Friday, January 1, 2021Jumada I 17, 1442 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

James celebrates birthday with Lakers win

Atletico extend La Liga lead aft er Real slip at Elche

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Williamson overtakes Smith, Kohli as top Test batsmanPage 7

Lekhraib completes feature double for Injaaz Stud

Qatar’s al-Attiyah focussed on fourth Dakar title

Casamento rides Lekhraib to Al Shaqab Cup win

HORSE RACING

MOTORSPORT

By Mikhil BhatDoha

Lekhraib ensured an Injaaz Stud sweep of the week’s features as the six-year-old bagged the Al Shaqab

Cup in spectacular fashion at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s Al Rayyan Park yesterday.

It was Injaaz Stud’s fi lly, Gaby De Faust, that had won the Dukhan Cup at the same track on Wednesday.

Yesterday’s dirt feature for lo-cal Arabians saw Marco Casa-mento guide a winner after three straight near-misses earlier yesterday as Mohamed Jassim Ghazali-saddled AF AlBahar colt won the 1,700m run by over fi ve lengths.

Casamento had his mount stay on the heels of early leader Lama, helmed by Ali Khalid al-Mosallam, before upping the pace and taking the lead coming off the fi nal bend. Lekhraib kept building the gap on the competi-tion eventually fi nishing ahead of Soufi ane Saadi-ridden Hazm Al Sulaimi, while Lama had to settle for third.

Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani-sad-dled Southernmachoman won an intriguing duel in the fi nal stages of the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 75 and below. Helmed by Qatari apprentice rider al-Mosallam in the colours of Abdulaziz Saleh al-Jaber, the four-year-old colt was locked with Casamento-ridden Unbut-ton in a battle for supremacy in the 1,200m sprint. At the post, Southernmachoman eked out a short head win, topping for the fi rst time since October 2019. It was al-Mosallam’s 13th win this season.

Casamento lost out on a vic-tory again when he was astride Ghazali-schooled Immoral in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 85 and below. This

time it was Deborah Mountain-saddled Alizoom that edged out Casamento and his partner by a short head in the 1,900m run. Alizoom was helmed to his fourth overall victory by Ivan Rossi in the colours of Ali Hassan Ali al-Abdulmalik.

The string of near-misses for Casamento stretched when Saadi helmed Hamad Ahmed al-Malki al-Jehani-trained Zarandi to a quarter-length victory in the Thoroughbred Handicap for horses rated 95 and below. Casa-mento-ridden Return To Senders was second, the colt’s best fi nish this season.

In the penultimate race yes-terday, Al Sakab Stud’s versa-tile fi lly Al Faisaliya landed her third career victory when Ronan Thomas guided the Ibrahim al-Malki charge to a fi ne win in the six-furlong local Thoroughbred Handicap sprint.

The bay fi lly’s busy schedule has seen her line up for seven races since the season began in October and only once has she fi nished outside the money, in-cluding two wins.

Earlier yesterday, Injaaz Stud’s Mister General shed his maiden status in dominant fashion with apprentice jockey Khalid al-Balushi guiding the Mohamed Riyaz-trained colt to a fantas-tic win in the Purebred Arabian maiden for four-year-olds with almost six lengths to spare.

Two fi llies owned by Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari registered their fi rst career wins with Marco Casamento riding Salsabiel in an Arabian maiden sprint, while Michael Forest was astride the topper Qawaafi in a 1,700m local Thoroughbred maiden.

RESULTSRace 1: PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATE (4 Year Olds) (Distance: 1,700m)1. Mister General (Khalid al-Balushi), 2. Bakir (Soufiane Saadi),

3. Khattab De Faust (Ali Khalid al-Mosallam), 4. Guyloud De Car-rere (Marco Casamento). Won by: 5 ¾, ¼, 8 ¾. Time: 2:00.33. Owner: Injaaz Stud. Trainer: Mohamed Riyaz.Race 2: PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATE (No Off icial Rating) (Distance: 1,200m)1. Salsabiel (Marco Casamento), 2. Hadjira De Faluzins (Faleh Bugha-naim), 3. Al Rayyan (Ivan Rossi), 4. Rahaf HA (Tomas Lukasek). Won by: 3 ½, 2 ¾, 3 ¾. Time: 1:21.02. Owner: Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari. Trainer: Mohamed Jassim Ghazali.Race 3: LOCAL THOROUGHBRED MAIDEN PLATE (Distance: 1,700m)1. Qawaafi (Michael Forest), 2. Maksab (Tomas Lukasek), 3. Ser-een (Meteb Ali al-Marri), 4. Wukair (Ronan Thomas). Won by: 2 ½, 1 ½, 3. Time: 1:54.86. Owner: Khalifa bin Sheail al-Kuwari. Trainer: Mo-hamed Riyaz.Race 4: THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Class 5) (75 & below) (Distance: 1,200m)1. Southernmachoman (Ali Khalid al-Mosallam), 2. Unbutton (Marco Casamento), 3. Doha Incanto (Meteb Ali al-Marri), 4. War Order (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: Shd, 4, 3 ½. Time: 1:12.82. Owner: Abdulaziz Saleh al-Jaber. Trainer: Hadi Nasser al-Ramzani.Race 5: THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Class 5) (85 & below) (Distance: 1,900m)1. Alizoom (Ivan Rossi), 2. Immoral (Marco Casamento), 3. Comrade In Arms (Faleh Bughanaim), 4. Roman Legend (Meteb Ali al-Marri). Won by: Shd, 1 ¼, 7 ¾. Time: 2:04.20. Owner: Ali Hassan Ali al-Abdulmalik. Trainer: Deborah Mountain.Race 6: THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Class 4) (95 & below) (Distance: 1,200m)1. Zarandi (Soufiane Saadi), 2. Return To Senders (Marco Casamento), 3. The Singer (Carlos Henrique), 4. Catch A Wave (Faleh Bughanaim). Won by: ¼, 1 ¼, 7 ¼.

Time: 1:11.26. Owner: Saeed Nasser al-Qadi. Trainer: Hamad Ahmed al-Malki al-Jehani.Race 7: LOCAL THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (70-90) (Distance: 1,200m)1. Al Faisaliya (Ronan Thomas), 2. Sarmad Bu Thaila (Killian Leonard), 3. Dhergham Bu Thaila (Michael Forest), 4. Mizoun (Francois Herholdt). Won by: 2, 4, 2. Time: 1:12.96. Owner: Al Sakab Stud. Trainer: Ibrahim al-Malki.Race 8: AL SHAQAB CUP (Local PA) (Distance: 1,700m)1. Lekhraib (Marco Casamento), 2. Hazm Al Sulaimi (Soufiane Saadi), 3. Lama (Ali Khalid al-Mosallam), 4. Fahim (Ronan Thomas). Won by: 5 ¼, 8 ¼, 3. Time: 1:59.76. Owner: Injaaz Stud. Trainer: Mohamed Jassim Ghazali.

Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s Abdulla Rashid al-Kubaisi (second from right) with the winners of Al Shaqab Cup after Injaaz Stud’s Lekhraib won the 1,700m feature at Al Rayyan Park yesterday. PICTURES: Juhaim

Marco Casamento rides Injaaz Stud’s Lekhraib to Al Shaqab Cup victory yesterday.

AgenciesLondon, United Kingdom

Last year, Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah had a forget-table Dakar Rally. The then defending cham-

pion suff ered as many as a dozen punctures as the event headed to Saudi Arabia for the fi rst time.

Despite the setbacks, the Qatari star fi nished runner-up behind Spaniard Carlos Sainz by a little over six minutes in his Toyota, numbered 300. The near miss has only made the 50-year-old hun-grier for his fourth Dakar title as the fi rst major motorsport event of 2021 heads into the dunes and remote deserts of Saudi Arabia in a bivouac ‘bubble’ this weekend.

“Last year’s Dakar in Saudi Arabia was a real disappoint-ment. It was great to be in a new region with incredible scen-ery and above all we were full of confi dence, but as soon as the rally started, we started getting

punctures. The tyres we had in South America were not suitable for Saudi Arabia. So not win-ning was a big disappointment but we still fi nished second,” al-Attiyah, winner in 2011, 2015 and 2019, was quoted as saying on the Dakar Rally website.

He added: “Concerning the tyres, we (along with Giniel de Villiers) were able to test (in Ha’il) and I am quite confi dent. This year has been rather quiet for me. I only contested the Qatar Rally before the confi nement and the Andalucía Rally afterwards, as well as a few rounds of the Mid-dle East Rally Championship. I stayed at home for more than 6 months but it felt good not to travel and enjoy my family. I am now looking forward to a Dakar where there will be more dunes and tricky bits.”

Perhaps not leaving anything to chance, al-Attiyah also has his number game up to the mark, with the number 301 on his Toy-ota . “I have always won with the

number 301.”All participants in the gruelling

event, which starts in Jeddah on Sunday and ends in the Red Sea port on January 15, have had to quarantine for Covid-19 after ar-riving on charter fl ights.

Spaniard Nani Roma, a past

winner on two wheels and four, had to change co-driver after compatriot Dani Oliveras tested positive at home before Christ-mas and was unable to travel to the Middle East. Oliveras’ place will be taken by Frenchman Alex Winocq.

“It’s hard for us,” said 2014 winner Roma, speaking on a vid-eo call while isolating in his hotel room. “But anyway I think every-one had a real victory to start this Dakar in this situation around the world.”

Nine-times world rally cham-pion Sebastien Loeb, with long-time co-driver Daniel Elena, will also be competing. The French-man has not raced in Saudi Arabia before but competed when the Dakar was held in South America, fi nishing second with Peugeot in 2017.

Triple winner and defending champion Sainz, father of the Ferrari Formula One driver of the same name, returns with the X-Raid Mini team.

“I’m happy to be here after such a diffi cult year, like every-body, happy to be at the start,” said the Spaniard.

The Dakar has a number of changes aimed at improving safety after bike riders Paulo Goncalves and Edwin Straver died in last year’s event.

All bike riders must now wear an airbag jacket and are limited to six rear tyres to encourage lower speeds to reduce wear, although some have questioned whether that will really happen.

“If we have six rear tyres for 12 days of the race, you have to go with damaged tyres without being able to slow down... I don’t think, no matter what they try, that we will slow down in competition,” said American Ricky Brabec, the defending champion.

Bike riders will also get an au-dible warning at dangerous parts of the route.

Electronic road books will be used by some competitors ahead of a general introduction in 2022.

His Highness The Amir Cup draw to be held on January 4

QNADoha

The draw for His High-ness the Amir Cup will be held on Janu-

ary 4, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) said yes-terday. The draw ceremony — to be attended by QFA off icials, team representa-tives and the media — will be held at Ritz-Carlton.The draw for the 49th edition of His Highness the Amir Cup will be based on the ranking of the teams and their positions in the QNB Stars League for the last season 2019-2020 in which 16 clubs from the first and second divisions were seen in action.The draw for the Round 16 matches will be conducted after the participating teams have been classified into two brackets.

Group A that will include the first eight teams in the final standings of the QNB League competitions for the 2019-2020 season which are: Duhail, Al Rayy-an, Al Sadd, Al Gharafa, Al Sailiya, Al Wakrah, Al Arabi and Qatar SC.Group B will include teams ranked from ninth to 12th place in the QNB Stars League namely Al Ahli, Umm Salal, Al Khor and Al Shahaniya along with the first three-ranked teams of the second division (2020-2019 season) Al Kharaitiyat, Al Markhiya and Al Shamal.Muaither team, who quali-fied from the preliminary match that was held be-tween the fourth and fifth place holders in the Second Division, will also be part of the draw.QFA has confirmed that the first match will be played on January 25.

FOOTBALL2 Gulf Times

Friday, January 1, 2021

Brazil prosecutors investigate PSG star Neymar’s alleged New Year’s party

Garcia agrees personal terms for summer return to Barcelona

Burnley’s new American owners vow to back Dyche in transfer market

Atletico extend La Liga lead aft er Real slip at Elche

FOCUS

TRANSFER

PREMIER LEAGUE

SPOTLIGHT

AFPMangaratiba, Brazil

Brazilian prosecutors said on Wednesday they were investigating re-ports that football star

Neymar has organised a New Year’s Eve mega-party at his luxury home near Rio de Janeiro, despite public health measures to curb rising coronavirus deaths.

Sources close to the striker denied he had plans to host such an extravaganza, while the Paris Saint-German player added to the mystery by simply posting pictures of himself with a friend on a yacht off a beach in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

The Rio Prosecutor’s Offi ce said in a statement that it had opened an investigation after receiving “several claims, based on information released by the press, about the events spon-sored by the player Neymar.”

The prosecutor’s offi ce also urged Neymar, as well as the exclusive community where his mansion is located and another neighbouring residential com-plex, to urgently provide clari-fi cations as to “the number of guests, the organisation of par-

ties and any health measures they might have put in place.” One of Neymar’s assistants said he had did not know whether the player will see in 2021 in his luxury mansion in Mangaratiba, a small town 130km (85 miles) from Rio, or if he will stay in San-ta Catarina.

Media reports about a planned party attended by between 150 and 500 people triggered a wave of criticism at a time when sci-entists in Brazil, one of the worst-hit countries in the world, are pushing for social distancing and isolation to avoid worsen-ing a pandemic that has already cost some 194,000 lives there. Such a party would not however be illegal, since the state of Rio de Janeiro has not banned parties in private residences and the Man-garatiba city council admitted it did not have the power to inter-vene. The AFP fl ew over the area where the mansion is located on Wednesday, without observing any signs of party preparations on the grounds. Neymar bought the mansion in 2016 and accord-ing to media reports, the 10,000 square metre property features a helipad, tennis courts, a spa, a sauna, a massage room, a gym and areas for food and drinks.

By Fabrizio RomanoThe Guardian

Eric Garcia has agreed personal terms with Bar-celona over a fi ve-year contract but it remains

to be seen whether he will leave Manchester City in January after rejecting their off er of a new deal.

The 19-year-old defender, who moved to England from Barca in 2017, surprised City last summer when he refused a contract extension, with City demanding a fee of £20mn plus £10mn in add-ons from his former club to purchase him. But with less than six months of García’s contract remaining, he is free to negotiate with overseas clubs and has reached an agree-ment to return to Catalonia at the end of the season.

Barcelona could still attempt to bring forward the transfer but will need to agree a fee with City to sign him in January. García has played just 200 minutes in the Premier League so far this term despite featuring regularly at the end of last season and it is un-derstood that Pep Guardiola was hoping the Spain international

may have a change of heart.But although his move remains

contingent on the election of a new Barcelona president, García is believed to be keen to to return to the club that he fi rst joined as a junior in 2008. “He [García] told us that he doesn’t want to extend his contract with Manchester City, so he has one more year,” Guardiola said in August. “We wanted it but he doesn’t want to extend. I imagine he wants to play in another place.”

ReutersBrunley, England

Burnley’s new American chairman has vowed to back manager Sean Dyche in the January transfer window as

the East Lancashire club look to pull further clear of the Premier League relegation zone. The Clarets con-fi rmed yesterday that American in-vestment group ALK Capital had purchased an 84% controlling stake in the club and that the deal had been ratifi ed by the Premier League.

ALK is headed by Alan Pace, an American with a banking background who was also president of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. Pace was expected to meet with Dy-

che later yesterday to discuss plans but said that he was ready to give the manager the funds to bring in addi-tions to the squad, who are currently in 16th place in the league, fi ve points above the relegation zone.

“We are very prepared to support Sean and the management team. We need time to get in and understand what their needs are, what we’re planning for and what the decisions were that they’ve taken so far and where they desire to go but we are fully prepared to back the manager,” Pace said.

Dyche has lamented that lack of support in recent transfer windows and was critical of the way some players were allowed to leave after their contracts ran out last season. The 49-year-old had a strained re-

lationship with outgoing chairman Mike Garlick in recent months and has not been allowed to meet with the new ownership during the fi nal stages of the takeover.

Pace said the consistency that Dy-che has brought the club in his eight years in charge at Turf Moor, with the team in their fi fth straight season in the Premier League, was one of the attractions of the club as an invest-ment. “The longevity and stability of the management side is something that has been very impactful from our perspective, along with the play-ing style and the ability to perform at the level they have. We’re very big fans of Sean,” he said.

Outgoing Burnley chairman and former majority shareholder Mike Garlick will continue to serve on

the board under the new ownership group and Pace, who plans to move with his family to Lancashire said the project was a long-term one.

“We wouldn’t do anything that’s not on a long-term basis, this is not a short, buy-to-fl ip, opportunity. This is very much something we have a passion for ourselves and we are looking forward to the opportunity to be involved for years to come. This is something we’re excited about,” he said.

“I’m looking to take a very ac-tive role on a daily basis, myself, my family and some of my partners will be moving to the local area and we’re very excited to be engaged more reg-ularly than some would expect.”

Burnley host Fulham next in the Premier League tomorrow.

AFPMadrid

Atletico Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga on Wednesday night after Luis Suarez fi red them to a 1-0 win

over Getafe while Real Madrid could only draw 1-1 at Elche.

Suarez struck in the 20th minute with a superb header from Yannick Carrasco’s cross to move Diego Simeone’s Atletico up to 35 points, two ahead of local rivals Madrid after they were pegged back by a Fidel Chaves penalty following Luka Mo-dric’s early opener.

Real Sociedad are six points adrift while Sevilla and Villarreal are a further nine points back, with Barcelona 10 be-hind Atletico in sixth after their 1-1 draw with Eibar on Tuesday. Atletico have also played two fewer matches than reigning champions Madrid after a scrappy win emblematic of Simeone’s reign on his 500th match as club coach.

“When I got on the plane to come here I thought that when I left the club (as a player) that I always wanted to come back,” said Simeone, who is in his 10th year as Atletico coach. “I found men (Koke, Saul Niguez) who wanted to get the club out of the bad patch it was in, and I have a relationship with them that goes beyond football.”

Uruguay forward Suarez’s eighth goal of the season was a good as it got for

Atletico, who despite fi elding a strong line-up did not impress in a match of lit-tle incident at the Wanda Metropolitano.

However Atletico’s third straight win keeps them top of the pile after a fraught last few days in which Diego Costa was allowed to leave and Kieran Trippier was banned until the end of February for bet-ting breaches.

Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid knew that whatever happened in the late fi xture they would trail Atletico going into the new year, but they looked on course for a routine win at struggling Elche when Modric opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Croatian Modric pounced to place a perfect header in the top corner after Marco Asensio’s longe range shot thumped back out off the bar, the second time Madrid had hit the woodwork in the early minutes.

The away side thought they had a pen-alty nine minutes before the break when referee Jorge Figueroa Vazquez pointed to the spot for what he thought was an Ivan Marcone handball, but the awarding was cancelled following a VAR check.

Elche then got a spot-kick of their own fi ve minutes into the second half when Dani Carvajal was caught tearing at An-tonio Barragan’s shirt, with Fidel step-ping up to stroke home the leveller. Lucas Boye then hit the post for the hosts before home keeper Edgar Badia made two su-perb stops deny Carvajal and Sergio Ram-os as Madrid pushed for a win that would have kept them level on points with their

capital city rivals.Earlier Granada moved to within two

points of the Champions League plac-es after beating Valencia 2-1 in a feisty match where three players were sent off in six second-half minutes. Jorge Mo-lina’s powerful header two minutes from time keeps Granada in seventh place on 24 points, two behind fourth-placed Se-villa, Sociedad and Villarreal.

Valencia’s seventh league defeat of the season leaves them level on 15 points with Real Valladolid, who are third-from-bot-tom in the relegation zone. Javi Gracia’s side haven’t won a La Liga match in their last seven attempts and had their task made harder when Jason and Goncalo Guedes were sent off within three min-utes of each other midway through the second half.

Granada’s Domingos Duarte was then shown a straight red card three minutes later after he cynically hacked down Manu Vallejo as he attempted to burst through on goal with the scores still level. Molina punished the beleaguered away side by thumping home Alberto Soro’s cross.

SOCIEDAD FINALLY WIN AGAIN BY TAKING SPOILS IN

DERBY AT ATHLETICYesterday, Real Sociedad ended a long barren spell without a win by beating Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao 1-0 away from home, collecting their fi rst victory in all competitions in 10 matches. For-

ward Portu struck the only goal of the game in the fi fth minute by tapping in a cross from his side’s top scorer Mikel Oyarzabal, who was making his fi rst ap-pearance since getting injured on Dec. 3.

The visitors looked far likelier to get a second goal than concede an equaliser to an unimaginative Athletic, who could not manage a single shot on target. Sociedad’s Swedish forward Alexander Isak smashed a shot against the crossbar in the second half while Igor Zubeldia missed the target from close range when Athletic keeper Unai Simon spilled a stinging shot from Oyarzabal at his feet.

A fi rst league victory since Nov. 22 took third-placed Sociedad on to 29 points from 17 games, six behind leaders Atleti-co Madrid who also have three matches in hand. Athletic are 12th on 18 points.

LA LIGA RESULTS

Athletic Bilbao 0 Sociedad 1 (Portu 5)

Played Wednesday: Granada 2 (Kenedy 45+2, Molina 88) Valencia 1 (Gameiro 36); Atletico Madrid 1 (Suarez 20) Getafe 0; Celta Vigo 2 (Nolito 33, Aspas 61) Huesca 1 (Seoane 84); Elche 1 (Fidel 52-pen) Real Madrid 1 (Modric 20)

Played Tuesday: Sevilla 2 (Ocampo 8-pen, En-Nesyri 53) Villarreal 0; Barcelo-na 1 (Dembele 67) Eibar 1 (Kike 57); Cadiz 0 Real Valladolid 0; Levante 4 (Duarte 2, Morales 22, 24, Roger 55) Real Betis 3 (Mandi 12, Canales 78-pen, 86)

Diego Simeone’s Atletico are two points ahead of local rivals Madrid

Atletico Madrid’s Luis Suarez (left) scores against Getafe in the La Liga at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on Wednesday night. (AFP)

Burnley manager Sean Dyche. (Reuters)

FOOTBALL3Gulf Times

Friday, January 1, 2021

Liverpool miss chance to stretch lead aft er Newcastle stalemate

PREMIER LEAGUE

AFPNewcastle, United Kingdom

Liverpool squandered the chance to open up a fi ve-point lead at the top of the Premier League in the fi nal English top-fl ight

match of 2020 after being held to a goal-less draw by Newcastle on Wednesday night. The 0-0 stalemate at St James’ Park means the champions go into the New Year with a three-point lead over Manchester United, having played a game more.

But they will rue their missed chanc-es in a match in which they enjoyed nearly three-quarters of possession.

Mohamed Salah — top of the Premier League goalscoring charts with 13 goals — missed the target either side of half-time with just goalkeeper Karl Darlow to beat and strike-partner Roberto Firmi-no saw two headers superbly saved.

Three days after lowly West Brom snatched a point at Anfi eld, Jurgen Klopp’s men, who have now won only two of their eight league away games this season, were frustrated once again, although it took a late goal-line clear-ance from Fabian Schar and Darlow’s brilliance to keep them at bay.

Klopp rued his side’s profl igacy in front of goal. “You might not think I have to tip my hat to my team but I like the performance,” he said. “It was re-ally good. Can we play better football? Yes, but in this game we did more than enough to win it. I think we had four 100% chances. We have won against Newcastle before with fewer chances. Tonight we didn’t but we accept that. I am happy with the things I saw tonight and I can really work with that. The boys are frustrated and rightly so but not about the performance. It is a basis to build on for the next few days, weeks, months.”

Newcastle, who came into the match without a win in four games in all com-petitions, started positively, with re-turning striker Callum Wilson almost

catching goalkeeper Alisson Becker unaware with a speculative early shot.

The Reds needed Alisson to be at his best to deny Wilson once again 10 min-utes later after he had outpaced defend-er Nathaniel Phillips. Liverpool should have been ahead 11 minutes before the break when Salah beat the off side trap to control the ball in front of the ad-vancing Darlow, only to stab his shot wide of the post, and the keeper pro-

duced a fi ne reaction save in stoppage time to repel Firmino’s header from point-blank range.

Mane headed into the side-netting from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 49th-minute corner and when Liverpool turned the screw, with Mane going through his full repertoire of tricks, the Magpies’ rearguard came under in-creasing pressure.

Salah had another chance to break the

deadlock midway through the second half when he was played in by Firmino but, after steadying himself, directed his eff ort past the upright. Firmino was equally wasteful when presented with a glorious chance at the far post as New-castle rode their luck.

It nearly got much better for the Mag-pies 11 minutes from time when Ciaran Clark met Matt Ritchie’s free-kick with a downward header that Alisson had to

turn away. But Schar hacked the ball off his own line ahead of Mane seconds later and Darlow brilliantly clawed away another Firmino header at the death to preserve his clean sheet.

Klopp’s men fi nish the calendar year on 33 points from 16 games, three clear of United, who have 30 points after 15 matches. The two teams, with a com-bined 39 English titles between them, meet on January 17 at Anfi eld.

Champions go into the New Year with a 3-point lead over Man United, having played a game more

Juve face uphill battle as Serie A resumes

Former Man United manager Docherty dies

Kolasinac joins Schalke on loan as Arteta targets Arsenal clearout

FOCUS

ROUND-UP

ReutesTurin, Italy

Serie A has become almost a formal-ity for Juventus over the last decade but the Turin side are suddenly fac-ing an uphill battle as they chase a

tenth successive title this season. Juve host Udinese as Serie A resumes on Sunday after a 10-day Christmas break which has given them plenty of time to refl ect on a their dis-mal 3-0 home defeat by Fiorentina.

Leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo spent part of that period in Dubai, a trip that raised eyebrows in Italy where ordinary citizens are under a Christmas and New Year lockdown and subject to severe travel restrictions.

In their fi rst season under Andrea Pirlo — a man with no previous coaching experience — Juventus fi nd themselves in sixth place with 24 points, 10 adrift of leaders AC Milan but with a game in hand. Juve have become used to letting their rivals do the chasing in the last few seasons and the last time they were in a remotely similar situation was back in 2015-16 when they were seven points be-hind the leaders at the similar stage.

Pirlo has insisted from the outset that his team are “under construction” and the Fiorentina debacle came just as they ap-peared to be taking shape with a 3-0 win away to Barcelona in the Champions League and a 4-0 drubbing of Parma.

“I’m trying to put my ideas together, the players are understanding them, and we continue on this game plan started in Sep-

tember,” said the bearded, moody-looking coach after the Fiorentina match. “We will try to improve it when we resume.”

Midfi elder Rodrigo Bentancur confessed that the players had approached the Fioren-tina match in the wrong frame of mind. “We are still in the title race, we know that,” said the Uruguayan. “The last match showed that every challenge must be approached from the fi rst minute with the right mental-ity. We still have to face our direct rivals.”

Although midtable Udinese are no pusho-vers, the real battles begin afterwards as Juventus visit leaders AC Milan on Jan. 6, host fourth-placed Sassuolo four days af-

ter that and visit second-placed Inter Milan on Jan 17. Milan, who visit a Benevento side led by their former coach and striker Filippo Inzaghi, are still unbeaten with 34 points although their mounting toll of injuries — including 39-year-old forward Zlatan Ibra-himovic — fi nally appears to be catching up with them.

Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan, who host lowly Crotone in another Sunday game, have cut their neighbours’ lead to one point. Having won their last seven league games, they are starting to look like favourites in what is turning out to be the most unpre-dictable title race for years.

Former Manchester Unit-ed and Scotland man-ager Tommy Docherty, popularly known as ‘The

Doc’, has died after a long ill-ness at the age of 92, his family announced yesterday. Docherty managed 12 clubs — including Chelsea and Aston Villa and a stint in Australia — after a play-ing career that included 25 caps for Scotland between 1951-59 and more than 300 games at Preston North End.

Docherty was at Old Traff ord from 1972-77, replacing Frank O’Farrell, with the 2-1 FA Cup fi nal victory over Bob Paisley’s Liverpool in 1977 a highlight.

However, celebrations did not last as he was almost im-mediately sacked for having an aff air with the wife of the club physiotherapist Laurie Brown. Docherty later married Mary Brown and they remained together until his death.

He returned to management at Derby before moving back to QPR, where he was sacked, then reinstated after just nine days – and then sacked again.

UNITED, CITY TO PLAY RESCHEDULED GAMES

IN JANUARYManchester United and Man-chester City will play their rescheduled fi xtures from the opening weekend of the season in January, the Premier League announced.

Both Manchester clubs did not play on the opening week-end in September due to their participation in the knockout stages of last season’s Euro-pean club competitions which ended only in August due to the Covid-19 hiatus.

Burnley will host second-placed United on Jan. 12 while City host Aston Villa on Jan. 20. The fi xtures add to a packed schedule for both Manchester clubs who also play each other in the League Cup semi-fi nal on Jan. 6 before they begin their FA Cup campaign the following weekend.

City, eighth in the standings, have two games in hand after Monday’s match at Everton was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak at their club.

City’s fi rst team have since returned to training after their facilities were closed for two days but the league has yet to reschedule the game against Everton.

By Paul DoyleThe Guardian

Mikel Arteta has re-vealed Arsenal’s pri-ority in January is to trim the numbers in

their squad. Sead Kolasinac is one of several players who have barely featured this season and the defender has joined Schalke on loan until the end of the cam-paign.

“We have a large squad and we knew that,” Arteta said. “A lot of things that should have hap-pened in the summer, we cannot accomplish for diff erent reasons.

“There are some players that are going to go on loan and going to leave and that is the priority at the moment. We cannot sustain the numbers that we have in cer-tain positions and we are looking to do that, and then we will see if we have the right opportunity in the positions where we need some more help.”

Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi are among others who do not feature in Arteta’s plans but one player the manager said he would like to keep is Reiss Nelson, whose absence from the squad in recent weeks fuelled speculation that he could be on the verge of a move.

“He has not been 100% fi t and that is the reason why he has been out and not featuring in the squad,” Arteta said. “He had a muscular issue. He has been in and out of training, but not been 100%. It is a shame because I felt he was getting into his perform-ance levels, he was starting to have some really good games and to build that momentum. This little injury has stepped him back a little bit, but this week has been much better.”

Arteta says he is confi dent that increased testing of Premier

League players will help to en-sure that the season can continue without interruption despite ris-ing Covid-19 infection rates.

Arsenal’s next match is tomor-row against West Brom, whose manager, Sam Allardyce, called this week for a “circuit-breaker”. The latest round of testing re-turned the highest number of positives since the start of the season, with 18 of 1,479 players and staff found to have the virus. Two matches had to be post-poned this week owing to high infection rates.

The Premier League has in-creased the frequency of testing from once to twice per week for clubs in tier 4 areas, including Arsenal. Arteta says he believes that measure will help to tackle the rise.

“I think we are all concerned with our own health and with what is going on around us,” the manager said. “But all the proto-cols we have in place, everything we do around the training ground

and around matches and the fact that we play our sport outdoors all minimise the risks a lot.

“If you see the record since we started to test, it is incredibly positive and as long as we can we have to carry on doing that but obviously without putting any-one at risk.

“I think we have shown the system is working. In the last week or so something has hap-pened and we will have more re-strictions and more tests to try to be as effi cient as we were before and we will see, but I think it can work and we can carry on.”

Arteta said football had a cru-cial role to play in keeping peo-ple’s spirits up during lockdown.

“The importance of football to this society is massive. When you ask around and talk to people and ask them what it means to have football in this diffi cult period for everybody when there is not so much to do, it is really, really important. What we have to do is try to do it in a safe way.”

SPOTLIGHT

Manchester: Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani has been suspended for three games and fined 100,000 pounds ($136,590) after he admitted a Football Association (FA) charge for using a racial term, the football governing body said yesterday.

The 33-year-old Uruguayan used the word “negrito” in an Instagram post last month after beating Southampton on Nov. 29, before taking it down and

apologising. Cavani will miss United’s league game against Aston Villa, the League Cup semi-final against Manchester City and the FA Cup match against Watford as a result of the suspension.

“A comment posted on the Manchester United striker’s Instagram page was insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute con-trary to FA Rule E3.1,” the FA said in a statement. “The post

also constitutes an ‘aggravated breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included reference, whether express or implied, to colour and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”

The FA said Cavani would also have to complete “face-to-face education” as part of his punishment.

United said Cavani chose not to contest the charge out of respect for the FA and the “fight against racism in football”.

“Despite his honest belief that he was simply sending an aff ectionate thank-you in response to a congratulatory message from a close friend, he chose not to contest the charge,” United said in a state-ment. “The club trusts that the independent Regulatory Com-mission will make it clear in its written reasons that Edinson Cavani is not a racist, nor was there any racist intent in rela-tion to his post.”

Cavani suspended by FA for three games over use of racial term

Newcastle United’s goalkeeper Karl Darlow (left) saves a shot from Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match on Wednesday night. (Reuters)

Juventus’ Alvaro Morata (left) and Paulo Dybala at training yesterday.

AFPNantes, France

Raymond Domenech was unveiled as the new boss of struggling French Ligue 1 side

Nantes yesterday, 10 years after his rollercoaster reign as France coach ended in a player strike and World Cup humiliation. “I’m happy, it’s a real pleasure....maybe I understand your prob-lems better, I hope not to repeat my mistakes”, he told journalists.

The 68-year-old Domenech was in charge of Les Bleus from 2004 until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The tournament was an utter fi asco with temper-amental striker Nicolas Anelka sent home, players striking in response before the team was knocked out in the fi rst round.

That was the last time Do-menech coached a team. If that was an excruciating experience for the combative Domenech, the next six months will be just as testing with Nantes down in 16th place in the table, three points above the relegation trap-door. “The objective is to bring pleasure, to off er something coherent to this team,” said Do-menech who has not coached at top-fl ight club level since a fi ve-year spell at Lyon from

1988-1993. “Through what we are going to show on the fi eld, I hope that we will bring everyone together. I’m not worried, I want things to go well on the pitch, we are moving forward, we are training, the players are strong in spirit, they are happy, with a lot of joy and desire.”

The club’s fans, however, may need convincing. When he ar-rived for training on Wednesday, he was greeted by a band playing circus music with a ‘ringmaster’

taking aim at him and club own-er Waldemar Kita. Players were compared to goats.

“Ladies and gentlemen, wel-come to the Kita Circus! The Kita Circus brings you some new amazing new acts,” boomed a member of the ‘Brigade Loire’ supporters’ club to a background of deafening music. “Raymond Domenech will explain to us his vision of football, what will make us laugh on the upcoming weekends.”

Domenech insisted yester-day that he was unperturbed by the hostility. “At all clubs there are problems. There are worries everywhere. If everything was rosy, you’d have nothing more to write,” he told reporters. “I don’t know anyone at this club who does not want it to work, every-one wants it to work.”

Domenech’s fi rst match in charge will be on January 6 at home against Breton rivals Rennes.

ReutersMilan

Midfi elder Radja Nainggolan rejoined Cagliari after an unhappy few months at Inter Milan yesterday, saying he hoped his third stint at the Sardinian

club would help him rediscover the joy of playing football. “As if in a long love story, tinged with red and blue, Cagliari and Radja Nainggolan are to-gether once again,” said Cagliari in a statement, confi rming that the Belgian had joined them on loan from Inter for the rest of the season.

Nainggolan began his Serie A career with Cagliari in 2010, before moving to AS Roma in 2014. After four impressive seasons with Roma — where he played under Cagliari’s current coach Eusebio Di Francesco — he joined Inter in 2018 but that move never worked out.

He was loaned to Cagliari for the whole of last season and, having returned to Inter, made only four Serie A appearances for Antonio Conte’s side in the fi rst half of the current campaign. “I’m here because I want to rediscover the joy of playing football that was taken away from me in this fi rst part of the season,” Nainggolan told reporters on arriving in Cagliari. “I like playing football and that’s all I want to do... I’m someone who’s been moved around left, right and centre lately.”

Nainggolan made 30 appearances for Belgium but ended his international career after being left out of the 2018 World Cup squad.

BALOTELLI FINDS TARGET ON MONZA DEBUT

Mario Balotelli got off to a fl ying start for Monza on Wednesday after bagging his fi rst goal for his new club just three minutes into his debut for Silvio Berlusconi’s ambitious team. Italy interna-tional Balotelli signed a deal until June for the Se-

rie B side earlier this month and made an imme-diate impact when he met Carlos Augusto’s cross to put them ahead in a 3-0 win over league lead-ers Salernitana. Balotelli, who had been without a team since the summer before signing for the club from just outside Milan, also had a goal ruled out for a clear off side before he was substituted just after the hour mark.

Antonino Barilla put the hosts two up just be-fore the break when he slammed home from close range, and substitute Marco Armellino made sure of the three points which take Monza just two points behind Salernitana when he added a third deep into stoppage time.

Third-placed Monza are also one point away from the two automatic promotion spots as former AC Milan chiefs Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani target a place Serie A next season. Four-time Italian prime minister Berlusconi purchased Monza in September 2018 for around 3mn euros having sold Milan for 740mn euros in April 2017. Balotelli played under the pair at Milan between 2013 and 2014 and then on loan from Liverpool for the 2015-16 Serie A season. He arrived at Milan in January 2013 and scored 12 goals to help them reach the following season’s Champions League.

Ten years aft er World Cup fi asco, Domenech back in dugout

Nainggolan hopes to rediscover the joy of football on Cagliari return

LIGUE 1 ROUND-UP

Reyna leads charge of Bundesliga’s rising teen starsAFPBerlin

The Bundesliga returns this week-end after a two-week break with Borussia Dortmund’s American midfi elder Giovanni Reyna lead-

ing a crop of talented teenagers rapidly becoming household names. Reyna, who marked his 18th birthday in November by extending his contract until 2025, scored his fi rst Bundesliga goal on the opening day of this season.

He has featured in all of Dortmund’s Bundesliga and Champions League games in 2020/21, scoring three league goals — including the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Frankfurt — and producing six assists. Reyna, an attacking midfi elder who can play on either wing, needs a strong per-formance at home to Wolfsburg on Sun-day after Dortmund’s shock 2-1 defeat to Union Berlin a fortnight ago.

The result left Dortmund fi fth in the league, eight points behind leaders Bay-ern Munich, who host Mainz on Sunday. Against Wolfsburg, Dortmund could wel-come back striker Erling Braut Haaland, who scored ten Bundesliga goals in eight games before being sidelined by a hip in-jury. Having forced his way into the Dort-mund fi rst-team, Reyna now wants to emulate Haaland and England winger Ja-don Sancho, both 20, by deciding games. “You see guys like Sancho and Haaland — I want to be at their level,” Reyna told The Players’ Tribune. “I know I can make that jump this season. I’ve come out of my shell. I now demand the ball.”

The son of former USA captain Clau-dio Reyna, he joined Dortmund from New York City FC in July 2019. Shortly after his 17th birthday last January, Reyna made his Dortmund debut, then bagged his fi rst senior goal in February with a jaw-dropping strike in a German Cup game at Bremen.

He marked his Champions League de-but the same month with a brilliant pass to set up Haaland for the winning goal in the last 16, fi rst-leg victory over Paris Saint Germain. However, Reyna’s raw tal-ent needs polishing. His defensive work was exposed when Union’s Liverpool loa-nee Taiwo Awoniyi got in front of him to head home. Dortmund fi elded a youthful side in Berlin where Haaland’s understudy Youssoufa Moukoko became the league’s youngest goal-scorer at 16 years, 28 days. Down in Bavaria, European champions Bayern Munich are also giving youth a chance.

Before this season, double Champi-ons League winners Thomas Mueller and David Alaba, who graduated from Bay-

ern’s academy more than a decade ago, were the last fi rst-team players to come up through the club’s youth structure.

That has all changed with 17-year-olds Jamal Musiala and Bright Arrey-Mbi, plus Angelo Stiller, 19, given game time this season for the European champions by Hansi Flick. As Alphonso Davies proved last season in making the left-back berth his own as a then 19-year-old, Flick cares more about talent than age. “Fi-nally, we once again have a few players on our (academy) campus who are break-ing through,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Of Bayern’s trio of teens, Musiala has

made the biggest impact. The attacking midfi elder, who can also play on the left, became the club’s youngest goal-scorer during the 8-0 demolition of Schalke on the opening day of this season.

Born in Stuttgart — his mother is Ger-man — Musiala moved to London as a child and rose through Chelsea’s academy before joining Bayern’s youth structure last year. Shortly after earning his fi rst England Under-21 cap in November, Mu-siala then came off Bayern’s bench and scored with a superb strike in the 3-3 draw against RB Leipzig.

“We’re very happy about Musiala’s de-velopment, he’s very calm on the ball and

the football world can look forward to what will come of this young talent,” Flick said recently.

Musiala also hit the post in Bayern’s 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen which put them top a week before Christmas.

His obvious talent has drawn the at-tention of Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff , who hopes to persuade Musiala to play for the country of his birth rather than England.

“We’re watching him, because of his German FA past and his current perform-ances,” Bierhoff recently said of Muisala, a rarity having played for Germany Under-16s as well as England’s juniors.

SPOTLIGHT

Reyna now wants to emulate teammates Haaland and Jadon Sancho, both 20

FOOTBALL

Gulf Times Friday, January 1, 20214

Gerrard can’t wait for fi rst whistle as Rangers prepare to host Celtic

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP

ReutersGlasgow

Rangers manager Ste-ven Gerrard said he cannot wait for to-morrow’s “Old Firm”

derby against Scottish Pre-miership champions Celtic at Ibrox as he looks to guide his side to a 19-point lead over their bitter rivals.

Wednesday’s 2-0 victory at St Mirren put Rangers on 59 points from 21 games, with Celtic, who beat Dundee Unit-ed 3-0, 16 points behind but having played three games less. “A quick turnaround to the Old Firm is always good,” Gerrard told the club’s website.

“The quicker it comes the better for me, I’m really look-ing forward to it. It’s a fantas-tic game, we’re in a good place and I can’t wait for that whistle to go. We want to go and give everything we can, be the best version of ourselves collective-ly and individually. I’m con-fi dent we can get those three (points).”

Romanian Ianis Hagi has scored two goals in his last three appearances and set up Kemar Roofe’s opener on Wednesday, while forward Al-fredo Morelos ended his goal drought by scoring the second against St Mirren.

Gerrard said he had plenty of thinking to do before de-ciding his line-up. “Ianis has come back into the team and he’s contributing really well, I’ve got some big decisions to make for the weekend but that’s where I want to be,” Ger-rard added.

“People are pushing for

places and that’s the way it is but I’ll pick a team that can do the job and I can’t really go on who scored in the last game or who’s on form. “... There will be no sentiment... it’ll be the team that I think can get us the three points.”

RACIST ABUSE WILL NOT STOP ME, SAYS

KILMARNOCK’S DYERKilmarnock boss Alex Dyer said he will not allow racist abuse to deter him from doing his job after the 55-year-old English-man was targeted this week. Kilmarnock said they had con-tacted police after receiving a letter on Monday containing “racist abuse” directed at Dyer, the only Black manager in the Scottish Premiership.

“What’s happened to me is not about Kilmarnock, be-cause the Kilmarnock people have been good to me,” local media quoted Dyer as saying. “It’s about someone who has a grievance against my colour, it’s as simple as that. I work hard every day, I give my all, because it’s the job I love doing. I’m never going to let someone like that deter me from do-ing my job. It’s in the police’s hands and they will get on with it now.”

Dyer said that it was im-portant to “carry on doing the right thing” in the face of rac-ism. “I can bat it off because I’m in a privileged position but there are people out there who don’t have anyone so it’s for the likes of me to keep talk-ing about it,” he added. “... We take the knee, keep getting the message out there and hope-fully one day there will be no more.”

Midfielder Giovanni Reyna has featured in all of Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga and Champions League games this season, scoring three league goals and producing six assists.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard (left).

Nantes new head coach Raymond Domenech (centre) talks to players during a training session at the Joneliere training centre, in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, outside Nantes yesterday. (AFP)

James celebrates birthday with milestone in Lakers win

Padres land Japanese star Darvish from Cubs to boost MLB title hopes

SPORT5

Superstar celebrates his 36th birthday, scoring double-digit points for the 1,000th straight game in the win over Spurs

NBA

BASEBALL

Gulf Times Friday, January 1, 2021

AFPLos Angeles, United States

Los Angeles superstar LeBron James celebrated his 36th birth-day Wednesday with another NBA milestone, scoring dou-

ble-digit points for the 1,000th straight game in the Lakers’ 121-107 victory over the Spurs in San Antonio.

James fi nished with 26 points to ex-tend his already record streak of dou-ble-digit games in the regular season.

He sealed the milestone midway through the second quarter with a turnaround jump hook that gave the Lakers a 46-37 lead.

“I just try to live in the moment and just try to continue to get better with my game, try to get better with my teammates and try to just maximise when I’m on the fl oor,” said James, who is in his 18th NBA campaign after lead-ing the Lakers to the 2020 title in the league’s quarantine bubble in Orlando.

“I’ve been blessed to play the game that I love for 18 years and hopefully I can continue to play at a high level,” he said.

James’ double-digit scoring streak began on January 6, 2007, when he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It’s a tribute to his tenacity level... his commitment to excellence,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game. “He deserves a lot of credit for being the consummate professional. His mental state along with his physical state really makes him really special.”

Shortly after James reached the milestone, Popovich was ejected from the contest for arguing with offi cials.

Assistant Becky Hammon took over on the Spurs bench, becoming the fi rst woman to direct a team in an NBA game.

Anthony Davis scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Lak-ers, newcomer Dennis Schroder added 21 points and four assists.

Wesley Matthews had his best game since joining the champions, scoring 18 points off the bench as he made all six of his three-point attempts.

HUMBLED HEAT BOUNCE BACKIn early action, the Miami Heat re-bounded from an embarrassing 47-point loss to Milwaukee with a 119-108 NBA victory over the Bucks.

The Heat didn’t have to wait long for revenge as they hosted the Bucks for the

second straight night.Goran Dragic came off the bench to

lead Miami with 26 points, Bam Ade-bayo added 22 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists and Tyler Herro scored 21

points with a career-best 15 rebounds as the Heat rallied to stave off another home defeat.

The Bucks had dominated on Tues-day with an NBA-record 29 three-pointers in their 144-97 triumph.

The Bucks, fuelled by a triple-double of 26 points 13 rebounds and 10 assists from two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, looked like making it two wins in a row when they led by 14 in the third quarter.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 15 points and Jrue Holiday added 13 for the Bucks, but the Heat rallied despite missing Jimmy Butler for the second straight game.

“You want to constantly develop some grit and toughness during the course of a long season, and our guys responded in an appropriate fashion,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who acknowledged before the game that there was “a lot of anger and frustra-tion” after the blowout loss on Tues-day. “As well there should have been,” he said.

In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving scored 17 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Kevin Durant added 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Nets dealt the Atlanta Hawks their fi rst de-feat of the young season, 145-141.

Irving’s late burst helped the Celt-

ics withstand 30-point performances from Atlanta’s Trae Young and John Collins.

Boston, powered by Jaylen Brown’s career-high 42 points, defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 116-111.

The Celtics led by 12 points after the opening quarter and took full control with a 17-0 scoring run in the

second period.Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Le-

onard, who missed two games with a mouth injury from an elbow to the face, returned in a protective mask to score a game-high 28 points in his team’s 128-105 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

RESULTS

Boston 126-107 Memphis

Brooklyn 145-141 Atlanta

Miami 119-108 Milwaukee

Charlotte 118-99 Dallas

LA Lakers 121-107 San Antonio

LA Clippers 128-105 Portland

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks past San Antonio Spurs defenders during the NBA game at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, United States, on Wednesday. (AFP)

Spurs’ Hammon makes NBA history as fi rst woman to lead team

ReutersNew York, United States

San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon made history on Wednesday, becom-

ing the first woman to take charge of an NBA team when she took over after head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected.Popovich received two technical fouls with 3:56 left in the second quarter of the Spurs’ eventual 121-107 defeat to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.“I did not walk into the arena thinking I would be coaching tonight, but that’s the way things go and you roll with it, and I would have liked a diff erent outcome,” Hammon said. “Overall, I would have loved to get a win tonight more than anything.Hammon did not know she would be put in charge if Popovich were to be ejected from a game. How did she find out?“He off icially pointed at me,” Hammon said. “That was it. He said, ‘You got ‘em.’ That was it. Very Pop-like.”San Antonio trailed by 11 points at the time Popovich was tossed.“We all group together, (assistant coaches) Will Hardy, Mitch Johnson, ‘What can we do to help?’” Hammon said. “It was all about what can we do to help win.... It was a great team eff ort, and they are in my ear giving me suggestions and helping with substitutions and whatnot. When Pop gets tossed, we all come together and become kind of another team.”Hammon, 43, has been an assistant coach for the Spurs since August 2014, the first woman to be paid for that job in an off icial, full-time capac-ity. She had a 16-year playing career in the WNBA, 1999-2006 with the New

York Liberty and 2007-14 with the San Antonio Stars, the latter team owned by the Spurs.“Obviously it’s a big deal, a substantial moment,” Hammon said of leading the Spurs on Wednesday. “I’ve been a part of this organisation. I got traded here in 2007, so I’ve been in San Anto-nio and part of the Spurs... organisa-tion with the Stars and everything for 13 years. So I have a lot of time invested, and they have a lot of time invested in me in building me and getting me better.”

Assistant coach Becky Hammon of San Antonio Spurs takes over head coaching duties on Wednesday. (AFP)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Allen exits game due to ankle injury

Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen sustained a sprained left ankle during the second quarter of Memphis’ Wednesday road game against the Boston Celtics. Allen was seen banging his fist on a nearby table as he limped toward the locker room. He was ruled out for the remainder of the contest at halftime. The injury to Allen is the latest for the Grizzlies, who saw star Ja Morant exit a 116-111 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year is expected to miss three to five weeks with that ailment. Memphis is also playing without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow. Jackson, the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, is out indefinitely while recovering from surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee. Winslow is sidelined due to a left hip injury. Allen, 25, missed his lone shot from the floor Wednesday and finished without a point. He entered the game averaging 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds this season.

Zero positives in latest week of NBA Covid-19 testingWhile Covid-19 cases are on the rise nationally, the NBA reported good news Wednesday regarding its status amid the pandemic. The league and the National Basketball Players Association announced that no positive results emerged from the 495 players tested for Covid-19 since December 24. Since the 2020-21 season tipped off on December 22, the NBA has postponed just one game, between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 23. The Rockets fell below the league-mandated minimum of eight available players due to positive Covid-19 cases for Ben McLemore and Kenyon Martin Jr. plus contact tracing that sidelined multiple others. The Rockets, still short-handed, returned to action on Saturday. NBA games are being held in empty arenas or with limited numbers of fans in the stands.

AFPLos Angeles, United States

Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish was obtained by San Diego from the Chicago Cubs in a Major League Baseball

deal to help make the Padres an im-mediate championship contender.

The Padres and Cubs completed a seven-player deal that sent 34-year-old right-hander Darvish, who went 8-3 last season to lead the National League in wins, to San Diego along with catcher Victor Caratini, behind the plate for most Darvish starts.

“It’s as good a combination of power, fi nesse, multiple pitches as anybody in the game,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said of Darvish.

“His last season and a half has been as productive as anybody in the game. He’s a force.”

Together with a trade for Tampa Bay star pitcher Blake Snell, the Pa-dres have assembled a formidable starting rotation.

“We’ve got a chance to win a World Series right away and you’ve got to love being a part of that,” Snell said.

“This team is lights-out. It’s time for us to put the work in and make this happen, because we have the team to do it.”

Darvish had a 2.01 earned-run average over 76 innings last season with Caratini calling what pitches he should throw, having caught 196 1/3 innings for Darvish, the most of any catcher in his career.

“He became part of the deal, in part, because of his great relation-ship with Yu,” new Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said.

“His ability to sort of potentially

smooth Yu’s transition to San Diego, I think, was a big part of the allure... that was something that the Padres were pretty insistent upon during

the deal.”The Padres talent on the mound

should be among the best in baseball.“You can never have enough true

front-of-the-rotation-type major league starters,” Preller said. “We feel like we have a bunch now.

“Everybody in the organisation is

fi red up, from top to bottom.”The Padres found a willing partner

in the Cubs, who were looking for young prospects.

Chicago reached the playoff s in fi ve of the past six seasons, including a 2016 World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians for the Cubs’ fi rst MLB crown since 1908.

But the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2017 and concern about an ageing roster and the potential to lose top free agent talent in 2021 put the Cubs at a crossroads to try and revamp without rebuilding.

“We’re at that time right now,” added Hoyer. “Are we going to be competitive? Absolutely.

“But are we going to have an eye on the future and try to make sure that we continue to bolster our farm sys-tem and make sure that we can build a future that is as bright as the last six years that we just went through? That’s our goal.”

‘ONE EYE ON FUTURE’In the trade, the Cubs acquired right-handed pitcher Zach Dav-ies, 18-year-old outfi elder pros-pects Ismael Mena and Owen Cais-sie, 17-year-old shortstop Reginald Preciado and 20-year-old shortstop Yeison Santana.

Hoyer won’t rebuild totally as he and former Cubs executive Theo Ep-stein did in 2012.

“I’m not going to run the same playbook that we ran in 2011 and ’12,” Hoyer said. “I think that would be foolish, and I think, frankly, that playbook has been copied so many times it doesn’t work the same way anymore.

“We need to make moves with one eye on the future, but we also have a really competitive team.”

6 Gulf Times Friday, January 1, 2021

SPORT

Saints go for historic NFC South sweep against Panthers

NHL’s oldest player Chara signs one-year Capitals deal

Browns Covid-19 positives are potential fi nal hurdle for NFL regular season

Chiefs looking to stay healthy ahead of Chargers clash

NFL

BOTTOMLINE

FOCUS

SPOTLIGHT

ReutersNew York, United States

The New Orleans Saints still have things to ac-complish in the fi nal game of the regular sea-

son on Sunday against the Caro-lina Panthers.

The Saints are on the verge of dominating the NFC South in an unprecedented fashion when they visit Charlotte, North Carolina.

That’s just part of the objec-tive.

“I just want to be playing our best football,” New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said. “I want to be as sharp as we possi-bly can, understanding that ob-viously we’re still missing a few guys that hopefully we’ll have when we get to the playoff s.”

The Saints (11-4) can clinch the overall No. 1 seed in the NFC and a subsequent fi rst-weekend bye in the playoff s if they win at Carolina (5-10) along with a Seattle (11-4) victory at San Fran-cisco (6-9) and a loss by Green Bay (12-3) at Chicago (8-7).

“We just have to keep play-ing our game,” Saints off ensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk said. “... The stakes are high right now.”

Already, New Orleans has se-cured its fourth straight NFC South title. A victory against the Panthers would mean the Saints complete a six-game sweep of the other NFC South teams, which is something no team in the division has ever accom-plished.

“You understand how hard it is to win the division,” Brees said. “Week-in and week-out, there are so many battles.... That would be a great accom-plishment. At the end of the day, it’s just getting another win, which just better positions our-selves for the playoff s.”

Carolina won for just the second time in a 10-game span with last weekend’s conquer-ing of Washington. Yet the Pan-thers are accustomed to taking on fi rst-place teams as this will mark their fi fth game in a nine-game stretch against a divisional leader.

With a fi rst-year staff under

new coach Matt Rhule, the Pan-thers are trying to set a founda-tion that will be benefi cial in the future.

“For us to have this new staff , new players, it’s about building each and every week,” Carolina safety Tre Boston said. “I told y’all a few weeks back: When that wall on the house is just one wall, eve-rybody is going to say stuff about it, but as we build this house and make it a home, we’re going to be one to reckon with.”

The Panthers, who posted a November shutout of the De-troit Lions, held Washington without a touchdown until the last two minutes.

“A lot of points this season, we were really searching to fi nd our identity and fi nd out what we do and what we have — and

that’s what we’re doing,” Caro-lina cornerback Donte Jackson said. “We were in a search try-ing to fi nd our identity, but we found it.”

The Saints aim to build on their reputation and be in posi-tion for a long playoff run.

“Understand exactly what wins football games and let’s make sure we’re doing all those things,” said Brees, who pointed out it’s important for the off ense to retain timing and rhythm.

Saints running back Alvin Kamara’s NFL record-matching six-touchdown performance against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas night showed what the team is capable of do-ing with its talent-laden off ense.

“Over time,” Brees said, “it wears defenses down.”

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has another oppor-tunity to face New Orleans. Last year with the Saints, he fi lled in for an injured Brees during a midseason stretch.

This is the fi nal chance for Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn to make a case for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

“It has been my goal to fi nish the season strong,” said Chinn, who has 110 tackles, fi ve passes defensed, two fumble recover-ies, two forced fumbles and a sack to go along with scoring two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Panthers running back Christian McCaff rey won’t play in the fi nale. He appeared in just three games this season. Running back Mike Davis (ankle) and receiver Robby Anderson

(groin) also sat out Wednesday’s practice.

The Saints defeated the Pan-thers 27-24 on October 25, with the outcome not decided until a late-game fi eld-goal attempt from 65 yards out was just short for Carolina’s Joey Slye.

New Orleans has defeated the Panthers in the last three meet-ings and in seven of the teams’ past eight games.

Attendance will be lim-ited to 1,500, with only fam-ily and friends of team mem-bers permitted entry, because of increased concerns in the Charlotte area regarding the coronavirus pandemic. This is a change from most of the season, when more than 5,000 fans were allowed to purchase tickets for Carolina home games.

ReutersNew York, United States

The Cleveland Browns shut down their training and practice facility on Wednesday after a player

and a staff member tested posi-tive for the novel coronavirus, posing a potential fi nal hurdle for the NFL as it closes out its regu-lar season.

The 10-5 Browns are in the hunt for a playoff spot going into their Sunday game against divisional rival the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have clinched their playoff berth after winning the AFC North title.

But the positive tests within the Cleveland organisation, which said it was cleared to reo-pen the facility later on Wednes-day, could pose a Week 17 chal-lenge for the league, with little scope to reschedule the game if the Covid-19 positives force a delay in the fi nal week of the regular competition.

League offi cials insisted on Wednesday that there was no evidence of transmission within the Browns facility and that the Covid-19 positives were the like-ly result of community exposure.

“To date, we don’t see any connection among the recent positive cases with the Browns,” said NFL Chief Medical Offi cer Allen Sills.

“But obviously we’re going to continue to work through that, continue to monitor test results on a day-to-day basis.”

Dawn Aponte, the NFL’s chief football administrative offi cer, said the league was continuing contact tracing but was moving forward with plans to play on schedule.

“We try to remain fl exible and adaptable as we go through this,” said Aponte. “Everything remains on the table and as we continue to get the information, we’ll assess it and address it.”

The NFL has seen numerous game delays due to Covid-19 positives but no outright cancel-lations, as it repeatedly ratcheted up its safety protocols — and handed down hefty fi nes for noncompliance.

The novel coronavirus has spread rapidly across the United States, with more than 19mn in-fections and over 330,000 Cov-id-19-related deaths.

The Browns, who have not made a playoff appearance since 2002, placed a handful of players on their Reserve/Covid-19 list in the last week, including rookie tight end Harrison Bryant and safety Andrew Sendejo.

The Reserve/Covid-19 list in-cludes players who have tested positive or have had a close con-tact with an infected person.

The Browns were without some of their top talent at wide receiver due to Covid-19 in their 23-16 loss to the New York Jets in Week 16.

“We’re all prepared to adapt as necessary and really just take this thing day by day,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said.

ReutersNew York, United States

Apparently subbing for Patrick Mahomes pro-vides a potential shot of youthful exuberance.

With the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff s already secured by Kan-sas City (14-1), the Chiefs will rest their MVP candidate Sunday when they play host to the Los Angeles Chargers (6-9).

Mahomes’ backup, Chad Henne, is no stranger to the NFL. That didn’t prevent Chiefs coach Andy Reid, however, from telling his backup quarterback to go be a kid again.

“I think he’s excited,” Reid said. “I told him, ‘Act like you’re 20, man, and try to remember those days and feel it.’ He’s all in.”

Henne, 35, will start for the fi rst time since the fi rst three games of the 2014 season with Jacksonville. He entered as a re-serve in two blowouts this sea-son, completing 5 of 6 passes while rushing for one touchdown after missing all of last season with a fractured ankle.

Not quite the numbers Maho-mes has posted leading Kansas City to 10 straight wins as the NFL passing leader with 4,740 yards.

The Chiefs have already estab-lished a club-best win total and can set another franchise record with an 11th consecutive win in the same season.

Nonetheless, Reid embraced the opportunity to rest sev-eral regulars before the Chiefs observe a fi rst-round bye and home-fi eld advantage in the playoff s.

“It’s crazy to think it’s my fi rst (start) since 2014,” Henne said. “I got all my games in when I was young and then I had like a fi ve- or six-year span where I didn’t

get much playing time. I’m ex-cited and excited about the group we’re going to have out there.”

The lineup could lack some fi repower the Chiefs typically deploy.

Tyreek Hill (hamstring), Le’Veon Bell (knee), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (ankle) and Sammy Watkins (calf) all missed practice Wednesday. Travis Kelce could be another weapon the Chiefs sit since he has already set the NFL season record for re-ceiving yardage (1,416) by a tight end and the franchise record for catches (105).

The Chargers carry a three-game winning streak behind Justin Herbert, who engineered game-winning drives in each of the three wins. The No. 6 overall pick from Oregon owns an NFL rookie record with 28 touchdown passes.

Herbert’s fi rst start came in Week 2 against the Chiefs after a pain-killing injection punctured the lung of Tyrod Taylor. The Chargers, who started 2-7, took the Chiefs into overtime before falling 23-20 as Herbert passed for 311 yards and one touchdown.

“I think I’m a better teammate, son, friend because of all those tough times we had this year,” Herbert said. “I know I learned a lot going forward, I know I’m going to be better prepared for 2021.”

One question is whether he will be joined by fourth-year coach Anthony Lynn, who said he has not been given any in-dication on his future with Los Angeles.

“I am not concerned about that; I am concerned about Kan-sas City,” Lynn said.

Defensive end Joey Bosa (con-cussion), wide receiver Keenan Allen (hamstring) and safety Rayshawn Jenkins (ankle) are questionable for the Chargers.

Saints can clinch the NFC overall No. 1 seed and a first-weekend bye in the playoff s

In this December 25, 2020, picture, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (right) makes a catch in front of Minnesota Vikings strong safety Harrison Smith in the game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. (USA TODAY Sports)

AFPWashington, United States

Slovakian defenseman Zdeno Chara, the Na-tional Hockey League’s oldest player at 43,

signed a one-year free agent deal Wednesday with the Wash-ington Capitals after 14 seasons

with the Boston Bruins.Chara, who was the longest

tenured NHL captain by having the role for Boston since 2006, will begin his 23rd NHL cam-paign when the league’s short-ened season opens in January.

“Recently, the Boston Bruins have informed me that they plan to move forward with their many younger and talented players

and I respect their decision,” Chara posted on Instagram.

“Unfortunately, my time as the proud captain of the Bruins has come to an end.”

Five-time All-Star Chara, who turns 44 in March, signed for $795,000 after scoring fi ve goals and setting up nine more in 68 games last season.

The massive 6-foot-9 (2.06m)

and 250-pound (113kg) blueliner — the tallest player in NHL his-tory — helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and won the Norris Trophy as the top NHL de-fenseman in 2008-09.

“We are extremely pleased,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “We feel his experience and leadership will strengthen our blueline and our team.”

Chara, who had four seasons each with the New York Island-ers and Ottawa Senators before joining the Bruins, has scored 205 goals with 451 assists in 1,553 career NHL games.

The Bruins will play the Capi-tals eight times this season, the fi rst of them January 30 at Washington with Chara making his return to Boston on March 3, although spectators are not expected to be allowed at games due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As I begin this next chapter, I want the people of Boston to know how proud I was to be a Bruin and how grateful I am for all of the support over the years,” Chara wrote. “‘Thank you’ does not seem adequate to express my sincere gratitude. I will al-ways be a Bruin. I will always love Boston.”

Chad Henne is expected to start as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback in place of a rested Patrick Mahomes (not pictured).

Devils forward Hischier to miss start of training camp

ReutersNew York, United States

A leg injury will prevent New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier

from taking the ice for the start of training camp.Hischier avoided surgery after sustaining the injury while training in his native Switzerland. He is considered week-to-week with the injury, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald confirmed to NHL.com.The Devils begin the season against the Boston Bruins on

January 14.Hischier, who will turn 22 on Monday, recorded 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in his rookie season after being selected by New Jersey with the top overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft.Hischier had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 58 games in 2019-20 after signing a seven-year, $50.75mn exten-sion before the season. He also played in his first NHL All-Star Game last season.Hishier has collected 135 points (51 goals, 84 assists) in 209 career games with the Devils.

Williamson shift s Smith, Kohli as top Test batsman

SPORT7

Cheptegei gunning for 5,000m-10,000m double at Olympics

Williamson leapt from third to first after his player-of-the-match eff ort led the Black Caps to a 101-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test this week

IANSChristchurch

New Zealand skipper Kane Wil-liamson has overtaken Aus-tralia’s Steve Smith and India captain Virat Kohli to be the

number one Test batsman in the world in the latest ICC rankings released yes-terday.

Williamson leapt from third to fi rst after his player-of-the-match eff ort led the Black Caps to a 101-run victory over Pakistan this week, scoring 129 in the fi rst innings and a rapid 21 in the second when New Zealand were building a lead before declaring.

The New Zealand skipper described it as “humbling” to overtake Smith, who held the top spot for 313 days this year, and Kohli, who was number one for 51 days.

Smith slipped to third in the rankings behind Kohli following scores of nought and eight in Australia’s second Test against India while Kohli was on pater-nity leave.

“They are incredible players of our generation,” Williamson said as he ar-rived in Christchurch ahead of the sec-ond Pakistan Test which starts on Sun-day.

“Those two players are the best so for me to sneak up perhaps in some way, is very surprising and humbling.”

All three players were this week named in the International Cricket Council’s team of the decade with Smith also named as the individual Test player of the decade. Kohli took the award for the best one-day player.

Meanwhile, New Zealand pace bowler Neil Wagner, who battled through the pain of two broken toes in the fi rst Test against Pakistan, will miss the second

match at Hagley Oval in Christchurch starting on Sunday, coach Gary Stead.

Wagner needed pain-killing injections during the Test, which the hosts won by 101 runs, after he was struck on the foot while batting on the second day at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

He bowled several lengthy spells over the next three days and was instrumen-tal in New Zealand sealing victory late on the fi nal day when he captured centurion Fawad Alam and the dangerous Faheen Ashraf to expose the Pakistan tail.

“Neil was absolutely outstanding,” Stead told reporters at Christchurch air-port yesterday. “I don’t think there are too many individuals who could do what he did in that Test match.

“Neil hasn’t travelled with us. The injections he was getting (to lessen the pain) were wearing off (quickly) and we can’t let him go through that again.”

The left-arm quick would be out of ac-

tion for up to six weeks. Stead said they would likely name his replacement on Friday, adding that they would go “like for like”.

Matt Henry, who has often been draft-ed in when a pace bowler goes down in-jured, is in contention after recovering from a hand injury.

Stead was pleased with the fi rst test performance against a tough Pakistan side, who were behind for much of the match but were still in with a chance of snatching victory in the fi nal session.

“That was tough, really hard test cricket and it was good to come out on the right side of it against a tough Paki-stan team,” he said.

“I thought Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam’s partnership was outstand-ing... and they nearly took the game away from us.

“That’s what makes Test cricket what it is.”

Gulf Times Friday, January 1, 2021

ReutersKampala

Ugandan Joshua Chep-tegei says he is tar-geting the 5,000m-10,000m double

at the Tokyo Olympics after breaking the world records in both distances this year. The 24-year-old set a new 10,000 mark of 26 minutes, 11.00 sec-onds at the Valencia World Record Day event in October to beat Kenenisa Bekele’s time of 26:17.53 set in 2005. At the Mo-naco Diamond League meeting two months earlier he had also bettered Bekele’s 16-year-old 5,000m record by almost two seconds with a time of 12:35.36.

If Cheptegei wins gold med-als in both events at next year’s postponed Games, he would become only the eighth man to complete the double.

“It would be a mountain to climb, but the challenge is up to me,” Cheptegei told the BBC. “It’s demanding a lot, in terms of racing and mindset but I want to give myself a try to win both

gold medals,.“It would be really amazing to

win the double, but if I win gold in the 10,000m I would still be grateful.”

Cheptegei, who runs in Nike’s Dragonfl y spikes — a light-weight shoe that combines a unique foam and carbon plates — said that his gear helped him but was not the reason for his success this year. A debate over runners’ shoes has been raging since high-tech footwear de-veloped by Nike played a star-ring role in two of the biggest distance-running achievements of 2019.

“The shoes really do help. But in this case the shoes are not only available to Mr. Cheptegei. They are available for everyone who wants to attack the world record,” he added.

“You have seen the likes of Yomif Kejelcha, Selemon Bar-ega... it’s not about shoes only, but athletes having this period concentrating more on training and not travelling.

“I was focused on just this one thing... that was breaking the world record.”

Baxter, referee Owens among nominees for Rugby Union Writers’ Club award

London: Exeter Chiefs’ double-winning director of rugby Rob Baxter and Welsh referee Nigel Owens were among the nominees for the Rugby Union Writers’ Club (RUWC) Pat Mar-shall Award for 2020 named yesterday. Baxter’s Exeter com-pleted a momentous double in the 2019-20 season when they lifted the European Champions Cup and Premiership titles, 10 years after climbing out of the second division Championship.Owens, who ended his 17-year international career earlier this month, is the most-capped ref-eree in world rugby and the first to off iciate in 100 tests when he took charge of an the Autumn Nations Cup game between France and Italy last month.Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones has also been nominated after he eclipsed All Blacks great Richie McCaw’s milestone of 148 test caps to become rugby’s most capped player.France’s electric scrum half Antoine Dupont has also been nominated while former Samoa international Dan Leo was also named in recognition for his representation of Pacific Island players. The winner will be announced through RUWC’s Twitter account after the annual dinner was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Springboks captain Siya Kolisi won the award last year after

leading South Africa to the World Cup crown in Japan. Meanwhile, this weekend’s games, Worcester Warriors v Harlequins and London Irish v Northampton Saints, have been cancelled due to Covid-19 cases, Premiership Rugby said yesterday. Harlequins’ trip to Worcester on Friday was called off after one of their players tested positive for Covid-19 and six others were placed in isolation due to contact tracing.London Irish’s home match against Northampton on Sunday was called off after they returned several positive results in the latest round of testing and had players unavail-able because of contact tracing protocols.“A Premiership Rugby panel will now be convened to determine the allocation of points and a further announcement will be made in due course,” the league said in a statement, adding that all other round-five games will go ahead as scheduled.The Premiership recorded 33 new positive Covid-19 results in its latest round of testing, the most in any week this season.The league carried out a total of 951 tests on players and man-agement of the 12 clubs, with 24 players and nine members of staff returning positive results.

SPOTLIGHT ATHLETICS

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei.

Czech Republic’s Roman Koudelka in action in the Four Hills ski jumping competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, yesterday.

SOARING INTO THE NEW YEAR

Numero uno...Kane Williamson of New Zealand.

Friday, January 1, 2021

GULF TIMES SPORT

Warner may play 3rd Test even if not fully fi t: McDonaldAustralia will have to pick from Will Pucovski, Matthew Wade and Marcus Harris as Warner’s opening partners if the left-hander returns to the field at the SCG

ReutersLondon

Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was awarded a knighthood

in the UK New Year’s honours list published on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old this year became the most success-ful F1 driver of all time after equalling Ferrari great Michael Schumacher’s record seven ti-tles and beating the German’s 91 race wins.

The sport’s only Black driver, who grew up in social housing as the grandson of immigrants from the Carib-bean, Hamilton has also used his profi le to campaign for di-versity and speak out against racial injustice.

The Monaco resident’s presence on the overseas and international list, rather than a main one with many rewarded for service to public health in a pandemic, was seen as a re-fl ection of his tax status.

The Daily Mail newspa-per said Prime Minister Boris Johnson had “bent the rules” to get around the tax require-ments for domestic awards.

The citation referred to Hamilton’s sporting record and his “charitable and phil-anthropic contributions in the UK and overseas”.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, famed for his work on movies such as 1917, Shaw-shank Redemption and Skyfall, was also knighted on the same overseas list.

Hamilton’s supporters have

long felt his achievements have not been suffi ciently recognised at home and they expressed delight at the Mer-cedes driver joining a select group of sporting sirs.

“Lewis is a true giant of our sport and his infl uence is huge both in and out of a car,” said newly-appointed Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali, a former Ferrari team principal.

“What he has achieved is phenomenal with still more to come.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff hailed Hamilton, who won his fi rst title with McLaren in 2008, as the most successful British sportsperson of his era.

The knighthood, he added, showed that Hamilton – often seen as a polarising fi gure – was “now receiving the recog-nition he has earned during a career of unparalleled success in motorsport”.

“The UK can be very proud to have a champion and am-bassador of the calibre of Sir Lewis Hamilton,” added the Austrian.

Hamilton is the fourth F1 driver to be knighted after the late Australian Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and triple cham-pion Jackie Stewart and the only one to have received the award while still racing.

Cycling’s Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Ol-ympic 5,000 and 10,000 me-tres gold medallist Mo Fa-rah, twice Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray and England cricketer Alastair Cook have also been knighted as active sportsmen.

Arise Sir Lewis; F1 champion Hamilton gets his knighthood

IANSMelbourne

Opener David Warner could play the third Test in Sydney begin-ning January 7 even if

he is not 100% fi t, hinted Aus-tralia assistant coach Andrew McDonald.

Warner suff ered a groin injury during the second One-day In-ternational (ODI) and was ruled out of the fi nal ODI, the T20I se-ries as well as the fi rst two Test matches leaving Australia to open the Test innings with makeshift opener Matthew Wade and an out-of-form Joe Burns.

Burns has since been dropped from the squad while young un-capped opener Will Pucovski, who missed the fi rst two Tests due to concussion-related prob-lems, has been included in the squad for the last two Tests. Warner too returns.

“I think that is a clear option that he may not be 100% fi t. He is coming off an injury. If he is 90-95% and the conversation is that if he is fi t enough to perform his duties for the team. That is the conversation the head coach (Justin Langer) will have with the player and most times Justin has been pretty open with the play-ers, giving them accountability,” said McDonald.

“So there will be a conversa-tion as we narrow in to fi rst ball

of the third Test. We will get an idea when he comes to the camp on the 2nd and 3rd (January)... we are encouraged that he is back. I am sure he is excited to come to the game.”

“He is a world-class player. His strike rate is higher than most world class players around the world and he can put pressure on the bowling attacks as well.”

Australia will have to pick from Will Pucovski, Matthew Wade and Marcus Harris as Warner’s

opening partners if the left-hander returns to the fi eld at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

McDonald refused to confi rm what pair will open but said that they will look at the fi tness of both Pucovski and Warner when Aussie nets resume in Melbourne on January 2nd and 3rd. He added that Wade is essentially a middle-order batsman even though he has done a good job opening the batting. “Wade has done a great job as a makeshift opener. Don’t

think he opened in junior cricket too. It is something that was for-eign to him. He has done a great job. But the combination – if we go in with Wade and Warner will depend on Will Pucovski, where he is at. We have also got Marcus Harris there.”

“I would suggest that Wade’s best batting position is in the middle. He has batted a lot in the middle-order and that is where he is best suited. Having said that he hasn’t really looked out of

place at the top so yeah there is a potential that he could come out and open again.”

McDonald confi rmed that Pu-covski has resumed training and that he will join the team during the training session on January 2 and 3.

“The head coach (Justin Lang-er) has had some deeper conver-sation with him over where he is. Positive sign is he is joining us in the next couple of days. He will have sessions on second and third. And then we travel to Syd-ney.”

“He is resuming some light-work. He will be tested thorough-ly here in the build-up to the third Test. We are assuming that since he has been added to the squad, he has met the concussion pro-tocols.”

McDonald, who was the coach of Victoria before his Australia job and guided Pucovski to big scores in Sheffi eld Shield said that the 22-year-old has come off such instances in the past and has done well.

“He has been coming off such instances. He has returned and has performed on return. It is upto the head coach to see if he is skill-ready,” said McDonald.

This is the third time Pucovski has been added to the Test squad. The previous instances were against Sri Lanka in 2019 and earlier in this series against India for the fi rst two Tests. He is yet to play a Test.

Rohit Sharma resumes training aft er arrival in Melbourne

Melbourne: India bats-man Rohit Sharma resumed training yesterday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) con-firmed on its twitter handle.Rohit, who had been in a 14-day hard quarantine in Sydney after his arrival from India in mid-December, flew to Melbourne on Wednesday to join the team.Yesterday, the BCCI tweeted pictures of the India opener doing catching practice.“The engine is just getting started and here is a quick glimpse of what lies ahead,” the BCCI wrote on twitter with the pictures.Rohit’s match fitness will be crucial as he has not played any cricket since the Indian Premier League final on No-vember 10.He had stayed back in India to recuperate at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru even though the decision made the regular India skipper Virat Kohli unhappy.Kohli had said prior to the ODI series that he had not been informed about Rohit’s

progress and that he would have loved to have him re-cuperate in Australia instead of NCA.Since arrival, the hard quaran-tine has meant that he has not had a chance of practice.India coach Ravi Shastri made it clear that Rohit wouldn’t simply walk in to the side.“We will have a chat with him to see where he is placed physically because he has been quarantined for a couple of weeks. We will have to see now how he feels before we take the call,” Shastri had told media after the second Test which India won.Rohit last played a Test over a year back, against Bang-ladesh in Kolkata. That was also India’s first pink-ball Test. (IANS)

SPOTLIGHT FOCUS

Umesh Yadav out of final two TestsIANSMelbourne

India suff ered another ma-jor blow after pace bowler Umesh Yadav was ruled out of the Test series

against Australia and will re-turn home for rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), it has been learnt.His exit comes after Moham-med Shami was ruled out following a fracture to his bowling arm in the first Test in Adelaide and had to return home ahead of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Ishant Sharma, who is recuperating at the NCA, had not travelled to Australia

at all.Umesh had limped off the field on the third day due to pain in his calf and did not return to take field.His exit now means that Jas-prit Bumrah will be left with a rookie pace bowling attack, comprising Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini. Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and Kartik Tyagi are already there as net bowlers and two of the three will be named replace-ment for Shami and Umesh.Umesh was part of the bowl-ing attack alongside Bumrah, Ishant and Shami that helped India beat Australia in Test series in 2018-19 although he played just one Test on that tour.

Murray pulls out of Delray Beach Open citing Covid fearsIANSLondon

Former world no.1 Andy Murray has pulled out of the Delray Beach Open because of Covid-19 fears.

Murray, who is set to take part in the Australian Open in February, said that he wanted to avoid trav-elling to the United States to mini-mise risks ahead of the season’s fi rst Grand Slam.

“After much deliberation with my team I’ve decided not to travel to play in Delray Beach. Given the increase in Covid rates and the transatlantic fl ights involved, I want to minimize the risks ahead of the Australian Open,” Murray was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

Murray, 33, had accepted a wild card for the Delray Beach event,

which is scheduled to be held from January 7 to 13. The Scot had missed most of the 2020 season due to complications from his hip injury and has struggled for form since returning to the tour after the Covid-19 induced break.

He has been off ered a wild card for the delayed 2021 Australian Open, which starts on February 8. This will be the fi rst time Murray will play in Melbourne since the 2019 event, where he said he was considering retiring from the sport after the tournament due to his hip injury.

Murray lost in fi ve sets to Rober-to Bautista Agut in the fi rst round in 2019 after which the organisers had even played a video montage in tribute to his career featuring fellow tennis stars bidding him farewell. Eventually, however, he reversed his decision to retire.

BOTTOMLINE

Australia’s David Warner.