THE PENINSULA

CHANGZHOU: Vietnam yester-day edged Qatar in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup to set up a title showdown against Uzbekistan on Saturday.

In the second semi-final, Uzbekistan handed 10-man Korea Republic a 4-1 defeat in extra-time.

The clash between Qatar and Vietnam saw the two sides finish extra time at 2-2, with Vietnam emerging on top in the spot-kick drama 6-5 at the Changzhou Sports Centre.

Goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung emerged as the hero as he saved two penalties - an effort that sen-sationally booked them a place in the final.

Akram Afif opened the scor-ing in the 39th minute while star striker Almoez Ali fired one goal in the 87th minute in regulation time. Afif gave Qatar the lead by converting a penalty kick. Ali found the net with a close-range shot after a corner kick.

Despite conceding the first goal, striker Nguyen Quang Hai scored a brace to bring Vietnam back into the game in which Qatar had taken lead twice.

In the penalty shootout, Tien Dung stopped efforts from Qatari duo Ahmad Moein and Sultan Al Brake to seal the victory, one which continues Vietnam’s incredible journey in the com-petition under the wily guidance of head coach Park Hang-seo.

While the victory moves Vietnam, incredibly, a step nearer to the title, it sees Qatar fall at the semi-final stage for the second successive compe-ti t ion fol lowing their fourth-place finish at the tour-nament’s last edition in 2016.

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez is

adamant that the West Asian nation’s players will continue to develop, despite the disappoint-ment of falling at the semi-final hurdle, just at they did at the competition’s 2016 edition.

“It was a very tough game against a very good team,” Sanchez said after the match.

“We hope that the players will look back and realise that they had a good tournament. In

football, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Today, it was our turn to lose, but I am pretty sure they are going to continue (to grow), he added.

“As players they never give up and I am sure they are going to do very well in the future. I believe they will do just that,” the Spaniard said.

In a game that eventually went the distance of 120 minutes,

Qatar dominated proceedings with sublime football in regula-tion time. Ali, who finished the tournament with 6 goals to his name, and Afif attacked the Viet-namese box regularly.

With a place in the final potentially only 90 minutes away, the opening period proved to be a cagey affair, as Qatar, with cap-tain Moein pulling the strings in midfield, constantly prodded and

probed a resolute Vietnamese backline which refused to give an inch.

Indeed, a Bassam Al Rawi free-kick from range in the 36th minute was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock, until defender Bui Tien Dung’s foul on striker Ali in the penalty area just three minutes later saw referee Muhammad Taqi point to the spot. The dynamic Afif duly kept his nerve to convert from 12 yards and hand Qatar a slender advantage ahead of the break.

However, after seeing Ali - the tournament’s leading goalscorer - fire narrowly over the bar shortly after the restart,s Vietnam were soon to draw level. Quang Hai was at the heart of things for the Southeast Asians, first seeing his free-kick rattle the bar and then, following Qatar’s inability to clear Nguyen Phong Hong Duy’s cross, pouncing to slam the ball home from close-range to claim an equaliser on 69 minutes. Qatar duly responded with an Afif shot from distance, before they regained the lead through Ali’s scrambled 84th minute effort, only to lose it again in dramatic fashion moments later when Quang Hai curled a superb shot past Mohammed Al Bakari to signal the need for extra-time.

By way of contrast to what had just gone before, chances were few and far between dur-ing the additional 30 minutes, leaving Tien Dung to emerge as the hero in the subsequent pen-alty shootout as Vietnam celebrated wildly and Qatari hearts were broken.

Qatar reached the semifinals with wins over Uzbekistan, Oman, China and Palestine.

Al Anabi will now play the 3rd-4th place playoff against Korea Republic.

Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung

emerged as the hero after saving

two penalties. The semi-final clash saw the two sides finish

extra time at 2-2 but Vietnam came on top

in the spot-kick drama to set up a title clash

with Uzbekistan.

We hope that the players will look back and realise

that they had a good tournament. As

players they never give up and I am sure

they are going to do very well in the

future. I believe they will do just that, says Qatar coach Sanchez

SPORTWednesday 24 January 2018

Cilic in semis as Nadal retires on

day of upsets

Steve Smith questions Kohli’s leadership

PAGE | 27 PAGE | 28-29 PAGE | 30Referee should not have

shown Alves the red card: Emery

i’s

Vietnam edge Qatar in thriller, reach AFC U-23 Asian Cup final

Action from the Under-23 ASian Cup semi-final match between Qatar and Vietnam in Changzhou, China yesterday. Vietnam won 6-5 in the penalty shoot-out.

Asian Handball Championship: Qatar down Bahrain, book place in semi-finals

CHINTHANA WASALATHE PENINSULA

SUWON, SOUTH KOREA: Reigning champions Qatar became the first team to make it to the semi-finals of the Asian Handball Championship when they put up an impressive show to defeat Bahrain 29-21 yester-day.

At the Seo-Suwon Chilbo Gymnasium in Suwon, South Korea, Al Annabi proved to be too good for their neighbour-ing rivals and led 13-11 at half time.

Frankis Marzo was the star of the day for Qatar, adding seven goals to the tally. Youssef Ali also made a valuable con-tribution, scoring six goals to swell the total.

With yesterday’s win, Qatar stays on course for a repeat suc-cess at the prestigious championship, extending their winning streak to five matches.

The win also put Qatar on top of the Group 2 standings

with four points. In their last game prior to the semi-finals, favorites Qatar will take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) today in their remaining fixture of the main round but the out-come of it will not affect Qatar’s presence in the next stage. UAE are already out of the compe-tition, having lost both their Group 2 matches.

Japan and Bahrain will be vying for the remaining semi-final slot today.

Earlier, on Monday, Al Annabi thrashed Japan by a margin of 40-23 in their open-ing match of the main round. Qatar made it to the main round following an impressive run in the first stage where they topped Group D. Al Annabi defeated Saudi Arabia, China and New Zealand to advance with flying colours.

The top four teams of the championship will make it to the Handball World Cup which will take place in Denmark and Germany in 2019.

A Qatari player aims to shoot at the Bahrain goal during their Asian Handball Championship in South Korea yesterday. Qatar won 29-21 and qualified for the semi-finals.

Brazilian De Souza heads to Al Markhiya

Russia confirms star speed skater Victor An is banned

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Markhiya, in a bid to bolster their attack, have roped in Leonardo Henrique Santos de Souza.

The Brazilian will join the QNB Stars League (QSL) side from South Korean club Busan IPark, where he was sent on loan by native team Coimbra.

De Souza will replace striker Alain Traore, who parted ways with Yousef Adam-coached Al Markhiya by mutual consent. The Burkina Faso player had joined The Oryxes when they got promoted to the QSL this season. De Souza will sign the contract after his medical at Qatar’s orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital Asp-etar. Al Markhiya had strengthened their forward line in the current winter transfer window by signing Brazilian attacking midfielder Eric de Oliveira.

AFP

MOSCOW: Short track speed skating star Victor An has been excluded from the Pyeongchang Winter Olym-pics in the aftermath of a state-sponsored doping scan-dal, angry Russian officials confirmed yesterday.

Six-time Olympic gold medallist An -- who was born in South Korea but took Rus-sian citizenship before the 2014 Sochi Games -- was “absent from the list of poten-tial participants”, vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanis-lav Pozdnyakov said.

Olympic champion Anton Shipulin and world champion skier Sergei Ustyugov were also absent from the list of athletes invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The absent sportsmen have “never been implicated in any type of doping affair and the numerous tests they have passed in their careers show that they are clean athletes”, Pozdnyakov said.

“Today we will send the International Olympic Com-mittee a request for the specific reasons why the cap-tains of Russian teams in various sports have not been included in the list of poten-tial participants.”

The ROC said it did not see this as a final decision, but An’s lawyer told media on Monday there would not be time to appeal before the Games. In a separate state-ment, the Russian figure skating federation said skat-ers Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin had been banned from the games.

26 WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018SPORT

Manchester United signing Alexis Sanchez is similar to Robin van Persie in the sense that they’re getting a ready-made superstar and you’re seeing the contribution already with Anthony Martial upping his performances, says Ryan Giggs

‘Superstar’ Sanchez the right fit for Man United, says Giggs AFP

LONDON: Ryan Giggs says Alexis Sanchez (pictured) is a ready-made “superstar” who can give Manchester United a lift as they bid to chase down Premier League rivals Manches-ter City.

Sanchez on Monday sealed a move to United from Arsenal in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, saying he was “thrilled to be joining the big-gest club in the world”.

The 29-year-old Chile striker, who came close to join-ing Manchester City last summer, has signed what is believed to be a four-and-a-half-year contract that will make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League.

It has been widely reported that Sanchez will earn a pre-tax salary of £500,000 ($697,000, 569,000 euros) a week at Old Trafford.

“Manchester United signing Alexis Sanchez is similar to Robin van Persie in the sense that they’re getting a ready-made superstar and you’re seeing the contribution already with Anthony Martial upping his performances,” new Wales manager Giggs said on sky-sports.com.

“That can happen when top players come in, those around

them lift their levels, and there will be some difficult selection decisions for Jose Mourinho.

“However, Sanchez can also play on the right, as he did at Barcelona, so if Martial is flying then he may have to play in a different position, but those sort of decisions are positive for a manager to have to make.”

United boss Mourinho said Sanchez would “complete our very young and talented group of attacking players” alongside the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, in-form Jesse Lingard and Martial, who has scored three goals in his past three Premier League games.

Giggs, United’s most-deco-rated player, said it was an extra bonus that the former Arsenal man would be able to play in the Champions League -- United play Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Feb-ruary 21.

“To have somebody like that, who won’t be fazed by playing in the big games, makes the squad look really strong,” he wrote.

United, who have not won the Premier League title since 2013, are second in the table but trail Manchester City by 12 points -- a gap that looks impossible to breach even with four months of the season to run.

Sanchez took a parting shot in an Instagram post at ex-Arse-nal players who have criticised his attitude.

“There are people (former club players) who have spoken with no knowledge of what happens inside the club and cause damage,” Sanchez wrote.

“I must say I always gave 100%, until the last day, when I asked to the Mister (Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger) to be in the team, because I wanted to be a contribution.”

Armenia international winger Mkhitaryan, also 29, fell out of favour with United man-ager Mourinho after just 18

months at Old Trafford.The Sanchez-Mkhitar-

yan deal is the latest move of a busy January transfer window during which Liv-erpool sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for 160m euros and signed

central defender Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton for £75m.

Reports in Germany say striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be on his way to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund.

United retain top spot in Deloitte ‘Money League’

AFP

LONDON: Manchester United narrowly pipped Real Madrid to remain the top revenue-gener-ating club in the world as Premier League sides under-lined their growing financial clout, Deloitte’s “Money League” report said yesterday.

It is the 10th time United have topped Deloitte’s list, with a revenue in 2016/17 of 676m euros ($828m, £593m) -- just 1.7m euros ahead of the Span-ish giants.

United on Monday confirmed the signing of Chile striker Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in a deal which is expected to make him the Premier League’s highest-paid player.

Barcelona -- one of Sanchez’s former clubs -- are third in the 21st edition of the list compiled by the British-based business advisory firm, followed by Bayern Munich,

Manchester City and Arsenal. Combined revenue for the top 20 Money League clubs in the 2016/17 season grew six percent to 7.9bn euros, a new record.

United’s Europa League vic-tory was crucial to their financial performance, with Real Madrid’s figures boosted by winning the Champions League and their Spanish league triumph.

A record 10 English clubs feature in the top 20, generat-ing a total revenue of 3.8bn euros, helped by income from the first season of the current record Premier League broad-cast rights deal.

Broadcast revenue is now the largest individual revenue stream for the Money League clubs, making up 45 percent of total revenue and there is increasing speculation that the likes of Amazon and Facebook could become serious players, potentially giving a fresh cash injection.

“The Deloitte Football Money League has a particularly

English feel this year and with the new broadcast deal and UEFA competition performance driving broadcast revenue growth of over half a billion pounds for those in the top 20, it doesn’t come as a surprise,” said Tim Bridge, senior manager in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

“As the Premier League is currently in the middle of its rights tender for the next cycle from 2019/20, the results of this will be crucial to determining the long-term composition of the Money League.”

A separate study released earlier this month showed Pre-mier League leaders Manchester City have greater financial mus-cle than any other club in world football, with Arsenal second and United in seventh place.

The Soccerex Football Finance 100 ranked the world’s top teams based on both their playing and fixed assets, money in the bank, owner potential investment and debt.

The first figure in brackets is the club’s position in

2015-2016 and the second is their revenue in that

period.

1. (1) Manchester United 676.3m euros (689 mln eu-

ros)

2. (3) Real Madrid 674.6 (620.1)

3. (2) FC Barcelona 648.3 (620.2)

4. (4) Bayern Munich 587.8 (592)

5. (5) Manchester City 527.7 (524.9)

6. (7) Arsenal 487.6 (468.5)

7. (6) Paris Saint-Germain 486.2 (520.9)

8. (8) Chelsea 428 (447.4)

9. (9) Liverpool 424.2 (403.8)

10. (10) Juventus 405.7 (338.9)

11. (12) Tottenham Hotspur 355.6 (279.7)

12. (11) Borussia Dortmund 332.6 (283.9)

13. (13) Atlético de Madrid 272.5 (228.6)

14. (20) Leicester City 271.1 (172.1)

15. (19) Internazionale 262.1 (179.2)

16. (14) Schalke 04 230.2 (224.5)

17. (18) West Ham United 213.3 (192.3)

18. (n/a) Southampton 212.1 (166.2)

19. (n/a) Napoli 200.7 (144.2)

20. (n/a) Everton 199.2 (162.5)

DELOITTE MONEY LEAGUE: 2016-2017 REVENUE

De Bruyne signs contract extension with City

Juventus deny Balotelli move

AFP

LONDON: Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has signed a contract extension with Manchester City keeping him at the club until 2023, the Premier League leaders said on Monday.

The 26-year-old attack-ing midfielder has been one of the stars of the season so far with City manager Pep Guardiola even describing him as “one of the best play-ers” he’s ever seen.

“I am really happy to have signed this new deal,” De Bru-yne, who joined the Citizens from Wolfsburg in 2015, told mancity.com.

“As I’ve said previously, my intention has always been to stay here at City, where I’ve felt at home from day one.

“Not only are we winning, we are playing great football. It’s a pleasure to be a part of and I’m really excited about what we can achieve in the coming years.”

De Bruyne has already contributed six goals and 10 assists in 24 matches this sea-son with 31 goals from 122 appearances in total in the sky blue shirt.

City announced the con-tract extension at the same time that cross-town rivals Manchester United revealed they had signed Alexis Sanchez. The Chile interna-tional came close to joining City in the close season only for Arsenal to pull the plug on the deal after failing to find a replacement.

AFP

TURIN: Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta has dismissed reports that the Serie A champions are inter-ested in signing Italian striker Mario Balotelli as “a hoax”.

There were reports that a five-year deal was in the off-ing for the former Manchester City striker, who has hit top form for Nice this season with 17 goals.

“Beyond our affection, esteem and liking for this boy it’s a fantasy football story,” Marotta told Mediaset Pre-mium on Monday.

“His is a profile we don’t need.”

Balotelli won six trophies with Inter Milan including the Champions League before moving to Manchester City in 2010, followed by two spells at AC Milan either side of an unsuccessful stint at Liverpool.

The 27-year-old left Liv-erpool on a free transfer in August 2016 to join Nice, who are sixth in the French league this season.

Marotta confirmed the reigning six-time league champions’ interest in Liver-pool’s German international Emre Can, whose contract expires in June.

“We know his contract is expiring but he could renew or have other opportunities,” said Marotta.

Juventus’ Douglas Costa (right) celebrates after scoring their first goal on Monday.

Serie A: Costa keeps Juve in hot pursuit of Napoli AFP

TURIN: Brazilian Douglas Costa scored the only goal as cham-pions Juventus kept in hot pursuit of leaders Napoli with a 1-0 win against Genoa on Monday.

Napoli stayed top after the first game following the winter break when Dries Mertens ended a long goal drought in a 1-0 victory at Atalanta on Sunday.

Maurizio Sarri’s side have 54 points after 21 games to stay one point ahead of Juventus.

“It was important to win to stay in Napoli’s slipstream,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny continued in place of the injured Gianluigi Buffon in goal for the Turin giants, with Costa starting ahead of Federico Ber-nardeschi up front.

Miralem Panic missed an early chance from a free-kick awarded after six minutes when Gonzalo Higuain was fouled on the edge of the box, but Mattia

Perin cleared.But Costa broke through

after 16 minutes in the Allianz Stadium and exchanged passes with Mario Mandzukic before slotting the ball past Perin.

Although Genoa had strug-gled for possession before the break the champions were less threatening in the second half against a side that are 15th in the league.

Lazio moved third, 11 points behind Napoli, thanks to a thumping 5-1 win over Chievo in Rome on Sunday, equal on points but ahead of Inter Milan on goal difference.

Luciano Spalletti’s Inter fell further behind after a scrappy 1-1 home draw with Champi-ons League-chasing Roma, who are three points behind in fifth.

Inter are winless in six games in the league and no longer look like title contend-ers, while Roma, who stay fifth on 40 points, have fallen even further behind after picking up just ten points from a possible 24 since beating Lazio in mid-November.

27WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

Battling Swansea shock Liverpool AFP

SWANSEA: Liverpool’s progress towards securing a Champions League spot was halted by the Premier League’s bottom club and a single goal by Alfie Mawson on Monday as Liverpool’s defen-sive frailties returned.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, with £75m centre-back Virgil van Dijk making his away debut, were seeking to extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches and draw level on points with third-placed Chelsea.

But fresh from dramatically ending Manchester City’s unbeaten run, the Reds ran into a determined Swansea side des-perate to close the gap on the strugglers above them.

Despite laying siege to the Swansea goal, Klopp’s side were unable to find the net and Rob-erto Firmino struck the post with a header in the dying seconds.

The defeat snapped Liver-pool’s unbeaten 14-match run in the Premier League dating back to October and old, familiar defensive failings were laid bare despite Van Dijk’s arrival.

Swansea took the lead against the run of play just before half-time when Mawson swept the ball in from a corner after Van Dijk failed to head clear.

The ball struck Swansea cap-tain Federico Fernandez and Mawson swivelled to shoot past Liverpool keeper Loris Karius.

It was exactly the kind of soft goal that Liverpool manager Klopp thought he had found the solution to with the purchase of the towering Dutchman.

In contrast to their clinical performance against City at Anfield, Liverpool were wasteful and guilty of missing a number of first-half chances.

Sadio Mane and leading goal-scorer Mo Salah both volleyed wide before the break and Van Dijk flashed a header just wide of the post.

Liverpool kept pressing in the second half, but either found their strikers lacking or else discovered Lukasz Fabianski in inspired form in the Swansea goal.

He first denied Salah when he

tipped over the Egyptian’s free kick with an acrobatic save on the hour mark. Then, Fabianski dived low to deny Liverpool substitute Danny Ings late on.

The goal came was a throw-back to the type of problems Liverpool have suffered under Klopp.

Liverpool dealt with one cor-ner, but conceded a second and from that kick the Swans took their unlikely lead through Maw-son, leaving Klopp looking aghast.

It was not just Klopp who was rattled as Liverpool pair Andrew Robertson and Joel Matip were shown yellow cards in quck succession.

Robertson was booked for hacking at Ayew as he lay over the ball after a foul and then

Matip went for scything down Lucas.

Salah then put the ball on a plate for Mane with the last move of the half, but the striker vol-leyed wide from a tight angle.

Liverpool continued to surge forward after the break, but Swansea showed their new-found discipline under Carvalhal. A great saving tackle by Kyle Naughton denied Robertson, before the Liverpool full-back cut a beautifully inviting ball into the box for no takers.

On the hour mark, Salah struck a sweet free-kick from the edge of the box that looked to be dipping under the Swansea bar.

But Pole Fabianski was equal to it as he tipped the ball over at full stretch.

Alfie Mawson (centre) celebrates after scoring a goal against Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, yesterday.

Can Mkhitaryan turn around Arsenal’s fortunes? AFP

LONDON: Henrikh Mkhitaryan will have his work cut out to reverse Arsenal’s flagging fortunes, after joining the Gunners from Manchester United on Monday in a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez move in the opposite direction.

The 29-year-old had a difficult spell under Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, but Arsenal man-ager Arsene Wenger will be hoping the Armenian can rediscover the form he showed at Borussia Dortmund that led to him signing for United for a around £30m in 2016.

Will Mkhitaryan get a starting place?Mkhitaryan struggled to nail down a spot in

United’s team despite arriving from Dortmund with an excellent reputation after three strong seasons in Germany that produced 27 goals and 34 assists in all competitions. Sanchez’s depar-ture leaves Mesut Ozil as Arsenal’s creator-in-chief. Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere have both been plagued by injuries in recent years, while Alex Iwobi has failed to con-sistently impress despite being given a lengthy run in the side. Mkhitaryan looks set to slot in alongside Ozil and behind striker Alexandre Lacazette if he finds anything like the form he showed in the Bundesliga and before that with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Is he a replacement for Sanchez? Although Mkhitaryan is moving to Lon-

don in a switch with Sanchez, he is not a direct replacement for the Chilean international. Sanchez provided ruthlessness in front of goal and the ability to run at defenders, while Mkhi-taryan’s strengths lie with his passing and

creativity. Sanchez has scored 60 Premier League goals in 122 appearances, while Mkhi-taryan managed just five in 26 games at United. But the Armenian leads Sanchez in other areas, making more assists and passes per game. Mkhi-taryan does have more goals in him too, having scored 23 in 78 Bundesliga appearances before finding himself deployed in a variety of posi-tions by Mourinho at United.

Do Arsenal need another attacking midfielder?

Wenger has been criticised in recent years for buying too many attack-minded midfield-ers and ignoring other supposed weaker spots in his team. With close-season signing Alexan-dre Lacazette struggling to find the net with regularity -- he scored his first league goal since December 2 in Saturday’s win over Crystal Pal-ace -- Wenger will be hoping Mkhitaryan can bring the best from the French striker. The 68-year-old Frenchman is confident he can start Mkhitaryan with the likes of Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere.

Can he help Arsenal return to the Cham-pions League?

Arsenal fans expect their team to be chal-lenging for the Premier League title, but the stark reality suggests that they are some way from matching Manchester City and even United. Just returning to the Champions League after miss-ing out this year for the first time since 1998 is still a formidable task, with Arsenal currently lying sixth. If Mkhitaryan can quickly strike up a relationship with Lacazette and Ozil then Arse-nal could start to close the gap, but they are probably still another top signing away from challenging for the biggest titles.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Referee should not have shown Alves the red card, says EmeryAFP

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain defender Dani Alves made a mistake confronting the referee in the defeat to Lyon, but an offi-cial “should know how to manage” such situations better PSG coach Unai Emery said yesterday.

On Sunday in Lyon, Alves upset when his tackle on an

opponent drew a whistle, leapt up, ran to referee Clement Turpin and leant as close as he could while shouting at the offi-cial, who responded with a red card. PSG went on to lose, 2-1.

“Some players play with the heart, and others with the head, but both are important. Dani is intelligent, he has experience and he plays with the heart. He made a mistake, I told him,”

Emery said. “But you have to be bal-

anced, the referee must know how to handle this kind of match, because Dani has done the same thing in other matches. The referee could have given him a yellow,” said Emery before adding “I’m not saying the refe-ree did his job badly.”

Alves posted on Instagram on Monday saying: “Since when

has it been a lack of disrespect to disagree? If you want to blame me, you can...I have a broad back.” He added the hashtag “#alwaysgoodcrazy”.

Emery also said Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are doubts for PSG’s Cup match with Guingamp today.

Neymar missed the loss to Lyon and has a “muscle pull” which Emery called a “small injury” saying “we will see how he feels after training.”

Mbappe left Sunday’s game on a stretcher after a collision with Lyon’s Anthony Lopes.

“He wants to play, he told me he feels good, but it was a very hard blow so we have to listen to the neurologist who is going to examine him,” said Emery.

Emery also said that striker Lucas, who is being starved of appearance, “needs to find another club.”

“I’ve spoken with him and, with all the respect I have for him, there’s no chance of him getting more playing time here,” Emery said.

Lucas talked to L’Equipe, the French sports daily, on Tuesday.

“The shock is brutal,” he said. “I thought I had built some-thing solid here but that’s clearly not the case.”

Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Silva speaks with referee Clement Turpin after Dani Alves is sent off.

Barca loan Brazilian Rafinha to Inter Milan

Zidane hails Bale’s show against Deportivo

AFP

M A D R I D : Barcelona midfielder Rafinha will join Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy, the Spanish club and the player confirmed .In a statement, Barcelona revealed Inter “have an option to purchase the player for 35m euros ($43m) plus three million euros in varia-bles, which must be confirmed before the end of the current season”.

The 24-year-old Brazil international, who was out of action for eight months last year due to a knee injury, joined Barcelona aged 13 and rose through the ranks.

“I’m really happy,” Rafinha told Inter TV.

“It’s a great feeling to be here. It’s an important stage in my life and I had a lot of desire to approach this new phase in my career.

Rafinha needed surgery and was out for more than six months after tearing a cruci-ate knee ligament against Roma at the end of 2015. He then went under the knife again last year after suffering a injury in April.

AFP -

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane singled out fit again Gareth Bale for praise yesterday as he prepares his side for a Copa Del Rey quarter-final return leg against Leganes.

Welsh winger Bale pro-duced a sumptuous strike to level against Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend as Real eventually romped to a confidence boosting 7-1 league win following a poor run of form. Zidane said Bale’s brilliance and his brace of goals had lifted the whole club.

“What has changed for him is that he has no prob-lems, nothing is bothering him,” the Frenchman said ahead of today’s match.

“For a player, it’s funda-mental to have nothing holding you back in training. He’s improving his perform-ances, he’s a really important player and he’s proving it,” said Zidane, who’s side trail Barcelona by 19 pints in La Liga.

“I hope he continues to do so, so that the team regains its confidence and we con-tinue in this manner.”

28 WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018SPORT 29WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

Nadal crushed by latest injury setbackAFP

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal called on tour organisers to do more to halt injuries to top players after heartache at the Austral-ian Open as he pulled out of his semi-final yesterday.

The Spanish world No.1 retired with a muscle injury in his upper right leg while trailing 0-2 to former US Open champion Marin Cilic in the fifth set of a titanic quar-ter-final struggle on Rod Laver Arena.

It is the second time he has been forced to pull out with injury in Melbourne after calling it quits in the third set of his 2010 quarter-final against Andy Murray with a knee problem.

The look on Nadal’s face said it all as he came to terms with missing a big opportunity to go after his 17th Grand Slam title after looking impressive in his early round matches.

“Tough moments. Is not the first time an opportunity that is gone for me,” he told reporters.

“I am a positive person, but today is an opportunity lost to be in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and fight for an impor-tant title for me.

“This has already happened to me a couple of times in this tournament and it’s really tough to accept, especially after a

tough December when I missed starting the season in Abu Dhabi and then Brisbane.”

Nadal went into the year’s opening Grand Slam tournament with knee con-cerns, but ironically that wasn’t the problem that finally brought him undone in the heat of battle with Cilic.

“I was playing okay. I was playing a match that anything could happen: could

win, could lose. He was playing good, too,” Nadal said.

“But I was fighting for it. I was two sets to one up. Yeah, just have to accept, recover, go back home, stay with my peo-ple and keep going. That’s all.”

Nadal said his problem was not hip-related, more a muscle issue high up on his right leg.

“I can’t tell you exactly the muscle. It’s high on the leg. Tomorrow we’re going to communicate what’s going on after a MRI scan,” he said.

“Now is not the moment to say what’s going on because we really don’t know and the doctors really don’t know yet.”

Nadal said tour organisers had to do something about the growing number of injuries among players after the with-drawals of Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori before the tournament and Novak Djok-ovic struggling ahead of his exit on Monday.

“Somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on. Too many peo-ple are getting injured,” Nadal said.

“I don’t know if they think a little bit about the health of the players. I don’t know if we keep playing on these very hard surfaces what’s going to hap-pen in the future with our lives.”

Nadal said he was having no prob-lems with the knee that forced him out of lead-up tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.

“I was playing three hours 50 min-utes the other day. Today I was playing over three hours. I was running quite well.”

AP

MELBOURNE: There’ll be a Brit-ish man in the Australian Open semi-finals for the seventh time in nine years. It’ll be Kyle Edmund this time, though, not Andy Murray.

Edmund upset No. 3-ranked Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time. Edmund had never played in a major quarter-final, had never won five consecutive matches at tour level, had lost both of his previous matches against Dim-itrov and had never beaten a top five player.

He checked all those boxes on Rod Laver Arena, setting himself up for a match against either top-ranked Rafael Nadal or No. 6 Marin Cilic for a spot in the final of the season’s first Grand Slam.

“I am loving it right now, just the way I’m playing,” Edmund said. “My first Grand Slam semi-final. First time I played on one of the biggest courts in the world. To beat a quality of player like Grigor. They’re great feelings. So,

yeah, I just try to enjoy it as much as possible.”

After breaking Dimitrov’s serve in the ninth game of the fourth set, Edmund set up match point with an ace. Then he had to wait before a video challenge confirmed that Dimitrov’s last shot — a floating backhand — was out.

“I just held my nerve in that last game and prayed that last ball would be out,” Edmund said. It was out. And so was Dimitrov, who lost a five-set semifinal here last year to Nadal and had only just beaten Edmund two weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

“When you’re on these types of stages, reaching the last stages of the best tournaments in the world, it’s very pleasing. But of

course I want to keep going,” Edmund said.

Dimitrov, who won the sea-son-ending ATP Finals last November, was coming off back-to-back wins over No. 30 Andrey Rublev and Nick Kyrgios, who was the last Aussie still in conten-tion in the tournament.

“There’s no point for me to say what I did wrong — it’s all about him right now,” Dimitrov said, referring to Edmund. “Eve-rything went his way today. It’s hard to hide a disappointment. It hurts, and so it should.”

Murray reached five Austral-ian Open finals, but has never won the title at Melbourne Park. He’s skipping the tournament this year after deciding to have sur-gery on his hip.

That leaves 23-year-old Edmund, who had a first-round upset over US Open finalist Kevin Anderson, as the center of atten-tion for the tennis-loving British public.

“I know what it feels like to be Andy Murray the last eight years,” said the No. 49-ranked Edmund.

Edmund joins British greats

Weak eyesight no problem for giant-killer Chung AFP

MELBOURNE: Chung Hyeon took up tennis after a doctor recommended that peering at a green court would help his weak eyesight, and the bespectacled South Korean has never looked back.

He is now in the quarter-finals of the Aus-tralian Open after the biggest win of his career against 12-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.

Nicknamed “The Professor” due to his trademark thick white-rimmed glasses, the 21-year-old is in electric form, having dumped fourth seed Alexander Zverev out in the third round. It has been a gradual build-up for Chung.

He won the 2015 ATP Most Improved Player award, and signalled his intentions with a run to the semis in Munich last year before his big break-through at the Next Gen ATP finals in Milan in November.

Employing his trademark defensive speed and scything forehand, he upset top-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev for his first title and has carried the form into Melbourne after an off-season training in Bangkok. He models his game on Djokovic -- his idol -- and did his best impersonation of the Serb to knock him out sensationally on Monday.

“I’m trying to copy Novak because he’s my idol,” he said, adding that he was keen to get a selfie with him after managing to get one with Rafael Nadal,

“I have picture taken with Rafa last year. So one by one,” he added.

Chung is the first player -- man or woman -- from South Korea to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam as his meteoric rise gathers pace.

In his homeland, the mass-circulation Cho-sun Ilbo newspaper said the world had been “caught by surprise”, although the response was muted with tennis not massively popular.

Former South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak though was enthused, praising Chung’s “strong mentality and technique” in a Facebook post. Chung started playing ten-nis aged six, encouraged by his father Seok-Jin -- a tennis coach. His brother Hong is also a semi-professional player.

Struggling with poor eyesight from a young age, he would blink constantly and an optom-etrist diagnosed him with myopia and astigmatism, suggesting Chung should play tennis as seeing the green court would help.

“I always play with the glasses,” he said this week. “Without the glasses, I can

see guys, but I can’t play the same tennis.”

Chung has said he has no plans to get surgery to fix the problem because he would “feel bare” without his spectacles.

It has clearly not been a hindrance as he zeroes in on a clash against another surprise packet, American Tennys Sandgren, on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals.

“I’m just trying to focus on the moment,” he said. “I have to be ready.”

AFP

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal’s drive towards a second Australian Open title came to a shuddering injury-induced halt on a day of upsets that saw unseeded Kyle Edmund and Elise Mertens make the semi-finals.

The world number one retired against Marin Cilic after an upper right leg prob-lem began troubling him the fourth set on Rod Laver Arena, with the Spaniard wincing in pain and limping as he strug-gled to continue.

His 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 2-0 exit set up a last-four clash for the former US Open champion against Britain’s Edmund, who stunned third seed

Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.Mertens, who is yet to drop

a set, was equally convinc-ing in blasting past world number four Elina Svitolina

6-4, 6-0 to become the first Belgian to make the semis since Kim Clijsters in 2012.

She will play second seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki or veteran

Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in Satur-day’s final.

Little separated Nadal and big-hitting Cilic until the injury struck, as they traded ferocious groundstrokes in an intense battle.

But the Spaniard, who was beaten in last year’s final by Roger Federer, called the physio at 1-4 in the fourth set and again at the changeover when two sets apiece and the writing was on the wall.

“It was an unbelievable performance from both us,” said Croat Cilic, the sixth seed. “It is really unfortunate for Rafa to finish this way.”

Nadal’s retirement follows the depar-ture on Monday of Novak Djokovic, with his immediate playing future uncertain after an elbow injury flared. He also appeared to have a hip problem.

There were no such troubles for Edmund against Dimitrov, as he became only the fourth British man to reach the Australian Open semi-finals in the post-1968 Open Era.

“It’s an amazing feeling. I’m very happy,” said the overwhelmed 23-year-old, ranked 49.

“It was a hard match and I’m really trying to enjoy the moment. It was my first match on Rod Laver Arena and it’s very special.”

He is the only British man in the draw after Andy Murray’s injury withdrawal before the tournament, raising the pros-pect that it will be him, rather than the Scot, who breaks through to win in Australia.

Murray has been a five-time finalist, but lost them all.

World number 37 Mertens is on a hot streak of form, unbeaten in 10 matches after winning in Hobart this month.

She was too physical for Svitolina as she stormed into the semis, incredibly on her Australian Open debut.

“It’s amazing. I mean, it was not expected, especially today. Really tough match,” said the Belgian world number 37.

“But I was in the zone today. If you believe in yourself, then anything can hap-pen. But of course semis is “Wow.”

Svitolina blamed a hip injury for her shock ousting as she again failed to get to the last four of a Grand Slam on her 22nd attempt.

“It was my hip. I started to feel it actu-ally after the final in Brisbane,” she said, referring to the warm-up tournament she won.

“It’s been there all the time. I had pain all the time. But with painkillers, it was fine.”

She needed a run to the final to have a chance of displacing Simona Halep at the top of the world rankings.

Romania’s Halep plays her quarter-final against sixth seed Karolina Pliskova today.

Cilic in semis as Nadal retires on day of upsets AFP

MELBOURNE: Rafael Natowards a second Australiacame to a shuddering injuryon a day of upsets that saw uEdmund and Elise Mertens mfinals.

The world number one rMarin Cilic after an upper rilem began troubling him theRod Laver Arena, with twincing in pain and limpingled to continue.

His 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7)set up a last-four clash fUS Open champion agaEdmund, who stunne

Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, Mertens, who

a set, was equaing in blastingnumber four E

6-4, 6-0 to beBelgian to masince Kim Cli

She will seeded DaWozniacki

Spaniard CNavarro for a plday’s final.

Little separated Nadal anCilic until the injury struck, aferocious groundstrokes inbattle.

But the Spaniard, who wlast year’s final by Roger Fethe physio at 1-4 in the fourthat the changeover when twand the writing was on the w

“It was an unbelievable from both us,” said Croat Cseed. “It is really unfortunatfinish this way.”

Nadal’s retirement followture on Monday of Novak Dhis immediate playing futuafter an elbow injury flarappeared to have a hip prob

TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAY ROD LAVER ARENA21-Angelique Kerber (Germany) vs 17-Madison Keys (US)Not before 0200 GMTTennys Sandgren (US) vs Chung Hyeon (South Korea)Not before 0400 GMT1-Simona Halep (Romania) vs 6-Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)Not before 0830 GMT2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) vs 19-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)

Now I know what it feels like to be Andy Murray for the last eight years. The better you do the more attention you getKyle Edmund after his four-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov

We need to wait a couple of hours. Tomorrow I am going to do a test, an MRI here, then we will knowTop seed Rafa Nadal following his retirement against Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals

Hello Kim, thanks for watching. I know you sent me a message before the match. Don’t be too stressy! She said she had so much stress in my last match. I am trying to be in your footsteps this weekBelgian world number 37 Elise Mertens after beating fourth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina

Wozniacki advancesAFP

MELBOURNE: Second seed Caro-line Wozniacki withstood a fightback from Spain’s unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro to stutter into the semi-finals of the Australian Open 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 early morn-ing today.

“I knew it was going to be tough against her because in the first set a lot of games were very close,” said the Dane, who is into a second semi-final at Melbourne Park, after losing her first against China’s Li Na back in 2011.

“Another semi-final here, I’m excited,” she added after complet-ing a see-saw win in 2hr 11min.

Wozniacki will face another unseeded player, Elise Mertens of Belgium, on Thursday for a place in the final.

“She’s had a very good start to the year, she’s unbeaten I think,” she said of Mertens.

The former world number has often failed to live up to the hype in the majors, but in the opening set she outplayed Suarez Navarro who was trying to become the first Span-iard to make the last four since Conchita Martinez in 2000.

Wozniacki was 100 percent successful with service returns and had just three unforced errors in as near a perfect display as is possible over 34 one-sided minutes against the world number 39.

Her level inevitably dropped and she had to fend off a break point at the start of the second.

Suarez Navarro finally got on the board in the eighth game to pre-vent a dreaded “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0 scoreline.

It fired up the gritty Spaniard and she sparked the late night crowd into life by breaking Wozni-acki, whose accuracy began to desert her. Suarez Navarro suddenly found her timing and had a break point in the next service game which the Dane saved with her sixth ace before breaking back to level at 4-4. Serving at 4-5 Suarez Navarro, who was in her sixth Grand Slam quarter-final and third in Australia but had never progressed further, saved a match point before taking it to a third on her first set point in the tiebreak.

Wozniacki regrouped and at 1-1 broke Suarez Navarro’s serve.

When she repeated the dose to lead 5-2, the Spaniard’s resolve was broken and she served out at 1:38 am today in another late night finish.

Edmund upsets No. 3-ranked Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to reach a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time.

Croatia’s Marin Cilic hits a return against Spain’s Rafael Nadal during their men’s singles quarter-final match of the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday.

Denmark’s Caroline

Wozniacki signs

autographs after winning

her match against Spain’s

Carla Suarez Navarro.

Rafael Nadal of Spain receives medical treatment during his quarter-final match against Marin Cilic of Croatia yesterday.

Chung Hyeon of South Korea

Kyle Edmund of Britain signs autographs for fans after winning his quarter-final match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria yesterday.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN RESULTS MEN’S SINGLESQuarter-finalsMarin Cilic (CRO x6) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 2-0 retKyle Edmund (GBR) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x3) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

WOMEN’S SINGLESQuarter-finalsElise Mertens (BEL) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) 6-4, 6-0Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x2) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2

MEN’S QUARTER-FINALS FACTS AND FIGURES

Tennys Sandgren (USA) v Chung Hyeon (KOR)Head-to-head: Chung leads 1-0Fast factsSandgren: Age - 26; World ranking - 97; Prize money - $488,735; Career titles - 0; Grand Slam titles - 0; Aus-tralian Open best - Quarter-finals (2018)Chung: Age - 21; World ranking - 58; Prize money - $1,709,608; Career titles - 0; Grand Slam titles - 0; Australian Open best - Quarter-finals (2018)

Path to the quarter-finalSandgren1st rd: bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-22nd rd: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI x9) 6-2, 6-1, 6-43rd rd: bt Maximilian Marterer (GER) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5)4td rd: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (7/9), 6-3Chung1st rd: bt Mischa Zverev (GER x21) 6-2, 4-1 ret2nd rd: bt Danill Medvendev (RUS) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-13rd rd: bt Alexander Zverev (GER x4) 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-04th rd: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB x14) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3)

Roger Federer (SUI x2) v Tomas Berdych (CZE x19)Head-to-heads: Federer leads 19-6Fast factsFederer: Age - 36; World ranking - 2; Prize money - $111,885,682; Career titles - 95; Grand Slam titles - 19; Australian Open best - Winner (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017)Berdych: Age - 32; World ranking - 20; Prize money - $28,232,533; Career titles - 13; Grand Slam titles - 0; Australian Open best - Semi-final (2014, 2015)

Path to quarter-finalFederer1st rd: bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-3, 6-4, 6-32nd rd: bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)3rd rd: bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x29) 6-2, 7-5, 6-44th rd: bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 Berdych1st rd: bt Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-12nd rd: bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 6-33rd rd: bt Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x12) 6-3, 6-3, 6-24th rd: bt Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

30 WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018SPORT

India face uphill task on a lively pitch AFP

JOHANNESBURG: India will seek to avoid a series whitewash when they play South Africa in the third and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium, starting today.

The Wanderers could live up to its reputation as a haven for fast bowlers, especially after South African captain Faf du Plessis expressed his disappoint-ment with the slowness of the Centurion pitch where South Africa clinched the series last week.

Two days out from the match, there was a generous covering of green grass on a sur-face baking under a hot sun, with groundsman Bethuel Buthelezi saying in a weekend newspaper interview that he was planning on preparing a “green mamba” -- which South Africans under-stand as a green pitch offering venomous assistance to seam bowlers.

India, though, will be buoyed by their record at the ground. They have yet to be beaten in

Tests there, with a win and three draws going back to 1992/93.

On the one occasion where conditions were particularly bowler-friendly, in 2006/07, South Africa were beaten at their own game.

Firebrand seamer Shantha-kumaran Sreesanth took five for 30, South Africa were bowled out for 84 in the first innings and India went on to win by 123 runs. It remains one of only two Indian wins against 10 defeats in 19 Tests in South Africa.

While bemoaning his team’s poor batting in the current series, Indian captain Virat Kohli has hailed his bowlers, who have claimed 20 wickets in both Tests so far. This, he believes, gives India the ammunition to be competitive.

Kohli himself has happy memories of the ground, having scored 119 and 96 in the drawn first Test in 2013/14 when South Africa, set to make a world record 458 to win, finished on 450 for seven, in a match which showed that batsmen can pros-per at the Wanderers once the

initial sting is drawn from the surface.

Cheteshwar Pujara made 153 in the second innings of the 2013/14 match and India will be seeking an improvement from their number three batsman, who has made only 49 runs in four innings, including being run out in both innings in Centurion.

Ajinkya Rahane, who did not play in the first two Tests, had a lengthy net at the weekend and could be recalled on the strength of a strong record in overseas Tests.

Dinesh Karthik was flown in as a replacement for injured wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and could play at the expense of Parthiv Patel, who had a poor game with the gloves in Centurion.

With their formidable fast bowling attack, coupled with more resolute batting and bet-ter fielding in the first two Tests, South Africa will again start favourites although they will be wary of a potential Indian back-lash. Rain could interfere with

play on as many as four days.Likely teams:South Africa: Faf du Plessis

(captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav

Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.

India (from): Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt),

Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuv-neshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Ian Gould (ENG) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

Indian cricket players Hardik Pandya (left), Dinesh Karthik (centre) and Jasprit Bumrah during a team training session.

Shakib shines as Bangladesh post win over Zimbabwe AFP

DHAKA: Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan smashed a half-century and claimed three wickets as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 91 runs in a tri-nation one-day international tournament in Dhaka yesterday.

Chasing 217 for victory, Zim-babwe were bundled out for 125 off 36.3 overs after Shakib took 3-34 with his left-arm spin for the hosts.

Shakib and opener Tamim Iqbal, who top-scored with 76, set up the win as they shared 106 runs for the second wicket after Bangladesh elected to bat first on a batting track.

Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer claimed four wickets to restrict Bangladesh to a modest 216-9 despite a strong start pro-vided by Tamim.

The left-handed Tamim reg-istered his third half-century in as many matches, becoming the first Bangladeshi to amass 6,000 ODI runs in the process.

He was also named Man of the Match.

Bangladesh collapsed from 147-2 to 170-8 with paceman Kyle Jarvis grabbing three wick-ets for 42 runs.

Pope grabs headlines with 8 for 35 REUTERS

WELLINGTON: Lloyd Pope produced something of a crick-eting miracle yesterday when the leg-spinner took tournament record figures of eight wickets for 35 to bowl Australia into the semi-finals of the under-19 cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

The 18-year-old’s haul was even more impressive consid-ering the fact that his side had been dismissed for 127 in the 34th over of their quarter-final against England, who were cruising to victory at 47 without loss after seven overs.

Pope, however, was then thrown the ball by captain Jason Sangha and he proceeded to run amok, taking two wickets in his first over off successive balls.

“Sangh (Sangha) put me on pretty early,” Pope told report-ers after England were bowled out for 96, despite opener Tom Banton scoring 58.

“I like putting myself in

pressure scenarios, I feel like I bowl better under pressure.

“Sangh throwing me the ball gives me a bit of confidence that my captain is trying to advance the game and for me to land the ball in there straight away and take wickets, I love those

scenarios in the game.” Pope said despite the fact his side had set such a paltry target at the Queenstown Events Centre, no-one believed they would lose the game, even after Banton had given England a blistering start.

“Everybody had some real

fight left in them and we were constantly talking about winning the game,” Pope said.

“We didn’t think we were ever falling behind.

“We all felt that we were in it and could win.

“We always had the belief even when they 47 for none.”

Pope followed his double-strike by removing Will Jacks for one and then had Banton and Finlay Trenouth both caught by Sangha at slip to leave England reeling on 79-5 at the scheduled lunch break and staring defeat in the face.

He finished off the tail after the break and the comparisons to leg-spinning great Shane Warne were immediately being made. The Australian is widely considered to have changed the art of leg-spin as he tortured batsmen worldwide with his control and variations before retiring with 708 Test wickets but Pope said he did not feel anything like him.

“I don’t tend to compare

myself to him,” said Pope, whose long unkempt hair would be shorn when he returns home.

“It is good to look at him and learn. I really would like to put my red-ball cricket up where he was, that’s the aspi-ration for any leg-spinner really.

“Comparisons? I don’t really think about them too much.”

Pope’s first-ball dismissal of England skipper Harry Brook with a googly would have pleased Warne, who took to Twitter to compliment a young-ster armed with a formidable bag of tricks that also includes sharp leg-breaks and awkward skidders.

“This is terrific & brings a huge smile to my face. I had the pleasure of meeting this impres-sive young man in Adelaide a while ago! Was nice to have a bowl with him too - Lloyd give it a rip - well done & congrats! Spin to win my friend,” Warne tweeted.

Spinner Lloyd Pope celebrates his eight wickets

in this picture posted on the ICC

Twitter handle @ICC yesterday.

Smith questions Kohli’s leadership IANS

JOHANNESBURG: Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has raised fingers at India skipper Virat Kohli’s (pictured) leadership credentials, asking if he really is the right choice for captaincy in the longer run.

The 29-year-old Kohli, who started his captaincy stint with impressive wins at home against top teams, is facing severe criticism after his side lost the first two Tests in South Africa in the ongoing three-match rubber.

According to espncricinfo, at a breakfast event organised by South African TV network SuperSport, Smith questioned Kohli’s leadership skills in the company of former India cap-tain Sunil Gavaskar and cricketer-turned-commenta-tor Pommie Mbangwa.

“I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term cap-taincy option for India,” said Smith, the most successful Pro-teas Test captain.

“At the end of this year, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face, the scrutiny from the press -- I know he only gets that in India -- but if you’re away from home and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t know if I’d want to burden Virat Kohli with that... Or if India have a better leader in that environment,” he

added. Smith further said there should be someone in the Indian support staff who could c h a l l e n g e K o h l i constructively.

“When I look at Virat, I think he needs someone in the support staff who can construc-tively challenge him and help him grow. He has all the capa-bilities tactically, he knows his own game, he sets the standard in the field for everyone else. We all know he’s an outstand-ing player, his intensity really benefits his own personal game, he loves that confrontation, that intensity brings the best out of him,” Smith said.

“Sometimes as a leader you’ve got to consider how you impact the others in the envi-ronment, that’s an area of his leadership that he needs to grow. You can see he’s often at

his players. He’s very aware, he’s focus on the game is on, sweeping or mid-on,” he added.

Smith, who was handed the mantle of the South African side at the age of 22 and went on to become one of the finest cap-tains, also pointed out the disconnect between Kohli and the rest of the team.

“(But) often his reaction to situations... I think that can sometimes impact on your team negatively. We all know how powerful Virat Kohli is in world cricket, in Indian cricket.

“For him, he’s built this aura and for him maybe to find a level where he can connect with all his players, to get to a level where can get the Indian team to be as successful as he is, that’s something that he, when I watch him, is grappling with,” Smith said.

“I think if he had a really constructive person in his envi-ronment, who could talk to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some dif-ferent ideas, in a constructive way, not an angry or aggressive way, but make him think, open his eyes to other possibilities, that would make him a really good leader,” he added.

After losing the first two Tests by 72 and 135 runs respec-tively, India face a daunting task to avoid a whitewash when they take on the Proteas in the third Test, starting here today.

England’s Root to miss T20s in Australia, NZ REUTERS

SYDNEY: Joe Root will miss England’s Twenty20 tri-series against Australia and New Zealand so he can rest, the ECB said yesterday.

The 27-year-old England Test captain will return home for a break having played in every Ashes match and the first three one day internationals with Australia this month.

Root, whose team lost the Ashes 4-0, will miss the T20 series starting on Feb. 3, with England’s first game four days later, but return for the first of five ODI matches against New Zealand in Ham-ilton on Feb. 25. No replacement has yet been named for the T20 series, with Eoin Morgan, whose team have already secured an unas-sailable 3-0 lead in the five-match ODI series with Australia, leading England as limited-overs captain.

“I came into this tour wanting to play everything. I love playing for England and I don’t like missing games of cricket,” said Root, who suffered from dehydration, diarrhoea and vomiting because of viral gastroenteritis during the final Ashes test.

“I had a long chat with (England coach) Trevor Bayliss about things and there’s obviously a big summer ahead and a lot of cricket still to be played. It’s going to be really important to make sure that I’m available for all of that.”

Meanwhile s uspended England all-rounder Ben Stokes is to delay his arrival for the country’s tour of New Zealand in order to attend his first court hearing into a charge of affray.

The 26-year-old Stokes was charged last week after a lengthy investigation into an incident outside a Bristol nightclub last September.

While he was included in England’s squad for the Ashes tour of Australia and subsequent visit to New Zealand starting next month, he has not been available for selection due to the legal process.

An initial hearing was set for Feb. 13 at Bristol Magistrate’s Court, six days after England would have started a triangular Twenty20 series with Australia and New Zealand and the same day they are scheduled to play a match in Wellington.

BangladeshTamim Iqbal st Taylor b Cremer ..................................76

Anamul Haque lbw b Jarvis ............................................1

Shakib Al Hasan st Taylor b Raza .................................51

Mushfiqur Rahim c Muzarabani b Cremer ................ 18

Mahmudullah lbw b Cremer .......................................... 2

Sabbir Rahman c Ervine b Jarvis ...................................6

Nasir Hossain c Taylor b Jarvis ...................................... 2

Mashrafe Mortaza c Taylor b Cremer ...........................0

Sunzamul Islam c Muzarabani b Chatara .................. 19

Mustafizur Rahman (not out) ..................................... 18

Rubel Hossain (not out) ..................................................8

Extras (LB2, W12, NB1) ................................................15

Total (nine wkts; 50 overs) ........................ 216Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-112, 3-147, 4-156, 5-163,6-167,

7-168, 8-170, 9-196

Bowling: Jarvis 9-0-42-3, Chatara 7-0-33-1 (nb1, w5),

Muzarabani 7-0-36-0 (w2), Raza 10-1-39-1 (w5), Cremer

10-0-32-4, Waller 7-0-32-0

ZimbabweH Masakadza c Sabbir b Mortaza ................................. 5

S Mire b Shakib .................................................................. 7

C Ervine c Sabbir b Mortaza .......................................... 11

B Taylor lbw b Shakib ......................................................0

S Raza b Mustafizur .......................................................39

P Moor lbw b Sunzamul ................................................ 14

M Waller lbw b Sunzamul ..............................................0

G Cremer lbw b Rubel ....................................................23

K Jarvis c Mahmudullah b Mustafizur ....................... 10

T Chatara c Sabbir b Shakib ...........................................8

B Muzarabani (not out) ..................................................0

Extras (W8) ..................................................................... 8

Total (all out) .............................................. 125Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-20, 3-20, 4-34, 5-68, 6-68, 7-95,

8-107, 9-118, 10-125

Bowling: Shakib 9-2-34-3 (w5), Mortaza 6-0-29-2 (w2),

Sunzamul 10-0-28-2 (w1), Mustafizur 6.3-3-16-2, Rubel

5-1-18-1

Result: Bangladesh won by 91 runs

Man of the match: Tamim Iqbal

SCOREBOARD

31WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018 SPORT

NBA: Rockets continue to roll over top teams

Russia ‘to send young, clean athletes’

AFP

LOS ANGELES: The Houston Rockets aren’t the type of team to rest on their laurels.

Just two days after beating the reigning league champion Golden State Warriors, Houston quickly refocused on Monday night with a 99-90 victory over the Miami Heat in a battle of first-place NBA teams.

James Harden scored a team-high 28 points while Chris Paul had 16, six rebounds and six assists for the Rockets, who are blast-ing through one of the toughest stretches of their season.

“We got to win games like that,” Harden said. “I think they only had seven threes all night. We buckled down and took away the paint. Made them make tough shots over us.”

Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 16 points and Clint Capela delivered 14 for the Rockets, who won for the first time when scoring under 100 points in a game.

Hassan Whiteside led the Southeast Divi-sion-leading Heat with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Josh Richardson finished with 12 in the loss in front of a crowd of 18,050 at the Toyota Center arena.

The Rockets, who are first in the South-west Division, improved to 33-12 on the season by overcoming a sizeable early def-icit against the Heat.

Their last three wins have all come over

first-place teams, Golden State, Miami and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Houston welcomed both Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green back to their rotation after they served suspensions for trying to get into the Los Angeles Clippers’ locker room fol-lowing a physical game at Staples Center arena.

Monday’s contest marked the first time in a while that the Rockets were fully healthy and the hope now is they can continue to find the right chemistry with all their injured and suspended players back in the lineup.

“We finally got all our guys healthy,” Harden said. “We got guys that can play a lot of minutes with a lot of energy.”

The short-handed Heat have also ramped up the tenacity in their play of late as they were coming off a 106-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Houston’s Harden nailed a three pointer with about three minutes left in the fourth to bust open a close game.

The Rockets then went on a 7-2 run to make it 95-90 with 38 seconds remaining.

The Heat led by double digits at halftime and kept it close down the stretch.

Elsewhere, Malcolm Brogdon scored a career-high 32 points as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns 109-105 just hours after sacking head coach Jason Kidd. Kidd was replaced by assistant coach Joe Prunty who was promoted to interim head coach until a full-time replacement can be found.

Khris Middleton, who scored a team-high 35 points, had high praise for his former coach.

A Bucks statement paid tribute to Kidd’s work in helping the team reach two playoff appearances soon after his appointment in 2014. However, general manager Jon Horst said the time had come for a change with the Bucks languishing in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings at 23-22.

“We appreciate everything that Jason has done for the Bucks organization, but we have decided to make a coaching change,” Horst said.

In Dallas, Harrison Barnes had 20 points and 10 rebounds, rookie Dennis Smith scored 17 and the Dallas Mavericks finished a sea-son sweep of playoff-contending Washington, beating the Wizards 98-75.

NHL: Cousins nets winner as Coyotes beat Islanders AP

NEW YORK: Nick Cousins scored his second goal of the game 2:21 into overtime Monday night, lifting the Arizona Coyotes to a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

Cousins’ seventh goal of the season was set up by Christian Fischer, who took the puck away and fed Cousins for a backhander that gave Arizona its second straight win. It was just the Coyotes’ 12th victory in 49 games, allowing them to snap a tie with Buffalo for the fewest points in the NHL.

New York forced overtime with Anthony Beauvillier’s second goal of the game and 12th of the season at 2:53 of the third period, giving him seven markers in the last six games. Beauvillier col-lected the rebound of Thomas Hickey’s shot in the right circle and roofed a one-timer over Antti Raanta.

That allowed the Islanders to salvage a point for extending the game past regulation, but they weren’t able to get the extra point for winning. Their 53 points is one out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth.

Arizona carried play for most of the first two periods, looking nothing like the Western Conference’s worst team. The Coyotes parlayed an 8-1 shots advantage to start the game into the first goal.

Cousins collected a loose puck near the lower edge of the left circle and squeezed a shot through Jaroslav Halak’s pads for his sixth goal at 12:20 of the first period.

The Islanders tied it 34 seconds into the second period with a quick counterattack. After a pair of saves by Halak, Josh Bailey fired a stretch pass to Beauvillier. He skated down the right wing and ripped a wrister that Raanta saved, but couldn’t control. Beau-villier potted the rebound.

However, Arizona regained the lead almost halfway through the period when Brendan Perlini scored a goal for the third straight game. Luke Schenn took a shot from the point that Perlini tipped by Halak for his 13th goal at 9:52.

Raanta stopped 32 shots to earn the win. Halak made 30 saves in defeat.

NBA RESULTSLA Clippers 118, Minnesota 126

Dallas 98, Washington 75

Atlanta 104, Utah 90

Denver 104, Portland 101

Houston 99, Miami 90

Memphis 105, Philadelphia 101

Milwaukee 109, Phoenix 105

New Orleans 132, Chicago 128

Charlotte 112, Sacramento 107

NHL RESULTSColorado 4 Toronto 2

Detroit 3 New Jersey 0

Minnesota 3 Ottawa 1

Tampa Bay 2 Chicago 0

Buffalo 2 Calgary 1

Arizona 3 NY Islanders 2

Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Chad Johnson (31) makes a save as Calgary Flames’ left-wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) and Buffalo Sabres defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) battle for the puck during their NHL game. The Buffalo Sabres won 2-1.

Taj Gibson of the Minnesota Timberwolves grabs a rebound from Tyrone Wallace (12), Montrezl Harrell (5) and Sindarius Thornwell (0) of the LA Clippers during their NBA game. The Timberwolves won 126-118.

AP

MOSCOW: A new generation of young, talented and, above all, clean Russian athletes will compete at next month’s Pyeongchang Olympics, according to Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko.

The Russians must compete under the Olympic flag in South Korea after the Inter-national Olympic Committee ruled the country operated a sophisticated doping and cover-up programme when it hosted the 2014 Sochi Games.

Mutko — who was sports minister at the time — has been banned from the Olympics for life along with 43 athletes, though he and all but one of the athletes have filed appeals.

Those bans, which include 14 medallists, have helped clear the way for younger tal-ent in Russia, Mutko said. While there would usually be about 40 percent changeover in the Russian team between Olympics, he said, this time 80 percent of athletes will not have competed in Sochi.

“In practically every event it’s an abso-lutely new, young team,” Mutko said in an interview in a VIP box at the European fig-ure skating championships in Moscow.

Although Mutko is no longer sports min-ister, he is still in overall charge of sports policy and the government’s preparations for soccer’s World Cup.

Despite the Olympic bans, Russian offi-cials expect about 200 athletes to compete in Pyeongchang.

“In every sport we have a lot of interest-ing young athletes with potential and we hope they can realize their potential,” Mutko said. “We’d like them to compete in equal conditions. We’re trying to abstract them from all these political scandals, though it’s extremely difficult.”

Mutko said Russia’s young “stars who could break through” in Pyeongchang include 15-year-old European figure skat-ing champion Alina Zagitova, ski jumper Sofia Tikhonova and speedskater Pavel Kulizhnikov.

This photograph taken yesterday shows the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to be held in Korea Republic.

32WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018 SPORTWe had been preparing intensely for our AFC

Champions League engagements and fatigue

was a problem. Quarter-finals Third Test match

Australian Open in Melbourne

India vsSouth Africa

Tennis CRICKETDjamel Belmadi Coach of QNB Stars League side Al Duhail

Cup boost for VAR after ‘positive’ testAFP

PARIS: Video assistant referees (VAR) could be used at the World Cup in Russia later this year after the committee responsible for the laws of football pronounced itself “encouraged” by tests.

Since March 2016, VAR has been tested in more than 20 competitions and in more than 800 matches, unleashing mixed reactions and a heated debate.

On Monday, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the rule-making arm of world governing body FIFA, heard a statistical presentation on the results and pronounced them “positive and encouraging”. The board said on its website that “the experiment has been thorough”.

IFAB said it would vote on a proposal to ensure international consistency in the use of VAR at its general meeting in Zurich on March 3. That could pave the way to using the technology in Russia.

“The philosophy we laid out from the start is being respected. We wanted the minimum of interference in the game and the maximum of benefit,” said an IFAB spokesperson in a tele-phone interview.

In eight percent of matches video had a “decisive impact on the result” and in one in four a

“positive impact”, according to the report.

The report countered criti-cism that VAR breaks the rhythm and fluidity of the game, insisting that “lost time” caused by reviews represents, on average, one percent of playing time, a lot less than free-kicks, throw-ins or goal-kicks.

Errors are also relatively rare. VAR missed a “clear and manifest” refereeing error in

only five percent of the test games, a number that IFAB deemed “very encouraging given the short time frame of testing and inevitable human errors”.

VAR has been tested in inter-national competitions such as the Confederations Cup, as well as European leagues like the German Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A, and cup competitions in England and France.

But not everyone is

convinced by its success. “At the start I was for, now I am doubtful,” French former inter-national referee Bruno Derrien said.

“Of course, VAR will prob-ably help the referee in certain situations, that’s obvious.

“But in a lot of cases, the pic-tures will be open to interpreta-tion. I do not condemn it com-pletely, but at the World Cup, it may be a bit early.”

Former German referee Bernd Heynemann is even more critical of the idea of using VAR in Russia this summer: “It is simply impossible that it will work with just six to eight weeks of preparation.”

IFAB needs to be careful not to “disempower the referees”, warned another French former referee Joel Quiniou.

“You have to be careful and not use it all the time. I think the

experiment has allowed people to see the limits” of VAR, he said.

Others support VAR without reservations, emphasising that it can prevent scandals in big competitions.

“Those who have not yet come round to VAR will end up doing so. We cannot go back-wards,” said Marcello Nicchi, president of the Italian union of referees.

The goal of VAR is to correct clear and obvious refereeing errors and can only be used in four situations: after a goal, a penalty, a direct red card or to correct an identity error of a sanctioned player.

That can mean making off-side rulings based on virtual lines projected on the television image. But these, it seems, can be deceptive.

IFAB warned, in a document posted on its website on Monday, that “checking offside positions of players has proven to be one of the more difficult tasks.

“The exact pitch dimensions, including any physical camber on the field as well as distortions of the camera lenses, make it very difficult for a virtual line to be drawn that accurately repre-sents a true straight line.”

IFAB said it was working on developing systems that calibrate offside lines.

Win over Al Rayyan can push us towards title, says Tae-HeeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Duhail midfielder Nam Tae-Hee says that a win over Al Rayyan in the Week 14 encounter will be a big step towards winning the QNB Stars League (QSL) title.

Leaders Al Duhail will be eager to maintain their unbeaten run and take a giant leap for-ward in their pursuit of QSL title when they take on Al Rayyan in a crunch match of the week.

The two teams meet on Janaury 27 at Duhail Stadium with Al Rayyan aiming to leap-frog Al Sadd and cut the gap with leaders Al Duhail.

All these factors will make it a keen contest and a treat for the fans. Obviously, a lot is at stake for the sides.

“It’ll be tough for both sides. We’ll attempt to play our natural game. We’ve been putting up good performances this season and we want to keep winning. This match is crucial because the difference between us and Al Rayyan now is only four points, which can be raised to seven,”

said Tae-Hee. “If we beat Al Rayyan, then it’ll be a huge step towards the title. Al Duhail are the best team in Qatar. We’ll try to keep up the reputation of Qatar football while playing in the AFC Champions League,” the Korean added.

Tae-Hee listed Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, along with Al Duhail as the contenders for the league title.

In the first phased, Al Duhail down Al Rayyan 5-3 in the first phase, but Tae-Hee ruled out a repeat of the resounding win.

“In that match, we played very well in the first half, but didn’t have a great second ses-sion and that made things diffi-cult for ourselves. It’s hard to predict the result as both sides have top players in their ranks. I believe even small details play crucial roles in matches like this,” Tae-Hee added.

Al Duhail are in outstanding form right from the start of this season and top the standings with 35 points, while Al Rayyan have not been found wanting and are placed third. The Lions

are on 31 points, the same as Al Sadd but behind on goal difference.

Both Al Duhail and Al

Rayyan are coming off victo-ries, against Al Arabi (1-0) and A l K h a r a i t i y a t ( 4 - 2 ) respectively.

For a change, Al Duhail’s big guns failed to fire and coach Djamel Belmadi attrib-uted it to players’ fatigue as they have also been preparing for the AFC Champions League games.

“Our performance wasn’t at the top level as a number of players weren’t in their usual self,” said Belmadi.

Al Duhail have the best goal difference among all teams. The Red Knights have the tourna-ment’s top two scorers in Youssef El Arabi (19 goals) and Youssef Msakni (11), whereas Al Rayyan have the next two best scorers — Rodrigo Tabata (10) and Abderrazaq Hamdallah (nine).

Al Duhail playmaker Nam and Al Rayyan striker Sebastian Soria are also there in the list with seven goals each.

Action from the Al Kass Cup International match betwen AC Milan and Wydad at Aspire Academy in Doha yesterday.

AC Milan edge Wydad in DohaTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: AC Milan secured a narrow one-goal victory over Wydad, despite dominating the match from start to finish in the Al Kass Cup International at Aspire Academy here yesterday.

The Moroccans had goal-keeper Taha Mourid to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable, although it was his error that allowed the Italians to prevail, after he had conjured a series of world-class saves.

Milan’s players would have been aware of their club’s proud history at Al Kass, and of how progress from U-17 level to first team is possible.

The Italians struggled to impose thier dominance o n the proceedings.

Wydad had come off second best in a highly physical encounter against Esperance Tunis on Sunday evening, but this time round they were given more time on the ball to settle.

In the absence of goals, the game became increasingly physical, with wild challenges flying in and tempers fraying. Referee Ahmed Hussain did well to keep things flowing, when the temptation must have been to reach for his cards.

The first half finished goal-less, with Milan rueing a host of missed opportunities, and Wydad grateful to still be in the game.

MIlan’s best chance of the game arrived when the referee awarded a penalty to Milan. Tonin stepped up and shot well, but Mourid produced an out-standing save, and Haidara sliced the rebound horribly wide.

A nasty collision on the hour mark between Wydad’s Aziz Mouncef and Milan keeper Leonardo Uzzo, as they com-peted to get on the end of a high ball, saw both players require treatment. The unfortunate Uzzo was forced from the field, to be replaced by Niccolo Zanellato.

The Italians had wasted so many chances that it was sur-prising when they finally went ahead in the 78th minute. Mourid somehow let a straight-forward shot squirm under his body, leaving Niccolo Corti with the simplest of finishes. In truth, it was no more than the Ros-soneri deserved, although it was desperately unfortunate for Wydad’s keeper, who had easily been their man of the match up to that point.

A message is displayed on the big screen while Chile’s Eduardo Vargas’ goal is reviewed by the VAR and later disallowed during the Confederations Cup at Spartak Stadium, Moscow, in this June 18, 2017 file picture.

Al Duhail’s Nam Tae-Hee celebrates after scoring a goal.

Week 14 FixturesTomorrow

6.40pm: Al Gharafa vs Al Sadd at Al

Gharafa Stadium

January 264:30pm: Al Sailiya vs Al Markhiya at Al

Ahli Stadium

6:40pm: Qatar SC vs Al Arabi at Qatar

SC Stadium

January 274:30: Umm Salal vs Al Ahli at Al Gharafa

Stadium

4:30: Al Khor vs Al Kharaitiyat at Al Khor

Stadium

6.40pm: Al Duhail vs Al Rayyan at Al

Duhail Stadium

QSL FIXTURES

Al Rayyan striker Rodrigo Tabata (right) celebrates with team-mate Koh after scoring a goal.