Friday, January 20, 2017Rabia II, 22, 1438 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Celta infl ict shock Cup defeat on Real Madrid

Nadal breezes past Baghdatis in Aussie Open

TENNIS| Page 2 FOOTBALLFOOTBALL| Page 6

CRICKET

Yuvraj, Dhoni smash tons as India clinch series in thrillerPage 3

No Djoke this!AFPMelbourne

Denis Istomin is coached by his mother and wears glasses for eyesight prob-lems. But after his sensational de-throning of Australian Open champion

Novak Djokovic, the unlikely hero could finally become a star, at least in his homeland of Uz-bekistan.

The 117th-ranked Istomin caused one of the biggest Grand Slam upsets when he knocked out the six-time winner in the second round, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in 4hr 48min.

It was the world number two’s earliest Grand Slam exit since Wimbledon 2008, when he was beaten by Marat Safin in the second round.

Istomin, distinctive by his brightly col-oured glasses, can expect to become an instant sensation after conquering the 12-time Grand Slam winner on his favourite court.

“It means so much for me to beat world number two,” said the 30-year-old journey-man, who only got into the tournament main draw as the winner of the Asia wildcard play-off .

“I just hope that it is not only one victory of mine. I’m trying to keep going the same way and trying to win some more.”

Istomin spent three months in hospital and was out of tennis for two years after break-

ing his leg so badly in a 2001 car accident that doctors doubted he would ever play competitive tennis again.

But with the coaching of his mother Klaudiya Istomina, he has been back on the circuit since 2004 — although beating Djoko-vic is his career highlight by some distance.

Asked what he would say if someone had told him he was going to beat Djokovic, he replied: “I would say, ‘Are you crazy or what?’ Especially in five sets, for sure.

“For me, it was impossible to think about that I can hold it five sets with Novak, physi-cally and mentally. So I did well today.”

Istomin, who will play Spanish 30th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the third round, joked that he saves money by having his mother as his travelling coach.

“When your family is part of your team, it’s great. I was lucky that my mother is coaching me,” he said.

“The other good thing is that I don’t need to pay the coach extra, you know.”

And what did his mother say to him after the match? “She said, ‘Good job’,” he smiled.

Istomin said he has never been the most famous athlete in Ukbekistan, although now that might change.

“Maybe now I will be. But I’m not a super-star in Uzbekistan. I’ve been living in Mos-cow for 10 years so I don’t go too much to Uzbekistan,” he said.

“But of course, if I play in Uzbekistan, eve-rybody knows me.”

Uzbek Istomin rocks Australian Open with mother of all wins

AFPMelbourne

Fallen Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic admitted opponents now believe he is more vulner-able following his stunning

second-round exit from the Australian Open.

The six-time winner and 12-time Grand Slam champion crashed out to unheralded Denis Istomin in fi ve sets yesterday in the world number two’s

earliest exit from a major since Wim-bledon 2008.

Djokovic’s stuttering start to the new season comes after he lost the world number one ranking he had held for 122 weeks from 2014 to Britain’s Andy Murray in November.

He also relinquished his Wimbledon and US Open titles and was eliminated in the fi rst round of the Rio Olympics by eventual champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina.

The 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss to the 117th-ranked Istomin will only raise more questions about Djokovic’s ability to stay at the top af-ter dominating tennis for the last six years.

Asked if opponents have started to believe more over the last six months

that he was beatable, Djokovic said: “Sure. They wouldn’t be playing against me or any other opponent or any other tournament, for that matter, if they don’t believe that they can win.

“They go out and they try their best. Today Denis, surely he was an under-dog, but he didn’t show any nerves in the big moments.

“Everything came together. It was the right moment for him, the right day. He was better.”

Djokovic’s stunning defeat ends a phenomenal run of success in Mel-bourne where he won six Australian Open titles in six fi nals.

“I’m not used to losing in Austral-ian Open second round,” he said. “I’ve always played so well. Throughout the last 10 years, I’ve won six titles here.

“This court has been so nice to me. I enjoyed it very much. Of course, it’s disappointing. But the end of the day I have to accept it.”

Djokovic denied there was any hang-over lingering from his breakthrough French Open victory at Roland Garros last June, and the underwhelming sec-ond half of last season which ensued.

“I don’t know. I didn’t refl ect on that at all. I started a new season, a new year, as everybody else. I forgot about it, in a way. It’s not aff ecting me,” he said.

Djokovic added: “I started the season very well. Again, it’s a tennis match. On a given day, you can lose.

“I mean, nothing is impossible. There are over a hundred players play-ing in the main draw.

“I guess the quality of tennis keeps

rising each year. Everybody becomes more professional. I guess they im-prove. They get better on the court.

“What can I do? I did try my best till the last shot, but it didn’t work.”

Djokovic’s shock defeat comes after he parted ways with Grand Slam great Boris Becker as his coach last Decem-ber after three years working together.

At the time of the split Becker criti-cised Djokovic for not training hard enough.

“He has not spent as much time on the practice court as he should have in the last six months and he knows that,” Becker said.

“Success doesn’t come by pushing a button. You have to work your butt off because that is what your opponents are doing.”

Rivals now have more belief, admits DjokovicBOTTOMLINE

“They go out and they try their best. Today Denis, surely he was an underdog, but he didn’t show any nerves in the big moments”

Denis Istomin celebrates after sending defending champ Novak Djokovic packing in Melbourne.

To Advertise hereCall: 444 11 300, 444 66 621

TENNIS2 Gulf Times

Friday, January 20, 2017

Nadal smashes past Baghdatis to reach third round

NO SWEAT

Spaniard faces German Alexander Zverev next, a player tipped for a big future

AgenciesMelbourne

Hours after reign-ing champion Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Australian Open

yesterday, Rafael Nadal raised hopes of fi lling the power vac-uum after demolishing Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 6-1 6-3 to reach the third round.

Djokovic loomed as a potential semi-fi nal opponent for Nadal but the Serb’s fi ve-set upset by wildcard Denis Istomin shook up the draw and left the Spaniard as the sole grand slam champion in the bottom half.

Nadal has had two lean years at the majors, but on the same Rod Laver Arena where Djokovic fell to Istomin, the 14-times ma-jor champion showed enough of the old passion and fi repower to suggest he may yet go deep in the second week at Melbourne Park.

“What Novak did here is just

amazing,” said Nadal, paying tribute to the fallen ‘Big Four’ colleague who edged him in an epic for the 2012 title, the long-est grand slam fi nal played.

“Six victories here, six titles. For a lot of years he has been in the semi-fi nals, fi nals, and win-ning here. So it’s normal then (to lose). It’s not possible to be every time in that situation.”

Nadal needed only two hours and 13 minutes to defeat Cyp-riot Baghdatis, whose run to the 2006 fi nal as an unseeded 20-year-old is part of Australian Open folklore.

The 31-year-old Baghda-tis saved two match points but Nadal closed out the one-sided contest with a smoking cross-court forehand, his 32nd winner for the match, and punched the air in triumph as the terraces roared. Nadal, 30, faces German talent Alexander Zverev next, a player tipped for a big future in the game.

Nadal praised the 24th-

ranked 19-year-old, who upset three-times grand slam cham-pion Stan Wawrinka last year to win his maiden ATP title in St. Petersburg.

“He is a great player, one of the best players of the world, with-out a doubt, today,” the Spaniard said.

“He’s a player that is for sure one of the next grand slam win-ners. He has a big chance to be-come the future world number one.

“I need to (have) a very, very high rhythm to try to not let him play in comfortable positions. That’s what I am going to try.”

Meanwhile, Milos Raonic gave few signs he was suff ering from ‘fl u as he fl oored Gilles Muller to reach the third round of the Australian Open without drop-ping a set.

The tall Canadian beat Lux-embourg’s Muller 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to continue his smooth progress in Melbourne, where he was a semi-fi nalist last year.

‘Being Serena’ helps Williams power past SafarovaBOTTOMLINE

AFPMelbourne

Serena Williams said simply be-ing herself was the key to sweep-ing past Lucie Safarova and into the Australian Open third round

on Thursday, as she kept her Grand Slam record bid fi rmly on track.

The powerhouse American, chasing her 23rd major title and seventh in Mel-bourne, was in the zone to win 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena, just hours after fel-low second seed Novak Djokovic was sen-sationally knocked out of the men’s draw.

The world number two next faces fel-low American Nicole Gibbs, with a po-tential quarter-fi nal encounter with in-form Briton Johanna Konta or sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova looming.

As well as a seventh Australian title, Williams is chasing an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam trophy and she wasn’t about to lose to Safarova, whom she had beaten in all nine of their previous en-counters.

The most recent was the 2015 French Open fi nal.

“The last time we played was in the fi -nal of a Grand Slam... it wasn’t easy. I’m

really happy to have gotten through,” she said, after celebrating by wagging her lone index fi nger in the air, a sign she still sees herself as number one.

“That was a great performance. I played well. She’s a former top 10 player. She’s not someone you see in a second-round match. She never gives up.

“So I knew that I wanted to jump out in the lead. I knew that I wanted to just be

Serena. That’s what I’m good at doing, is being Serena. That’s what I wanted to do.”

Asked what “Being Serena” entailed, she replied: “It’s being a champion, but not only by the way I play, but the things I do off the court as well.

“I know that being Serena on the court is in a way being calm, which is in my name, but always having that fi re as well. I think, most of all, being confi dent.”

Despite Williams being favourite the Czech, 29, has a fi ghting streak, as seen in the fi rst round when she saved nine match points before beating Yanina Wickmayer.

Williams, who lost the top ranking to Angelique Kerber last year as well as the Melbourne fi nal, said after beating Belin-da Bencic in the fi rst round that she had nothing to lose, and her carefree attitude came to the fore.

She barely needed to get out of fi rst gear in the opening set as a familiar scenario unfolded, with the 35-year-old fi ring down six aces but also 14 unforced errors.

Break points saved at 2-2 tipped the set in her favour and she took control and awaited her opportunity to pounce, which came in the eighth game.

With a break to her name, she rammed home the advantage to take the fi rst set in 41 minutes.

The newly-engaged 35-year-old, play-ing her fi rst Grand Slam since the 2013 Australian Open while not top seed, saved two break points on her opening service game in the second set and another in game six.

Riding her luck, she began to turn up the heat on Safarova and went 5-3 in front when the Czech double-faulted on break point as the pressure got to her.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his second round match against Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis in Melbourne yesterday.

ReutersMelbourne

The last time Johanna Konta faced Naomi Osaka in qualifying for the 2015 US Open, the

Briton had just scraped into the top 100 and her then 16-year-old opponent was more than a hundred places further back in the rankings.

Eighteen months on, and although the result was simi-lar — Konta prevailing in two sets — the context was trans-formed with two rising stars of the game opening the day on Rod Laver Arena in the second round of the Australian Open.

While the obvious talent Hai-tian-Japanese Osaka showed on court indicates that more expe-rience can only keep her on the rise from her current ranking of number 48 in the world, Konta is on a sharper trajectory.

The 25-year-old ninth seed has reaped the rewards of a se-rious effort to double down on her mental game and is looking to back up a run to the semi-finals in Melbourne last year by going deep again this year.

“I think both of us have come a long way since the last time we played,” an effervescent Konta told reporters after her 6-4 6-2 victory.

“Very happy to have come through that. I knew going into the match I had played her once previously, and we had two close sets. She’s obviously a great server and a big ball striker.

“I was definitely keen on making my stamp in the match, and I feel like I managed to do that as the match went on.”

Konta’s clear focus on proc-ess bears the hallmarks of mind coach Juan Coto, who died sud-denly late last year, after two years of helping her sharpen her mental game. Konta has said he is still “very much a part” of all she does.

That was evident in her sound victory over her poten-tially tricky opponent in one hour and nine minutes, bash-ing out nine aces and winning a remarkable 89% of points on her first serve. Konta is building on a roaring start to the year, with last week’s warm-up win in Sydney, the city of her birth.

She is now facing a third round showdown with 17th seed Caroline Wozniacki with the imposing shadow of six-times champion Serena Wil-liams potentially looming in the quarter-finals.

Konta has also to contend with the pressure of being Brit-ain’s brightest chance for a first women’s singles grand slam ti-tle in 40 years.

“I believe that if I continue to keep my priorities straight, re-ally take care of the work, of my body, then I will continuously be able to have the opportunity to improve, to experience more matches, more situations,” she said. “And I think in turn, a lot of it is time.”

True to the philosophy of the process-oriented athlete, Kon-ta suggested that she had plenty of work to do before her meet-ing with former world number one Wozniacki.

“I’m looking forward to be-ing out on court, competing, and ultimately I’m just trying to make my stay here in Mel-bourne as long as possible,” she said.

British challenger Konta hones mental mettle to down Osaka

SPOTLIGHT

Melbourne: The last time Roger Federer met Tomas Ber-dych before the fourth round of a tournament, the Czech was 22 years old and the pair were at the Beijing Olympics.Since that third-round encoun-ter, which Federer won, they have met 13 times in knockout matches, 11 of which have been in quarter-finals or later.Today, they headline the men’s top half of third round action at the Australian Open in the final match on Rod Laver Arena after a quirk of the draw due to the 17-times grand slam champion’s knee injury last year.Federer, who tore the meniscus in his knee at the Australian Open, was forced to have surgery after Wimble-don. He did not play again and dropped to 17th in the world entering this season’s opening grand slam in Melbourne.The 35-year-old Swiss has won the last five matches against the Czech — including last year’s Melbourne Park quarter-final and holds a 16-6 record overall, though he was wary of placing too much emphasis on that.“I know I’ve got to lift my game a little bit,” Federer said. “The court plays fast and he’s caused diff iculties for me in the past on faster courts; Cincinnati, New York, Wimble-don, Olympics in Athens.“I know what he’s got.”Federer and Berdych will no doubt also be keeping an eye

on the match between fifth seed Kei Nishikori and Lukas Lacko, with the winner of that earlier clash on Margaret Court Arena their fourth round opponent.World number one Andy Mur-ray, who practised yesterday with little sign of an ankle in-jury he suff ered in the second round, is also in action against big-serving American Sam Querrey on Hisense Arena.Women’s champion Angel-ique Kerber will be hoping to iron out some of the wrinkles that have aff ected her first two rounds when she faces Kristyna Pliskova.

Federer to face Berdych early for first time in nine years

Melbourne: US broadcaster ESPN was plunged into a race row after one of its commen-tators compared tennis player Venus Williams to a “gorilla”, prompting a flood of criticism online.Commentator Doug Adler made the remark during the American’s match against Ste-fanie Voegele at the Australian Open on Wednesday, when she won 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round. “She misses a first serve and Venus is all over her,” said Adler, a 58-year-old former player. “You see Venus move in and put the gorilla eff ect on. Charging.”

Viewers were quick to register their distaste on social media, while tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg called it “appall-ing stuff ”.“Horrifying that the Williams sisters remained subjected to it still in 2017,” he tweeted.There was no immediate com-ment from ESPN. Venus Williams and her sister Serena, who have 29 Grand Slam titles between them, have experienced negative comment in the past.In 2014, Russian Tennis Fed-eration President Shamil Tarp-ischev was forced to apologise after he taunted them as the “Williams brothers”.

ESPN criticised over Venus ‘gorilla’ comment

SECOND ROUND RESULTSMen’s Singles: 8-Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Jordan Thompson (Australia) 6-2 6-1 6-7(6) 6-4 Benoit Paire (France) beat Fabio Fognini (Italy) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) beat 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 7-6(8) 5-7 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 24-Alexander Zverev (Germany) beat Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) 6-2 6-3 6-4 20-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Andrew Whittington (Australia) 6-4 6-4 6-4 6-Gael Monfils (France) beat Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-0 11-David Goff in (Belgium) beat Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-0 6-3 3-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) 21-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Ernesto Escobedo (U.S.) 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 15-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Chung Hyeon (South Korea) 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 13-Roberto Bautista (Spain) beat Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) 6-2 6-3 6-3 25-Gilles Simon (France) beat Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) 6-4 6-1 6-1 32-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Donald Young (U.S.) 7-5 6-3 6-0 30-Pablo Carreno (Spain) beat Kyle Edmund (Britain) 6-2 6-4 6-2 18-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 6-1 6-1 6-1

Women’s Singles: 2-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-4 Maria Sakkari (Greece) beat 28-Alize Cornet (France) 7-5 4-6 6-1 22-Daria Gavrilova (Australia) beat Ana Konjuh (Croatia) 6-2 1-6 6-4 12-Timea Bac-sinszky (Switzerland) beat Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) 6-1 7-6(5) Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) beat 3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-3 6-2 Nicole Gibbs (U.S.) beat Irina Falconi (U.S.) 6-4 6-1 Jennifer Brady (U.S.) beat Heather Watson (Britain) 2-6 7-6(3) 10-8 16-Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) beat Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 6-0 7-5 14-Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat Mandy Minella (Luxembourg) 6-3 6-3 6-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 6-4 7-6(8) 17-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Donna Vekic (Croatia) 6-1 6-3 21-Caroline Garcia (France) beat Oceane Dodin (France) 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4 Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat 31-Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-1 9-Johanna Konta (Britain) beat Naomi Osaka (Japan) 6-4 6-2 30-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Sara Er-rani (Italy) 6-2 3-2 (Errani retired) 5-Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) beat Anna Blinkova (Russia) 6-0 6-2

AFPCuttack

Veterans Yuvraj Singh and Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni turned back the clock with blistering centuries to set up India’s series

clinching 15-run win against England in the second one-day international in Cut-tack yetserday.

England skipper Eoin Morgan struck a valiant 102 as the visitors, who were chas-ing 382 for victory, gave the hosts a scare after they ended the reply on 366-8.

With England requiring 46 off the fi nal three overs the visitors stood an outside chance but Morgan’s unfortunate run out in the penultimate over ended their hopes.

The left-handed batsman hit 6 fours and 5 sixes during his 81-ball blitz.

But it was the 256-run fourth-wicket partnership between Yuvraj (150) and Dhoni (134) that handed India an unas-sailable 2-0 lead in the three-match se-ries.

The day belonged to the 35-year-old Yuvraj, who made his highest ever ODI score, and former captain Dhoni as they delighted a sell-out crowd at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium.

The left-handed Yuvraj, who is making a comeback in the ODI side after a gap of three years, counter attacked after India were in early trouble at 25 for three.

Yuvraj, who last scored a hundred against West Indies in the 2011 World Cup, recorded his 14th ODI century as he smacked 21 fours and 3 sixes in a 127-ball knock.

In the process, he overtook the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record run tally in ODIs against England, and he has now ac-cumulated 1,478 runs in 36 matches.

Dhoni had a relatively sedate start, see-ing out two maidens before boosting his confi dence with a couple of boundaries.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who sur-vived a dropped catch on 43, made the most of the reprieve to post his 10th ODI hundred as he hit 10 fours and 6 sixes.

Yuvraj was caught behind off Woakes while Dhoni fell to Liam Plunkett but their departure was scant consolation to the England bowlers who were all carted around the park.

In England’s innings, Jason Roy (82) and Joe Root (54) put on 100 runs for the sec-ond wicket to try and set up the chase but the Indian spinners struck back to dent the opposition’s hopes.

It was then that Morgan rose to the oc-casion with an exemplary showing as he put on 93 runs for the sixth wicket with Moeen Ali (55) to keep the chase alive.

But the pressure of keeping pace with the ever-increasing run rate fi nally got to the visiting side as Plunkett remained unbeaten on 27. The third and fi nal ODI is scheduled in Kolkata on Sunday ahead of the three-match Twenty20 series.

SCOREBOARDIndiaL. Rahul c Stokes b Woakes 5S Dhawan b Woakes 11V. Kohli c Stokes b Woakes 8Y. Singh c Buttler b Woakes 150M.S. Dhoni c Willey b Plunkett 134K. Jadhav c Ball b Plunkett 22H. Pandya not out 19

R. Jadeja not out 16Extras (b4, lb2, w9, nb1) 16Total (6 wickets; 50 overs) 381Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Rahul), 2-22 (Kohli), 3-25 (Woakes), 4-281 (Yuvraj), 5-323 (Jad-hav), 6-358 (Dhoni)Bowling: Woakes 10-3-60-4, Willey 5-0-32-0 (1w), Ball 10-0-80-0 2w), Plunkett 10-1-91-2 (1nb, 4w)), Stokes 9-0-79-0 (1w), Ali 6-0-33-0 (1w)

EnglandJ. Roy b Jadeja 82A. Hales c Dhoni b Bumrah 14J. Root c Kohli b Ashwin 54E. Morgan run out (Bumrah) 102

B. Stokes b Ashwin 1J. Buttler st Dhoni b Ashwin 10M. Ali b Kumar 55C. Woakes b Bumrah 5L. Plunkett not out 26D. Willey not out 5Extras (lb7, w4, nb1) 12Total (8 wickets; 50 overs) 366Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Hales), 2-128 (Root), 3-170 (Roy), 4-173 (Stokes), 5-205 (Buttler), 6-299 (Ali)Bowling: Kumar 10-1-63-1, Bumrah 9-0-81-2 (1nb, 1w), Jadeja 10-0-45-1, Pandya 6-0-60-0, Ashwin 10-0-65-3 (2w), Jadhav 5-0-45-0 (1w)Result: India won by 15 runs.

Yuvraj, Dhoni tons power India to victory, Morgan’s sizzling century goes in vain

India pip England in Cuttack run-fest to clinch ODI series

CRICKET

Smith century makes Pakistan pay for mistakesFOCUS

AFPPerth

Pakistan was left lament-ing missed chances after Australia capitalised on their errors to win the

one-day international in Perth yesterday by seven wickets, with skipper Steven Smith scoring a century.

Pakistan made 263 for seven after being sent to bat, having looked set to post a much big-ger score at several stages. But the home side replied with 265 for three, winning with 30 balls to spare.

After paceman Josh Hazle-wood applied the brakes to a promising Pakistan innings with three wickets, skipper Smith and ODI debutant Peter Handscomb put on 183 for the third wicket in the chase to set their team on the path to victory.

It could have been much diff er-ent for Pakistan, as they squan-dered two golden opportunities to remove Handscomb early in his innings. He was caught from a no-ball before he scored, and was then dropped on 10.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur could only rue the mistakes that helped Australia take a 2-1 lead in the fi ve-match series.

“Our only chance of really ex-erting pressure was to take early wickets, and we nearly had that right,” Arthur said.

“And where we’re at as a team, we just can’t aff ord those little lapses, so very disappointing.”

When they claimed open-ers David Warner (35) and Us-man Khawaja (nine) in fi ve balls Pakistan had Australia wob-bling at 45 for two. One run later Handscomb was on his way back to the pavilion for a duck on de-but, caught at fi rst slip from the bowling of Junaid Khan.

Australia should have been 46 for three, but Handscomb was recalled to the centre due to a front foot no-ball.

To make matters worse, Handscomb had another life on 10 when a simple catch was dropped at point, with Junaid again the aggrieved bowler.

It proved to be Pakistan’s un-doing.

Handscomb eventually fell for 82 from 84 balls, but the game was safely in Australia’s hands by then and the Australia bats-man admitted he had a lucky day.

“I think I’m going to buy a lot-tery ticket tonight,” Handscomb said. “As I was walking off , I started to hear the crowd going nuts, and couldn’t quite work out what was going on.

“So I looked up on the big screen and saw the no-ball.”

Smith brought up his eighth

ODI century by pulling the 97th ball he faced to the mid-wicket boundary and fi nished unbeaten

on 108. Earlier in the day, Hazle-wood reined the visitors in after they made a fl ying start, picking

up 3-32 from his 10 overs.He claimed the vital wickets

of Babar Azam, who top-scored with 84 from 100 balls, Umar Akmal (39) and opener Moham-mad Hafeez (4).

Babar played beautifully and appeared set to add another cen-tury to his blossoming career, before he was brilliantly caught by Handscomb.

In his 21st innings, the Paki-stani number three equalled the record held by four other players for being quickest to 1,000 runs before falling to Hazlewood.

He attempted a pull shot and Handscomb took a great div-ing catch in the outfi eld, with the third umpire confi rming the Australian got his hands under the ball. Babar did have some luck and was twice dropped by bowlers on their follow-through.

He was dropped low down by James Faulkner on 31 and then Patrick Cummins grassed a tough chance when he was 74.

Umar should have been stumped on one to give part-time spinner Travis Head (2-65) a third wicket, but wicketkeeper Matthew Wade botched an easy dismissal.

Scorecard PakistanM Hafeez lbw Hazlewood 4

S Khan b Head 50B Azam c Handscomb b Hazle-wood 84A Shafiq c Khawaja b Head 5S Malik c Wade b Stanlake 39Akmal c Wade b Hazlewood 39I Wasim c Head b Cummins 9M Rizwan not out 14M Amir not out 4Extras (lb7, w8) 15Total (for 7 wickets, 50 overs) 263Fall of wickets: 1-36 (Hafeez), 2-85 (Sharjeel), 3-99 (Shafiq), 4-162 (Malik), 5-222 (Babar), 6-244 (Umar), 7-246 (Wasim)Bowling: Hazlewood 10-0-32-3 (3w), Stanlake 10-1-55-1 (2w), Cummins 10-1-42-1 (2w), Head 10-0-65-2, Faulkner 10-0-62-0

AustraliaD. Warner c Rizwan b Junaid 35U. Khawaja c Rizwan b Amir 9S. Smith not out 108P. Handscomb c Rizwan b Ali 82T. Head not out 23Extras (b1, lb1, w5, nb1) 8Total (three wickets, 45 overs) 265Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Warner), 2-45 (Khawaja), 3-228 (Hands-comb)Bowling: Hafeez 6-1-30-0 (1w), Amir 10-0-36-1 (1w), Junaid 9-0-58-1 (1nb), Ali 10-0-62-1, Wasim 8-0-59-0 (3w), Malik 2-0-18-0Australia won by 7 wickets.

Stenson surges to Abu Dhabi lead

GOLF

AFPAbu Dhabi

Henrik Stenson started his new season in the same dominant fash-ion that helped him

become the European number one in 2016, shooting a bogey-free eight-under par 64 to take a two-shot lead Thursday in the $2.7 million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The Swedish world number four was one of the early starters, paired with reigning US Open and Masters cham-pions Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett, and made full use of the calm conditions and a receptive golf course to record eight birdies.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer - the most successful player in the history of the tournament with three wins - was among a group of four players tied for second place at six-under par 66. Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Scotland’s Marc Warren and England’s Oliver Fisher were the other players alongside Kaymer.

England’s Tyrrell Hat-ton also made a bright start with a fi ve-under par 67. He was joined there by in-form Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Frenchman Julien Quesne and England’s Tommy Fleetwood.

The 42-year-old Stenson, who has played all 11 previous editions of the tournament and holds the course record of 62, began in brilliant fashion covering his fi rst nine holes in six-under par.

He then made six consecu-tive pars on his back nine, be-fore fi nishing with two birdies in the last three holes.

“Must be the lack of prac-tice that does it ... lack of sleep, lack of practice,” said Stenson, who arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after being voted Swedish Male Athlete of the Year.

Kaymer, winner in 2008, 2009 and 2011, started with two birdies in his fi rst two holes, and even though he

matched Stenson for number of birdies, the two-time ma-jor champion also made two bogeys. World number three Johnson and compatriot and defending champion Rickie Fowler both endured a slow start and were even-par 72.

Willett, who made a triple bogey seven on the 14th hole, started with a 74.

First-round scores 64-Henrik Stenson (SWE)66-Martin Kaymer (GER), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Marc Warren (SCO), Oliver Fisher (ENG),67-Tyrrell Hatton (ENG), Julien Quesne (FRA), Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Tommy Fleet-wood (ENG)68-Jordan L Smith (ENG), Branden Grace (RSA), Paul Dunne (IRL), Gregory Havret (FRA), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Callum Shinkwin (ENG), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Bradley Dredge (WAL), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia (IND), Lee Westwood (ENG), Bernd Wiebserger (AUT), Pablo Lar-razabal (ESP), Wang Jeung-hun (KOR), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), David Lipsky (USA), Peter Hanson (SWE), Lee Slat-tery (ENG), 69-Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Richie Ramsay (SCO), An Byeong-hun (KOR), An-thony Wall (ENG), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Alexander Bjork (SWE), Ryan Fox (AUS), Ian Poulter (ENG), Ross Fisher (ENG), Gary Stal (FRA), Dean Bermester (RSA).

SPORT3Gulf Times

Friday, January 20, 2017

Australia’s Steve Smith bats during the third one-day international match against Pakistan at the WACA in Perth yesterday. (AFP)

India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni (R) and Yuvraj Singh in action during the second ODI against England in Cuttack yesterday. (Reuters)

Storm interrupts Singapore Open as favourites struggle

A lightning storm cut short the first round of the Singapore Open on Thursday after three-time champion Adam Scott tumbled down the leaderboard with a triple-bogey.The Singapore Open has been regularly interrupted by South-east Asia’s fickle weather in recent years and almost half of the 156 entrants were unable to complete the opening round after bolts of lightning lit up the sky around the Sentosa Golf Club.Play was stopped for two and a half hours and although the players briefly returned to the course in a vain eff ort to finish, play was abandoned for the day when it became too dark to continue the opening event of this year’s Asian Tour.Hideto Tanihara and Satoshi Kodaira, both of Japan, and South Korea’s Kang Kyung-nam shared the clubhouse lead at six-under par 65. Tanihara, a three-time winner of the Japan Tour last year, made a flying start when he birdied his first two holes after starting at the 10th, and finished with seven birdies and a lone bogey. He was joined in the lead by Kang, who made an eagle-three at the fourth hole and iced his flawless round with a birdie at the last.

Henrik Stenson gestures during the first round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship yesterday. (AFP)

AFPLos Angeles

Kevin Durant took it to his former team on Wednesday, erupting for 40 points to propel

the Golden State Warriors to a 121-100 NBA triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant, who scored 39 points in the Warriors 26-point win over the Thunder in November, was brutally effi cient, connect-ing on 13 of his 16 shots from the fi eld, including fi ve of seven from three-point range.

He had 12 rebounds, four as-sists and three blocks to help the Warriors withstand Thunder guard Russell Westbrook’s 21st triple-double of the season.

“The ball just found whoever was open,” Durant said, “and we did a good job of making the shots.”

Durant downplayed the sig-nifi cance of facing his former club.

“It’s good to see everybody,” he said, “but once the ball tips, you’re just playing. Simple as that.”

But Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he wasn’t surprised the match-up brought out the best in Durant.

“Every player in the NBA wants to play well against his old team,” Kerr said. “For most guys, you feel that little extra juice. I think it’s even more so with KD because of his history with that franchise... for sure he’s moti-vated and it’s a big deal.”

The gloss of Westbrook’s 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 as-sists was somewhat dimmed by his 10 turnovers. “It was big,” Westbrook said of the turnovers. “They scored off of pretty much all of them. That’s what they do.”

Tensions mounted late in the second quarter, when Golden State center Zaza Pachulia sent Westbrook to the fl oor with a fl agrant foul.

“I don’t play like that. I’m go-ing to get (him) back,” Westbrook vowed. “Whenever that is, I don’t know when it’s going to be. But I don’t play that game.”

Westbrook’s ensuing free

throws made it a tie game, 56-56, at halftime, but the Warriors, who improved their league-best record to 36-6, seized control in the third quarter, when they out-scored the Thunder 37-22.

In Houston, James Harden scored 38 points with eight assists and six rebounds on Wednesday to lead the Rockets to a 111-92 victory over the Mil-waukee Bucks. One night after Harden’s 40-point triple-double was insuffi cient to lift the Rock-ets over the lowly Miami Heat, Houston schooled the Bucks with a fourth-quarter shooting clinic.

Houston broke open a tight game with four straight three-pointers in the fi nal period.

Rockets reserve guard Eric Gordon scored 25 points, drain-

ing seven three-pointers as the Rockets, who had lost three of their past four, improved to 17-4 at home this season.

Houston, the number three team in the Western Conference, host the Warriors on Friday.

“Obviously, we get a big test on Friday,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said, “but we’re ready to see how good we are.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points with 11 re-bounds, six assists and three blocked shots for the Bucks.

76ers top RaptorsThe Philadelphia 76ers’ resur-

gence continued with a 94-89 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Cameroonian center Joel Embiid scored 26 points and TJ McCo-

nnell added four key points in a late 7-0 scoring run that helped Philadelphia end a 14-game los-ing streak to the Raptors.

Ersan Ilyasova added 18 points for the Sixers, who hadn’t beaten the Raptors since January 18, 2013. Philadelphia, a dismal 10-17 last season, improved to 14-26 with their fi fth win in six games.

The Washington Wizards avenged an October overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, holding on for a 104-101 victory that stretched their home win-ning streak to 13 games.

In New Orleans, Anthony Davis scored a game-high 21 points, leading six Pelicans play-ers in double fi gures in a 118-98 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Davis, who started after suf-

fering thumb and hip injuries in a loss at Indiana on Monday, got another scare, missing much of the second quarter to have his left hand X-rayed.

He didn’t score in the second period, but returned to score four of the Pelicans’ fi rst seven points in the third quarter as they built on their 13-point half-time lead.

RESULTSWizards 104 Grizzlies 101Pacers 106 Kings 100Warriors 121 Thunder 100Knicks 117 Celtics 10676ers 94 Raptors 89Hornets 107 Trail Blazers 85Pelicans 118 Magic 98Rockets 111 Bucks 92Pistons 118 Hawks 95

‘It was big. They scored off of pretty much all of them. That’s what they do’

Durant’s 40 points help Warriors silence Thunder

NBA

Red Wings rally to beat Bruins 6-5 in shootoutSPOTLIGHT

By Helene St. JamesDetroit Free Press

The Detroit Red Wings dug their way out of a self-created crater to create their fi rst three-

game winning streak since Oc-tober.

Rallying from 3-0 and 4-1 def-icits, they used a late goal from Gustav Nyquist and a shootout goal from Frans Nielsen to secure a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday evening at Joe Louis Arena.

Dylan Larkin, Xavier Ouellet and Andreas Athanasiou scored to creep within 4-3, and a beauty of a breakaway from Tomas Tatar provided the tie, only for the Bruins to immediately retake the lead, making it 5-4 going into the third period.

Petr Mrazek, who replaced Jared Coreau in the fi rst period, had to make several good saves to keep the score that close as the Bruins jumpstarted the period. Danny DeKeyser tried to tie it up with a slap shot from the left point dur-ing the second power play.

Nyquist used his seventh goal of the season to make it 5-5 with 4:03 to play in regulation, scor-ing by going to the net. A third power play materialised with 2:40 to play. Henrik Zetterberg

had a good shot denied. As part of the farewell to the Joe season, Grind Liners Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur came out for a ceremonial puck drop. By the time those paragons of grit made it to their seats, the Wings were already down a goal.

For a team with a bit of swag-ger after victories over Pitts-burgh and Montreal, the Wings were completely undermined on the opening shift, with the Bruins running around Detroit’s zone and earning a goal after just 44 seconds, when Frank Vatrano scored on his own rebound as Mike Green didn’t cover him.

It got worse when the Wings got a power play. Green had the puck in his own zone but got outworked by Patrice Bergeron, leading to a short-handed goal from Brandon Carlo when he got a clean shot glove-side. That made the damage two goals 2:27 into the game. Coreau’s third straight start ended before the period was halfway over. When Vatrano scored again during a Boston power play, that made it three goals on seven shots, and Mrazek took over. He got a bit of puck luck when a goalpost pre-vented Vatrano from a fi rst-peri-od hat trick.

It took the Wings until the last third of the period to respond. Larkin delivered his 12th goal of

the season at 15:32 when he came down the middle and received a perfect pass from Tatar, scoring stick side on Tuukka Rask. The Bruins made it 4-1 in the last minute of the period – still the fi rst – when Bergeron tipped To-rey Krug’s shot.

Shots after one 19-7. The Wings held their previous oppo-nent to 18 shots total.

Ouellet got the Wings back within two early in the second period. Tatar fi red a pass that bounced off a Bruin, and Ouel-let connected on a rising shot through traffi c from the top of the left circle. A good shift by Frans Nielsen’s line got the Wings within a goal. Thomas Vanek had the puck headed behind the net when he whipped a pass behind him, straight to Athanasiou.

When Carlo fell along the boards trying to get to the puck, Tatar pounced, racing to the front of the net and slip-ping a backhand behind Rask. The Bruins scored on their next shift, when Adam McQuaid fi red a puck that defl ected in off Jonathan Ericsson.

RESULTSSan Jose 3 Los Angeles 2 Edmonton 4 Florida 3 (OT) Detroit 6 Boston 5 (SO) Winnipeg 6 Arizona 3 Pittsburgh 4 Montreal 1

Rodriguez elected to Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017

BASEBALL

ReutersNew York

Ivan Rodriguez, a strong hitter and rifl e-armed catcher who nabbed would-be base stealers at

a 46% career rate, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his fi rst year of eligibility.

Rodriguez, who spent most of his Major League Baseball career with the Texas Rang-ers, will be joined in the Class of 2017 by Houston Astros great Jeff Bagwell and former Montreal Expos All-Star Tim Raines with their induc-tion on July 30. Puerto Rico’s Rodriguez became only the second catcher after Johnny Bench to be elected at his fi rst opportunity, fi ve years after retirement.

“Johnny Bench was my fa-vourite player growing up,” Rodriguez told reporters about the former Cincinnati Reds great on a conference call. “I can’t wait to see him on the same stage with me when I’m doing my speech. It’s a dream come true.”

Rodriguez received 76% of the vote of Baseball Writers’ Association of America mem-bers, just eclipsing the re-quired 75% needed for induc-tion into the Cooperstown, New York-based baseball shrine. A 14-time All-Star, he had a career.296 batting aver-age, claimed 13 Gold Gloves

for defensive excellence and was the 1999 American League Most Valuable Player.

Bagwell, whose thunder-ous swing made him one of the most intimidating hitters ever for the Houston Astros, was the leading vote-getter, garnering 86.2 % of 442 votes cast.

The fi rst baseman slugged 449 home runs with a.297 lifetime batting average and was named the 1994 National League MVP.

Outfi elder Raines, who was in his 10th and last year of eli-gibility, was a brilliant leadoff hitter boasting a.294 career batting average. He amassed 808 stolen bases, scored 100 runs or more six times and swiped 40 or more bases 11 times.

“Now that I’m in the Hall of Fame, there are going to be a lot of proud people in Canada,” Raines, who broke in with the Montreal Expos, told MLB TV.

Trevor Hoff man, who notched 606 career saves, fi n-ished an agonising fi ve votes short of the 332 required, while power-hitting outfi elder Vladimir Guerrero fell 15 shy.

There was renewed hope for seven-time Cy Young win-ner Roger Clemens and sev-en-time MVP Barry Bonds, shunned in their fi rst years on the ballot over suspicion of doping. Clemens received 239 votes, one more than Bonds, for 54.1 %, a jump of about 10 % from last year.

Detroit Red Wings players celebrate their win over the Boston Bruins in Detroit, Michigan. (Getty Images/AFP)

SPORT

Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 20174

Kevin Durant (R) of the Golden State Warriors dribbles past Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oakland. (Getty Images/AFP)

Ivan Rodriguez.

Lucas sees Liverpool through in FA Cup

SPOTLIGHT

Southampton set up a fourth-round clash at home to 12-time winners Arsenal

AFPPlymouth, United Kingdom

Stand-in captain Lucas Leiva scored his fi rst goal in seven years to earn Liverpool a 1-0 victory at fourth-tier underdogs Ply-

mouth Argyle in Wednesday night’s FA Cup third-round replay. The Brazilian, playing at centre-back, met countryman Philippe Coutinho’s 18th-minute corner with a fi rm near-post header to sink Ply-mouth, who had drawn 0-0 at Anfi eld 10 days previously.

A second-string Liverpool team could even aff ord for Divock Origi to squander a late penalty, the Belgium striker seeing his eff ort saved by home goalkeeper Luke McCormick.

“Every week in training we play old versus young and he is a top scorer for old, which is unbelievable,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said of Lucas’s goal. “Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting game, but for us it’s very important as it’s another game for a few of the young boys, so that’s all good.”

Liverpool, third in the Premier League, will host second-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers in round four on January 28. Lucas did a jig of joy after he evaded the attentions of his marker to head the ball past McCormick at Home Park.

It was his fi rst goal since a Europa League tie against Steaua Bucharest in September 2010. The goal also vindicated Klopp’s decision to put Coutinho in his starting line-up for the fi rst time since he limped off injured in the 2-0 defeat of Sunderland at Anfi eld in late November.

Coutinho helped ensure the Premier League side dominated the opening ex-changes of their contest with the League Two promotion contenders. Despite the setback of conceding, Derek Adams’s home side rallied and carved out a couple of chances themselves.

But Loris Karius pulled off a fi ne save to tip away Graham Carey’s long-range shot before Trent Alexander-Arnold denied Arnold Garita with a smart interception.

It was far from plain sailing for Liver-pool in a place known as Britain’s ‘Ocean City’ and Karius found himself placed under pressure as Argyle raised their game. Adams had to go into the game without striker David Goodwillie after a civil court judge ruled that he and former Dundee United team-mate David Robert-son raped a woman in 2011.

Plymouth started where they had left off after the break, but Karius dealt com-fortably with David Fox’s low drive. Liv-erpool striker Daniel Sturridge wasted

a decent chance from a tight angle and Origi had a powerful shot saved by Mc-Cormick. Klopp decided to withdraw Coutinho in favour of the club’s Under-23s captain Harry Wilson, who made his senior debut. The Welsh youngster al-most doubled the lead when he charged down McCormick’s clearance, but the ball sailed just over the bar.

The visitors had a narrow escape when Jake Jervis saw his acrobatic volley graze a post, setting the scene for a nervous fi -nale. Origi should have doubled the lead from the penalty spot after Yann Songo’o felled Alberto Moreno, but his eff ort was superbly saved by McCormick, diving low to his right.

“Overall I thought it was a very good performance from us. In the end we lost one goal over two games to Liverpool,” Plymouth manager Adams said. “The players can be proud of themselves to-night. The supporters showed their ap-preciation throughout.”

Elsewhere, Southampton set up a fourth-round clash at home to 12-time winners Arsenal after Shane Long’s scruff y stoppage-time strike gave them a 1-0 win over second-tier Norwich City. Championship leaders Newcastle United beat Birmingham City 3-1 at St James’ Park, Matt Ritchie scoring twice.

RESULTSThird round replays

Newcastle 3 (Ritchie 9-pen, 90+2, Gouff ran

34) Birmingham 1 (Cotterill 71)

Plymouth 0 Liverpool 1 (Lucas 18)

Southampton 1 (Long 90+2) Norwich 0

FOURTH-ROUND DRAW (TIES TO BE PLAYED JANUARY 27-29)

Tottenham vs Wycombe; Derby vs Leicester;

Oxford vs Newcastle; Sutton vs Leeds;

Liverpool vs Wolves; Southampton vs

Arsenal; Lincoln vs Brighton; Chelsea vs

Brentford; Manchester United vs Wigan;

Millwall vs Watford; Rochdale vs Hudders-

field; Burnley vs Bristol City; Blackburn vs

Blackpool; Fulham vs Hull; Middlesbrough

vs Accrington Stanley; Crystal Palace vs

Manchester City

FOOTBALL5Gulf Times

Friday, January 20, 2017

Manchester City complete Jesus transfer

FOCUS

AFPLondon

Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus has formally completed his move to Manchester City from Palmeiras, the Premier League club announced yesterday.

City agreed to sign Jesus on a fi ve-year contract in August, but the 19-year-old was immediately loaned back to Palmeiras until the end of the Bra-zilian season in December.

With City having now completed his registra-tion, he could make his debut for Pep Guardiola’s side in tomorrow’s home game with high-fl ying Tottenham Hotspur. “I want to win titles and Manchester City is a club that is used to winning,” Jesus said in comments published on the City website.

“City is a club that always competes for the title in the competitions it enters, so that was an im-portant factor, and because of the manager, Guar-diola, and the squad.”

Jesus, who can play right across the front line, is one of the most highly rated youngsters in world football and is reported to have cost City an initial fee of £27mn. He helped Palmeiras to their fi rst league title in 22 years last year and has scored scored fi ve goals in his fi rst six games for Brazil.

“Gabriel is a technically gifted player who was chased by some of Europe’s biggest clubs and we are delighted he decided to join City,” said City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain.

“He has the potential to become one of the best attacking players in the game and we look forward to watching him develop further here in Man-chester. I think with Pep Guardiola as manager and the squad we already have here, Jesus has the perfect platform to reach his full potential.”

Jesus’s arrival is a timely lift for Guardiola, who fi nds himself under intense scrutiny after last weekend’s chastening 4-0 defeat at Everton. It was City’s fi fth league defeat of the season and left them in fi fth place in the table, two points off the Champions League places and 10 points be-low leaders Chelsea.

West Ham’s Bilic calls on Marseille to resolve Payet stand-off AFPLondon

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says Dimitri Payet will only get his wish to leave the Premier League club if Marseille meet his

asking price for the unsettled France mid-fi elder. Payet is trying to engineer a return to Marseille and has been training with West Ham’s Under-23 squad this week after telling Bilic he wasn’t willing to play in last Satur-day’s win against Crystal Palace.

The east Londoners are reported to have rejected two bids from Marseille and Bilic insisted last week that Payet would not be sold to his former club. But with the end of the January transfer window looming Bilic’s stance has softened and he has told French gi-ants Marseille to pay up if they want to secure Payet’s signature.

Payet joined West Ham from Marseille for £10mn and the Hammers are believed to want more than double that fi gure to allow the 29-year-old to go. “Dimi took his stance clearly. We took our stance very clearly and it stays the same. We are not going to sell our best players on the cheap just because some-one wants to sign them or even because they want to go home,” Bilic told reporters.

“Is his departure inevitable? I don’t know. What has changed? Nothing. I left it with the chairman and I’m sure he’s going to do the best thing. The ball is in Marseille’s court. They are the ones who expressed interest. Now they should act.

“I don’t talk about numbers. All I’m saying is we were very fi rm, we know the market, we know how good or great he is as a player. Like everybody he has his price.”

Meanwhile, Bilic has been linked with a move for Southampton defender Jose Fonte, but he denied the Portugal international has already had a medical. “Not a medical,” he added.

“Look, I said a few times already I’m not

going to talk about names. Are any deals close? Close is very relative in football. Many times something that looks close doesn’t happen. And sometimes something that looks distant suddenly happens. But in 24 hours, hopefully.”

CAPTAIN MERTESACKER EXTENDS ARSENAL STAY

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger confi rmed yesterday that he has agreed to trigger a one-year contract extension for captain Per Mertesacker. Mertesacker has yet to play for Arsenal this term after suff ering a serious knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Lens. The 32-year-old defender’s current deal was due to expire at the end of the season and, despite being someway from full fi tness after knee surgery, Wenger wants to keep the World Cup winner for another 12 months.

“He has an option that we have taken.

There was no negotiation, there was just an option that we took up.

He is back in training, not with the squad but I think he is a few weeks away,” Wenger told reporters.

Mertesacker replaced Mikel Arteta as the club’s skipper after the Spaniard retired at the end of last season and took up a coaching role at Manchester City. Arteta was sidelined with a number of injuries for much of his spell with the armband, but Wenger insists the same fate will not befall his current captain.

“It’s completely accidental,” he said of the German’s knee problem.

“With Arteta, it’s true that he struggled with muscular problems, but Per was acci-dental. It was a knee problem but he has re-covered from that, so there’s no reason why he should be injured again.”

Meanwhile, defender Laurent Koscielny has said Wenger’s recent record at Arsenal should not undermine the long-serving man-ager’s ability to help his players develop and fulfi l their potential.

Despite winning the FA Cup twice in the last three campaigns, Wenger has come under growing pressure for his failure to guide Ar-senal to the Premier League title since 2004. “You may say that we haven’t won the title for a long time, but he has not just built players, he’s built men too.

Every player who has played for Arsenal has grown here and has become a man,” Koscielny told the club’s website. “It’s a big number (of players). For me and the others, it’s a good op-portunity to be with him and learn from him. He’s passionate about football. He loves foot-ball and he loves to watch his team play well with the ball. That’s why he’s here again af-ter 20 years. Along with a lot of people, he’s helped this club grow with a new stadium, a new training ground, and he built the plat-form for us to compete for the Premier League and Champions League every year.”

Arsenal, who are fourth in the table, eight points behind leaders Chelsea after 21 games, host 10th-placed Burnley on Sunday.

ROUND-UP

Vertonghen facing six weeks out: Pochettino

London: The ankle injury sustained by Jan Vertonghen during Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion is not as serious as ini-tially feared, manager Mauricio Pochettino said yesterday.

Vertonghen, 29, hobbled from the pitch in tears after in-juring himself in last Saturday’s game and initial reports sug-gested the Belgium internation-al could be sidelined for up to two months. But Pochettino is now expecting the centre-back to return to action in six weeks.

“We expect six weeks — less than our idea in the first moment,” Pochettino told a press conference ahead of his side’s trip to Manchester City tomorrow. “It’s similar, but nothing to do with the old injury he suff ered in Euro 2016 (with Belgium). The good thing is in the first moment it looks bad, really bad, but after when we assessed him, the doctor and the scanner showed that it’s not how we think from the beginning.”

Pochettino said he was not planning to bring in cover for Vertonghen during the January transfer window. Spurs sold midfielder Tom Carroll to Swan-sea City for a reported fee of £5mn on Tuesday, but Pochet-tino said they were not looking to buy or sell any other players. While he off ered an upbeat assessment of Vertonghen’s in-jury, Pochettino expressed con-cern over the time it is taking Erik Lamela to come back from a hip problem. The Argentine winger has not played for Spurs in close to three months and has been undergoing treatment in Italy at his former club Roma.

“Tomorrow he will have a scan there,” Pochettino said. “It’s still diff icult to give the time that he can come back. We need to wait for tomorrow and then we’ll see what happens.

Because there are still some problems and the diagnosis is not sure. We start to be concerned about him because he’s nearly three months and still in a situation that has not moved on.”

Spurs go into tomorrow’s game in second place in the Premier League table, seven points below leaders Chelsea and three points clear of Pep Guardiola’s City, who fell to fifth after losing 4-0 at Everton. If they win at the Etihad Stadium, Spurs will have won seven suc-cessive league games for the first time since 1967.

Spurs had finished sixth prior to Pochettino’s appointment as manager in May 2014 and he reflected with pride on the progress they have made since then. “If we go back (to the) first season and if we now start to see and analyse and judge, I think we are 1,000 miles ahead,” said the Argentine.

“But in football, it’s about belief, it’s about faith, it’s about working hard. It’s true that we moved the club on in two and a half years. That was our expectation, to push and move the club quick. Sometimes it’s not possible. But now we are in a very good period.

“All that is related with Tot-tenham is exciting. You can see here, the new stadium, the team, the squad.

All that happens is very posi-tive. Today it’s looking like we’re the best team in the world. That is very good. The hard work is to keep that feeling. It will be diff icult, but we will try.”

It is exactly four years, mean-while, since Pochettino first arrived in England as South-ampton manager. Asked how he had changed in the interven-ing period, he replied: “I am fat! I was younger than today. I changed a lot. The new lifestyle in England changed me.”

Jan Vertonghen hobbled from the pitch in tears after injuring himself in last Saturday’s game against West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool’s midfielder Lucas Leiva (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Plymouth Argyle during the FA Cup third round replay match at Home Park in Plymouth, south west England on Wednesday. (AFP)

With Manchester City having now completed Gabriel Jesus’ registration, he could make his debut for Pep Guardiola’s side in tomorrow’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic.

FOOTBALL6 Gulf Times

Friday, January 20, 2017

Celta infl ict shock Cup defeat on Real Madrid

COPA DEL REY

Real now need to score at least twice when they visit Balaidos for the second leg next Wednesday

AFPMadrid

After surrendering a record 40-game unbeaten run, Real Ma-drid suff ered a second defeat in four days on Wednesday

night as Celta Vigo took a 2-1 fi rst leg lead from their Copa del Rey quarter-fi nal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

All three goals came in a six-minute spell midway through the second-half as strikes from former Liverpool strik-er Iago Aspas and Jonny either side of Marcelo’s reply for Madrid handed Celta a famous win.

Real can still salvage their quest for a fi rst ever treble of Cup, La Liga and Champions League, but now need to score at least twice when the visit Balaidos for the second leg on January 25. “I am not worried,” insisted Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. It is not a good moment for us, two defeats (in a row), but we can overcome this. We still have the return leg to go. Losing 2-1 the result is not in our favour, but we know we can go there and change that.”

Celta Vigo boss Eduardo Berizzo said the Galicians’ fi rst win at the Bernabeu in a decade didn’t surprise him, but that they would need to be even better next week on home soil to fi nish the tie off .

“None of my team’s victories surprise me. It is a huge win, coming to a place like this and facing the best team in the world, but we believed we could do it,” said Berizzo.

“We are happy to win, but it obliges us to play even better in Vigo because we are facing a brilliant opponent and it is the toughest footballing test.”

Cristiano Ronaldo was making his fi rst appearance in the Copa del Rey for two years as Zidane named a strong side with just four changes from the team that was beaten for the fi rst time in 41 matches at Sevilla on Sunday.

However, with temperatures plum-meting below zero and the match not kicking off until 21:15 local time, the subdued atmosphere at the Bernabeu was matched by a lacklustre Madrid display. Ronaldo had to wait until 33 minutes for his fi rst clear sight of goal,

but failed to make a clean connection with Sergio Ramos’s cut-back and Jon-ny was able to clear from underneath his own crossbar.

An unfortunate hand injury to Marco Asensio as he was accidentally trod on by Facundo Roncaglia ensured Ronaldo moved from the centre of the Madrid attack back onto his habitual position on the left as Alvaro Morata was intro-duced early in the second-half.

Morata has scored four times as a

substitute this season, and nearly had an instant impact when he blazed over. Instead, it was Celta who got the opener as the game sprung into life in the fi nal 25 minutes.

Marcelo’s miscued clearance from Theo Bongonda’s cross only found the grateful Aspas alone inside the area and he rifl ed the ball high past Kiko Casilla for his 15th goal of the season. Madrid rallied as they so often have this sea-son when Marcelo made amends with a

brilliant volley from the edge of the box.No sooner had Celta kicked-off when

they were back in front as a huge hole appeared in the middle of the Madrid defence and Aspas teed up Jonny to bear down on goal and slot coolly past Casil-la. Zidane threw on Karim Benzema for the hapless Danilo as the hosts chased the game in the fi nal 10 minutes.

And the Frenchman’s daring ap-proach should have been rewarded with a second equaliser, but Benzema some-

how blazed over with the goal at his mercy seven minutes from time mean-ing Madrid have it all to do at Balaidos next week. In the night’s other tie, two late goals from Ibai Gomez handed Alaves a 2-0 win at second division Al-corcon.

RESULTS Quarter-final, first-legAlcorcon 0 Alaves 2 (Ibai Gomez 90, 90+4)

Real Madrid 1 (Marcelo 69) Celta Vigo 2

(Aspas 64, Jonny 70)

Milinkovic, Immobile fi re Lazio into Inter Cup quarter-fi nalAFPMilan

Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic struck in the second half as stuttering Lazio over-

came Genoa 4-2 on Wednes-day night to book an Italian Cup quarter-fi nal with Inter Milan.

Lazio enjoyed a bright start at the Stadio Olimpico and were off the mark on 20 minutes when Filip Djordjevic sprung the off -side trap to meet Felipe Ander-son’s through ball and fi re into the roof of the net.

Djordjevic’s fi rst Lazio goal since April 2016 augured well for the hosts, but misfortune fol-lowed instead.

Cristiano Lombardi’s angled drive fl ashed across goal and Gil Patric hit the side netting. When Lucas Orban pulled Djordjevic

down from behind, the penalty was given but Anderson’s tame eff ort was easily parried by Genoa ‘keeper Eugenio Lamanna.

Although Goran Pandev’s drive at the other end inched wide of the top corner, Lazio doubled their lead 10 minutes later, Wes-ley Hoedt unleashing a bouncing drive from 30 yards out that beat Lukas Zima.

But Lazio were soon back to earth with a bump.

Mauricio Pinilla curled a su-perb shot past Lamanna and into the far top corner fi ve minutes before half time and when Isaac Cofi e’s drive took a defl ection Pandev pounced on the loose ball to pull Genoa level.

Lazio almost fell victim to a Lucas Ocampos screamer that hit the upright shortly after the restart, but the hosts restored their lead in spectacular fashion. Milinkovic-Savic had come off

the bench to replace Lombardi on the hour and when a poor clear-ance fell kindly he controlled with his chest before volleying home from seven yards.

Pinilla came close to levelling with an overhead kick that was just off target. But Lazio secured the points on the counter min-utes later, Jordan Lukaku setting Immobile up for a fi ne fi nish on 75 minutes. Earlier, Cesena for-ward Karim Laribi sent parent club Sassuolo crashing out of the competition with a late winner in a 2-1 upset that sent the second division side into the last eight.

Sassuolo were off to a fl ying start against the current Serie B strugglers when Lorenzo Pel-legrini tapped home the rebound from Matteo Politano’s strike af-ter just four minutes at the Ma-pei Stadium. But their hopes of hanging on for the win were up-set in three second-half minutes,

Ciano beating Sassuolo ‘keeper Gianluca Pegolo from the spot nine minutes from the end and Laribi, who is on loan from Sas-suolo, sweeping a dramatic win-ner past Pegolo. Cesena will now meet either Roma or Sampdoria in the quarter-fi nal after their tie at the Stadio Olimpico last night. On Tuesday, Inter Milan edged into the quarters with a 98th minute, extra-time winner against Bologna (3-2).

Napoli will face Fiorentina in the quarter-fi nals, while Juven-tus host AC Milan, who have beaten the Cup holders twice already this season, in the league and in the Italian Super Cup fi nal.

RESULTS LAST 16Sassuolo 1 (Pellegrini 4) Cesena 2

(Ciano 81-pen, Laribi 84)

Lazio 4 (Djordjevic 20, Hoedt 31,

Milinkovic-Savic 70, Immobile 75)

Genoa 2 (Pinilla 40, Pandev 45)

ITALIAN CUP

Zidane surprised at lossAFPMadrid

Real Madrid coach ZINEDINE ZIDANE admitted he was surprised by his side’s slow start as they slumped to a second defeat in four days, 2-1 at home to Celta

Vigo in the fi rst leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-fi nal on Wednesday.

Zidane’s men hadn’t lost in a Spanish record 40 games stretching back to April last year before conceding twice in the fi nal fi ve minutes to lose 2-1 at Sevilla on Sunday. And Zidane believes the European champions suff ered a hangover from that disappointment in a fi rst 45 minutes devoid of goalmouth action at a frigid Santiago Bernabeu with temperatures plummeting below zero de-grees “It was a strange game, especially the start,” said Zidane. “We have to analyse it, something is wrong for sure. We didn’t do what we had pre-pared to do, especially the intensity. The intensity wasn’t good at the start of the game.”

However, the real damage to the hosts was done in a six-minute spell midway through the second-half as Celta grabbed two vital away goals and their fi rst win at the Bernabeu in a decade.

“There is no excuse. We are Real Madrid,” add-ed Zidane. “We have to keep working and think about the next game. We will overcome this.

We have done well until now and in the last two games we can’t be happy with above all the re-sults. The performance in Sevilla was good, today it was a bit worse, but we shouldn’t worry.”

FOCUS

Robinho recalled

for Brazil’s Chapecoense

friendlyRio de Janeiro: Former Real Madrid striker Robinho was recalled by Brazil for the first time in more than a year yesterday to face Colombia in a charity match to raise funds for the victims of the Chapecoense air crash.

The Atletico Mineiro player, who will be 33 on the day of the game, was called up alongside his former Santos colleague Diego, who is now with Flamengo, and Palmeiras’ striker Dudu.

“Playing for Brazil on my birthday is a great present and a great honour,” the one-time Manchester City player said on Twitter of the Jan. 25 match in Rio de Janeiro.

Coach Tite agreed not to call up European-based players for the match whose proceeds will go to the fami-lies of those who perished in the air crash in November in Colombia. More than 70 people, including dozens of players and staff with the Brazilian club, were killed in the crash. The club were due to face Colombian side Atletico Nacional in the final of the Copa Sudamericana.

Only six people survived. Tite, who called up five of Brazil’s triumphant Olympic side, said it was a chance to evaluate new players but added it was not about win-ning or losing.

“The result isn’t really important,” he told report-ers in Rio de Janeiro.”If ever there was game that I took the field and didn’t care who wins, this is the game. This is about people.”

Tite called up highly-rated Gremio pair Luan and Wa-lace, goalkeeper Weverton, and Vasco da Gama centre back Luan. The international, which will be played at Rio’s Olympic stadium, will serve as a warm up for Brazil’s next World Cup qualifiers, away to Uruguay on March 23 and at home to Paraguay five days later. Chapecoense will play their first competitive game since the crash a day after the match, when they face Joinville in a local league fixture.

Celta Vigo players celebrate after scoring their second goal during the Spanish Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid in Madrid on Wednesday. (AFP)

MANCHESTER UTD DETHRONE REAL MADRID AS CASH KINGSLondon: Manchester United’s relative failure on the pitch has not been reflected off it as for the first time in over a dec-ade they top Deloitte’s Football Money League for revenue in the 2015/16 season. United — who were last on top in the 2003/04 campaign — earned record revenue of 689mn eu-ros — and dislodged Champions League holders Real Madrid who have ruled the roost for the past 11 years.

United’s topping of the revenue table — in a season where they failed to sparkle under Louis van Gaal in the league or the Champions League leading to him being sacked — is largely down to one thing according to Tim Bridge, Senior Consuiltant at Deloitte.

“It is the commercial power of Manchester United that takes them to the top of the league,” he said. More galling perhaps for Real is that despite passing the 600mn euros barrier for the first time they also found themselves edged into third by bitter rivals Barcelona, who bettered them by just 100,000 euros — 620.2mn euros to Real’s 620.1mn — although the Catalan side have yet to top the table.

The top trio also filled the first three positions when Deloitte’s first published the league in the 1996/97 season

with United topping then on £88mn — pretty much the amount they spent on Paul Pogba almost 20 years later.

United’s reign, though, could be short-lived as they failed to qualify for the Champions League this season, even when figures from the huge Premier League TV deal that came into force this season are taken into account, according to Bridge. “The TV deal will counterbalance some of it but much depends on where they finish in the league,” said Bridge. “The truth is it will be a three-way battle next year mainly because United are not in the Champions League and the impact of the exchange rate (it was 1.33 euro to the pound when Deloitte did the 2015/16 table as opposed to Wednesday’s rate of 1.15) and weakening of the pound fol-lowing the decision to leave the European Union. It will be challenging for them to stay on top next year.”

German champions Bayern Munich and Manchester City fill out the top five — French giants Paris Saint Germain drop-ping out of the leading quintet to sixth. City’s appearance in the top five for the first time is on the back of reaching the Champions League semi-finals. In all the top 20 clubs gener-ated revenue of 7.4bn euros, a rise of 12% on the previous

year. The English Premier League’s commercial attractive-ness compared to other European leagues is reflected with eight teams appearing in the top 20 — five in the top 10 — and generating total combined revenue of 3.2bn euros.

Champions Leicester break in for the first time and are 20th with revenue of 172.1mn euros whilst rivals West Ham also crept into the top 20 in 18th spot with recorded rev-enues of 192.3mn euros. However, thoughts of the EPL being an unstoppable force and all 20 clubs entering the Top 30 next year should not be taken for granted, says Bridge.

“When the new TV deal was announced two years ago we might well have thought more there would be more English clubs coming into the Money League for 2017/18,” said Bridge. “But with the rise of their European competitors it might not be as great as one thought. It is a testament to European football generally and it has to be said clubs are operating in a more financially sustainable manner now. The introduction by UEFA of European Fair Play (EFP) has seen a huge reduction in losses.”

The decline of Serie A continues. Although there are four teams in the top 20 — Juventus the highest at 10th —

Deloitte think there is a real danger they could just have one representative next year. “I think it certainly reflects the situation in Italy,” Bridge said.

“AC Milan were in the top five in 2002/03 so their decline (they are 16th) has been relatively steady over the past 13 years. It kind of reflects the inability to generate new rev-enues in Italy both commercially and matchday, antiquated stadia being one of the issues. Inter Milan (19th) are almost certainly going to drop out and there is a real danger the same can happen to AS Roma and AC Milan.”Team League Revenue (in million euros)1. Manchester United, England, 689.0; 2. Barcelona, Spain, 620.2;

3. Real Madrid, Spain, 620.1; 4. Bayern Munich, Germany, 592; 5.

Manchester City, England, 524.9; 6. Paris Saint-Germain, France,

520.9; 7. Arsenal, England, 468.5; 8. Chelsea, England, 447.4; 9.

Liverpool, England, 403.8; 10. Juventus, Italy, 341.1; 11. Borussia

Dortmund, Germany, 283.9; 12. Tottenham Hotspur, England,

279.7; 13. Atletico Madrid, Spain, 228.6; 14. Schalke, Germany,

224.5; 15. Roma, Italy, 218.2; 16. AC Milan, Italy, 214.7; 17. Zenit Saint

Petersburg, Russia, 196.5; 18. West Ham United, England, 192.3; 19.

Inter Milan, Italy, 179.2; 20. Leicester City, England, 172.1.

Al Kharaitiyat take on Al Khor in battle of in-form teams

QATAR STARS LEAGUE

‘We are playing a direct relegation rival, and it’s a six pointer for both teams’

By Sports ReporterDoha

Al Kharaitiyat face Al Khor today in the 17th round of the Qatar Stars League. Kharaitiyat are just out of the relegation zone in

tenth place. Head coach Ahmad al-Ajlani stressed that the match against Al Khor is an important one for his side.

“We are playing a direct relegation rival, and it’s a six pointer for both teams. We have prepared the team well this week and everyone knows that this will be a big bat-tle against Al Khor on Friday.”

The Thunders have won three of their last fi ve QSL games, but al-Ajlani insisted that points are the focus of his side. “We have made progress in recent weeks. The important thing is that we need points to go up the table. In these situations, good performances don’t mean anything un-less we don’t get any points. Al Khor are in good form at the moment, they played well against El Jaish, but it’s all about how they play game not the form prior to it. We have to react appropriately and be ready for what Al Khor will throw at us” added Tunisian coach.

Al Khor head into the game on a high, following a encouraging 0-0 draw with third-placed El Jaish last time out. The Knights have only lost once in their last fi ve QSL games and will be aiming to pull further away from the relegation zone with a win.

Al Khor’s French coach Jean Fernandez said his opponents have improved drasti-cally in recent weeks.

“We are facing a Kharaitiyat side in good shape at the moment. Anwar Diba has developed into the leader. They have two new professionals and I believe they are now complete in attack. We know how Al Kharaitiyat play, and our aim is to score more and beat this rival.”

“Both teams are similar, and are doing well in the league, only small details will decide the game. I don’t think we will be strengthening the side in January, we have a good squad and I will be using the play-ers that I have at my disposal” added the French coach.

Fernandez refl ected on his team’s draw against Jaish, noting that the result has put his side in good stead for the game against the Thunders. “The game against El Jaish was good for us, it gave us plenty of con-fi dence. Now matches are diff erent, with the emphasis is on us to win. Al Kharaitiy-at’s last match against Al Arabi showed me that they are a strong side, but I feel that we can get a positive result and continue the run we are on.”

FOOTBALL7Gulf Times

Friday, January 20, 2017

STRUGGLING SAILIYA FACE UMM SALALDoha: The second game of the day will see struggling Al Sailiya take on Umm Salal in the 6:35pm kick-off at Al Ahli stadium. Sailiya are currently in eleventh place in the standings and could be taking on Umm Salal at a good time, es-pecially with Orange Fortress attackers Yannick Sagbo and Mahmoud al-Mawas being absent through suspension.

Ahead of the game, Sailiya assistant coach Amine Farikh said they need to win to improve the moral of the side, following their 4-0 defeat to Al Rayyan in the last match.

“Each game is getting more and more impor-tant as the league comes to an end. After the defeat to Al Rayyan we are looking for a much better performance against Umm Salal. We are trying to close the gap on Umm Salal who are two points ahead of us. Only a win can improve our fortunes,” he said.

Farikh also reveleaed the club is set to make a further two signings in the coming days. “In foot-ball many things that can change a result of a game, injuries to two professionals have pushed us to get players. We are currently waiting for the players to get registered and we will make an announcement in due course. I hope they will be ready in time.”

“No, it’s not a risk to buy these players, we

have looked at their previous performances with their clubs and know they will fit in at Al Sailiyia. We as a club will continue to prepare them fully until it is appropriate for them to play for the club” added the Tunisian coach when

asked about the risk of signing so many players in January.

Farikh stressed that the absence of Umm Salal attackers Sagbo and al-Mawas will make no dif-ference on the outcome of the game. “It doesn’t

make a diff erence, for me we will have the same amount of players on the pitch. It is a considera-tion that they are both out, but it’s not our main focus heading into the game,” he said.

On the other hand, Umm Salal head into their encounter in sixth place in QSL standings. Mahmoud Jaber’s side drew 1-1 with Al Shahania last time out, and will be targeting a win despite having a number of key player absent for the game.

Egyptian coach Jaber said that most of the QSL is concerned with relegation this season. “All the next games will be tough for us, they are like cup finals for us. Apart from the top five teams, every side is afraid of relegation. Our focus now is to take it game by game and aim to get a positive result. This is the last game with-out Yannick Sagbo and Mahmoud Al-Mawas. We have able substitutes who have filled in well and did a good job, this week I have made sure that the whole squad is ready and fully prepared for the match against Al Sailiya” he noted.

“Al Sailiya have signed some new players, but I don’t know if they will play. As a coach, all I have to do is focus on how my team plays. The match will be a tight game overall, our priority is a clean sheet and knowing when to attack at the right moments,” the Egyptian added.

Tunisia bounce back to defeat Algeria

SPOTLIGHT

AFPFranceville, Gabon

Tunisia scored twice in the second half to beat Algeria 2-1 in Franceville yesterday and haul themselves back into contention for an Africa Cup of Nations quarter-fi nals place.

An Aissa Mandi own-goal broke the deadlock and Naim Sliti converted a penalty as the Tunisians atoned for a 2-0 defeat by Senegal in their opening Group B game. Substitute Sofi ane Hanni scored a consolation goal for the Algerian Desert Foxes a minute into stoppage time.

Among the pre-tournament favourites, Algeria have only one point from two matches and must de-feat top-ranked African team Senegal next Monday to have a chance of survival. Senegal will become the fi rst qualifi ers for the quarter-fi nals if they de-feat Zimbabwe later last night in the second part of a double-header. Although the northern neigh-bours have been regular competitors at the biennial African football showcase, this was only their sec-ond Cup of Nations meeting. The Carthage Eagles — as Tunisia are known, won 1-0 at the group stage in 2013 thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Youssef Msakni, a starter in Franceville.

Tunisia’s Aymen Mathlouthi was much the

busier goalkeeper during the opening half in the southeastern Gabonese city. The vastly experienced shot-stopper used his hands and legs to foil Yacine Brahimi, Islam Slimani, Adlane Guedioura and 2016 African Footballer of the Year Riyad Mahrez.

A free-kick from midfi elder Brahimi was milli-metres off target before Mathlouthi thwarted strik-er Slimani by stretching his left leg to push away a header. Good positioning by the goalkeeper foiled Guedioura when the midfi elder unleashed a sting-ing shot from outside the box.

Mathlouthi then dived swiftly to his right and foiled Mahrez, scorer of both goals in a 2-2 open-ing-round draw with Zimbabwe four days ago Tu-nisia came closest to scoring in the fi rst half when the quick reactions of Algerian goalkeeper Malek Asselah prevented the ball crossing the line.

Having weathered the fi rst-half Algerian storm, Tunisia took the lead fi ve minutes into the second half. A throw-in and a fl ick set Msakni free and his intended cross was defl ected by Mandi into his own net. The goal rattled the Desert Foxes and they fell further behind on 66 minutes.

A Faouzi Ghoulam back-header aimed at his goalkeeper was far too weak and he then fouled Wahbi Khazri to concede a penalty. Sliti calmly scored from the spot, placing the ball in the right corner as Asselah dived the wrong way.

Cameroon close in on last eight as Aubameyang, Gabon held againAFPLibreville, Gabon

Cameroon closed in on the quarter-fi nals of the Africa Cup of Nations by beating Guinea-Bissau 2-1 on Wednesday while hosts Gabon were

left still waiting for a win despite another goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Indomitable Lions came from behind to defeat Guinea-Bissau with Sebastien Siani and Michael Ngadeu netting after Piqueti’s contender for goal of the tournament had given the debutants the lead.

Cameroon now know a draw against Ga-bon in their fi nal Group A game on Sunday will secure them a place in the last eight after a build-up to the fi nals marred by the refusal of several marquee names to accept call-ups. Earlier, Aubameyang’s penalty allowed Gabon to come from behind and draw 1-1 with Burkina Faso after Prejuce Nakoulma had put the Stallions in front at the Stade de l’Amitie. It was their second 1-1 draw in as many matches.

Cameroon travelled to Gabon with argu-ably their weakest ever squad at the Cup of Nations but Hugo Broos’s side played well for much of their opening draw with Burki-na Faso and showed great spirit to come from behind against Guinea-Bissau.

The west African minnows were heading for their fi rst ever win at the tournament af-ter Piqueti, who plays for Sporting Braga’s B team in the Portuguese second division, put them in front in the 13th minute.

It was a breathtaking goal as he collected possession midway inside his own half, lobbed one opponent and then outpaced another on his way into the box, where he crashed a shot past Fabrice Ondoa. How-ever, Cameroon equalised when skipper Benjamin Moukandjo laid the ball off for midfi elder Siani to hammer a fi rst-time ef-fort into the net from 20 yards just after the hour. Ngadeu, the Slavia Prague defender,

then fi red in a low shot at the near post to win it, although Belgian coach Broos was still not too happy at the end.

“Our fi rst-half performance was not worthy of Indomitable Lions, it was more like tame lions,” he said. “I have never seen such a weak team. There was nothing, no aggression, no fi ght. But we deserved to win the game on the basis of our second half. We came here to get through the group.”

Guinea-Bissau, known as the ‘Wild Dogs’, now have to win their next game against Burkina Faso if they are to stay alive, al-though they could be aided by the injuries that have hit Paulo Duarte’s team. The Stal-lions lost star man Jonathan Pitroipa and Jonathan Zongo to injury as they failed to hold onto the lead given to them by Nak-oulma midway through the fi rst half in the

Gabonese capital.Gabon were level again before the inter-

val, Borussia Dortmund star Aubameyang scoring his second goal in as many games at this Cup of Nations from the penalty spot after being brought down by goal-keeper Herve Koffi . The Panthers had the best chances to win it, not least when Denis Bouanga met Aubameyang’s knockdown with a fi rst-time eff ort eight yards from goal only for Koffi to make a superb block.

However, Gabon’s hopes going into that game have already been hit by injuries to Juventus midfi elder Mario Lemina and full-back Johann Obiang, with Camacho ruling both men out of the rest of the competition.

The injuries put the state of the pitch in Libreville in the spotlight, but Burkinabe coach Paulo Duarte was philosophical.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Tunisia’s Naim Sliti (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Algeria yesterday. (AFP)

Sailiya assistant coach Amine Farikh and Umm Salal manager Mahmoud Jaber.

Cameroon’s midfielder Sebastien Siani (back) fouls Guinea-Bissau’s forward Leocisio Sami during the Africa Cup of Nations Group A match in Libreville on Wednesday. (AFP)

Al Kharaitiyat head coach Ahmad al-Ajlani (right) speaks at a press conference yesterday. RIGHT: Al Khor’s French coach Jean Fernandez reveals his pre-match thoughts. PICTURES: Othman Iraqi

Friday, January 20, 2017

GULF TIMES

Meqdam al-Zaidy’s feature win gives trainer confi dence

HORSE RACING

SPORT

By Mikhil BhatDoha

Meqdam Al Zaidy won a thriller when he edged out Aaley Al Magam by the nar-

rowest of margins in the HE Ab-dullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah Cup at the Qatar Racing and Eques-trian Club yesterday.

The feature race of the day, a 2,000m run, was a big step up in distance for Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani-owned Meqdam Al Zaidy, but the seven-year-old, ridden by Saleem Golam, did well to edge out Aaley Al Magam, ridden by Alberto Sanna in the silks of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani, at the post.

“Everybody said he was the favourite but for me, the way I looked it was that this was the fi rst time he was running 2,000m,” trainer Ibrahim al-Malki told Gulf Times after the win.

“This changes a lot of things. The plan for him for the future will be diff erent from what I had earlier set for him. He has proved that he can do the 2,000m with-out any problems, and that means that we have to look forward to more of the big races for him.

“I was running him over 1,600m before this and he was doing very well over that dis-tance; he has always given me something extra every time.”

Umm Qarn’s Damas fi nished third under Jean Baptiste Hamel’s ride. Hamel was at the helm of Roman Legend, who registered a victory in the Thoroughbred Con-ditions event. The win in the mile-long race, was the fi rst for Jassim Ghazali’s ward since two consecu-tive wins in April-May 2015.

Harry Bentley guided Itorio, trained by Ghazali’s son, Mo-hamed, to the second spot, while Moheet fi nished third under Qatari jockey Faleh Bughanaim, making it an all Ghazali podium.

Mohamed’s only winner of the day was one of Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari’s latest imports from the UK, Altarsheed. The four-year-old had missed out on a vic-tory narrowly in his last outing last week, but made no mistake yesterday, as Bentley rode the gelding to a narrow win over Zu-hair Mohsen-trained Bluebeard.

Deborah Mountain-schooled Sunley Pride was third under Xavier Ziani.

The highlight of the day was a victory ride by Qatari lady jockey Khadija Abduwahed, who rode Haddaj Dukhan to victory in one of the many close fi nishes of the day. Mansoor al-Shahwani’s horse won the mile-long Pure-bred Arabian Handicap event, edging out Umm Qarn’s Al Sa-

hra and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani’s Fer’Ha.

The victory was Khadija’s fi rst this season.

“I am so very happy. My horse Haddaj Dukhan is a good horse but he had to fi ght for space with the other horses. And I was prob-ably not so confi dent going into the race because I felt the pres-sure. He is a good horse and if the result wasn’t good, it would be on me. So I did feel the pressure and I shared my concern with the owner and the trainer too, but they encouraged me. After the race, with every one clapping, it was unreal,” the 23-year-old told Gulf Times.

The win, eighth for the jockey, should give Khadija, who made a comeback earlier this season af-ter an injury-forced three-year break, confi dence going into the future races.

“Next week, there is a Qatari race and the steward will be as-signing riders to the horses, and I hope I get a good horse and I am able to guide another winner.”

Al Mazrooah made good use of a Gate 1 start, when Gerald Avranche guided the mare to a fi ne win in the Local Thor-oughbred Plate event for four-year-olds and older horses. The 1,000m sprint saw Mohamed Hussain’s ward take the lead off the gates, and on the home stretch pulled away, leaving Ghazali’s Muraqabah to jostle with Mountain’s Zuzi for the second spot. Bentley guided Mu-raqabah to the second spot, while Zuzi, helmed by Bughanaim, fi n-ished third.

In the fi rst race of the day,

Alberto Sanna-ridden What A Surprise edged out Hadi al-Ram-zani-trained Incandescent for a victory in the Thoroughbred Plate event for three-year-olds. Incan-descent was fresh off a victory on dirt last week, but had to settle for the runner-up spot, ahead of Mountain-trained Catch A Wave, ridden by Bughanaim.

In the two maiden races on the day, Dubawi Flame, ridden

by Avranche, and My First Gen-eral, helmed by Gaetan Faucon, shed their maiden status. While al-Ramzani’s Dubawi Flame won the Class 6 Thoroughbred Maid-en Plate event, Alban de Mieulle-trained My First General picked up a victory in the Purebred Ara-bian Maiden Plate event.

RESULTSRace 1: 1. What A Surprise

(Alberto Sanna), 2. Incandescent (Tomas Lukasek), 3. Catch A Wave (Faleh Bughanaim), 4. Moi Moi Moi (Saleem Golam). Won by: Nk, 1 ¼, Hd. Time: 1:24.88. Owner: Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.Race 2: 1. Dubawi Flame (Gerald Avranche), 2. Top Face (Faleh Bughanaim), 3. Moueenn (Saleem Golam), 4. Technicolour

(Marco Monteriso). Won by: 3, Nk, 1. Time: 1:55.21. Owner: Al Jeryan Stud. Trainer: Hussein al-Ramzani.Race 3: 1. My First General (Gaetan Faucon), 2. Mohssn (Marco Monteriso), 3. Al Mirzem (Stephan Ladjadj), 4. Al Malh-ouf (JP Guillambert). Won by: 1, ¾, 2 ½. Time: 2:07.16. Owner: Patrice Nicolet. Trainer: Alban de Mieulle.Race 4: 1. Al Mazrooah (Ger-ald Avranche), 2. Muraqabah (Harry Bentley), 3. Zuzi (Faleh Bughanaim), 3. Tanja Bu Thaila (Alberto Sanna). Won by: 1 ½, Nk, 1 ½. Time: 1:01.22. Owner: Dr Mo-hamed Rashid al-Ardhi al-Marri.Race 5: 1. Haddaj Dukhan (Khadija Abdulwahed), 2. Al Sahra (Gaetan Faucon), 3. Fer’Ha (Marco Monteriso), 4. Kasser (Harry Bentley). Won by: Shd, 2, 1/3. Time: 1:46.41. Owner: Man-soor Misfer al-Shahwani. Trainer:

Mansoor al-Shahwani.Race 6: 1. Altarsheed (Harry Bentley), 2. Bluebeard (Gerald Avranche), 3. Sunley Pride (Xavier Ziani), 4. Adwan (Jean Baptiste Hamel). Won by: Head, 2 ½, ¾. Time: 1:55.13. Owner: Sheail bin Khalifa al-Kuwari. Trainer: Mohamed Jassim Ghazali.Race 7: 1. Roman Legend (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 2. Itorio (Harry Bentley), 3. Moheet (Faleh Bughanaim), 4. Risk Adjusted (Gaetan Faucon). Won by: 1 1/4, 1, Hd. Time: 1:36.21. Owner: Mansoor Ibrahim al-Mahmood. Trainer: Jassim Ghazali.Race 8: 1. Meqdam Al Zaidy (Sal-eem Golam), 2. Aaley Al Magam (Alberto Sanna), 3. Damas (Jean Baptiste Hamel), 4. AJS Al Rayyan (Harry Bentley). Won by: Hd, 1 1/4, 3/4. Time: 2:16.67. Owner: Sheikh Faisal bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.

Qatari lady jockey Khadija Abdulwahed rides Haddaj Dukhan for her first win this season

HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah and Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) general manager Nasser Sherida al-Kaabi with the winners of the HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah Cup after Meqdam Al Zaidy won the 2,000m race at the QREC yesterday. PICTURES: Juhaim

Qatari players adapting well to European style: GarciaFOOTBALL

Former Spanish interna-tional Luis García Fern-andez is a striker who knows what it takes to

come up through some of the best youth development systems in the world – having started his professional career as a youth player at Real Madrid.

After 329 games and 73 goals in La Liga with Real Murcia, Es-panyol, Mallorca and Zaragoza, and a Copa del Rey title and 2007 UEFA Cup Final participation to his name, the experienced Eupen striker believes the hard work of Qatari players at the Belgian fi rst division club is beginning to show results.

“I try to talk to them and help where we can, to transmit the ex-perience that I have. We are lucky because the Qataris and young-sters we have are people who want to learn and listen and improve,” Garcia told www.sc.qa on the sidelines of the Aspire-owned club’s training camp in Qatar.

“All of the Qataris in the team have a strong level, we see how Fahad Abdelrahman played at a great level against Bayern Mu-

nich, and Akram Afi f is in the Spanish league after being with us one-and-a-half years and helping us a lot.

“It is a great place for them to improve. When I was young I would have liked to have some-one helping me, and I am very happy doing this because they know how to listen and they want to learn, which is very im-portant.”

With the Belgian side putting on some impressive displays in their fi rst season in the top di-vision, and Afi f playing his fi rst season in Spanish football, Gar-cia believes a talented generation of Qatari players is well-placed to triumph in 2022.

“Akram is a fantastic player, Fahad has improved a lot, as have the young players who have arrived in Eupen this year. They are adapting well to European football. They have a great ca-reer ahead of them, and I hope to see them all in the World Cup in 2022. I believe they have a great career in front of them.”

Talking about Eupen’s fi rst season in the top division of Bel-

gian football, Garcia added: “It is a unique project in world foot-ball, both with football players from Aspire Dreams and players from Qatar, we are trying to help them to improve.

“We are in a good moment of form, we are well-placed in the league, qualifi ed to the semi-fi -nals of the Cup, and it is a privi-lege for us that Aspire gives us this opportunity. We will keep enjoying the experience and be grateful to Aspire and Qatar for giving us the chance to be in the top division.”

The entire team also got the opportunity to visit the head-quarters of the Supreme Com-mittee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) in Doha and get a detailed update on the preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

“It is impressive, as it will be for all of those who love football and have seen the World Cup on television. My impression is that Qatar will organise the best World Cup in history. The stadi-ums are close to each other, the infrastructure which they will have, the attention to detail and

the good transport infrastruc-ture. All of this together means that this can be the best World Cup ever.”

Having recently concluded the club’s winter training camp and headed back to Belgium, García also pointed out that a winter competition would mean players reaching the tournament in their peak physical condition.

“You will see a better World Cup because players won’t reach the tournament as tired as when it is at the end of a season,” he continued.

“It will be a very nice weather, and while today it is -3 degrees in Belgium, in Doha the tempera-tures are very agreeable for fans.

“We have passed a great win-ter training camp, we are always very well-received, and we are grateful to Qatar and Aspire for inviting us to do the training here. The conditions are extraor-dinary. I have a lot of experience and at my 35 years of age I have been to a lot of places, but the conditions I fi nd here are perfect to improve and to play football.”

(SC.qa)

HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah receives a memento from Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club general manager Nasser Sherida al-Kaabi (right) yesterday.

Former Spanish international Luis Garcia Fernandez.

Jockey Saleem Golam (foreground) rides Meqdam Al Zaidy to victory ahead of Aaley Al Magam, ridden by Alberto Sanna, in the HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah Cup yesterday.