SPORTTuesday 26 September 2017

Ronaldo struggles, superb Messi form spark Ballon d’Or race

Federer leads Europe to maiden

Laver Cup title

PAGE | 30 PAGE | 31 PAGE | 36

Dortmund out to ruin Ronaldo’s big day e

23rd Gulf Cup: Qatar in Group B

Rizwan RehmatThe Peninsula

Qatar yesterday said it was going ahead with its preparations to host the hugely popular Gulf Cup football event which

scheduled to be held from Decem-ber 22 to January 5.

Also yesterday, officials of the regional body, Arab Gulf Cup Foot-ball Federation (AGCFF) expressed confidence that the 23rd edition of the eight-nation event will feature teams from the entire region.

Hosts Qatar were yesterday drawn with Bahrain, Iraq and Yemen in Group A. Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emir-ates have been placed in Group B with possible inclusion of Kuwait who are currently suspended by FIFA.

Qatar Football Association (QFA) President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani and QFA Vice President Saoud Al Mohannadi attended the draw cer-emony that also saw the presence of Qatar Olympic Committee Sec-retary General Dr Thani Al Kuwari.

Ahmed Al Buainain, QFA Exec-utive Committee member, Hani Ballan, QFA Executive Committee member, Mansoor Al Ansari, Gen-eral Secretary of QFA, and AGCFF

Executive Committee members were also present.

Officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain did not attend the draw ceremony.

“Qatar is ready to organise and host this tournament,” Jas-sim Al Rumaihi, General Secretary of AGCFF, said yesterday.

“As of now, we are ready to host the tournament. If we have less number of teams, then the event will be held on a round-robin format. But right now, we are going full steam with our prep-arations,” he added.

“Preparations are in full swing. The agreement has been signed with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in Qatar. Now we are coordi-nating with the LOC regarding the final preparations including the opening and closing ceremonies. We hope all teams will participate in the tournament,” he said.

“We hope Kuwait will partici-pate in the tournament because it is one of the founding members of AGCFF. Kuwait’s participation will be addressed by the Executive Committee of the AGCF in the com-ing weeks,” Al Rumaihi said.

Al Rumaihi admitted the Bah-rain Football Federation had approached Qatar for a postpone-ment of the event.

“We received a letter from the Bahrain Football Federation ask-ing us to postpone the tournament due to the absence of Kuwait. We responded to the letter that the tournament will be held on the basis of the consultative meeting held in Bahrain (sometime back),” Al Rumaihi said.

“The AGCFF was established by eight member countries to make football reach all corners of the region. The body was established to professionalise the growth of the game. We hope this is how we move forward, for the common good of the game in the region,” Al Rumaihi said.

“We hope to hold the tourna-ment on time. We are clear in the mind so we will not mix politics with sports because football builds

unity among the fans,” he added.

Al Shaibani, Chairman of the Gulf Competitions Com-mittee, yesterday said teams that decide to boycott the event could face fines.

“We confirm that this tournament is the first tour-nament to be held under the supervision of the newly-formed AGCFF. The rules and regulations have been pre-pared with the approval of all participating countries,” Al

Shaibani explained. As for the date of the announce-

ment of the fixtures, Shaibani said: “It will be developed and announced in coordination with the LOC and title sponsors.”

Al Rumaihi said if only four teams were available to play - in case of pull-outs from Saudi Ara-bia, the UAE and Bahrain - a fresh decision would be taken by the AGCFF whether to stage the tournament.

The last edition was won by Qatar after they beat hosts Saudi Arabia in November 2014. It was the third title win for Qatar. The UAE fin-ished in the third spot, followed by Oman in fourth place.

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The draw ceremony of Gulf Cup Football Tournament in progress in Doha yesterday. Pictures: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

China dominate short course swimming in Ashgabat The Peninsula

The Ashgabat 2017 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games continued for the

10th day yesterday, where 11 dif-ferent sports were up for contest, including medal competition in Billiard Sports, DanceSport, Indoor Tennis, Kickboxing, Sambo, Short Course Swimming, Weightlifting, Wrestling, and the bronze and gold medal games in women’s Futsal.

The big story of the day was the woman’s Futsal gold medal finals, where Japan and Thailand squared off after a long and hard-fought tournament, with Japan looking to make it four-straight AIMAG gold medals.

However, Thailand took an early lead in the contest, putting Japan behind for the first time in the tournament. Battling hard, Japan was able to equalize in the 35’ minute, only to have their

hopes dashed when Thailand’s Darika Peanpailun answered back just a minute later. While Japan pressed hard to again tie things up by bringing forward their goalkeeper for a numbers advantage, Jenjira Bubpha was able to lob in a shot from her own side of centre into the open net to seal the deal and ensure Thailand the gold.

The Games records contin-ued to fall right up to the very end in the pool, as the final day of Short Course Swimming action at Ashgabat 2017 saw five new records established, by Vietnam’s Thi Anh Vien Nguyen in the women’s 100m Medley, China’s Sun Meichen in the women’s 100m Freestyle, Kaza-khstan’s Adil Kaskabay in the men’s 100m Freestyle, Korea’s Kim Daleun in the women’s 50m Breaststroke, and, finally, by China’s men’s 4x100m Medley Relay team.

China finished Ashgabat 2017 Short Course Swimming competition with 29 medals total, 11 of which were gold, to more than double the best results of any other nation in the pool.

The first day of DanceSport competition saw more excellent results for the delegation from China, with two pairs of Chinese dancers finishing Monday with two gold medal victories, as Yuan Shaoyang and Qi Chongx-uan won the Waltz and the Tango events, and Qiu Yuming and Wei Liying took victories in the Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep.

And continue the theme of good fortune for China, China’s wrestlers also shone on Monday, taking three of four possible gold medals in women’s Freestyle Wrestling competition, with Pei Xingru winner in the -58kg cat-egory, Xu Rui victorious in -63kg

category, and Paliha golden in the -75kg class.

Finally, the first medals of the Indoor Tennis tournament were awarded on Monday, with Thailand’s Nicha Lertpitaksin-c h a i a n d N u t t a n o n Kadchapanan claiming Mixed Doubles gold in three sets over India’s Prarthana Thombare and Jagadeesan Vishnuvardhan – 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

At the end of the day, the medal table saw Turkmenistan holding on to a lead atop the standings that looks all but unassailable; with just two days of competition left, the host nation owns 229 medals, 85 of which our gold, while the Peo-ple’s Republic of China, next best in the standings, has but 34 golds and 77 total medals.

Qatar are placed 15th, hav-ing bagged four gold medals, three silver and two bronze medals.

A Chinese swimmer in action during the Short Course Swimming competition at Ashgabat 2017 Games yesterday. China finished Ashgabat 2017 Short Course Swimming competition with 29 medals total, 11 of which were gold, to more than double the best results of any other nation in the pool.

30 TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017SPORT

Koh set to boost Al Rayyan in crunch Al Duhail clash Fawad Hussain The Peninsula

South Korean midfielder Koh Myong-jin will be back in action when his

side Al Rayyan will take on Al Duhail in a crunch QNB Stars League (QSL) match to be played at Al Sadd Stadium this weekend.

Koh missed Al Rayyan’s 3-1 victory against Al Kharaitiyat in the previous round due to one-match suspension for the red card he picked up in Rayyan’s opening game against Al Khor.

The seasoned midfielder’s return has been seen as a boost for Al Rayyan, who will be up against a strong Al Duhail side in the Friday clash.

Al Rayyan, Al Duhail and Al Sadd will be fighting out for an early QSL summit in the third round as all the three teams

have secured full six points from their first two matches so far.

The Al Rayyan-Al Duhail clash has been dubbed as ‘Match-of-the-Week’ and a win for either team will give it’s players a huge amount confi-dence in their hunt for the lucrative title.

Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup will be looking to find the balance in defence and attack for the crucial tie the return of Koh will certainly help his sides cause as the balance will be important in breaking up Al Duhail attacks.

Al Rayyan will head into the tie with impressive victories in their last two matches in which they scored seven goals.

However, Al Duhail will be a tough nut to crack for them, as the coach Djamel Belmadi’s men have also been in supreme form, having defeated Qatar SC

and Al Arabi with ease in their first two matches.

Belmadi will be expect nothing less than a win in this match, as his new side looks to start their first season with an eye on Falcon Trophy.

Meanwhile, Al Khor are likely to welcome back two key players ahead of their round three game against Al Kharaiti-yat on Friday.

According to QSL website yesterday, club officials have confirmed that the Knights will welcome back Naif Al Buraiki into the squad, after his one-match ban. Midfielder Hilal Mohammed could also play a part in the match after missing the last two weeks of action through injury.

Al Khor medical staff will make an assessment on the young winger in the coming days.

South Korean midfielder Koh Myong-jin will be back for Al Rayyan in clash against Al Duhail on Friday.

Homesick Conte ready to return to Italy Milan

AFP

Chelsea manager Anto-nio Conte has revealed he misses his native

Italy and plans to return home soon.

“Yes, I miss Italy. And in my mind, there’s no doubt I will be home before long,” coach Conte said in an interview yesterday with Italian radio station Anch’io Sport.

“Italy is my homeland, so once I have had some good experiences, important and life-changing experiences, I’ll be back. I don’t know when but that’s the aim,” said the coach.

The 48-year-old from Lecce in the heel of Italy led Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season in England.

“For me, it was my first year abroad and it was great to win at the first attempt. A special feeling was created with the fans,” he said.

But despite being unsure what the future holds the former Juventus and Italian national team boss ruled out working in China.

“In China, no, absolutely, I’m nostalgic for Italy. I’ll be back but perhaps in the future I won’t be a manager. Perhaps I’ll work as a director of foot-ball. I don’t know,” he continued.

Conte believes it will be tough for Chelsea -- third this term behind Manchester City and Manchester United after six games -- to defend their title.

“Six teams are in conten-tion for the title, this year will be even tougher because Manchester United are back and there is also Tottenham, not to mention Liverpool and Arsenal.”

Next up is tomorrow’s Champions League clash at Atletico Madrid after canter-ing past Azerbaijani side Qarabag 6-0 in their opener, with AS Roma playing in Stamford Bridge on October 18.

“In our corner, there’s Roma, who have all the cards to go far,” he said.

“Ours wasn’t a lucky draw, but we want to over-come it so we can prepare for the last 16, where I hope to avoid the Italian teams,” he added.

As for club football in his homeland Conte believes “Serie A is in the process of coming back, but all the best players want to play in the English championship,” the Chelsea coach said.

And he has no doubt Italy will qualify for the World Cup to be held in Rus-sia next year.

“I’m not afraid about us not going to the World Cup. I have no doubt, Italy will be there,” said the veteran coach.

Dortmund out to ruin Ronaldo’s big day

Antonio Conte

Berlin

AFP

Borussia Dortmund will aim to maintain their unbeaten record at home to Real Madrid in the Champions

League today and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s 150th European appearance.

Dortmund and title holders Real meet in the group stage for the second year running.

The teams drew both games 2-2 last season as the Germans topped the section before bow-ing out in the last eight while Real went on to win a record 12th title.

Dortmund have won three and drawn three of their meet-ings at Signal Iduna Park, including their dazzling 4-1 first-leg win in the 2013 Champions League semi-final when Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals.

Defending champions Real opened their group campaign with a 3-0 win at home to APOEL while Dortmund suffered a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hot-spur a fortnight ago.

The Germans’ main task will be containing four-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who has scored 110 goals in European competition but failed to find the net in his last two outings.

The Portuguese superstar is among the final three nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Player

2017 award and the winner will be announced on October 23.

Dortmund flexed their mus-cles ahead of the heavyweight showdown with a 6-1 home drubbing of Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Ger-man league on Saturday as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a hat-trick.

The Gabon striker has now scored eight goals in six league games.

He has forged a partnership -- dubbed ‘Philameyang’ by the German media -- with

left-winger Maximilian Philipp, who has scored four goals in his last three games.

“Things couldn’t have gone better,” beamed Dortmund’s World Cup winner Mario Goetze, who is back in form after a met-abolic disorder, following the Gladbach win.

“However, we know that it will be a mammoth task against Real on Tuesday (today).”

While Dortmund shone in attack, they struggled at the back against Gladbach, who had half a dozen clear chances to score

which went begging. Zinedine Zidane’s Real are unlikely to be as forgiving.

“Against Real, mistakes like that will be punished totally dif-ferently,” warned Dortmund director Michael Zorc.

Dortmund’s big win came with forwards Marco Reus, Andre Schuerrle and Raphael Guerreiro injured while new signing Andriy Yarmolenko, Nuri Sahin and Gonzalo Castro were not used.

Real traditionally have a ter-rible record in Germany with 19 defeats, seven draws and only five wins.

However, four of those vic-tories have come in their last seven visits and they enjoyed a 2-1 win at Bayern Munich in last season’s quarter-finals.

Madrid’s run of scoring in 73 successive matches in all com-petitions ended when they lost 1-0 at home to Real Betis on 20 September.

But they rebounded with a 2-1 win at Alaves on Saturday as Dani Ceballos scored his first goals for Madrid on his first com-petitive start.

Zidane is without a left-back as Marcelo (hamstring) and Theo Hernandez (shoulder) are both out, so Nacho is set to fill in.

Karim Benzema is missing with a hamstring injury, but Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were both rested at the week-end and Toni Kroos is expected to return after injury.

Real Madrid’s forward from Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo gestures during the La Liga

match against Deportivo Alaves at the Mendizorroza

Stadium in Vitoria on Saturday.

Dortmund flex their muscles ahead of the heavyweight showdown against Real Madrid with a 6-1 home drubbing of Borussia Moenchengladbach in Bundeslia on Saturday.

Today (All 1845 GMT)Group E

In Moscow

Spartak Moscow (RUS) vs Liverpool

(ENG)

In Seville, Spain

Sevilla (ESP) vs Maribor (SLO)

Group F

In Manchester, England

Manchester City (ENG) vs Shakhtar

Donetsk (UKR)

In Naples, Italy

Napoli (ITA) vs Feyenoord (NED)

Group G

In Istanbul, Turkey

Besiktas (TUR) vs RB Leipzig (GER)

In Monaco

Monaco (FRA) vs Porto (POR)

Group H

In Nicosia

APOEL Nicosia vs Tottenham (ENG)

In Dortmund, Germany

Borussia Dortmund (GER) vs Real

Madrid (ESP)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES

Fellaini ruled out of United tie against CSKA MoscowMoscow

Reuters

Belgian midfielder Mar-ouane Fellaini will miss Manchester United’s

Champions League game against CSKA Moscow tomorrow.

Fellaini has not recovered from an ankle injury he suf-fered in a tackle by Shane Long in the 1-0 Premier League win over Southamp-ton on Saturday and was not in the squad which departed for Russia yesterday.

Nemanja Matic, who also suffered an injury against Southampton, flew out with the rest of the squad along with defender Eric Bailly, who could make his Champions League debut for the club.

Fellaini scored United’s opening goal in their 3-0 Champions League Group A victory over Basel this month.

United, who are unbeaten this season and are joint top of the Premier League with Manchester City, are in con-fident mood for tomorrow’s tie although they will again be without Paul Pogba, who suffered a hamstring strain against Basel and could require surgery.

Spanish midfielder Juan Mata predicted United would face “a very difficult game” against CSKA, who impressed in beating Benfica 2-1.

31TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017 SPORT

Liverpool head for Spartak battle amid defence woes

London

AFP

Liverpool approach the second game of their Champions League campaign away to Spartak Moscow today

with manager Jurgen Klopp under pressure to resolve their chronic defensive problems.

Liverpool ended a four-game winless run by prevailing 3-2 at Leicester City on Satur-day, but they have conceded 10 goals in three consecutive Pre-mier League away games for the first t ime in the

competition’s 25-year history. Klopp’s men have kept only two clean sheets in 10 matches this season and he admitted after last weekend’s 2-0 loss at Leicester in the League Cup that he was “really, really sick” of shipping soft goals.

Held to a 2-2 draw by Sevilla in their Champions League opener two weeks ago, Liverpool have failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 of their last 12 matches in the competition.

But for all their defensive woes, which are symbolised by recurrent failings at set-pieces, Klopp has been reluctant to admit that he has a major prob-lem on his hands.

Asked about his team’s dif-ficulties at the back prior to their most recent game at Leicester, he protested: “It sounds like we have no points and are com-pletely the worst team in the league.”

If Klopp has been spared more trenchant criticism, it is because his team, when on song, are capable of playing attacking football of scintillating quality.

Liverpool crushed Arsenal 4-0 at the end of August and in Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and new sign-ing Mohamed Salah they possess

some of the most talented for-wards in the Premier League.

The suspicion, which Klopp does not exactly deny, is that as long as his team are scoring goals at one end of the pitch, he will not lose too much sleep about what is happening in his own penalty area.

“If you would ask me: ‘Do you want your team perfect in defending set-pieces, but don’t know how to play football, or would you prefer the other way round?’ I still would take this (second) one,” he says.

Liverpool’s quest for greater defensive solidity has not been helped by the unpredictable form of goalkeeper Simon Mig-nolet or by Klopp’s own selection choices.

The 5-0 capitulation at Man-chester City earlier this month came after he made the ques-tionable choice to start Ragnar

Klavan instead of usual first-choice centre-back Dejan Lovren, who remained on the bench.

The Liverpool manager also regularly chops and changes his defence, notably rotating his full-backs between games, which has made it impossible to achieve any kind of continuity.

Matters were not helped by Liverpool’s frustrating transfer window, during which they missed out on prime defensive target Virgil van Dijk.

With Liverpool having failed to prise the Dutch centre-back from Southampton, former cap-tain Phil Thompson believes it was a mistake to allow Mama-dou Sakho to join Crystal Palace after the Frenchman fell out with Klopp.

“Sakho was our best defender,” Thompson told Sky Sports last week.

“I know there are fallings out at football clubs all the time, but somewhere along the line, you can’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

“Klopp should have made up with the boy. He should have banned him, but then brought him back into the fold.

“They lost out on Virgil van Dijk for whatever reason, but when it happened, they should have kept Sakho.”

Overall, Thompson feels there “shouldn’t be any debate” about Klopp’s position and says the German has clearly taken Liverpool forwards since suc-ceeding Brendan Rodgers in October 2015.

But while Liverpool’s attack-ing football will continue to nourish hopes of a return to prominence at home and abroad, their defensive issues may prove a fatal flaw.

Klopp makes weak case for defence

Liverpool have conceded 10 goals in three consecutive Premier League away games for the first time in the competition’s 25-year history

Klopp’s men have kept only two clean sheets in 10 matches this season

Liverpool goal-keeper Loris Karius (foreground) along with his team-mates during team’s training session, on the eve of their Champions League match against Spartak Moscow, in Liverpool yesterday.

Liverpool manager

Juergen Klopp during a

training session yesterday.

No further action against Mourinho after sending-off London

AFP

Manchester United manager Jose Mour-inho will face no

further action from the Eng-lish Football Association following his dismissal in the Premier League clash at Southampton at the weekend.

The 54-year-old was sent to the stands by referee Craig Pawson for encroaching on the pitch during stoppage time of his side’s 1-0 win at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Unlike players, there are no automatic bans for red-carded managers and any additional punishment depends on the referee’s report.

In this case, Mourinho appears to have taken the ref-eree’s decision without any further comment or reaction and the matter is closed.

The United boss said after the match that he was baffled by his red card. “I don’t know,” he said. “Craig told me to leave, and I left.”

The FA is also taking no action at this point against United over the singing of a controversial chant about striker Romelu Lukaku by fans.

The club are understood to be liaising with Southamp-ton to gain access to CCTV footage of Saturday’s crowd so it can identify those responsible.

United reiterated their condemnation of the crude chant about Lukaku.

Both United and Belgian striker Lukaku had previously implored supporters to stop singing the song, which draws on racial stereotypes about the size of black men’s penises.

But fans sang it again at St Mary’s, as well as “We’re Man United, we’ll sing what we want”.

Ronaldo struggles, superb Messi form spark Ballon d’Or race Madrid

AFP

Two games without a goal is run of the mill for most footballers, but for Cris-

tiano Ronaldo it constitutes a drought.

Ronaldo will be looking to forget his early season struggles as Real Madrid aim to lay down a marker in their quest for a third consecutive Champions League at Borussia Dortmund today.

The Portuguese remains the strong favourite to match Lionel Messi’s record of five Ballon d’Or wins for his starring role in guid-ing Madrid to a first La Liga and Champions League double in 59 years.

However, Messi’s sensa-tional form for Barcelona and the attention garnered by Ney-mar’s 222m euro ($265m) world record move to Paris Saint-Ger-main last month has starved Ronaldo of the attention he craves.

All three were named as the finalists for FIFA’s Men’s Player Award for 2017 last week.

It is Ronaldo, though, who has so far failed to hit his strat-ospherically high standards this season as Real have fallen seven points behind Barca in the La Liga title race.

A five-game suspension for pushing a referee after being

sent-off in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup has been the principle cause.

Ronaldo described the ban as “persecution” on the part of the Spanish federation.

But the punishment didn’t end with the ban as a rusty Ronaldo misfired badly as Real’s run of scoring in 73 straight games was ended in a shock 1-0 defeat to Real Betis last midweek.

Ronaldo also fired a blank as Madrid edged past bottom of the table Alaves on Saturday despite having 18 shots across his last two games.

“Cristiano is like he always is. When he doesn’t score you ask me about him, but he is

calm,” insisted Real boss Zine-dine Zidane.

“He wanted to score which is normal, but it’s a long season and he always ends up making the difference.”

It would take something extraordinary to deny Ronaldo the Ballon d’Or after scoring 10 times from the Champions League quarter-finals on against a calibre of opposition such as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Juventus.

Yet, Messi’s reaction to Ney-mar’s decision to forge pastures new at PSG has been a telling demonstration of who is really the irreplaceable figure at the Camp Nou.

Messi has helped guide Barca

to six wins from six in La Liga and a 3-0 thumping of Juventus in the Champions League scor-ing 12 goals in nine appearances in all competitions.

Indeed, at club level Messi now has 43 goals in 2017 to Ron-aldo’s 29.

Neymar’s numbers are far more modest despite five goals in six games for PSG as he has adapted well to his new sur-roundings and new stature as the world’s most expensive player.

One of the Brazilian’s motives for leaving the lure of Messi and Barcelona behind was reportedly his desire to win the Ballon d’Or.

But at 25 his time is more likely to come in future years if Messi (30) and Ronaldo (32) begin to wane.

Neymar will need to live up to the hype of his record price tag not just in Ligue 1 but at Champions League level to be crowned the world’s best and the visit of Bayern Munich to the Parc des Princes tomorrow is his greatest opportunity to make an impact before January’s award ceremonies.

Yet, despite the individual nature of the award, it is trophies that tend to tilt the balance of the Ballon d’Or and, having beaten his competitors to La Liga and the Champions League, Ronaldo remains the man to beat.

At club level Messi has 43

goals in 2017 to Ronaldo’s 29.

Liverpool and United fans trigger Moscow security jitters Moscow

AFP

As thousands of British fans head to Moscow for Champions League

matches involving Manches-ter United and Liverpool, Russia faces a crucial test of its security measures just months ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Some 2,000 British fans are expected to arrive for matches today and tomorrow against Moscow teams known for problems with hooliganism and racism in the stands.

The head of the Russian Football Union’s security committee, Vladimir Markin, warned them to behave or face an extended stay behind bars.

“I don’t want to scare anyone but I warn those who plan to come here not to sup-port their side and see the country but to commit hoo-liganism: the law is the same for all, not just for Russians,” Markin said.

“Those who break it will face a suitable punishment, possibly in the form of a long stay in Russia, in conditions our guests won’t like.”

The influx of supporters raises the spectre of a repeat of the violence at Euro-2016 in France when street battles erupted in central Marseille ahead of the match between England and Russia on June 11 -- 35 people were injured and three Russian hooligans jailed.

Russia has vowed to ensure fans’ safety when it hosts the World Cup next year and has cracked down on its own hooligans who model themselves on the hooligan gangs that dogged English football in the past.

For the Liverpool and Manchester United games, tightened controls will be in place at stadium entrances and nearby metro stations -- as happened when Russia hosted the Confederations Cup in June and July without incident.

A multi-lingual telephone help line (Fans Hotline 8-800-775-76-88) opened yesterday for 24 hours and will continue to work till tomorrow, to offer British fans’ legal support if needed.

Both Liverpool and Man-chester United have warned fans to be on their best behaviour.

32 TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017SPORT 33TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017 SPORT

Kohli urges dominant India to be ‘ruthless’ New Delhi

AFP

Captain Virat Kohli has called on his

players to be “ruthless” after the

crushing one-day series win over

Australia took India top of the world

one-day rankings to add to their

number one Test status.

A five-wicket win in the third game

of the five-match series on Sunday gave

India an unassailable 3-0 lead over

Steve Smith’s Australia.

It also stretched India’s winning

streak to a record 12 matches across

all formats.

Kohli’s side have been on a roll for

the past year since regaining the

number one Test spot with a 3-0 home

whitewash of New Zealand.

The in-form captain has led from

the front with 1,137 runs in 21 50-over

matches this year, ahead South Africa’s

Faf du Plessis as the highest one-day

scorer in 2017.

Kohli praised his team after the lat-

est win against the once mighty

Australians, who have been outplayed

in India. Smith’s team also lost a Test

series 2-1 in India this year.

“Credit to the whole squad for the

series win, but the journey stops only

after the final game,” said Kohli, the top

ODI and T20 batsman in the Interna-

tional Cricket Council (ICC) ratings.

“We may give opportunities for peo-

ple from now, but all 15 guys know that

we got to be ruthless once we step onto

the field,” Kohli added.

The series has seen new

Indian stars emerge, with all-

rounder Hardik Pandya and

left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav

making an instant impact.

While Pandya’s crucial 78 led the

team’s run chase in Indore, Yadav

impressed with his maiden hat-trick in

the second international.

However legendary spinner Bishan

Singh Bedi believes India have not

been tested by opposition teams, bar-

ring the Champions Trophy final in

June against Pakistan which they lost

by 180 runs.

India won 10 of their 13 Tests on

home soil in the 2016-17 season and

then went on to rout hosts Sri Lanka

over nine games in all three formats.

“Realistically speaking Indians are

not even fielding their best XI and beat-

ing the opposition hands down,

whether it is Sri Lanka or Australia,”

Bedi said.

“We are loving the ratings, but if we

are a little more pragmatic then you

will realise that the Indian team in the

last year or so haven’t been stretched

by the opposition.

“Just that one game in the Champi-

ons Trophy final against Pakistan, other

than that we have not seen them in a

tight situation.

“We will get to know the character

of the team when they come out of a

tight situation,” Bedi added.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel returns

to the Indian squad in place of Ravin-

dra Jadeja for the final two ODIs that

will be played in Bangalore and Nag-

pur on Thursday and Sunday.

Patel, who sprained his ankle at

the start of the series, will join Cha-

hal and Yadav as the third spinner

in the 15-man squad.

Smith laments ‘ordinary’ record in 2017 Melbourne

Reuters

Steve Smith has said his side’s record in 2017 is unacceptable for an Australian cricket team in the

wake of the one-day international series loss to India.

Australia’s five-wicket defeat in Indore saw them fall 3-0 behind in the five-match series, and was their 11th loss in their past 13 ODIs away from home. The other two matches were rain-affected no results.

With the Ashes looming in two months, the Australia skipper said his team needed to get back to winning ways fast.

“It’s a different format (to the Ashes) but I’d certainly like to start winning some games of cricket in every format to be honest,” Smith told reporters.

“It’s pretty ordinary. Not good enough for an Australian cricket team and we need to start turning the results around and winning some games.

“It’s been a bit of a trend for this format and the test format as well.

“We’re quite often getting ourselves into good positions and we’re not tak-ing advantage of those and today was no different.”

Australia has won just three out of 17 matches across all three formats since the ODI series victory at home against Pakistan in January.

Smith’s men will be keen to break their win drought, mindful that an ODI series whitewash away to South Africa last year preceded the 2-1 Test series defeat against the same opponents on home soil.

“It’s always hard to take when you lose,” Smith said. “(As captain) you’ve got to continue to try and motivate them and get them up for their next two games.

“ W e continually address it and it’s just hard to put

the finger on exactly what it is we’re doing

or not doing to get the r e s u l t s

we’re after.”T h e

fourth ODI is in Bengaluru on

Thursday.

Warne cleared over assault allegation London

AFP

Australian cricket legend Shane Warne said he was “shocked” to be accused of assaulting an adult

entertainment actress in a London nightclub after he was cleared of all allegations.

Spin wizard Warne, 48, was ques-tioned but subsequently released without charge, police said.

“I was shocked to read the media stories circulating earlier today con-cerning a false allegation of assault,” said Warne in a statement.

“I have fully co-operated with the police, and they have now had the opportunity of seeing CCTV and speak-ing to witnesses.

“The police have confirmed to me that I have been cleared of the allega-tion and that no further action will be taken. This is now the end of the matter.”

W e continually addit’s just h

the fexacis w

ortr

w

fourBenga

Thursday

matter.”

England selectors ponder changes as Ashes team in a state of flux London

Reuters

England’s selectors will name their squad tomor-row for the Ashes series

with the team in a surprising state of flux despite recent home series wins over South Africa and West Indies.

England experienced a mix-ture of crushing victories and heavy losses this summer, even-tually winning out because they bat so deep and, in Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, have two of their best-ever all-rounders. But the top order seldom convinced with only opener Alastair Cook and captain Joe Root certain to play in the first Test against Aus-tralia in Brisbane starting on November 23.

Surrey’s Mark Stoneman is Cook’s most likely opening part-ner after playing in three tests against West Indies but much of the discussion will revolve around which batsmen deserve another chance to prove them-selves in Australia.

The days when England could ink in proven performers like Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen in the middle order have long gone.

England coach Trevor Bay-liss has said the squad is likely to include only players who have featured in the past 18 months, opening the way for a recall for Hampshire’s James Vince as England seek to fill their problem number three slot.

Vince is a natural shot-maker but did not feature this season after notching 212 runs at an average of 19 in his seven tests last year.

Like Essex’s Tom Westley and Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance, who both batted at three this summer, Vince’s technique was questioned with concerns over his tendency to fence loosely at balls outside off-stump.

With Dawid Malan just doing enough to keep his place after averaging 23.62 in his five matches batting at number five, Ballance and Vince could both travel, with Keaton Jennings, Lancashire’s Haseeb Hameed, who broke his finger this month, and one-day specialist Alex Hales likely to miss out.

All three could feature for England’s second-string Lions squad, who will be in Australia this winter and supply

ready-made replacements in the event of injury.

England’s middle order is set-tled, with Stokes, keeper Jonny Bairstow and Moeen regularly taking turns to bat England out of trouble against South Africa and West Indies.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who recently took his 500th Test wicket, will again spearhead the attack although neither is naturally suited to the extra pace and bounce of Austral-ian pitches.

That could open the way for Mark Wood if he can stay fit, with Liam Plunkett, Craig Overton and Jake Ball all meriting discussion for a place alongside Chris Woakes. Toby Roland-Jones, a surprising success this summer, will almost certainly miss out after injuring his back while his Middlesex team mate Steve Finn is an outsider, particularly after his struggles in Australia on Eng-land’s last tour in 2013.

Leg-spinner Mason Crane numbers great Australian Shane Warne among his admirers and, having gained experience of Aus-tralian conditions with New South Wales this year, looks likely to claim the second spinner spot behind Moeen.

Surrey’s Ben Foakes is the favourite to travel as back-up keeper to Bairstow, setting up the possibility of England picking Stokes, Woakes and Foakes in the same team.

Wellington

AFP

New Zealand yesterday dropped allrounder Jimmy Neesham and batsman

Neil Broom from the one-day squad to tour India next month.

Coach Mike Hesson named a core group of nine players for the tour, with a further six to be selected from the New Zealand A side currently in India.

Neesham and Broom both missed out after failing to fire at the ICC Champions Trophy in June.

Hesson said Broom had been effective batting at three or four but it was an area in which New Zealand already had a lot of depth.

“We’d like to see Neil develop his game further to show he has the skills to bat at five,” he said.

Neesham has scored only one half century in 11 one-day inter-nationals this year and his 10 ODI outings with the ball over the same period yielded only four wickets.

“Jimmy needs go back and really dominate domestic cricket with both bat and ball,” Hesson said.

“We know Jimmy is a tal-ented player, but we’ve spoken with him around improving the consistency in all areas of his game.”

New Zealand play the first of three one-dayers against India in Mumbai on October 22.

The nine players named by Hesson were: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Black Caps axe Neesham and Broom for India tour

November 23 - 271st Test - BrisbaneDecember 2 - 62nd Test - AdelaideDecember 14 - 183rd Test - PerthDecember 26 - 304th Test - MelbourneJanuary 4 - Jan 85th Test - SydneyJanuary 141st ODI - MelbourneJanuary 192nd ODI - BrisbaneJanuary 213rd ODI - SydneyJanuary 264th ODI - AdelaideJanuary 28 5th ODI - Venue TBCFebruary 7, 20181st Twenty20 - HobartFebruary 10, 20182nd Twenty20 - Melbourne

ENGLAND TOUR OFAUSTRALIA: FIXTURES

Bristol, United KingdomAFP

Moeen Ali said his six-laden one-day international cen-tury against West Indies at Bristol was simply a matter of deciding to “press the

button and play a few shots”. Ali struck England’s second-fastest ODI

hundred off just 53 balls, with his second fifty coming in a world record 12 deliveries.

His 102 was the cornerstone of a total of 369 for nine - England’s highest in ODIs against West

Indies.Despite an impressive 94 from the returning Chris

Gayle, it proved too much for the visitors to chase with England winning by the commanding margin of

124 runs on Sunday to go 2-0 up with two to play in this five-match series.

Once Gayle was run out by Adil Rashid, West Indies’ innings fell away with England fast bowler Liam Plunkett

taking five for 52 -- his maiden ODI five-for -- as the tour-ists were dismissed for 245 with a whopping 65 balls, or more than 10 overs, to spare.

Ali hit eight sixes and Gayle six in a match featuring 28 in total, with both left-handed batsmen taking advantage of the short straight boundaries at southwest county Glouces-tershire’s headquarters.

“I just had a slog really, and everything just seemed to come off,” all-rounder Ali, known for being an elegant stroke-player, told reporters.

“I thought we’d got ourselves in, and it was time to press the button and play a few shots -- it’s not a massive hit for six (here).”

West Indies, who’ve now lost 14 of their last 15 com-pleted ODIs against England, actually started impressively with the ball to restrict the home side to just 18 runs off the first five overs.

“We just didn’t finish off well,” said a rueful West Indies captain Jason Holder, who won the toss and fielded.

“They (England) bat deep. He (Ali) has played a special innings. I think we didn’t execute our plans towards him.

“It’s a small ground and he backed himself to clear it.”One consolation for West Indies was the innings of Gayle,

long one of the world’s leading limited-overs batsmen.He had marked his 38th birthday on Thursday by injur-

ing his hamstring just before the toss while warming up and so missing a rainswept no-result in the second ODI at Trent Bridge.

But the Jamaica opener was near his blistering best in Bristol.

“It was very special,” said Holder of the veteran’s 78-ball innings, which also featured nine fours.

“Not only did he get the start we wanted, he carried on and batted into the innings.

“That was important, the longer he stays out there, the more England fear (losing).”

Meanwhile Holder insisted there was a far more thought-ful side to Gayle than might be apparent from a player who revels in a ‘cool’ image with the self-created nickname of the ‘Universe Boss’.

“Chris is always a relaxed guy but, if you go to him, you’d be surprised by the amount of information you get from him,” said Holder.

“I’ve been privy to having a few chats with him in the last couple of days and it’s been wonderful.”

This series has seen Gayle return to ODIs after a two-year dispute with Caribbean cricket chiefs and Barbados all-rounder Holder added: “He’s shared a lot of informa-tion and helped me out a lot on the field.

“It’s really good to have a guy like him playing for you. Hopefully his body will allow to him carry on a lot longer.”

Holder was adamant that West Indies, the World Twenty20 champions, were “not too far off” becoming a competitive side in the 50-over game.

“We just need to knuckle down a little more, especially when we bat,” he explained ahead of tomorrow’s ODI at The Oval in London.

“’Death’ bowling has obviously been a cause for con-cern in the recent past and we really need to tighten up there as well.”

Centurion Ali ‘presses the button’ in six-fest

huco

for nIndie

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five-matcOnce G

innings fell ataking five foists were dismmore than 10

Ali hit eigin total, withof the short strtershire’s hea

“I just hadcome off,” astroke-playe

“I thoughtthe button ansix (here).”

West Indpleted ODIs awith the ball first five over

“We just dcaptain Jason

“They (Eninnings. I thin

“It’s a smaOne conso

long one of thHe had m

ing his hamstso missing a rBridge.

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“It was veinnings, whic

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“That wasmore Englan

Meanwhilful side to Gayrevels in a ‘cothe ‘Universe

“Chris is abe surprised him,” said Ho

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“We just nwhen we batThe Oval in L

“’Death’ bcern in the rthere as well

Moeen Ali had 39 from 39 deliveries at the

start of the 45th over. Fourteen balls later, he

brought up his hundred - the second-fastest in

ODIs for England. Here is how he wrought

carnage.

44.2 - Cummins to Ali, SIX44.3 - Cummins to Ali, SIX: Reaches 50 in 41

deliveries.

44.4 - Cummins to Ali, 2 runs

44.5 - Cummins to Ali, FOUR44.6 - Cummins to Ali, SIX45.2 - Holder to Ali, SIX45.3 - Holder to Ali, SIX45.4 - Holder to Ali, SIX45.5 - Holder to Ali, 2 runs

45.6 - Holder to Ali, FOUR46.2 - Taylor to Ali, 1 run

47.2 - Cummins to Ali, SIX47.3 - Cummins to Ali, no run

47.4 - Cummins to Ali, SIX: His eighth six of

the innings takes him to a century in 53

deliveries.

Ali against West Indies50 in 41 deliveries.Second fifty in a world record 12 deliveries

Shane Warne

Steve Smith

Indian captain Virat Kohli

England’s Moeen Ali gestures after reaching his century during the third one-day international cricket match against West Indies at the Brightside Ground in Bristol on Sunday. Ali struck England’s second-fastest ODI hundred off just 53 balls, with his second fifty coming in a world record 12 deliveries.

34 TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017SPORT

Schauffele wins Tour ChampionshipAtlanta

AFP

Rookie Xander Schauffele outdid the big guns to win the Tour Championship on

Sunday but Justin Thomas hit the jackpot by taking home the $10m prize for claiming the FedEx Cup playoff title.

The 23-year-old Schauffele fired a two-under 68 in the fourth round to became the first rookie to win the Tour Champi-onship as he beat Thomas by one shot at East Lake golf course.

Thomas put the finishing touches on his breakthrough season by closing with a 66 to claim the PGA Tour’s playoff title and the $10m first place prize that goes with it.

“As a competitor you are mad that you didn’t win the tour-nament but then you realize what an unbelievable honour this is, the fact that you can win something over the entire course of the season,” said Thomas, who won five tournaments in 2017, i n c l u d i n g t h e P G A Championship.

“I played really well over the season and it is nice to finally play well in some playoff events and have it all pay off.”

The last time different play-ers won the tournament and the FedEx Cup was in 2009, when Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship and Tiger Woods won the Cup.

Jordan Spieth made a run at the FedEx Cup title with a Sun-day charge but his three-under

67 left him in second place over-all, 660 points back of Thomas in the standings.

“He has that belief now that he can make it happen,” Spieth said of Thomas.

“The progression he has made this year into becoming a phenomenal closer has been a pleasure to watch.”

The Tour Championship is the last of four events of the FedEx Cup playoffs and the finale to the PGA Tour campaign

for the 11th consecutive season.Thomas’ playoff win brings

to a close the year-long sched-ule that began last October in California.

Five players, including Tho-mas, controlled their own playoff destiny if they could capture the Tour Championship this week, but Schauffele came out of the shadows to make it interesting. Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm also could have all won the FedEx

Cup title with a Tour Champion-ship victory.

Schauffele finished with a 12-under 268 total, one stroke ahead of Thomas.

Russell Henley (65), and Kevin Kisner (70) tied for third at 10-under 270.

England’s Paul Casey, who began the final round with the lead, struggled from the begin-ning. He had back-to-back bogeys on the front nine and wound up with a 73 and finished

in fifth at 271. The consolation prize for Casey is he gets to go home and see his newborn daughter for the first time.

Spieth made a run but fin-ished in a tie for seventh at seven-under 273 and was left to m u s e a b o u t m i s s e d opportunities.

“I almost cheated my way into winning the FedEx Cup when (Thomas) really deserved it,” Spieth said.

Schauffele added some drama to his final hole when his two foot putt for the win ringed the cup before falling in.

“I thought I missed it, that’s why I couldn’t’ even react to cel-ebrate because I thought I just missed a two-footer to win,” Schauffele said.

Rory McIlroy, the 2016 FedEx Cup champion, finished 58th in the FedEx Cup stand-ings and did not qualify to play this year in the Tour Championship.

Justin Thomas of the United States celebrates with the trophy on the 18th green after winning the FedExCup and second in the Tour Championship as Xander Schauffele celebrates with the Calamity Jane trophy for winning the Tour Championship after the final round at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday.

Jackpot for Thomas

The 23-year-old Schauffele outdid the big guns to became the first rookie to win the Tour Championship.

Thomas hits jackpot by taking home the $10m prize for claiming the FedEx Cup playoff title.

Aston Martin set to be Red Bull’s title sponsor next seasonLondon

Reuters

Aston Martin will become Red Bull’s For-mula One title partner

next season in a move that will raise the British marque’s track profile against commer-cial sportscar rivals Ferrari and McLaren.

The former world cham-pions will be known officially as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

“Title partnership is the next logical step for our inno-vation partnership with Red Bull Racing,” Aston Martin president and chief executive Andy Palmer said in a state-ment yesterday.

“We are enjoying the glo-bal brand awareness that a revitalised Formula One provides.”

Red Bull and Aston Mar-t in, the glamorous 104-year-old marque whose road cars have become asso-ciated with fictional British secret agent James Bond, have an existing technical relationship.

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, whose cars won four successive drivers’ and con-structors’ titles between 2010-13, has been heavily involved in Aston Martin’s Valkyrie “hypercar” which will be delivered to custom-ers in 2019.

The team, whose cars currently carry some Aston Martin branding, are pow-ered by Renault engines branded as Tag Heuer. Aus-tralian Daniel Ricciardo and Dutch teenager Max Ver-stappen are the current drivers.

The sport’s engine reg-ulations are changing after 2020, with calls for a sim-pler and cheaper power unit than the current 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid and that could be of interest to Aston Martin.

“We are not about to enter an engine war with no restrictions in cost or dynamometer (testing) hours but we believe that if the FIA can create the right environ-ment we would be interested in getting involved,” Palmer said.

Both parties are to set up a new advanced performance centre at the team’s Milton Keynes factory in central England, working on road car a n d F o r m u l a O n e technology.

Thomas headlines nominees for PGA Tour’s Player of the YearAtlanta

Reuters

Justin Thomas’ (pictured) breakout campaign earned him a nomination for the PGA

Tour’s Player of the Year award along with Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, the tour said yesterday.

Thomas, who wrapped up the PGA of America’s points-based award for player of the year by winning the FedExCup and $10m bonus on Sunday, had five wins this season, including a triumph at the PGA Champi-onship for his first major title.

The 24-year-old American also joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Spieth as the only players since 1960 to earn five wins, including a major, in a

season before the age of 25. World number one Johnson, who won the award last year, had four wins in the 20 events he entered, including triumphs at the lucrative World Golf Cham-pionships-Mexico Championship and World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play events.

Johnson, whose red-hot run of three consecutive wins was interrupted after being sidelined by a back injury suffered on the eve of the US Masters in April, enjoyed eight top-10 finishes in the season and was fourth in the FedExCup playoffs.

Spieth, who was named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year in 2015, had victories at the British Open, where he earned his third career major title, AT&T Pebble

Beach Pro-Am and Travelers Championship.

The 24-year-old Texan also recorded 12 top-10 finishes, which tied Thomas for most this season. He also had top-10 fin-ishes in all four FedExCup playoff events in 2017.

Japan’s Matsuyama had

earned victories at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Waste Management Phoenix Open and World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and finished eighth in the FedExCup.

Voting for the honor, known as the Jack Nicklaus Award, will close on Oct. 2, with the winners to be announced that week.

Wesley Bryan, Patrick Can-tlay, Mackenzie Hughes, Grayson Murray and Tour Championship winner Xander Schauffele were the five nominees for the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year award.

Both awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA Tour members who played in at least 15 official money events during the 2016-17 season eligi-ble to participate.

The World Rankings 1. (1) Dustin Johnson (US) 11.95

2. (2) Jordan Spieth (US) 10.47

3. (3) Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 8.94

4. (4) Justin Thomas (US) 8.54

5. (5) Jon Rahm (Spain) 7.88

6. (8) Rory McIlroy (Britain) 6.58

7. (6) Jason Day (Australia) 6.58

8. (7) Rickie Fowler (US) 6.55

9. (9) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 6.47

10. (10) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 6.37

11. (11) Brooks Koepka (US) 6.03

12. (13) Matt Kuchar (US) 5.65

13. (14) Justin Rose (Britain) 5.56

14. (12) Alexander Noren (Sweden) 5.55

15. (16) Paul Casey (Britain) 5.38

16. (15) Marc Leishman (Australia) 5.19

17. (17) Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 4.48

18. (18) Francesco Molinari (Italy) 4.41

19. (19) Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 4.30

20. (20) Patrick Reed (US) 4.21

21. (21) Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 4.17

22. (22) Adam Scott (Australia) 4.04

23. (23) Charley Hoffman (US) 3.92

24. (26) Kevin Kisner (US) 3.90

25. (24) Daniel Berger (US) 3.80

26. (25) Kevin Chappell (US) 3.61

27. (27) Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 3.43

28. (29) Brian Harman (US) 3.43

29. (28) Tyrrell Hatton (Britain) 3.39

30. (30) Phil Mickelson (US) 3.39

GOLF RANKINGS

Doping: Russia warned to accept McLaren resultsParis

Agencies

Russia was warned by WADA on Sunday that it must “publically accept” the McLaren report on

state-sponsored doping in the country as officials prepared to visit Moscow to audit anti-doping progress.

The McLaren report, released in 2015, alleged state-sponsored doping in Russia from 2011 to 2015.

The investigation said the cheating peaked at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi where Rus-sian secret agents engineered an elaborate system of state-backed doping.

Russia’s own anti-doping body RUSADA was declared “non-compliant” while the country’s track and field team was banned from the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

On Sunday, WADA’s executive com-mittee said they were emphasising three points:

That the responsible authorities for anti-doping in Russia must publically accept the reported outcomes of the

McLaren Investigation. That the Rus-sian Government must provide access for appropriate entities to the stored urine samples in the Moscow Labora-tory. These samples are sealed off due to a Federal investigation.

There are still questions over Rus-sia’s participation at the next Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in February, 2018.

Earlier this month, during the ses-sion of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lima, 17 national anti-doping agencies called for Russia to be banned from the Games, criticiz-ing the IOC for its “wait-and-see attitude”.

“Since November 2015, WADA and its partners have been working very hard to rebuild a credible, and sustain-able, anti-doping program in Russia that will ensure the protection of clean ath-letes inside and outside of the country,” said WADA director general Olivier Niggli.

“In parallel, since the independent McLaren Investigation report came out in December 2016 -- which re-con-firmed institutionalized manipulation

of the doping control process in Russia and identified the athletes that may have benefited -- WADA has been support-ing and monitoring International Federations (IFs), and other impacted organizations, as much as possible as it relates to whether or not they can assert anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs)

against athletes identified,” he continued.

“We are unwavering in pursuing completion of the Roadmap (to code complaince).”

WADA will begin their audit this week as it prepares to make a recom-mendation on whether to reinstate the

Russian agency. Russian authorities deny there was a state-backed doping programme, but have pledged to follow international recommendations to get the suspension lifted.

WADA’s compliance review com-mittee will hold a special meeting on October 24 to hear a report on the audit, the anti-doping agency said in a state-ment after its executive board met in Paris.

The review committee will then make a recommendation to WADA’s board meeting in November on whether to reinstate RUSADA.

The Russian agency last month appointed a new director general as part of Moscow’s push to rehabilitate its tarnished sporting image and over-turn a ban on most of its track-and-field athletes competing internationally.

The executive committee, which heard a report on Russia’s progress, again emphasised RUSADA must ful-fil a roadmap it developed with WADA and Russian officials before any rec-ommendation on reinstatement can be made.

Participants talk before the start of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Symposium for Anti-Doping Organizations in Lausanne, in this file photo.

35TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017 SPORT

Los Angeles AFP

The Stanley Cup cham-pion Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Sunday they still plan to visit the White

House and meet with American President Donald Trump who has been involved in an esca-lating war of words with US professional athletes.

The Penguins said their acceptance of Trump’s invita-tion is a continuation of a long-standing practice of the NHL championship team visit-ing the White House.

“The Pittsburgh Penguins respect the institution of the Office of the President, and the long tradition of championship teams visiting the White House,” the Penguins said in a statement.

“We attended White House ceremonies after pre-v i o u s c h a m p i o n s h i p s -- touring the historic build-ing and visiting briefly with Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama -- and have accepted an invitation to attend again this year.

“Any agreement or disa-greement with a president’s politics, policies or agenda can

be expressed in other ways. However, we very much respect the rights of other individuals and groups to express them-selves as they see fit.”

The Penguins decision to go comes amid a wave of protests followed by a war of words between Trump and several prominent American athletes. Trump’s verbal attacks have been directed mainly at National Football League players who kneel during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Trump reignited the issue on Friday at a political rally in Ala-bama when he suggested NFL players should be “fired” for

kneeling or protesting during the American anthem.

The American sports stars are following the example of former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick who said last year he wasn’t going to stand for a flag of a country that “oppresses black people”.

Unlike the NBA and NFL, there hasn’t been a back and forth between Trump and the NHL.

There are just nine Ameri-cans on the Penguins 23-man roster and that is typical of most NHL clubs. The Penguins also had players from Canada,

Switzerland, Sweden and Fin-land last season.

In contrast, the Pittsburgh Steeler players that stayed in the lockerroom during Sunday’s anthem are all Americans.

Blake Wheeler, a Winnipeg Jets forward from Minnesota, is one of the few NHL players to criticize Trump on social media.

Since taking office in Jan-uary, Trump has hosted the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and members of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to honour their titles

On Saturday, Trump

rescinded an invitation to the White House for the NBA cham-pion Golden State Warriors.

Trump tweeted Sunday: “Please to inform that the Champion Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL will be joining me at the White House for Ceremony. Great team!”

The NHL brass has not com-mented on national anthem protests or Trump.

In September, John Tortore-lla, the coach of US national team at the World Cup of Hockey, said if any of his play-ers sit during the anthem they would “sit there the rest of the game”.

Penguins plan to visit Trump at White House

Brady magic rescues PatriotsNBA media days certain to have plenty of Trump talkNew York

AP

The most retweeted post ever sent by LeBron James before this week-

end was one in 2013 in response to the incessant who’s-better debate about him and Michael Jordan.

“I’m not MJ, I’m LJ,” he wrote . It was retweeted nearly 112,000 times.

And then LJ took on POTUS , calling President Donald Trump a “bum.” James’ Twitter account exploded from there, the 640,000 and counting retweets making it one of the top 15 shared posts ever.

If James’ tweet is any indicator, politics will be center stage across the NBA on Monday when 28 teams gather for their media days — the annual precursor to the start of training camps. Car-melo Anthony will formally become part of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Kyrie Irving’s first season in Boston will truly begin and Dwyane Wade is about to become a free agent after reaching a buyout with Chicago.

But those story lines, and probably all others, will almost certainly take a back seat to athletes reacting to politics.

“The decisions that play-ers, athletes, people make to speak their conscience is their choice,” Miami Heat President Pat Riley said. “We live in a world where you have an opportunity to speak that conscience. ... There’s tremendous power on the part of the players in this league, especially the players that have 10, 15, 20, 30 million followers, to make a statement in the right way. And I think those players have done it very well for the most part.”

The intersection between sports and politics got very busy this weekend, starting on Twitter.

On Friday, Golden State star Stephen Curry said he didn’t want to go to the White House for the traditional visit by championship clubs to meet with the president. Trump spoke at a rally in Ala-bama that night and, among other things, bemoaned how some NFL players have knelt during “The Star-Spangled Banner” or partaken in other actions that the players say were designed to raise awareness about police treat-ment of blacks and other social injustice.

“Total disrespect for everything we stand for,” Trump said about the kneeling.

Los Angeles AFP

Tom Brady conjured a last-gasp Houdini act to save the New Eng-land Patriots in a thrilling win over the

Houston Texans on Sunday as the Atlanta Falcons preserved their unbeaten record.

With events off the field dominating a dramatic day that saw widespread player protests, Brady once again laid on a mas-terclass to throw for five touchdowns in a 36-33 victory at Gillette Stadium.

The crowning moment of a 378-yard passing display by the 40-year-old Brady came with the Patriots trailing 28-33 with just over two minutes remaining.

An eight-play 75-yard drive ended with Brady hitting receiver Brandin Cooks with a 25-yard pass into the end zone for the game-winning score.

The nerve-jangling finale capped an extraordinary game

which had seen sections of the Patriots crowd boo several of the team’s own players after they opted to kneel during the play-ing of the national anthem before kick-off.

Brady had stood with his arms interlocked in solidarity

with his team-mates during the solemn anthem rendition.

It was just one of several large protests by players across the league on Sunday following remarks by US President Don-ald Trump. Trump had enraged NFL stars and team owners on

Friday by describing players who protest during the anthem as “sons of bitches” who should be fired. Around 130 players across the league took a knee on Sun-day during the anthem, easily the largest mass demonstration of its kind since former San

Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick began the protests in 2016.

“We felt like President Trump’s speech was an assault on our most cherished right -- freedom of speech,” Denver star Von Miller explained after kneel-ing before his team’s game against Buffalo.

The Patriots win helped New England move to 2-1 in the AFC East, putting them level with the Buffalo Bills who lead on points difference.

The Bills pulled off an upset win over the unbeaten Denver Broncos, winning 26-16. Quar-terback Tyrod Taylor threw for two touchdowns and 213 yards to spark the Bills. But it was an unhappy afternoon for Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian, who failed to throw for any touchdowns and was twice picked off for costly interceptions.

Denver were one of seven previously unbeaten teams to taste defeat in early games on Sunday. In Detroit, Matt Ryan threw for two touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons won the battle of the unbeatens with a hard-fought 30-26 victory over the Lions. Ryan, desperate to atone this season after last year’s Super Bowl collapse, made 24 comple-tions from 35 passing attempts to finish with 294 yards at Ford Field.

Rockies open 2-game lead for last wild cardSan Diego AP

The Colorado Rockies are headed home in firm con-trol of their playoff

destiny.Gerardo Parra hit a tiebreak-

ing single in a two-run third inning, Pat Valaika and Charlie Blackmon hit consecutive home runs in the ninth and the Rock-ies beat the San Diego Padres 8-4 on Sunday.

Colorado opened a two-game lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card head-ing into the final week of the regular season.

“We’re in the driver’s seat,” Valaika said. “We’re not really chasing anyone. It’s on us.”

St. Louis trails the Rockies by 2½ games. Seeking its first posts-eason appearance since 2009, Colorado opens a six-game homestand Monday, playing Miami and then the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The games are magnified,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Our guys are embracing it.”

At 41-40, the Rockies fin-ished with a winning road record for just the second time in fran-chise history, tying their total from 2009.

German Marquez (11-7) allowed two runs, five hits and

three walks in five innings. He had been 0-2 in six starts since beating Milwaukee on Aug. 18.

Colorado starters have a 2.52 ERA in their last nine games.

“They’ve done a nice job in September,” Black said. “Now we have to swing the bat like we did today.”

Scott Oberg gave up a pair of runs in the sixth, and Pat Neshek, Jake McGee, Carlos Estevez and Greg Holland combined for three innings of hitless relief.

Luis Perdomo (8-11) gave up

four runs and six hits in five innings.

Mark Reynolds hit an RBI single in the first, but the Padres went ahead in the bottom half on consecutive homers by Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte.

Meanwhile, Brandon Phillips and Justin Upton homered and drove in two runs apiece, and Luis Valbuena also had two RBIs in Los Angeles win over Houston.

The Angels remain 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota

Twins for the second American League wild-card slot.

In the seventh, Valbuena drove one to the wall in right-center for a two-run double, breaking a tie and giving the Angels the 6-4 lead.

Elsewhere, Eduardo Escobar hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Minnesota rolled over Detroit.

Jorge Polanco also homered and Joe Mauer drove in two runs as Minnesota moved within four games of the New York Yankees

for the first AL wild card. Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer for Detroit, which dropped its sev-enth straight.

Mookie Betts hit a three-run double in the eighth inning and scored on a single by Rafael Devers as Boston beat Cincinnati.

Betts helped the Red Sox lower their magic number for clinching the American League East to four. The Red Sox moved five games ahead of the Yankees.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) is pressured by Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (90) during the second half at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton scores on a throwing error after being picked off trying to steal against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park on Sunday.

Masterclass

Brady once again laid on a masterclass to throw for five touchdowns in a 36-33 victory at Gillette Stadium.

36 TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2017SPORT

Konta, Stephens crash out of Wuhan Open

Wuhan, China

AFP

Johanna Konta crashed out of the Wuhan Open yester-day, joining an exodus of top seeds including US Open finalists Sloane Stephens and

Madison Keys after a shock-prone beginning to the Chinese tournament.

Konta, who was handed a bye as the fifth seed, failed to get on the scoreboard against Aus-tralia’s Ashleigh Barty in the first set but appeared to be staging a comeback when she led 3-1 in the third.

The 26-year-old Brit, who went out in the first round at Flushing Meadows, served for the match but eventually suc-cumbed 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 to Barty, ranked 37 in the world.

“Obviously I didn’t start off very well so I had quite a bit of work to do. I really fought incredibly hard and I made a match out of it,” Konta told a post-match press conference.

“I was unfortunate not to come through but I think that’s also part of sport, you can’t be successful all the time.”

Hours earlier US Open

winner Stephens suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Chi-na’s Wang Qiang in the first round.

That came after fellow Flush-ing Meadows finalist Madison Keys tumbled out.

Stephens, the 14th seed, lost 6-2, 6-2 in her first WTA event since her surprise victory against Keys in New York.

Despite a strong fight by Stephens in the second set, Wang -- spurred on by the home crowd in the 15,000-capacity stadium -- proved too strong for the 24-year-old American.

“I didn’t play a great match. But my opponent played very well,” Stephens said.

“I mean, it’s difficult. It’s the end of the year. Even though I

played five tournaments, I feel like I played 25.”

Stephens, who ranks number 17 in the world, added she had been taking it easy since her US Open win.

“I went to see my grandpar-ents. So no partying for me. I don’t party. I don’t drink. I don’t do any of that stuff,” she added.

Keys also crashed out at the first hurdle in the hot and steamy Chinese city, losing to US quali-fier Varvara Lepchenko after struggling to overcome a long-standing wrist injury.

The 22-year-old American 10th seed fell 6-2, 7-6 in what was also her first WTA tourna-ment since the Flushing Meadows final. Keys, the world number 12, called a medical timeout early in the second set and looked close to tears as she examined her left wrist, which has twice needed surgery in the past. Keys had chances to level the match in the second set but Lepchenko saved two set points to hold at 5-5, before taking the tiebreak 7-4.

“The strength (of my wrist) has been the biggest issue... I’ve been dealing with it over the summer,” she told journalists.

“But we kind of all knew it (would be like this) until we had a solid chunk of time to strengthen it.”

In other matches, Angelique

Kerber of Germany, the 12th seed, fell to Caroline Garcia of France. While Agnieszka Rad-wanska, the ninth seed, beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 7-5.

Alize Cornet of France hits a return against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia during their first round women’s match at the WTA Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province, yesterday.

Shock defeats

US Open winner Stephens suffered a shock defeat at the hands of China’s Wang Qiang in the first round.

US Open finalist Keys also crashes out at the first hurdle losing to US qualifier Lepchenko.

Results of singles matches from the WTA Wu-

han Open yesterday (x denotes seeding):

2nd round

Ashleigh Barty (AUS) bt Johanna Konta (GBR x5)

6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3)

1st round

Shuai Peng (CHN) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x11) 7-6

(9/7), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3)

Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová (CZE) bt Ons Jabeur

(TUN) 6-1, 6-3

Shuai Zhang (CHN) bt Donna Vekic (CRO) 7-5, 5-7,

6-1

Qiang Wang (CHN) bt Sloane Stephens (USA

x14) 6-2, 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x9) bt Magdaléna

Rybáriková (SVK) 6-4, 7-5

Julia Görges (GER) bt Daria Gavrilova (AUS) 6-4,

1-6, 6-4

Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

(RUS) 6-3, 6-2

Kiki Bertens (NED) bt Monica Niculescu (ROM)

6-2, 6-1

Varvara Lepchenko (USA) bt Madison Keys (USA

x10) 6-2, 7-6 (7/4)

Elise Mertens (BEL) bt Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6-4,

1-6, 6-4

Jil Teichmann (SUI) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS)

6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Angelique Kerber (GER

x12) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Lauren Davis (USA) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER)

6-3, 6-2

Darya Kasatkina (RUS) bt Alison Riske (USA) 6-1,

2-6, 6-3

WUHAN OPEN

Federer leads Europe to maiden Laver Cup titlePrague

AFP

World number two Roger Federer handed Team Europe the

maiden Laver Cup title after beating Team World’s Nick Kyr-gios in a super tie-break thriller in Prague on Sunday.

Federer, this year’s Austral-ian Open and Wimbledon champion, won 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 11/9 to give Team Europe an unbeatable 15-9 lead.

But the 36-year-old Swiss legend struggled against the 20th-ranked, 22-year-old Aus-tralian and his flawless serve, losing the first set on a single break.

When he finally broke Kyr-gios halfway through set two, he yelled “Come on!” in relief, only to lose his serve again in the next game.

But Federer capitalised on the system of the tournament he had founded -- forcing Kyr-gios into longer exchanges, he edged him in the second-set tie-break, then came back from 8-5 down in the decisive super tie-break.

“I kind of felt good going into the breaker,” Federer said.

“It was a nail-biter at the end but for me personally it was

a dream scenario.” “It was an incredible journey really, it was way better than I ever thought it would be,” he added about the tournament.

“It felt like winning some of the biggest matches in my life. It was like a fairy tale.”

Kyrgios said the loss “just hurt.”

“I gave everything I had and I came short.”

The start of the clash saw the controversial Kyrgios briefly kneel on the court in a gesture which sparked speculation that he was joining the ongoing pro-test against US President Donald Trump.

But Kyrgios explained this was his trademark gesture to “remember the two most impor-tant people that have passed away” -- a reference to his late grandmother and grandfather.

A host of NFL players chose to kneel in games across the US on Sunday during the playing of American national anthem in a demonstration against racial inequality.

Team Europe, the odds-on favourites with five of the world’s top seven players, entered Sunday with a 9-3 lead which narrowed as Jack Sock and John Isner beat Tomas Ber-dych and Marin Cilic in the

opening doubles rubber. On Sunday, the winner of each rub-ber earned three points, against one on Friday and two on Saturday.

Alexander Zverev then took Europe within sight of the tro-phy by beating Sam Querrey in straight sets, but world number one Rafael Nadal missed his chance as he lost to big-serving John Isner in straight sets.

Sock and Isner beat Berdych and Cilic 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) with Sock’s vicious forehand leading the charge on the American’s 25th birthday.

In the day’s second rubber, a break in each set was all Ger-man youngster Zverev, the world number four, needed to beat 16th-ranked American Querrey 6-4, 6-4 in their first-ever encounter. Isner’s greatest moment was yet to come as the world number 17 edged Nadal, this year’s French and US Open champion.

Nadal lost his serve in game one with a double-fault before Isner’s errors helped him draw level in game ten, but Isner broke back at once and finished the set with the help of two sec-ond-serve aces in the last game.

He then swept Nadal in the second-set tie-break after both held on to their serves.

ATP RankingsSwitzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, whose sea-son has been ended because of a knee in-jury, has dropped one place to ninth in the latest ATP rankings released yesterday.It is the sole change in the top 10, with the top duo Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer having been in action at the inaugural Lav-er Cup in Prague over the weekend.1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,465 pts

2. Roger Federer (SUI) 7,505

3. Andy Murray (GBR) 6,790

4. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4,310

5. Marin Cilic (CRO) 4,155

6. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4,125

7. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,925

8. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 3,575 (+1)

9. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 3,540 (-1)

10. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 2,855

11. Milos Raonic (CAN) 2,825

12. David Goffin (BEL) 2,650

13. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 2,525

14. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,475

15. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 2,470

16. Sam Querrey (USA) 2,445

17. John Isner (USA) 2,425

18. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2,375

19. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 2,355

20. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 2,245

WTA RankingsThe top 10, headed by Garbine Mu-guruza, remained unchanged in the latest WTA rankings released yester-day.1. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 6,115 pts

2. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,965

3. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 5,640

4. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,520

5. Venus Williams (USA) 4,756

6. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 4,640

7. Johanna Konta (GBR) 4,520

8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4,410

9. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 3,810

10. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 3,781

11. Madison Keys (USA) 3,402 (+1)

12. Angelique Kerber (GER) 3,340 (+2)

13. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 3,335 (-2)

14. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 3,256 (-1)

15. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 3,095

16. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 2,764

17. Sloane Stephens (USA) 2,711

18. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 2,295

19. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 2,190

(+4)

20. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 2,175

TENNIS RANKINGS

Serena focused on comeback: WozniackiWuhan, China

AFP

Serena Williams remains focused on her tennis comeback just weeks after

becoming a mother and will make a strong return, accord-ing to her friend Caroline Wozniacki.

Wozniacki, who was speak-ing at the WTA Wuhan Open yesterday ahead of her first-round match in the Chinese city, said the tennis superstar had been sending her pictures of the baby girl, Alexis Olympia Ohanian.

“She’s so cute and I’m look-ing forward to meeting her,” Wozniacki told reporters, add-ing that her tennis commitments had so far pre-vented her visiting the new family.

Asked whether Williams was keeping an eye on the sport she has dominated for so many years, the world number six said: “Serena, I think she can be focused on both (the baby and tennis).

“I think she’s going to do a strong comeback but I think at the same time she’s enjoying being a mum as well and get-ting that whole experience. I think it’s very special.”

Williams, 35, has said she wants to return to competitive tennis in January to defend her Australian Open title after giv-ing birth to her daughter on September 1.

Earlier this month two former stars who became par-ents questioned whether she would be able to regain top form so soon after childbirth.

Three-time US Open cham-pion Kim Clijsters, who retired for two years and had a baby before returning to win the US Open in 2009, said it depends on “how your body reacts -- everybody reacts different in those situations”.

American Mary Joe Fern-andez, a runner-up at the 1990 and 1992 Australian Opens and 1993 French Open, said that she could not have done it but “Ser-ena is an exception to a lot of rules”.

Roger Federer (second left) and Rafael Nadal (left) of Team Europe celebrate with team-mates after winning the Laver Cup trophy in O2 Arena, in Prague on Sunday.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark holds the winners trophy after the final of the Pan Pacific Open tournament in Tokyo on Sunday.