LEFT: The CEO of the Local Organising Committee for the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Ali Al Hitmi and Brand Ambassador Belarus’ Svetlana Boguinskaia unveiling the medals during a press conference held in Doha yesterday. The medals combine the different gymnastics apparatus, the event’s logo and symbols of Qatari culture. RIGHT: International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe (foreground) and Al Hitmi enjoying a traditional sword dance during a welcome ceremony for visiting delegations at Torch Hotel yesterday. See also pages 29 & 30

THE PENINSULA

BOGOR: Qatar progressed into the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship quarter-finals yesterday as a brilliant 4-0 win over a resilient Chinese Taipei helped them finish top of a tight Group A.

Along with Qatar, hosts Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates finished tied on six points in Group A.

A flurry of second half goals ensured the nervy victory for Qatar who had gone into the game knowing that only a win would have guaranteed them a ticket through to the last eight.

In the end, Qatar assumed pole position by the narrowest of margins after scoring more goals than either second-placed Indonesia or the United Arab Emirates in the games between the trio.

The 2014 title winners will now meet the yet to be decided runners-up in Group B, with Sunday’s encounter sure to be a titanic tussle

given that both a spot in the semi-finals and a berth at next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup will be up for grabs.

On what proved to be a tense night of football, Qatar came close to breaking the deadlock on multiple occasions but resolute Chinese Taipei defending forced them to wait until the 57th minute before taking the lead with sub-stitute Khaled Mansour drilling a shot across Li and into the net.

Qatar added a second through Hashim Ali courtesy of a deft finish four minutes later. As chances became few and far between, Qatar pressed for a third and it duly came with 13 minutes remaining, Hashim Ali bagging his second of the game with a delightful curling effort that beat Li’s despairing dive.

Qatar rounded off the scoring on 86th minute when Umaru expertly con-verted a penalty after Khaled Mohammed had been brought down in the area by Chiu Po-Jui.

SPORTThursday 25 October 2018

PAGE | 27 PAGE | 29Federer digs deep

to reach second round in Basel

Superstar Biles ‘better’ ahead of Doha Worlds

Qatar crush Chinese Taipei, reach AFC U-19 quarter-finals

Qatari players celebrate after beating Chinese Taipei in their final Group A match of the AFC U-19 Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday.

Stage set for 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

Club Brugge 1 - 1 Monaco

Borussia Dortmund 4 - 0 Atlético Madrid

PSV Eindhoven 2 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur

Barcelona 2 - 0 Inter Milan

Liverpool 4 - 0 Crvena Zvezda

Paris Saint Germain 2- 2 Napoli

Galatasaray 0 - 0 FC Schalke 04

Lokomotiv Moscow 1 - 3 FC Porto

Paris St Germain’s Angel Di Maria celebrates after scoring their second goal against Napoli in Paris yesterday.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (third, right) shoots to score their second goal against Red Star Belgrade at Anfield in Liverpool, England yesterday.

Di Maria saves PSG with last gasp stunnerREUTERS

PARIS: Angel Di Maria curled in a stoppage-time equaliser as Paris St Germain twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw at home to Napoli in a pulsating Champions League tie yesterday.

Napoli went ahead in the Group C game with a Lorenzo

Insigne goal in the 29th minute before PSG, who have won their opening 10 games in Ligue 1, lev-elled when Mario Rui deflected into his own goal in the 61st minute.

An opportunist goal by Dries Mertens put Napoli back in front in the 77th minute but they were denied a shock win when Di

Maria collected the ball on the edge of the area and curled a delightful effort past David Ospina in the third minute of stoppage time.

Napoli have five points from three games and PSG are on four with Liverpool top with six.

Elsewhere, Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool beat

Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at Anfield yesterday to get their last-16 hopes back on track.

Roberto Firmino set Liv-erpool, beaten at Napoli in their previous game, on their way in the 20th minute with an emphatic finish after a smart pull back from Andy Robertson found the Brazilian in space in the box.

Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri, busy and creative throughout, fed Salah for Liver-pool’s second on the stroke of halftime, the Egyptian firing home from inside the box.

Red Star had threatened little and Liverpool put the game beyond them six minutes after the interval when Filip Stojkovic stuck out an arm to block Sadio Mane and Salah blasted home the penalty for his 50th goal in 65 games for the club.

Mane then missed another penalty before making amends with a close-range finish in the 80th minute.

In Barcelona, Rafinha replaced Lionel Messi and helped Barcelona win without him as the Brazilian scored the opener in a 2-0 Champions League victory over Inter Milan.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS

28 THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER 2018SPORT

CAF delegation arrives in QatarTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: A high level delegation of Confederation of African Football (CAF) yesterday met with President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani to discuss matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and football in general.

Headed by CAF President, Ahmad Ahmad, the visiting delegation also got the opportunity to review projects carried out by Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Yesterday’s meeting served as an extension to the M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding signed between

CAF and QFA in May 2015. The 2015 MoU focused on the exchange of experience and expertise in various areas such as administration, coaching, sports medicine, refereeing, youth and women’s football, infrastructure development, a n d m a r k e t i n g a n d communications.

The CAF delegation were also met by QFA Vice President Saud Al Mohannadi and Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC).

The visiting delegation reviewed the progress of work related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup projects. A luncheon reception was also arranged by the SC in honour of the visiting

delegation. The CAF delegation praised

the extensive development work carried out by Qatar so far.

Mansoor Al Ansari, QFA Secretary General, commenced the presentation for the CAF delegation while engineer Abdulaziz Al Mawlawi underlined key projects linked to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and its legacy which stretches beyond to Qatar’s Vision 2030.

Also yesterday Executive Director of Josoor Institute Afraa Al Noaimi highlighted the Institute’s major plans in the coming months and projects like training courses and workshops carried out in the last few years.

These workshops have

benefited hundreds of participants since its inception in the field of sports management and science.

Officials part of the visiting delegation said Qatar looked confident to delivering one of the best FIFA World Cup editions using creativity and innovation at the heart of its infrastructure development.

Details on the infrastructure development carried out by Qatar were also revealed to the CAF delegation that also visited the widely-acclaimed Aspire Academy and the Aspetar Sports Medicine Hospital.

A visit to Katara and Museum of Islamic Art are also on the agenda for the delegation’s stay in Qatar.

A member of the Confederation of African Football interacts with Afraa Al Noaimi (right), Executive Director of Josoor Institute in Doha yesterday.

Ahmad Ahmad (second left), President of Confederation of African Football delegation, is seen along with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani (second right), President of Qatar Football Association (QFA), Hassan Al Thawadi (left), Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and QFA Vice President Saud Al Mohannadi in Doha yesterday.

Qatar to host 2023 World Judo ChampionshipsTHE PENINSULA

BUDAPEST: Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation announced that Doha will organise the 2023 World Judo Champion-ships for individual athletes and for teams.

Host city Doha will also organise the 2020 IJF Masters.

Both events are agreed and signed with the International Judo Federation and the Qatar Taek-wondo, Judo and Karate Federation.

At the IJF Headquarters in Budapest the agreement was signed by IJF President Marius Vizer and Qatar Federation Present Khalid Hamad Al Atiya and General Sec-retary Eid Ali Almuraikhi. The agreement was signed on the birthday of Qatar’s best athlete Ayoub El Idrissi.

Furthermore both parties agreed on a partnership for the implementation of a program that will support the promotion and development of judo in Qatar, before and during the events that they will host.

During the visit, IJF and QJF established the basis for a fruitful collaboration, aiming also at imple-menting common sports and social projects in Yemen and other con-cerned areas.

IJF President Marius Vizer said at the end of the meeting: “It is an honor for the IJF to organise World Championships 2023 and Masters 2020 in Qatar, given that Qatar is one of the countries which contributes the most to the promotion and development of sports in their countries but also internationally.

Qatar has a major contribution to the international sports movement, sport being a universal value, accessible to all, and thus they support friendship and unity among the nations of the world, for peace and a better world.”

Doha has been organising major international championships for years.

Doha hosted the 2006 Asian Games as well as Arab Games. The facilities are amazing given the huge investments in infrastructure due to the 2020 FIFA World Cup.

A file picture of the judo action from the 2016 London Olympics.

Sixth edition of University League kicks off todayTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The sixth edition of the University League, a collabo-ration between Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar Foundation (QF), is set to kick off today, at Qatar Foundation Football pitches.

Taking place on the Pitch of QF’s Recreation Center, the first match will start at 6pm and will see Academic Bridge Program take on Qatar Aero-nautical College, while the second match-up will see Northwestern University in Qatar play College of the North Atlantic at 7pm.

The third match will begin at 8pm in which the Georgetown University will vie against Weill Cornell Medical College.

Ten colleges and universities will battle it out to take home this year’s title. Games will be played on Thursdays, with the final match played on December 6.

An official awards ceremony to crown the first-, second-, and third-placed teams will imme-diately follow.

Hilal Al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Sub-Leagues Committee, QFA, commented: “We’re happy to join forces once again with Qatar Foundation to host the Sixth University League. This collaboration highlights our objective of nurturing a football culture among the youth. We thank our sponsors for their con-tinuous generous support, which contributes directly to the success and development of the University League.”

The University League, launched in the 2013-14 season, is sponsored by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy as the official strategic partner, Qatar National Bank as the exclusive financial partner, Nike as the official supplier, and Al Kass Sports Channels as the official broadcaster.

A file picture of last year’s University League prize distribution ceremony.

Golfers win silver medal in Arab ChampionshipTHE PENINSULA

TUNISIA: Qatar team made impressive performance to win the silver medal on Monday at the prestigious Arab Golf Championship 2018 which took place in Tunisia.

Qatari golfers ended their campaign on high note claimed the second place overall behind Morocco the gold medalist winners, while hosts Tunisia seized the bronze medal. In the singles event, Qatar‘s Saleh Ali Al Kaabi took the bronze medal behind Moroccan who clicnhed the two palces. The event brought together 12 nations, Qatar, Lebanon, Pal-estine, Iraq, Jordan, KSA, Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain and hosts Tunisia.

Rampant Arsenal face Lisbon test; Chelsea sweat on HazardAFP

PARIS: Amid a packed schedule Arsenal take a 10-match winning streak to Sporting Lisbon as their quest to win the Europa League continues today, when city rivals Chelsea, possibly without the influential Eden Hazard, host BATE Borisov of Belarus.

After sealing an impressive 10th straight victory at home to Leicester in the Premier League on Monday, Unai Emery’s outfit are the team to watch in Group E.

Arsenal and Sporting sit on six points apiece after two games, with Azerbaijan’s Qarabag and fellow strugglers Vorskla of Ukraine still pointless.

Sporting are fifth in Por-tugal’s top flight, four points off the top with former Man-chester United star Nani having scored three goals from seven league outings.

If Arsenal needed more reason to believe in their chances of going all the way, they need not look far. As coach of Sevilla in 2013-2016, Emery led the Spaniards to three consecutive Europa League titles.

“We are beginning to play with heart,” Emery said after Monday’s come-from-behind 3-1 win, in which Mesut Ozil scored and provided an assist in a man-of-the-match performance.

“I think we played some sexy football,” said the 30-year-old German.

Sporting, who won 2-1 away to Loures in the Portu-guese Cup with Nani and Bruno Fernandes both on target, should be fresher having played on Saturday.

Arsenal played on Monday and Emery, already set to make changes due to a packed schedule, is set to tinker further after both Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac were ruled out.

“Yesterday was a very bad day for injuries,” Emery conceded on Tuesday.

Having won both their opening Group L matches, 2013 champions Chelsea can take a major step to the next round with a home win today, although they may have to do without Hazard.

The Belgian playmaker says he was kicked so much during Chelsea’s 2-2 weekend draw with Manchester United that he will miss the Stamford Bridge game against BATE with a bad back.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Absent from interna-tional competition for the past two years, superstar Simone Biles of the US attributes her remarkably quick comeback to the improvements she made while enjoying a rejuvenating break following her dominant performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

“I think my mindset is a little better,” said Biles after podium training at Aspire Dome here.

“Physically I’m in better shape, which is kind of crazy.”

While Biles’ difficulty-packed routines at the training session gave every indication that she

will seriously challenge for her fourth world all-around title, she downplayed her powerhouse performance.

“It went better than I e x p e c t e d , ” s a i d t h e 21-year-old.

“I always hope beam could go a little bit better but hopefully I’ll calm my nerves once compe-tition comes around.”

Biles, who won four gold medals in Rio, said “getting back into the grind” of training was a daunting challenge.

“To have so much fun in my year off and then be hooked back into the gym, I was like, ‘I have to do this every day?’” she said.

“Before, that was all I had

known, and then I got a shot of freedom and it became a little bit tougher. But it’s fine and my team-mates are great.”

Biles’ most formidable rival will likely be one of them -- 17-year-old Morgan Hurd, who won All-around gold at the 2017 Worlds in Montreal, Canada.

She said her forecasted all-around duel with Hurd in Doha will be cooperative and respectful.

“I think healthy competition is always the best, so we work really well together. Hopefully, we’ll both do well out there,” Biles said.

“We always wish the best for each other.”

AFP

VISAKHAPATNAM: Centurion Shai Hope hit a last-ball boundary to help West Indies tie the second one-day interna-tional against India despite Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s dazzling 157 yesterday.

Needing five runs on the final ball to chase down West Indies’ target of 322, Hope -- who made a total of 123 -- got four off Indian paceman Umesh Yadav as the tourists ended on 321-7 in their 50 overs.

Earlier Kohli became the quickest batsman to reach 10,000 ODI runs on his way to his second successive century and help India amass 321-6 after electing to bat first. The hosts lead the five-match series 1-0.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav claimed three wickets in what turned out to be the second tied game between the two sides.

The West Indies were in trouble at 78-3 when Hope infused life into their chase and put on 143 runs for the fourth wicket with Shimron Hetmyer, who blasted 94 off 64 deliveries.

The left-handed Hetmyer, who came into the match on the back of his 106 in the West Indies’ opening loss, smashed four fours and seven sixes to unsettle the Indian bowlers.

Hetmyer though fell short of what would have been his fourth ODI ton after top edging one of Yuzvendra Chahal’s leg spinners to get caught by Kohli at cover.

Hope then kept his calm to put together another 47-run crucial partnership with skipper Jason Holder to nearly pull off victory for the West Indies.

Hope, who registered his second ODI ton, kept chipping away despite some tight bowling by the Indian pacemen and Holder’s run out. But the day belonged to Kohli who reached 10,000 runs in his 205th innings

as he surpassed fellow batting great Sachin Tendulkar, who first crossed the 10,000-run mark in 259 innings in 2001.

“It was a great game of cricket, great to be part of it. Full house and credit to the West Indies team as well, they showed great heart,” said Kohli, adding Hetmyer and Hope had put on a “beautiful partnership”.

“The way (the) two teams played it was a fair result,” Kohli added.

“Personally, I’m pretty proud of my innings and my mile-stone.” Kohli’s fresh heroics came at the back of his 140 in India’s opening win on Sunday.

Nicknamed “King Kohli”, the prolific run-getter was dropped on 44 by his opposite number Jason Holder off debutant Obed McCoy and made full use of the reprieve. He put on 139 runs for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu, who made 73. Rayudu took stock along with Kohli after India lost their openers for 40 as the batting duo rebuilt the innings and counter-attack. Rayudu was bowled by spinner Ashley Nurse.

29THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER 2018 SPORT

The top 15 run-scorers in the 50-overs format (player/country/matches/innings/runs): Sachin Tendulkar India 463 452 18426

Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka 404 380 14234

Ricky Ponting Australia 375 365 13704

Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka 445 433 13430

Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka 448 418 12650

Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 378 350 11739

Jacques Kallis South Africa 328 314 11579

Sourav Ganguly India 311 300 11363

Rahul Dravid India 344 318 10889

Brian Lara West Indies 299 289 10405

Tillakaratne Dilshan Sri Lanka 330 303 10290

MS Dhoni* India 329 279 10143

Virat Kohli* India 213 205 10076

Chris Gayle* West Indies 284 279 9727

10,000 ODI CLUB

Hope’s heroics help West Indies tie second India ODI

Bangladesh seal series over Zimbabwe with big winAFP

CHITTAGONG: Opener Imrul Kayes and Liton Das hit big half-centuries as Bangladesh crushed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the second one-day interna-tional to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Chittagong yesterday.

Imrul missed out on his second century in the series when he was dismissed for 90, but this was enough to help Bangladesh cruise to 250-3 in 44.1 overs after they restricted

Zimbabwe to 246-6 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Imrul, who played a match-winning knock of 144 runs in Sunday’s series opener, shared 148 runs with Liton Das in the opening stand, Bangladesh’s best ODI start in 2018.

Liton chipped in with 83 off 77 balls after being reprieved on naught by the third umpire, who overturned a leg-before decision in the very first over of the innings following a television replay. Off-break bowler Sikandar Raza dismissed Liton

to break the stand and then also had number three Fazle Mahmud in his next over, but Imrul stood firm to deny Zim-babwe further momentum. Raza also removed Imrul, who hit only seven fours in his 111-ball innings, before finishing with 3-43. Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza acknowl-edged dew in the field made their job easier.

“I think winning the toss was crucial. We knew about the dew, but it was not as much as we expected,” Mortaza said.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun were unbeaten on 40 and 24 runs respectively. Mithun clinched Bangladesh’s 12th successive win over Zimbabwe in style, hitting left-arm spinner Cephas Zhuwao for a six over deep square leg.

Sent into bat first, Zimbabwe earlier lost skipper Hamilton Masakadza (14) quickly but Brendan Taylor hit 75 off 73 balls while Raza (49) and Sean Wil-liams (47) played two useful knocks to give them a compet-itive score.

West Indies batsman Shai Hope plays a shot during the second one-day international (ODI) match at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, yesterday.

India:R Sharma c Hetmyer b Roach .........................4

S Dhawan lbw b Nurse ....................................29

V Kohli (not out) ........................................... 157

A Rayudu b Nurse ............................................ 73

MS Dhoni b McCoy .......................................... 20

R Pant lbw b Samuels ..................................... 17

R Jadeja c Powell b McCoy ............................. 13

M Shami (not out) .............................................0

Extras (LB3, W5) .............................................8

Total (6 wkts) ...................................321Did not bat: Y Chahal, U Yadav, K Yadav

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-40, 3-179, 4-222, 5-248,

6-307

Bowling: Holder 6-0-50-0 (w1), Roach 10-0-67-1,

Nurse 10-0-46-2 (w2), Bishoo 10-0-48-0, McCoy

9-0-71-2 (w2), Samuels 5-0-36-1

West IndiesK Powell c Pant b Shami ................................. 18

C Hemraj b K Yadav .........................................32

S Hope (not out) ........................................... 123

M Samuels b K Yadav ...................................... 13

S Hetmyer c Kohli b Chahal ........................... 94

R Powell c Sharma b K Yadav ........................ 18

J Holder run out (Rayudu/Chahal) ................ 12

A Nurse c Rayudu b U Yadav ........................... 5

K Roach (not out) .............................................0

Extras (B1, LB4, W1) ....................................... 6

Total (7 wkts) ...................................321Did not bat: D Bishoo, O McCoy

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-64, 3-78, 4-221, 5-253,

6-300, 7-315

Bowling: Shami 10-0-59-1 (w1), Umesh 10-0-78-1, Kul-

deep 10-0-67-3, Jadeja 10-0-49-0, Chahal 10-0-63-1

SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe:H Masakadza c Mushfiqur b Saifuddin ......... 14

C Zhuwao c Fazle b Mehidy .......................... 20

B Taylor lbw b Mahmudullah ......................... 75

S Williams c Mushfiqur b Saifuddin ..............47

S Raza c Mushfiqur b Mortaza ...................... 49

P Moor c Mehidy b Mustafizur ....................... 17

E Chigumbura c Nazmul b Saifuddin .............. 3

B Mavuta (not out) ..........................................9

D Tiripano (not out) ......................................... 3

Extras (B5, LB3, W1) .......................................9

Total (seven wkts) ........................... 246Did not bat: K Jarvis, T Chatara

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-70, 3-147, 4-188, 5-229, 6-229,

7-234

Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-49-1, Mustafizur 10-0-35-1,

Saifuddin 10-1-45-3, Mehidy 7-0-45-1 (w1), Nazmul 10-

0-43-0, Mahmudullah 3-0-21-1

Bangladesh:Liton Das c Tiripano b Raza ...........................83

Imrul Kayes c Chigumbura b Raza ............... 90

Fazle Mahmud St Taylor b Raza ......................0

Mushfiqur Rahim (not out) ........................... 40

Mohammad Mithun (not out) ........................24

Extras (LB1, W11, NB1) .................................. 13

Total (3 wkts) .................................. 250Fall of wickets: 1-148, 2-152, 3-211

Bowling: Jarvis 9-0-31-0 (w2), Chatara 7-0-48-0(w1),

Tiripano 5-0-22-0, Mavuta 7-0-56-0 (w7), Williams 6-0-

43-0 (nb1), Raza 10-1-43-3 (w1), Zhuwao 0.1-0-6-0

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan crush Australia in T20AFP

ABU DHABI: A youthful Pakistan crushed Australia by 66 runs in the first Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi yesterday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Pakistan scored 155-8 in their 20 overs as Babar Azam struck an unbeaten 68 before Imad Wasim took 3 for 20 to bowl Aus-tralia out for 89 in 16.5 overs -- their joint-third lowest total in all T20 internationals.

Paceman Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi both took two wickets apiece for Pakistan.

The second and third T20 matches will be played in Dubai on Friday and Sunday.

Pakistan:Fakhar Zaman c Coulter-Nile b Stanlake ...... 14

Babar Azam not out .......................................68

Mohammad Hafeez c McDermott b Short ...39

Asif Ali lbw b Zampa ......................................... 2

Hussain Talat c Finch b Tye .............................. 9

Faheem Ashraf c Maxwell b Tye ......................0

Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Stanlake ........................0

Shadab Khan c McDermott b Stanlake ............1

Imad Wasim c Finch b Tye ...............................0

Hasan Ali (not out) .......................................... 17

Extras: (B 1, LB 3, W 1) ................................... 5

Total: (for 8 wkts) ............................155Did not bat: Shaheen Shah Afridi

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-105, 3-110, 4-130, 5-130,

6-131, 7-133, 8-133

Bowling: Coulter-Nile 4-0-42-0, Stanlake 4-0-

21-3 (1w), Tye 4-0-24-3, Agar 2-0-19-0, Zampa

4-0-32-1, Short 2-0-13-1

Australia:A Finch b Wasim ................................................0

D Short b Wasim ...............................................4

C Lynn b Ashraf ............................................... 14

G Maxwell b Ashraf ...........................................2

B McDermott run out ........................................0

A Carey c Sarfraz b Wasim ................................1

A Agar c Sarfraz b Hasan ................................ 19

N Coulter-Nile b Shadab .................................34

A Zampa c Hasan b Shaheen ............................ 3

A Tye b Shaheen ................................................6

B Stanlake (not out) ......................................... 2

Extras: (B1, LB3) .............................................. 4

Total: (all out) .................................... 89Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-16, 4-16, 5-22, 6-22,

7-60, 8-72, 9-78

Bowling: Wasim 4-0-20-3, Ashraf 3-1-10-2, Has-

an 3-0-16-1, Shaheen 3-0-23-2, Shadab 3.5-0-16-1

Result: Pakistan won by 66

SCOREBOARD

Pakistani players celebrate the fall of an Australian wicket during the first T20 match in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Simone Biles of the US competing during the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Doha in this file picture.

Biles ‘better’ ahead of Doha Worlds

30 THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER 2018SPORT

FIG President praises Qatar for realising ‘dream’ as Doha Worlds get under way

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe heaped praise on Qatar for realising the ‘dream’ as the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha 2018 kick off at Aspire Dome today.

A colourful opening cer-emony will mark the opening of the global gymnastics fiesta which will see more than 600 gymnasts from 78 nations con-verging for an event where, for the first time, Olympic places are up for grabs along with 42 World Championship medals.

It is the first World Champi-onships to be staged in the Middle East and Watanabe, yesterday applauded Qatar’s Local Organ-ising Committee for the arrangements.

“Just now, a big gymnastics flower has bloomed in the desert of Qatar. The meaning of this flower is courage,” Watanabe said on the eve of the opening ceremony.

Until 2018, the hosting of this competition had been limited to Europe, North America, Australia and East Asia, yet Doha is a familiar destination for many of the participants having staged an FIG World Cup each year since 2008, as well as the 2006 Asian Games.

The FIG President added: “I came to Qatar for the first time for the Asian Games in 2006. At that time, Gymnastics was nothing more than flower seeds. In just 12 years since, Qatar has made the desert bloom with the flower of the World Champion-ships. A dream is not something we have while we’re sleeping - a dream is something we realise.”

“I offer my thanks to the Qatar Gymnastics Federation for showing their great courage and I hope the gymnasts will respond with some wonderful perform-ances, watering the flowers that the federation has brought into blossom.”

Taking place between October 25 and November 3, these 48th World Championships will provide the first qualification route for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (JPN).

The competition at the Aspire Dome will determine the winners of eight sets of medals for men (Team, All-around, Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bar) and six for women (Team, All-around, Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise).

The three medal-winning

nations in the Team finals for both men and women will earn team berths directly to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo; other nations will have further chances to qualify in 2019 and 2020 (click here for more on the 2020 Olympic qualification process and refer to the applicable rules. The Japanese men and American women are the reigning Olympic champions from Rio and defending world champions from

the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow (GBR). The team com-petition is not held at the world championships in post-Olympic years.

“We are thrilled and hon-oured to provide the world’s best gymnasts with the eager global media presence, optimal venue conditions and enthusiastic spec-tator support to make their important first strides towards the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,”

said Ali Al Hitmi, Chief Executive Officer of the Local Organising Committee for the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Champion-ships and President of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation.

“We are confident that, as the competitors in Doha challenge for world titles and Olympic berths, they will inspire fans and con-tinue to propel the sport upward.”

Olympic All-around cham-pions Simone Biles (USA) and

Kohei Uchimura (JPN), who were absent from the All-around finals at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal (CAN), are back this year in Doha and will share the spotlight with new world cham-pions Morgan Hurd (USA) and Xiao Ruoteng (CHN). Biles is tipped to become the first female gymnast to win four World All-around titles, while six-time world champion Uchimura will be competing four events only.

The deep lineup in Doha includes 22 World and Olympic gold medallists from 13 nations. All but one of the Olympic appa-ratus champions will be in the Qatari capital, and all but three of the reigning world apparatus champions will be back to defend their titles. The roster also includes numerous young gymnasts who have had breakout years so far in 2018 and are favoured for more success in Doha.

Three-time Olympian Svetlana Boguinskaia if Belarus, the 1989 World All-around champion, is serving as the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Cham-pionships Ambassador.

FROM LEFT: Anis Soud, Deputy Competition Manager, Ali Al Hitmi CEO of the Doha Worlds LOC, Morinari Watanabe, FIG President, Andre Gueisbuhler, FIG Secretary General and Competition Brand Ambassador Svetlana Boguinskaia during a press conference, yesterday.

Just now, a big

gymnastics flower

has bloomed in the

desert of Qatar.

The meaning

of this flower

is courage: FIG

President Morinari

Watanabe

We are confident

that, as the

competitors in

Doha challenge for

world titles and

Olympic berths,

they will inspire

fans and continue

to propel the

sport upward: QGF

President Ali Al

Hitmi

A lot at stake at Worlds

42 Is the number of total medals

up for grabs at the 48th

World Artistic Gymnastics

Championships starting at

Aspire Dome today.

Team USA poses for a group photo.

Qatari gymnast Jana Elkeky is excited ahead of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha 2018 which begin today at Aspire Dome.

Oleg fuelling Ukrainian resurrectionTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: After a dispiriting fallow period stretching back more than a decade, the Ukrainian women’s team are once again talking finals and even medals in the final run-up to the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, starting in Doha (QAT) today.

“It is much better for us that Oleg has come back, Gymnastics in Ukraine is getting better,” Diana Varinska says, referencing world renowned coach Oleg Ostapenko who returned to take charge of the Ukrainian women’s team in October 2017, after 16 years away.

Ostapenko had left his position as national head coach

of the women’s team in 2001, going on to ply his trade in Brazil, Russia and Belarus. Results improving markedly in each, particularly in Brazil, with the women’s team qualifying for two Olympic Games and winning three individual World Championship medals during his seven-year stint.

“In Brazil it was not so hard,

the sun was out,” Ostapenko laughs. “But I am enjoying being back in the motherland. I was sad every time I had to leave. It’s much better to be back in Ukraine.”

Aside from Varinska’s success in Montreal, Ostapenko has also helped steer her to three World Challenge Cup titles this year, while the team’s fifth place in Glasgow in August was their highest finish at a European Championships in almost 10 years.

On top of all this, 15-year-old Anastasiia Bachynska won bronze medals in the All-around and on the Floor at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). “It is getting better,” Ostapenko admits

cautiously. “Diana is one of the best. She does have problems with some apparatus but if she keeps working she can do the All-around and take some medals.

“And for sure Bachynska is a good sign. We hope she will be here to help our team next year. She has good potential.”

The squad still has some way to go to match the country’s golden period.

When Ostapenko was last in charge, the magical Lilia Pod-kopayeva was crowned the All-around and Floor champion and won the silver medal in Balance Beam at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

The team finished fifth that year and repeated the feat four years later at the Sydney Games.

It is much better for

us that Oleg has come

back, Gymnastics in

Ukraine is getting

better: Diana Varinska

RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Ducati star Chaz Davies is looking forward to closing the 2018 WorldSBK season with a win at the ‘challenging’ Losail International Circuit’ (LIC) this week.

Currently a notch behind World Champion Jonathan Rhea (520 points), the tall Welshman (348) will be battling to secure the second spot ahead of third-placed Michael Van Der Mark (324) at the Qatar round of the championship.

The first free practice session kicks off today at LIC and 31-year-old Davies is excited ahead of the night race.

“I really want to finish the season on a high note with this team,” Davies said yesterday at the Grand Hyatt Doha.

“I want to win the last round. It’s our last race with this bike,” he added.

A special Q&A with Chaz Davies:

Q: How do you feel going into the final race of the

season now that the champi-onship has already been decided?

A: Obviously the goal - when you start the season - is to

fight for the championship. That is unachievable for us now. So we are now looking to be the second best, to get the silver medal. It’s a really important race. You want to be the best guy, to be the champion. It is not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen. You can still be the second best. You can still go into the next season with great hopes. This is the fourth time that I am in the second position.

Q: What’s the strategy for this week? You have a 24

points lead.

A: After the race in Argentina, I crashed during

the first race. During that race I was thinking ‘which cards do I play’. ‘Do I attack or do I defend?’ I could see that my next close rival Michael was quite far behind in the race. So I thought this is the chance to score some points and I crashed. I told myself ‘why did I do that?’. That can happen.

Now it’s the last race. I have to manage the situation as it comes. No race is the same. I’ll obviously have one eye on Michael. But I want to finish the season strong. I want to win the last round. It’s our last race

with this bike. I really want to finish the

season on a high note with this team.

Q: You like the track here, don’t you?

A: I really like the track here. Not only the track but the

atmosphere as well. The schedule of the night is some-thing I really enjoy. It is different to how we race elsewhere in Europe. This is special. It’s just a nice feeling about the weekend and then the track - it’s really good. It’s flowing, it has got char-acter to it. It presents a lot of challenges. I really enjoy it. But here you can always find a nice rhythm, a nice flow. It’s not too tight. Every corner links you to the next one so you have to keep your momentum. Corner speed has to be high.

Sometimes after racing in European tracks, you have to reset your brains to race here. You have to let go off the brakes and just let the bike go a little bit faster than usual. In Europe there a lot of V - t y p e o f corners which

make you stop and then you turn really fast. In Qatar it is all about keeping the lines.

Q: It rained here last week. If it rains again in the

race week, does that make things difficult for you?

A: I think we have to see what happens. I know in

the past everybody in Qatar is concerned about rain during a race week. The artificial lighting causes a reflection and

that makes things difficult to see. So if it

rains, the protocol here is we delay the race and we dry the track. I think that’s the situation and what will they do. Every time I come to Qatar I have to fight for something. So there is plenty of motivation. When the visor goes down and the lights go up and then it’s just me and racing. Sometimes the build-up is long. But when the lights go up is my motivation. This is a great lifestyle and see amazing places. It is like living your dream.

Q: How do you look back at your season?

A: It’s really been chal-lenging. I broke my col-

larbone twice. It came at the back off a knee injury last December. There’s been a few hurdles along the way. We started the season looking well. We have been fairly consistent but not spectacular. We are just missing that a little bit. Next year we will have a new bike. It is a 4-cylinder bike and is the first time Ducati produced that kind of a bike. I think that is something really exciting for all of us. That’s the motivation - the new bike. We can do decent damage. Until the bike goes on the track, we don’t know. It’s going to be inter-esting. The guys who have tested the bike say it has got more potential. They like it. It could be the bike to beat. Until Phillip Island next year, we don’t know yet. Fingers crossed.

Right now somebody needs to find something to beat

Jonathan. I think I am the guy who has beaten him the most. I still believe Jonathan hasn’t seen the best of me or the best of Ducati.

Q: Will Jonathan ever relent? Does his domi-

nation of the sport surprises you?

A: Hmmm never (laughs). Johnny is a great rider. He’s

got a great package underneath him. He gets to extract 100 percent from that package every weekend. He rides very well. For us to get to that level next year, we feel we have more

room with the new bike. We got room to improve. His domi-nation, does it surprise me? Yes and no! Nobody is at his level right now. You don’t become that rider overnight. He has built that up. He has won four championship titles. He has full confidence in his bike.

The bike performs like the way he wants it to perform. His natural progression to where is really amazing. That’s why everybody is below him.

Q: Do you ever plan to go back to MotoGP?

A: Obviously as a full-time rider, it is difficult to go to

MotoGP because they are looking at (young) Moto2 and Moto3 riders. These guys have proven they can step up and be competitive. For me to make that jump would be difficult to get the right package. In MotoGP I would be fighting for middle positions. If the right oppor-tunity comes about in 2-3 years, I would look at it.

Michael. But I want to finish theseason strong. I want to win thelast round. It’s our last race

with this bike. I really wantto finish the

You have to let go off the brakes and just let the bike go a little bit faster than usual. In Europe there a lot of V - t y p e o f corners which

that makes things difficultto see. So if it

crossed. Right now somebody needs

to find something to beat

WORLDSBK CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 520

Chaz Davies (Ducati) 348

Michael Van Der Mark (Yamaha) 324

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 294

Marco Melandri (Ducati) 286

Alex Lowes (Yamaha) 232

Xavi Fores (Ducati) 227

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki) 145

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 145

Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) 133

WORLDSSPCHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Sandro Cortese (Yamaha) 189

Jules Cluzel (Yamaha) 183

Randy Krummenacher (Yamaha) 150

Lucas Mahias (Yamaha) 135

Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha) 132

Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta) 128

Kyle Smith (Honda) 76

Thomas Gradinger (Yamaha) 74

Luke Stapleford (Yamaha) 57

Anthony West (Kawasaki) 51

31THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER 2018 SPORT

Ducati star Davies eager to close season on a winning note in Qatar

Chaz Davies in action during last season’s final round at the

Losail International Circuit in Doha in this file photo.

Team Ducati rider Chaz Davies addresses the media at the Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel and Villas in Doha yesterday.

Davies will be seen in action in the final round of the Motul FIM Superbike World

Championship which will take place at the Losail International Circuit (LIC) in

Doha this weekend.

Obviously the goal - when you start the season - is to fight for the championship. That is unachievable for us now. So we are now looking to be the second best, to get the silver medal.

I really like the track here. Not only the track but the atmosphere as well. The schedule of the night is something I really enjoy. It is different to how we race elsewhere in Europe. This is special.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: World No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy is relishing the prospect of defending his Qatar Classic title between October 27 - November 2 and says that he feels at home at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex after reaching six successive finals there.

With three Qatar Classic titles to his name, El Shorbagy is the most successful player in the tournament’s history, and he also reached the World Champi-onship final here on two occa-sions, in 2012 and 2014.

The 27-year-old has a rich vein of form in Doha, winning 29 of his last 32 matches in the country’s capital, and he looking forward to returning to a location where he has domi-nated his opponents in recent years.

“I always love playing there,” said El Shorbagy.

“I have made six finals in the last six years, so I always feel that if there is somewhere where I am the hardest to beat then it is definitely Qatar because I always feel at home on that court. If someone is going to beat me there then it will be like they have kicked me out of my home.

“I really look forward to going back there and trying to defend my title. I had a tough draw there last year and I stepped up and won the tour-nament. I really hope I can go back there and do it one more time and let’s see what happens, there are a lot of good players right now playing really well but hopefully I will be up to the task

and be able to defend my title.” El Shorbagy’s title win in

Qatar last year was one of eight PSA Tour titles the Bristol-based Egyptian picked up during a dominant 2017/18 campaign, with a 3-1 victory over fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen seeing him capture his third trophy in Qatar.

He started this season with a final appearance at the Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco - where he lost out to World No.2 Ali Farag - before beating World No.5 Simon Rösner to win the US Open a fortnight ago, and he is anticipating some strong chal-lenges in Qatar as he bids to retain his crown.

“It’s not going to be easy with

how strong the draw is and each season it gets harder because each player studies me more and wants to beat me more,” he said.

“I try to get better each season too, it gives me a reason to get better each season. I have been World No.1 for three years exactly now and for me the greatest in each sport has con-sistency. The longer you stay, the longer they study you and find weaknesses, and the longer you stay at the top that means that you have been able to protect those weaknesses from being exposed as much as possible.

“For me, the same means going backwards, so if I stay the same as last season then I might not win this season. I have to

keep getting better and keep challenging myself more every day. I made that mistake last time when I was World No.1, I stayed the same and didn’t motivate myself to get better, so the experience I have this time is that I know that if I stay the same someone is going to hunt me down.”

El Shorbagy receives a bye through to round two, where he will play either Qatari No.2 Syed Azlan Amjad or Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip.

The Egyptian is drawn on the same side of the draw as World No.5 Simon Rösner and World No.8 Paul Coll, while Farag, Momen and World No.6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez are

involved on the opposite side. A prize money of $177,750 will be up for grabs, as will a place at the PSA World Tour Finals, with the winner automatically qualifying for the season-ending tournament.

It’s not going to be easy with how strong the draw is and each season it gets harder because each player studies me more and

wants to beat me more: El Shorbagy

SPORT10.00PM` 7:55PM

Marseillevs Lazio

Real Betis vsAC Milan

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL

27THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER 2018

The important thing was to

win this game, the players

really needed it, and so did

their coach. For me, it could be

a turning point.

Julen Lopetegui

Real Madrid coach

TO

DAY

’SA

CTIO

N

Squash: El Shorbagy returns to favourite hunting ground

Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt poses for a picture after winning the 2017 Qatar Classic in Doha in this file picture.

First round fixtures at Khalifa International Ten-

nis and Squash Complex

[1] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) [Bye]

[WC] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) vs Tsz Fung Yip

(HKG)

Alan Clyne (SCO) vs Adrian Waller (ENG) Omar

Mosaad (EGY) [Bye]

Daryl Selby (ENG) [Bye]

Chris Simpson (ENG) vs Mazen Hesham (EGY)

Raphael Kandra (GER) vs Arturo Salazar (MEX)

[8] Diego Elias (PER) [Bye]

[7] Paul Coll (NZL) [Bye]

Peter Creed (WAL) vs Cesar Salazar (MEX) [Borja

Golan (ESP) vs Nathan Lake (ENG) Nafiizwan

Adnan (MAS) vs Greg Lobban (SCO)

Tom Richards (ENG) vs Mohamed Reda (EGY)

Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) [Bye]

Campbell Grayson (NZL) vs George Parker (ENG)

[4] Simon Rosner (GER) [Bye]

[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) [Bye]

Nicolas Mueller (SUI) [Bye]

Max Lee (HKG) [Bye]

James Willstrop (ENG) [Bye]

Cameron Pilley (AUS) vs [WC] Abdulrahman Al-

Malki (QAT)

Youssef Soliman (EGY) vs Mathieu Castagnet

(FRA)

Joel Makin (WAL) vs Rex Hedrick (AUS)

[5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) [Bye]

[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [Bye]

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) vs [Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi

(QAT)

Gregoire Marche (FRA) vs Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)

Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) vs Declan James

(ENG)

Leo Au (HKG) vs Ben Coleman (ENG)

Saurav Ghosal (IND) [Bye]

Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) [Bye]

[2] Ali Farag (EGY) [Bye]

2018 QATAR CLASSIC DRAW

Golf: Koepka warns he can ‘get even better’AFP

SHANGHAI: Brooks Koepka (pictured) has won half of this year’s majors and is golf’s newly anointed world number one, but the red-hot American insists he can get even better as he leads an elite field into this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions.

The 2018 US PGA Tour Player of the Year is the man to beat in Shanghai after he coolly shot a final-round 64 to clinch victory in the CJ Cup in South Korea last week and ascend to golf’s top ranking for the first time.

“The way I’m playing right now, I feel like I can win anywhere,” said Koepka -- a joint runner-up in Shanghai last year -- ahead of the $10 today.

“I don’t feel like I’ve peaked at all. I feel like I can get a lot better. You can always improve.

“With maturity, coming out on the golf course you learn new things about yourself every day.”

The 28-year-old, who combines a powerful game with a cool demeanour, said he feels “no pressure” after rising to the top ranking.

Chasing him is the usual who’s who of star names drawn annually to Sheshan International Golf Club for the tournament dubbed “Asia’s major” which carries a winner’s purse of $1.8 million.

World number two Dustin Johnson, reigning US Masters champion Patrick Reed, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and last year’s tournament victor and world number three Justin Rose are in a field that boasts 19 of the world’s top 30.

Also on hand is the “Moli-Wood” duo of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, who provided the spark for Europe’s domi-nating Ryder Cup win, along with several of their teammates.

Johnson memorably imploded last year in the final round at Sheshan, surren-dering a six-stroke lead com-piled through 54 holes and opening a door that Rose barged through to win.

T h e l o n g - h i t t i n g American said that was history.

“I didn’t play that badly. I just hit a couple of iron shots that cost me the tournament,” said Johnson, who lifted the trophy at Sheshan in 2013 with a WGC-HSBC Cham-pions record 24-under par total of 264.

Federer digs deep to reach second roundAFP

BASEL, SWITZERLAND: Roger Federer (pictured) had to fight hard to hold off Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic yesterday, edging to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win to reach the second round of the Swiss Indoors.

The eight-time champion flirted with his earliest exit in Basel since his 1998 debut as a teenager, but came out on top in a nervy deciding set.

“I was up 6-2, 3-1, it could have ended very quickly,” Federer said.

“But I made life more difficult.

“I didn’t have the best serving stats, maybe that caught up to me.

“But these are different balls, more altitude than in Shanghai, it’s about getting used to it.

“And first rounds are always tricky, it’s never a given that you are going to win.” Earlier, Jan-Lennard Struff ended the possibility of a rematch between Federer and his US Open conqueror John Millman by beating the Australian 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

Krajinovic appeared to be on the way to a straight-sets loss in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam winner before the momentum began to turn.

Up a set and a

break, the Swiss lost serve in the sixth game of the second set before his opponent managed to square the match with a break in game 10. The top seed went up an early break in the third and broke Krajinovic in an 11-minute game for a 5-2 lead, only to fail to serve out the match at the first time of asking.

But he clinched victory on his second match point to take his career record at the tour-nament to 67-9 as he bids to reach a 12th successive f i n a l a t S t . Jakobshalle.

“I’m glad I got through. These are the matches you have to win,” said Federer.

“Things didn’t really flow, but it was a hard-fought win. I feel good physically. I have a day off tomorrow so it was no trouble to play three sets.

“I’m

happy where I am right now.” The 37-year-old Federer,

who revealed earlier this week that he had been struggling with a hand injury since the grass-court season, last lost at the Swiss Indoors in 2013, going down to Juan Martin del Potro. Seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, a semi-finalist last week in Moscow, saw off German Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-5.

R u s s i a n Medvedev stands

at a career-high ranking of 20th, with three titles this season and will next face

A n d r e a s Seppi after the Italian d e f e a t e d

Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-0, 6-4.

Resilient Kerber overcomes OsakaREUTERS

SINGAPORE: Angelique Kerber produced a stunning display of defensive tennis to see off the big-hitting Naomi Osaka 6-4 5-7 6-4 in a classic Red Group encounter between the last two Grand Slam champions at the WTA Finals on Wednesday.

The victory evens up Ker-ber’s record at 1-1 in round robin play as Osaka slumped to her second straight defeat at the season ending event, leaving the US Open champion on the brink of elimination from the eight-woman tournament.

“I had my chances in the second set but she played some unbelievable tennis to win that one, and it felt like there was only one or two

points in the decider,” Wim-bledon champion Kerber told reporters.

“It was great to win such a great match and to be able to look forward to another one in two days from now.”

Both players made tentative starts to a match that began with three consecutive breaks of serve in the German’s favour as Osaka looked to dictate with her power, while Kerber was content to counter-punch off the back foot and keep the ball in play.

Osaka fashioned five break points when Kerber served for the set at 5-4 but the German was able to stave off all of them with some gutsy tennis and sealed the opener with a booming serve.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber reacts as she plays against Japan’s Naomi Osaka during their singles match at the WTA Finals in Singapore, yesterday.

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