SPORTTuesday 10 October 2017

Federer thrilled with rebound

Showjumping: Qatar unveils new

league ‘Hathab’

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Argentina face crucial Ecuador test today

10 October 202 17

2018 Artistic Gymnastics Worlds:

Hosts Qatar handed FIG flagQatar Olympic Committee Second Vice-President Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari (centre) receiving the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) flag from FIG President Morinari Watanabe while Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali Ahmed Al Hitmi (left) looks on during the closing ceremony of the 47th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal, Canada on Sunday. Qatar will become the first country in the Middle East to host the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships when the next edition is held from October 25 to November 3, 2018 in Doha.

Al Annabi warm up for Curacao friendly

Qatar football players in action during a training session in Doha yesterday, ahead of their friendly match against southern Caribbean nation Curacao which will be played under lights in Doha today.

DohaAFP

Xavi Hernandez said he’s open to being Qatar’s coach when it hosts the 2022 World Cup

and claimed he is “very proud” to be in Doha.

The Barcelona great, 37, who currently plays in Qatar for Al Sadd, told AFP he is “90 percent” certain to retire at the end of this season and then launch his coaching career.

And the World Cup winner says

he wants to coach on the biggest stage.

Asked if that mean being Qatar’s coach in 2022, he replied: “Why not? I think it would be nice to be a coach here for the national team.

“We will see. I need experience, I need staff, I need everything but at least I know the Qatari players, I know the environment here.”

The Spanish 2010 World Cup winner added: “I am here to help them to be better, to compete well at this World Cup.

“I think my aim is to be the head coach.”

Qatar failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, which means that in 2022 they will become the first nation to host football’s biggest tournament without ever playing in a finals since Italy in 1934.

They had three coaches dur-ing the qualification period and currently Xavi’s fellow Spaniard Felix Sanchez is in temporary charge.

The Spanish star who also said it was his “dream” to coach

Barcelona -- has been in Qatar since 2015.

He signed a two-year contract, extended by 12 months, which ends in 2018.

As Qatar football’s biggest star, Xavi, who is already an ambassa-dor for the 2022 tournament, said he is unconcerned about critics.

“People don’t know the coun-try, the work they are doing here,” he added.

“I would invite them to come here and then they can see -- but I am very proud to be here.”

Xavi won’t mind taking up Qatar coaching job Xavi Hernandez

Al Markhiya, Al Arabi share points in thrillerArmstrong VasThe Peninsula

Al Markhiya and Al Arabi shared points in a four-goal Group B QSL Cup thriller at Al Shamal Stadium

yesterday.The encounter saw both

teams scoring two goals apiece, three of which came in the first half with Markhiya going into the half time break with a 2-1 lead.

Al Markhiya took the lead in the 28th minute, thanks to a long-range goal from Nasser Al Nasr.

Nasr beat the Al Arabi keeper Muhannad Naim Hussein with a thunderbolt which brushed the goal post and went in. The Markhiya midfielder’s sudden acceleration and body feint caught his marker off guard as Nasr pushed the ball to his favourite feet from the right to unleash a 35-yard drive which broke through the rival keeper’s defense.

Thereafter, both the teams tried to break open the defense but without any success. They had to wait until the fag end of the half to taste success.

Both the teams struck once in last few minutes of the first half, Al Arabi managed to draw level with a minute to go for the whistle while Markhiya again took the lead in injury time.

Al Arabi bounced back and

equalised with a minute to go for the first half with Suad Natiq Naji finding himself in the right spot to head home a flag kick much to the delight of the Arabi fans.

Al Arabi’s joy was short lived as A; Markhiya again took the

lead for the second time in the match, this time with a spot kick conversion.

Referee Nayef Mohamed Al Kadir pulled up Al Arabi defender for a foul on Saleh Badr Al Yazidi and pointed to the penalty spot.

Tilal Ali Ali who was entrusted with the spot kick, made no mistake with his gen-tle chip over the keeper to make it 2-1.

In the second half, Al Arabi stormed with renewed ideas and

got the equaliser in the 67th minute with Hossam Kamal’s left footer beating Markhiya keeper Mohmad Muntazar Khuroob all ends up.

Al Markhiya now have four points from two matches

having won their first Group A match against Al Sadd 2-0. For Al Arabi it was their second suc-cessive draw having shared points in an one-all draw with Umm Salal.

In yesterday’s second match, Umm Salal and Al Ahli shared points at Al Wakrah Stadium after the scores read two-all at the final whistle.

Ibrahima Ndiaye scored the first goal as Orange Fortress took the lead in the fourth minute.

Yannick Sagbo doubled their advantage in the 62nd minute.

Mashael Abdulla, in the 72nd minute, scored Al Ahli’s first goal through a brilliant header after receiving from Mohamed Tresor.

It seemed like Umm Salal were heading for their first win the tournament, but Simao Mate equalised in the 86th minute.

Earlier, on Sunday night, ath-rilling encounter at the Al Wakrah Stadium saw two highly-energised sides share the spoils in a six-goal thriller.

Mohamed Mudather and Taimur Abdelkhaleq (two goals) scored for Al Sailiya while Mohamed Tayeb, Fahad Khalfan and Youssef Al Kubaisi were on target for Qatar SC.

At Al Khor Stadium, Al Gharafa earned a valuable vic-tory over Al Duhail with Muayad Hassan scoring the all-important goal in the 36th minute.

Al Markhiya and Al Arabi players vie for the ball possession during their Group B QSL Cup match played at Al Shamal Stadium yesterday. The match ended in a two-all draw.

30 TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Weakened Syria eye World Cup upsetSydney AFP

Syria will rely on their trademark fighting spirit to keep their World Cup “miracle” alive against Australia

today, as the Socceroos look to ride a wave of home support.

The Syrians were fortunate to grab a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Asian play-off in Malaysia last week, courtesy of a controversial late penalty that left Australia fum-ing. But it was enough to maintain a remarkable qualifying campaign

that has defied Syria’s brutal civil war, thanks largely to a steely resolve instilled by coach Ayman al-Hakim.

It now comes down to 90 minutes at Sydney’s ANZ Sta-dium, with the winners going into a two-legged clash with the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF federation -- cur-rently Panama.

“Our match with Australia in Sydney is difficult, and although we’ll be missing five players (through injuries or suspension), we are used to playing outside of our land,” said al-Hakim.

“I say to our fans: what we

have achieved so far is not only an achievement, but a miracle, and we will push with all our force to continue our journey on the path of achieving our dream.”

Striker Omar al-Soma, who only recently returned to the war-wracked team after a long absence believed to be for polit-ical reasons, said the squad didn’t lack self-belief.

“The draw (in Malaysia) was fair... our key for the second match will be the fighting spirit, the will, and the set pieces,” he said.

In a country gripped by con-flict, politics are never far away and Syrian refugees and com-munity leaders will be protesting against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime outside the stadium before the game.

“For the Syrian people, the ‘fairytale’ surrounding the suc-cess of the Syrian football team cannot hide the six-year night-mare that we’ve had to endure,” said refugee Obau Al-Akel, who fled Damascus and arrived in Australia in 2014.

The stadium has been home to some of the Socceroos’ most memorable moments, including the 2005 World Cup play-off win against Uruguay that sent them to their first finals in 32 years.

Coach Ange Postecoglou said home support could make all the

difference to Australia, who also lifted the Asian Cup trophy in the same venue in 2015.

“When 80 percent of your players play abroad, it does have extra significance when they play at home in front of family and friends and feel that sort of love from the crowd,” he told reporters.

“It certainly helps, and in some ways it influences what happens on the pitch with the opposition -- they feel the heat of the opposition crowd.”

Veteran striker Tim Cahill is the only current Socceroo to have been part of that triumph over Uruguay.

The 37-year-old, who is two goals away from hitting 50 at international level, is mostly used as a super-sub these days, but Postecoglou is considering starting him in a bid shut down Syria early.

“I really think the start is going to be important. We can really put the game to bed if we start strongly,” he said.

US poised to seal Russia 2018 berth

Miami AFP

United States coach Bruce Arena has chal-lenged his team to

finish the job and seal World Cup qualification against Trinidad & Tobago today after an emphatic rout of Panama which has transformed American fortunes.

Friday’s exhilarating attacking display against Pan-ama, where Borussia Dortmund star Christian Puli-sic excelled in a 4-0 thrashing of Los Canaleros, has left Are-na’s side on the brink of a place in next year’s finals in Russia. Heading into the final round of games, the US sit third in the standings with 12 points, two points clear of Panama and Honduras, their only rivals for the final auto-matic qualifying berth from CONCACAF.

A win over Trinidad today would guarantee that the US extend a proud record of qualifying for every World Cup since 1990.

And with a sizeable advantage in goal difference of plus five, compared to Pan-ama (-2) and Honduras (-7), a draw at Trinidad’s tiny 10,000-seater Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva will almost certainly be enough.

Nevertheless, Arena has warned his team to be ready for a stern physical challenge against Trinidad, even though the Caribbean nation are already eliminated and have little but pride to play for.

“The game in Trinidad won’t be easy but we are in a good position now,” Arena said.

“It will be challenging. We faced challenging conditions in Honduras and Panama so we will be ready. Trinidad are out but will be a handful.

“We are moving along well, our goal difference is better and now we need to finish it off.”

History suggests the US should comfortably achieve qualification on Tuesday. In 25 meetings between the two sides since 1982, the US have won 18, drawn four and lost on only three occasions. The last of those defeats came nearly a decade ago, in a 2-1 loss in 2008. More recently, Arena’s side won 2-0 at home in June and also recorded a 4-0 win in an earlier round of qualifying in 2016. The US will seek to extend that record of dominance with an attack spearheaded by Pulisic and Jozy Altidore, who scored twice against Panama.

“The job’s not done yet,” said Altidore. “We need a result and we know it’s going to be a tough place to play.”

US captain Michael Bra-dley is also confident the team will punch its ticket today. “It’s been a long road to put ourselves in this situa-tion,” Bradley said.

“Ultimately, we’ve played 15 games in qualifying and now we’ve got a chance in 90 minutes in Trinidad to finish the job and make sure we’re on the plane to Russia. The motivation will be huge to go down there and do whatever it takes.”

While the blossoming of teenage star Pulisic has given the US forward line a potency it has not always been able to rely on recently, Arena was hesitant when asked if he was tempted to build his side around the youngster.

Argentina face crucial Ecuador test todayMontevideo AFP

The once unfathomable prospect of a World Cup without Lionel Messi and

Argentina could become reality today as South America’s thrill-ing 2018 qualification battle reaches its climax.

Two years after Argentina kicked off their troubled cam-paign with a 2-0 defeat at home to Ecuador, Jorge Sampaoli’s side travel to Quito to face La Tri once more with their hopes hanging precariously.

The two-time World Cup-winners head into the final round of games in sixth place overall, outside the top four positions which grant automatic qualification and trailing fifth-placed Peru, who occupy the playoff spot, on goal difference.

Yet with only two points separating third-placed Chile (26 points) with seventh-placed Paraguay (24), any number of permutations are possible.

Argentina can simplify the equation for their fans, however, if they manage to take all three points. A victory would guar-antee they finish no worse than fifth place, putting them into a two-legged play-off against New Zealand they would be expected to win.

But achieving victory in the thin air of Quito, which is 2,850 metres (9,350 feet) above sea level, may be easier said than done.

The Argentinians have an abysmal record in away games against Ecuador, with their last victory in Quito coming in 2001.

Since then in World Cup qualifying games, they have been beaten twice, in 2005 and 2009, before scraping a 1-1 draw in 2013. Moreover, Argentina face their moment of truth after a series of uninspiring perform-ances that has left the rest of the footballing world scratching its head at how a squad bristling with so much attacking talent has found scoring so difficult.

Despite being able to call

upon Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi and Angel Di Maria throughout the campaign, Argentina have only scored 16 times in 17 games.

Last Thursday’s 0-0 stale-mate with Peru in Buenos Aires was Argentina’s third consecu-tive draw. The Albiceleste have now scored only once in their past four qualifying games.

Sampaoli attempted to break that cycle last week with the surprise selection of Dario Benedetto in attack, a gamble that failed to pay off after the Boca Juniors striker missed a string of chances.

It is unclear whether Sam-paoli will persist with Benedetto again on Tuesday.

While Messi and his team-mates attempt to adjust to the lung-busting challenge of play-ing at altitude, millions of compatriots will be holding their breath.

The sense of anxiety was reflected by La Nacion newspaper.

Netherlands need miracle to qualify, says RobbenAmsterdam AFP

Unless the Netherlands can beat Sweden by a seven-goal margin today the

inventors of the beautiful game will be absent from the 2018 World Cup finals.

Having missed the cut for Euro 2016 the Netherlands sit third in Group A and can make t h e p l a y - o f f s o n l y

with a high-scoring win over second-placed Sweden after a poor start to their campaign.

Coach Dick Advocaat, who took over from Danny Blind four games ago, is in no mood to con-cede defeat however.

“7-0 is possible,” he claimed.“Sweden have just beaten

Luxembourg 8-0 so why can’t we do the same to them,” he reasoned.

Veteran Bayern Munich

winger Arjen Robben takes a more realistic line.

“It’s over,” he said. “Mathe-matically it’s still possible of course, but we need a miracle.”

That miracle will have to be achieved without fading 33-year-old Wesley Sneijder, who has been a cornerstone of much of their past success but whose current form is deemed not good enough by Advocaat.

“Personally, I’d have liked

him to be here,” said Robben, “but the decision is with the coach.”

Robben, Sneijder and Robin Van Persie led the way for the Netherlands in their celebrated orange shirts, romping to the 2010 final in South Africa only to be narrowly beaten by Spain.

At the Brazil World Cup under Luis Van Gaal in 2014 they ripped Spain apart and made a fine run to the semi-finals and

another narrow defeat, this time by Lionel Messi’s Argentina, themselves now on the brink of disaster.

Whether or not the Dutch scrape into the play-offs, assist-ant coach Ruud Gullit has warned of a worrying trend that sees young Dutch players mov-ing abroad, but then not playing first-team football.

“That’s the biggest problem that we have,” Gullitt said.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi walks upon arrival at a hotel in Guayaquil, Ecuador on Sunday, ahead of their FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifier match against Ecuador today.

Australia’s Tim Cahill (centre) jogs with team-mates during a training session in Sydney on the eve of their 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Syria.

Sydney test

The winner of the Sydney match qualify for the two-legged clash with the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF federation for a place in Russia.

Syria’s players attend a training session in Sydney, yesterday.

31TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Rupp, Dibaba claim Chicago Marathon wins

Chicago Reuters

Galen Rupp became the first American to win the Chicago Mara-thon in 15 years and Ethiopian Tirunesh

Dibaba ran away with the wom-en’s race yesterday.

Olympic bronze medallist Rupp used his track speed to break open the men’s race in the last five km to finish in a lifetime best two hours, nine minutes and 20 seconds in only his fourth marathon.

“It’s just incredible,” said Rupp, who took advantage of the race’s slow early pace to win, surging in the 38th km to take control.

“I made the mistake in the past of going a little too hard too soon,” said Rupp, the US record holder at 10,000 metres on the track.

“But I just felt a little gap pulling away and at that point, it

was like you’ve got to put the hammer down and drive to the finish.”

Defending champion Abel Kirui of Kenya, who was with

Rupp at the time, could not keep pace. “It is a huge win for his career, for the United States,” four-times Chicago winner Kha-lid Khannouchi, the last

American to triumph in 2002, told NBC Chicago. “He has a bright future.”

Kirui finished second in 2:09:48 with countryman Ber-

nard Kipyego third in 2:10:23.Dibaba, a world record

holder on the track, won her first marathon in 2:18.31.

“The entire 42 km pretty

much I was leading,” said Dibaba, the London Marathon runner-up and three-time Olym-pic champion on the track.

She had hoped to challenge Briton Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 world record of 2:15:25 on the flat course.

But doing it without pace-makers is difficult, she said.

“In order to break a world record it is generally helpful to have pacemakers,” the 32-year-old mother said.

Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, the only runner to stay with Dibaba for much of the race, was a dis-tant second in 2:20:22 with American Jordan Hasay third in 2:20:57.

Tatyana McFadden pipped American compatriot Amanda McGrory to win her seventh con-secutive Chicago women’s wheelchair title and eighth overall.

McFadden, who had suffered blood clots before the Boston Marathon, and McGrory both were timed in 1:39:15 with Swiss Manuela Schar third (1:39:17).

Swiss Paralympic gold med-allist Marcel Hug dominated the men’s wheelchair race, defend-ing his title in 1:29:23. Australian Kurt Fearnley claimed second in 1:30:24 narrowly defeating Spain’s Jordi Madera Jimenez.

Galen Rupp of the United States speaks to the media after winning the men’s race during the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.

Drought endsOlympic bronze medallist becomes the first American to win the Chicagao Marathon in 15 years.

Hardaker out

of England

squad after

failed test

Castleford, England AP

Zak Hardaker, one of England’s top rugby league players, was

provisionally suspended after failing a doping test and missed out on selection for the World Cup on Monday.

The 25-year-old fullback, who plays for Castleford Tigers in the European Super League, tested positive for a banned substance following a game against Leeds on Sept. 8, England’s Rugby Football League said.

Hardaker was suspended by Castleford on Thursday after the northern club was notified by UK Anti-Doping about the player’s positive test.

It meant Hardaker missed the Super League’s Grand Final against Leeds on Saturday. Leeds , Hardaker’s former club, won 24-6 as Castleford produced one of its worst performances of the season.

“I would like to apologize to my Castleford Tigers team-mates, the staff and all fans for my enormous error of judgment,” Hardaker said in a statement released by Castleford.

“I was given an opportu-nity by this great club and in what has been one of the most important weeks in its history, I have let everyone at the club down. For that, I truly apologize.”

Hardaker added that “in no way did I, nor would I, ever take a substance with the intention of enhancing my performance.”

Hardaker, who is facing a suspension of up to two years if found guilty, was thrown out of England’s squad during the last World Cup in 2013 for a breach of discipline. Hardaker’s una-vailability left a cloud over England’s squad announce-ment for the World Cup, which takes place in Australia and New Zealand from Oco-ber 27 to December 2.

Steele retains US PGA Safeway Open crownSan Francisco AFP

Brendan Steele fired a final-round 69 on Sunday to win the US PGA Tour Safe-

way Open for the second straight year.

Steele, who started the day two shots off the lead of rookie Tyler Duncan, finished with a 15-under total of 273 for a two-shot triumph over Tony Finau.

Finau also closed with a 69 at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California.

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson, seeking his first win since the 2013 British Open, was within one stroke of the lead late in the round but settled for a share of third place after a 70 for 276. He was tied with fellow American Chesson Hadley, who signed for a 73.

Duncan, who had led or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, got off to a disastrous start with three bogeys to open his round.

He carded a 75 to share fifth with Canadian Graham DeLaet (72) on 277. Steele, meanwhile, forged ahead with three birdies on the front nine. One of his two

bogeys came at the 14th, where he was in two bunkers and delighted to drop only one shot thanks to a seven-foot bogey putt.

“That was huge,” said Steele, adding that after “making a complete mess” of the hole “that putt felt as good as any.”

Steele said the winds made the final round more challeng-ing, not only because of their strength but because they were from a different direction than they had been all week.

“This was a brutal wind today,” he said. “Lots of holes into the wind, lots of uncomfort-able shots.”

Mickelson pulled within one shot of Steele’s lead with a birdie at the 16th.

But he followed that with a bogey at 17 before a closing birdie at the par-five 18th.

“I had a good time today,” Mickelson said. “It was fun to be in the mix, it was fun to have a chance.

“It was very difficult condi-tions. I enjoy that challenge. This course played totally different with the firm greens and the wind and some of the high pin placements were tough to get to.” But the 47-year-old Amer-ican remains encouraged by the state of his game, and his pros-pects for winning again soon.

“It’s just easy to see the ball start on the right line,” he said. “Iron play is back, distance, con-trol, putting, the game has just come back.”

The tournament kicked off the US PGA Tour’s 2017-18 sea-son, and Steele said that he hoped the victory would again prove a springboard to a suc-cessful campaign.

“It really was a good spring-board for me last year,” he said. “It propelled me to my best sea-son yet.”

Steele said he faltered late in the season as he felt the pres-sure to make the Tour championship.

Brendan Steele poses with the trophy after winning The Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California on Sunday..

McIlroy plots ambitious haul after winless yearKingsbarns, England AFP

Rory McIlroy has set himself three chal-lenging career goals

-- including becoming the best “international” player ever -- as he plots his comeback in 2018 follow-ing an injury-hit and trophyless year.

The four-time Major champion, who has been dogged by a rib injury, fin-ished in a disappointing tie for 63rd at the Alfred Dun-hill Links Championship on today, meaning a first season without a title since 2008.

His immediate goal arrives at the Masters in April, when he will attempt to become only the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam of all

four Major titles. Also on his career list is overhaul-ing Nick Faldo to become the most successful Euro-pean golfer ever and -- perhaps most ambitious of all -- he wants to sur-pass South African great Gary Player’s haul of nine Majors that make him the leading “international” golfer of all time.

“The Grand Slam is the next reasonable goal on the agenda and then my goal is to become the best European Tour golfer ever and try and surpass Nick Faldo in that,” said McIl-roy, aiming to return to competition early in the New Year.

“Then, and if had a career goal, it would be the best international golfer ever as Gary Player has nine Majors so I would like

to think I can get close to that tally.

“Clearly, the Ameri-cans have dominated the world of golf for the last 100 years with Jack Nick-laus and Tiger (Woods) and Walter Hagen and all those guys but the next big goal is winning the Masters for the Grand Slam and then becoming the best Euro-pean ever.”

The Northern Irishman has won 13 European Tour titles but is still 17 wins shy of Nick Faldo’s mark (Faldo won six Majors) and needs to win six more Majors to surpass Player.

McIlroy, 28, has seen younger rivals such as Jor-dan Spieth, who has three Majors to his name -- steal the limelight since he won t h e 2 0 1 4 P G A Championship.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland in action during the third round action of Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Kingsbarns, Britain on Saturday.

Leading final-round scores on Sunday in the US

PGA Tour Safeway Open at Napa, California (USA

unless noted, par-72):

273 - Brendan Steele 65-67-72-69

275 - Tony Finau 70-65-71-69

276 - Phil Mickelson 69-69-68-70, Chesson

Hadley 72-61-70-73

277 - Graham DeLaet (CAN) 69-67-69-72, Tyler

Duncan 65-66-71-75

278 - Andrew Landry 71-69-69-69, Bud Cauley

69-69-66-74

GOLF RESULTS

32 TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017SPORT 33TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Halep moves atop WTA rankings; Goffin into top 10 ParisAFP

Romanian Simona Halep’s run to the final of the China Open, which she lost to France’s Caroline Garcia, saw her take over at the top of the latest WTA rank-

ings released yesterday.The 26-year-old Halep becomes the first Romanian

woman to be ranked world number one. She succeeds Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, now in second.

Meanwhile, David Goffin’s victory in the Japan Open over the weekend saw the Belgian move into the top 10 of ATP rankings.

Goffin, up one place to 10th, is well placed for the sea-son-ending ATP finals in London in November, his Tokyo title seeing him jump into eighth spot.

WTA standings as of October 91. Simona Halep (ROM) 6,175 pts (+1)2. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 6,135 (-1)3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,605 (+1)4. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 5,465 (-1)5. Venus Williams (USA) 4,6526. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 4,6407. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 4,510 (+1)8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4,005 (+1)9. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 3,860 (+6)10. Johanna Konta (GBR) 3,795 (-3)11. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 3,330 (-1)12. Angelique Kerber (GER) 3,18113. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 3,035 (+1)14. Madison Keys (USA) 2,823 (-1)15. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) 2,819 (+1) ATP rankings as of October 91. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,875 pts2. Roger Federer (SUI) 7,5053. Andy Murray (GBR) 6,2904. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4,4005. Marin Cilic (CRO) 4,1556. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4,1257. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,9258. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 3,540 (+1)9. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 3,455 (-1)10. David Goffin (BEL) 3,055 (+1)11. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 2,855 (-1)12. Milos Raonic (CAN) 2,69013. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 2,52514. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,47515. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 2,470 (+1)16. John Isner (USA) 2,470 (+1)17. Sam Querrey (USA) 2,445 (-2)18. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2,420

Federer thrilled with rebound ShanghaiAFP

Roger Federer said yesterday that he is pinching himself over a resurgent season that has added two more Grand Slams to the Swiss great’s trophy case and put

100 career singles titles within reach.Following an injury-plagued 2016 in

which he failed to lift any hardware, Fed-erer has thrived on a reduced schedule aimed at easing the strain on his 36-year-old bones.

“I couldn’t be happier with this season to be quite honest,” the world number two said as preliminary play in the Shanghai Masters got under way.

“I’m just happy being here now and it would be nice to pick up another title and get in training and start again the next year and get more chances then.”

Looming in Shanghai is a potential clash in the final between Federer and Rafael Nadal, whose friendly rivalry has blossomed anew this year as they force the next gen-eration to wait their turn.

Nadal, who in August re-took the world’s top ranking for the first time in more than three years, is also enjoying a stellar campaign.

The Spaniard comes to Shanghai’s

hardcourt having dispatched dangerous 22-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios in straight sets to win the China Open in Bei-jing on Sunday.

The veteran Federer, on the other hand, skipped Beijing to arrive early in Shanghai to practice -- and pace himself.

“To win tournaments is not an easy thing to do. I came to realise that obviously last year,” he said.

“I’m playing only the big tournaments now so you need to really be in tip-top shape and ready to go and it’s just not so simple.”

With many predicting players like Ger-many’s Alexander Zverev to become the sport’s next dominant players, Federer and Nadal aren’t done yet.

Starting the year ranked a relatively lowly 17th in the world, Federer beat Nadal in the Australian Open final in January and then won a record-break-ing eighth Wimbledon in July without dropping a set.

He now has 93 singles titles, just one shy of overtaking Ivan Lendl for second-most in the Open era. Jimmy Con-nors has 109.

But Federer, who has five singles titles so far this year, is just focused on staying healthy.

“I’m not that far away (from 100 titles) it seems, but there is no point to really to think about it on a daily basis. This is some-thing that is either going to happen or not going

to happen,” he said.“I’m happy I’m here, and

I’m happy that I’m healthy.”Federer has third-seed Zverev in his half

of the draw, while Nadal’s side has tough

customers like Mario Cilic, Kyrgios and US open finalist Kevin Anderson.

Federer said he was surprised that Nadal, who won the French and US Opens this year, had even competed in Beijing after a busy recent stretch of tennis.

He also marvelled at the hardcourt ver-satility of the Spaniard, whose 10 French

Open wins had already proven his mas-tery on clay.

“It’s nice to see him keeping going. This (the China Open) is a really big

win for him. So for him to go to Bei-jing and win it right away, I expected him to pull out, to be honest.”

He added: “Why not? There is no reason for him to push it too hard, but that’s Rafa.”

kipped Beijing to arrive early in Shanghaipractice -- and pace himself.

“To win tournaments is not an easy thing do. I came to realise that obviously last

ear,” he said.“I’m playing only the big tournaments

ow so you need to really be in tip-top shapend ready to go and it’s just not so mple.”

With many predicting players like Ger-any’s Alexander Zverev to become the

port’s next dominant players, Federer andadal aren’t done yet.

Starting the year ranked a relativelywly 17th in the world, Federer beat adal in the Australian Open final innuary and then won a record-break-g eighth Wimbledon in July ithout dropping a set.

He now has 93 singlestles, just one shy of vertaking Ivan Lendlr second-most in

he Open era.mmy Con-ors has

09.

think about it on a daily basis. This is some-thing that is either goingto happen or not going

to happen,” he said.“I’m happy I’m here, and

I’m happy that I’m healthy.”Federer has third-seed Zverev in his half

of the draw, while Nadal’s side has tough

after a busy recent stretch of tennis.He also marvelled at the hardcourt ver-

satility of the Spaniard, whose 10 French Open wins had already proven his mas-

tery on clay.“It’s nice to see him keeping going.

This (the China Open) is a really big win for him. So for him to go to Bei-jing and win it right away, I expected him to pull out, to be honest.”

He added: “Why not? There isno reason for him to push it toohard, but that’s Rafa.”

I couldn’t be happier with this

season to be quite honest.

I’m just happy being here now and it

would be nice to pick up another title

and get in training and start again the

next year and get more chances then: World number two

Roger Federer

China Open needs Chinese stars,says co-director BeijingAFP

The China Open is finally getting the international recognition it deserves but

it also needs successful Chinese players to make an impact, the co-tournament director says.

Thomas Ross, a veteran of the tennis scene in the United States, was brought in this year to help boost the overseas pro-file of China’s biggest tennis tournament.

The annual event this year attracted almost all the top women -- new mother Serena Williams an exception -- and many of the best men’s players.

World number one Rafael Nadal lifted the men’s title on Sunday and France’s unseeded Caroline Garcia stunned new women’s number one Simona Halep in their final.

Ross, who has represented top stars including Michael Chang and Lleyton Hewitt, told AFP how he had witnessed the China Open grow from humble beginnings.

“I had been to this tourna-ment in the early days, over 10 years ago, when it was just a start-up,” he said.

“In that small gym over a decade ago it would have been hard to envision it becoming as big as it has here at this venue.”

The China Open takes place on part of the sprawling complex which was built for the 2008 Bei-jing Olympics.

It is a “Premier Mandatory” event on the women’s WTA Tour, putting it on a par with the respected and well-established Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid.

Ross hopes the men’s event will now scale the next rung on the men’s ATP Tour.

It is currently an ATP 500 event, on a par with a concur-rent Tokyo tournament but below this week’s Shanghai Mas-ters, where Nadal was heading fresh from his Beijing triumph.

“The recognition is coming... for this event, the biggest com-bined WTA/ATP event in Asia, in the capital of China, it’s only a matter of time,” said Ross.

But he conceded that a big-name Chinese player would be “incredibly important” for the tournament.

China has only ever produced one Grand Slam winner, the now-retired Li Na, and while there are three Chinese women in the top 50, the men are lagging.

“The men isn’t as successful a story, or at least not yet,” said Ross, adding how the American Chang, who won the French Open at 17, was among those “baffled” by the dearth of competitive Chi-nese men.

But Ross is optimistic, citing the emergence of Wu Yibing, the 17-year-old who won the junior title at last month’s US Open.

Wu lost his opener at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday to France’s Gilles Simon.

Li said earlier this month that she was disappointed that she remained China’s biggest tennis star, three years after her retirement.

“Actually, I didn’t like (that) people always remember me,” she told journalists at the Wuhan Open.

“(When) I decided to retire, I was thinking next day (new Chi-nese winners) would come,” she added.

Nadal says Kyrgios ‘has everything’ to succeed despite meltdown BeijingAFP

Rafael Nadal said Nick Kyrgios “has everything” to succeed and that he hopes the Australian will fulfil his

promise despite his latest high-profile meltdown in the China Open final.

Kyrgios was back in the spotlight after he capitulated 6-2, 6-1 to the Spanish world number one in Beijing on Sunday, during which he swore, argued with the umpire and was docked a point.

It is just the latest indiscretion for Kyr-gios, 22, whose potential has often been betrayed by his temperament -- includ-ing at last year’s Shanghai Masters, where he was fined for “lack of best efforts” in an extraordinary defeat to Mischa Zverev.

Going into the China Open ranked 19, Kyrgios scored redemptive wins over Zverev and the German’s brother, Alex-ander, before his title bid unravelled in the final against Nadal.

Kyrgios appeared unable to get over an incorrect line call in the first game as he indulged in one of his infamous run-ning debates with the umpire.

Nadal, the 16-time Grand Slam win-ner, admitted he was bemused by some of Kyrgios’s antics.

“Of course, some moments was a lit-tle bit strange for me, something a little bit unusual,” Nadal, 31, said.

But Nadal, for whom victory gifted him a sixth title of the season and land-mark 75th ATP crown, has no doubts about Kyrgios’s talent.

“He has everything,” said Nadal, who like Kyrgios will head immediately from Beijing to the Shanghai Masters, where Roger Federer will also be in action.

“He has unbelievable good eyes, when you play against him, it looks like he has time for everything. That’s very difficult.

“Then, of course, he has great hands and a fantastic serve.

“He has everything to fight for almost all the events of the year.

“So let’s see what can happen in the

future, but of course he will be a candi-date for everything.”

Kyrgios, who had been pursuing a fourth ATP singles title, displayed honest self-appraisal when he said his heavy defeat to Nadal was “typical”.

The Australian, who displayed his best in dumping out 20-year-old rising star Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, said Nadal had “destroyed” him and admitted he had failed to react professionally.

“I guess I put in a pretty good week, had some good wins,” said Kyrgios.

“It’s tough to find positives when you won three games in the final.

“In the semi-final I played well, obvi-ously beating Alex, it’s a typical type of week for me: beat a player well, then pretty much no-show.”

Writing for the playersvoice.com.au website, Kyrgios also called the final “a disappointing end to an otherwise good week”.

“I lost a bit of composure after a rough line call in the first game of the match and never really recovered,” he said.

“People will have their own opinions on how the final went down but, for the most part, I was satisfied with the week and happy to qualify for my second final of 2017,” he said.

C ancer victim gives Kyrgios ‘higher purpose’ in life SydneyAFP

Troubled Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios says he has finally found a purpose in life and will

build a facility for disadvantaged kids after being struck by the death of a young boy from cancer.

The combustible but talented 22-year-old, who had another melt-down in losing the China Open final to Rafael Nadal on Sunday, has long struggled with his demons, repeat-edly losing focus mid-match and arguing with umpires and fans.

He has made no bones about not taking tennis seriously enough, and yesterday said it was down to feeling like he had no real purpose in life.

Now he has one.“You’ve no doubt noticed that I’m

not all that good at hiding the fact I’d rather be somewhere else a lot of the time. So, what have I been doing it for?” he wrote in www.playersvoice.com.au, a website for sportspeople to air their views.

“You hear people talk about being motivated for their kids, or a cause, or something more than just themselves.

“It’s inspiration, pure and simple, and it gives them focus when times are tough. There’s a reason underpin-ning everything. It’s a higher purpose than just collecting a pay cheque.

“I haven’t had that and I’ve always been envious of those who did. I think I’ve found my purpose in the last cou-ple of months. I’m building something.”

The world number 19 revealed he had a vision several years ago to cre-ate somewhere for disadvantaged and underprivileged kids to “hang out, be safe and feel like they were part of a family”.

There would be tennis courts, basketball courts, a gym, a sports field to kick a football, food and beds.

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about outside of tennis since then,” he said, adding that he and his family were scoping out land in Melbourne and looking for organisations to part-ner with.

The plan is to have it underway by the Australian Open in January.

His dream came into focus after he had a hit-up with a little boy with terminal brain cancer called Piotr before a match at the Australian Open this year.

The boy died several months later and Kyrgios said he would never for-get him.

“Tennis is a great life -- we’re well paid and the perks are pretty good -- but it can feel empty if you’re just doing it for the money. I know what it’s all for now,” he said.

“I’m playing for them now.”Despite his new-found direction,

Kyrgios said he was not trying to make out all was now well in his life, and at his age he still had a lot to learn.

“All I can tell you is the difference I feel inside now that I know how to channel my career -- the money, the publicity, the notoriety -- into some-thing meaningful.”

Stosur ‘100 percent’ after injury-hit year Hong KongAFP

Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur declared she felt “100 percent” again after she battled into the second

round of the WTA Hong Kong Open in three sets yesterday.

Stosur, who is on the comeback trail after suffering a stress fracture of her right hand in June when in tip-top form, appeared to be cruising at a set and 3-1 up against the unheralded Lee Ya-hsuan of Taiwan.

But the Aus-tralian dropped five of the next six games with a s t r i n g o f unforced errors to let the world number 303 take the set 6-4.

Stosur, 33, drew on all her experience to race through the third set, cutting out the sloppy mistakes to progress 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in a h a r d - f o u g h t hour and 57 minutes at Vic-toria Park.

“I was really happy with the third set, the way I came out and finished that o f f r e a l l y quickly,” Stosur said.

“I really stepped it up, served better and was able to hit some winners. And once I got that lead I was able to keep it, unlike the second set,” added the Australian world number 43.

A resurgent Stosur earlier this year had looked to be approaching the form that took her to the US Open crown in 2011, winning the WTA title in Strasbourg this May.

She followed up in June by reaching the last 16 of the French Open where she was only edged out in a three-set epic by the eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko.

But soon after X-rays revealed the dam-age to her troublesome right hand was a bone fracture and she had to take a com-plete break.

“After the French Open I really came to a sudden halt and I didn’t hit a ball for about eight weeks which is the longest time I can ever remember not playing,” said Stosur.

The enforced rest meant she missed Wimbledon and the US Open, returning to action only last month at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

“I was really disappointed not to make it back for the US Open and missed that whole US summer which is a time I feel like I can do well,” Stosur said.

“It felt like it took forever. But I feel like it’s pretty much 100 percent now.

“Even when I first started in Tokyo and Guangzhou I was still really tentative with try-ing to hit my forehand. But now I feel like I can go out and practise and not think about it.”

The only seeded player in action on day one in Hong Kong, China’s number two Zhang Shuai, wasted little time and energy in crushing her Japanese opponent Kurumi Nara with a “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0.

The number eight seed, ranked 31 in the world, had too much power, accuracy and guile for the hapless world number 101 and raced past Nara in a dominant 48 min-utes on centre court.

I was really disappointed

not to make it back for the

US Open and missed that

whole US summer

which is a time I feel

like I can do well: Stosur

ved better andAnd once I gotit, unlike the

tralian world

r this year hadform that took2011, winning

his May.y reaching the

where she waset epic by the stapenko.ealed the dam-ht hand was a o take a com-

really came toa ball for about gest time I can

said Stosur.nt she missedn, returning toe Pan Pacific

not to make issed that

a time I said.But

00

d

t d ”n

umi 0, 6-0.nked 31 in wer, accuracy ld number 101

minant 48 min-

Simona Halep of Romania poses

for photographs with the women’s singles

runner-up trophy at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday.

He has unbelievable good eyes, when you play against him, it looks like he has time for everything. That’s very difficult. So let’s see what can happen in the future: Nadal

People will have their own opinions on how the final went down but, for the most part, I was satisfied with the week and happy to qualify for my second final of 2017: Kyrgios

Samantha Stosur

Roger Federer celebrates after winning his men’s singles quarter-final match against Germany’s Mischa Zverev at the Australia Open in Melbourne in this file photo.

Rafael Nadal of Spain (front-right) holds the trophy after winning the men’s singles final against Nick Kyrgios of Australia (front-left) at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday.

34 TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

MLB: Red Sox and Yankees stay alive with home wins New York AFP

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees kept their Major League Baseball (MLB) play-off bids going on

Sunday with the Red Sox offence coming alive and Yankees win-ning a pitching duel.

Boston exploded for six runs in the seventh inning for a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros, while the Yankees held on for a 1-0 shutout of the Cleveland Indians after dropping the first two games in their best-of-five American League series.

The Red Sox more than dou-bled the four runs they scored over the course of the first two games on the road with the help of home runs from Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley.

Boston, still trailing 2-1 in the series, will try to pull level when they host game four.

Devers smacked a two-run homer in the third inning to put Boston up 4-3, their first lead of the series.

The 20-year-old became the youngest Red Sox player ever to homer in a playoff game and just the sixth player in major league player in history to do so in the post-season before turning 21.

“He’s an extremely talented kid, and I think we marvel at the fact that he’s 20 years of age,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

Bradley’s three-run home

run -- his first career post-sea-son homer -- was part of the six-run seventh.

Hanley Ramirez went four-f o r - f o u r w i t h t h r e e runs-batted-in and Sand Leon drive in another run for the Red Sox.

“We don’t give up,” he said.

“We were in the post-season last year and unfortunately we couldn’t do the job,” added Ram-irez, recalling that the Red Sox were swept in the first round last season.

“I told everybody it’s not going to happen two years in a row.”

After the Red Sox fell into an early hole -- with Carlos Correa hitting a two-run homer and Josh Reddick driving in a run for the Astros in the first inning -- Bos-ton relief pitcher David Price produced four shutout innings with four strikeouts.

“Monster,” Ramirez said of Price’s performance. “Great heart, great competitor.”

The winner of the series will take on either the Yankees or Cleveland for a World Series berth.

In New York, Greg Bird led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a homer, and Aroldis Chapman posted a five-out save as the Yankees staved off elimination.

Bird helped the Yankees force game four on Monday when he lifted a fastball on a 1-1 count from left-hander Andrew Miller into the second deck in right field.

It was only the second homer allowed by Miller to a left-handed hitter this season.

“He is one of best,” Bird said of Miller. “I was just trying to give us a good at-bat and keep the game going. It has been an inter-esting year for me.

“This is a great team. We know we can do this and keep it rolling. We grinded it out. This is huge for us.”

With one out in the ninth, Chapman gave up a single to Jason Kipnis and an infield hit to Jose Ramirez, putting runners at first and second.

Chapman clinched the vic-tory by striking out Jay Bruce and retiring Carlos Santana on a fly ball to deep centre field.

Japan’s Masahiro Tanaka scattered three hits in seven bril-liant innings. He struck out seven, walked one, threw 92 pitches and induced two double plays.

Both National League divi-sion series resume on Monday, when the Chicago Cubs host the Nationals at Wrigley Field after splitting the first two games in Washington and the Los Ange-les Dodgers try to close out the Diamondbacks in Arizona after taking two wins at home.

We don’t give up. We were in the post-season last year and unfortunately we couldn’t do the job: Boston Red Sox designated hitter Hanley Ramirez

Lakers play safe with injured rookie Ball Los Angeles AFP

The Los Angeles Lakers opted to keep rookie point guard Lonzo Ball

out of pre-season game against the Sacramento Kings, letting him rest his sprained left ankle.

Ball was to miss his sec-ond straight game since he was hurt on Monday when he came down on Denver Nug-gets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay’s foot near the end of the first half of a pre-season contest.

Lakers coach Luke Wal-ton said Ball, the second overall selection in the draft in June, had trouble with lat-eral movement.

There was some sugges-tion Ball could miss the rest of the pre-season.

“I hope not, but yeah, that’s a possibility,” Walton said.

“It is different with every player. He is new to the team, so we’ve got to see how long these types of injuries take him to come back from.

“We’d like to have him back, but again, we are not going to rush him back just to try to get him out there.”

The Lakers open the reg-ular season on October 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Lonzo Ball

NFL: Rodgers stars as Packers overcome Dallas Cowboys Los Angeles AFP

Aaron Rodgers threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Devante Adams with 11

seconds left to lift the Green Bay Packers to a 35-31 NFL victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Rodgers carried the Packers on his back down the stretch as the clutch winning drive lasted 62 seconds and took nine plays, including an 18-yard run by Rodgers for a first down.

The scramble out of the pocket to the side of the field was just another example of the way

Rodgers dissected the Cowboys defence late in the game at AT&T Stadium.

“I just felt a gap to my left. I knew if I could get out there I would probably have a good lane to run,” he said.

In the late game, Alex Smith

passed for 324 yards and three touchdowns and engineered a decisive touchdown drive mid-way through the fourth quarter in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 42-34 win over the Houston Texans.

On the winning touchdown, Rodgers placed a perfect pass

over the helmet of Cowboys rookie cornerback Jourdan Lewis and into the arms of Adams. Rodgers had tried to team up with Adams on the pre-vious play but his toss was short.

The winning drive came after Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott ran in a go-ahead touchdown for the Cowboys with under two minutes left.

Prescott completed 25 of 36 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns and Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 116 yards, but it wasn’t enough.

The Packers eliminated Dal-las from the playoffs on the same field in January, when Rodgers converted a key third-and-20 play in the closing seconds and kicker Mason Crosby nailed a 51-yard field goal as time expired.

Green Bay returned Sunday to do it twice in a year and improve to 4-1 on the season while Dallas dropped to 2-3.

In Houston, Tyreek Hill ensured that the Chiefs would improve to 5-0 and remain as the lone unbeaten team in the NFL when he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown with 7:22 left to give Kansas City a 19-point lead.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left) scrambles away from Dallas Cowboys defensive end Damontre Moore in the third quarter of their NFL game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Sunday.

Kansas City 42 Houston 34

Green Bay 35 Dallas 31

Seattle 16 LA Rams 10

Baltimore 30 Oakland 17

NY Jets 17 Cleveland 14

Carolina 27 Detroit 24

Indianapolis 26 San Francisco 23 (Ot)

Miami 16 Tennessee 10

Cincinnati 20 Buffalo 16

La Chargers 27 NY Giants 22

Jacksonville 30 Pittsburgh 9

Philadelphia 34 Arizona 7

NFL RESULTS

Lundqvist, Rangers blank

Canadiens for first victory New York Agencies

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots as the New York Rangers earned

their first win of the season, defeating the Montreal Cana-diens 2-0 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.

Lundqvist allowed five goals in the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sat-urday and was removed from the game.

He had allowed eight goals in four periods and was sched-uled to get Sunday off before his poor showing in Toronto on Saturday.

Mika Zibanejad scored his fourth goal of the season on Sunday, and Brady Skjei scored

his first. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price allowed two goals on 25 shots to absorb the loss.

Dating to their first-round play-off series last season, the Canadiens have lost four straight to the Rangers (1-2-0) while scoring four total goals.

The Canadiens (1-2-0) appeared to score twice in the first period, only to have the goals overturned by video review.

Brendan Gallagher initially was credited with a goal after a scramble around the crease, but officials determined the puck was kicked into the net. A few minutes later, Max Pacioretty was called for goal-tender interference to negate a goal from Shea Weber.

Boston Red Sox centre fielder

Jackie Bradley Jr. (right) hits a three run home run during the seventh inning

against the Houston Astros

in game three of their 2017 ALDS at Fenway Park

in Boston on Sunday.

New York Rangers

goaltender Henrik

Lundqvist makes a stick save against

Montreal Canadiens on

Sunday.

35TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Shafiq, Sarfraz battle to give Pakistan hope Dubai AFP

Asad Shafiq and Sar-fraz Ahmed hit fighting half-centu-ries yesterday to thwart Sri Lanka and

set up an enthralling finish to the second and final day-night Test in Dubai.

Shafiq scored an unbeaten 86 while skipper Ahmed was 57 not out as they lifted Pakistan from a perilous position at 52-5 to 198-5 at close after being set a daunting target of 317.

The pair added 146 for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand to leave Pakistan needing another 119 runs with five wickets in hand to level the series.

Sri Lanka won a nail-biting first Test in Abu Dhabi by 21 runs.

Both Shafiq and Ahmed bat-ted confidently to raise hopes of Pakistan maintaining their unbeaten record in nine Test

series in the United Arab Emir-ates, their adopted home since 2009.

Earlier, paceman Wahab Riaz grabbed four for 41 and left-arm spinner Haris Sohail took three wickets in a single over to dismiss Sri Lanka for 96 in their second innings, after they resumed on 34-5.

Shafiq brought up his 19th Test fifty with a well-timed cover drive off fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, his first 50-plus score in 12 innings.

Ahmed smashed part-timer

Kusal Mendis for his fourth boundary to complete his 14th Test half-century.

It was off-spinner Dilruwan Perera who ripped apart Paki-stan with a triple strike in the second session. He dismissed Haris Sohail (10), Shan Masood (21) and Babar Azam (nought) to leave Pakistan in tatters at 52-5.

He could have claimed the wickets of both Shafiq, on 26, and Ahmed, on 22, but both were dropped by Mendis at short leg off successive balls, leaving Sri

Lanka to rue the missed chances.Pakistan made a disastrous

start when opener Sami Aslam fell for one, caught in the slips off Lahiru Gamage.

Masood and Azhar Ali (17) added 31 for the second wicket before the batting collapse began with Ali caught off fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep for 17.

Pakistan had needed to make early inroads in the morn-ing and Riaz provided them with the important wicket of Niro-shan Dickwella in the fifth over of the day for 21.

ICC set to approve Test Championship, says report Wellington AFP

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to approve plans for its

long-awaited World Test Championship at a meeting in New Zealand this week, it was reported yesterday.

The sport’s governing body has argued for years that a Test championship is needed to boost the five-day format’s popularity as crowds and television viewers flock to the big-hitting Twenty20 version of the game.

But squabbling over for-mats and fears that some nations will be disadvantaged have twice stymied efforts to launch a league structure since 2010.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that plans for a nine-nation Test cham-pionship were now well advanced and the ICC was set to give the concept a green light on Friday at a meeting in Auckland.

It said the first edition of the competition would run over a two-year cycle begin-ning in 2019, culminating in a final between the top two teams at Lord’s.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the league competition would give Test series a broader international “con-text”, making them more

than stand-alone bilateral contests.

“You’re also creating structure in such a way that you no longer have games without meaning. They are all part of a league champi-onship,” he told the Herald.

Purists view Test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport but it has struggled, particu-larly in Asia, as lucrative T20 competitions such as the Indian Premier League have caught the public’s imagina-tion. A recent innovation designed to reverse the trend is the introduction of day-night Test matches, which moves playing sessions to more spectator-friendly hours.

The idea of four-day Test matches has also been floated, although tradition-alists oppose the move.

The Herald reported that the ICC will also look at a major shake-up of one-day international fixtures at the Auckland meeting.

It said a 13-nation ODI league was being considered, which would operate on a three-year cycle with results affecting World Cup qualification.

Under the plans, the number of ODIs in a series would be capped at three, ending the lengthy five-match series that are currently part of the interna-tional fixture list.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland (left) says the league competition would give Test series a broader international “context”.

India look to seal T20I series against AussiesGuwahati IANS

Coming from a nine-wicket win, in-form India will look to continuing their

domination of Australia and seal the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here today.

India, who are ranked fifth, started the T20I series on a win-ning note outclassing the visitors in every department to register a nine-wicket victory via the Duckworth/Lewis method in a rain-marred match in Ranchi on Saturday.

The hosts, who produced a brilliant all-round show in the previous match, will hope to deliver a similar performance here.

The batting department will largely be dependent on hard hitting batsmen Rohit Sharma, skipper Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Hardik Pandya.

Batsmen Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jad-hav will only look to adding depth to the formidable India batting.

Kohli might also fancy including veteran pacer Ashish Nehra in the team.

Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will spear-head the bowling department for the hosts. Wrist spinners Yuzv-endra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav will look to provide brakes on the Australian batting which failed to look lethal in the previous match.

However, the seventh ranked Australian side will look to re-work on their strategies to get back to winning ways in the T20I series.

Skipper David Warner along with Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell will be the key batsmen for the visitors to get them off to a flying start.

The bowling will largely depend on pacer Nathan Coul-ter-Nile and spinner Adam Zampa, who failed to click in the last T20I.

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Rohit

Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jad-

hav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Di-

nesh Karthik, Ashish Nehra, Lokesh Rahul, Axar Patel.

Australia: David Warner (captain), Moises Henriques, Aaron Finch, Tim Paine

(wicket-keeper), Daniel Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan

Coulter-Nile, Travis Head, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson.

SQUADS

India’s captain Virat Kohli (left) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni look on during a training session ahead of the second T20 against Australia at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati yesterday.

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell plays a game of football during a training session ahead of the second T20I against India.

Mushfiqur

asks board

to decide

his future Dhaka Reuters

Mushfiqur Rahim has declined to step down as captain after

Bangladesh’s demoralising 2-0 Test series defeat in South Africa, instead leaving it to the country’s cricket board to decide on his future.

The long-serving Bangla-desh skipper has come under heavy criticism for the two heavy losses with critics questioning his decision to field first on batting-friendly pitches in both Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein.

“When the team does really well, all the credit goes to the management and when we are not doing well, all the blame comes to the captain. I can take it,” Mushfiqur told reporters.

“Obviously all the blame comes to me being the captain. The board will decide about me, since there’s a lot of time before the next Test series,” he said.

Middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq finds his form on the right time as Pakistan battle for series-leveling win against Sri Lanka in Dubai.

Sri Lanka (I innings): ...................... 482

Pakistan (I innings): ...................... 262

Sri Lanka (II innings):

D Karunaratne b Riaz ........................................7

K Silva c Ahmed b Abbas ..................................3

S Samarawickrama c Ahmed b Riaz .............13

K Mendis c Ahmed b Sohail ..........................29

S Lakmal lbw b Shah .......................................... 1

D Chandimal lbw b Riaz .................................. 0

N Dickwella c Ahmed b Riaz ..........................21

D Perera lbw b Shah ......................................... 0

R Herath c Azam b Sohail ...............................17

L Gamage not out .............................................. 1

N Pradeep lbw b Sohail ................................... 0

Extras: (LB1, NB3) ........................................... 4

Total: (all out) ....................................96

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-22, 3-26, 4-33, 5-34,

6-59, 7-60, 8-95, 9-96

Bowling: Abbas 4-2-6-1, Shah 12-2-47-2, Riaz

9-0-41-4 (1nb), Sohail 1-0-1-3

Pakistan (II innings):

Shan Masood c Dickwella b Perera ...............21

Sami Aslam c Mendis b Gamage ..................... 1

Azhar Ali c Silva b Pradeep .............................17

Haris Sohail c Dickwella b Perera ................. 10

Asad Shafiq (batting) .....................................86

Babar Azam c Silva b Perera .......................... 0

Sarfraz Ahmed (batting) ..................................57

Extras: (LB1, NB5) ............................................6

Total: (for five wkts) .......................198

Still to bat: Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Wa-

hab Riaz, Mohammad Abbas

Fall of wickets: 1-5 , 2-36, 3-49, 4-52, 5-52

Bowling: Lakmal 11-4-28-0, Gamage 13-4-27-1

(nb3), Herath 19-2-53-0, Pradeep 8-3-6-1 (1nb),

Perera 21-1-76-3, Mendis 1-0-7-0 (1nb)

SCOREBOARD

36 TUESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Qatar unveils new league ‘Hathab’Rizwan Rehmat The Peninsula

The Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) and Al Shaqab yes-terday joined hands to launch a new

12-leg series aimed at encour-aging young riding talent in the country to scale new heights in showjumping.

Called the ‘Hathab’, the opening round of the QR1m league kicks off at Al Shaqab this week with competitions set to be held in four catego-ries, the organisers confirmed yesterday.

“Hathab will provide a structured competition which will ensure continuity in organising local equestrian competitions for a number of months in one go,” Event Director of QEF, Ali Al Rumaihi, an Olympian who represented Qatar in the Rio Olympics last year, said.

“It will also be the first time that a points system will be implemented with defined participants for each class of competition.

“In addition, prize money will be awarded to horse own-ers in order to encourage horse ownership and more Qataris to be involved with the sport,” he added.

The Rio Olympian said male and female riders will be

allowed to compete together. “We have had tremendous

response from young female riders wanting to take part in competitions,” he said

“Basically the vision for ‘Hathab’ is to be a national series of equestrian competi-tions to inspire Qatar’s next generation of international champions,” Al Rumaihi added.

“This will be a series for local riders to improve and become international compet-itors. This will be the perfect platform to achieve that goal,” he said.

Commercial Manager of Al Shaqab Omar Al Mannai said Al Shaqab is keen to take equestrianism to the next level by providing all technical assistance.

“There will be a total of 12 competitions in the series which will be held either at Al Shaqab or Qatar Equestrian Federation premises. We will have seven events at Al Shaqab and five at QEF’s Out-door Arena,” Al Mannai said yesterday.

“We will be using the event to engage the commu-nity enough local sponsorship and encouraging local entre-preneurship by providing food and beverage sales opportu-nities,” he said.

“More importantly, Qatari trainees will also be engaged to help in various functional

areas to pro-vide them with the necessary experi-ence to organise future events of a similar nature,” he added.

“The results of the competition will be used in the selection process of riders to represent Qatar in future international competi-tions,” Al Mannai said.

“In the Futures Riders Pro-gramme we will have competitions in two classes - showjumping and dressage,” he added.

“Based on how the league unfolds, we may increase the number of dressage competi-tions. I would like to add that FEI rules and regulations will be applied during all the com-petitions,” Al Mannai said.

“The series will be broad-cast on Al Kass Sports Channel as they are our media

partners. We will also have a ‘Hathab’ pro-g r a m m e r u n simultaneously to promote the series,” he said.

“We are not just hosting the series for competition sake alone. We will be monitoring the performances of the refe-rees during competitions. Every aspect of this amazing sport will be addressed with intentions of improving as we stage the league,” Al Mannai added.

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areas to pro-vide them with thenecessary experi-ence to organise future events of a similar nature,” headded.

“The results of the competition will be used in the selection process of riders to represent Qatar in future international competi-tions,” Al Mannai said.

“In the Futures Riders Pro-gramme we will havecompetitions in two classes -showjumping and dressage,”he added.

“Based on how the leagueunfolds, we may increase the number of dressage competi-tions. I would like to add that FEI rules and regulations will be applied during all the com-petitions,” Al Mannai said.

“The series will be broad-cast on Al Kass Sports Channelas they are our media

partners. We will alsohave a ‘Hathab’ pro-g r a m m e r u nsimultaneously to promotethe series,” he said.

“We are not just hosting theseries for competition sakealone. We will be monitoringthe performances of the refe-rees during competitions. Everyaspect of this amazing sport will be addressed with intentions of improving as we stage theleague ” Al Mannai added

The Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) Event Director, Ali Al Rumaihi (left), shakes hands with Commercial Manager of Al Shaqab Omar Al Mannai, after a signing ceremony held at QEF headquarters yesterday.Pics: Kammutty VP/The Peninsula

“Hathab”, meaning “Canter” in Arabic, is an initiative of H E Sheikh

Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Commit-

tee. It is aimed at improving the standard of horse riding among

Qatari youth while encouraging the involvement of private stables

and individual horse owners to grow awareness of horsemanship

as part of Qatar’s history and tradition.

Competition detailsRiding Disciplines: Showjumping and dressage

Competition Categories:

1. Future Riders Program, 6 -12 years old

2. Children, 12-14 years old

3. Junior (Small Tour), 14-18 years old

4. Young Rider (Medium Tour), 16-21 years old

5. Senior (Big Tour), Over 21 years old

Period of competition: 2nd week of 0ctober 2017 until April , 2018

Eligible participants: All Qatari and residents of Qatar registered

with QEF

NEW SHOWJUMPING LEAGUE: WHAT IS ‘HATHAB’?

A view of Qatar Equestrian Federation’s Outdoor Arena in Al Rayyan.

ABOUT QATAR EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION Established in 1979, the Qatar Equestrian Federation (QEF) is dedicated to celebrating and en-

couraging the country’s equestrians. A member of the Federation Equestrian international (FEl)

since 1980, QEF is focused on the advancement of good horsemanship, and good sportsman-

ship, in a family orientated environment.

By way of its visionary Board of Directors, QEF consistently delivers world-class events and fair

play competition. Through enacting and enforcing rules and regulations in accordance with in-

ternational standards, the Federation hosts dozens of annual events designed to permit its

riders to develop and showcase their talent. QEF is committed to providing its riders with a safe

learning environment and challenging stage. The Federation is steadfast in its dedication to

fostering courage, confidence and commitment within its riders; and this dedication has cata-

pulted Qatari athletes to the world stage. In recent years equestrians from the country have

qualified for the Asian, Olympic and World Equestrian Games.

ABOUT AL SHAQAB Since its establishment in 1992, AL SHAQAB’s vision was to build on Qatar’s Arabian horse herit-

age and be a leading global centre for equine professionals while providing an engaging experi-

ence for the community. Global leadership has not only meant preserving, improving and pro-

moting the Arabian horse breed, but also encouraging the community in this unique,

traditional cultural sport.

In 2004, AL SHAQAB became a member of Qatar Foundation for Education. Science and Com-

munity Development to continue its mission to promote the breeding and showing of Arabian

horses. and to provide educational and competitive opportunities in the equestrian arts. Today,

AL SHAQAB’s impressive facilities, which are distinctively designed in the shape 0! a horseshoe,

cover 980. 000 square metres. With a state-of’theart Main Arena comprising both an indoor

and outdoor venue capable of holding over 5000 spectators. AL SHAQAB is part of Qatar‘s

growing reputation on the world stage that showcases its ability to host major international

sports event at the highest level. For more information, visit wwwelshaqabcom

FACTBOX

This will be a series for local riders to improve and become international competitors: Event Director QEF, Al Rumaihi