Wednesday, February 13, 2019Jumada II 8, 1440 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Harden keeps streak alive, Leonard helps Raptors clip Nets

NBA NBA | Page 5

FOOTBALL

Pochettino saysTottenham ready for Dortmund testPage 3

Amir leads National Sport Day celebrations

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, Personal Representative of the Amir, FIFA president Gianni Infantino (second from right) and Aspire Academy’s director of Football Performance and Science, Professor Valter Di Salvo (left), at the National Sport Day celebrations at Aspire Academy yesterday.

His Highness Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, Personal Representative of the Amir, takes part in theNational Sport Day celebrations yesterday.

Falah the falcon is mascot for IAAF Worlds Doha 2019

FOCUS

By Sports ReporterDoha

Following a nationwide competition, the win-ning design of the mas-cot for the Middle East’s

fi rst-ever IAAF World Athletics Championships was announced on Qatar’s annual National Sport Day (NSD).

Falah, an athletic falcon em-blazoned in the Qatari fl ag’s ma-roon colour, was unveiled as the offi cial mascot of the Doha 2019 World Athletics Championships at a specially-held ceremony at Qatar Foundation’s Awsaj Acad-emy, attended by Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Tha-ni, and a host of current and fu-ture Team Qatar athletes.

However, the most important guests of the event were the 490 children from a diverse range of local and international schools across Doha, who took part in a series of sports-related activities to celebrate the launch of Falah with the help of Team Qatar’s 400m runner Mariam Farid and a group of Aspire Academy’s promising athletes.

The selection of Falah followed a thorough and detailed process in which a total of 21 sketches were submitted to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) from residents of Qatar before a multi-staged vot-ing process took place to decide the winner. Young ambassadors aged 8-16 were invited to vote for their favourite designs as Team Qatar’s hammer thrower Ashraf Amgad El Seify introduced and explained the sketches to them.

The young ambassadors’ vote narrowed the competing designs down to eight.

Explaining her vote for Falah, nine-year-old Maria from Park House School said, “I really like falcons, so I liked Falah a lot and he also looks like a superhero in his outfi t which is what athletes are. So strong, powerful, and fast!”

Then Sheikh Joaan and LOC staff cut the selection down to a shortlist of three fi nal designs. Falah, a character with close con-nections to the Qatari culture and heritage, was fi nally chosen as the eventual winner.

Speaking during the milestone event, LOC vice-chairman and director general and IAAF vice-president Dahlan al-Hamad said, “Falah represents the pursuit of excellence and symbolises the importance of always giving your very best in everything you do. These are the values and ambi-tions of the LOC, as we look to deliver an event that inspires a new generation and welcomes fans from all corners of the world.

“As a falcon Falah can fl y free-ly into new horizons without boundaries and that is our ap-proach shaping and supporting athletics of the future. We want to showcase this wonderful sport to new audiences and more peo-ple than ever before, and engage new young athletes across Qatar, the region and the world. That can only happen if people take fl ight and join us by descending into Doha for the fi rst ever IAAF World Championships in the Middle East, so the spirit of fl ight and adventure really connected with us through Falah.”

Sheikha Asma al-Thani, Direc-tor of Marketing and Commu-nications for Doha 2019, added: “A lot of the entries spoke about a falcon, and we at the World Championships thought that a falcon best represents both the

culture of Qatar and the athletes. The falcons are fast, they are strong, they soar over everything,

and that’s what athletes do. “We want the mascot to inspire a gen-eration, the kids who were here,

inspire them and get excited them about the championships as well.”

Filipino expat, Theodore Paul

Manuel, created Falah. “Athlet-ics for Falah is a way to show the world how to be a true athlete. He is competitive, courageous, and helpful like no other. He is loyal, funny, helps his friends and of-ten shows off his athletic moves,” Manuel said.

Manuel, who has called Qatar home since 2010, received a fi -nancial prize of QR10,000 for his winning design, but the real prize will be watching Falah take cen-tre stage at the World Champion-ships in September, and inspire thousands of children as he visits schools and sports clubs across the country on his journey to the World Championships.

On a day fi lled with energy and action, the younger children, aged

5-8, took part in the IAAF’s Kids’ Athletics programme, one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports.

Children, aged 9-13, took part in the Nanairo Ekiden, a relay race based on the traditional Japanese ekiden relay, with teams identifi ed by t-shirts in the seven colours of the rainbow (nanairo), each representing one of the Ol-ympic, Paralympic and IAAF values: Excellence, Courage, In-spiration/Commitment/Deter-mination, Friendship, Respect, Integrity/Fair-Play and Equal-ity/Inclusiveness.

The LOC also confi rmed that the world’s greatest athletics col-lection is coming to Doha thanks to the IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition, 1983 to 2019. The exhibition will bring an unrivalled collection of athlet-ics memorabilia, showcasing the sport’s greatest ever fi gures, in-cluding sprint kings Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt.

Doha will be welcoming 2000 athletes from 213 countries along with approximately 10,000 inter-national guests, 30,000 specta-tors from outside Qatar and media representatives from around the world. The event will be broad-cast to more than 200 countries reaching out to more than 7 million viewers. The competition will be held from September 27 to October 6 at Khalifa International Stadium.

‘Falah represents the pursuit of excellence and the importance of always giving your very best’

Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani with the kids after Falah (top right), the falcon, was revealed as the mascot for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at Qatar Foundations’s Awsaj Academy yesterday. PICTURES: Ram Chand

Local Organising Committee vice-chairman and director general and IAAF vice-president Dahlan al-Hamad (second from right), QOC second vice-president and Qatar Athletics Federation president Dr Thanial-Kuwari (centre) and QOC secretary-general Jassim al-Buenain (right) with other off icials yesterday.

CRICKET

Gulf Times Wednesday, February 13, 20192

Anderson lands triple blow as West Indies crumble

THIRD TEST

‘Some people might say the series is gone, but not if you’re the England captain’

Kohli above peers, destined for greatness, says SangakkaraReutersNew Delhi

India captain Virat Kohli is well ahead of his con-temporaries and destined for greatness, former Sri

Lankan batting stalwart Ku-mar Sangakkara has said.

Run-machine Kohli capped a memorable 2018 by becom-ing the fi rst to win the Interna-tional Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketer, test and one-day in-ternational (ODI) player of the year awards last month.

Considered part of the elite group also featuring Kiwi Kane Williamson, Australian Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root, Kohli has surged ahead after a stupendous 2018 and is cur-rently the top ranked test as well as one-day batsman.

“Everything about Virat’s game stands out. I think he is head and shoulders above anyone else in world cricket today,” Sangakkara told India Today news channel.

“And I think going forward, he will be one of the great-est ever cricketers, if not the greatest ever,” said the Sri Lankan batting great.

With 39 centuries from 222 one-day matches, Kohli is sec-ond only to compatriot Sachin Tendulkar — who scored 49

from 463 — in the 50-over century makers’ list. He has also scored 25 hundreds in 77 Tests. Sangakkara is amazed by Kohli’s ability to success across formats without tink-ering his basis game.

“He has this incredible knack of scoring runs and has a very, very solid method that he believes in...” said the former Sri Lanka captain.

“... if you see the tempo which he bats with, it hardly changes. He does read the sit-uation very well.

“He is a very passionate guy, you see that in his expressions on the fi eld... it’s the overall aspect of both the person and how he has sorted his batting and his attitude.”

Sangakkara’s former team mate Mahela Jayawardene lauded how Kohli handled the pressure of leading the team of a cricket-mad nation of 1.3 bn.

“It’s not just about the abil-ity Virat has but to understand the way to handle pressure not just on the fi eld but also off the fi eld and the expectations,” said the former Sri Lanka captain.

“We grew up with Sachin who had to perhaps experi-ence the same thing. And for the next generation, it’s prob-ably on Virat’s shoulders...” Jayawardene said.

SPOTLIGHT

AFPGros Islet, Saint Lucia

James Anderson was at his destructive best in blow-ing away the West Indies top-order batting to put

England on course for a massive victory at lunch on the fourth day of the third and fi nal Test at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia yesterday.

Set the improbable target of 485 after Joe Root declared his side’s second innings at 361 for fi ve following his dismissal for 122, the home team crashed to 35 for four with the rampant Anderson taking the fi rst three wickets.

Mark Wood, whose raw pace earned him his fi rst fi ve-wicket innings haul in Tests on day two, added to that tally with the wick-et of Shai Hope just before the interval to leave Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer with the task of bringing some respect-ability to a West Indian innings which seemed to be in freefall amid the carnage wreaked by Anderson.

He triggered the West Indies

slide with just the third delivery of the innings when John Camp-bell, facing his fi rst ball, sliced a booming drive to Moeen Ali at gully. Campbell’s opening part-ner, Kraigg Brathwaite, seems doomed to suff er yet another defeat as stand-in captain and off ered little resistance himself to Anderson when he prodded indecisively at a full-length de-livery and Ben Stokes held the catch at second slip.

Worse was the follow for the West Indies when Darren Bravo, troubled by a fi nger injury which kept him off the fi eld for the en-tire England second innings, fol-lowed a delivery from Anderson for Root to complete a comfort-able catch at fi rst slip.

Mindful of a forecast of show-ers later in the day, Root gave both Stokes and Wood spells with the relatively new ball in the quest for more success be-fore the lunch interval.

Wood provided it when Hope, on 14, was caught on the back foot to a delivery which did not make the height that he antici-pated and Stuart Broad pedal-ling back at cover-point held the catch with both hands over

his head. England clearly had a swift declaration on their minds at the start of the day’s play with Root and Stokes resuming at 325 for four. They belted 36 runs at a run-a-minute until the skip-per miscued a low full-toss from Shannon Gabriel and Hetmyer held the catch diving forward at midwicket to prompt the decla-ration.

West Indies have already won the series after massive victories in the fi rst two Test matches in Barbados and Antigua and are playing this match without reg-ular captain Jason Holder, who is serving a one-match suspen-sion for the failure of his team to maintain the required over-rate in the previous match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Earlier, Joe Root became the fi rst England player to score a century during the.

The England captain compiled a patient, unbeaten 111 in St Lu-cia as the visitors closed in on a consolation victory after losing the fi rst two tests in the three-match series. Ben Stokes was on 29 and England were 325 for four in their second innings at the close, an overall lead of 448

runs with two days remaining in Gros Islet.

Root had endured a poor se-ries with the bat, making just 55 runs in his five previous in-nings.

But he made amends by notch-ing up his 16th Test century with a classic drive through mid-off for four, albeit off a generous full toss from Alzarri Joseph.

Root’s celebration showed just how much the innings meant to him as he punched the air, hugged team-mate Stokes and then soaked up the minute-long applause from a pro-England crowd singing his name.

Root did not want to read too much into his recent low scores, especially since a couple of those dismissals had been to virtually unplayable deliveries.

“You can look at it like that but you can look at some of the dis-missals I’ve had in there too,” he told a BBC podcast.

“You have to be realistic sometimes. If you feel form is a numbers game, then I have had a lean run but I’ve got a good ap-proach to batting and it’s stood me in good stead until now.”

Though the series is lost, he

said the match was far from be-ing irrelevant.

“It’s been a tough three games and we have been outplayed at times so I think it was impor-tant we showed some resilience, bounced back and showed what we are capable of as a side.”

Former England captain Nass-er Hussain agreed. “Some people might say the series is gone, but not if you’re the England cap-tain,” Hussain said on the inter-national television broadcast.

“They’ve got an Ashes sum-mer, a World Cup summer. It now could be 2-1 and a hundred in your last Test innings of the winter in Test cricket.

“That sets up you perfectly for what lies ahead, so this game and this innings was absolutely vital for Root.”

BRIEF SCORES AT LUNC HEngland 277 (B. Stokes 79, J. Buttler 67; K. Roach 4-48, S. Gabriel 2-49) and 361 for 5 de-clared (J. Root, 122, J. Denly 69, J. Buttler 56; S. Gabriel 2-95)West Indies 154 (J. Campbell 41, S. Dowrich 38; M. Wood 5-41, M. Ali 4-36) and 35-4 (S. Hope 14; J. Anderson 3-7, M. Wood 1-16)

Cummins recognised for stepping up in bleak year for AustraliaReutersMelbourne

In the bleakest of years for Australian cricket, fast bowler Pat Cummins has been a beacon of hope, an-

swering the nation’s call for leaders to emerge during the ball-tampering exile of Steve Smith and David Warner.

On Monday, Cummins’s ef-forts to drag Australia back to respectability were recognised as he claimed a maiden Allan Border Medal as the country’s leading cricketer.

Taking 44 wickets across all formats through the voting pe-riod from January 9, 2018 – Jan-raury 7, 2019, Cummins edged out spinner Nathan Lyon, be-coming the fi rst bowler to win the award since fellow paceman Mitchell Johnson in 2014.

It was not just Cummins’s bags of wickets that soothed fans left aghast by the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

He showed himself to be more than a handy tail-end slogger as he smashed two half-centuries against South Africa and India, including a defi ant 50 in Johan-nesburg as his team laboured in shame after the Cape Town Test.

Beaming in a white tuxedo at the awards night in Melbourne, the 25-year-old resembled a schoolboy posing for fam-ily photos before the senior year dance. It was a poignant remind-er of a player still very young in fast bowling terms, though long marked for greatness.

Cummins made his fi rst splash as an 18-year-old teara-way, claiming a match-winning seven-wicket haul against South Africa on his 2011 Test debut in Johannesburg.

It took more than fi ve years for him to play his second Test, an agonising wait for both the bowler and team staff while he battled a series of lower back stress injuries.

Since kicking off his “second career” against India at Ranchi

in 2017, however, Cummins has completed a second full season with no major breakdowns.

“I’ve obviously had quite a few tough years with injury. I always thought test cricket was the dream but wasn’t sure I’d get up there and forge a consistent

career,” he said at the awards night.

“Going into last summer and the Ashes, fi ve Tests – I’d never done anything like it before so, to get through that, I just had a heap of confi dence in my body.

“To do it now, two years in a row, it’s been great. I feel like every time I bowl, my rhythm just feels a little bit better.”

While Australia’s pace spear-

head Mitchell Starc battled through a mostly wayward home summer, wearing a dispropor-tionate share of the blame for the test series loss to India, Cum-mins’s reputation was only en-hanced by the defeat.

He took a career-best 6-27 and blasted 63 with the bat in a losing cause in Melbourne, prompting local media to anoint him a future captain of the team.

Promoted to one of Australia’s two vice-captains in the series against Sri Lanka, Cummins took 14 wickets in the two tests to be named man-of-the-series.

He is now second in the ICC world bowlers’ rankings behind South Africa’s young gun Kagiso Rabada.

After only 20 Tests, Cummins will play the fi rst Ashes fi xture at Edgbaston in August in sight of his 100th wicket.

England beware, said former captain Michael Vaughan.

“Cummins is a superstar and will win an Ashes on his own one day,” Vaughan tweeted last week.

FOCUS

West Indies fast bowler Shan-non Gabriel was warned by on-field umpires for using abusive language following an interaction with England captain Joe Root during the third day of the third Test in St Lucia on Monday, according to British media reports.According to the Guardian newspaper, Gabriel’s com-ments were not picked up by stump microphones but Root was heard telling the bowler: “There’s nothing wrong with being gay”.Umpires Rod Tucker and Ku-mar Dharmasena had a word with Gabriel soon after.Root, who finished the day on 111 not out, refused to divulge what Gabriel said when asked about the incident at the end of day’s play, saying it should stay on the field.“It’s Test cricket and (Shan-non) is an emotional guy try-

ing to do everything he can to win a Test match. Sometimes people say things on the field that they might regret,” the report quoted Root as telling reporters.“I don’t want anything said in the middle to ruin what’s been a good Test series for him and his team.“He’s a good guy who plays hard cricket and is proud to be in the position he is. The battle was a good contest.”West Indies’ coach Richard Pybus said he was not aware of what transpired but prom-ised to address the issue if anything “untoward” was said.At the end of day three, Eng-land were 325-4 in the second innings, with a commanding lead of 448 runs with Root and Ben Stokes at the crease.West Indies lead the three-Test series 2-0 after victories in Bridgetown and Antigua.

Windies’ Gabriel warned for abusive language: reports

South Africa seek to continue home dominanceReutersDurban

South Africa will be expected to continue their recent dominance over touring sides

when they host ailing Sri Lan-ka in a two-test series starting at Kingsmead yesterday.

Their recent 3-0 sweep of Pakistan was South Af-rica’s seventh successive home Test series victory, a run that included a triumph over number one ranked India and a 3-0 whitewash of the Sri Lankans on their last tour in the 2016/17 season. Their supremacy has been built around a fi erce fast-bowling attack and lively wickets, the opposite of the conditions they faced when they lost 2-0 in Sri Lanka last July.

Although the Kingsmead pitch is expected to be slower and take more turn than it has in the past, the Proteas will be overwhelming favourites against a Sri Lanka side that were well beaten in Australia last month and have not won a game in any format since Oc-tober.

“Whichever team comes here we’re pretty much going to try to dominate them,” Pro-teas spinner Keshav Maharaj told reporters.

“Every series you play you want to be dominant and whitewash the opposition. Playing here, this should be

our fortress. When people come here they should be on the back foot when they do take the fi eld.”

Maharaj played the fi rst test against Pakistan but was dropped for the next two as selectors went for an all-seam attack. He may have more of a role to play in this series, which also includes a test at St George’s Park in Port Eliza-beth, a wicket that tradition-ally takes turn.

“At Kingsmead it’s not your swing and fast bowling wicket that we were used to 10 or 15 years ago. The wicket will wear down and slow down signifi cantly, I would say. I think it’s just a patience game at Kingsmead now.

“It’s a little bit slower than expected. But with the sun about, it may make the wicket harden up and get a little bit quicker than what we’re used to as well.”

Sri Lanka have arrived in some disarray, having dropped experienced captain Dinesh Chandimal and with media reporting there are rifts be-tween the board and coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who has been removed as an on-tour selector.

Whatever the nature of the wickets, Hathurusingha ac-knowledges that the series will depend on how his side handle South Africa’s vaunted pace attack that includes Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Duanne Olivier.

PREVIEW

James Anderson (left) and Keaton Jennings (centre) of England celebrate the dismissal of John Campbell (right) of West Indies on Day 4 of the third Test at Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, yesterday. (Right) Joe Root of England celebrates his century. (AFP)

FOOTBALL3Gulf Times

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Real, Spartak sign off with wins

Ramos leads Real in 600th appearance

Dortmund’s Sancho relishing homecoming

Energised Spurs ready for Dortmund test, says Pochettino

SPOTLIGHT

FOCUSAL KASS INTERNATIONAL CUP

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

ReutersMadrid

When Real Madrid slumped to a 3-0 defeat against CSKA Moscow in their

last Champions League group game in December they looked far removed from the defending champions, let alone like the side that had just won the competi-tion for the third straight time.

It compounded a woeful few months for the club as coach Julen Lopetegui came and went before former player Santiago Solari replaced him in November. They sat sixth in La Liga and ap-peared a team in decline, sorely missing forward Cristiano Ro-naldo, who left for Juventus last summer. But fast-forward to February and all of a sudden Real look like they could once again be the team to beat in Europe this year. Rejuvenated and unbeaten in the league since early January, they head into today’s game with Ajax full of confi dence having climbed to second in La Liga, fi ve points off top spot.

While many will point to the impact teenager Vinicius Junior has had on the team going for-wards, it is invariably the leader-ship of captain and centre back Sergio Ramos that has helped get Real back on track.

Few would have imagined how much of an impact a skinny long-haired teenager from An-dalusia would go on to have in Madrid after joining for 27mn euros ($30mn) in 2005.

The fee remains a record for a Spanish teenager to this day, and few would dispute that he has been worth the investment. Should he, as expected, lead his

side out against Ajax in what will be his 600th appearance, he will move just one game behind club legends Fernando Hierro and Paco Gento in the all-time appearance list at Madrid, and fourth behind Manolo Sanchis (710), Iker Casillas (725) and Raul Gonzalez (741).

A relentless winning machine, Ramos has lifted 20 trophies since making his debut for the club in September 2005. Initially a marauding full-back, he moved into central defence under Jose Mourinho in 2010, making the position his own despite a re-volving door of partners at the back.

Now captain for both club and country, Ramos is looking to help Real to their fourth consecutive Champions League crown. “He has been and remains a fantastic captain,” coach Solari said of the 32-year-old. “I think it’s bril-liant how he carries out his job as leader, which isn’t an easy one.”

Despite being a defender by trade, Ramos is most revered in the Spanish capital for his dra-matic last-gasp headed equal-iser against city rivals Atletico in the 2014 Champions League fi nal. It is a goal that is played be-fore every home game on the big screens at the Bernabeu, much to the crowd’s delight, and he also scored in the 2016 Champions League fi nal.

Indeed, Ramos has become something of a specialist in front of goal, with 11 strikes in all competitions this season. No defender has ever scored in three Champions League or European Cup fi nals, but with Real looking back at their brilliant best, you would not put it past Ramos to create yet another piece of his-tory come the end of the season.

AFPDortmund, Germany

Jadon Sancho has been bombarded by ticket requests from family and friends for his London return today when Borussia Dortmund face Tot-

tenham Hotspur at Wembley in the Cham-pions League. The 18-year-old England winger says he has requested “about 30 tickets” from his German club for the plum last 16, fi rst leg tie in his home city.

“Everyone was messaging me saying, ‘I need a ticket! It’s big. I’ll be playing in front of my family, which is something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a young boy. It’s Wembley. I can’t wait.”

As he has done all season, Sancho shone on Saturday, scoring the opening goal and setting up his side’s other two in a 3-3 draw for the Bundesliga leaders at home to Hof-fenheim. The match against Spurs on Wem-bley’s hallowed turf is a homecoming for Sancho, one of the stars of an impressive Dortmund team seeking to dethrone Bayern Munich this season. Ahead of the match, he has been exchanging banter with Spurs’ 23-year-old midfi elder Harry Winks. “I’m good friends with Harry. Obviously he feels they’re going to win. We feel we’re going to win,” said Sancho with a smile.

Sancho learned his trade on the streets of Kennington in south London. “I think it’s how we were brought up from the start — it’s street football,” he said. “Everyone just ex-presses themselves, you fear no one because you have nothing to lose and you are just be-ing yourself.” Sancho joined Watford’s youth set-up aged seven, but left home aged just 11 to board at the club’s Harefi eld Academy when travelling across London became an issue. His performances attracted Premier League giants Manchester City in March 2015. He caught the eye of City manager Pep Guardiola with 12 goals, creating four more, in 14 games for City’s Under-18 Premier League team in 2016/17. However, Sancho

was dropped from the senior squad in July 2017 after refusing to sign a new contract due to a lack of assurances over playing time.

Dortmund stepped in and Sancho signed a fi ve-year deal. He is clear about why he joined the Bundesliga giants. “It was about the youngsters here getting opportunities,” he added after starting 14 of 21 league games this season. “I couldn’t thank them more.”

He admits struggling to learn German and being so far from home can be tough. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to work for this,” he said. “German will be always kind of hard to me and you learn new things every day, but I am getting the basics right.

“I know what the manager is saying in training sessions, which makes it easier. I think me being so comfortable being abroad is due to the fact I’ve always been away from home since I was young. The fi rst couple of years were very tough and then as I got older, people started to tell me ‘it’s either this or going back home.’ I always loved football, so chose the hard option. I’m just happy that’s it’s all working out.”

But Sancho has not forgotten his tough

south London roots. “I know what it is like growing up in that area. I don’t want to go into details, but it’s not nice, especially when you have people around you doing bad things. I hope I can give a positive mes-sage for the kids in south London — don’t do those bad things. You don’t have to be foot-ballers. You could focus on your school work. Education is the most important thing and I am lucky enough that I had the opportunity to go to Harefi eld. I wanted to stay at home and travel, but the people around me told me what was best. I listened to them and I am happy that I am where I am, here today.”

Out of sight does not mean Sancho is out of mind for England manager Gareth South-gate. “Last time I spoke to Gareth was when I left, but (England assistant coach) Steve Holland came over recently and told me what the plan was with the Nations League coming up,” said Sancho.

Having made his England debut in Oc-tober as a substitute in the goalless draw against Croatia, he’ll no doubt soon be swapping Dortmund’s yellow and black for the white of the Three Lions.

AFPLondon

Mauricio Pochettino says Tot-tenham have shaken off the fatigue from their gruelling schedule as they prepare to

face Borussia Dortmund in the Cham-pions League last 16 today. Pochettino was frustrated that Tottenham had to play their Premier League match against Leicester on Sunday, while Dortmund were in action 24 hours earlier against Hoff enheim.

The Tottenham boss claimed over the weekend that the extra day of rest for the Bundesliga leaders could put his team at a “massive disadvantage” in the fi rst leg at Wembley. Adding to Pochettino’s frus-tration, Dortmund have also benefi ted from a refreshing winter break, while Tottenham have been damaged by inju-ries to Harry Kane and Dele Alli follow-ing the draining Christmas and New Year programme.

But, aware of the dangers of giving his players a ready-made excuse for under-performing, Pochettino was keen to ac-centuate the positive. “I’ve described before, or in the last few days, that it was a little bit unfair (the schedule),” Pochet-tino told reporters yesterday. “But that is not an excuse (not) to arrive tomorrow in our best condition and fi ght to try to win. I think you can feel in the eyes of the play-ers the energy.”

Tottenham beat Dortmund twice in the Champions League group stage last sea-son but they will face more formidable opponents this time. Dortmund sit on top of the Bundesliga with a vibrant squad including young England forward Jadon Sancho. Pochettino is well aware of the threat posed by the Germans as he tries to lead Tottenham into the quarter-fi nals of a European competition for the fi rst time in his fi ve-year reign.

But, despite the absence of Kane and Alli, they have reeled off four successive wins to stay in the Premier League title race. And Pochettino expects his side to rise to the occasion in the same never-say-die style they displayed in the group stage this term. It took late goals against PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan and Barce-lona for Tottenham to make the last 16 by the skin of their teeth. “We were talking in the meeting before and it’s completely diff erent (in big games),” Pochettino said.

“If you ask me why, I don’t know, because I’m a person whose own mo-

tivation is always high, when we play against Dortmund or Barcelona or we play against diff erent (teams) in diff erent competitions. But of course you can feel that it’s the Champions League, that it’s going to be a massive game with, I hope, a full stadium at Wembley and of course the energy and motivation is going to be there.”

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has already seized on Pochettino’s upbeat

message. Recalling Tottenham’s group-stage win over Real Madrid last season, Vertonghen says the north Londoners have no reason to fear any team in Europe if they play at their best. “We can beat anyone. We have shown that last year. Over two games we were the better team against Real Madrid, who were the even-tual winners of the trophy,” he said.

There was frustration for Tottenham at this stage of the Champions League last

season when they conceded two second-half goals to crash out against Juventus after they had looked to have the tie in their control.

That painful memory will motivate Vertonghen and company against Dort-mund. “That is why it was a shame we could not do better last year because we felt we should have done better,” he said. “That is why everyone has the feeling we can do it this year.”

Real Madrid and Spartak Moscow earned some consolation following their quarter-fi nal exits

at the under-17 Al Kass Interna-tional Cup by recording victories in the 5th-8th place play-off s.

Real were convincing 3-0 win-ners over Etoile Sportive du Sahel while Spartak edged out 10-man Altinordu 2-1 at the Aspire Acad-emy. Real, looking to make up for their defeat by Kashiwa Reysol less than 24 hours earlier, went close on 15 minutes when Andri Gudjohnsen fi red narrowly over but they went ahead three min-utes later through Raul Dacosta Cerqueda. Real doubled their advantage just before half-time when Fernando Rodriguez Rufo fi red home and Gudjohnsen, one of Real’s best performers in the tournament, sealed a 3-0 win during the second half.

Real Madrid’s Peter Gonzalez Carmona was named player of the match. “I think we played re-ally well. In the beginning we had a bit of luck to score, but then overall it was a very well deserved victory. The tournament is spec-tacular, the facilities, everything. I think Roma is a really good team and may win in the end,” Car-mona said.

Altinordu took the lead through leading scorer Enis Destan but later saw Eren Ak-guney sent off and the Russians were able to stage a second half comeback. Aslan Mutaliev, argu-ably the most creative midfi elder at the tournament, got two more assists but more importantly Ilya Golyatev scored both of the Spartak goals. The place-off s may off er relatively little to play

for as far as most of the teams are concerned, but for Golyatov the honour of being the tourna-ment’s top-scorer is a major mo-tivation. He has fi ve goals, two more than any other player, and will be hoping to add to his tally when Spartak take on Real in the match to decide fi fth place. He scored twice against Real in the group stages when the Spaniards won 3-2. Etoile Sportive Du Sahel will take on Altinordu for sev-enth position. Altinordu beat the Tunisians 1-0 during the group stages.

Spartak Moscow head coach

Vashkevich Viacheslav said: “The match was really poor. We would like to play great foot-ball and not make eff orts like this today. It was more suff er-ing. In comparison to yesterday’s match, we made a lot of changes and gave a chance to those who haven’t been playing yet, to demonstrate what they can do. But the quality was really low. We expected something better. For us it is very important not to look at the result only, but also to see them play well. That’s why I am very disappointed. Not every victory brings satisfaction.”

Tottenham are missing key players Harry Kane and Dele Alli due to injuries

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. (Reuters)

Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach Mauricio Pochettino (right) and assistant manager Jesus Perez watch their players take part in a training session in London yesterday. (AFP)

Dortmund’s English midfielder Jadon Sancho. (AFP)

Spartak Moscow’s Ilya Golyatev (right) celebrates with teammate after scoring against Altinordu during the under-17 Al Kass International Cup at the Aspire Academy yesterday.

FOOTBALL4 Gulf Times

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Dubravka howler rescues Wolves

Pele ‘glad’ Banks made legendary save

Arsenal’s Ramsey signs four-year Juventus deal

England World Cup-winning ‘keeper Gordon Banks dies

PREMIER LEAGUE

TRIBUTE

FOCUS

DEMISE

AFPWolverhampton, United Kingdom

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Du-bravka damaged his side’s bid to avoid relegation for the second successive match as his late howler

gifted Wolves a 1-1 draw on Monday night. Rafael Benitez’s side were seconds away from a valuable victory after Isaac Hayden’s fi rst goal since 2017 put them ahead in the second half at Molineux.

Hayden’s goal had come via a weak at-tempted save from Wolves keeper Rui Patri-cio. But it was Dubravka’s clanger at the other end that stole the headlines when the Slova-kian allowed a cross to slip through his grasp as Willy Boly headed home deep into stop-page-time. Dubravka will be public enemy No.1 on Tyneside after his latest gaff e, which came just days after he let Son Heung-min’s shot squirm through his legs to give Totten-ham a late winner. With controversial New-castle owner Mike Ashley watching from the stands, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Be-nitez, who refused to protect Dubravka when asked about the equaliser.

Newcastle are now only one point above the relegation zone when they would have been three points clear but for Dubravka. Back from a warm-weather break for a train-ing camp in Marbella, seventh placed Wolves looked like they were still on the beach when Newcastle’s Salomon Rondon was granted too much space for a low shot away that forced Patricio into action. Wolves eventually hit their stride and made a vigorous appeal for a penalty when Christian Atsu challenged Raul Jimenez, only for referee Graham Scott to wave play on, with replays suggesting he made the right decision.

Sprawling to keep out Jonny’s eff ort soon after, Dubravka was doing his best to redeem himself after his mistake against Tottenham. Against the run of play, Newcastle snatched the lead in the 56th minute.

Hayden was played in by Fabian Schar, but his shot should have been saved by Patricio, who was beaten at his near post after weakly palming the ball into the net. Wolves tried to mount an immediate response and Diogo Jota’s low strike was well saved by Dubrav-ka, who also kept out Leander Dendoncker’s header soon after.

Paraguay midfi elder Miguel Almiron came on for his Newcastle debut in the 72nd minute following his club record £20mn from Atlan-ta United last month. And it seemed Wolves’ pressure would be in vain, until Dubravka ended up as the villain yet again in the 95th minute.

Adama Traore’s high cross hung in the air for an age, but Dubravka reacted hesitantly, allowing the ball to fall through his arms and hit Boly in the face before rolling into the net for a farcical equaliser.

AFPParis

Pele said yesterday he was “glad” Eng-land goalkeeper Gordon Banks saved his header at the 1970 World Cup because it was the start of a lasting

friendship between the two men. Paying trib-ute to Banks who died on Monday at the age of 81, the Brazilian legend said that even now he cannot believe Banks managed to scoop away the header in Guadalajara’s Estadio Jalisco.

“The save was one of the best I have ever seen — in real life and in all the thousands of games I have watched since,” Pele, 78, said in a Facebook post. “He came from nowhere and he did something I didn’t feel was possible. He pushed my header, somehow, up and over. And I couldn’t believe what I saw. Even now when I watch it, I can’t believe it. I can’t be-lieve how he moved so far, so fast.”

Although Banks had played a key role when England win the World Cup in 1966, the save from Pele four years later came to defi ne his career and the Brazilian said it created an un-breakable bond between the two men. “So I am glad he saved my header — because that act was the start of a friendship between us that I will always treasure. Whenever we met, it was always like we had never been apart. I have great sadness in my heart today and I send condolences to the family he was so proud of. Rest in peace, my friend. Yes, you were a goal-keeper with magic. But you were also so much more. You were a fi ne human being.”

Bobby Charlton, the driving force in the England’s World Cup 1966 team, led the

praise, saying “I was proud to call him a team-mate”. Charlton, who like Banks and the late Bobby Moore played in both the 1966 and 1970 World Cups, said: “Obviously we shared that great day in 1966 but it was more than that. Even though I was on the pitch and have seen it many times since, I still don’t know how he saved that header from Pele.”

Current England manager Gareth South-gate paid his own heartfelt tribute of a man whose greatness on the pitch was rivalled by being a “gentleman” off it. Southgate — who reignited the kind of modesty of spirit and

fairplay engendered by the 1966 side that has been largely missing in England teams since that era — said he had enjoyed spending time with an “all-time great”.

“It was particularly special to be with him at a Football Writers’ tribute dinner last year and wish him well on his 80th birthday,” opined Southgate. “Gordon spoke to the room about that incredible save from Pele against Brazil back in 1970 and moments like that from his remarkable World Cup-win-ning career will continue to linger long in the memory.”

AFPMilan

Arsenal midfi elder Aaron Ramsey has signed a four-year deal to join Juven-tus on a free transfer from next July, the Italian champions said on Monday. The

28-year-old Wales international will arrive in northern Italy on July 1 with his contract running until June 30, 2023.

As his contract will have ended, Arsenal will not be entitled to a transfer fee. “As a result of the registration of the player, Juventus will incur ad-ditional costs of 3.7mn euros ($4.1mn), to be paid by July 10,” the Serie A champions said.

The move brings to an end Ramsey’s 11-year spell with the Gunners having moved from Cardiff City in 2008. Over the past decade he has played 256 Premier League games, scoring 38 top-fl ight goals, and winning three FA Cup and two Com-munity Shield. He also had two loan spells at Not-tingham Forest in 2010, and back at former club, Cardiff in 2011.

“I wanted to issue a personal statement for all the Arsenal fans who have been extremely loyal and supportive,” Ramsey wrote on Instagram. “You welcomed me as a teenager and have been there for me through all the highs and lows I have encountered during my time at the club. It is with a heavy heart that I leave after 11 incredible years in north London. Thank you. I will continue to give the team 100 per cent and hope to fi nish the season strongly, before heading on to my next chapter in Turin.”

Ramsey has 58 caps for Wales, scoring 14 goals, and was a part of the Welsh side that reached the Euro 2016 semi-fi nals. He becomes the third

Welshman to play for Juventus following club legend John Charles and former European Golden Boot winner Ian Rush. Ramsey had turned down the off er of a new deal at Arsenal, with clubs in-cluding Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Ger-main, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich linked with the player. “Everyone at Arsenal Football Club wishes Aaron Ramsey a happy and successful fu-ture,” the London club said in a statement.

“Aaron’s made a fantastic contribution to our club since joining from Cardiff City in 2008. He has always been a consummate professional and will always have a special place in the hearts and memories of Arsenal fans around the world.”

Juventus have an 11-point lead on top of Serie A and are on track for an eighth consecutive league title. They are through to the Champions League knock-out rounds and will play Atletico Madrid in the last 16 starting next week. Ramsey will re-portedly become Juventus’ second-highest earn-er behind Cristiano Ronaldo earning 7mn euros ($7.8mn) a season.

AFPLondon

Gordon Banks, England’s goalkeeper during their triumphant 1966 World Cup campaign, has died aged 81, his former club Stoke City announced

yesterday. His family said the 73-times capped Banks, who lost an eye in a car crash in 1972, had passed away in his sleep.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that Gordon passed away peacefully over-night,” his family said.

“We are devastated to lose him but we have so many happy memories and could not have been more proud of him.”

Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 win over West Germany in the World Cup fi nal at Wembley, tweeted a fulsome tribute to his former teammate. “Very sad to hear the news that Gordon has died. One of the very greatest,” tweeted 77-year-old Hurst.

Banks, who played in every game of the 1966 campaign on home soil, is probably best known for a wonder save he produced to deny Brazilian great Pele in the 1970 World

Cup group match. “Once I got my hand to it I hadn’t a clue where it was going,” he modestly said afterwards.

Pele — who would go on to lift the trophy — admitted later he had said ‘gol’, so sure was he that the ball was heading into the net. Brazil still won the game 1-0. However, Banks later recounted that he did not appreciate the re-mark made by one of his team-mates that day, midfi elder Alan Mullery.

“I patted him on his head, and I said ‘why didn’t you catch it?’ and the abuse that came back was unbelievable,” said Mullery.

Mullery said Banks was probably the best goalkeeper he had played with or against.

“He was the best at that time. We had some great goalkeepers in those days, and the only person I can think came near was Pat Jen-nings,” said Mullery. “He was absolutely mar-vellous goalkeeper. He was a likeable man, and when it came to business, he was prob-ably the best there has ever been.”

Banks, whose club playing career revolved largely around Stoke and Leicester City, is the latest of the 1966 team to pass away. Captain Bobby Moore, the baby of the team Alan Ball and Ray Wilson preceded him while several

such as Nobby Stiles and Martin Peters suff er from Alzheimer’s.

Another former Leicester and England leg-end Gary Lineker — albeit from a later gen-eration — also tweeted his appreciation of Banks, whose sole trophies at club level were two League Cups, one piece with Stoke and Leicester. “Oh no. Gordon Banks, an abso-lute hero of mine, and countless others, has died,” tweeted Lineker. “@England’s World Cup winner was one of the greatest goal-keepers of all time, and such a lovely, lovely man.#RIPGordon.”

Stoke City chairman Peter Coates said Banks — who played 250 times for The Pot-ters after he joined from Leicester in 1967 — had not been in good health for several weeks.

“We’ve been expecting his, he has been poorly for a number of weeks but it’s a very sad day for us, we love him so much,” said Coates. “He made his home in Stoke, and was very much part of the fabric of the club. You don’t get too many like him, and he was immensely modest for all talent. He told me when they walked out at Wembley for the fi -nal, and he had goose-bumps, he had never seen anything like it.”

The 73-times capped Banks, who lost an eye in a car crash in 1972, passed away in his sleep on Monday night

A statue of Stoke City and England’s former goalkeeper Gordon Banks is seen draped in scarves to honour the World Cup-winning hero, in Stoke-on-Trent, central England, yesterday. (AFP)

In this file photo from July 2008, Brazil legend Pele (right) and Gordon Banks smile during a press conference ahead of a charity match. (Reuters)

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Willy Boly (second left) scores past Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka during the Premier League match at Molineux stadium on Monday night. (AFP)

ReutersVancouver

Evander Kane scored two goals as the vis-iting San Jose Sharks downed the Van-couver Canucks 7-2 on Monday night for their sixth consecutive victory. Kane

now has fi ve goals in his past three games and 15 goals in 16 games since January 1. The Canucks took their fourth loss in fi ve games.

Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson each provided a goal and an assist for San Jose, which led 3-1 and 6-1 after the opening two periods.

Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc also tallied for the Sharks. San Jose veteran center Joe Thornton recorded his 1,050th career assist, overtaking Gordie Howe for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time helper list. Logan Couture had two assists for the Sharks.

Bo Horvat and Derrick Pouliot scored for the Canucks. San Jose goaltender Martin Jones recorded 25 saves on 27 shots while playing in front of friends and family mem-bers in his hometown. Vancouver counter-part Mikey DiPietro, 19, stopped 17 of 24 in his NHL debut.

The Sharks gave DiPietro a rude welcome as they dominated early and scored on three of their fi rst fi ve shots.

Meier opened the scoring on San Jose’s fi rst shot – 1:04 into the game – as he whipped Couture’s pass from behind the net.

Pavelski also earned an assist on the play, recording his 400th career helper. Kane put the Sharks up 2-0 on a fl uke goal just over

two minutes later. He lofted a high backhand shot from the blue line that bounced in off Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton’s glove and DiPietro’s blocker. Karlsson gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead at 8:48 of the fi rst as he defl ected in a Brent Burns wrist shot. Horvat put the Canucks on the scoreboard with 6.4 seconds left in the opening stanza as he one-timed Elias Pettersson’s cross-ice pass.

However, the Sharks secured the win with three unanswered goals, from Kane, Hertl and Labanc in the middle frame. Thornton reached his milestone by setting up Labanc on a two-on-one. Labanc’s goal was his fourth in two games. The Canucks trailed 6-1 despite outshooting the Sharks 22-15 in the fi rst 40 minutes.

Pouliot reduced Vancouver’s defi cit to 6-2 at 4:05 of the third period. He converted a pass from winger Zack MacEwen, who also made his NHL debut after being called up from Utica of the AHL.

Pavelski closed out the scoring on a defl ec-tion 59 seconds later.

DiPietro started after being promoted on an emergency basis earlier this month from Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League.

He is fi lling in for injured backup Thatcher Demko (knee) as the Canucks organization deals with a spate of goaltender health woes.

CROSBY, PENGUINS BEAT FLYERS, SNAP 4-GAME SKID

Sidney Crosby had one goal and two assists while Nick Bjugstad, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang each scored one goal to lift the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins past the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Monday.

Penguins goaltender Matt Murray was outstanding while stopping a career-high 50 shots as the Penguins snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Penguins also improved to 24-0-1 this season when leading after two periods. Jake Voracek scored for the Flyers, who had won nine of 10 games coming in with a 10-game streak of securing points.

Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 24 saves and had a personal eight-game win-ning streak broken.

Crosby scored the initial goal of the game as the puck bounced directly in front and he easily tapped it in a 1-0 advantage as Hart was out of the net. Crosby’s 24th goal of the season came at 8:19.

Voracek nearly tied the game with 56 sec-onds left in the fi rst but had his wrist shot stopped by Murray.

The Flyers were not able to capitalise on a power play, and the Penguins took advantage as Bjugstad scored at 7:04 of the second pe-riod for a 2-0 lead. Bjugstad’s goal came in his 400th career NHL game.

Nolan Patrick appeared to slice the lead in half with 7:07 left in the second, but the of-fi cials disallowed the goal because of an early whistle despite the fact that Murray never appeared to have control of the puck.

Sharks crush Canucks for sixth win in rowNHL

Harden keeps streak alive, Leonard helps Raptors clip NetsAFPLos Angeles

James Harden produced a scintillat-ing late burst of scoring to extend his remarkable 30-point scoring streak to 30 games on Monday as

the Houston Rockets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 120-104.

The reigning NBA MVP had been bid-ding to become only the second player in history after Wilt Chamberlain to score at least 30 points in 30 consecutive games as the Rockets hosted the Mavs.

But Harden’s run of 30-point games looked to be in serious jeopardy after a dogged performance by the Mavericks, who often double-teamed the Rockets ace in an attempt to staunch his scoring abil-ity. With around three minutes remaining, Harden looked to be in trouble with only 20 points against his name.

However back-to-back three point-ers took him to 26 points with 1:57 on the clock, and he moved to 28 points after two free throws with just over a minute re-maining.

With the Toyota Center home crowd roaring him on, Harden broke the 30-point barrier with a three-pointer to fi nish with 31 points on the night.

Harden is now one game shy of Cham-berlain’s tally of 31 consecutive 30-point games for second place on the all-time list. Chamberlain also holds the outright record with a streak of 65 30-point games.

Harden later spoke of his satisfaction to have joined Chamberlain as the only player to have reached 30 30-point games.

“That’s one of the greatest ever to touch a basketball,” Harden said. “It’s an honour to be in that conversation.

“Obviously I have a long way to go but it’s a start. Just trying to keep it going.”

LEONARD SPARKS RAPTORSHarden’s main satisfaction however was in helping secure victory for Houston, who moved to 33-23 with the win to stay fi rmly in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference.

“They’re a really good team, especially off ensively,” Harden said of Dallas.

“They can get it going. They’ve got a

number of guys that can shoot the ball well. We just had to keep our composure and make some big shots.”

Gerald Green had 19 points off the bench for the Rockets while Chris Paul and Kenneth Faried had 17 apiece.

Luka Doncic led the Dallas scoring with 21 points.

Elsewhere Monday, Kawhi Leonard drained the game-winner with 4.4 sec-onds left with a 30-point display as the Toronto Raptors outlasted the Brooklyn Nets with a 127-125 victory on Tuesday.

Leonard, who had averaged just over 17 points per game in his previous four ap-pearances, went 50 percent from the fi eld to lead the scoring for the Raptors.

The win boosted the Raptors to 42-16,

to see them keep pace with the Milwaukee Bucks at the top of the Eastern Confer-ence.

Leonard was one of six Raptors players to make double fi gures, with Serge Ibaka adding 18 points and Pascal Siakam 17 points.

New arrival Marc Gasol added 16 points from the bench in his 22 minutes on court.

Brooklyn, who fell to 29-29 with the defeat, were led by the in-form D’Angelo Russell with 28 points.

Russell, who is gearing up for his All-Star debut next week, also had a mam-moth 14 assists and seven rebounds but ultimately was unable to drag his team over the line.

Joe Harris had 24 points for Brooklyn

while Allen Crabbe had 22 off the bench.In Chicago meanwhile, Giannis An-

tetokounmpo warmed up for the All-Star week with a 29-point haul to help Mil-waukee power to a 112-99 win over the Bulls.

Antetokounmpo also had 17 rebounds and eight assists in the win which sees the Bucks remain on top of the Eastern Con-ference with 42 wins and 14 defeats.

Oklahoma City Thunder meanwhile had a 47-point performance from Paul George at the centre of their 120-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

George was backed with yet another triple-double night from Russell West-brook, who had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.

NBA

‘That’s one of the greatest ever to touch a basketball. It’s an honour to be in that conversation’

Murray commits to NFL, gives up baseball

SPOTLIGHT

ReutersNew York

Kyler Murray an-nounced on social media Monday that he is giving up base-

ball and will pursue his dreams of being an NFL quarterback.

“Moving forward, I am fi rm-ly and fully committing my life to being an NFL quarterback,” Murray stated in the post. “Football has been my love and my passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicat-ing 100% of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships.”

That shuts the door on the possibility he will play for the Oakland Athletics, who made him the No. 9 overall pick in last June’s MLB draft. After the draft, Murray signed with the A’s and received a $4.66 mil-lion signing bonus, a payment he will have to return.

According to published re-ports, Murray will return $1.29 million of the $1.5 million he received last year. He forfeits the remaining $3.16 million due March 1. Also, the A’s will put Murray on the restricted list and retain his rights, but they will not receive a com-pensation draft pick.

Murray was granted permis-sion to play one fi nal year of football at Oklahoma last fall before reporting to the A’s, and he won the Heisman Trophy.

Murray, an outfi elder, was invited to spring training by the A’s. Position players are due to arrive on Friday at the team’s spring training complex in Mesa, Ariz.

Some NFL mock drafts have Murray being drafted in the fi rst round, and Murray would be the fi rst athlete ever drafted in the fi rst round by both an NFL and MLB franchise, ac-cording to ESPN’s Field Yates.

At Oklahoma, Murray guid-ed the Sooners to a 12-2 record, an appearance in the College Football Playoff and a No. 4 fi nal ranking. The redshirt jun-ior passed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns and rushed for 1,001 yards and 12 scores. He led the nation in total yards, points responsible for, yards per pass attempt and yards per completion.

Aside from the Heisman, Murray’s lengthy list of hon-ours include the Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, AP Player of the Year, USA To-day Player of the Year and Big 12 Off ensive Player of the Year.

Murray is scheduled to at-tend the NFL Scouting Com-bine, to be held Feb. 26-March 4 in Indianapolis.

“I have started an extensive training programme to further prepare myself for upcoming NFL workouts and interviews,” he continued in his social me-dia post. “I eagerly await the opportunity to prove to NFL decision makers that I am the franchise QB in this draft.”

Houston Rockets guard James Harden shoots the ball as Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (left) and forward Dorian Finney-Smith (right) defend during the second quarter at Toyota Center. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane (9) celebrates his goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the first period during a game at Rogers Arena. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

RESULTS

Toronto 127-125 Brooklyn

Denver 103-87 Miami

Milwaukee 112-99 Chicago

Houston 120-104 Dallas

Minnesota 130-120 Clippers

Oklahoma 120-111 Portland

Cleveland 107-104 New York

Detroit 121-112 Washington

Indiana 99-90 Charlotte

SPORT5Gulf Times

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

NBA off icials are investigating whether any tampering rules were violated following reports of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Australian star Ben Simmons seeking a meeting with Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson, ESPN said Monday.Sixers general manager Elton Brand said Simmons had ex-pressed an interest in talking to Johnson, but the team will not allow a workout for the Lakers. Simmons shares an agent with Lakers star LeBron James.“He has taken interest in chatting with some of the game’s all-time greats and we’re supportive,” Brand told ESPN.The issue began Sunday when the Lakers lost at Philadelphia and Lakers president Johnson, a legendary player in his day, told reporters that Simmons had reached out wanting to set up a chat for after the season.“I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to clear that with the league,’ and if eve-rybody - the Sixers sign off , we sign off , the league signs off - fine, I will do that,” Johnson said.“I love his game. I love his vision. I love also, too, he’s very, in terms of basketball IQ, very high.”Brand said he spoke briefly with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka on the subject and knows Simmons’s agent, Rich Paul, is a long-time pal of James, but isn’t worried about any tampering, even though an NBA spokesman told ESPN the league is looking into the contact between the Lakers and Simmons.“No issue,” Brand said. “I have a great relationship with Ben and Rich and we expect him to be a Sixer for a long time.“I had brief dialogue with Rob Pelinka, who I’ve known for a long time, but nothing is planned. Our collective focus is on making a post-season push.“Again, we’re not sweating this -- end of story.”Brand said he told Johnson more than a month ago he would not allow Johnson and Simmons to work out together. Both are large point guards and versatile playmakers.The Lakers were recently in talks with New Orleans for another of Paul’s clients, Anthony Davis, but no deal was struck by last week’s trade deadline.Johnson was fined $50,000 last year after comments made about Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

NBA looking into Aussie Simmons talk with Lakers: report

RESULTS

Pittsburgh 4-1 Philadelphia

Washington 6-4 Los Angeles

San Jose 7-2 Vancouver

SPORT

Gulf Times Wednesday, February 13, 20196

Japan’s swim star Ikee diagnosed with leukaemia

India’s Sharma confi dent of PGA Tour success

Tokyo 2020 venues are on track forcompletion: organisers

Fullback Halfpenny ready to face England, says Scarlets coach

SETBACK

GOLF

SPOTLIGHT

RUGBY

18-year-old fired a warning for Tokyo Olympics with record six golds at 2018 Asiad

ReutersNew Delhi

Top Indian golfer Shub-hankar Sharma be-lieves he has the game to be a multiple winner

on the PGA Tour and it is just a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’, the 22-year-old told Reuters.

Nine years after Arjun Atwal became the fi rst Indian winner on the PGA Tour at the Wyn-dham Championship, Sharma fi nds himself under a burden of similar expectations following a fairytale 2018.

The Chandigarh golfer won the Maybank Championship in Janu-ary last year, a month after his Joburg Open triumph, and turned heads in his very fi rst PGA Tour event, holding the second and third round leads at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

The title eventually eluded him after a fi nal round 74, but Sharma cherishes the experi-

ence and is convinced that his success in golf’s elite league is just a matter of time.

“PGA Tour is the best tour in the world and it’s a no-brain-er,” said the winner of the 2018 Asian Tour order of merit title. “It has been a fabulous experi-

ence with them till now... I will love to play there as and when I get there.

“As for winning, yes, I defi -nitely have the game and will win there many times. I do not want to force the issue. Let it come. It’s just a matter of time.

It can happen even the next week. So let’s see.”

Sharma had a busy 2018 when he crisscrossed the world to tee up in 33 events, including all four World Golf Championships and the majors.

He plans to keep the number down to 30 at the most this year with his focus on Europe.

“Last year has been a whirl-wind, a maddening world tour, so to say. I basically could not refuse any of the events I played,” Sharma said. “I was spread out on three tours and I had some goals to be achieved.

“This year things are much more settled. I am concentrat-ing mainly on the European Tour with a few big events thrown in. I will place myself so that I can give my best on the fi eld.”

While he is ready to wait for most other glories, Sharma re-veals the one goal he is chasing this year.

“All targets are achievable and they will come in their own

terms. So I do not want to tag a timeline with those. Yes, if one thing that I want to do in 2019 it’s Presidents Cup. Because 2019 Presidents Cup will hap-pen only in 2019.”

Right now, he cannot wait to return to Mexico with plenty of fond memories and an unfi n-ished business on hand.

“Mexico will always stay with me for a long, long time, even if I win this year. It was my fi rst WGC as well as PGA event and I led that for two days. Fairytale,” he said.

“Going back this year, I am focussed on doing well. I had a few issues to sort out, which has been my baggage from the last year. Because schedule was so tight I had practically no time to address some of the nagging is-sues in my equipment.

“This year, I have sorted out quite a few of them. So I am feel-ing ready to go and take off from where I left last year. There is a job to be done.”

ReutersTokyo

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic venues re-main on track to be com-pleted in time for test

events scheduled for later this year, according to Games organ-isers.

Test events for sailing and wa-ter polo have already been held but the main bulk to testing is due to begin this summer, in-cluding at venues purpose built for the Games.

Other than the Olympic Sta-dium and the Olympic and Paralympic athletes village, Tokyo Metropolitan Govern-ment (TMG) is building eight new competition venues for the Games.

Many of the events are sched-uled to be held at pre-existing venues in a bid to keep costs down.

During a media venue tour on Tuesday, organisers from the TMG said construction goals were being met.

“Each arena is preparing for the test events scheduled for around summer and construc-tion is proceeding smoothly,” Tomohiro Terasawa, venue di-rector for the Ariake Arena, told Reuters.

“We’re working hard to ensure everything is on time.”

The Ariake Arena, which will host volleyball and wheelchair basketball, is 51 % completed as on January 2019, the organisers informed.

The Tokyo Aquatics Centre, which will host swimming and diving, is also over half com-pleted while the Sea Forest Wa-terway, due to hold a rowing test event as early as August, is al-most 80 % fi nished.

There have been fears over the venue for tennis at the Tokyo 2020 Games, after the contractor hired to renovate parts of the Ar-iake Tennis Park went bankrupt in October.

However, the TMG has found a new contractor to work on re-building 17 outdoor courts that should be ready in time for the Olympics.

“For tennis, one part of the construction was delayed,” said Terasawa. “One company’s busi-ness was doing badly and it went under. The site reviewed its order and currently a new company is doing the construction.”

The All Japan Tennis Cham-pionships, to be held in October, will serve as the test event for tennis.

Organisers are confi dent that renovations to the show court at Ariake, which usually hosts the annual Japan Open, will be ready by that time with minor delays only impacting the out-door courts.

ReutersLondon

Leigh Halfpenny will return to Wales training today as they prepare for their Six Nations show-

down with England at Cardiff ’s Principality Stadium on Feb. 23, his club coach Wayne Pivac has said.

Scarlets fullback Halfpenny has not played since suff ering a head injury against Australia during the November interna-tionals. But he was named in Warren Gatland’s initial 39-man national squad for the Six Na-tions last month.

Halfpenny has scored more than 700 points in 80 appear-ances for Wales, and he has played in three British and Irish Lions tours.

“It’s great to see him running around with a smile on his face,” Pivac told reporters yesterday.

“He did everything — full contact, full tackling. We had a mini-game scenario with no hiding places, and he was taking high balls, getting clattered and

did everything he needed to do.“He goes back to Wales avail-

able, we feed back information, medical team to medical team, and I have passed a little note on to Warren. Warren will make a call on what he does from there.”

Wales have won their fi rst two games against France and Italy, and the clash against Ed-die Jones’ England, who are also unbeaten, is billed as a potential title decider.

WALES FORWARD FALETAU RULED OUT OF SIX NATIONS

Wales number eight Taulupe Fa-letau has been ruled out of the Six Nations Championship because he needs another operation on his fractured arm, his club Bath said yesterday.

Faletau, 28, sustained the in-jury playing for his English club Bath last month, a game which marked his comeback from a broken arm.

The British and Irish Lion, who has played more than 70 tests for Wales, had a slim chance of returning for the fi nal Six Na-tions match at home to Ireland on March 16.

“We’re gutted for Taulupe, but this is the best course of ac-tion for him moving forwards as a player,” Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder said in a state-ment.

“We will know more in terms of time frames following the sur-gery.”

Warren Gatland’s Wales have won their opening two Six Na-tions games and next meet Eng-land, who also secured victories in their fi rst two matches, in a potential title decider at Cardiff on Feb. 23.

AFPTokyo

Japanese swim queen Ri-kako Ikee, the poster girl for next year’s Tokyo Olympics, has been di-

agnosed with leukaemia, the 18-year-old tweeted yesterday.

In a shock announcement, Ikee said: “After feeling unwell I returned in haste from Aus-tralia and following tests I was diagnosed with leukaemia. I still can’t believe it myself, I’m in a state of confusion.”

Ikee shot to fame at last year’s Asian Games, where she cap-tured a record six gold medals to fi re a warning for the 2020 Ol-ympics in her home city.

The teenage superstar, who holds a string of national records, has been tipped to push for gold on several fronts, in par-ticular in the women’s 100 me-tres butterfl y.

Ikee told fans she was deter-mined to beat her illness after being forced to abandon her training camp on Australia’s Gold Coast.

“If treated properly it’s a dis-ease that can be beaten,” said Ikee, who confi rmed she will withdraw from the Japanese championships in April. “I will devote myself to my treatment and strive to be able to show an even stronger Rikako Ikee.”

Ikee’s coach Jiro Miki con-fessed he had never seen the swimmer struggle as much as she had while training in Aus-tralia.

“I had never seen her breath-ing as heavily as that,” he said.

“We took her to a local hospi-tal to check her blood and heart but decided to return to Japan as quickly as possible to undergo further tests. But as for her mo-tivation to beat this disease, I can only bow my head at her de-termination.”

Miki revealed that Ikee has been admitted to hospital to be-gin treatment.

“She is not moping about,” he added. “She is absolutely posi-tive about beating this as quickly as possible.”

Ikee stole the headlines from giant Chinese swimmer Sun Yang at the Asian Games in Ja-karta as she fi nished with eight medals in total, a haul previous-ly achieved only by North Kore-an shooter So Gin-man in 1982.

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCEJapan’s new swimming pin-up

would have gone into this year’s world championships in South Korea as a strong favourite in the 100m butterfl y, while also a threat in the 200m freestyle.

After her breakout perform-ance in Jakarta, Ikee told AFP that she welcomed the pressure to produce at the Tokyo Olympics.

“Pressure for me is something I thrive on,” she said. “There will be a lot of Japanese fans cheer-ing for me at the Tokyo Olym-pics in my home city — maybe even some from overseas too — and that’s going to give me great strength.

“The more fans that come, the stronger I’ll be,” added Ikee. “When it comes to swimming, I just really hate to lose.”

Japanese swim offi cials were left stunned by the news after Ikee’s return to Japan late last week.

“I could never imagine Ikee could suff er an illness like this,” said Japan Swimming Federa-tion vice-president Koji Ueno, noting that doctors believe they detected the disease in its early stages.

“It’s just so very hard to com-prehend. It is a severe diagnosis

and a tough road back but we would ask everyone for their warm prayers to help her make a full recovery. We want to do everything we can to allow her to compete at the Tokyo Olym-pics.”

Ikee can take strength from several top athletes who beat cancer, including cyclist Lance Armstrong and ice hockey star Mario Lemieux.

Closer to home, former Aus-tralia rugby international Chris-tian Lealiifano overcame leukae-mia and currently plays for Super Rugby’s Brumbies.

An employee holds an image of the course at the under construction Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre in Tokyo yesterday. (AFP)

Badminton’s Lee delays cancer comeback until AprilAFPKuala Lumpur

Badminton great Lee Chong Wei aims to make his comeback in April at

the Malaysia Open after a can-cer battle, a month later than he originally hoped, an off icial confirmed Tuesday.The three-time Olympic silver medallist and former world number has been on the sidelines since July last year when he was diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.

The Malaysian star underwent a gruelling programme of specialist treatment in Taiwan but pledged not to retire and resumed training last month. The 36-year-old had previously said he wanted to make a re-turn to competitive play at the All England Open in March. But on Monday Lee told local media he was targeting a return to action on home soil at the Malaysia Open, which he has won 12 times, from April 2 to 7.“I have got another appoint-ment with my doctor in Taiwan

next month. Once I get the green light from him, then I will make a full comeback, hope-fully at the Malaysia Open,” he told the New Straits Times

newspaper.“It isn’t time to make a full comeback yet, I have to do it slowly in stages after consult-ing my doctor.”Badminton Association of Malaysia general manager Michelle Chai confirmed to AFP that Lee planned to come back in April.Lee still hopes to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but may face a tough fight to qualify against rising Malaysian stars.Since he stopped playing, he has slipped to 30 in the world

rankings, behind two Malaysian players, Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren. A country can send a maximum of two players to complete in the Games, pro-vided they are both ranked in the world’s top 16.“It is only fair for the best play-ers to qualify for the Olympics,” said Lee, who has played in four previous editions of the Games.“Zii Jia and Daren have not played in the Olympics, so it’s anybody’s game. Everyone has a chance of qualifying, we shouldn’t underestimate anybody.”

SPORT7Gulf Times

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

World number one Osaka in shock split with coach

Hand on heart, Ricciardo says he feels right with Renault

TENNIS FORMULA 1

Osaka linked up with Bajin in 2017 and has since moved from 72 to top of the rankings

AFPTokyo

World tennis number one Naomi Osaka has split from her coach Sascha Ba-

jin just 17 days after completing back-to-back Grand Slam vic-tories at the Australian Open.

“Hey everyone, I will no longer be working together with Sascha. I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future,” the 21-year-old Japanese tweeted in a shock announcement.

Bajin, a former hitting partner to Serena Williams, responded: “Thank you Naomi. I wish you nothing but the best as well. What a ride that was. Thank you for letting me be part of this.”

Osaka, who became the fi rst Asian to hold the top ranking after beating Czech Petra Kvi-tova in the Melbourne fi nal on January 26, had worked with the German for just over a year.

No reason was given for the surprise decision to part ways, but Japanese media cited Osa-ka’s management company IMG in reporting that there had been a breakdown in the player’s re-lationship with the coach since the start of the year.

According to Japan’s Nikkan Sports, some practice sessions with Bajin at the Australian Open lasted just 10 minutes and she sometimes hit without him being present.

Osaka began sounding out potential replacements late last year, local media reported.

The Japanese player captured her fi rst Grand Slam crown by stunning Williams at last year’s US Open in a fi nal remembered as much for the American’s as-tonishing rant at the chair umpire following a coaching violation.

Based in the United States,

Osaka linked up with Bajin in late 2017 and enjoyed a break-through year, shooting from 72 in the world to the top of the women’s rankings.

DISBELIEFDuring that period she won the prestigious Indian Wells tour-nament before scooping her first major in New York, while Bajin was named WTA coach of the year.

Osaka’s Twitter feed lit up in response to her announce-ment, with several memes ex-pressing widespread disbelief — including a shrugging Barack Obama, a confused Joey from American sitcom Friends and a Minions character screaming “WHAAAAT?”

Osaka, who grew up in the US and speaks little Japanese, melted hearts when she fought back tears after her emotional

US Open win over her idol Wil-liams as booing echoed around the stadium.

She won more fans with a nail-biting 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kvitova in the Australian Open fi nal, after which Osaka sobbed tears of joy as the jeers were replaced by cheers.

Former greats Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have all heaped praise on the new darling of women’s tennis.

“Winning back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments is a rare and special achievement, and I’m thrilled these results have propelled Naomi to the top of the women’s game,” said Evert, the fi rst ever WTA world number one.

“Her exciting brand of ten-nis, coupled with the dignity she displays on and off court, is a winning combination that ten-nis fans really embrace.”

In this January 3, 2019, picture, Japan’s Naomi Osaka (right) speaks to her coach Sascha Bajin before her match against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in Brisbane, Australia. (Reuters)

Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg (left) and teammate Daniel Ricciardo (right) pose with retired French racing driver Alain Prost at the Renault F1’s 2019 season car in Enstone, England, yesterday. (AFP)

ReutersEnstone, England

Hand on heart, and kit-ted out in new black and yellow overalls, Daniel Ricciardo says

it feels right to be with Renault — even if he has yet to develop a Frenchman’s taste for frogs’ legs and snails.

The smiling Australian, a sev-en times race winner with Red Bull, is preparing for a new chap-ter in his Formula One career at a team eager to get back to the top after returning as constructors in 2016.

His decision was not an easy one, with plenty of nights spent agonising before he made his mind up on a fl ight from London to Los Angeles last August, but he has no doubts now about the move.

“Even if I really didn’t feel it, I’d probably try and make up something that it did feel right. But, hand on heart, it does feel right,” Ricciardo told reporters ahead of the launch of his team’s new car yesterday.

“The process of deciding what to do was stressful but once I’d literally made the call, I was in-stantly de-stressed and that hasn’t changed.”

The Australian’s relaxed and bubbly personality, and laugh-ing manner, have already put a spring in the step of his new teammates.

Ricciardo had the assembled factory workforce eating out of his hand as he addressed them on Monday night, assuring them he was “stoked” and “it all feels real now in the suit.

“I defi nitely feel part of the team,” he declared. “From the

few I have met already, you’re not bad. I think we can become friends.”

Renault Sport Racing manag-ing director Cyril Abiteboul told reporters that Ricciardo could be the spark needed to ignite the team on track.

“It’s been a huge boost, a huge motivation,” he said of the Aus-tralian’s arrival alongside Ger-man Nico Hulkenberg.

“We’ve put a lot of the right ingredients in three years in terms of people, resources, in-vestment but at some point you need something that is igniting the mixture.

“And that is the sort of thing I’d like to see coming from Dan-iel.”

Ricciardo said his dream was to do at Renault, world champi-ons in 2005 and 2006, what fi ve times world champion Lewis Hamilton has achieved with Mercedes after his well-timed move from McLaren.

“There’s defi nitely part of that which inspires me. If I was able to do that here I wouldn’t com-plain,” he said.

Other aspects of working for a French team were more of an ac-quired taste.

“I did eat snails and frogs’ legs and pigs’ feet the other day. That was my induction into being French,” he revealed with a grin, recalling a trip to Paris with food served up by a leading chef.

“Knowing they were things I wouldn’t (normally) eat kind of put me off . So the frogs’ legs, I didn’t know what they were. And when I ate them I was like ‘ah, it’s kind of chicken or fi sh’. So it wasn’t that bad.

“Then when he told me it was frogs’ legs...”

ReutersLondon

British American Tobacco, which had its own For-mula One team before

selling to Honda in 2006, is returning to the sport under a multi-year global partnership with McLaren.Both sides said in a statement announcing the deal on Mon-day that the partnership will focus solely on BAT’s “poten-tially reduced risk products” with an emphasis on technol-ogy and innovation.“McLaren Applied Technolo-gies will work with BAT on areas including battery technology and advanced ma-terials. The two companies will share best practice, innovation know-how and mutual experi-ence,” it added.Tobacco advertising was wide-spread in Formula One until a

ban in 2006 led most teams to kick the habit and seek spon-sors elsewhere.Ferrari’s partnership with Philip Morris International, whose Mission Winnow initiative focuses on smoke-free ‘heat not burn’ products and is the team’s title sponsor, has been going for more than 40 years, however.British American Tobacco, the world’s second-biggest inter-national tobacco company by revenue, bought Tyrrell in 1997 and competed as British American Racing (BAR) from 1999 to the end of 2005 when Honda took over.Honda then quit at the end of 2008, handing over to principal Ross Brawn who led them to victory in both championship under his own name in 2009.In 2010 they became Mer-cedes, who have won both titles for the past five years.

Tobacco giant BAT returns to Formula One with McLaren

Canadian duo completeRotterdamvictory doubleMilos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov scored a first-round double for Canada yesterday with both powering ahead in straight sets at the Rotterdam Open. Raonic, the fourth seed who reached the quarter-

finals here in 2015, fought past German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6, (8), 7-5 on the back of 21 aces. Shapovalov, seeded 10th, defeated Croatian Franko Skugor 7-5, 6-3. Raonic had to work to get past a 2016 semi-finalist at the Ahoy stadium. The Canadian set up a second-round meeting with Stan Wawrinka, whom he beat in an Australian Open marathon last month. Shapovalov dominated Croatian

qualifier Skugor in their first-time meeting as both made Rotterdam debuts. Elsewhere, Ernests Gulbis beat Marius Copil 6-2, 6-4 in a battle between qualifying lucky losers.

Thompsondefeats Rubin at New York OpenAustralian Jordan Thompson

put an end to local hope Noah Rubin’s chances at the New York Open on Monday with a 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-1 first-round vic-tory after the Nassau County native was bothered by a sore shoulder late in the match. In a battle of baseline special-ists it was Rubin who was the sharper at the outset, grind-ing out a tight first set before errors began to pile up in the second. The 22-year-old had his

shoulder looked at by a trainer during a medical time out prior to the third set but his accuracy never returned as Thompson overwhelmed him with a boom-ing first serve and relentless counterpunching. Rubin was not the only American to make a first-round exit on Monday with eighth seed Tennys Sand-gren losing out to Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4 at the tournament.

Tennis players Angelique Kerber (left) and Julia Goerges (centre), both from Germany, and Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens pose together at the players gala dinner ahead of the Qatar Total Open in Doha. The WTA Premier tournament is being played at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex and will conclude on February 16.

Players gala dinner

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

GULF TIMES TENNIS

Kiki rises to the challenge to oust spirited Giorgi

QATAR TOTAL OPEN

By Sports ReporterDoha

Camila Giorgi seemed in a hurry, wrapping up the fi rst set at love against Kiki Bertens in the fi rst round of the Qatar Total Open

yesterday.With two seeds – Ashleigh Barty and

Caroline Wozniacki – withdrawing due to health issues even before their round of 32 matches, and qualifi er Anna Blinkova of Russia sending seventh seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Lativa packing earlier in the day, another upset was perhaps the last thing the organisers wanted.

Their prayers were answered as the Netherlands’ Bertens staged a splendid rally to turn the tables on her Italian rival Giorgi, winning 0-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4 to set up a meeting with 2016 champion Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the second round today.

Giorgi, the winner of two titles and ranked 28th in the world, eventually paid a heavy price for serving poorly in the third set after Bertens had taken the match into the decider with a hard-fought tie-breaker in the second.

Bertens broke her in the eighth game of the decider to level at 4-4, and held her service to lead 5-4 and put Giorgi under pressure. That worked perfectly as Giorgi made a hash of her serve. She sent the ball wide with her fi rst serve, hit a fore-hand long and then another forehand wide to give Bertens a 40-0 advantage. The Dutchwoman wasn’t going to let her massive advantage slip away as she sealed her second round spot with an easy fi nal game.

Earlier qualifi er Blinkova stunned Sev-astova 7-6 (5), 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes. Both of the 20-year-old’s previ-ous top-30 wins came in Doha last year, when she defeated Elena Vesnina and Kristina Mladenovic to make the third round, and she added a third yesterday by ousting World No.12 Sevastova.

Wobbles struck Blinkova as she at-tempted to close out the fi rst set, with ill-timed double faults meaning that she was unable to serve it out at either 5-4 or 6-5. Nonetheless, the World No.95 kept her composure and began the ensuing tie-break with some of her fi nest play of the day – and ultimately it was Sevastova who blinked fi rst, netting consecutive shots to hand the set to her opponent.

With the US Open semi-fi nalist’s backhand continuing to break down, Blinkova raised the pressure in the sec-

ond set, capturing the Sevastova serve for a 4-2 lead. A game away from defeat, Sevastova called a medical time-out and fought back on resumption, the 28-year-old’s backhand fi nally landing some qual-ity shots as she clung on to the match.

But despite a sixth double fault once again preventing Blinkova from clos-ing the match on her own serve, the 2015 Wimbledon junior runner-up sustained her positive tennis to break for the win in the subsequent game, taking her sec-ond match point as a Sevastova forehand found the net. Up next for Blinkova is former World No.16 Barbora Strycova, who accounted for Oman’s Fatma al-Nabhani late on Monday night when rain played havoc with the schedule.

RESULTS (1ST ROUND)

Q-Karolina Muchova (CZE) bt Samantha

Stosur (AUS) 6-4, 6-2; Elise Mertens (BEL)

bt Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 6-4, 6-2; Jelena

Ostapenko (LAT) bt Mihaela Buzarnescu

(ROM) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Anett Kontaveit (EST)

bt Lin Zhu (CHN) 7-6(3), 6-3; Lesia Tsurenko

(UKR) bt LL-Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 6-3,

6-0; LL-Alison Riske (USA) bt LL-Polona Hercog 6-4, 6-3; Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-2, 6-0; Q-Anna Blinkova (RUS) bt 7-Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 7-6(5), 6-4; Carla Suarez-Navarro (ESP) bt WC-Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-3, 6-1; 5-Kiki Bertens (NED) bt Camila

Giorgi (ITA) 0-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

Doubles: Abigail Spears (US) & Yang Zhaoxuan (CHN) bt Mubaraka al Naimi (QAT) & Fatma al Nabhani (OMA) 6-2, 6-0; Latisha Chan & Chan Hao-ching (TAI) bt Lidziya Marozava (BLR) & Shuko Aoyama (JPN) 7-6 (2), 7-5

Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova stuns seventh seed Anastasija Sevastova

Confi dent Halep says she will take match-by-match approach in Doha

QTerminals becomes Qatar Total Open’s new sponsor

Wozniacki left frustrated, Stosur’s luck runs out

SPOTLIGHTAGREEMENT

FOCUS

By Sports ReporterDoha

Top seed Simona Halep of Romania is basking in the glory of Romania’s Fed Cup triumph against the Czech Republic on Sunday. Halep’s heroics

helped her country make the semi-fi nals of the tournament for the fi rst time. Following the victory in the Czech city of Ostrava, she travelled four hours to Vienna by car before catching a fl ight to Doha. The former World No. 1 and the 2014 Qatar Total Open cham-pion spoke to the media on a wide range of topics as she addressed a press conference at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. Excerpts:

Q. It’s been a busy week for you with the Fed Cup against The Czech Republic in Ostrava. How do you feel going into the Qatar Total Open?

Well, yeah, it’s been a great weekend in the Czech Republic. We played really well. I’m happy we could win that tie. I’m happy to be back here in Doha. I have great memories. Always I play good tennis. So I’m looking forward to getting a feel of the court a little bit and to play the fi rst match tomorrow.

Q. How does it feel to come to an event where you have done well in the past?

Yeah, it feels great and you have confi -dence every time. I feel good. I feel healthy. I feel ready to start the tournament.

Q. Do you fancy your chances this week here in Doha?

It’s tough to say. I come from indoor

courts, so it’s gonna be a little bit diffi cult today. But I will try to practice. I will try to get used to the court, to the balls. I don’t want to have expectations, because it’s a tough tournament. Every match is diffi cult. So I will take match by match, and I will see how it’s going to go.

Q. We saw you with the kids at the tennis clinic. How was it?

Amazing. I always love to spend time with the kids. They were very excited and very happy on court, so it gives me the energy to start the day better.

Q. On Sunday night you were cheering and then celebrating (the Fed Cup win over the Czech Republic). Can you talk us through a little bit what happened since then and until you’re here now?

Well, we celebrated all together after the match. It was maybe the best feeling with

the team. It was great that we could win against the Czech. They are so big in Fed Cup. It was a big thing for us, a huge one. We all were happy. Yesterday I was all day on the trip because we had to go by car about four hours from the city we played to Vienna, and then I took the fl ight. I’m a little bit tired, honestly, but I have time to rest.

Q. Have you had much time to work with your new coach Thierry Van Cleemput? And how is that going?

Only one week back home in Bucharest. I cannot say much, because it’s just the be-ginning. He’s a good person, and I hope the things will go okay and we get well together. He here with me this week in Doha

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the screening process of hiring the coach?

I met him in Australia for the fi rst time. I talked to him more than normal. In the past, we just talked, “Hello,” and “How are you?” It’s just a new collaboration. I don’t have much to talk about because it’s just the be-ginning, as I said, so we will see in the future how it works.

Q. Is there any particular trait you look for in a coach that is important to you? And do you fi nd any trick that is diff erent that you need now as against when you were younger and coming up?

It is tough to say that it’s only one thing. I think many things you have to do in a good way to be able to be on the top. I have more experience. I’m more mature now. I see things diff erent. So I think all together help me to be a better person and a better player every time I step on the court.

The Qatar Tennis Federa-tion signed a new part-nership contract with QTerminals to sponsor

the Qatar Total Open. QTSBF Secretary General Tariq Zainal and Nivelle Bissett the CEO of Q- Terminals signed the contract at a press conference yesterday, held on the sidelines of the 2019 edition of Qatar Total Open. As per the new partnership, QTer-minals will join list of sponsors supporting the annual WTA tournament. Zainal said: “It is also my pleasure to announced that QTerminals will join the list of sponsors of Qatar Total Open. The tournament has become one

of the most important tennis events in the region and through the cooperation with our part-ners, we hope our tournament can reach new levels of success and help promote Doha as a ma-jor destination for hosting inter-national sporting events.”

Zainal also emphasized that this partnership refl ects the commitment of the federation and QTerminals to develop ten-nis in Qatar. He took the oppor-tunity to extent sincere thanks to Qterminals led by Nivelle Bissett to choose Qatar Total Open as their fi rst initiative of such. He also thanked the title sponsor, Total and the other sponsors for

their support for the tournament and their trust in its future vi-sion.

Neville Bisset, CEO of QTer-minals said he was delighted by the fi rst partnership. “We are fully committed to support the Qatari sport. “It is our pleasure to contribute to the success of this event which we hope can de-velop tennis in the state of Qatar and strengthen Qatar’s position on the sport map.” he added.

Held since 2001, the Qatar To-tal Open has grown to become one of the biggest WTA Tour events in the region and it has consistently featured the world’s top ten players on a regular basis.

By Anil JohnDoha

When Caroline Woz-niacki woke up with a fever and a headache yester-

day morning, she knew instantly that her quest for her a fi rst-ever Qatar Total Open title had ended even before it had started.

The Danish former World No. 1, who won her fi rst Grand Slam – the Australian Open – last year, had fl own into Doha several days ahead of the tournament to get acclimatised to the conditions at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex where she is a two-time runner-up.

In 2011, Wozniacki was beaten to the title by Russia’s Vera Zvon-areva in straight sets, while in the 2017 fi nal, she fell to the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova, also in two sets. Wozniacki, who is also a three-time semi-fi nalist here, was upbeat about playing this year’s edition, enthusiastically taking part in several social ac-tivities, such as interacting with students of Qatar Academy and attending a gala dinner organised by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation.

But she still summoned up the energy to address the press yesterday, admitting that her sudden illness had left her frus-trated. “Yeah, it’s defi nitely frus-trating. I have been here for quite a few days practising and just trying my best to be prepared and ready to go today. But I woke up – I already felt it last night, but I woke up today and didn’t feel well at all. Sometimes you have to make those decisions and just need to rest up, the 28-year-old said.

She said she had no option but to deal with it and move on. “You just kind of go with it. You deal with it day by day and see how you’re holding up and what you can do and what helps. You have your own little tricks that helps me. Everyone is diff erent. It’s just about fi nding your own path and fi nding your own way. That’s really it. But today it’s just I’m feeling sick and just gonna try and get past this one fi rst.”

Talk also turned to several players changing coaches of late, most notably Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka, but Wozniacki hinted she had no intention of dumping hers – after all, he is her dad, Piotr!

“I have been with my dad for my whole career. For me, it’s about trust, it’s about knowing that they do their homework, they know the players, they know what I need. Sometimes it’s not only on the court but also off the court. It’s important to me with the support. And then I think the great thing with hav-ing my dad as my coach is that he knows me better than most peo-ple in the whole world (smiling). That’s worked for me. I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about other people’s coaching relationships, because I think that’s very individual from per-son to person.”

Wozniacki’s withdrawal meant her place in the main draw was taken by the ‘lucky loser” in the qualifying tournament, Austral-ian Samantha Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion and former World No. 1 and 2012 runner-up in Doha. But Stosur couldn’t capitalise on her good fortune as she lost to the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the fi rst round to crash out yesterday.

Centre Court Start 3.30pm: 4-(WC)

Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs Jelena Ostap-

enko (LAT); Followed by: Elise Mertens

(BEL) vs 2-Karolina Pliskova (CZE);

1-Simona Halep (ROU) vs Lesia Tsurenko

(UKR); Not before 8pm: Anett Kontaveit

(EST) bs 3-Aneglique Kerber (GER)

Court 1 Start 3.30: Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs

Q-Karolina Muchova (CZE)

Followed by: 5-Kiki Bertens (NED) vs

Carla Suarez-Navarro (ESP); Anna-Lena

Groenfeld (GER) & 4-Demi Schuurs (NED)

vs Miyu Kato (JPN) & Makoto Ninomiya

(JPN); 1-Nicole Melichar (US) & Kveta

Peschke (CZE) vs (WC)-Karolina Pliskova

(CZE) & Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

Court No. 2 Start 3.30: Q-Anna Blinkova

(RUS) vs Barbora Strycova (CZE); LL-Ali-

son Riske (USA) vs 9-Julia Georges (GER);

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) & Jelena

Ostapenko (LAT) vs Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)

& 2-Barbora Strycova (CZE); Mihaela

Buzarnescu (ROU) & Alicja Rosolka (POL)

vs Darija Jurak (CRO)

Court No. 3 Start 3.30pm: Nadiia

Kichenok (UKR) & Aliaksandra Sasnovich

(BLR) vs Raquel Atawo (USA) & Katarina

Srebotnik (SLO); Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)

& Kaitlyn Christian (USA) vs 3-Gabriela

Dabrowski (CAN) & Yifan Xu (CHN)

ORDER OF PLAY

Caroline Wozniacki during a gala dinner organised by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation on Monday night.

Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation’s Secretary-General Tariq Zainal (left) and Nivelle Bissett CEO of QTerminals at a press conference yesterday.

Kiki Bertens whips a forehand en route to her win over Camila Giorgi in the first round of the Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa Inter-national Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma