The Peninsula

India’s Aditi Ashok clinched her second consecutive title at the history-making Qatar Ladies Open (QLO) after a day of drama in the Ladies

European Tour (LET) at Doha Golf Club yesterday.

The 18-year-old shot a closing round of 69 to claim the trophy on 15-under, her second professional win, just a fortnight after she became the first Indian player to win on the LET at her home event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Swede Caroline Hedwall fired a superb 67 in tough conditions to finish as joint runner-up with Lydia Hall on 12-under, while overnight co-leader Nanna Koer-stz Madsen dropped to fourth on 11-under after a one-over par round of 73. England’s Annabel Dimmock secured a top-five fin-ish, carding 10-under for the tournament.

Ashok’s magical triumph came after morning thunderstorms hit the course, resulting in a stoppage of play and uncertainty of when it would resume as dark clouds shrouded the Doha skies.

However, a birdie on the eighth after the restart and a dou-ble-bogey from Madsen on the ninth put Ashok four shots ahead at the turn, and it was then when the Indian star began to

take control of the tournament. Her biggest threat on the back

nine came from Hedwall, who treated fans to a feast of birdies and made a late surge up the leader board, but ultimately it was not enough to catch Ashok, who ended her magnificent week sink-ing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th green.

Ashok said: “It’s been a great few weeks. I won my home event in the Indian Open, which was my first win. To win back to back events feels really good.

“It was really difficult at the start because of the rain. Then we stopped for more than an hour and a half and when we got back it was really windy, so that was difficult, but I guess it was the same for eve-rybody. I was trying to hit greens and make pars. I made a birdie on the last and it was good.

“The first win was special, because I won in India, but I felt I played really well here and had to play well every day and shoot

sub-par rounds. I think my game was better this week and obviously to win in the Qatar, the golf course is the same as the men’s, so I know it’s challenging and to win here feels good.”

Despite a bogey on 18 finish-ing her title hopes, five-time winner on tour Hedwall came away with positives from a week that saw her match her best per-formance of the season.

The dramatic day was a fitting end to the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open, a historical event as the country’s first professional wom-en’s golf tournament. Even the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the crowds, who swept through the gates and avidly followed the final day leaders around the course.

Hassan Nasser Al Naimi, Pres-ident of the Qatar Golf Association, said: “The Qatar Golf Association is proud to celebrate the resound-ing success of the inaugural Qatar

Ladies Open. With an action-packed week of world-class golf, culminated by today’s thrilling finale and deserving winner, these LET stars have proved that this event is one of the most important women’s tournaments on the international golf tour."

Sunday 27 November 2016

SPORTHamilton on pole for title decider

PAGE | 28 PAGE | 29Bairstow helps

England rally after top order fails

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: QATAR LADIES OPEN LEADERBOARDPosition Player R1 R2 R3 R4 Total Score 1 Aditi Ashok (India) 70 66 68 69 -15 273T2 Caroline Hedwall (Sweden) 71 67 71 67 -12 276T2 Lydia Hall (Walse) 67 68 72 69 -12 2764 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark) 69 66 69 73 -11 2775 Annabel Dimmock (England) 69 67 70 72 -10 2786 Nicole Garcia (South Africa) 69 70 71 69 -9 279T7 Georgia Hall (England) 72 72 68 68 -8 280T7 Becky Morgan (Walse) 69 70 66 75 -8 280T9 Florentyna Parker (England) 73 68 72 68 -7 281T9 Malene Jorgensen (Denmark) 72 67 70 72 -7 281T9 Marta Sanz Barrio (Spain) 70 69 70 72 -7 281T9 Linda Wessberg (Sweden) 71 67 70 73 -7 281T9 Jade Schaeffer (France) 72 71 65 73 -7 281

Bennani, Tarquini excel in Doha as Muller signs offThe Peninsula

Mehdi Bennani (pic-tured) beat Thed Bjork to his first Main Race victory on a highly emotional night at WTCC DHL Race of Qatar at the Losail Interna-tional Circuit on Friday.

The night also saw Yvan Muller signing off from his record-breaking FIA World Touring Car Championship career with two top-six fin-ishes to secure the runner-up spot behind champion Jose Maria Lopez in the final points.

Mehdi Bennani soaked up big pressure from Thed Bjork to win the Main Race in Qatar, the final round of the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Starting from his maiden outright pole position, Bennani kept the lead at the start in front of Jose Maria Lopez, who passed the Volvo of Bjork. Behind that there was some fraught racing, with separate incidents between Tom Chilton and Robert Dahlgren and the LADA pair of Nicky Catsburg and Hugo Valente triggering a safety car.

After the restart, Bjork pulled off an impressing pass-ing move on Lopez and caught Bennani, looking to take a sec-ond win in as many events for Polestar Cyan Racing. The Moroccan kept the Swede at bay however with an error-free run to the chequered flag for his second win of the year.

Lopez signed off from his multiple title-winning stint in the WTCC with Citroen with a podium finish in third. Norbert Michelisz passed Yvan Muller for fourth.

That was until Monteiro also found a way by Muller on the last lap to grab fifth, rewarding his Honda mechan-ics who did a great job to repair the Portuguese racer’s Civic after Opening Race dam-age. Muller finished his final race in the WTCC before his retirement in sixth ahead of Opening Race winner Gabri-ele Tarquini and Rob Huff.

Tom Coronel and James Thompson took WTCC Trophy podiums behind winner Bennani.

Earlier, Gabriele Tarquini won the Opening Race for LADA, while Bennani’s

triumph for Sébastien Loeb Racing gave Citroën WTCC win number 50. Tarquini scooped the TAG Heuer Best Lap Tro-phy but it was a frustrating night for Tiago Monteiro whose bid for second place in the end-of-term rankings fal-tered following Opening Race contact, although he still man-aged to hang on to third in the overall standings.

LADA’s Gabriele Tarquini scored a convincing WTCC win number 22 in the Opening Race.

The race had to be red-flagged following a first-lap off for Tiago Monteiro, whose Honda sustained broken rear suspension when Hugo Valente was unable to avoid clipping the wayward Civic.

At the restart, pole-sitter Chilton defended the inside line from Tarquini but ran deep, enabling the LADA driver to get ahead.

Taking the WTCC Trophy win, Chilton spent the rest of the race defending from Honda driver Rob Huff, who went from fifth to third with an attacking start. Yvan Muller was fourth.

Nicky Catsburg and Lopez recovered to finish eighth and ninth, the Dutchman having lost ground on the first lap after contact from behind from Mehdi Bennani, who was handed a drive-through pen-alty and finished 16th. James Thompson finished 10th and second in the WTCC Trophy.

Sebastien Loeb Racing completed a perfect afternoon in the Middle East as its three drivers secured victory for Team Citroen in the FIA World Touring Car Championship’s Manufacturers Against the Clock (WTCC MAC3) at WTCC DHL Race of Qatar.

For the season finale, Cit-roen nominated the three SLR privateer drivers Mehdi Ben-nani, Tom Chilton and Gregoire Demoustier to take part in the Tour de France-inspired team time trial. Fresh from claiming his maiden WTCC pole position in qualifying, Bennani led his team-mates Chilton – who ear-lier clinched Opening Race pole – and WTCC MAC3 debutant Demoustier to a time of 4m13.756s around two laps of the Losail International Circuit.

Brilliant Ashok wins Qatar Ladies Open

Qatar Ladies Open champion Aditi Ashok poses for a photograph with Ladies European Tour CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh (left), General Secretary of QGA Fahad Nasser Al Naimi (third left), Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani (third right) and other officials during the presentation ceremony at the Doha Gold Club yesterday. Pictures by Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

Qatar jump three spots in FIFA rankings The Peninsula

Qatar have jumped three spots in the latest FIFA World Rankings, a signif-icant improvement in October following a few weeks of slide.

Qatar, coached by Jorge Fossati, are ranked 88 follow-ing a hard-fought win against Syria in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying game in Doha.

Fossati's side has 408 points, just a notch below Armenia (412) who are at 87. Kenya with 397 points are 89.

Qatar are ninth in Asia headed by Iran a South Korea.

Japan (45) are third, Aus-tralia fourth (48) Saudi Arabia fifth (56), Uzbekistan (62) sixth, the UAE (64) seventh and China (83) are in eighth place. Syria are in 10th spot in Asia.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Super Eagles have moved 10 places up in the November FIFA World ranking, to 50th.

Argentina remains top for November. Brazil, Germany, Chile and Belgium complete the top-5.

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Aditi Ashook posses for a phoottographh O Ivan Khhodabaakhhsh ((left), GGeneraal er Al Naimmi (thiird leftft), Sheeiikh hird rightt) and otther on ceremmony aat

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Champion AshokThe 18-year-old, Ashok seals the trophy with a score of 15–under par, just two weeks after she won the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Qatar Ladies Open champion Aditi Ashok

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27SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 SPORT

28 SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 SPORT

Shaky Proteas hang onas late wickets tumble Adelaide AFP

South Africa lost skipper Faf du Plessis amid a clatter of late wickets as the match pendulum swung deci-sively towards Australia in

the third day-night Test in Adelaide yesterday.

The Australians, who led by 124 runs on the first innings, reduced the Proteas to 194 for six with the prized wicket of du Plessis for 12 coming late on the third day.

At the close, South Africa were holding on and just 70 runs ahead of Australia heading into the fourth day. Opener Stephen Cook was in sight of his second Test century and was unbeaten on 81 off 199 balls with Quinton de Kock yet to score.

Australia, bidding to prevent South Africa from carrying off a series clean sweep after huge defeats in the opening two Tests, took major strides on Saturday with Usman Khawaja leading the way with his near eight-hour epic.

Mitchell Starc captured the big

wicket of du Plessis. He attempted to drive Starc only to get an outside edge to newcomer Peter Hands-comb, who took a brilliant diving two-handed catch in the gully.

It was a major moment in the course of the Test given the ability of du Plessis to play out long match-saving innings, memorably his defiant 376-ball unbeaten knock of 110 to deny Australia victory in Adelaide four years ago.

Starc started the ball rolling, removing Dean Elgar with the fourth ball of his opening over for a duck and fellow paceman Josh

Hazlewood had Hashim Amla caught behind for 45.

Spinner Nathan Lyon tightened the screws with three late wickets.

Duminy played across the spin-ner and was bowled for 26 and Temba Bavuma fell three overs from stumps, caught off his gloves by Steve Smith sweeping Lyon for 21.

Lyon removed nightwatchman Kyle Abbott leg before wicket for a duck in the day's final over.

South Africa's chances of post-ing a competitive lead hinge on Cook and de Kock producing a big stand.

Khawaja earlier top scored with 145 with the last four wickets add-ing 100 runs to put the home side in command.

His 308-ball vigil finally came to an end when he was trapped leg before wicket by Vernon Philander.

Khawaja left the field to a standing ovation following his sec-ond-highest Test score, amassed over three days, ranking only below his 174 against New Zealand in Bris-bane last year.

It was the Pakistan-born bats-man's fifth Test century, all posted over the last 12 months.

Khawaja's epic knock was also the first century by an Australian in the South Africa series and he has now scored 314 runs at 62.80 in five innings.

Starc clubbed his seventh Test half-century with a 91-ball 53 before he was caught and bowled by Kagiso Rabada.

Abbott was the best of South Africa's bowlers with an economi-cal three wickets for 49 off 29 overs with young gun speedster Rabada claiming three for 84.

Bairstow helps England rally after top order fails Mohali Reuters

Jonny Bairstow's composed 89 helped England survive some poor top order shot-making and reach 268 for eight at the close on the first day of the third Test against India yesterday.

Alastair Cook won an impor-tant toss but the tourists conceded much of the advantage and would have been in deeper trouble but for India's poor catching and Bairstow's dogged resistance.

The keeper-batsman featured in 50-plus partnerships with Ben Stokes and the recalled Jos Buttler to revive England, who are 1-0 down in the five-match series.

Adil Rashid was batting on four at stumps with Gareth Batty, replacing the injured Zafar Ansari, yet to open his account.

"We were obviously, after win-ning the toss, disappointed at losing those wickets, especially early," Bairstow told reporters.

"We're fighting, we are in the battle. It can go up to 290-300," he said about a possible first-innings total.

Wary of batting fourth on a spinning track, Cook asked the hosts to bowl but his top order were unable to vindicate the deci-sion at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

Paceman Umesh Yadav drew first blood when he got Haseeb Hameed caught for nine at gully with a delivery that kicked up off a length.

Home captain Virat Kohli

introduced spin in the 13th over and Jayant Yadav responded by dismissing Joe Root for 15 in his second over. England's batting mainstay fluffed a pull shot across the line and was trapped leg-before to a perfectly innocuous delivery from the off-spinner.

Cook, meanwhile, led a charmed life with Ravindra Jadeja failing to pouch an edge and Rav-ichandran Ashwin spilling a sitter. Mohammed Shami was the luck-less bowler on both occasions.

Ashwin redeemed himself with his very first delivery, which Cook edged to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Cook made 27 but his dis-missal came from a rash shot chasing a wide ball.

Shami finally tasted success when he bounced out Moeen Ali for 16 but Bairstow and Stokes steadied the innings with a 57-run stand before another batsman threw his wicket away.

Stokes, on 29, marched down the pitch to Jadeja only to miss the ball and Patel, replacing the injured Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps, had all the time in the world to whip off the bails.

Bairstow teamed up with But-tler to add 69 runs for the sixth wicket in a more productive sec-ond session for England.

Buttler fell for 43, when he chipped Jadeja to Kohli at extra cover in yet another soft dismissal.

The right-hander missed his half-century but still scored 25 more runs than Ben Duckett, who he replaced in the side, amassed in his three innings in India.

Bairstow got a reprieve when Patel dropped him off Yadav but the off-spinner trapped the bats-man lbw with the very next delivery.

England reviewed the decision but Bairstow's 260-minute vigil, during which he faced 177 balls and hit six boundaries, was over.

Chris Woakes, replacing the injured Stuart Broad, made 25.

India's catching was poor but paceman Yadav did not read much into it.

"It's an aberration, happens to all teams," he said. "You catch some and you drop some. The idea is not to lose heart and try to get your opponents out."

Three-star Southee creates havoc in Pakistan ranks Hamilton AFP

Tim Southee captured three quick wickets to put New Zealand in a commanding position in the second Test against Pakistan yesterday.

Neil Wagner also bagged two wickets as Pakistan col-lapsed to 76 for five at stumps on day two, still 195 runs behind New Zealand's first innings total of 271.

Babar Azam was not out 34 at the close of play at Hamil-ton's Seddon Park with Sarfraz Ahmed unbeaten on nine.

New Zealand, chasing their first series win over Pakistan in 31 years, had been in trou-ble at 5-119 before BJ Watling's 49 not out anchored a tail-end revival that lifted the home team to a competitive total.

"We could have been bowled out for 200-210," said Watling after coaxing the tail order to extend the innings as long as possible on a wicket offering encouragement to the seamers.

But what the non-recog-nised New Zealand batsmen achieved, the Pakistan top order failed to do as Southee enticed them into making a string of rash shots, seaming the ball away with a mixture of short and full-length deliveries.

In his third over, the New Zealand quickly removed opener Sami Aslam for five and Azhar Ali for one.

Then, in his fifth over, he dismissed the veteran Younis Khan for two as Pakistan slumped to 12-3.

Azam and Shafiq briefly steadied the innings with a 39-run partnership before Wagner's double strike.

He bowled Shafiq for 23 then followed up with a short ball to debutant Mohammad Rizwan which he hooked to Matt Henry on the boundary for a golden duck on his test debut.

Ahmed took a single off the next ball to deny Wagner the hat trick.

Pakistan speedster Sohail Khan described it as a "disap-pointing" effort by their senior batsmen.

At the close, Southee had figures of three for 26 while Wagner had 2-15.

But with three days remaining, Sohail held hope Pakistan could recover.

Resuming on 77-2 after rain washed out most of the first day, New Zealand lost three early wickets. Ross Tay-lor went for 37, adding eight to his overnight score before he was caught flat-footed by Sohail and edged the ball to wicketkeeper Ahmed.

Opener Jeet Raval benefit-ted from two dropped catches by Aslam, progressing to 55 when he nicked Imran Khan to Rizwan who had taken over at first slip.

Henry Nicholls (13) edged Wahab Riaz to Ahmed to have New Zealand 119-5 when Watling went to the crease.

He added 51 with Colin de Grandhomme to lift New Zea-land to 170-5 by lunch, only for de Grandhomme to fall to Imran on the first ball after the

resumption of play for 37. Mitchell Santner contrib-

uted 16 to a 33-run stand for the seventh wicket before edg-ing Sohail to Younis Khan in slips.

Southee engaged in an intriguing battle with Riaz which saw the swashbuckling New Zealander ducking, weaving and slashing through a barrage of short-pitched deliveries.

He reached 29 off 28 balls before he misjudged a slower ball from Sohail and was bowled.

New Zealand were all out in the third over after tea when Watling ran out of partners and was left stranded one run short of a half-century.

For Pakistan, Sohail took 4-99 and Imran 3-52.

South Africa (I innings): ......................259/9 declAustralia (I innings):U Khawaja lbw b Philander ............................................. 145M Renshaw c Elgar b Abbott .............................................10D Warner c Elgar b Abbott ..................................................11S Smith (run out) ................................................................. 59P Handscomb b Abbott ..................................................... 54N Maddinson b Rabada ........................................................0M Wade c de Kock b Philander ...........................................4M Starc c&b Rabada ............................................................53J Hazlewood (not out) ..........................................................11N Lyon c Amla b Shamsi ..................................................... 13J Bird c du Plessis b Rabada .................................................6Extras (B-3, LB-9, W-2, NB-3) ........................................... 17Total (all out) ...................................................383 Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-37, 3-174, 4-273, 5-277, 6-283, 7-327, 8-357, 9-370, 10-383.Bowling: Philander 29-5-100-2 (3nb); Abbott 29-11-49-

3; Rabada 25.1-4-84-3 (2w); Shamsi 29-4-101-1; Duminy 6-0-25-0; Elgar 2-0-11-0; Bavuma 1-0-1-0.South Africa (II innings):S Cook (batting) ....................................................................81D Elgar c Smith b Starc ..........................................................0H Amla c Wade B Hazlewood .......................................... 45J P Duminy b Lyon ...............................................................26F du Plessis c Handscomb b Starc ....................................12T Bavuma c Smith b Lyon ...................................................21K Abbott lbw Lyon .................................................................0Q de Kock (batting) ................................................................0Extras (LB-6, NB-3) ................................................................9Total (for 6 wkts) ............................................194 To bat: V Philander, K Rabada, T Shamsi. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-82, 3-131, 4-154, 5-190, 6-194.Bowling: Starc 19-4-71-2 (1nb); Hazlewood 16-8-22-1; Bird 16-3-42-0 (2nb); Lyon 17-4-48-3; Warner 1-0-5-0.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand (I innings):J Raval c Rizwan b Imran .....................................55T Latham c Aslam b Amir ......................................0K Williamson c Ahmed b Sohail ..........................13R Taylor c Ahmed b Sohail................................... 37H Nicholls c Ahmed b Riaz ...................................13C de Grandhomme c Ahmed b Imran ............... 37B Watling (not out) .............................................. 49M Santner c Younis b Sohail ................................ 16T Southee b Sohail .................................................29M Henry c Sohail b Amir .......................................15N Wagner c Younis b Imran ..................................1Extras (W-5, NB-1) ..................................................6Total (all out) ........................................271 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-39, 3-90, 4-113, 5-119, 6-170, 7-203, 8-239, 9-270, 10-271.

Bowling: Amir 19-2-59-2; Sohail 25-6-99-4; Imran 20.4-5-52-3 (1nb); Riaz 18-4-57-1 (1w); Azhar 1-0-4-0.Pakistan (I innings):Sami Aslam c Raval b Southee ............................. 5Azhar Ali c Watling b Southee ...............................1Babar Azam (batting) ..........................................34Younis Khan c Watling b Southee........................ 2Asad Shafiq b Wagner .........................................23Mohammad Rizwan c Henry b Wagner .............0Sarfraz Ahmed (batting) ........................................9Extras (LB-1, NB-1) .................................................. 2Total (for 5 wkts) 76Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-8, 3-12, 4-51, 5-51.Bowling: Southee 11-3-26-3; Henry 9-2-13-0 (1nb); de Grandhomme 4-2-21-0; Wagner 5-1-15-2.

SCOREBOARD

England (I innings):A Cook c Patel b Ashwin .......................................... 27H Hameed c Rahane b U Yadav ................................9J Root lbw J Yadav ...................................................... 15M Ali c Vijay b Shami..................................................16J Bairstow lbw J Yadav .............................................89B Stokes st Patel b Jadeja .......................................29J Buttler c Kohli b Jadeja .......................................... 43C Woakes b U Yadav ................................................. 25A Rashid (batting) ........................................................4G Batty (batting)...........................................................0Extras (B-8, LB-2, NB-1) ............................................11 Total (for 8 wkts) ................................... 268Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-51, 3-51, 4-87, 5-144, 6-213, 7-258, 8-266.Bowling: Shami 20-5-52-1; U Yadav 16-4-58-2; J Yadav 15-5-49-2; Ashwin 18-1-43-1; Jadeja 21-3-56-2.India: V Kohli (capt), M Vijay, K Nair, C Pujara, A Ra-hane, P Patel, R Ashwin, J Yadav, R Jadeja, M Shami, U Yadav.

SCOREBOARD

England's Jonny Bairstow drives the ball during the Third Test against India at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, India yesterday.

New Zealand's Neil Wagner (right) celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan during day two of the second Test against Pakistan at Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand yesterday.

Australian captain Steve Smith (foreground) takes a catch to dismiss South Africa's Dean Elgar (right) during their third Test cricket match in Adelaide yesterday.

Major blow Du Plessis' dismissal was a major moment in the course of the Test given the ability of him play out long match-saving innings, memorably his defiant 376-ball unbeaten knock of 110 to deny Australia victory in Adelaide four years ago.

29SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 SPORT

Hamilton on pole for title decider

Abu Dhabi Reuters

Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

yesterday but Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg remained championship favourite with second place on the grid.

Rosberg has a 12-point lead and can afford to let Hamilton win today's day-to-night race, knowing a podium finish at Yas Marina will bring him a first For-mula One championship to match Finnish father Keke's 1982 triumph.

Hamilton, who now has 61 career pole positions and 12 for the season as well as four in a row, has to be in the top three to have a chance of becoming Brit-ain's first four-times world champion.

He gave himself the best shot under the floodlights, setting a series of fastest sector times that left little doubt about his

determination to try to beat the overwhelming odds against him.

"It's been such a privilege driving this car," he said. "This weekend so far I've got the car in a real sweet spot...and yeah, I'm in a perfect position for tomorrow.

"I feel amazing, I feel ener-getic, I feel confident - confident of what I've been doing in the car," added Hamilton. "I have everything to gain tomorrow...

super-excited about it." His time of one minute 38.755 seconds was a real statement of intent, the champion a mighty 0.303 faster than Rosberg's best effort.

It was the first time Hamil-ton had out-qualified his team mate in Abu Dhabi with Rosberg on pole in the last two years, but it could all come to nothing with the title outcome out of the Brit-on's hands.

"I'm not ecstatic by today.

Lewis just did a great job and was a couple of tenths quicker," said Rosberg, who has now qualified 27 times in a row in the top two with barely any reliability problems.

"It just wasn't possible for me to do that time today...for sure, I'll try to go and win.

"It was feeling good out there, I had a good balance and everything so I was quite pleased. As qualifying went on it got

better and better. I got a good lap in at the end of Q3 (the final phase of qualifying) but not good enough."

Hamilton could end the sea-son with 10 wins to Rosberg's nine, and needs rivals to get between him and his team mate, but Rosberg will be reassured that Mercedes again looked in complete control.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo qualified in third place for Red Bull, with a lap more than half a second off Rosberg's pace, and will share the second row with Ferra-ri's 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton reminded Ricciardo of the Australian's 'win-ner, winner chicken dinner' catchphrase and said he wanted to hear it today - but with the Red Bull driver one of those behind him and ahead of Rosberg.

"I think it's going to be fun tomorrow," Ricciardo said. "Obviously, there's the title on the line with these guys here, so it's going to be interesting.

"Hopefully, it's fun through-out the pack and we can do something to make it even more exciting than it already is."

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who secured his first champi-onship against the odds at the circuit with Red Bull in 2010, starts in fifth place with Red Bull's Max Verstappen sixth.

Britain's Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, will line up for his farewell race in 12th position for McLaren.

"A bit of understeer lost me

a bit of time but to be fair, it's not a bad place to be in my last race," said Button, who will be hand-ing over to Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne after his 305th start.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, also leaving after Abu Dhabi, quali-fied 10th for Williams.

The starting grid for today's Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix following final qualifying at Yas Marina Circuit yesterday:-

1st rowLewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)

2nd rowDaniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull)Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)

3rd rowSebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari)Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

4th rowNico Hülkenberg (GER/Force India)Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India)

5th rowFernando Alonso (ESP/McLaren)Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams)

6th rowValtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams)Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)

7th rowEsteban Gutierrez (MEX/Haas)Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas)

8th rowJolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault)Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Manor)

9th rowDaniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso)Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Renault)

10th rowFelipe Nasr (BRA/Sauber-Ferrari)Estéban Ocon (FRA/Manor-Mercedes)

11th rowCarlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Toro Rosso)Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber)

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIXTouch and goRosberg of Mercedes has a 12-point lead over team-mate Hamilton and will win the championship if he finishes in the top three, regardless of other results.

Mercedes' Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates pole position after qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, yesterday.

Discover Tennis with Aspire training camp concludesThe Peninsula

The Discover Tennis with Aspire train-ing camp successfully drew to a close on Friday. Organised by Aspire Zone Foundation,

the camp was attended by 30 youngsters between the ages of six and nine. The camp ran from October 2 to November 25 and took place on the Outdoor Tennis Courts in Aspire Zone.

On the final day, participating children showcased all that they had learned as they took part in seven exciting games in front of their parents. After the games, Ms. Lolwa Al Marri, Head of Events at Aspire Zone Foun-dation congratulated the children on their progress and awarded them certificates of participation.

Al Marri commented: “Aspire Zone Foun-dation is committed to providing the local community with the opportunity to take part in various sporting events. We run activities for every member of the family in our state-of-the-art facilities. We're very happy with the success of this training camp. The best measure of this is how engaged and positive the children have been. Having their par-ents support them by attending their classes made the experience even more enjoyable. The training camp perfectly supports Aspire Zone Foundation’s aim to promote sporting activities among the local community and encourage a healthy lifestyle for all.”

The training camp was received very positively by parents of the participants, many of whom are from countries around the world.

Commenting on her sons' involvement, Qatari mother of six year-old Mohammed and five year-old Saleh Saeed Malhiya, said:

“All our family are tennis fans so my chil-dren really enjoyed themselves by taking part in this training camp. It was recom-mended to us by my brother who encouraged our children to participate. It was a great extracurricular activity for them. The tim-ing was also ideal as it motivated them to finish their homework early so that they could attend the training. It’s great to see Aspire Zone organise fun family activities that help bring parents and children closer together.”

Mariam Ghaddar, mother of eight year-old Joelle and six year-old Maya, and originally from Lebanon added: “My daugh-ters benefitted a lot from this training camp.

Not only did it improve their tennis skills, but also their overall coordination. They also made good friends with a number of other children of similar age. They were really excited to take part in every class.”

Pakistani father of nine year-old Hamza and six year-old Hidaya, Mr. Junaid Rah-man, said: “Our friends participated in this activity previously and encouraged us to reg-ister our children. It was great to take part with my children. The fact that it took place in the afternoon meant I was able to attend their classes after work. Aspire Zone has done a great job promoting sporting activi-ties among young children.”

The “Discover Tennis with Aspire” train-ing camp provided an opportunity for the 30 young amateur tennis players to develop their potential and train under the close supervision of three certified tennis experts. Participating children were divided into two age groups – ages six to seven, and ages eight to nine. This enabled participants to play alongside peers with the right level of expe-rience and aptitude.

The training camp is the latest exam-ple of Aspire Zone Foundation’s continued efforts to promote physical activity in Qatar and to provide mem-bers of the community with the opportunity to practice their favourite sports and take part in a range of sport-ing events.

By providing community members with access to state-of-the-art venues and facil-ities, all family members are encouraged to participate in various sports activities offered by Aspire Zone Foundation. It is through programmes and activities such as these that Aspire Zone has become the preferred sports destination in Qatar.

Qatar Rugby Federation (QRF) Yousef Al Kuwari receiving the Fiji team at the Hamad International Airport in Doha on Friday.

The Peninsula

Fijian rugby team, the reigning World Rugby Sevens Series Champions and Rio Olympic Games gold medalist arrived in Doha on Friday on a three-day visit. The islanders rugby team which gave the country's first medal

in any event are in Qatar as guests of Qatar Rugby Federation.The Fijians thrashed Britain 43-7 to win the inaugural men's

rugby sevens final in Rio, Brazil this year.Fiji has won the Hong Kong Sevens a record twelve times since

its inception in 1976 and also won the Rugby World Cup Sevens twice in 1997 and 2005.

“Hosting the Fijian squad in Doha would serve as an honor and place Qatar in high esteem as a sporting nation. The fact that the World Champions want to visit Doha is a great privilege within itself considering the amount of requests they receive from nations around the world,” QRF President Yousef Al Kuwari said.

“Fiji is a class act and we can achieve much from their pres-ence. Already we have five Fijian players participating in our domestic league and we hope to increase that over the years. This rare visit by Fiji is hoped to improve our rugby ties and develop a special bond with the champs” the QRF president added.

Fiji rugby sevens master class captain Osea Koliniseu who was recently piped for the World Rugby Sevens player of the year by South Africa’s Seabelo Senatla said: “Doha has impressive cre-dentials as a sports nation and our stop here next week hopefully will be a start of a long lasting relationship with Qatar Rugby Federation.”

“Doha also has one of the best facilities in treating injured ath-letes it would beneficial for us to be here. It would great if we can meet and acclimatize here instead. We would also like to help Qatar Rugby develop” the captain said.

The Qatar stop comes ahead of the Emirate Dubai 7s which begins on December 1.

The Fijian team wish to acclimatize to the region ahead of the Dubai event.

Fiji to train in Doha ahead of Dubai 7s

30 SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 SPORT

AyAyAy. Pic: Qassim / The Peninsula → See also page 26

ayayayayayayay

Argentinean football legend Gabriel Omar Batistuta, nicknamed Batigol, poses for a photo with a glove, signed by FIA World Touring Car Champion Jose Maria Lopez, during the WTCC DHL Race of Qatar at the Losail International Circuit on Friday. Batistuta played his last two seasons in Qatar with Al Arabi before retiring in 2005.

Argentinean star Gabriel Batistuta in Qatar Doha and Aspire all Set to host Soccerex Asian forum 2016

Impressive RB Leipzig cement top spot BerlinAFP

RB Leipzig continued their stun-ning start to life in the Bundesliga on Friday with a 4-1 win at Freiburg that saw them move six points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the table.

Timo Werner scored twice for the visitors at the Schwarzwald Sta-dion in between goals by Naby Keita and Marcel Sabitzer, with Florian Niederlechner replying in vain for the home side.

RB Leipzig's record-breaking start to a season for a newly-pro-moted side sees them still unbeaten after 12 games. They have won their last seven matches in a row and this latest success means they are cer-tain to end the weekend clear at the summit once again.

Ralph Hassenhuettl's men can do no wrong at the moment and they opened the scoring in the Black For-est inside two minutes when pocket-sized Guinean midfielder Keita skipped away from Nieder-lechner and unleashed a superb shot that arrowed beyond the reach of goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow and into the top-right corner.

Mid-table Freiburg, who had won four of their previous five home games this season, drew level out of nowhere on the quarter-hour mark when Niederlechner headed past Peter Gulacsi in the Leipzig goal fol-lowing a right-wing cross by Borussia Dortmund loanee Pascal Stenzel.

Freiburg had come up with Leip-zig from the second tier last season, finishing five points clear of the Red Bull-backed club as they won the

title. They had taken four points off them in league meetings, but Leip-zig are a different proposition in the top tier and they went back in front before the midway point in the first half.

Former VfB Stuttgart forward Werner was played onside by Marc Torrejon as he latched onto a ball over the top and slotted in after a rather weak attempt by Schwolow to stop him.

Werner netted again for his seventh of the season 10 minutes before the break after a superb pass by the ever impressive Emil Forsberg took Nicolas Hoefler out of the game.

The victory was secured as Leip-zig made it 4-1 with 11 minutes left when Swedish international Fors-berg set up Sabitzer to side-foot home at the near post.

Bale faces lengthy spell on sidelines, says ZidaneMadridReuters

Real Madrid coach Zin-edine Zidane (pictured)expects to be without the services of Welsh forward Gareth Bale for a long period of time.

Bale damaged tendons in his right ankle during Tues-day's 2-1 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League and he will undergo surgery next week in London.

"It's tough to see a player out injured," said Zidane.

"Bale is going to be out for a very long time."

Bale has been key all sea-son for Real, who lead the La Liga standings and have qual-ified for the Champions League round of 16.

The 27-year-old has scored seven goals and set up three more in 16 starts in all competitions.

Real are also without Ger-man midfielder Toni Kroos, who is out until next year due to a broken foot, and Spanish forward Alvaro Morata who is sidelined with a torn hamstring.

French defender Raphael Varane, who scored Real's opener in Tuesday's victory in Lisbon, will rest as a pre-caution ahead of next week's Clasico in Barcelona.

"Varane had a knee prob-lem and we don't want to risk him," Zidane said.

"We just need to hold out and wait until they recover. The important thing is that we focus on the things that we are doing well."

They will be boosted by the return of defender Pepe and midfielder Casemiro from injury.

DohaQNA

Doha has completed all technical and mana-gerial arrangements to host the prestigious Soccerex Asian Forum

2016, taking place at the Grand Hyatt Doha from December 5-6, 2016.

The forum will provide the global football industry with unique insight, and access to the key development projects ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

With more than 30 large scale infrastructure and stadia related ten-ders currently open ahead of this ground breaking tournament, the Asian Forum - supported by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy - will allow delegates to hear from, and connect with, the decision makers directly responsi-ble for their fulfilment.

Soccerex, the globally renowned football business event provider, has signed its first part-nership agreement with Aspire Zone Foundation and its member

organizations, Aspire Academy, Aspetar and Aspire Logistics, for the upcoming Asian Forum taking place in Doha from December 5-6.

The Asian Forum will offer insights into topics such as major event delivery, player performance and development and sports mar-keting from the football industry’s most senior figures.

The Forum, taking place at the Grand Hyatt Doha, will gather over 1000 senior decision makers for two days of knowledge sharing, and business networking.

As part of this partnership, Aspire Academy and Aspetar will provide expert speakers to share their insights and expertise, on top-ics such as innovations in sports performance and best practice in injury prevention and recovery.

The new partnership with Soc-cerex is an extension of Aspire Zone Foundation’s ongoing efforts to sup-port the Qatar National Vision 2030.

To-date, the Foundation has hosted numerous major interna-tional events, including the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, as well as world-class training camps for top tier

football clubs such as Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. Aspire Zone Foun-dation has three member organisations under its umbrella, all of which contribute to the development of sports in Qatar.

Aspire Academy is a sports academy that provides training and education to students with sporting potential. Among its achievements, Aspire Academy has produced the entire Qatar U19 national squad that won the AFC U-19 Championship in 2014 and London 2012 bronze medallist and Rio 2016 Olympic silver-medallist Mutaz Barshim.

Aspire Logistics promotes sports culture and is one of the world’s foremost campuses for athletes in training and hosts global events such as the 2016 FINA Airweave Swim-ming Championship.

Aspetar, a world leading special-ised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital.Aspetar was awarded the ‘FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence by F-MARC in 2009 and "Platinum Level" by the Accreditation Canada International (ACI) in 2015.

Hoeness - German football saint and tax sinner back to lead Bayern BerlinAFP

Uli Hoeness has been re-elected as Bayern Munich's president, returning to lead Germany's top club despite a spectacu-lar own goal which landed

him in jail.After 21 months behind bars, Hoeness

was released in February from Landsberg prison, where Adolf Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf', after being convicted of evading at least €28.5m ($31.5m) in taxes.

His stint in jail saw the outspoken character endure public humiliation as a fallen role model and newspaper mock-ery as a hypocrite who "preaches water and drinks wine".

His comment, "criminals have no place in football", uttered when it emerged in 2000 that ex-Bundesliga coach Chris-toph Daum had used cocaine, has regularly come back to haunt him.

"I know this is stupid, but I pay my taxes in full," told to Bild in 2005, was another Hoeness statement which received plenty of air time.

But such is his popularity at Bayern that he has been welcomed back with open arms by his beloved club, which he helped turn into a European powerhouse and global brand, despite his public fall from grace.

Hoeness was born in post-war Ger-many in 1952 into a conservative Catholic middle-class family, living in a humble flat above his father's butcher's shop in the town of Ulm.

The teenager's passion was football

which, by some accounts, he practised until he dropped from exhaustion. His dis-cipline and athletic talent were noted early and he joined Bayern Munich at age 18. Since then, Hoeness has come to per-sonify the club and never tolerated criticism of his beloved Bayern, giving many a reporter who dared to slight the team an unforgiving tongue-lashing.

As a young star player, Hoeness, alongside the legendary Franz Becken-bauer and goal-scoring ace Gerd Mueller, was at the heart of the team which won the European Cup three times in 1974-76.

When a persistent knee injury forced him to retire at just 27, the club made him their youngest-ever general manager. And when Beckenbauer stood down as Bay-ern president in 2009, Hoeness was ready to succeed him after a 30-year apprenticeship.

Ever since, Hoeness has been the driv-ing force behind the rise of the club, which now boasts a massive membership, state-of-the-art stadium and huge profits.

While Hoeness is a hard-nosed busi-nessman, he also drove a culture of helping teams in financial trouble by stag-ing friendlies, and in 2005 lent near-bankrupt Borussia Dortmund €2m ($2.8m) to pay their players.

Hoeness has gone out of his way to support players in distress: he made sure the retired Mueller was treated in a clinic when he was battling alcoholism. Muel-ler later became a reserve team coach at Bayern.

In the close-knit elite of conservative Bavaria, Hoeness has been a confidant of top state politicians, He told one TV show that a higher tax burden will mean "the rich will go to Austria and Switzerland ... we need to keep the rich here so we can keep milking them".

He long presented himself as an hon-est businessman Unknown to the wider public, he was already obsessively gam-bling millions on stocks and currencies via his Swiss bank accounts.

Uli HoenessWhen a persistent knee injury forced him to retire at just 27, Bayern made him their youngest-ever general manager.

Hoeness helped financially troubled teams and in 2005 lent near-bankrupt Borussia Dortmund €2m ($2.8m).

RB Leipzig's forward Timo

Werner celebrates after scoring

a goal against SC Freiburg during their

Bundesliga match at Schwarzwald

Stadium in Freiburg,

Germany, on Friday.

The former and new president of

FC Bayern Munich Uli Hoeness

speaks prior his new election

during the team's shareholders

meeting in Munich, Germany,

on Friday.

31SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 SPORT

Jeonbuk beat Al Ain to claim AFC Champions League 2016 title

The Peninsula

Al Sadd left it late to secure derby day glory defeat-ing bitter rivals Al Arabi 3-2 at Grand Hamad stadium yesterday evening.

Two goals in two second half minutes swung the tie in favour of the Wolves who have captain Xavi Hernandez and Bagdad Bounjah to thank for securing the win. Arabi fought back with a goal to set up a grandstand finish, but couldn't score an equaliser to settle a spicy Doha Derby match.

With just two minutes on the clock, centre back Mous-tapha Sall bundled down Jugurtha Hamroun in the pen-alty box and Sadd where promptly awarded with a penalty.

Algerian attacker Bagdad Bounjah stepped up and knocked the ball past Rajab Hamza to give his side a dream start in the Doha Derby.

Indeed Al Sadd could have doubled their lead minutes later through the ever lively Bagdad Bounjah. In truth, Al Sadd where the better side for most of the first half, taking Al Arabi on the counter attack. Again Bagdad Bounjah missed a key chance to further extend his sides lead. Sadd captain Xavi found his team-mate with a accurate through ball, however Bounjah’s shot failed to trouble Rajab Hamza.

Against the pattern of play, Al Arabi found an equalizer with twenty five minutes on the clock. Summer signing Luis Jiménez notched his first goal of the season with a opportun-istic header after a lofted cross from midfielder Mohammed Shaaban found Jiménez

unmarked at the far post. Growing in confidence, Al

Arabi finished the first half on a high note, and could of headed into the break 2-1 up.

Al Sadd started on the front foot in the second half, and cre-ated their first chance of note just minutes after the restart. Captain Xavi found himself fur-ther forward however his header flew just over the bar.

The Qatar interntaional produced a fantastic goal line clearance to deny Jugurtha Hamroun to score for Al Sadd. Jesaldo Ferriera’s side where slowly putting pressure on their opponents, and with the game heading into the final ten min-utes they stepped up to win the derby.

With 83 minutes on the clock Al Sadd struck through captain Xavi. Latching onto a loose ball in the Arabi box, Jugurtha Hamroun had the piece of mind to pick out Xavi, who stroked the ball into the back of the net.

Sadd all but sealed their victory just sixty seconds later when Bagdad Bounjah grabbed his second on the evening. Cap-tain Xavi won the ball in midfield and calmly put through Bounjah who then chipped the ball into back of the net from close range to give Sadd a 3-1 lead.

Immediately after the restart Al Arabi went on the attack and found their way back into the tie with Luis Jiménez’s second goal of the game. The Chilean knocked the ball on from close range after a neat assist from substitute Ahmad Khalfan. Arabi desper-ately pushed for a equalzer, but Sadd held on for all three points and Doha derby bragging rights.

The Peninsula

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were crowned the 2016 AFC Champions League winners yesterday night as a 1-1 draw with inaugural cham-

pions Al Ain earned Choi Kang-hee’s side a 3-2 aggregate victory and a place at Decem-ber’s finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Han Kyo-won gave Jeonbuk the lead on the night, and extended the K League Classic side’s advantage following their 2-1 first leg win, in the 30th minute before Lee Myung-joo levelled for Al Ain four minutes later.

But a missed penalty by Bra-zilian striker Douglas in the dying minutes of the first half and a resolute defensive show-ing in the second half by the 2006 winners was enough to seal Jeonbuk a second AFC Champions League crown.

Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic made one change from the team that lost the first leg, bringing in Douglas in place of Mohamed Abdulrahman while Jeonbuk made two changes, with Lee Dong-gook replacing Kim Shin-wook and Lim Jong-eun making way Cho Sung-hwan.

Trailing by a goal from the opening game in Jeonju, it came as little surprise that Al Ain started aggressively, Caio nar-rowly failing to connect with Danilo Asprilla’s low cross before Omar Abdulrahman’s header minutes later was saved at point blank range by Kwoun Sun-tae.

Midway through the half Douglas’ speared effort from dis-tance was pushed away by Kwoun and the Brazilian was again caus-ing problems in the 28th minute when his overhead attempt fol-lowing Caio’s cross flew back across the face of goal to safety.

Despite their dominance, however, Al Ain went a goal behind on the half hour mark. Han Kyo-won, an early substi-tute for the injured Ricardo Lopes, side footed the ball home from close range following Lee Jae-sung’s corner to send the Jeonbuk bench into raptures.

But four minutes later Al Ain were level when Lee

Myung-joo’s scuffed volley bounced into the turn before beating Kwoun to his right.

The goal gave the home side a boost and it seemed it was only a matter of time before Al Ain would add to their tally. Kwoun again saved from Douglas before Lee’s weak effort from the edge of the area rolled through to the Jeonbuk keeper.

With two minutes remaining in the half, Al Ain were given a gilt edged opportunity to take the lead on the night and level the scores on aggregate when Asprilla was brought down in the area by Kim Hyun-gil only for Douglas to stroke his penalty over the bar. To

make matters worse, Dalic was sent to the stands by referee Ryuji Sato soon after.

Al Ain kept pushing for the goal that would level the scores across the two games as the sec-ond half played out: Ismail Ahmed headed over the bar, Caio shot just wide and Asprilla forced Kwoun into action while, 15 minutes from time, Douglas’ shot was pushed away by the Jeonbuk goalkeeper.

Kwoun was his side’s saviour again nine minutes from time when he kept out Ibrahim Diaky’s close-range drive, and Jeonbuk closed out the game to take the trophy back to Korea Republic.

Aguero lifts Man City, Liverpool winLondonReuters

Substitute Divock Origi and James Milner struck to send Liverpool top of the Premier League as both they and Manches-ter City continued their hunt for the top spot with victories.

Sergio Aguero scored two scruffy goals as City won 2-1 at Burnley and Liverpool followed suit by downing Sunderland 2-0 after losing Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho to a worrying injury.

Swansea City claimed an extraordinary 5-4 win over strug-gling Crystal Palace, while champions Leicester City narrowly avoided a seventh defeat of the campaign in a 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.

Having seen City prevail at Turf Moor in the early game, Liv-erpool were under pressure to produce the goods against a Sun-derland team who had won their two previous matches.

Former Liverpool captain

Steven Gerrard was watching on at Anfield, two days after announc-ing his retirement from football.

But he could only look on with concern as the influential Coutinho was stretchered off with his right ankle in a brace after hurting him-self in a challenge by Didier Ndong.

Origi took the Brazil interna-tional's place and he gave Liverpool reward for their domi-nance in the 75th minute with his first league goal of the season.

Jordan Henderson picked the Belgian forward out on the left and he cut inside onto his right foot and swept a shot inside the far post.

Milner completed victory from the penalty spot in the first minute of injury time.

Burnley took a shock 14th-minute lead against City at Turf Moor when Dean Marney met Nicolas Otamendi's headed clear-ance with a thumping 25-yard volley that nestled in the bottom-left corner.

But Aguero equalised in the 37th minute, stabbing home after Burnley failed to clear a corner,

and the hosts' luck continued to desert them as both Marney and Johann Berg Gudmundsson went off injured.

A defensive mix-up allowed City to net the decisive goal in the hour, with Fernandinho's cross striking Aguero and going in after Ben Mee and Stephen Ward had got in each other's way.

"We are so satisfied for the points and the performance, espe-cially two days after the Champions League," said City manager Pep Guardiola, whose side host Chelsea next weekend.

Swansea upped the pressure on Palace manager Alan Pardew by condemning the south London club to a sixth straight defeat in a madcap game that gave Bob

Bradley his first win since becom-ing manager.

Palace led 1-0, fell 3-1 down, fought back to go 4-3 up, but even-tually succumbed courtesy of a remarkable brace of injury-time goals from Spanish striker Fern-ando Llorente.

The victory took Swansea off the foot of the table, where they were replaced by Sunderland, and left Palace above the bottom three on goal difference.

Leicester reached the Cham-pions League last 16 in the week and they were almost brought down to earth with a bump by Middlesbrough at the King Power Stadium.Alvaro Negredo twice put Boro ahead, but Riyad Mahrez cancelled out his first goal with a 34th-minute penalty and Islam Sli-mani rescued a draw with another spot-kick in the fourth minute of added time.

Elsewhere, Gareth McAuley's header was cancelled out by Michael Dawson as West Brom-wich Albion were held to a 1-1 draw at Hull City.

Ronaldo double extends Real lead over Barcelona MadridAFP

Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as Real Madrid were thankful to a late missed penalty from Duje Cop to open up a seven-point lead over Bar-celona at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win over Sporting Gijon.

Madrid looked set for an easy afternoon as Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot before he headed home a second inside 20 minutes.

However, Carlos Carmona halved Sporting's deficit 10 min-utes before half-time and the struggling visitors were handed a huge chance for an unexpected point 12 minutes from time when

Nacho brought down Victor Rodriguez.

Yet, Cop sent his penalty high and wide as Real held on amidst a torrential downpour to extend their unbeaten run to 31 games in all competitions.

Barca can cut the gap back to four points when they travel to Real Sociedad today ahead of the first Clasico of the season between Spanish football's two giants at the Camp Nou next weekend.

Fresh from netting a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid last weekend, Ronaldo continued his return to scoring form with a quick fire double to move ahead of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as La Liga's top scorer.

Sporting had the first big

chance to go in front when Car-mona fired wide with just goalkeeper Keylor Navas to beat.

However, they were quickly behind when Lucas Vazquez was naively chopped down by Ser-gio Alvarez on five minutes and Ronaldo emphatically converted the resulting spot-kick.

The Portuguese's second fin-ish was even more impressive as he buried Nacho's cross from the left with a powerful header that left Diego Marino no chance in the Sporting goal.

Ronaldo should have com-pleted his hat-trick late on as he broke clear on goal, but his low shot was too close to Marino as Real had to see out a nervy final few minutes to secure a sixth straight La Liga win.

Al Sadd strike late to take derby spoils

YesterdayBurnley 1 - 2 Manchester City

Hull City 1 - 1 West Bromwich Albion Leicester City 2 - 2 Middlesbrough

Liverpool 2 - 0 SunderlandSwansea City 5 - 4 Crystal Palace

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates after scoring their first goal against Burnley during their Premier League match at Turf Moor in Burnley, England, yesterday.