07WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020 SPORT

SPORTI think Al Shaqab is a unique place in the world, I don’t think there is a second place like this, they really think of everything: Global Champions Tour Founder and President, Jan Tops

FA Cup, Round 5: Leicester City vs Birmingham City

FA Cup, Round 5: Sheffield vs Manchester City

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F1 cannot race if a team is denied entry due to virus, says BrawnREUTERS — SILVERSTONE

Formula One could not hold a World Championship race in a country that denies access to any team due to coronavirus restrictions, Motorsport Managing Director Ross Brawn said yesterday. Italy, home to the sport’s oldest, most glamorous and most successful team Ferrari, is one of the countries most affected by the epidemic with more than 50 deaths and over 2,000 confirmed cases.

Some countries, including Vietnam which hosts its first ever Grand Prix on April 5, have imposed quarantine periods on anyone who has come from or been in Italy during a two-week period prior to entry.

That has raised concern in some quarters about Ferrari’s ability to participate.

“If a team is prevented from entering a country we can’t have a race. Not a Formula One World Championship race, anyway, because that would be unfair,” Brawn said at a spon-sorship signing with betting partner 188BET.

“Obviously if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that’s their decision.

“But where a team is pre-vented from going to a race because of a decision of the country then it’s difficult to have a fair competition.”

The Formula One season starts in Melbourne on March 15, with Bahrain the weekend after.

The Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for Shanghai on April 19 has already been called off as a result of the virus.

Brawn said Formula One was negotiating with the Viet-namese health authorities.

“They want the race to happen but also they’ve got to protect their population. So we’re looking at what solutions we can find to make sure

everybody is comfortable with the arrangements,” he said.

“There’s a lot of things going on at the moment and it changes on a day-by-day basis. It’s difficult to be definitive now but we’re going to find solutions.”

Brawn said the Australian authorities were happy to con-tinue with their race and Formula One was cooperating on checks and measures.

“It’s a very serious situation, so I don’t want to underplay it. But we’re trying to have races. We’ve got to do them in a responsible way,” he added.

“We’re minimizing the number of people in the paddock, we’re asking the teams to send a minimum number of people they need to a race,” he explained.

There are also plans for a charter to take Formula One’s Italian contingent directly from Melbourne to Bahrain, without anyone leaving the plane during any refuelling stopover, and with screening on arrival.

Apart from Ferrari, the Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri team are Italy-based as is tyre sup-plier Pirelli and brake maker Brembo.

The Bahrain International Circuit said yesterday it was putting in place “specific measures” for teams, adminis-trators, broadcasters and media.

It asked for the names and

flight details of anyone who had visited or transited through a number of countries, including

Italy, or who was planning to arrive via the United Arab Emirates.

A file photo of Chinese Grand Prix held last year.

If a team is prevented from entering a country we can’t have a race. Not a Formula One World Championship race, anyway, because that would be unfair. Obviously if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that’s their decision: Motorsport Managing Director Ross Brawn

Cycling team manager threatens hunger strike over quarantine

REUTERS — DUBAI

A manager of a French profes-sional cycling team, who has been in quarantine in an Abu Dhabi hotel due to coronavirus concerns, threatened to go on hunger strike yesterday if authorities do not allow his team to leave the United Arab Emirates.

Roberto Damiani, sporting director of the Cofidis team, said that despite testing neg-ative for the virus about 50 guests, including 18 profes-sional cyclists, have been con-fined to the Crowne Plaza hotel since Thursday.

Emirati authorities ordered the lockdown in the luxury Crown Plaza and W hotel in Yas Island after two Italian members of the UAE Tour the riders were participating in were suspected of contracting the coronavirus.

The health department said on Friday that 167 people isolated on the island had tested negative. Former Tour de France winner Chris Froome and his fellow Team Ineos riders were among those allowed to leave their hotel and travel home, the team said on Sunday.

“We have done a second test on Sunday and we received the results on Monday, they were all neg-ative for the virus,” Damiani said by phone.

“I hope I won’t have to start it (hunger strike)... We want to respect the country’s laws, but respect should go both ways,” he said.

The UAE government media office did not immedi-ately respond to a request for comment on the continued quarantine and complaints by guests. All guests on the fourth floor of the Crowne Plaza have not been cleared to leave, members of the Cofidis team told Reuters, adding that the French Groupama-FDJ team, Russia’s Gazprom team and other tourists were also staying on that floor.

One team member said a note had been slipped under his room door on Saturday instructing him to stay on the floor and not visit other parts of the hotel.

“Our rooms have not been cleaned since Thursday, they leave food outside the door for us... clean towels and soap have been stacked in the cor-ridors next to the lifts,” said the team member, who declined to be named due to fears of retribution.

NBA: Crowder stars as Miami Heat overcome BucksAFP — MIAMI

Jae Crowder scored 18 points off the bench as the Miami Heat locked down Giannis Antetok-ounmpo to hand the Milwaukee Bucks a 105-89 defeat.

Crowder led the scoring for the Heat as NBA MVP Antetok-ounmpo was held to a season-low 13 points at Miami’s American Airlines Arena.

The defeat was only Mil-waukee’s ninth loss of the season and helped Miami improve to 39-22 in the Eastern Conference play-off race.

The Bucks remain firmly in control of the conference standings, leading with a 52-9 record ahead of second-placed Toronto, who are 42-18.

But the previously all-con-quering Bucks were given plenty of food for thought ahead of next month’s playoffs after a superb Miami display.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra

said his team had finally pro-duced a defensive display he had believed they were capable of.

Crowder led the Miami scoring along with Jimmy Butler, with both players fin-ishing on 18 points.

No fewer than six Miami players cracked double digits, including centre Bam Adebayo who also had a huge night

defensively. Adebayo finished with 14 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and forced five turn-overs. The 22-year-old also made four blocks.

Brook Lopez led the Mil-waukee scoring with 21 points but it was a night to forget for Antetokounmpo, who made only six of 18 shooting attempts.

A subdued Antetokounmpo admitted the Bucks had been outplayed and outfought on the night.

Elsewhere, the Houston Rockets suffered a shock reverse to the lowly New York Knicks, losing 125-123 at Madison Square Garden.

James Harden led the scoring with 35 points -- including 16 free throws -- while Russell Westbrook added 24.

But the Rockets were always chasing the game after falling behind in the first quarter as the Knicks pulled away to lead by

21 points at one stage. RJ Barrett top-scored with 27 points for the Knicks, who had seven players make double figures.

Barrett sealed the win with a driving hoop with 7.6 seconds remaining to mark the era of new team president Leon Rose -- who officially joined the Knicks earlier Monday -- with a victory.

Power forward Julius Randle had 16 points -- and 16 rebounds -- while Bobby Portis and Wayne Ellington both delivered 15 points each from the bench.

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said his team had not been mentally prepared for the game following Sunday’s overtime win over Boston.

“We won a big game against Boston and came here and we weren’t ready to play for the first 20 minutes. They did well, played a good game, but our first three quarters were

lackadaisical,” D’Antoni said. The victory lifted the Knicks into 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings with 19

wins and 42 defeats. The Rockets fell to 39-21 in the Western Conference, where they remain in fourth spot.

Draisaitl scores four as Oilers defeat PredatorsREUTERS — NEW YORK

Leon Draisaitl recorded his first career four-goal game, and he and Connor McDavid finished with five points each as the visiting Edmonton Oilers broke open a tie game with five third-period goals en route to an 8-3 victory over the Nashville Pred-ators.

With the game tied 3-3 early in the third, Edmonton’s two stars took over to help the Oilers win their second straight and sweep the three-game season series from Nashville. McDavid finished with a goal and four assists.

McDavid made it 4-3 at 4:42 into the third period with a shot from the point through traffic and past Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who later was pulled after allowing all eight goals on 31 shots.

Draisaitl, whose 40th goal came earlier in the contest, con-verted 35 seconds later as the Oilers applied more heat on Rinne. Zack Kassian’s goal made

it 6-3 at 7:03 into the final period, and two straight Draisaitl blasts put the game out of reach.

Draisaitl’s 107 points lead

the NHL and are a career high, surpassing his 105 from last season. He has also recorded 12 goals in his past five games

versus Nashville. McDavid, who had four assists, has 94 points this season, second in the league.

Nashville’s Roman Josi recorded his career-high 16th goal and equaled his all-time best point total of 61.

The Predators, who have dropped two in a row, still own the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, although they are one of three teams tied with 72 points.

Edmonton, looking to catch first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division, opened the scoring 6:23 into the game thanks to Josh Archibald, who flipped the puck past Rinne. Draisaitl scored No. 40 when he struck a McDavid pass in off the body of Rinne with 29 seconds left in the opening period.

At 2:14 into the second, Josi one-timed a blast from the top of the left circle past Edmonton goalie Mike Smith (27 saves) to make it 2-1. Just 14 seconds later, Calle Jarnkrok equalised right in front of Smith.

Edmonton regained the lead with 6:26 left in the second courtesy of Kailer Yamamoto (goal, assist). The rookie winger shuffled in a backhand pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (three assists) for his 10th goal in 22 games since being called up from Bakersfield of the AHL.

Just 91 seconds after the Oilers went back on top, Nash-ville’s Nick Bonino muscled the puck past Smith to make it 3-3.

Darnell Nurse also finished with three assists for Edmonton, and Archibald had a two-point night.

Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers skates against the Nashville Predators during their NHL game.

Leon Draisaitl recorded his first career four-goal game, and he and Connor McDavid finished with five points each as the visiting Edmonton Oilers broke open a tie game with five third-period goals en route to an 8-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Jae Crowder scored 18 points off the bench as the Miami Heat locked down Giannis Antetokounmpo to hand the Milwaukee Bucks a 105-89 defeat.

Houston Rockets suffered a shock reverse to the lowly New York Knicks, losing 125-123 at Madison Square Garden.

Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic (centre) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks during their NBA match.

08 WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020SPORT

‘No restrictions’ for French football, rugby despite virus fearsAFP — PARIS

Top-flight French football and rugby matches “are not subject to specific restrictions” and will continue to go ahead as planned despite concerns over the coronavirus, Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said yesterday.

Officials have reported 191 COVID-19 cases in France so far, and three deaths, while authorities are prohibiting any gatherings of more than 5,000 people in enclosed spaces.

The largest numbers of coronavirus infections in France have emerged in the Oise department north of Paris.

“Today (the matches) are not subject to any specific restric-tions,” said Maracineanu.

“The large majority of spectators come from regions where there are no travel restrictions in place.” However, she did concede current arrangements could change as authorities battle to contain the spread of the virus.

“This matter is going to be studied on a case by case basis with the prefects,” she said.

Last week, French football officials scrapped the traditional pre-match handshakes between players on the advice of the health department. Similar protocol will be in place for this weekend’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games.

Maracineanu also insisted Paris Saint-Germain’s second leg at home to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League will go ahead on March 11 -- even if it is held behind closed doors. The next round of matches in French rugby’s Top 14 are not until March 21-22, with the Six Nations set to resume this weekend.

Organisers said on Monday the remaining fixtures in the Six Nations Championship were expected to be played on schedule, although they did not rule out possible changes.

The March 7 match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin has already been postponed but other matches will be main-tained unless governments monitoring the spread of the virus decide otherwise.

“We’ve just had the information that the Scots are main-taining the match” against France in Edinburgh on Sunday, but “we have doubts over French fans making the trip,” said Maracineanu.

The Paris-Nice multi-stage cycling race, which runs from March 8-15, also appears set to go ahead.

“It’s effectively an international event, but the majority of teams have been tested and there are few fans along the course,” said Maracineanu, who refused to rule out imposing “stricter measures”.

The UAE Tour, an early season warm-up that featured four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, was cut short last week after a coronavirus scare.

Wobbling Juve, Inter aim for Cup glory amid coronavirus chaosAFP — MILAN

Juventus and Inter Milan can get their seasons back on track with Italian Cup semi-final return-legs midweek, which take place amid Serie A fixture chaos caused by the coronavirus.

Locked in a battle for the league title the pair have been overtaken by surprise package Lazio as the city of Rome remains relatively untouched by COVID-19, which has caused havoc in the north of the country, killing 52 people.

Inter, who travel to Napoli on Thursday hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg at the San Siro, haven’t played in Italy since being beaten at Lazio on February 16 as the virus concentrated in the Lombardy and Veneto regions.

Their home match against Sampdoria and the weekend’s schedule title clash with Juve were both postponed, pro-voking a furious reaction from the club’s CEO Beppe Marotta, who wanted the match played behind closed doors.

Two Europa League last 32 matches against Ludogorets is all Inter have had for prepa-ration in that time, and their disrupted schedule comes in the midst of a dip in domestic form that has left the former league leaders third behind Lazio and traditional rivals Juve.

They face stiff opposition in Napoli, who look a side reborn since Gennaro Gattuso replaced Carlo Ancelotti as coach in December.

They have surged up the

Serie A table into sixth and impressed when they held Bar-celona to a draw at the Stadio San Paolo in midweek.

The reigning league cham-pions meanwhile host AC Milan in the other semi-final on Wednesday in a match that will be open to the public, or at least a portion of it.

The Italian government decreed a halt to sports events in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and provinces in Liguria and Le Marche badly hit by the virus until March 8, unless the event is held behind closed doors.

The decree also bans fans from those areas from making away trips.

Juventus announced that only fans from from areas not named by the government

would be able to travel to Turin (in Piedmont) to watch the match.

They face a Milan side whose only defeat in 2020 so far came against Inter in a thrilling derby last month and who were unlucky to come away from the first leg with only a 1-1 draw.

However Maurizio Sarri’s side will be favourites despite ropey recent form that has seen them lose to Napoli and Hellas Verona and scrape past rele-gation fodder Brescia and SPAL.

Their 1-0 defeat to Lyon in the Champions League led to questions over Sarri’s future on the Juve bench, and should Milan reach the final with a first ever win at the Allianz Stadium the calls for his dismissal will only become louder.

A general view of the gates to the stadium shut to fans during the Europa League Round of 32 second leg match between Inter Milan and Ludogorets at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, yesterday.

South Africa to face Australia in Cup semis

AFP — SYDNEY

South Africa will face defending champions Australia in the women’s Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals after their match against the West Indies was washed out yesterday, leaving India to take on England.

The Proteas needed to avoid defeat against the already-eliminated West Indies to top Group B and with the match in Sydney aban-doned without a ball being bowled, they earned a point to ensure that happened.

“I couldn’t have asked for better, our first goal coming here was to get to the semi-finals,” said skipper Dane van Niekerk.

“Generally in these tour-naments, we’ve lost at crucial times, whereas in this tour-nament, whenever we’ve been down we’ve got up again. It’s nice that everything is slowly but surely coming together.”

South Africa have never beaten four-time champions Australia, who suffered a big blow Tuesday with star all-rounder Ellyse Perry ruled out of the tournament with a ham-string injury.

Group B runners-up England, the 2009 champions, play unbeaten Group A winners India on the same day.

Earlier, qualifiers Thailand ended their inaugural World Cup on a high, posting their biggest ever T20 international score before the heavens opened and their clash with Pakistan was also called off.

They had lost all three of their previous games, with a highest total of 82.

But, after winning the toss at Sydney Showground, they stunned Pakistan with their aggressive batting approach, racing to 150 for three off 20 overs.

Pakistan, who upset 2016 champions West Indies in their opening game before losing the next two, would have needed their record run chase to win but didn’t face a ball.

Bangladesh win thriller to clinch series IANS — SYLHET

Zimbabwe almost pulled off a stunning win but Bangladesh edged past their spirited rivals in the end to save the day, registering a thrilling four-run victory here in the second ODI yesterday.

After Tamim Iqbal’’s record-breaking 158 which propelled Bangladesh to 322/8, Zimbabwe looked to be out of reckoning as they slipped to 225/7 in the 42nd over.

But Donald Tiripano (55 off 28 balls) and Tinotenda Mutombodzi (34 off 21 balls) launched a stirring counter-attack with an eighth wicket

partnership that brought 80 runs in just 7.3 overs.

Tiripano struck five massive sixes, including two in the final over, but he needed to hit another one off the final ball to secure an unlikely win. Al-Amin Hossain held his nerve at the last to seal the series for Bangladesh.

Chasing a stiff 323 for a win, Zimbabwe never looked in the chase before Tiripano and Mutombodzi joined hands. For the hosts, Taijul Islam picked up three wickets.

For the tourists, Sikandar Raza top-scored with 66 while opener Tinashe Kamunhu-kamwe and 19-year old

Wesley Madhevere also scored 51 and 52 respectively.

Earlier, Iqbal became the first Bangladesh batsman to score 7,000 ODI runs, after he roared back to form with a crackling 158.

The hosts rode his heroics to post 322/8 in 50 overs after electing to bat first. Tamim, who played his first ODI in nine months in the first match, had taken a break from cricket in the second half of 2019.

The highest Tamim has scored in his last seven innings in ODIs is just 36, but yes-terday he looked his usual best as he took 136 deliveries to get to 158 with the help of 20 fours

and three sixes. The 30-year-old has been

Bangladesh’’s leading run-getter in one-dayers and this feat adds another feather to his cap.

Bangladesh also improved their highest total against Zim-babwe -- made just two days ago -- by a run.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 322/8 in 50

overs (Tamim Iqbal 158, Mushfiqur Rahim 55; Carl Mumba 2/64, Donald Tiripano 2/55;

Zimbabwe 318/8 in 50 overs (Sikandar Raza 66, Donald Tiripano 55 not out; Taijul Islam 3/52)

Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal plays a shot.

PSL: Maiden win for Lahore QalandersAGENCIES — LAHORE

A record partnership between Ben Dunk and Samit Patel orchestrated Lahore Qalandars’ first PSL 2020 win as they defeated Quetta Gladiators by 37 runs at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Dunk and Patel crafted an incredible partnership of 155 runs, the highest fourth-wicket stand and second highest overall in PSL history, in 73 balls to help Qalandars to a mammoth 209 for five.

Dunk, who batted at one-drop, smashed 10 sixes, the most in an HBL PSL innings, as he scored a blistering 93 at a strike-rate of over 216.

The Australian wicket-keeper-batsman struck Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm orthodox, four sixes in an over in his 43-ball knock, which also included three fours. For his match-winning innings, Dunk was named man of the match.

From the other end, Patel also scored at a brisk rate which amplified the woes for Gladi-ators, the defending champions. The all-rounder scored 71 runs from 40 balls, smashing nine fours and two sixes.

The pair had come together with Qalandars struggling at 50

for three after Mohammad Hafeez’s first-ball duck in the eighth over. Their extraordinary power-hitting set alight the crowd filled to the stadium’s 27,000-capacity.

Both batsmen were dis-missed by Ben Cutting, who with two wickets for 36 runs in three overs was the most suc-cessful bowler for Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Gladiators. Mohammad Nawaz, Fawad Ahmed and Mohammad Hasnain picked a wicket each.

Gladiators faltered right from the onset of their run-chase as they lost three wickets in the Powerplay as Patel and Dilbar Hussain added two and one scalps to their tally.

Gladiators spent their remaining innings looking to rebuild their innings and a late surge by Ben Cutting (53 off 27, three fours and five sixes) gave a ray of hope, but Qalandars’ bowlers continued to strike at regular intervals.

Salman Irshad, who came in as a replacement for Haris Rauf, was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 29 runs. Patel, Dilbar and Mohammad Faizan were the other bowlers to have wickets in their accounts as they picked up two scalps each.

Gladiators were bowled out

for 172 on the last ball of their innings. Today, Lahore Qalandars play Islamabad United at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Brief Scores Lahore Qalandars 209-5,

20 overs (Ben Dunk 93, Samit Patel 71, Chris Lynn 27; Ben Cutting 2-36)

Quetta Gladiators 172 all-out, 20 overs (Ben Cutting 53, Mohammad Nawaz 24, Shane

Watson 23; Salman Irshad 4-29, Dilbar Hussain 2-11, Mohammad Faizan 2-29, Samit Patel 2-31) Result Lahore Qalandars win by 37 runs

Lahore Qalandars’ Ben Dunk plays a shot during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20 match against Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore, yesterday.

09WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020 SPORT

Japan Olympic Minister: Games could be held any time in 2020AP — TOKYO

Japan’s Olympic minister said yesterday the contract to hold the Tokyo Games only specifies the event has to be held during 2020.

Seiko Hashimoto ’s response to a question in the upper house of parliament implies the Olympics could be held later in the year and would not have to start on July 24 as planned. The Paralympics open on Aug. 25.

The Tokyo Olympics are being threatened by a fast-spreading virus that has been blamed for 12 deaths in Japan and has shut down most schools, sports competitions and Olympic-related events in the country.

The virus that started in China has been detected in at least 70 countries, with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths reported.

“The IOC has the right to cancel the games only if they are not held during 2020,” Hashimoto told parliament. “This can be interpreted to mean the games can be post-poned as long as they are held during the calendar year.”

IOC President Thomas Bach and Tokyo organizers have repeatedly said they expect the Olympics to open on schedule. Others have suggested the spreading virus could force cancellation, postponement or moving events to other cities.

In an interview last week with only Japanese media, Bach

said: “The prepara-tions for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are continuing with a view to having suc-cessful Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo.”

Bach declined to “fuel the flames of speculation” about reports of cancel-l a t i o n o r postponement.

Hashimoto was asked if she believed the Olympics should be held even if the coronavirus outbreak is worse than it is now.

“We are making the utmost effort so that we don’t have to face that situation,” she said.

Any decision to move the games back would impact inter-national broadcasters, who would have sway over any changes.

The International Olympic Committee gets 73% of its $5.7bn income in a four-year Olympic cycle from selling broadcast rights. About half of that TV income is from American network NBC.

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were held in October. But the games have now shifted to summer, largely because it’s the only time slot open for sports broadcasters. North

America in the fall is filled with the NFL, college football, baseball, basketball and hockey. Europe is jammed with soccer in England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy, not to mention rugby and cricket where those sports are popular.

Former IOC vice president Dick Pound told The Associated Press in an interview last week that a decision about the Olympics probably has to be made in the next several months. Kevan Gosper, another former IOC vice president and

now an honorary IOC member, also said cancellation was feasible.

The Olympics have been cancelled only three times, all during wartime.

Tokyo organizers yesterday were forced to call off a Para-lympic wheelchair rugby test event following suggestions from Prime Minister Shizo Abe to hold down large crowd events for several weeks.

Tokyo organizers have 17 test events remaining on their schedule. The last one is to end

on May 8. Most are small events featuring only local athletes. The most significant is a gym-nastics test on April 4-6 that is expected to have non-Japanese athletes competing. Japan’s professional baseball league is playing preseason games in stadiums without fans, and the soccer J-League has suspended play until March 18. The famous Tokyo Marathon was held on Sunday with only a few hundred elite runners, instead of a public party for 30,000 participants.

This picture taken yesterday shows the statue representing Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the entrance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne.

Tokyo could lose Olympics if not held this yearAFP — TOKYO

Tokyo risks losing the Olympics if they’re post-poned later than this year over the new corona-virus, a government minister said yesterday, adding that May looks like the deadline for the decision.

The contract for the Games says the Interna-tional Olympic Committee can withdraw hosting rights if they’re not held in 2020, Olympics Min-ister Seiko Hashimoto told parliament.

Japan’s government, Tokyo organisers and the IOC have all pledged to hold the Games on schedule from July 24, but the fast-spreading virus continues to raise concerns.

“Looking at the contract once again, it says in Article 66 that the IOC holds the right to cancel the Games by deactivating the contract if... the Games are not held in 2020,” Hashimoto said.

“At this moment, the Tokyo 2020 committee, the IOC and Tokyo (city government) are doing their best to make sure the Games will be held from July 24,” she added.

“The government will fully support that.”COVID-19 has been detected in 76 countries,

killing 3,116 and causing chaos as governments clamp down on travel. A long list of sports events have been cancelled or postponed to avoid spreading the virus.

Hashimoto added that May looked like an “important benchmark” for deciding whether the Games go ahead as scheduled.

“An IOC member has said the end of May is the final deadline for making the decision,” she said, referring to remarks by senior IOC member Dick Pound.

“So I think the end of May is an important benchmark,” Hashimoto said.

“We’re making utmost efforts so that the IOC can be convinced that the Tokyo Games can be held safely.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stepped up national measures to contain the virus, urging schools nationwide to close for several weeks and calling on organisers of large events to consider cancelling or delaying them.

Everything from football matches and music concerts have been affected, while sumo’s spring tournament will be held behind closed doors.

The best way to win at sport? Buy the tournament!BLOOMBERG — LONDON

If you want to make money from professional sports, trying to win a competition is a real punt. Far better to own the competition itself. Even better, own several competitions.

The surge in online streaming has prompted private equity firms to scramble for ways to get into the content game.

Many seem to have landed on sport as a good opportunity: a quarter of the 20 teams in English soccer’s Premier League now have an owner in private equity.

If you invest in a studio or production house, then you risk having films or shows that aren’t a hit. By contrast, sport has a captive audience - a loyal fan base. Forget Star Wars or Marvel: ath-letic teams are the original franchises.

But picking teams comes with an inherent risk. If you underinvest in a club, appoint an inept coach, or your star players get injured, then your team might not qualify for the premier compe-titions. Worse, it might get relegated: the lowest-placed teams get shunted into a lower division where income from broadcast rights, merchan-dising and ticketing is a lot lower.

While a club in the UEFA Champions League can expect to make £475m ($609m) a year in revenue, those in the Championship, England’s second tier, will make just £21m, according to a 2019 Deloitte study. Ouch. I’ve said it before: owning a European sports team seems little more than a vanity project for the errant super-rich.

Sports tournaments, however, can be a lucrative proposition if you get them right. Just ask CVC Capital Partners, which made at least a 500% return on its 2006 acquisition of Formula One, the world’s most popular motorsport. The private equity giant has now set its sights else-where: rugby.

Last year it bought a 27% stake in England’s Premiership, the top rugby division, for £200m. Now it’s trying to add to that with investments in Pro14, a club competition spanning Ireland, Italy, Wales, Scotland and South Africa, and the Six Nations, the annual round-robin tournament where the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy compete.

If those deals come off, then it’ll have invested £620m in the gentlemen’s game. The 14% stake that CVC is reportedly seeking in the Six Nations will value the competition at some £2.1m.

How do you make t h o s e investments pay off? Broadcast r i g h t s . Moving a sport from f r e e - t o -a i r t e l e -vision to pay TV can triple the i n c o m e from broadcasting rights, according to Boston Consulting Group partner Jean-Paul Petranca.

F1 revenue has almost doubled since 2010 as it has moved the broadcast to pay TV providers like Comcast Corp.’s Sky unit.

Terrestrial broadcasters British Broadcasting Corp. and ITV Plc between them currently pay the Six Nations £90m a year for the privilege of showing the tournament.

Oakwell Sports Advisory partner Andrew

Umbers, who advised CVC on its Premiership rugby investment, wrote in the specialist publi-cation SportsPro Media last year that fragmen-tation of broadcast rights made it harder to engage with fans.

The implication is that selling bundled rights for as many rugby competitions as possible would be lucrative. And the shift to online viewing means there are more prospective bidders for rights. The fact that the Six Nations deal might fall apart if the rights are restricted to free-to-air,

a s t h e Guardian r e p o r t e d last month, hints at the rationale behind the deal.

“ T h e s c a r c e resource in the media i n d u s t r y used to be d i s t r i -b u t i o n ” b e c a u s e there were a limited

number of TV stations, said BCG’s Petranca. “Now there are lots of entry points, and the scarce resource is high quality content.”

Still, it’s not as easy as it seems. CVC has picked a vulnerable sport. For the same amount that CVC currently plans to invest in rugby, it would get just 21% of soccer giant Manchester United Plc. That’s because many of the top rugby teams are loss-making and desperate for a Hail Mary.

They could use the fund’s cash injection to centralize a lot of functions such as merchan-dising. American sports leagues like the NFL administer merchandising for all the teams. They have licensed all global rights to SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Fanatics Inc. It’s a similar effect to collective bargaining over TV rights: the top teams might receive less, but the smaller teams receive more, making a bigger pot for everyone. Costs are reduced and revenue increased.

Dangers do remain for the sport itself. Yes, moving more content behind a paywall can result in more income, but it could come at the cost of fan exposure and rugby’s long-term health.

And the teams must be wary of CVC’s appetite for debt. The reason the fund was able to turn its initial $1bn cash outlay on F1 into a profit within two years was by saddling the organization with debt and extracting a dividend, Bloomberg News reported in 2016.

When it sold control to Liberty Media Corp. that year, half of F1’s $8bn enterprise value came from its debt pile. Fortunately the rugby teams will still have majority control of each tour-nament. As long as they coordinate, they’ll be able to fend off CVC’s debtor instincts.

That could make it harder for CVC to match its massive F1 returns. It had initially sought a majority stake in the Premiership, but was rebuffed by the clubs. Doing so would have made it easier to load the tournament with debt. There may be the opportunity to do so with the vehicle through which it invests in the sport, but the lack of control makes it a bigger risk. Even so, if CVC can improve merchandising and rake in more broadcast income, then it should make a success of rugby.

In the fight for high-quality content, putting money into a tournament might be the best way to stay above the scrum.

Portsmouth’s James Bolton in action with Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah during their FA Cup, Fifth Round, match at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, Britain, on Monday.

Paralympics wheelchair rugby test event called off

AP — TOKYO

A wheelchair rugby test event for the Tokyo Paralympics was called off yesterday because of the virus outbreak.

The Japan wheelchair rugby championships, which doubled as the test event, were to take place on March 12-15 in Tokyo.

But the Japan Para Sports Association and the Interna-tional Wheelchair Rugby Fed-eration cancelled the event in line with Japan government policy discouraging large-crowd events this month in a move aimed at stemming the spread of the virus.

Tokyo Paralympics organ-isers said in a statement they would hold a wheelchair rugby test event in April “in some form” without any overseas teams.

Tokyo Games organizers have 17 test events remaining on their schedule. The last one is on May 8. Most are small events featuring only local athletes. The most significant is a gymnastics test event on April 4-6 that is expected to h a v e n o n - J a p a n e s e competing.

Tokyo Games organisers and the International Olympic Committee say the games will go ahead as planned from July 24, but each passing day sees events cancelled and puts the Olympics in jeopardy.

Former IOC vice president Dick Pound told the Associated Press in an interview last week that a decision about the Olympics probably has to be made by late May.

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) opens an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, yesterday.

10 WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020SPORT

WTA Tour continues with 2020 schedule despite virus chaosREUTERS – MUMBAI

The Women’s Tennis Associ-ation (WTA) has said it hopes to forge ahead with the remainder of the 2020 world tour despite widespread concerns over the coronavirus outbreak that has seen a host of sports events cancelled or postponed around the globe.

The virus outbreak has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide and infected almost 89,000, most of them in China.

Almost all sports have been impacted by the escalation in precautions taken against the

spread of the virus since the first outbreak in China in December. Some qualifying events for the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year have also been disrupted.

For a sport which needs players to fly around the world every week and play in front of stadiums filled with people, tennis could be hard hit as countries take measures to contain the virus.

China is a major location in WTA’s calendar and the Tour has already cancelled two 125K series tournaments in China, which were scheduled to be held in April.

“We are proceeding with the remainder of the 2020 WTA Tour season as planned but we will be prepared to make any changes, if deemed necessary in due time,” the WTA told Reuters.

The April 27-May 3 Kunming Open in China’s Anning became the second tournament to be cancelled after the Xi’an Open which was also scheduled for April.

Zhengzhou, J iangxi , Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, Tianjin and Zhuhai are all set to host WTA events in September and October during the tour’s Asian swing.

The top eight women’s singles players and the same number of doubles teams are then scheduled to assemble in Shenzen in November to compete in the season-ending WTA Finals - considered only below the four Grand Slams in terms of prestige and glamour.

The WTA said it is regu-larly communicating with health experts, local govern-ments and travel agencies and passing those information to the players.

“There isn’t anything more important than protecting the health of our players, WTA and

event staff, and fans who attend WTA events,” the association said.

“We are working closely with our tournaments, so they are in the best position to provide for health and safety precautions in their venues.” The inaugural version of the Fed Cup Finals will also see the top women’s players of the world assemble in Budapest for the $18m 12-nation event from April 14-19.

The International Tennis Federation - the custodians of the Fed Cup - said it is in con-stant consultation with inde-pendent medical and travel

advisers and prepared to take any necessary measures based on expert advice.

The men’s ATP Tour also witnessed a number of its Chal-lenger Tour events cancelled in China in March and April, while the final of a Challenger event in Bergamo, Italy, was also can-celled in February.

“We are in regular contact with our player and tournament members regarding the latest precautionary health measures and guidelines, as well as any travel advisories, and we con-tinue to closely monitor the sit-uation as it evolves,” the ATP Tour announced.

UEFA ‘confident’ virus outbreak will not derail Euro 2020 plansAFP – AMSTERDAM

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said yesterday he was confident European football’s governing body could deal with any worst-case scenario in relation to the upcoming Euro 2020 as the continent battles to contain the spread of the coro-navirus.

COVID-19 has been detected in 76 countries worldwide, killing over 3,000 people with Italy the worst-hit nation in Europe.

The Italian capital Rome is one of 12 venues across the continent set to host matches at the European Championship in June and July.

A long list of sports events around the world have been cancelled or postponed in recent days to avoid spreading the virus, including games in Italy’s Serie A. The top two divisions of Swiss football have been postponed until the end of March.

“You don’t know how many concerns we have when we organise a big com-petition,” Ceferin said at a press con-ference in Amsterdam after the Dutch capital hosted the UEFA Congress.

This week marks 100 days until the start of the 24-team European Champi-onship, and Ceferin called on organisers to “not just think about dark scenarios, there will be time for that later.” His com-ments came after FIFA president Gianni Infantino, addressing the Congress, urged authorities “not to panic”.

UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis said European football’s gov-erning body “do not want to overreact” and was dealing with the situation “case by case”. However, Champions League fixtures are a more pressing concern.

While Juventus had their Serie A game called off at the weekend, Inter Milan played a Europa League home game behind closed doors last Thursday with northern Italy particularly badly hit by the outbreak.

Juventus are due to host Lyon in Turin in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on March 17 and that game could also be played behind closed doors, chiefly because there is little room in a crowded calendar to allow for postponements.

Inter are also due to host Spanish side Getafe on March 12 in the Europa League.

Theodoridis said: “Inter already have two matches postponed, and they still play in the Italian Cup and the Europa League, so this makes it almost impossible to find dates if we don’t coordinate between the European leagues.”

Concerns about the outbreak have impacted on the draw for the next UEFA Nations League tournament in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening.

National team coaches are due to attend the ceremony, but Scotland manager Steve Clarke will not be present, the Scottish FA told the BBC.

That decision was made in order to avoid an “unnecessary risk” with his team due to play Israel in a key Euro 2020 qualifying play-off later this month.

A hot summer ahead for boxing’s heavyweight divisionAP – LONDON

Boxing’s heavyweight division will be heating up even further this summer, highlighted by a third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua defending his belts against Kubrat Pulev in London.

Joshua and Pulev will go first, meeting June 20 in the first boxing bouts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Joshua, who reclaimed his piece of the heavy-weight title in December against Andy Ruiz Jr., will be fighting at home in England for the first time in two years.

The date for Fury and Wilder is

more fluid, though promoter Bob Arum said he is looking at July 18 at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. That’s where Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh round last month of their title rematch in a dominating performance that cemented his status on top of the heav-yweight division.

"Nothing is set in stone but that’s certainly the date we’re talking about,"Arum said Monday. "We have to meet with the Wilder camp and eve-rybody else and zero in on it, but right now that’s the date we’re looking at."

Promoter Eddie Hearn announced the Joshua-Pulev fight on Monday, with

Joshua meeting the once-beaten Bul-garian before what is expected to be 70,000 fans at the new stadium.

"A spectacular stadium has been built in north London and I’m honored to bring the boxing community from all over the world to witness us make history with the stadium’s first heavy-weight world title fight,"Joshua said. "The belts go back up in the air and nothing will stop me from being victorious."

Joshua will defend his piece of the heavyweight title against Pulev, whose only loss was to former champion Wladimir Klitschko nearly 5 1-2 six

years ago. It will be the second try at a world title by Pulev, who has won eight straight since being stopped by Klitschko.

Arum, who promotes Pulev as well as Fury, said the two fights could lead to a heavyweight unification fight by the end of the year.

Fury, who is unbeaten in 31 fights, staked his claim to being the best heav-yweight around when he knocked down Wilder twice before stopping him in the seventh round in Las Vegas. The fight was a rematch of their first meeting in December 2018 that ended in a draw.

Wilder had 30 days under

the contract between the two boxers to formally ask for a third fight with Fury. Wilder blamed the weight of a costume he wore into the ring for taking away his legs in that fight and said his corner should have never thrown in the towel in the seventh round to end the bout.

Arum said the economics of a third fight make sense, even if some in boxing believe the second fight under-per-formed in pay-per-view sales. The fight drew a record heavyweight title gate of $17.9m and Arum said he believes the pay-per-view sales will hit 1.1 million when all are tallied up.

Cassin books date with 2015 champ Samsonov as Doha event kicks offTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

Frenchman Alexandre Cassin overcame Finland's Benedek Olah 4-3 (4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10) in an exhil-arating preliminary round clash to book a date with 2015 men's singles champion, on the opening day of the 25th edition of the Qatar Open, yesterday.

At the Aspire Academy today, Cassin will meet the top seed, Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov who moved into the second round of the ITTF World Tour Platinum event with a bye.

China’s Zhou Qihao also moved through to the second preliminary round in the men’s singles qualification draw after negotiating a tricky encounter against Belarusian opponent Aliaksandr Khanin 4-1 (11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11).

Elsewhere, Belgium’s Martin Allegro outclassed

Turkish counterpart Ibrahim Gunduz 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 15-13, 14-12) with Spain’s Alvaro Robles, Hungary’s Bence Majoros and Serbia’s Ale-ksandar Karakasevic all pre-vailing in their respective fixtures.

The two Qatari player competing in the afternoon session both tasted defeat and with it an opening stage elim-ination in Doha. Mohammed Abdulwahhab was seen off in straight games by Uzbekistan’s Zokhid Kenjaev on table 1 (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6) while Fahed Almughanne suffered the same fate in his meeting with India’s Amalraj Anthony (11-5, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7).

Only two further encounters scheduled for the session were played out as Russia’s Kirill Skachkov and France’s Tristan Flore accounted for Iraq’s Ameer Al-Nuaimi (11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-2)

and Hong Kong China’s Ng Pak Nam (11-4, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9) respectively.

A tight affair which required the full seven-game distance to find a winner, C h i n a ’ s X i a n g

Peng has survived a gruelling preliminary round 1 contest against French opponent Can Akkuzu (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 13-15, 11-6) to extend his stay in the men’s singles race.

Benedikt Duda was in imperious mood against India’s Jeet Chandra, as he beat the Asian in straight games (11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7) in under 22 minutes.

However, the session was marred by a number of with-drawals due to injury – Czech Republic’s Pavel Sirucek and Italy’s Leonardo Mutti both dropped out giving Belarussian Pavel Platonov and Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw default entries into the next round.

Swedish prodigy Truls Moregard was in action against China’s Fang Bo and it was all about the fiery shots here at the Aspire Academy, with the match going to a

seventh game decider. Even-tually, Moregard came out on top, winning 4-3 (11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10) in a 54 minute epic.

Germany’s Ricardo Walther meanwhile had to deal with the challenge of Chew Zhe Yu Clarence, winning 4-2 (11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) after the Sin-gaporean gave him a serious run for his money.

China’s Yan An and Zhou Yu started the proceedings in Doha with major wins against India’s Harmeet Desai and Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu respectively.

Yan An needed no more than 38 minutes to see off the Indian, winning 4-1 (11-6, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5, 11-9). For Zhou Yu, it was more of a contest as he beat his European opponent 4-2 (8-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-5, 11-3).

Uzbekistan’s Zokhid Kenjaev in action against Qatar's Mohammed Abdulwahhab yesterday.

Sweden's Truls Moregard in action against China's Fang Bo yesterday. PICTURES: HUSSEIN SAYED

Alexandre Cassin of France in action against Finland's Benedek Olah during their preliminary round clash of the 25th edition of the Qatar Open at the Aspire Academy yesterday.

2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum - Qatar Open

11WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020 SPORT

Stage set for ‘spectacular’ season openerRIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

The first round of the 2020 Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) - the world’s most popular show jumping series - opens tomorrow and hosts Qatar are ready to deliver a ‘spectacular’ show, top offi-cials associated with the sport said yesterday.

“This is the 7th edition of the Longines Global Cham-pions Tour that we are hosting in Qatar and this time we are glad to kick off the new season,” Omar Al Mannai, the Event Director, said yesterday.

“We are opening the season now. We used to host the last event of the LGCT series. We are looking forward to top shows from riders and horses this week,” Al Mannai added at a press conference attended by popular Belgian rider Nicola Philippaerts and LGCT and GCL President and Founder, Jan Tops.

“What’s so special about this week’s edition is that this is the first round of 2020. The LGCT battles starts right here in Qatar. The entire seasons takes off from here. Starting from Qatar means a lot to us,” Al Mannai said.

Last week, the same venue hosted the Commercial Bank CHI Al Shaqab, a five-star event where World No.3 Daniel Duesser bagged the Grand Prix trophy.

More than 40,000 fans turned up to watch the action live during the February 26-29 event.

“It is one of the well-known events on the LGCT calendar. We are honoured to host this in Qatar,” he added.

The Qatar leg is one of 18 events to be held this year including the GC Prague Playoffs to be staged at the end of the year.

What started as a six-stop series in 2006 now has millions of fans around the world with LGCT events held around iconic locations like Miami, Madrid, Cannes, Monaco, Paris, London, Rome and New York.

Al Mannai said Doha takes great pride in being part of the LGCT series.

“The Longines Global Champions Tour started in Doha in 2008. In 2013 we

started hosting LGCT here in Al Shaqab. LGCT is a tour that takes place all over the world, and of course it has boosted the sport all around the globe,” Al Mannai said.

“For us here in Doha, it’s incredible for riders, trainers, and so on to experience this kind of event. Besides that, the top sport of LGCT continues to attract new partners - local and international - to be part of this story here in Qatar and this is important for us as organisers and hosts.

“We had a little over 40,000 spectators attending over three days so we have really developed the event in that way too. We are looking forward to continue hosting this event in the future,” Al Mannai said.

LGCT and GCL President and Founder Tops, yesterday said at a pre-event press con-ference: “I think Al Shaqab is a unique place in the world, I don’t think there is a second place like this, they really think of everything. The public attendance is increasing every year, which is very nice to see. The whole place is picture perfect. We are excited to see all the teams battle for their places for the title and also the riders to try and qualify all season for the LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague which is very pres-tigious to win.”

He added: “We had an incredible

year in 2019. We had the play-offs, a new concept that had 250,000 people watching the riders live (in Prague). Our sport had great events in Stockholm and New York also. This year we have 18 stops and 16 teams competing in the Global Champions League. They will be battling for the team title. We have seen riders getting ready. Every rider has the possibility to win. They start in Shaqab this week.”

Belgian rider Philippaerts echoed Al Mannai’s senti-ments when he praised the Longines Arena at Al Shaqab.

“For us as riders it’s an incredible place, we always look forward to coming back here. I think the best riders in the world have been coming already for many years here, the top 30 almost always come here,” Philippaerts said yesterday.

“The weather is good, the facilities are perfect, all the riders come here with their best horses. The event and venue is good preparation for this year’s Olympic Games as the weather and temperature is good for the horses’ accli-matisation, and there is a lot of space to work everywhere,” the 26-year-old added.

“It is an amazing circuit and all the best riders in the world love it.

"Everyone wants to win the title in the end. The top riders in the world are all here and we will see some nice sport this weekend,” he

added.

Fans around the world will be able to watch all the action live on GCTV throughout the weekend. The first round of the GCL team competition will begin at 17:45 (local time) tomorrow, with home team Doha Falcons looking for a good start to their campaign in front of a home crowd. Friday will see two top-level competitions, before the second round of the GCL competition takes place at 14:45 on Saturday. The LGCT Grand Prix of Doha kicks off at 18:15 on Saturday, with riders vying for the win as well as the first golden ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the GC Prague Play-offs.

The world’s best riders and horses will battle in testing competitions in a varied and dynamic calendar spanning 18 events including the GC Prague Play-offs in November. Rider and horse combinations will have to deliver top performances in multiple environments ranging from small and large sand and grass arenas to jumping by day and by night. The opening event at Al Shaqab in Doha features an expansive sand arena at 120 x 80m and will be followed by the vast grass arena in Mexico City and the tighter sand arena on Miami Beach. Only the best will succeed in clinching podium places and valuable ranking points and prize money on the road to the Finals in New York and the GC Prague Play-offs.

What’s so special about this week’s edition is that this is the first round of 2020. The LGCT battles starts right here in Qatar. The entire seasons takes off from here. Starting from Qatar means a lot to us.

Omar Al Mannai, Event Director

TIMETABLETOMORROW

15:00 CSI 5* Two phases 1.45m (€25.400)17:45 CSI 5* GCL of Doha Round 1 - 1.50/1.55m (€55,000 to individual class winners)

FRIDAY, MARCH 609:00 National Accumulative 1.00/1.15m (QR10,000) 13:00 National Against-the-clock 1.20/1.30m (QR20,000 - individual & QR20,000 - teams)15:45 CSI 5* Against-the-clock 1.50m (€51,100)19:30 CSI 5* Against-the-clock with jump-off 1.50/1.55m (€148,500)

SATURDAY, MARCH 709:55 National Against-the-clock 1.15/1.25m (QR15,000)12:15 National Against-the-clock 1.30/1.45m (QR35,000)14:45 CSI5* GCL of Doha Round 2 - 1.50/1.55m (€95,000)18:15 CSI 5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Doha - 1.60m (€375,000)

For us as riders it’s an incredible place, we always look forward to coming back here. I think the best riders in the world have been coming already for many years here, the top 30 almost always come here: Nicola Philippaerts

Qatari rider Bassem Mohammed guiding Gunder

over an obstacle during an earlier edition of the Qatar Round of Longines Global

Champions Tour at Al Shaqab Arena in this file photo.

Belgian rider Nicola Philippaerts (centre) offers tips to young riders during the Internations Camp at Al Shaqab, yesterday.

A file picture of last year’s action of the Longines Global Champions Tour at the Longines Arena at Al Shaqab.

2020 Longines Global Champions Tour round in Qatar

SPORT | 09

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time in 2020

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Champions Tour: Stage

set for ‘spectacular’

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SPORT | 11

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020

Expect to see lots of birdies, lots of excitement: BraidwoodPicturesque Education City Golf Club set to become European Tour venue

Kaymer leads stellar field at Qatar MastersARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer leads a galaxy of golf stars who will be vying for the top prize at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters European Tour event from March 5 to 8.

The former World No.1 along with defending champion Justin Harding and Paul Lawrie, a two- time Doha winner are some of the 144 elite golfers who will be competing for The Mother of Pearl Trophy at Education City Golf Club.

For the first time in the tour-nament’s 23-year history the event has been shifted from Doha Golf Club to the newly-built course, designed by two-time Masters Champion Jose Maria Olazába, which will be officially inaugurated on Thursday.

The venue comprises 33 holes split into three courses; 18 holes, nine holes and six holes. The facility also includes a state-of-the-art learning and practice facility housed in the Centre of Excellence and is at the heart of Qatar’s vision to grow the game.

Kaymer, a four-time Ryder Cup star, who won the 2010 US PGA Championship and 2014 US Open will be hoping to continue his promising start to the season with another strong per-formance in a bid to bolster his position in the 2020 Race to Dubai.

Besides Kaymer, a number of players in the field have Ryder Cup ambitions like Eddie Pep-perell, Alex Levy, Joost Luiten, Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry.

Winner of last week’s event in Oman, Sami Valimaki of Finland will also be seen in

action along with two local Qatari golfers. Valimaki won his first European Tour title defeating Stone in a play-off to lift the trophy in Muscat.

Addressing a press con-ference here yesterday Michael Braidwood, General Manager at Education City Golf Club said they are ready to host the top players.

“The golf course is spec-tacular. It’s an amazing con-dition. Some of the players taking part got to use it for the first time on Monday and the feedback was very, very pos-itive,” Braidwood said.

LIke all golf courses across the region, Braidwood said wind will play a major part once the action begins on Thursday.

“The wind is a major factor, so we’ll see how the players

cope with the challenge.. The forecast is good for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So we expect to see low scores, lots of birdies, lots of excitement,” he added.

Qatar Golf Association Pres-ident, Hassan Nasser Al Naimi,

said that the two Qatari players in the field Saleh Ali Al Kaabi and Jaham Jasim Al Kuwari have shown some promising results against their name in the run up to the championship and he was hopeful they will make the cut.

“Al Kaabi and Al Kuwari have taken part in three to four Qatar Masters championships before this one this year they participated in the Qatar Open Amateur Championship and both of them finished in the top five. So i think, their chances of probably making the cut are high and they playing with pro-fessionals is good enough for them to gain experience and move on in their careers and hopefully someday become professionals.”

European Tour Tournament Director Mikael Ericsson said that the sport is growing in the region in the terms of new courses and the number of players taking to the sport.

“I think the future is very bright. I think golf is growing out here and we see more and

more courses being opened. So, I think golf is very bright out here. You see more and more players and better players coming from this region as well.”

Hussein Ali Al Abdulla, Chief Marketing Officer at Com-mercial Bank said they have popularising the game among young talents.

“Every year, Commercial Bank tirelessly works to deliver the best golf experience for par-ticipants and players, as well as spectators and enthusiasts, which is why we have organised and scheduled in cooperation with the Education City Golf Club visits to various schools and universities in Doha to raise awareness on this sport amongst students,” Al Abdulla said.

“The main goal of this cam-paign was to raise awareness about this fascinating game and to educate the public in Qatar, in particular com-munity members aged between 3 and 25, in order to make them more familiar with the game, its techniques and values. We are pleased to announce that we have suc-ceeded in educating around 9,000 students from several schools and universities in the country,” he added.

Since it was first included on the European Tour Inter-national Schedule in 1998, former winners of the event have included Major cham-pions Ernie Els (2005), Sergio Garcia (2014), Retief Goosen (2007), Lawrie (1999, 2012), Adam Scott (2002, 2008) and Henrik Stenson (2006) and Europe’s victorious 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn (2011).

2019 Justin Harding South Africa

2018 Eddie Pepperell England

2017 Wang Jeung-hun South Korea

2016 Branden Grace South Africa

2015 Branden Grace South Africa

2014 Sergio García Spain

2013 Chris Wood England

2012 Paul Lawrie (2) Scotland

2011 Thomas Bjørn Denmark

2010 Robert Karlsson Sweden

2009 Álvaro Quirós Spain

2008 Adam Scott Australia

2007 Retief Goosen South Africa

2006 Henrik Stenson Sweden

2005 Ernie Els South Africa

2004 Joakim Haeggman Sweden

2003 Darren Fichardt South Africa

2002 Adam Scott Australia

2001 Tony Johnstone Zimbabwe

2000 Rolf Muntz Netherlands

1999 Paul Lawrie Scotland

1998 Andrew Coltart Scotland

CHAMPIONS IN DOHA

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Braving windy conditions, European Tour stars yesterday tackled bunkers and green-side water hazards at the Education City Golf Club as they flexed muscles for this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The top golfers, who tested the picturesque course having unique views of the Doha Skyline and the 2022 Education City World Cup Stadium yes-terday, were left impressed and gave immediate thumbs up to the new venue.

The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters – in its 23rd edition – is taking place for the first time at the Education City Golf Club, marking a European Tour debut for the world class course. The Qatar Golf Association has moved the event away from iconic Doha Golf Club to

introduce the state-of-the-art venue to the world.

Designed by two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, the venue at Edu-cation City comprises of 33 holes split into three courses; 18 holes, nine holes and six holes.

It also includes a learning and practice facility housed in the Centre of Excellence and is at the heart of Qatar’s vision to grow the game in the Middle Eastern country. From tomorrow, as many as 144 pro-fessional golfers including two-time Major Champion Martin Kaymer and Paul Lawrie will vie at the course for the pres-tigious title - marking a new era in history of the sport in Qatar.

Michael Braidwood, General Manager of the Education City Golf Club said the course pro-vides a perfect platform for thrilling action.

“The golf course is spec-tacular. It is in amazing con-dition. The players were there for the first time and the feedback was very very pos-itive,” Braidwood said at a press conference held at the venue yesterday.

While there was a lot of wind yesterday, the forecast remains good for the playing

days, with Braidwood saying the golfers will get a fair test during the tournament.

“We will see how the players will cope with the challenge. The wind is a major factor, very windy today but the forecast is good for the playing days. So we expect low scoring. Nowadays the golfers hit very far. It is great for us to

see when they get on excep-tional putting surfaces that we have here. Expect to see low scores, lots of birdies and lot of excitement and we are looking forward to seeing what the winning scores would be. It will be a tough, fair and a very good chal-lenge,” Braidwood said.

“Golf continues to grow in Qatar and we are excited to help shape the golfing land-scape through our principles at Education City,” Braidwood added.

South Africa’s Justin Harding - the defending champion – was one of the golfers who practised yesterday and he was happy with his first experience.

“It’s a good golf course, I’ve played nine holes and I think the wind’s going to blow,” said Harding. “It’s going to make it chal-lenging for scoring.”

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser will officially inaugurate the Education City Golf Club tomorrow, Qatar Golf Association Pres-ident Hassan Nasser Al Naimi said yesterday.

“Her Highness Sheikha Moza will officially inaugurate the Education City Golf Club on Thursday,” Al Naimi said at a press conference yesterday.

He added the purpose to shift the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters from long time venue Doha Gold Club is to introduce the new course to the world.

“We want to show the world that we have another golf club in Qatar and development of the sport will continue, and hope-fully we will see new courses,” he said.

Sheikha Moza to grace inauguration

Hassan Nasser Al Naimi (fourth left), Qatar Golf Association President, and Hussein Ali Al Abdulla (fourth right), Chief Marketing Officer at Commercial Bank posing for a photograph with other top officials during a press conference held at the Education City Golf Club, yesterday. PICTURE: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

Michael Braidwood, General Manager of the Education City Golf Club

Workers giving finishing touches at the Education City Golf Course ahead of the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters yesterday. PICTURE: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA