SPORTWednesday 14 March 2018

South Africa will look to seniors to replace

Rabada

A great day for Qatari football, says Laudrup

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Formula One: Hamilton favourite to

defend crown

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Al Sadd trounce Nasaf, inch closer to knockout stageFAWAD HUSSAIN

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Sadd displayed a dominating performance to hand Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf a 4-0 thrashing in home tie, inching closer to the knockout stage of the 2018 AFC Cham-pions League yesterday.

It seemed like an all-Al Sadd affair at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium as the Xavi-led side showed a fiery display to out-class their Uzbek counterparts for maximum points.

It was none other than superstar Xavi who gave the QNB Stars League (QSL) giants a flying start by scoring a goal in the third minute. The former Barcelona captain diverted Boualem Khoukhi’s cross to score his first-ever AFC Cham-pions League goal.

Al Sadd doubled their lead in the 16th minute and this time it was a defender who got on the scoresheet. Full-back Abdelkarim Hassan finished off a surging solo run from the halfway line with a fierce strike that left Nasaf keeper Sanjar Kuvvatov with no chance of saving.

Baghdad Bounedjah then gave the Qatari side a com-fortable 3-0 cushion at half time, with the Algerian netting his fifth goal of the tournament with an acrobatic overhead kick in the 43rd minute.

Fellow Algerian Jugurtha

Hamroun, who had provided the assist for Bounedjah, got a goal of his own in the 71st minute, smashing in a low shot past Kuuvatov to round off a quick counter-attack.

The big win sends Al Sadd to the top of Group C with nine points from four games, and leaves them needing four points to qualify for the Round of 16. They host bottom of the group Al Wasl on Matchday Five when Nasaf welcome Persepolis to Uzbekistan.

An Al Sadd win coupled with Nasaf failing to beat Perse-polis would see the Qatari and Iranian sides advance with a game to spare.

Meanwhile, Persepolis earned an important 1-0 away victory thanks to a goal from Kamal Kamyabinia that offi-cially eliminated Al Wasl from the competition.

It took five minutes for the hosts to make their first attempt through a shot from Abdalla Al Naqbi that was saved by goal-keeper Alireza Beiranvand.

Eight minutes before half time, Persepolis broke the deadlock when Hossein Mahini delivered a pinpoint cross into the box to Kamya-binia who headed into the near corner.

A fourth consecutive defeat leaves Al Wasl bottom of Group C with no hope of advancing to the next stage ahead of trip to face Al Sadd.

Neymar has a future at PSG, says fatherAFP

PRAIA GRANDE, BRAZIL: Superstar Neymar has a future at Paris Saint-Germain, his father said yesterday after meeting with the club’s president amid rumours that the player wants to quit PSG.

“Neymar already has a future at PSG, Neymar already has a present at PSG,” Neymar Santos Sr told journalists at his son’s charity center, the Neymar Junior Institute, in Praia Grande, Sao Paulo state.

The Neymars were accom-panied by PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi, who earlier visited the star at his luxury home near Bra-zil’s coast, where he is recuper-ating from surgery.

The world’s most expensive player fractured a bone in his right foot on February 25 and faces weeks of recovery following surgery in early March. Uncon-firmed media reports have been swirling in Europe that Neymar has grown disenchanted with PSG, who crashed out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in the last 16 as the forward missed last week’s second leg, and wants to return to Barcelona or even join Real.

But Al Kehlaifi also sought to pour cold water on the rumours, saying Neymar “is happy, highly motivated and excited to come back as soon as possible.”

Neymar is “doing his best to come back as soon as possible.... He’s in good shape.”

Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar has said that the 26-year-old -- who left Bar-celona after PSG paid his 222m-euro ($264m) buyout clause last August -- will need at least two and a half months, maybe three, to return to action. Brazil’s national team are hoping he will be back to full fitness in time to help lead them at the World Cup starting in Russia on June 14.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Ver-ratti needs to learn from mistakes such as his Champions League red card to live up to his potential as a big player, his club coach Unai Emery said yesterday.

“He needs to control his feelings, especially in the big matches,” he said.

PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi, Neymar (centre) and his father Neymar Santos (left) pose for a picture in Sao Paulo, Brazil yesterday.

Al Sadd’s Abdelkarim Hassan celebrates after scoring a goal against Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf in Doha yesterday.

Sevilla’s Wissam Ben Yedder celebrates after scoring their first goal at Old Trafford yesterday.

Sevilla stun United to reach quarters AP

MANCHESTER: Sevilla reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time after beating Manchester United 2-1 yesterday thanks to two second-half goals from substitute Wissam Ben Yedder.

The French striker scored in the 74th minute - two minutes after coming on - with a low shot from 12 meters and then sent in a header off a corner that United goalkeeper David De Gea could only parry into his own net in the 78th.

That left United 2-0 behind on aggregate and needing three goals to advance. Romelu Lukaku pulled one back from close range in the 84th but a late rally couldn’t prevent United slipping out of the competition.

Ben Yedder, a former futsal player for France, moved onto eight goals in this season’s competition and he missed a chance for a hat trick as United’s defense fell apart in the latter stages. Only Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo

- with 12 goals - has more. Sevilla last reached the last eight of the competition in 1958, when it was called the European Cup, and joins fellow Spanish team Real Madrid in Friday’s draw.

Meanwhile, Roma reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2008 after a magnificent

finish by Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko gave the Italians a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday that sent them through on away goals.

Having trailed 2-1 from the first leg, Roma looked bereft of ideas for much of the contest at the Stadio Olimpico before Dzeko broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute following a

tepid first half devoid of goal-mouth action.

The Bosnian took a defence-splitting pass from midfielder Kevin Strootman into his stride and beat the offside trap before he steered the ball into the far corner with the outside of his foot past Sha-khtar’s advancing keeper Andriy Pyatov.

Roma’s players celebrate after match against Shakhtar Donetsk. Roma won on away goals.

30 WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018SPORT

Guardiola plays down hopes of clinching title in derbyAFP

MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola tried to play down growing excitement among Manchester City supporters over the possibility of winning the Premier League title when they face bitter rivals United in the derby early next month.

Jose Mourinho’s side visit the Etihad Stadium on April 7 for a game which could see City make mathe-matically certain of being crowned champions following their 2-0 victory at Stoke on Monday.

First, City must win their visit to mid-table Everton but, should they do so, Guardiola will win his first league title in English football with victory over his old rival Mourinho at the Etihad.

“Everybody is always asking this question,” said Guardiola. “But the important thing is on March 12, we have 81 points, that is a lot of points.

“We want to be champions. We need three wins, but we are able to do it with two (if City beat United).

“But before and after United, we have the (Champions League) quarter-finals, and at the moment that is the most important thing to focus on.

“I understand for the fans, okay, but the important thing is to be cham-pions. When and where it doesn’t matter.” The in-form English team are also in with a strong chance of

winning Europe’s premier prize for the first time in their history.

The draw for the Champions League last eight takes place on Friday and Guardiola will watch it live, along with his first-team squad, at their warm weather training camp in Abu Dhabi, where City flew imme-diately following the Stoke win.

City’s shock exit from the FA Cup, at the hands of third-tier Wigan, leaves them without a game until the clash with Everton on the final day of the month.

“We are going to be together and make three training sessions in five

days,” said the City manager.“We are going to have lunch

together, dinner, some people are playing golf. But the weather condi-tions are better than here - the forecast in Manchester is rain, rain, rain! “So we are going to go there and do the training we should be doing here. Last season we were there and it was good and that’s why we’re going to the airport now.” - Football a ‘welcome relief’ - City’s victory at Stoke came courtesy of two goals from David Silva, whose season has been disrupted because of a family crisis, following the premature birth

of his son Mateo in December. The City forward has been returning to Spain frequently to visit his family and admitted after his superb per-formance against Stoke that football has been a welcome relief.

“I think when I play football I forget everything, it’s good for me to play,” he said.

“I know in my private life it is not a very happy moment. But my son is fighting, you know, and I am very happy because he is getting stronger, getting better, so it is okay.” City captain Vincent Kompany offered support to Silva, who has been given permission to miss the Abu Dhabi trip to spend time in Spain.

“David just explained his story, it puts everything into perspective for us,” said the defender.

“It is a massive boost and relief to be able to play this game like we do. It gives us perspective and brings a moment of joy into our lives.” City, meanwhile, can look forward to a memorable finale to the season given their current form and dominance over the Premier League although their demanding manager is clearly not in the mood to allow his players to relax.

“To motivate my players is really easy, we are not champions yet, and when we are, we must carry on, to focus on the next goals which is the Champions League quarter-finals,” said Guardiola.

Silva double earns City 2-0 win over StokeREUTERS

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s David Silva under-lined his importance to their impending title success with both goals in a comfortable 2-0 Premier League win at Stoke City on Monday.

Pep Guardiola’s side could have won by a much clearer margin against Paul Lambert’s relegation-threatened Stoke but with the title in sight -- City are 16 points clear of second-placed Manchester United -- they will not agonise over wasted chances.

If City win their next league game at Everton on March 31 that will set up a Manchester derby at City’s Etihad Stadium where a win over their arch-rivals would secure the title.

“Everybody in the blue side of Manchester knows it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity but steady, it won’t be handed to us,” said City skipper Vincent Kompany.

If that April 7 Manchester derby does indeed turn into a celebration party for City then Spanish mid-fielder Silva, whose invention and creativity have been fundamental to the side’s success, surely deserves his own moment of appreciation.

Silva, whose son was born prematurely in January, has been splitting his time between Man-chester and Spain in order to be with his family yet there is no sign on the field of the difficulties in his personal life affecting his performance.

“When I play football I forget about everything else, it is good for me to play,” Silva said after the game. “My private life is very hard for me but my son is fighting and getting better.”

Silva put City ahead in the 10th minute, finishing off a move of stunning simplicity with a confident close-range strike from Raheem Sterling’s low cross after the England winger had been set clear by a clever pass from Gabriel Jesus.

The only real work City keeper Ederson had to do in the first half was to tip over a misplaced clearance from team mate Kyle Walker, although Badout Ndiaye had shot wide after a moment of incisive dribbling from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Stoke, second-bottom in the table, showed lots of endeavour but City were always in charge and Silva doubled the advantage five minutes after the break, putting a high bouncing ball past advancing keeper Jack Butland after a swift exchange with Jesus.

Silva’s impact on City, this season in particular, has not only been with his intelligent touches but also his work-rate and competitiveness - qualities he showed at Stoke.

“David Silva controls the tempo. He has the skills no doubt about that, but in the bad moments he is there to control the game and he is an aggressive competitor,” said Guardiola.

Butland produced a fine save to keep out a fierce drive from Leroy Sane and City had several other chances but lacked their usual clinical touch in the final third.

At the whistle, while City fans celebrated, Guar-diola was deep in conversation with Sane, explaining some technical points to the Germany winger.

The learning never stops with the Spanish coach, whose team now head of for a break in Abu Dhabi, with their fans looking forward to the mouthwa-tering prospect of clinching the league title in a match against their local rivals.

Major League Soccer forms partnership with Mexico’s Liga MXAP

MIAMI: Major League Soccer and Liga MX have joined in a long-term partnership that will launch later this year when reigning MLS Cup champion Toronto hosts a team from Mexico’s top league.

The match, dubbed the Campeones Cup, is set for Sept. 19 at BMO Field. The Liga MX opponent will be the winner of the July’s Campeon de Campeones between the Apertura and Clausura champions.

The partnership announced yesterday will go beyond that single game to include youth competitions, future All-Star games and other events and initiatives.

“We and Liga MX have an

opportunity to do something that’s really unprecedented in North America,” MLS Commis-sioner Don Garber said.

“We can work together across borders to create something unique and special that soccer

fans both in Mexico and the United States and Canada can benefit from.” There’s even the possibility of some kind of inter-league play in the future, although it’s still being discussed.

Previously, the two leagues came together for the North American SuperLiga, a tour-nament which started in 2007 and ran through 2010. It was sanctioned by the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation. But it fizzled out as attention went to the CONCAAF Champions League.

In recent years there had been increasing talk of reviving a similar competition. Ever-improving play in MLS has helped spur the speculation.

“We realize that the world is getting global and there are no longer borders in football,” Liga MX President Enrique Bonilla said. “So we started talking about doing something together and being more competitive in football, not just on the pitch.”

The partnership comes as the United States, Canada and Mexico bid to host the 2026 World Cup. Morocco is the only other nation vying for the event. A vote will be held on the competing proposals in June at the FIFA congress in Moscow.

“We’re showing the world that we can do things together, not only a World Cup,” Bonilla said. “If we can work together as leagues, then definitely we can work together to have the best World Cup ever.” In the United States, MLS competes with Liga MX for television viewers. Garber and Bonilla hope that the collab-oration brings new fans to both sides.

“It’s for the good of the game. We have to do the best that we can so that our fans can see the

best football in the world. We have to take it one step at a time and this is the first step,” Bonilla said. The partnership also comes at a time when there is political tension between the United States and Mexico, spurred by new US immigration policies, President Donald Trump’s calls for a border wall and trade negotiations over NAFTA.

“This idea that soccer can be a unifier of different cultures, par-ticularly close neighbors, is such a powerful position for us collec-tively to be in,” Garber said. “And while we are agnostic to the pol-itics because we’re trying to run our respective leagues, if we can do some things that bring people together, than that’s a powerful position to be in and we’re happy to be in that position.”

Hughes early favourite to replace Pellegrino at SaintsREUTERS

LONDON: Welshman Mark Hughes was firming as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Mauricio Pellegrino (pictured) as Southampton manager today after the Argentine was sacked with the Premier League club hovering a point and a place above the relegation zone.

Pellegrino, who took over from Frenchman Claude Puel in June, “parted company” with Southampton on Monday after a 3-0 loss to Newcastle United at the weekend left them with just one win in their last 17 Premier League games.

Ex-Watford boss Marco Silva and former West Ham United head coach Slaven Bilic are the other frontrunners in the betting to take over at St Mary’s Stadium.

It is Hughes, though, who is the early favourite to be handed the task of res-cuing the club from their parlous situ-ation only a couple of months after he was fired by Stoke City.

Hughes played more than 50 times for Southampton in the late 1990s and his appointment would end a run of four non-British managers after Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman, Puel and Pellegrino.

Hughes guided Stoke to top 10 fin-ishes for three successive seasons from

2013 to 2016 but the club was in the rel-egation zone when he was sacked after an FA Cup third round defeat at the hands of League Two (fourth tier) Cov-entry City.

Like Hughes, Silva was sacked by a Premier League club in January - in his case Watford - and he has also been linked with a move back home to Por-tugal to take over at Benfica next season.

Silva impressed many with his ulti-mately fruitless attempts to guide Hull City to Premier League safety last year

and he made a good start at Watford this season until an approach from Everton soured his relations with the club. Croat Bilic was dismissed by West Ham last November after more than two years in charge at the East London club, during which he led them to seventh and 11th place finishes in the Premier League.

Former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, veteran Martin O’Neill and Koeman, who was named the new Neth-erlands coach last month, were among the outsiders for the job listed by book-makers Skybet.

Southampton are hoping to announce their new manager before they visit third-tier Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday with their next league game not until March 31 when they travel to West Ham.

They have won just five league games this season and their 3-2 victory at West Bromwich Albion, who are bottom of the table, in February is their only league win since November.

The club sit 17th in the league on 28 points, a point ahead of Crystal Palace and Stoke, with eight games left to play.

Southampton, who are the ninth Premier League club to change manager this term, are in their sixth straight season in the top flight and have not fin-ished lower than 14th in that time.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gestures after the English Premier League match against Stoke City at Stoke-on-Trent, Britain on Monday.

Russian detained in Marseille for Euro 2016 hooliganismAFP

MARSEILLE: A Russian was taken into custody in Marseille on Monday in connection with an attack that left an English football fan in a serious condition after fighting at the Euro 2016 football tournament.

The 31-year-old, origi-nally arrested in Germany in February, will face trial in connection with a mass attack that left a fan with permanent damage and is under provi-sional custody, state prose-cutor Xavier Tarabeux said.

German police detained the wanted man last month on his arrival at Munich airport en route to Bilbao.

The suspect, who was not named by police, risks up to 15 years in jail in France for attempted homicide and grievous bodily harm.

The arrest came just months before Russia hosts the World Cup from June 14 to July 15.

Houston Dynamo midfielder Darwin Ceren (24) and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Jordon Mutch (77) battle for the ball during the second half of their Major League Soccer at BBVA Compass Stadium on Monday.

Manchester City midfielder David Silva celebrates scoring his second goal against Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, central England on Monday.

AGENCIES

DOHA: The Organizing Committee of the Qatar 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup announced the participation of 40 countries in the competitions, which will be held during the period from March 21 to 24 in Doha.

With unstinted support from the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), the Qatar Gymnastics Fed-eration (QGF) has left no stone unturned in making this event a truly world class one.

While gymnastics continue to be a low-profile sport, the com-petition has earned the repu-tation as one of the best in the world.

Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) President and Chairman of the Organizing Committee Ali Al Hitmi said in a statement on yesterday that the preparations are underway and all working committees are currently final-izing the launch of the Interna-tional annual championships hosted by QGF at the Aspire Dome, with the participation of the world and Olympics champions.

The QGF President Al Hitmi thanked the FIG for reposing its faith in Doha, which first hosted the event in 2008.

“It’s a great feeling to com-plete 11 editions this year. This one particular event had helped us win the bid for this year’s FIG World Championships. I thank the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and QOC Pres-ident H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani for their support to host the competitions,” said Al Hitmi.

The four-day event, which starts on March 21, will feature some of world’s top names

including reigning all-around Olympic champion Kohei Uch-imura -- the Japanese legend won six world all-around titles and the last two Olympic all-around titles, the longest streak of dominance in gymnastics history.

The finals will be held on Friday and Saturday.

The QGF’s decade-long expe-rience and excellent infra-structure at the Aspire Dome were important factors that

earned them the right in 2013 to host the FIG Artistic World Championships.

“This year’s competition will be a test event for the Worlds in October and we plan to have a gala competition,” added Al Hitmi.

Al Hitmi added that the Organizing Committee held a meeting yesterday to discuss the final arrangements for the cham-pionship to achieve the maximum

organizational and technical success that has become the feature of major tournaments held in Doha, in addition to dis-cussing all the suggestions of members of the committee in this regard.

QGF President noted the great interest attached by the wise leadership to the Qatari sport, which led to many global, Olympic and continental achievements in individual and

group games, in addition to the success of many Qatari cadres in international sports federa-tions. Al Hitmi explained that this year’s edition of the World Cup will be a real rehearsal from the organizational point of view of the 2018 FIG Artistic Gym-nastics World Championships scheduled for next October in Doha.

He pointed out that two players of the Qatari national

team will participate in the competitions, expressing hope that they will achieve good results to reflect the extent of the development of gymnastics in Qatar.

The Doha leg of FIG Indi-vidual Apparatus World Cup for men and women, which is cele-brating its 11th edition this year, summarises Qatar’s achievement as a top-notch host of interna-tional sports event.

31WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018 SPORT

40 countries to participate in Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha

Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) President and Chairman of the Organizing Committee Ali Al Hitmi

File pictures of gymnasts performing at the Doha event.

Garcia ponders Masters return as fatherhood loomsAFP

WASHINGTON: Sergio Garcia began handling Masters champion duties in astonishing fashion, speaking on a conference call from a hospital where his wife was about to give birth to their first child.

The 38-year-old Spaniard, who captured his first major title last April at Augusta National, and wife Angela, whom he married last July, were at a Texas hospital awaiting a baby girl who was not expected to arrive until Sunday.

“It looks like she’s coming a little early,” Garcia told reporters.

“It has been an eventful morning. About an hour and a half ago Angela’s water broke. We’re at the hospital. Exciting. Nervous. It’s very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.” The situation left Garcia pondering one dream come true, matching Spanish idols Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal as a Masters champion last year, while another dream, becoming a dad, was hap-pening around him.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Garcia said. “It has been unbelievable, everything that has been going on. It has been great, every moment of it.

“I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing career, an amazing life and now it’s getting even better.” Garcia couldn’t compare the pressure of competing for a major title with that of expecting to become a first-time father.

“It’s a different feeling. I’m not the one having it. I’m on the outside looking in. I’m a little nervous,” Garcia said.

“I look forward to everything,

to raise a little girl, make all the decisions as best as we can. Hope-fully we have a healthy baby girl that grows up to be an amazing woman.” No golfer has won the Masters twice in a row since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002, and Woods, 42, had his best PGA finish in nearly five years last week, sharing second at the Valspar Championship where Garcia was fourth.

- Tiger ‘will do well’ - Woods, a 14-time major champion and four-time Masters winner, appears to be peaking in his surgery comeback with the Masters looming on April 5-8.

“It has obviously been a big impact,” Garcia said of Woods’ return to form. “We all know what kind of player he is and player he can be when he’s healthy. The way

he has been able to swing doesn’t look like he’s in any pain -- that’s the most important thing.

“I’m sure he’s excited to come back to Augusta. It’s a place where he has done well. I expect he will do well. I don’t know how well. I expect he will be a little nervous. He will have to deal with all those feelings again.” Garcia, who has won at Valderrama and Singapore and switched equipment from Tay-lorMade to Callaway since cap-turing the Masters green jacket, isn’t concerned about being con-sidered a 2018 Augusta favorite.

“I don’t know if I should be,” Garcia said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. I like my game. I’m happy with my new equipment. I’m as excited as I can be to come back there and defend my title.” Garcia has asked Olazabal about time

management as a Masters champion but not inquired to rival dads about how fatherhood could impact his game.

“It can’t be that different from what we deal with week in and week out. We can manage it,” Garcia said of time constraints.

“Every child is different and every family is a different one. You’ve got to figure out what works for you. It’s brand new for both of us. We’re not sure what to expect. We’ll get the experience of being together with the baby in the best way for all of us.”

The baby has nursery walls of light gray and pink plus some “cute little dresses” for the Masters, where Garcia needs a new rental house.

“We need a bigger place with the baby coming,” Garcia said.

Sergio Garcia of Spain smiles as he is presented the green jacket after winning the 2017 Masters

at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, US, in this

April 9, 2017 file picture.

Italy mull bid for 2026 OlympicsAFP

MILAN: Italy are considering a push to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, two years after Rome’s major scup-pered the city’s bid for the 2024 Summer Games.

In 2016, major Virginia Raggi’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement killed off the Italian capital’s bid to host a first Summer Olympics since 1960.

But M5S party founder Beppe Grillo, a former stand-up comedian, has since done a U-turn and believes “the Olympic Games are a great occasion for Turin and for the Movement”.

“We will prove we can have zero debts and (host) in a sustainable way,” said Grillo.

Turin’s M5S mayor Chiara Appendino wants the northern Italian city to issue a “manifestation of interest” to the International Olympic Committee.

Meanwhile, the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, of the right-wing Lega Nord party, has put forward the hypothesis of a candidacy of the Dolomites. Milan is also being considered.

“There is a beautiful fight for positions,” said Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Giovanni Malago.

“Suddenly everything is back in fashion. Perhaps because of the success of Pyeongchang, and not only the sporting success.”

Italy was plunged into uncertainty after the March 4 elections resulted in a hung parliament with no group in a position to govern alone. The M5S became Italy’s leading single party with 32.7 percent of the vote. Malago said that any decision would depend on the future government.

“For a bid three legs are needed: the local authority, the government and the Italian Olympic committee,” said Malago. “In this case there is already the availability of the local authority and Coni, but we must listen to the new executive: when there’s a government,” he added.

“It is not the mayor who writes to the IOC to express the will of the city to apply, but the president of Coni.” Italy has twice hosted the Winter Olympics -- Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites in 1956 and Turin in 2006.

Sion in Switzerland has already announced it intends to bid, with Turkey also considering throwing its hat in the ring, along with Innsbruck in Austria, Calgary in Canada, Stockholm and the Japanese city of Sapporo.

Almaty in Kazakhstan is another possible candidate. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Games, after hosting the Summer Games in 2008.

Paris won the right to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

32 WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018SPORT 33WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Liberty starts 2nd season with bumpy road aheadREUTERS

LONDON: Liberty Media enjoyed plenty of goodwill after taking over Formula One and ousting former supremo Bernie Eccle-stone but the honeymoon is over as the Americans start a second season in charge.

There has been much talk of putting fans first, with more engagement at the racetrack and through social media, and devel-oping a digital strategy to tap new revenue streams and woo fresh audiences.

The big questions have yet to be answered, however.

The sport has elemental deci-sions to make on what it wants to be, and what rules to play by once current contracts expire at the end of 2020, and storm clouds are gathering.

“Liberty had a positive first year, they did a lot of good things around the sport,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told report-ers during pre-season testing in Barcelona.

“But a lot of that is window-dressing, it’s not dealing with the fundamentals of the product.

“The next 12 months are going to be crucial for the (governing) FIA and for Liberty, where they’ve got to get on the same page and then present what they want to do and what they see Formula One as from 2021.”

In fairness, Liberty’s hands are bound by existing agreements with teams and FIA that cover the distribution of revenues, how the sport is run and what kind of engines are used.

But Formula One must now decide how best to balance tech-nology and entertainment, and how level a playing field it really wants.

Ferrari – the oldest, most glamorous and successful team who get more money than any-one else – have already

threatened to walk away if they do not like the direction the sport is taking.

Fierce rivals on the track, they and champions Mercedes are closely aligned off it on financial matters and engines -- supplying six of the 10 teams.

“The two of them had the dominant position, revenue and engines and I think the two of them will try to protect that fiercely,” says McLaren executive director Zak Brown.

“In the first half of the year

we need to have 2021 locked down, because the big teams such as ourselves are going to need to adapt to these potential new rules and that takes time.”

Formula One’s chief execu-tive Chase Carey said this month that he believed there was “align-ment on the overall broad goals, but we have to find the right com-promises as we work through the details.”

He told analysts after Liber-ty’s fourth quarter results, however, that Formula One’s

governing structure was “a bit more cumbersome than expected,” he said.

The focus has been to lay the foundations for the growth of what Carey calls “a tremendous franchise that has not been achieving its potential”. A new Formula One TV offering was

launched this month, and Liberty have invested in research and marketing as well as eSports to attract a new and younger demographic.

That has also meant teams getting less money, as more is spent on building up the business and putting on the special events.

The fans, as Carey and other managers state frequently, come first -- even if some experiments such as bringing in big fight announcer Michael Buffer to present the drivers at the US Grand Prix in Austin drew mixed reviews.

Ecclestone, still a salaried Formula One employee but now in an unspecified ‘emeritus’ role, had a different take on the business.

“The fans? I don’t know who fans are,” says the 87-year-old, discussing the changing landscape at the central London offices from where he once commanded the sport.

“Liberty, all they want to talk about is fans... I used to call them customers.”

When the season starts in Australia on March 25, television viewers will see new graphics, camera angles and sound. The venue cities should also see more of a buzz.

Four city fan festivals are planned through the year, build-ing on one staged in central London last season before the British Grand Prix.

“We’re excited about the opportunity in front of us, we have a lot to do,” said Carey.

“But we believe we’re on our way to deliver on the promise of Formula One for its fans, partners and shareholders.”

The next 12 months are going to be crucial for the FIA and for Liberty, where they’ve got to get on the same page and then present what they want to do and what they see Formula One as from 2021: Red Bull team boss Christian Horner

Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso during testing

in this March 9, 2018 file photo.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Valtteri

Bottas of Mercedes during testing

in this February 27, 2018 file photo.

SEASON STARTS ON MARCH 25

Hamilton favourite to defend crown REUTERS

LONDON: As teams and drivers gears up for the new season, Briton Lewis Hamilton (pictured) will be eyeing his fifth crown with the new season starting on March 25 in Melbourne.

Following is the team by team prospects for the new sea-son. The racing numbers before the drivers’ names are those they have chosen for the duration of their Grand Prix careers:

MERCEDES44-Lewis Hamilton (Britain),

77-Valtteri Bottas (Finland)Hamilton (33) is going for his

fifth title and starts as a favourite with the new W09 car looking quick and very reliable. The Briton was fastest in the first pre-season test but the top teams could be closer this year. Bottas (28) needs to convince Mercedes to keep him on with others eyeing his seat.

Likely outcome: Champions for fifth year in a row. Hamilton to defend his title.

FERRARI5-Sebastian Vettel (Germany),

7-Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)Vettel (30) was runner-up last

year with five wins to Hamilton’s nine. This year is the 10th since Ferrari last won a title and the team hope to end that, with the focus on Vettel.

Raikkonen (38) last won a race with Lotus in 2013 and is the

oldest driver on the grid. He looks like being in his final season and will be expected to play a support-ing role.

Likely outcome: Top three, but maybe only third.

RED BULL3-Daniel Ricciardo (Australia),

33-Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Verstappen (20) ended 2017 strongly, his two wins in the last six races matched only by Hamil-ton. Ricciardo (28) is out of contract at the end of the year but the team want him to stay.

Much will depend on the Renault engine but Red Bull should be closer to the top and aiming for wins.

Likely outcome: Top three, more likely second than first.

FORCE INDIA 11-Sergio Perez (Mexico),

31-Esteban Ocon (France) Punching above their weight

for the past two years, Force India face a big task to finish fourth for the third year in a row. Perez (28) and Ocon (21) are likely to be in the sights of Renault and McLaren, if not Williams.

Testing was unremarkable but a new package is promised for Melbourne.

Likely outcome: Dropping down. Fifth at best.

WILLIAMS18-Lance Stroll (Canada),

35-Sergey Sirotkin (Russia) The youngest line-up on the starting

grid, with rookie Sirot-kin (22) on one side of the garage and Stroll (19) on the other.

The lack of experience could count a g a i n s t them, and the Mercedes-powered car has not impressed in testing.

Likely outcome: Only one direction and that’s downwards, possibly as low as seventh.

RENAULT27-Nico Hulkenberg (Ger-

many), 55-Carlos Sainz (Spain)The former champions are on

the way up, with hungry drivers and an engine that took Red Bull to three wins last year.

Hulkenberg (30) could stand on the podium for the first time. Sainz (23) has settled in since join-ing last year and will push him hard.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons Renault could turn out to be the most improved team of the year.

Likely outcome: The best of the rest in fourth.

TORO ROSSO 10-Pierre Gasly (France),

28-Brendon Hartley (New Zealand)

The Honda engine that

plagued McLaren and led to the end of that partnership has been reliable in testing.

That will be key to the season, with the team now the full focus of a manufacturer for the first time. The drivers’ lack of experience could be telling, with Gasly (22) and Hartley (28) starting their first full seasons.

Likely outcome: Sixth, equal-ling their best ever, if Honda

have really got their act together.

-

HAAS 8-Romain Grosjean

(France), 20-Kevin Magnus-sen (Denmark)

The Ferrari engine is strong and Grosjean (31) and Magnussen (25) are experienced. How good the car really is remains to be seen but it has made people take notice with good reliability and pace in testing.

Likely outcome: Moving up.

Sixth should be a target. MCLAREN 14-Fernando Alonso (Spain),

2-Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) Having ditched Honda, McLaren

see this season as the start of the comeback. Reliability problems in testing have raised concern, how-ever. Alonso (36) has a full world endurance season to do as well, but can be counted on to give every-thing as ever. Vandoorne (25) needs to make more of an impact.

Likely outcome:

Moving back up the grid. The top four is the target but probably not yet.

SAUBER 9-Marcus Ericsson (Sweden),

16-Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Alfa Romeo backing and the lat-

est specification engine from Ferrari, after using an old model last year, will help but the car has looked

tricky in testing. Leclerc (20) is last year’s F2 cham-

pion and seen as a future Ferrari driver.

He could well beat Ericsson (27), who has not scored a point for two years.

Likely out-c o m e : Another year as back-markers but closer.

okie Sirot-ne side of nd Stroll ther.

k of e

s-ar has essed in

utcome: Only on and that’s possibly as low

LTHulkenberg (Ger-

arlos Sainz (Spain)mer champions are on

with hungry driversne that took Red Bulls last year.erg (30) could stand

um for the first time. s settled in since join-r and will push him

es boss Toto Wolff ault could turn out tomproved team of the

utcome: The best of urth.OSSOrre Gasly (France),n Hartley (New

onda engine that

plagued McLaren and led to the end of that partnership has beenreliable in testing.

That will be key to the season,with the team now the full focus of a manufacturer for the first time. The drivers’ lack of experience could betelling, with Gasly (22) and Hartley (28) starting their first full seasons.

Likely outcome: Sixth, equal-ling their best ever, if Honda

have really got their act together.

-

HAAS 8-Romain Grosjean

(France), 20-Kevin Magnus-sen (Denmark)

The Ferrari engine is strong andGrosjean (31) and Magnussen (25) are experienced. How good the car really is remains to be seen but it hasmade people take notice with goodreliability and pace in testing.

Likely outcome: Moving up.

Sixth should be a target.MCLAREN 14-Fernando Alonso (Spain),

2-Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) Having ditched Honda, McLaren

see this season as the start of the comeback. Reliability problems intesting have raised concern, how-ever. Alonso (36) has a full world endurance season to do as well, but can be counted on to give every-thing as ever. Vandoorne (25) needs to make more of ann impact.

Likely youtcome:

Moving back up the grid. The topfour is the target but probably not yet.

SAUBER 9-Marcus Ericsson (Sweden),

16-Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Alfa Romeo backing and the lat-

est specification engine from Ferrari,after using an old model last year,will help but the car has looked

tricky in testing. Leclerc (20)is last year’s F2 cham-

pion and seen as afuture Ferrari driver.

He could wellbeat Eb ricsson (27), who haw s notscoreds a point fortwo yetw ars.

Likely out-c o m e :Another year as back-markers butcloser.

F1: CALENDAR AND DETAILS FOR 2018 MARCH 25 - AUSTRALIA

Albert Park street circuit, Melbourne. 58 laps of 5.303km. Total distance 307.574km. 0510

GMT start (1610 local). 2017 pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes. 2017 winner:

Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari.

Melbourne has hosted the Australian GP since 1996.

APRIL 8 - BAHRAIN Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir. 57 laps of 5.412km. 308.238km. 1410GMT (1810 local).

2017 pole: Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes. Winner: Vettel.

Desert track 30km south-west of Manama. The race has a day-to-night format under

floodlights. Bahrain was the third race of the season in 2017.

APRIL 15 - CHINA Shanghai International Circuit. 56 laps of 5.451km. 305.066km. 0510GMT (1410 local).

2017 pole: Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton.

Built in the shape of the Chinese character “shang”, the circuit has hosted a race since

2004. The race was the second round last year.

APRIL 29 - AZERBAIJAN Baku City Circuit. 51 laps of 6.003km. 306.049km. 1110GMT (1610 local). 2017 pole:

Hamilton. Winner: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull.

New in 2016, the race was the most exciting of last season when it was the ninth round

and held in June. The historic centre and long seaside promenade provide a backdrop.

MAY 13 - SPAIN Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. 66 laps of 4.655km. 307.104km. 2017 pole: Hamilton.

Winner: Hamilton.

Venue for pre-season testing. On the calendar since 1991.

MAY 27 - MONACO Monte Carlo. 78 laps of 3.337km. 260.286km. 2017 pole: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari.

Winner: Vettel.

The slowest and shortest race but also the most glamorous. Steeped in history, every driver

wants to win what is also a home race for many of them.

JUNE 10 - CANADA Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. 70 laps of 4.361km. 305.270km. 1710 GMT (1410 local).

2017 pole: Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton.

An F1 favourite since 1978, the circuit is named after late Ferrari great and father of 1997

world champion Jacques and is on the Ile Notre Dame in the St Lawrence River.

JUNE 24 - FRANCE Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet. 5.861km. 1410GMT (1610 local) No race last year.

The circuit has hosted 14 French Grands Prix, most recently in 1990. France last held a

grand prix at Magny-Cours in 2008.

JULY 1 - AUSTRIA Red Bull Ring, Spielberg. 71 laps of 4.318km laps. 306.452km. 2017 pole: Bottas.

Winner: Bottas.

A small town in the southern Styria region, not far from Graz. T

he circuit is owned by Red Bull.

JULY 8 - BRITAIN Silverstone. 52 laps of 5.891km. 306.198km. 2017 pole: Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton.

A former World War Two airfield, the first world championship grand prix was held here in

1950. The contract expires after next year’s race.

JULY 22 - GERMANY Hockenheim. 67 laps of 4.574km. 306.458km. No race last season.

The track was heavily modified in 2002, with a long run through the forest removed.

Last hosted a race in 2016.

JULY 29 - HUNGARY Hungaroring, Budapest. 70 laps of 4.381km. 306.670km. 2017 pole: Vettel. Winner: Vettel.

The first race in 1986 was a breakthrough for F1 behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. The circuit is

tight, twisty and slow.

AUGUST 26 - BELGIUM Spa-Francorchamps. 44 laps of 7.004km. 308.052km. 2017 pole: Hamilton.

Winner: Hamilton.

The longest lap on the calendar and one of the fastest circuits. Often wet, always thrilling.

A favourite circuit for drivers and fans.

SEPTEMBER 2 - ITALY Monza. 53 laps of 5.793km. 307.029km. 2017 pole: Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton.

“La Pista Magica” is the temple of Italian motorsport and Ferrari. One of the oldest tracks,

dating back to the 1920s, and still the fastest in F1.

SEPTEMBER 16 - SINGAPORE Marina Bay street circuit. 61 laps of 5.065km. 308.828km. 1110GMT (2010 local). 2017

pole: Vettel. Winner: Hamilton.

On the calendar since 2008, now the Monaco of the Far East.

SEPTEMBER 30 - RUSSIA Sochi street circuit. 53 laps of 5.848km. 309.745km. 1110GMT (1410 local). 2017 pole:

Vettel. Winner: Bottas.

The race made its debut in 2014, with the circuit looping around the park built for the

Winter Olympics. Moves to a later date after being held at the end of April last year.

OCTOBER 7 - JAPAN Suzuka. 53 laps of 5.807km. 307.471km. Race start 0510 GMT (1410 local). 2017 pole:

Hamilton. winner: Hamilton.

A classic fast figure-of-eight circuit, owned by Honda with a funfair alongside. Attracts

some of the most passionate fans anywhere in F1.

OCTOBER 21 - UNITED STATES Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. 56 laps of 5.513km. 308.405km. Race start 1910

GMT (1310 local). 2017 pole: Hamilton. Winner: Hamilton.

Anti-clockwise layout with 20 turns.

OCTOBER 28 - MEXICO Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City. 71 laps of 4.304km. 305.354km. Race start

1910 GMT (1310 local). 2017 pole: Vettel. Winner: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull.

Returned to the calendar in 2015. Has won the award for best grand prix of the season for

the past three years. The circuit is named after racing brothers Ricardo and Pedro.

NOVEMBER 11 - BRAZIL Interlagos, Sao Paulo. 71 laps of 4.309km. 305.909km. Race start 1810 GMT (1510 local).

2017 pole: Bottas. Winner: Vettel.

Atmospheric anti-clockwise circuit that hosted its first GP in 1973. Home of the late Ayrton

Senna.

NOVEMBER 25 - ABU DHABI Yas Marina. 55 laps of 5.554km. 305.355km. 2017 pole: Bottas. Winner: Bottas. Race start

1310 GMT (1710 local).

Day-to-night race under floodlights. Made its debut in 2009. Anti-clockwise.

New faces, returning races and hello to haloREUTERS

LONDON: Formula One’s ‘halo’ head protection device makes its race debut this season in a 21-round champion-ship with France and Germany back on the calendar and some new faces joining the old favourites on the starting grid.

‘Grid Kids’ will replace the female models standing next to cars before the start, with races starting later in Europe and Brazil and a new logo further distancing the sport from the Bernie Ecclestone era.

The following factbox looks at what’s changed for 2018.THE HALOThe most obvious novelty, a carbon-titanium cockpit

head protection system that weighs in at seven kg -- a sig-nificant amount given that the rules have increased the car’s minimum weight by only five kg to 733kg.

The three-point structure has been introduced to pro-tect drivers from flying debris and bouncing wheels.

Getting in and out of the car will take longer and be trickier, with drivers having to take care of the aerody-namic additions.

ENGINE REGULATIONS AND GRID PENALTIES Drivers are now limited to three power units per sea-

son, rather than four, before incurring penalties.Even more challenging, they are limited to only two

MGU-K units (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) and two energy stores. Any additional elements incur grid penalties, which have been changed to avoid the farcical situations of the past where drivers incurred drops far in excess of the number of places available. Now, any driver who is handed a penalty of 15 places or more will start from the back.

TYRESPirelli has added hyper-softs and super-hards to its

‘rainbow’ range of seven compounds, with the sidewalls

colour-coded as ever for easy recognition. The tyres are generally softer with the current hard tyre (light blue) roughly equivalent to last year’s medium. The super-hard is unlikely ever to be used, an option included only as an ‘insurance policy’ if it turns out that the tyre maker has got its sums wrong. The general target is for a two-stop strategy.

NEW RACESFrance returns for the first time since 2008, with Le

Castellet’s Circuit Paul Ricard back on the calendar for the first time since 1990.

Germany’s Hockenheim circuit is back after being left off last season’s schedule but the current deal expires after this year’s race. With Malaysia gone, there are now 21 races -- equalling the sport’s record number. NEW FACES

Formula Two’s Monegasque champion Charles Leclerc and Russian Sergey Sirotkin will be making their F1 race debuts in Australia at Sauber and Williams respectively.

New Zealander Brendon Hartley and his French team mate Pierre Gasly are starting their first full seasons at Toro Rosso. Honda are starting a new partnership with Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, former partners McLaren have a Renault-powered car for the first time.

‘GRID KIDS’ The walk-on female models employed to parade before

the start and stand by drivers’ cars with their race numbers have been phased out. In their place come the ‘Grid Kids’, aspiring young racers who will get to meet their heroes.

NEW LOGO, LATER STARTS Formula One introduced a new logo at the end of last

year, one of the more visible changes since US-based Lib-erty Media took over in January, 2017. Race starts will be at 10 minutes past the hour to allow television broadcast-ers time to air the pre-race show.

34 WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018SPORT

McCullum says Qalandars need batting depth to post big totalsRIZWAN REHMAT

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Dashing batsman Brendon McCullum feels lack of batting depth upset the plans of Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Lahore Qalandars in the third edition of the hugely popular T20 series.

The former New Zealand captain, who has seen Lahore Qalandars win only two matches out of eight, is leading the PSL franchise for the second year in a row.

“I think if we are honest with ourselves, (then) we’ve been a little bit short in the local expe-rience side of our batting,” McCullum said in a video posted on ESPNcricinfo.

“From the batting point of view, we have had great starts but in the middle of the innings we have been missing somebody like Shoaib Malik or someone like him who bats in the middle order and controls situations with calmness. He is a calm presence because he has been there so many times before,” he added.

“I think our bowling group has been fantastic throughout this tournament. We probably had one bad game in which we

had our highest score and we had an off day with the ball. In the field we have been very good in the majority of the games,” the 36-year-old added.

McCullum, who had also suc-cessfully appeared for Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, said T20 cricket remained a game of ‘small margins’.

“Yes, it (losing six matches) was really hard obviously. You turn up and you are very opti-mistic about the squad you got and you expect that you will be there at the finals time. But we lost a couple of games but if we are honest with ourselves I think

we should have won,” McCullum said. “And if we had won those games, we should have been sitting with four wins out of 7.

“(There are) small margins in T20. That’s the thing you should keep yourself up with and stay true to what you believe in,” he added.

McCullum said more knowledge on the bench strength about the home players would have helped the team cause.

“We are probably to slow to do that (to get local knowledge). Probably I blame myself for that because you have your own ideas on how your squad got to be played,” the former Black Cap star said. “But you have

to understand the limitations of the guys. Sometimes you got to put reputations aside and focus on the character that they are. I did it with the New Zealand team and I would it wherever I go from here as well.

“You have to get the right characters, the right people on the right seat of the bus just hitting in one

direction. (Then) you give yourself a very, very good chance and if you don’t com-promise on that then you can walk away knowing you’ve installed the right thing in the guys,” McCullum said.

McCullum said he had seen low points even with the New Zealand team before his retirement in 2016.

“Oh no, I have way seen way lower points in my career (laughs). My career has been fuelled by many ups and downs through the times,” McCullum said.

“If you have longevity in the game, you are going to have high and low points. It’s being tough

but when you are in the trenches you find a way out.

“Even if you don’t win this tournament, but if this leads to sustained success over a period of time, and (if you have) a better understanding of how Qalandars want to play moving forward then it is worth going through that hardship.

“That’s something we had to do with the New Zealand team. We had hit absolute rock bottom with the New Zealand team. Then what transpired from there was a fantastic period in the history of New Zealand cricket. And it is going to have success through the decades to come with what we were able to build,” he added.

McCullum said controversial Lahore Qalandars batsmen Umar Akmal must learn to take the ‘hard message’ to revive his floundering career.

“Umar Akmal is a compli-cated guy. His troubles have been well documented,” McCullum said. “He’s an incredible talent. I think he has done some special things in his career. It would be fair to say if his career ends now, he has under-achieved. That’s the hard message. Sometimes that’s the hard message you need,” he added.

Bangladesh want to create own ‘brand’ in T20s: MahmudullahAFP

COLOMBO: Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah said yesterday the underdogs, fresh from upsetting Sri Lanka, plan to hone their “brand” of Twenty20 cricket against India in a key tri-series showdown.

The visitors staged a 215-run chase to defeat hosts Sri Lanka in their second match of the tournament, rebounding from a loss in their opener against India.

Bangladesh, 10th in the world T20 rankings behind Afghanistan, will be in strong contention for the tri-series final if they beat table-toppers India today.

Mahmudullah, who was named captain after Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the

tri-series due to injury, said the minnows entered the series wanting “to create a Bang-ladesh brand of cricket”.

“I think the skills are there. We need to be smart to take that calculated risk,” he told reporters in Colombo, saying his side had to com-pensate for its lack of power hitters. Taking on a particular bowler who we think can be targeted, these sort of things we need to apply when we are playing. These things will give us that Bangladesh brand of T20 cricket.”

The Tigers have beaten top sides in Test and one-day internationals, but struggled to find consistency in the shortest format of the sport, having lost nine of their last 11 T20s.

Mahmudullah urged his

bowlers to learn from their Indian counterparts, who have utilised the batting-friendly conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Rising Indian pacemen like Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur have been instru-mental in elevating India to the top of the table in the series.

Mahmudullah backed his strike paceman to come good in the remaining matches in conditions he believes are tough for bowlers.

“I think he is a great bowler for our team, he has been doing really well. It’s just the wicket that suits the batsman most,” said Mah-mudullah. “Mustafiz is in great shape and is our strike bowler and I will always back him up.”

SA will look to seniors to replace Rabada REUTERS

CAPE TOWN: The fitness of experienced fast bowler Dale Steyn will be of even more interest to South Africa in the coming days after their most potent wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada was ruled out of the remainder of the four-Test series with Australia.

Rabada, fresh from a match haul of 11-150 as South Africa won the second test by six wickets on Monday to level the series at 1-1, was suspended by the International Cricket Council for two games after reaching the threshold of eight demerit points.

The 22-year-old has taken 15 wickets at an average of 16.80 in the series so far, with his raw pace and accuracy testing the quality of the visiting Australia batsmen.

The responsibility of filling his shoes in the third Test at New-lands starting on March 22 will likely fall on one of two South African stalwarts approaching milestones.

The hard wicket is likely to provide more bounce than in either Durban or Port Elizabeth where the first two games were played and that should suit the tall Morne Morkel, who has announced he will retire at the end of the series.

The 33-year-old has 297 Test wickets and will be eager to add three more before he calls it a day, though his match figures of 3-121 in the first Test suggest he lacked rhythm, especially in the first innings.

There is a school of thought that Morkel would have played at Newlands anyway given the nature of the wicket, coming back into the side for Lungi Ngidi who replaced him for the second Test.

The performance of the 21-year-old in Port Elizabeth, where he wsa impressive with match-figures of 5-75, will have given the selectors second thoughts however.

South Africa will also have to make a call on Steyn, who sits on 419 Test wickets, two behind the country’s all-time leader in the five-day game, Shaun Pollock.

He broke down with a heel problem in South Africa’s first test victory over India at Newlands in early January, having just come back from shoulder and groin injuries. Steyn’s recent injury woe has means he has played one test in almost 18 months and he did not get through that one.

He was due to play a pro-vincial four-day game starting tomorrow to try and prove his fitness, but local media reported that he had postponed his

comeback by a week. At this stage, it looks as though his fitness and lack of game time would be too much of a gamble for the selectors.

Another option would be all-rounder Chris Morris, who won the last of his four test caps against England last July.

Meanwhile Australia captain Steve Smith has demanded his team’s batsmen lift their output and score centuries against South Africa in the wake of their hum-bling six-wicket loss in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

“We haven’t got a hundred so far in this series, so that’s not ideal,” Smith told Australian radio station SEN.

“Mitchell Marsh probably deserved a hundred in the first Test to be fair, but if we’re getting batters scoring big hundreds it certainly helps us out a hell of a lot.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that so far in this series, but we’ve got a good opportunity to turn it around in the next.”

After a rollicking home summer against England, the prolific Australia captain has also been down on his own lofty standards. His highest score was 56 at Durban and he was dis-missed cheaply twice in Port Elizabeth.

South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada bowls to an Australian batsman at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on Monday.

Australia considering back-up after Marsh injury

REUTERS

CAPE TOWN: Australia are considering calling up an extra all-rounder as cover for Mitchell Marsh who suffered a groin strain in the second Test in South Africa, coach Darren Lehmann said yesterday.

Marsh has more than a week to prove his fitness before the third test begins in Cape Town on March 22. However, Lehmann said a decision on whether another player might be added to the 15-man squad would be made closer to the time.

“We are reasonably con-fident but we’ll see over the next couple of days,” Lehmann said of the 26-year-old’s chances of recovery.

“Medical staff will have a look at him and assess him, and then make a call from there. We’re hopeful for the next test.”

Marsh, who was sanc-tioned by the International Cricket Council for swearing at Kagiso Rabada after the South Africa fast bowler dis-missed him on Monday, has been a pivotal player since returning to the Australia side in December.

Only captain Steve Smith has scored more Test runs since and Marsh has also claimed valuable wickets.

“We haven’t had a lot of runs in the series so far, but he’s looking as good as anyone at the moment. With the ball he was important for us with those couple of wickets late on day two (at Port Elizabeth),” added Lehmann as the squad departed for Cape Town.

Australia lost the second test by six wickets in Port Elizabeth on Monday to leave the four-match series tied at 1-1.

New Zealand’s Wright returning to DerbyshireAFP

LONDON: Former New Zealand and India coach John Wright is to return to Derby-shire to oversee their upcoming campaign in English domestic cricket’s Twenty20 Blast competition, the Midlands county announced yesterday.

Wright knows Derbyshire well, having played for the club during his career as a New Zealand batsman.

Last season saw Wright guide Derbyshire to their first Twenty20 quarter-final in more than a decade before they were undone Pakistan star Shahid Afridi’s blistering 42-ball century for Hampshire.

Wright will be back working alongside former Derbyshire and England seamer Dominic Cork.

“We saw great progress in the shortest format in 2017, securing a home quarter-final for the first time and playing a positive brand of cricket throughout the competition,” said Derbyshire cricket advisor Kim Barnett.

“John, Dominic and all the players are determined to build on the successes from last summer and continue our progression in this format,” the former Derbyshire captain added.

“Our ultimate aim is to reach Finals Day and bring silverware to Derbyshire. Everybody at the club wants that.”

England’s specialist

opener in the shorter formats

of the game Jason Roy

arrives in Dubai to appear for the Pakistan

Super League (PSL) franchise

Quetta Gladiators.

Roy opens for England in

the One-Day internationals

and T20 matches.

35WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018 SPORT

NHL: Superstar Ovechkin hits 600 as Caps win in extra time

REUTERS

NEW YORK: Evgeny Kuznetsov scored with 49 seconds left in overtime, and Alex Ovechkin collected the 600th goal of his NHL career earlier as the Wash-ington Capitals defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 Monday night in Washington.

Kuznetsov got a breakaway and beat goalie Connor Helle-buyck (40 saves) with a high shot in extra time where Washington had all seven shots.

Ovechkin finished with two goals after not scoring a point in the past three games. However, he scored once in each of the first two periods to become the 20th player ever to reach the 600-goal milestone.

In addition, Ovechkin became the fourth NHL player to reach 600 goals in less than 1,000 games - this was the 990th game of his career.

Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull are the others.

Golden Knights 3, Flyers 2Erik Haula, William Karlsson

and Ryan Carpenter scored one goal each to lift Vegas past Phil-adelphia at the Wells Fargo Center.

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 38 shots in earning his 400th career win, third among active players. It was Vegas’ 45th victory this season, an ongoing record for an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League.

Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers and goaltender Petr Mrazek made 26 saves in the loss.

Blue Jackets 5, Canadiens 2Alexander Wennberg

notched a goal and three assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 38 shots as Columbus claimed a win over Montreal in Columbus.

Defenceman Seth Jones, however, left the game after the second period due to an upper-body injury.

The Blue Jackets have won five straight games and have claimed six consecutive victories at Nationwide Arena, this one

after falling behind just 34 seconds into the clash.

Blues 4, Ducks 2Four players scored a goal

each and Jake Allen made 20 saves for just his fourth win in 21 games as St Louis dumped Anaheim in a matchup of Western Conference playoff hopefuls in Anaheim.

Patrik Berglund gave the Blues valuable insurance with his ninth goal at 11:28 of the third period, taking a pass in the high slot from Kyle Brodziak and wiring a wrister by John Gibson. It was the second straight win for the Blues, who moved within a point of Colorado for the confer-ence’s last playoff spot, three days before they host the Avalanche.

Derek Grant pulled the Ducks within a marker at 6:15 with his ninth goal, deflecting a Chris Kelly shot, but Anaheim couldn’t avoid its third straight loss. It stayed at 80 points, good for third in the Pacific Division, after going 7-1-1 in its previous nine games.

Kings 3, Canucks 0Goaltender Jonathan Quick

stopped 35 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as hometown Los Angeles blanked Vancouver.

With the win, the Kings moved above the National Hockey League playoff bar. Their 81 points put two points behind San Jose for second place in the Pacific Division.

LA also moved a point ahead of both Colorado and Anaheim in the Western Conference

wild-card race. Tyler Toffoli led the Kings with a goal and an assist, while Anze Kopitar, Tanner Pearson also tallied for the Kings as they posted their eighth win in 12 games.

Sharks 5, Red Wings 3Timo Meier and Chris Tierney

both collected one goal and one assist and goalie Martin Jones stopped 23 shots as San Jose beat Detroit.

Tierney iced it with an empty netter with 94 seconds remaining in regulation. The Sharks finished a six-game homestand at SAP Centre with a 4-2 mark and sit second in the Pacific Division.

Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for the Red Wings, who have lost seven straight, including six in regulation.

Tyler Bertuzzi collected three assists in the loss.

Senators 5, Panthers 3Matt Duchene and Magnus

Paajarvi scored two goals each as Ottawa snapped Florida’s franchise-record eight-game home winning streak.

Florida’s Aleksander Barkov nearly gave the Panthers their first lead of the game when he got a breakaway, shorthanded attempt with 5:51 left in the third period. But Barkov failed to fool Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson, a Broward County resident and a former Panther.

After Barkov came up empty, Duchene and Alexandre Burrows scored for Ottawa to snap a 3-3 tie.

Rangers 6, Hurricanes 3Jimmy Vesey scored a hat

trick, including the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and Mats Zuccarello added two goals to lead New York to a win over visiting Carolina. The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with the win, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time in four games.

Vesey scored the go-ahead goal with 7:45 left in the game, beating Scott Darling short-side for his 14th goal of the season. Vesey’s goal came less than four minutes after a Victor Rask goal tied the score at three 8:23 into the period.

NBA wrap-up: Westbrook is just one shy of 100 triple-doubles

REUTERS

NEW YORK: Paul George and Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points apiece to help the Oklahoma City Thunder register a 106-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Russell Westbrook added 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 99th career triple-double.

Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) are the only members of the century club.

Corey Brewer contributed 16 points for the Thunder, who shot 45.2 percent from the field and were 16-of-36 from 3-point range.

Bogdan Bogdanovic recorded 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who dropped to 1-17 all-time in Oklahoma City.

Trail Blazers 115, Heat 99Damian Lillard and Jusuf

Nurkic led the way as the Portland Trailblazers beat the Miami Heat at Moda Center for their 10th consecutive win.

Lillard collected 32 points and 10 assists while Nurkic contributed 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Trail Blazers’ win streak reached double digits.

Portland has won 16 of its past 17 games at home.

Goran Dragic scored 23 points and Justise Winslow had 15 points and 13 boards for the Heat, who had won in four of their previous five and six of their previous eight outings.

Rockets 109, Spurs 93James Harden returned

from a brief injury hiatus and scored a game-high 28 points as Houston beat shorthanded San Antonio 109-93 at Toyota Centre.

Although he missed 9 of 11 3-pointers, Harden com-pensated by shooting 14-for-14 at the free-throw line. He sat out the Rockets’ 23-point victory in Dallas on Sunday with a sore left knee.

The Rockets completed a grueling stretch of five games in seven days with a 4-1 record, their lone loss coming at Toronto last Friday.

Houston moved two games ahead of the Golden State Warriors in the pursuit of home-court advantage throughout the Western Con-ference playoffs.

Bucks 121, Grizzlies 103Khris Middleton’s 24

points led seven players in double figures as Milwaukee handed Memphis its 18th con-secutive loss at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists despite playing just 27 minutes because of foul trouble.

Brandon Jennings came off the bench to score 16 points, Eric Bledsoe chipped in 14 and Tony Snell managed 12 points. John Henson netted 11 and rookie Sterling Brown hit for 10 points.

Marc Gasol tallied 17 points to lead six Memphis players in double digits.

Jarell Martin, reserve Ben McLemore and Dillon Brooks added 16 each. JaMychal Green scored 11 points and backup Deyonta Davis tallied 10.

HOUSTON 109 San Antonio 93

Milwaukee 121 MEMPHIS 103

O CITY 106 Sacramento 101

PORTLAND 115 Miami 99

NBA Results

AP

TAMPA: Joining the New York Yankees caused Neil Walker to smile, despite a hefty drop in salary. The free agent infielder agreed yesterday to a $4m, one-year contract, a 77 percent pay cut in a deal that allows New York prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar more time to mature in the minor leagues.

Walker earned $17.2m last season, when he accepted a qualifying offer from the New York Mets.

“It’s certainly a crazy offseason, but more than anything my hope was that I’d land some-where that’s going to be competitive and have a chance to win,” Walker said. “I’m happy to be here, happy to be on a contending team.”

Walker, a switch-hitter, likely will start at second base and Brandon Drury, acquired from Arizona last month, will play third. Walker can make $500,000 in performance bonuses: $125,000 each for 425, 450, 475 and 500 plate appearances.

“It’s just another choice for the manager,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “If he takes something from somebody over time, so be it. But again, he’s getting a little bit of a late start given the fact that we’re probably about two weeks away from leaving Florida.”

The 32-year-old Walker hit.265 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired him in a trade Aug. 12. The Yankees also pursued Walker last summer but a potential deal with the Mets fell through, according to reports.

Torres, limited to 55 minor league games last year before an injury to his left (non-throwing) elbow that required season-ending Tommy John surgery, has a.130 (3 for 23) batting average in 10 spring training games.

Another second base contender, Tyler Wade, is 9 for 27 (.333) over 12 games.

Neil Walker, Yankees agree to $4m deal

Trump honours World Series champion Houston AstrosAP

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump recognised the Houston Astros on Monday for their first World Series win, an “incredible victory” that Trump said was even more special following the devastation Hurricane Harvey wrought on the Texas city.

Houston defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 last year to clinch the title.

Trump, who played baseball in high school, declared it “was one of the greatest baseball games anybody has ever seen.”

The Astros jumped to a 5-0 lead by the second inning, ultimately winning the game 5-1.

“It’s really a reminder why baseball is our national pastime,” he said at the White House.

Trump thanked the players for spending time with people who were displaced by Harvey’s floodwaters, and for donating money.

“Our administration will continue to stand by the people of Texas and Florida and Puerto Rico, Louisiana, even Alabama and so many other places were affected, and we’re standing by all of them,” said Trump, whose response to last fall’s hurricanes was criticised by some.

Trump singled out some players by name, including American League MVP Jose Altuve. “Who could forget the amazing Jose Altuve? Where’s Jose? He’s much taller than I thought,” Trump said, directly addressing the 5-foot-6 second baseman and turning to shake his hand.

White House visits by championship sports teams are usually highly antici-pated, but have become politically fraught in the age of Trump.

More than two dozen New England Patriots stayed away when the Super Bowl-winning team visited in 2017. Several had cited political reasons beforehand.

Some of the players and managers said they were honoured to be at the White House.

“Anytime you can get a chance to come and do something like this, it’s going to be a great time,” right fielder Josh Reddick said after the event.

Manager A J Hinch said it was a “very

special” day because just one Major League Baseball team a year gets to come to the White House.

“We’ll forever remember this,” Hinch said.

Pitcher Justin Verlander tweeted a photo of himself standing behind the president’s lectern in the White House East Room. The Astros used Monday’s day off from spring training in Florida to fly to Washington for the ceremony. They headed for the airport afterward.

Trump, who received a team jersey, later tweeted that it was his “great honour” to host the team. He included a photo of him and the team in the Oval Office.

US President Donald Trump poses with Josh Reddick of the Houston Astros, and the rest of the 2017 World Series Champions after having been gifted a custom jersey in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US.

Alex Ovechkin (also top right) of the

Washington Capitals celebrates with teammates after scoring his 600th

career goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Capital One Arena in

Washington, DC.

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36WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018

It wasn’t very easy. It was good to play

and try to get in the rhythm and get into

the swing again.

Serena Williams,

Former World No.1 after loss to sister Venus

A great day for Qatari football, says Laudrup THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup (pictured) celebrated the performance of his side that beat Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in an AFC Champions League clash on Monday by saying it was a ‘great day for Qatari football’.

Also on Monday, QNB Stars League champions Al Duhail relied on an injury-time brace from feared striker Youssef El Arabi to beat Lokomotiv Tashkent in an away AFC Cham-pions League game to secure their spot in the round of 16.

“It’s a great day for Qatari football,” Laudrup said after Al Rayyan won 2-1 against Al Hilal at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

“We had a great win against Al Hilal. The players played really well in these two games against Al Hilal - and remember they played the AFC Champions League final a few month ago,” the popular Dane added.

Last week, Al Rayyan picked up a point in their away clash in Riyadh where the two teams ended with a 1-1 draw before going into Monday’s return clash.

“Now we are getting ready for our next challenge and that is to go to Iran and play in front of 60,000 spectators,” Laurdup said of his team’s game against Iranian giants Estaghlal on April 2.

“Against Estaghlal, we have to present the kind of game we played against Al Hilal,” he

added. Laudrup said second-placed Al Rayyan can qualify for the knockout stage of the tour-nament. He said rival teams Al Ain and Al Hilal would be feeling more pressure.

“We have to learn from the experience of how we played in the last season. We need to do more in the next two games. Now we will recover from this game by resting and we will focus again on the AFC Cham-pions League after we play the league matches,” Laudrup said. “The players have made great efforts throughout this period as they played 10 games in just 30 days,” Laudrup said.

He said Al Rayyan attempted many tactical changes in the AFC Champions League, noting that “it was important to do that”.

Al Rayyan skipper Rodrigo Tabata said: “I thank the fans who came in large numbers. It was a big match for us. It was a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium. It was a superb per-formance from Al Rayyan. We gave our best.” Tabata (66) and high-scoring striker Abderrazaq Hamadallah (44, p) scored Al Rayyan’s goals.

“I always try to give my best. Some times we are at the best level, and some times we are going down but we showed our strength today by fighting well,” Tabata said.

Al Rayyan chief of football

Mohammed Alaa said: “Our victory was a great gift for the fans who were present in such large numbers. Their support was so crucial for the morale of the players.”

He added: “The players seem motivated to do well in the next

two games so that we could qualify for the knockout stage. We played a big game against a very strong opponent and we fought until the last minute of this important game. We have to maintain our consistency and get two more wins.”

Venus knocks out Serena; Federer advancesAFP

INDIAN WELLS: Serena Williams’ return to tournament tennis came to an abrupt end on Monday as she crashed out of Indian Wells with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to her sister Venus.

Venus closed out the 29th career meeting between the two on her second match point as Serena sailed a forehand long to end the third round match in front of a main stadium crowd of about 13,000.

It was the first meeting between the sisters since they

clashed in the final of the 2017 Australian Open, which Serena won before taking a 15-month hiatus due to her pregnancy.

Serena said she is still easing her way back into match fitness.

“It wasn’t very easy, obvi-ously,” she said. “It was good to play and try to get in the rhythm and get into the swing again.

“I can’t really replicate the situation no matter how much I do in practice. I make those shots 10 times out of 10 in practice.

“It’s just the nerves, the antic-ipation you feel naturally. It’s a little bit of everything that comes

in a match that just doesn’t nor-mally happen.”

The 10th seeded Venus moves on to the round of 16 where she will face Anastasija Sevastova, who defeated 12th seeded Julia Georges 6-3, 6-3.

It is rare for the Williams sisters to play this early in a tour-nament. It is the earliest they have faced each other since their first encounter at the Australian Open in 1998.

They arrived outside the stadium together on a golf cart then walked through the tunnel with Serena entering the court

first, as many in the crowd stood and cheered.

Venus blasted six aces but had eight double faults in the one hour 26 minute main stadium match.

Serena is still shaking off the rust after the long layoff as she hit four aces but had her serve broken four times.

“I just have a long way to go,” Serena said.

Despite the loss Serena still leads their career series 17-12.

This was their first encounter with Venus as an aunt and Serena as a new mother after giving birth to her baby daughter, Alexis Olympia, on September 1.

Meanwhile, World number one Roger Federer stepped up his bid for a sixth Indian Wells Masters title with a 6-2, 6-1 dem-olition of Filip Krajinovic on Monday.

The 36-year-old marvel con-tinues to defy the ageing process as he needed just 58 minutes to overpower the Serb with a bril-liant display of Swiss timing.

“I was feeling like he was not loving my slice and I was also mixing in dropshots,” said Federer who extended his perfect record this season to 14-0.

“I really I was able to mix up my game nicely, make it difficult for him.

“At the same time, have fun with my game, play a variation, but for the most part try to stay on the offensive.” Federer blasted six aces, had one double fault and

won 89 percent of his first serve points, losing just three points on his serve the entire match.

“I actually was explosive out there today and I felt good,” he said. “So I’m very happy how things are turning out to be.” After handing back an early break to allow Krajinovic to draw level at two-all, Federer moved into cruise control.

At one point he won 17 straight points en route to taking a 6-2, 3-0 lead, winning 10 of the final 11 games in the match.

Federer, who is the defending champion and trying to win a record sixth title in the California desert, was on the centre stadium for the third day in a row.

His opening match on Sat-urday night against Federico Del-bonis carried over into Sunday

afternoon after heavy rains forced a postponement of several night matches. He said playing matches three days in a row doesn’t faze him.

“You’ve got to be ready for it. It’s what tennis players do. We wait, we play, we wait again, we play again.

“In Rotterdam I played five matches in a row,” he said. “Back in the day, I used to play six matches in a row.

“At the Masters 1000s, when the format was different, it was the best-of-five-set finals in the finals. Playing three matches in a row. I think I’m okay.” Federer has already won two titles in 2018, claiming his 20th Grand Slam crown by winning the Aus-tralian Open in January. The other victory came in Rotterdam.

Venus Williams reacts to her

forehand in her match against sister

Serena Williams.

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a backhand in his match against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on Monday.

Al Gharafa, Umm Salal in battle for QSL fourth placeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: As the 2017-18 QNB Stars League season is coming to a close with only two more rounds of matches remaining, the battle for the fourth spot has narrowed down to Al Gharafa and Umm Salal.

Indeed, Al Gharafa and Umm Salal are the only teams in contention for the prestigious position that guarantees a place in the elite, four-team Qatar Cup.

Al Duhail (54 points), Al Sadd (46) and Al Rayyan (39) have been assured of the first, second and third position respectively.

Al Duhail already won the championship with an unbeaten record after they beat Al Kharaitiyat 5-0 and Al Sadd lost 1-2 to Umm Salal last week. The Red Knights thus took an unas-sailable eight-point lead over second-placed Al Sadd.

The fourth-spot clash became intense after both Al Gharafa and Umm Salal won in Week 20, against Al Sailiya (3-0) and Al Sadd (2-1) respectively. Only one point separates the teams. Al Sailiya are further behind in the sixth position with 25 points.

Al Gharafa have 32 points from nine wins, five draws and six defeats, while Umm Salal, on 31, have to their credit eight victories, seven draws and five losses.

Al Gharafa scored 39 goals and conceded 31 to have a goal difference of +8, whereas Umm Salal scored 30 goals, but con-ceded 31 to be one goal in deficit.

Both teams changed coaches and roped in players in the January transfer window. And they reaped rewards for it, with Al Gharafa making the most of the changes.

It may be recalled that Al Gharafa were seventh in the QNB Stars League standings with just 11 points and two wins at the end of 11-round first phase! Al Gharafa started doing extremely well ever since Turk Bulent Uygun took over from Frenchman Jean Fernandez before the start of second phase.

QNB Stars League Week 21 fixturesAl Arabi vs Al Gharafa (Al Arabi Stadium)Al Rayyan vs Umm Salal (Qatar SC Stadium)Al Kharaitiyat vs Qatar SC (Al Khor Stadium)Al Sadd vs Al Khor (Al Sadd Stadium)Al Markhiya vs Al Duhail (Al Gharafa Stadium) Al Ahli vs Al Sailiya (Al Ahli Stadium)All matches will kick off simultaneously at 6:05pm on March 17.

QNB STARS LEAGUE