SPORTMonday 5 March 2018

Jazz hold off Kings 98-91 in tense

battle

Zarco, Rossi and Dovi dominate on final day in Doha

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Neymar leaves hospital to

begin rehab

don

ha

Confident Al Sadd seek goals against Nasaf todayRIZWAN REHMAT

THE PENINSULA

QARSHI, UZBEKISTAN: Doha giants Al Sadd will be looking to score goals to put pressure on hosts Nasaf in their AFC Champions League clash at Qarshi Markaziy Stadium today.

Group C leaders and 2011 Asian champions, Al Sadd in their last regional clash hammered Persepo-lis 3-1 to underline their intentions in this year’s championship.

“We are going to play a crucial game in the AFC Champions League,” Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira said yesterday.

“Everyone in the team knows how important this game is and how important it is to win because the points could get us closer to the next stage of the competition,” the vet-eran Portuguese coach added.

“We are on top of our group after two games. We have one objective and that is to keep our journey going with the same intensity.

“Our mentality is to always score goals. In the Champions League, there are matches both home and away, and so there are different fac-tors to think about but this won’t change our philosophy,” he said.

When asked to name the strong-est team in Group C, Ferreira snapped back by saying: “Al Sadd have won the Asian title twice and we are not new to the competition. Nasaf are an excellent side, whose league has started just three weeks ago while ours is almost at its end. So, it is difficult to say which is the strongest team.”

He added: “Moreover, this is not the right time to be talking about the strongest team.”

Ferreira said his team was rar-ing to go for today’s clash.

“It is a great honour to be here in Uzbekistan. I am happy with the weather and it’s a beautiful country. The match venue is excellent as well,” Al Sadd coach said.

Ferreira said Al Sadd miss two key players in Xavi and Morteza Pouraliganji but his side has decent bench strength to mount a serious challenge at winning today’s match.

“Nasaf are a strong side that is playing at home. Al Sadd players know about the difficulty of the fix-ture,” Ferreira said.

As for his team’s injury problems, Ferreira told reporters yesterday: “There are important players who are missing – Xavi and Morteza Pouraliganji, who are both injured.

This is how football is but we will play the game with 11 fit players who

are ready to give their best.” Ferreira added: “The next two weeks are cru-cial for us, as we have two back-to-back games against Nasaf, the results of which will determine the future of our campaign.”

When asked about his team’s loss to Al Duhail in the QNB Stars League, Ferreira replied: “I was hoping to win the league and the AFC Champions League as well but the league is now beyond our reach.”

Al Sadd will be looking to feared Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah who has managed to score four goals in their two matches so far. A win today will see Al Sadd posting their third successive win, a feat they achieved in 2006. Hosts Nasaf will be looking at their second succes-sive home win in Group C following their 1-0 win over Al Wasl two weeks ago. Igor Golban headed in the only goal of the game two weeks ago as Nasaf bounced back from their opening-day defeat to Persepolis.

History favours Al Sadd as Nasaf have come up against Qatari oppo-sition four times but remain winless.

Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira (second right) speaking to journalists ahead of their AFC Champions League clash against Nasaf at Qarshi Markaziy Stadium in Qarshi, Uzbekistan today.

Sneijder takes international retirementAFP

THE HAGUE: Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder has decided to end his international football career after 14 years and a record 133 caps during a golden era for his country. Alongside Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Mark van Bommel, Sneijder propelled the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final where an extra-time goal from Andres Iniesta saw Spain win the title. At 33, Sneijder signed with Qatari outfit Al Gharafa in January after a poor six-month stint at Nice in France.

The Netherlands suffered the indignity of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup despite having reached the 2014 semi-finals. They recently appointed Ronald Koeman as the new national coach.

The former Barcelona defender went to see Sne-ijder in Qatar this weekend.

“I understand that Koeman wants a fresh start with younger players. We spoke openly about it and I respect his decision,” said Sneijder.

He played at three European championships and three World Cups in the orange shirt and in his prime was both a masterful long-range passer and slick fin-isher. In club football he starred for Ajax, Real Madrid and above all Inter Milan, with whom he won a Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League treble in 2010.

He also won league titles in his homeland, Spain and Turkey.

Fixtures of AFC Champions League fixtures to be played today and tomorrow

Today’s matchesFC Nasaf vs Al Sadd at Karshi Central Stadium, Karshi

Persepolis vs Al Wasl at Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Al Jazira vs Tractor Sazi at Mohammed Bin Zayed Sta-

dium, Abu Dhabi

Al Gharafa vs Al Ahli at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium,

Doha

Tomorrow’s matchesJeonbuk Hyundai Motors vs Tianjin Quanjian, at Jeonju

World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Kashiwa Reysol vs Kitchee SC, Hitachi Kashiwa Stadi-

um, Kashiwa

Buriram United FC vs Cerezo Osaka, Buriram Stadium,

Buriram

Guangzhou Evergrande vs Jeju United , Tianhe Stadi-

um , Guangzhou

Zob Ahan vs Al Wahda (UAE), Foolad Shahr Stadium,

Isfahan

Al Duhail vs Lokomotiv Tashkent, Abdullah Bin Khalifa

Stadium, Doha

Al Ain vs Esteghlal, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain

Al Hilal vs Al Rayyan , King Saud University Stadium,

Riyadh

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Qatar can do ‘a good job’ in hosting 2022 World Cup, says KoemanTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Former Dutch great and the current Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has backed Qatar in doing ‘a good job’ of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Koeman, who visited the Al Gharafa training camp yesterday, said: “We know that 2022 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Qatar. It is really nice here and that is my first impression. It is my visit to Qatar. I have really enjoyed my time here. Everybody knows they can do a good job to be the host in 2022.”

The 54-year-old added in his brief video chat posted on the Al Gharafa Twitter handle: “It’s the World Cup. It is always a big achievement for every team to qualify for that tournament. I saw a good training session of Al Gharafa. I say good luck on Mon-day and good luck for the rest of the championships (QNB Stars League).”

Koeman also met with Al Gharafa coach and the team man-agement headed by club President Sheikh Jassim bin Thamer Al Thani.

The club officials also presented a souvenir to Koeman, a former defender and midfielder with the Dutch international side.

Koeman was one of the stars of

the Dutch national side alongside Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Berg-kamp. During his illustrious career, Koeman won Euro 1988 and played at the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups. He captained the Dutch side at the 1994 World Cup held in the US.

Officials of Al Gharafa SC presenting a souvenir to Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman during his visit to Qatar.

Bulent Uygun (left), coach of Al Gharafa SC, player Wesley Sneijder (centre) and Ronald Koeman , Netherlands coach pose for a picture with a fan in Doha yesterday.

We are on top of our group after two games. We have one objective and that is to keep our journey going with the same intensity. Our mentality is to always score goals: Al Sadd coach Ferreira

Al Gharafa face Al Ahli’s test in DohaTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Gharafa will be looking to record back-to-back home wins in Group A of the AFC Champions League when they welcome table-toppers Al Ahli Saudi FC to Thani Bin Jassim Stadium today.

Recent signing Mehdi Taremi scored his

second and third goals of the current cam-paign in a 3-0 victory over Tractorsazi Tabriz two weeks ago as Al Gharafa recovered from their opening-day loss to Al Jazira to put their first points on the board.

Al Ahli have begun the competition strongly, winning two from two, with goals from Taiseer Al Jassam and Mohannad Asseri

– his second match-winner in as many games – helping the Saudi Arabian side to a 2-1 victory over Al Jazira on Matchday Two.

A third win in a row would edge Al Ahli towards knockout stage qualification, while defeat would see the sides level on points.

The last meeting between the pair, in the 2013 group stage, ended in an entertain-ing 2-2 draw in Doha.

Al Gharafa player Wesley Sneijder celebrates with team-mates during their match.

30 MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018SPORT

Barcelona pull clear as Messi brilliance edges out AtleticoAFP

BARCELONA: Barcelona have one hand on the La Liga title after Lionel Messi’s sensational free-kick earned them a deserved 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid yesterday.

Atletico arrived at the Camp Nou on the back of eight consecutive wins but Barca halted the surge and instead restored their own lead at the top to eight points, with 11 games left to play.

Messi proved the difference again, his bending first-half strike worthy of win-ning any contest and taking his own career tally to an astonishing 600 goals, 539 for Barca and 61 for Argentina.

The only blot on a dominant Barce-lona performance was an injury to Andres Iniesta, who had to be substituted after 34 minutes with what the club confirmed was a strain in the back of his thigh.

Iniesta now has 10 days to recover before next week’s Champions League sec-ond leg against Chelsea.

The build-up to this contest, labelled ‘the Grand Final’ by sections of

the Spanish press, was driven by talk of a Barcelona dip following three draws in five league games, with the in-form Atletico primed to move within two points of their rivals.

But Diego Simeone’s strategy of absorb and counter failed to pay off here and, in the end, the visitors might easily have been beaten by a more emphatic scoreline.

Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, who came in with seven goals in two games, was largely anonymous.

Ernesto Valverde made a statement of attacking intent by plumping for the more creative Philippe Countinho over Paulinho but his team took a while to find their rhythm.

Even Messi hit the wall with a poor free-kick and then sent a cross-field switch straight into the advertising boards.

The Argentinian shook his head but soon recovered, moments later escaping a cage of four Atletico defenders before driving a shot straight at Jan Oblak.

For all Atletico’s discipline and defen-sive rigour, one mistake in the 26th minute was all it needed. Thomas Partey clipped

the back of Messi’s foot 25 yards out and the forward whipped the free-kick beyond the scrambling Oblak and into the top corner.

The rest of the half was a picture of Barca dominance, interrupted only by the injured Iniesta being replaced by Andre Gomes and a handful of minor skirmishes, the most noteworthy of which saw Messi hack down Filipe Luis and earn a yellow card.

Atletico’s demise was summed up by Luis tripping over his own feet during a rare attack down the left but half-time helped the visitors, who were more com-petitive after the break.

Luis Suarez thought he had scored a second after half-volleying through Oblak’s legs but was flagged offside, before Jose Gimenez applied a crucial block to deflect a Messi shot over.

There was one nervy moment for the hosts five minutes from time as Diego Costa headed down for Kevin Gameiro to slam home. Costa, however, had strayed offside and Barca held on for what will surely prove a crucial three points.

Man City march on as Chelsea woes continueREUTERS

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: Runaway Premier League lead-ers Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium yesterday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.

After Chelsea’s defensive approach resulted in a first-half stalemate, City went ahead 33 seconds into the second period when Bernardo Silva turned in a low cross from David Silva.

Chelsea have now lost four of their last five Premier League games and are in fifth place, five points behind Tottenham Hot-spur who occupy the fourth Champions League spot.

City’s lead could be cut by third-placed Manchester United, who play Crystal Palace on Mon-day, but the mathematics appear a mere formality now with Pep Guardiola’s side having won their last 14 home games.

It was not a classic game with Chelsea showing little ambition and City happy to play within themselves for large stretches, but that was perhaps a consequence of a title race that has effectively been over for months.

Still Chelsea hardly approached the game like a team who needed points to get back in contention to qualify for Europe’s elite competition. Anto-nio Conte left both Chelsea’s

recognised strikers - Alvaro Mor-ata and Olivier Giroud - on the bench and opted to play winger Eden Hazard as a lone striker.

The Londoners defended deep and in numbers from the outset but, missing the tenacity of the absent N’Golo Kante showed little willingness to press in midfield and the result was a first half dominated by City pos-session but with few openings.

City, who had played Arse-nal on Thursday, lacked their

usual sharpness in midfield although they went close to an opener when a deep cross from Kevin De Bruyne was brilliantly taken down by Leroy Sane but the German’s goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Cesar Azpilicueta.

Nicolas Otamendi put the ball in the net for City, after Ser-gio Aguero had hooked on a quick free kick but the effort was ruled out for offside and the teams went in for halftime with

a disappointing game scoreless. It took just 33 seconds of the second half for that to change, however, Aguero finding David Silva on the left and the Span-iard’s low cross was turned in at the back post by Bernardo Silva.

If Chelsea fans expected that goal to force a change of approach from Conte they were disappointed as they had to wait until the 78th minute for Giroud to be brought on for Willian.

But neither the French for-ward nor Morata, who came on in the final minute, made an impact with only an optimistic effort from Marcos Alonso in stoppage-time which flew wide troubling City’s underworked defence.

Manchester City completed 902 passes, more than any other team in a single Premier League match since 2003-04 when such statistics were first officially recorded.

Arsenal lose again, top-4 finish ‘nearly impossible’AFP

BRIGHTON, UNITED KING-DOM: Arsene Wenger admitted a top-four finish for Arsenal was now “nearly impossible” after the Gunners woes deepened following the 2-1 loss away to Brighton in the Premier League yester-day.

Their fourth successive loss in all competitions fanned the flames of an already-intense debate sur-rounding the future of Arsenal manager Wenger, amid reports of players’ meetings and of a weakening in board-room support for the Frenchman, who has reigned largely unchallenged since taking over at the north Lon-don club back in 1996.

Arsenal’s eighth loss since the turn of the year left them 13 points adrift of the fourth place that will secure auto-matic qualification for next season’s elite and lucrative Champions League.

“It is very difficult, nearly impossible now, we are too far behind,” Wenger told the BBC when asked about Arse-nal’s top-four prospects.

“We need two teams to collapse, not one. But at the moment we have different worries in how to come back to winning a game,” he added following a match that saw Brighton move seven points clear of the bottom three.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech tried to ease the pres-sure on Wenger by saying he was responsible for both of Brighton’s goals scored by Lewis Dunk and Glenn Mur-ray in a first half where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for Arsenal shortly before the break.

“If you want to win a game away from home in the best league in the world your GK (goalkeeper) can’t con-cede 2 goals like I did today,” former Chelsea favourite Cech tweeted. “It’s simply not possible... The team fought back but the damage was done.”

If ever Wenger needed his side to make a solid, com-posed start to the game, this was it. Having been out-played in back to back 3-0 defeats by Manchester City, first in the League Cup final and then, four days later, in the league fixture at the Emir-ates Stadium.

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward

Lionel Messi kicks the ball during the

Spanish league match against

Atletico de Madrid at the Camp Nou

Stadium in Barcelona, yesterday.

Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Manuel Garcia Alonso takes a shot at the goal during the English Premier League football match against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, yesterday.

Conte, Buffon lead tributes to AstoriAFP

ROME: A visibly shaken Anto-nio Conte and World Cup winner Gianluigi Buffon paid emotional tributes to Davide Astori, who died at the age of 31 yesterday, describing their Italian compa-triot as “fantastic” and “a great guy”.

Fiorentina and Italy interna-tional defender Astori was found dead from a suspected heart attack in his hotel room in Udine where his team were staying ahead of Sunday’s scheduled Serie A game with Udinese.

Astori leaves behind a wife and a two-year-old daughter.

Conte, who coached the defender when he was in charge

of the Italian national team, said the player’s death was a “tragedy”.

“This is a tragedy and it really hurts me. It’s very difficult at this moment to find the right words for the family,” Chelsea coach Conte told Sky Sports ahead of his team’s Premier League match at Manchester City on Sunday.

“I had him with the national team. He was a great player but especially a fantastic guy. I stay close to his wife, parents and daughter. He was only 31 and it’s very difficult to explain this sit-uation.” Veteran Buffon, the Juventus captain, called Astori “a great man”.

“Farewell dear Asto”, wrote Buffon in a post on Instagram

accompanied by a photo of the two players exchanging pen-nants before a game between their clubs.

Buffon said he did not usu-ally make a habit of expressing his feelings about others.

“I want to make an excep-tion to my rule because you have a young wife and others close to you who are suffering, but mostly because your little girl deserves to know that her dad was a good man... a great man.” - Matches cancelled - Fiorenti-na’s game was called off in the morning. The early kick-off between Genoa and Cagliari, one of Astori’s former clubs, was abandoned when players learned the news while warm-

ing up on the pitch.The other five Serie A

matches scheduled for Sunday, including the Milan derby, were also cancelled as a mark of respect.

“Fiorentina are profoundly shocked to have to announce the death of captain Davide Astori after a sudden illness,” the Serie A club said on Twitter.

Astori died of “natural causes” after a “cardiac circula-tory collapse” -- a type of heart attack -- Antonio de Nicolo, a Udine magistrate was quoted in Italian media as saying.

The magistrate added that it was “strange that such a thing happened without any warning symptoms in a profession which

is so closely monitored”.Astori’s body was taken to a

hospital in Udine for an autopsy.Astori began his career at AC

Milan, also playing for Cagliari and Roma before joining Fioren-tina in 2015. He played 14 times for Italy.

He made his international debut under coach Cesare Pran-delli in March 2011 as a first-half substitute in a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Kiev before getting sent off with 17 minutes remain-ing. Astori scored his only international goal in the 2013 Confederations Cup third-place play-off against Uruguay, giving Italy a first-half lead in a match which finished 2-2. Italy went on to win on penalties.

31MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Markram fights as Starc shatters South AfricaAFP

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram led a stirring South African fightback but could not prevent Australia from closing in on victory on the fourth day of the first Test at Kingsmead yesterday.

Opening batsman Markram made 143 but South Africa were hanging on at 293 for nine, still 124 runs short of a target of 417, when bad light stopped play.

South Africa were in desper-ate trouble at 49 for four but Markram shared stands of 87 with Theunis de Bruyn (36) and 147 with Quinton de Kock (81 not out) which gave South Africa hope that they could pull off a miracle victory.

His dismissal, though, opened the door for Australia to rip through the tail. Mitchell Starc took three wickets in five balls to have South Africa nine down.

That caused the umpires to tell Australian captain Steve Smith that play could only con-tinue if he used slow bowlers. De Kock and Morne Morkel sur-vived nine overs in ever-deteriorating light against Smith and Nathan Lyon before

the umpires took the players off five minutes before the sched-uled close.

That South Africa would even entertain faint hopes of vic-tory seemed impossible when their four most senior batsmen were dismissed without reach-ing double figures.

But Markram, in only his seventh Test, remained calm amid the carnage. The recovery started with a determined part-nership for the fifth wicket with De Bruyn, who made a stylish

36 before he was caught behind off Josh Hazlewood. It was the only wicket to fall between lunch and tea. Markram was joined by De Kock, whose form leading into the Test had been dismal. But the left-handed wicket-keeper looked in good touch from the start and took the fight to the Australians.

It was Markram’s third Test century but easily his important innings. He made hundreds against Bangladesh and Zimba-bwe, two of cricket’s lesser

powers, earlier in the season. He showed good composure, a sound technique and some ele-gant off side drives in a 218-ball innings which included 19 boundaries.

The damage was done before lunch when Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and captain Faf du Plessis all fell cheaply.

Markram and Elgar put on 29 for the first wicket before Elgar edged a sharply lifting delivery from Starc to wicket-keeper Tim Paine to be out for nine. Amla avoided a pair but only made eight before he was leg before wicket to Hazlewood.

South Africa then suffered a hammer blow when De Villiers, their top scorer in the first innings, was run out for nought.

Markram turned a ball from off-spinner Nathan Lyon behind square leg and did not respond when De Villiers called him through for a run. De Villiers had to turn and tried to go back but could not beat David Warner’s throw to Lyon. Pat Cummins struck with his third ball of the innings when he beat Du Ples-sis for pace and flattened his off stump.

South Africa batsman Aiden Markram leaves the ground after having been dismissed by Australia’s bowler Mitchell Marsh during the fourth day of the first Test match at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, yesterday.

Stage set for Doha TriathlonTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Qatar Cycling and Triathlon Federation (QTCF) yesterday announced that preparations to stage the Doha Triathlon have been finalised.

The Doha Triathlon will be

held on March 16 next to Museum of Islamic Art and the Corniche area.

The triathlon race will include three beats, namely swimming, running and cycling.

Addressing a press confer-ence Dr. Mohammed Jaham Al Kuwari, President of QTCF said:

“The first championship was a great success and we look for-ward to another successful edition.” .

“We have won the respect of the world in staging top-class sports tournaments,” he added.

“The Doha Triathlon is one

of those world-class events.” More than 150 Qatari athletes will feature in the one-day com-petition, it was announced. Overall more than 400 athletes will take part in the event.

Jamal Al Kuwari, Secretery General, QTCF, was also present at the press conference.

New-look India target T20 success in Sri Lanka tri-seriesAFP

COLOMBO: India’s rising talent will be put to the test in this week’s tri-nation Twenty20 series in Sri Lanka in the absence of some established stars.

Rohit Sharma-led (pictured) India enter the tournament against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as favourites, but must cope without big-hitters Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Selectors opted to rest the star pair for the short-format series and instead experiment with fresh faces.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who has just two T20 interna-tional appearances, and rookie paceman Mohammed Siraj, 23, are being given the opportunity to gain international experience.

Pant, 20, recently smashed the sec-ond-fastest T20 century off 32 balls for

Delhi against Himachal Pradesh -- just two balls short of Chris Gayle’s all-time quickest 100 off 30 balls in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL).

And 26-year-old left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who has already taken seven wickets in six T20 international appearances, made headlines when he was bought for $1.8m by the Rajasthan Royals in January -- the highest price paid for an Indian player.

India enjoyed one-day interna-tional and T20 series wins over South Africa earlier this month, but face a resurgent Sri Lanka in their opener on Tuesday.

“India has decided to rest their star players after the arduous South Africa tour and this gives an opportunity to some young players to show their met-tle... and that they are ready for international cricket,” former India

captain Sunil Gavaskar wrote in the Times of India.

Sri Lanka will face a home crowd buoyed by their recent tour of Bangla-desh where they thrashed the hosts in all three formats.

The sweep ended a Sri Lanka slump which saw them win just 14 of 57 matches in 2017.

The upswing has been credited to new coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who was appointed in December.

Hathurusingha coached Bangladesh through their most successful period in his three years in charge before returning home to lead a beleaguered Sri Lanka to victory against his old charges.

“We can definitely go and compete with bigger teams, but in cricket you can’t guarantee results,” Hathurusingha told espncricinfo.com.

“What we can aspire to... is to try and get better every time we train, every time we play, and try to do our best,” the 49-year-old former all-rounder said.

Dinesh Chandimal will lead Sri Lanka in the absence of Angelo Math-ews who is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in Bangladesh.

The Tigers will be looking to interim coach and former West Indies bowling great Courtney Walsh for some inspi-ration after dropping to 10th in the T20 rankings.

“If we can get consistent, we will be happy. It is going to be the biggest challenge and it is something that I will be stressing on a lot,” said 55-year-old Walsh. The T20 tri-series, timed to commemorate Sri Lanka’s 70 years since independence, begins on Tues-day and runs until March 18 in Colombo.

Dr. Mohammed Jaham Al Kuwari (second left), President of Qatar Cycling and Triathlon Federation (QTCF) addressing a Doha Triathlon 2018 press conference in Doha in the presence of Professor Nasser Saqer Al Mohannadi (left), Jamal Al Kuwairi (second right), General Secretary of QTCF and Marouf Tirad Mahmmoud in Doha yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

Action from the Pakistan Super League match between Islamabad United and Karachi Kings in Sharjah yesterday.

Australia (I innings) .................................. 351 South Africa (I innings) ............................162 Australia (II innings) C Bancroft st De Kock b Maharaj .............................53

D Warner c sub (Mulder) b Rabada ......................28

U Khawaja c De Kock b Maharaj .................................6

S Smith lbw b Elgar .................................................... 38

S Marsh c De Villiers b Morkel ................................... 33

M Marsh c Amla b Rabada ..........................................6

T Paine c De Villiers b Maharaj .................................14

P Cummins b Maharaj ...............................................26

M Starc c Elgar b Morkel ...............................................7

N Lyon c Amla b Morkel ...............................................2

J Hazlewood (not out) .................................................9

Extras (LB5) ...................................................................5

Total (74.4 overs) ....................................227 Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-71, 3-108, 4-146, 5-156, 6-175,

7-185, 8-203, 9-209

Bowling: Morkel 15-4-47-3, Philander 14-4-35-0, Maha-

raj 29.4-4-102-4, Rabada 13-6-28-2, Elgar 3-1-10-1

South Africa (II innings) A Markram c Paine b M Marsh .............................. 143

D Elgar c Paine b Starc ..................................................9

H Amla lbw b Hazlewood ...........................................8

A de Villiers run out (Warner) ....................................0

F du Plessis b Cummins ...............................................4

T de Bruyn c Paine b Hazlewood ........................... 36

Q de Kock (batting) ......................................................81

V Philander c Paine b Starc .........................................6

K Maharaj b Starc ...........................................................0

K Rabada b Starc ............................................................0

M Morkel (batting) ..........................................................0

Extras (B2, LB3, NB1) .................................................. 6

Total (9 wkts) ........................................... 293Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-39, 3-39, 4-49, 5-136, 6-283,

7-290, 8-290, 9-290

Bowling: Starc 16-1-74-4 (1nb), Hazlewood 14-1-57-2,

Lyon 32-7-86-0, Cummins 15-3-47-1, M Marsh 7-2-21-1,

Smith 5-3-3-0

South Africa need 124 runs to win with one wicket remaining

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan Super League

32 MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018SPORT 33MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Neymar leaves hospital to begin rehabAFP

BELO HORIZONTE: Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar left hospital yesterday after a successful operation on his broken foot, but it will be six weeks before doctors know when the world’s most expen-sive player can train again.

Neymar was discharged early in the morn-ing from the Mater Dei hospital in Belo Horizonte, 24 hours after surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.

The operation was declared a complete success.

Now the question is whether the 26-year-old can catch any of PSG’s remaining season, and even what kind of shape he’ll be in at the start of Brazil’s World Cup campaign in Russia this June.

“The recovery time will depend on the play-er’s evolution. In six weeks we will make a new evaluation,” Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Las-mar said after performing the operation.

Gerard Saillant, the French doctor repre-senting PSG at the hospital, told journalists that the timing of Neymar’s return to full training could only be given at the six-week mark.

“It is absolutely impossible to give you the slightest detail before those six weeks,” he said.

On Thursday, Lasmar said the star player -- whose transfer from Barcelona cost PSG a record 222m euros ($264m) last August -- would need at least two and a half months, maybe three, to return.

This would put him uncomfortably close to the start of the World Cup on June 14, includ-ing missing two friendly warm-up games.

After his one hour and 15 minute operation, Neymar spent his Saturday afternoon in a hos-pital bed watching live TV coverage of PSG’s Ligue 1 game against Troyes, Saillant said.

PSG won 2-0, but Neymar’s absence will be keenly felt during Tuesday’s Champions League showdown against Real Madrid.

The striker has scored 28 goals in

30 appearances in all competitions for the club -- a prolific tally that came to a halt February 25 when he broke his foot during a 3-0 drub-bing of Marseille.

Amid reports of tensions between PSG and Brazil’s footballing authorities over Neymar’s medical treatment, PSG insisted that it would be in charge of his recuperation.

“The post-operation rehabilitation will begin immediately under the control of the club’s physiotherapist,” PSG said in a statement on their website.

Earlier, Paris newspaper L’Equipe reported that PSG believe Lasmar lied about Neymar’s condition.

The report said that Neymar was initially found to have suffered a minor fracture at the Marseille game and that PSG were shocked when Lasmar declared it was a serious break requiring longer than expected recuperation time. However, doctors stressed Saturday that there was no friction between PSG and Brazil’s federation, the CBF.

“Contrary to what might have been written or said..., decisions already taken and those to come have had the complete agreement of Ney-mar of course, and of his family, all the staff at PSG, the medical staff, the organization and management of PSG, and the representatives of the CBF,” Saillant said.

“There is absolutely no split, despite what was written.”

Meanwhile, Diego Simeone has hailed Anto-ine Griezmann as one of the best players in the world ahead of Atletico Madrid’s La Liga show-down with Barcelona.

Barcelona’s lead at the top of the table has been cut to five points before the top-of-the-table clash, with Atletico, and Griezmann, hoping to reduce it just two at the Camp Nou this weekend.

Griezmann has been in sparkling form in recent weeks. The Frenchman has scored seven goals in his last two matches and 12 in his last nine.

“Antoine is an extraordinary footballer and when he is at his level like this, he is one of the best, and it is clear that in his present position he is in the perfect place,” Simeone said on Saturday.

“Except for the five months when he joined and the beginning of this season, he has always been very consistent and to be consistent in foot-ball is very difficult.

“Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, they become what they are by having continuity, they do not get tired of scoring goals, they do not get tired of winning titles, and this is the goal of those who are pushing to get closer to this place.”

Atletico against Barcelona has been billed as a battle between Griezmann and Messi, who himself has 34 goals already this season.

Simeone admitted there is no plan that can fully contain the Argentinian forward.

“Having a footballer like Lionel, who is in an extraordinary moment, it is clear that there is no strategy that can control something that we all want to control,” Simeone said.

“It is impossible because what he has is something natural.”

For Barcelona, the challenge is to regain momentum and confidence, following Thurs-day’s 1-1 draw at Las Palmas.

Ernesto Valverde’s men looked uncatcha-ble when they pulled 11 points clear at the top in January but a patchy run of form has given

Atletico hope. “It is a situation where we have to live with this intention and give everything to win the game, because the prize is very juicy,

for us to be ahead of second by eight points,” Valverde said.

“In this we have to focus. They will also

think: ‘we can get to two’. If we draw everything remains the same, but whoever wins makes an important jump.”

A friend of Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar arrives on the football player’s private plane along with the pilot after a successful operation on his broken foot, at Pampulha Airport in Belo Horizonte yesterday.

The recovery time will depend on the player’s evolution. In six weeks we will make a new evaluation, says Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar

Di Maria on the mark as PSG turn focus to Real Madrid showdownAFP

PARIS: Angel Di Maria kept up his irresistible form as a Paris Saint-Germain side missing Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe defeated Troyes 2-0 ahead of their Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.

The Argentine notched his 13th goal in 14 starts this year during Saturday’s visit to the Stade de l’Aube, which coincided with Neymar suc-cessfully undergoing an operation to repair a broken bone in his right foot.

Academy product Christopher Nkunku marked his first start of the season with his first goal this term 13 minutes from time to complete a victory that left PSG 14 points clear of defend-ing champions Monaco at the top of Ligue 1.

“Ahead of a big match and after (league and French Cup wins over) Marseille, I’m very happy because we kept up our level of play,” PSG coach

Unai Emery said following the impressive victory.

“I want the players to be ready (against Real). The players all want to play and that makes the decision tougher for me, but it’s better like that,” he added.

With a 3-1 deficit to overcome in the second leg of their last-16 tie against Real on Tuesday, Emery refused to risk Cavani while Mbappe stayed in Paris to continue treatment on an ankle injury sustained against Marseille in midweek.

Marco Verratti was also rested for Saturday’s trip, as Di Maria again took full advantage of the opportunity presented to several members of PSG’s expensively assembled squad in the wake of Neymar’s injury.

Di Maria himself was feted as the player to turn PSG into genuine Champions League con-tenders when he signed from Manchester United for 63 million euros ($78m) in 2015, and the

30-year-old has arguably been their best per-former of late. “Angel is an important player who has the quality to make the difference,” the PSG coach said.

“He’s got both the confidence and the desire. We want the players to be at their best level on Tuesday, and for some like Angel, it will be a spe-cial moment.” Troyes goalkeeper Erwin Zelazny produced a series of saves to deny Di Maria, and then Giovani Lo Celso twice in the first half, but the home goal was breached after a defensive lapse on 47 minutes.

A poor clearance followed by further mis-communication in the Troyes backline gifted Julian Draxler the opening to slide in Di Maria and the Argentine masterfully dinked the ball over an advancing Zelazny.

Twenty-year-old Nkunku sealed the win on 77 minutes, picking out the far corner of the net after gathering a threaded pass from Dani Alves

as the linesman’s flag controversially stayed down. Troyes boss Jean-Louis Garcia and his assistant were both ordered to the stands after protesting the decision to allow the goal, with replays indicating Nkunku had strayed margin-ally offside.

Emery then handed a first-team debut to Tim-othy Weah, as the son of former PSG star, and current Liberian president, George Weah replaced Lo Celso for the final few minutes.

The 18-year-old US youth international, whose father won the 1995 Ballon d’Or, nearly bagged a debut goal in stoppage time after rac-ing clear of the Troyes defence before being foiled by Zelazny.

On Friday, Rony Lopes scored his sixth goal in seven games as Monaco came from behind to beat Bordeaux 2-1 to tighten their grip on sec-ond place, with Marseille and Lyon not in action until Sunday.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentinian forward Angel Di Maria celebrates his goal during the Ligue 1 match against Troyes on Saturday.

Italy international footballer Davide Astori found deadREUTERS

ROME: Fiorentina captain and defender Davide Astori died of a sudden illness yesterday at the age of 31, the Serie A club said, leaving Italian football in a state of shock.

Serie A announced that all of Sunday’s matches, including the derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan, would be postponed.

“Fiorentina is deeply upset to have to announce that its captain Davide Astori has passed away, victim of a sudden illness,” said the statement.

“Due to the terrible and delicate situation, and above all for the respect of his family, an appeal is made to everyone’s sensibility.”

Italian media said that Astori was found dead in his hotel room.Astori joined Fiorentina on loan in August 2015 and the club signed him

outright one year later. He previously spent six seasons at Cagliari and one on loan at AS Roma.

He made 14 appearances for Italy between 2012 and 2017.“It seems impossible. I’m in a state of disbelief and I cry with his family

and all for Fiorentina. Goodbye captain,” said former Italy Prime Minister Mat-teo Renzi.

In announcing the postponement of yesterday’s games, Serie A said: “Shocked by the tragic news, the whole family of the Lega Serie A unites around the family of Davide Astori and Fiorentina FC.”

AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso had asked before the announcement for all games to be called off. “I can’t think of the derby after a tragedy like that,” he said on Twitter.

Vinicius Junior latest in Brazil’s talent pipelineAFP

RIO DE JANEIRO: Everyone’s heard of Neymar but now make way for the latest footballing diamond from Brazil’s seemingly inexhaustible talent mine: Vini-cius Junior.

Recruited for $45m (36.5m euros) by Real Madrid last year, the rising star from Rio de Janeiro side Flamengo has done every-thing to persuade fans that he really is the next big thing. And he’s only 17.

When the Spanish giant put down that kind of money last May for Vinicius it looked like a gam-ble. After all, he’d played just two professional games at the time.

Nine months later, his per-formances for Flamengo has eased any fears and as soon as he turns 18 in July he’ll be on a plane to join the reigning European champions. He says he’s ready.

“I talk from time to time to

(fellow Brazilian players at Madrid) Casemiro and Marcelo. I went to Madrid at the end of last year and I got to know more play-ers, like Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic club, but eve-rything in its good time. For now, I am focused on Flamengo,” he said in emailed comments.

With his horizons rapidly expanding, Vinicius hopes he can even get called up for this sum-mer’s World Cup in Russia. After all, the great Ronaldo went at 17 with the Cup-winning team to the United States in 1994, even if he didn’t play.

Another Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho, gave him the idea.

“We met not long ago and he told me that they often take a younger player so he can get close to the others. He told me to stand by,” Vinicius told Globoesporte.com last week.

With Neymar now facing an

anxious wait to be fit for the finals, Vinicius’s chances might have risen.

- Demon dribbler - Although Brazil coach Tite has not yet called him up, Vinicius has made waves in the national under-17 team.

Brazilian television played a highlight over and over last year -- just before Real Madrid announced they had signed him -- where the youngster tormented Paraguay with three successive flicks over the heads of opponents.

“He’s always been incredibly fast with the ball at his feet, had great technical quality and an unrivalled capacity for improvi-sation,” said Marcio Torres, who coached him for two years at Fla-mengo’s under-17s. This month, Vinicius got his first taste of pro-fessional silverware when he helped win the Taca Guanabara, the first phase of the regional Rio championship.

He also showed his theatrical side when he celebrated his goal in defeating Botafogo 3-1 in the semi-finals by rubbing his eyes -- imitating opposition support-ers’ tears.

- ‘Great kid’ - That caused a ruckus, with Botafogo retaliating by refusing to allow its Olympic home stadium to be used for the final in which Flamengo under-17s beat Boavista 2-0 -- again with a Vinicius goal.

None other than Neymar came to the young player’s defense, tweeting that “football becomes boring” when you can’t make fun of opponents.

However, apart from great talent, there’s not much similar-ity between the star and the star-to-be.

To many, Neymar is some-thing of a spoiled kid, while Vinicius is down to earth. “Even if he has always been the best of the lot, he has never posed the

slightest problem. I never saw him even arrive late for training,” said Israel Falcao, in charge of youth players at Flamengo when Vini-cius arrived aged 11.

“He’s a great kid because he has a good entourage. His family is from modest background but his father never tried to turn him into a product.” There was cer-tainly every opportunity. At just 13, Vinicius was on the wish list of Corinthians and then a year later Cruzeiro even tried offering his father a job. English Premier League club Arsenal lurked.

But Vinicius stayed at Fla-mengo until Real Madrid scored the deal.

“It’s a bit sad to know he’s going to leave us soon, but with that kind of offer the club had no choice,” said Torres.

“With his talent and charac-ter, he has every chance of succeeding in European football.”

Brazil’s Flamengo footballer Vinicius Junior’s file photo.

Klopp hopes in-form Salah features in awards’ listsAFP

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his in-form striker Mohamed Salah should be consid-ered for player-of-the-year honours in English football after taking his goal-tally for the season to 32 by scor-ing in a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Manchester City’s brilliant playmaker Kevin De Bruyne remains a strong favourite in the running for both the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and Football Writers’ player-of-the year awards over the final months of the season.

But Klopp, after seeing Salah score for the seventh straight game, said his man deserved to be competing for English football’s top individual honours alongside the Belgian, who has played such a key role in the progress of runaway Premier League leaders City this season.

“Of course,” said Klopp when asked if Salah is a contender. “Him and Kevin De Bruyne are playing dif-ferent positions so it depends what you want.

“There is no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne is play-ing a nice season but there is no doubt that Mo Salah is playing a really good one as well. That’s how it is.” The German boss added: “And it is not just them, there are a few more players people would mention. Harry Kane is not too bad, Roberto Firmino not too bad, David Silva had a few weeks when he couldn’t play for per-sonal reasons but he is playing an excellent season.

“There are a few good players this season and, for sure, I forget a few as well,” said Klopp after a victory that took Liverpool second, ahead of Sunday’s matches, but still left them 15 points adrift of City.

The player-of-year campaign would appear to revolve around De Bruyne, Tottenham forward Kane and Salah, whose form appears to be peaking at the right time.

The Egypt international’s 32 goals in all competi-tions took him past Luis Suarez’s best mark at Liverpool of 31 and to within a goal of the 33 netted by Fernando Torres exactly a decade ago.

With nine league games and, in all likelihood, at least three European ties left in Liverpool’s season, Salah should have the 36 goals scored by Robbie Fowler, 22 years ago, well within his sights.

Liverpool’s Egyptian

midfielder Mohamed

Salah

Tottenham leaning on Wembley home comforts to oust Juventus

AFP

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino (pictured) believes turning his side’s temporary Wembley home into a fortress can ensure progress to the Champions League quarter-finals when they host Juventus on Wednes-day.

Spurs hold the upper hand on the Ital-ian champions, who have reached the final in two of the past three seasons, after battling back from 2-0 down in Turin in the first leg to salvage a 2-2 draw.

The Wembley factor was cited as one of the key reasons for Spurs’ failure in Europe last season as they crashed out of both the Champions League and Europa League at the first time of asking.

However, Pochettino’s men have acclimatised during the course of a sea-son at the home of English football whilst work on the club’s new 62,000 capacity stadium is completed.

Son Heung-Min struck twice as Tot-tenham eased past Huddersfield 2-0 on Saturday, extending their unbeaten run

at Wembley in all competitions to 15 games.

That stretch has included landmark wins over Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal.

“I am so pleased. I think it is a fantas-tic run at home,” said Pochettino.

“We can say that Wembley is our home and that is so important for the team.

“Last season was a strange feeling but now I think for us it is like our home. The team feel good playing here and when the results are positive everything is much better.” Son has felt those home comforts more than most as 13 of his 15 goals this season have come at Wembley.

“We feel comfortable at Wembley, we know how we play here,” said the South Korean.

“Of course it was going to take time but now we feel like we’re at home. We enjoy playing here.”

Impressive victory over Hudders-field kept Tottenham Hotspur in the driving seat for a return to the Cham-pions League next season as they opened

up a five-point lead on fifth-placed Chelsea.

And despite the contrasting levels of European experience between his side and Juventus, Pochettino believes Spurs have worked too hard in recent seasons to establish themselves in the Champions League to freeze on the big stage.

“In the end is a football game and we are going to enjoy it,” he continued.

“It is an amazing competition the Champions League, but I think we fight a lot the last few years to be there and get to play this type of games.”

Spurs have already shown they have the ability to outplay Juventus in the first leg as they shrugged off the blow of con-ceding twice to Gonzalo Higuain inside the first 10 minutes.

The visitors went on to dominate pos-session and were more than worthy of their two away goals through Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen.

“Our approach will be the same that we played in Turin,” added Pochettino.

“You need to feel free feel, happy and enjoy the game.”

In this file photo taken on November 24, 2016 Fiorentina’s defender Davide Astori plays the ball during the round qualifying UEFA Europa League match Fiorentina versus Paok, in Florence.

34 MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018SPORT

NBA: Jazz get off to fast start, hold off Kings in tense battleAP

SACRAMENTO: Utah coach Quin Snyder couldn’t stop prais-ing his team’s defence after the Jazz limited Sacramento to four second-chance points.

It was their inconsistency that bothered Snyder, a small asterisk on an otherwise strong night.

Donovan Mitchell scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Jazz beat the Kings 98-91 on Saturday.

“We got a couple leads and we gave it back to them, frankly,” Snyder said.

“We have to be able to main-tain a certain level throughout the course of the game and stay at that level and be more con-sistent during the whole 48 minutes.”

Rudy Gobert had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz. Ricky Rubio added 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Derrick Favors scored 15 to lead Utah to its fifth consecutive win in Sacramento.

The Jazz, who beat Minne-sota on Friday, have back-to-back victories for the first time since their 11-game winning streak was snapped by Portland on February. 23.

They did it with a stifling interior defence that held the Kings to one basket on 11

offensive rebounds. “That’s why we won it,” Gobert said. “We know they are a very young and athletic team and their guys are very aggressive to the rim, so we had to do a great job protecting the paint.

“We did a great job of doing that tonight.”

Sacramento trailed by 18 in the third quarter but pulled to 95-89 following De’Aaron Fox’s three-point play with 49.9 sec-onds left.

Rubio made one free throw and Mitchell sank two to help Utah hold on.

Skal Labissiere had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Sacramento. Fox scored 17 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 15.

The Kings have lost four of five since the All-Star break.

“We dribbled a little too much,” Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said. “They are tough to score on once their defense gets set up. That’s the battle when you play them.”

The Jazz closed the first quarter on a 13-4 run capped by Jae Crowder’s 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left, then pulled away in the second.

Gobert dribbled through a pair of Sacramento defenders for a dunk, and Joe Ingles followed with a 3-pointer to put Utah up 45-27.

Fox scored eight points in the second quarter to help the Kings

pull to 50-43 but picked up his third foul with 11.3 seconds left in the half.

Sacramento cut the gap to 75-66 going into the fourth fol-lowing Frank Mason’s 3-pointer.

Jazz: Utah hasn’t lost in Sac-ramento since December 8, 2015. ... Mitchell has scored 23 or more in seven of his last nine games. .. Utah limited Sacramento to 29.2 percent shooting (7 of 24) in the first quarter. . Crowder made

two 3s in the opening 12 minutes and added his third 40 seconds into the second quarter. . The Jazz improved to 21-5 when holding opponents under 100 points.

Kings: Zach Randolph returned to the lineup after being left on the bench for two games. ... Kosta Koufos had eight points and seven rebounds in his first start since January 28.

Koufos started because

Willie Cauley-Stein was held out with a lower back strain.

Rubio shot 4 of 16 but put together his best overall game since sitting out three games in mid-February because of a sore left hip.

“The boxscore doesn’t tell everything,” Gobert said.

“He was doing great, mak-ing the right play at the right time and finding his teammates,” Gobert said.

Stamkos has career-high five points as Lightning beat FlyersAP

TAMPA: Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman were too much for the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Stamkos and Hedman com-bined for four goals and five assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-6 shootout vic-tory against the Flyers.

Stamkos scored twice and added three assists to set a career high with five points while Hed-man had two goals and tied a career high with four points.

League-leading scorer Nikita Kucherov returned from a two-game absence and had three assists.

“When these guys are roll-ing you just have to keep putting them out there,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “You want them to keep going with that feeling they are having and it paid off for us tonight.”

Brayden Point added a shootout goal and the league-leading Lightning improved to 6-0-1 in the past seven games. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 37 saves for his league-leading 38th victory.

Ivan Provorov had a goal and two assists for Philadelphia, which suffered consecutive losses for the first time since a four-game losing streak from

Jan. 25 to Feb. 3.Claude Giroux, Jakub Vora-

cek and Nolan Patrick each finished with a goal and an assist.

Tampa Bay overcame two multi-goal deficits to win for the third time in franchise history, second time against the Flyers.

“Anytime you’re down a

couple of goals in different parts of the game, especially in the third and you come back and win it’s emotional,” Stamkos said. “It shows guys care. Guys never gave up.”

The Lightning fell behind 3-1 after the opening period as the Flyers scored twice in a span of

3:37 in the first on goals from Voracek and defenseman Rob-ert Hagg.

Tampa Bay tied it on goals from Hedman and Dan Girardi in the second period, but Phila-delphia regained the two-goal advantage on a late second-period goal from Jori Lehtera and

early third-period goal from Provorov.

“We know we didn’t play well a couple of nights ago,” Fly-ers coach Dave Hakstol said. “It’s not just about losses it’s about the overall performance. That wasn’t us the other night and we knew we had to raise our level from where it was the other night.

“I thought our guys did that.”But the Lightning raised their

level as well with three consec-utive third-period goals, starting with J T Miller’s goal at 4:23 for his first since being acquired from the New York Rangers on Monday.

Stamkos converted a 2-on-1 chance with Kucherov to tie the game at 7:38 and Hedman gave the Lightning a 6-5 lead at 10:03.

“The resiliency was really there tonight and obviously really happy with the way we came back,” Hedman said.

Giroux tied the game with 2:53 left in regulation.

“It was a pretty fun game to play,” he said.

“They have a lot of talent, they have a lot of players that can make a difference. You give them chances to score and they will.

“But we did a good job of keeping our composure,” Giroux said.

Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Cam Talbot (33) makes a save on New York Rangers’ forward Kevin Hayes (13) during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Place.

NHL planning more outdoor games at US service academiesAP

ANNAPOLIS: The NHL’s first outdoor game at a US service academy probably won’t be its last.

After the Washington Capitals hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Naval Academy, the league hopes to play games at Army’s West Point and the Air Force Acad-emy over the next few years.

It’s a significant foray into honouring and partnering with branches of the military that follows the lead of the NFL and Major League Base-ball for a league that’s split between the United States and Canada.

“It’s unique and as we continue to move forward with the outdoor games, you look for new concepts and new themes and new things that’ll interest the fans,” dep-uty commissioner Bill Daly said.

“Certainly the hope is, with a successful game (at Navy), we’ll continue the ven-ture with the Army and the Air Force and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Daly said he’d be sur-prised if the sequel to Maple Leafs-Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium comes as soon as the 2018-19 season, though 2019-20 is a possibility.

The Florida Panthers faced the New Jersey Devils inside in an exhibition game at West Point’s Tate Rink in 2006, and ownership con-nections to the Army make the Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights strong can-didates for a potential outdoor game there.

American-born players taking part in the game at Navy said they were honored to get the opportunity.

Told of the NHL’s future plans to attempt games at Army and Air Force, Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hain-sey called it “a great road for us to go down.”

“It’s a nice recognition and a little partnership almost that we’re able to play here,” American-born Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said.

“I think means different things to different people. As a country, it means a lot, especially the Americans that play in the league and our fans.”

The NHL has 24 Ameri-can and 7 Canadian-based teams and is made up of about 49 percent Canadian-born players.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces took part in pregame ceremonies with the Maple Leafs, and Daly said involving a team from north of the 48th parallel was a conscious decision that didn’t meet any resistance.

“I think North American forces are united,” Daly said.

“I think there’s a real appreciation for the military wherever you are, north or south of the border.”

When Saskatoon, Sas-katchewan, native Mike Babcock moved to Spokane, Washington, he recalled the deep connections to the mil-itary from those stationed at nearby Fairchild Air Force Base or just residents who served or knew someone who was in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps.

The NFL has partnered with the military for years, and the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins played at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in 2016. The NHL is now wad-ing into those waters with more to come.

Cycling: Dygert wins gold in individual pursuitAP

AMSTERDAM: Chloe Dygert broke the women’s individual pursuit world record twice in winning at the world track cycling championships on Saturday.

Dygert, who anchored the Americans to another team pursuit gold medal on Thursday, lowered the individual record time by two seconds in qualifying. Then in the final against Annemiek van Vleu-ten of the Netherlands, Dygert took the record down again by 0.012 seconds to retain her crown.

Dygert took the record time from compatriot Sarah Hammer, the five-time world pursuit champion who retired in September.

“Not having Sarah here was strange, she’s been to every world championship with me,” Dygert said. “But I had a (video) call with her before my final ride and that gave me a little bit of extra energy.”

In other finals, Matthew Glaetzer of Australia won the men’s sprint, Miriam Welte of Germany won the women’s 500-meter time trial four years after she first won it, Szyman Sajnok of Poland edged

the men’s omnium, and British duo Katie Archibald and Emily Nelson dominated the women’s Madison.

Glaetzer defeated defending cham-pion Denis Dmitriev of Russia en route to the sprint final, where he overpowered rising British talent Jack Carlin 2-0.

Carlin merely hoped to make the quarterfinals in his first world individual sprint race, and had to compose himself on the podium.

“I was very close to throwing up,” he said. “Throwing up during the Australian national anthem probably wouldn’t have

gone down very well ahead of the Com-monwealth Games (next month).”

Welte followed up her team sprint win on Wednesday with the time trial victory, beating Daria Shmeleva of Russia to reverse the result from last year.

The men’s omnium went to the final lap, with Sajnok and Jan Willem van Schip of the Netherlands tied on points. Sajnok was first across the line. Simone Consonni of Italy was third.

Archibald and Nelson won eight of the 12 sprints in the Madison, all eight in a row.

Houston Rockets’ guard James Harden (13) drives to the basket while Boston Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart (36) defends during the third quarter of their NBA game at Toyota Centre.

35MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Roger Bannister, first to run mile under 4 minutes, dies at age 88AP

LONDON: Roger Bannister, the first runner to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile, has died. He was 88.

Bannister’s family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Saturday in Oxford, the English city where the runner cracked the feat many had thought humanly impossible on a windy after-noon in 1954.

Bannister, who went on to pursue a long and distinguished medical career, had been slowed by Parkinson’s disease in recent years.

He was “surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them,” the family said in a statement announc-ing his death on Sunday. “He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends.”

Helped by two pacemakers, Bannister clocked 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds over four laps at Oxford’s Iffley Road track on May 6, 1954, to break the 4-minute mile - a test of speed and endurance that stands as one of the defining sporting achievements of the 20th century.

“It’s amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile,” Bannister said in an inter-view in 2012.

The enduring image of the lanky Oxford medical student - head tilted back, eyes closed and mouth agape as he strained across the finishing tape - captured the public’s imagination, made him a global celebrity and lifted the spirits of Britons still suffering through postwar austerity.

“It became a symbol of attempting a challenge in the physical world of something hitherto thought impossible,” Bannister said as he approached the 50th anniversary of the feat. “I’d like to see it as a metaphor not only for sport, but for life and seeking challenges.”

He might not have set the milestone but for the disappoint-ment of finishing without a medal in the 1,500 meters, known as the metric mile, in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Instead of retir-ing from the sport, he decided to chase the 4-minute mark.

Swedish runner Gundar Haegg’s mile time of 4:01.4 had stood for nine years, but in 1954 Bannister, Australian rival John Landy and others were threatening to break it.

“As it became clear that somebody was going to do it, I felt that I would prefer it to be me,” Bannister said.

He also wanted to deliver something special for his country.“I thought it would be right for Britain to try to get this,” Ban-

nister said. “There was a feeling of patriotism. Our new queen had been crowned the year before, Everest had been climbed in 1953. Although I tried in 1953, I broke the British record, but not the 4-minute mile, and so everything was ready in 1954.”

His chance finally came on a wet, cool, blustery May afternoon during a meet between Oxford and the Amateur Athletic Association.

When Bannister looked up at the English flag whipping in the wind atop a nearby church, he feared he would have to call off the record attempt. But, shortly before 6pm, the wind died down. The race was on.

With Chris Brasher setting the pace on the cinder track, they ran a first lap in 57.5 seconds, then 60.7 - 1:58.2 for the half mile. Chris Chataway, a distance specialist, paced a third lap of 62.3 - 3:00.4. Bannister would need to run the final lap in 59 seconds.

With 250 yards to go, Bannister surged past Chataway, his long arms and legs pumping and his lungs gasping for oxygen.

After Bannister crossed the finish line, the announcer read out the time: “3...” The rest was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

The record lasted just 46 days, as Landy ran 3:57.9 in Turku, Finland, on June 21, 1954. That set the stage for the showdown between Bannister and Landy at the Empire Games, now called the Commonwealth Games, in Vancouver, British Columbia on Aug. 9, 1954.

Landy set a fast pace, leading by as much as 15 yards before Bannister caught up as the bell rang for the final lap.

Bannister won the race in 3:58.8, with Landy second in 3:59. It was the first time two men had run under 4 minutes in the same race. Bannister considered that victory even more satisfying than the first 4-minute mile because it came in a competitive race against

his greatest rival.Bannister capped

his brilliant summer of 1954 by winning the 1,500 meters at the European Champion-ships in Bern, Switzerland, in a games record of 3:43.8.

“None of my ath-letics was the greatest achievement,” he said. “My medical work has been my achievement and my family with 14 grandchildren. Those a r e r e a l achievements.”

Bannister married Moyra Jacobsson, an artist, in 1955. They had two sons and two daughters and lived in a modest home only minutes away from the track where he made history. Bannister out-lived his 4-minute mile pacemakers: Brasher, who founded the Lon-don Marathon, died in 2003 at the age of 74. Chataway died in 2014 at 82.

Serena will soon pass Court’s record: EvertAP

NEW YORK : Chris Evert expects new mom Serena Williams will eclipse the Grand Slam record of 24 singles titles, maybe even this season.

The former No. 1 tennis player also says the name of current record-holder Margaret Court should remain on the arena at the Australian Open despite her con-troversial views on LGBT rights.

“I don’t agree with Margaret and her thinking,” said the ESPN analyst and 18-time Grand Slam singles champion. “I think it hon-ours her tennis career.”

Williams restarts her tennis career on the WTA tour next week with 23 major titles. She’ll play an exhibition match tonight at Mad-ison Square Garden in New York, then compete at Indian Wells, California, in her first tour event in more than a year.

Williams dealt with serious health issues after the birth of her first child in September and missed the first major in January.

But the 36-year-old Williams has been winning majors at a swift clip. Williams passed Evert and Martina Navratilova’s 18 at the 2015 Australian Open, and won four more majors in the next three years.

Evert thinks Williams will win at least one Grand Slam title this season.

“I just cannot bet against her,” she said in a recent phone inter-view with The Associated Press. “I’d be surprised if she won two; I would bet on her to win one.”

Evert knows a bit about records. Raised in a tennis family and taught by her father Jimmy in Florida, she turned pro at 17 in 1972 and promptly earned the No. 1 ranking two years later after winning the French Open and Wimbledon.

She won a record seven French Opens and reached the semifinals or better in 52 of 56 majors. The tennis Hall of Famer won 157 singles and 32 doubles titles in an 18-year career, which spanned the eras of Billie Jean King, Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

Her career winning percent-age (90 percent) is better than top-ranked Roger Federer (82 percent). It remains the high-est for men or women since the Open era of professional tennis began in 1968.

Here are a few more thoughts from the 63-year-old Evert, the publisher of Tennis magazine and mother of three adult sons.

Evert says Serena’s best chance of winning more majors rests on the grass of Wimbledon.

“Who knows how she’ll come out of the starting gate,” she said. “Wimbledon, that would be her best shot because that favours power, rewards power and the rallies aren’t long. She’s got the big serve. The US Open is going to be tough because it’s on a hard court, it’s hot. She’ll have to be moving well and be very, very fit.”

Incorporating tennis and family becomes the new chal-lenge after marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and giving birth to baby Olympia. He recently bought four billboards along the highway to Indian Wells that say “Greatest Momma Of All Time.”

“When you have a child, that’s

an emotional component that you’ve never experienced before,” Evert said. “I keep saying this - whenever anybody doubts Ser-ena, she thrives. That gives her more motivation, more incen-tive and she always comes out the winner.”

Court won 24 major singles titles from 1960-77, including 11 at the Australian Open when most players didn’t venture Down Under. She won a com-bined record of 64 Grand Slam singles and doubles titles.

Evert still hits the courts almost daily at her tennis acad-emy in Boca Raton, Florida. Madison Keys, who reached the US Open final last year, and Lau-ren Davis, who had triple-match point on top-ranked Simona Halep at the Australian Open, came through her academy.

Evert’s proud “100 percent of the kids” who don’t turn pro earn a college tennis scholarship.

“That’s like winning Wim-bledon for these kids,” she said. “That’s a wonderful goal. It’s really just fun to mentor these kids and try to help them reach their goals and their dreams.”

Known for her two-handed

backhand and returning nearly every ball, Evert recently part-nered with Osteo Bi-Flex to help keep up with the 14-year-olds on her practice courts.

At 36, Federer recently won the Australian Open and regained the No. 1 ranking. Evert marvels at his “frame of mind” and rela-tively injury-free career.

“He’s not a grinder like (Rafa) Nadal. Roger wins a lot of free points off his serve, he has shorter rallies, he glides to the ball, he doesn’t muscle anything. It’s all about timing and finesse with him.

“He’s so endearing. When he cried (after the win), I think the whole world cried along with him. He shows his emotion... that’s why people love him so much.”

Evert isn’t concerned 37-year-old Venus Williams joined several American women making early exits at the Aus-tralian Open.

“She had a big year last year - got to the finals of two majors, got to the WTA Finals. You can understand why maybe her body didn’t recover as quickly. She can still have a great year.”

Del Potro and Tsurenko win trophies in AcapulcoAP

ACAPULCO, MEXICO: Juan Martin del Potro (pictured) won the Mexico Open on Satur-day night for his 21st ATP Tour title, beating Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to improve to 7-0 against the 6-foot-8 South African.

Del Potro was projected to switch spots with Anderson in the world ranking, with del Potro going from ninth to eighth. The 29-year-old Argentine star beat three straight players ranked ahead of him in the hard-court event, topping No. 6 Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.

“It’s a very special tournament to me,” said del Potro, the 2009 US Open cham-pion. “I beat three Top 10 guys in the same tournament, which is very important for myself. I’m so glad to win my 21st title play-ing in Acapulco.”

Earlier at Princess Mundo Imperial, Lesia Tsurenko successfully defended her wom-en’s title with a 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Stefanie Voegele.

The 6-foot-6 del Potro won for the first time since successfully defending his Stock-holm title last year.

“He’s a very dangerous guy,” del Potro said about Anderson. “His serves are so strong, but I got lucky in the important moments of my return games. I broke just twice and that was the key of the match.”

Anderson tweaked his left leg on del Potro’s lob and received treatment at 1-1 in the second.

“It was a little bit uncomfortable at first,” Anderson said. “I think in the bigger pic-ture of things it didn’t really affect things too much,” Anderson said. “I think Juan Martin played really well. He’s obviously a tough

competitor and a great player. I just needed to do a little bit more today.”

He won the New York Open two weeks ago for his fourth career title.

“I can take a lot of confidence going into Indian Wells and Miami, two tournaments I really enjoy playing. I feel like I’m play-ing really good tennis,” Anderson said. “As always, I’ll pick myself up. I’ll try to learn as much as I can from tonight’s match.”

The 28-year-old Tsurenko, from the Ukraine, won her fourth WTA Tour title

and first since her victory last year at Princess Mundo Imperial.

“It’s such a special tournament for me,” Tsurenko said. “It was amazing.”

Seeded seventh, she was three points from losing the match in the second set in the match that took 2 hours, 45 minutes.

“Stefanie, it was an unbelieva-ble match,” Tsurenko said. “It was almost three hours. We both were nervy and we were still fighting to the end. Thanks for this match and for this experience.”

The 27-year-old Voegele was mak-ing her first appearance in a tour final.

In the men’s doubles final, Brit-ain’s Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares successfully defending their title, beating American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Britain’s Heather Watson won the women’s doubles in their first tour-nament together, topping Americans Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina San-tamaria 7-5, 2-6, 10-2.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Australian Alex de Min-

aur were given wild card invitations to the ATP Masters and WTA hardcourt tournament at Indian Wells, organisers said yesterday.

Bouchard, ranked 115th in the world, will be playing her first tournament since a New York jury found in her favour in her lawsuit against the US Tennis Association over her locker room fall at the 2015 US Open.

De Minaur, a 19-year-old ranked 139th in the world, enjoyed a strong start to 2018 reaching the final at Sydney and the semi-finals at Brisbane.

File photo of Roger Federer with Serena Williams.

36MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018

SPORTThere is no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne is playing a nice season

but there is no doubt that Mo Salah is playing a really good

one as well. That’s how it is.Final day of first Test

between South Africa and

Australia in Durban

English Premier League:

Crystal Palace vs

Manchester United

CRICKET FOOTBALLJurgen Klopp,Liverpool manager believes

his in-form striker Mohamed

Salah should be considered

for player-of-the-year

honours in English football

Former Qatar Open winner Thomas in Asia-Pacific team

ARMSTRONG VAS

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Rayhan Thomas, winner at the 2016 Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship, will return to his favourite hunting Doha Golf Club as member of the Asia-Pacific team which will contest for the Michael Bonallack Trophy here from March 8.

Thomas is the lone Indian among the 12-member Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation team announced by Sir Michael Bonal-lack Trophy select ion committee.

The three-day event, at the Peter Harradine designed course, will welcome some of the top amateur men and women players and will pit the best of male and female amateur European players against an Asia-Pacific team.

The men team will be vying for the Michael Bonallack Trophy while the women be vying for the Patsy Hankins honours in the tournament, which ends on March 11. The tournament will be played in match-play format.

The other members besides Rayhan Thomas are Min Woo Lee (Australia), Shae Wools-Cobb (Australia), Takumi Kanaya

(Japan), Kazuya Osawa (Japan) Jaemin Han (Korea), Dong-min Kim (Korea), Daniel Hillier (New Zealand), Lloyd Jefferson Go (Philippines), Gregory Foo (Sin-gapore), Sadom Keawkanjana (Thailand) and Kammalas Namuangruk (Thailand).

Thomas, who also won the Dubai Creek Open in 2016, besides the Qatar event, had a strong run at the 2017 United States Junior making the semi-final stage and will be hoping to continue his good form at the DGC.

Thomas team-mate at the Asia-Pacific team, Min Woo Lee, winner of the United States Junior Championship in 2016 and the 2017 s runner-up at the Aus-tralian Amateur and tied for 3rd at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will look to give his best in Doha.

Lee’s compatriot, Shae Wools-Cobb, another member of the teams, won the NT Amateur in 2016 and was a semi-finalist at the 2018 Australian Amateur.

Japan’s Takumi Kanaya is rep-resenting the Asia-Pacific for the second time, having been a stan-dout player two years ago

in Portugal. In 2017 he was runner-up in the Japan Open and is a former winner of the Chugoku Amateur. Another, Japanese rep-resentative on the team, Kazuya Osawa won the Japan Amateur in 2017 and was runner-up at the Nomura Cup in the individual component.

There are two Koreans in the team. Jaemin Han is a winner of the Korean Amateur trials and was runner-up in the Korean Junior Amateur in 2016.

His national team-mate and Korea’s top ranked player Dong-min Kim recently tied for 6th at his home Korean Open.

Only two players from one country can make it to the team according to tournament rules.

Matt Cutler, who returns as Captain said: “I am very happy with the team we have selected. We have a group of players that thoroughlydeserve to represent our region and I know will give their all in the matches with Europe. Along with vice-captain Andy Yamanaka from Japan and our coach Gareth Jones from Aus-tralia I am very excited about the week ahead”.

The first two days, of the

three days format, will comprise five foursomes matches each morning and five four-ball matches each afternoon. On the final day, all twelve team players will compete in singles match play. A win will count as one point, a half yields half a point and a lost match will return zero. In the event of a tie, the trophy shall be retained by the holders

Meanwhile the Patsy Hankins Trophy Selection Committee, led by non-playing Captain, Joanne Mckee has announced the 12 players who have been selected to represent the Asia-Pacific women’s team.

The players have been selected on their World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and high-level performance.

The team is as follows: Grace Kim (Australia), Liu Wenbo (China), Du Mohan (China), Ya-Chun Chang (Chinese Taipei), Yu-Chiang Hou (Chinese Taipei), Yuna Nishimura (Japan), Riri Sadoyama (Japan), Seo-yun Kwon (Korea), Hae-ran Ryu (Korea), Yuka Saso (Philippines), Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Thai-land) and Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand).

Rayhan Thomas, winner at the 2016 Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championship, will return to his favourite hunting Doha

Golf Club next week.

Zarco, Rossi and Dovi shine at Losail CircuitTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Yamaha blast back up top on Saturday night, with Dovizioso once again a force to be reckoned with Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) leaves the final pre-season test as the fastest man on track, with the Frenchman just over a tenth over Jorge Lorenzo’s 10-year-old pole lap record to top the test with a 1:54.029 at Losail International Circuit.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) shot back up into the higher echelons on Day 2 to get closest to the Frenchman as he was 0.247 further back – with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the top three as he was once again a constant presence to be reckoned with.

Lorenzo’s record that Zarco was hunting down is a 1:53.927, set in 2008 when the now five-time World Champion debuted – a longstanding mark of pace at the venue to add some extra lustre to the Tech 3 rider’s laptime.

Behind that show of outright pace from the Frenchman’s Yamaha, Rossi’s two and a half tenth deficit was nevertheless enough to put the Italian into P2 despite a crash earlier in the day – and Dovizioso was just 0.055 off his compatriot.

In fourth, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was the fastest Honda with a 1:54.457 – contin-uing his fantastic preseason form – after putting in 57 laps, which was the most of the top five.

It was incredibly close between the Brit and the third Yamaha Maverick Vinales (Mov-istar Yamaha MotoGP), however, with the Spaniard – fastest in testing at the venue last season and the race winner – just 0.014

off after he made a late attack.The top five were the same

as the combined times on Day 3, but the man who leaves the desert sixth overall set his best laptime on Day 2 – Andrea Ian-none (Team Suzuki Ecstar). The Italian, whose 1:54.586 was the fastest lap on Friday, was side-lined on the third and final day of the third and final preseason test, suffering with illness.

Slotting behind the ‘Maniac’ and his Day 2 assault, Marc Mar-quez (Repsol Honda Team) was seventh overall as he guns for his seventh title – and by another tiny margin, with only 0.005 in it.

The reigning champion also showed impressive pace on a long run, and did the most laps of anyone as he racked up 75. He ended the day sandwiched between the Team Suzuki Ecstar machines, as Alex Rins took P8 and ended preseason on form and fully healthy ahead of his

sophomore season. Two Ducatis locked out the top ten overall, with Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) just 0.009 off Rins ahead of him and 0.033 ahead of the Ducati Team machine of Jorge Lorenzo.

Lorenzo, who went fastest in Sepang with the quickest ever lap, put in a 1:54.692 in Qatar for P10.

Second Alma Pramac Racing rider Jack Miller, who headed out late with a soft tyre for a time

attack, was P11 overall and another tiny margin made the difference – just 0.057.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), after a big crash on Day 1 and having been affected since by some pain in his left hand, did the least laps on Friday of anyone but put in 44 more on the final day, ending the test in P12 overall after having topped the #ThaiTest.

After the end of the dry track time, there was one last thing on the preseason agenda - a wet test. After everyone was back in pitlane, crews around the venue set about getting the track wet in order to test Losail both in the wet and under the floodlights. After another, shorter session in those different conditions, the curtain then came down on the preseason.

Decisions are made, pro-grammes worked through and components compared – and all that remains now is to race. But there’s not long to wait, with the Qatar GP getting underway on the March 16.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso in action at Losail International Circuit in Saturday night.

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi in action during the last day of final MotoGP pre-season test at Losail International Circuit in Saturday night.

Coleman wins world indoor 60m titleAFP

BIRMINGHAM: US track sensation Christian Coleman lived up to his billing as the sprinter most likely to fill the sizeable spikes of now-retired Usain Bolt by streaking to gold in the men’s 60m at the World Indoor Championships on Saturday.

Coleman, who set an alti-tude-assisted 6.34-second world indoor record at the US championships in Albu-querque last month, led from gun to tape to clock a cham-pionship record of 6.37sec.

Su Bingtian of China low-ered the Asian record to 6.42sec when he took silver, with Coleman’s US teammate Ronnie Baker, third fastest man of all time over 60m, claiming bronze (6.44sec).

Starting in lane four, with Su inside him and Baker in six, Coleman enjoyed an elec-trifying start, shooting out low with head bowed.

After his first 10 vigorous paces, the 21-year-old Amer-ican powered up into his drive phase and made no mistake as he dipped sav-agely through the line for a first global title.

Christian Coleman poses on the podium during the medal ceremony on Saturday.