RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

Two weeks ago, Spanish MotoGP star Maverick Vinales said he would look to impress fans in the season-opener in Qatar. Last night, at the iconic Losail International Circuit (LIC), the Yamaha star did exactly that by winning the first race of the 2021 season with a teasing battle with Johan Zarco and pole winner Francesco Bagnaia.

The 26-year-old, despite a slow start, won the 22-lap Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar in a time of 42:28.663 for his 9th win in the MotoGP class.

Vinales, the 2013 Moto3 world champion, finished ahead of Zarco (Pramac Racing) who was +1.092 seconds slower on a night when swirling winds made racing difficult.

Third-placed Bagnaia - who stole the show with a pole-winning performance on Sat-urday - secured the third place on the podium for Ducati. The 24-year-old Italian was +1.129 seconds slower than Vinales.

Defending champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was pushed to the fourth spot (+1.222 seconds) while Vinales’ sta-blemate Fabio Quartararo of France completed the top five (+3.030 seconds).

Mir, who started the race in 10th place on the grid, last night looked set for a podium finish but somehow failed to push his bike after the final corner as Zarco and Bagnaia clinched the issue on the final straight with their bikes exhibiting superior speed.

Spain’s Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar, +3.357 seconds), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, +5.934 seconds), Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team, +5.990 seconds), Aus-tralia’s Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team, +7.058 seconds) and Italy’s Enea Bastianini (Esponsorama Racing, +9.288 seconds) completed the top 10.

“The start didn’t go well but after that I felt the potential. I was saving tyres to find the right moment,” Vinales said after the exciting race.

“I tried to be very smart, very calm, and chose the right place to push. I am happy with this win. I want to thank my team and my family,” Vinales added.

“The end was difficult,” Zarco said. “I tried to catch Vinales but I was sliding a lot. At the end Mir cut me back, but thanks to my engine I was able to finish second,” the Italian added.

Moto2: Sam Lowes storms to victory

British rider and pole winner Sam Lowe (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) yesterday con-tinued from where he left off on Saturday and posted the new season’s first Moto2 win. Lowes headed a list of nine Kalex bikes to pick up his win in a time of 40’03.123.

Australia’s Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished in second spot just 2.260 seconds behind Lowes. Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) clinched the third spot on the podium in a time of 40’08.351.

Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46, 40’08.364) and Spain’s Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo, 40’09.268) completed the top

five in the 20-lap race held under lights.

Lowes said hard work in the off-season paid off handsome dividends yesterday.

“I worked for this race for the last few months obviously doing the runs in the practice. We just had to get into that position and stick to what we have been doing,” Lowes said.

“Obviously the crash in the morning didn’t go according to plan. The wind was very strong.

It’s my style. I had to cover a lot of surface area in my corner entry. I just tried to stay low and get out of the win. It was a dif-ficult race just to not make a mistake. My pace was strong. I am so proud of myself and to start the season like this. It was a tough 10 laps and we will do it again next week,” he added.

Gardner said he was impressed with the speed exhibited by Lowes in the last 10 laps.

“I got swallowed at the first lap. It seems it happens every year. Perhaps they (the riders) have more steam than I do. I got extra bit of weight. Soon afterward I found my bang. I was on it,” Gardner said yesterday.

“I could see Sam getting in the way as I was trying to come through as fast as possible. I didn’t see much because of the wind and the bike was jumping out of my arms. Soon I got

passed by Raul but I was sur-prised at his (Sam’s) pace. His pace was strong. It was hard to keep up especially with the wind factor. Anyway, I am happy to start the season this way. These are important points,” the Australian added.

Di Giannantonio, despite his third-place finish, was thrilled.

“If you listen to my voice, you won’t be able to hear much because I was screaming so much in the last lap (smiles),” the young Italian said.

“I think what happened today is incredible. We had a lot of troubles during the winter. This was all done by my heart. I think what we did was incredible. I am having difficult to speak but I am so happy. I want to thank my team. I have an amazing crew. This is just the beginning,” he added.

Masia scorches to tight win in Moto3

Spanish rider Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) yesterday won the first Moto3 race of the

new season when he edged past compatriot and rookie KTM sta-blemate Pedro Acosta in a tight contest at LIC. Masia clocked the fastest time of 38’29.620 to take the chequered flag and fourth win of his career. Acosta was only 0.042 seconds slower than Masia.

Pole position winner Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) finished the exciting 18-lap race in third place just 0.094s behind Masia. Spain’s Sergio Garca (GasGas Gaviota Aspar) finished in fourth spot (+ 0.435 seconds) while Argen-tina’s Gabriel Rodrigo (Indo-nesia Gresini Racing Moto3) ended the season’s first Moto3 battle in fifth place (+ 0.880 seconds).

Italy’s Niccolo Antonelli (Reale Avintia Moto3, + 0.899), Spain’s Izan Guevara (GasGas Gaviota Aspar, + 0.965), Japan’s Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power, + 1.950), Tatsuki Suzuki, also of Japan, (SIC58 Squadra Corse, +2.214) and Switzerland’s Jason Dupasquier (CarXpert PrüestelGP, + 2.219) completed the top-10 yesterday.

Georgia 1-2 Spain, Albania 0-2 England, Armenia 2-0 Iceland, Kazakhstan 0-2 France

MONDAY 29 MARCH 2021

Formula 1: Hamilton holds off Verstappen Wow, what a difficult race that was. Max was all over me right at the end, but I just about managed to hold him off. It was one of the hardest races I've had for a while. Towards the end, he simply told his race engineer to 'leave me to it.'

Sport |09

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Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton

Sport

Yamaha’s Vinales overcame a slow start to win the

season-opening Qatar Grand Prix

Defending world champion Joan Mir looked set to take a

podium on the final lap but lost out to Johann Zarco and

Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia and team mate Jack Miller were lightning quick

off the line at the start while Zarco and his team mate

Jorge Martin quickly gained positions to make it a

Ducati-powered top four in the opening lap as the

Yamahas fell back.

Zarco overtook Miller to move into second while

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo also moved up to third in a

feisty battle for third.

But Miller, who impressed in pre-season testing with his

new team, continued to struggle as Vinales, who started

on the front row, picked off the Australian to move up to

fourth.

While the Yamahas were not as fast as the Ducatis on

the straights, Vinales was able to find more speed and

grip on the corners and he first overtook Zarco before

taking the race lead from Bagnaia with eight laps to go.

QATAR 2022: EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

MotoGP: Vinales is fastest in Qatar

Vinales on his way to victory in the season's first race.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Spanish rider Maverick Vinales celebrates after winning the MotoGP Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar at the Losail International Circuit, yesterday.

Moto3 winner Jaume Masia

Yamaha star wins season's first race as Joan Mir fails in podium push

Dorna praises Qatarfor super showDorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta on Saturday handed over a special trophy to QMMF and LCSC President Abdulrahman Al Mannai and LCSC General manager and Vice President Khalid Al Remaihi for putting together a fantastic show to open the new MotoGP season at LIC. After receiving the award from Ezpeleta, Al Mannai said: “We are delighted to receive this award. We are proud members of the MotoGP family. Qatar has been a home for MotoGP for a long time. Every year it gets more exciting. We are proud of this award and we thank you.”

BARWA GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

MOTOGP (TOP 15)1. Maverick Viñales (SPA/Yamaha) 42'28.6632. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati) +1.0923. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) +1.1294. Joan Mir (SPA/Suzuki) +1.2225. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) +3.0306. Alex Rins (SPA/Suzuki) +3.3577. Aleix Espargaro (SPA/Aprilia) +5.9348. Pol Espargaro (SPA/Honda) +5.9909. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) +7.05810. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) +9.28811 Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda) +10.29912. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) +10.74213. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Ktm) +11.45714. Brad Binder (RSA/Ktm) +14.10015. Jorge Martin (SPA/Ducati) +16.422

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS1. Maverick Viñales (SPA/Yamaha) 252. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati) 203. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 164. Joan Mir (SPA/Suzuki) 135. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 11

MOTO2 (TOP 3)1. Sam Lowes (GBR/Kalex) 40:03.1232. Remy Gardner (AUS/Kalex) +2.2603. Fabio di Giannantonio (ITA/Kalex) +5.228

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS1. Sam Lowes (GBR/Kalex) 25 pts2. Remy Gardner (AUS/Kalex) 203. Fabio di Giannantonio (ITA/Kalex) 16

MOTO3 (TOP 3)1. Jaume Masia (ESP/KTM) 38:29.6202. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) +0.0423. Darryn Binder (RSA/Honda) +0.094

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS1. Jaume Masia (ESP/KTM) 25 pts2. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) 203. Darryn Binder (RSA/Honda) 16

Moto2 winner Sam Lowes on the podium.

QMMF and LCSC President Abdulrahman Al Mannai receiving the trophy from Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.

11MONDAY 29 MARCH 2021 SPORT

Qatari players during a training session yesterday as they prepare for their third European Qualifying match in Debrecen, Hungary. The Asian champions who have won both of their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 European Qualifiers so far, will take on Republic of Ireland tomorrow. Qatar, who have qualified automatically for the World Cup as the host nation has been included as a guest team in the event, is looking to gain match practice against top European teams.

In-form Qatar gear up for Ireland clash

Ronaldo fumes as Serbia force draw against Portugal; Czechs hold BelgiumREUTERS – STOCKHOLM

Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch before fulltime when he was denied a clear stoppage-time winner in a 2-2 draw in Serbia, while Belgium were held 1-1 by the Czech Republic in World Cup qualifiers on Saturday.

Ronaldo threw off the captain’s armband and headed for the tunnel when his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the line, with Dutch referee Danny Makkelie waving play on.

With no VAR in place to review the decision, Serbia held out for a draw having fought their way back into the match from two goals down in Belgrade.

The hosts looked to be down and out after Diogo Jota scored twice in the first half for Portugal, but Aleksandar Mitrovic reduced the deficit early in the second half to become his country’s top scorer with 39 goals in 63 appearances.

Filip Kostic made it 2-2 on the hour and the game ended in chaos as Nikola Milenkovic was shown a straight red card for a violent challenge.

The Serbs and Portugal both have four points in Group A, with Luxembourg third on three points after their shock 1-0 over Ireland in Dublin.

Gerson Rodrigues’s superb goal secured the upset victory that left the Irish bottom of the five-team group behind Azerbaijan.

In Group E, Romelu Lukaku cancelled

out Lukas Provod’s opener to give Belgium a 1-1 draw away to group leaders Czech Republic.

Belarus beat Estonia 4-2 to move into third place behind the Belgians. Norway on the wrong end of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Group G leaders Turkey.

Ozan Tufan scored twice for Turkey and Caglar Soyuncu added a header to outclass the Norwegians.

Netherlands bounced back from their defeat to the Turks in their opening qual-ifier by beating Latvia 2-0, with Steven Ber-

ghuis and Luuk De Jong getting the goals.Montenegro beat Gibraltar 4-1 to go

second in the group ahead of the Dutch and Norway.

Russia rose to the top of Group H thanks to two first-half goals from Artem Dzyuba in a 2-1 win over second-placed Slovenia while Croatia’s Luka Modric won his 135th cap as his side edged a 1-0 win over Cyprus.

Slovakia fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Malta, putting them in fourth place behind the Croats.

Dembele inspires France to 2-0 win in KazakhstanREUTERS – NUR-SULTAN

Ousmane Dembele inspired France to a 2-0 victory over Kazakhstan yesterday in their second match in World Cup qualifying Group D.

Four days after being held 1-1 by Ukraine at the Stade de France, the world champions built their win in the first half with Sergiy Maliy’s own goal adding to Dembele’s opener before Kylian Mbappe missed a second-half penalty.

France moved top of the standings with four points, ahead of Bosnia, who they face away on Wednesday, Ukraine and Finland.

Ukraine host Finland later on Sunday. Kazakhstan have zero points after playing their first game of the campaign.

Only captain Hugo Lloris and Antoine Griezmann remained from the team who started against Ukraine, with the Barcelona forward setting a new record of 45 consec-utive starts for Les Bleus.

He beat the previous mark of Patrick Vieira, who started 44 games in a row between 1999 and 2002.

It was Griezmann’s club

team mate Dembele who broke the deadlock on 20 minutes with a right-footed shot after being set up by Anthony Martial following a defence-splitting pass from Paul Pogba.

Dembele has just returned to the France side, coming on as a second-half substitute against Ukraine more than two

years after his previous cap in November, 2018.

His third international goal from 23 appearances, his first since a 3-1 friendly win against Italy in June, 2018, came as a welcome boost less than two months before coach Didier Deschamps names his squad for this year’s European Championship.

Les Bleus doubled the lead on the stroke of halftime when Maliy, who had just denied Martial, headed a cross into his own net.

France were never threatened and had a big opportunity to add a third in the 76th minute, but Mbappe’s spot-kick was saved by Ale-ksandr Mokin.

Kerr double keeps Chelseatwo points clear of CityREUTERS – LONDON

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr struck twice in a 2-0 home win over Aston Villa yesterday to restore a two-point lead at the top of the Women’s Super League, with Fran Kirby setting up both goals.

Kerr put the hosts in front after 24 minutes, outmuscling Asmita Ale to get a glancing header on Kirby’s pinpoint cross, and the Aus-tralian sealed the three points with her second in the 57th minute, again assisted by England midfielder Kirby.

Chelsea regained first place after Manchester City briefly went top following their 1-0 victory over Reading on Saturday thanks to an 87th-minute winner from Chloe Kelly.

Earlier on Saturday, Lauren James and Christen Press helped Manchester United beat bottom side West Ham United 2-0 in the first WSL game to be played at Old Trafford, while Arsenal thumped Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 away in the north London derby. Bristol City’s recent good form continued yesterday as they drew 1-1 with visiting Birmingham City.

Match official tests positive at CONCACAF Olympic qualifierREUTERS – GUADALAJARA, MEXICO

A match official for the CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifying tour-nament in Guadalajara, Mexico, has tested positive for COVID-19, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean said yesterday.

The positive COVID-19 case came from the latest round of testing of the entire group of referees at the tournament and the individual is isolating and complying with CONCACAF protocols and regula-tions imposed by local authorities.

The news came hours before the United States face Honduras in Sunday’s first semi-final to determine which team qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics. Mexico and Canada will play for the other Olympic berth in the later semi. CONCACAF said Canada, Honduras, Mexico and the US all conducted their final round of COVID-19 testing for the eight-team competition and there were no new positive cases.

France’s Ousmane Dembele celebrates with team-mates after scoring against Kazakhstan yesterday.

Pandemic blamed for lack of VAR afterRonaldo’s complaints

AP – BELGRADE

Cristiano Ronaldo’s tears and rage over the absence of VAR already hastened the intro-duction of the technology in one competition.

He’ll now be hoping UEFA takes note of his video-review protests once again.

Portugal’s path to the 2022 World Cup has been compli-cated by Ronaldo being denied a stoppage-time winner against Serbia on Saturday. The ball crossed the line, despite Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic’s attempt to sweep it clear. But with no goal-line technology or VAR to confirm that to the referee, the goal was not given.

Ronaldo, the Portugal captain, ripped off his armband and tossed it onto the field, storming off the field in disgust.

It brought back memories of Ronaldo’s Champions League debut for Juventus in September 2018 when he was sent off for appearing to pull at an opponent’s hair in a decision

that could not be reviewed by VAR. Juve protested and UEFA announced within a week that VAR would be introduced by the following season.

UEFA said it intended to use VAR in the World Cup qualifying campaign that began last week but decided it was too complicated to do so despite it being used in recent Champions League and Europa League knockout phase games. VAR relies on a couple of video assistant referees receiving a live feed of multiple angles from matches and a direct connection to the referee.

“In 2019 UEFA had pro-posed to FIFA the implemen-tation of VAR in the current World Cup qualifiers,” UEFA said in a statement.

“The impact of the pan-demic on operational and logistical capabilities led UEFA to delay the implementation of VAR in the Europa League group phase (to 2021-22 instead of 2020-21) as well as to withdraw the proposal to implement VAR in the 2022 European qualifiers."

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Serbia’s Marko Dmitrovic in action during their European Qualifier on Saturday.

10 MONDAY 29 MARCH 2021SPORT

AAB Chess Open U-16 gets underwayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. W.L.L. (AAB), the exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, began the AAB Chess Open U-16 in collabo-ration with Qatar Chess Asso-ciation (QCA).

Around 175 Chess enthu-siasts U-16 years old joined and participated in the first 11 Rounds of Blitz Chess played on the online platform lichess.org.

The top 32 players will move on to the Finals to be held on April 2 from which the Top 4 participants will play during the last knock-out Round on April 9.

Mohammed Al Mudahka, QCA President was present during the opening of the

games monitored online from the Sakura Lounge of the Lexus Building. The Tour-nament Arbiters are Interna-tional Arbiter (IA) Freyd, Laurent (France) as the Chief Arbiter with IA Baralic, Nebojsa (Serbia) and IA Sre-brnic, Ana (Slovenia) as Deputy Arbiters.

With its strong partnership with QCA, AAB is dedicated in promoting Chess among the community especially the youth. It has opened the first FIDE Rated tournament in Qatar in 2018 and continues to pursue creative means to bring the sports to different platforms.

Qatar Streaming has joined as a live stream partner which will be the first streaming in Qatar for chess.

Officials pose for a photo on the opening day. QCA and AAB collaborate for AAB Chess Open U-16.

Inbee Park sailing along with big leadREUTERS — CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

Inbee Park shot a 3-under 69 and holds a five-shot lead after three rounds of the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Cali-fornia.

The South Korean star is at 12-under 204 after three trips around Aviara Golf Club in northern San Diego County. South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur, Australia’s Minjee Lee and England’s Mel Reid are at 7 under.

Hur carded a 5-under 67 in the third round, while Lee shot 68 and Reid had a 71.

Sweden’s Madelene Sag-strom shot a round-low 64 and is tied for fifth at 6 under with American Lexi Thompson (66) and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko (68). Park recorded four birdies and one bogey and is chasing her 21st career victory.

Qatar to host FINA General Congress on June 5THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatar Swimming Associ-ation (QSA) yesterday announced that it will host the General Congress of the Inter-national Swimming Federation (FINA) for the year 2021 on June 5.

QSA President Khaleel Al Jaber (pictured) in a statement said getting the hosting of the General C o n g r e s s underlines Q a t a r ’ s top billing in hosting m a j o r F I N A events . T h e

assembly will witness the election of a new FINA board of directors. The event will be held under strict coronavirus protocols to ensure safety and health of all stakeholders.

Doha – home to FINA World Aquatics Champion-ships in 2023 – has become one of the main stops for FINA

competitions over the years, also staging the

FINA Swimming World Cups since 2012 and FINA World Swimming Championships in 2014 besides FINA Marathon Swim World Series since 2018. Al Jaber is a

member of FINA B o a r d o f

Directors in its current

session.

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years, also staging thFINA SwimminWorld Cups sin2012 and FINWorld SwimminChampionships 2014 besides FINMarathon SwiWoW rld Series sin2018. Al Jaber is

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DiD rectors its curre

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Cycling: Yates leads Ineos-Grenadiers podium sweep in CatalunyaREUTERS — BARCELONA

Briton Adam Yates won the Tour of Catalunya week-long race as the Ineos-Grenadiers team completed a 1-2-3 overall finish in Barcelona yesterday.

Yates, who joined the British team this year, built his victory on a third-stage win in the mountains to finish ahead of Aus-tralian Richie Porte and former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas.

The trio finished safe in the peloton in Sunday’s seventh and last stage won by Belgian Thomas De Gendt from a breakaway. Four-times Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who left Ineos-Grenadiers for Israel-Start Up Nation during the close season, was never in the mix and ended up 81st overall, 53:50 behind Yates.

Meinhardt and Deriglazova win Doha titlesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Gerek Meinhardt of the USA, the 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, and world No.1 Inna Deriglazova of Russia claimed the men and women titles of the FIE Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021, respectively, at the Aspire Dome in Doha yesterday.

The world No. 3 Meinhardt secured a 15-11 victory over the 20th-ranked Takkahiro Shikine of Japan in the final, while Der-iglazova, a three-time world champion and winner of a massive 13 World Cups, trounced China’s Qingyuan Chen, a bronze medalist at the 2019 Asian Championship, 15-5.

The two winners walked away with the $5,000 prize money while the runners-up and the semi-finalists each got $3,000 and $1,500.

The grand finale was attended by Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, a former president of the Qatar Fencing Federation; Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary-General Jassim Rashid Al-Buenain; and other dignitaries.

“I’m very excited to win here in Doha. This is the first

competition in over a year and to emerge champion is quite remarkable. The competition is well organized, and I’m very impressed. I hope to continue in this form and win in Tokyo,” Meinhardt said.

The three-day 2020 Summer Olympics qualifying event had attracted a total of 296 male and female fencers from 51 countries who were in Doha to secure either direct qualifications for Tokyo or points that add to their rankings in the quest for a berth at the Games.

The competition was the first major event to be held in over a year due to the COVID 19 pandemic. It took place with strict adherence to the health authorities and the Interna-tional Fencing Federation’s health and safety protocols.

The top-16 finishers in Doha are guaranteed automatic slots in Tokyo, while the rest will have to go through the conti-nental qualifiers’ route to reach Japan.

“We are happy that the competition ended on a suc-cessful note. This tournament has further enhanced Qatar’s reputation as a top destination

for global sports. We thank the QOC for their great supports, and I also thank all the members of the organizing committee for ensuring the success of the tournament,” said Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Fed-eration (QWFF) President Mohammed Yousef Al-Mana.

On a day of many surprises,

particularly in the men’s event, the world’s No. 1 Alessio Foconi’s failure to make it out of the Last-64 stood out as the most shocking.

The 31-year-old three-time World Cup champion and a gold medalist at the 2018 World Championship in Wuxi, China, suffered a 14-15 defeat in the

hands of 350-ranked Tyvan Bibard of France.

The clash was the first between Foconi and the 21-year-old right-handed fencer from Paris, who went all the way to the round of 16 before being stopped in his tracks by Brazil’s Guilherme Toldo, the world No. 26.

Except for the third-ranked Meinhardt, his com-patriot Race Imboden, the world No.8 and the 12th-ranked Chun Yin Ryan Choi; all the world’s top-16 fencers in the men’s event failed to reach the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, Mein-hardt claimed a convincing 15-8 over his compatriot Race Imboden, the world No.8, while Shikine narrowly edged out Alexandre Ediri, the 106th-ranked Frenchman, 15-14 after a very keen contest.

Ediri, one of the major rev-elations of the competition, dis-patched Russia’s Kirill Boro-dachev, ranked 45th, in the round of 16 before dispatching compatriot Alexandre Sido 15-6 in the quarter-finals.

While the top-ranked fencer in the men’s event had a disap-pointing outing in Doha, things were however different in the womens’s as Deriglazova evis-cerated all obstacles on her way to reach the semi-finals, where she was pitted against French-woman Ysaora Thibus, the world No.6 and the silver medalist at the 2012 European Fencing Championships in Legnano.

World No.1 Inna Deriglazova poses with her gold medal during presentation ceremony for FIE Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021, yesterday. CENTRE: QOC Secretary-General Jassim Rashid Al Buenain and Qatar Weightlifting and Fencing Federation President Mohammed Yousef Al Mana with an official. RIGHT: Gerek Meinhardt of the USA poses with his gold medal.

Action during final day of FIE Foil Grand Prix Doha 2021 at the Aspire Dome, yesterday.

A file photo of FINA Congress.

AP — ISLAMABAD

Zimbabwe has chosen Harare as the venue for its first international cricket games since the pandemic began with Pakistan due to play three Twenty20s and two Test matches in April.

The Twenty20 series will be played from April 21-25, followed by the Test matches on April 29-May 3 and May 7-11.

Pakistan will fly out to Harare from Johan-nesburg on Apr. 17 fol-lowing its three ODIs and four T20s against South Africa.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board has been at the forefront of the revival of international cricket in the post Covid-19 world and the tour of Zimbabwe is another step in that direction,” PCB director of interna-tional cricket, Zakir Khan, said in a statement yesterday.

“We have always maintained that cricket and COVID-19 can co-exist in a safe and secure environment, and we con-tinue to demonstrate this to ensure the game develops and flourishes in these difficult and chal-lenging times,” the PCB official added.

In their previous matches among them, Pakistan has won all of the 14 T20 matches.

It has also won 10 of the 17 Test matches it played against the African nation. Zimbabwe has won three of the Test matches.

Zimbabwe last hosted Sri Lanka for a two-test series in January last year before the coronavirus halted most sports around the world.

09MONDAY 29 MARCH 2021 SPORT

The Twenty20 series will

be played from April 21-25,

followed by the Test

matches on Apr. 29-May 3

and May 7-11. Pakistan will

fly out to Harare from

Johannesburg on April 17

following its three ODIs

and four T20s against

South Africa.

REUTERS — MANAMA

Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix for Mercedes yesterday after an epic, knife-edge battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen over the final laps.

Verstappen, who passed the Briton with four laps to go only to have to hand back the lead for exceeding track limits, finished a mere 0.745 seconds behind after starting on pole position.

Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was a distant third but gained a bonus point for fastest lap.

“Wow, what a difficult race that was,” said Hamilton, who started second on the grid and took another of Michael Schu-macher’s all-time records with his 5,112nd race lap led.

“Max was all over me right at the end, but I just about managed to hold him off. It was one of the hardest races I’ve had for a while.”

The win was a record-extending 96th for Hamilton, continuing also his record of winning in every season of his

career since his debut with McLaren in 2007.

Lando Norris finished fourth for McLaren while Verstappen’s new Mexican team mate Sergio Perez went from starting in the pit lane, after his car had stopped on the formation lap, to fifth place.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sixth and Australian Daniel Ric-ciardo seventh on his McLaren debut with Spaniard Carlos Sainz, the man he replaced, eighth in his first race for Ferrari.

Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda scored on his F1 debut in ninth for AlphaTauri and Lance Stroll took the last scoring place for Aston Martin in the marque’s first race as a con-structor since 1960.

Hamilton continues to take a knee before F1 opener

Hamilton, meanwhile, took a knee on the starting grid before yesterday’s season-opening race.

The sport’s only Black driver, and an outspoken campaigner

for racial equality, regularly made the gesture last season as Formula One drivers gathered together in a campaign against racism.

Formula One has broadened out the “We Race As One” cer-emony this year to wider social and environmental issues.

Hamilton had said on Thursday that he planned to continue taking a knee to send a message to the younger generation.

“When (young children) see us take the knee, they will sit and ask their parents or their teachers ‘why are they doing that? What are they taking the knee for?’,” he had told reporters.

“And it sparks an uncom-fortable conversation.

“It means parents have to educate themselves and the kids are getting educated.”

Formula One race director Michael Masi had clarified earlier yesterday the pre-race procedures, stating that drivers could “wear any attire con-veying a message in support of the pr inciples of WeRaceAsOne”.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the trophy after winning the race, yesterday.

F1: Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win opener1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1hr 32mins 03.897sec

2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) at 0.745s

3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 37.383

4. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 46.466

5.Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 52.047

6. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 59.090

7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:06.004

8. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:07.100

9. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:25.692

10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:26.713

11. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:28.864

12. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1 lap

13. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1 lap

14. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap

15. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1 lap

FORMULA ONE RESULTS (TOP 15)

Seamers help India clinch thriller and series despite Curran heroicsREUTERS — PUNE

India seamers Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar snared seven wickets between them to help the hosts beat England by seven runs in a thrilling third one-day interna-tional yesterday and win the series 2-1.

England’s chase of 330 appeared all but over when they were reduced to 257-8 in the 40th over but Sam Curran and Mark Wood, who made 14, kept their side in the hunt with a stubborn 60-run stand for the ninth wicket.

All-rounder Curran, who was dropped on 22 and then again on 87, remained unbeaten on a career-best 95 but could not hit the required 14 runs in the final over with England fin-ishing on 322-9.

On a sweltering day in the western Indian city of Pune, the hosts were dismissed for 329 after being put in to bat with Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya scoring half-centuries.

The target did not appear too imposing for England, who chased down 337 with 39 deliv-eries remaining in the previous match, but Kumar’s early breakthroughs put the hosts on top.

Kumar, who picked up 3-42, got the new ball to move in the air and dismissed openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow cheaply and almost got his third but Pandya dropped a skier from Ben Stokes, with the left-handed batsman on 15.

Stokes, who also survived a run out chance on 24, holed out in the deep for 35 off an innocuous full toss delivery from T. Natarajan, who was

called upon to bowl the final over. Thakur picked up the wickets of Dawid Malan, who made 50, the dangerous Liam Livingstone and England captain Jos Buttler to derail Eng-land’s chase. He finished with 4-67.

Dhawan, who scored 67, and Rohit Sharma earlier com-bined in an opening stand of 103 to give India a brisk start before leg-spinner Adil Rashid dis-missed them in successive overs.

Off-spinner Moeen Ali then spun the ball sharply back into Virat Kohli to dismiss India’s skipper for seven and the hosts appeared in trouble when KL

Rahul also fell cheaply to part-time spinner Livingstone shortly after. India found themselves at 157-4 inside 25 overs but Pant and Pandya then propped up the innings with a counter-attacking stand of 99, helping the side reach a competitive total.

Pant hit five fours and four sixes in his career-best knock in the 50-over format while Pandya smashed five fours and four sixes, three of them in an over off Moeen.

Fast bowler Wood took three wickets in the closing stages as India were bowled out with 10 deliveries left in their innings.

IndiaR Sharma b Rashid ......................................... 37

S Dhawan c&b Rashid .....................................67

V Kohli b Ali ........................................................ 7

R Pant c Buttler b Curran ...............................78

L Rahul c Ali b Livingstone............................... 7

H Pandya b Stokes ......................................... 64

K Pandya c Roy b Wood .................................25

S Thakur c Buttler b Wood .............................30

B Kumar c Curran b Topley .............................. 3

P Krishna b Wood ............................................. 0

Extras: 1lb, 10w .............................................. 11

Total (48.2 overs, all out) ................ 329Fall of Wickets : 1-103 Sharma, 2-117 Dhawan,

3-121 Kohli, 4-157 Rahul, 5-256 Pant, 6-276 Pandya,

7-321 Thakur, 8-328 Pandya, 9-329 Krishna, 10-329 Kumar

Did Not Bat: Natarajan

Bowling: Curran 5-0-43-1 (4w), Topley 9.2-0-66-1

(1w), Wood 7-1-34-3, Stokes 7-0-45-1 (1w), Rashid

10-0-81-2 (2w), Ali 7-0-39-1, Livingstone 3-0-20-1

EnglandJ Roy b Kumar .................................................. 14

J Bairstow lbw Kumar ........................................1

B Stokes c Dhawan b Natarajan .................... 35

D Malan c Sharma b Thakur ...........................50

J Buttler lbw Thakur ........................................ 15

L Livingstone c&b Thakur ..............................36

M Ali c H Pandya b Kumar ..............................29

S Curran Not Out .............................................. 95

A Rashid c Kohli b Thakur ............................... 19

M Wood Run Out (H Pandya) ........................ 14

R Topley Not Out ................................................1

Extras 1lb, 12w ............................................... 13

Total (50.0 overs, 9 wkts) ............... 322 Fall of Wickets : 1-14 Roy, 2-28 Bairstow, 3-68

Stokes, 4-95 Buttler, 5-155 Livingstone, 6-168 Malan,

7-200 Ali, 8-257 Rashid, 9-317 Wood

Bowling: B Kumar 10-0-42-3 (3w), Natarajan 10-

0-73-1 (7w), Krishna 7-0-62-0, Thakur 10-0-67-4

(1w), H Pandya 9-0-48-0, K Pandya 4-0-29-0 (1w)

SCOREBOARD

India celebrate after winning the series with the trophy.

Harare to host 3 T20s and 2 Test matches against Pakistan

Conway, Sodhi power New Zealand to big winREUTERS — HAMILTON

D e v o n C o n w a y continued his red hot form with the bat to power New Zealand to a big total before Ish Sodhi spun a web around the Bangladesh batsmen as the hosts won the opening Twenty20 inter-national in Hamilton by 66 runs.

After knocks of 72 and 126 in the last two one-day internationals against Bangladesh, in-form Conway hammered an unbeaten 92 yes-terday in the first of the three T20s to help the Black Caps post 210 for three after the hosts opted to bat first.

Leg-spinner Sodhi then derailed Bangladesh’s chase by picking up four wickets in his first two overs to

finish with figures of 4-28 as New Zealand completed yet another convincing victory, having blanked the Asian side 3-0 in the one-dayers.

Bangladesh looked destined for an even bigger loss when they

were reduced to 59-6 inside eight overs but Afif Hossain put up some resistance with a knock of 45 while Mohammad Saifuddin remained unbeaten on 34 to take the side to 144-8.

Conway’s 52-ball knock was studded with 11 fours and three sixes and he added 105 for the third wicket with Will Young, who scored 53 on his T20 debut for the Black Caps. The second T20 will be played in Napier tomorrow.

New Zealand 210 for 3 (Con-

way 92*, Young 53, Nasum

2-30) beat Bangladesh 144

for 8 (Afif 45, Saifuddin 34*,

Sodhi 4-28, Ferguson 2-25)

by 66 runs

BRIEF SCORES

Devon Conway and Will Young celebrate during the first T20, yesterday.

08MONDAY 29 MARCH 2021SportKawhi Leonard helps Clippers crush 76ersAGENCIES – LOS ANGELES

Kawhi Leonard returned to the lineup and finished with a team-high 28 points, and Paul George added 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the host Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers 122-112 on Saturday night.

Leonard, who missed a game with a foot injury, also had four rebounds and four assists, and Terance Mann scored a season-high 23 points off the bench as the Clippers won their fifth straight game and seventh in their last nine.

Tobias Harris led the 76ers with 29 points on 13 of 19 shooting, and added seven rebounds and six assists.

Danny Green hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, followed by Shake Milton with 16. Ben Simmons chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which saw its four-game winning streak broken.

New York Knicks 102 - Milwaukee Bucks 96 Alec Burks scored seven of his 21 points in the

fourth quarter and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:19 left as visiting New York defeated severely short-handed Milwaukee.

Burks posted his fifth straight 20-point game and set a career high with six 3-pointers. RJ Barrett also scored 21 points for the Knicks.

Utah Jazz 126 - Memphis Grizzlies 110 Donovan Mitchell scorched Memphis for a

second straight time with a game-high 35 points, propelling Utah to complete a two-day, two-game sweep in Salt Lake City that stretched its home winning streak to 19.

San Antonio Spurs 120 - Chicago Bulls 104Jakob Poeltl tied a career high with 20 points as

host San Antonio built a huge lead and then held on to beat new-look Chicago and snap a four-game losing streak.

New Orleans Pelicans 112 - Dallas Mavericks 103Zion Williamson continued his dominance by

scoring 38 points as host New Orleans defeated short-handed Dallas.

Boston Celtics 111 - Oklahoma City Thunder 94 Jayson Tatum scored 13 of his 27 points in the

fourth quarter to lead Boston over host Oklahoma City.

Sacramento Kings 100 - Cleveland Cavaliers 98 De’Aaron Fox scored 20 of his 36 points in the

fourth quarter, and Harrison Barnes sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to power host Sacramento past Cleveland and to its fourth straight win.

Washington Wizards 106 - Detroit Pistons 92 Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double with

19 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists and host Wash-ington withstood a furious Detroit rally and snapped a three-game losing streak.Houston Rockets 129 - Minnesota Timberwolves 107

Kelly Olynyk contributed 16 points in the first game for his new team and six teammates also scored in double figures as Houston avenged a loss from 24 hours earlier by shellacking of the Min-nesota in Minneapolis.

Miami Open: Tsitsipas makes 4th round in the absence of Big 3AP – MIAMI

For tennis up-and-comers like Stefanos Tsitsipas, the draw at the Miami Open began to look a lot less daunting even before the tournament began.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew because of injuries, and Novak Djokovic decided against making the trip from his native Serbia. They stayed home with their 58 Grand Slam trophies.

“It’s a first test to see how it is playing without them,” Tsitsipas said after his third-round victory on Saturday.

“There is going to be a time in the future where this is going to be more fre-quent and happening more regularly, and maybe even a standard soon. So, yeah, we get a taste of how it is playing without them.”

The No. 2-seeded Tsit-sipas is among those with the best chance to take advantage, and he looked the part against Damir Dzumhur, winning 6-1, 6-4.

Ranked a career-high No. 5, Tsitsipas improved to 15-4 this year - and 2-3 l i f e t i m e a g a i n s t Dzumhur.

The 22-year-old Greek used his serve to dominate

Dzumhur, who never had a break point.

“I created a lot of opportunities with my serve - I wasn’t rushing at all, finding the right angles and executing it perfectly,” Tsitsipas said.

“Even with my second serve I felt like I did a lot of damage, not giving him a chance to press first and apply pressure with his shots.”

Tsitsipas will next face

No. 28 Kei Nishikori, who outlasted Aljaz Bedene 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4. Two other title contenders, No. 4 Andrey Rublev and No. 6 Denis Shapovalov, advanced in night matches.

Rublev failed to convert three match points in the final game and then had to sit for a one-hour rain delay before closing out his victory over Tennys Sandgren, 6-1, 6-2.

Shapovalov also

endured a rain interruption in the third set before fin-ishing off Ilya Ivashka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

Marin Cilic rallied to edge No. 13 Cristian Garin 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

In women’s play, top-ranked Ash Barty and three-time champion Vic-toria Azarenka advanced to a round of 16 showdown.

Barty beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 and had a much easier time than in

the previous round, when she saved a match point to beat qualifier Kristina Kucova. That was Barty’s first match away from her native Australian since Feb-ruary 2020. She kept Ostapenko on the move and on the defensive, pulling in the former French Open champion and moving her from side to side.

Barty is the defending champion as the 2019 winner. The tournament was canceled last year at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 14th-seeded Aza-renka beat No. 24 Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-2. The match was Azarenka’s first this week after a bye and walkover. She won Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

No. 3-seeded Simona Halep withdrew before her third-round match because of a right shoulder injury.

Wild card Ana Konjuh upset No. 15 Iga Swiatek. Konjuh’s career has been slowed by four elbow sur-geries, and this week she has earned her first three wins in main-draw WTA play since 2018.

No. 5 Elina Svitolina eliminated No. 30 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (1), 6-4, and No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka ousted No. 32 Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Calgary Flames left wing Andrew Mangiapane (centre)

battles for the puck against two Winnipeg Jets players.

Gaudreau shines as Flames beat Jets 4-2AP – CALGARY, ALBERTA

Johnny Gaudreau responded to a barb from his coach with a pair of assists for the Calgary Flames in a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.

Josh Leivo, Mark Giordano, Andrew Mangiapane and Sam Bennett scored for Calgary (16-17-3), which halted a four-game losing streak in the second of three straight games between the teams.

The series finale is Monday night in Calgary. Gaudreau, who had two goals in nine games coming in, produced his first

multi-point game in a month in his 500th career game.

After a 3-2 loss Friday to the Jets, Flames coach Darryl Sutter said: “Hopefully he has more energy than in his 499th game.”

Gaudreau played 17:05 on Saturday, second among Flames forwards behind Elias Lindholm (19:56).

Calgary is 5-5 since Sutter took over as coach on March 8.

Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley got his first NHL goal and Mason Appleton also scored for the Jets (21-12-2), who trail Toronto by two points atop the North Division.

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after winning a point against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina during their second round match in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.