More history made as Kennys steal the show

Rookie Martin takes fi rst win at Styrian Grand Prix

CYCLING CYCLING | Page 2 MOTOGPMOTOGP | Page 3

SP RTGULF TIMES

ATHLETICS

Kipchoge cements legacy as greatest marathon runnerPage 4

Monday, August 9, 2021Muharram 1, 1443 AH

MEDALS TALLY

Country G S B T1. United States 39 41 33 1132. China 38 32 18 883. Japan 27 14 17 584. Great Britain 22 21 22 655. ROC 20 28 23 716. Australia 17 7 22 467. Netherlands 10 12 14 368. France 10 12 11 339. Germany 10 11 16 3710. Italy 10 10 20 4011. Canada 7 6 11 2412. Brazil 7 6 8 2113. New Zealand 7 6 7 2014. Cuba 7 3 5 1515. Hungary 6 7 7 2016. South Korea 6 4 10 2017. Poland 4 5 5 1418. Czech Republic 4 4 3 1119. Kenya 4 4 2 1020. Norway 4 2 2 821. Jamaica 4 1 4 922. Spain 3 8 6 1723. Sweden 3 6 0 924. Switzerland 3 4 6 1325. Denmark 3 4 4 1126. Croatia 3 3 2 827. Iran 3 2 2 728. Serbia 3 1 5 929. Belgium 3 1 3 730. Bulgaria 3 1 2 631. Slovenia 3 1 1 532. Uzbekistan 3 0 2 533. Georgia 2 5 1 834. Chinese Taipei 2 4 6 1235. Turkey 2 2 9 1336. Greece 2 1 1 436. Uganda 2 1 1 438. Ecuador 2 1 0 339. Ireland 2 0 2 439. Israel 2 0 2 441. QATAR 2 0 1 342. Bahamas 2 0 0 242. Kosovo 2 0 0 244. Ukraine 1 6 12 1945. Belarus 1 3 3 746. Romania 1 3 0 446. Venezuela 1 3 0 448. India 1 2 4 749. Hong Kong 1 2 3 650. Philippines 1 2 1 450. Slovakia 1 2 1 452. South Africa 1 2 0 353. Austria 1 1 5 754. Egypt 1 1 4 655. Indonesia 1 1 3 556. Ethiopia 1 1 2 456. Portugal 1 1 2 458. Tunisia 1 1 0 259. Estonia 1 0 1 259. Fiji 1 0 1 259. Latvia 1 0 1 259. Thailand 1 0 1 263. Bermuda 1 0 0 163. Morocco 1 0 0 163. Puerto Rico 1 0 0 166. Colombia 0 4 1 567. Azerbaijan 0 3 4 768. Dominican Republic 0 3 2 569. Armenia 0 2 2 470. Kyrgyzstan 0 2 1 371. Mongolia 0 1 3 472. Argentina 0 1 2 372. San Marino 0 1 2 374. Jordan 0 1 1 274. Malaysia 0 1 1 274. Nigeria 0 1 1 277. Bahrain 0 1 0 177. Saudi Arabia 0 1 0 177. Lithuania 0 1 0 177. North Macedonia 0 1 0 177. Namibia 0 1 0 177. Turkmenistan 0 1 0 183. Kazakhstan 0 0 8 884. Mexico 0 0 4 485. Finland 0 0 2 286. Botswana 0 0 1 186. Burkina Faso 0 0 1 186. Côte d’Ivoire 0 0 1 186. Ghana 0 0 1 186. Grenada 0 0 1 186. Kuwait 0 0 1 186. Moldova 0 0 1 186. Syria 0 0 1 1

FOCUS

Bach: ‘For the first time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together’US top of the tally with 39 goldsQatar tops Arab nations with 2 golds, 1 bronzeOlympic flag is handed over to Paris mayor as French capital prepares for 2024 Games

17 WORLD RECORDSIn rowing, which labels its marks diff erently due to varia-tions in course conditions, five new world bests were re-corded. Three world records fell in athletics, three more fell at the velodrome, while six world-record times came in the pool. Shooting and Olympic debutant climbing saw one record apiece fall. Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze earned three world records in one event, breaking the mark for the men’s 109kg snatch, clean & jerk and total lift.

ZERO SPECTATORSThe Games were held without any paying spectators to guard against Covid-19 infection, with coaches, team members and off icials cheering on athletes in near-emp-ty venues. That could mean a big financial hit for host city Tokyo. Organisers had hoped to fill 50 percent of seats up to a maximum of 10,000 domestic spectators at each site, but agreed to a complete ban after Tokyo declared a fourth state of emergency because of rising Covid-19 case numbers.

11,000 ATHLETESAround 11,000 athletes have competed in the Tokyo Games at 42 venues around Japan including the north-ern island of Hokkaido which was chosen to host the final event, the marathon, because of its milder summer temperatures. Athletes competed in 339 medal events, representing 205 national Olympic committees, with one team made up of refugees. The Games were the most gender equal ever, with just under half of all athletes competing in women’s events, according to the IOC.

Tokyo Olympics in numbers

ReutersTokyo, Japan

Tokyo doused its Ol-ympic fl ame yester-day in a ceremony that echoed the

restraint of a Games held without spectators and transformed by the global pandemic, dazzling sport and deeply person turmoil.

After postponing the Tokyo 2020 Games for a year, or-ganisers said the event would serve as a symbol of world tri-umph over the pandemic. But with strict pandemic coun-termeasures and as Covid-19 variants have surged back around the world, the Olym-pics fell short of the triumph and fi nancial windfall Japan had wanted.

Tokyo handed its Olym-pic fl ag to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, setting the stage for the next Games in 2024 at a closing ceremony that featured park scenes of both cities, emphasising hu-man contact even as the pan-demic continues.

The scene was meant so the visitors could “experience To-kyo”, organisers said, a poign-ant reminder of the many re-

strictions of the Games.It was a duly odd ending

to an unprecedented event. Japan is now saddled with a $15bn bill, double what it ini-tially expected, and with no tourist boom.

The president of the Inter-national Olympic Committee thanked the Japanese people and acknowledged the dif-fi culty of staging the Games during the pandemic.

“For the fi rst time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together,” Tho-mas Bach said. “Nobody has

ever organised a postponed Games before.”

PUBLIC ANGERPublic anger over the pan-demic response and a slow-to-start vaccine roll-out have badly damaged Japa-nese Prime Minister Yoshi-hide Suga’s standing. Public opinion polls showed most Japanese opposed holding the Games during the pandemic.

Still, organisers appear to have prevented the Tokyo Games from spiralling into a Covid-19 superspreader

event, notable given that some 50,000 people came to-gether amid the pandemic.

Japan’s record medal haul also helped to take out some of the sting for organisers. The United States fi nished top of the tally with 39 gold medals, one more than rivals China at 38 and Japan at 27.

The Games also showcased the Olympics’ push for more diversity.

For the fi rst time, a vic-tory ceremony was held for both the women’s and men’s marathon event. The Kenyan

anthem fi lled the 68,000-ca-pacity stadium twice, for gold medallists Peres Jepchirchir and Eliud Kipchoge.

COLD WAR AND ‘TWISTIES’And when they came, the Games themselves provided plenty of high drama.

In a moment more remi-niscent of the Cold War, Bela-rusian sprinter Krystsina Tsi-manouskaya refused to board a fl ight home after she was taken to the airport against her wish-es. She has since sought refugee status in Poland.

US superstar gymnast Si-mone Biles shocked the world when she pulled out of fi ve of her six events, includ-ing abruptly abandoning the women’s team fi nal after at-tempting just one vault, citing concerns for her mental and physical health.

Her frank admission, com-bined with earlier comments by Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, brought a sharp focus on issues of athletes’ mental health.

In athletics, Italy provided a diff erent kind of shock with their amazing run. Their wins included a stunning gold in the men’s sprint relay, taking their athletics gold tally to fi ve.

In swimming, a United States team without 23-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps still ended the meeting on top of the medals table.

Capping fi ve years of intense preparations for athletes, some of them stretched out on the grass laid down in the stadium. Some appeared to relax as they watched a volley of fi reworks light up the Tokyo sky.

In the end, two massive screens stadium projected a retro display that called back to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics: the word “Arigato” or “thank you”.

Fireworks display goes off as a sign that says ‘Arigato’ or ‘Thank You’ in Japanese is displayed at the end of the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday. (Reuters)

French Air Force jets fly past Eiff el Tower at Paris Olympics’ fan zone during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Games in Paris, France, yesterday. (Reuters)

A combination of pictures shows the Olympic flame burning (left) and then extinguished after the cauldron closed (R) at the the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Games yesterday. (AFP)

Tokyo douses fl ame, pandemic Games end

All-conquering US win 7th straight title

AFPShizuoka, Japan

Jason Kenny was talking about winning his ninth Olympic medal while his wife Laura was doing cir-cuits around him, attempting to

win her seventh.As he spoke, his eyes darted to the track

and then up to race on the big screen, Great Britain’s most successful male and female Olympians in perfect harmony again.

Laura missed out on gold in the wom-en’s omnium, an early crash on Sunday derailing her bid to defend the title she won in Rio.

But she already had collected a sixth gold medal in Japan in the madison, as well as a silver in the team pursuit.

By the time Jason had won the keirin – a spectacular sprint leaving the local Japanese crowd in raptures – another Olympic velodrome was about to close with Britain’s star couple having stolen the show.

More records were broken and others extended. Jason Kenny is Britain’s most successful Olympian with seven gold medals, pulling ahead of Chris Hoy, and most decorated, his nine medals of any colour eclipsing Bradley Wiggins’ eight.

Laura already owned the most Olym-pic golds of any British woman and she now has the joint-most medals too, level with equestrian rider Charlotte Dujardin on six. At their family home in Cheshire, there are now 15 Olympic medals, includ-ing 12 golds, the number Laura said after Rio they were aiming for to make a clock.

“We’ve done it now,” said Jason. “I was expecting Laura to get the 12th one today, not me.”

Jason has appeared to enjoy being the more introverted half, a dry sense of hu-mour often accompanied by a heavy dose of self-deprecation and understatement.

“She is just nicer than I am really – and infi nitely better looking as well,” he said yesterday. “She’s obviously a very inspir-ing character and she’s lovely obviously, that’s why I married her. And I’m a bit boring so there you go.”

“The fi nd of the century,” was how

Britain’s former cycling performance di-rector Shane Sutton described Laura be-fore London 2012, where she began her medal collection by winning golds in the omnium and team pursuit.

The 29-year-old was fi rst considered a sprinter before her endurance po-tential was spotted, in part because of an iron-will that regularly saw her train so hard she made herself sick.

Jason, meanwhile, had by then al-ready competed in Beijing, where his own tally was getting going with a gold and silver in the team and individual sprints.

For six years, the pair cycled separately under the British banner, until they were married in September 2016, shortly after Rio, and then had a baby boy, Albert, the following year.

In June 2020, Laura posted a video on Instagram of her running alongside Al-bert, then aged two, as he learned to ride a bike. In the years since, both have had to overcome doubts.

“When I fell pregnant, there was a moment two months into the preg-nancy where I woke up and said to Jason, ‘I can’t do this, I’m not going to be able to carry on, there’s just no

way’. And here we are,” Laura said after winning her madison gold on Friday.

At the same time, Jason was taking a complete sabbatical from cycling, which he briefl y believed would turn into retire-ment, something he was contemplating again at the end of Tokyo 2020.

“If you’d asked me this morning I would have said yeah probably but now I

feel pretty good so I might carry on,” he said.

“This morning in my head I was 33 and getting slower. From a British cycling point of view you’d rather back someone who is 20 and getting faster.”

And yet few would rule out another Kenny show in Paris even if the bodies are three years older.

Laura is as determined as ever to con-tinue and Jason has proven he can still add to his medal haul after what Hoy said was “a race we will talk about for dec-ades”.

“I don’t see myself quitting any time soon,” Laura told the BBC.

“I was speaking to Jason last night and he was like ‘I just want to go home’. Then obviously he won – typical Jason that.”

More history made as Kennys steal the velodrome show‘We’ve done it now. I was expecting Laura to get the 12th one today, not me’

Serbia men win gold aft er beating GreeceReutersTokyo

Rio 2016 champions Ser-bia won their second consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s wa-

ter polo, beating Greece 13-10 in a thrilling fi nal at Tatsumi Water Polo Centre yesterday.

The Greek team settled for silver, their fi rst podium fi n-ish in men’s water polo, while Hungary claimed the bronze medal in the oldest team sport at the Olympics after defeating Spain 9-5.

Serbia are the fourth team to retain an Olympic gold in men’s water polo, after Britain, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Both Britain and Hungary have won three gold medals in a row.

The Greek men’s silver show-ing equals the performance of their women’s team at their home Olympics in 2004.

“It’s very rare for teams to win two times in a row, because it gets harder,” Serbia goalkeeper Branislav Mitrovic said. “I want to congratulate Greece because they have had their best tourna-ment ever, but I’m happy at the end that we won.”

Serbia dominated the open-ing exchanges, ending the fi rst period with a three-goal lead, but Greece rallied in the second quarter to cut the Serbian advan-

tage to a single goal. Serbia held their nerve de-

spite Greece drawing them-selves level at 10-10 early in the fi nal period, and Andrija

Prlainovic, Nikola Jaksic and Dusan Mandic all found the net in the fourth quarter to steer their team home.

The trio scored three goals each in the fi nal, while Serbia captain Filip Filipovic and centre forward Dusko Pijetlovic chipped in with two apiece, with Mitrovic keeping things tidy at the other

end with eight saves. “It’s our fi rst medal in Olympic Games and we are happy,” Greece coach Theodoros Vlachos said. “Serbia

has three or four players who are very, very dangerous.”

The Hungarian men beat Spain to fi nish third, matching the re-

sult of their women’s team from a day earlier. Hungary’s women defeated the Russian Olympic Committee for bronze, winning

their fi rst Olympic medal in wa-ter polo on Saturday. Hungary are the most successful men’s water polo team at the Olympics, win-

ning nine gold medals, includ-ing three in a row between 2000 and 2008. Victory earned the Hungarian men their 16th Ol-ympic medal in water polo, and their fi rst since Beijing 2008, in a match that was a repeat of the 2020 European Championship fi nal, which Spain also lost.

“The last 48 hours or so were like a roller coaster emotionally,” Hungary captain Denes Varga told reporters. “We had to pull ourselves together so we could play eff ectively.”

The fi rst half was a tight con-test, with the teams ending the fi rst quarter 3-3 and the second 5-5, but Hungary edged ahead to lead by a single goal at the end of the third period before pulling away in the fourth.

Marton Vamos top scored for the Hungarians with two goals, and seven more of their play-ers got on the scoresheet, while goalkeeper Viktor Nagy made eight saves.

AFPSaitama, Japan

A rampant United States swept past Japan to their seventh straight women’s basketball

crown yesterday, with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi collecting their fi fth Olympic gold medals to cap remarkable careers.

Brittney Griner scored a game-high 30 points with fi ve rebounds and two assists as the hosts were overpowered 90-75 by a team that stretched their Olympic win streak to 55 games dating back to their last defeat in the 1992 semis.

They went to half-time with a 50-39 lead and there was no stopping them, with a valiant Ja-pan settling for second place and a best-ever Olympic fi nish.

Beating the Americans in Saitama was always going to be a huge ask, with the USA one of the most dominant teams in Olympic sporting history.

They had won eight out of the past nine Olympic titles heading into the fi nal. Their only blem-ishes in the history of the tour-nament were a silver behind the Soviet Union at the inaugural event in 1976 and bronze in 1992.

“It really is hard to wrap your head around it, to grasp what it is,” said Bird on her fi fth gold, as US soccer star fi ancée Megan Rapinoe watched on in Saitama Super Arena.

“Twenty years of staying true to the game, making sure you’re at the top of your game, so much sacrifi ce.”

Bird, 40, and Taurasi, 39, both scored early buckets as the US raced to a 13-point lead against a nervous Japan, closing out the fi rst quarter with a 23-14 ad-

vantage and Griner already into double digits.

Japan stabilised and began making some shots but they again struggled with Griner’s 6ft 7ins (2.01 metres) height in the paint as the US picked her out repeatedly and she went 9-of-10 from the fl oor.

They took a 50-39 lead into the second half and built it into a 75-56 edge heading into the fi nal stretch, with A’ja Wilson contributing 19 points and fi ve assists for the game.

Japan were led by Maki Takada with 17 points, but the US suc-cessfully restricted the dan-gerous Rui Machida to just six assists, after she made an in-credible 18 in the semi-fi nals to set a new Olympic women’s game record.

The Americans’ seventh title equalled the longest ever streak

by a team in any Olympic sport - matching the feat of the US men’s basket-ball team between 1936 and

1968.Bird, who has won four WNBA

titles with the Seattle Storm, and Taurasi, who has led the Phoenix Mercury to three WNBA cham-pionships, have been front and centre during the past fi ve.

The pair won their fi rst gold at Athens in 2004 as two of the youngest players on a team that also featured Dawn Staley, who claimed three gold as a player and is now the national coach.

“We’ve ignored the ‘fi ve gold’ talk because we just want to be in the moment, and we want to really enjoy our last Olympics and make it about the team,” said Tuarasi. “It’s a lot of time on the court, it’s a lot of time away from your family, and we’ve been able to do it together (her and Bird) which means probably more than any medal that we’ve won.”

Gulf Times Monday, August 9, 20212

First-placed USA team pose with their gold medals after the medal ceremony for the women’s basketball competition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama yesterday. (AFP)

Gold medallists Jason Kenny and his wife Laura of Britain pose with their medals and a British fl ag. (Reuters)

Cuba reign in Olympic ring as classy Cruz shows his movesCuba won their fourth Olympic box-ing title of the Tokyo Games on the final day of action yesterday for their best performance in 17 years, as Team USA again failed to strike gold.The classy Andy Cruz was the man to ensure a best gold-medal return since the five at Athens 2004, and did some Michael Jackson dance moves after defeating Keyshawn Davis on split points for the lightweight crown.Cruz, already a two-time world cham-pion and now a gold medallist at only 25, adds his Tokyo title to the ones won by compatriots Roniel Iglesias, Arlen Lopez and Julio la Cruz.“We Cubans really worked hard in the

run-up to the Games despite the situ-ation in Cuba and around the world with Covid,” said Cruz.“We have been working harder and training hard and also had a good training base here.“I think that it all came together here. We are a close-knit family in the Cuban boxing community and we brought all that together to have suc-cess in Tokyo.”Cruz, who used to do karate, was all feints and flicks as he went ahead on the judges’ scorecards after the first round.The 22-year-old Davis, who has already turned professional, likes

a scrap and was able to disturb the Cuban’s rhythm in the second round. But Cruz got the decision – and celebrated with some neat moves in the middle of the ring to show he can dance as well as he fights. There was to be double disappoint-ment for the United States. They had been chasing a first men’s gold since the 2004 Ath-ens Games but after Davis tasted defeat, super-heavyweight Richard Torrez was given a pounding by the giant Uzbek Bakhodir Jalolov in their final. Torrez had a point deducted for use of his head and took a standing count as Jalolov clicked ominously

and ruthlessly into gear. The Ameri-can briefly needed medical treatment in the second round for a cut over his eye. Jalolov, 27, cried his way through Uzbekistan’s national anthem as he stood atop the podium. All four

super-heavyweight medallists, including bronze winners Britain’s Frazer Clarke and Kazakhstan’s Kamshybek Kunkabayev, did a

group embrace at the end of the ceremony. In the women’s competi-tion, Ireland’s Kellie Harrington won lightweight gold and Britain’s Lauren Price carried off the middleweight title.Harrington, who works as a part-time

cleaner at a psychiatric hospital in Dublin, defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Fer-reira on unanimous points. The top seed was in tears after the decision went in her favour, with a contingent of the Brazilian squad in the mostly empty arena booing the verdict. “It’s crazy,” said the 31-year-old Har-rington, peering out at the assembled reporters, and said that being away from home for so long had been tough. “I said to my coaches (before Tokyo), if I get homesick can I go home? I’m glad that I didn’t.” Price underlined her sporting prowess by beating China’s Li Qian, also on unanimous points. Gold medallist Andy Cruz of Cuba. (Reuters)

BASKETBALLCYCLING

WATER POLO

Water polo gold medallists Serbia’s team members pose during the medal ceremony in Tokyo yesterday. (Reuters)

SPORT3Gulf Times

Monday, August 9, 2021

Rookie Martin takes fi rst MotoGP win at Styrian Grand Prix

MOTORSPORT

AFPSpielberg bei Knittelfeld, Austria

Rookie Jorge Martin of Ducati-Pramac cruised to his fi rst MotoGP vic-tory in the Styria Grand

Prix yesterday, fi nishing com-fortably ahead of Spanish com-patriot and reigning champion Joan Mir on a Suzuki.

French championship leader Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha was third in a race that had to be restarted after the KTM of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and the Aprilia of Italian Lorenzo Sava-dori caught fi re in the middle of the track following a crash.

Martin grabbed the lead after some early jostling and pulled away to fi nish 1.58sec ahead of reigning MotoGP champion Mir.

The victory restored Ducati’s domination at the Red Bull Ring, the fastest track in MotoGP, where they won fi ve straight races before Miguel Oliveira in-terrupted their streak last year on a KTM.

“I don’t believe it. That’s why I’m not so excited,” said Mar-tin, who dedicated his victory in only his sixth MotoGP race to his grandfather who is in hospital.

“The last laps I was thinking a lot of things,” he said.

“That’s why I did worse in the last laps but I had this gap to manage.”

Mir, meanwhile, recorded the best result of his title defence.

“Today was close,” he said. “I needed a couple of 10ths per lap to fi ght with Jorge.”

The riders return to the Red Bull Ring next Sunday for the Austrian Grand Prix. Quartararo fi nished 8sec further back, ahead of Australian Brad Binder on a KTM who gained two places on the fi nal lap.

“When there’s a red fl ag it’s always tough,” said Quartararo, adding that both Mir and the Ducatis were faster.

“The best goal was to fi nish on the podium,” he said. “Good day.”

Quartararo increased his lead in the standings to 40 points over compatriot Johann Zarco who was sixth on a Ducati-

Pramac. Mir climbed to third another 11 points back. Martin moved up to 12th overall.

“So happy for Jorge, he has taken some points from Joan,” said Quartararo.

The race had been halted after the spectacular third-lap crash.

Television footage showed Pedrosa crashing fi rst and then Savadori riding his Aprilia into the downed KTM. The bikes came to rest in the middle of the track and caught fi re.

Pedrosa, returning to Mo-toGP after two years as a test rider, walked away but Savadori was evacuated on a stretcher al-though clearly conscious.

Burning fuel spread across the track before marshalls put out the blaze. They then had to scrub away the debris and extin-guisher fl uid and blow-dry the

track before the race restarted. Pedrosa was fi t to ride in the

second race on a back-up bike and fi nished 10th.

Earlier, Marco Bezzecchi gained his fi rst victory of the season as he took the Moto2 race. On a track still drying af-ter overnight rain, the Italian crossed the line more than a second ahead of Spaniard Aron Canet of Boscoscuro, the only fi nisher in the top 14 not riding a Kalex.

Championship leader Remy Gardner fi nished fourth, three places ahead of his closest rival, Raul Fernandez, increasing the gap to 35 points.

“Tricky, tricky race,” said Bezzecchi. “Aron was very fast to the end but I kept something in my pocket for the last two laps.”

In the Moto3 race, 17-year-old Pedro Acosta gained his fi fth victor of the season after fellow Spanish teenager Sergio Garcia of GasGas crashed on the last lap.

Championship leader Acosta crossed the line alone while Gar-cia climbed back on his bike and held off Italian Romano Fenati of Husqvarna and the Spaniard Jaume Masia of KTM.

RESULTS1. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 38min 7.879sec, 2. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) at 1.548sec, 3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 9.632, 4. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 12.771, 5. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 12.923, 6. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 13.031, 7. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 14.839, 8. Marc

Marquez (ESP/Honda) 17.953, 9. Alex Marquez (ESP/Honda-LCR) 19.059, 10. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/KTM) 19.389SELECTED13. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 26.282STANDINGS (after 10 races)1. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 172pts, 2. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 132, 3. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 121, 4. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 114, 5. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 100, 6. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 95, 7. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 85, 8. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 73, 9. Aleix Espar-garo (ESP/Aprilia) 61, 10. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 58SELECTED19. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 20.

‘I DON’T BELIEVE IT. THAT’S WHY I’M NOT SO EXCITED’

Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin celebrates winning the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, yesterday. (Reuters)

Sinner to face McDonald in fi nalAFPWashington

Italy’s Jannik Sinner, the ATP’s top-ranked teen, will face Mackenzie McDonald in Citi Open fi nal after the

American denied Japan’s Kei Nishikori his fi rst championship match in 2 1/2 years.

World number 24 Sinner, seeking his third ATP crown at age 19, beat 20-year-old US wildcard Jenson Brooksby 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, while 107th-ranked McDonald reached his fi rst ATP fi nal by outgrinding Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Sinner, who won at Sofi a last year and Melbourne in January, could become the youngest Washington hardcourt champion since 19-year-old Juan Martin del Potro in 2008.

“What I’m trying to do is trying to work hard, trying to understand many things, and I think that’s the most important thing when you’re young,” Sin-ner said. “It’s working good.”

Sinner became the fi rst Ital-ian fi nalist in the event’s 52-year history. He was the fi rst Italian in Washington’s last four in 25 years. After saving three break and set points in the 12th game of the fi rst set, Sinner took the fi nal four points in the tie-breaker and the 2020 French Open quarter-fi nalist rolled through the second set. “The tie-break gave me con-fi dence for the second set,” Sinner said. “The level was quite high.”

McDonald, whose only prior semi-fi nal was in 2019 at Delray

Beach, was happy to make his fi rst fi nal at age 26. “It means a lot,” he said. “But I’m trying to keep my cool. It’s Saturday. I don’t want to get too high.”

World number 67 Nishikori, who won the Washington crown in 2015, was seeking his fi rst fi nal since winning his 12th career ti-tle at Brisbane in January 2019.

Nishikori, 31, was pleased with making his fi rst semi-fi nal in more than two years after the 2014 US Open runner-up lost in the Tokyo Olympic quarter-fi nals. After an early exchange of breaks at the start, McDon-ald broke in the seventh game to claim the fi rst set.

Nishikori and McDonald ex-changed four breaks in the fi rst six games of the second set be-fore Nishikori broke again in the eighth game when the American netted a forehand and held again to force a third set.

“He played good tennis,” Nishikori said. “I didn’t start well. I started playing better but he was playing well at the end.”

Both players fended off every break chance in the fi nal set un-til match point, when Nishikori netted a forehand to surrender the match. Sinner was the only seed in the semis. Three unseed-ed players hadn’t reached the Washington semis since a switch from clay in 1987.

Brooksby, ranked 130th but set to crack the top 100 on Monday, had not defeated a top-75 foe before this week but rolled over four such players without drop-ping a set until facing Sinner.

TENNIS

English maintains two-shot lead in WGC St. Jude InvitationalHarris English fired five birdies in a five-under par 65 yesterday to maintain a two-shot lead over hard-charging Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith in the WGC-St. Jude Invitational.English, seeking a third US PGA Tour title of the season, stayed on course to become the first player this year to post a wire-to-wire victory on the US tour, his birdies at the 16th and 17th push-ing him back into the lead after he spent the day neck and neck first with Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and then with DeChambeau.DeChambeau, trying to bounce back after the bitter disappointment of missing the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for Covid-19,

had eight birdies in a seven-under par 63 at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. The sixth-ranked American - who could also notch a third win of the season - started the day four adrift but was two under on the front nine after three birdies and a bogey. DeChambeau caught fire coming home, rolling in a five-foot birdie at the 10th then launching a run of three straight birdies with an eight-footer at the 12th.His approach at the 13th tracked the pin before settling a foot from the cup for another birdie, and he drained a nine-footer at the 14th for a share of the lead. He was again tied for the lead after a birdie at 16 - where he belted his tee shot

344 yards then hit a pitching wedge to nine feet. He couldn’t make the eagle putt, settling for a tap-in birdie, then parred the last.

SCHENK SEIZES FOUR-POINT LEAD AT BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP

Adam Schenk closed with a birdie on 18 to score 11 points on Saturday and take a four-point lead into the final round of the USPGA Tour’s Barra-cuda Championship in Truckee, California.Schenk increased his three day total to 38 points for a solid lead over South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen and fellow American Andrew Putnam, who were tied for second with 34 points in the

event which uses the modified Stableford scor-ing system. Players receive eight points for an albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and none for par. A point is subtracted for a bogey, and three points are taken away for a double bogey or worse. Schenk rolled in a five foot putt on 18 for his sixth and final birdie of the round at the Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. Schenk had a bogey on 18 in the first round and then parred the hole on Friday.The 29-year old from Indiana is seeking his first win on the PGA Tour. Schenk had a chance to make a birdie on the par-three 17th. Hitting off the ground without a tee, his iron shot landed

close to the flag but he two putted for par. His only blemish of the day was a bogey on the par-four 10th which resulted in a point deduction.Van Rooyen scored 10 points on Saturday, posting three straight birdies beginning at the par-three seventh. Like Schenk, the 31-year old from Cape Town is seeking his first PGA Tour win. The 2017 runner-up at the Joburg Open has one victory on the European Tour, capturing the Scandinavian Invitational in 2019. Scott Piercy and Joel Dahmen are tied for fourth with 33 points, while 36-hole leader Emiliano Grillo of Argentina is alone in sixth with 31 points after a frustrating round that netted him just two points. (AFP)

Rain prevents grandstand fi nish to fi rst TestAFPNottingham, United Kingdom

Rain scuppered what promised to be a thrilling conclusion to the fi rst Test between England and India at Trent Bridge as the

match ended in a draw without a ball bowled on Sunday’s last day.

The opening fi xture in this fi ve-Test series was intriguingly poised with India 52-1 in their second innings, needing a further 157 runs to reach a victory target of 209 in what promised to be tough batting conditions. But rain meant no play was possible yesterday.

“We thought we were in a good posi-tion to have a crack at the target,” said In-dia captain Virat Kohli at the presentation ceremony.

“It would have been a nice, interest-ing day of Test cricket. It was unfortunate

that the weather prevailed in the end.“Heading into day fi ve, we felt like we

had our chances in front of us. We defi -nitely felt on top in the game.”

Persistent rain prevented play resuming as scheduled at 11:00am local time (1000 GMT).

Further downpours kept the players off the fi eld before the umpires abandon-ing play just before 4:00pm (1500 GMT) - only for the sun to then break through the clouds - to leave the teams all square ahead of the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday.

That India faced a tricky chase was largely down to England captain Joe Root, the player of the match, making 109 in his side’s second innings of 303 after he had top-scored with 64 in a lowly fi rst-innings 183.

“It was a great Test match,” said Root, none of whose 21 Test hundreds have come in a defeat, with England winning 16

and drawing fi ve of those matches. “The weather has robbed us of would could have been a fantastic fi nal day.

“We could have pushed for victory today. Having played on that wicket it certainly felt like nine opportunities would’ve come.”

England were unable to call on Ben Stokes, with the star all-rounder set to miss the whole of this series after taking an indefi nite break from all cricket be-cause of mental health issues.

Their batting woes were exemplifi ed by Zak Crawley, who having made just 33 runs in this match is averaging 11.14 in 14 Test innings since his superb 267 against Pakistan at Southampton last year.

India paceman Jasprit Bumrah took 5-64 on Saturday to fi nish with impres-sive match fi gures of 9-110.

In India’s fi rst innings 278 recalled opener K L Rahul top-scored with 84 in his fi rst Test in nearly two years.

England seamer Ollie Robinson, playing just his second match at this level, took a Test-best 5-85 after the re-emergence of historic racist and sexist tweets during his debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in June saw him serve a three-game ban.

Meanwhile, James Anderson’s 4-54 took the England great, already the most successful fast bowler in Test history, into third in the all-time list of wicket-takers at this level.

His tally of 621 Test wickets has been surpassed only by two retired spin bowlers in Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia’s Shane Warne (708).

India, who beat Root’s men 3-1 at home earlier this year, are bidding for only their fourth Test series win on English soil fol-lowing 1971, 1986 and 2007 triumphs.

This match also marked the start of the new World Test Championship cycle, with India having lost to New Zealand in the inaugural fi nal at Southampton in June.

CRICKET

General view of the covered pitch at Trent Bridge yesterday. India were chasing 209 to win but persistent rain meant there was no play and the first Test is drawn. (Reuters)

Jannik Sinner of Italy returns a shot during Citi Open semi-final against Jenson Brooksby of the United States at Rock Creek Tennis Center in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

Furuhashi nets hat-trick in Celtic’s winKyogo Furuhashi marked his home debut for Celtic with a hat-trick as the Hoops ham-mered Dundee 6-0 in the Scot-tish Premiership yesterday. The Japan international scored twice from close range in the first half and went off to ap-plause from a crowd of 24,500 soon after completing his treble midway through the second period at Parkhead.Furuhashi’s goals came after he had been on target in his first start during Thursday’s Europa League win against Jablonec.And it wasn’t just his play up front that caught the eye. The forward also impressed with

his work-rate when winning the ball back and charging down clearances.Tom Rogic, Anthony Ralston and substitute Odsonne Edouard were also on target against the Premiership newcomers as Celtic made it 10 goals in two consecutive wins after new manager Ange Postecoglou had started his tenure without a win in three matches. Victory was all the sweeter for Celtic fans after reigning champions Rangers, their bitter Glasgow rivals, suf-fered a shock defeat by Dundee United on Saturday. (AFP)

Teary Messi exits Barca, in talks with PSG

Kipchoge cements legacy as greatest marathon runner

Al Shaqab Racing’s Ebro River shines with Group 1 win in Ireland

Monday, August 9, 2021

GULF TIMES SPORT

FOOTBALL

HORSE RACING

‘Last year I didn’t want to (stay) and I said so, this year was diff erent’

AgenciesKildare, Ireland

The fi rst two-year-old Group 1 of the year in Europe the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes was won

by the Al Shaqab Racing owned Ebro River at The Curragh yes-terday.

Trained in the United Kingdom by Hugo Palmer, Ebro River was on his seventh start of the sea-son and was ridden to success by Shane Foley.

Breaking quickly out of stall fi ve, Ebro River was quickly switched across to the rail and dictated a strong early pace with Go Bears Go in the six-furlong sprint.

Applying pressure inside the fi nal 600m, Ebro River had the majority of his rivals in diffi culty. Dr Zempf challenged and briefl y headed Ebro River inside the fi nal 200m. Despite drifting towards the centre of the track, Ebro River

rallied strongly under a strong drive by Foley and went on to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. Dr Zempf held on gamely for second and Go Bears Go took third.

Bred by Tally-Ho stud, Ebro River was bought at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale (Book 2).

He is by fi rst season stallion Gali-leo Gold, a winner of the 2,000 Guineas for Al Shaqab Racing. His dam, Soft Power was a win-ner over 1,400m on debut and has also produced Strong Power, a winner of two races. She is a half-sister to Key Rose who was placed third at Listed level.

Shane Foley (right) rides Ebro River to Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (Group 1) victory at The Curragh in Ireland yesterday. (Racing Post)

Al Shaqab Racing’s Welwal debuts in fi ne style

Al Shaqab Racing-owned Welwal took the Prix De Crevecoeur in Deauville

yesterday in fine style. In the 1,500m race for unraced two-year-olds, the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained Welwal pro-duced an impressive turn of foot under a fine ride from jockey Cristian Demuro. With a strong pace being set by Bardolino Demuro was happy to keep Welwal towards the rear as the field took the final bend. Upon entering the home straight, Welwal was angled out wide for a run and closed with purpose on the outside. Blue Boat followed Welwal in his run and the pair drew clear from the 200m pole. Always doing enough to hold Blue Boat, Welwal went on to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. The pair drew four lengths clear of

Dreamflight back in third. Speaking after Welwal’s success, Al Shaqab Racing’s manager Rupert Pritchard-Gordon said, “We were hoping he would run a nice race. The goal was to give him a nice introductory race and Cristian took his time on him. For an unraced maiden they went a nice tempo, which helped. It is great for Shalaa (sire), after Shaikha on Thursday and the colt of Alessandro Botti who ran well too.” Bred in partnership by Oceanic Bloodstock, A Gravereux and OTI Management, Welwal is by Shalaa who stands at Haras de Bouquetot for Al Shaqab Racing. His dam Cheriearch was a Listed winner at La Teste de Buch and has now produced four individu-al winners, including Epistrophy who finished third in a Group 3 at ParisLongchamp.

Cristian Demuro (right) rides Welwal to victory in the Prix De Crevecoeur in Deauville, France, yesterday. (Scoopdyga)

ReutersTokyo, Japan

About 30 kilometres into the men’s marathon in Sapporo yesterday, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge

pulled away from the pack and began running his own race, chasing immortality.

Kipchoge looked like a man determined to run towards his legacy of greatness. He took a peek behind him at one point and there was no one there. He was all alone — the greatest marathon runner in history and one of the greatest Olympians.

“I wanted to create a space to show the world that this is a beautiful race,” Kipchoge said af-ter winning gold.

He began to smile as mara-thon-mad Japanese fans, who defi ed Olympic organisers’ re-quest to stay away due to Cov-id-19, lined up the streets of Sap-poro and cheered him on to the fi nish line.

Kipchoge was about to become only the third person ever to re-tain their Olympic marathon ti-tle, and cement his legacy. Smil-ing was his way of enjoying the race, he said later. “That smile is the happiness,” he said.

He waved at the fans as he came through the tape, slapped his chest and pumped his fi st into the air.

“I have fulfi lled the legacy by winning the marathon for the second time, back-to-back. I hope now to help inspire the next generation,” he said.

Doubts crept in about his ability to retain the Olympic title he won fi ve years ago in Rio de Janeiro, af-ter he suff ered a rare defeat in Oc-tober’s London marathon.

The 36-year old had previous-ly won 10 straight races and his eighth place fi nish sparked rum-blings that he may have started to fade.

He allayed those concerns after a win in the Netherlands in April. And after his victory on Sunday, in what could be his last Olympic Games, any questions about his abilities were put to rest.

He clocked 2:08:38 to win the race, and now holds two of the top fi ve fastest times ever posted in Olympic marathons.

Kipchoge said last month that winning this gold medal would be his greatest achievement — a big statement for an athlete who already has an Olympic gold, holds the world record and is the only man to have ever run the marathon in under two hours.

“Today I lived my Olympic dream,” he said. “I always say that sport is like life, whereby you can win and lose. But today was a day where I won and get to say I successfully defended my Olympic title.”

The marathon and the Tokyo Olympic Games at large were about more than just sports for Kipchoge, they were about the endurance of the human spirit.

They represented hope after a year of human suff ering and deaths due to the global pandem-

ic, he said, the mask-wearing crowds along the marathon route a stark reminder that Covid-19 was still raging on.

His win yesterday held more signifi cance than just the gold medal he wore around his neck after the race.

“It means a lot for me, espe-cially at this time,” he told re-porters later, saying the past year had been “really hard” particu-larly with the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The fact that the Games went ahead was important to show that life will return to normal one day, he said.

“It is a sign that shows the world we are heading in the right direc-tion — we are on the right transi-tion to a normal life,” he said.

Asked in July whether the race in Sapporo would be his last, Kipchoge said that he still has the competitive spirit to go on.

Yesterday, he was still non-committal.

“I’m going back now, (will) talk with my coach, see what are the opportunities in the world,” he said. “Now I want to enjoy win-ning here in Tokyo.”

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya celebrates with his gold medal on the marathon podium in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday. (Reuters)

Al Duhail defeated Austrian club SV Schwechat 2-0 in a friendly in Vienna yesterday. The QNB Stars League club, who are in Vienna for their pre-season training camp, will play two more friendlies against Austrian club Admira on August 11 and Albanian side Kukesi on August 14.

Al Duhail win friendly in Austria

ReutersBarcelona, Spain

Lionel Messi wept yester-day as he bade farewell to his boyhood team FC Barcelona and admitted

that a move to Paris Saint-Ger-main is a “possibility”.

The 34-year-old Argentine’s emotional news conference fol-lowed Barca’s announcement last week that it could no longer aff ord him after a glittering two decades.

French newspaper L’Equipe reported that he will travel to Paris soon (either yesterday or today) to undertake a medical and fi nalise a deal with the Qatar Sports Investment-owned club.

Spanish newspaper Marca re-ported PSG formally sent their off er to Messi yesterday morn-ing, just as the Argentine held the news conference.

While Messi did not confi rm he would defi nitely join the Pa-risians, he said his plans were to carry on playing as long as possible, adding he still har-bours ambitions to win another Champions League trophy.

“As long as I go on being com-petitive and as long as my body responds (I’ll carry on playing),” he told a news conference.

“As long as I can, I will carry on competing.”

PSG declined to comment on the report that Messi was to ar-rive in Paris later yesterday. “We are not in a position to confi rm anything,” a club spokesman said.

HUMILITY AND RESPECT“I tried to behave with humil-ity and respect and I hope that is what remains of me when I leave the club,” said an emotional Messi as hundreds of fans, many wear-ing his No. 10 jersey, massed out-side Barca’s Camp Nou stadium to bid farewell to the player.

Messi broke down as he walked onto the stage before conducting his news conference and was handed a tissue by his wife Antonella Roccuzzo as he fought back the tears.

“This is the toughest moment of my career. When the club told me, I just froze. This is all like a bucket of cold water has been poured over me and we are still coming to terms with it,” he sobbed.

“When I get home, I’m sure it’ll be even worse. But I’ll be surrounded by my loved ones and I’ll carry on playing foot-ball, and when I do so, I’m sure it’ll become a bit easier.”

FINANCIAL ISSUESIt had been widely reported by

local media that Messi was set to stay at Camp Nou, with the player admitting he had agreed to a fi ve-year deal involving a 50% pay-cut.

Barca, whose debts total way over 1bn euros ($1.18bn), were unable to make the deal work within the frameworks of La Liga’s fi nancial fair play regu-lations — prompting their sur-prise U-turn announcement last Thursday.

“Honestly, when the elec-tions happened (in March), I spoke with (Barca president Joan) Laporta, we had dinner and after that I was convinced I would be staying,” Messi said.

“My contract was never the

issue... What I know is that I did everything I could. The club say it could not happen because of La Liga. I can guarantee you that I did everything I could to stay. Last year I didn’t want to and I said that, but this year it was diff erent.”

La Liga announced last Wednesday that it had secured a private equity injection of 2.7bn euros from fi rm CVC, with the funds to be shared amongst the clubs in return for a 10% of the league’s revenue.

It had been believed this would allow Barcelona to get the Messi deal over the line, howev-er after Real Madrid rejected the proposal and said they would

take legal action against La Liga, Barca also came out against it.

Laporta told a news confer-ence on Friday that Barca’s fi -nances were in worse shape than he had thought after conducting an audit.

He added the league informed him that accepting this injection was the only way they would ap-prove a new contract for Messi, but rejected that saying he had to put the long-term interests of the club above any player.

RECORD BREAKERMessi, Barca’s all-time goalscorer with 682 in 21 years, broke down in tears before giving a speech and was greeted by a lengthy stand-ing ovation from the media, cur-rent and former teammates and coaches in attendance.

It was noticeable that he was not accompanied by Laporta or any of the other Barcelona di-rectors during the act.

All 35 trophies he won dur-ing his time at the club were laid out for what the club described would be a private photo session after the news conference.

ICONIC SHIRTBarcelona were scheduled to face Juventus in a pre-season friendly yesterday, with nobody given Messi’s No.10 shirt for the game.

The club have not confi rmed if they plan on leaving it vacant for the upcoming season or as-signing it to a squad member.

La Liga rules only allow 25 senior players to be registered in the squad, so should Barca de-cide to retire the number in his honour, they will be reducing the squad size.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi cries during a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium yesterday. (AFP)

Fans gather outside the Camp Nou stadium as Messi held a press conference yesterday. (AFP)

ATHLETICS