Sunday, August 15, 2021Muharram 7, 1443 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Dolberg double as Nice stun French champs Lille

Martin smashes lap record to grab Austrian pole

MOTOGP MOTOGP | Page 3 FOOTBALL FOOTBALL | Page 4

CRICKET

Root’s unbeaten 180 edges England ahead against India at Lord’sPage 2

Man Utd fi re past Leeds as Chelsea, Liverpool cruise

Kane’s future hangs over Spurs and City ahead of opener

PREMIER LEAGUE

PREVIEW

Fernandes hat-trick and four Pogba assists set up a 5-1 win; Blues and Reds register 3-0 wins against Palace and Norwich

AFPLondon, England

Manchester City’s de-fence of the Premier League title gets un-derway today away to

Tottenham with both clubs still in limbo over the future of Harry Kane.

The England captain returned to training with his Spurs team-mates for the fi rst time on Friday after arriving back late from his holidays in the United States and then having to quarantine.

Kane has made no secret of his desire to leave his boyhood club with City the obvious destina-tion as they seek a successor to all-time top scorer Sergio Ague-ro, who has departed Manchester for Barcelona.

However, Kane’s decision to sign a six-year contract in 2018 has backfi red with Spurs chair-man Daniel Levy set to demand a fee well in excess of the £100mn ($138mn) Premier League record City spent on Jack Grealish ear-lier this month.

“Harry is an exceptional, ex-traordinary striker. There are no doubts about that. Of course we

are very interested,” City boss Pep Guardiola said last week.

“But he is a Tottenham player. If they don’t want to negotiate there is nothing more to say. If they want it, we will try.”

Kane claimed his third Premier League Golden Boot last season to go with the same accolade for fi nishing top scorer at the 2018 World Cup.

But England’s heartbreaking defeat on penalties to Italy in the fi nal of Euro 2020 means at 28, he is still waiting for the fi rst trophy of his career.

BIG CALL FOR NUNOTottenham seem further than ever from matching his ambi-tions.

Spurs fi nd themselves out of the Champions League for the second consecutive season, in-stead facing a qualifi er later this week just to reach the group stag-es of the new Europa Conference League.

A long and unconvincing search for a new manager will also have done little to inspire Kane’s confi dence.

Nuno Espirito Santo was even-tually named as Tottenham boss on July 1, nearly three months

after Jose Mourinho was sacked.The former Wolves manager

immediately has a big call to make on whether to play Kane at

the weekend, against the side he wants to join before the end of the month.

“We have to think and we have

tomorrow to make the decision,” Nuno said on Friday.

“I don’t have any concerns about trying to convince players

to play for Tottenham.“It’s such a huge club, it’s such

a fantastic club. We should be proud of being here.”

City’s need for Kane may ap-pear immaterial compared to Tottenham, where he has become a living legend.

Grealish’s arrival has already bolstered Guardiola’s attacking options, which already featured

Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bru-yne, Riyad Mahrez, Ferran Torres, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus.

But City’s ambitions are also much greater as they look to not only hold off Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to defend their Premier League crown, but go one better than last season in Europe after reaching the Cham-pions League fi nal for the fi rst time.

Chelsea have also broken their club record fee to re-sign Rome-lu Lukaku from Inter Milan for £97mn, while United’s squad ap-pears to be in the best shape since their decline began with Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 after signing Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.

Across the English Channel, Paris Saint-Germain have even overshadowed the annual arms race in the Premier League by signing Lionel Messi, Sergio Ra-mos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi as they too look to end the wait for Champions League glory.

That has set the bar for City and Kane is the best guarantee of the goals still on the market.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane (also left).

AFPLondon, England

Manchester United enjoyed a dream start to the Premier League season as Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-

trick in a 5-1 thrashing of Leeds in front of 73,000 at Old Traff ord, while Chel-sea and Liverpool also got their cam-paigns off to a winning start yesterday.

Over 300,000 fans are expected to attend the opening weekend of the sea-son with full crowds restored following the easing of coronavirus restrictions in England.

United were inspired by a raucous atmosphere as Fernandes and Paul Pogba combined to blow away Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

Fernandes walked away with the match ball, but Pogba was just as im-pressive as the Frenchman produced four assists for the Portuguese’s fi rst two goals and second-half strikes from Mason Greenwood and Fred.

“When you run down that end and you score four goals like we did sec-ond half, it’s just the best feeling in the world,” said United manager Ole Gun-nar Solskjaer.

“To be reunited with the fans again is important. This is the real Man United.”

Luke Ayling’s stunning strike early in the second-half briefl y brought Leeds level, but it was another Old Traff ord trip to forget for them after also being thrashed 6-2 last season.

CHELSEA CRUISEAfter seeing United display their ti-tle credentials, European champions Chelsea dispatched Crystal Palace 3-0 in Patrick Vieira’s fi rst match in charge of the Eagles with ease to make their own case.

Marcos Alonso’s free-kick and Christian Pulisic’s scuff ed fi nish gave Thomas Tuchel’s men a commanding

2-0 lead before half-time.Centre-back Trevoh Chalobah then

marked his Premier League debut with a long-range strike to round off the scoring.

“We have to hunt the others from day one,” said Tuchel. “This is what we want to do, this is our mentality and we are never shy to fi ght for the best out-come possible but the reality is we are not the favourites right now.”

VAN DIJK MAKES WINNING RETURN

Liverpool were also 3-0 winners away

to promoted Norwich thanks to goals from Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

Virgil van Dijk was restored to the Reds defence for the fi rst time since his cruciate knee ligament injury derailed Liverpool’s title defence last October.

The Dutchman looked like his old self as he strolled through the 90 minutes and Jurgen Klopp’s men needed just a few moments of attacking inspiration to see off the Canaries.

Jota pounced to fi re through the legs of Tim Krul on 26 minutes before mak-ing way for Firmino on the hour mark.

The Brazilian took just fi ve minutes to double Liverpool’s lead from Salah’s unselfi sh cross before the Egyptian blasted home to score on the opening day for the fi fth consecutive season.

Elsewhere, Rafael Benitez went a long way to quieting his doubters at Everton as the Toff ees came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1.

Adam Armstrong’s opener on his debut for the Saints saw Benitez’s men booed off at half-time at Goodison Park with many of the home fans still un-happy at the appointment of the former Liverpool manager.

But the mood was lifted straight af-ter half-time by Richarlison’s equaliser before Abdoulaye Doucoure and Do-minic Calvert-Lewin ensured Benitez got off to a winning start.

Leicester also secured all three points as Jamie Vardy’s deft fl ick proved the diff erence in a 1-0 win over Wolves.

Life for Aston Villa without Jack Gre-alish got off to a terrible start as Wat-ford celebrated their return to the top fl ight with a 3-2 win at Vicarage Road.

Goals from Emmanuel Dennis, Is-maila Sarr and Cucho Hernandez had the Hornets cruising towards victory.

John McGinn pulled a goal back and Danny Ings netted from the penalty spot on his debut, but it was too little, too late for Villa.

Brighton bounced back from con-ceding inside two minutes at Burnley to

win 2-1 at Turf Moor thanks to second-half goals from Neal Maupay and Alexis MacAllister.

RESULTSManchester United 5 (Fernandes 30, 54, 60, Greenwood 52, Fred 68) Leeds 1 (Ayling 48)Burnley 1 (Tarkowski 2) Brighton 2 (Maupay 73, MacAllister 78)Chelsea 3 (Alonso 27, Pulisic 40, Chalobah 58) Crystal Palace 0Everton 3 (Richarlison 47, Doucoure 76, Calvert-Lewin 81) Southampton 1 (Armstrong 22)Leicester 1 (Vardy 41) Wolves 0Watford 3 (Dennis 10, Sarr 42, Hern-andez 67) Aston Villa 2 (McGinn 70, Ings 90+7-pen)Norwich 0 Liverpool 3 (Jota 26, Firmino 65, Salah 74)

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (left) celebrates with his teammates Mason Greenwood (centre) and Paul Pogba after scoring a goal against Leeds United at Old Traff ord in Manchester, England, yesterday. (AFP)

Man United complete Varane signing from Real Madrid

Manchester United have completed the signing of centre back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid on a four-year contract, the Premier League club said yesterday.The two clubs had reached an agree-ment for the transfer last month, with British media reporting United would pay an initial 34mn pounds ($47mn) for Varane.“The chance to come here and play in the Premier League is something I couldn’t turn down,” said Varane, who has 79 caps for France and was part of their World Cup-winning side in 2018. “I will give everything to become part of this club’s illustrious history.”Varane walked out on the pitch ahead of United’s Premier League opener against Leeds United at Old Traff ord yesterday.The defender, who played 360 times

for Real since joining from French side Lens in 2011, will bring a wealth of experience to United, having won 18 major honours during his time in Spain, including four Champions League and three La Liga titles.

SPORTGulf Times Sunday, August 15, 20212

Sprinter Ujah ‘shocked and devastated’ by positive drugs test

ATHLETICS

AFPLondon

England captain Joe Root’s com-manding 180 not out, his second successive Test hundred and fi fth this year, guided the hosts into a

slender fi rst-innings lead against India at Lord’s yesterday.

Root’s near nine-hour innings in the second Test was the cornerstone of Eng-land’s 391 – 27 runs ahead of India’s fi rst-innings 364. He faced 321 balls, with 18 fours, before James Anderson was bowled by Mohamed Shami off the last ball of the third day’s play.

Root had been the only England bats-man to pass fi fty in last week’s rain-marred drawn fi rst Test of this fi ve-match series at Trent Bridge with innings of 64 and 109.

Yesterday, however, he was ably as-sisted in a fourth-wicket partnership of 121 by Jonny Bairstow until his Yorkshire teammate gave his innings away on 57.

“It’s been a transition from the Hun-dred to Test cricket and it was pleasing to spend some time out in the middle and put on a hundred stand with Joe Root,” said Bairstow.

“Obviously Joe will be feeling pretty good. What a day for him. To past 9,000 (Test) runs and score 180 not out at the ‘home of cricket’ is an amazing achieve-ment.”

England resumed on 119-3, a defi cit of 245, and were again left looking to Root, 48 not out overnight. At 23-2, Root had walked into bat with England having lost their second wicket before reaching 50 for the 15th time in 19 Test innings this year. Mohamed Siraj had done the dam-age, removing Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed, out for a fi rst-ball nought, with successive deliveries on his way to 4-94 in 30 overs.

Root, however, square-drove Siraj for a stylish four yesterday to complete an 82-ball fi fty. Bairstow, who started the day on six not out, struck commanding straight-driven fours off Shami and Siraj en route to a 90-ball fi fty. England were 216-3 at lunch, having not lost a wicket in the morning session, with Root 89 not out and Bairstow unbeaten on 51.

But just before the advent of the new ball, Bairstow carelessly fell into an obvi-ous hooking trap when he gloved an at-tempted pull off a short ball from Siraj to India captain Virat Kohli in the slips.

But Root’s quick single off Jasprit Bumrah saw him to a hundred, his fourth in Tests at Lord’s, off 200 balls with nine fours. This was Root’s fi fth Test century this year, with scores of 228 and 186 in Sri Lanka and 218 against India in Chennai preceding last week’s eff ort in Notting-ham. His 22nd Test hundred saw Root equal Walter Hammond, Colin Cowdrey, Geoff rey Boycott and Ian Bell, with only Kevin Pietersen (23) and Alastair Cook (33) having scored more Test centuries for England.

It was an all the more creditable in-

nings given the ongoing strains imposed by Covid-19, with Root having to cope with the absence of all-rounder Ben Stokes, due to mental health issues, and fast bowler Jofra Archer, ruled out for the year with an elbow injury.

Recalled paceman Ishant Sharma checked England’s progress with three middle-order wickets, bowling Jos But-tler for 23 with an excellent full-length inswinger before having Moeen Ali and Sam Curran caught in the slips off suc-cessive deliveries during an economical return of 3-69 in 24 overs. No 11 Ander-son was hit on the helmet by a Bumrah bouncer during an over featuring four no-balls. That was the cue for Root to hit two successive fours off Siraj – an auda-cious reverse ramp over the cordon fol-lowed by a slog past deep square leg cap-ping his 11th Test innings of over 150.

On a placid pitch and a sunny day ideal for batting, the 30-year-old Root, who yesterday became only the second Eng-land batsman, after Cook, to pass 9,000 Test runs, was equally assured against the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.

India could have recalled off -spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in place of the in-jured Shardul Thakur but opted instead to stick with what Kohli called the right “template” of four quicks for English conditions by bringing back Ishant.

Their total was built on KL Rahul’s 129 and fellow opener Rohit’s 83, with Eng-land great Anderson taking 5-62.

SCOREBOARDIndia 1st Innings 364 (KL Rahul 129, R Sharma 83; J Anderson 5-62)England 1st Innings (overnight: 119-3)R. Burns lbw b Shami .................................. 49

D. Sibley c Rahul b Siraj .................................11H. Hamed b Siraj ...............................................0J. Root not out ............................................... 180J. Bairstow c Kohli b Siraj ........................... 57J. Buttler b Ishant ...........................................23M. Ali c Kohli b Ishant ...................................27S. Curran c Rohit b Ishant ............................0O. Robinson lbw b Siraj ................................. 6M. Wood run out (Jadeja/Pant) ..................5J. Anderson b Shami .......................................0Extras (b5, lb6, nb17, w5) .......................... 33Total (all out, 128 overs, 600 mins) ...391Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Sibley), 2-23 (Hameed), 3-108 (Shami), 4-229 (Bairstow), 5-283 (Buttler), 6-341 (Moeen), 7-341 (Curran), 8-357 (Robinson), 9-371 (Wood), 10-391 (Anderson)Bowling: Ishant 24-4-69-3 (1nb); Bumrah 26-6-79-0 (13nb); Shami 26-3-95-2 (5w, 1nb); Siraj 30-7-94-4; Jadeja 22-1-43-0 (2nb).

Root’s unbeaten 180 helps England nose ahead at Lord’s

FOCUS

‘OBVIOUSLY JOE WILL BE FEELING PRETTY GOOD. WHAT A DAY FOR HIM’

Roach double strike stuns PakistanCRICKET

AFPKingston, Jamaica

Kemar Roach struck twice for the West In-dies after his team had taken a 36-run fi rst in-

nings lead over Pakistan on the third day of the fi rst Test at Sabi-na Park yesterday.

Shaheen Shah Afridi started well on his country’s Independ-ence Day in taking the last two West Indies fi rst innings wickets to have the home side dismissed for 253. But Roach then left the visitors in more than a little dis-comfort with a wicket in each of his two spells in the morning session to have Pakistan at 56 for two, a lead of 20 runs, going into the afternoon period of play.

Once again showing the value of his experience and accuracy, the Barbadian trapped Imran Butt leg-before without scoring.

After an increasingly prom-ising 55-run stand between the other opener, Abid Ali, and former captain Azhar Ali, Roach

then produced a sharp off -cutter to Azhar which clipped the right-hander’s leg-stump as he shuf-fl ed too far across the crease off what proved to be the fi nal ball of the morning.

While Azhar’s reaction to the dismissal suggested that the ball had also kept lower than he an-ticipated, it was just reward for the persevering Roach who had earlier seen the normally safe pair of hands of Jason Holder spill a regulation catch at second slip off the same batsman.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam is expected to join Abid Ali (31 not out) at the crease when play resumes and on a surface which is already showing signs of wear.

Earlier on a bright, warm day, the visitors will be looking to their leader to play the type of in-nings, even if in a diff erent style, shown by his West Indian coun-terpart, Kraigg Brathwaite, who anchored his team’s fi rst innings eff ort with a resolute 97.

The phlegmatic opener put on 50 with overnight partner Roston Chase (21) for the third wicket,

followed immediately by a stand of 49 with Jermaine Blackwood.

However Blackwood’s demise to Shaheen Shah Afridi was fol-lowed next ball by the dismissal of Kyle Mayers, tilting the bal-ance of the contest Pakistan’s way. That balance could have been decisively theirs just two balls later when Shaheen got a leg-before verdict against Holder before he had scored, only for the decision to be overturned on re-view of the television replay.

It proved a critical reprieve as Holder’s innings, initially watch-ful against the faster bowlers, blossomed with the introduction of the infrequently-used wrist-spinner Yasir Shah. Yet it was the deceptive pace of Faheem Ashraf which broke the partnership af-ter tea just as Babar Azam’s men seemed to be running out of ideas.

Holder edged a delivery through to wicketkeeper Moha-mad Rizwan to leave all attention focused on Brathwaite as he crept towards what would have been his 11th Test century.

All that hard work was undone

by his own error of judgement.As he turned a delivery from

Yasir to short fi ne-leg, he decid-ed to come back for a second run only for Hasan Ali’s direct hit to fi nd him well short of his ground.

Brathwaite’s innings, following a succession of low scores amid his team’s struggles in the two-Test series against South Africa in St Lucia two months earlier, spanned six hours during which he faced 221 deliveries and struck 12 fours. “I would have loved to have been there at the end and to get three fi gures, but it was my error and I have to take responsi-bility for that,” he said in refl ect-ing on his eff ort,”Brathwaite said.

There was certainly no lack of resolve from Shaheen Shah Af-ridi at the start of the day as he needed just ten deliveries to wrap up the West Indies innings after they resumed at 251 for eight. He bowled Jomel Warrican compre-hensively in the fi rst over of the day and then earned an lbw ver-dict against Joshua da Silva in his second over to fi nish with fi gures of four for 59.

ReutersLondon

British sprinter CJ Ujah said he was “shocked and devastated” after a positive drugs test that

could see his country stripped of their Olympic silver medal in the 4x100m relay.

The 27-year-old ran the fi rst leg of the fi nal in Tokyo as Brit-ain narrowly missed gold, but has been provisionally suspend-ed after prohibited substances showed up in tests.

“To be absolutely clear, I am not a cheat,” Ujah said in a statement to the PA news agen-cy yesterday. “I have never and would never knowingly take a

banned substance.”On Thursday Ujah was in-

formed of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) from a test carried out during the Olympics, show-ing the presence/use of muscle-building ostarine and S-23.

Ujah’s relay teammates were Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, whose medals will also be at risk if the positive is confi rmed.

In his statement, Ujah said: “I am completely shocked and dev-astated by this news. I love my sport and I know my responsi-bilities both as an athlete and as a teammate.

“I am respecting the formal processes and will not be making any further comment until it is appropriate to do so.”

Former India U-19 captain Chand moves to the USAAFPNew Delhi

Unmukt Chand, captain of India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup team in 2012 when he

smashed a century, has become the latest out-of-favour player from South Asia and beyond to decamp to the United States.

Chand, now 28, drew compar-isons with Virat Kohli but never broke into the adult national side as his form faded. Some com-mentators criticised India’s do-mestic cricket set-up for failing to nurture him.

The batsman has signed for the Silicon Valley Strikers “to support the development of the game... by playing with and mentoring the next generation of American cricketers”, Major League Cricket said on Friday.

He was due to make his debut on Saturday against the Social Lashings in Morgan Hill, Cali-fornia, coinciding with the third weekend of the Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship.

The Twenty20 tournament is the most extensive US competi-tion to date, with 27 teams play-ing 218 matches in 21 cities for record prize money of $250,000, Major League Cricket said.

In an emotional statement

posted on social media, Chand said “things have not been as smooth in the last few years and opportunities have been denied”.

“Though a part of me is not at peace with the way things unfolded... I still choose to see the silver lining and with fond memories bid adieu to the (Indi-an cricket board) BCCI and seek better opportunities around the world.”

Other players who have fallen out of favour of their national sides and who have moved the US in recent times include Corey Anderson of New Zealand, Sri Lankan Shehan Jayasuriya, Pa-kistan’s Sami Aslam and Xavier Marshall of the West Indies, who has played for the United States.

SPOTLIGHT

England’s Joe Root gestures to the fans at the end of the third day’s play at Lord’s. (Reuters)

Kemar Roach (right) of West Indies celebrates the dismissal of Azhar Ali (left) of Pakistan during Day 3 of the 1st Test at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, yesterday. (AFP)

SPORT3Gulf Times

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Martin smashes lap record to grab pole

MOTORCYCLING

AFPSpielberg bei Knittelfeld, Austria

Jorge Martin grabbed pole posi-tion for a second straight week at the Red Bull Ring as he smashed a nine-minute old lap record in the

dying seconds of Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. On the fastest track in Mo-toGP, championship leader Fabio Quar-tararo seemed to have sealed pole when he smashed the record set in practice on Fri-day by fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco.

Quartararo’s time of 1min 22.677sec was three-tenths of a second faster that anyone else nine minutes later when Martin set off on one last attempt with qualifying time about to expire. He took advantage of Ducati-Pramac team-mate Zarco’s slipstream to grab pole.

“When I’m in the fi rst sector up by three tenths, I was impressed, I was thinking ‘Oh! I can make the pole’,” said the Spanish rookie. “But I make a mistake in the last corner and I had some doubts.”

“This pole position is unbelievable,” said Martin who won on only his sixth MotoGP start last weekend. “I’m living a dream. I love the bike. We’re living a great moment.”

Martin rode straight off to practice his starts, lining up alongside Quartararo. The two exchanged playful but vigorous slaps. Quartararo, who fi nished third last Sunday to stretch his championship lead, had mixed emotions after locking up a front-row start on a track where Yama-ha’s slightly lower top speed leaves it at a disadvantage.

“The pole position would be even bet-ter,” he said. “I did the best I could. I’m happy to be on the front row. Jorge is su-per fast. It’s a shame. A little bit disap-pointed but a good place to start the race.”

Martin crashed twice in free practice, once on Friday and again yesterday morn-ing and had to go through pre-qualifying to earn one of the last two places in the top-ten shootout for pole. “I always work well under pressure and today was one of those days,” he said. “After crashing in FP3 I wasn’t confi dent.”

He said he still had pain in his knee from the morning’s crash. Ducati’s strength on the track brought it four of the fi rst six positions on the grid. Factory rider Francesco Bagnaia was third 0.43sec slower than Martin. Zarco, the second Pramac rider, was fourth and Australian Jack Miller, on a factory bike was sixth. Sandwiched between them on the second row will be Spaniard Marc Marquez on a Honda. Yamaha, on the other hand, only

have Quartararo on the grid after sus-pending Maverick Vinales for the way he treated his bike last Sunday in the closing stages at the Styria Grand Prix on same track. “At the end everything was about frustration, also a lot of nerves,” Vinales

told the offi cial MotoGP website yes-terday. “I ride the bike in a diff erent way in the last laps. It was a big explosion of emotion and frustration.” Former seven-time champion Valentino Rossi will start today’s race from 18th.

‘I’M LIVING A DREAM. I LOVE THE BIKE. WE’RE LIVING A GREAT MOMENT’

Medvedev outlasts Hurkacz to reach semisAFPToronto

Daniil Medvedev had to work his way through a pair of tiebreakers to ensure a 2-6, 7-6 (8/6),

7-6 (7/5) victory over Hubert Hurkacz and into the semi-fi nals of the ATP Toronto Masters on Friday.

The Russian world number two was caught on the back foot in the opening set, which he lost to his Polish opponent after committing nearly half of his 40 unforced errors on the night.

But the top seed gathered his resources to stage a fi ghtback in two and a quarter hours on the way to revenge for a fi ve-set loss he took at Wimbledon against the number 13.

Medvedev ended the evening with his 22nd ace on match point. “It was a super-tough match, he was on top of me for many moments,” the winner said. “He was playing amazing and I’m happy to get through.”

The 2019 fi nalist here said he picked up his game in the decid-ing set. “I started playing a little bit better and tried to keep the pressure on him - he was cer-tainly keeping it on me.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas ended the 13-match win streak of Casper Ruud with a clinical 6-1, 6-4 win. A day after turning 23, the Greek world number three celebrated the birthday of his mother Julia, using the big day as inspiration on court.

“I’m proud of myself,” the 2018 Canada fi nalist said. “I had it in my mind to try and make her proud today.”

Tsitsipas will play on Saturday against Reilly Opelka, who sent

down 18 aces in a 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) defeat of Spanish 10th seed Rob-erto Bautista Agut.

Norway’s 12th-ranked Ruud has been on fi re the past month, winning three European clay ti-tles last month after going out in the Wimbledon fi rst round six weeks ago. Ruud, son of former ATP pro Christian Ruud, had defeated Tsitsipas on Madrid clay in May. But the Greek seed had all the answers in Toronto as he denied Ruud a 100th career match win.

Tsitsipas fi nished with 20 winners and 11 unforced errors in his 74-minute victory. Ruud missed on an overhead at 4-all in the second set, giving Tsitsipas two break chances.

The third seed converted on the second and served out vic-tory moments later, increasing his wins this season to a tour-leading 45. Gael Monfi ls lived up

to his showman’s reputation in a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss to John Isner as the pair met for a 13th time.

The Frenchman seeded 11th went through some turbulence in the second set when he was advised by chair umpire Mo-hamed Lahyani to stop “danc-ing” around while awaiting his opponent’s huge serve.

That set Monfi ls off , with the 34-year-old calling for the tour-nament supervisor and engaging in a lively debate on the non-is-sue while getting his right ankle taped after what he said was a “bad step.”

The storm quickly blew over as Isner laid down a 13th ace for a match point, which he converted for victory. The American posted his ninth consecutive win this season after claiming the Atlanta title last month, He lost to semi-fi nal opponent Medvedev in the ATP Cup last year in Australia.

TENNIS

Daniil Medvedev of Russia plays a shot against Hubert Hurkacz of Po-land during the quarter-finals of the ATP Toronto Masters yesterday. (USA TODAY Sports)

Henley keeps PGA Wyndham lead while Sabbatini chargesAFPWashington

Russell Henley fi red a six-under par 64 on Friday to grab a four-stroke lead after Fri-

day’s second round of the US PGA Wyndham Championship while Olympic runner-up Rory Sabbatini charged.

Henley, a 32-year-old Ameri-can, had seized the fi rst-round lead with an opening 62 and stood on 14-under 126 after 36 holes at Sedgefi eld Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Just started feeling good with the putter,” Henley said.

“Just kind of a boring round, made some putts and had some good saves. I just tried to keep committing to every shot and it just kind of happened.”

Henley began on the back nine Friday and took a bogey at the par-3 12th only to reel off four birdies in a row starting with a 20-foot putt at the 14th and including a 14-footer at the par-3 16th.

World number 56 Henley holed a birdie putt from just in-side 18 feet at the par-3 third to reach 12-under, tapped in birdie at the par-5 fi fth and sank an-other from just inside seven feet at the eighth. Henley seeks his fourth US PGA title and the fi rst since winning the 2017 Houston Open.

Sharing second on 130 were Slovakian silver medallist Sab-batini and Americans Webb Simpson and Scott Piercy with England’s Justin Rose and Americans Brian Stuard and

Tyler Duncan on 131. Making his fi rst PGA start since the To-kyo Olympics, South African-born Sabbatini matched his career-low 36-hole PGA score with a 66-64 start after a bo-gey-free second round.

Sabbatini, 45, previously fi red 130 after two rounds on tour in 2003, when he fi nished ninth at the Shriner’s Chil-dren’s Open, and in 1999, when he shared third at the BellSouth Classic.

LEADING SCORES AFTER SECOND ROUND (USA unless noted)126-Russell Henley 62-64130-Rory Sabbatini (SVK) 66-64, Webb Simpson 65-65, Scott Piercy 64-66131-Justin Rose (ENG) 66-65,

Tyler Duncan 69-62, Brian Stuard 65-66132-Kevin Streelman 66-66, Alex Smalley 68-64, Tyler Mc-Cumber 65-67, Kevin Na 68-64133-Chris Kirk 64-69, Kevin Kisner 65-68, Hudson Swaff ord 64-69, Bronson Burgoon 65-68, Sam Ryder 68-65, Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) 70-63, Kang Sung 64-69, Matt Kuchar 66-67, Sebastian Munoz (COL) 66-67, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 65-68, John Augenstein 68-65134-Denny McCarthy 65-69, Tommy Fleetwood 66-68, Im Sung-jae (KOR) 66-68, Kim Si-woo (KOR) 66-68, Erik van Rooyen (RSA) 65-69, Ben Mar-tin 67-67, Harold Varner 67-67, Cameron Percy (AUS) 67-67, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 66-68.

GOLF

STARTING GRID MotoGPFront row1. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 1:22.6432. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 1:22.6773. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1:23.0632nd row4. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 1:23.1205. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 1:23.2276. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 1:23.3203rd row7. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 1:23.3788. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 1:23.4239. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 1:23.4994th row10. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 1:23.56811. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 1:23.73812. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 1:23.990Selected6th row18. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 1:23.939

Sabalenka denies Azarenka’s top 10

return dreamAryna Sabalenka won a battle of Belarus on Friday, denying compatriot Victoria Azarenka the chance to return to the top 10 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at the WTA Montreal Masters. Aza-renka, a 32-year-old with two Australian Open titles to her credit, last ranked in the elite group five years ago before motherhood. The quarter-final success for top seed Sabalenka took 82 minutes, with the big-serving winner adding seven aces to her season’s WTA-lead-ing total of 265. Sabalenka has now won three of four matches against her compatriot, includ-ing their last in October, 2020 in Ostrava. Azarenka played the Canadian semi-finals in 2010 and 2011. Sabalenka was playing her eighth quarter-final of 2021, putting her in the joint lead in that statistical category with world number one Ash-leigh Barty. Sabalenka will next take on fourth seed Karolina Pliskova after the Czech de-feated Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-4, 6-0. Pliskova stopped Sabalenka in their last meeting, a Wimbledon semi-final in July. In the bottom half of the draw, 15th seed Coco Gauff saved two match points before falling to Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). Giorgi, ranked 71st, added Gauff to a victim’s list this week which has included 12th seed Petra Kvitova and number 16 Elise Mertens. Giorgi will meet Jessica Pegula who rallied past 13th seed Ons Jabeur 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 in 90 minutes.

Vinales apologises to Yamaha, blaming

‘explosion of emotion’Spaniard Maverick Vinales apologised yesterday after being suspended from this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix by Yamaha on suspicion of attempting to damage his bike at last week’s Styrian GP.Vinales stalled when last Sunday’s race restarted after a crash and had dropped to last when he pulled into the pits on the final lap. Yamaha said on Thursday they had suspended him for the way he treated the bike late in the race. The Spaniard had reported a litany of technical problems during the race. “At the end everything was about frustra-tion, also a lot of nerves,” Vinales told the off icial MotoGP website. “I ride the bike in a diff erent way in the last laps. It was a big explosion of emotion and frustration.”“I want to apologise to Yamaha,” he said at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, site of the last week’s and this week’s races.“I feel very sad,” said the 26-year-old. “I have a warrior soul. I want to be there on the track fighting.”“I am still a Yamaha rider and I respect their decision,” he added. Vinales and Yamaha had announced in late June that they would be ending their contract a year early, at the end of 2021.

Spain’s Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing wheelies his motorbike during the qualifi cation of the Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, yesterday. (AFP)

Russell Henley hits his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the Wyndham Championship. (USA TODAY Sports)

All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup

AFPAuckland

New Zealand locked away the Bledisloe Cup yesterday with a record 57-22 victory

over Australia in a bitter, bruis-ing encounter at Eden Park in Auckland.

In a white-hot atmosphere with bone-crunching tackles echoing around the ground, the All Blacks scored eight tries to three to post their highest ever score over the Wallabies.

The All Blacks points in-cluded two impressive long-range intercept tries, and Dam-ian McKenzie landed a monster 57-metre (62-yard) penalty.

The Wallabies had vowed to take an aggressive approach and the All Blacks said they would fi ght fi re with fi re. By the 25th minute, referee Bren-don Pickerill had to warn both sides to cut out the off -the-ball niggle.

With the victory, they se-cured the Bledisloe Cup for a 19th consecutive year, made a winning start to the Rugby Championship and extended their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 46 matches.

They also crushed the hopes of frustrated Wallabies fans at a ground where Australia have not won in 22 Tests since 1986.

The previous high score by the All Blacks over Australia was 54-34 in Sydney in 2017.

RUGBY

New Zealand players celebrates with the Bledisloe Cup after the second rugby union match against Australia at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday. (AFP)

Dream debut for Hendrikse as SA winAFPGqeberha, South Africa

Jaden Hendrikse, called into the matchday 23 just hours before kick-off , came off the bench

to score and earn South Africa a bonus-point 32-12 win over Argentina in the rugby Cham-pionship yesterday.

The scrum-half dived over in the corner to secure the third try in Gqeberha that left the Springboks level with New Zealand on fi ve points at the

top of the table after the fi rst round.

Hendrikse woke yesterday believing he would watch the match from the stand at Nel-son Mandela Bay Stadium in the eastern Cape city formerly called Port Elizabeth.

But when a hip niggle ruled out Herschel Jantjies, Hen-drikse took his place on the bench and came on seven

minutes from time in place of Cobus Reinach. After scoring two tries within 18 minutes of the kick-off through Reinach and winger Aphelele Fassi, the world champion Springboks were running out of time to claim a third and an extra point.

Then, replacements Marco van Staden, Morne Steyn and Hendrikse combined to give the 21-year-old scrum-half a fairytale start as a Springboks.

Van Staden charged for the line and when he was held up, the ball moved to Steyn, whose pass sent Hendrikse over to seal a clinical 20-point victory.

Scoring completed a remark-able turnaround for Hendrikse, who did not make the 46-man Springboks squad chosen in June for Tests against Georgia and the British and Irish Lions.

He was then sent off for el-bowing Wales full-back Liam Williams when playing for his franchise, the Sharks, in a heavy loss to the Lions.

FOCUS

Dolberg double as Nice stun champs Lille

Haaland nets twice, creates three goals as Dortmund rout Frankfurt

Qatar Racing’s Suspicious makes a winning debut Champion Roglic wins Vuelta 1st stage

Messi departure painful but Barca can’t live in past: coach

Sunday, August 15, 2021

GULF TIMES SPORT

LIGUE 1 BUNDESLIGA

HORSE RACING CYCLING

COMMENT

It is Lille’s heaviest home league defeat since September 2017

AgenciesDoncaster, England

The two-year-old fi lly Suspicious opened her scorecard on her debut in the EBF Maiden Fil-

lies’ Stakes at Doncaster yester-day for the silks of Qatar Racing Limited.

Trained by Ralph Beckett, Suspicious sat in behind the leaders in this mile race on the straight. Steady in the early stages under a lead from Mag-gie’s Joy, the fi llies ran in a tightly-packed group with little change in the running order.

Reaching the two-furlong pole, the leaders began to ac-celerate sharply on the good-to-fi rm ground and jockey Cieren Fallon switched Suspicious to the running rail. Showing a smart turn of foot, she quickly

came to the lead alongside the Saeed bin Suroor-trained and Pat Cosgrave-ridden Beautiful Secret.

The two fi llies pulled clear of the rest of the fi eld with a fur-long still left to run. They bat-tled neck and neck to the line, with Suspicious gaining the advantage in the fi nal strides to win by a neck. The George Scott-trained and Callum Shep-herd-ridden Kick On Girl was the nearest to the duo as she fi n-ished two-and-a-half lengths back in third.

Suspicious was a yearling purchase by Qatar Racing Lim-ited racing manager David Redvers at the Deauville Select Yearling Sale in 2019. Bred by Overbury Stallions and Dukes Stud, she is out of the Dalakhani mare White Cay, who has pro-duced two Stakes performers in Dynamic and Cay Dancer.

AFPBurgos, Spain

Defending champion Primoz Roglic won the opening stage of cy-cling’s Vuelta a Espana

yesterday, a 7.1km individual time-trial raced around the city of Burgos in sizzling heat.

The Slovenian two-time de-fending champion Roglic was last man down the start ramp and covered the rolling terrain in 8min 32sec, six seconds ahead of run-ner-up Alex Aranburu of Spain, and crucially, just 27sec faster than his key rival for the overall title In-eos’ Colombian Egan Bernal.

Cycling’s fi nal 21-day race of the season got underway in Burgos yesterday with three Ol-

ympic champions taking on the mountainous route bookended by individual time-trials.

The race starts in a heatwave with the mercury set to tip 38C (100F) on the fi rst of 21 stages.

Roglic of Jumbo Visma won the Olympic time-trial gold in Tokyo two weeks ago, while last year’s Vuelta runner-up Richard Carapaz of Ineos claimed the Ol-ympic road race.

Tom Pidcock is also on the In-eos team for his fi rst ever Grand Tour after winning mountain bike gold in Japan.

Pidcock and Carapaz start the 3,417km tour in the service of Colombian Egan Bernal, aiming to become the youngest man ever to win all three Grand Tour after his 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d’Italia in May.

Cieren Fallon (left) rides Suspicious to victory in the EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes in Doncaster, England, yesterday. (Racingfotos)

ReutersBarcelona

Lionel Messi is now in Bar-celona’s past and the club must live in the present, coach Ronald Koeman

said yesterday, as his side prepare for a new La Liga season without their greatest ever player — and battling through a fi nancial crisis.

Barca are still reeling from the departure of their all-time top scorer to Paris Saint-Germain after being unable to aff ord to give the Argentine a new con-tract.

But Koeman said it was time to look to the future with Sunday’s game at home to Real Sociedad coming up fast.

“It’s painful for all Barcelona fans given what Messi has done for the club, but we cannot live

in the past,” Koeman told a news conference. “I’m excited for the new season, and I hope the fans are enthusiastic too. We have to live in the present and not the past.

“People have spoken a lot about Messi and that’s normal because of how eff ective he was and his quality. We won’t have him around any more, but we still have a very strong squad. There’s no excuses now, we’ve got games to play and points to win.”

Barca did have some good news as they were able to register new signings Eric Garcia and Mem-phis Depay after Gerard Pique agreed to take a salary cut to help bring the club in line with the league’s fi nancial fair play rules.

The club said in a statement Pique had agreed to take a “sig-nifi cant” pay cut, adding they were in talks with the other club captain Sergio Busquets, Jordi

Alba and Sergi Roberto over a squad-wide reduction to help ease the club’s fi nancial woes.

“We all know the club’s situa-tion and that it needs help so you have to appreciate the attitude of Gerard, of Sergi Roberto and Busquets,” added Koeman.

“It proves they are real club men.”

The Dutch coach added that Pedri and Eric Garcia would be available to face Sociedad despite playing the Olympic fi nal for Spain last week after a gruelling Euro 2020 campaign with the national team.

But he is missing some im-portant players with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen recover-ing from knee surgery, forward Ousmane Dembele out with a muscle problem and new signing Sergio Aguero expected to be out until October.

(From left) Paris Saint-Germain’s defender Achraf Hakimi, midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, defender Sergio Ramos and forward Lionel Messi are unveiled during a presentation ceremony ahead of the Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, yesterday. (AFP)

Messi & Co. unveiled at PSG

AFPParis, France

French champions Lille were left stunned by the man who led them to last season’s Ligue 1 ti-

tle, going down 4-0 at home to Christophe Galtier’s new club Nice yesterday as Denmark’s Kasper Dolberg scored twice.

Galtier oversaw Lille’s re-markable title triumph in May as the side from northern France pipped Paris Saint-Germain to take the French crown for the fourth time in their history.

However he then ended his three-and-a-half-year associa-tion with Lille and headed south to take charge of an ambitious Nice outfi t owned by Ineos, the group chaired by British billion-aire Jim Ratcliff e.

Nice displayed their potential here as Dolberg bagged a brace, his goals coming either side of a Hicham Boudaoui strike and a penalty converted by France Un-der-21 forward Amine Gouiri.

It is Lille’s heaviest home league defeat since September 2017 and a sobering result for Jocelyn Gourvennec, the man who succeeded Galtier as coach at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Nice had drawn 0-0 with Reims in their season opener last weekend but Dolberg need-ed just 55 seconds here to open the scoring, turning the ball in after Lille goalkeeper Leo Jardim had tipped Jean-Clair Todibo’s shot onto the post.

The former Ajax striker was

making his fi rst start of the campaign following his late re-turn for pre-season training af-ter helping Denmark reach the semi-fi nals of Euro 2020.

Nice were 2-0 up inside fi ve minutes as Algerian midfi elder Boudaoui fi red home from out-side the box, and they were gift-ed the chance to score a third in

fi rst-half stoppage time.Dolberg saw his header strike

the bar and then his attempts to convert the follow-up were stopped by a Benjamin Andre handball.

The off ence was spotted by the referee after a VAR consul-tation, a penalty was awarded and Gouiri stepped up to stroke

home from the spot.Things got worse for Lille af-

ter the break as Dante headed on a corner for Dolberg to nod in the fourth in the 64th minute.

At least further embarrass-ment was prevented for Lille as another Gouiri goal was disal-lowed for a marginal off side in the build-up.

Lille’s Reinildo (left) falls as he vies for the ball with Nice’s Kasper Dolberg during Ligue 1 match at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq, near Lille, France, yesterday. (AFP)

AFPBerlin, Germany

Erling Braut Haaland weighed in with two goals and three assists as Borussia Dortmund

threw down a marker on the fi rst weekend of the Bundesliga sea-son with a 5-2 thrashing of Ein-tracht Frankfurt yesterday.

Defending champions Bayern Munich kicked off the new season with a 1-1 draw at Moenchengla-dbach on Friday. Dortmund host Bayern in the German Super Cup in three days’ time.

The 21-year-old, who has now netted 62 goals in 61 games for Dortmund, proved he can create chances just as well as fi nish them.

Haaland also claimed a hat-trick in the German Cup last week, giving him a tally of fi ve goals and three assists after just two games this season.

When Dortmund attacked early on, Haaland drew three defenders and squared to Marco Reus, who scored his 100th Bun-desliga goal on 23 minutes.

However, pressure by new Frankfurt signing Rafael Santos Borre saw Dortmund defender Felix Passlack put the ball into his own net four minutes later.

Haaland helped restore the lead on 32 minutes.

He spotted Thorgan Hazard free and his shot clipped the boot of Frankfurt’s goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on its way into the net.

Just over two minutes later, Haaland broke free of the defence and drilled his shot past Trapp to make it 3-1.

It could have been 4-1 at half-time, but Reus had a second goal ruled out as replays showed the ball went dead in the build-up.

Frankfurt’s new coach Oliver Glasner responded by making three changes, including giving a Bundesliga debut for new Nor-way signing Jens Petter Hauge, who scored Frankfurt’s late sec-ond goal.

However, there was only one Norwegian star in Dortmund as

Haaland released Giovanni Rey-na to score the hosts’ fourth goal on 58 minutes.

Haaland showed his speed and strength by fi nishing off a move from the halfway line with a clinical fi nish for his second goal with 20 minutes left.

Dortmund were caught nap-ping when Hauge got in behind the defence and tapped home Frankfurt’s second goal fi ve min-utes before the whistle.

Only a diving Trapp save de-nied Haaland a hat-trick in add-ed time.

STUTTGART THRASH FUERTHEarlier, VfB Stuttgart romped to a 5-1 thrashing of promoted Greu-ther Fuerth as defender Marc-Oliver Kempf netted twice.

Japan midfi elder Wataru Endo opened the scoring after half an hour before Philipp Klement added Stuttgart’s second on 36 minutes.

After the break, Stuttgart winger Borna Sosa claimed three assists from two superb crosses and a pin-point accurate corner as Kempf scored either side of a Hamadi Al Ghaddioui header.

The win came at a cost, how-ever, as Stuttgart had 17-year-old Dutch striker Mohamed Sankoh stretchered off with a serious Knee injury in the second half.

“Sankoh’s injury dampened the mood a little — we hope he gets back on his feet quickly. It will take around six months,” confi rmed Stuttgart coach Pel-legrino Matarazzo.

The top fl ight’s other new club Bochum also made a losing start, going down 1-0 at Wolfsburg, whose striker Wout Weghorst scored the fi rst-half winner.

Hoff enheim enjoyed a 4-0 romp at Augsburg.

Forwards Jacob Bruun Larsen and Sargis Adamyan put Hoff en-heim 2-0 up before French teen-ager Georginio Rutter came on to grab the third, then set up Sebas-tian Rudy for the fourth.

Union Berlin started their sea-son with a 1-1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

RESULTSVfL Wolfsburg 1 (Weghorst 22) VfL Bochum 0Union Berlin 1 (Awoniyi 7) Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Diaby 12)Stuttgart 5 (Endo 30, Klement 36, Kempf 55, 76, Al Ghaddioui 61) Fuerth 1 (Leweling 90+3)Augsburg 0 Hoff enheim 4 (Bruun Larsen 37, Adamyan 79, Rutter 87, Rudy 90+5)Borussia Dortmund 5 (Reus 23, Hazard 32, Haaland 34, 70, Reyna 58) Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Passlack 27-og, Hauge 86)

Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland (right) vies with Frankfurt’s Evan N’Dicka during the Bundesliga match in Dortmund yesterday. (AFP)