TENNIS: WTA BELGRADE, FINAL: Fourth seed Paula Badosa, Spain beats Ana Konjuh, Croatia, 6-2, 2-0, (retired) at Novak Tennis Center.

SUNDAY 23 MAY 2021

Monaco GP: Leclerc takes pole despite crash I have mixed feelings a little bit, because with the crash I don’t know where I’m starting yet. I just did too much and I touched the wall on the inside. I am worried about a penalty. I’ve always been very unlucky here, so let’s just wait and see. It’s a shame to finish in the wall. It doesn’t feel the same but I’m incredibly happy about my lap.

Sport |15Charles Leclerc

Sport

Artemis wins Qatar Prix de l’Élevage titleTHE PENINSULA — TOULOUSE, FRANCE

Just half an hour after Samlla won on debut, H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani celebrated a second Purebred Arabian winner in Toulouse yesterday. His representative Artemis (Azadi x Ocyrrhoe), not seen since her 6th place in the Qatar Arabian Trophy des Juments (4yo mares) at ParisLongchamp on 3 October, ran out the emphatic winner of the Qatar Prix de l’Élevage (Gr.2 PA), a race sponsored by the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) as part of their ongoing support of Purebred Arabian racing in France.

The 5-year-old mare, who is trained by Mrs. J.F Bernard, was caught on the outside of the racing pack in the early stages, before being dropped in at the rear of the field by jockey Olivier Peslier.

He then allowed her to make up some ground on the rail but finished boxed in on all sides. Once in the straight, real-ising that he wouldn’t be able to come through the acceler-ating pack, Peslier had to take his partner back and wide, bringing the mare up the center of the track.

Once the filly found her balance, the filly showed an exceptional acceleration to pass a top-class field in the closing

200 meters, winning by 1 ¼ lengths in front of the Al Shaqab Racing owned pair of Alkedri (Mister Ginoux x Bise Al Maury) in second and UM TAJ (Al Mamun Monlau x Dyala) in third.

With tears in her eyes after the race, Mrs Bernard was delighted with the result.

“She’s a fantastic mare. She had a horrible race. She pulled at the start, and then came out of the final turn in last position. She couldn’t come up the rail and had to come across the track. She’s a superstar! Eight months without a run – she has to be an exceptional mare.”

Peslier said: “I had no spe-cific orders. After 231 days without a run, I preferred to

have her relaxed in the first half of the race to see how she was

travelling. Turning into the straight, I saw that the race

wasn’t going to open for us. It was a difficult race. I waited on her in the straight as I knew she was capable of a big acceler-ation. As she has shown when she’s comfortable in her races. Once in front, she can tend to idle.”

Artemis is out of the Al Nasr mare Ocyrrhoe, a top-class race mare who won the Group 1 PA Qatar French Arabiaan Breeders’ Challenge (Pouliches 4ans) in 2009, also trained by Mrs Bernard.

Samlla wins Prix Norniz DG

Earlier yesterday, H H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani celebrated a new winner at the French track in Toulouse when Samlla (Assy x Djakera des Forges) took the

Prix Norniz in easy style. Running over 1,600 meters in this conditions race for 3-year-old Purebred Arabian colts and geldings, Samlla was making his racecourse debut.

Trained by Francois Rohaut and ridden by Valentin Seguy, he was facing 8 rivals in this competition; mostly new-comers, however there were also three colts with racing experience including impressive debut winner Zafraan Qarda-biyah (Majd Al Arab x Intisar Quardabiyah) for the colours of Sheail bin Khalifa Al Kuwari, carrying top weight.

Drawn towards the inside, Samlla sat on the rail in mid-division throughout the race, which was led by Ihsan D’etoilles (Tabarak x Ouasis du Croate) at a regular pace, with Djalco (Josco du Cayrou x Djalmina) and Zafraan Qarda-biyah just behind.

In the straight, Samlla had to come out from the rail to find an opening, as the three front-runners kicked for home.

With 200 meters left to run, Samlla had a clear run and showed a devastating turn of foot to quickly hit the lead and pass the post with plenty left in hand by 1¼ lengths in front of Djalco. Ihsan D’etoilles came in third.

Samlla was bred by H H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani’s racing and breeding operation Al Shahania Stud.

Samlla in action yesterday.

Artemis takes the lead during Qatar Prix de l’Élevage (Gr.2 PA) in Toulouse, France, yesterday. PICTURES BY: ROBERT POLIN

HM Al Sakeb clinches victoryTHE PENINSULA — TOULOUSE

The Purebred Arabian colt HM Al Sakeb (Azadi x Morgane de Piboul) opened his scorecard yesterday for the colours of Al Shaqab Racing in the Prix de l’Hippodrome de Toulouse, a conditions race for 4-year-old Purebred Arabians who have not yet won a Group race.

Trained by Thomas Fourcy, HM Al Sakeb was having just his third start on a racetrack.

He debuted in October as a 3-year-old for his owner and breeders Hassan and Nada Mousalli, with a fourth place, before his seasonal reap-pearance in 2021 for a prom-ising 2nd place at La Teste de Buch on the 16th of April, after which he passed under the silver and burgundy silks of Al Shaqab Racing.

The racy chestnut colt went quickly from his wide draw to sit just behind the pacemakers in this 2,100m race.

Moving into second on the first bend, he looked to be trav-elling strongly in behind Alrazeen (Josco Du Cayrou x Rasheeqah). Jockey Julien Augé allowed him to come up to sit on the flanks of Alrazeen in the final turn.

Sitting patiently, he waited u n t i l i n s i d e t h e

two-hundred-meter post before sending HM Al Sakeb to the front.

Having conserved his part-ner’s energy, HM Al Sakeb was able to show a nice turn of foot in the final 100 meters to win by a comfortable 1 ¼ lengths in front of Hahlem El Ahlem (Jalnar Al

Khalidiah x Myrzam) with Alrazeen holding on to third.

HM Al Sakeb is out of the Djourman mare Morgane de Piboul, dam of several winners including top class Group per-former Al Mouwaffak, who also carried the Al Shaqab silks, amongst others.

HM Al Sakeb (front) competes at Prix de l’Hippodrome de Toulouse.

Brilliant Faten rounds up excellent day in Toulouse THE PENINSULA — TOULOUSE

H.H Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani celebrated a new winner in Toulouse yesterday rounding up an excellent day of racing including the Qatar Prix de l’Élevage (Gr2 PA), when his homebred Faten (Anodin x Visomiya) took the Prix du Grand Balcon.

This 4-year-old filly, who was running over 2,400 meters, secured a 1¼ victory in the hands of Olivier Peslier.

She sat in third position, just behind the leaders. A steady pace was set by Isolater (IRE) (Dabirsim x Ceedwell).

In the final turn, she sat patiently as her rivals began to come up to challenge. In the straight, Peslier sat quietly until the 200-meter mark, and they came up between horses to run strongly to the line.

Nuuk (IRE) (Kendargentx Mountain Rose) finished second in front of I Am a Dream (FR).

Faten ahead of opponents, yesterday.

La Liga : Suarez seals title for Atletico MadridREUTERS — VALLADOLID, SPAIN

Atletico Madrid pipped city rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title yesterday after Luis Suarez fired them to a 2-1 comeback win at Real Valladolid, which secured them the Spanish cham-pionship for the first time in seven years.

Valladolid took a shock lead in the 18th minute when Oscar Plano slotted past Jan Oblak to complete a sweeping counterattack after Yannick Carrasco had lost control of the ball following an Atletico corner.

Just as they had done in last week’s comeback win over Osasuna, Atletico missed a series of clear opportunities but they drew level after a moment of magic from Angel Correa, who danced his way through the defence before arrowing into the bottom corner in the 57th minute.

Suarez then pounced on a giveaway

by the Valladolid defence to score in the 67th and put Atletico on their way to a victory that would secure the title no matter what happened in Real Madrid’s game at home to Villarreal.

Valladolid missed a couple of

glaring opportunities down the other end while Geoffrey Kondogbia wasted a chance that would have given Atletico a more relaxing finish when he blasted into the side-netting.

Real Madrid ended up fighting their

way back from a goal down to beat Vil-larreal 2-1 which meant they would have swiped the title from Atletico’s hands if Valladolid had equalised thanks to a better head-to-head record.

However, Diego Simeone’s side saw out the victory and wildly cele-brated on the pitch.

“Atletico have had an incredible season despite all the difficulties we’ve had. We’ve been the most consistent team and we are champions,” said Suarez.

The game was played behind closed doors like all of Atletico’s matches this season although several hundred supporters cheered them on from outside the stadium.

Atletico finished top of the standings on 86 points while Real came second on 84. Valladolid finished 19th and were relegated to Spain’s second division.

Meanwhile, an acrobatic late strike

from Antoine Griezmann saw Bar-celona confirm their third-place finish in La Liga as they crept past already relegated Eibar 1-0 in their last match of the season.

They end the campaign on 79 points, seven behind champions Atletico Madrid and five off second-placed Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid’s players celebrate.

Atletico Madrid pipped city rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title after Luis Suarez fired them to a 2-1 comeback win at Real Valladolid.

Barca finish third on 79 points, seven behind champions Atletico Madrid and five off second-placed Real Madrid.

15SUNDAY 23 MAY 2021SportMonaco GP: Ferrari’s Leclerc secures pole despite crashAP — MONACO

Charles Leclerc won the first pole for Ferrari since 2019 despite crashing with 18 seconds remaining to end yesterday’s qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc held the top spot at his home track until his Ferrari grazed a barrier to break a sus-pension piece. He then hopped a curb and finally came to a stop crashed into another barrier to bring the qualifying session to an abrupt end.

The 23-year-old Leclerc grew up in a flat overlooking the circuit that snakes around the picturesque principality. He lives a few kilometers away in Cap d’Ail, one of many small and scenic spots dotted along

the French Riviera’s spectacular coastline.

He was visibly emotional after becoming the first Monaco driver to take pole here. But he could forfeit it if the damage to his Ferrari is too great that he receives a grid penalty. If the gear box must be changed - which Leclerc feared - he’d lose five positions on the starting grid.

“I am worried about a penalty. I’ve always been very unlucky here, so let’s just wait and see,” said Leclerc. “It’s a shame to finish in the wall. It doesn’t feel the same but I’m incredibly happy about my lap.”

The red flag prevented world champion Lewis Ham-ilton and his title contender Max Verstappen from completing their final qualifying lap. Ver-stappen will start second for

Red Bull; Hamilton seventh for Mercedes.

Valtteri Bottas qualified third for Mercedes behind Verstappen.

Leclerc waved to his fans as a crane lifted his car off the track. His lap at 1 minute, 10.35 seconds on the 3.4-kilometer (2.1-mile) course gave him his eighth career pole. But it was his first since the Mexican Grand Prix in October 2019 and a boost for Ferrari after the team struggled all last year.

Leclerc will try to become Monaco’s first local winner since Louis Chiron in 1931.

Perhaps it was a lucky charm, but his friend Prince Albert visited Ferrari’s garage before qualifying. Albert mes-saged Leclerc when he took his first pole at the Bahrain GP in early 2019.

Albert’s hilltop castle over-looks the track, but he has never seen anyone local win.

Prince Rainier III, Albert’s father and husband to American actress Grace Kelly, was only a young boy when Chiron won.

If Leclerc does win, Albert’s wife Princess Charlene will not witness it. She left for a wildlife preservation mission to South Africa, the Royal Palace said.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr. completed a great day for the Italian manufacturer by quali-fying fourth in his first season with Ferrari.

Lando Norris of McLaren was fifth and followed by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

Leclerc made an odd mistake when his rear front left tire locked and he hit a barrier. It made no immediate dif-ference to his position on the grid, but the red flag ended the session and cost everyone behind him a shot at moving up on the starting grid.

Hamilton holds a 14-point lead over Verstappen after four races, with the rivals placing 1-2 in every race. But Verstappen has a great chance to narrow the gap at a Monaco track which notoriously difficult for overtaking.

The car of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is recovered after he crashed in qualifying. BELOW: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (left) and Leclerc gesture after qualifying.

Lewandowski breaks Mueller’s season scoring record on final day

REUTERS — MUNICH

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski broke Gerd Mueller ’s 49-year-old Bundesliga goal-scoring record for a single season yesterday when he scored in the last minute of their last match, a 5-2 win over Augsburg, taking his tally to 41 goals, one more than the former Bayern great.

The Poland striker is already second on the all-time scorers list in the Bundesliga, with 277 goals now, behind only Mueller’s 365. Mueller set the previous record in the 1971/72 season with 40 goals, which Lewandowski equalled last week.

Lewandowski missed more than half a dozen clear scoring chances in the game and looked set to miss out on the record, with Augsburg deter-mined not to let him add to his tally and snatch the record away from Mueller, a youth idol of Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl. But the Pole was not to be denied and in the final

minute, when keeper Rafal Gikiewicz spilled a Leroy Sane shot, the forward rounded the keeper to score.

It did not take long for the hosts to take the lead, with Augsburg’s Jeffrey Gouweleeuw stabbing the ball into his own net from a Serge Gnabry cutback in the ninth minute.

Gnabry then headed in their second goal in the 23rd after Gikiewicz had saved a point blank effort by Lewandowski.

A minute later Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer denied Daniel Caligiuri from the penalty spot, before Joshua Kimmich launched a 20-metre missile to make it 3-0 for the hosts.

Kingsley Coman also got onto the scoresheet, scoring two minutes before the break, with his low crisp shot whizzing past Gikiewicz.

The visitors came to life midway through the second half, scoring twice with Andre Hahn and Florian Nieder-lechner. But it was Lewand-owski who had the last say.

Robert Lewandowski celebrates with the trophy along with team-mates.

WA approves 23 Russians to compete as neutralsAP — MONACO

World Athletics (WA) has declared 23 Russian track and field athletes eligible to compete under a neutral flag ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

With their national federation under a doping suspension, Rus-sians must apply for individual exemptions to gain “authorised neutral athlete” status after their drug-testing records have been vetted.

High jumper Mikhail Akimenko

(pictured) and race walker Vasiliy Mizinov - both silver medalists from the 2019 world champion-ships - were among the names on the list released yesterday by track’s governing body.

A total of 27 Russian athletes have so far been declared eligible to compete internationally in 2021 as neutrals.

The other four include three-time world champion high jumper Mariya Lasitskene and world champion pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova.

No more than 10 Russian ath-letes, however, will be granted eli-gibility to compete at the Tokyo

Olympics, under rules approved by the World Athletics council when it recently revived the authorized neutral athlete or “ANA” scheme.

Two applications for ANA status have so far been rejected by the World Athletics doping review board. Saturday’s announcement did not identify them.

The Russian track federation, known as RusAF, has been sus-pended since 2015 after investiga-tions revealed doping was rife among elite Russian athletes.

Cricket: Sri Lanka players in contract dispute with boardREUTERS — COLOMBO

Cricket in Sri Lanka plunged into a crisis after leading players refused to sign new contracts they find “unfair and non-transparent” on the eve of their one-day series in Bangladesh beginning today.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) offered contracts to 24 players ahead of the team’s departure for Bang-ladesh, with lower base salaries and more per-formance-based incentives.

In a statement through a legal representatives, the cricketers said they were “not in agreement to sign unfair and non-transparent contracts and urge SLC to not hold the players at gunpoint”.

The players, including Test captain Dimuth Kar-unaratne (pictured) and ODI skipper Kusal Perera, expressed “shock and dismay” at the SLC’s decision to make public their proposed salary details.

They said the salary offered to them was roughly one-third of what their counterparts in some other nations got.

“Unlike in other nations when disputes arise and result in players seeking other avenues by way of franchise cricket, the Sri Lankan players will con-tinue to be readily available to play and be selected for Sri Lanka,” the players added.

Addressing a virtual news conference from Dhaka, Perera said his team were trying not to let the dispute distract them from the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.

“We don’t want to think too much about the ongoing

contract issue with the board since we’re focused on the series

at this moment,” said Perera, who begins his tenure as Sri L a n k a ’ s O D I captain with this series.

“Yes, it is a concern for all of us

but we’re hoping it will be resolved

soon.” SLC s e c r e t a r y Mohan de Silva did not respond to request for comment on matter.

We don t want to think toomuch about the ongoing

contract issue with the board since we’re

focused on the series at this moment,” said

Perera, who begins his tenure as Sri

L a n k a ’ s O D Icaptain with this series.

“Yes, it is aconcern for all of us

but we’re hoping itwill be resolved

soon.” SLC s e c r e t a r y

Mohan de Silva did not

respond to request forcommenton matter.

REUTERS — KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

Phil Mickelson rekindled memories of past success, and he wasn’t the only golfer doing so on Friday in the PGA Championship.

Mickelson moved to the top of the leaderboard and shares the lead at the midway mark with South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C.

“The fact is I’m heading into the weekend with an opportunity and I’m playing really well and I’m having a lot of fun doing it,” Mickelson said.

Now 50, Mickelson moved to 5 under for the tournament by shooting 3-under 69.

His only PGA Cham-pionship win came in 2005 at Baltusrol Golf Club.

The crowd at No. 9 roared when he sank his

sixth and final birdie of the day.

“It’s really fun, obvi-ously, to make a putt on the last hole, finish a round like that and then to have that type of support here has been pretty special,” Mickelson said.

“But it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

No golfer age 50 or older has been in the top five of the PGA Champi-onship through 36 holes since Hale Irwin in 1999.

Later, Oosthuizen posted 68 to move into a tie with Mickelson.

Brooks Koepka, who won the tournament in 2018 and 2019, holds third place a stroke back. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama is among those tied for fourth place at 3 under.

Koepka, who logged a 71, looked poised to hold the overnight lead, espe-cially with sinking long eagle putts on the par-5

seventh and 11th holes. Bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17 soured his round.

Branden Grace and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, a pair of South Africans, are tied with Matsuyama at 3 under.

Grace surged into the lead and was in position to hold the top spot at the midway point. But he lost that chance with a double-bogey on the par-3 17th hole and fol-lowed that with another bogey, ending up at 71 for the round.

Also at 2 under are Gary Woodland (72), Kevin Streelman (72), South Korea’s Sungjae Im (72) and Casey (71).

Notable golfers missed the cut, including world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. He was at 6 over after his 74, leaving him tied for 82nd. Johnson was runner-up in each of the past two PGA Championships.

Phil Mickelson in action at Kiawah Island Resort.

Phil Mickelson turns back clock, shares lead at PGA Championship

Front rowCharles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda)2nd row

Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes)Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)

3rd rowLando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda)

4th rowLewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mer-cedes)

5th rowSergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda)

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari)6th row

Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault)Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)

7th rowLance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes)Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari)

8th rowGeorge Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes)

Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda)9th row

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault)Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes)

10th rowNikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari)

Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)

MONACO GRAND PRIX GRID