “We have
continued to be competitive
in qualifying. I have a group
with balance and harmony.”
France take on Paraguay
in a home friendly on June
2, Sweden away in a crucial
World Cup qualifier on June
9 and England in Paris in a
June 13 friendly. Lyon predator Alexandre Lacazette
regains his place at the
expense of Atletico Madrid’s
Kevin Gameiro, while Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa
Sissoko replaces Monaco’s
Tiemoue Bakayoko. Bakayoko has been playing in a
mask to protect his broken
nose. Monaco prodigy Kylian
Mbappe again gets the
chance to impress up front,
while Chelsea defender Kurt
Zouma gets a call-up.
FRENCH SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (Paris SG), Benoit Costil
(Rennes), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/ENG)
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Barcelona/ESP), Christophe Jallet
(Lyon), Presnel Kimpembe
(Paris SG), Laurent Koscielny
(Arsenal/ENG), Benjamin
Mendy (Monaco), Djibril Sidibe
(Monaco), Samuel Umtiti
(Barcelona/ESP), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP), Kurt
Zouma (Chelsea/ENG)
Midfielders: N’Golo Kanté
(Chelsea/ENG), Blaise Matuidi
(Paris SG), Paul Pogba (Manchester United/ENG), Adrien
Rabiot (Paris SG), Moussa
Sissoko (Tottenham/ENG),
Corentin Tolisso (Lyon)
Forwards: Ousmane Dembele
(Dortmund/GER), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal/ENG), Antoine
Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/
ESP), Alexandre Lacazette
(Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Kylian Mbappe (Monaco),
Dimitri Payet (Marseille),
Florian Thauvin (Marseille)
IN BRIEF
Forest bought
by controversial
Greek Marinakis
London: Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis who
is accused of match-fixing in
Greece where he is the owner of
giants Olympiakos bought twotime European Cup winners
Nottingham Forest yesterday.
The 49-year-old — who heads
up a consortium with compatriot Socrates Kominakis — has
also been accused in the past of
being involved in the bombing of
a bakery owned by a referee although no action was taken.
Despite
the
accusations
Marinakis has passed the English Football League’s owner’s
and directors’ test bringing the
curtain down on the troubled
five-year tenure of Kuwiati Fawaz al-Hasawi, but UEFA is still
monitoring the Greek case and
awaiting the outcome.
Marinakis, under whose aegis Olympiakos have won seven
league titles since he became
owner in 2010, says Forest deserve to be in the Premier League
but accepts that it may take time
— they only avoided relegation
to the third tier League One.
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
3
FOOTBALL
SPOTLIGHT
Juventus claim Coppa Italia
to keep treble dream alive
The Bianconeri are the first team since the Coppa Italia was founded in 1922 to win it three times in a row
By Paolo Bandini
The Guardian
G
igi Buffon edged towards the touchline,
bouncing from one foot to the other
and squirting himself in the face with
a water bottle. Behind him, Juan Cuadrado grabbed two more – preparing to drench
their manager, Massimiliano Allegri, when the
final whistle went. The rest of Juventus’s bench
gathered around them, ready to rush on to the
pitch.
You might think this team would be underwhelmed by the prospect of lifting yet another
Coppa Italia. But you would be wrong. To watch
Juve’s players celebrate their 2-0 victory over
Lazio in Wednesday’s final was to understand
that part of the reason they keep on winning is
because they enjoy it too much to stop.
Yes, there are more important targets this
season. The front pages of yesterday’s morning
sporting newspapers were explicit in defining
this as only the first, necessary, step towards the
treble Juventus have dreamed of. Even the players themselves, as they danced with their trophy
in the changing room, sang about going to Cardiff. And yet, in one sense, a treble has already
been completed. The Bianconeri are the first
team since the Coppa Italia was founded in 1922
to win it three times in a row.
They made it look easy, too, piercing Lazio’s
defence twice in the opening 25 minutes, then
cruising the rest of the way. Perhaps things
might have gone differently if Keita had buried
the Biancocelesti’s one early chance, when the
game was still goalless, instead of seeing it deflect of Andrea Barzagli’s hand and on to a post.
Another referee, on another day, might have
given a penalty, but it would have been harsh.
Instead, Dani Alves opened the scoring not
long afterwards. That’s right, him again – the
man whom Leonardo Bonucci has defined as an
“extra-terrestrial” – making a mockery of all
those who believed his star had already burned
out. This was the fifth time in as many games
that Alves had chipped in a goal or an assist.
He is a player built for the big stage. Way back
in August, Buffon confessed that he had spoken
to Alves about winning the Champions League.
“I asked him to help us old guys, especially, to
achieve that dream which we’re still playing
for,” said the keeper. “Because he has a familiarity with certain objectives and certain kinds
of victory.” It would have been more accurate to
say that Alves is well acquainted with every type
of success. By Gazzetta dello Sport’s count, this
was the 30th final in which he has played, and
the 25th that he has won. The Coppa Italia might
not be the most prestigious piece of silverware
in his collection, yet no one looked more delighted to get their hands on it.
He was not the only player to excel against
Juventus’ players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Italian Tim Cup final at the Olympic stadium in Rome on Wednesday night. The Turin side beat Lazio 2-0 in the title clash. (AFP)
Lazio. In fact, he was not even the only Brazilian
wing-back to do so. After volleying home that
opening goal, Alves simulated polishing Alex
Sandro’s boots – not the other way around. The
latter player had created the opportunity with
an outrageously ambitious cross from mid-way
inside Lazio’s half.
Amid all the praise that has (justifiably) come
Alves’s ways in recent weeks, Sandro has at
times been overlooked. And yet, he is every bit
as essential in making Allegri’s hybrid 3-5-2/42-3-1 function, just as capable of alternating his
role between full-back and wide forward.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Juventus knew they had acquired a special
talent when they signed Sandro from Porto in
2015. This was a player whom Roberto Carlos
was happy to call his heir, “except, I have to
admit, more precise in his crossing than I ever
was”. Like so many others – and certainly like
Alves – Sandro took a little time to adjust to the
tactical demands of Serie A, but today he is the
best left-back in the league. Having created the
first goal, he went on to serve the assist for the
second as well – flicking Paulo Dybala’s corner
into the path of Leonardo Bonucci, who sidefooted home after 24 minutes. Juventus’s lead
might have already been even larger, were it not
for Thomas Strakosha’s brilliant point-blank
save to deny Gonzalo Higuaín.
Lazio did rally in the second half, and went
close to reducing the deficit on a couple of occasions. Even so, you could never have called
this a close contest. Perhaps Simone Inzaghi
had been wrong to start Marco Parolo, the midfielder limping out after 21 minutes, unable to
overcome the knee injury he sustained against
Fiorentina, but the reality is that Juventus, when
everything clicks, are simply on a different level
to Serie A’s fourth-best team.
None of which stopped Allegri from ranting, raving and generally thundering around
his technical area with the demeanour of a man
whose team were 3-0 down. He knows that a
part of his challenge at this point of the season
is simply to keep his team on edge, to make sure
that they do not allow themselves prematurely
to believe that the job is done.
Juve’s players were ready to celebrate their
Coppa Italia triumph on Wednesday night. But
you can be sure that they did not need yesterday
morning’s newspapers to remind them there are
still two bigger targets left to go.
FOCUS
Huddersfield in play-off final Ronaldo double puts Real Madrid
AFP
London
H
uddersfield goalkeeper Danny Ward sent
his side into the Championship play-off
final with two crucial saves in a dramatic
penalty shoot-out victory over Sheffield
Wednesday. David Wagner’s team fell behind to
Steven Fletcher’s goal early in the second half at
Hillsborough, but they hit back to grab a deserved
equaliser through Tom Lees’ own goal.
With neither side able to win it in extra time, it
took penalties to settle a tense semi-final second
leg and Ward was the Huddersfield hero as his
saves from Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Fores-
tieri clinched a 4-3 triumph. Chasing a return
to the top-flight after a 45-year absence, Huddersfield will face Reading at Wembley on May 29
with a lucrative place in the Premier League up for
grabs.
“It’s an amazing feeling. This team are a special
bunch, and it stems back to the backroom staff.
It’s a special club,” Huddersfield captain Tommy
Smith said. “It’s been an unbelievable season and
this is an incredible feeling. Why can’t we go on
and win at Wembley?”
Wednesday could have few complaints after
being outplayed for long periods, but their second
successive season of play-off heartache after last
year’s final loss to Hull might trigger the dismissal
of already under-fire boss Carlos Carvalhal.
SWEDISH TOP-FLIGHT GAME
POSTPONED AFTER FIXING ATTEMPT
Stockholm: Yesterday’s top-flight clash between Swedish giants Gothenburg and AIK was
postponed after at least one player was threatened and told to fix the result. There have been
several similar incidents in Swedish football in
the past but none involving the first division.
“This is a very serious attack against Swedish
football and we will never, never accept this,”
Hakan Sjostrand, secretary general of the Swedish Football Federation, said in a statement.
“Based on the information we’ve received, we
cannot guarantee that the IFK Gothenburg and
AIK game is a safe match.”
Stockholm-based AIK informed the federation that a player had been approached and
threatened and the police were called in. The
player was offered “a large sum of money” in
exchange for trying to ensure that AIK lost, the
federation said.
“With veiled threats the fixer demanded that
the player perform badly during the match
against IFK Gothenburg,” the federation said
in a statement. IFK Gothenburg’s sports chief
Mats Green initially identified the player as AIK’s
Greek-Canadian goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos, Green told the daily Goteborgs-Posten.
But later, at a press conference, Green said
he had spoken too hastily and that “several
players” from AIK had been targeted, without
specifying whether Stamatopoulos was one of
them. Swedish police and both clubs are releasing few details.
“In the interest of the investigation we want
this to be covered by secrecy as long as possible,” police commissioner Fredrik Gardare said.
AIK said it would not make its players available
to the press until further notice. “The questions
will have to come through me,” sports director
Bjorn Wesstrom said, praising the “immense
righteousness” and “courage” of his players for
not being intimidated. The two teams, along
with the Swedish association, are expected to
agree on a new date for the match.
IFK Gothenburg are Sweden’s second-most
successful club and the only one to have won a
European title (the UEFA Cup in 1982 and 1987).
However, the club has had a difficult start to
this season and are 11th in the championship
after eight games. AIK are sixth. Several matchfixing allegations have emerged in recent years
in Sweden, with investigations not always
resulting in a conclusion. In 2015, the Crime Prevention Council (Bra) reported 20 complaints
about similar incidents in two years.
within point of La Liga title
AFP
Madrid
R
eal Madrid moved to within one
point of winning La Liga as Cristiano
Ronaldo struck twice to beat Celta
Vigo 4-1 yesterday. The European
champions lead Barcelona by three points at
the top of the table and now need to just avoid
defeat at Malaga on Sunday to secure their
first league title in five years.
“We will go there to win the game,” insisted Ronaldo. “We are Real Madrid, we are
the best and we want to be champions.” Once
again Ronaldo made the difference as he took
his tally to 13 goals in his last eight games with
early strikes in each half.
Iago Aspas was then controversially sentoff when he saw a second yellow card for diving, but Celta halved the arrears through John
Guidetti’s deflected effort. However, Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos rounded off the
scoring to keep Madrid on course for a La Liga
and Champions League double.
“We played with incredible attitude and
personality,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. Ronaldo was starting his first La Liga
game away from home for nearly two months
as in contrast to recent weeks, Zidane didn’t
rotate his starting XI. The Frenchman went
with the same side that withstood an Atletico Madrid revival to book their place in the
Champions League final a week ago. And he
was rewarded early on as Marcelo fed Isco
and after he was dispossessed on the edge of
the area, Ronaldo smashed the loose ball high
into the net. “He has managed things very
well,” Ronaldo added on Zidane. “I feel good.
Everything is decided in the final weeks of the
season and I am doing well. I am scoring goals
and helping the team.”
Celta have now lost eight of their last nine
La Liga games having concentrated on their
run to the Europa League semi-finals that
was ended by Manchester United last week.
However, they eliminated Madrid from the
Copa del Rey earlier this season and put the
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) runs past Celta Vigo’s Gustavo Cabral (left) and Hugo
Mallo during the La Liga match at Balaidos Stadium in Vigo, Spain. (Reuters)
European champions to the test once more.
Daniel Wass stung the palms of Keylor Navas with a fiercely struck free-kick before Aspas fired just wide twice in quick succession.
And Celta also had a penalty appeal waived
away before the break when Raphael Varane
handled inside his own area. “We scored early
and then had 20 difficult minutes,” added
Zidane. “In the second-half we controlled
the game more because the first-half it was
end-to-end which isn’t our game.” Having
soaked up that pressure, a deadly Real counter-attack doubled their advantage just three
minutes into the second period. Isco was
again the provider as he surged through the
midfield before feeding Ronaldo to finish off
the inside of the post. More controversy ensued moments later when referee Juan Mar-
tinez Munera showed Aspas a second yellow
card for diving when he appeared to have been
tripped by Sergio Ramos inside the area.
Despite their numerical disadvantage,
Celta did manage to pull a goal back when
Guidetti’s effort deflected past the helpless
Navas off Ramos. However, the visitors went
straight up the other end and Marcelo’s low
cross was tapped home by Karim Benzema to
restore Real’s two-goal cushion.
Ronaldo should have completed yet another hat-trick when he somehow managed
to fire wide with the goal gaping before he was
replaced with six minutes remaining. Even
without him, though, Madrid continued to
stream forward and Kroos rounded off the
scoring with a cool turn and finish two minutes from time.
4
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
CRICKET
IPL
SPOTLIGHT
KKR look to quell
Mumbai challenge
in Qualifier Two
Gambhir-led KKR also have an abysmal 5-15 head-to-head record against Rohit’s Mumbai
British tip-off led to
PSL scandal: ICC
AFP
Lahore
B
ritain’s
National
Crime Agency provided the initial intelligence that helped
uncover a major spot-fixing
scandal in the Pakistan Super
League, a leading official from
world cricket’s governing body
said yesterday.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan, head
of the International Cricket
Council’s
anti-corruption
and safety unit (ACSU) was
speaking to reporters in Lahore after testifying in a case
against opening batsman
Sharjeel Khan, who has been
provisionally suspended by his
board since the scandal erupted in February.
Fast bowler Mohamed Irfan
and spinner Mohamed Nawaz
have already been banned for
six months with six suspended, and one month with one
suspended, respectively after
confessing to failing to report
offers to fix matches.
Opening batsmen Khalid
Latif, Shahzaib Hasan and
Nasir Jamshed, who did not
feature in the tournament,
have been charged with more
serious offences, and face bans
ranging from five years to life if
found guilty.
Flanagan, head of the ACSU
since 2010, said: “The in-
quiry was absolutely led by the
PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board)
throughout and our role was
simply that before the PSL
match we received intelligence
that was passed to us by the
British National Crime Agency.”
Sharjeel was charged for
failing to report an offer to fix
and for playing two ‘dot balls’
(balls from which a batsman
does not score) in exchange for
money.
Latif, whose proceedings
will begin later, was charged
for luring others to spot fixing.
Flanagan added: “As chairman of the ICC’s ACSU and I
work very closely with the domestic anti-corruption units
across the world, whatever
is the outcome of this case, I
would say that the PCB and its
unit in this entire process have
demonstrated a great determination to keep cricket clean.”
Sharjeel’s lawyer said Islamabad United coach Dean Jones,
a former Australian batsman,
former Pakistan captain Mohamed Yousuf and former Pakistan opener Sadiq Mohamed
will appear as witnesses for his
defence next week.
The ICC formed the ACSU
in 2001 following life bans on
South African captain Hansie Cronje, Pakistan’s Salim
Malik and India’s Mohammad Azharuddin after fixing
inquiries by their respective
countries.
India call up Karthik for Champions
Trophy after Pandey injury
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the IPL match. (Right) Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir in action in Kolkata. (AFP)
IANS
Bengaluru
O
ld foes Kolkata Knight
Riders (KKR) and
Mumbai Indians will
lock horns for the third
time for a place in the IPL final
when they go for the Qualifer 2
at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
today.
KKR, who won by seven wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad
in a rain-interrupted tie in the
early hours of Thursday, will
have revenge on their minds as
Mumbai beat them twice in the
league stages this term.
The Gautam Gambhir-led
KKR also have an abysmal 5-15
head-to-head record against
Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai.
At home, Mumbai pulled
off their first win of the season
against the men in purple when
they beat them by four wickets
with just one ball to spare.
Needing 60 runs off last 24
balls, Hardik Pandya had finished the job in a dramatic fashion, smashing 29 off 11 balls.
Mumbai once again got the
better of KKR when they handed
them a nine-run defeat in their
last league match at the Eden
Gardens.
Mumbai are coming into the
match after a 20-run defeat by
Rising Pune Supergiant in Qualifier 1. Both Mumbai and KKR
have laid their hands on the IPL
trophy twice in the last nine seasons.
Mumbai’s batting has been
their mainstay this season with
openers Lendl Simmons and
Parthiv Patel giving the team
good starts and skipper Rohit
Sharma, Ambati Rayadu and
Kieron Pollard firing in unison.
Adding to this, the Pandya
brothers – Hardik and Krunal –
have come good whenever the
team has needed them.
With 10 victories in the league
stage, table-toppers Mumbai
have been in imperious form and
they would like to forget their
defeat against Pune and rise to
the big occasion.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Mumbai may continue
to open their attack with Sri
Lankan Lasith Malinga and New
Zealander Mitchell McClenaghan.
Jasprit Bumrah has been their
best death overs specialist and
along with Hardik, he will have
to play a key role to restrict KKR,
which boasts of some big names
like Chris Lynn, Gautam Gambhir
and Robin Uthappa, among others.
After clinching a win against
Hyderabad Wednesday night,
KKR would like to continue their
winning momentum.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir, who
is placed in the second spot in the
most runs list with 486 runs, will
hope to lead from the front. He
was in red-hot form early in the
season but seemed a tad off-colour in the business end.
KKR’s bowling has been superb as was on show in the last
game.
Fit-again Nathan CoulterNile has come back into the side
strongly and Umesh Yadav has
continued to hit the right areas
and bowl well. The likes of Sunil
Narine and Kuldeep Yadav have
been economical.
Seasoned wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was yesterday called as a replacement for injured batsman Manish
Pandey for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL)
and next month’s International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee have named
middle-order batsman and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik as replacement for Manish Pandey, who sustained a left side strain
during a practice session, in the India team for the upcoming
ICC Champions Trophy,” the Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) said in a statement. Karthik, who played for the
Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League (IPL), amassed 361
runs, which included two brilliant half centuries. Pandey had
missed Wednesday’s eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad
due to the injury and would not be a part of the side in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians today, dealing a body blow to
Gautam Gambhir’s wards. Pandey was KKR’s mainstay in the
otherwise fragile middle-order scoring 396 runs in 13 innings
at an average of 49.50. The 27-year-old has been brilliant on
the field too for the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned side.
“@im_manishpandey has unfortunately been injured & is ruled
out of @IPL 2017 @BCCI has been informed of his injury. Wish
him speedy recovery,” KKR tweeted. KKR would now have to
depend on off-colour vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav to deliver the goods against a side they have a dismal record against.
It is a blow for Virat Kohli’s India side too as Pandey was in
form and seemed to be the understudy to Kedar Jadhav.
Pakistan’s Afridi back at Hampshire
Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is to return for a third
spell with Hampshire after signing to take part in this season’s
English Twenty20 Blast, the south coast club announced yesterday. Nicknamed ‘Boom Boom’ for his aggressive big-hitting,
the 37-year-old is also a highly effective leg-spinner in cricket’s
shortest format, with his 97 wickets in 98 matches a Twenty20
international record.
Afridi had previous stints with Hampshire in 2011 and 2016 and
the club’s director of cricket Giles White said: “We’re thrilled to
welcome Shahid back to the club for the coming T20 Blast campaign. “He’s been an important part of our success in the short
form of the game in previous seasons and we feel his talents fit
well with the current squad.”
FOCUS
‘Australia’s players won’t be pressured by board’
Reuters
Melbourne
T
he Australian cricket
board faces an uphill
battle to convince players to jettison a revenuesharing model that has underpinned the game’s development
for 20 years, according to former
union boss Tim May, who brokered the landmark deal in 1997.
As the inaugural chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’
Association (ACA), May played a
leading role in landing the model
that has made the country’s
cricketers among the highest
paid in the world.
Cricket Australia now says the
model, which has long allocated
players about a quarter of total
revenues, is obsolete.
The board has made an offer
that allows only international
players to share in surplus revenues, while domestic cricketers will have to settle for fixed
amounts. The offer promises a
hefty pay-rise on players’ earn-
ings in the current five-year
deal, but the players’ union has
rejected any departure from the
sharing model out of hand.
The dispute has become increasingly bitter, and CA chief
executive James Sutherland
raised the stakes at the weekend
by declaring players would not
be offered alternative contracts
if they failed to reach a deal by
the July deadline.
The threat, said former Test
spinner May, would only stiffen
players’ resolve.
“With six weeks to go before
June 30, I think it’s inflammatory
— and makes the players bind
together more — for the CEO to
come out and say ‘these are the
terms that we are offering... either accept or be unemployed,’”
May told Reuters in an interview
from his home in Austin, Texas.
“An ultimatum like that would
suggest that CA don’t want to
get back to the negotiating table
and negotiate this stuff. I find
that puzzling.
“I think the cricketing community would be questioning
their desire to get a deal done.”
The breakdown in negotiations has raised fears of a possible players’ strike for the Ashes
starting in November, a hugely
anticipated test series against
England and a big contributor to
CA’s coffers. Sutherland’s hardline stance was criticised by the
ACA and prompted players, including opening batsman David
Warner, to talk of Australia lack-
ing a team for the home summer.
Both the ACA and CA declined
to comment further on the pay
dispute when contacted by Reuters. CA has claimed its offer will
address “under-investment” at
grass roots level, but May questioned how that concern could
not be addressed within a revenue-sharing model.
“It may be that they could
pay the players a percentage
point less or exclude some revenue flows, and they can still
do that and have the benefits of
‘variable-ising’ expenses,” the
55-year-old said.
“The ACA probably aren’t
moving because they don’t understand the rationale of what
CA are trying to put before them.
“I don’t think it’s easy for
anyone to understand what CA
are talking about unless they
disclose various figures and projections.”
When May fought the board
for the first revenue-share deal,
Australia’s non-internationals
struggled to play full-time on
meagre contracts.
State cricketers can now reap
A$300,000 a season from domestic competition, including
the lucrative and hugely popular
Big Bash Twenty20 tournament.
Some local media pundits
have criticised the leading players for hinting at an Ashes strike,
even as they make millions from
the game. May conceded that
industrial action would be damaging for all parties in the eyes of
the Australian public but he was
adamant that players were not
being greedy.
“If I was running a sport, I
would want my players to be the
best paid in Australia — because
we’re all competing for the same
athletes,” said May, a former
head of the global players association FICA.
“The person on the street
may say, ‘Well, they’re earning
enough.’ But it’s about a bigger
principle, and the principle is
about (players) being an important stakeholder in this game.
“If the worth of what they
are doing is increasing, why
shouldn’t they share in that?”
Lehmann hopes no Ashes boycott,
urges solution to pay row
Australia coach Darren Lehmann hopes the ongoing pay dispute
will not prompt the players to boycott this year’s Ashes series and
urged both sides to resolve the matter.
The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) rejected a pay offer
from their governing body, Cricket Australia (CA) earlier this month
saying “a win for cricket administrators but a loss for cricket”.
CA has threatened to not renew contracts for 2017-18 and several
players, including vice-captain David Warner and bowler Mitchell
Starc, have hinted at a boycott of the Ashes series against England.
“I’m sure that (the boycott) won’t happen,” Warner told reporters in
Brisbane. “I have my views but I’m not going to share it. I’m talking
to both players and CA.”
Lehmann said that he would talk to the players when the squad assembles prior to the Champions Trophy in June.
“You have to do that. You have to keep it open and communication
so we know what direction everyone’s going,” Lehmann said.
“Just getting together and working it out is the way to go. It always
stays quite late in the negotiations — it happened last time and the
time before that. You have those issues... There’s no panic, it’s just
about the two parties getting together.”
Captain Steve Smith will join the squad after leading the Rising Pune
Supergiants to Indian Premier League final and Lehmann said that
he maintained constant contact with the 27-year-old.
“He’s really looking forward to getting the lads back together.
There’s been a lot of emails and text messages around the place. He
is (in good spirits). He’s been there for four months and hasn’t been
home. But he’s ready to go.”
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
5
SPORT
NBA
MLB
LeBron and Co.
cruise past Celtics
in game one romp
‘LeBron really controlled the tempo, really set the tone early’
AFP
Washington
L
eBron James delivered 38
points and Kevin Love had a
career playoff high 32 as the
defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers opened their Eastern
Conference final series with a blowout
win on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers were coming off a 10day break but showed no signs of rust
by going wire-to-wire to easily beat
the Boston Celtics 117-104 at the Boston Garden arena.
“Starting the game, LeBron really
controlled the tempo, really set the
tone early,” Cleveland coach Tyronn
Lue said. “He’s playing at a high level
right now, and that’s the reason we’re
riding him so much.”
Game two is today at the Garden before the series shifts to Cleveland for
games three and four.
“Amazing, but he’s better than
when I first got into the league,” said
Celtics fourth-year coach Brad Stevens of James.
The Cavaliers dominated from
the opening tipoff. They compiled a
26-point lead in the first half and expanding it to 28 in the third quarter
before the Celtics cut it down to 17 at
the end of the quarter.
James, who is seeking to reach his
seventh straight NBA finals, scored 15
in the fourth quarter en route to his
seventh straight 30-point game. He
also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
James said as well as the Cavaliers
played, they can do even better.
“I don’t even think we played that
great tonight,” James said. “We definitely didn’t shoot the ball as well as
we’re capable of shooting it.
“I think the energy and the effort
and mindset was where it needed to be
starting on the road, especially in the
Eastern Conference Finals.”
Love also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Tristan Thompson had 20 points and
nine rebounds, and Kyrie Irving tallied
11 points and six assists.
“Tonight was another one of those
games where I made a couple plays to
help us get a win, but it was definitely
our two bigs (Love and Thompson
who) set the tone,” James said. “They
were phenomenal.”
Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder led
the Celtics with 21 points apiece.
The Cavaliers managed to keep
Isaiah Thomas in check as he finished
Young’s RBI single
in 13th caps Red Sox
rally past Cardinals
By Jason Mastrodonato
Boston Herald (TNS)
F
or the majority of the 13 innings they played last night, the
Red Sox were one clutch hitter
short.
The David Ortiz-sized hole in the
cleanup spot seemed even more noticeable for most of the evening at
Busch Stadium, as Andrew Benintendi
endured yet another disappointing
game, driving in the game-tying run
with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning
but finishing 0-for-5 to extend his hitless streak to 26 at-bats. He left four on
base.
But the bullpen persevered and John
Farrell managed his way through the St.
Louis Cardinals lineup under National
League rules until his last pinch-hitter
saved the night and earned the Red Sox
a 5-4 win and two-game sweep.
Chris Young, who has made just one
start in the last eight days, came off the
bench nearly 41/2 hours into the game
to stroke the eventual game-winning
RBI single to center field to score Mitch
Moreland.
Young improved to 3-for-8 with four
RBI as a pinch hitter this season and
7-for-21 (.333) since signing with the
Sox before last season (the average for
MLB pinch hitters in 2017 is .252). His
heroics bailed out the offense and in
particular Benintendi, who is in his first
slump as a major leaguer but did produce a run in an important spot.
The first time Xander Bogaerts tripled was with two outs in the first inning, but Benintendi struck out. The
second time Bogaerts tripled was with
one out in the eighth inning to bring
home Dustin Pedroia to make it a 4-3
game, and Benintendi followed with
the game-tying sac fly.
A 10th-inning at-bat stood out as a
golden opportunity for Benintendi to
flip the script. With Josh Rutledge on
second base and two outs, the Cardinals chose to intentionally walk
Bogaerts and pitch to the cleanup hitter. Benintendi worked a full count before rolling over an outside fastball for a
groundout to third.
Farrell said before the game he
wasn’t concerned about Benintendi’s
prolonged slump and would keep him
at the No. 4 spot, a move that clearly
backfired in this one.
Benintendi is hitting .317 out of the
No. 2 hole but just .205 in 10 games as
the cleanup hitter.
Sox starter Rick Porcello can dial his
four-seamer up to 96-97 mph at max
effort, but his first four-seamer of the
Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Chris
Young (left) is congratulated by first
base coach Ruben Amaro Jr after
hitting a game-winning one run against
St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. (USA
TODAY Sports)
game was just 90 and on a 1-1 count,
Dexter Fowler hammered a long home
to give St. Louis the early lead.
The second inning was mostly a case
of Porcello hurting himself with mislocated pitches. A high slider was ripped
by Yadier Molina for a double to start
the inning. Aledmys Diaz bunted for a
single and Magneuris Sierra turned a
weak curveball into an RBI single.
Another run scored later in the inning on a fielder’s choice, giving the
Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
Porcello settled in to work six innings
on 87 pitches and was lifted for a pinch
hitter in the seventh. His ERA stands at
4.23 and he has allowed a majors-high
66 hits. On the positive side, he has 58
strikeouts in 551/3 innings.
It’s a remarkably similar season as
the one David Price had through nine
starts last year, when he threw 551/3
innings with 70 strikeouts but allowed
56 hits and a 5.53 ERA. Price also took
an early lead in hits allowed and held it
all year long.
Robbie Ross Jr., Matt Barnes, Joe
Kelly and Robbie Scott combined to
keep the game scoreless until the ninth,
when Craig Kimbrel fired a clean inning. Heath Hembree handled the 10th
inning and Fernando Abad took over in
the 11th, throwing two innings until the
Sox scored a run. Ben Taylor worked
the 13th for the save.
The Sox first got on the board in the
seventh when Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a
moonshot of a 441-foot, two-run homer,
his second blast in as many games.
NHL
LeBron James (centre) of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket against Jaylen Brown (left) and Kelly Olynyk of the
Boston Celtics during Game One of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday. (AFP)
with just 17 points and 10 assists. He
was just seven of 19 from the floor, two
of seven from beyond the arc.
The win was the Cavaliers’ 12th in a
row in the playoffs (one shy of match-
ing the NBA record, set by the 198889 Los Angeles Lakers), dating back to
last year’s finals.
Boston had their five-game home
playoff winning streak snapped.
Some third-quarter unpleasantness
erupted between Thompson and Boston’s Marcus Smart. The pair was whistled for double fouls on one occasion
and came together on other occasions.
Senators strike early,
take 2-1 series lead
NFL
Gisele says Brady suffered multiple concussions
lawsuits by former players suffering
from neurological problems.
AFP
New York
Senators’ Marc Methot (left) celebrates his goal against Penguins. (USA TODAY Sports)
G
isele Bundchen said Wednesday her husband, NFL star
Tom Brady, had suffered
multiple concussions in his
career, despite never having been officially listed with a head injury.
Bundchen said in an interview on
‘CBS This Morning’ with Charlie Rose
that the New England Patriots quarterback was concussed last year and
had suffered other head traumas but
did not elaborate on when they occurred.
The Brazilian supermodel was responding to a question about Brady’s
desire to play into his mid-40s.
“I just have to say, as a wife, as you
know (the NFL) is not the most, let’s
say, unaggressive sport. Football, he
had a concussion last year,” she said.
“He has concussions pretty much
every — I mean, we don’t talk about it.
“But he has concussions and I don’t
really think it’s a healthy thing for your
body to go through. You know, that
kind of aggression all the time, that
cannot be healthy for you. I’m planning on having him be healthy and do
a lot of fun things when we’re like 100,
I hope.”
Brady, who won a record fifth Super Bowl after guiding the Patriots to
a comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons, has never been officially listed
with a concussion or head injury in his
career.
The Patriots did not list Brady with
a concussion at any stage in 2016, al-
though he missed the first four games
of the season due to his Deflategate
suspension.
The Patriots declined to comment
on Bundchen’s remarks.
In a statement on Wednesday, the
NFL said the league had reviewed
Brady’s file and found “no records that
indicate that Mr. Brady suffered a head
injury or concussion, or exhibited or
complained of concussion symptoms”.
The league said it had contacted the
NFL Players Association and would
attempt to gather more information
from the Patriots medical staff and
Brady.
“The health and safety of our players is our foremost priority and we
want to ensure that all our players have
and continue to receive the best care
possible,” the NFL statement said.
Brady, who turns 40 in August, told
ESPN earlier this week he hoped to
play until he was “around 45,” fitness
permitting.
He added that Gisele would likely
have a role in any decision to retire.
“She makes decisions for our family that I’ve got to deal with. Hopefully
she never says, ‘Look, this has to be
it,’” Brady said. “... My wife and my
kids, it’s a big investment of their time
and energy too.”
The NFL has faced growing scrutiny in recent years linked to the issue
of concussions and head trauma, with
the league in 2015 agreeing on a $1bn
settlement to resolve thousands of
OWNERS EXPECTED TO TRIM OT
FROM 15 TO 10 MINUTES: REPORT
NFL club owners are expected to vote
next week to reduce regular-season
over-time periods from 15 to 10 minutes even though it could produce
more draws, the NFL Network reported Wednesday.
The 32 team owners discussed the
idea but tabled a proposal at meetings
in Phoenix in March. They are now expected to adopt the plan at meetings
next Monday through Wednesday at
Chicago, the league-owned television
network reported.
Shrinking the extra period played
after 60 regulation minutes end deadlocked is a nod to player safety.
The NFL’s competition committee
found a great disadvantage for teams
that played a Thursday night matchup
after playing a full 15-minute overtime session the Sunday before.
Last season, there were six NFL
games that went into over-time and
lasted beyond 10 minutes, the secondmost games to go so long in league history.
Over the past five seasons since
strict sudden-death over-time was
dropped, NFL research found 83 regular-season games went into over-time
with 22 of them, 26.5%, going beyond
10 minutes.
League owners were also expected
to approve a change allowing two players a season to return from injured reserve after a minimum of eight weeks
sidelined. Only one is now allowed.
AFP
Los Angeles
T
he Ottawa Senators, best
known for stifling defense,
went on an offensive explosion
Wednesday, scoring four firstperiod goals en route to a 5-1 rout of the
Pittsburgh Penguins in game three of
their NHL playoff series.
Ottawa used a barrage of scoring
to chase starting goalie Marc-Andre
Fleury from the net early, then breezed
to a lopsided victory over the defending
Stanley Cup champions and a 2-1 lead
in the Eastern Conference finals.
“Every line, every pair, we just competed really hard, and we put pucks
behind them. We capitalized on some
chances, and it’s just good to see that
every line chipped in,” said Ottawa forward Derick Brassard.
Ottawa usually wins games by one or
two goals but they came into Wednesday’s contest knowing they had to create more offense, after failing to register a shot on goal for almost 19 minutes
in a game two loss on Monday.
Mike Hoffman, Marc Methot, Derick
Brassard, Zack Smith and Kyle Turris
scored for the Senators.
Sidney Crosby replied for the injurydepleted Penguins, who trailed 5-0 after two periods.
The Senators chased Fleury with
four goals on nine shots in the first 13
minutes of the game. Fleury was re-
placed by Matt Murray, who made 19
saves.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said
early mistakes cost them the game.
“We’ve got to be more ready to play
from the drop of the puck,” said Sullivan.
“We simply have to be better. We’ve
got to be playing on our toes. It’s tough
when you give up that many goals in the
first period. You don’t really give your
team a chance in the game,” he said.
“It wasn’t like we gave up a lot of
scoring chances. We didn’t. But they all
seemed to go in the net.”
The Penguins lost another of top defensemen when Justin Schultz joined
Kris Letang on the sidelines with a
shoulder injury in game two.
So the 39-year-old Mark Streit stepped in as a replacement on
Wednesday. Streit had one assist.
The Penguins were also without
winger Bryan Rust, who suffered an
undisclosed injury in Monday’s 1-0
victory.
Craig Anderson made 25 stops in the
Senators’ net. He lost his bid for a shutout when Crosby deflected a Phil Kessel
shot though his legs just over six minutes into the third.
Sullivan said he hasn’t made up his
mind who will start in goal for Pittsburgh in game four.
“I haven’t even gotten there yet,” he
said. “We’re still trying to digest this
game that we just played. We’ll sleep
on it.”
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
6
SPORT
MOTOGP
GOLF
Rossi, Vinales
hope for better
after Jerez woes
‘It is true that we are still first in the championship standings, and this is
nice for us, but we need to improve the bike to be really competitive’
AFP
Le Mans, France
Former world
champion Hayden
‘extremely critical’
Y
amaha duo Valentino Rossi
and Maverick Vinales will
look to rediscover their impressive early-season form at
this weekend’s French MotoGP after a
difficult race in Spain.
Veteran Italian Rossi leads the
championship with 62 points after
four rounds, while Vinales is a close
second after winning the first two races in Qatar and Argentina.
But the pair struggled in Jerez last
time out, Vinales finishing sixth following his retirement at the Grand
Prix of the Americas and Rossi trailing home in 10th as Dani Pedrosa and
Marc Marquez sealed a one-two finish
for Honda.
“After the difficulties during the
Jerez weekend, the Le Mans GP will
be very important,” said Rossi, who
finished on the podium in each of the
opening three races before his Spanish
travails.
“It is true that we are still first in the
championship standings, and this is
nice for us, but we need to improve the
bike to be really competitive,” added
the 38-year-old, who is a three-time
winner at Le Mans.
Vinales hopes the return to the site
of his first MotoGP top-three finish a
year ago, when he was still with Suzuki, can spark a quick recovery.
“The race in Jerez was very difficult
for us,” admitted the Spaniard. “Luckily during the test on Monday in Jerez
we had a totally different result, it was
a really good test.
“For that reason we’re arriving in
France with a positive mind. Le Mans
is a good track for us, it suits my riding style, and we can do a really good
job there.”
Both Marquez and Pedrosa have
both cranked up the pace after fail-
Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi leads the standings after four rounds, while teammate Maverick Vinales is a close second.
ing to finish in Argentina, but their
thoughts were with former world
champion Nicky Hayden on Wednesday after the American was seriously
hurt while riding his bicycle in Italy.
He was rushed to hospital with severe chest and head injuries, according to local reports.
“Best wishes @NickyHayden! Stay
strong my friend! #GoNicky,” Pedrosa tweeted, while Marquez also took
to Twitter to post a picture of himself
alongside the 2006 MotoGP champion.
“My thoughts are with you,” he added.
Over 100,000 fans are expected to
flock to Le Mans for the race weekend,
with French rookie Johann Zarco set to
garner plenty of attention after making a seamless step up from the Moto2
category.
“I have the chance to really impress
the general public in MotoGP. That
wasn’t the case in Moto2 despite my
two titles,” said Zarco.
Former world motorcycling
champion Nicky Hayden was in
“extremely critical” condition
yesterday following a serious
bicycle accident which left him
with brain damage, as his fiancée,
Jackie, and mother, Rose, kept a
vigil at his bedside.
The 35-year-old American was
hit by a car while training south
of the Italian seaside resort of
Rimini on Wednesday and was
rushed to hospital with severe
chest and head injuries.
“Nicky Hayden’s clinical condition
remains extremely critical,” said
a statement from the Maurizio
Bufalini Hospital in Cesena.
“The young man, who is still
in the intensive care unit of
Cesena’s Bufalini Hospital, has
suffered a serious polytrauma
with subsequent serious cerebral
damage.”
Hayden, nicknamed the “Kentucky Kid”, won the 2006 MotoGP world title before moving to
the Superbike World Championship for the 2016 season.
Nine-time world champion Rossi
paid tribute to Hayden. “Nicky is
one of the best friends I have had
in the paddock,” said the Italian.
“We were teammates in his
rookie year in 2003, when he was
a young guy making his debut in
his first European experience.
“After a few years we fought for
the title down to the last race in
Valencia and, unfortunately for
me, he won and became MotoGP
world champion. After the race
we shook hands and hugged.”
Derby winner Always Dreaming gets 4th post for Preakness
Reuters
Toronto
K
entucky Derby winner Always
Dreaming drew the fourth
post on Wednesday for tomorrow’s 142nd running of the Preakness
Stakes in Baltimore where he will
seek the second jewel of US thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.
The Todd Pletcher-trained colt,
undefeated in four starts this year as
a three-year-old, was rated an oddson 4-5 morning line favourite after
the draw for the 10-horse field in the
1-3/16 mile race at Pimlico.
“It’s fine,” Pletcher said of the draw.
“He was four in the Florida Derby,
five in the Kentucky Derby. He’s generally a very good horse away from
the gate and we’ll just try to come
away, establish some position and
see what some other horses do.”
Rated the second pick for the Preakness at 3-1 was Classic Empire, who
finished fourth at the Kentucky Derby and will break alongside Always
Dreaming from the fifth gate.
Classic Empire’s handlers will be hoping for a cleaner race after the Mark
Casse-trained colt was bumped and
jostled early at a muddy Churchill
Downs before finishing respectably.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin at
Lee drew the ninth post position and
was a 10-1 third choice for the Preakness while Cloud Computing, who
will break from the second gate, was
the next best pick at 12-1.
Antonio Sano-trained Gunnevera,
who finished seventh at Churchill
Downs, will break from the middle of
the pack in the six spot and is a 15-1
shot along with Conquest Money,
who drew Gate 10, the farthest
outside.
Hence, who will start one spot inside
of Always Dreaming, was listed at
20-1 while Multiplier, Term of Art and
Senior Investment had the longest
odds at 30-1.
The Preakness will be held two
weeks after the Kentucky Derby,
where co-favourite Always Dreaming
stalked the lead for the first half of
the 1-1/4 mile classic before taking
charge going into the far turn at
Churchill Downs.
A repeat of the sloppy track that
greeted horses at the Kentucky
Derby seems unlikely on Saturday
as forecasts are predicting for warm,
dry weather in Baltimore.
RUGBY
AFP
Bangkok
L
ocal up-and-comer Rattanon
Wannasrichan stormed up
the leaderboard on the first day
of the Thailand Open’s return to
the Asian Tour after an eight-year hiatus, shooting an impressive 62 alongside Finland’s Janne Kaske.
The 72-par tournament, a national
championship that dates back to 1965, is
being held under the Asian Tour flag for
the first time since it was poached from
them by regional rival OneAsia in 2010.
Young prospect Rattanon, ranked
394 in the world, needed just 20 putts
to finish off the course on nine-underpar at Bangkok’s Thai Country Club
under leaden monsoon skies.
Kaske, a 34-year-old Finn who lives
in Bangkok and knows the course well,
had a similarly roaring start, birdying a
tough three-par sixth hole and making
an eagle on the par-five seventh.
His and Rattanon’s 62 are jointly
the lowest 18-hole score on the Asian
Tour this season, although players were
allowed to adjust their fairway balls
throughout the day under local preferred lie rules that were in place.
Rattanon said heavy rains the day
before aided local players like him.
“The course is playing soft due to the
rain yesterday and it was an advantage
for me,” the 21-year-old said according to quote put out by the tournament
organisers at the end of day one in the
$300,000 prize tournament.
“It’s easier to hit iron shots because
you can attack the pins and try to hit it
closer,” he added.
The top of the leaderboard was dominated by home players by the end of
the first day.
Panuphol Pittayarat was two shots
behind the leaders on 64, followed by
Thai veteran Prayad Marksaen who was
sharing fourth with India’s Gaganjeet
Bhullar with 65.
Danthai Boonma and former Asian
Tour number one Kiradech Aphibarnrat – both Thais – were sharing joint
sixth one shot behind.
Australia’s Scott Hend was seven
shots off the pace on 69 while America’s David Lipsky, the current Order
of Merit leader, languished down the
board after firing a disappointing 74.
The Asian Tour’s recapture of the
Thailand Open was seen as a new blow
to the struggling rival OneAsia Tour.
The announcement it had returned
earlier this month came just weeks
after the Asian Tour announced it had
made a breakthrough deal to return to
China, where OneAsia had previously
had a foothold.
LEADING ROUND I SCORES
62 - Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA),
Janne Kaske (FIN)
64 - Panuphol Pittayarat (THA)
65 - Prayad Marksaen (THA), Gaganjeet
Bhullar (THA)
66 - Danthai Boonma (THA), Kiradech
Aphibarnrat (THA)
67 - Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Scott Barr
(AUS), Sihwan Kim (USA), Jaturon Duanphaichoom (THA), Keith Horne (RSA),
Jazz Janewattananond (THA)
Judge says Singh case against PGA
should go to trial
A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled that a lawsuit by former
world number one Vijay Singh of Fiji against the US PGA Tour should go to
trial. Judge Eileen Bransten partially denied the tour’s request for a summary judgment on the case filed by Singh in May 2013 in which the threetime major champion, now 54, claimed the tour “recklessly administered its
anti-doping programme”. Singh claimed the US PGA Tour unfairly suspended
him for using deer-antler spray that contained the banned substance IGF-1,
something he admitted doing in a January 2013 Sports Illustrated article.
Singh said the tour banned him before consulting with the World Anti-Doping
Agency, which ruled the deer-antler spray was not a violation if there was no
failed drug test. The tour dropped the disciplinary action against Singh, but
Singh argued there was damage done to his reputation.
Thompson jumps starting gun with
skydive stunt
Lexi Thompson ticked off one of her bucket list items on Wednesday when
the American No. 1 completed her first parachute jump during the LPGA
Tour’s Kingsmill Championship tournament on Wednesday. Thompson’s
debut skydive was a tandem freefall with a member of the United States
Navy as they landed on the first tee for her pro-am round where her golf caddie and playing partners were patiently waiting. The 22-year-old Thompson
said that the parachute jump over the Kingsmill Resort River golf course was
something that she has always wanted to do. “A dream come true is all I can
say. Not only did I get to skydive, but I got to jump with NAVY SEALs,” said the
world number five, who is a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
McGregor signs up for Mayweather fight
Pumas mission takes edge off Robshaw’s Lions loss
AFP
Brighton, United Kingdom
C
hris Robshaw is determined
not to let the fact he has
missed out on selection for
the British and Irish Lions
cloud his enjoyment of England’s upcoming two-Test tour of Argentina.
The long-arranged fixtures against
the Pumas have been given added significance after Six Nations champions
England and Argentina were drawn
together in the same pool for the 2019
World Cup in Japan.
Former England captain Robshaw
has experienced plenty of highs and
lows in his Test career, including being skipper when the team suffered
the embarrassment of a first-round
exit on home soil during the last World
Cup two years ago.
So, on that basis the fact the
30-year-old
Harlequins
flanker
missed out on a keenly contested
back-row place in the Lions squad for
their upcoming tour of New Zealand
Locals on top
as Thailand
Open returns
to Asian Tour
Jonny May and Chris Robshaw during
England’s training session. (Reuters)
may not rank as the biggest disappointment of Robshaw’s rugby life.
“A lot of us have spoken about that,
and yes we missed out, but we are very
much looking forward to Argentina,”
said Robshaw at England’s Brighton
training camp.
“With a lot of players away (with the
Lions) this is going to be a very challenging England tour, but it’s exciting
as well.”
Asked if he has considered the prospect of being on the Lions’ stand-by
list, Robshaw added: “I think you park
that. If something happens, fantastic, but if not, all my attention is with
England, and that’s where it will stay
unless things do change.”
A trip that could have gone under
the radar has been given fresh relevance for Eddie Jones’s men by the
2019 draw.
“Especially with the World Cup
group coming up, I think that probably puts a bit more significance on it,
so now every time we play each other
that’s always going to be brought
up, like it was previously when we
played Wales or Australia (who both
beat England in their 2015 World Cup
pool),” said Robshaw.
‘WHIRLWIND’
It was in Argentina where Robshaw
made his Test debut eight years ago
and the loose forward is relishing the
prospect of s return.
“The last time I went on tour to Argentina was when I made my debut. It
was eight years ago, it was all a bit of a
whirlwind. I’m now in a very different
position and I can speak to some of the
guys who might make their debuts and
I know exactly what they’ll be going
through, what they’ll be feeling.
“I’m excited about being a senior
guy. That was definitely a challenge
going to Salta, making my debut but
now I’m helping to grow the squad.”
Robshaw believes England will face
a more rounded Pumas side than the
one he first came across.
“When I first played them they were
very set-piece orientated and territory
focused. Since they’ve got into the
Rugby Championship they throw the
ball around,” he explained.
“They still have a very strong setpiece, particularly the scrum, but I
think they have a much more freeflowing, attacking style now and do
challenge you in different aspects.
The long-rumoured bout between undefeated American boxing champion
Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor is
halfway to becoming a reality after the Irish signed a deal for the fight, it was
announced on Wednesday night. UFC President Dana White broke the news
during a television interview for TNT following the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals matchup. “The McGregor side is done, I’m starting to work on the
Mayweather side now,” White said. “I’ve got one side done. If we can come
to a deal (with Mayweather) the fight will happen.” McGregor confirmed the
deal in a statement released to Themaclife.com. Terms of the deal were not
announced. McGregor, 28, is the biggest pay-per-view draw in UFC’s mixed
martial arts while the 40-year-old Mayweather retired in 2015 with a 49-0
record. The two sides have been exchanging verbal spats and challenges for
several months. The proposed bout would be straight boxing match.
Berchelt, Corrales to defend titles
World super featherweight boxing champions Miguel Berchelt and Jezreel
Corrales will defend their crowns in a July 15 fight card offering Japan’s Takashi
Miura a chance to regain his crown. Mexico’s Berchelt, 31-1 with 28 knockouts,
will defend the World Boxing Council title against mandatory challenger Miura,
31-3 with two drawn and 24 knockouts. And unbeaten Panamanian southpaw
Corrales, 21-0 with eight knockouts, defends his World Boxing Association title in
his US debut against Mexico’s Robinson Castellanos, 24-12 with 14 knockouts, at
the Los Angeles Forum. Miura, stopped by Francisco Vargas in November 2015
to surrender the WBC crown, comes off a January knockout of Mexico’s Miguel
Roman on the undercard of the bout in which Berchelt stopped Vargas in the
11th round to lift the title. “I took on this challenge because I only want to fight the
best,” Berchelt said. “Miura is a true warrior and always leaves it all in the ring,
but I am young and hungry and am confident I’ll return to Mexico with the world
championship belt still around my waist.”
Gulf Times
Friday, May 19, 2017
7
SPORT
TENNIS
FOCUS
Djokovic on track
for Paris, sets up
Del Potro clash
‘I’m getting closer, I feel like today’s match was one of better ones I’ve played on clay this season’
AFP
Rome
S
econd seed Novak Djokovic said he is on track
to raise his game for the
French Open after reaching the Rome Masters quarterfinals yesterday with a 6-4, 6-4
third round win over Spain’s
Roberto Bautista Agut.
Djokovic, beaten in the final
by Britain’s Andy Murray last
year, will now face Juan Martin del Potro in the quarters after the unseeded Argentinian’s
third round 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win
over Japanese seventh seed Kei
Nishikori.
Rafael Nadal, enjoying his best
season on clay in two years, will
look to book his place in the last
eight later when he meets American Jack Sock, seeded 13th.
The Spaniard, a seven-time
champion in Rome, swept Djokovic aside in the semi-finals of
the Madrid Masters last week
before going on to secure the
title. But French Open champion Djokovic said: “I’m getting
closer, I feel like today’s match
was one of the better ones I’ve
played on clay this season, and in
the past couple of months.
“It’s coming at the right time,
we’re getting closer to Roland
Garros. All the players are looking to raise their game for Paris.
“I’ve been doing my best to
optimise my game... right now,
as days are passing by, I feel more
comfortable on the court.”
Another playing looking to up
his game for the French Open is
2015 champion Stan Wawrinka
but the world number three from
Switzerland said a lack of confidence was to blame for his shock
7-6 (7/1), 6-4 defeat to bigserving American John Isner,
who is ranked 24th in the world.
“When you lack confidence
and rhythm, against opponents
like (Benoit) Paire and Isner, it’s
not ideal,” said Wawrinka, who
had beaten Frenchman Paire 6-3,
6-4 on Wednesday.
“I had some chances to break
him at the start of the match, but
I didn’t push him hard enough.
“My game and my physical
condition are there. But confidence, you can lose it quickly.
But I’ll keep fighting.”
Isner, meeting Wawrinka for
the first time in six years, will
now meet Marin Cilic after the
sixth seed from Croatia beat
Belgian David Goffin, the ninth
Sharapova granted
Birmingham wildcard
AFP
London
M
aria
Sharapova
has been granted a
wildcard for next
month’s
WTA
grasscourt event in Birmingham, a key Wimbledon warmup, organisers said yesterday.
It comes two days after the
Russian former world number
one was refused a wildcard for
the French Open following her
15-month ban for doping.
Next month will see 2004
Wimbledon champion Sharapova, 30, play the Birmingham
event for the first time in seven
years. She is guaranteed a spot
in qualifying for Wimbledon
but still hopes to get into the
main draw for the Grand Slam
with a wildcard. Wimbledon
chiefs will wait until June 20,
just days ahead of the qualifying event, before deciding
whether to give her a wildcard.
“I am really excited to be
coming back to Birmingham
this year to play on the grass as
part of my build-up to Wimbledon and I thank the LTA for
this opportunity,” said Sharapova in a statement.
“I have some great memories
of playing there over the years,
including winning the title on
two previous occasions.”
Lawn
Tennis
Association chief executive Michael
Downey accepted “not everyone will agree” with the decision to give Sharapova a wildcard for Birmingham.
Some of her rivals on the
women’s tour have openly
questioned her return last
month from a ban for taking meldonium. “We have
received a two-year commit-
ment from one of the most
famous athletes in the world,
Maria Sharapova, to play the
Aegon Classic Birmingham,”
said Downey, after the Russian confirmed she would play
there in 2017 and 2018.
“In return we are providing
Maria with a main draw wildcard for this year.
“This wasn’t a decision we
took lightly and we recognise
not everyone will agree with
it, however Maria has served
her ban in full and is now back
playing high-quality tennis.”
The Birmingham event at
the Edgbaston Priory club runs
June 17-25, with eight of the
world’s top 10 set to take part,
including world number one
Angelique Kerber. Wimbledon
starts on July 3.
Sharapova returned from
her doping ban on April 26
but relied on wildcards to get
into tournaments because her
world ranking points expired
while she was banned.
She was initially banned for
two years for using meldonium, with the penalty later
reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which
ruled she was not an intentional doper. After her ban expired,
Sharapova returned to competition at the Stuttgart Open,
reaching the semi-finals, and
progressed to the last 32 of the
Madrid Open, failing to earn a
qualifying spot for the French
Open, the second Grand Slam
of the season, which starts later this month.
Sharapova this week responded to her French Open
wildcard snub with a defiant
Twitter message, saying: “If
this is what it takes to rise up
again, then I am in it all the
way, everyday.”
Huffman wins Tour of California’s fourth stage
Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Roberto Bautista during their third round match at the Rome Masters yesterday. (AFP)
seed, 6-3, 6-4. “I went out there
with the belief that if I played
well and executed my game plan
that I could walk off that court
with a win,” said Isner.
But beating Cilic, he said,
might not be so straightforward.
“Yeah, he has been a bit of a
thorn in my side. The last time
we played I won in Paris last year,
the indoor tournament in Paris,”
added Isner.
“It should be a close match.
Not much has separated us when
we have played each other in the
past.”
In the women’s tournament,
Venus Williams overcame determined Briton Johanna Konta to
win their third-round clash 6-1,
3-6, 6-1.
In the absence of sister and
defending champion Serena,
she will now meet Spain’s Garbine Muguruza on Friday for a
place in the semis and a possible
match-up with Czech second
seed Karolina Pliskova.
Williams, competing in Rome
because “I still have a lot to give”,
was more circumspect about her
chances of emulating Serena by
winning Roland Garros.
“It’s so different when you’re
talking about it or when you’re
playing it,” she said.
“When you’re playing it, it’s a
lot of work. There is not even one
point that is given.
“My whole thing about it is to
try to win my match no matter
who I play against. I hope to have
more luck and more skill.”
Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova,
the seventh seed, won’t be going
so far after she exited following a
2-6, 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Australian qualifier Daria Gavrilova.
Gavrilova will meet Dutch
15th seed Kiki Bertens after she
beat unseeded Russian Ekaterina
Makarova 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.
Unheralded American Evan
Huffman won Wednesday’s
fourth stage of the Tour of
California between Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita while
Poland’s Rafal Majka retained
the yellow jersey as overall
leader. The 27-year-old Huffman won the 159.5-kilometer
stage from the breakaway by
finishing ahead of Canadian
teammate Rob Britton and
Dutchman Lennard Hofstede.
“I can’t believe we did it,” Huffman said.
“It’s surreal, amazing. I was
thinking about last year’s
stage during the last 10km,
and how much it would suck
to not win again. I gave it
everything I had in the last
100 metres.”
Huffman and his teammates
narrowly withstood the
challenge of a peloton that
featured some marquee
sprinters. Slovakian Peter
Sagan, winner of the third
stage on Tuesday and Majka’s
teammate, settled for sixth.
Majka has led the Tour since
his victory in the second
stage on Monday.
He now has a two-second
lead in the general classification ahead of New Zealander
George Bennett. American
Ian Boswell is third, only 14
seconds behind.
yesterday’s fifth stage,
considered the most difficult
of the event, is a climb up
Mount Baldy that could result
in a dramatic change to the
leaderboard.
“Today was a very hard day
but I had a great team to support me and my teammate
Peter,” Majka said. “We had
all our teammates there, all at
the front. I’m suffering a little
today but maybe tomorrow
will be better for me.
RESULTS
Stage 4
1. Evan Huffman (USA/Rally
Cycling) 159.5km in three
hours, 41 minutes, 52 seconds,
2. Rob Britton (CAN/Rally
Cycling same time, 3. Lennard
Hofstede (NED/Sunweb) s.t.,
4. Mathias Leturnier (FRA/
Cofidis) s.t., 5. Gavin Mannion
(USA/UnitedHealthcare) s.t.,
6. Peter Sagan (SVK/Bora) s.t.,
7. John Degenkolb (GER/Trek)
s.t., 8. Marcel Kittel (GER/
Quick-Step) s.t., 9. Alexander
Kristoff (NOR/Katusha) s.t., 10.
Simone Consonni (ITA/UAE
Team Emirates) s.t.
CYCLING/ GIRO D’ITALIA
Hat-trick for Gaviria as Dumoulin defends pink
AFP
Reggio Emilia, Italy
C
olombian Fernando Gaviria staked
his claim for the sprinters top prize
at the 100th Giro d’Italia after
powering to a third win on stage 12
that frustrated the hosts again Thursday.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, of the Sunweb team, retained the race leader’s pink
jersey and an overall lead of 2min 23sec on
2014 champion and race favourite Nairo
Quintana of Movistar.
Before the battle for the “maglia rosa”
resumes on Saturday, when the race heads
back into the mountains, Italy’s drought
continued.
Quick Step sprinter Gaviria, already victorious on stages three and five and a runner-up to Australian Caleb Ewan (Orica)
on stage seven, claimed his third win with
a textbook sprint helped by the formidable
lead-out of Argentine teammate Maximiliano Richeze, despite him suffering a puncture in the final kilometres.
Italian Jakub Mareczko finished second
to Gaviria for the second time in the race –
the first time in the history of the Giro an
Italian had failed to win inside 12 stages.
“This win is for the team,” said Gaviria
after the 229 km ride from Forli to Reggio
Emilia.
On his race debut Gaviria has a firm grip
on the sprinters “ciclamen” jersey, which
he intends to secure at the finish in Milan
on May 28.
Although German sprint giant Andre
Greipel has won only one sprint on the
100th edition so far, Gaviria said: “The best
sprinter in this Giro is Andre Greipel. He’s
won more stages in his career than me and
won more stages of the Giro.”
He added: “We’re motivated to finish the
Giro. We have to take some points on the
way because I want to win this jersey in Milan.
“I came here for experience, and to win,
and I’m gaining both.”
The 13th stage is a 167km ride from Reggio Emilia to Tortona, another day for the
sprinters to go for glory before the race
moves back into the mountains on Saturday. Dumoulin, who took command of
the race when he powered to victory in the
10th stage time trial, is looking forward to
another incident-free day of racing before
then.
The 14th stage is perfectly flat for the first
120 km before the peloton tackles a steep
11.8 km climb to the summit of the Oropa
sanctuary at Biella.
“It was a sprinters stage and nothing
special, actually,” said Dumoulin, who also
leads French rival Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) by
2:40 and two-time and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain) by 2:47.
“It was tailwind in the final so it was really fast, but the rest of the day was quite
relaxed, no stress, so it was good.
“Tomorrow will be another sprint day. I
hope to just survive that without any troubles and we’ll look forward to the weekend.”
Results
Stage
1. Fernando Gaviria (COL/QST) 5hr 18min
55sec, 2. Jakub Mareczko (ITA/WIL) same
time, 3. Sam Bennett (IRL/BOR) s.t., 4. Phil
Bauhaus (GER/SUN) s.t., 5. Maximiliano
Richeze (ARG/QST) s.t., 6. Ryan Gibbons
(RSA/DDD) s.t., 7. Sacha Modolo (ITA/
UAE) s.t., 8. Andre Greipel (GER/LOT) s.t., 9.
Jasper Stuyven (BEL/TRE) s.t., 10. Roberto
Ferrari (ITA/UAE) s.t.
Overall standings
1. Tom Dumoulin (NED/Sunweb) 52hrs
41min 08sec, 2. Nairo Quintana (COL/
MOV) at 2:23, 3. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE)
2:38, 4. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 2:40, 5.
Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/BAH) 2:4, 6. Andrey
Amador (CRC/MOV) 3:05, 7. Bob Jungels
(LUX/QST) 3:56, 8. Domenico Pozzovivo
(ITA/ALM) 3:59, 9. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST)
3:59, 10. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/KAT) 4:17.
Colombian cyclist Fernando Gaviria (C) from QuickStep-Floors crosses the finish line to win the 12th stage of
the 100th Giro d’Italia cycling race in Reggio Emilia yesterday. (AFP)
Friday, May 19, 2017
SPORT
GULF TIMES
FOCUS
SPOTLIGHT
Khalifa opening shows Qatar is on
track for 2022, says AFC president
‘2022 World Cup will
attract 1.3mn fans’
A
U
he told SC.qa.
“Opening the Khalifa International
Stadium five years before the start of the
World Cup represents a strong indication
of the strong will and determination of
the concerned authorities in Qatar. It also
sends a clear and very important message about the willingness to get all the
stadiums ready long before the start of
the competition,” added the continental
football chief.
The AFC President also praised the upgrading and modernisation works which
took place in Khalifa International Stadium and which are in line with the FIFA
requirements and standards, increasing
sian Football Confederation
(AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifah sees the opening of Khalifa
International Stadium for today’s Emir
Cup final as an important step showcasing Qatar’s readiness to host the first FIFA
World Cup in the Middle East.
“We admire and appreciate the huge
efforts deployed by our brothers in the
State of Qatar to speed up the preparation
for hosting the FIFA World Cup Finals.
We see in this occasion of reopening the
Khalifa International Stadium a confirmation of the work in getting the stadium
ready to host the this prestigious event,”
the seating capacity for spectators, providing cooling technology for the stadium, installing a roof over the stands and
establishing an integrated sports museum which will become an attraction for
football fans.
The President also reaffirmed the
AFC’s support for Qatar in its efforts to
organise the best FIFA World Cup tournament in the history of the competition.
“Qatar’s expected success in organising this event will be a success for the entire Asian continent, and will send a message to the world about Asia’s passion for
the game,” he said.
(SC.qa)
AFP
Doha
p to 1.3mn fans will visit
Qatar during the 2022
World Cup, an official
said yesterday, equivalent to half the Gulf country’s
population. Nasser al-Khater,
a senior figure with the body
organising Qatar’s World Cup,
also said that for the first time in
tournament history many of the
fans would come from outside
Europe and South America.
“We believe we are going to
have a huge influx (of fans), 1.3mn
during the tournament,” said alKhater. “We are putting a ceiling
cap of 1.3mn as an estimate.”
He added: “Everybody when
they think of a World Cup, they
expect the majority of the fans are
going to be coming from western
Europe and South America.
“I think football is changing,
but I think also because of the
geographical location of Qatar, I
think we are going to see the majority of fans come from the region, mainly from Saudi Arabia.
“We are going to see a lot of
fans coming from India, a lot of
fans coming from Russia. I think
we will see something very different in this World Cup.”
About one mn people visited
Brazil for the last World Cup.
The World Cup in Qatar will be
held between November 21 and
December 18, 2022.
ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY GAMES
Qatar’s Ashraf Elseify wins
hammer throw bronze
Elseify’s medal was Qatar’s seventh overall at the Baku event; Li Ping makes it to table tennis semi-finals
Qatar’s Li Ping in action against Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo during their men’s
singles table tennis quarter-final yesterday.
Qatar’s Ashraf Amgad Elseify with his bronze medal on the podium for the men’s
hammer throw competition at the Baku Olympic Stadium yesterday.
Agencies
Baku
A
fter a gap of two days, Qatar added yet another medal
to the tally as Ashraf Amgad
Elseify won men’s hammer
throw bronze medal at the Islamic Solidarity games in Baku yesterday.
The 22-year-old athlete, the 2012
Asian Junior Athletics Championships
gold medallist, threw 73.17m to finish
third.
It was a Turkish delight in the hammer
throw final as Esref Apak clinched gold
by the tiniest of margins from compatriot
Ozkan Baltaci to hand the Turks their
second athletics gold of the day.
Turkey lead the tally with 155 medals,
while Qatar now have seven medals in
all, including one gold, one silver and
five bronze.
Apak fouled on his opening three efforts before he landed a season’s best
74.32m on his fourth attempt to win the
gold. Baltaci was an agonising 19 centimetres short as he settled for silver in a
Turkish one-two.
Another Qatari in the final, Ahmed
Elseify, finished seventh with a 66.28m
effort.
Qatar’s Li Ping surged forward to the
semi-finals of the men’s singles table
tennis event with a 4-1 win over Olajide Omotayo at the Sarhadchi Arena
yesterday.
Li had little trouble taking the first
game 11-5, but Omotayo bounced back
with an 11-8 win in the second game.
Thereafter Lee picked up three straight
games 11-6, 11-8 and 11-9 to advance to
the last four stage against Nima Alamian Daounkoalei of Iran.
The 24-year-old Iranian blanked
Turkey’s Batuhan Ulucak 4-0 for his
spot in the semifinals.
In the 3x3 basketball event, Qatar
finished the first day with two wins
from as many matches to top Group B
with four points.
In the first match, Qatar defeated
Indonesia 21-12, riding on a 9-point effort by Tanguy Ngombo, while Abdulrahman Saad and Saeed Erfan Ali added
6 and 4 respectively.
Qatar later thrashed Ivory Coast 15-7,
with Ngombo adding 4 points, and Ali
scoring five. Saad and Nedim Muslic
added 3 points each.
Qatar will take on second-placed
Mali and fifth-placed Jordan today.
Elsewhere, Odile Ahouanwanou
landed Benin’s first-ever gold medal at
the Games with victory in the women’s
100-metre hurdles final yesterday.
The 26-year-old got off to a slow
start but powered clear in the final 30
metres to record a personal best time
of 13.55 seconds and secure Benin’s second athletics medal after Noelie Yarigo’s bronze in the women’s 800-metre
Qatar’s Abdulrahman Saad (right) drives to the basket against Ivory Coast’s Segui
Serge Wilfried Kraka during their men’s preliminary round 3x3 basketball event at
the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku yesterday.
final on Wednesday.
Benin had never previously won a
medal at the Games prior to the fourth
edition, but now have two in as many
days in athletics at the Olympic Stadium.
Turkey’s Nevin Yanit Baltaci clocked
13.71s to take silver, 14 hundredths of a
second ahead of Malaysia’s Raja Nursheena Azhar, who clinched bronze for
the second successive Games.
Twenty-year-old Moroccan Mostafa Smaili cruised to gold in the men’s
800-metre final to win his maiden major title and his country’s third athletics
gold in Baku.
Smaili produced a flowery, classy
performance as he streaked ahead on
the home straight from Tunisia’s Riadah Chninni who gained silver.
Algeria’s Mohamed El Amin Belferar
was two tenths of a second off silver as
the Olympic semi-finalist had to settle
for bronze.
Azerbaijan recorded their eighth
athletics gold medal with a one-two
finish in the men’s 100-metre T11 disability final.
In a tight race, Nurlan Ibrahimov came
out on top against compatriot Elchin
Muradov with just four hundredths of a
second separating them. Ibrahimov won
in 11.60s, while Iran’s Arash Khosravi,
who was the fastest qualifier, could only
manage bronze in 11.66s.
FIA WORLD CUP FOR CROSS-COUNTRY RALLIES
Al-Attiyah, Domzala to represent Overdrive in Kazakhstan
Agencies
Aktau City, Kazakhstan
Q
atar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and Poland’s Aron Domzala will represent Overdrive
Racing at the forthcoming
Rally Kazakhstan, round five of the FIA
World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
The Central Asian country takes its
place in the FIA calendar for the first
time and the Automotorsport Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan has
laid on a challenging desert route to
challenge 23 teams and competitors
from 15 nations.
The event, which runs from May
20-27, starts and finishes in the main
square in Aktau City – a relatively new
conurbation devised to service the requirements of the oil and gas industry
on the shores of the Caspian Sea – although the rally will be based at the
Kenderly Sea Resort, around 220km
from Aktau, for three nights after the
second selective section on May 22.
Al-Attiyah has overcome a shaky
start to the season and recovered well
from his crash in Abu Dhabi to win two
recent events in Qatar and Jordan. That
victory at the Qatar Cross-Country
Rally last month has enabled the twotime Dakar winner to close to within 25
points of the early season championship leader, Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi.
While al-Qassimi misses out on Kazakhstan in favour of a pre-arranged
trip to the WRC event in Portugal, alAttiyah and French navigator Matthieu
Baumel have an excellent chance to
grab the championship lead for the first
time this season.
The defending champions, who
missed the opening round in Russia and
won round two in Dubai, placed additional importance on winning the inaugural Rally Kazakhstan.
There are date clashes in the Qatari’s calendar this year as well and the
FIA World Cup Bajas in Italy and Spain
clash directly with an MERC event in
Cyprus and the Silk Way Rally in Asia,
respectively.
“Kazakhstan is a new event in the
championship and a new challenge
for Matthieu and me,” said al-Attiyah.
“This is also an important rally for us.
We need to win. I need the 50 points. I
have a new car and will try my best to
achieve the goal. It will not be easy. I
know the stages will be challenging and
Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (right) and co-driver Matthieu Baumel have an excellent
chance to grab the championship lead in Kazakhstan.
there are several talented drivers on the
entry list.”
Al-Attiyah’s Overdrive Racing teammate Domzala led the FIA World Cup
after two rallies in Russia and Dubai,
but the talented youngster suffered in
the intense heat of the desert at the Abu
Dhabi Desert Challenge and finished
ninth in Qatar.
Domzala, who holds sixth in the
championship standings, realises the
importance of accurate navigation on
long-distance desert events and regular navigator Szymon Gospodarczyk
has been replaced by fellow Pole Maciej
Marton for their first taste of the Central Asian deserts. Gospodarczyk is due
to return for the smaller European Baja
events later in the season.
“This is a new event for the team, a
new challenge and the third of the long
distance rounds of the FIA World Cup
in the space of less than two months,”
said Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc
Fortin. “That places an extra workload
on everyone, but we are looking forward
to competing somewhere different, with
new stages and new terrain.”
The area around Aktau City has sustained heavy rainfall over the last 48
hours and race officials will be hoping
that large areas of standing water drain
off before the first Aktau-Aktau stage
gets underway on May 21. The special
runs for 268.23km in a northerly loop
of the coastal region between the exSoviet military base of Fort Shevchenko
and Aktau in a day’s route of 337.63km.
Stage two heads east out of Aktau
City and winds its way in a loop via the
town of Ushtagan and south of the oil
and gas hub of Zhanaozen to finish just
north of Kenderly. The stage is split into
two sections of 325km and 41.6km by a
short neutralised track of just 1.4km.
The next two selective sections on
May 23 and 24 loop around the deserts
further east and to the north of the
Kenderly Sea Resort and closer to the
remote town of Senek. They run for
421km and 276.20km, respectively.
The penultimate stage guides the
surviving teams back to Aktau City via
a competitive section of 370.90km in a
day’s route of 499.60km. The action begins to the north of Kenderly and makes
its way in an anti-clockwise direction to
a finish close to the small town of Zhetybay. A shorter sixth and final loop stage
of 147.94km, north of Aktau City, brings
the action to a conclusion on May 26.
In a compact total route of 2,500.37km,
1852.57km will be competitive.
WORLD CUP FOR CROSS-COUNTRY
RALLIES STANDINGS
1. Khalid al-Qassimi (ARE)
105pts
2. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT) 90pts
3. Mohamed Abu Issa (QAT)
68pts
4. Martin Prokop (CZE)
54pts
5. Yasir Saeidan (SAU)
53pts
6. Aron Domzala (POL)
44pts
7. Jakub Przygonski (POL)
42pts
8. Leeroy Poulter (ZAF)
32pts
9. Yayha al-Helai (ARE)
28pts
10. Khalid al-Feraihi (SAU)
24pts