Sport - Gulf Times

BASBEALL | Page 9
CRICKET | Page 5
Los Angeles
Dodgers fall to
Colorado
Rockies 7-5
Warner
sizzles with
bat as Sunrisers
win again
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Rajab 17, 1437 AH
FOOTBALL
It’s Martial law as
Manchester United
make FA Cup final
GULF TIMES
SPORT
Page 3
QATAR CUP SEMI-FINAL
FOCUS
Lekhwiya
captain
Boudaif
confident
QSL champions
Rayyan face stiff
Lekhwiya exam
By Sports Reporter
Doha
Lekhwiya also have a score to settle after being dethroned by Al Rayyan
as the Qatar Stars League champions and their match-up today provides
an exciting opportunity for them to put that disappointment behind them
L
ekhwiya captain Karim Boudaif
is confident his team can pull it
off against Qatar Stars League
champions Al Rayyan when
they clash today in the semi-finals of
the Qatar Cup.
“With Al Rayyan winning the league,
we have to focus on the Qatar Cup. We
will fight to defend our title, especially
after losing the QSL title,” Boudaif said.
The Qatari international midfielder
was also clear about the quality of the
upcoming Qatar Cup competition.
“The Qatar Cup has the four best teams
in Qatar; it will always be a challenge to
win. I expect plenty of excitement in
the semifinals; it is straight knockout
so we cannot make any mistakes.”
Commenting on their game today, the 25year old said: “We respect
Al Rayyan, they have a strong squad.
However, we don’t fear them, we will
try hard to get the result we need to
reach the final.
“The Qatar Cup is totally different
competition which consists only of
three games, while the QSL campaign
is a long one with the possibility of
compensation in case of losing.”
Boudiaf also stressed on the fact that
Lekhwiya have been training hard for
the Qatar Cup.
“Our ambition is to regain the Qatar
Cup, the squad is working hard for this.
I believe we have a great chance to lift it
come April 24.”
SPOTLIGHT
Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi (C) and captain Karim Boudaif address the media at their Qatar Cup press conferernce yesterday. At bottom, Al Rayyan coach
Jorge Fossati makes a point.
By Sports Reporter
Doha
A
l Rayyan face their day of
reckoning in their bid for a
domestic treble when they
take on a resurgent Lekhwiya
in the first semi-final of the Qatar Cup
today at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad
Stadium. The match begins at 7.15pm.
After romping to the Qatar Stars
League title with five matches to
spare, Al Rayyan have simply gone off
the boil. They haven’t won a single
match after lifting the Falcon Shield
and could struggle when they meet
Lekhwiya, who have been involved
in the gruelling Asian Champions
League where they have qualified for
the last 16.
Lekhwiya also have a score to settle
after being dethroned by Al Rayyan as
the Qatar Stars League champions and
their match-up today provides an exciting opportunity for them to put that
disappointment behind them.
In fairness to Al Rayyan, head coach
Jorge Fossati has fully utilised his
squad in recent weeks and given fringe
players an opportunity to impress.
He did, however, play a full-strength
side against improving Al Sadd – and
that match ended 2-2 after the Wolves
scored two late goals to grab a point.
Al Rayyan’s main man this season
has been Rodrigo Tabata. The talismanic number ten has been pivotal in
the final third and currently tops the
scoring and assist charts. If Tabata can
regain his best form, there’s no reason
why Al Rayyan can’t go on to lift the
Qatar Cup for the first time since 2012.
Another key player for Rayyan is
Victor Caceres. The Paraguayan midfielder has been an unsung hero for
the Lions this season and will be relied
upon to pull the strings in the centre of
the park.
Lekhwiya are the Qatar Cup holders
and go into this year’s competition aiming to lift the trophy for a second time.
The Red Knights have had an inconsistent season that culminated in them
finishing fourth – their lowest ever position in the QSL. Since being promoted
to the top division of Qatari football in
2010, Lekhwiya had never finished outside the top two until this season.
Despite some glimpses of their best
form, including an eight-game winning run, Lekhwiya have endured
something of a transitional year. And
it’s one which could end with them
failing to claim silverware for the first
time in their short history.
If Lekhwiya are to lift the Qatar Cup,
they’ll need midfielder Youssef Msakni to be on top form. The Tunisian international has been the driving force
behind Lekhwiya’s best moments this
season. Another vital player for Lekhwiya is Nam Tae Hee. The South
Korean is a creative force for Djamel
Belmadi’s men and has adapted well
since the departure of Vladimir Weiss.
Jorge Fossati, the head coach of Al
Rayyan is optimistic about his team’s
chances ahead of the crunch encounter against Lekhwiya.
“We are training to play a very tough
team. We know in the cup you have to
win or there is no future. We are optimistic about ourselves because we are
training well. I feel our team is really
strong again. I have great respect for
the other team but we will go into this
match with the same winning mentality,” he said at the pre-match press
conference yesterday.
“We beat them (Lekhwiya) in the
first and second leg of the QSL. In
football history plays no part, the wins
are in the past and tomorrow is the
present and in the next match we will
write a new page in history,” added the
Uruguayan tactician.
Speaking about the Al Rayyan’s defeat to Al Ahli in the last game of the
QSL Fossati added, “We didn’t have
good performance against Al Ahli. We
could have won the game and in this
game we made many mistakes. I did
something I didn’t like as I changed
half of the team from midfield to defense I changed 5 players. But thank
god for this game, now we can decide
which players will play in the next
match. For this match we have our full
team.”
The Lions top striker Tabata has
attracted a lot of interest from other
teams in the region.
“It is no surprise to me that a player
like Tabata with his quality has an offer from another team. I am very happy that he has this interest and now
most of the people in Qatar and the
region are recognising his talent. But
he is completely focused on the next
game and even if he has the best offer
in the world he will focus only on the
game. He is our captain and his head is
in the game,” added the sixty-threeyear-old.
Djamel Belmadi, the head coach of
Lekhwiya is hoping his side repeat
what they did last season and go on
to win the Qatar Cup, “Tomorrow is
a very big game against the champions Qatar, in a competition we already won last year. And if we want
to get to the final we have to get past
this difficult and strong game,” said
Belmadi.
“At this time we have many different circumstances and I don’t want
to talk about the league as this is a
different competition and we are facing the champions. And of course we
had a very big game in Uzebekistan (in
the Asian Champions League against
Bunyodkor) and now we have a very
big game against Rayyan,” added the
Algerian.
Speaking about his team’s fitness
ahead of the semifinal, Belmadi said:
“Sometimes they believe that if some
players rest and then they are ready
and other times if they play a lot then
they are tired. But sometimes being
in competition keeps you ready and it
could be the opposite but I don’t want
to concern myself with this. We will
put our best team forward and hope
for the win.”
“Al Rayyan has a lot fans and this
is good for football in Qatar and I hope
our fans come as well and create a good
atmosphere for the game.”
Qatar Cup
fanzone
launched
Al Rayyan star Rodrigo Tabata at the launch of the Qatar Cup fanzone
By Sports Reporter
Doha
T
he Qatar Stars League officially launched its fanzone at
Katara ahead of today’s kickoff of the Qatar Cup.
Al Rayyan captain Rodrigo Tabata
was joined by Al Sadd players Saad
al-Sheeb and Hassan Haydoos during
the ceremony.
The interactive fan zone offers fans
of football a chance to take part in
a host of fun family friendly activities with a distinctive emphasis on
healthy living.
The players also took part in the
activities and had an opportunity to
have a photo with the famous Qatar
Cup trophy.
The Katara fanzone will be active
from 5pm to 9.30pm every day un-
til April 26. Fans will also have the
chance to win prizes by sharing their
pictures on social media.
Speaking at the launch, Al Sadd
winger Hassan Haydoos said he is
looking forward to the competition,
which kicks off today.
“The Qatar Cup is an important
competition not only for the fans but
the players too, and the fanzone is a
great way to find out about the competition and enjoy the activities on
offer,” he said.
The first semi-final of the Qatar
Cup Kicks will be held today when Al
Rayan take on Lekhiwya at Al Sadd
stadium at 7.15pm. The second semifinal will be played tomorrow with El
Jaish taking on Al Sadd at the same
venue.
The final will be held on April 29
again at Al Sadd stadium. Tickets are
now available via QSL.com.qa
2
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
FOOTBALL
EMIR CUP
Action from the Al Kharaitiyat vs Qatar Sports Club match in the second round of the Emir Cup yesterday. Al Kharaitiyat won 1-0. Picture on right shows a glimpse of
the action between Al Wakrah and Al Shamal. Al Wakrah won 2-1 on penalties. In another match, Al Khor beat Mesaimeer 2-1.
EPL
Iheanacho lifts Man City,
Benitez denies Liverpool
‘Kelechi Iheanacho is an important young player with a lot of future. He scores lots of goals’
AFP
London
Results/standings
Manchester City4 Stoke City ...................... 0
Bournemouth ..... 1 Chelsea.............................4
Aston Villa ..............2 Southampton ............4
Liverpool .................2 Newcastle ...................... 2
Today
Sunderland vs Arsenal 1305
Leicester City vs Swansea City 1515
Tomorrow
Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich 1900
T
eenager Kelechi Iheanacho
scored twice as Manchester
City tuned up for their Champions League semi-final with
Real Madrid by sinking Stoke City 4-0
in the Premier League yesterday.
Iheanacho, 19, struck twice within 10
second-half minutes, adding to goals
by Fernando and Sergio Aguero, to lift
City, who host Madrid in the first leg
of their last-four tie on Tuesday, back
above Arsenal to third place.
Elsewhere, Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United came from 2-0 down to
draw 2-2 at his former club Liverpool—
whose French centre-back Mamadou
Sakho has failed a drugs test—to inch to
within a point of safety.
“A big team must always be focused
on both competitions—Premier League
and Champions League,” said City
manager Manuel Pellegrini. “Every big
team must do it every year.
“Kelechi Iheanacho is an important
young player with a lot of future. He
scores lots of goals, but he is not just a
penalty-box player. I am sure that his
role in this team will be very important.”
With an eye on Madrid’s visit, Pellegrini kept Belgian playmaker Kevin
De Bruyne on the bench at the Etihad
Stadium and rested captain Vincent
Kompany altogether.
Fernando broke the deadlock with a
header from Jesus Navas’s 35th-minute
corner and top scorer Aguero added
a second from the penalty spot after
Ryan Shawcross had fouled Iheanacho.
Pablo Zabaleta teed up Iheanacho
to slot in City’s third goal in the 64th
minute and the Nigeria international
sealed the win by gathering Wilfried
Bony’s pass and rounding substitute
goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard to score.
City move back above Arsenal, who
visit struggling Sunderland on Sunday,
while Mark Hughes’s Stoke, who have
conceded four goals in three successive
games, slip to 10th.
With Sakho watching from the
stands after the revelation that he is
being investigated by European gov-
P W D L F APts
1 Leicester
34 21 10 3 59 33 73
2 Tottenham 34 19 11 4 64 25 68
3 Man City
35 19 7 9 66 34 64
4 Arsenal
34 18 9 7 58 34 63
5 Man United 34 17 8 9 42 30 59
6 West Ham
34 14 14 6 57 43 56
7 Liverpool
34 15 10 9 58 45 55
8 Southampton 35 15 9 11 49 37 54
9 Chelsea
34 12 11 11 53 46 47
10 Stoke City 35 13 8 14 37 51 47
11 Everton
34 9 14 11 53 48 41
12 Watford
34 11 8 15 33 40 41
13 Bournemouth35 11 8 16 42 61 41
14 Swansea City 34 10 10 14 34 45 40
15 West Brom 34 10 10 14 31 42 40
16 Crystal Palace35 10 9 16 36 45 39
17 Norwich City 34 8 7 19 35 60 31
18 Sunderland 33 7 9 17 39 57 30
19 Newcastle 35 7 9 19 38 64 30
20 Aston Villa 35 3 7 25w2569 16
Kelechi Iheanacho rounds Stoke’s Jakob Haugaard to score the fourth goal for Manchester City during their English Premier League match yesterday.
erning body UEFA over a doping violation—reported to concern a weightloss drug—Liverpool were pegged back
by Benitez’s Newcastle at Anfield.
“I’m really pleased because of the
passion and fight they showed. A draw
is fine for us at the moment,” Benitez
said.
“It’s a bigger step because we can
keep believing. Every game now for us
is massive. I have the Geordies and the
Scousers on my side.”
Daniel Sturridge chested down a high
ball and swivelled to fire Jurgen Klopp’s
side in front inside two minutes, with
his England colleague Adam Lallana
bending in Liverpool’s second goal on
the half-hour.
But Papiss Cisse brought the visitors
back into the game with a 48th-minute
header before Jack Colback drove in a
deflected 66th-minute leveller to take
Newcastle to within a point of fourthbottom Norwich City and prevent
seventh-place Liverpool closing on the
European berths.
“It’s not our best day,” Klopp said.
“Usually we should win a game in this
situation but have to accept it.
“It was an intensive game. Nobody
understands why Newcastle are in the
relegation zone.”
Eden Hazard, last year’s Player of the
Season, scored his first two league goals
of the campaign—a year since his last—
as outgoing champions Chelsea won
4-1 at Bournemouth to climb to ninth.
Pedro Rodriguez and Willian were
also on target for Chelsea, with Tommy
Elphick hitting back for the home side.
Meanwhile, Dusan Tadic scored
twice, in between headed goals from
Shane Long and Sadio Mane, as Southampton won 4-2 at relegated bottom
club Aston Villa, for whom Ashley
Westwood scored twice.
Leaders Leicester City can take another step closer to a fairytale title triumph today when they welcome Swansea City to the King Power Stadium.
But should Claudio Ranieri’s men
slip up again, a week on from their 2-2
draw with West Ham United, secondplace Tottenham Hotspur can take
advantage at home to West Bromwich
Albion tomorrow.
BOTTOMLINE
Leicester on edge as glittering prizes await
AFP
London
L
eicester’s history may date back thousands
of years but, in common with many provincial English cities, there has long been
a sense it is a place you have to leave to
achieve ambition and fame.
Leonie Orton, sister of the late Leicester-born
20th Century playwright Joe Orton, once told
the BBC that “poverty”, “routine” and “ordinary”
were the words her brother used to describe his
view of a home town he was happy to depart for
London.
But the city may soon be able to boast that it is
the sporting, if not dramatic, capital of England.
Certainly, there has been nothing “routine or
ordinary” about the way Leicester City Football
Club, who have never been crowned champions of
England in their 132-year history, have risen to the
top of the Premier League this season.
The Foxes are now five points clear at the summit with four games left ahead of their match
against Swansea today.
Today also sees Leicester’s rugby union club,
the Tigers, playing a European Champions Cup
semi-final in nearby Nottingham against French
side Racing 92.
Now it is Leicester, not Liverpool, Birmingham
or Manchester, who are in sight of saying they
are home to both English football’s and European
rugby union’s champion clubs, although ‘greedy’
London, courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur and Saracens, could yet take both titles away from the
East Midlands city.
As if that were not enough, the Leicester Riders
are currently top of the British Basketball League
while even recently struggling Leicestershire
County Cricket Club, who are also based in the
city, have started their new season with a victory.
While the Tigers have long been one of English
rugby union’s established powers, the Foxes were
quoted as 5,000/1 outsiders to win the Premier
League before the season started having only narrowly avoided relegation last season.
Managed by an Italian in Claudio Ranieri and
owned by a wealthy Thai family, Leicester are
similar to many Premier League sides in having a
strong foreign involvement in the running of their
club. Nevertheless, Leicester-born former England striker Gary Lineker, who started his career
with the Foxes but found much greater fame and
fortune playing for Everton (in Liverpool), Tot-
tenham and Spanish giants Barcelona, struck a
chord when he wrote in the Guardian last month:
“Something extraordinary is happening in the
world of football.
“Something truly magical. Something that
makes me well up with emotion,” added Lineker,
now a BBC television presenter, who has also
achieved fame or even notoriety for a series of
adverts promoting one of the city’s most famous
products in Walkers Crisps (potato chips).
Lineker, and most Leicester fans would doubtless be happy to witness a glorious ‘one-off’ triumph’ before the established English football order sort themselves out.
Tigers coach and former player Richard Cockerill said: “Hopefully they will go on and win the
Premier League. It is like anything—sustaining
that and doing it over a number of years is very
difficult. “Leicester have got smart owners and
owners who have got lots of money so they can
certainly compete financially, it is just a matter of
whether they want to.”
He added: “There’s a pretty good relationship
between sporting clubs, whether it be basketball,
cricket, football or rugby. It is fantastic and great
for our grand city. Basketball are doing really well.
“As ever the rugby club are struggling through!”
he joked.
For Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby, it’s all a far
cry from how the city was making headlines 12
months ago.
“Last year we were (re-burying) a king (Richard
III) and then we had international and national
attention and our only concern about the football
club was whether they would manage to stay in
the Premier League,” he told AFP.
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
3
FOOTBALL
REPORT
LA LIGA
It’s Martial law
as Man United
make FA Cup final
United will be favourites in the May 21 final, when they will encounter either
Crystal Palace or Watford, and Van Gaal will also hope that Martial’s late strike
serves to give his side a lift in their quest for Champions League qualification
Bale inspires Real
comeback, Angel
delight for Atletico
Reuters
Madrid
G
areth Bale made up for
the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring twice to inspire Real
Madrid to come back from two
goals down and win 3-2 at Rayo
Vallecano in La Liga yesterday.
Atletico Madrid kept up their
title hopes with a 1-0 home victory over Malaga thanks to a deflected goal by substitute Angel
Correa in the 62nd minute.
Coach Diego Simeone could be
facing a three-game ban from the
touchline after being sent off at
halftime when a ball was thrown
on to the pitch from the technical area.
Atletico are top on 82 points,
one ahead of Real. Third-placed
Barcelona, three points off the
pace, play Sporting Gijon later
on Saturday.
Top scorer Ronaldo missed his
first league game of the season
with a muscle strain and Real
suffered another blow ahead of
their Champions League semifinal against Manchester City in
midweek when Karim Benzema
was injured against Rayo.
Real were 2-0 down inside
14 minutes after Adrian Embarba scored from close range
and Venezuelan striker Miku
pounced on more poor defending from the visitors.
Bale started the revival, heading in a 35th-minute corner
before Zinedine Zidane’s side
drew level six minutes after the
break through substitute Lucas
Vazquez.
Welshman Bale netted again
nine minutes from time, collecting a misplaced pass from a Rayo
defender before powering the
ball past goalkeeper Juan Carlos.
“I’m very happy with him and
he’s very happy at being able to
make the difference,” Real coach
Zidane told a news conference.
“He’s a spectacular footballer
and he demonstrated that today.”
Real have not lost to Rayo
since 1997 and had thrashed
their city neighbours 10-2 earlier this season.
Bale hit the post in the second
minute but Rayo soon imposed
themselves with former Manchester United player Bebe setting up the first goal.
He took on Danilo and Pepe
before rolling the ball across for
Embarba to score from six metres. A weak header from Raphael Varane allowed Miku to
make it 2-0.
Bale’s header lifted them and
Benzema had to be substituted
in the 42nd minute, putting in
doubt his chances of facing City
on Tuesday.
The Frenchman was replaced
by Vazquez who headed home
Danilo’s cross at the far post and
it was Bale who had the final say,
intercepting the ball and racing into the box down the left to
strike the winner.
Correa settled a difficult game
for Atletico against Malaga five
minutes after coming off the
bench, as his shot from the edge
of the area was deflected into the
far corner.
Simeone watched the second
half from the stands. Moments
before the interval a ball was
thrown on the pitch from the
Atletico technical area while Malaga set off on a counter attack.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz
asked Simeone who had lobbed
the ball on and sent the coach off
after not getting an answer.
Manchester United's French striker Anthony
Martial (C) celebrates exults after scoring the
winning goal against Everton at Wembley Stadium
in London yesterday.
AFP
London
F
rench forward Anthony Martial
scored a nerveless stoppage-time
winner as Manchester United
edged Everton 2-1 at Wembley
yesterday to reach their first FA Cup final
since 2007.
Martial set up Marouane Fellaini to
score against his former club in the 34th
minute, but after United goalkeeper David de Gea had superbly saved a penalty
from Romelu Lukaku, Chris Smalling’s
75th-minute own goal looked to have
sent the semi-final to extra time.
Martial, however, had other ideas, the
£36 million ($51.9 million, 46.2 million
euros) close-season signing from Monaco charging into the box and finishing coolly to preserve manager Louis van
Gaal’s hopes of ending a difficult season
by orchestrating United’s first FA Cup
success since 2004.
United will be favourites in the May
21 final, when they will encounter either
Crystal Palace or Watford, and Van Gaal
will also hope that Martial’s late strike
serves to give his side a lift in their quest
for Champions League qualification.
But while Van Gaal can look forward to
a return trip to England’s national stadium next month, his beaten counterpart
Roberto Martinez faces a bleak future,
the FA Cup having represented his last
hope of salvaging Everton’s season.
Everton skipper Phil Jagielka overcame
a hamstring injury to start at centreback, but the absence of Seamus Coleman obliged midfielder Mohamed Besic
to slot in at right-back in a defence that
quickly found itself under examination.
With Wayne Rooney dictating the play
from a deep midfield role and a front
three of Martial, Marcus Rashford and
Jesse Lingard flitting around like mosquitoes, United created a stream of chances
before unsurprisingly taking the lead.
Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles had al-
ready saved from Lingard, Rashford and
Rooney, while Marcos Rojo had glanced
a header wide and Martial had blazed
over, by the time the latter powered to the
left-hand byline and cut the ball back for
Fellaini to trundle a shot home at the near
post.
But although United seemed to have
set up semi-permanent camp in the opposing half, Lukaku had spurned two
clear chances for Everton before his side
fell behind, with one effort cleared off the
line by Rooney and the other comfortably
blocked by De Gea.
The Belgian’s aim did not improve in
the second half.
After exchanging passes with Aaron
Lennon, Ross Barkley was just about to
shoot from the left-hand edge of the sixyard box when Timothy Fosu-Mensah
came through him to take the ball.
Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the
spot, but Lukaku’s firm penalty towards
the bottom-left corner was brilliantly
palmed wide by De Gea.
United were rattled and Everton looked
to capitalise, with Tom Cleverley slamming Lennon’s cross wide and then
crossing for Lukaku to head over.
United might have won a penalty of
their own moments later, when Fellaini’s close-range effort was prevented
from crossing the line by the diving
Jagielka’s right arm, but Taylor did not
see it and within minutes Everton were
level.
Gerard Deulofeu had only been on the
pitch for five minutes when he whipped a
cross into the United box from the right
and saw Smalling slice it past a startled
De Gea at his near post.
At that stage, Everton looked the more
likely side to prevail, with De Gea thwarting Deulofeu and Lukaku heading wide.
But in the third and final minute of
stoppage time, Martial charged infield
from the left, played a one-two with substitute Ander Herrera and then steered
home to send the United end into raptures.
BOTTOMLINE
Flores future clouds Watford’s bid for FA Cup glory
AFP
London
Q
uique Sanchez Flores will
ignore mounting speculation
about his future as the underfire Watford manager tries to
save his job with a victory over Crystal
Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals today.
Flores’ team are looking to reach their
first FA Cup final for 32 years, but reports
that Watford’s owners are unhappy with
their poor recent form threaten to cast a
shadow over the big day at Wembley.
Despite securing Premier League survival and enjoying a fine Cup run, Flores’
hold on his position suddenly appears
tenuous after just three league wins in
2016.
Hornets owner Gino Pozzo is not
averse to changing managers, with former
Atletico Madrid boss Flores his fifth appointment in the space of 12 months
when he was hired last year to replace
Slavisa Jokanovic, who had led Watford
to promotion from the Championship.
But the 51-year-old Spaniard insists
he has tuned out the rumours to focus on
how to beat Palace and set up a final clash
against Manchester United who defeated
Everton yesterday.
“This is the time to talk about Watford,
to talk about Watford fans and how important this match is for this club,” Flores
said.
“It is not the time to talk about me. I
can just transmit to the Watford fans that
I am completely focused and happy.
“I have an amazing family, amazing
kids, I am happy with my profession and I
am completely happy with Watford fans.
“This conversation is about this match
and Crystal Palace. The only thing I am
worried about is this match.”
Flores’ fall from grace is surprising after he was widely praised in the first half
of the season for quickly establishing
Watford as a competitive force in their
first season back in the top flight.
While publicly he remains confident,
he is surely aware his job security could
rest on winning Watford’s first FA Cup
semi-final since 2007, so it was no surprise Flores rested Ben Watson, Etienne
Capoue, Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney
for a 3-1 defeat at West Ham in midweek.
“I always work until the last moment,”
Flores added. “I am not the type of person
who thinks about what will happen in the
future, I am always living in the present.
“Now what I know is that it is one
month until the end of the season and I
want to enjoy it. Not to be afraid of anything. No fears. I want to try to enjoy it.”
Watford have lost four of their five pre-
vious FA Cup semi-finals, with their only
victory coming against Plymouth in 1984
in the golden era of boss Graham Taylor
and pop star owner Elton John.
Palace are back at this stage for the first
time since 1995 and will be encouraged by
the presence on the bench of their manager Alan Pardew, who famously scored
the winner when they shocked Liverpool
in the 1990 semi-final to reach their only
FA Cup final.
The south Londoners also have recent
Wembley success against Watford to encourage them after a 1-0 win in the 2013
Championship play-off final, but their
woeful league form in 2016 is far more
significant.
Palace are still not completely safe
from relegation after a 2-0 loss at Manchester United in midweek left them with
only one win from their last 18 league
games.
And Pardew acknowledges the preparation for Wembley has hardly been ideal.
“We’re squeezing games in; the run
we’ve had, this is our fourth game in 12
days. That’s a tough run, when you’ve
got a semi-final, the biggest game in this
club’s history for a while,” Pardew said.
“It’s going to be a tight game. We are
two well-matched teams.
“When we’re in full flow we have
the edge on them. But their front two
(Deeney and Ighalo) can do such damage
they can make up for any deficiency they
have defensively.”
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring a goal against
Rayo in the La Liga yesterday.
SPOTLIGHT
Brighton eye
promotion, Dons
are relegated
AFP
London
B
righton bolstered their
bid for automatic promotion to the Premier
League with a 3-1 win at
Charlton yesterday, while Milton
Keynes Dons were relegated to
the third tier after a 4-1 thrashing by Brentford.
Chris Hughton’s Brighton are
third in the Championship but
only goal difference is keeping
them below leaders Burnley and
second placed Middlesbrough
with two games remaining in a
thrilling finale to the promotion
race.
Burnley had moved to the top
of the table following a 1-0 victory at Preston on Friday and
they remain in pole position after Middlesbrough were held to a
0-0 draw by Ipswich at the Riverside Stadium.
Brighton ignored a protest by
fans of relegated Charlton, who
delayed the match by several
minutes when they threw balloons on the pitch, to take the
lead through Sam Baldock.
Jiri Skalak and Tomer Hemed
also netted for Brighton after
Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s
equaliser for Charlton briefly
threatened to make it a nervous
day for the visitors.
At the other end of the table,
third bottom Milton Keynes’ relegation to League One was confirmed in dispiriting fashion.
Nicky Maynard’s early opener
gave Dons the perfect start, but
goals from Sergi Canos, Lasse
Vibe, Ryan Woods and Jake Bidwell ended their one-season stay
in the Championship.
Sheffield Wednesday were unable to seal a play-off place after Derby striker Darren Bent’s
82nd-minute header cancelled
out Barry Bannan’s stunning
opener for the sixth placed Owls
in a 1-1 draw at the iPro Stadium.
That result gave hope to seventh placed Cardiff, who dramatically defeated relegated
Bolton 2-1 to move within four
points of Wednesday.
Zach Clough gave Bolton an
early lead but Kenneth Zohore
equalised after Niall Maher’s red
card for the visitors and Cardiff
nicked it through Peter Whittingham’s penalty deep into
stoppage-time.
Whittingham’s winner sets
up a fascinating meeting between Wednesday and Cardiff at
Hillsborough next weekend, with
the south Wales club needing a
win in their penultimate game of
the season to remain in the hunt
for a play-off place.
4
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
FOOTBALL
BUNDESLIGA
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
Bayern made to
wait for historic
fourth straight title
‘Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing, it means we’ll become German champions at home’
Bayern Munich’s players celebrate victory over Hertha
Berlin in Berlin yesterday. (Reuters)
Griffiths vows to seal
title for departing
Celtic boss Deila
AFP
Edinburgh
L
eigh Griffiths has vowed
to fire Celtic to the Scottish Premiership title to
give departing manager
Ronny Deila the perfect send-off.
The Norwegian manager announced on Wednesday that he
would be stepping down as Celtic manager at the end of the season following mounting scrutiny
of his position.
Celtic are eight points clear of
Aberdeen at the top of the table
but failure to twice lead his side
through Champions League
qualifiers, disappointing league
performances and a defeat to
Ross County in the League Cup
semi-final saw Deila come in for
criticism.
However, a defeat to fierce Old
Firm Rangers in last Sunday’s
Scottish Cup semi-final severely
weakened his position with the
Celtic support with Deila, who
led the club to a league and cup
double last season, announcing
his decision to leave the Parkhead club three days later.
Griffiths found himself on the
fringes when Deila first arrived
two years ago but after proving
himself to the Hoops boss he has
found himself in the form of his
career, bagging 37 goals in 47
games this season.
The Scotland striker said he was
disappointed to hear of his Deila’s
decision but insisted he would repay his manager’s faith in him by
getting the goals to seal Celtic’s fifth
title in a row, starting with today’s
game with Ross County.
“Since January of last year I’ve
not really looked back. It just
took that little bit of time to get
some game-time under my belt
and show him what I really could
do,” Griffiths said.
“Our relationship has just
grown stronger and stronger. He
has put a lot of faith in me to be
that lone striker at Celtic and
I’ve repaid him time and time
again with goals. “The only fitting way I can say thank-you is
to help the team deliver five-ina-row.
“Hopefully at the end of the
season he’ll look back on his
time and have three trophies in
two years. He can count that as
a success.”
Deila, meanwhile, says the
lack of improvement from his
players in recent months led
to him taking the decision not
to extend his one-year rolling
contract. “Improvement is one
of my biggest values. When you
don’t get it, it kills me inside and
I lose energy,” Deila, who arrived
from Norwegian side Stromsgodet in 2014, said.
“I don’t think there has
been a lot of improvement
and, when you don’t get improvement, the outside pressure is going to get harder and
harder as well.”
“That is why I think it is best
for the club that new energy is
coming into the club next season
and now we can really focus on
winning the five games and getting five in a row,” he added.
“It is going to be a huge thing
for me, the players and the whole
club. This is why the decision
has been made.”
RANGERS WIN TITLE
AFP
Munich
B
ayern Munich must wait another
week to claim an historic fourth
consecutive Bundesliga title
although yesterday’s 2-0 win
at Hertha Berlin left them seven points
clear with three games left.
Bayern could have had the league
wrapped up in the capital had secondplaced Dortmund not won 3-0 at VfB
Stuttgart.
That result means Pep Guardiola’s Bavarians will secure the title if they beat
Borussia Moechengladbach at Munich’s
Allianz Arena next Saturday regardless of
other results.
“We have everything in our own hands
and that was a bit step towards the title,”
beamed Guardiola, adding that Dortmund’s
win had maybe done Bayern a favour.
“Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing, it
means we’ll become German champions
at home.”
No other team has ever won four consecutive league titles in Germany’s top
flight. Bayern took the lead at Berlin’s
Olympic Stadium when Mario Goetze’s
pass found Vidal in space.
The Chile midfielder drilled home his
shot from 22m, which took a deflection
on it’s way past Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft on 48 minutes.
Brazil winger Douglas Costa doubled
Bayern’s lead with a breath-taking strike
from the right flank which looped over
the Hertha goalkeeper on 79 minutes.
But this was a far from polished
performance from Bayern, ahead of
Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal, first-leg, at Atletico Madrid.
They managed just six shots on goal,
compared to Hertha’s nine, despite the
hosts being restricted to just 26 percent
possession.
Dortmund, who will face the Bavarians
in the German Cup final on May 21, made
Bayern wait a little longer to have their
title win confirmed with a comprehensive win at Stuttgart.
Borussia were 2-0 up at the break after Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa netted early on, then 17-year-old Christian
Pulisic scored for the second week run-
ning. Just before half-time he tapped
home after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s shot
from outside the area was blocked by
Stuttgart’s Poland goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton.
Mkhitaryan made it 3-0 when he fired
home after Kagawa’s cross to striker
Adrian Ramos, in for the injured PierreEmerick Aubameyang, was blocked by
Tyton on 56 minutes.
Wolfsburg’s miserable league form
continues as they are now six Bundesliga
games without a win after crashing 2-0
at home to Augsburg.
Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason, on
loan from Olympiakos, scored his sixth
league goal in ten games, with a minute
gone, then set up Turkey international
Halil Altintop on 57 minutes.
The defeat sees Wolfsburg drop to
tenth in the table while Augsburg are now
five points clear of the relegation places.
Cologne are up to ninth after backing up their 3-2 comeback win over
Mainz with a 4-1 thumping of Darmstadt
as French striker Anthony Modeste
and winger Marcel Risse both scored
twice. Hanover have only a mathematical
chance of avoiding relegation after Japan
internationals Hiroki Sakai and Hiroshi
Kiyotake scored in their 2-2 draw with
10-man Ingolstadt.
Ingolstadt played for 70 minutes with
ten men after French defender Romain
Bregerie was sent off for hauling down
Hanover midfielder Felix Klaus.
Alfredo Morales and Moritz Hartmann
had hosts Ingolstadt 2-0 up with only 25
minutes gone.
Defender Sakai fired home on 58 minutes before midfielder Kiyotake made
sure Hanover claimed a point with the
equaliser eight minutes from time.
On Friday, Pierre-Michel Lasogga
struck twice as Hamburg eased their
Bundesliga relegation fears with a 2-1
victory at home to Werder Bremen, who
remain stuck in the bottom three.
RESULTS
Wolfsburg .................0
Stuttgart ....................0
Cologne ..................... 4
Hertha ........................0
Ingolstadt ................. 2
Schalke....................... 2
Augsburg ................2
Dortmund ...............3
Darmstadt ............. 1
Bayern Munich ....2
Hannover 96 .........2
Bayer Leverkusen3
Rangers’ Lee Wallace and teammates celebrate winning the
Scottish Championship yesterday. (Reuters)
SPOTLIGHT
Boateng looking forward to Ancelotti’s arrival in Berlin
AFP
Berlin
G
ermany defender Jerome Boateng
says he is relishing the prospect of playing under Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern
Munich next season.
“I’m looking forward to what’s coming our
way,” said Bayern’s Boateng, who has been sidelined by a groin injury since January.
The 27-year-old says he has heard from Germany team-mates Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos,
who both played under Ancelotti at Real Madrid,
how good the Italian is.
World Cup winner Boateng is excited, having
heard Ancelotti, who will replace Manchester
City-bound Pep Guardiola, has a similar style to
Jupp Heynckes, who steered the Bavarians to the
2013 treble of Champions League, German Cup
and Bundesliga titles.
“He (Ancelotti) is very calm, likes to talk to
the players and is good at dealing with them,”
said Boateng, who is set to play at June’s Eu-
ropean championships in France.
“And of course, not many people get one past
him tactically.”
The 56-year-old Ancelotti is one of the few
coaches to have won more Champions League
titles than Guardiola.
The Spaniard lifted the trophy twice with
Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, while Ancelotti has
done it three times: in 2003 and 2007 with AC
Milan, then in 2014 with Real.
Having won 2-0 at Hertha Berlin yesterday, Bayern will win the Bundesliga title for a
record fourth year running if they beat Borussia
Moenchengladbach at home in seven days’ time.
It would mean Bayern will have won the title in each of Guardiola’s three seasons in
Munich.
The Bavarians play Atletico Madrid away on
Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions
League’s semi-finals, having reached the last
four in Europe for the last five years consecutively.
They are on course to repeat their 2013 treble
in Guardiola’s swansong season.
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
5
CRICKET
IPL/ SUNRISERS HYDERABAD vs KINGS XI PUNJAB
Mustafizur has a ball,
Warner sizzles with bat
as Sunrisers win again
After Rahman’s miserly spell of 2 for 9—the most economical numbers of the current IPL—restricts Kings
XI to 143, Warner blasts his third consecutive fifty off just 23 balls to help Sunrisers to third win on the trot
Sunrisers Hyderabad
openers David Warner
(right) and Shikhar
Dhawan run between
the wickets during
their 90-run opening
stand against Kings XI
Punjab in Hyderabad
yesterday. (AFP)
AFP
Hyderabad
T
he Sunrisers Hyderabad secured their third consecutive
Indian Premier League victory
when they cruised to a fivewicket victory over the Kings XI Punjab
in Hyderabad yesterday.
The Sunrisers had been on course
for a crushing victory with David
Warner (59) and Shikhar Dhawan
(45) at the wicket, but once Warner
departed, the home side trundled to
their target, ending on 146 for five
with 13 balls to spare in reply to the
Kings XI’s modest 143 for six after
Warner had won the toss and elected
to field first.
Warner, who is now the tournament’s leading run-scorer, smashed
three maximums and seven boundaries to register his fourth half-century
(23 balls) in the IPL while sharing in an
opening stand of 90 off 62 balls with
Dhawan. But just when he looking like
taking his team all the way on his own,
he mishit a delivery from Sandeep
Sharma (4-0-30-1) and was caught by
David Miller on the long-on boundary
after his 31-ball knock.
The visitors thought they were back in
the game when Miller swooped on a ball
and threw the very next ball to Naik to
have Aditya Tare run out for a first-ball
duck. Dhawan, who struggled to hit a ball
in anger, faced 44 deliveries with just four
boundaries before being caught behind
by Nikhil Naik off Rishi Dhawan (4-035-1) after adding 25 off 24 balls with Eoin
Morgan (25) for the third wicket.
Morgan and Deepak Hooda (5) posted
24 runs off 19 balls for the fourth wicket
and were looking set to help their side
to a seven-wicket victory when Manan Vohra produced a brilliant catch at
short mid-wicket to dismiss Morgan,
who had faced 20 deliveries and struck
two fours and a six.
As was with the first wicket, the
Kings XI picked up a wicket off the
next ball when Miller threw down the
stumps at the non-striker’s end to have
Hooda run out. But Moises Henriques
(5 not out) and Naman Ojha (2 not out)
saw their side home.
Earlier, the Sunrisers’ Bangladesh
pacer Mustafizur Rahman strangled the
visitors with figures of 4-1-9-2, picking up the wickets of Shaun Marsh, who
top-scored with 40 off 34 balls with
three fours and two sixes, and Naik (22),
who shared in a sixth-wicket stand of
50 off 36 balls with Axar Patel to rescue
the innings.
The Kings XI had slumped to 89 for
five with Murali Vijay (2), Vohra (25),
Miller (9), Maxwell (1) and Marsh all
back in the hut before Patel and Naik
rescued the innings as the pair gave the
visitors something to bowl at. But the
Gayle could
be back in
Big Bash soon
AFP
Melbourne
B
ig-hitting batsman
Chris Gayle (pic) could
return to Australia’s T20
league, with Cricket Australia
saying the West Indian had
not been blacklisted over a
sexism scandal, media reports
said yesterday.
Gayle made headlines in
January when he attempted
to flirt with television reporter
Mel McLaughlin during a live
interview. On air, Gayle said he
was happy to be speaking to
McLaughlin “just to see your
eyes for the first time” and
suggested they go for a drink
afterwards.
“Don’t blush baby,” the
Jamaican told her in an
exchange which led to him
being fined by his Australian
club Melbourne Renegades.
At the time, Cricket Australia’s James Sutherland said
such comments were inappropriate in the workplace,
adding that Gayle was not in a
“night club”.
But Sutherland told News
Corp this week that it wasn’t
Cricket Australia’s place to
rule players out, and individual clubs in the domestic
Big Bash League were free to
choose their line-ups.
“No matter what anyone
at Cricket Australia thought
(of the incident) at management level, board level, I think
you’re on a slippery slope if
you start making judgements
on players who could or
shouldn’t be playing in the Big
Bash League or in our domestic competitions,” Sutherland
said in comments published
yesterday. “Because, when
does that ever end? My view
is unless there’s a very, very
strong reason along the lines
of anti-corruption, then it’s
difficult for us to be making
those judgements.”
Gayle, 36, reportedly wants
to return to the Big Bash
League in Australia later this
year. The left-hander raised eyebrows again this week when he
announced on social media that
his partner Natasha Berridge
had given birth to a beautiful
daughter called ‘Blush’.
The self-proclaimed “Universe Boss” left many people
wondering whether the name
was genuine. He later wrote
on Twitter: “Thank you all for
the sweet and kind messages.
Blush won’t Blush, my baby.”
Scrooge-like bowling of man-of-thematch Mustafizur made all the difference while Henriques (4-0-33-2) accounted for Miller and Maxwell.
The Sunrisers, after losing their
opening two matches to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight
Riders, have now won three on the trot
and move up to third on the IPL table
with six points, while the Kings XI remain rock-bottom on two points after
five matches.
Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad 146 for 5 (D
Warner 59, S Dhawan 45) beat Kings XI
Punjab 143 for 6 (S Marsh 40, Axar Patel 36*; Mustafizur 2-9) by five wickets
IPL/ DELHI DAREDEVILS vs MUMBAI INDIANS
Daredevils down Mumbai for third straight win
Agencies
New Delhi
T
he Delhi Daredevils made it
three wins in a row as they
held onto a 10-run victory
over the Mumbai Indians in
Delhi yesterday.
The Daredevils became just the second team of the season to successfully
defend a total, after the Royal Challengers Bangalore did it twice before.
The hosts decided to include Imran
Tahir for the first time this season, but
while it’s Quinton de Kock who’s starred
for the side so far this season, it was JP
Duminy who found some form yesterday
with a well-played unbeaten 49, allowing his side to post a competitive 164-4.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and
chose to have a bowl first, knowing
that only two matches had been won
defending, and they drew first blood
by seeing off Delhi’s batting mainstay
De Kock for just nine.
Sanju Samson took the responsibility of putting on the runs in the middle overs, and put on a 37-run stand
with Shreyas Iyer, before smacking a
71-run stand with Duminy.
The latter hit two sixes and three
fours in his innings and was particularly effective at the death.
When Mumbai batted, the Daredevils struck in the second over as
Iyer and De Kock combined to run
out the out-of-form Parthiv Patel for
one, to immediately put pressure on
Mumbai’s chase.
Skipper Rohit Sharma was determined to stick around and put on some
useful partnerships with Ambati Rayudu (25) and Krunal Pandya (36), but
once they fell after good starts, Sharma
began to run out of partners as the required run rate escalated.
Mumbai still had a chance when
the equation was 42 off 18 with Kieron Pollard on 8 and Rohit Sharma
on 50. But Chris Morris, coming back
for his third spell, conceded 10 runs
in the 18th over and Zaheer followed
it with the wicket of Pollard to push
Daredevils ahead.
Morris was left to defend 21 off the
last over. Hardik Pandya slapped the
first ball to long-off and Rohit gave
Mumbai hope by clouting the second
ball for a six. A ball later, Rohit collided with Hardik Pandya near the
middle of the pitch and was run out.
Morris trapped Harbhajan Singh lbw
the next ball and consigned Mumbai
to their fourth loss in six matches.
Brief scores
Delhi Daredevils 164 for 4 (S Samson
60, JP Duminy 49*; McClenaghan 2-31)
beat Mumbai Indians 154 for 7 (Rohit
Sharma 65, K Pandya 36; Amit Mishra
2-24) by 10 runs
Mumbai Indians skipper
Rohit Sharma top-scored
with 65 before getting run
out in the final over to end
his team’s hopes. (AFP)
6
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
SPORT
LONDON MARATHON
Kenyan stars set to
steal the spotlight
The three quickest runners in men’s race Dennis Kimetto, Wilson Kipsang and Eliud Kipchoge
are all from Kenya, besides the two quickest women—Mary Keitany and Gladys Cherono
AFP
London
K
enya’s finest runners aim to restore their country’s tarnished
reputation when they battle for
supremacy in the London marathon today.
More than 40 Kenyan athletes have
tested positive for banned substances over
the past five years and the east African nation’s government moved to avoid a potential ban from the Rio Olympics by passing a
new law earlier this week to make doping a
criminal offence.
With athletics already in turmoil after
the recent Russian doping scandals, the
sport could do with an uplifting story or
two and this weekend’s race in the British
capital should provide suitably diverting
drama.
Kenya boasts the three quickest runners
in the men’s elite race in Dennis Kimetto,
Wilson Kipsang and last year’s winner
Eliud Kipchoge, while the two quickest
women, Mary Keitany and Gladys Cherono, both hail from the country.
None of that group have been implicated in any of the doping controversies and
former marathon world record holder Kipsang this week launched a vigorous defence
of his country’s athletes ahead of what he
hopes are more positive headlines after the
26.2 mile (42.2km) race.
“Sport is not special, it’s just like life,”
Kipsang told the Daily Telegraph. “You find
that in society there are one or two criminals, but it doesn’t mean the whole society
are criminals.
“It doesn’t mean all athletes or the whole
sport is cheating. All these guys, we have
been tested like seven or eight times, in and
out of competition, and we should trust the
results. Once the results come through and
these guys are clean then the whole world
should know they are clean.
“We, as the athletes, want to send out
the message to the whole world, ‘Please let
us not try to sum up and say all Kenyan athletes are cheating’. No. We are clean.”
Kipchoge is bidding to become the first
man to retain the London Marathon title in
almost a decade, but he will face a strong
challenge from world-record holder Kimetto, who is back to form after a knee injury.
New York marathon winner Stanley Biwott, also from Kenya, and world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea could
also pose a threat.
Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele should also
be in contention as he continues to improve
following a serious Achilles problem.
In the women’s event, two-time winner
Keitany is seen as a potential winner as she
I
n a football-mad nation of
Spanish-speakers like Guatemala, it is hard for people
to even pronounce badminton,
much less take an interest in a
sport more associated with Asia
than the Americas.
So hats off to Kevin Cordon—
reportedly named after English
former footballer Kevin Keegan—
who has been playing since he was
11 and has surged to number 49 in
the badminton world rankings.
He has enjoyed international
success, winning the Pan Am singles championship twice in a row,
also competing in the Beijing and
London Olympics, and will proudly
represent his Central American nation in Rio de Janeiro come August.
And to think all of this almost did
not happen. “I got to know badminton by accident,” Cordon, 29, said
before a session at the Olympic
training village in Guatemala City.
Badminton buffs in his town of
La Union, in eastern Guatemala,
Reuters
Auckland
S
hot-putter Valerie Adams will have the opportunity to
become the first woman to win the event at three successive Olympics after she was named in New Zealand’s initial
athletics squad for this year’s Rio de Janeiro Games yesterday.
Adams, whose injury-hit 2015 season was ended by knee
surgery, won gold in Beijing and London and should challenge
for the title again in Rio, as she hopes to move clear of Tamara
Press of the former Soviet Union as the only women to have
won the title twice.
The 31-year-old, who was awarded the gold in London after
Belarus’ Nadzeya Ostapchuk tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, took bronze at the world indoor championships
in Portland last month.
Nick Willis, the Beijing 1,500 metres silver medallist, joins Adams at their fourth Games. Willis also won bronze in Portland.
World indoor shot put champion Tom Walsh, who threw a
season-leading 21.78 to clinch gold in Oregon and has three of
the five leading throws outdoors this year, has also been named
to compete at his first Olympics.
The 24-year-old Walsh, who finished fourth at last year’s world
championships in Beijing, will be joined in the event by two-time
world junior champion Jacko Gill, who was ninth in Portland.
“Our team is an exciting mix of multi-medal winning Olympic
and world champions and new emerging talent selected for
their first Games, across a broad spread of event disciplines from
shot put to 10,000m,” Athletics New Zealand chief executive
Linda Hamersley said.
“Since the London Olympics in 2012, we have seen tremendous growth in the depth and breadth of our new athletic talent
which we look to continue through to Tokyo (in 2020) and 2024.”
A further selection announcement is to be made in July.
FOCUS
Russian sports minister
claims ‘moral right’ to
Olympic participation
Last year’s winner, Eliud Kipchoge
of Kenya, is bidding to become
the first man to retain the London
Marathon title in almost a decade.
returns to the form of 2012 when she broke
the national record in London.
Her challenges are likely to come from
compatriots Cherono, Florence Kiplagat
and Aselefch Mergia, with last year’s winner Tigist Tufa heading up the Ethiopian
contingent.
“I was very surprised by my victory last
year,” Tufa said. “I want to win again and I
did a lot to prepare myself for this race.”
Kiprop wants jail terms for dopers
Kenya’s three-times world 1,500 metres
champion Asbel Kiprop reiterated yesterday that athletes who fail dope tests should
serve jail terms.
Commenting on the Anti-Doping Bill
which was signed into law on Friday by the
country’s President, Kiprop described it as
a huge relief for clean athletes.
“I said two years ago in Doha that dopers
should be jailed. I maintain that, although
it should not be done retrogressively,” he
said at the Kenya Police Championships on
the outskirts of the east African capital.
“I am a lucky athlete because this law has
come during my time. Our (Kenya’s) name
has been in the limelight for all the wrong
reasons. From now on, dopers should serve
jail terms. But those already banned should
just serve their sanctions,” he added.
Kenya is a traditional global powerhouse
in middle and long distance running but
about 40 of their athletes have failed dope
test in the past four years.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
gave Kenya a May 2 deadline to put in place
anti-doping systems which meet its demands.
Kiprop maintained his quest for an Olympic medal in Rio Games by tearing apart
a strong field at the Police Championships.
Kevin aims to put badminton
& Guatemala on Olympic map
AFP
Guatemala City
Adams gets chance to
secure Olympic hat-trick
put on an exhibition at his and other schools, and Cordon was smitten. “I went, and I started to play,”
said the slight Cordon. “I began to
practice, and three months later I
had won my first tournament.”
Over the past decade, as Cordon’s
trophy case filled, mainly thanks to
championships in the Americas, the
Guatemalan press began to notice
and cover him closely.
Normally, it only has eyes for
football—hence why his father reportedly named him after Keegan.
“My whole family loved football.
As an adult I kept playing, but
when I saw that badminton was
opening doors for me, and in order
to avoid injury, I decided to dedicate myself to it,” Cordon said.
Luis Barrios, a sports analyst
with the digital daily Soy502,
said Cordon had made a dent in
Guatemalans’ football obsession
and opened up some room for
racquets and shuttlecocks.
“Before Kevin, badminton was
not widely played or well known in
Guatemala, although it is present
in some areas,” Barrios said.
Jose Maria Solis, Cordon’s
coach since he was 16, said
Cordon has inspired more young
people to play badminton in
Guatemala.
Cordon won gold at the Pan Am
games in Guadalajara, Mexico in
2011, then defended his title in Toronto in 2015. At London 2012, he
went out in the knockout rounds,
but his two wins to get there were
the first by a Guatemalan in the
sport at any Olympics.
Solis urged authorities in Guatemala, a poor country wracked
by gang and drug violence, to
earmark more money for sports
federations, which are starting to
make a name—albeit a small one—
on the world stage.
One sport in which this is happening is racewalking. Erick Barrondo won silver at the London
games—the only Olympic medal
Guatemala has ever earned.
“For us it is very clear that
sports such as badminton, racewalking, gymnastics and others
are doing a lot for Guatemala, and
it is a matter of raising awareness
to give them more support,” said
coach Solis.
“My whole family
loved football.
As an adult I kept
playing, but when I
saw that badminton
was opening doors
for me, and in order
to avoid injury, I
decided to dedicate
myself to it”
“I am only 50 percent fit now. By the time
of the (Olympic) Trials, I hope to be 70 or
80 percent, then I will be good to go,” he
said. “I will be running at the first Diamond
League meeting in Doha in two weeks then
at the Nike Meeting in Eugene, followed by
Oslo and back to Kenya for the (Kenyan)
Championships and Trials,” Kiprop said
after winning the race in 3:40.50.
The world champion moved back and
forth during the race and even had the luxury of slowing down on the home stretch
before speeding past his strongest challenger, Abednego Chesebe, to win easily.
Chesebe was second in 3:40.90.
“This is only April and I am happy with
my shape. We still have a long way to go. By
August when the Games start in Rio, I will
be in a better shape. My aim is the Olympic
final. Anything else will follow from there,”
Kiprop said.
DPA
Berlin
R
ussia sports minister
Vitaly Mutko believes
his country’s athletes
have a “moral right”
to be at the forthcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro despite currently being suspended from competition.
“We have done everything
possible to ensure that the suspension is lifted,” Mutko said in
an interview with the German
magazine Der Spiegel yesterday.
The Russian athletics federation is presently suspended
by the governing body IAAF
over a doping and corruption
scandal. In recent weeks several Russian sportspeople have
tested positive for meldonium,
which has been banned from
this year.
“It is often prescribed where
we are against heart problems
and for prophylaxis,” Mutko
said. “It is not a terrible anabolic, it only helps to recover.”
An IAAF council meeting
will decide on June 17 whether
the Russian suspension will be
lifted but Mutko insisted the
country was set on reforms.
“We have replaced officials
and changed suspected coaches,” he said. “Our athletes have
the moral right to be in Rio.”
SPOTLIGHT
Thorpe fan Guy aims to leave
his own Olympic mark in Rio
Reuters
Bath, England
J
ames Guy idolised Australian great
Ian Thorpe as a boy and now Britain’s
200 metres freestyle world champion hopes to inspire a new generation
of swimmers when he makes his Olympic
debut in Rio this August.
The 20-year-old is one of the big hopes
of a revived British team as winner of two
golds and a silver at last year’s Worlds in
Kazan, Russia, in the same discipline that
the ‘Thorpedo’ once dominated.
Speaking after Team GB announced a
26-strong swim squad, Guy reminisced
about that first Olympic memory that fired
his imagination.
“In 2004, the ‘Race of the Century’,
watching (Dutch defending champion Pieter) van den Hoogenband, (American
Michael) Phelps and Thorpe doing the 200
free. That was something special,” he smiled.
“I remember Dad saying ‘Oh, there’s a
new American guy on TV’. I was like ‘Who
is he, never even heard of him before. I bet
he’s crap, isn’t he?
“Dad said: ‘He’ll beat Thorpe in the 200’
‘He won’t beat Thorpe’. ‘He will’. I remember
watching the TV and screaming and screaming and Thorpe won. Thorpey was my hero.”
Phelps, now the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals from three
Games including 18 golds, won six titles
at Athens in 2004 while still a teenager.
He had won four golds already at the 2003
world championships.
Thorpe, then the 200m freestyle world
record holder, had been the most successful
male swimmer at the previous 2000 Games
in Sydney.
In Russia last year, Guy took the 200m
title that Thorpe won in 2001 and 2003 as
well as the 4x200m relay gold. He also took
400m freestyle silver. In 2014 he won Commonwealth Games gold in the 4x100 medley.
The 200m freestyle in Rio could be another classic battle.
Asked whether he felt young kids might
watch him swim there with the same wideeyed excitement that he had shown all those
years ago, Guy nodded.
“That’s pretty special. I want to inspire
the next generation, want to grow the sport
in the UK,” he said.
“This year is a big swimming year for us,
I want people to get involved as well and
watch us compete because it is the biggest
year of our lives.”
The awe of competing against the big
beasts of swimming has faded, however,
for a swimmer who describes himself as an
‘animal’ in the water.
Kazan marked the moment that Guy
knew he had arrived.
“There was (American Ryan) Lochte
and (China’s) Sun Yang (alongside). I
was like ‘Oh My God, this is sick’. Now
I don’t see it as that any more,” he said.
“They are good friends now and we race
each other.
“You’re in the pool, someone’s beside
you and it’s just a bigger meet. That’s all it
is. I don’t see them as kind of my heroes any
more. But obviously I respect what they’ve
done. To be part of that and race with them
is a complete honour.”
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
7
SPORT
GOLF
Albatross puts Hend in contention at Shenzhen
AFP
Shenzhen
B
rit Callum Shinkwin catapulted up the leaderboard at
the Shenzhen International
yesterday in an unfinished
third round of play, which was pushed
back by numerous weather delays.
Thunderstorms at the Genzon
Golf Club in southern China meant
a loss of more than six-and-a-half
hours of play over the first two days
of the tournament. Yesterday’s third
round play was also suspended due
to bad light, with only 20 players
having completed their rounds.
Yet, despite the unfavourable conditions, Shinkwin shot a 10-underpar 62 that bumped him up to second,
behind South Korea’s Soomin Lee.
During delayed round two play earlier in the day, Australian Scott Hend
(pic), winner of last month’s True
Thailand Classic, fired an albatross
that also put him hot on Lee’s heels.
Hend, winner of last month’s True
Thailand Classic, shot a seven-under-par 65, equalling the low round
of the week with a rare combination
of an eagle and an albatross.
“It’s my sixth albatross, so it’s
always nice to make an albatross,
especially in the tournament,” the
46-year-old said in comments posted on the European Tour website.
At the end of round two, Hend was
tied fourth with England’s Lee Slattery (66) on eight-under-par 136.
First-round co-leaders Alexander
Levy of France and England’s Tommy
Fleetwood carded matching 72s to
drop into a share of ninth place along
with Spaniard Nacho Elvira (68) in
round two. Neither had time to play
in round three.
Earlier in the day, American world
number four and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson fired a
69 to go into a five-way tie for 16th
place, nine shots behind the leader.
Kapur closes in Japan win
India’s Shiv Kapur fired a two-under-par 69 to grab a one-stroke lead
from Japan’s Kodai Ichihara at the
Panasonic Open after yesterday’s
third round.
After 14 straight pars, Kapur carded back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16
to reach the clubhouse at nine-under
204 at the $1.25 million event sanc-
tioned by the Japanese and Asian
tours.
Overnight leader Ichihara, chasing a maiden career victory in Chiba,
southeast of Tokyo, finished in regulation to lie one adrift with Australia’s Marcus Fraser—the current
Order of Merit leader—a further shot
back after a 67.
Helped by a 40-foot save on the
eighth hole, Kapur put himself in
prime position to become the third
Indian to win in Japan after Jeev
Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa.
“That save was a bonus and kept
my head in it,” said Kapur. “You can’t
play average golf and win. I have to go
out and play good golf.”
South Korea’s KT Kim, bidding to
win for the second week running,
Taiwan’s Hung Chien-yao, Korean Lee Sang-hee and Thailand’s
Khrongpha Thanyakorn were tied
with Fraser at 206, along with Japan’s Yuta Ikeda.
Steele three ahead in Texas
Brendan Steele took advantage of
relatively calm conditions at one of
his favourite venues to earn a threeshot lead in the second round of the
weather-disrupted Texas Open in
San Antonio on Friday.
American Steele, the 2011 champion, mixed six birdies with two
bogeys and a double at the par-four
15th to card two-under 70 on the
rain-softened Oaks layout at TPC
San Antonio. In pursuit of his second
career win on the PGA Tour, he posted a 10-under total of 134 to match
the tournament’s 36-hole low set by
compatriot Ben Curtis in 2012.
Americans Scott Langley (68) and
Charley Hoffman (71) shared second
place on seven-under with Australian Stuart Appleby, who recovered
from a nightmare start to shoot 70.
Appleby four-putted from seven
feet at his first hole, the 10th, twice
missing from two feet before finally
holing out for a triple bogey.
The cut will fall at even-par 144,
with South African Branden Grace,
winner of last week’s Heritage Classic, advancing on the number after consecutive rounds of 72. Phil
Mickelson and Ernie Els were among
those set to miss the cut.
Nomura goes 3 shots clear
Japan’s Haru Nomura produced a
TENNIS
SPOTLIGHT
Records on the line
as Nadal, Nishikori
battle for Barca title
‘I’m just glad to be in the final. I’m playing well this week. I really get the support when I play here in
Spain, it helps so much. I’ll need more of it for this final. I’ll be preparing as best I can for a tough one’
DPA
Barcelona
R
afael Nadal and Kei Nishikori will both aim for records
in the final of the Barcelona
Open after the pair of showcase seeds produced straight-set
semi-final wins yesterday.
Top seed Nadal beat German
Philipp Kohlschreiber for the 12th
time in 13 meetings, posting a 6-3,
6-3 victory to stand on the verge of a
record ninth title in the Catalan capital as well as a possible record-tying
49th clay trophy.
Nadal is placed one spot behind
the all-time record of clay honours
held by Guillermo Vilas from three
decades ago.
Nishikori, winner of the last two
Barcelona editions and seeded second, claimed his 14th straight match
at the Real Club de Tenis in quickfire
style, taking 66 minutes to eliminate
Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2.
If he wins his third straight title,
ATP number six Nishikori could join
Nadal and Mats Wilander as the only
men to have produced three in a row
at the event.
Nadal and Nishikori are both into
their third finals of the season and
are also set to play their second final
in succession.
Nadal won Monte Carlo last weekend while Nishikori lost the Miami
final to Novak Djokovic, the last
event he played prior to Spain.
Nadal spent 91 minutes in handing Kohlschreiber a fifth loss on
clay in their series. The German was
plagued by 37 unforced errors while
Nadal thrilled his home fans with 18
winners and three breaks of serve.
“I’m just glad to be in the final,”
Nadal said. “I’m playing well this
week. I really get the support when I
play here in Spain, it helps so much.
I’ll need more of it for this final. I’ll be
preparing as best I can for a tough one.”
Nishikori totally dominated Paire
and ended a two-match losing streak
from last autumn against the French
sixth seed. Asia’s top player prevailed with five breaks as Paire made
27 unforced errors.
Paire fought to save four matchpoints in the final game but went
down to defeat on Nishikori’s fifth
with a volley error.
“He can be on and off his game,”
Nishikori said. “He’s got a great
backhand and serve, but he was not
making many first serves today. I
tried to step in and attack his second serve. I was a little shaky in the
second set but I’m happy to win and
reach another final. I love Spain and
strong finish on the tougher back
nine to take a three-shot lead after
the second round at the Swinging
Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco.
The 23-year-old bided her time
with 11 consecutive pars, before rolling in 12-foot birdies at the next two
holes as she signed for a two-underpar 70 to move clear of the field in a
testing breeze at the Lake Merced
Golf Club.
“I keep my patience, so I’m so
relaxed, and a couple putts in, and
that’s it,” Nomura, who won the
Women’s Australian Open in February, said after reaching the halfway
mark on a nine-under 135 total.
Australian teenager Minjee Lee,
coming off a victory at the LOTTE
Championship in Hawaii last week,
continued her strong form when she
surged into a share of second with a
bogey-free 65. Lee was joined at sixunder by overnight leader Ryu Soyeon (75) and Choi Na-yeon (70) of
South Korea, with two-time defending champion Lydia Ko a further shot
back after two late bogeys.
Ko, who turns 19 today, is seeking to become the youngest player to
win an LPGA event for three consecutive years.
Nine-hole
format gains
popularity
Reuters
London
W
ith more and more part-timers
finding they have less time for
18-hole golf lasting upwards of
four hours, a shorter form of the
sport could give the amateur game the shot in
the arm it desperately needs.
Hoping perhaps to have the same galvanising effect on golf as the Twenty20 explosion
has had on cricket interest, British Open organisers, the R&A, decided to take a lead this
week by launching a new nine-hole event to
be played at Royal Troon.
Amateurs will get the chance to try out the
Scottish links on July 9, the week before the
best golfers in the world turn up at the course
to take part in the Open.
To further indicate the growing interest in
the shorter form of the game, the prize fund
for the Farmfoods British Par-3 Championship in Warwickshire, hosted by Tony Jacklin
from July 26-29, has risen by 20 percent to a
record 150,000 euros ($169,170).
“I’m really pleased to see the R&A taking
the lead in this area,” triple major winner Padraig Harrington said in a statement.
“For amateur golfers to be able to play the
Open venue in championship condition immediately before the best players in the world is a
fantastic initiative, and I’m sure this new competitive format will encourage more people to
get out on the course,” the Irishman added.
R&A research has highlighted the challenges many face in finding enough hours to play
18 holes. Sixty percent of golfers surveyed recently said they would enjoy the game more if
it took up less time.
“We... will be promoting this format as
a way of playing golf in less time which can
have wider appeal among people who lead
increasingly busy lives today,” said R&A chief
executive Martin Slumbers.
Murray hints at pulling out of
Davis Cup QF against Serbia
A
German qualifier Laura Siegemund
stunned top-seeded Agnieszka
Radwanska of Poland in straight sets
to set up a title clash with compatriot
Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart. (AFP)
always feel very comfortable playing
in Barcelona. I’ve had good luck for
the last two years and hope for more
of the same in the final.”
Paire had defeated Nishikori last
year at the US Open and then in Tokyo a month later, a home embarrassment for the Japanese ace.
Pouille to face Verdasco
in Bucharest title clash
French hope Lucas Pouille reached
an ATP top-level tour final for the
first time in his career thanks to a 7-6
(7/4), 6-3 win over Federico Delbonis
of Argentina in Bucharest yesterday.
The 22-year-old, ranked 72nd in the
world, reached the round of 16 at
Monte Carlo last week as he opened
his clay-court season leading up to
the French Open, which starts in
Paris in late May.
In the final in Bucharest, he will
meet Fernando Verdasco, who defeated fellow Spaniard Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the
other semi. A former top-10 player,
Verdasco has fallen on harder times
of late and has dropped to 86th place
in the world rankings. He has won
six ATP Tour titles during his career,
four of them coming on clay. His last
tournament win came two years ago
in Houston, Texas.
Kerber outlasts Kvitova to
reach Stuttgart final again
Title holder Angelique Kerber outlasted two-time Wimbledon winner
Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 yesterday to reach the Porsche Grand
Prix final again. The second-seeded
Australian Open champion Kerber
claimed victory over tournament
number five Kvitova in 2 hours 3
minutes, breaking a 2-2 tie with four
unanswered games to triumph on her
first match-point in front of a partisan German home crowd.
In today’s final, Kerber will meet
fellow German surprise package Laura Siegemund, a 71st-ranked qualifier
who saw off top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in straight sets 6-4,
6-2. Siegemund ousted top 10 players
Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci in
previous matches.
“I am delighted to be in the final
again,” Kerber said.
“It is always tough against Petra.
The crowd really pushed me when
I was a little down after the second
set. I then started well into the third
which helped.”
Kerber drew first blood for 2-1
when Kvitova double-faulted three
times in a row, and a fourth break
overall in the set made it 6-4. The
second went with serve until Kvitova
broke to love to lock the sets.
The German then got the deciding
break for 3-2 in the battle of two lefthanders when her shot off the frame
of her racket just fell in and Kvitova
hit a backhand wide. She wrapped up
matters on another mistake from her
Czech opponent, Kvitova’s 33rd error to Kerber’s 14.
Kerber squared the series with
Kvitova at 4-4 and has high hopes
to lift her second trophy of the year
after the Melbourne triumph, and a
ninth overall.
“I know I can do it, I have proven
it,” Kerber said. “This week is very
special. I wanted to get to the final
and want to win it again.”
Kvitova said: “Angie played so
good today” and acknowledged that
“I had no energy left in the end” but
she was happy overall with her first
semi-final spot of the year ahead of
the Madrid Masters where she aims
to defend her title in early May.
ndy Murray has hinted he might opt
not to play for Davis Cup holders Great
Britain in their quarter-final in Serbia later
this year after it was announced the tie
will take place on clay. Murray led Britain
to their first Davis Cup success in 79 years
with victory over Belgium in November, but
their hopes of retaining the title would be
severely damaged if the former Wimbledon
champion decided not to play.
The Scot has a hectic schedule with the
French Open, Wimbledon and US Open
joined on the calendar this year by the
Olympic Games in Rio, and both he and
Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic
could withdraw from the tie in Belgrade
scheduled for July 15 to 17.
Murray will have already converted to the
grass-court season with Queen’s and Wimbledon high on his agenda, while the Olympics
and the US Open take place on hard courts,
meaning he could play three consecutive
competitions on three different surfaces.
Asked if the decision to play their Davis
Cup tie on clay could potentially alter his
commitment, Murray replied: “Potentially.
I need to see how my body is first. I leave
now to go away next week to Madrid, it’s
pretty much full on through until the Olympics for the next few months.
“It is a number of surface changes in
a very short space of time, so you never
know how the body is going to react or
how it’s going to pull up after those
changes. I’ll just have to see how my body
is. Hopefully I’ll be fine, but it’s going to
be a tough few months and I think all the
players are aware of that right now. The
more surface changes that are put in there
makes it that bit more tricky.”
8
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
SPORT
NBA
SPOTLIGHT
Irving’s key triple
gives Cavaliers 3-0
lead over Pistons
‘We understand what we all want individually and what will help the team’
DPA
Los Angeles
K
yrie Irving beat the
shot clock and broke
the hearts of the Detroit Pistons.
Irving scored 26 points, including a key triple with 45 seconds remaining, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Pistons
101-91 on Friday to grab a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference opening round
playoff series.
“Kyrie is a great point guard
but more than that he’s a great
player,” said teammate LeBron
James. “He knows how to play
the game and make big shots.
Obviously, the big shot was with
.7 on the clock.”
James finished with 20 points
and 13 rebounds while Kevin
Love also had 20 with 12 boards
for the Cavaliers, who hit 12of-29 triples and controlled the
boards 46-32 en route to their
11 consecutive playoff victory
against the Pistons.
“Right now we’re in a great
flow,” James said of Irving, Love
and himself. “We understand
what we all want individually
and what will help the team.”
The top-seeded Cavs complete a 4-0 sweep of the eighthseeds in Sunday’s game 4 in
Detroit. “My focus now is on
Sunday and how I can prepare
these guys to close those guys
out,” James said. “A Stan Van
Gundy (coached) team never
quits.”
The Cavs led 95-90 on a J.R.
Smith 3-pointer with 3:30 remaining. Out of a timeout,
heady Matthew Dellavedova
found Irving in the right corner
for a quick release 3-point dagger with .7 seconds left on the
shot clock to open up an eight
point advantage.
“It was a great play drawn
by T-Lue (coach Tyronn Lue)
in time in the moment,” said
Irving, who shot 11-of-20 and
3-of-6 from behind the arc.
“With .7 and you have the talent, execution is all that matters. “Whoever gets the shot we
just want him to shoot it confidently and we all believe in it.
Luckily, I got the shot off and it
went in.”
Dellavedova tacked on two free
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (No 2) drives to
the basket during the first quarter against the Detroit
Pistons in game three of the first round of NBA Playoffs at
The Palace of Auburn Hills. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
throws and aside from a meaningless foul shot by Aron Baynes
with 22 seconds left, the Pistons
went scoreless for the final 3:56.
“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do, Pistons coach Stan
Van Gundy said. “We went to the
plays we always go with, we just
didn’t do a good job.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
had 18 points, Andre Drummond added 17 while Reggie
Jackson finished with 13 and 12
assists for the Pistons, who are
making their first playoff appearance in seven years.
“We fought hard down the
stretch. We made mistakes and
it came back to bite us,” Drummond said. “They’re a veteran
team and when it comes to
crunch time they’re going to
make the right play.”
Detroit will be looking to
avoid an early exit on Sunday.
No team has ever rallied to win a
series after trailing 0-3. “We’re
down 0-3 but someone has to be
the team that comes back from
it, so why not us?” Jackson said.
“We’ve been in every game.
We’re confident and have to
continue to play the same way,
figure out a way to put it together for a whole 48 (minutes) and
take those five-minute windows
out where when they’re better
than us.”
Elsewhere:
•Boston Celtics 111, Atlanta Hwks 103: Isaiah Thomas exploded for a career-high
42 points and the Celtics escaped the visiting Hawks to
pull within 2-1 in their Eastern
Conference first-round series.
Thomas’ total was the most
for a Celtics player in the post-
season since Rajon Rondo went
off for 44 in 2012. Boston blew a
20-point third-quarter cushion
and was knotted at 96-apiece
with 6:50 left before Thomas
scored 10 points in a game-ending 16-7 run. Evan Turner had 17
points and Amir Johnson added
15 for the fifth-seeded Celtics,
who gave coach Brad Stevens his
first playoff win. Jeff Teague had
23 points for the fourth-seeded
Hawks, while Kent Bazemore
and Germany’s Dennis Schroder
added 20 apiece.
Game 4 is Sunday in Boston.
•San Antonio Spurs 96,
Memphis Grizzlies 87: Kawhi
Leonard tossed in 13 of his 32
points in the fourth quarter and
the visiting Spurs pulled away
from the injury-depleted Grizzlies to take a commanding 3-0
lead in their Western Confer-
Mavs coach Carlisle
irked by Durant elbow
AFP
Dallas
D
allas Mavericks coach
Rick Carlisle called
out Kevin Durant on
Friday for an errant
elbow thrown by the Oklahoma
City star in the Thunder’s NBA
playoff win over the Mavs on
Thursday.
Carlisle said several moves by
the Thunder crossed the line,
but he was particularly steamed
by Durant catching Mavericks
center Salah Mejri on the chest
as the two players were lined up
for a free-throw attempt.
“There were four, what I
would categorize as non-basketball physical escalations that
were initiated by them,” Carlisle
said, “including one intentional,
unprovoked elbow at the freethrow line that I didn’t understand and I’ve never seen a guy
like Kevin Durant ever do that to
a player.
“Ultimately, that led to two
more escalations between the
teams,” Carlisle added. “So I’m
concerned about that. There’s
no place for that in our game.”
Carlisle stressed that the incidents in question weren’t responsible for the Mavs’ 131-102
loss on their home floor, which
gave the Thunder a 2-1 lead in
the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
“Look, we didn’t play well,”
Carlisle said.
“They played great. We’ve got
to do more things to keep them
from playing great. And we’ve
got to be ready for physical play
because they are initiating a lot
of things out there.”
Veteran Mavericks star Dirk
Nowitzki was involved in an incident when he got tangled with
Thunder guard Andre Roberson.
“I just thought on backto-back plays he tried to run
through me and then we just had
a few words,” Nowitzki said.
“I know he’s a good kid. That’s
just part of a playoff series.
There’s no hard feelings. Just in
the games sometimes, emotions
are going to run high and there’s
some stuff discussed that’s no
big deal after the game.
“You’re not going to get an
award for gamesmanship in the
playoffs,” the German added.
“You’re trying to win, trying
to compete. Usually game one,
game two, you kind of feel each
other out. By game three, you
hate each other.”
Warriors star Curry expects
to return today
Golden State star guard
Stephen Curry, sidelined by an
ankle injury as his Warriors fell
to the Houston Rockets, expects
to be back for game four of their
NBA playoff series today.
Curry has missed two games
with a sprained right ankle, but
said he would be “very surprised” if he doesn’t return on
Sunday and is prepared to play
through the pain barrier if need
be.
He didn’t enjoy watching in
Houston, where Golden State
went down 97-96 Thursday to a
jump shot by Rockets star James
Harden with two seconds to play.
The Rockets cut the deficit in
the best-of-seven Western Conference series to 2-1.
Curry is hoping to be in a position to help his team bounce
back. “I think I can play through
a little bit of discomfort and
whatnot, especially in a playoff
situation,” Curry told reporters,
adding that team medical staff
and coaches want him to sit “if
there is any ounce of instability
or doubt.”
“Obviously, they have my best
interest, but it’s kind of hard to
take that advice and sit out.
“It’s a tough feeling.”
ence opening round series. Second-seeded San Antonio can
complete a 4-0 sweep Sunday
in Memphis. Zach Randolph had
20 points and 11 rebounds, while
Matt Barnes added 17 with 11
boards for the seventh-seeded
Grizzlies, who were outscored
26-16 in the decisive fourth
quarter.
PLAYOFF RESULTS
Series best-of-seven
Eastern Conference
At Detroit
Cleveland .....101Detroit ..............91
(Cleveland leads series 3-0)
At Atlanta
Boston .............111Atlanta .......... 103
(Atlanta leads series 2-1)
Western Conference
At Memphis
San Antonio.96Memphis ........ 87
(San Antonioleads series 3-0)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant celebrates making a
basket against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half in game
three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines
Center. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
NHL
Sharks exorcise demons, eliminate Kings
The Sports Xchange
Los Angeles
B
rent Burns said he rarely
dwells on 2014. That
was when the San Jose
Sharks collapsed in the
Western Conference quarterfinals against the Los Angeles
Kings.
“The only time I really think
about it is when I’m asked a
question (about it),” Burns said.
“It’s been a totally different year.
It’s been a great group.”
Joonas Donskoi scored twice,
including the go-ahead goal in
the third period, and the Sharks
eliminated the Kings from the
Stanley Cup playoffs with a
6-3 victory on Friday at Staples
Center.
Donskoi slammed home the
winner at 3:58 of the third as the
Sharks won the Western Conference quarterfinal series 4-1 and
exacted revenge from Los Angeles after the Kings erased a 3-0
deficit by winning the final four
games of their first-round series
in 2014.
This wasn’t much easier, the
Sharks said, but the result was
entirely different.
“If you look throughout the
series, we had to work to get
any kind of balance against this
team,” said Pavelski, who tied
his career high of five goals in a
series.
Pavelski added a goal at 12:24
of the third as San Jose advanced
to the second round, where it
meets Anaheim or Nashville.
That series is tied 2-2.
Melker Karlsson scored an
empty-netter with 22 seconds
left in the third. Logan Couture
and Brent Burns each had three
assists for San Jose.
Second-period goals by Anze
Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Kris Versteeg rallied the Kings from a
3-0 deficit, but the Sharks seized
the lead again in the third.
“We were chasing the lead
all the time pretty much every
game, with the exception of
game one when we scored first
and we were chasing the lead the
rest of the way,” Kopitar said.
“You just can’t do that.”
Goaltender Martin Jones—a
former King—made 19 saves for
San Jose. The Kings’ Jonathan
Quick stopped 22 shots.
Donskoi scored on a wrist shot
for his first goal of the series at
1:08 of the first period for a 1-0
San Jose lead.
The Sharks had a chance to
San Jose Sharks Joonas Donskoi (L) scores a goal against Los Angeles Kings during the third period of Game Five of the Western Conference
First Round in the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center in Los Angeles, (Getty Images/AFP)
increase the margin for 1:44
early in the first with a 5-on-3
advantage after Dustin Brown
followed Luke Schenn to the box
for tripping Jones, but the Kings
prevented them from scoring.
However, Chris Tierney, on an
assist from Brent Burns, made
Los Angeles pay at 11:21 with his
first goal of the series to make it
2-0.
In the second period, a tip-in
by Matt Nieto pushed the margin to 3-0 at 4:05. For Nieto, it
was his first goal of the series.
San Jose got another chance to
increase the deficit when Patrick
Marleau was awarded a penalty
shot after getting hooked on a
breakaway by Jake Muzzin at 5:31
of the second, but Quick stuffed
it. Shortly after, Los Angeles
launched its comeback.
Kopitar was credited with a
goal that took two fortuitous
bounces. Drew Doughty fired a
rocked that glanced off Dwight
King and then off the skate of
Kopitar for the center’s second
goal of the series and reduce San
Jose’s lead to 3-1.
Carter sliced it to a goal when
he fielded a pass from Muzzin
and bounced a shot off the top
of the crossbar and into the net
at 11:26.
Versteeg tied the score with
3:24 left in the second. But the
rally would go for naught.
“We never came to the dressing
room after a period with a lead and
we weren’t able to establish the
lead and play with it for the whole
series, and we were always playing
from behind,” Kings left winger
Milan Lucic said.
RESULTS
Florida 1, NY Islanders 2 (SO)
Washington 0, Philadelphia 2
Dallas 4, Minnesota 5 (OT)
Los Angeles 3, San Jose 6
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
9
SPORT
MLB
FOCUS
Los Angeles Dodgers
fall to Rockies 7-5
‘It’s hard to keep your body right when you’re swinging your arm, doing all types of crazy stuff’
By Andy McCullough
Los Angeles Times
Colorado Rockies centre fielder Brandon Barnes
celebrates after hitting a two RBI triple in the
eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at
Coors Field. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
T
he drive missed Yasiel
Puig’s glove by inches,
banging off Coors Field’s
newly constructed fence
in right field and rolling across
the warning track. Puig bounced
off the wall and bounded forward
with 16 steps. Colorado rookie
Trevor Story rounded second
base as Puig bent to clasp the
baseball in his right hand.
Scott Kazmir had winced upon
impact, fearful of surrendering a
lead for the second time on the
evening. Then he watched as Puig
crow-hopped and attempted to
render the frustration that later
occurred in this 7-5 Los Angeles
Dodgers defeat a mere footnote.
Puig’s rainbow throw arched
over second base, over any
would-be cutoff men. The baseball landed just in front of third
baseman Justin Turner. He
snapped it into his glove and applied the tag on Story. Umpire
Hunter Wendelstedt pumped his
fist. The moment electrified the
crowd, even those clad in purple. Turner looked stunned. Puig
pumped his fist and maintained a
stony glare.
So much that Puig has done in
this season - the newfound punctuality, the renewed tenacity of
his at-bats - has earned praised.
But nothing had elicited the awe
of his throw in Friday’s fifth inning. The shadow of the play almost obscured the subsequent
Dodgers disappointment of the
evening, as reliever Yimi Garcia
walked off the mound with an
injury and Chris Hatcher served
up a two-run triple to Brandon
Barnes in the eighth.
The throw by Puig operated as
a metaphor _ enough caulk to fix
one crack created by the Dodgers’
pitching staff, but not a salve for
all its troubles.
The bullpen breakdown cost
the team (10-7) a chance for a
third consecutive victory. With
Garcia’s fastball velocity declining in rapid fashion, he gave up a
run in the seventh and exited with
a trainer. Hatcher pitched himself
into danger, yielding a walk and
a single before Barnes pulled the
Rockies ahead.
Adrian Gonzalez supplied
a home run in the fifth. Corey
Seager recovered from a frightful series in Atlanta with his second homer of the season. Kazmir
overcame the latest edition of
Rocky Mountain pinball, escaping after giving up four runs in
five innings. The bullpen collapsed in his wake.
After a tidy debut against the
Padres, a pair of starts against San
Francisco distressed Kazmir and
inflated his earned-run average.
The Giants pounded him for 10
runs in eight innings after which
Kazmir felt compelled to streamline his delivery.
When he revived his career in
Cleveland in 2013, Kazmir exaggerated the swing of his arm and
the sweep of his front leg in order
to generate velocity.
He needed the crutch, but it
came with a downside. In the
short-term, his delivery could
be difficult to repeat. And over
the course the season, the excess
movement fatigued him.
“It’s hard to keep your body
right when you’re swinging your
arm, doing all types of crazy
stuff,” Kazmir said on Thursday
morning in Atlanta.
Kazmir wanted to streamline
the process and integrate the mechanics of his slide-step motion
into his usual delivery. During the
week he suggested the switch to
pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.
“As soon as I said something,”
Kazmir said, “He was like, ‘You
know what? You’re absolutely
right. It’s so tough to repeat that
delivery.’”
His teammates spotted him a
three-run lead in the first inning.
After three days of offensive malaise in Atlanta, the group sprung
to two early homers off Colorado
starter Jon Gray.
Seager followed Chase Utley’s
leadoff triple by launching his
second home run of the season.
The baseball cleared the wall in
center field 415 feet away.
The Rockies raised the outfield fences this year, part of the
organisation’s annual attempt to
combat their home’s elevation
above sea level. But the home run
hit by Gonzalez made the offseason alterations moot. He powered a 96-mph fastball into the
second deck for a solo shot.
The lead was not safe for long.
Kazmir needed 49 pitches to finish two innings.
The Rockies scratched a run
across in the second. With the
bases loaded, Kazmir delayed a
beat as he went to cover first base,
arriving a step too short to complete a double play for the third
out.
Two innings later, Kazmir had
bigger problems. Nolan Arenado,
Colorado’s All-Star third baseman, lifted a solo homer over
the left field fence. The lead was
down to one, and it would only
last three more batters.
That’s when Ryan Raburn
turned on a belt-high fastball for
a two-run shot. Kazmir screamed
into his glove after the inning
ended, once more unable to hold
a sizeable, early lead.
His teammates picked him
in two ways in the fifth. With
the bases loaded and two out,
Raiders GM says
NFL draft pressure
increasing
By Jimmy Durkin
East Bay Times
T
he Raiders attacked free agency with vigor, adding
key pieces that helped shrink some of their most
glaring holes.
Add that to general manager Reggie McKenzie’s
recent draft success - quarterback Derek Carr, pass rusher
Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper the most notable _ and there’s reason to think the Raiders are feeling pretty
relaxed. Not quite.
“Honestly, I think there’s more pressure,” McKenzie said of
his approach to next week’s NFL draft. “I really do. You guys
write about how good Khalil, Amari and Derek and all these
guys are, how can that not put pressure on me? We’ve got to
continue to get really good players in here. We’re looking forward to building on that.”
McKenzie keeps things very close to the vest when it comes
to any aspects of his draft philosophy, and he stuck to that
script Friday when he and coach Jack Del Rio met the media
for their mandated pre-draft availability.
“I really don’t want to discuss philosophy, especially
mine,” McKenzie said.
In his case, it’s real easy for McKenzie to declare plans to
take the best available player, and he did so.
“We’re not about just going for a specific need,” McKenzie
said. “We want to get the best player that can help this football team.”
That becomes a little harder now that Oakland is picking
at No. 14, the lowest pick they’ve held in the first round since
2005.
“It’s a little different,” McKenzie said. “I prefer to be picking 32nd, but you know, the lower you pick, as far as down the
line, it’s harder to figure out what the other teams are going
to do.”
The Raiders can more easily take the best player available route thanks to what they did in free agency, where they
signed cornerback Sean Smith and safety Reggie Nelson to
boost the secondary, added left guard Kelechi Osemele to
beef up the offensive line and landed linebacker Bruce Irvin
to provide an additional pass rusher. They also re-signed left
tackle Donald Penn and punter Marquette King.
The moves have made the Raiders a popular target for offseason hype and there’s not enough insulation to keep some
of that from seeping into the building.
“I remind my scouts, don’t believe the hype,” McKenzie
said. “You still scout hard, still scout them the way we always
have.
“We’re still going to grind. That’s just the way we do it. Jack
and I always talk about, we want to get to the playoffs and
then, that’s when the season starts. We want to try to bring
home the trophy.”
Del Rio, entering his second year with the Raiders, doesn’t
have to remind his players anything like that.
“It’s not hard to remember who won the Super Bowl,”
Del Rio said, referring to the division rival Denver Broncos.
“We’ve accomplished a lot in terms of the work that we’ve
done and we know there’s a huge mountain of work in front
of us.”
Gonzalez poked a two-run single into right. Then, after Story
smashed his ball off the fence,
Puig unleashed that vaunted right
arm and stole the show - at least,
until the Dodgers bullpen arrived.
RESULTS
NY Yankees ...... 6
Washington ..... 8
Oakland ............... 8
Cleveland ............2
Chicago Cubs 8
NY Mets ............... 6
Boston ................... 6
Philadelphia......5
Chicago W Sox..5
Kansas City .......4
Colorado ..............7
Pittsburgh.......... 8
Seattle.....................5
Tampa Bay ......... 3
Minnesota...........4
Toronto ..................5
Detroit .......................1
Cincinnati ..............1
Atlanta .................... 3
Houston ................ 2
Milwaukee .......... 2
Texas ....................... 0
Baltimore ............ 2
LA Dodgers.......5
Arizona................... 7
LA Angels............. 2
(10 innings)
San Francisco 8 Miami .........................1
San Diego ...........4 St. Louis ...................1
SPOTLIGHT
Colabello suspended 80 games over doping
AFP
Toronto
T
oronto Blue Jays first baseman
Chris Colabello has been suspended for 80 games after testing
positive for an anabolic steroid,
Major League Baseball said Friday.
Colabello tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, but said in a
statement he doesn’t know how he came to
fail the test.
“On March 13, I got one of the scariest and
most definitely the least expected phone
calls of my entire life,” Colabello said. “I was
informed by the Players Association that a
banned substance was found in my urine.
“I have spent every waking moment since
that day trying to find an answer as to why or
how? The only thing I know is that I would
never compromise the integrity of the game
of baseball. I love this game too much! I care
too deeply about it.
“I am saddened more for the impact this
will have on my teammates, the organization and fans of the Toronto Blue Jays,” he
added. “I hope that before anyone passes
judgment on me they can take a look at the
man that I am, and everything that I have
done to get to where I am in my career.”
Colabello, 32, is batting .069 in 10 games
this season. Last season, he batted .321 with
15 homers and 54 runs-batted-in.
“This is obviously an unfortunate situation that we are in with Chris,” Blue Jays
general manager Ross Atkins said in a statement. “We believe in him as a person and
a player. We also fully endorse the Major
League Baseball drug-testing policy.
“Chris has overcome a great deal in his
career and has been a key contributor to this
team. While we are certainly disappointed
with today’s news, we’re confident he’ll return ready to compete and will have taken
the steps needed to ensure that this does not
happen again.”
Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone is the
same steroid that Philadelphia Phillies
rookie pitcher Daniel Stumpf tested positive
for, drawing an 80-game ban that started on
April 14.
Half a dozen players have been suspended
this year by Major League Baseball. That includes New York Mets relief pitcher Jenrry
Mejia, who was banned for life after a third
positive test for steroids.
Mejia is the first player to receive a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball, a
punishment that also prohibits him from
playing in pro leagues in other countries,
including Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
Baseball’s anti-doping policy does allow
him to apply for reinstatement after one
year, but he must sit out at least two seasons
before he could be reinstated.
10
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
SPORT
CYCLING
Valverde looking for
more success in Liege
Valverde’s main aim this season is to finish in the top three at Giro d’Italia
Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (right) sprints ahead
of French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe (left) to win
the 80th La Fleche Wallonne, a 196km race from
Marche-en-Famenne to Huy in Belgium last week. (AFP)
AFP
Liege, Belgium
A
lejandro Valverde will be looking to take another step towards
Ardennes Classics immortality
when he lines up for Liege-Bastogne-Liege today.
The 35-year-old Spaniard will be the
man to beat in Belgium during ‘La Doyenne’ (the oldest) having claimed a record
fourth victory in the midweek Fleche
Wallonne, the second of the three Ardennes Classics.
Last year Movistar’s Valverde followed
up his Fleche victory with a third success at Liege—two behind Belgian great
Eddy Merckx—as well and few would bet
against another double, even if the man
himself is less confident.
Valverde’s main aim this season is to
finish in the top three at next month’s
Giro d’Italia and he is wary of putting his
participation in that event at risk during
the Liege slog.
“I’ll be at the start of Liege-Bastogne-
Liege with real hopes of winning but
without putting my Giro participation at
risk,” said Valverde.
“They say the weather will get worse,
it will be tough for everyone. But I’ll start
with the advantage of having won the
Fleche. I hope it doesn’t rain.”
Rain would make the road surfaces
slippery and increase the risk of crashes,
not least in a hectic finale that has been
changed slightly this year.
Ahead of the final grind up to the finish
in Ans, near Liege, the final categorised
ascent on the 253km course is no longer
the Cote de San Nicolas 6.5km from the
finish. Instead there will be a brutal 600m
cobbled climb just 2.5km from the finish
with an average gradient of 10.5 percent,
the Rue Naniot.
With a fast descent both into and off
Rue Naniot the potential for calamity is
greatly increased, but so too are the opportunities to make a solo attack stick,
something that has only happened once
in recent years when Kazakh Maxim Iglinsky—since banned for testing positive
for drugs—chased down and left for dead
Italian Vincenzo Nibali.
Nibali will be in the field as he too prepares for the Giro, although he was far
from his best form in the Giro del Trentino this week, finishing down in 21st
overall, more than six minutes behind
Spanish winner Mikel Landa. Lo Squalo
(the shark) will be expected to challenge
Valverde, though.
So too will the pair that finished just
behind him at Fleche, Etixx teammates
Julian Alaphilippe and Dan Martin.
Frenchman Alaphilippe was second to
Valerde at both Fleche and Liege last year
and second again in Huy on Wednesday.
At just 23 years of age, Alaphilippe
is a star in the making and sure to enjoy
great success in the Ardennes and may
be El Imbatido’s biggest rival. And Alaphilippe, who says his legs are feeling good
after a tough start to the season, is already
focused on Liege.
“The weather will be difficult, we’ve
been told. You have to remain wellplaced and think about saving energy,” he
said. Martin is another playing down his
chances in Liege, which he won in 2013,
saying that Valverde was too strong at
Fleche despite he and Alaphilippe working together.
“Every year, we hope that Valverde is
less good, but he’s just a great rider,” said
Martin. “Every year he remains the favourite. But it gives us more motivation
to beat him. Julian and I are in top shape
so it’s promising for Liege-BastogneLiege. It’s good to have two strong riders
for Liege. It’ll also depend on the weather,
however, because I tend to suffer when
it’s cold.”
It’s expected to be not only cold but
there may also be snow. Outside of those,
Australian Simon Gerrans, winner in
2014, and the likes of Spanish veteran
Joaquim Rodriguez, Frenchman Romain
Bardet and Italian Domenico Pozzovivo,
the latter pair both impressive in Trentino, could all have their say.
But one rider unlikely to be mixing
it with the potential winners is Tour de
France champion Chris Froome, whose
best previous result in Liege was 36th and
who will be helping Polish team-mate
Michal Kwiatkowski.
Nibali still searching
for ‘legs’ ahead of Liege
Liege, Belgium: Vincenzo
Nibali admitted he has yet to
find his best form ahead of a
tilt at a second victory in the
Giro d’Italia next month. Nibali
will be lining up at the one-day
classic Liege-Bastogne-Liege
today with many putting him
amongst the favourites, but the
31-year-old Italian was playing
down his chances yesterday.
“My legs are still a bit tired
so today (Saturday) was about
recovery. Tomorrow will be
another very tough day, also
because of the weather,” he
said. Cold, rain and perhaps
even snow are expected on
the 253km race known as ‘La
Doyenne’ (the oldest).
Nibali may not fancy his own
chances but his Astana team
arrive in Belgium with a strong
team and two riders who were
in good form at the Giro del
Trentino this week.
Estonian Tanel Kangert won
two stages and finished second
overall, just two seconds behind
Spanish winner Mikel Landa.
Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang was
third overall at 14sec at the end
of the four-day race while Nibali
could finish only 21st, almost
seven minutes off the pace.
“It won’t be easy but we’ve
got a strong team with two wins
from Kangert and Fuglsang
in great form, so we’ll have
chances,” said Nibali, who was
less enthusiastic about his own
hopes. “I don’t know, we’ll see
because I’m searching for my
best form. I’m taking it day by
day. “I’ve been working really
hard and tomorrow’s race will
even help me get that bit more
and I’ll see how I am at the end.”
Sicilian Nibali finished second
in 2012 when he was beaten by
Kazakh Maxim Iglinsky, who
was caught taking EPO two
years later and subsequently
banned.
Lo Squalo (the shark) -- as
Nibali is known—won the Giro
in 2013 before claiming Tour de
France victory the next year as
well. He also won the Vuelta a
Espana in 2010 and is aiming
for a fourth Grand Tour win
next month in his homeland.
VARNISH SAYS SUTTON
TOLD HER TO ‘GO AND
HAVE A BABY’
The track cyclist Jess Varnish
has alleged she was told to “go
and have a baby” by British Cycling’s technical director, Shane
Sutton, when she was dropped
from the Olympic programme.
Varnish was told last month
that her contract on the Olympic podium programme would
not be renewed after her failure
to qualify for the Olympic
Games in the women’s team
sprint. Varnish had publicly
criticised Sutton and British
Cycling’s head coach, Iain Dyer,
in the wake of that failure.
British Cycling has insisted the
decision to drop Varnish was
made on performance grounds
but the 25-year-old has claimed
in the Daily Mail that Sutton told
her she was “too old”.
Sutton has denied making
the comments.
According to Varnish, she
went to British Cycling’s base at
the Manchester Velodrome to
collect her belongings after her
contract was not renewed and
asked to see the performance
data which had led to her being
dropped.
“I saw Shane and Iain and
asked if I could have some of
the [performance] information,”
she said. “They couldn’t give it
to me and said I’d been on the
programme too long, that I was
too old at the age of 25. Shane
said that I should just move on
and go and have a baby.”
Varnish, whose boyfriend
Liam Phillips is due to compete for Sutton in BMX in Rio,
claimed there was a macho culture within British Cycling. She
said: “After 2012 I was told that,
“with an ass like mine I couldn’t
change position within the
team sprint”. It basically implies
the stronger woman has to go
in “man one” position because
I’m quite glute dominant, shall
we say.”
Vincenzo Nibali may not fancy his own chances but his Astana
team has arrived in Belgium with a strong team.
RUGBY
Itoje stars as Saracens keep double dream alive
AFP
Reading, Southern England
Saracens’ lock Maro Itoje (left) and flanker
Will Fraser tackle Wasps’ lock Joe Launchbury
(centre) during the European Rugby Champions
Cup semi-final at Madejski Stadium in Reading,
southern England yesterday. (AFP)
E
ngland lock Maro Itoje was at the heart
of a committed Saracens forward effort
as they saw off English rivals Wasps 2417 in a European Champions Cup semifinal at Reading’s Madejski Stadium yesterday.
Victory kept Premiership leaders Saracens
on course for a domestic and European double.
The London club will now play the winners of
today’s second semi-final between Leicester
and Paris-based Racing 92 in the May 14 European final in Lyon.
Saracens dominated up front but could not
shake Wasps off as they unusually squandered
chances. But Itoje told Sky Sports: “The resilience in the team and the quality of the person
in the team helps us control games and come
through difficult points in the match.”
Saracens, losing European finalists in 2014
and yet to win the continental title, led 8-7 at
half-time after a charge-down try by Michael
Rhodes and a penalty by Owen Farrell helped
them recover after it took Wasps just 73 seconds to open the scoring through Dan Robson’s
converted try.
Two more penalties by England goal-kicker
Farrell and one from Gopperth followed. Farrell
kicked another penalty before a Saracens penalty try late on took them into a 24-10 lead.
There was still time for Wasps replacement
Ashley Johnson to score a converted try but
Saracens saw out the game. “When you run
yourself into the ground like we did, then there
is not much more that you can ask,” said Wasps
captain James Haskell.
“We have to pick ourselves up and go again
because there is still the (English) Premiership
to play for.”
The two sides had met twice in the Premiership this season, with Saracens winning 26-16
in December and Wasps enjoying a 64-23 rout
in February—when several of Saracens’ England
grand slam-winning stars were on Six Nations
duty against Italy.
Wasps, the last English side to be crowned
champions of Europe in 2007, lived up to their
reputation for exciting rugby by catching Saracens cold with a scintillating try just over a
minute into the match.
Gopperth and veteran Australia flanker
George Smith worked a switch move that re-
leased express wing Christian Wade, who
scored six tries in a Premiership match against
Worcester last weekend.
Wade collected the ball on the halfway line
and beat two men before his inside pass found
scrum-half Robson, who in turn side-stepped
his marker and went over.
Kiwi fly-half Gopperth, whose conversion
with the last kick of the game sealed a dramatic
quarter-final win over Exeter, added the extras
and Wasps led 7-0. Farrell then surprisingly
pulled a 30-metre penalty wide of the posts.
Saracens, however were gaining ground
through their forwards and their pressure was
eventually rewarded when flanker Rhodes
charged down Gopperth’s clearance kick for a
28th-minute try.
Farrell missed the conversion from out on the
right and Wasps still led 7-5. But a Wasps ruck
offence on the stroke of half-time saw Farrell
succeed with an easy penalty that gave Sarries
an 8-7 lead at the break.
And when Smith infringed at a ruck early in
the second period, Farrell punished Wasps with
a successful penalty from just inside the halfway line.
Minutes later Farrell landed near 50-metre
penalty and Saracens were 14-7 in front. Saracens though were down to 14 men when Farrell
was shown a yellow card in the 51st minute for a
head-high tackle on Robson that eventually saw
the Wasps No 9 taken off the field on a stretcher.
Gopperth kicked the resulting penalty and
Saracens’ lead had been cut to 14-10. Haskell
was involved in some shuddering collisions
with England team-mates Billy Vunipola and
Itoje up front. Farrell, head bandaged after his
clash with Robson, then missed a long-range
penalty immediately upon his return from the
sin-bin.
But he made no mistake from in front of the
posts with 12 minutes left when Wasps replacement Simon McIntyre was sin-binned for kicking Itoje in the face. Saracens, starving Wasps
of posssion, extended their with a 73rd-minute
penalty try awarded after Wasps collapsed a
maul that started from outside the 22.
Johnson then pounced after a good break by
Elliot Daly but it was all too late for Wasps.
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 24, 2016
11
SPORT
MOTOGP
Rossi clinches pole for
Spanish Grand Prix
Rossi snatched pole from Yamaha teammate Lorenzo on his final lap by just over a tenth of a second
AFP
Madrid
S
even-time world champion Valentino Rossi outgunned championships rivals Jorge Lorenzo
and Marc Marquez to take his
first pole position of the season for today’s Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.
Rossi snatched pole from Yamaha
teammate Lorenzo on his final lap by
just over a tenth of a second with championship leader Marquez completing
the front row in third.
The Italian has won seven times in
Jerez, but hasn’t started from pole since
2005. “I’m delighted. I felt comfortable
from the start of the weekend, but especially this morning,” Rossi told Spanish
TV station Movistar+.
“I knew I could be competitive, but
to compete with Jorge and Marc is not
easy. To start from pole is always a special feeling and we’ll see how the race
goes, but it will be difficult.”
Rossi insisted before qualifying that
he needed to finish on the podium ni
southern Spain after crashing out in
Austin at the Grand Prix of the Americas two weeks ago to leave him already
33 points behind bitter rival Marquez in
the championship standings.
However, his flying final lap caught
defending world champion Lorenzo by
surprise as he was shunted into second place having gone fastest in all four
practice sessions.
“I had a pretty good lap, but in the
end Valentino at the last took the pole
position,” said Lorenzo, who announced
his decision to leave Yamaha for Ducati
next season earlier this week.
“The important thing is I think we
have rhythm on the hard tyre, we found
a good setting on the final practice and
we’ll see tomorrow in what will be a
hard race.”
Despite failing to add to his poles in
the two previous races in Austin and
Argentina, Marquez was content with a
place on the front row having had a last
minute set up change between the final
practice session and qualifying.
“We made a set up change between
the fourth practice session and qualifying which we don’t normally do and for
that reason I did consistent laps which I
don’t normally do in qualifying to adapt
better,” said the two-time world champion. “I am happy because I knew the
pole would be difficult. The two Yama-
Boxing
champ
arrested for
kidnapping
9-year-old
Rome: Mirco Ricci (BELOW),
World Boxing Union light
heavyweight intercontinental
champion in 2015, was arrested on charges of kidnapping
a 9-year-old whose mother
he accused of having stolen
drugs from him.
Rome police said late
Friday that Ricci was apprehended along with his
sister, mother and a 25-yearold woman, who helped him
abduct the child and will
face the same charges as the
professional boxer.
According to authorities,
Ricci and his accomplices
abducted the boy early on
Wednesday and threatened
to kill him unless his mother
paid 5,150 euros (5,780 dollars) for the missing drugs.
She turned to police late on
Thursday and a day later
her son was freed. Police
said Ricci has had several
previous run-ins with the law.
Yesterday’s Corriere della
Sera newspaper noted that
he was arrested in July 2014
for beating up a man in the
street and attempting to rob
him. Days later, two men on a
scooter shot Ricci in the legs
for unknown reasons.
FRAMPTON TO FIGHT LÉO
SANTA CRUZ FOR WBA
FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE
Movistar Yamaha’s Italian rider Valentino Rossi celebrates after securing the pole position for Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez racetrack. (AFP)
has are that bit ahead, but I think we can
be satisfied and we’ll see tomorrow if I
can cope with the pace of those two.”
Marquez’s Honda teammate Dani
Pedrosa’s difficult start to the season
continued as he could only seventh
fastest. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and
Suzuki’s Spanish duo Maverick Vinales
and Aleix Espargaro will start on the
second row.
GRIDS FOR SPANISH GRAND PRIX
MOTO GP : 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA/
Yamaha) 1:38.736, 2. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/
Yamaha) at 0.122, 3. Marc Marquez (ESP/
Honda) 0.155, 4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/
Ducati) 0.844, 5. Maverick Vinales (ESP/
Suzuki) 0.845, 6. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Suzuki) O.852, 7. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda)
0.942, 8. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Yamaha
Tech3) 0.984, 9. Hector Barbera (ESP/
Ducati Avintia) 1.006, 10. Cal Crutchlow
(GBR/Honda LCR) 1.145, 11. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Ducati) 1.318, 12. Loris Baz
(FRA/Ducati Avintia) 1.448
MOTO2 :1.Sam Lowes (GBR/Kalex)
1:42.408, 2. Jonas Folger (GER/Kalex) at
0.028, 3. Sandro Cortese (GER/Kalex)
0.031, 4. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex)
0.072, 5. Tom Luthi (SUI/Kalex) 0.127, 6.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA/Kalex) 0.163, 7.
Alex Rins (ESP/Kalex) 0.220, 8. Simone
Corsi (ITA/Speed Up) 0.245, 9. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 0.256, 10. Luis Salom
(ESP/Kalex) O.364, 11. Luca Marini (ITA/
Kalex) 0.476, 12. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/
Kalex) 0.498
HURRICANES CRICKET TOURNAMENT
MOTO3: 1. Nicolo Bulega (ITA/KTM)
1:46.223, 2. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at
0.213, 3. Jorge Navarro (ESP/Honda)
0.455, 4. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Mahindra) 0.457, 5. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA/
Honda) 0.482, 6. Enea Bastianini (ITA/
Honda) 0.604, 7. Joan Mir (ESP/KTM)
0.739, 8. Juanfran Guevara (ESP/KTM)
0.744, 9. Romano Fenati (ITA/KTM) 0.849,
10. Jakub Kornfeil (CZE/Honda) 0.908, 11.
Aron Canet (ESP/Honda) 0.931, 12. Fabio
Quartararo (FRA/KTM) 1.048
SPOTLIGHT
Di Grassi wins in Paris to
build Formula E lead
AFP
Paris
L
Winners Hanan Cricket Club (above) and runners-up FCC Tedmur pose after the final of the Hurricanes Cricket tournament at the Asian
Town Stadium. Hanan batted first and scored 139/6 in 12 overs. In reply, FCC Tedmur made 75 for 8, losing by 64 runs.
Carl Frampton will face Léo
Santa Cruz in New York this
summer to fight for the Mexican’s WBA featherweight title.
Frampton added the WBA
super bantamweight strap to
his own IBF belt by beating
Scott Quigg in February but
will move up a division to face
Santa Cruz.
Frampton has a 22-0
career record, with Santa
Cruz having lost one fight of
his 33. The promoter Barry
McGuigan said a date will be
announced next week.
ucas di Grassi clinched his third win of the
Formula E season at the inaugural Paris
street circuit race yesterday to stretch his
lead at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Di Grassi claimed his second straight victory after triumphing at Long Beach earlier this
month, albeit in anti-climactic fashion as the
safety car was deployed for the final few laps following a crash involving China’s Ma Qing Hua.
The City of Light provided a spectacular backdrop for Saturday’s seventh leg of the 11-race
championship with a 1.93-kilometre circuit
around Les Invalides, notably the site of Napoleon’s tomb. French Prime Minister Manuel
Valls, who was down on the starting grid ahead
of the race, called staging such events “the best
response to the threat of terrorism”, with the race
coming just five months after the Paris terror attacks that left 130 dead and many more injured.
“Life is the best response to the attacks—never
give in to fear, organise events in safety that bring
together thousands of fans, here or at football
stadiums for Euro 2016,” he said.
“(The race) is a celebration of sport, technology and the environment as well as a festival, so
it’s everything to make people happy and proud.”
Pole-sitter Sam Bird suffered a poor start and
Di Grassi, also a winner at November’s race in
Malaysia, jumped ahead of the Briton almost immediately before seizing control.
A series of fastest laps from the Brazilian increased his lead, but there was a fierce fight behind him for second between Jean-Eric Vergne,
Bird and Sebastien Buemi.
While Di Grassi cruised to the chequered flag,
Vergne secured his best result of the season in
second with Buemi, who started eighth, finishing
third after Bird lost three places when he spun
five laps from the end.
“It was a very tough race, even if it didn’t look
like it, inside the car,” said Di Grassi, who moved
11 points clear of Buemi in the overall standings
with four races to go. “I saw my opportunity at
the beginning when Sam had a bad start.”
RESULTS
1. Lucas di Grassi (BRA/ABT Schaeffler Audi) 45 laps,
2. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/DS Virgin) at 0.853, 3.
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Renault e.dams) 1.616, 4. Nicolas Prost (FRA/Renault e.dams) 2.142, 5. Stephane
Sarrazin (FRA/Venturi) 3.544, 6. Sam Bird (GBR/DS
Virgin) 3.856
STANDINGS AFTER SEVEN OF 11 RACES
1. Lucas Di Grassi (BRA) 126 points, 2. Sebastien
Buemi (SUI) 115, 3. Sam Bird (GBR) 82
Audi Sport’s Brazilian driver Lucas Di Grassi competes in the
French stage of the Formula E championship in Paris. (AFP)
Sunday, April 24, 2016
SPORT
GULF TIMES
SPOTLIGHT
Thai Lertsattayathorn
wins Asian Snooker title
The diminutive Thai registers a comfortable 6-2 win over Shehab to clinch the continental championship
By Sports Reporter
Doha
K
ritsanut
Lertsattayathorn of Thailand
clinched the 32nd Asian
Snooker Championship
by defeating UAE's Mohamed
Sehab at the Qatar Billiards
and Snooker Federation (QBSF)
Academy yesterday.
The diminutive Thai, who hit
the purple patch in Doha over
the last week overcoming players much higher in the ranking
hierarchy, continued in the same
vein to register a comfortable 6-2
win over Shehab to win the continental championship.
The 27-year-old Lertsattayathorn, who goes by the nickname
‘Thorn’, had already staged huge
upsets by defeating former IBSF
World Champion Mohammad
Asif of Pakistan and top seed
and reigning IBSF World Amateur Champion Pankaj Advani
of India in the quarter-finals and
semi-finals respectively.
The Thai also got a two-year
professional tour card from
World Snooker and picked up the
$1,750 prize for the maximum
break of the tournament.
The champion took home
$3,500 and the runner-up
$1,750. The losing semi-finalists
collected $500 each.
The final was pitted as a match
between the experienced vs rising
star. The 39-year-old Shehab has
played many years in the circuit.
He is the only player from UAE to
reach Asian Championship final.
Shehab also had two separate seasons as a professional on the main
tour in 1996-1997 and 2006-2007.
Only last month Shehab had
claimed gold in the West Asian
Championship held in Jordan.
In 2006, he had reached the final of the Asian Championship
in Colombo, Sri Lanka, although
he lost out 6-3 to Issara Kachaiwong. A decade later, Shehab
was aiming to put it right.
On the other hand, Lertsattayathorn is a rising star in the
amateur circuit and he also kept
his country's proud history in the
tournament intact.
In the last 31 editions of the
championship, 15 times the title
has gone to Thailand.
And Lertsattayathorn success
made him the 11th different winner from his country, but the first
since 2011.
Last year at the World
Amateurs in Egypt, Lertsattayathorn had made it through
to the Last 8. In 2014, during
the World Professional 6 Reds
Championship in his homeland,
he had sensationally reached the
semifinals after eliminating Ryan
Day, Mark Davis and John Higgins on route.
Yesterday, Lertsattayathorn
seemed to be overawed by the
situation as he lost the first
frame. But then bounced back to
win the next two to make it 2-1.
Shehab, won the fourth frame,
but Lertsattayathorn asserted
himself quickly to pocket the
next four frames to win the bestof-11 frames final 6-2.
Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
of Thailand with the Asian
Snooker Championship
trophy yesterday.
RESULT
Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn of
Thailand 6 bt
Mohamed Shehab of UAE 2
Frames scores: 19/ 62, 53/33, 61/51,
34/47, 71/22,83/3 72/24, 73/39
Arabi, Rayyan make winning starts in Qatar Cup
FOCUS
Aspetar opens first
GCC Sports Medicine
Conference in Doha
By Our Correspondent
Doha
T
Al Arabi and Al Rayyan had a winning start at the Qatar Cup Volleyball Championship on Friday. At the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena,
Arabi defeated El Jaish 25-16, 27-25, 25-18 in the first playoff. In the second playoff, Rayyan defeated Police 26- 24, 24-26, 25-23, 25-15, 15-12.
The second of the best-of-three playoff matches will be held today. PICTURES: Jayaram
he first GCC Sports Medicine Conference
opened in Doha yesterday. The event is organised by the Aspetar, the orthopaedic and
sports medicine hospital, in partnership
with the Health Ministers’ Council for GCC States.
The two-day conference brings together leading multidisciplinary experts and professionals in
the field of sports medicine from across the GCC to
participate in a range of presentations, panel discussions and workshops on modern approaches to
sports medicine and best practice in their respective countries.
Participants will also discuss the latest developments in the field of sports medicine, and consider
new ways to enhance collaboration and information sharing to support continued, rapid progress at
a regional and international level.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr Mohammad Ghaith
al-Kuwari, Acting Director General of Aspetar, said,
“Organising this conference reflects Aspetar’s profile the GCC reference centre in sports medicine. It
also provides the ideal platform to share expertise
amongst members of Olympic committees from the
region in a range of disciplines including surgery,
rehabilitation, injury prevention and approaches to
enhancing sports performance.”
Professor Dr Tawfik bin Ahmad Khoja, Director General of the Health Ministers’ Council for
GCC States, said: “This conference should serve
as a springboard for generating further interest
in sports medicine in the GCC region. There is no
doubt that Aspetar – an important GCC institution – is ideally placed to assume responsibility for
organising this conference, based on its extensive
expertise in sports medicine. Working closely with
sports medicine professionals, Aspetar can play a
pioneering role in enhancing physical activity in the
community.”
Sessions from the first day covered the history
and key milestones in the development of sports
medicine in the GCC, as well as topics including
approaches to preventing sudden cardiac death in
athletes, the Aspetar athlete-screening model and
a range of others.
The conference will continue until today evening,
and cover further topics including sports surgery,
multidisciplinary care, sports rehabilitation, sports
and exercise sciences, and more. Aspetar is a world
leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, and the first of its kind in the Middle
East. Since 2007, with a world expert team, the hospital has provided top-level comprehensive medical
treatment to all athletes in a state-of-the-art facility that sets new standards internationally.