THE PENINSULA MUSCAT

Influential Qatari left-back Abdelkarim Hassan yesterday was named AFC Asian Player of the Year, beating Kashima Antlers’ Yuma Suzuki and Kento Misao to the top award.

Hassan, one of Qatar team’s key players, received the glittering trophy from AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa at the Oman Convention and Exhi-bition Centre.

The 25-year-old also became the second Qatari to be named AFC Asian Player of the Year after Khalfan Ibrahim won the same trophy in 2006.

“I am very happy to receive this award. It is an honour not just for me but my club and country,” Hassan said after receiving the trophy.

“It has been a long journey. I begin with my thanks to the Almighty for this honour. Then I would like to thank my family, my club mates and the players who played with me when I was young,” Hassan said.

“I also want to thank the coaches at club and national team level. Their support and guidance have brought me to this stage,” Hassan added in his brief speech.

The Al Sadd left-back played a key role in his club’s advance to the 2018 AFC Champions League semi-finals and runners-up finish in the 2017-18 Qatar Stars League season.

He remains a key player in the Qatar national side and the winning the award will boost his morale ahead of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

The Doha native graduated from the Aspire Academy and was only 17 when he first played in the 2011 AFC Champions League, coming off the bench against Esteghlal.

Al Sadd went on to win the AFC Champions League title that year.

Hassan continued to progress and was named the Young Player of the Year in the 2012–13 Qatar Stars League.

Also yesterday, Wang Shuang became the fourth player from China PR to win the coveted AFC Women’s Player of the Year.

Shuang, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain in the Division 1 Féminine, claimed the award for the first time, following an impressive year at both club and international level.

In another key award presen-tation, former Japan national team captain Makoto Hasebe was named the 2018 AFC Asian Inter-national Player of the Year after a sterling season for country and his German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt. Hasebe skippered Japan in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia where the Blue Samurai were the only Asian team to advance to the knockout stage before suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16.

It was his third FIFA World Cup as Japan captain, having also skippered the side who emerged champions in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Masebe, 34, announced his retirement from international football after the FIFA World Cup, having made 114 appearances for Japan. Iran’s Aliasghar Hasan-zadeh yesterday named the 2018

AFC Futsal Player of the Year, winning the prestigious honour for the fourth time.

“I am very pleased with this award. This will give me more power, more desire to do even better next year. This reminds me that I cannot stop, I must continue to give my best every time I enter the court,” said Hasanzadeh.

Hasanzadeh, 31, also won the award in 2014, 2016 and 2017, sur-passing compatriot Vahid Shamsaei who won the accolade in 2007, 2008 and 2015.

This year Hasanzadeh was Iran’s Most Valuable Player, con-tributing 12 goals to steer them to the AFC Futsal Championship title in Chinese Taipei. In continental

club competition, Hasanzadeh proved why he is the best when he guided Mes Sungun of Iran to their maiden AFC Club Futsal Championship in Yogyakarta

In the coaching awards, Kashima Antlers head coach Go Oiwa was named the AFC Men’s Coach of the Year yesterday.

Oiwa steered Kashima Antlers to the 2018 AFC Champions League title after defeating Iranian giants Persepolis FC 2-0 on aggregate, for the Japanese club’s first Continental crown.

Oiwa, 46, has been head coach of Kashima since May 2017, having been part of the coaching squad at the club since 2011

Also yesterday, Japan’s Asako Takakura was named the AFC Women’s Coach of the Year for a historic sixth time.

“I feel very proud that I have this honour almost every year. But this is really for my players and all coaches who have given so much to the game.

“Of course, we aim to win the World Cup next year. And I am confident that with unity, we can make our country proud,” said Takakura. Takakura, who previ-ously won the award in 2012,

2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017, guided Japan to the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Jordan, with the Nadeshiko defeating Australia 1-0 in the final to defend the title won in 2014.

Japan also claimed the 2018 Asian Games Indonesia gold medal, defeating China PR 1-0 in the final.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jilong of China PR yesterday announced the recipient of the AFC Diamond of Asia Award 2018 for his faithful servitude of more than 25 years to Asian football.

AFC President Shaikh Salman recently presented the award to Zhang Jilong in Beijing. The AFC’s top accolade is the perfect recog-nition to a man who brought calm and peace to the Confederation at a critical point in its history and is true recognition of his service to football.

Through his tireless devotion, Zhang Jilong has been instru-mental in raising the standards of football in the Continent.

Born on February 9, 1952 in Yantai City in Shandong province, Zhang has dedicated more than four decades of outstanding service to sport and football.

SPORTThursday 29 November 2018

PAGE | 09 PAGE | 10Missing inswing

hurting Amir’s progress,

says Akram

Bale leads win over Roma as Real march into pre-quarters

Sheikh Joaan leads QOC at ANOC General AssemblyFROM LEFT: H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), Dr Thani Al Kuwari (centre), QOC Vice-President, Jassim Al Buainain, Secretary General of the QOC, attend the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Executive Council meeting in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday. The largest-ever general assembly of the ANOC convened in Tokyo to discuss matters relating to the 2020 Summer Olympics and the Paralympics.

Hassan named best in AsiaThe Al Sadd star wins AFC Asian Player of the Year award

Player of the Year 2018: Abdelkarim HassanWomen’s Player of the Year 2018: Wang ShuangAsian International Player of the Year 2018: Makoto HasebeYouth Player of the Year (Men) 2018: Turki Al AmmarYouth Player of the Year (Women) 2018: Saori TakaradaMen’s Coach of the Year 2018: Go OiwaWomen’s Coach of the Year 2018: Asako TakakuraMember Association of the Year 2018: Japan Football AssociationDeveloping Member Association of the Year: DPR Korea FAAspiring Member Association of the Year: Mongolian Football Federation President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football 2018: Chinese FAPresident Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football 2018 - Developing: Football Association of SingaporePresident Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football 2018 - Aspiring: Palestinian Football AssociationPresident’s Special Recognition Award at the 2018: Wild Boar FC of Thailand and Japan U-20 women’s head coach Futoshi IkedaReferees Special Award 2018: Alireza FaghaniDiamond of Asia Award 2018: Zhang Jilong

THE WINNERS

HASSAN'S YEARIN NUMBERS Matches

36

3,968 minutes on the pitch

23Losses

Draws

goals

Goal-scoring assists

7

6

4 9

Wins

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa presenting the AFC Player of the Year award to Qatari’s Abdelkarim Hassan, during the 2018 AFC Annual Awards in Muscat, Oman yesterday.

AGENCIES BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Jeff Skinner scored 1:41 into overtime as the Buffalo Sabres extended the NHL’s longest winning streak to 10 games with a 3-2 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Skinner tallied in the three-on-three overtime period when San Jose goalie Martin Jones came out and made a weak play on the puck. Skinner collected it and sent a backhander in for his team-leading 19th goal for the win.

The Sabres have their first 10-game winning streak since the 2006-07 season. Buffalo last lost on Nov. 4 against the New York Rangers. The win was Buffalo’s sixth consecutive at home and broke a four-game losing skid against San Jose.

Rasmus Ristolainen and Nathan Beaulieu also scored for Buffalo, and Joe Pavelski scored twice for San Jose.

Golden Knights 8, Blackhawks 3Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore each

had two goals and an assist, and Alex Tuch added a goal and an assist as Vegas won at Chicago. The Golden Knights scored a franchise-record eight goals while cruising to their fourth straight victory.

William Karlsson, Ryan Reaves and Daniel Carr also scored goals and Deryk Engelland had a career-high three assists for Vegas, which has outscored its past four opponents 19-5. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for his 13th win of the season for the Golden Knights to move into a tie with Toronto’s Frederik Andersen for the NHL lead.

Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist, and Gustav Forsling and Erik Gustafsson also scored goals for Chicago, which lost for the third time in four games.

Hurricanes 2, Canadiens 1Curtis McElhinney stopped 48 shots as

Carolina held off host Montreal.McElhinney, playing for the fourth time

in a five-game stretch, has a personal four-game winning streak. Victor Rask and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored for Carolina, which has won four of its last five games.

Carey Price made 20 saves for Mon-treal, which controlled play for much of

the latter part of the game. Phillip Danault scored in the third period for the Cana-diens, who are winless in their past five games (0-3-2).

Penguins 4, Jets 3Zach Aston-Reese’s third-period goal

gave Pittsburgh its first and only lead in a win at Winnipeg.

Sidney Crosby, Riley Sheahan and Derek Grant also scored for the Penguins, who are 3-0-2 in their past five games. Three times they erased one-goal deficits.

Mark Scheifele scored twice, Brandon Tanev scored, and Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers each had two assists for the Jets, who are 1-3-0 in their past four.

Senators 4, Flyers 3Matt Duchene scored with 2:59

remaining in the third period to cap a three-goal rally, carrying visiting Ottawa past Philadelphia.

Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist while Thomas Chabot added a goal for Ottawa. Mark Stone and Colin White

contributed two assists each for the Sen-ators, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Senators goaltender Mike McKenna stopped 34 shots.

Coyotes 4, Wild 3Josh Archibald scored his first two goals

of the season, the second on a breakaway midway through the third period, and Arizona broke a four-game losing streak with a comeback victory over Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn.

The Coyotes, who had only one shot on goal in the second period, scored three goals in the first nine minutes of the third period, two by Archibald and one by Michael Grabner, to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

Lawson Crouse had a goal and an

assist and Archibald also had his first assist of the season for the Coyotes, who had lost eight of 10. Zach Parise scored his fourth goal in the past five games and Jared Spurgeon had three assists for the Wild, who had a two-game winning streak broken. Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker also had goals for the Wild.

Avalanche 3, Predators 2Tyson Jost scored the game-winning

goal, and Nathan MacKinnon tallied twice as Colorado beat host Nashville for its fifth consecutive victory.

Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves in the win as Colorado beat Nashville for the first time in 12 regular-season meetings.

The Avalanche are 7-0-1 in their past eight, while the Predators lost for just the second time in six games.

With the score tied after 40 minutes, Jost cashed in on a power play at 5:07 of the third period, ripping a glove-side shot past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne to settle the see-saw affair.

08 THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

Raptors rally for 6th straight winAGENCIES MEMPHIS

Kyle Lowry scored 24 points, including 15 in the second half, and the visiting Toronto Raptors overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-114 on Tuesday night.

Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who won their sixth game in a row.

Fred VanVleet was 6-for-6 from the field for 18 points off the bench -- 14 in the second half -- for the Raptors. Serge Ibaka contributed 16 points.

Marc Gasol led Memphis with 27 points, and Mike Conley added 20 points.

Nuggets 117, Lakers 85Paul Millsap had 20 points

and 11 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored 20, and host Denver routed Los Angeles.

Malik Beasley also had 20 points to establish a career high, and Nikola Jokic had 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Nuggets. Denver has won four straight after dropping six of its previous seven.

The Lakers were 5 of 35 from behind the 3-point arc and shot just 39.1 percent overall. Kyle Kuzma, who led Los Angeles with 21 points, was 1-for-7 from long range, and LeBron James missed all four of his 3-point attempts. James fin-ished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Pacers 109, Suns 104Domantas Sabonis scored 21

points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Indiana to a win at Phoenix.

With the game tied at 104 with under a minute to play, Bojan Bogdanovic, the league’s top 3-point shooter, cashed in from the corner to give the

Pacers a 107-104 lead. After Devin Booker just missed a 3-point try, Darren Collison was fouled and made two free throws to clinch the game for Indiana with 12 seconds left.

Six players scored in double figures for the Pacers, who also got 21 points from Doug McDermott. T.J. Warren paced the Suns with 25 points, and rookie Deandre Ayton recorded his 12th double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Hawks 115, Heat 113Rookie Trae Young had a

double-double with 17 points

and 10 assists as Atlanta edged host Miami.

Trailing by two points, the Heat had the ball after a timeout with 14.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter. However, Dwyane Wade, coming off a 35-point game, passed up an

open jumper on the left wing and got the ball to Josh Rich-ardson, whose 3-point attempt missed off the front rim to end the game.

Miami, which has lost six consecutive home games, was led by Richardson, who scored nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. Atlanta won its second straight game overall and also snapped a seven-game road losing skid.

Pistons 115, Knicks 108Blake Griffin scored 30 points,

and Detroit continued its success at home at New York’s expense.

Griffin produced his sixth 30-point game of the season as Detroit shot 47.5 percent, controlled the paint by a 56-38 margin and posted its fourth straight home win. Reserve Stanley Johnson and starter Reggie Jackson contributed 21 points apiece as the Pistons also won for the seventh time in their past nine games overall.

Rookie Allonzo Trier led the Knicks with 24 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, but New York saw a three-game winning streak end.

Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (left) drives against Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley during their NBA game at FedExForum, Memphis on Tuesday.

Miami 113 Atlanta 115

Denver 117 LA Lakers 85

Phoenix 104 Indiana 109

Memphis 114 Toronto 122

Detroit 115 New York 108

NBA RESULTS

Toronto 4 Boston 2 Florida 4 New Jersey 3 (OT) Washington 4 NY Islanders 1 NY Rangers 4 Ottawa 2 Columbus 7 Detroit 5

NBA RESULTS

Sabres extended NHL’s longest winning streak by beating Sharks

Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne (left) makes a save on a breakaway attempt by Colorado Avalanche left wing Matt Calvert during their NHL game at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Cancer survivor set to compete in Dakar Rally

IANS LIMA

Gianna Velarde is set to become the first Peruvian woman to compete in the Dakar Rally in the motor-cycle category, an enormous challenge she could never have imagined when, at age 15, she rode a motorcycle for the fist time -- and there found the strength to overcome cancer.

“The motorcycle gave me a lot of strength, freedom and independence. Discovering all those things at that stage probably makes you a very powerful woman in a few years,” Velarde told EFE in an interview.

“The motorcycle was my escape valve, my means of feeling strong and above all, feeling that I was a winner,” she said.

On those two wheels, Velarde was able to with-stand the 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 32 radi-ation treatments she received to eliminate a cancer of the lymph nodes.

“I suddenly saw I could zoom up the same hills as the men. With my helmet on, nobody knew I was a woman. I was one more in the pack. And that helped me a lot,” she said.

Now 24, Gianna still has the character of the cocky girl who disobeyed her mom and learned to ride a motorcycle with her dad, an experience that turned her life around on the sand dunes south of Lima.

“With my wig and helmet, I sped around and around, I fell and came out covered in sand, but I came out feeling happy, and that was something I hadn’t felt for a long time,” she recalled.

Similarly, Gianna’s parents tried to persuade her not to compete in the 2019 Dakar Rally, but then stopped and are now the first to cheer her on.

“The Dakar has really united my family. For me, Dakar is a chance to face my own demons and start a new chapter in my life,” Velarde said.

Her first rally was the Inca Challenge last Sep-tember, when “everything happened to me”. At one point overheating and a jammed clutch made her wait for her bike to “cool off so I could continue climbing the dunes”, she said.

Despite the many acci-dents, Velarde kept going: “I didn’t feel bad physically nor incapable. I navigated well and the times I got lost I was able to get back on track. Aside from any mechanical failures, I can do well at Dakar.”

Whether she finishes the 2019 Dakar Rally or not, Gianna Velarde promised to keep up her university studies and her volunteer work of teaching motorcycle riding to poor children and those with cancer, to whom she wishes to transmit the same passion and feeling of empowerment that motor-cycles give her

Gianna Velarde

RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram has said struggling pacer Mohammad Amir must try to regain his trademark inswing to make an impact on the interna-tional stage again.

Amir, who made a comeback into the Pakistan side at the start of 2016 following a lengthy ban for spot-fixing, was dropped from the side in late September for lack of form.

Akram, considered one of the game’s most devastating left-arm fast bowlers, said technical flaws are hampering the progress of the quick bowler who was the game’s rising star before his ban in 2010.

“Amir’s pace is there. He is still one of the quickest in Pakistan (but) I feel with the new ball, he is not swinging as much,” Akram said in a new interview posted on social media yesterday.

“If you see his spell in the Champions Trophy final (against India last year), he got wickets. With the new ball, he has lost his inswing,” Akram, the man of the match in the 1992 World Cup final, added.

“In the last edition of the Pakistan Super League, I told him that at the last step before his final delivery stride, he jumps to a side causing him to lose the wrist position (that generates swing),” the 52-year-old said.

“So when you want to move closer to the wickers before your delivery stride, a bowler will have to train the change in action or position for at least six months before you get complete control of the swing.

“That’s because you have trained yourself in the mind to land in a specific way so unless you change that, you won’t be able to swing the ball,” Akram explained.

Akram, who appeared in 104 Tests, was tutored by former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan for early part of his 19-year-old international career.

The fast bowler blossomed under the tutelage of Khan who captained the side when Pakistan won the 1992 World

Cup beating England in the final in Melbourne.

“My all-time favourite cricketer has always been one man and it will always be that guy - and that is Imran Khan,” Akram said when asked about his favourite player who is now the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

“In my younger days, I would have his poster of Imran Khan adorning the walls of my room. In fact I had posters of Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal also. I used to go watch them practice at Qaddafi Stadium,” Akram said.

“What made him great was that he always led from the front. I met him when I was 17 or 18. I had just played for Pakistan (November 1984). What a good leader does is he believes action speak louder than words. And nobody knew this better than Imran Khan. He used to lead from the front. You’d never find Imran sitting in one place and asking his team players to do all the hard work like sprinting across the ground or asking them

to go to the gym. Imran had this tremendous belief in himself because he worked hard. He knew hard work would lead him to success. He is still very fit. He runs every morning. He goes to the gym regularly and he eats healthy. That’s very important for anyone at any age,” Akram recalled.

“Imran would be very tough on players pretending to be working hard whereas they would essentially be sulking from hard work. He could easily gauge from a player’s attitude whether and an individual was genuinely breaking a sweat or just pretending to be ‘busy’. You could never fool him. He would tell us to play brave and bold cricket and made sure we weren’t actually faking our courage,” Akram said.

Akram said current Pakistan selector and former skipper Inzamaul Haq remained ‘one of the game’s greats’.

“Imran Khan rated Inzy very highly. You don’t see such players nowadays. Whenever he

played the fast bowlers, you would sense that he had that extra second at his disposal to crack those shots he played (pre-senting an on-drive flick with his hand),” Akram said about Inzamam. “He was pretty much like Rohit Sharma these days. Any pacer who would normally disturb top order batsmen would find it difficult with Inzy. He was a phenomenal talent. There’s no doubt about that.

“He did not live up to his potential at the start but once he settled down, he worked really hard and developed into a world-beater. He won Pakistan so many matches, yes. He is def-initely one of the greats of the game in my book. Imran gave him the confidence at the beginning. Skipper knew he had it in him to be a great player,” Akram, who played 12 years along side Inzamam, added.

Akram said lack of interna-tional cricket in Pakistan was hampering the game’s devel-opment in the country.

“These days it is so

unfortunate that youngsters or budding cricketers in Pakistan do not get the chance to see their heroes in action like how we did when we were in our teens,” Akram said.

“For the last seven or eight years, that has not been the case and I feel for the youngsters. In fact I also feel for young Pakistan international players who don’t get to play in front of their own fans. Young players get to play (domestic) matches in front of empty stadiums.

“When we used to play, any hotel lobby would be packed with fans. When we would commute in the team bus, there would be crowds everywhere we went. Fans would be waving at us because we were their own team. It is so difficult to motivate youngsters to take up cricket now. I am talking about young cricket fans who want to be like their heroes. When they don’t see them play at home then it becomes so difficult to sustain their (dwindling) interest,” Akram said.

09THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Missing inswing hurting Amir’s progress, says Pakistan’s Akram

m er totoa-

ck art an ed er

he t-al

he er ar

is i

Amir’s pace is there. He is still one of the quickest in Pakistan (but) I feel with the new ball, he is not swinging as much. With the new ball, he has lost his inswing.

Rain washes out 1st day of India four-day tour matchAP SYDNEY

The first day of India’s only tour match ahead of the first cricket Test against Australia has been washed out by tor-rential rain.

The four-day match against a Cricket Australia Xi was scheduled to start yes-terday morning, but storms and heavy downpours ensured the covers stayed on at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The forecast was so poor that India’s Test squad never arrived at the SCG. The showers did eventually stop and there was brief hope of a mid-afternoon toss, but play was abandoned without a single delivery being bowled.

India captain Virat Kohli opted for a gym session for the team rather than a day off.

The match was only orig-inally scheduled for three days before Cricket Australia (CA) agreed to add yesterday’s earlier start at India’s request.

India will also be able to use 14 players from its squad after asking for the game not to be given first-class status.

The first of the four-Test series begins on December 6 in Adelaide. The teams play the final Test beginning January 3 at the SCG, with others at Perth and Mel-bourne in between.

Bayliss wants ‘exemplary’ Stokes to avoid banREUTERS LONDON

England coach Trevor Bayliss is hopeful that Ben Stokes’ “exemplary” conduct since an altercation outside a nightclub last year can help the all-rounder avoid a ban ahead of the side’s tour of the West Indies starting in January.

Stokes and batsman Alex Hales face a disciplinary hearing early next month after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had charged the pair with bringing the game into dis-repute following the Sep-tember 2017 incident in Bristol.

“I hope he (Stokes) is available for our next game. I think he’s learnt a lesson since that time. The way he’s conducted himself since he’s come back into the fold has been exemplary,” Bayliss told reporters.

“The hearing coming up hasn’t affected him, I haven’t heard it mentioned once around the changing room.”

The pair could face any of a range of penalties from a warning to the termination of their contracts. Stokes, who was cleared of affray in August, played an important role with bat and ball as England completed their first 3-0 test series sweep in Sri Lanka on Monday.

“You can throw the ball to him, you can put him in any situation with the bat, you can put him where the ball is coming in the field. For me, he’s the first picked,” Bayliss added.

“His averages may not be the greatest in each of his positions, but you add those three disciplines together, it adds up to one hell of a player.”

England take on West Indies in three Tests, five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 interna-tionals from January to March.

Clarrie who? Yasir targets Australian legend’s recordAFP DUBAI

Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah does not know much about Clarrie Grimmett but is aware that he has a strong chance of shattering a record set by the Australian 82 years ago.

Yasir tormented New Zealand on his way to a match haul of 14-184 to help Pakistan achieve a series-leveling win by an innings and 16 runs in the second Test in Dubai on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old now has 195 wickets in 32 Tests and needs just five more in the third and final Test starting in Abu Dhabi from Monday to become the quickest bowler to reach 200 Test wickets.

In fact, he will take the record if he can pick up those wickets any time in his next three Tests as Grimmett -- also a leg-spinner -- took his 200th wicket in his 36th Test against South Africa in 1936.

Yasir admits the record is in his mind but knows little about the holder of it.

“Grimmett? I don’t know much about him,” said Yasir. “He played so many years ago, but I know about the record because his name comes first whenever I see the list.

“I want to beat that record.”Since taking seven wickets

on debut against Australia in 2014, Yasir has been a key figure in Pakistan’s Test team.

He took 12 wickets in that 2-0 series win over Australia in United Arab Emirates in 2014 and followed that with 15 against New Zealand in a 1-1 draw the same year.

That was followed by 24 wickets against Sri Lanka in 2015 and ten wickets in a match to beat England at Lord’s a year

later. He took 21 and 25 wickets respectively in series wins over the West Indies.

Yasir reached 100 wickets in 17 Tests, second only to Eng-lishman George Lohmann who reached the target in 16 matches during a Test in Johannesburg in 1896.

“I am very happy to have contributed to the team’s wins,” said Yasir. “That is my job.”

Yasir’s figures in Dubai are the second best match return ever for Pakistan in Test cricket, bettered only by former captain and current prime minister Imran Khan who took 14-116 against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 1982.

“I have equalled Imran Khan and that’s a big honour for me,” said Yasir. “My name will come with his and that’s great and I await his message.”

Yasir admitted the loss of his mother just days before the New Zealand series had made him anxious.

“It was tough coming here,” said Yasir. “I was very tense. You are nothing without your mother. When I used to go out for the match I would call her to pray for me to get five wickets and she would reply that ‘why not 10 or 15, why just five?

“I would like to dedicate this feat to my mother.”

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed (left) with Yasir Shah after Pakistan beat New Zealand in the second Test at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. Shah bagged 14 wickets in the match.

AFP SYDNEY

Former captain Michael Clarke has slammed attempts to improve Australian cricket’s image in the wake of a cheating scandal, insisting the national team “won’t win a game” without its infamous abrasive attitude.

A scathing independent review into the ball-tampering scandal released last month revealed a bullying culture within the sport and criticised cricketers for “playing the mongrel” against opponents. In response, the team produced a so-called Players’ Pact, urging Australians to “compete with us, smile with us, fight with us, dream with us”.

Test captain Tim Paine has also spoken of shaking oppo-nents’ hands before a series and respecting the umpires, in stark contrast to the Australians’ previous conduct.

However, the nice-guy approach did not sit well with Clarke, who said winning should be Australia’s top priority, regardless of what anyone thought.

“Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected,” he told commercial radio. “Play tough Australian cricket. Whether we like it or not, that’s in our blood.”

Clarke said fans wanted victory more than they wanted a likeable team. “If you try and walk away from it, we might be the most liked team in the world, we’re not going to win shit,” he said. “We won’t win a game. Boys and girls want to win.”

The cheating scandal involved Australian players using sand-paper to alter the flight of the ball in a Test match against South Africa last March at Cape Town’s Newlands Stadium.

Coach Darren Lehmann quit in the wake of the controversy and then-captain Steve Smith, deputy David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft received lengthy bans.

The affair also claimed the scalps of CA chief executive James Sutherland, chairman David Peever and team performance boss Pat Howard. The Australians have endured a dire run of form since Cape Town, losing 17 matches out of 24 in all formats. They face a tough home Test series against top-ranked India starting in Adelaide on December 6.

Wasim Akram

Mohammad Amir

Clarke warns Aussies nice guys don’t win

10 THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

AGCFF consultative meeting held in MuscatTHE PENINSULA MUSCAT

Qatar Football Association (QFA) Pres-ident Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani yesterday met with the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) officials to discuss matters of mutual interest.

The QFA President is also the head of the AGCFF Executive Committee.

During yesterday’s meetings, being held on the sidelines of the AFC Asian Awards ceremony hosted by Oman Football Association (OFA), saw AGCFF President hold discussions with OFA President Sheikh Salem Al Wahaibi.

Among those who attended yester-day’s meeting included Abdul Khaleq Masoud, President of the Iraqi Football Federation, Jassim Al Buainain, Sec-retary General of AGCFF, Ahmed Al Rumaihi, Assistant Secretary General, Hameed Al Shaibani of Yemen, Jassim Al Shakeili of Oman and Kuwaiti member Mohammed Khalil. Football officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain abstained from attending the meeting.

OFA President Al Wahaibi requested

the postponement of the General Assembly Meeting (AGM) due to be held in Muscat on December 30th in Muscat and the august AGCFF Executive Com-mittee approved the move.

It is expected that the AGCFF will send official letters to all regional football federations - including

mentioning the date and venue of the meeting - to discuss the agenda of the meeting, which will also deliberate the dates of Gulf Cup to be hosted by Qatar next year. Yesterday’s meeting was held in the presence of five fed-erations: Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Kuwait and Iraq.

Qatar Football Association (QFA) President and Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) Executive Committee President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani (left, centre)addressing the AGCFF officials during a meeting held in Muscat, Oman yesterday. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the AFC Asian Awards ceremony. BOTTOM: The QFA President holding discussions with Oman Football Association (OFA) President Sheikh Salem Al Wahaibi.

Bale leads win over Roma as Real march into pre-quartersAFP ROME

Real Madrid’s magic touch in the Champions League remains undimmed after Gareth Bale inspired a 2-0 win over Roma on Tuesday that ensures they will go through top of the group.

Bale scored one and then provided the cross that led to another as Lucas Vazquez wrapped up a clinical 2-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma squandered several chances in the first half, the best of them falling to Cengiz Under, who was guilty of a shocking miss from six yards, with the goal gaping.

Federico Fazio’s mistake then gifted Bale the opener and Roma faded thereafter, allowing Madrid to erase mem-ories of their shock defeat to Eibar last weekend by finishing top of Group G.

Both teams knew they had already qualified thanks to Viktoria Plzen’s win over CSKA Moscow in the early kick-off, making this a golden chance to secure first place.

Madrid seized it, showing once again their immunity in the Champions League, where the team’s problems in domestic competitions are seemingly never transferred.

They have gone more than eight hours without a goal and two weeks without a permanent coach but San-tiago Solari still leads Real into the knock-out stages as group winners with one game to spare.

A breathless first half was dominated by Roma but Madrid had the first chance.

Vazquez plucked Bale’s cross out of the sky and cut back for Luka Modric, whose deflected shot was well saved by the foot of Robin Olsen.

From there, the best chances belonged to the hosts. Raphael Varane diverted away from the boot of Patrik Schick and over his own bar. Stephan El Shaarawy hobbled off and

his replacement, Justin Kluivert shot over. Schick failed to connect from close range.

Madrid were hanging on, with one Roma assault leaving a handful of white shirts sprawled across the penalty area. Thibaut Courtois saved with his feet, Dani Carvajal blocked, before Aleksandar Kolorov fired off a trademark shot from range that whistled wide.

The worst miss of the half, and perhaps the season, was to come. Carvajal dallied in the corner, teeing up Nicolo Zaniolo to cross. At the back post, Madrid had not recovered, neither had Courtois, who was scrambling from the other side of the goal. Under, without pressure, blazed over.

He trudged off at half-time and was consoled like he had missed a penalty, but it seemed inevitable Roma would pay for the error.

They did, twice in 12 minutes. First, Fazio com-pounded Olsen’s poor clearance with a worse header back, which landed at the feet of Bale and he made no mistake.

Then Bale was involved in the second, a clipped cross finding Karim Benzema, whose clever header down gave Vazquez a simple finish.

In between, Bale could have made it two himself when he was set free on the break, as Roma lost momentum, shape and belief.

Bale, Benzema and Modric were all taken off, rested for Valencia on Saturday, as an ini-tially close contest became comfortable.

Man City fight back to earn a place in the last 16REUTERS LYONL

Manchester City progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League from Group F on Tuesday after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Olympique Lyonnais, a team Pep Guar-diola hailed as one of the toughest he has ever faced.

Goals from Maxwel Cornet were cancelled out by Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Aguero to leave City top of the group on 10 points. Lyon are second on seven points, two ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk who snatched a late 3-2 win at Hof-fenheim to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last 16.

Guardiola’s City side often found themselves on the back foot in France and struggled to contain Ivorian forward Cornet who went close to scoring after half an hour but a heavy touch let him down right in front of goal.

He also attempted an acrobatic scissor kick that hit the crossbar just before halftime, but finally got his reward in some style, giving the hosts the lead 10 minutes after the break with a fine left-foot finish from the edge of the area.

A few minutes later, Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes made a good save to keep out Sergio Aguero’s header from point-blank range.

Yet Guardiola’s side soon equalised when Laporte headed in just after the hour following a flick on from David Silva.

The game was petering out until Cornet struck again 10 minutes from fulltime with a low angled finish after latching on to a through ball from Memphis Depay.

Once again City quickly levelled with a header, this time Aguero making no mistake straight from a Riyad Mahrez corner to salvage a hard-earned point for his side.

Guardiola had high praise for Lyon, who are the only team to have defeated City this season, having won the first group game 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in September, and the only side to score twice against the English champions. The draw would have been enough for both sides to reach the last 16 were it not for Sha-khtar’s late winner. Lyon travel to Ukraine in a final group showdown next month.

Man United qualify after controversial late Fellaini winnerREUTERS MANCHESTER

Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini struck a controversial stoppage-time winner to bring blessed relief to Old Trafford after a laboured 1-0 win over Young Boys edged them into the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.

United’s struggles at home and their fans’ disenchantment had looked set to continue as it seemed that, for the first time in their history, they were going to fail to score at their own ground in a European tie for three matches in a row.

Yet, after largely dominating the match while being betrayed by a blunt edge up front, Belgian Fellaini turned to shoot home in the 91st minute, despite the ball appearing to come off his hand as he swivelled to strike it.

United, though, were also grateful for the right hand of goalkeeper David de Gea, who made a truly remarkable second-half save at full stretch from a deflected Ulisses Garcia strike, clawing the ball off the line at full stretch.

It was so brilliant that it even prompted United manager Jose Mourinho to hail the Spaniard as “the best goalkeeper in the world.”

The save came as the Swiss cham-pions grew in confidence in the second half, encouraged by the prosaic efforts of United, who struggled to create chances and squandered the few they did fashion.

Marcus Rashford, one of their livelier players, was also their most wasteful, missing five opportunities, including an outstanding one in the opening five minutes.

Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale (left) scores their first

goal past AS Roma’s Robin Olsen during

Tuesday’s UEFA Champions

League Group G match at the

Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.

Mandzukic winner takes Juventus into knockoutsAFP TURIN

Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal as Juventus eased into the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Valencia in their Group H clash.

Cristiano Ronaldo pro-vided the assist that allowed the Croatian to tap in just before the hour mark in Turin.

The win for the Italian champions, who only needed a point to ensure qualification, combined with Manchester United snatching a late 1-0 win over Young Boys at Old Trafford means Valencia crash out of the competition.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side will now have to wait to see whether they top the group when they play their final group game mid-December in Bern against Young Boys.

Juventus have 12 points from five games with Man-chester United on ten.

Ronaldo came out firing on all cylinders after his con-troversial red card during his first Champions League game for Juventus in Valencia back in September, which Allegri’s side still won 2-0.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was in top form in the Allianz Stadium with chances in the first three minutes, including a powerful drive straight at Valencia’s Brazilian goalkeeper Neto.

Juventus controlled the game with Rodrigo Bentancur and Blaise Matuidi masters of the midfield with Dybala up front flanked by Ronaldo and Mandzukic. Miralem Pjanic and Giorgio Chiellini had penalty calls waved aside, with Ronaldo again skimming the post after 25 minutes.

A clever Leonardo Bonucci backheel flip was picked up by Joao Cancelo whose curling effort flew past the post to the frustration of Ronaldo who had been position for the pass.

However the hosts could thank goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for going into the break 0-0 when his one-handed save stopped Mouctar Diakhaby’s searing header.

But Mandzukic broke through in the 59th minute as Ronaldo shook off Gabriel with some fancy footwork and flashed a low shot across the face of goal that found the Croatian forward, who just had to finish off.

STANDINGS(Groups E-H) after Tuesday's matches TEAM P W D L POINTSGROUP EBayern Munich 5 4 1 0 13 (Q)Ajax 5 3 2 0 11 (Q)Benfica 5 1 1 3 4AEK Athens 5 0 0 5 0

GROUP FManchester City 5 3 1 1 10 (Q)Lyon 5 1 4 0 7Shakhtar Donetsk 5 1 2 2 5Hoffenheim 5 0 3 2 3

GROUP GReal Madrid 5 4 0 1 12 (Q)Roma 5 3 0 2 9 (Q)Viktoria Plzen 5 1 1 3 4CSKA Moscow 5 1 1 3 4

GROUP HJuventus 5 4 0 1 12 (Q)Manchester United 5 3 1 1 10 (Q)Valencia 5 1 2 2 5Young Boys 5 0 1 4 1

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Tuesday’s results

GROUP E

AEK Athens 0-2 Ajax

Bayern Munich 5-1 Benfica

GROUP F

Lyon 2-2 Manchester City

1899 Hoffenheim 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP G

CSKA Moscow 1-2 Viktoria Plzen

Roma 0-2 Real Madrid

GROUP H

Juventus 1-0 Valencia

Manchester United 1-0 Young Boys

AFP MADRID

Atletico Madrid moved one step closer to their dream Champions League final on home turf by beating Thierry Henry’s Monaco 2-0 yesterday to secure their place in the last 16.

Atletico could hardly have imagined a more straight-forward passage into the knock-out stages as a struggling Monaco side, ridden with injuries and focused on avoiding relegation from Ligue 1, offered precious little resistance at the Wanda Metropolitano.

A rout looked possible when Koke and Antoine Griezmann put Atleti two up within half an hour but they eased off and Monaco could even have pulled a goal back, only for Radamel Falcao to miss a penalty against his

former club. Stefan Savic’s handball conceded the spot-kick and he was sent off, after receiving a second yellow card.

It was a disappointing end for Falcao, who had been pre-sented with a plaque before kick-off and warmly cheered by the home fans when intro-duced as a substitute in the second half.

To return here for the final on June 1, Atletico will have to beat far stronger opponents than this but, after a slow start, their season appears to be taking shape.

They have now lost only once, albeit a thumping by Borussia Dortmund, in 16 matches.

Dortmund could yet snatch top spot in Group A, particularly given they face Monaco last, with Atletico owning the slightly

tougher final assignment away to Club Brugge.

Monaco, meanwhile, cannot even trump Brugge to third and a place in the Europa League even if they, and Henry, have more serious domestic concerns.

At times, this match resembled a cup tie between a giant and an opponent two or three tiers below, but Henry must have expected as much when he rested key players, including Falcao, and fielded four teenagers in his starting line-up.

Correa’s twisting run put Jemerson on the ground, and he returned to Griezmann to touch into the far corner.

Porto and Schalke also made it through from Group D as Galatasary lost 2-0 to Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia.

11THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Today, after 23 wonderful years, I am formally announcing my retirement as a professional footballer. From Crumlin United around the world to the likes of Milan, London and Los Angeles, I could never have imagined the path my football life would take: Keane

Ireland legend Keane hangs up bootsAFP DUBLIN:

Irish football legend Robbie Keane brought the curtain down on over two decades as a player yesterday saying his career had exceeded all his hopes when he was a “football-mad boy growing up in Dublin”.

The 38-year-old -- his country’s record goalscorer on 68 well clear of Niall Quinn who is next with 21 -- is to focus on his new duties as assistant manager to new Ireland handler Mick McCarthy.

Keane, who replaces Roy Keane (no relation) in the role after the latter and manager Martin O’Neill were fired last week, captained Ireland for a decade.

“Today, after 23 wonderful years, I am formally announcing my retirement as a professional footballer,” Keane said in a statement.

“From Crumlin United around the world to the likes of Milan, London and Los Angeles, I could never have imagined the path my football life would take.

“It has exceeded all the hopes I had as a football-mad boy growing up in Dublin.”

Keane, unlike his near namesake, enjoyed good relations with McCarthy in the latter’s first spell in charge of the national side.

He was one of their stars at the 2002 World Cup -- which infamously saw their one world class player Roy Keane sent home after launching a tirade of abuse at McCarthy -- where the Irish went out on penalties in the last 16 to Spain.

Keane also enjoyed a highly suc-cessful, if peripatetic, club career which ended with a period as player/manager at Indian outfit ATK, in the season that finished in March.

In all, Keane scored 126 goals in 349 Premier League matches, 91 of them for

Tottenham Hotspur, although he also had spells with Coventry, Leeds United and Liverpool in the elite league.

“Leaving home at 15 years of age to pursue my professional career in England seems a lifetime ago now,” said Keane.

“I was a street footballer full of hope armed with huge ambitions and a deter-mination to succeed.

“All I needed was that one chance.” Keane had especially warm words

for his long service to his country on the pitch -- winning 146 caps and aside from the 2002 World Cup appearing also in two European Championships.

“Playing and captaining my country has been the highlight of my career,” said Keane.

“I enjoyed every moment of the most incredible journey with the Ireland team over an 18-year period and as I have said many times before, words cannot express how proud I am to be Irish.”

Ireland manager Mick McCarthy with his assistants Terry Connor and Robbie Keane during a press conference at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on Sunday.

Guardiola given reminder of uphill task in EuropeREUTERS LYON

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are sweeping all before them again in the Premier League but the Spanish coach acknowledged on Tuesday that they perhaps still have some way to go if they are to win the Champions League for the first time.

City had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Olympique Lyonnais and often found themselves on the back foot against the only side to have defeated them this season, with the French club winning 2-1 in the first Group F match in September.

The English champions still secured their progression to the last 16 for the seventh straight season but Guardiola conceded his team were finding it much tougher in Europe than back home.

“Today the Champions League showed me again that it’s a different competition,” he said. “The players are better. Here when you press they don’t lose the ball. The demand is so high.

“When people say it’s easy in the Champions League you cannot imagine how confused they are about that. We’ll be there again in February: one more year for City is good news.”

City won the Premier League with a record 100 points last season, scoring more than 100 goals but were eliminated from the Cham-pions League in the quarter-finals by Liverpool.

They still have to avoid defeat against Hoffenheim next month to secure top spot in Group F and a more favourable draw for next year’s knockout stage. But Guardiola was relieved more than anything that domestic duties can take precedence again.

“Tonight we showed per-sonality, we got the point that we needed. Qualifying for the last 16 means we can now play the Premier League and the cups and prepare our-selves for (the knockout stage in) February,” he said.

While City were playing in France, their English League Cup quarter-final opponents were decided as Leicester City defeated South-ampton on penalties in a rearranged fourth round clash.

Leicester reach League Cup quartersREUTERS LEICESTER

Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy fired home the decisive spot kick as they beat Southampton 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw on Tuesday to book a League Cup quarter-final with holders Manchester City.

Southampton had a Steven Davis goal disallowed by the VAR late in the second half and hit the crossbar through Manolo Gab-biadini in stoppage time with the match going straight to penalties without extra time.

After 10 successive penalties found the net, Gabbiadini’s weak effort was saved by Leicester keeper Danny Ward and Mendy slotted home the winner.

The fourth-round fixture was originally scheduled for last month but was postponed after the Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed in a helicopter crash.

Southampton’s 18-year-old striker Michael Obafemi had the

game’s first real chance when he toe-poked wide after 22 minutes, but it was his miss in the second half that is likely to play on his mind for a little longer.

Nathan Redmond’s effort

came down off the crossbar and dropped at Obafemi’s feet, but he somehow contrived to prod wide.

Southampton thought they had taken the lead with eight

minutes remaining after Redmond bundled his way into the box before Davis swept home.

His effort, however, was chalked off by the Video Assistant Referee for a handball against Redmond after the ball had cannoned into the South-ampton winger’s arm as he battled into the area.

Gabbiadini hit the bar with a dipping, curling free kick in stoppage time before Southamp-ton’s luck deserted them further in the shootout.

Leicester will be at home to City in the last eight. Meanwhile, Southampton manager Mark Hughes has been a strong advocate of the video assistant referee (VAR) but the Welshman felt the technology had been used badly in Tuesday’s League Cup fourth-round defeat to Leicester City.

“We’ve had a perfectly good goal chalked off by VAR... the referee, in fairness to him, actually said if it wasn’t for VAR,

he would have given it because it happened so quickly,” Hughes told Sky Sports.

Earlier this month, South-ampton striker Charlie Austin made a passionate plea for the technology to be introduced in the Premier League after having a goal disallowed in the 1-1 draw with Watford.

Top flight clubs have agreed in principle to allow the system to be used from the start of next season.

“In recent weeks, we have demanded it be introduced, so we can’t complain too much,” Hughes added.

“But if the guys behind the screen looking at a situation slow it down to nth-degree, then something that’s not deliberate in real time then looks deliberate when it is not.

“From our point of view, it’s a valid goal that should have stood and we should have won the tie. I suppose the more the system is used, the better it’ll get.”

Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy celebrates with team-mates after scoring the winning penalty during the shoot-out against Southampton at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, on Tuesday.

Atletico Madrid’s Vitolo and AS

Monaco’s Andrea Raggi vie for ball

possession during the Champions

League Group Stage match at the Wanda

Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain,

yesterday.

Atletico into Champions League last 16

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Top seeds Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan Janko yesterday got off to a flying start with a lop-sided victory on the opening day at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018.

The first outing at the three-day tournament proved favourable for the seeded teams as Australian and Iranian outfits also registered wins to start their campaigns on winning notes at Aspire Park.

Qatar’s Cherif and Tijan, however, recorded victory in quickest time as they outclassed Thailand’s Duanginda D.Kitti and Surin Onglang in straight games in only 24 minutes under lights.

The Qatari duo looked in the same form that powered them to the Asian Beach Volleyball Cham-pionship title (in September) and the Asian Games gold (in August) as the Thai pair looked over-whelmed by the shot-making of their Qatari opponents.

With Tijan being clinical in defense, lanky Cherif wasted no opportunity in scoring points with his trademark attacking display particularly the drop shots to out-smart the opponents.

The home side took the first game at 21-7 and a score of 6-3 was the closest gap Onglang and D Kitti could manage against the pre-event favourites. Following the score, Cherif and Tijan grabbed 10 points without giving anything in quick time and eventually sealed the first game to take lead.

It was almost the same story in the second game, which the World No.10 side claimed with a margin of 21-11 to complete rout over the Thais.

“We are happy with the start,”

Cherif said after the victory yesterday.

“Our team was ranked better than Thailand and I am content that we proved our top billing,” he added.

The Qatari star, however, downplayed the favourites tag, saying the event will get tougher as it will advance.

“Anything can happen. The tournament is open and all we are looking is to maintain our standard. We are taking one match at a time and not thinking about the quarter-finals or semi-finals,” he said.

While Cherif and Tijan enjoying smooth sailing on the opening day, it was not the same case for the other two Qatari sides.

The pair of Assam Mahmoud and Tamer Abdelrasoul suffered defeat at the hands of Iran’s Rahman Raoufi and A. Mirzaali, who claimed a 2-1 victory over the

home side. Mahmoud and Abdel-rasoul, however, can take heart from their performance in the first game, which they won by 18-21 after a good fight, before the Ira-nians bounced back by taking the next two games 21-17 and 15-12.

Another Qatari outfit featuring Nasser Ahmed Al Meer and Hamad Al Kuwari fell to Thailand’s N Banlue and P Sedtawat who won the match in straight games (21-17, 21-7).

Meanwhile, second seed from Australia Cole Durrant and Damien Schumann rallied for their opening win against Kazakhstan’s Alexey Sidorenko and Alexander Dyachecnko.

The Kazakhs stunned the Aussies by claiming the first game 17-21 before Durrant and Schumann secured victory, seizing the next two games at 21-19, 15-12.

Another Australian pair of

Christopher McHugh and Zachery Schubert, seeded third, defeated Sergey Bogatu and Dmitriy, also from Kazakhstan’s 2-0 (21-16, 21-18). The second pair from Iran comprising Arash Vakili and Bahman Miinjehbo, also got off to a winning start after defeating Oman’s Mazin Al Hashim and Nouh Al Jalbub with scores of 21-14 and 21-19.

Earlier, New Zealand’s Nicklin Alani and Hartles Thomas defeated Japan’s Takahashi Takumi and Yoshiumi Hasegawa 2-1 (15-21, 21-14, 13-15).

The group stage will conclude today with the quarter-finals also scheduled for the second day.

A total of 16 teams are taking part in the tournament with players eyeing maximum points to increase their chances of qualifying for World Championships, which has just four slots from Asia.

SPORT 07THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2018

We have brought the action

closer to public and give

volleyball enthusiasts of all

levels the opportunity to enjoy

a fun-filled atmosphere.

Mohammed Mubarak

Al Kuwari, Chairman of Qatar Master Organising Committee

We are happy with the

start. Anything can happen.

The tournament is open

and all we are looking is to

maintain our standard. We

are taking one match at a

time and not thinking about

the quarter-finals or

semi-finals: Cherif

AC Milan vs Dudelange, 8.55pm

Real Betis vs Olympiakos, 8.55pm

Spartak Moscow vs Rapid Vienna 6.50pmRangers vs Villarreal 11.00pm

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL

TO

DAY

’SA

CTIO

N

Spikers savour action at Aspire

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

The organisers of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018 have made special arrangements to host the event at Aspire Park, and their efforts have not been in vain.

Spikers from several Asian countries, who are taking part in the contest, have backed the idea of hosting the three-day competition at Aspire Zone, hailing the arrange-ments saying they were thoroughly enjoying action, which started yesterday.

A total of 16 teams from eight countries are taking in the event, the previous edition of which was played at Katara Beach last year. Beach sand was brought at the venue to ensure suitable playing conditions for the popular sport.

“We have brought the action closer to public and give volleyball enthusiasts of all levels the opportunity to enjoy a fun-filled atmosphere,” said Mohammed Mubarak Al Kuwari, the Chairman of the Organising Committee.

Australia’s Cole Durant,(pictured) who is a part of second-seeded team in the tournament, gave thumbs up to the arrangements.

“Beautiful facilities, the sand is really nice. The weather is perfect, it’s not too hot and not too cold,” Durant told The Peninsula.

“We have been looked after very well. There is a grand stand for spectators to give chance to maximum spec-tators, which is a very good idea,” he added.

Qatar’s Cherif Younousse also lauded the organising committee for their efforts.

“Aspire Zone is a very nice place, it’s a family zone. The organisers have done a pretty nice job by organising this event here. It was a hard job but it will give attract a good number of spectators,” he said.

“For us, as we are playing at home, with more people coming to support us, we’ll get more energy,” added Cherif, whose team is defending the title.

The Organising Committee has made arrangements to accommodate thousands of fans in a befitting manner. The teams of organisers have established a dedicated Fun Zone for parents and children to get a taste of the game.

A unique kids area is set, including ‘Kidzania Go!’ – a mini version of Kidzania World, which showcases some of Kidzania’s most popular activities outside of its premises for the first time in Qatar.

Aspire Zone Foundation has also allocated a special area for mini volleyball, football and basketball activities for families and friends, as well as a F&B area offering a wide variety of choices for visitors.

Bounedjah double helps Al Sadd get full pointsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Al Sadd defeated Al Khor 2-1 in the QNB Stars League at the Al Khor Stadium yesterday.

The match was rescheduled from Week 5 due to Al Sadd’s engagements in the 2018 AFC Champions League, where they lost out to Iran’s Persepolis on aggregate in the semifinals.

Baghdad Bounedjah scored Al Sadd’s goals in the 16th and 86th minutes, while Wagner Ferreira found the target for Al Khor in the 70th minute.

Al Sadd moved to 29 points with their ninth victory, while Al Khor stayed on eight points, having crashed to their ninth defeat.

Bounedjah took his personal tally to 21 goals on top of the scorers’ chart.

After Al Khor showed early enthusiasm, Al Sadd dominated the proceedings in the first half, in which they enjoyed 70 per cent of possession.

Al Sadd continued to miss influential midfielder and Spanish star Xavi Hernandez due to a muscle injury. Fellow Spaniard Gabi Fernandez was a doubtful starter, also through an injury, but he started and controlled The Wolves’ midfield.

Bounedjah led the Al Sadd attacks through the centre, ably supported by Hassan Al Haydous through the right.

For Al Khor, Diogo Farias spearheaded the offence.

Al Sadd created more oppor-tunities and they were not to be denied for long. Bounedjah placed home a cross from the right by Al Haydous.

The hosts were unlucky to miss a penalty when Diogo’s shot from the spot was collected by Saad Al Dossari. The penalty was awarded when Bounedjah fouled Wagner inside the box.

After Hamed Ismail’s shot was parried by Al Khor goalkeeper Mohammed Al Bakri, Akram Afif sent the ball narrowly wide of the post towards the end of first half.

The game really came to life in the second session, with Al Khor upping the ante.

They succeeded in equalising as Diogo made amends for his penalty lapse by crossing the ball for Wagner to score.

Just when it looked like a 1-1 draw came Al Sadd’s winner, with Bounedjah heading in sub-stitute Jung Woo-Young’s cross from the left as Al Bakri had left his charge.

Action from the QNB Stars League match between Al Sadd and Al Khor in Doha yesterday

Beach Volleyball: Blazing start for Cherif, Tijan at Qatar Master

Action from a match during the opening day of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Aspire Beach Volleyball Qatar Master 2018 held at Aspire Park yesterday.