15SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2020SportQuartararo fastest in Misano opening practice

From King Kohli to Afghan spin wizard: Five to watch in IPLAFP – NEW DELHI

The Indian Premier League starts today, five months late and shifted to the United Arab Emirates because of the coronavirus pandemic.

AFP Sport highlights five players to watch in the 53-day Twenty20 extravaganza.

VIRAT KOHLI (Royal Challengers Bangalore)Captain Kohli will be key to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s hopes in

the 13th edition of the tournament.The star batsman hasn’t been at his best in the T20 tournament, save

the 2016 edition when he scored 640 runs in 16 matches to guide Ban-galore to a runner-up finish.But with ‘King Kohli’ backed by big guns including South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Aaron Finch of Australia, Ban-galore will be optimistic about doing better than last year, when they finished with the wooden spoon.

DAVID WARNER (Sunrisers Hyderabad)Back as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad two years after being replaced

over a cheating scandal, Warner is aiming for the top.The explosive opener smashed 692 runs from 12 matches last year

after being barred from the 2018 edition over the ‘Sandpapergate’ affair during a Test against South Africa.But Warner’s leadership and exploits with the bat helped Hyderabad clinch the 2016 title, and he is looking for a repeat of that in the UAE.

JOS BUTTLER (Rajasthan Royals) Buttler has formed the backbone of England’s one-day batting since

their World Cup triumph last year and is a key player of his IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals.

The wicketkeeper-batsman recently hit his T20 international best of 77 not out against Australia in what seemed a perfect tune-up for the IPL.Buttler, who has a strike rate of over 150 in the IPL, plays alongside fellow countrymen Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer for the inaugural cham-pions, who will be hoping to do better than last year when they finished seventh.

ANDRE RUSSELL (Kolkata Knight Riders)A West Indian power-hitter who has single-handedly won games

for Kolkata Knight Riders, Russell is any bowler’s nightmare. The all-rounder was the IPL’s Most Valuable

Player last year, with 11 wickets and 510 runs for Kolkata.The two-time champions are consid-ering promoting the middle-order batsman to the number three position and get the maximum out of his attacking play.

RASHID KHAN (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

The Afghanistan spin sensation passed 300 T20 wickets during the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League. Rashid, 21, has plied his trade in T20 leagues across the globe but it was his exploits for the IPL’s Hyderabad team that grabbed the most attention. The world’s top-ranked T20 bowler has claimed 55 wickets in 46 IPL games and is handy as a lower-order batsman.

Thomas grabs US Open leadAFP – NEW YORK

Justin Thomas closed with a 25-foot birdie putt to seize a one-stroke lead after Thurs-day’s first round of the 120th US Open, while three other major winners lurked within two shots.

Third-ranked Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, fired a five-under par 65 at Winged Foot with a pack one back on 66 including Reed, the 2018 Masters winner who had a hole-in-one, 21-year-old American Matthew Wolff and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.

“This is one of the better rounds I’ve had tee to green,” Thomas said. “I was very proud of my patience. I got off to a good start.” Thomas, who fired the lowest US Open round ever at Winged Foot, began with a birdie, took a bogey at the par-3 third, answered with an eight-foot birdie at the par-4 sixth and then reeled off three consec-utive birdies starting at the par-5 ninth before his impressive final putt.

“It was a good day for me,” Thomas said. “I’ve just played really solidly.” Reed aced the 165-yard par-3 seventh and ran off three birdies in four holes on the back nine to share the lead until Thomas’s last shot at the famed Mamaroneck, New York, layout.

“I was just trying to hit myself a solid iron shot,” Reed said of his ace. “I took a little off it, 90%, and one-hopped it in.” Reed also blasted out of deep rough to two feet to save par at 16.

“It definitely was a scramble out there,” Reed said. “What kept me in it was the short

game.” There were no spec-tators to applaud any amazing shots as a coronavirus pan-demic precaution, the deadly virus having delayed the event from its usual June date and sidelined Pieters until last month.

Pieters, third in his corona-virus comeback, closed with an eight-foot birdie putt at the ninth.

“I kind of knocked the rust off and came here with a bit of confidence because I’m hitting it well,” said Pieters. “Just got to put down a good score and I did today.” Wolff, the 2019 US college champion making his US Open debut, reeled off three consecutive birdies starting at the par-4 11th and closed with five pars to share second.

Sitting two adrift on 67 were world number four Rory McIlroy, England’s Lee Westwood, chasing his first major title at age 47, and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, the

2010 British Open champion.Four-time major winner

McIlroy, playing his first major round since becoming a father with the birth of daughter Poppy two weeks ago, made three of his four birdies on par-3 holes.

Westwood, who would be the oldest US Open winner, sank a 12-foot

birdie putt at the ninth hole, his last of the day, to match McIlroy.

“It was a good round of golf. Really solid in every aspect of the game, so I’m pleased with that start,” said Westwood, who has 12 top-five major finishes without a victory, three of them in US Opens.

Oosthuizen holed out from 148 yards in the second fairway

for an eagle and closed with a birdie at the ninth from inside four feet.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson and 15-time major winner Tiger Woods each opened on 73.

Johnson, who won the US PGA Tour Championship two weeks ago, managed only two birdies against a double bogey and three bogeys.

Woods, chasing a fourth US Open title at age 44, grinded all day but closed bogey-double bogey for a 73.

Woods birdied three in a row from the ninth through 11th holes but made three bogeys and a double in the last six holes.

“I needed to finish off the round better,” Woods said.

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson shot 79, the 50-year-old left-hander opening birdie-birdie but following with nine bogeys and a d o u b l e bogey.

Justin Thomas hits a tee shot on the 6th hole during the first round of the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, on Thursday.

120TH US OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP First-round scores on Thursday.65 - Justin Thomas (USA)

66 - Patrick Reed (USA), Matthew Wolff (USA), Thomas Pieters (BEL)

67 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Lee Westwood (ENG), Rory McIlroy (NIR)

68 - Joaquin Niemann (CHI), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Harris English (USA),

Xander Schauffele (USA), Jason Kokrak (USA), Brendon Todd (USA)

69 - Davis Thompson (USA), John Pak (USA), Rickie Fowler (USA), Bryson

DeChambeau (USA), Jon Rahm (ESP), Shaun Norris (RSA), Rory Sabbatini

(SVK)

Selected:72 - Jason Day (AUS), Bubba Watson (USA)

73 - Jordan Spieth (USA), Tiger Woods (USA), Justin Rose (ENG), Ryan Palmer

(USA), Dustin Johnson (USA)

74 - Brandon Wu (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Gary

Woodland

79 - Phil Mickelson, Davis Riley (USA)

AFP – MISANO ADRIATICO

Yamaha satellite team SRT was again fastest at Misano in the first practice yesterday for the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, with Fabio Quartararo edging team-mate Franco

Morbidelli.Frenchman Quar-

tararo was also fastest in the

o p e n i n g practice for t h e S a n Marino Grand Prix but his

time on Friday was almost half a

second quicker than the week before.

In the race, Morbidelli scored his maiden MotoGP victory but Quartararo crashed twice and lost the championship lead.

On Friday morning, Quartararo opted to use one of his sets of soft tyres to make an early statement and outpaced riders who kept them in reserve, such as Valentino Rossi who was 17th on a factory Yamaha.

Andrea Dovizioso, who leads the championship, was seventh.

Six-time champion Marc Marquez remains sidelined as he recovers from a broken arm he suf-fered in the opening race.

IPL’s Most Valuable ets and 510 runs forpions are consid-rder batsman to

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Tour de France: Kragh winsStage 19, Roglic in yellow jerseyREUTERS – CHAMPAGNOLE, FRANCE

Denmark’s Soren Kragh Andersen claimed his second audacious solo stage win of the Tour de France yesterday with a perfectly timed attack late in the 19th stage, an undulating 166.5-km ride from Bourg en Bresse to Champagnole.

The Sunweb rider, who also won the 14th stage in Lyon with an instinctive move in the finale, jumped away from a group of late breakaway riders to give his team their third stage win this year after Marc Hirschi’s victory in the 12th stage. Slovenian Luka Mezgec took second place on Friday, and Belgian Jasper Stuyven

finished third, both 53 seconds behind, as Primoz Roglic retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

Roglic leads second-placed and fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogacar by 57 seconds going into Saturday’s decisive individual time trial, which should see the Jumbo Visma rider secure his maiden Tour title. Ireland’s Sam Bennett did a good job at keeping triple world champion Peter Sagan at bay, even extending his lead in the points classification to 55 points from 52.

Bennett is hoping to become the first Irishman to win the green jersey since Sean Kelly in 1989 while Slo-vakian Sagan is looking to

claim it for a record-extending eighth time.

France’s Remi Cavagna was the only early breakaway rider and the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider, helped by a strong tailwind, opened a decent gap. He was however caught by the bunch 50km from the finish and several attacks took place within the group of 12 riders, featuring top sprinters and one-day race specialists, who broke clear with 25km to go.

Kragh Andersen then accelerated away and his move went unanswered. The Dane did not look back and quickly extended his advantage, his rivals then looking to prepare for the sprint for second place.

Team Sunweb rider Denmark’s Soren Kragh Andersen (second left) rides with the escapees on his way to win the 19th stage of the 107th Tour de France between Bourg-en-Bresse and Champagnole, yesterday.

Pole vaulter Duplantis breaks Bubka’s outdoor record

AFP – ROME

Swedish pole vault star Armand Duplantis eclipsed Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka’s 26-year mark, setting a outdoor new pole vault world record of 6.15m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday.

Duplantis, who already holds the world indoor record of 6.18m, bettered the mark of 6.14m achieved by Bubka in July 1994 in Italy.

The 20-year-old suc-ceeded on his second attempt in a competition he dominated in perfect warm and windless conditions, but without spec-tators to celebrate in an empty Stadio Olimpico.

But Norwegian Karsten Warholm missed out on the 400m hurdles world record, despite winning in a blistering 47.07 seconds.

Two-time world champion Warholm, the second fastest 400m hurdler in history, had been hoping to topple Kevin Young’s long-standing mark of 46.78sec which the American set at the 1992 Bar-celona Olympics.

The 24-year-old outdis-tanced his rivals but had to settle for a meet record.

Virat Kohli

Heat take 2-0 NBA series leadAFP – MIAMI

The Miami Heat turned it up in the second half, rallying again for a 106-101 victory over the Boston Celtics and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Trailing by 17 in the second quarter and down 60-47 at halftime, Miami thrashed the Celtics 37-17 in the third quarter and held on for the victory. Bam Adebayo scored 15 of his 21 points in the Heat’s blistering third quarter.

The Heat will try to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series in game three today in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando.

Giannis named NBA MVP: Report

AGENCIES – MILWAUKEE

Giannis Antetokounmpo has won his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, ESPN reported yesterday morning.

The Milwaukee Bucks forward officially is vying with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Houston Rockets guard James Harden for the honour.

The official announcement was yet to come.

Antetokounmpo, 25, averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 63 regular-season games in 2019-20. His numbers in nine playoff games were remarkably similar: 26.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Antetok-ounmpo also was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action

during his ATP Masters 1000 - Italian Open third round match

against compatriot Filip Krajinovic in

Foro Italico, Rome, yesterday.

Djokovic fights his way into Rome quartersAFP – ROME

World number one Novak Djokovic won a battle with fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic to advance to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open yesterday.

The 33-year-old came through 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 and next plays either Italian Lorenzo Musetti or Ger-many’s Dominik Koepfer, who both came through the qualifying rounds.

The top seed is warming up on clay at the Foro Italico in Rome for the French Open in 10 days time, a tournament the 17-time Grand Slam winner claimed in 2016.

Djokovic -- unbeaten this season before being disqualified from the US Open -- double faulted on the first of his three set points in the first-set tiebreak but a quick break in the second put him through in a tournament he has won four times.

On women's side, Simona Halep and defending women's champion Karolina Pliskova both eased

into the quarter-finals yesterday. Top seed Halep rallied from 3-0 down in the first set to see off Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska in a 7-5, 6-4 victory that took one hour and 28 minutes.

The two-time Rome finalist next meets Yulia Putintseva, who battled back from 6-4, 5-2 down to see off fellow Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the 10th seed, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

World number four Pliskova dominated 65th-ranked Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3 in their third round match.

The former world number one, who next meets 11th seed Elise Mertens after she got past Danta Kovinic 6-4, 6-4.

Ninth seed Garbine Muguruza advanced to her sixth quarter-final this year with a straight-sets win over last year's Rome finalist Johanna Konta.

Muguruza prevailed 6-4, 6-1 against seventh-seeded Konta to reach the last eight in Rome for the third time.

ITALIAN OPEN RESULTSMen: Third Round

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 7-6 (9/7), 6-3

Dominik Koepfer (GER) bt Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 6-4, 6-0Matteo Berrettini (ITA x4) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1)

Casper Ruud (NOR) bt Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6)Denis Shapovalov (CAN x12) bt Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-4Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x15) bt Jannik Sinner (ITA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4Diego Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-1, 6-3

Women: Third RoundSimona Halep (ROM x1) bt Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 7-5, 6-4Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) bt Elena Rybakina (KAZ x10) 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS) 6-6 abandonGarbiñe Muguruza (ESP x9) bt Johanna Konta (GBR x7) 6-4, 6-1

SportSATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2020

Duplantis breaks Bubka’s outdoor recordIt's surreal, it's surreal, it's a super-crazy feeling when everything lines up like that and you do a really good performance. There was kind of this confusion between the indoor and outdoor record, it's kind of merged. I already had the world record but I wanted to clear everything up and be the best outdoors.

Sport | 15Pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis

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TOUR DE FRANCE: OVERALL LEADER - Primož Roglic (Slovenia) 83:29:41, STAGE 18 WINNER: Søren Kragh (Denmark) 3:36:33

Wolves storm into Round of 16 with dominant win

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

A brace from Algerian scoring machine Baghdad Bounedjah (26', 70') and goals from Akram Afif (56') and Rodrigo Tabata (86') sealed a dominant 4-0 win for Al Sadd against UAE's Al Ain as the Wolves stormed into the 2020 AFC Champions League Round of 16 yesterday.

The crushing win at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium also meant that Al Sadd's Group D opponents are elim-inated from the continental tournament.

The two teams shared six goals equally the last time they met three days ago, with Bounedjah, Santi Cazorla and 2019 AFC Player of the Year Akram Afif getting on the scoresheet for Al Sadd, while Kodjo Laba and Bauyrzhan Islamkhan got on the scoresheet for Al Ain supple-mented by an own goal from Boualem Khoukhi.

Al Sadd's coach Xavi Hern-andex was over the moon after yesterday's win at their home ground.

"We are very happy with this win. It was a big per-formance from us. Everything was perfect. We created more chances compared to the last game, and we were more effective. This is an important win, but we need to keep going," Xavi said.

“Everyone did a good job today; they were focused on our organisation and game model.

"We created more chances compared to the last game, and we were more effective,” the Barca great added.

Bounedjah opened the scoring just before the half hour mark after receiving a magnificently weighted chipped pass from Afif that put him clear on goal - the Algerian made no mistake as he placed the shot to Eissa’s left.

The 2011 AFC Champions League winners’ lead was doubled on the stroke of the hour when Bounedjah bombed down the right flank and placed a low through ball to Afif, the latter stretched to meet it and the UAE side were

left to pick the ball out of the net.

Laba almost cut the deficit in half when he danced and dribbled his way through a forest of defenders before lashing a ball with his left foot, but Al Sheeb managed the slightest of touches to deflect it onto the crossbar and away from danger.

Bounedjah added his second of the game for the former QNB Stars League champions when he latched onto a cross from the excep-tionally experienced Cazorla and hammered in his third goal of the campaign 20 minutes from time.

Recently re-signed Rodrigo Tabata came on as a substitute late in the second half and made his mark on proceedings when he left a defender trailing before placing a shot in the roof of Eissa’s net with his left foot to finish the game off.

"I’m the happiest person for Tabata. Yesterday, I told the players that he’s an example for them. He’s almost 40, but it’s not an accident that he scored. He is special, he has a big heart and everybody loves him. He is a big, big example for all of us, the players and the technical staff," Xavi said after the win.

Meanwhile, the star of the day, Bounedjah said: “Congrat-ulations to everyone the win. We came into the game with a lot of focus and controlled the game completely. We wasted a few chances in the first half, but in the second half, we increased our focus and got the 4-0 win.”

“The next game against Al Nassr will be tougher and we must prepare well for it. Whether I score doesn’t matter to me, all that I try to do is to help the team. What matters to

me is the team, and I promise everyone that I will give all I can in every game,” Bounedjah, the Man of the Match, said.

The result leaves Al Ain on one point from four games, with no mathematical chance of catching up with second place thus being elim-inated early, while Al Sadd have temporarily regained top spot in Group D and have booked their ticket to the next round.

Elsewhere, at the Educa-tion City Stadium, A six-goal thriller saw Sharjah FC defeat Qatari champions Al Duhail SC 4-2 in Group C.

Abdullah Al Ahrak (12 ') and Almoez Ali (70 ') scored for the hosts while goals from Majed Surour (62 ', Caio 90 + 1 ' , Igor Coro-nado (75 ') and Khaled Bawazir (18') secured the win for Sharjah.

The result means Sha-riah get their first win in the AFC Champions League since 2004, moving up to four points, keeping them in the competi-tion, while Al Duhail freeze at six points.

In other matches yesterday, Saudi side Al Nassr beat Iran's Sepahan 2-0 at the Al Sadd Stadium while Iran's Persep-olis defeated Saudi Arabia's Al Taawoun 1-0 at the Education City Stadium to top Group C.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

GROUP CSharjah (UAE) 4-2 Al Duhail SC (QAT)

Al Taawoun FC (KSA) 0-1 Persepolis FC (IRN)

GROUP DAl Sadd SC (QAT) 4-0 Al Ain FC (UAE) Al Nassr (KSA) 2-0 Sepahan FC (IRN)

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Brilliant Bounedjah shines as Al Sadd crush Al Ain 4-0

Al Sadd's Baghdad Bounedjah celebrates after scoring his second goal against Al Ain during the AFC Champions League Group D match played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, yesterday.

Akram Afif celebrates after

scoring Al Sadd's second goal.

QFA President participates in 70th FIFA CongressQNA – DOHA

President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA), Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, participated in the 70th FIFA Congress which was conducted via video confer-encing.

The QFA President was joined by Hani Ballan, member of the QFA Executive Committee and General Secretary of QFA, Mansoor Al Ansari.

The FIFA Council met to

identify a wide range of issues related to measures that would help football adapt to the global coronavirus situation. The meeting also included dis-cussion of the Congress agenda with the FIFA Annual Report 2019, the revised budget for 2019-2022, the detailed budget for 2021, proposed amendments to the statute, and the regula-tions governing the application of the statute of Congress in addition to the ratification of the minutes of the 69th Congress.

Qatar maintain spot in FIFA rankings

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Qatar has maintained its 55th spot in latest FIFA rankings.

Al Annabi have a tally of 1396 points compared to 1413 points for Cameroon who are ranked 54.

The Finnish team is in 56th place with 1390 points.

At the Asian level, the Qatari team ranked fifth in Asia. The Japanese team is ranked at the top of the Asian teams. Japan are ranked 28th in the world with 1500 points. Iran are second in Asia and 30th in the world.

Among Arab teams, Qatar lead the group, followed by Saudi Arabia (66), Iraq (70), the UAE (71), Syria (79), Oman (82), Lebanon (90) and Jordan (92).