REUTERS – MOSCOW

Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich volleyed in a 79th-minute winner yesterday as they battled past hosts Loko-motiv Moscow 2-1 in their Champions League Group A match to extend their record winning run in the competition to 13 consecutive games.

Leon Goretzka headed them in front in the 13th minute but they squandered a string of chances to double their lead and also hit the post before Anton Miranchuk punished their wastefulness following a quick break from Ze Luis.

Bayern, winners of five tro-phies in 2020, are top of their group on six points, after also beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 last week in their opener.

The Russians, who have one point, had the first good chance through Fyodor Smolov’s third-minute header but Bayern’s Goretzka did better, heading in a perfect Benjamin Pavard cross.

Kingsley Coman then struck the foot of the post 10 minutes later after an identical assist from Pavard with the Russians clearly struggling with Bayern’s pace down the wings.

Kimmich should have done better when he fired at a defender from two metres out early in the second half but the midfielder then made amends 11 minutes from the end.

With Lokomotiv pressing for a second goal, he picked up the ball on the edge of the box

and with his back to the goal, flicked it up, pivoted and vol-leyed in the winner.

Bayern next visit Salzburg while Lokomotiv, who have lost six of their last seven home games in the Champions League group stage, host Atletico.

Meanwhile, Manchester City were barely troubled as they claimed their second victory in Champions League Group C by beating Olympique de Marseille 3-0 at the Stade Velodrome, yesterday.

Ferran Torres, Ilkay Gun-dogan and Raheem Sterling found the back of the net as

Pep Guardiola's side stayed top of the standings on six points, three ahead of Porto and Olympiakos.

Marseille are bottom of the table on zero points after their 10th consecutive loss in the competition since two defeats in the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich in 2012 and after six defeats in the group stage in 2013-14, in their last appearance.

OM, who lost 1-0 at Olym-piakos on their return to the Champions League after a seven-year hiatus, travel to Porto and City host Olympiakos in the next round of matches of

the European tournament on November 3.

Also yesterday, lacklustre Liverpool beat Midtjylland 2-0 yesterday to make it two wins out of two in the Champions League but their defensive problems mounted as Fabinho limped off injured.

The Premier League cham-pions were toothless in the first half but finally clicked 10 minutes after the break when the impressive Trent Alex-ander-Arnold set up Diogo Jota for a tap-in.

A late penalty scored by sub-stitute Mohamed Salah gave the scoreline unwarranted gloss.

Also yesterday, Real Madrid scored two goals in the final minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach in their Champions League Group B match and snap a three-game losing run in the competition.

Marcus Thuram fired in for the lead with the hosts' first chance of the game in the 33rd minute and tapped in on the rebound in the 58th just as Real were pushing for an equaliser.

But Karim Benzema cut the deficit in the 87th minute and Casemiro got the equaliser in stoppage time.

VUELTA A ESPANA LEADERS: STAGE 7 Michael Woods (CAN) 3hrs 48mins 16sec, OVERALL: Richard Carapaz (ECU) 28hrs 23min 51 sec

WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020

Djokovic wins opener in Vienna,edges closer to Sampras recordA few points here and there can change the momentum of the match. In the second set, I stepped it up, I played better against Filip Krajinovic and I am just pleased with the way I finished the match.

Sport |08Novak Djokovic

Sport

Sprint star Coleman to miss Olympics after 2-year banAFP – PARIS

World champion sprinter Christian Coleman (pictured) is set to miss next year’s Tokyo Olympics after being banned from athletics for two years for anti-doping violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced yesterday.

The American, who won the men’s 100 metres at last year’s World Cham-pionships in Doha, was provisionally suspended for three ‘whereabouts failures’ in June.

World Athletics’ Disciplinary Tri-bunal upheld the charge and banned Coleman for two years, backdated to 14 May, 2020.

The 24-year-old has 30 days to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He is set to miss next year’s

Olympic Games in Japan, where he would have been among the favourites to win 100m gold.

Coleman, who is also the 60m world record holder, only ran in the 4x100m relay heats in his first Olympic appearance in Rio de Janeiro four years ago.

The AIU charged Coleman for missed tests in January and December 2019, as well as for a “filing failure” last April.

To prove an anti-doping violation, an athlete has to have committed three whereabouts failures within 12 months.

Coleman previously escaped sus-pension on a technicality ahead of last September’s World Championships.

Those three whereabouts failures were recorded on June 6, 2018, January 16, 2019 and April 26, 2019.

However, Coleman had success-fully argued that the first missed case should have been backdated to the first day of the quarter -- April 1, 2018 -- meaning the three failures fell just outside the required 12-month period.

But now the missed test on December 9, 2019, added to the two failures in January and April, have seen Coleman suspended.

“I think the attempt on December 9th was a purposeful attempt to get me to miss a test,” Coleman said after he was charged in June.

“Don’t tell me I ‘missed’ a test if you sneak up on my door (parked outside the gate and walked through...there’s no record of anyone coming to my place) without my knowledge.”

Coleman said testers had visited when he was out shopping for Christmas presents nearby, verifiable

by bank statements and receipts.“I was more than ready and

available for testing and if I had received a phone call I could’ve taken the drug test and carried on with my night,” he said.

Coleman last competed at the US Indoor Champion-ships in February, running a world-leading 6.37 seconds in the 60m, just three hundredths of a second slower than his world record.

H e a l s o posted the best 100m time last year -- the 9.76sec he ran to win the world title.

ents and receipts.re than ready and esting and if I had e call I could’ve taken d carried on with my

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BarcelonaPresident resignsREUTERS – BARCELON

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned from the club yesterday ahead of a vote of no confidence that was due to be held next month after some 20,000 fans signed a petition demanding that he step down.

The rest of the board of directors also resigned.

"It's a thought-out, serene, informed decision" to resign, Bartomeu said in a televised speech.

Bartomeu, 57, has been fac-ing growing resentment in the last year due to the club’s wors-ening finances and the team’s decline on the pitch, which came to a head with their 8-2 defeat to bayern Munich in the Cham-pions League quarter-finals in August. He has been widely crit-icised after talisman forward Lionel Messi requested a trans-fer following the Champions League humiliation and was facing a vote of no confidence from the club's 'socios'.

He had tried to convince the Catalan government to scrap the censure vote due to the corona-virus pandemic but it would not budge. Bartomeu called the gov-ernment's decision irresponsible in his speech, while thanking the club and saying he could not have resigned earlier.

Bayern extend winning run in CLLiverpool and City claim victories as Real snatch a draw

YESTERDAY'S RESULTSGROUP STAGE

FC Bayern Munich 2-1 Lokomotiv Moscow

Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Inter MilanAtlético Madrid 3-2 Red Bull

SalzburgBorussia M’gladbach 2-2 Real

MadridOlympique de Marseille 0-3

Manchester CityFC Porto 2-0 Olympiacos

Atalanta 2-2 AjaxLiverpool FC 2-0 Midtjylland

Bayern Munich’s German midfielder Leon Goretzka scoring his team's first goal against Lokomotiv Moscow yesterday.

Liverpool’s Portuguese striker Diogo Jota (right) shoots to score against Midtjylland yesterday.

11WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020 SPORT

CONMEBOL planning to allow fans into Copa AmericaREUTERS – BUENOS AIRES

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) is making plans to hold next year’s Copa America in stadiums filled with fans if a vaccine is found in time, one of the senior members of the organization told Reuters on Monday.

The tournament, set to be held in June and July 2021 in Argentina and Colombia, was held over from this year due to the pandemic but officials said they are optimistic fans will be able to attend what is one of the region’s biggest sporting events.

“The projection is to realize a Copa America with full stadiums if a vaccine is found for the corona-virus,” Gonzalo Belloso, CONME-BOL’s development director, told Reuters in a phone interview.

“If that’s not possible we are also working with the possibility of sta-diums that are at 30%-40% of capacity.” Belloso said a final decision will rest with the host nations.

The next Copa America is the first to be held in two countries and will take place between June 11 and July 10.

Van de Beek has big part toplay for United: SolskjaerREUTERS – LONDON

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said yesterday that new signing Donny van de Beek needed time to settle and would play a big part in the club’s season.

United signed the 23-year-old Dutch midfielder from Ajax Amsterdam for a reported £35m ($46m) last month, but he has yet to feature in the starting lineup in either the Premier League or Cham-pions League.

“Donny is going to play a big, big part this year,” Solskjaer told reporters ahead of today's Cham-pions League home game against Germany’s RB Leipzig. “When

players come into a new team, a new league, they always need time to adapt.

“When Donny has played, he’s played really well. It says a lot about our depth of quality in the squad that we don’t have to use him every game.” Van de Beek has made four substitute appearances in the Premier League, where he has scored one goal, and one in the Champions League so far.

Solskjaer’s decision not to field the youngster in Saturday’s goalless Premier League draw against Chelsea drew criticism from some quarters.

“It’s nice for some players and commentators to have a little go,

but you have to know that you don’t have to start the first three games to be a very important player in the squad,” the manager added. “He’s going to be important, don’t worry about that.” United kicked off their European campaign with an impressive 2-1 away win against last season’s runners-up Paris St Germain and Solskjaer said his team were keen to build on that performance.

“We look at every single game as a chance to get three points,” the 47-year-old added. “In the group stage of four teams, you’d think 10 points will get you through. Our aim is to get to 10 points as quick as we can.”

Ibrahimovicstrikes twice but Roma level in Milan stalemateAFP – MILAN

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice but AC Milan dropped their first points of the Serie A season as Roma came from behind to draw 3-3 at the San Siro on Monday.

In a game played in an empty stadium after the imposition of a coronavirus curfew, veteran Romanian goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu, who joined Milan in September, made his debut in place of Donnarumma, and was twice caught on his line from corners and also spilled a shot in the build up to Roma’s second-half penalty.

Ibrahimovic struck after just two minutes, running onto a diagonal pass behind the defence from Rafael Leao and poking the ball past goal-keeper Antonio Mirante.

Milan’s problems at corners were not entirely the fault of Tatarusanu. Edin Dzeko was unmarked in front of goal when he headed his team’s first equaliser after 13 minutes.

Milan started the second half as they had the first. Portuguese winger Leao outpaced his fullback and laid the ball back to Belgian Alexis Saelemaekers who guided a shot in from 10 yards.

French midfielder Jordan Veretout levelled from the penalty spot after 70 minutes following a clumsy challenge by Ismael Bennacer.

Ibrahimovic completed his third double in three league appearances with a penalty after 78 minutes, but had an unwitting assist as Roma levelled for a third time.

The Swede jumped to meet an 83rd minute corner but only deflected it to the far post where Roma’s Albanian defender Marash Kumbulla slid in to volley Roma’s third equaliser from close range with Tatarusanu stranded.

Son shines again as Spurs beat BurnleyREUTERS – BURNLEY

Son Heung-min’s prolific start to the season continued with his 76th minute header giving Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at winless Burnley in the Premier League on Monday and moving Jose Mourinho’s side up to fifth.

The South Korean was left unmarked at the back post to nod home his eighth league goal of the season after Harry Kane had flicked on an Erik Lamela corner to give Mourinho’s side a third win in six games.

Kane had saved Spurs minutes earlier with a fine piece of defending as he cleared a goal-bound James Tarkowski header off the line.

Although Spurs always looked more comfortable on the ball it was Sean Dyche’s side, who have just a point from their opening five games, who had come the closest.

Ashley Barnes had a 20th minute drive ruled out for offside and then Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris got down well to stop a low drive

from Ashley Westwood. Son is now the top scorer in the Premier League and Kane is becoming a leading creator with the assist his eighth of the campaign so far.

Mourinho’s approach of asking Kane to play in a deeper role, often operating just behind Son and Lucas Moura, has produced the most potent attack in the league with 16 goals in six games.

“It is great, we need everyone to

be scoring and assisting at the top end of the pitch. Me and Sonny have had a nice little partnership going recently and hopefully it continues,” said Kane.

He said the win, at a venue where they failed to win in the past two seasons, was a sign of real progress for Tottenham.

Burnley look set for a long season but Dyche saw some encour-aging signs in their display.

Al Sadd's Rodrigo Tabata celebrating

after scoring against Al Ahli on Sunday.QSL: Al Sadd's goal fest

the highlight of Round 5THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Al Sadd's 7-1 hammering of Al Ahli was the high-light of Round 5 of the QNB Stars league this weekend.

The dominant win lifted the former cham-pions to the top of the standings as the League heads to a brief break which is enforced due to the hosting of the AFC Champions League’s East Zone matches. The East Zone matches will take place in Doha from November 18- December 19.

The fifth round of the domestic league pro-vided excitement to fans as the QSL allowed more spectators into the stadiums.

The three-day round saw as many as 25 goals being scored and only one of the six matches ended in a draw.

Al Sadd secured the top spot with 13 points following their big win on Sunday as Al Ahli remained on 12 points. They are occupying the second spot in the points table.

Hashem Ali led the scoring for Al Sadd with two goals. Rodrigo Tabata, Akram Afif, Santi Cazorla, Nam Tae-Hee and Ahmed Sayyar were the other scorers for the Xavi Hernandez-coached former champions.

Al Sadd will gear up for their Amir Cup

semi-final against Al Duhail. The match will be played on October 31 at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

Nabil El Zhar gave the lone reply for Al Ahli, who stood second in the table.

Reigning champions Al Duhail climbed from fifth to third with nine points after registering a 2-1 victory over Al Rayyan in the week’s marquee fixture. Eduardo Rodriguez (Dudu) and Ramin Rezaeian scored for Al Duhail after Al Rayyan took the lead through Yacine Brahimi. Al Rayyan slipped from fourth to sixth position with seven points.

Umm Salal recorded their first victory by beating Qatar SC 1-0, with Ismail Mahmoud netting the winner. The teams swapped 10th and

last places following the result.

Al Sailiya made it big as they beat Al Gharafa by a 4-2 margin and occupied the seventh spot, whereas Al Gharafa lost the third position to be placed fourth.

Mohanad Ali (two goals), Mohammed Mudather and Ahmed Hammoudan scored for Al Sailiya. For Al Gharafa, Muad Hassan and Jonathan Kodjia found the target.

Al Sailiya, who moved from eighth to seventh, and Al Gharafa are now on seven and nine points respectively.

Al Wakrah and Al Arabi fought out an enter-taining 2-2 draw to be on fifth and ninth position with seven and five points respectively.

Promoted Al Kharaitiyat scored an impressive 2-1 victory over Al Khor to move from 11th to eighth spot with six points, while Al Khor slipped from ninth to 11th position with three points.

While Mohammed Osman and Rachid Tiber-kanine scored for Al Kharaitiyat, new recruit Giannis Fetfatzidis found the target for Al Khor.

Al Sadd's 7-1 hammering of Al Ahli lifts the former champions to the top of the QSL standings as the League heads to a brief break which is enforced due to the hosting of the AFC Champions League’s East Zone matches.

Newcastle owner calls on PL to review PPV pricingREUTERS – LONDON

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has called on the Premier League to review its pay-per-view policy amid an outpouring of crit-icism from fans.

BT Sport and Sky Sports had been broadcasting all Premier League games as part of their existing football packages -- a tem-porary measure due to the barring of spectators in grounds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that changed earlier this month under an interim plan where matches not already selected for broadcast in October would be available only for purchase via PPV platforms.

“I am calling on the Premier League to immediately act and review its current pay-per-view arrangements for live matches in the UK,” Ashley said in a statement.

“Charging 14.95 pounds for single televised matches in the current climate it is not acceptable to any football fan. Supporters have over-whelmingly rejected this offer and the Premier League must now act.”

The Football Supporters’ Asso-ciation has urged the league to reconsider the pricing, while some fans have decided to donate to a charity instead, raising more than £300,000 from nine games so far.

Ashley has suggested the cost should be reduced to £4.95 per match.

Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrating after scoring their first goal.

Manchester United's Donny van de Beek (second left) taking part in a practice session with team-mates on the eve of their Champions League match against RB Leipzig yesterday.

PIC: TWITTER/ @MANUTD

Son Heung-min celebrating after scoring first goal.

10 WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020SPORT

Zimbabwe face ‘bio-bubble’ trouble against PakistanHARARE — LAHORE

Cricket-starved fans in Pakistan would ordinarily turn out in droves to cheer on their team, but the limited-overs series with Zimbabwe starting on Friday will be a subdued affair as the games take place behind closed-doors in a ‘bio-bubble’ designed to keep players sepa-rated from the public.

Pakistan are already well-versed with COVID-19 pro-tocols from their recent tour of England, but it will be something new for Zimbabwe to contend with during the three one-day internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 internationals in Rawalpindi between October 30 and November 10.

Anticipating that health measures - including quaran-tines and weekly testing - will become standard for future tours, Zimbabwe’s head coach Lalchand Rajput wants his players to embrace cricket’s new paradigm.

“We’ve got to get used to it,” the Indian national said, opting not to tour Pakistan after a dip-lomatic request from the local Indian embassy.

“It will make it easier when we play the next team - easier because of the experience.”

As participants in the Inter-national Cricket Council’s new qualification competition for the next 50-over World Cup in 2023, both teams will be playing for their first Super League points during the ODI matches.

Rajput believes that makes now the right time to bring young players into his aging squad.

“We are going to try and push some youngsters into the team,” he said, describing how valuable it is for rookie batsmen

Wesley Madhevere and Milton Shumba, both 20, to share the dressing room with seasoned veterans such as Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza.

“Hopefully the youth take the opportunity and grab the match experience - how to prepare, how to go about the game.”

Zimbabwe are boosted by the return of paceman Blessing Muzarabani after a two-year

stint with English county North-amptonshire - but a vast chasm still separates the sides, with Pakistan winning the last eight encounters.

The hosts will look to captain Babar Azam, a top-three ranked batsman in both white-ball formats, to assert himself while left-arm spinner Imad Wasim will fancy his chances against an opposition who have historically struggled

on turning Asian pitches.“Seniors like Shoaib Malik

and Sarfaraz Ahmed have not been picked for this series … (but) their careers are not over by any means,” said Pakistan coach, Misbah-ul-Haq.

This series will be Pakistan’s eighth on home soil since a 2009 militant attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus prompted other touring sides to avoid the country.

Zimbabwe’s cricketer Tendai Chisoro (right) prepares to bowl during a practice session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, yesterday.

AP — RAWALPINDI

All 107 COVID-19 tests conducted on Zimbabwe and Pakistan players, support staff and match officials have returned negative ahead of the limited-overs series starting later this week, the Pakistan Cricket Board said yesterday.

The tests were conducted on Monday as part of the PCB’s COVID-19 protocols for the bilateral series.

All players, officials and staff have moved into a hub in a five-star hotel in Islamabad, the PCB said, and “are now allowed to interact

with each other and move freely within the bio-secure bubble.”

The series begins with one-dayer on Friday. Lahore was originally scheduled to host the T20 series but those matches were shifted because of expected smog next month.

Squads get all clear after virus tests

Batting great Gavaskar intrigued by extent of Sharma's injury before Australia tourREUTERS — NEW DELHI

The extent of Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury has intrigued batting great Sunil Gavaskar after the opener was seen practising on Monday, hours after his omission from India’s tour of Australia on fitness grounds.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit missed his team’s last two matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cur-rently underway in the United Arab Emirates with the injury.

The selectors omitted him from both the test and limited-overs squads and the cricket board (BCCI) said its medical team would “continue to monitor the progress” without elaborating on the injury.

Hours later, the Mumbai Indians posted a video of their captain prac-tising “in full

flow” in Abu Dhabi, which baffled many.

“We are talking about the Test matches, which are a month and a half way,” Gavaskar told IPL broadcaster

Star Sports a f t e r

Monday’s match. “If he is prac-tising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is.

“I think a little bit of trans-parency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody.”

Indian team players usually don’t comment on team selection matters. India and Australia will lock horns in a four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in December-January, which will be preceded b y s i x s h o r t - f o r m internationals.

India have named Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul and Shubman

Gill in the test squad and one of them could

partner Mayank Agarwal at the

top of the b a t t i n g

o r d e r .

Agarwal’s own fitness is not beyond doubt but the BCCI was characteristically taciturn about it when naming the opener in all three squads.

The 29-year-old has missed Kings XI Punjab’s last two IPL matches and Gavaskar criti-cised the lack of clarity around Agarwal’s suspected leg injury.

“For an Indian cricket fan, they ought to know what happens to two of their key players,” the former India captain said.

We are talking about the Test matches, which are a month and a half way. If he is practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is.

Sunil Gavaskar

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tising in the nets for MumIndians, then honestly I dknow what kind of injury i

“I think a little bit of traparency, a little bit of opennabout what actually is problem with him will heverybody.”

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South Africa's De Villiers skips Big Bash but open to future Brisbane return

REUTERS — MELBOURNE

AB de Villiers (pictured) has decided to skip this year’s Big Bash League due to family and COVID-19 related issues but the batsman has “unfinished business” at the Brisbane Heat and hopes to return at some point, the team said yesterday.

Coach Darren Lehmann said Brisbane had been keen to re-sign the South African, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League, but factors emerged that “changed everyone’s plans”.

“The main one, aside from the challenges represented by COVID-19 and international travel, is that AB and his wife Danielle are expecting their third child very soon,” added Lehmann.

“He has been in excellent touch in the IPL for Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore, so he

obviously remains a player we’d like to keep working with when the circumstances allow.”

De Villiers said he intended to return to the Heat once the situation improved.

“... with a young, growing family, and the uncertainty around travel and conditions due to COVID19, we reluctantly decided it wasn’t going to be this season,” he said in a statement.

Basketball: Al Sadd reach Amir Cup semi-final with win over Al Rayyan

Action during the Amir Cup basketball tournament match between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan at Al Gharafa Sports Club, yesterday. Al Sadd claimed a 102-77 win against Al Rayyan to reach the semi-final of the tournament. They will play against Al Wakrah on October 31 for a place in the final. The other semi-final will be played between Al Arabi and Al Ahli the same day. The final is scheduled on November 3.

‘Birthday Boy’ Warner, Saha give Hyderabad huge victory over DelhiIANS — DUBAI

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) recorded a mammoth 88-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday, and remained in contention for a place in the payoffs.

In response to 219/2 wickets, DC were blown away for 131 and succumbed to their third consecutive defeat of the season.

Sandeep Sharma dismissed the in-form Shikhar Dhawan for a first-ball duck in the first over after which Marcus Stoinis, sent in at No.3 fell to Shahbaz Nadeem in the next at the Dubai International Stadium. Rashid Khan then came in for the first over after the powerplay and took the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer off his very first ball.

Rashid played a crucial role in ending any chances of allowing DC to put up a chal-lenge in their innings, returning with figures of 3/7 wickets in his four overs.

Earlier, SRH openers David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha

played a starring role to help their team to a mammoth 219/2 wickets -- their highest of the 2020 IPL -- in 20 overs against DC.

Warner, who was cele-brating his 34th birthday yes-terday, hit eight fours and two sixes on his way to a 34-ball 66.

Saha, who got his first match since SRH’s game against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 26, played second fiddle to Warner for much of their opening partnership.

After the latter was dis-missed by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 10th over, Saha took charge and raced to 87 off 45 before falling to Anrich Nortje.

The pair shared a 107-run opening partnership, which they got within the first 10 overs, after being put to bat.

Brief scores: SRH: 219/2 wkts in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 87, David Warner 66; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/35) beat DC: 131 all out in 19 overs (Rishabh Pant 36, Ajinkya Rahane 26; Rashid Khan 3/7) by 88 runs

David Warner hits a shot against Delhi Capitals yesterday. PIC: COURTESY SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

09WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020 SPORT

Tiger Woods of the US plays a shot on the 10th hole during the final round of the Zozo Championship at Sherwood in this October 25, 2020, file photo in Thousand Oaks, California.

Woods looks for cold remedy; an Asian star is born

AFP - HONG KONG

The US Masters at the wrong time of year and an exciting young women’s player are among our Sport’s golf talking points this week:

New Masters challenge

Tiger Woods came into last week’s Zozo Championship as the champion, but well before Sunday, where he finished 22 shots adrift of winner Patrick Cantlay, his thoughts had turned to a bigger title defence next month.

The US Masters, shifted from April to November because of the coronavirus shutdown, is the 15-time major-winner’s sole remaining focus in 2020, but he admits preparations will be different from usual.

“The fact that the Masters will be held in November, it’s unprecedented,” he told reporters.

“I can’t simulate the normal ramp-up that I normally have, and I don’t think anyone else can either,” he said.

And Woods had some chilling words for those who think the Masters in the autumn will be anything like Augusta in the spring.

“I have played there in November. And the few times that I have played in November, it’s been the same. It’s been cold. The ball doesn’t go very far.

“If you’re able to get the north wind that time of year, it can be awfully dif-ficult and long -- very different than what we normally play in April.”

‘She whacks it’There’s a new young Asian talent to

follow on the LPGA Tour, and for a change she’s not South Korean, Japanese or Thai -- but from the Philippines.

Rookie Bianca Pagdanganan, who turns 23 today, has been captivating

observers with her relaxed demeanour and prodigious power since making her pro debut in July.

Pagdanganan finished tied ninth two weeks ago in her first major, the PGA Championship, and was then tied for third Sunday at the Drive On Champi-onships behind winner Ally McDonald and world number five Danielle Kang to rocket to 43rd in the 2020 money list after playing only six events.

But it’s her length off the tee which has many believing she could be the future of women’s golf.

Pagdanganan, who won team gold and individual bronze for the Philippines at the 2018 Asian Games, has been regu-larly blasting her driver past the 300-yard mark, a distance few women can match.

“Yeah, she whacks it,” said Haley Moore, her NCAA championship-winning teammate at the University of Arizona.

“We were like, ‘Oh man, don’t try to keep up with her. She bombs it’.”

Father Sam says Pagdanganan wants to be “the first woman to average 300 yards” (in driving distance). She is already well on her way, leading the tour stats at 288.8 yards, fully six yards further than the next best.

Veteran English major-winner Karen Stupples is already a fan.

“She’s got the personality. But she is also the only woman in the game with that kind of power who isn’t afraid to use it,” Stupples told LPGA.com.

“Other players could hit it as far as she does, but they’re afraid to do it.

They’ve been told that they need to pull back and keep it in play or hit it to a number. She doesn’t care about any of that. She picks a line and rips it.”

Pagdanganan doesn’t seem to know what all the fuss is about.

“I never really noticed that I hit it far until people started telling me in college,” she says, adding that she is just happy to “live my dream. If you told me a couple years ago that I would be playing on the LPGA Tour and be in this position in my rookie year, I wouldn’t believe you.”

Tough at the topSpain’s Jon Rahm only lasted two

weeks as world number one in August before being knocked off the top by Justin Thomas.

And on Sunday at the Zozo Cham-pionship he had the chance to grab back top spot from the absent Dustin Johnson with a win or outright second place, until Thomas again proved his nemesis.

Rahm needed a birdie at the 18th to tie clubhouse leader Patrick Cantlay, with playing partner Thomas a stroke further back. Rahm’s 20-footer slid past, however, to give Cantlay the title.

Thomas, needing an improbable eagle two at the par-four 72nd hole to stand any chance, had arrowed his approach to four feet and holed out for birdie and a share of second, denying Rahm the top ranking.

It all left Johnson, at home recovering from Covid-19, safe in the knowledge that though he might be under the weather, he was still on top of the world.

WORLD RANKINGS

MEN1. Dustin Johnson (USA) 10.262. Jon Rahm (ESP) 10.173. Justin Thomas (USA) 9.064. Collin Morikawa (USA) 7.585. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 7.50 6. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 7.42 7. Xander Schauffele (USA) 7.17 8. Webb Simpson (USA) 7.01 9. Patrick Cantlay (USA) 6.32 (+5)10. Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 6.26 (-1)

WOMEN1. Ko Jin-young (KOR) 7.97 2. Kim Sei-young (KOR) 6.87 3. Nelly Korda (USA) 6.59 4. Park In-bee (KOR) 6.18 5. Danielle Kang (USA) 6.15 6. Nasa Hataoka (JPN) 5.91 7. Brooke Henderson (CAN) 5.77 8. Park Sung-hyun (KOR) 5.23 9. Minjee Lee (AUS) 5.15 10. Lexi Thompson (USA) 4.81

Bianca Pagdanganan tees off on the 16th hole during the final

round of the 2020 LPGA Drive On Championship at Reynolds Lake

Oconee, in this October 25, 2020 file photo in Greensboro, Georgia.

PGA Tour goes from West Coast to middle of Atlantic OceanPGA TOUR

BERMUDA CHAMPIONSHIPSite: Southampton, Bermuda.

Course: Port Royal GC. Yardage: 6,828. Par: 71.

Purse: $4m. Winner’s share: $720,000.

Television: Thursday-Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 11 a.m.

to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel).Defending champion: Brendon Todd.

FedEx Cup leader: Bryson DeChambeau.

Last week: Patrick Cantlay won the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Notes: The tournament is in its second year and was scheduled opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, which was canceled. That means the Bermuda Championship offers full FedEx Cup points and a spot in the Masters next year to the winner.... Five major champions are playing - Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink and Danny Willett.... The only player from the top 50 in the world is defending champion Brendon Todd.... Fred Funk and son Taylor are playing for the second straight year. Both missed the cut last year.... Sponsor exemptions were given to brothers Ollie and Luke Schnied-erjans.... Rasmus Hojgaard, the 19-year-old from Denmark, is making his debut at a regular PGA Tour event. Hojgaard is a two-time winner on the European Tour this season.... Port Royal hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 2009 through 2014. Harrington won in 2012.

Next week: Houston Open.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONSTIMBERTECH CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Boca Raton, Florida.Course: The Old Course at Broken Sound. Yardage: 6,807. Par: 72.

Purse: $2m. Winner’s share: $300,000.

Television: Friday-Saturday, 3-5:30 p.m. Golf Channel); Sunday, 2-4:30 p.m.

(Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Bernhard Langer.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els.Last tournament: Phil Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

Notes: Bernhard Langer has won the tournament twice, in 2010 and 2019, and he was runner-up twice in between.... Jim Furyk is playing in his fifth PGA Tour Champions event and

already has won twice. He is No. 9 on the money list with $725,700.

That’s more than he made in three of his last four years on the PGA Tour.... The tournament dates to 2007 when former Ryder Cup captain Mark James won his third and final PGA Tour Champions event.... Country rap artist Colt Ford is playing on a sponsor exemption, as is Gary Nicklaus....

Ernie Els, Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Miguel Angel Jimenez have com-bined to win eight of the 13 tourna-ments on the pandemic-shortened schedule this season.... Mark Cal-cavecchia is in the field after a bout with COVID-19. He won the tour-nament two years ago.

Next week: Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

EUROPEAN TOURCYPRUS OPEN

Site: Paphos, Cyprus.Course: Aphrodite Hills Resort.

Yardage: 6,956. Par: 71.Purse: €1m. Winner’s share:

€166,667.Television: Thursday-Friday, 5:30-

10:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 6-10:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday,

4:30-9 a.m. (Golf Channel).Defending champion: New event.

Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.Last week: Ross McGowan won the

Italian Open.

Notes: This is the first of two con-secutive weeks at Aphrodite Hills Resort. Both tournaments were added to the schedule to provide playing

opportunities in the wake of other events being canceled.... The field fea-tures four players from the top 100 in the world, including Robert MacIntyre of Scotland and Thomas Detry of Belgium....

Ross McGowan had gone 11 years since his last European Tour victory when he won the Italian Open. He had not finished among the top 150 on the money list since 2010.... Before the pandemic, this week would have been the start to the tour’s final stretch of Shanghai, Turkey, South Africa and Dubai.

LPGA TOURLast week: Ally McDonald won the Drive On Championship-Reynolds

Lake Oconee.Next tournament: Pelican Women’s

Championship on Nov. 19-22.Race to CME Globe leader: Danielle

Kang.

OTHER TOURSSymetra Tour: Carolina Golf Classic,

Pinehurst No. 9, Pinehurst, N.C. Defending champion: New event.

Japan LPGA: Mitsubishi Electric Hisako Higuchi Ladies Golf

Tournament, Mausashigaoka GC, Saitama, Japan. Defending

champion: Ai Suzuki. Korean LPGA: SK Networks Seoul

Economic Daily Ladies Classic, Pinx GC, Seogwipo, South Korea.

Defending champion: Hye Jin Choi. Sunshine Tour: Investec Royal Swazi Open, Gary Player CC, Sun City, South Africa. Defending champion: Martin

Rohwer.

Nadal nets sixth place in Mallorca golf tournament

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AFP - LLUCMAJOR, SPAIN

Two weeks after his 13th French Open title Rafael Nadal proved his prowess in another sporting arena when he finished tied sixth in the Balearic Golf Pro-Am Championships on Monday.

The 34-year-old, who boasts a handicap of 0.3, came in 10 shots behind the winner after the three day tournament in Llucmajor on his native Mallorca, Marca reported.

The world number two in his chosen sport of tennis followed up 74s in the opening two rounds with a 77 on Monday in the com-bined Pro-Am event won by Sebastian Garcia.

Nadal swops clubs for rackets when he returns to the court for the Paris Masters at Bercy starting next Monday.

At the French Open, Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic in a one-sided final to move level with Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam titles.

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Woods tops Vuelta Stage 7 as Carapaz keeps race leadAFP — MADRID

Canadian Michael Woods timed his move to perfection yesterday to win the seventh stage at la Vuelta, as Richard Carapaz retained the overall lead.

Woods came out on top by four seconds after a tense finish involving five riders in northern Spain and claimed his second stage victory in the event.

The 34-year-old finished alone, ahead of the Spanish duo of Omar Fraile (Astana), who was second, and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in third, while it was France’s Nans Peters and Guillaume Martin in fourth and fifth respectively.

“It was a special day and amazing to be racing in the Basque Country,” said Woods of EF Pro Cycling.

“I got away with those four guys, they were riding super strong, and I felt bad that I couldn’t pull through. With Valverde in the group I just couldn’t pull through because we had Hugh Carthy in the

peloton and I just couldn’t give him any more time in the general classification.

“So I was able to sit in a little bit. Then I had a bit of luck, I had the legs, and I got the win.”

Woods, who will move to Israel Start-Up Nation in 2021, broke his leg early this year but came back strongly by winning a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico in September and continued his revival in Spain.

His team-mate Hugh Carthy sits second in the overall classifi-cation, 18 seconds behind Carapaz of Ineos. Ireland’s Daniel Martin is two seconds further back in third.

After the rest day on Monday, the biggest plus was that no riders tested positive for coronavirus meaning 163 resumed.

They were faced with a 159.7-km stage from Vitoria to Vil-lanueva de Valdegovia just south of Bilbao, with two ascents of the Category 1 Puerto de Orduna.

Frenchman Remi Cavagna made an early attack with Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo),

Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Jonathan Hivert (Total Direct Energie) and Hector Saez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) in hot pursuit.

They were reeled in and on the first of the day’s two climbs a 37-man breakaway formed.

A nasty crash put Jay McCarthy out of the race.

He had to be carried off on a stretcher after being diverted into a nearby field.

Dorian Godon (Ag2R-La Mondiale), who won Paris-Cam-embert a few weeks ago, pulled away on the second climb but was caught with 25km left by the chasing group, led by Movistar.

Woods was the next to burst away, with Peters and Alejandro Valverde the closest to him. Guil-laume Martin and Omar Fraile were in contention too.

Valverde launched a break with 6km left but could not get a signif-icant advantage.

In final kilometre, Woods surged downhill, holding off Fraile to celebrate an impressive solo win.

08WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020Sport

Michael Woods celebrates as he crosses the finish-line of the 7th stage of the 2020 La Vuelta cycling tour of Spain, yesterday.

Rams claim 24-10 victory over BearsAFP — LOS ANGELES

Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes and the Los Angeles Rams won the battle of the dominant defences with a 24-10 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Josh Reynolds and Gerald Everett snagged touchdown passes from Goff in the final clash of week seven between two franchises with rich NFL histories.

“It was a dominant per-formance. It was lights out for us today,” said defensive tackle Aaron Donald of the Rams, who improved to 5-2 on the season.

The Rams are seeking their third NFC title in the past four seasons and are hoping to join their LA sports cousins, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers by making a long postseason run.

The Rams have been reliant on their defence this season, especially Donald, who now has four career sacks against the Bears.

“I was just trying to fly around make plays, and disrupt,” said Donald, who com-bined with a teammate to get to Bears quarterback Nick Foles.

The Rams’ defence held the

Bears to 49 rushing yards while recording four sacks and two interceptions.

Quarterback Goff was 23 of 33 for 219 yards and Malcolm Brown ran for 57 yards for the Rams, who are 3-0 at their new

state-of-the art, $5b stadium in south central Los Angeles.

Bears QB Foles was 28 of 40 for 261 yards. Chicago’s only touchdown came on an eight-yard fumble recovery and return in the fourth quarter by

safety Eddie Jackson. “We take it one game at a time,” said Rams coach Sean McVay.

“We got to continue to play well in all three phases. It was a big win against a tough opponent for sure.”

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff reacts against the Chicago Bears during the second half at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams are seeking their third

NFC title in the past four seasons and are hoping to

join their LA sports cousins, the Los Angeles Lakers

and Los Angeles Dodgers by

making a long postseason run.

F1: Norris apologises for making light of Hamilton’s record-breaking triumph

AFP — LONDON

Lando Norris apologised to Lewis Hamilton yesterday after downplaying the six-time Formula One world champion’s record-breaking victory at last weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

Hamilton surpassed Michael Schumacher’s feat of 91 race wins after triumphing at Portimao on Sunday.

But rival British F1 driver Norris did not appear overly impressed, suggesting the 35-year-old Hamilton ought to win most of the time given how superior his Mercedes car is compared to the rest of the field.

McLaren’s 20-year-old, however, backtracked on Twitter saying: “I owe an apology. I’ve been stupid and careless with some things I’ve said lately in media and inter-views, and I haven’t shown the respect I should have to certain people.”

He added: “I’m not that kind of person, so I know I

should apologise to them but also everyone reading/lis-tening. Sorry.”

Speaking after Sunday’s race, Norris was quoted by RaceFans as saying of Ham-ilton: “I’m just happy for him, nothing more.

“It doesn’t mean anything to me really. He’s in a car which should win every race, basi-cally. He has to beat one or two other drivers, that’s it. Fair play to him, he’s still doing the job he has to do.”

I owe an apology. I’ve been stupid and careless with some things I’ve said lately in media and interviews, and I haven’t shown the respect I should have to certain people.

Lando Norris

Savadori to take over from Smith for ApriliaREUTERS — LONDON

Italian test rider Lorenzo Savadori has replaced Briton Bradley Smith at Aprilia Racing Team Gresini for the final three rounds of the season, the MotoGP team said yesterday.

I t a l i a n S u p e r b i k e champion Savadori will partner Spain’s Aleix Espargaro and make his MotoGP debut at the Europe Grand Prix on November 8.

The 27-year-old will also feature at the Valencia and Portuguese Grands Prix on Nov. 15 and 22, respectively.

“To say I’m happy would be an understatement,” Savadori said in a statement yesterday.

“I will be arriving prepared for the event, thanks both to the work done during the tests on the RS-GP and to the CIV season that just ended," he added.

Djokovic wins opener in Vienna, edges closer to Sampras recordAFP — VIENNA

Novak Djokovic defeated Filip Krajinovic in the first round in Vienna yesterday to edge closer to Pete Sampras’s all-time record of ending the year as world number one on six occa-sions.

Djokovic beat compatriot Krajinovic 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 and needs to win his next match in Austria against Borna Coric to ensure he equals the achievement of his childhood idol.

The 33-year-old Serb has been the top-ranked player at the end of a season five times: in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

He shares that mark with career rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Sampras achieved the feat six years in succession between 1993 and 1998.

Djokovic was playing in Vienna for the first time since he won the title there in 2007, and dropped serve twice in a tricky opening set.

Krajinovic served for the first set at 5-4 and then held a set point in the tie-break but couldn’t take advantage.

A couple of breaks in the second set allowed Djokovic to clinch victory -- his 38th in 40

matches this year. “First set, I think he was the better player. He was serving for the first set and I was lucky. He missed a smash at 6/6 in the tie-break,” said Djokovic.

“A few points here and there can change the momentum of the match. In the second set, I

stepped it up, I played better and I am just pleased with the way I finished the match.

The 17-time Grand Slam title winner is appearing at his first tournament since his heavy loss to Nadal in the Roland Garros final two weeks ago.

Djokovic is also attempting

to beat Federer’s all-time best of 310 weeks spent on top of the rankings. On Monday, Djokovic began his 292nd week in total as world number one.

Djokovic and US Open winner Dominic Thiem are two of six top 10 players in the draw in the Austrian capital.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning his first round match against Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic, yesterday.

Djokovic defeats Filip Krajinovic to edge closer to Pete Sampras’ all-time record of ending the year as World No.1 on six occasions.

Djokovic needs to win his next match against Borna Coric to ensure he equals the achievement of his childhood idol.

World No.9 Bertens has surgery, to miss Australian Open AP — AMSTERDAM

Top 10 tennis player Kiki Bertens will miss the start of next season, including the Australian Open, after having surgery on her left Achilles tendon.

The 28-year-old from the Netherlands announced the news on Instagram, posting a picture of herself in a hospital bed with her leg in a cast.

Bertens wrote that she had been dealing with “an Achilles injury for some time” and the only way for her “to play without pain again” was to have surgery.

She is currently ranked No. 9 and reached a career-best No. 4 last year.

Bertens has won 10 singles titles on the WTA Tour and was a French Open semifi-nalist in 2016 and a Wim-bledon quarter-finalist two years ago.

Avalanche sign Devon Toews to 4-year deal

AP — DENVER

The Colorado Avalanche have agreed to a four-year deal with newly acquired defenseman Devon Toews, it was announced yesterday.

The contract for Toews runs through the 2023-24 season, the team announced yesterday.

Colorado Avalanche picked up Toews from the New York Islanders on October 12 in exchange for a second-round pick in 2021 and another in ‘22.

The 26-year-old Toews had six goals and 22 assists in 68 games for the Islanders last season.

He played in all 22 of the team’s playoff games, where he had two goals and eight assists.

“Devon is a smart, two-w a y , p u c k - m o v i n g defenseman who is a durable defender and is excellent in transition,” Colorado Ava-lanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a statement.

Toews was a fourth-round pick by the Islanders in 2014.

He made his NHL debut on December 23, 2018, at Dallas.