SPORTSunday 19 November 2017

Australia confused ahead of Ashes, says Shane Warne

NBA: Brilliant James leads Cavaliers to

victory

PAGE | 22 PAGE | 24-25 PAGE | 27 EPL: Arsenal win derby as De Bruyne keeps City flying

rby NBA:lea

In-form Al Sailiya down Al Gharafa in thriller Fawad Hussain The Peninsula

Al Sailiya consolidated their fourth spot at the QNB Stars League (QSL) after overcoming a spir-

ited Al Gharafa side 3-2 in a thrilling battle at Al Gharafa Sta-dium yesterday.

A goal in the first minute of stoppage time by substitute Mohmad Mdether Rajeb sepa-rated the two teams in the nail-biting contest, which saw five goals being scored in the last 30 minutes.

There were no goals in the first half but the foundation of the thrilling action was laid in the opening session which saw quick pace from both teams as they exchanged plenty of attacks.

A foul by Al Gharafa’s goal-keeper Qasem Abdulhamed against Valentin Marius inside the penalty area saw the referee awarding a spot kick in the 61st minute.

Temurkhuja Abdukholikov made no mistake by beating Abdulhamed with an accurate

kick on his left for the first goal. The opening goal by Al

Sailiya accelerated pace of the game further, prompting Al Gharafa to speed up efforts to find the leveler.

Cheetahs did not have to wait for long as just five minutes later Othman Alawi Al Yahri found the target in a 66th minute move.

A clinical finish from just inside the circle in 72nd minute by Nadir Belhadj regained the lead for Al Sailiya which was again leveled by Al Gharafa through Ahmed Alaa in 85th minute.

Rajeb scored the all-impor-tant goal when his attempt to right of the post landed in the cage after taking Abdulhamed’s touch, sealing a hard-fought 3-2 victory.

The victory took Al Sailiya’s tally to 18 points with Al Duhail (19 points), Al Rayyan (18) and Al Sadd (18) are the only sides ahead of them.

At Al Arabi Stadium, a goal in the 68th minute by seasoned Mashel Abdulla was enough for Al Ahli to impose an

impressive a 1-0 victory over Al Markhiya.

In last match of the opening day of Round 8 yesterday, Al Khor defeated Qatar SC 2-1 to claim maximum points at Qatar SC Stadium.

Big teams will be in action today with points leaders Al Duhail taking on Al Kharaitiyat in their own backyard.

Al Sadd will also be looking to extend their winning run when they will meet Umm Salal at their home ground.

The other match will be played between Al Rayyan and Al Arabi at Al Arabi Stadium.

Basketball: Qatar and Oman sign cooperation agreement

Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Muftah, President of Qatar Basketball Federation (second left), giving a memento to Fareed bin Khamis Al Zedjali, President of Oman Basketball Association, after the signing ceremony of cooperation agreement between the two bodies at QBF head office yesterday. Ali Saeed Al Malki, (right) Secretary General of Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF), and Asad Mubarak Al Hasani, Board Secretary of (OBA), can also be seen. Picture by Abdul Basit/The Peninsula

Turkey’s ‘pocket Hercules’ Suleymanoglu dies at 50 Istanbul

AFP

Turkey’s legendary triple Olympic gold-medal winning weightlifter

Naim Suleymanoglu, the diminutive “pocket Hercules,” has died aged 50, state media said.

Suleymanoglu, was only 1.47 metres (4.8 feet) tall, scored a historic hat-trick of consecutive Olympic titles starting in Seoul in 1988 then Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. The Bulgarian-born Suleymanoglu, who had in late

September been admitted to intensive care after suffering liver failure, died in hospital in Istanbul, the Anadolu news agency said.

The weightlifter had been given a liver transplant earlier this month after a suitable donor was found and initial reports had said that the sur-gery was successful.

Suleymanoglu’s exploits made him a national hero in Turkey, where he is regarded as one of the greatest sports personalities in the country’s history.

President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan, who had visited Suleymanoglu in hospital and received the news while deliv-ering a speech to supporters, expressed his condolences on live television over Suleyma-noglu’s death.

“Turkish weightlifting has suffered a great loss,” the head of the Turkish weightlifting federation Tamer Taspinar told Anadolu.

“He was the ‘pocket Her-cules’ who broke 46 records. He was a sportsman who won the hearts not just of the Turk-ish people but the world,” Taspinar added.

Al Ahli’s Mashel Abdulla (foreground)

takes the ball past Al Markhiya’s

Salih Mohamed during their QSL match at Al Arabi Stadium

yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP/ The Peninsula

Qatar SC’s Mahamodou Bezannier (left) and Al Khor’s Castan Luciana vie for the ball possession during their QSL match at Qatar SC Stadium.

Yesterday’s ResultsAl Sailiya bt Al Gharafa 3-2

Al Ahli bt Al Markhiya 1-0

Al Khor bt Qatar SC 2-1

Today’s fixtures4pm: Al Sadd vs Umm Salal at

Al Sadd Stadium

6:10pm: Al Arabi vs Al Rayyan at

Al Arabi Stadium

6:10pm: Al Duhail vs Al Kharaitiyat

at Al Duhail Stadium

QNB STARS LEAGUE

Ligue 1: Cavani scores a brace as ruthless PSG pummel Nantes Paris

Reuters

Paris St Germain’s unstop-pable march towards the Ligue 1 title continued

when Edinson Cavani’s double inspired them to a 4-1 home win against Nantes yesterday.

Cavani netted either side of half-time as Javier Pastore and Angel Di Maria also scored to put the unbeaten capital side on 35 points from 13 games, six ahead of second-placed Monaco after the champions were held to a 1-1 at Amiens on Friday.

Nantes, who are fifth on 23 points, scored through Prejuce Nakoulma as Claudio Ranieri’s team faltered under pressure.

The visitors got off to a solid start but cracked before half-time.

Cavani opened the scoring with a clinical finish from inside the box after being perfectly set up by Pastore. It was the Uru-guay striker’s 14th goal after 13 games in the league, the best tally in the French champion-ship since Dick van Dijk with Nice in the 1972-73 season.

Di Maria doubled the advantage three minutes later with a curled cross that nobody could connect with and ended up in the back of the net at the far post.

Nakulma reduced the arrears on the hour mark from close range but Nantes’ hopes were short lived.

Five minutes later, Pastore restored a two-goal advantage for the hosts with a powerful shot after being set up by Marco Verratti’s through ball.

Cavani put the game to bed 11 minutes from time, poking the ball home from a packed goal-mouth.

On Friday night, Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Amiens on Friday despite an equaliser from Stevan Jovetic to drop two points in the Ligue 1 title race.

Christophe Pelissier’s home side took a shock 31st-minute lead through Serge Gakpe, but Jovetic came off the bench in the second half to equalise.

The Stade de la Licorne burst into life just after the half-hour mark as Togo international Gakpe surged through on goal and confidently slotted into the corner to score his first Amiens goal.

Amiens started the second period brightly and almost moved further ahead, but striker Moussa Konate headed over when he was totally unmarked just a few yards from goal. Monaco will now turn their attention to Tuesday’s clash with RB Leipzig.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani (left) celebrates with his team-mate Neymar after scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Ligue 1 match against Nantes at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris yesterday.

22 SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

EPL: Arsenal win derby as De Bruyne keeps Man City flying London

AFP

Manchester City retained control of the Premier League title race after fine goals by

Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bru-yne secured a 2-0 win at Leicester City yesterday.

Jesus and De Bruyne struck either side of half-time at the King Power Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s ruthless side regis-tered a 16th successive victory in all competitions.

Champions Chelsea climbed to second place with a 4-0 win at West Bromwich Albion in which Eden Hazard scored twice, while Arsenal engineered an impressive 2-0 win over derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

City provisionally moved nine points clear at the top of the table, although Manchester United can trim their lead back to eight points if they beat New-castle United in the day’s late game.

City captain Vincent Kom-pany made his first league start since August following his latest calf injury, but fellow centre-back John Stones was forced off in the first half with an apparent

hamstring problem. Jesus tapped in David Silva’s pass on the stroke of half-time after a slick move involving De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.

De Bruyne added a brilliant second four minutes into the sec-ond half when he completed an electrifying break by rifling a glorious left-foot shot into the top-left corner from outside the area.

Chelsea piled the pressure on West Brom manager Tony Pulis with a breezy win at The Haw-thorns, where Antonio Conte’s side secured the title last season.

Alvaro Morata put Chelsea ahead in the 17th minute after Ben Foster saved from Hazard and the Spaniard’s flick freed Hazard to round Foster and

double the visitors’ advantage six minutes later.

Marcos Alonso slammed home at the back post from Cesc Fabregas’s free-kick in the 38th minute and Hazard completed the scoring just after the hour.

Quick-fire first-half goals by Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez earned Arsenal a richly deserved victory over Tottenham in the north London derby.

“They had the urgency, the desire and the focus,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of his players.

“In a derby like that, that plays a part. We didn’t lose the defensive focus for 90 minutes.”

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino felt, with justification, that the free-kick that led to

Mustafi’s goal should not have been awarded and that Mustafi had been offside.

“You saw what happened during the game,” Pochettino told Sky Sports at the Emirates Stadium.

“I’m disappointed because the small details were against us, which makes it difficult to win.”

It was Arsenal’s first league victory over Spurs since March 2014 and left them a point below their local rivals in sixth place.

Liverpool are level on points with Arsenal in fifth after a rou-tine 3-0 home win over Southampton at Anfield.

Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah scored two first-half goals -- the first a magnificent curler -- to become the Premier League’s leading scorer on nine

goals, with Philippe Coutinho adding a third.

High-flying Burnley also sit on 22 points after Jack Cork and Ashley Barnes scored in a 2-0 home win over second-bottom Swansea City.

Bottom club Crystal Palace were twice pegged back in a lively 2-2 home draw with Ever-ton, for whom David Unsworth remains in charge on a caretaker basis. James McArthur’s opener after 48 seconds was cancelled out by a Leighton Baines penalty and although Wilfried Zaha restored Palace’s lead, Oumar Niasse levelled again on the cusp of half-time. Callum Wilson net-ted a hat-trick as Bournemouth moved clear of the relegation zone by beating Huddersfield Town 4-0.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne scores their second goal during their English Premier League match against Leicester City at King Power Stadium in Leicester, Britain, yesterday.

Griffiths magic maintains Celtic’s perfect record in SPLGlasgow

AFP

Celtic kept their 100 per-cent away record in the Scottish Premiership

intact as super sub Leigh Grif-fiths’ sensational free-kick handed the champions a 1-0 victory at Ross County yesterday.

Celtic struggled to over-come a stubborn County defence and failed to register a shot in the first half.

Griffiths came to the res-cue in the 78th minute as he curled a free-kick into the top corner to make it seven away wins out of seven in the league.

Celtic extended their unbeaten domestic run to 64 matches ahead of a midweek visit to Paris Saint-Germain in Champions Group B.

“It was a very good win for us on the back of the inter-national break against a team who were buoyant following their good result against Motherwell last time out,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said.

“Defensively we were very strong and it was a moment of magic that wins the game.”

Ross County manager Owen Coyle felt disappointed not to get something from the game.

“We performed ever so well in the game and tacti-cally we were very disciplined,” Coyle said.

“They are a wonderful team but we had a very good shape and when we broke out we carried a threat.”

Despite facing a tough trip to the French capital, Rodg-ers named an unchanged side with Jozo Simunovic and Grif-fiths recovering from injury to take their places on the bench.

Celtic started the match confidently, spraying passes across the pitch with Ross County struggling to get near the ball.

However, the champions struggled to get in behind a well-organised County defence with Callum McGre-gor’s pace posing the home team their only real problems.

The Scotland midfielder felt he should have had a penalty midway through the first half as he burst into the box and evaded a couple of challenges before going down following a last-gasp tackle from Christopher Routis.

McGregor claimed the County defender clipped his heels as he prepared to shoot, but referee Nick Walsh waved away the appeals.

With time running out, it was Griffiths who came up with a moment of magic to open the scoring.

The Celtic striker lifted his free-kick up and over the wall with pace and it landed right in the top corner giving County ‘keeper Aaron McCa-rey no chance.

Suarez brace stretches

Barcelona La Liga leadMadrid

AFP

Luis Suarez ended a five-game goal drought with a double as Barcelona extend their lead at the top of La Liga

with a flattering 3-0 win at Leganes yesterday.

Barca now lead second-placed Valen-cia by seven points ahead of their trip to Mestalla next weekend, with both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid 11 points adrift before they face off in the Madrid derby.

However, two simple Suarez finishes from close range either side of half-time and Paulinho’s late tap-in glossed over another under-par performance from Ernesto Valverde’s men, who were again thankful to a fine display from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Suarez was refreshed after sitting out international duty with Uruguay over the past fortnight and had the ball in the net after just four minutes, but Jordi Alba had already been flagged for offside as he sup-plied the cross for the former Liverpool striker.

Leganes have enjoyed a fine start to just their second ever season in the Span-ish top flight and a repeat of the 5-0 thrashing Barca dished out on their visit to Butarque last season was never likely as the hosts went onto enjoy the better of the opening half.

The busy Nordin Ambrabat fired a shot over a positive run at the Barca defence before Gabriel Pires also dragged an effort wide when well-placed at the edge of the box.

However, Leganes’ good work in the

opening half hour was undone by a goalkeep-ing error when Ivan Cuellar limply palmed Paco Alcacer’s driven cross into the path of the grateful Suarez to smash home his first goal for a month.

Barca were ruth-lessly efficient in front of goal to double their lead on the hour mark.

Lionel Messi ’s dinked pass released Alcacer and after Cuellar parried his first effort, Suarez drilled home the rebound for his second of the afternoon.

However, Barca piled more pres-sure on the chasing Atletico and Real

ahead of the Madrid derby and rubbed salt into Leganes’ wounds when Paulinho rolled into an empty net when a loose ball broke off Messi in stoppage time.

Lewandowski double puts Bayern six-points clearBerlin

AFP

Robert Lewandowski has now netted 17 goals for Bayern Munich this season

after his double left the Bundes-liga leaders six points clear with a 3-0 thumping of Augsburg yesterday.

Lewandowski, who has dyed

his hair silver, underlined his sta-tus as the Bundesliga’s top scorer by netting either side of the break in Munich to leave him with 13 goals in 12 league games this season.

Bayern looked impressive with Lewandowski showing off his finishing skills after Arturo Vidal gave the hosts a deserved lead after 31 minutes at the

Allianz Arena. Vidal struck after the ball ricocheted around Augs-burg’s penalty area as Lewandowski, then Mats Hum-mels failed to get their shots away before the Chile midfielder hit the back of the net.

Lewandowski grabbed his first by firing home Vidal’s final pass just before the break, then grabbed his second on 49

minutes when he converted Joshua Kimmich’s pinpoint cross.

The victory was a good warm-up for Wednesday’s Champions League match at Anderlecht and increases Bay-ern’s lead over second-placed Leipzig who drew 2-2 at ten-man Bayer Leverkusen.

Germany striker Timo Werner converted an early

penalty, but the hosts equalised when Jamaica midfielder Leon Bailey got in behind the defence and fired home a minute before the break.

Leipzig were furious as the equaliser came even their mid-fielder Naby Keita was down injured.

Emil Forsberg converted a penalty on 54 minutes to restore

Leipzig’s lead after Benjamin Henrichs was sent off for using his hand to save a shot on the line.

But a wonderful Kevin Vol-land volley on 74 minutes put Leverkusen level despite the numerical disadvantage. A draw was not the best result for Leip-zig before Tuesday’s Champions League match at Monaco.

Barcelona forward Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish League match against Leganes at the Butarque Stadium in Leganes yesterday.

English Premier League results yesterday:Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 36, Sanchez 41) Tottenham

Hotspur 0

Bournemouth 4 (Wilson 26, 31, 84, Arter 70)

Huddersfield 0

Burnley 2 (Cork 29, Barnes 40) Swansea 0

Crystal Palace 2 (McArthur 1, Zaha 35) Everton 2

(Baines 6-pen, Niasse 45+1)

Leicester 0 Manchester City 2 (Jesus 45, De Bru-

yne 49)

Liverpool 3 (Salah 31, 41, Coutinho 68) South-

ampton 0

West Bromwich Albion 0 Chelsea 4 (Morata 17,

Hazard 23, 62, Alonso 38)

Playing today (1600 GMT)Watford vs West Ham

Playing Monday (2000 GMT)

Brighton vs Stoke

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

23SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

Stage set for QTTC round under lights at LICThe Peninsula

A round of the new Qatar Touring Car C h a m p i o n s h i p (QTTC) will be held between November

30 and December 1, it was announced yesterday.

The new support race will be staged during the forthcoming FIA World Touring Car Champi-onship (WTTC) leg to be held under lights at Losail Interna-tional Circuit (LIC), organisers have confirmed following prac-tice sessions completed by home entries over the weekend.

The official practice for the QTCC support race took place at

LIC for two days this weekend to assist the participating driv-ers fine tune their cars.

During the two days of prac-tice, Qatari driver Nasser Al Kuwari with a GT86 emerged as the fastest driver with a lap time of 2:27.028.

“Overall I am happy with the performance during these two days as it will be my first time I enter to this type of competition as I have racing in rallies before. I want to thank to my father all his support with this car in order to compete in the QTCC,” Al Kuwari said.

The second fastest driver was Saadon Al Kuwari with a lap time of 2:27.394. Abdullah Al Khelaifi

finished in third place in a time of 2:27.807.

Defending QTCC champion Abdullah Al Khelaifi is looking forward to start a new season together with the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

“I am very excited to be back. This is where it all started for me and I am planning to defend my title and give a good show to WTCC drivers and audience as our race will be held with WTCC race of Qatar,” an excited Al Khelaifi said yesterday.

“Regarding the official prac-tice, it went well as I gathered enough information to modify and find the correct setup for our race. I wish all the best for all the drivers and hope that the new drivers enjoy this champion-ship,” Al Khelaifi said.

The runners-up of 2016/2017 QTCC season Mansour Al Hajri couldn’t feature in the official practice but he will take part in the new season although he will miss some rounds.

Also, on Friday, organisers safely completed another edition of ‘Losail Time Attack’ session.

Divided into 3 different groups depending on the speci-fications of the car, each driver was able to drive for two 20 min-utes to get the best time they could and the drivers with the best lap time entered the final.

Qatari driver Mohamad Al Kaiat on his McLaren MP4 12C was the fastest driver in A cate-gory followed by Makram Bouchacra from Lebanon and Martin Staffel from Germany.

“It was amazing but I hope next time faster cars can enter in

my category and the competi-tion is more challenging. Overall the event was very good, every-body enjoyed a lot. I give my thanks to Losail Circuit Sports Club (LCSC) for organising this event,” Al Kaiat said at the end of the podium ceremony.

The Argentinian driver Juan Pablo Pinto was the winner in group B and Mohammed Al Khayarin was the fastest in group C. Al Kaiat also got the trophy for the fastest lap dur-ing the event with a time of 2:16.985.

Qatari driver Nasser Al Kuwari competes in the official practice session of the Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTTC) at Losail International Circuit (LIC). Al Kuwari emerged as the fastest driver with a lap time of 2:27.028.

The podium winners at the ‘Losail Time Attack’ session pose with their trophies at the Losail International Circuit.

I am very excited to be back. This is where it all started for me and I am planning to defend my title and give a good show to WTCC drivers and audience as our race will be held with WTCC race of Qatar: QTCC defending champion Abdullah Al Khelaifi

Zurich

AP

Former England forward Gary Lineker (pictured), a long-standing critic of FIFA,

will present the World Cup draw alongside Russian sports jour-nalist Maria Komandnaya at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow on December 1.

Lineker has often questioned the conduct of FIFA to his 6.7 million followers on Twitter — particularly the integrity of the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup that England lost.

“FIFA bidding process cre-ated a murky world where favours/bribes were just thrown around. Stinks,” Lineker tweeted in June after the investigation was published that cleared Rus-sia of wrongdoing.

In 2016, Lineker highlighted “FIFA’s basket of deplorables” and separately tweeted that “FIFA is awash with corruption and self serving practices.”

Asked Friday on Twitter about being a critic of FIFA, Lineker replied: “And still will be when necessary. I’m hosting the draw for a World Cup that I’ve watched all my life, played in twice, won its Golden boot and will present for @BBCSport for the 6th time next summer. I just wish I could still play in it. Doesn’t make it a political endorsement.”

Lineker won the Golden Boot as top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, and helped England reach

the semifinals in 1990. He is now a respected broadcaster for Brit-ish networks. FIFA deputy secretary general Zvonimir Boban said Lineker’s “honest and open views together with his in-depth knowledge of the game greatly enrich the world of foot-ball journalism.”

Komandnaya has worked for Fox Sports for more than a dec-ade as one of Russia’s best known sports journalists.

Russia hosts the 32-team World Cup from June 14-July 15.

FIFA critic Lineker picked to host the

2018 World Cup draw in Moscow World Cup 2018:

Qualifiers

Europe:

Africa:

Asia:

North, Central America and Caribbean:

South America:

Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Russia (as hosts), Serbia, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark

Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia

Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia

Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama

Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Peru

Juve’s Allegri coy on Italy jobRome

AFP

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri distanced himself from taking up the vacant

post as Italy coach yesterday, but left the door open to even-tually accepting the job.

Italy are still reeling from their historic failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals after Sweden beat them in the play-offs on Monday.

Heartbroken Italians are looking for some immediate positive response, and Allegri, who won the Italian title in 2011 at AC Milan and the last three at Juventus, would fit the bill.

“Coaching the national team is one of my ambitions, but not right now,” the 50-year-old told a press conference ahead of Juventus’s game at Sampdoria today.

“In a few years,” said the man who made his name as coach at Cagliari and who is

known as tactically astute.“I still have major objectives

to attain with Juventus, build-ing a team for the future.”

“As for the national team we can talk about that in a few years time, if indeed I ever get offered the job,” said Allegri, who took over Juventus in 2014.

Italy is still floundering in disbelief after 75,000 stunned fans in Milan’s San Siro Stadium and 14.8 million horrified Ital-ians watched their national fall from grace at the hands of Swe-den on Monday.

Italy had only failed once before to make the cut, at the Sweden finals of 1958. The Ital-ian football federation called crisis talks on Wednesday and sacked the 69-year-old Gian Piero Ventura.

With his avuncular touch the former Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG and Juventus coach Carlo Ance-lotti is the favourite to take over and rebuild the Azzurri.

24 SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT 25SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

Sydney

AFP

Spin legend Shane Warne says Aus-tralia are in a state of “confusion” heading into the Ashes series, with

England primed for a first Gabba Test boilover.

Even amid the massive distraction of the Ben Stokes assault saga, Warne believes it’s the tourists who no longer hold any fears about an unsettled Aus-tralian cricket team.

The Australian leg-spin great says Australia are in a shambles with wick-etkeeper Tim Paine’s surprise selection pointing to a lack of direction from selectors.

Paine, chosen for his first Test in seven years, and 34-year-old Shaun Marsh recalled to the Test side for the eighth time, were the controversial selections announced on Friday for next week’s first Test in Brisbane.

Pundits say Australia’s Gabba for-tress, where the home side is unbeaten in almost 30 years, is now under threat from an England squad missing their best player all-rounder Stokes, back at home and under investigation over a nightclub brawl.

“At the moment, where the biggest shift has come over the last few years is they don’t fear Australia anymore,” Warne told reporters on Friday.

“England no longer fear Australia and haven’t for a long time and hence that’s why they can beat Australia.

“England, I think at the moment, are just going along nicely. They’re just doing their business.

“Australia look con-fused. They’re picking wicketkeepers that aren’t even keeping for their state.

“To me, I think England are in a better situation going into that first Test match than what Australia are.”

Television commentating veteran Bill Lawry agreed with Warne that Aus-tralia is missing a Mitchell Johnston-styled intimidator, despite Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins capa-ble of bowling fast.

“I think the big key to this Ashes series is Mitchell Johnson and he’s not playing,” Lawry said.

“If I was an opening batsman I wouldn’t be losing too much sleep facing the Australian pace attack as

far as pace is concerned,” he said.“They’re all good bowlers but

they’re not going to frighten you.”Former Test captain

Michael Clarke said the Aus-tralian team was unsure about their playing style heading into the five-Test series.

Warne is predicting the Ashes series to be the hardest-fought and most dramatic since the iconic 2005 campaign, which England famously won in a fifth-Test decider.

The leg-spinning great says both sides are weak because they rely too much on two players -- Australia on David Warner and Steve Smith and England on Alastair Cook and Joe Root.

“It will get down to how those guys bat,” said Warne.

Steve Smith (Captain), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jack-son Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood,

Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

AUSTRALIA SQUAD FOR ASHES

hink at the moment, ng nicely. They’re justess.ok con-cking that

ping

hink better ininntototo tt thahahahattt t thhan what Australia

mmentating veteran iwith Warne that Aus-sing a Mitchellintimidator, ddespipitete P Pat Cumummim ns ccaapa--t.tigg key to this Ashesohohnsononn a aandnd hhe’e s not aid...oopepepeennningngg bbbatatatsmann II II ngngg tt tooooo mmmuuuch slslsls eeeee p p

alalian papapapacce aaaatttttttack ass

Former Test captainMichael Clarke said the Aus-tralian team was unsure about their playing styleheading into the five-Test series.

Warne is predicting the Ashes series to be the hardest-foughth andnd m mosostt drdrdd amamamatatticicicc s sininncece t thhe iconic202000505050 c c camampaign, whiichchh Engllaaannanddd dd fafaaaamomomomomousususususlllly won ina a fififiiftftftfthhh-Test decider.

The leg-spinning Th l i igrgreaeat says both sides araree wweak beccause theheyy rely too o mumuchch on twtwo players-- A Ausustrtralaliia on David Waarnrnerer and Steve Smithh annd d England on Alastaiirr CCoCookok and d Joe Roooto .

“I“Itt wiwiww llll g geet ddddowowown toto h howow ththosossee guguysys b bata ,” ssaidid WWWarra ne..

sos n Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood,Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh,

Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Australia confused ahead of Ashes, says spin legend Warne

First Test:Gabba, November 23-27

Second Test:Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night)

Third Test:Perth TBC, December 14-18

Fourth Test: MCG, December 26-30

Fifth Test:SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test)

ASHES SERIES: FIXTURES

England no longer fear Australia and haven’t for a

long time and hence that’s why they can

beat Australia.Australia look confused.

They’re picking wicketkeepers that aren’t

even keeping for their state: Shane Warne

India restricted to 172 as S ri Lanka eye handy lead Kolkata

Reuters

Fifties from Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews kept Sri Lanka firmly on course for a handy first-

innings lead against India on day three of the rain-hit first Test yesterday.

The islanders, bidding for their first Test victory in India, dismissed the hosts for 172 and closed on 165-4, as the rain stayed away after allowing only 32.5 overs to be bowled in the first two days.

Niroshan Dickwella was batting on 14 when bad light stopped play and skip-per Dinesh Chandimal was on 13 with the tourists seven runs behind.

After India resumed on a precarious 74-5, the bottom half of their order con-tributed 98 runs in the morning session to lend respectability to their total on a green Eden Gardens track.

Cheteshwar Pujara brought up his 16th Test fifty but was clean bowled by Lahiru Gamage for 52, a patient knock in trying conditions that included 10 boundaries.

Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja refused to retreat into a defensive shell, though they were not entirely con-vincing during their 48-run partnership.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Saha, who made 29, was lucky to get a reprieve four runs before his dismissal when Dickwella missed an easy stumping off Dilruwan Perera.

Jadeja, who made 22, hit Perera for a six over long-on but the off-spinner responded by removing both batsmen in the same over.

Suranga Lakmal dismissed Bhuv-neshwar Kumar to claim his fourth wicket, his tidy 19 overs including 12 maidens.

Mohammed Shami made a breezy 24 down the order but India still fell short of the 175-run mark.

Sadeera Samarawickrama’s 23 off 22 balls gave Sri Lanka a fast start but Kumar exploited the conditions well to peg back the tourists.

The paceman dismissed Dimuth Kar-unaratne lbw for eight and had Samarawickrama caught behind in his next over.

Despite their occasional discomfort against the moving ball, Thirimanne and Mathews thwarted the hosts with a match-high 99-run stand.

Dropped by Shikhar Dhawan on 27, Thirimanne went on to make 51, while Mathews, playing as a specialist batsman on his return from injury, made 52 before Umesh Yadav dismissed both in succes-sive overs.

India (I innings):L Rahul c Dickwella b Lakmal ..............................................................0

S Dhawan b Lakmal ...............................................................................8

C Pujara b Gamage ...............................................................................52

V Kohli lbw b Lakmal .............................................................................0

A Rahane c Dickwella b Shanaka ........................................................4

R Ashwin c Karunaratne b Shanaka ..................................................4

W Saha c Mathews b Perera ............................................................. 29

R Jadeja lbw b Perera ......................................................................... 22

B Kumar c Dickwella b Lakmal .......................................................... 13

M Shami c Shanaka b Gamage ......................................................... 24

U Yadav (not out) ...................................................................................6

Extras (LB4, B6) .................................................................................10

Total (all out) ............................................................... 172Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-13, 3-17, 4-30, 5-50, 6-79, 7-127, 8-128,

9-146, 10-172

Bowling: Lakmal 19-12-26-4, Gamage 17.3-5-59-2, Shanaka

12-4-36-2, Karunaratne 2-0-17-0, Herath 2-0-5-0, Perera

7-1-19-2

Sri Lanka (I innings):S Samarawickrama c Saha b Kumar .................................................23

D Karunaratne lbw b Kumar ................................................................8

L Thirimanne c Kohli b Yadav ............................................................ 51

A Mathews c Rahul b Yadav ...............................................................52

D Chandimal (batting) ........................................................................ 13

N Dickwella(batting) ............................................................................. 14

Extras (LB4) ...........................................................................................4

Total (4 wkts) .............................................................. 165Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-34, 3-133, 4-138

Still to bat: D Shanaka, D Perera, R Herath, S Lakmal, L Gamage

Bowling: Kumar 14.4-2-49-2, Shami 13.5-5-53-0, Yadav 13-1-

50-2, Ashwin 4-0-9-0, Kohli 0.1-0-0-0

SCOREBOARD

Marsh eager to make the best out of his ‘last chance’ Sydney

Reuters

Batsman Shaun Marsh (pictured) is deter-mined to grasp what

he admits is probably a final chance to establish himself as a regular mem-ber of the Australia Test side after earning an Ashes recall.

The 34-year-old, who has played 23 Tests since his debut in 2011, was one of a couple of surprise inclusions in the Australia squad named on Friday for next week’s opener against England in Brisbane.

Marsh secured his eighth recall to the Test side with some solid form for Western Australia but conceded that failure on Australian cricket’s biggest stage could end his Test career.

“I’m not trying to think about it that way, it’s another opportunity for me to get out there and play some good cricket for Aus-tralia,” Marsh, who averages 36 in Tests, told reporters in Brisbane.

“I know I’ve got some runs in me still to go, so I’ve just got to prepare well and just enjoy it, have a lot of fun and bat myself in.”

Marsh has been opening for his state but is likely to bat in the number six spot against England having seen off the claims of brother Mitchell, team mate Hilton Cartwright and the incumbent Glenn Maxwell.

After playing in all four Tests on the tour of India earlier this year Marsh was dumped for the following tour of Bang-ladesh in what was quite a blow given he was considered something of subconti-nent specialist.

His recall did not cause as much surprise at that of 32-year-old wick-etkeeper Tim Paine, a pick criticised as “confused” by spin bowling great Shane Warne, and Marsh himself was

left with just one prevailing emotion.“It’s just excitement,” Marsh added.

“I hadn’t really thought about it much over the last two or three of months. I just thought if I played good cricket for WA then I might have a sniff. I just can’t wait to get out there and have a crack.

“An Ashes series in Australia, it doesn’t get any better than that, I’m going to give it a red hot crack.”

Injury has also played a significant role in Marsh’s stop-start career but he said he was in good shape going into the five-match series.

“My body’s in really good condition at the moment,” he said. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball the best I have done for a long while so I’ll go in with plenty of confidence.”

England bowlers struggle against novice pair in final Ashes warm-up Townsville, Australia

AFP

Novices Jason Sangha and Matt Short scored their maiden first-class centuries for a Cricket

Australia XI to frustrate England on the last day of their final Ashes warm-up game yesterday.

Eighteen-year old Sangha and team skipper Short -- with only seven first-class matches between them -- shared in a 263-run fourth-wicket stand to draw the four-day game ahead of next week’s first Brisbane Test.

Sangha hit 133 off 226 balls with 13 fours and a six, while Short remained unbeaten on 134 off 264 balls when the game was called off late on the final day in Townsville.

Sangha is the second-youngest player to score a century against Eng-land behind India great Sachin Tendulkar.

He was finally caught off leg-spin-ner Mason Crane, allowing the tourists to avoid the indignity of going wicket-less on the final day.

“It’s not really damaging to us,” Eng-land coach Trevor Bayliss said.

“Obviously we’d like to take 10 wick-ets for 90 runs in every game, but this is what can happen in cricket.

“A number of guys spent time in the middle with the bat and the bowlers got a lot of overs under their belts.

“Hopefully everyone now has got their rhythms right and they can come out next week and go from ball one.”

The inexperienced CA XI finished on 364 for four off 110 overs to lead by 99 runs when the rival captains agreed a draw.

Sangha was dropped by Mark Stone-man on 43 but England’s bowlers created few other chances.

England comfortably defeated a sim-ilar CA XI in Adelaide last week and for two days in north Queensland they had looked set to do so again.

The CA XI ended the third day on 121 for three, trailing England by 144 and short of a batsman because of an injury to Nick Larkin.

But Sangha and Short made the most of the benign conditions to ensure Eng-land spent the fourth day toiling in the tropical heat.

Pace bowler Craig Overton was treated with disdain, going wicketless for 65 off 15 overs.

Off-spinner Moeen Ali, in his first game of the tour after a side injury, bowled a total of 48 overs in the match. But fellow spinner Crane was loose, fin-ishing the second innings with two for 97 from 30 overs.

By the end, England were using part-time spinners Joe Root and Dawid Malan to protect the frontliners and hasten the finish.

“It was good to spend some time in the field. I’m sure there will be times dur-ing the Test series where we’re out in the field all day,” Bayliss said.

“There were two young guys out there that batted very, very well. All credit to them. They looked good. It’s good for Australian cricket.”

Brief Scores: Cricket Australia XI: 250 & 364-4

(Matt Short 134 n.o., Jason Sangha 133, Moeen Ali 2-88, Crane 2-97)

England: 515 (Mark Stoneman 111, Dawid Malan 109, Joe Root 83)

Bangladesh raids stadiums to tackle illegal betting Dhaka

AFP

Bangladesh has launched a series of police raids to crack down on illegal betting in cricket stadiums

that has gripped the country’s main Twenty20 competition, tournament officials said yesterday.

Some 77 people have been thrown out of two cricket grounds in the cities of Dhaka and Sylhet in the past few days after being suspected of betting during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a lucrative competition modelled on the Indian Premier League, officials said.

Betting is illegal in Bangladesh, but the alleged offenders -- 10 of whom were Indian nationals -- used their mobile phones to place live bets before scores were broadcast on television and online, BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick told reporters.

“Matches go on air four to five sec-onds or in some cases nine seconds after the original actions take place (on the ground). Gamblers were using the time gap to do betting,” he said.

The bettors were monitored at the venues, before being caught and evicted with assistance from special branch police, Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.

The BPL has been dogged by bet-ting allegations since its first two editions in 2011 and 2012 were blighted by a match-fixing scandal involving players and team owners.

Top Bengali daily Prothom Alo

reported last week that betting has become common in cities and remote towns during BPL matches.

Tea stalls, restaurants and auto-rickshaw garages have all become venues for fans to place their bets dur-ing the matches, the newspaper said.

A university student was allegedly murdered following an argument over a bet during a BPL match in Dhaka on November 6.

But Mallick said cricket authorities alone could not stop illegal gambling.

“We are trying to create awareness ... but we can’t stop betting around the country. It entirely depends on the law-enforcing agencies,” he said.

The cricket board has tried similar tactics to curb betting in the past -- at least four suspected bookmakers were thrown out of cricket stadiums in 2015 -- but that has not stopped the gamblers.

Last year the Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Commission blocked 12 betting websites in an attempt to curb gambling during cricket matches.

Nearly 50 foreign cricketers, includ-ing Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, the West Indies’ Chris Gayle, New Zealand’s Bren-don McCullum and England’s Jos Buttler are taking part in the seven-team BPL tournament this year.

Kolkata

AFP

Angelo Mathews called on Sri Lanka’s batsmen to convert their half-

centuries into big hundreds to secure victory against India in the rain-hit opening Test yesterday.

Mathews, who made 52 on his return from injury, put together a crucial 99-run third-wicket stand with Lahiru Thirimanne, who made 51, to make Sri Lanka end day three on 165-4 in Kolkata.

The visitors trail India by seven runs with skipper Dinesh Chandimal not out on 13 and Niroshan Dickwella on 14.

“We have to go out there and take responsibility and try and score as many runs as possible,” Mathews told reporters.

“Fifties are not going to do any good to anyone. Not for me and not for my team. If we get a start we need to go onto get a big one. It was a chal-lenging wicket,” the former captain said.

The left-right batting combination of Thirimanne and Mathews mixed caution and aggression against a per-sistent Indian pace attack.

Indian quicks Bhuv-neshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav claimed two wickets each on a day when almost three full sessions were played.

Only 31.5 overs were bowled on the first two days because of rain and bad light.

Thirimanne, who was dropped on 27, edged a mov-ing delivery by Yadav soon after registering his fifth Test fifty, and skipper Virat Kohli made no mistake at second slip.

Yadav struck again in his next over to send Mathews, making a 50 in an impres-sive comeback from injury, back to the pavilion after giving away a simple catch to Lokesh Rahul at short cover.

Kumar struck early to remove openers Dimuth Karunaratne, for eight, and Sadeera Samarawick-

rama, for 23, as the visitors slipped to 34-2 before bounc-ing back.

“In the last few years the Indians have been producing some superb fast bowlers. Mohammad Shami, Bhuv-neshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are world class,” said Mathews.

“We need to be mentally prepared and be ready to score runs off them. I think we can.”

In the morning session, a lower-order push by Indian bats-men saw the hosts post 172, a score that looked unlikely at 128-8.

A f t e r

o v e r n i g h t b a t s m a n Cheteshwar Pujara fell early on 52, vital contributions from Wriddhiman Saha (29), Ravin-dra Jadeja (22) and 24 from number-10 Shami frustrated the Sri Lankan bowling.

“At this stage we are very much in the game. Obviously wicket has got a little better. We had got 170 odd runs and then picked four wickets,” Pujara said.

“I think we are confident that if weather permits, we will try and make a game out of it.”

Pujara also added that participating in county cricket, for his side Not-tinghamshire, gave him valuable “exposure” of playing on many challeng-

ing wickets.

, edged a mov-y Yadav soon

ng his fifth Testper Virat Kohliake at second

ck again in his end Mathews,in an impres-k from injury,pavilion aftera simple catchahul at short

ruck early toners Dimuthor eight, and

marawick-

lower-order push by Indian bats-men saw the hosts post 172, a score that looked unlikely at128-8.

A f t e r

will try and make a game outof it.”

Pujara also added thatparticipating in countycricket, for his side Not-tinghamshire, gave himvaluable “exposure” of playing on many challeng-

ing wickets.

Angelo Mathews

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews (left) and Lahiru Thirimanne run between

the wickets during the third day of the first

Test against India at the Eden Gardens Stadium in

Kolkata yesterday.

Mathews calls on Sri Lanka to turn half-tons into big centuries

In this file photograph taken on August 27, 2017, Bangladeshi ground staff cover the pitch as rain approaches during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Australia at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh has launched a series of police raids to crack down on illegal betting in cricket stadiums that has gripped the country's main Twenty20 competition, tournament officials said yesterday. Some 77 people have been thrown out of two cricket grounds in the cities of Dhaka and Sylhet in the past few days after being suspected of betting during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a lucrative competition modelled on the Indian Premier League, officials said.

26 SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

27SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

James leads Cavaliers to victory Los Angeles

AFP

LeBron James produced a 39-point masterclass as the Cleveland Cava-liers rallied to overhaul the Los Angeles Clip-

pers in an overtime thriller on Friday.

James added 14 rebounds and six assists to his 39 point tally while Kevin Love grabbed 25 points to power the Cavs to a 118-113 overtime victory at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The win helped cement Cleveland’s climb in the Eastern Conference standings, with the 2016 NBA champions now at 9-7 after four straight wins.

But the Cavs did it the hard way, repeatedly allowing the Clippers to open up sizeable leads before reeling them in.

It was the second time this week the Cavs had been forced to dig themselves out of a hole after recovering from a 23-point deficit against the Knicks in New York.

“That’s how the game is being played for us at this point in the season,” said James.

“It’s good to know that we’re building character and building resiliency and you can do that

with a new group then that def-initely can help us in the long run, so we can’t say that we wish we wouldn’t do that, but it is what it is.

“That’s the way the game is being played and we got to adjust to it.”

The Clippers were unable to ram home their advantage after leading 92-82 with 8:51 left in the fourth and 101-93 with just under five minutes on the clock.

The Clippers had also led by 81-66 with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter only to see the lead evaporate after James’ com-manding performance.

Dwyane Wade was the only other Cleveland player to crack double digits, with 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Los Angeles meanwhile spread their scoring more evenly, with Blake Griffin leading with 23 and DeAndre Jordan adding 20.

Four other Clippers players also reached double figures for the night, but it was not enough.

The Clippers now have lost seven straight, a dip in form that has seen them slump to 5-9 for the season.

“This is about the fourth game to me that we had a chance to win it at the end we just have

not gotten it done,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.

“It tells you that you’re closer than you think you are, no mat-ter what your record is.”

Griffin meanwhile took no solace from another narrow defeat.

“Ultimately, being close doesn’t really help you win games (in the future),” Griffin said. “Being close is not what we want.”

Elsewhere on Friday, the San Antonio Spurs produced another fightback to topple Russell West-brook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in an absorbing clash between the Western Conference rivals.

The Spurs trailed by 23 points

in the second quarter but fought back to claim a 104-101 victory at the AT&T Center in Texas.

LaMarcus Aldridge was the talisman for San Antonio, scor-ing 26 points including a crucial basket in the final minute as the Spurs improved to 10-6. Okla-homa City fell to 7-8 after the loss. The Thunder had trailed by six points in the final quarter but came back to 100-99 with 45 seconds left after a free throw by Paul George.

Aldridge scored to put San Antonio up by three at 102-99 only for Carmelo Anthony’s score to make it 102-101. Pau Gasol then hit two free throws to extend San Antonio’s lead before a wild effort by Westbrook on the buzzer missed the rim.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised the way his side had fought back from its early deficit.

“They pounded the rock, kept a great attitude, kept their minds on playing basic basketball and things turned their way,” Popo-vich said.

“The effort was great and we played a lot smarter in the sec-ond half, took care of the ball and showed a lot of courage. A lot of good performances from a lot of guys, but overall a great team win.”=

Denver 146 New Orleans 114

Phoenix 122 LA Lakers 113

Sacramento 86 Portland 82

Minnesota 111 Dallas 87

Chicago 123 Charlotte 120

San Antonio 104 Oklahoma City 101

Brooklyn 118 Utah 107

Cleveland 118 LA Clippers 113

Toronto 107 NY Knicks 84

Indiana 107 Detroit 100

Miami 91 Washington 88

NBA RESULTS

Cleveland Cavaliers forward

LeBron James (23) dunks the ball past Los

Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers during

their NBA game at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday

Blue Jackets blank Rangers as Reds Wings down Sabres

Badminton: Axelsen sets up China Open final with Long

New York Agencies

Zach Werenski (pictured above) and Artemi Panarin each scored a goal, Sergei Bobrovsky posted

his second shutout of the season and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the New York Rangers 2-0 at Nation-wide Arena.

The Blue Jackets (12-7-1) won their third straight game and Bobrovsky has been in goal for all three, allowing a combined two goals.

Bobrovsky finished with 36 saves against the Rangers for his 11th win of the season. Henrik Lundqvist made 40 stops for New York.

Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jen-ner and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had an assist for the Blue Jackets.

Meanwhile, Tomas Tatar’s fifth goal of the season, 8:36 into the third period, snapped a 1-1 tie and pro-pelled the Detroit Red Wings a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

With Wings forward Justin Abdelkader screening Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, Tatar’s long wrist shot from just inside the blue line banked off the top of Lehner’s pad and into the net.

Dylan Larkin added an insurance goal when he knocked the rebound of a Xavier Ouellet shot past Lehner with 4:06 to play in the third period.

Luke Glendening also scored for the Wings (10-8-2) while Ryan O’Reilly replied for the Sabres (5-10-4).

The victory ended Detroit’s four-game losing streak against Buffalo.

Shanghai

AFP

World number one Viktor Axelsen (pictured above) of Denmark will play the

reigning Olympic champion and home hope Chen Long in today’s mouth-watering final of the China Open.

In the women’s draw in Fuzhou, the Japanese fifth seed Akane Yamaguchi takes on the Chinese qualifier Gao Fangjie, who had pre-viously never made it past the first round of a Superseries event.

The 23-year-old Axelsen, the cur-rent world champion and top seed, needed just 39 minutes to defeat unseeded Angus Ng Ka-long of Hong Kong 21-12, 21-17 in their one-sided semi-final on Saturday.

The imperious Axelsen is just one win away from his maiden China Open triumph. But first he must see off the sixth seed Chen, who booked his ticket for the final with a topsy-turvy 21-17, 10-21, 21-7 victory over South Korea’s second seed Son Wan-Ho in 71 minutes. Chen, 28, holds a strong advantage in his meetings with Axelsen, beating the Dane seven times and losing to him just once.

The home crowd will also have another Chinese to roar in Sunday’s women’s final in the form of 19-year-old surprise-package Gao.

The teenager stunned current Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain 21-19, 21-19 in one hour.

Gao’s opponent in the decider will be the Japanese Yamaguchi, who defeated Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, seeded eight, 21-14, 21-18.

Rugby: Fiji stun New Zealand; Tonga survive Lebanon scare Christchurch

AFP

Fijian players wept for joy after pulling off a stunning 4-2 victory

over New Zealand in a try-less World Cup encounter in Wellington yesterday, to book a semi-final berth against Australia.

In an error-riddled quarter-final, in which both sides were plagued by han-dling errors and struggled to complete their sets, tier-two Fiji outscored former cham-pions New Zealand by two penalties to one.

The win pitches Fiji into a semi-final against holders Australia for the third suc-cessive World Cup and dumps New Zealand, the 2008 World champions, out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

Earlier, Tonga fended off a desperate finish by Leba-non to claim a thrilling 24-22 victory in an intense quar-ter-final in Christchurch. They will face either England or Papua New Guinea in the

other semi-final. New Zea-land were looking for redemption after being top-pled by another tier-two side, Tonga, last week. But instead they had to take a back seat for a second time.

They were humbled by Jarryd Hayne’s Fijians, who showed considerably more desire and flair to win in the first-ever rugby league international between the two countries.

From the opening whis-tle the Fijians rocked the Kiwis and never eased the pressure in the first half to turn with a 2-0 lead after

dominating possession.As Fiji piled on the early

pressure, fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was twice called upon to make try-sav-ing tackles. The islanders were denied another scor-ing opportunity when Brayden Wiliame lost the ball over the line.

The only points in the first spell came from an Api-sai Koroisau penalty goal in the 13th minute. New Zea-land equalised through a Shaun Johnson penalty three minutes into the second half.

Minutes later, Fiji opted to run the ball rather than

take a handy shot at goal when Jordan Rapana was sent to the sin bin.

But when that did not pay off they did not hesitate to take the kick when awarded another penalty with 20 minutes remaining, and Taane Milne put the islanders ahead 4-2.

As the match ticked down to the final whistle New Zealand attacked the Fiji line but to no avail.

With 90 seconds remaining, Rapana chipped towards the line for Brad Takairangi to run on to. But the kick went too far and Fiji were able to run the clock down.

In Christchurch, Tonga led 22-16 at half-time and the telling two-point differ-ence at the end was achieved early in the second half when Ata Hingano landed a pressure penalty goal.

The Pacific Islanders were making the play-offs for the first time, but largely part-time Lebanon had three close try-scoring attempts disallowed by the referee.

Fiji’s Eloni Vunakece (centre) celebrates their win with team-mates after the Rugby League World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand in Wellington yesterday.

Fiji shock New ZealandThe win pitches Fiji into a semi-final against holders Australia

for the third successive World Cup and dumps New Zealand,

the 2008 World champions, out of the tournament at the

quarter-final stage

Tonga rally to win Tonga fended off a desperate finish by Lebanon to claim a

thrilling 24-22 win in an intense quarter-final in Christchurch..

LEAGUE WORLD CUP

Rizwan RehmatThe Peninsula

Veteran rider Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani yesterday produced a controlled routine with First Devision to win

the Grand Prix title on day three of the QNB Qatar International Show Jumping Championship.

The 35-year-old Qatari sailed through the 160cm class - part of the FEI World Cup qualifying leg - to complete a memorable win in the four-rider jump-off.

Sheikh Ali’s win - that came in 55.77 seconds - completed a dom-inating show for home riders who won two out of the three feature competitions at the CSI4* championship.

Veteran Australian rider Edwina Tops-Alexander finished in second spot with Inca Boy Vant T Viahanof in a time of 63.09 seconds.

Ali Al Khorafi, riding under the FEI flag, secured the third spot with Cheril (53.57 seconds) but got penal-ised for four faults.

Popular Turkish rider Derin Demirsoy (Harry K), finished in fourth place in a time of 51.23 sec-onds (12 faults).

Sheikh Ali won €22,975 while Tops-Alexander got €18,785. Third-placed Al Khorafi picked up €13,785 while Demirsoy got richer by €9,190.

“It’s a good win as it will give me confidence for next week also,” Sheikh Ali said. “This was very good practice for future events. My horse has won three times before and he was sixth in the Olympics,” he added.

“It seemed too easy for him but to win is always special,” the Qatari said. “It is very important for me to make my country happy. We did that today. We dominated at this championship because we have a good team now. We have good horses and good trainers.

“We work hard (for the wins) and you can see that every year.

Hopefully we will have the best team in the future also,” the popu-lar Qatari rider added.

Tops-Alexander said: “I am very happy. This was the first time he went out for this Grand Prix. I couldn’t be happier, I am also happy that Ali won. It was a very good win by him.”

Continuing from where he left off at the LGCT final round last week, Qatar’s Bassem Mohammed yesterday returned to the podium with a resounding win with Toy-maker, edging veteran rider Tops-Alexander to the top spot.

Bassem sailed to his win in a time of 54.75 seconds in the 145cm class under lights at the QEF’s Out-door Arena.

Winner of the Doha Grand Prix at Al Shaqab last week, Bassem

picked up the top prize of €6,150.Tops-Alexander, astride eight-

year-old Veronese Teamjoy, finished in second spot in a time of 57.37 seconds. The 43-year-old Australian won €4,920.

Greek rider Athina Onassis guided Vannan to a third-place fin-ish in a time of 77.06 following a couple of faults. Onassis won €3,690.

“It is a really nice feeling since the Toymaker has just come back for competition after a rest,” Bassem said after the event. “Today was his day, thank God. I am just so happy that he jumped so well.

“I know that this event is not like LGCT but still we got to deliver. But I feel you have to respect the riders and horses at each class,” Bassem said.

“Last week’s win at Global Champions Tour was the biggest win of my career. To win especially here in Doha, I am so happy. I am motivated for the coming shows.

“I just need to stay focus and follow the plan from trainers. When you have the support of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H E

Sheikh Jooan bin Hamad Al Thani, then everything is possible,” he said.

Turkish rider Demirsoy (Dad-jak Ter Puttenen, 57.95 seconds, €2,460) and Rakan Al Hasawi (Den-nis, 57.97 seconds, €1,722) completed the top five.

Earlier in competition 7 yester-day, Qatari rider Saeed Al Qadi emerged a runaway winner with Daydreamer EC as he won the 130/135cm class at QEF’s Outdoor Arena.

Daydreamer EC clocked a time of 66.36 seconds as Al Qadi picked up €1,750 after claiming the top spot in a field of 25 riders.

French rider Cyrine Cherif guided Gerlin VD Waterkant to the second spot in a time of 73.05 sec-onds. Cherif won €1,400.

Yara Al Hunaidi, riding under the FEI flag, produced a neat but slow ride with Dinky Toy Van De Castershoeve who clocked a time of 79.32 seconds. Al Hunaidi won €1.050.

Qatar’s Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi (Fiji, 84.46 seconds, €700) and Rakan

Al Hasawi (Denver, 63.80 sec-onds, 4 faults, €490) completed the top five.

Most of the riders will feature in the QNB Al Rayyan International Show Jumping Championship to be held from Nov 23-25 at QEF’s Out-door Arena.

28 SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

Sheikh Ali prevails with First Devision as Qatari riders bag major honours

The podium winners and

participants of the National

Show Jumping competition

- Class Future Riders (75cm)

event pose for a photograph

on the final day of the QNB

Qatar International Show

Jumping Championship at

Qatar Equestrian Federation’s

(QEF) main arena in Al

Rayyan yesterday. Kanz

Azzam Abdulla Saleh guided

Wendefi VD Rashoev to win

the event. Sita, ridden by

Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani

clocked the second fastest

time while Abdulrahman Eisa

Al Bukhari who guided Funny

Thing was placed third.

(Class. 7) Table A, Against the clock FEI Art. 238.2.1 - Max. 130/135cm

Rank Horse Rider (Country) Time Prize

1: DAYDREAMER EC Saeed Nasser Al Qadi (Qatar) 66.36 secs. €1,750

2: GERLIN VD WATERKANT Cyrine Cherif (France) 73.05 secs. €1,400

3: DINKY TOY VAN DE CASTERSHOEVE Yara Al Hunaidi (FEI) 79.32 secs. €1,050

4: FIJI Khalid Mohammed Al Emadi (Qatar) 84.46 secs. €700

5: DENVER Rakan Al Hasawi (FEI) 63.80 secs. €490

(Class. 8) Table A, One Round + Winning Round FEI Art. 276.2.1, 2.3 - Max. 145 cm

Rank Horse Rider (Country) 1st Phase 2nd Phase Prize

1: THE TOYMAKER Bassem Mohammed 74.88 secs. 54.75 secs. €6,150

2: VERONESE TEAMJOY Edwina Tops-Alexander 80.63 secs. 57.37 secs. €4,920

3: VANNAN Athina Onassis 85.03 secs. 77.06 secs. €3,690

4: DADJAK TER PUTTENEN Derin Demirsoy 77.48 secs. 57.95 secs. €2,460

5: DENNIS Rakan Al Hasawi 79.44 secs. 57.97 secs. €1,722

(Class. 9) GRAND PRIX - World Cup Competition

Two Rounds FEI Art. 273.3.3.1 & 273.4.3 + 273.2.2 + Annex D FEI World Cup Arab League rules +

Annex VIII art 6 - 140-160cm

Rank Horse Rider (Country) 1st Phase 2nd Phase Prize

1: FIRST DEVISION Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani 86.65 secs. 55.77 secs. €22,975

2: INCA BOY VAN T VIANAHOF Edwina Tops-Alexander (Australia) 88.90 secs. 63.09 secs. €18,380

3: CHERIL Ali Al Khorafi (FEI) 82.54 secs. 53.57 secs. €13,785

4: HARRY K Derin Demirsoy (Turkey) 79.02 secs. 51.23 secs. €9,190

5: GUNDER Bassem Mohammed 83.33 secs. €6,433

6: SUSPENS FLOREVAL Vladimir Tuganov (Russia) 84.44 secs. €5,054

7: CHARIELLE Alexandra Thornton (GBR) 85.51 secs. €3,676

8: CANTARO Salmeen Sultan Al Suwaidi 87.66 secs. €2,757

9: CLINTON Hamad Al Attiyah 82.21 secs. €2,757

10: QUEL HOMME Nasser Al Ghazali 87.49 secs. €2,297

QNB Qatar International Show Jumping Championship: Results

Future riders

Qatar’s Bassem Mohammed guides

Toymaker over an obstacle during the 145cm class under lights at the QEF’s

Outdoor Arena yesterday.

Qatari rider Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani celebrates on First Devision during the 160cm class - part of the FEI World Cup qualifying leg on day-three of the QNB Qatar International Show Jumping Championship at QEF’s Outdoor Arena yesterday.