ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2015

43SPORTS

All-New Zealand showdown

Canes, Highlanders to meet in Sup Rugby finalWELLINGTON, New Zealand,June 27,(AP): Super Rugby will have a first-timechampion this season after theWellington-based Hurricanes andDunedin-based Highlanders won theirsemifinals Saturday to set up an all-NewZealand final.

The Hurricanes will host the final forthe first time after beating the ACTBrumbies 29-9 in Wellington and will viefor their first Super Rugby title with theHighlanders, who scored five tries to oustdefending champions the New SouthWales Waratahs 27-17.

The Highlanders had never reached thefinal in the tournament’s 19-year history.The Hurricanes did so in 2006, when theylost to the Christchurch-based Crusadersin what was the last final between twoNew Zealand teams.

The makeup of the final rewards thetwo best teams in the competition thisseason. The Hurricanes finished clearly

in first place at the end of the regular sea-son and the Highlanders had the second-best points tally and record but underSuper Rugby’s arcane conference systemsecond place and home advantage inSaturday’s semifinal was awarded to theWaratahs.

The Waratahs have one of the biggesthome advantages in the tournament butthe Highlanders made light of thatSaturday, scoring five tries to one —including a contentious penalty try andthe 12th try of the season to new AllBlacks winger Waisake Naholo.

The win was the Highlanders’ first ineight years over the Waratahs in Sydneyand their first-ever in a playoffs match inAustralia. It ended the Waratahs’ one-year rule as Super Rugby champions andensured the team that wins the final nextweekend will be the ninth team to do soin the history of the southern hemispheretournament.

“We felt all year we had to work hardto get to the position we did tonight,”Waratahs captain Dave Dennis said. “Butwe got beaten by a better team.

“They played well, they kicked welltactically and put us under pressure andwe put ourselves under a lot of pressureas well.”

There were five lead changes in thematch at Sydney and the game may havepivoted around the penalty try theHighlanders were awarded in the 57thminute. South African referee CraigJoubert decided after considering severaltelevision replays that Highlanderswinger Patrick Osborne had been pre-vented from scoring by an illegal, swing-ing arm tackle by Waratahs flankerJacques Potgeiter.

But the referee compounded whatappeared an extreme response to a rela-tively minor incident by also sendingPotgeiter to the sin-bin. The penalty tryand conversion gave the Highlanders a27-17 lead, their first comfortable lead ofthe match, and they were able to relaxand ease to victory with a dropped goal toflyhalf Lima Sopoaga and a late try byOsborne.

Until then, the match had been verymuch in the balance. The Highlandershad kept the Waratahs pinned withintheir own half with an effective kick-ing game while the Waratahs struggledto overcome a malfunctioning lineoutand their own wayward tactical kick-ing.

The Highlanders scored fortuitoustries in the first half through an interceptto scrumhalf Aaron Smith and throughcenter Richard Buckman, who scam-pered away from the defense after not

being held in a tackle. The lead hadchanged three times before halftime,when the Highlanders led 15-14, andchanged twice more early in the secondhalf as Naholo bagged his 12th try of theseason.

“We know how hard it is to play overhere against the Waratahs and we got itright tonight,” Highlanders captain BenSmith said.

The Hurricanes scored four tries,including tries to brothers Julian andArdie Savea and the 11th try of the sea-son to scrumhalf T.J. Perenara, in theirconvincing win over two-time championsthe ACT Brumbies.

The Brumbies had the best defensiverecord of any team in the regular seasonand, while the Hurricanes threw every-thing against that defense, it took 21 min-utes before it broke down to allow theopening try to Julian Savea.

New All Blacks winger Nehe Milner-

Skudder was a constant threat to thedefense and came close to scoring sever-al times before creating a try for Perenarain the 29th minute.

Ardie Savea opened the second halfwith a try from a rolling maul whichinsulted the pride of the Brumbies, whohave made rolling mauls a tool in theirsuccess this season.

The Hurricanes capped their win witha late try to Matt Proctor, who replacedMilner-Skudder on the right wing at half-time. New All Blacks lock JamesBroadhurst was another key figure in theHurricanes’ win in front of a selloutcrowd of 34,500.

“A lot of hard work has gone into thisand there’s nothing much better thanplaying in front of this crowd,”Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith said.“The chance to do it again (in the final)I know inspired the boys. So bring iton.”

RUGBY

Rossi wins Dutch MotoGPMarquez finishes 2nd

ASSEN, Netherlands, June27, (AFP): Valentino Rossistrengthened his worldchampionship lead onSaturday by coming out ontop in a thrilling battle withMarc Marquez to win theDutch MotoGP at Assen.

The Italian, on his Yamaha, startedfrom pole and led almost all the way,although reigning world championMarquez did briefly overtake sevenlaps from the end.

Rossi quickly regained the leadand then held off one last desperatepush on the final corner by theSpaniard, on a Honda, to claim histhird win of the season and the 111thvictory of his illustrious career.

“This win is very importantbecause I was competitive all week-end,” said Rossi, whose final win-ning margin was 1.242 seconds.

“I started from pole and pushedthroughout the race. The pace wasvery strong but Marquez came with

me. I tried to playall my cards anddid the two lastlaps very strong.”

For Rossi it wasa seventhMotoGP win onthe famous Assentrack, one morethan the six victo-ries recorded byhis legendary

Italian compatriot Giacomo Agostini.He has now won nine times in all

categories at the only circuit to stagea leg of the world championshipevery year since its inception in1949.

As he chases a first world champi-onship title since 2009, Rossi stretch-es his advantage over nearest rivalJorge Lorenzo to 10 points.

“It is important to take maximumpoints in a weekend like this whenyou feel confident because the cham-pionship is long,” Rossi added.

Spaniard Lorenzo, also on aYamaha, had won the last four races,including in Catalonia a fortnightago.

He finished third this time, butcould be pleased with his day havingstarted from eighth on the grid.

“It is a very good result knowingthe situation was difficult, startingfrom eighth place,” Lorenzo said.

“I didn’t have the pace of Valentinoand Marc so I realised I had to try notto lose this third place which is veryimportant for the championship.”

Italy’s Andrea Iannone finishedfourth on a Ducati to remain in thirdplace in the overall standings, while PolEspargaro of Spain was fifth on the day.

Marquez’s second place sees himleapfrog Italy’s Andrea Doviziosointo fourth spot in the world champi-onship.

The ninth race of the season will beat Sachsenring in Germany in twoweeks’ time.

Earlier, Johann Zarco of France, ona Kalex, won the Moto2 race frompole position.

It was his third win of the seasonand his second in a row after his suc-cess in Catalonia two weeks ago.

He finished ahead of Kalex team-mate Tito Rabat of Spain andBritain’s Sam Lowes of Speed Up.

The trio went into the race holdingthe leading three places in the worldchampionship standings, whichremain unaltered.

Miguel Oliveira of Portugal, ridinga KTM, stormed to the second Moto3victory of his career, coming homeahead of Fabio Quartararo of France,on a Honda.

Britain’s Honda rider Danny Kent,who has won four of the season’seight races, was third and maintainshis lead in the world championshipstandings.

Valentino Rossi of Italy on his Yamaha (right), in front of Marc Marquez of Spain on his Honda (centre), and Jorge Lorenzo of Spain on his Yamaha during the DutchMotoGP, in Assen, northern Netherlands on June 27. (AP)

Federer revved up for Wimbledon record bid

Serena unfazed by calender slam pressureLONDON, June 27, (AFP): SerenaWilliams is adamant she can cope withthe pressure of going for a calenderGrand Slam as she eyes the third leg ofthe historic achievement at Wimbledon.

Williams has swept to Australian andFrench Open triumphs over the last sixmonths and the world number one returnsto the All England Club within two majortitles of becoming the first woman sinceSteffi Graf in 1988 to claim the four toptitles in one year.

The 33-year-old American also wonthe US Open to end 2014 on a high and isheavy favourite to continue that dominantrun by taking the Wimbledon title for thesixth time in her illustrious career.

Her march to a momentous milestonehas captured the public’s attention andSerena knows the eyes of the sportingworld will be on her over the next fort-night.

But she insists she will have no prob-lems with the extra attention and expecta-tion because her mental toughness is abigger strength than even her boomingserve and over-powering ground-strokes.

“Personally it doesn’t make it feel anydifferent, which I think is a good thingbecause I don’t feel any pressure to winall four,” Williams told reporters atWimbledon on Saturday.

“I really don’t feel that pressure.Maybe if I would happen to win here,then maybe I might start feeling it afterthat.

“But for me being mentally tough isprobably my biggest strength.

“Being the youngest of five childrenreally made me have to scrap and betougher.

“It’s great to have a big serve, too.Ultimately you could be the best player inthe world, but you still get down and youhave to be able to come back.”

With 20 Grand Slam titles to her name,Williams also sits third on the all-time listand is closing fast on Margaret Court’srecord of 24, with the possibility ofequalling second-placed Graf’s tally of22 by the end of the year.

Yet, while Williams comes to the AllEngland Club as the woman to beat, sheknows her early exits from the tourna-ment over the last two years prove noth-ing can be taken for granted, especiallygiven her discomfort on the fast grass-courts.

Last year she crashed out against

unheralded Alize Cornet in the thirdround and in 2013 she was dumped outby Sabine Lisicki in the last 16.

“I think the fact that I lost so early thepast couple years definitely makes memotivated. But I think that also gives mea little less pressure because I haven’tdone well here in the past two years,”said Williams, who faces Russian qualifi-er Margarita Gasparyan in theWimbledon first round.

“It makes me feel like, ‘Okay, I’ll befine. I have nothing to lose here’. I don’thave many points to defend here. So it’sjust like trying to have fun.

Roger Federer says he is in the pefectcondition to win Wimbledon for a recordeighth time as the Swiss great bids toavenge last year’s “heart-breaking” finaldefeat.

Federer’s last appearance at the AllEngland Club 12 months ago ended in thedespair of a five-set loss against NovakDjokovic that left him shedding tears dur-ing the post-match presentations.

The distraught seven-time championwas so overcome by emotion that PrinceWilliam and his wife Kate, who were theAll England Club’s guests of honour,stopped to console Federer when hepassed them on his way back to theCentre Court locker room.

But Federer is adamant he has movedon from that painful day and he returns tohis favourite Grand Slam determined tofinally surpass Pete Sampras and WilliamRenshaw as Wimbledon’s most success-ful male singles champion.

“If I look at last year, I see more thepositives than actually the heart-breakingloss in the final,” Federer told reporters atthe All England Club on Saturday.

“I didn’t expect myself to right awaymake the final. To be honest, I was stillsomewhat on the way back (from injury).But things went faster than I thought theywould.

“It goes to show that last year, I wasn’tplaying great and I made the finals.

“Whereas now I feel my game is better.I can really aim for Wimbledon this year.I feel like I see a big picture more now.”

Federer, who starts his 17th AllEngland Club campaign with a first-round tie against Bosnia’s DamirDzumhur, arrives in south-west Londonback up to second in the world rankingsand in confident mood after winning theWimbledon warm-up event at Halle forthe eighth time last week.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori insists he is fit tolaunch his Wimbledon challenge after theworld number five suffered a calf injuryscare.

Nishikori is due to face Italy’s SimoneBolelli in the first round of the grasscourtGrand Slam, which gets underway onMonday.

But the 25-year-old’s participation inthe tournament was thrown into doubtlast week when he was forced to retirefrom his semi-final against AndreasSeppi at the Wimbledon warm-up eventin Halle.

Nishikori had first sustained the prob-lem in his left calf when he faced JerzyJanowicz in the last eight and he aggra-vated it further in the Seppi clash.

Speaking to reporters at the AllEngland Club on Saturday, Nishikori wasadamant he had recovered from the injuryand he expects to be at full strength in hisopener against Bolelli.

“It’s good. I should be fine forMonday, he said.

“I had a good three matches in Halle. Ithink it’s great preparation for here.

“I’m sure that I’ll have a lot of confi-dence. I’m feeling good on grass.”

Florida-based Nishikori’s fifth seedingmakes him the highest-seeded Japaneseplayer at Wimbledon in the Open era.

He surpasses the mark of KimikoDate-Krumm, who was the sixth seedat the All England Club in 1994 and1995.

Yet Nishikori has never been past thefourth round in six visits to Wimbledon,while he has made at least the quarter-finals of the other three Grand Slams.

Police have seized a drone which wasflown over Wimbledon as some of theworld’s top players warmed up for theGrand Slam in south-west London.

Officers are investigating the incidentafter being alerted to a man flying a droneover the All England Club from a nearbygolf course on Saturday morning.

Inspector Roger Robinson of Mertonpolice said: “It is an offence to fly a dronewithin 50 metres of a structure. Anyoneintending to fly a drone should give priorconsideration to the surrounding land-scape and any structures or venues.

“While it is not our intention to preventpeople from enjoying the use of drones, itis important that regulations are adheredto. Police will take positive action againstanyone committing an offence.”

Volvo finale

Double delightfor Abu DhabiGOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 27,(AFP): Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, skip-pered by Briton Ian Walker, completed arare Volvo Ocean Race double onSaturday despite finishing second fromlast in the Gothenburg in-port race.

It was a poor performance in lightwinds, but the result was just enough tosee the Emirati boat over the line in the10-part series, beating Dutch rivals TeamBrunel by a single point.

They become the second team to com-plete the offshore/in-port ‘double’ in the41-year-old, triennial event, followingABN AMRO in 2005-06.

The success for Abu Dhabi followedfive days after they won the more impor-tant offshore trophy, contested over ninemonths and 38,739 nautical miles. Again,Team Brunel finished second, but fivepoints behind in the standings.

It was tough luck on Brunel, skipperedby 52-year-old Bouwe Bekking, whobegan Saturday’s race needing to win it

and then hoping Abu Dhabi finished lastin the seven-strong fleet.

Bekking’s men did their part of thebargain, sailing peerlessly in very lightwind conditions, and at one stageWalker’s men trailed the entire pack.

But a shock turnaround in fortunes wasaverted when Abu Dhabi passed Danishchallengers, Team Vestas Wind, midwaythrough and held their advantage on atight course.

The all-female crew of Team SCA(Sweden) completed the top three in-portseries podium places by finishing secondin the Gothenburg race and third overall.

Overall resultsGothenburg Inmarsat In-Port Race1. Team Brunel 1pt, 2. Team SCA 2pts,

3. MAPFRE 3, 4. Dongfeng Race Team4, 5. Team Alvimedica 5, 6. Abu DhabiOcean Racing 6, 7. Team Vestas Wind 7

Overall In-Port Race1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 31, 2.

Team Brunel 32, 3. Team SCA 35, 4.MAPFRE 37, 5. Team Alvimedica 37, 6.Dongfeng Race Team 40, 7. Team VestasWind 73

Overall 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 24pts, 2.

Team Brunel 29, 3. Dongfeng Race Team33, 4. MAPFRE 34 (tie broken on betterIn-Port Race record), 5. TeamAlvimedica 34, 6. Team SCA 51, 7. TeamVestas Wind 60.

Best of the Rest

Istomin beats Querrey: DenisIstomin of Uzbekistan beat SamQuerrey of the United States 7-6 (1),7-6 (6) in the final of the grass-courtNottingham Open to win his first ATPtitle on Saturday.

The No. 92-ranked Istomindropped to his knees with a screamafter winning his first title match in abattle of big servers at the Wimbledonwarm-up tournament.

Querrey recovered from 5-2 downin the second set by breaking twice totake it to a tiebreaker, which he led 4-1. (AP)

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‘I’m happy at Real Madrid’:World Player of the Year CristianoRonaldo has broken several monthsof near-silence to rebuff mediareports he is unhappy at Real Madridand might be seeking an exit.

The Portugal forward has barelymade any public statements since hegruffly told reporters after theChampions League defeat bySchalke 04 in March he would notspeak to the media until the end ofthe season.

Despite the prolific Ronaldo’sgoal-scoring efforts, Real ended thecampaign without major silverwareand coach Carlo Ancelotti wassacked and Rafa Benitez brought in.(RTRS)

❑ ❑ ❑

Tovey named tech director:Africa Cup of Nations-winning cap-tain Neil Tovey has been appointedSouth Africa technical director, thenational football associationannounced Saturday.

The 52-year-old, who has beenworking as a television pundit andpart-time coach, is expected todevelop young talent and create auniform playing style for nationalteams.

National football association offi-cial Natasha Tsichlas said: “Neilunderstands the South African foot-ball culture and has a successful trackrecord.” (AFP)

TENNIS

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (left), poses with the trophy and second placedPoland’s Agnieszka Radwanska after the women’s final match at the WTAEastbourne International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, southern England

on June 27. (AFP)

MOTOR CYCLING

Marquez

YACHTING