SPORTWednesday 17 January 2018

Djokovic delighted after elbowing out

Young

Nadal takes centre stage ahead of Kyrgios clash

PAGE | 26 PAGE | 26 PAGE | 27 Federer and Djokovic

take control at Australian Open

ntre

Ali eyes more goals as Qatarprepare for Palestine clash

THE PENINSULA

CHANGZHOU: Feared striker Amoez Ali yesterday said he is delighted with his goal-scoring form at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup where the tall forward has guided Qatar to the quarter-finals stage of the popular continental tour-nament.

Qatar beat hosts China 2-1 on Monday to seal their last-berth by completing their successive win at the 16-team event. Qatar, coached by Felix Sanchez, will take on Palestine on Friday.

“Of course, I feel very happy that we have qualified for the next round and I want to say congrat-ulations to my team-mates,” Ali said yesterday.

“I am also very happy that I scored the goals. I now hope I can continue scoring and (in the proc-ess) help my team carry on winning,” he warned.

Ali scored both of Qatar’s goals against China. The Al Duhail forward also managed to get his name on the scoresheet in the match against Uzbekistan when Qatar won 1-0. Akram Afif scored in the 1-0 win for Qatar against Oman.

Despite his rich form, Ali said Qatar are gearing up for their knockout clash thinking of it as a final.

“We have played every game as if it was a final and won all of our three games. We will be doing the same in the quarter-finals also,” Ali said yesterday. “We are

playing against Palestine and we will need to approach that in a very careful and serious manner,” he added.

Qatar’s defender Meshaal Al Shammeri yesterday said: “I would like to congratulate my team-mates for reaching the quarter-finals. I think we have a real challenge in front of us a Pal-estine cannot be taken lightly. We will face a strong team. They beat Thailand 5-0 in this tournament.”

He added: “The next clash requires out total commitment and concentration since it is the knock-out stage of the event. We will face stiffer challenge now. But having

said that, I have great confidence in my team-mates. I hope we con-tinue our journey with a strong performance.”

Qatar defender Omar Al Emadi, who played the drying minutes against China on Mon-day, said: “I think we did extremely well in the first round as we remained unbeaten against quality sides. I believe the real challenge starts now. Palestine are a strong side.”

Al Emadi added: “Both teams will be playing to win. In order to dominate the match, we must look to score goals. We must look at the win and attempt to reach the semi-finals.”

THE PENINSULA

SUWON, SOUTH KOREA: The Qatari national handball team will open their campaign against debutants New Zealand in Group D when the 2018 Asian Hand-ball Championship kicks off tomorrow in Suwon, South Korea.

Group D also includes China and Saudi Arabia.

The 18th edition of the

championship will be held under the aegis of Asian Handball Fed-eration over a period of 10 days.

The tournament also acts as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Men’s Hand-ball Championship.

The top four teams will qual-ify for the world championship to be held in January next year.

The Spanish Coach of Qatar handball team Valero Rivera has selected 18 players for the tour.

Q A T A R H A N D B A L L TEAM: Danijel Saric, Firas Chaieb, Rasheed Yusuff, Rafael Capote, Mahmoud Hassaballa, Abdulrazzaq Murad, Ahmad Madadi, Kamalaldin Mallash, Bertrand Roine, Hassan Mab-rouk, Houssem Romane, Aljosa Cudic, Youssef Ali, Jovo Damjanovic, Moustafa Heiba, Anis Zouaoui, Allaedine Ber-rached and Frankis Marzo.

Coach: Valero Rivera

Qatar set to take on New Zealand in Asian Championship opener

Debutants Palestine beat Thailand to meet Qatar in quarters AFC

CHANGZHOU: Tournament debutants Palestine sensa-tionally qualified for the AFC U23 Championship quarter-finals yesterday as a comprehensive 5-1 win over Thailand, coupled with DPR Korea’s loss to Japan, saw them progress to the knockout phase as Group B runners-up.

On a day of high octane entertainment, four first half goals laid the foundations for the thrilling victory which saw the Palestinians secure second place on goal difference from their Korean counterparts, and confirm a last eight meet-ing with Qatar on Friday.

In what was to be a sign of things to come, Palestine raced out of the blocks at the start of the opening half, as first Mohammed Rashid fired narrowly over from distance on five minutes, and then Oday Dabbagh guided a header wide of the post when well-placed shortly after.

That early Palestine pressure was to pay handsome div-idends in the 15th minute when Dabbagh’s neat lay-off set up Mohanad Fannoun, who lashed the ball home from fully 20 yards past Thailand goalkeeper Nont Muangngam.

The energetic Dabbagh duly doubled Palestine’s lead on 26 minutes courtesy of a fine run and shot, before Mah-moud Yousef slid the ball under Nont to register a third from close range on the half hour mark after a fine Rashid pass.

Thailand were then dealt a further blow just two min-utes later when Yousef Alashhab’s cross from the left was drilled into the net by the onrushing Mohamed Darwish.

To their credit, Thailand responded well, and they duly reduced the deficit when captain Chenrop Samphaodi con-verted Tanasith Siripala’s cross as the first half came to a close.

By way of contrast, chances were few and far between after the break before substitute Shehab Qumbor rounded off a perfect afternoon for Palestine with his side’s fifth in the 88th minute.

I feel very happy that we have qualified for the next round. I am also very happy that I scored the goals. I now hope I can continue scoring and help my team carry on winning: Almoez Ali

B razilian Oliveira joins Al Markhiya THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Stars League side Al Markhiya strengthened their forward line by signing Brazilian Eric de Oliveira till the end of this season.

The Brazilian attacking mid-fielder has vast experience playing in the leagues of Ukraine, Japan, Romania and Saudi Arabia. He last played for Romanian side Viitorul Constanta.

The Al Markhiya team manage-ment decided to bolster their offence because they are the side to have scored the least number of goals (eight) in the QNB Stars League.

Al Markhiya, who pulled off a creditable goalless draw with sec-ond-placed Al Sadd in Week 12 to be placed 11th on eight points, will host Qatar SC next at the Al Arabi Stadium on Friday.

Brazilian midfielder Eric de Oliveira (second left) holds an Al Markhiya jersey along with team officials after officially joining the Qatar Stars League side yesterday.

Qatari handball players train ahead of the 2018 Asian Handball Championship.

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez celebrates with striker Almoez Ali after the latter scored the winning goal against Uzbekistan during the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in China on January 9.Qatari players in action during a practice session in Changzhou, China yesterday.

26 WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018SPORT

Men’s singles (First Round)Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Vaclav Safranek (CZE) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3Adrian Mannarino (FRA x26) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP x20) 6-1, 7-5, 7-5Maximilian Marterer (GER) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 6-0, 6-3, 6-4Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, 6-1Sam Querrey (USA x13) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5Nicolas Kicker (ARG) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3Lukas Lacko (SVK) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x22) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)Stan Wawrinka (SUI x9) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2)Albert Ramos (ESP x21) bt Jared Donaldson (USA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4Peter Gojowczyk (GER) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1Alexander Zverev (GER x4) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5David Goffin (BEL x7) bt Matthias Bachinger (GER) 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5Novak Djokovic (SRB x14) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Kwon Soon-woo (KOR) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4Denis Kudla (USA) bt Steve Johnson (USA) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2Tennys Sandgren (USA) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) bt Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5Gael Monfils (FRA) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4Tim Smyczek (USA) bt Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3, 6-7 (14/16), 6-3, 6-3Chung Hyeon (KOR) bt Mischa Zverev (GER x32) 6-2, 4-1 retRichard Gasquet (FRA x29) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 6-1, 6-4, 7-5Daniil Medvedev (RUS) bt Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/8), 6-4Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-0, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-4Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Peter Polansky (CAN) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3Tomas Berdych (CZE x19) bt Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4Juan Martin Del Potro (ARGx12) bt Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

AUSTRALIAN OPEN Djokovic delighted after elbowing out Young REUTERS

MELBOURNE: Novak Djok-ovic was delighted with his return to the Grand Slam arena after a long injury lay-off, the Serb having dealt American Donald Young a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 thrashing to reach the second round of the Australian Open yester-day.

Wearing a compression sleeve on his serving arm, Djokovic showed no signs of the elbow trouble that cur-tailed his 2017 campaign as he swung freely to amass 33 winners during the one hour and 51 minute romp at a sunbathed Margaret Court Arena.

The six-times Melbourne Park champion, seeded 14th, dropped to his knees and patted the blue court affec-tionately after completing his first match since retiring hurt from a Wimbledon quarter-final last July.

“It felt great to be back

on the court and compete again. It’s been a while,” the former world number one told reporters.

“I did have various emo-tions, mostly good ones. Excitement, joy, gratitude for being able to have an opportunity to compete. Not

a while ago, about three weeks ago, I didn’t know whether I’m going to play Australia or not.

“The first two sets went extremely well, considering that I haven’t played for six months. The third was, you know, up and down a little

bit, but in general was a great performance.”

Along with the addition of Andre Agassi to his coach-ing team, Djokovic also introduced a new service action to allow for his elbow injury.

It seems, however, to still be a work in progress as he managed to land barely half of his first serves against t h e 6 3 r d - r a n k e d American.

“Second serve was very, very good. I’m very happy with the second serve. First serve was kind of up and down,” he said.

“When you come back after a long time and you play the first match, you know, obviously all the things are a bit exaggerated, whatever is not working well. You think, ‘Wow’.

“All in all, I’m quite pleased.

“I know that it’s going to take a little bit of time for me to kind of work my way in and get used to the specific changes that I’ve made in my service motion.

“It wasn’t ideal, but it was still good.”

The 12-times Grand Slam champion will face a huge step up in class in the next round, against French-man Gael Monfils, a quarter-finalist at Mel-bourne Park in 2016.

Donald YoungSerbia’s Novak Djokovic hits a return against Donald Young yesterday.

It felt great to be back on the court and compete again. It’s been a while, says Novak Djokovic

Federer urges players to embrace the media AFP

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer has urged his fellow profes-sionals to act themselves and not as robots during media interviews to keep tennis interesting for the sporting public.

The Swiss star is a con-summate media performer and regularly conducts his post-match interviews in multiple languages for the large global press contingent that hang on his every word.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion says some of his fellow players struggle with their media obligations, fear-ful of being misinterpreted.

“I feel they’re fearful of you guys (media) just because they feel they have been mis-interpreted in the past,” he told reporters after his straight sets opening round win over Aljaz Bedene.

“The power of the micro-phone is a funny thing. Some players I think struggle with it. I would like to see more play-ers just being really themselves in front of the press, being more relaxed about it, not wor-rying so much about making mistakes.

“I feel like sometimes some players have gotten a little bit too robot-like. I wish they would let loose and be themselves. I try to always do that. It’s not always easy, but I try hard.”

Federer, Djokovic produce vintage stuff on Day Two AFP

MELBOURNE: Flawless Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic stamped their mark on the Australian Open yesterday with focused former champion Maria Sharapova also successfully negotiating the first round after her drug ban.

Defending champion Fed-erer, rated as favourite to win his 20th Grand Slam title, made his entrance on Rod Laver Arena with a sizzling 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 lesson for Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene.

The second seeded Swiss, who is coming off an extraordi-nary 2017, when he won a fifth Australian Open title and a record eighth at Wimbledon, was in total control.

“I was thinking a lot about what happened at the tourna-ment last year because it was my favourite tournament of the whole season,” said the 36-year-old, who beat Rafael Nadal in the 2017 final.

“I’m hoping for it to go well again.”

Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic has been out of action for six months with an elbow injury, but he too looked the goods in his 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 demolition of American Donald Young.

Gunning for a seventh Aus-tralian Open title, he was glad to be back at the coal face, having missed the competitive edge.

“I wanted to start with the right intensity, which I have,” he told the cheering crowd after-wards. “I played perfect tennis in the first couple of sets and Donald came back in the third set,” he said.

Former Melbourne cham-pion Stan Wawrinka also successfully returned from half a year on the sidelines after knee surgery, having only decided he was fit to play at the weekend.

With the temperatures heat-ing up, he was pushed to four sets by Ricardas Berankis before prevailing 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2) in a tough workout he said was “proud” to come through.

World number one Simona Halep booked her place in round two, avoiding the first round exit that befell her in the past two years. But she made a meal of it against local hope Destanee Aiava.

Both the Romanian and her 17-year-old wildcard opponent needed on-court medical atten-tion before the top seed ran out a battling 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 winner.

Third seeded Garbine Mugu-ruza, with heavy strapping on her injured right thigh, made her tournament bow with a laboured 6-3, 6-3 win over French wild-card Jessika Ponchet.

Sharapova, still working her way back from a 15-month ban for taking the performance-enhancing substance meldonium in Australia in 2016, showed glimpses of the tennis that made her a five-time major winner.

The 2008 Melbourne Park champion, now ranked 48, beat Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-4 in her first Australian Open match in two years.

“I cherish these moments. I love it here,” said the Russian, who returned from her drugs ban in April last year.

“It’s been a couple of years and I wanted it to be really meaningful to me.”

Fellow former world number

one Angelique Kerber, who won the tournament in 2016, was also impressive in dismissing Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-0, 6-4.

“2017, I have said goodbye already, I am not looking back,” she said after a forgettable last season that saw her relinquish the number one spot and slide

down the rankings. She is now on a 10-match win streak after a perfect early season.

Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova and eighth seed Caroline Garcia also progressed, in contrast to the other side of the draw that saw Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Coco Vandeweghe crash out on Monday.

American woes continued with Madison Brengle sent pack-ing by British ninth seed Johanna Konta.

Young gun Alex-ander Zverev, seeded four, Belgian seventh

seed David Gof-fin, and dark horse Tomas Berdych were among men to make the second round.

But Canada’s Milos Raonic, who has made at least the last eight over the past three years in Melbourne, was bundled out by 86th-ranked Slovakian Lukas Lacko in four sets.

It was his earliest Grand Slam exit in seven years as he fights back from a wrist injury.

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a shot against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia yesterday.

Pliskova’s ace gesture Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova (pictured) served more aces on tour then

any woman last season and if she continues the trend in Melbourne it will be great news for charity. The Czech rose to number one last year on the back of her blistering serve, powering down 452 service winners in 68 matches. And Pliskova said yesterday before her opening match she would donate US$100 of her prize money to benefit sick children for every ace she serves at the year’s first Grand Slam.

“I’ve decided to contribute to a good cause. During the Australian Open I will donate through my endowment fund US$100 for each ace to help chil-dren with oncological diseases. Keep your fingers crossed for me!” the sixth seed tweeted. Her 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory over Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg yesterday will see her writing a cheque for $700 already -- she served seven aces.

Ostapenko stamps her markJelena Ostapenko has become such a big name in her Latvian homeland

since winning the French Open last year that she has a stamp with her image on it -- and 55,000 were shifted in a single day. “It was very, very impres-sive because not many athletes in Latvia get a stamp,” said the Riga-born 20-year-old. “When they told me, I was very, very happy, because I think it’s a big thing if they make a stamp. Especially they made 55,000 stamps and they were sold out on the first day.” Ostapenko is now hoping to stamp her mark on Australian Open.

Dasha has a wee tantrumAustralia’s 23rd seed Daria Gavrilova got a bit flustered during her first

round win late on Monday when she saw her dad and other members of her backroom entourage deserting her player’s box. Turned out they were just answering a call of nature, but their inconvenient dash didn’t impress the woman nicknamed Dasha herself. “They had to go to the toilet. It distracted me,” said Gavrilova, whose head suddenly filled with conspiracy-like theo-ries. “I was like, Is someone sick? Did someone have to get out of the stadium because of something? I just create really weird stories in my head. “If they had to go, they had to go. I just think of the worst things.”

27WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

Nadal takes centre stage ahead of Kyrgios clash REUTERS

MELBOURNE: Rafa Nadal takes centre stage on Rod Laver Arena for his Australian Open second round match against Leonardo Mayer today but anyone look-ing for a wild atmosphere would be better off waiting for the last match on Hisense Arena.

The second Melbourne Park stadium court is a multi-purpose venue that also hosts cycling and netball but the more intimate arena has become a firm favour-ite of iconoclastic Nick Kyrgios, Australia’s best hope of a first home champion since 1976.

The volatile 17th seed had a quiet evening by his standards in his opening match on Mon-day, with just the one violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour when he asked spectator, in no uncertain terms, to be quiet while he was serving.

His second round opponent, Serbian Viktor Troicki, has also had his moments, as his melt-down at Wimbledon two years ago amply illustrated, and a packed house can expect sparks to fly.

Kyrgios will expect much of the backing of the crowd, even if Melbourne’s Serbian commu-nity has been vocal in support of their compatriots in the past, and three-times Melbourne winner Mats Wilander thinks the Australian will be energised by it.

“It’s a different crowd at Rod Laver Arena,” he said.

“They obviously root for him but they’re not as young and as wild, they’re more neutral.”

Rod Laver Arena is usually expected to host the cream of the ties and day three of the 2018 championship is no differ-ent, with Nadal’s clash with Mayer and Grigor Dimitrov’s meeting with American Mac-kenzie McDonald the highlights.

A rash of upsets depleted the bottom half of the women’s draw on Monday but second seed Caroline Wozniacki sur-vived and will pursue her quest

for a maiden Grand Slam title against Croatian Jana Fett.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina opens the day on the main showcourt against Katerina Sin-iakova with Nadal-Mayer the final match of the afternoon.

Top seed Nadal has beaten Argentine Mayer in all four of their previous meetings, includ-ing a four-set victory at Flushing Meadows last year on his way to his 16th Grand Slam title.

Another intriguing match-up pairs Denis Shapovalov with French 15th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a losing finalist at Mel-bourne Park a decade ago when the Canadian was eight.

Rafa Nadal takes on Leonardo Mayer today.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina opens the day on the main showcourt against Katerina Siniakova with Nadal-Mayer the final match of the afternoon.

Zverev’s search for consistency to realise potential AFP

MELBOURNE: Young German star Alexander Zverev needed a hard-fought three sets to get through his opening encounter at the Australian Open yester-day and spoke of his search for greater consistency.

The world No.4 spent 2hr 22min on Rod Laver Arena before claiming a 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 win over 73rd-ranked Ital-ian Thomas Fabbiano.

Zverev, at the vanguard of the “NextGen” brigade, will face fellow German Peter Gojowc-zyk in the second round.

While the 20-year-old won five titles and was one of just four players to beat Roger Fed-erer last year, he has yet to get beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam.

“I think last year I was pretty consistent, apart from the end of the year,” Zverev said.

“I think my game is getting more consistent with age as well. I think that’s also some-thing that is a factor of maturity.

“So I’m just trying to get

better every single day, and that’s what I’m here for.”

Zverev said he was expect-ing a tough scrap against Fabbiano.

“That’s what he does. That’s what he’s known for on tour, to be competitive, to fight for every single point, play well from the baseline,” he said.

“He’s like a Diego Schwartzman-type of player. So they are always not easy to beat, especially in first rounds.

“I was a bit surprised with his serve and how well he was serving. But apart from that, I was looking forward to a tough match.”

Zverev served up 17 aces among his 47 winners and broke Fabbiano’s serve five times, while saving 12 break points.

He said of his next oppo-nent: “He’s (Gojowczyk) someone who plays really well on the hard courts.

“I think he played well in Auckland, as well. Obviously, a player that’s very well informed.”

Alexander Zverev

Women’s Singles (First round)Johanna Konta (GBR x9) bt Madison Bren-gle (USA) 6-3, 6-1Bernarda Pera (USA) bt Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-2, 6-2Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE x20) bt Kristie Ahn (USA) 6-1, 7-5Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) bt Richel Ho-genkamp (NED) 6-1, 6-2Safarova (CZE) bt Ajla (CRO) 7-5, 6-3Karolina Pliskova (CZE x6) bt Veronica Ce-pede (PAR) 6-3, 6-4Angelique Kerber (GER x21) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 6-0, 6-4Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 7-5, 6-4Caroline Garcia (FRA x8) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 7-5, 6-3Elena Vesnina (RUS x16) bt Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-3, 6-4Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 6-1, 6-4Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-3, 6-2Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)Sorana Cirstea (ROM) bt Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) bt Lizette Ca-brera (AUS) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4Donna (CRO) bt Nao Hibino (JPN) 7-5, 6-3Madison Keys (USA x17) bt Qiang Wang (CHN) 6-1, 7-5Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Destanee Aiava (AUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO x28) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-2Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x14) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2Naomi (JPN) bt Kristina Kucova (SVK) 7-5, 6-2Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) bt Natalia Vikhlyant-seva (RUS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-4, 6-3Lauren Davis (USA) bt Jana Cepelova (SVK) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-1Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8Hsieh Su-wei (TPE) bt Zhu Lin (CHN) 0-6, 6-0, 8-6Ana Bogdan (ROM) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA x11) 6-3, 6-2Garbine Muguruza (ESP x3) bt Jessika Pon-chet (FRA) 6-4, 6-3Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x26) bt Kristy-na Pliskova (CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 7-5, 7-6 (8/6)Ashleigh Barty (AUS x18) bt Aryna Sabalen-ka (BLR) 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Pliskova serves a charity bonus Wawrinka happy to be back but still feeling pain REUTERS

MELBOURNE: Stan Wawrinka feels great to be back after his first-round victory at the Australian Open yesterday but is still experiencing pain in the left knee that required surgery last season.

The Swiss former cham-pion, seeded ninth, beat Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) in his first competitive match for six

months to set up a second-round clash with American Tennys Sandgren.

“Great to be back. It’s great to win, for sure. Was a tough one in all aspects of the game,” Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slams in Melbourne in 2014, said.

“I’m really happy to get through a match like that, to fight the way I did today, to win the match like this.

“For sure. I still have some

pain. It depends the way I’m moving, how I push on it. But in general, it’s going in the right direction. That’s the best news.”

Wawrinka was not firing on cylinders but still far supe-rior in the opening two sets before a lapse allowed 136th-ranked Berankis back into the match.

Berankis broke early in the fourth set for a 3-0 lead and Wawrinka looked rattled, but

the Swiss replied in the fifth game when he drilled a back-hand at his opponent at the net.

Wawrinka took an early lead in the tiebreak thanks to a Berankis double-fault and an ace took him to 6-1.

Berankis saved one match point with an ace of his own but a netted volley ended the contest.

Wawrinka was cautious about his prospects of a long run.

“The first thing was to come here, see if I was able to play,” the 32-year-old said. “I won the first match. I’m going to focus on the tournament. I have a lot of work to do still.

“I need to be really patient because I have a lot of fitness and practice to do if I want to get back to my level.”

“But I think there’s a lot of positives right now.

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland signs autographs after winning against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania yesterday.

Great to be back. It’s great to win, for sure. Was a tough one in all aspects of the game, says Stan Wawrinka.

28 WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018SPORT 29WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

RIZWAN REHMATTHE PENINSULA

CHANGZHOU: Coach Felix Sanchez feels Qatar can have a

‘very competitive football team in the future’ considering the heavy investment made to

develop the national teams at the junior and senior levels.

Qatar, who are preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup,

have bagged key event wins in recent years to raise visions of a strong national squad in the future.

In October 2014, Sanchez guided the juniors to the AFC U19 Championship title glory in Myan-mar. Qatar stunned DPR Korea 1-0 in the final match as the national side booked a ticket to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

A month later, the senior Qatar side under coach Djamel Belmadi clinched the Gulf Cup title with a memorable win over Saudi Ara-bia in the final.

The same year, Qatar kicked off the new season in 2014 by win-ning the WAFF Championship by beating Jordan in the final. In 2015, top QSL side Lekhwiya (now Al Duhail) reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.

Sanchez who has been given the task to closely monitor the Qatar U-19, U-20 and U-23 sides over the last four years, is currently coaching the national Olympic squad that stormed into the quar-ter-finals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup on Monday.

“Regarding the football in Qatar, as you know that we have the most important event in foot-ball to staged in Qatar in 2022. I think Qatar football is developing the right way. I see the evolution of the players from close quarters,” Sanchez said in an exclusive interview.

“I see the evolution of the way the teams or clubs are playing. I am sure we will have a very com-petitive team in the future,” the former Barcelona youth coach added. “Trust me I have seen the young players work really hard,” he said.

Abraham Mebratu, Yemen’s Ethiopian coach, echoed Sanchez’s sentiments about Qatar’s rapidly developing football culture. Yemen have fulfilled their football com-mitments on Qatari soil due to the unrest back home.

“I have seen Qatar football closely. They play important events in the region and interna-tionally and they have reached the top level as far as hosting and playing matches are concerned,” Mebratu said in a candid chat dur-ing the Gulf Cup held in Kuwait earlier this month.

“Qatar’s U-23 set-up is very good. That means they have very good foundation for young play-ers. I am expecting them to develop further.

“They (the young players) get very good opportunities to develop their game. The players want to show very good perform-ance. We can notice that. They have some quality young players also. That doesn’t mean they are lacking in experience but teams will have to be careful. They have respect of other teams,” he added.

When asked about the junior players competing at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, Sanchez said his young players are aware of the huge responsibility on their shoulders.

“The players are motivated. We feel very proud to be playing this important tournament in China. We are trying to do our best. We are aiming to produce better results in each match. We are working very hard. The play-ers have the right amount of motivation to play well in this important tournament. We must have good performance to get good results,” Sanchez said.

In July last year, Qatar topped Group C to qualify for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup currently on in Changzhou, China.

Qatar craftily beat Turkmen-istan and India to seal their berth at the China event where they have already posted three wins against Uzbekistan, Oman and hosts China.

“Hopefully the (Qatar) play-ers will learn from this experience and that they become better and better,” Sanchez added.

Qatar football moving in right direction, says coach Sanchez

RIZWAN REHMATTHE PENINSULA

CHANGZHOU: Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo (pictured) says the national Olympic squad is showing signs of quick development under the guidance of coach Felix Sanchez.

The Spaniard has nurtured most of the play-ers who form the Olympic squad currently preparing for their quarter-finals clash at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

On Monday, Qatar rallied for a 2-1 win against hosts China in a Group C match. The result saw Qatar storm into the quarter-finals of the 16-team tournament. Qatar remained unbeaten in three matches posting wins against Uzbekistan and Oman on the way.

At the last event held in 2016, Sanchez’s boys finished fourth after easily reaching the semi-finals where they lost to South Korea.

A number of the playing XI also featured at the Gulf Cup held in Kuwait earlier this month.

Madibo, who got injured at the Gulf Cup, said: “Our team is developing significantly from match to match. There is improvement thanks to the efforts of technical staff headed by Felix Sanchez. The coach helps us prepare and puts us on the pitch in the best possible shape.”

He added: “Our team has presented a great level of football here. We have faced strong teams but we fought well because we were better

prepared. Even when we conceded goals, we fought back well.”

Madibo said the team was moving in the right direction.

“The result (on Monday against China) was because of so much work done by everybody. The technical staff and administration has put in great efforts over the last few days,” Madibo said.

“I hope we continue to get these victories, espe-cially in the next game so that we reach the semi-finals,” he added.

Fellow midfielder and captain Ahmad Moein said: “We have reached our first target and that was to reach the quarter-finals. The players have given their best. The game against China was the toughest so far but we hung in there.”

He added: “We need to continue with our hard work.”

Moein said Group A rivals Uzbekistan, Oman and China presented different challenges.

“Every game was different and now we have finished stage one at the top of the group,” Moein said.

“Now we look to the next stage and it will be tougher. That is because we are in the knockout stage of the tournament. The top eight teams are in the quarter-finals,” he added.

“I am confident that my team will match their fight they exhibited against China,” Moein, who played a stellar role in Qatar winning the 2014 U-19 Asian Cup, said.

The 16-team tournament ends on January 27.

Our team is developing rapidly: Madibo

THE PENINSULA

CHANGZHOU: Mercurial striker Almoez Ali has praised his team for a commendable performance in an important clash against hosts China on Monday, saying reaching the quarter-finals was ‘the real joy’.

The tall striker scored a brace on Monday as Qatar stunned China 2-1 to reach the last-eight stage of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

“It was a strong contest from both sides. There were outstanding performances from our players but reaching the quarter-finals is the real joy,” Ali told reporters at the end of the tough clash at Changzhou Sports Centre.

“The main reason for our performance is that we stuck to our plans,” he added.

“Group A was one of the toughest. We man-aged to beat all our opponents including Uzbekistan, Oman and then China. All these wins have given us confidence because these three sides were major hurdles in our path to the quarter-finals,” he added.

“Now we are confident that we can take on any team. Personally speaking I am very happy because I was the reason for our winning goal, but I was delighted to have the two goals, which came thanks to my team-mates,” he said.

“This result (against China) was possible because of the commitment from my team-mates. The hard work done by the backroom staff is also commendable. We treat our next match-up as the final,” Ali said.

“Our ambition is to win the title and we hope to win the next match and advance in the tourna-ment. Regardless of who we play, we will continue to work hard and try to do our best,” Ali said.

Qatar defender Sultan Al Brake said: “We are very happy to have qualified for the quarter-finals. This was possible because of our strong perform-ance against China. It was one of the stronger sides in the tournament.”

Al Brake added: “Our players were ready for this fight. Clearly our physical fitness is helping us in this tournament but the determination and spirit of the players is great. That’s probably our secret for success in China.”

The Qatari player said China proved to be tough opponents.

“The game was very difficult in the beginning, especially as we faced a strong side who has scored first. Their team was well supported by a huge number of fans. We were able to break them when we scored the first goal,” Al Brake recalled.

“Thank God we managed to come back and score our goals due to brilliant finishing by Almoez Ali,” he said. “I think our team can continue to make strong challenges in future also. We are playing at a top level,” he said.

“We play every game with great concentration and we strive to get the best results. I am sure we will continue to exhibit great fighting spirit on the pitch,” he added.

Striker Ali relishes joy of r eaching quarters

I have seen Qatar football closely. They play important events in the region and internationally and they have reached the top level as far as hosting and playing matches are concerned: Yemen’s coach Abraham Mebratu

I see the evolution of the way the teams or clubs are playing. I am sure we will have a very competitive team in the future. Trust me I have seen the young players work really hard: Felix Sanchez

The players are motivated. We feel very proud to be playing this important tournament in China. We are trying to do our best. We are aiming to produce better results in each match: Coach Sanchez

They (the young Qatari players) get very good opportunities to develop their game. The players want to show very good performance. We can notice that. They have some quality young players also. That doesn’t mean they are lacking in experience but teams will have to be careful: Mebratu

It was a strong contest from both sides. There were outstanding performances from our players but reaching the quarter-finals is the real joy: Qatari striker Almoez Ali

Our team has presented a great level of football here. We have faced strong teams but we fought well because we were better prepared. Even when we conceded goals, we fought back well: Midfielder Assim Madibo

Group A was one of the toughest. We managed to beat all our opponents including Uzbekistan, Oman and then China. All these wins have given us confidence because these three sides were major hurdles in our path to the quarter-finals: Ali

Qatar football coach Felix

Sanchez

��Qatar, who are preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, have bagged key event wins in recent years to raise visions of a strong national squad in the future.

��In October 2014, Sanchez guided the juniors to the AFC U19 Championship title glory in Myanmar.

��Qatar stunned DPR Korea 1-0 in the final match as the side booked a ticket to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

��Qatar side under coach Djamel Belmadi clinched the Gulf Cup title with a memorable win over Saudi Arabia in the final in November 2014.

Qatari striker Almoez Ali carries the ball as he celebrates with team-mates Ahmad Moein (centre) and Hashim Ali (right) after scoring his first goal against China during their AFC U-23 Asian Cup match played in Changzhou, China on Monday.

Qatari players celebrate after winning their final AFC U-23 Asian Cup Group A match against China in Changzhou, China on Monday. The victory saw unbeaten Qatar making their way into the quarter-final of the 16-team tournament.

30 WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018SPORT

Ngidi’s early strikes leave India reeling in chase of 287

Afghanistan to make Test debut in June against IndiaREUTERS

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan will play their inaugural Test match in June in Bengaluru against neighbours India, the cricket boards announced yesterday.

Afghanistan and Ireland joined the ranks of full mem-ber nations of the International Cricket Coun-cil last June, taking the total number of Test-playing coun-tries to 12.

The Indian board (BCCI) has consistently backed Afghanistan, who played a home match against Ireland last year at a stadium in Greater Noida, on the out-skirts of New Delhi.

“Afghanistan and India have been traditional friends, even diplomatically, for ages and it’s only appropriate that Afghanistan opened its inter-national innings in India,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told reporters.

Choudhary said Ben-galuru was the obvious choice to stage the match bearing in mind the expected weather conditions in other parts of the country in June.

“At that point of time in the year, there will be rains almost everywhere, and where there will not be rain, there will be such heat that cricket would be practically impossible during day time,” he said. Cricket has a long his-tory in Afghanistan but the country only gained full one-day international (ODI) status in 2011. In 2015, still suffering from the impact of war and conflict, Afghanistan took part in their first 50-over World Cup and they have also played in the World Twenty20 competition.

“The historic friendship and relations between India and Afghanistan go back to centuries. I’m glad that cricket is now added as another layer,” Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chairman Atif Mashal said.

“The support BCCI has provided to ACB in the last several years has been tre-mendous - whether it’s backing Afghanistan in ICC while our application for full membership was under con-sideration, making the facilities available for us, technical assistance. We really recognise it and appre-ciate it.” ACB chief executive Shafiq Stanikzai said the June Test will be a dream-come-true for the Afghanistan players, and would trigger the sport’s growth.

Dakar leader Sainz penalised 10 minutes AFP

SALTA, ARGENTINA: Spanish Dakar leader Carlos Sainz was penalised 10 minutes on Monday for “potentially dangerous behaviour” during the fourth stage last week, cutting his advantage to under an hour.

The 55-year-old Peugeot driver was punished by the Dakar disciplinary committee over an incident with Dutch quad rider Kees Koolen, who accused him of hitting his vehicle and not stopping.

“It’s an unfair decision, I’m not happy,” said Sainz. “For me, I avoided an accident.

“I didn’t touch him, there was no damage to my car.”

Sainz’s Peugeot boss Bruno Famin said the Spaniard was driving at more than 150kph

(almost 100mph) when the sup-posed incident happened, adding that had there been contact between the two “I don’t think there would have been any dis-cussion about the state of the quad and the car”.

Famin, who said Peugeot would appeal, also said if it was a question about Sainz’s behav-iour then disciplinary committee “should penalise Carlos with a fine and not in a sporting way”.

Sainz, the 2010 champion, now leads Qatari Nasser Al-Atti-yah by 56 minutes, 37 seconds after eight stages.

Monday’s 242km ninth stage from Tupiza to Salta in Argen-tina was cancelled following torrential rain and a huge mudslide.

The Dakar Rally is due to fin-ish on Saturday.

Toyota’s driver Nasser Al Attiyah of Qatar and his co-driver Matthieu Baumel of France compete during the 2018 Dakar Rally yesterday. ABOVE: Nasser Al Attiyah gestures at the end of Stage 8 of the 2018 Dakar Rally.

AFP

CENTURION, SOUTH AFRICA: New fast bowling discovery Lungi Ngidi plunged India into deep trouble as they struggled in pursuit of a victory target of 287 on the fourth day of the second Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park yesterday.

India were 35 for three at the close, having lost both open-ers and the key wicket of captain Virat Kohli on a pitch with une-ven bounce.

The hosts will head into the final day confident of picking up the seven wickets they need to wrap up an impressive victory in the three-match series, after a 72-run win in the first Test at Cape Town.

The unpredictability of the wicket contributed to the dis-missal of Murali Vijay, who was bowled off an inside edge by a ball from Kagiso Rabada which cut back at him and kept low.

Debutant Ngidi, who came on as first change, took a wicket with his first ball of the innings when Lokesh Rahul played a loose forcing shot off the back foot and was caught at back-ward point.

That brought Kohli, who made 153 in the first innings, to the wicket.

Ngidi, 21, forced India’s champion batsman to play defensively before he scored his first runs with an edge for four which flew wide of third slip.

Kohli had scored five when he went back on his stumps to a ball which cut back sharply

and struck him on the pad. Kohli sought a review of umpire Michael Gough’s decision but replays showed the ball was crashing into the top of middle stump.

India had been reduced to 26 for three. Ngidi caused more damage when the left-handed Parthiv Patel was struck in the ribs and collapsed to the turf. Patel recovered and battled to five not out at the close.

Ngidi, playing in only his tenth first-class match, took two for 14 in six overs.

South Africa could have had a fourth wicket when Cheteshwar Pujara was beaten by a ball from Morne Morkel.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock started to appeal but was not supported by Morkel or the slip fielders, but replays showed a faint edge.

The slowness and uneven bounce of the pitch made for slow going as South Africa

ground out 258 in their second innings. There was some bright batting early in the day when AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar added 54 runs in the first hour, taking their third-wicket partnership to 141.

But De Villiers was caught behind for 80, made off 121 balls, and Elgar followed soon afterwards.

Mohammed Shami dis-missed both batsmen and finished with four for 49, taking three wickets in four overs before lunch.

South African captain Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander put on a painstaking 46 in 26 overs to ensure India would have to chase more than 250. Du Plessis was ninth out for 48 off 141 balls.

In the slowest cricket of the series, South Africa scored only 57 runs for the loss of two wick-ets in 27 overs and two-and-a-quarter hours between lunch and tea.

De Grandhomme blitz takes NZ to 4-0 leadAFP

HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND: Big-hitting Colin de Grand-homme blasted New Zealand to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the fourth one-day interna-tional in Hamilton yesterday.

De Grandhomme bludg-eoned the Pakistan attack with an unbeaten 74 off 40 balls to reinvigorate New Zealand’s run chase as the hosts were strug-gling to reach a 263-run target.

“Everything just seemed to be hitting the middle tonight,” said de Grandhomme, whose innings included five sixes and seven fours.

The result puts New Zealand up 4-0 in the five-match series and sets a new record for the Black Caps of 11 consecutive international victories.

The streak includes convinc-ing wins over the West Indies in

all formats of the game and keeps alive the prospects of an ODI series whitewash against Pakistan in Wellington on Fri-day. However, it was a much improved performance from Pakistan, who were skittled for just 74 in their previous outing.

They looked set for another

heavy defeat after a horror start saw them at 11 for two but Mohammad Hafeez notched 81 to set a competitive target. Oth-ers in the mis-firing Pakistani batting line-up also found form, with Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail and captain Sarfraz Ahmed all posting half centuries.

PakistanFakhar Zaman b Santner ...................................... 54Faheem Ashraf c Latham b Southee .....................1Babar Azam c Latham b Southee ......................... 3Haris Sohail c Nicholls b Williamson .................. 50Mohammad Hafeez run out (Boult) ................... 81Shoaib Malik c Santner b Williamson ....................6Sarfraz Ahmed c Guptill b Boult ........................... 51 Hasan Ali c Guptill b Southee ..................................1Shadab Khan (not out) ..............................................6 Extras: (LB2, W7) ....................................................9Total: (8 wickets) ................................. 262 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-11, 3-97, 4-123, 5-130, 6-228, 7-233, 8-262Bowling: Southee 8-0-44-3 (1w), Boult 10-0-73-1 (2w), Ferguson 6-0-32-0 (1W), de Grandhomme 3-0-16-0,

Williamson 10-0-32-2, Santner 10-0-43-1 (3w), Munro 3-0-20-0New ZealandM Guptill c Hasan b Shadab .................................. 31C Munro c Hafeez b Shadab ................................. 56K Williamson c Rumman b haris .........................32 R Taylor lbw b Rumman Raees ...............................1T Latham c Babar b Shadab ....................................8 H Nicholls (not out) .................................................52 C de Grandhomme (not out) ................................ 74 Extras: (LB4, W5) ...................................................9Total: (five wkts) .................................. 263 Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-89, 3-90, 4-99, 5-154Bowling: Mohammad Amir 6-1-36-0 (2w), Hasan Ali 8.5-0-60-0 (3w), Faheem Ashraf 6-0-33-0, Rumman Raees 9-0-59-1, Shadab Khan 10-0-42-3, Haris Sohail 6-0-29-1

SCOREBOARD

South Africa (I innings) ......................... 335India (I innings) .................................... 307South Africa (II innings)A Markram lbw b Bumrah ........................................1 D Elgar c Rahul b Mohammed Shami ................. 61H Amla lbw b Bumrah ...............................................1A de Villiers c Patel b Mohammed Shami .........80Q de Kock c Patel b Mohammed Shami ............. 12F du Plessis c and b Bumrah ...............................48V Philander c Vijay b I Sharma ............................ 26K Maharaj c Patel b I Sharma ..................................6K Rabada c Kohli b Mohammed Shami ................4M Morkel (not out) ..................................................10L Ngidi c Vijay b Ashwin ...........................................1Extras (B2, LB5, W1) ..............................................8Total (91.3 overs) ................................. 258

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-3, 3-144, 4-151, 5-163, 6-209, 7-215, 8-245, 9-245Bowling: Ashwin 29.3-6-78-1, Bumrah 20-3-70-3 (1w), I Sharma 17-3-40-2, Mohammed Shami 16-3-49-4, Pandya 9-1-14-0India (II innings)M Vijay b Rabada ......................................................9L Rahul c Maharaj b Ngidi ........................................4C Pujara (batting) .....................................................11V Kohli lbw b Ngidi ....................................................5P Patel (batting) .........................................................5Extras (B1) ..................................................................1Total (3 wkts) ...........................................35Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-16, 3-26Bowling: Philander 6-3-6-0, Rabada 5-2-9-1, Ngidi 6-2-14-2, Morkel 5-3-4-0, Maharaj 1-0-1-0

SCOREBOARD

South African bowler Lungi Ngidi celebrates the dismissal of Indian batsman and captain Virat Kohli during the fourth day of the second Test match at Supersport cricket ground in Centurion, yesterday.

New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme bats during the fourth one-day international match against Pakistan at Seddon Park in Hamilton, yesterday.

31WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

Sirotkin to partner Stroll at WilliamsREUTERS

LONDON: Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin will race for Williams this season after being chosen ahead of Polish rival Robert Kubica yesterday in what the Formula One team said was a multi-year deal.

Kubica, who had been hop-ing to return to the starting grid for the first time since a 2011 rally accident partly severed his right arm, was appointed reserve and development driver instead.

Williams made the long-awaited announcements in separate statements, with 22-year-old Sirotkin filling the last remaining vacancy for the season that starts in Australia on March 25.

The Russian will partner 19-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll, the billionaire’s son who made his debut with the former world champions last year, in a lineup that will be the youngest on track this year.

Sirotkin replaces Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa, who retired at the end of last year.

“It took a huge amount of work to get where I am, and I’m really happy and thankful to everyone involved,” said Sirot-kin, who was previously on

Renault’s books as a develop-ment driver.

“The result of our combined efforts has helped me achieve my dream, and rest assured the team can rely on me to deliver my best.”

Sirotkin has been backed by Russian billionaire Boris Roten-berg, whose oligarch brother Arkady is a former judo sparring

partner of President Vladimir Putin, on his way through the junior series.

The team did not give any financial details of the deal.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams said the Mercedes-powered team, fifth overall last year, were confident the new pairing would deliver.

“The Williams philosophy

has always been to promote and develop young talent and Sergey fits right into that ethos,” she said.

“Lance has had a record-breaking debut season, and with a year now under his belt, he will be ready to hit the ground run-ning in 2018.”

Kubica, 33, had at one point looked the favourite for the drive, with 2016 champion and former Williams driver Nico Rosberg championing his cause.

Williams said the Pole will take part in testing before and during the season as well as some Friday practice sessions and simulator work.

“It’s a great pleasure to be back in Formula One,” said Kubica.

“My ultimate goal remains to race again in Formula One and this is another important step in that direction.”

Williams technical head Paddy Lowe described the Pole, a winner in Canada with BMW-Sauber in 2008, as a legend of the sport.

“To overcome his injuries, return to fitness, and drive a For-mula One car again is a remarkable achievement, and one that few considered possi-ble,” added Lowe.

Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin will race for Williams this season after being chosen ahead of Polish rival Robert Kubica yesterday.

Formula One driver Robert Kubica of Poland arrives in his box during the second practice session for the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix at the Hungaroring Circuit near Budapest in this file picture.

Gatland lays down Six Nations challenge to uncapped pair

Rajat tops at New Vision Badminton Sport tourney

AFP

CARDIFF, UK; Coach Warren Gatland said uncapped pair Josh Adams and James Davies had an “exciting opportunity” to make their mark as Wales unveiled their Six Nations squad yesterday.

Worcester wing Adams and Scarlets flanker Davies are part of a 39-man squad that also includes Northampton wing George North and Bath number eight Taulupe Faletau, who are both currently sidelined through injury.

Adams, 22, is the top try-scorer in this season’s English Premiership with nine touch-downs and he was recently watched at Sixways by Wales assistant coach Rob Howley.

“For Josh, it’s a great oppor-tunity,” said Gatland. “He’s been on great form, and the back three is somewhere we are looking to create depth in.”

Davies, 27, brother of Wales and British and Irish Lions cen-tre Jonathan Davies, was part of Great Britain’s rugby sevens medal-winning squad at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“It is an exciting opportunity for the two new caps,” Gatland added. “James’s form over the last couple of years has been impres-sive. He is in a competitive area,

but we look forward to seeing what he can do.”

Gloucester back-row for-ward Ross Moriarty, who has played just two games this season

following a long injury absence, is also selected along with Bath fly-half Rhys Priestland, who has a hamstring problem.

Cardiff Blues prop Dillon Lewis is included and experi-enced Ospreys forwards Scott Baldwin and Bradley Davies are both recalled.

There are no places, though, for Harlequins centre Jamie Rob-erts or Bath lock Luke Charteris.

“With Taulupe, we are hoping he will be available towards the end of the campaign, and Rhys (Priestland) picked up a knock at the weekend, so we will see where he is at,” said Gatland.

“It’s useful to have these expe-rienced guys around camp and to have them included and to work with them.”

Wales, who finished fifth in last year’s championship, kick off their Six Nations campaign against Scotland in Cardiff on February 3.

Meanwhile, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend named four uncapped players and recalled several experienced ones in his 40-man squad for the Six Nations championship.

Fullback Blair Kinghorn, scrumhalf Nathan Fowles, and props Murray McCallum and D’Arcy Rae were called up with long-serving scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw and lock Richie Gray among those returning to the fold.

Laidlaw, Gray and centre Mark Bennett, who have 142 caps between them, last played for Scotland in the 2017 Six Nations before suffering injury problems.

“We welcome Blair Kinghorn into our group for the first time... and also three of our most expe-rienced players in Richie Gray, Greig Laidlaw and Scott Law-son,” Townsend said.

“We are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the squad to ensure that we build on the momentum the play-ers generated in 2017.”

Back-row forward John Bar-clay will continue to captain Scotland, who will be confi-dent ahead of the tournament after victories over Australia and Samoa in November along with a narrow defeat by New Zealand.

Scotland begin their Six Nations campaign against Wales in Cardiff on Feb. 3.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Promising 12-year-old Rajat Raj Rameshan turned out to be the star performer at the New Vision Badminton Sport (NVBS) tournament winning two titles at American Acad-emy School indoor courts.

Rajat performed brilliantly in the under-17 category on way to the title and maintain the same level of con-sistency to pocket the top honours in the under-13 category.

In the under-17 final, Rajat over-came top seed Saadhwi Krishna Sheri 21-14, 21-14 to clinch the under-17 crown. In the under-13 final, Rajat outclassed Shashwath Praveen 21-3, 21-2.

In the under-17 semi-final, Saad-hwi overcame a tough challenge from 13-year-old Faiz Ahmed Anas 18-21, 21-17, 21-15 to book a place in the final.

The under-13 girls title went to Rasha Sajeer who defeated Diya Manoj Shetty 21-13, 21-16 in the final.

Dilan Togi won the under-9 title defeating six-year-old Mashal Sahibjan 21-14, 21-8 in the final.

Most of the podium winning players have been training with coaches Manoj Sahibjan and Kesit Sustrisno for the last three months.

“This achievement for the play-ers training at New Vision Badminton Sport has been possible for the ded-ication and excellent coaching of Manoj Sahibjan and Kesit Sustrisno,” said Rajat after completing a double.

“NVBS Players can shine in the international tournaments if they all perform and train in the same man-ner,” said coach Sahibjan.

The prizes for the winners and the runners-up were given by offi-cials representing the NVBS.

The podium winners at the New Vision Badminton Sport tournament pose for a picture at American Academy School, Al Thumama in Doha. Right: Rajat Raj Rameshan, winner of the under-13 and under-17 winner’s trophies.

Durant in command as Warriors down CavsAFP

LOS ANGELES: Kevin Durant scored 32 points as the Golden State Warriors over-powered the Cleveland Cavaliers with a late rally to score a 118-108 win in a pulsating clash between the two NBA arch-rivals on Monday.

Durant added seven assists and pulled down four rebounds as the Warriors completed back-to-back wins over the Cavs following their victory in the Christmas Day meeting.

LeBron James and Cleve-land had gone into the game at the Quicken Loans Arena determined to halt a three-game losing streak by beating the Warriors, who they have faced in the last three editions of the NBA Finals.

The Cavs had got off to a flying start, jumping out to a seven-point lead late in the first quarter before the Warriors clawed it back to 35-37.

Wales coach Warren Gatland

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s status as a world-leading sports hub grows more assured each day.

In a short space of time, the country has emerged as a sporting capital of the Middle East and Asia, with Aspire Zone Foundation sits at the heart of this development.

This month AZF marks a decade of sports excellence since being established in 2008. During that time it has followed a clear and consistent strategy to contribute to the vibrant and growing sports economy of Qatar, whilst supporting the human and economic pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

To mark the occasion of its tenth anniversary, AZF’s CEO Mohammad Khalifa Al Suwaidi said: “This month we mark ten years of the decision by our country’s visionary leadership to establish AZF and direct investment and resources towards sporting development and focus on the steady expan-sion of sports-related industries in Qatar.”

“In the past few years, the sports scene in Qatar has devel-oped steadily with Aspire Zone Foundation sitting at the heart of this remarkable progress. Now, AZF represents one of the world’s leading destinations and is an enormous source of national pride for the country’s citizens and residents.”

“If you draw a simple com-parison between Qatar and the region before and after the establishment of AZF as a fully-integrated sports city, you can clearly identify the impact that the organisation has had, including delivering high-pro-file international sporting events. We have made enormous progress in developing the coun-try’s sports infrastructure and facilities and cultivating our tal-ented sports men and women including star athletes and Olympic champions,” Al Suwaidi concluded.

The country’s emergence as a destination of choice for inter-national sporting events began in earnest in 2006 when Qatar hosted the Asian Games, the second-largest multi-sport event in the world. Since then, the country has hosted large num-bers of major international events averaging nearly 80 events per year.

In January 2008, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) was established by Emiri decree in order to develop a world-class sporting environment, enhance sports performance and con-tribute to producing elite local athletes. By providing a compre-hensive academic, athletic and mental education AZF equips such athletes to compete in var-ious local and global competitions.

Since then, AZF has emerged as the umbrella organisation for a world-leading sports academy, logistics business and renowned orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital. Bringing together this global expertise means AZF is uniquely placed to catalyse the country’s sports industry in pur-suit of its ambitious vision to be ‘the Reference’ in sports excel-lence worldwide by 2020. It does so whilst operating as one integrated institution that adheres to a unique working model – the ‘Aspire way.’

During the past decade, AZF has continued to make

significant progress towards its vision, further cementing its rep-utation as a leading sports hub that attracts decision-makers, community members and sporting icons from around the world. It has become an essen-tial component in athletes’ jour-neys to excellence. Crucially AZF is playing a central role in argu-ably the greatest sporting spec-tacle of them all – the FIFA World Cup.

AZF’s involvement in sup-porting the tournament will create an incredible sporting and social legacy for the country which includes building FIFA World Cup Qatar™ host venues stadiums like Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium and Al-Khor Sta-dium. It is a legacy from which all members of the community stand to benefit, with access to world-class sporting facilities designed to support active and healthy lifestyles.

AZF believes that research is the essential foundation of outstanding player performance and athlete care, and works to integrate that research into daily clinical practice, in the hospital and on the playing field.

To this end, Aspetar is con-

tinually involved in ground-breaking research endeavors.

In Aspire Academy, the Sports Science Department manages an Applied Sport Sci-ence Research Programme designed to increase capacity for applied research across Aspire’s diverse disciplines. In addition to in-house research, the pro-gramme provides extensive scope for collaboration with external partners.

In addition to their core servicing roles, Sports Science staff have been actively involved in applied sport science research aimed at maximising the per-formance of Aspire Academy programmes and athletes.

Aspire Logistics also man-ages a Centre of Excellence for natural sports turf research and development, and is working in very close partnership with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy to develop the turf that will cover the pitches in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar finals. AZF recently succeed in re-turfing the Kha-lifa International Stadium in world record time, covering 7,800 square metres in just 13 hours and 30 minutes.

AZF’s Information Tech-nology department has also made a major contribution to the development of the sports sector

in Qatar in partnership with local and international organisations. For example, AZF has teamed up with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and Qatar University scientists to develop innovative helmets designed to keep workers cool in summer months.

Together with the Qatar Football Association and QNB Stars League, Aspire Academy launched the Qatar Football Analytics Dashboard – a set of tools that help analyse and sup-port the sporting performance of players in Qatar. The initia-tive makes the data available to clubs, coaches and the players themselves. Data collected includes distances covered on the field and players’ ranking in relation to key aspects of their game (e.g. passing) compared with teammates as well as players from other clubs, along with video analysis.

AZF also unveiled for the first time a new application that automatically tracked all the runners who took part in Samla Race – a Desert Extreme Trek.

The app helped specify the runners’ exact position, speed, heart rate and other vital signs. The app also provided the func-tionality to automatically dis-patch an ambulance and med-ical support in the event that any runner’s vitals were detected to have reached dan-gerous levels.

Aspire Zone is home to some of the finest sporting facil-ities and services in the world. Aspire Dome is the world’s largest indoor, multipurpose sports stadium with a seating capacity of 15,500 spread across 13 sports halls.

Other facilities include the 4,500-seat Hamad Aquatic Centre and the 2,500-person capacity Ladies Sports Hall, and two hotels: the Torch Doha Hotel and the Mövenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha. Together, these make Aspire Zone a leading sports hub in Qatar and the pre-ferred training destination for elite local, regional and interna-tional athletes.

32WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 SPORTSome of the facilities I saw at Aspire could be the envy of

any other country. I hope that other countries also develop

such facilities for the benefit of young sportsmen

Stage 11 of Dakar Rally

Final day of the second Test between India and South Africa

Rallying CRICKETNeymarPSG’s Brazilian football star

Aspire Zone Foundation celebrates a decade of sports excellence

WHAT THEY SAID: “Producing world-class Qatari sporting champions is a funda-

mental part of Qatar’s vision for sport. While Qatar has made con-siderable progress on the sporting field in recent years, highlighted by our three silver medals in the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, we are keen to build on this success and continue to increase the performance of our athletes across a wider range of sports.”

H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani“I took a detailed tour around Aspire Zone and its member organ-

isations Aspire Academy and Aspetar. I was really impressed by the facilities. They are some of the best I’ve seen globally. What’s great about Aspire and its training programmes and services is that they are all in one place, offering easy access to a comprehensive training programme for visiting athletes. That is why I have chosen it as my training destination.”

American track and field athlete Allyson Felix“As a player, I’d personally enjoy using these facilities every day.

Academies like Aspire provide a good foundation for young players to make it into professional leagues.”

Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets“Some of the facilities I saw at Aspire could be the envy of any

other country. I hope that other countries also develop such facili-ties for the benefit of young sportsmen.”

Brazilian professional footballer Neymar“Our players have access to world-class facilities in Aspire Zone.

The weather conditions in Qatar at this time of year are ideal. The team will return to Germany energized and motivated. Qatar’s deci-sion that the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™ would be played during the winter was a smart move.”

FC Bayern Munich’s Manager Jupp Heynckes“It (Aspire Academy) is really a benchmark for the world of sports.

What is happening here is not only the training of athletes but also their education, and its scientific achievements are remarkable.”

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach“It is a fantastic experience to visit Aspire Academy’s superb

facilities. The philosophy here – which focuses on preparing kids for life and equipping them with sports skills and a good education – is superb. This is one of the best sports academies I have ever seen in the world, and Qatar will be served well by the work and initiatives underway at Aspire.”

Brazilian Minister of Sport Leonardo Picciani“It is quite evident that this country has a vision and well-thought-

out plans for sports development. l firmly believe that it will reach its objectives in the years to come. Aspire Academy is really impres-sive and has embarked on a good sports development philosophy which is backed up by world-class facilities.”

Evangelos Grammenos, President of the Hellenic Football Fed-eration said:

“I decided to come to Qatar after learning that Aspetar has very good rehab centers, and physiotherapists who have a lot of exper-tise in the field and know what they are doing. I spent 11 years with my former club Chelsea, and I have always had my treatments there before moving to China. I think Aspetar’s facilities, physiotherapists and doctors are similar to Chelsea’s. That is also why I enjoy my time here.”

Aspire Zone Foundation CEO Mohammad Khalifa Al Suwaidi

In the past few years, the sports scene in Qatar has developed steadily with Aspire Zone Foundation sitting at the heart of this remarkable progress. Now, AZF represents one of the world’s leading destinations and is an enormous source of national pride for the country’s citizens and residents: Al Suwaidi

Runners compete in the men’s heptathlon 1000 meters race at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at the Aspire Dome in this file picture.