SPORTTuesday 12 December 2017

Ton-up Taylor puts West Indiesin trouble

Al Duhail unstoppable as Msakni and Belmadi

sweep top awards

PAGE | 31 PAGE | 32-33 PAGE | 36 Nadal heads ATP Tour rankings as players eye new season

12 December 2017

sTour rs

Al DuM

QNA

The Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) held a consultative meeting today

at the headquarters of the AGCFF in Doha. The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of Qatar Football Association and AGCFF.

The participants welcomed the transfer of the 23rd Gulf Cup

to the State of Kuwait after FIFA lifted suspension imposed on Kuwait’s football association.

The consultative meeting dis-cussed the formation of an AGCFF delegation to visit Kuwait in order to inspect the preparations for hosting the 23rd Gulf Cup which is scheduled to be held from 22 December to 5 January 2018.

Results of the draw, previously approved in September, were also reviewed.

The Peninsula

A brilliant team effort by Al Kharaitiyat saw them thrashing Qatar

SC by 6-1 which assured a berth in the semi-finals of the QNB Stars League (QSL) Cup yesterday.

The Group A match which was played at the Al Khor Sta-dium saw Al Kraitiyat taking a formidable 4-0 lead before half-time.

Rachid Tiberkanine scored in the 29th and 37th minutes before Saoud Nasser and Al Yazidi both scored

with free-kicks in the 40th and 45th respectively. Qatar SC did pull one back through Abdurahman Akbar in 71st, but it was over as a contest by that point. Abdulaziz Al Ansari compounded The Kings’ mis-ery with goals in the 87th and 89th. Al Kharaitiyat’s victory took them to 11 points and secured them second spot.

At Al Shamal Stadium, Group leaders Al Gharafa who had already qualified for the semifinals, confirmed the first position in the group with 13 points when they beat Al Sailiya 4-0. Abdulmajid Anad

opened the scoring in the eighth minute following a fumble from the goalkeeper that allowed him to strike home into an empty net from 25 yards for Al Gharafa.

Amro Seraj doubled their advantage just before half-time with a weaving run before striking from distance and he secured the points in the 81st with a finish from close range.

Nasser Al Kaabi was on hand to complete the scoring in the 86th.

Elsewhere, Al Duhail fin-ished off their campaign with

an impressive 8-0 victory over Al Khor at Al Arabi Stadium.

Al Duhail finished third with seven points. The rout started as early as the third minute through ace Moroc-can striker Youssef El Arabi, who also scored five more in the 21st, 26th, 45th, 61st and 80th.

A penalty from Moham-mad Mousa in the 17th and Ahmed Mohammed in the 49th ensured Al Duhail were comfortable winners.

Group B matches in the round will be played today.

AGCFF officials hold Gulf Cup meeting

Al Annabi train ahead of friendly

Qatari football players train under the watchful eyes of coach Felix Sanchez ahead of their friendly match against Liechtenstein which will be played in Doha on Thursday.

QSL Cup: Al Kharaitiyat thrash Qatar SC 6-1 to make it to the semi-finals

Squash: Al Tamimi into last-16 at WorldsArmstrong Vas

The Peninsula

World No. 37 Abdulla Al Tamimi created history by becom-ing the first Qatari player to reach

the last sixteen round of the World Championships in Manchester yesterday.

The 22-year-old Aspire Acad-emy product rallied set aside the challenge of Mathieu Castagnet of France in three games to one in 57 minutes to reach the pre-quarter-finals.

The rising Qatari star, who said at the start of the championship that he is determined to do well in the championship to shed away the inconsistency tag, overcame the World No.27 with a score line of 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7.

Tamimi, who stunned No.10 seed Simon Rosner of Germany on Sunday to make it to the second round, began from where he left. He won the first two games but Rosner bounced back to take the third.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Tamimi.

“I had a game plan and I stuck to it for long enough. He picked up a lot of balls in the third, it got in my head a little bit but I came back in the fourth stronger and with a game

plan. I felt really good on court and between the games I was positive and I’m really happy to be in round three for the first time ever.

“It’s really good to back up a big win with another win. Sometimes you can get overexcited and you think you have had enough in the tournament but obviously it gave me the confidence to be sharper today and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

The Qatari wrapped up pro-ceedings by pocketing the fourth to win the match and set up a clash with three-time World Champion Nick Matthew of England.

The Englishman, playing his last Worlds having already announced his retirement at the start of the sea-son, was stretched to the limit by Max Lee of Hong Kong. The home hero won 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 in 63 min-utes to book a place in the last 16.

Another three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour won the all-Egyptian battle with Omar Mosaad in straight games 11-5, 11-6, 11-6.

Also moving into the third round were Egyptians dup of third seed Mohamed El Shorbagy and seventh seed Tarek Momen.

El Shorbagy defeated Joel Makin of Wales 15-13, 11-5, 12-10, while Momen got the better of compatriot Zahed Mohamed 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.

Qatar’s World No. 37 Abdulla Al Tamimi in action against Mathieu Castagnet of France during the second round of the World Squash Championships in Manchester, England yesterday. Al Tamimi beat Castagnet of France to reach the pre-quarter-finals.

Al Kharaitiyat players celebrate after scoring a goal against Qatar SC during yesterday’s QNB Stars League match played at Al Khor Stadium.

30 TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

Champions League last 16: Real Madrid vs PSG, Barca vs Chelsea

London

AFP

Manchester City will have history in their sights when the Premier

League title favourites face Swansea City tomorrow, while their rivals despair of ever catching the runaway leaders.

Pep Guardiola’s side surged 11 points clear at the top thanks to a season-defining 2-1 win at second-placed Manchester United on Sunday.

Nicolas Otamendi’s second-half strike clinched City’s record-equalling 14th succes-sive league victory, forcing United manager Jose Mourinho to concede the title race is prob-ably over.

City can hit a new high by beating Swansea at the Liberty Stadium to break the record they currently share with Arse-nal for consecutive Premier League wins.

But Guardiola won’t let his side get carried away with 22 games still to play, especially with second-bottom Swansea fighting for their own survival.

“It means a lot in terms of the way we played for our con-fidence, but in three days we go to Swansea in the winter time. We are going to face a lot of dif-ficulties,” he said.

“In December it is impossi-ble to be champions but that gap is very good for us.”

United will look to bounce back from their first home defeat in 41 matches when they host Bournemouth.

If United can barely see City sprinting off into the distance, the view for champions Chel-sea and the rest of the chasing pack is even more dispiriting.

Third-placed Chelsea lag 14 points behind City after a shock 1-0 defeat at West Ham United, while fourth-placed Liverpool are 16 adrift following their frustrating 1-1 draw against Merseyside rivals Everton.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte claimed Chelsea were no longer in the hunt following their loss in east London and captain Gary Cahill admitted they must bounce back at Huddersfield Town today.

Nyon, Switzerland

AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid will resume their bid for a first European Cup treble in 42 years against

Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain after the big-spending duo were yesterday drawn together in a mouth-watering Champions League last 16 clash.

No club has won the Euro-pean title three years running since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s, underlining how big an achievement it would be if Madrid -- 12 times winners over-all -- won the trophy again in the final in Kiev in May.

Challenging them for the title will be a record five English clubs through to the last 16, with Chel-sea facing the most challenging hurdle in the shape of La Liga giants Barcelona.

Barca’s Spanish rivals Real know exactly what it takes to be European champions, and in Ronaldo have the most prolific goal-scorer in the competition’s history.

Emilio Butragueno, a Real director and former striker, regretted that one of the favour-ites would be eliminated so soon in the competition.

“For the potential of the two teams, luck has worked out this way and one of the two teams will be out at the last 16 stage, which we think is a bit soon

taking into account they are two of the contenders for the title,” Butragueno told BeIN Sports Spain.

PSG made waves in the transfer market in the close sea-son when they signed Brazilian star Neymar for a world-record 222m euros, followed closely by great French hope Kylian Mbappe, who will cost 180m euros when his loan deal becomes permanent next summer.“Every summer they have signed great players, they get stronger all the time and they have had a nearly impeccable group stage,” acknowledged Butragueno.

“With Neymar and Mbappe they have improved a lot up front, they are a very dangerous team who will demand the best of us. We need to face both

games like finals and for the fans it will be a thrilling tie.”

PSG ambassador Maxwell said the Real tie threw up the chance for the Parisian club to atone for their 6-1 hammering by Barcelona that eliminated them in the last 16 last season.

“It’s a good draw, with two good games to play,” Maxwell said. “Our fans will like it after we were knocked out by Barce-lona last season.

“It will be nice. It’s a beauti-ful challenge for the club. I think we’re ready for that.”

Barcelona will be wary of Chelsea, the English club enjoy-ing four wins to three in their 12 previous Champions League meetings, their most recent com-ing in the semi-finals in 2012 as the London side marched to the title. “It is a good tie, the factor

of playing the first leg away can always help you a little,” said Barca director Guillermo Amor. “We are very optimistic, we are confident and want to keep going in this competition.

“We will see who arrives bet-ter for the dates of the game. We hope we will be strong because we are facing a strong team, an English team that runs and is very physical but also has very good players.”

English Premier League leaders Manchester City play Basel, who have had some fine results against English sides in recent years, while five-time winners and current Bundesliga table toppers Bayern Munich drew Turkish giants Besiktas.

Bayern’s director of sport Hasan Salihamidzic said the Ger-mans would not be

underestimating Besiktas, who should enjoy some raucous sup-port from the city’s Turkish community.

“We know how strong they are after we followed their games against Leipzig. It will be a difficult task, but we are look-ing forward to the unusual atmosphere in their stadium,” he said.

“One always says that it is a disadvantage to play at home in the first-leg, which is right -- it certainly won’t be an advantage - but we are strong enough to accept that and we will give our all.” England’s three-time cham-pions Manchester United face Sevilla, Liverpool, five-time win-ners, will be up against two-time former champions Porto, and Tottenham take on last year’s beaten finalists Juventus.

Fixtures (1945 GMT unless stated)Today

Burnley vs Stoke, Crystal Palace vs Watford (2000

GMT), Huddersfield vs Chelsea (2000 GMT)

TomorrowLiverpool vs West Brom (2000 GMT), Manchester

United vs Bournemouth (2000 GMT), Newcastle

vs Everton, Southampton vs Leicester, Swansea v

Manchester City, Tottenham vs Brighton (2000

GMT), West Ham vs Arsenal (2000 GMT)

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal’s hopes to be tested by Swedish clubNyon, Switzerland AFP

Arsenal’s hopes of Europa League glory will be tested in the last

32 by Swedish minnows Ostersunds, ironically coached by the only English manager left in European competition and founded in the same month Arsene Wenger took over the Gunners.

In the draw made yes-rerday, the Gunners were pitched against the central Swedish club coached by Gra-ham Potter, who played for Southampton in the Premier League as part of a long career that saw him win one under-21 England cap and make 307 Football League appearances.

Now 42, Potter led Oster-sunds -- created in October 1996 when three local clubs (Ope IF, IFK Ostersund, Ostersund/Torvalla FF) merged -- to the Swedish Cup last season, having taken the side from the Swedish fourth division to the top flight in six seasons.

Far from being intimi-dated, Ostersunds seemed ecstatic with the draw, their English manager freely admitting his outfit would not be favourites against Wenger’s Arsenal, currently sitting fifth in the Premier League.

“I think it’s really cool to go home to England and meet one of the best teams in the Premier League,” said Potter, who first signed for Oster-sunds in 2010.

“Now we are really underdogs,” he added in a report in Swedish on the club’s website.

The club, who claimed a shock win over Galatasaray in the second qualifying round and then finished sec-ond in a group featuring Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin after only losing one game, reported that Potter looked delighted as he and the club chairman realised who they had been drawn against.

“Jubilation in Ostersund, OFK meet Arsenal in the next round,” the club said on Twit-ter. Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic face Roberto Mancini’s ambitious Zenit St Petersburg, who beat Rang-ers in the 2008 UEFA Cup final.

“It’s never easy playing in Russia,” Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham tweeted.

Celtic dropped out of the Champions League, as did Napoli and RB Leipzig, who will meet each other in what appears to be the toughest draw of the round.

The Europa League last 32 draw made yesterday: Borussia Dortmund (GER) vs Atalanta

(ITA)

Nice (FRA) vs Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS)

FC Copenhagen (DEN) vs Atletico Madrid

(ESP)

Spartak Moscow (RUS) vs Athletic Bilbao

(ESP)

AEK Athens (GRE) vs Dynamo Kiev (UKR)

Celtic (SCO) vs Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)

Napoli (ITA) vs RB Leipzig (GER)

Red Star Belgrade (SRB) vs CSKA

Moscow (RUS)

Lyon (FRA) vs Villarreal (ESP)

Real Sociedad (ESP) vs Salzburg (AUT)

Partizan Belgrade (SRB) vs Viktoria

Plzen (CZE)

Steaua Bucharest (ROM) vs Lazio (ITA)

Ludogorets (BUL) vs AC Milan (ITA)

Astana (KAZ) vs Sporting Lisbon (POR)

Ostersund (SWE) vs Arsenal (ENG)

Marseille (FRA) vs Braga (POR)

First leg to be played February 15.

Second leg February 22

Note: The seeded teams, listedsecond here, are at home in thesecond leg

EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW

Red-hot Man City eye historic win

Suarez and Messi give Barca winVila-Real, Spain

Reuters

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi fired Barcelona to a 2-0 victory over 10-man Vil-

larreal as the leaders won for the first time in three La Liga games to stay five points clear on Sun-day, while Atletico Madrid edged Real Betis 1-0.

Barca looked set for a third consecutive league draw as they created scant opportunities but they were presented with the advantage of an extra man when Villarreal midfielder Daniel

Raba was given a straight red card for a wild, studs-up chal-lenge on Sergio Busquets on the hour mark. Barca did not take long to cash in and Suarez broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute, rounding goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to complete a move of quick passes by Messi, Jordi Alba and substitute Paco Alcacer.

The visitors stretched their lead 11 minutes later with the help of a haphazard backpass from Victor Ruiz to Busquets, who played in Messi for his 14th league goal this campaign.

Barca lead the standings on

39 points, five clear of second-placed Valencia and six ahead of Atletico in third, while champi-ons Real Madrid are fourth on 31.Villarreal coach Javi Calleja said the red card was unfair on his side.

“We were playing well and managing the periods of the game but everything changed with the red card,” he said.

“From the sidelines it didn’t look like a red card and I’m cer-tain that if it had been the other way round it wouldn’t have been a sending off. Raba has been punished for being a young guy.”

Villarreal’s midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez (left) vies with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi during the Spanish League match at La Ceramica Stadium in Vila-Real on Sunday.

Spanish former international Xabi Alonso shows the slip of PSG during the draw for the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League tournament at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon yesterday.

The draw for the last 16 of the Champi-ons League made yesterday:Basel (SUI) vs Man City (ENG)

Bayern Munich (GER) vs Besiktas (TUR)

Chelsea (ENG) vs Barcelona (ESP)

Juventus (ITA) vs Tottenham (ENG)

Porto (POR) vs Liverpool (ENG)

Real Madrid (ESP) vs PSG (FRA)

Sevilla (ESP) vs Man Utd (ENG)

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) vs Roma (ITA)

First legs to be played February 13/14 & 20/21. Second legs March 6/7 & 13/14

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW

31TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Tokyo 2020 venues will be ready on time, says IOC Tokyo

AFP

Tokyo organisers are back on track and will complete their 2020 Olympic venues on schedule, the Interna-

tional Olympic Committee (IOC) said yesterday at the start of a three-day visit.

After bungling the rollout of the showpiece Olympic stadium two years ago, local organisers have come under scrutiny but last month unveiled their first new permanent venue for the 2020 Olympics in a welcome public relations boost.

The new national stadium is set to be completed by Novem-ber 2019 after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tore up the original blueprints over its eye-watering $2bn price tag.

But the IOC’s Games coordi-nation commission chairman John Coates backed Tokyo 2020 to deliver the venue on time.

“It was a significant accom-plishment to complete the first permanent venue,” he said before a meeting with key Japanese offi-cials, including Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and Olympics Min-ister Shunichi Suzuki.

“There are six other venues under way and with the progress of the national stadium, we are very confident of meeting the delivery dates you’ve set.”

Other items on the agenda in Tokyo this week are security, efforts to further reduce the $12bn Games budget and anti-doping protocols, officials said.

Coates noted further progress with last week’s

shortlist of three Tokyo 2020 mascot candidates.

Schoolchildren from across Japan will vote on the winner by the end of February and Coates said the new sports approved for Tokyo 2020 -- including skate-boarding, sports climbing and BMX freestyle cycling -- would bring some street cred to the Games.

“That youth focus and gen-der balance will be one of the greatest legacies of Tokyo 2020,” he added, pointing to the record 48.8 percent of women set to compete in the Games. Koike, who has often been at

loggerheads with local organ-isers over the prickly issue of costs, revealed the IOC presi-dent had “praised Tokyo’s progress” during a recent meet-ing in Paris as both sides painted a rosy picture before getting down to business.

Suzuki, meanwhile, under-lined the role of the Japanese government in guaranteeing a safe Olympics.

“Of course security will be of paramount importance,” he said. “To that end, the govern-ment’s cooperation will be crucial, in particular in terms of counter-terrorism measures and

identifying potential risks and threats to the Olympics.”

Tokyo won hosting rights in 2013, beating bids from Istanbul and Madrid, but preparations have been far from smooth.

After the fiasco of the Olym-pic stadium, designs for the official Games logo were ditched following accusations of plagiarism.

There was more bad news in October when organisers admitted that prolonged sum-mer rain had brought high levels of bacteria to a venue earmarked for triathlon and open water swimming.

Russians want to compete at the Games, even as neutrals, says official Moscow

Reuters

Russian athletes are overwhelm-ingly in favour of competing at the upcoming Pyeongchang Games despite a ban on the national team, the country’s

Olympic committee said yesterday.Sofia Velikaya said the Russian Olympic

Committee’s athletes’ commission, which she chairs, has heard from “all the athletes in all sports” on the Olympic programme, with a majority in favour of competing.

Velikaya said no athletes have told the ROC they would rather boycott.

“At the current moment, everyone’s training and everyone’s hoping to take part in the Olympics,” Velikaya said.

The International Olympic Committee last week barred the Russian team from Pyeongchang because of doping offenses at the 2014 Sochi Games, but is allowing Rus-sians to compete under a neutral flag as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the government won’t stand in

their way. ROC spokesman Konstantin Vybornov said teams from biathlon and snowboard had recorded videos affirming their desire to compete, while the men’s hockey team has written “a collective letter.”

Some Russian hardliners believe it is shameful for athletes to compete at the Olympics without their national flag. But Velikaya defended the athletes, saying eve-ryone watching will know who is from Russia.

“The choice of competing at the Olym-pics is strictly individual,” Velikaya said. “I call on Russian society to treat athletes’ deci-sions with understanding and respect.”

With the IOC due to send out invitations to individual Russians over the next two months, Velikaya said Russian sports offi-cials would put together lists of their preferred teams. Those rosters, she said, would stop the IOC from inviting “numbers five and six” in the Russian team while leav-ing out genuine medal contenders.

Russia is pushing back against some IOC conditions, however, backing appeals by Russian athletes banned for doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Velikaya also said her commission will ask the IOC to remove a condition stopping athletes from being invited to Pyeongchang if they have been suspended for doping in the past.

That affects a few athletes with earlier offenses unconnected to the Sochi Olym-pics, including biathletes banned for using the blood-booster EPO and speedskating world champion Denis Yuskov, who was sus-pended in 2008 after testing positive for marijuana.

Forcing the Russians to compete as neu-tral athletes puts the IOC in the uncomfortable position of regulating how they celebrate.

The Russian flag won’t be flown at medal ceremonies, but what happens if a Russian winner accepts a flag or a gift from a spec-tator for a victory lap? Can Russian athletes fly the flag from their windows in the ath-letes village? Those are on a list of questions Vybornov said Russia will ask of the IOC.

“A figure skater wins, let’s say, and they throw her a teddy bear in Russian uniform onto the ice,” Vybornov said.

“She picks it up. Can she do that? Or is that an offense?”

Boks to play New Zealand in PretoriaCape Town

Reuters

South African Rugby have announced the venues for the Springboks’ three home matches in the 2018 Rugby

Championship, including a fixture against world champions New Zealand in Pretoria.

The Boks will start their campaign at King’s Park in Durban when they host Argen-tina on August 18, before travelling to South America for the return fixture at a venue that has yet to be decided.

After matches away to Australia in Bris-bane and New Zealand in Wellington, they

return home to host the Wallabies at the Nel-son Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on September. 29. South Africa will finish their campaign against New Zealand at alti-tude at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, where they have won their last nine tests since a 45-26 loss to the All Blacks in 2006.

The Boks played their home Rugby Championship matches in Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Cape Town in 2017, when they finished third in the competition.

SA Rugby announced this month that the side would host England in three test matches in June, 2018 to be played in Johan-nesburg, Bloemfontein and Cape Town.

Meanwhile former Samoa coach Alama

Ieremia has been tasked with attempting to turn around the fortunes of New Zealand’s largest provincial union Auckland after sign-ing a three-year contract yesterday.

Ieremia, who played for both Samoa and the All Blacks in the 1990s, replaces Nick White after Auckland narrowly escaped being relegated from the top-tier of New Zealand’s semi-professional provincial com-petition this year. The 47-year-old, who was also an assistant coach at the Wellington Hurricanes from 2009-14, left the Samoa role midway through this year.

Auckland have traditionally been one of the powerhouses of New Zealand rugby and produced numerous All Blacks.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (right) delivers a speech beside State Minister in charge of Tokyo Olympics Shunichi Suzuki (left) during the fifth meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in Tokyo yesterday.

Nadal heads ATP Tour rankings as players eye the 2018 seasonLondon Agencies

Grand Slam star Rafael Nadal of Spain heads the latest ATP Tour

rankings as the world of tennis prepares for the new season

that commences with 2018 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in the first

week of January.

Nadal, who won two Grand Slams in the 2017 season, is nar-

rowly ahead of Swiss star and tennis veteran Roger Federer who

also bagged a couple of Grand Slam crowns this year.

1 (1) Rafa Nadal (Spain) 10645

2 (2) Roger Federer (Switzerland) 9605

3 (3) Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 5150

4 (4) Alexander Zverev (Germany) 4610

5 (5) Dominic Thiem (Austria) 4015

6 (6) Marin Cilic (Croatia) 3805

7 (7) David Goffin (Belgium) 3775

8 (8) Jack Sock (US) 3165

9 (9) Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) 3150

10 (10) Pablo Carrenyo (Spain) 2615

11 (11) Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 2595

12 (12) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2585

13 (13) Sam Querrey (US) 2535

14 (14) Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 2480

15 (15) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 2320

16 (16) Andy Murray (Britain) 2290

17 (17) John Isner (US) 2265

18 (18) Lucas Pouille (France) 2235

19 (19) Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 2095

20 (20) Roberto Bautista (Spain) 2015

21 (21) Nick Kyrgios (Australia) 2010

22 (22) Kei Nishikori (Japan) 1885

23 (23) Albert Ramos (Spain) 1845

24 (24) Milos Raonic (Canada) 1795

25 (25) Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 1695

26 (26) Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 1675

27 (27) Fabio Fognini (Italy) 1670

28 (28) Adrian Mannarino (France) 1635

29 (29) Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 1440

30 (30) Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 1391

WTA Tour singles standings 1 (1) Simona Halep (Romania) 6175

2 (2) Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) 6135

3 (3) Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6015

4 (4) Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 5730

5 (5) Venus Williams (US) 5597

6 (6) Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 5500

7 (7) Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 5010

8 (8) Caroline Garcia (France) 4385

9 (9) Johanna Konta (Britain) 3610

10 (10) CoCo Vandeweghe (US) 3258

11 (11) Kristina Mladenovic (France) 2935

12 (12) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 2856

13 (13) Sloane Stephens (US) 2802

14 (14) Julia Goerges (Germany) 2655

15 (15) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 2485

16 (16) Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) 2475

17 (17) Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 2236

18 (18) Elena Vesnina (Russia) 2220

19 (19) Madison Keys (US) 2213

20 (20) Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) 2141

21 (21) Angelique Kerber (Germany) 2121

22 (22) Serena Williams (US) 2030

23 (23) Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) 2025

24 (24) Daria Kasatkina (Russia) 1950

25 (25) Daria Gavrilova (Australia) 1865

26 (26) Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 1860

27 (27) Peng Shuai (China) 1765

28 (28) Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 1715

29 (29) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 1653

30 (30) Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 1650

World number one Rafael Nadal of Spain

(left) and Romania’s Simona Halep who

tops WTA Tour singles standings.

32 TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017SPORT 33TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Pakistan’s Jamshed suspended for a year IslamabadAFP

Pakistan yesterday handed former opener Nasir Jamshed a one-year ban for failing to cooperate with

investigators in a spot-fixing case that rocked the Pakistan Super League ear-lier this year.

Jamshed was allegedly the middle man between players and an alleged bookie. He has denied all charges.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi announced the verdict, saying the investigation into fix-ing charges was still under way.

“The three-member tribunal banned Jamshed for one year for non-coopera-tion with the investigation,” Rizvi told media.

“PCB has not levelled any fixing charges on Jamshed as yet as there is another investigation under way against him in (the) UK.”

Britain’s National Crime Agency arrested Jamshed and one unnamed per-son five days after the spot-fixing allegations surfaced during the second edition of the PSL in February.

Former Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan was banned for five years -- with half of that sentence suspended -- while his fellow teammate Khalid Latif was also banned for five years and fined one mil-lion rupees ($9,460) in the same case.

Khan was charged for playing two dot balls during the PSL match between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi as part of a spot-deal struck by Latif.

Spot-fixing is the practice of pre-determining the outcome of a specific part of a match in return for money.

Jamshed has played two Tests, 48 one-day internationals and 18 Twenty20 for Pakistan.

He was last included in Pakistan’s World Cup 2015 squad as a replacement but was booed off by the crowd for being overweight and in poor form.

Another former opener Shahzaib Hasan is also under investigation in the case.

Paceman Mohammad Irfan (banned for one year) and spinner Mohammad Nawaz (banned for two months) have completed their sentences on not report-ing fixing offers to the PCB.

Ton-up Taylor puts Windies in trouble

Iconic WACA prepares for Ashes farewell Perth Reuters

A ground rich with cricketing history but wanting of mod-ern comforts will take its

final Ashes bow when Australia host England in the third Test at the WACA on Thursday.

Australia’s pace bowlers will hope to make England’s last visit a forgettable one for their batsmen on a wicket renowned as one of the world’s fastest and bounciest.

Future Ashes contests will be held at the shiny, new Perth Sta-dium on the opposite bank of the Swan River, a 60,000-seat arena that will use a drop-in pitch, host rock concerts and share tenancy with two Australian Rules football teams.

The 22,000-capacity WACA will remain a cricket venue but only host lower-profile interna-tionals, having fallen behind the standards of rival stadiums around the country.

Fans seeking a ‘state-of-the-art’ viewing experience may be glad to head across the river and leave the WACA’s bland terraces and ageing facilities behind.

England may also be happy to move on from a venue where they have won only once in nearly 50 years of Tests.

Of the rest of those matches, most have been painful defeats, including the last visit in 2013/14 when Michael Clarke’s side thrashed Alastair Cook’s tour-ists by 150 runs to reclaim the Ashes.

England will march out on Thursday facing the same 2-0 pre-dicament that weighed on Cook’s men but Joe Root’s team can draw

little inspiration from recent history.

The last time the English won at the WACA was in 1978, against an Australia team left threadbare by the World Series Cricket rebellion.

As forgettable as the WACA experience has been for England, it has been mostly glorious for Aus-tralia, and the backdrop for some classic, comical and quite bizarre Ashes moments since the first Test between the teams in 1970.

England batsman Brian Luck-hurst holds the distinction of scoring the WACA’s first Ashes cen-tury with his 301-ball knock of 131 in that drawn first Test.

Australians, however, may

remember the match as the arrival of one of the game’s rarest talents when Greg Chappell, batting at number seven, scored 108 on debut.

Adam Gilchrist’s 57-ball cen-tury in the 2006 win against England set an Ashes record that still stands and ranks as one of the most destructive batting displays in Test cricket.

Fast bowler Denis Lillee made his mark in Australia’s win in the 1979 Test by striding out to the crease with an aluminium bat made by a business partner.

He faced a few balls from Ian Botham before the match paused for 10 minutes as the umpires demanded he swap the

metallic bat for a wooden one.“It was against, if not the rules,

all expectations,” said Tony Barker, a historian commissioned by the WACA to write a book about the ground.

“He got into a lot of strife about that -- and a lot of ridicule from the English team at the time.”

In the heated atmosphere of the 1982 Test, Australia seamer Terry Alderman suffered a calam-itous shoulder injury when he tackled a crowd invader after a number of spectators leapt onto the turf.

Greg Chappell led his team off the ground and police arrested dozens in the crowd for unruly behaviour. The injury set

Alderman’s career back years.Alderman notwithstanding,

seam bowlers have usually thrived at the WACA where an afternoon sea breeze known as the ‘Freman-tle Doctor’ provides additional assistance to the pace and bounce.

“Never underestimate how important that sea breeze is because when you’re batting from the far end and there’s a fast bowler running from behind it, it’s quite intimidating,” former Test batsman and Western Australia coach Justin Langer told Reuters.

Left-arm pacemen, particu-larly, enjoy the conditions, as Mitchell Johnson would attest.

The retired quick took six wickets to help beat England in the 2013 match and had nine victims in 2010, Australia’s only win in the dreary 3-1 series defeat.

The WACA may yet be the backdrop to further definitive moments in international cricket but will only welcome fans, iron-ically, when not enough of them are expected to turn up to the new stadium.

Western Australia state’s sports minister Mick Murray said the two grounds could co-exist but sug-gested the WACA would need some measure of renewal.

“Over a period of time I think the interface between the two sta-diums themselves will become special,” he told Reuters.

As cricket in Western Australia enters a new era, Langer expressed a personal desire for the ground where he scored 711 Test runs, including two centuries, to con-tinue hosting matches.

“I hope it remains the hub of cricket in Western Australia, that’s very important,” he said.

‘Home boy’ Bancroft says Anderson likely to be less ‘damaging’ in Perth

SydneyReuters

England opening bowler James Anderson is unlikely to get the same

swing and movement that made him “very damaging” during the second Ashes Test but will still be a handful early on in Perth, Australia’s Cameron Bancroft has said.

Anderson was at his unplay-able best with the pink ball in Australia’s second innings in the

day-night Test in Adelaide and took 5-43 to bowl the hosts out for 138 and give his side an out-side chance of squaring the series.

“When he’s able to swing the ball like that, he’s extremely hard work and he’s very, very damaging,” Bancroft told reporters in Perth on Monday ahead of what could be the series-clinching match for the hosts.

“No matter what’s going on, it’s bloody hard work when

the ball is swinging like that.“You can have the best

game plan in the world but there can be a ball with your name on it.”

Bancroft added that the pressure Anderson applied in the twilight on the third day of the second Test had stymied the normally free-flowing Austral-ian batsmen and made them work for every run.

Anderson’s performance, his first five-wicket haul in Aus-tralia, turned out be in vain in

the end, though, as the hosts steadily chipped away at Eng-land on the fourth day when they were chasing 354 for victory.

Josh Hazlewood then took two quick wickets early on the fifth day before Mitchell Starc ripped through the tail to bowl England out for 233 and give Australia a 120-run victory and 2-0 series lead heading to the WACA for the Dec. 14-18 match.

Perth local Bancroft was looking forward to playing on his home ground, having scored a career-best 228 not out there against South Australia before he was called into the national side to make his debut in the first Test in Brisbane.

While the WACA pitch had flattened and become more batsmen friendly compared to the past when it provided stee-pling bounce and express pace, Bancroft said it would still give the swing bowlers like Ander-son some assistance early on.

“Always in the first session at the WACA it can be quite hard work, but like anything, if you’re willing to put in the hard yards early you can reap rewards later in the game,” said Bancroft.

“It’s such a fast outfield that you don’t have to worry too much about scoring, the ball goes through the infield and you instantly get two even if you don’t hit it really well.

“That’s the beauty of play-ing at the WACA.”

Hamilton, New ZealandAFP

A record-equalling 17th century by Ross Tay-lor had New Zealand closing in on a series sweep against the

West Indies after day three of the second Test in Hamilton yesterday.

The West Indies, set a world-record target of 444 to win, were in trouble at 30 for two by stumps with two full days of play remaining.

It was New Zealand’s day as they shut down the West Indies for 221 to lead by 152 on the first innings.

New Zealand declared their second innings at 291 for eight, with Taylor 107 not out, and then took two top-order wickets by stumps.

Taylor joined the late Martin Crowe and current captain Kane Williamson on 17 Test centuries.

The 33-year-old, who offered two chances in an otherwise majestic innings, reached the milestone driving Raymon Reifer to the boundary for only the 11th four in his 198 ball innings.

Williamson was earlier out for 54 as he looked to lead New Zea-land to a series sweep following the innings victory in the first Test.

The current record for a vic-torious fourth innings chase is 418, achieved 14 years ago when the West Indies reached the tar-get against Australia for the loss of seven wickets.

Taylor did give chances in a near majestic innings, with a top edge from Miguel Cummins fly-ing just out of reach of wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich and on 35 he was dropped in the gully by Shai Hope off Shannon Gabriel.

New Zealand were 263 for eight when Taylor brought up his hundred and with tailender Tim Southee (not out 22) plundering more boundaries they added a further 28 runs before declaring.

The West Indies first innings folded quickly on the third morn-ing with Trent Boult taking the last two wickets to fall in successive balls.

But he missed out on a hat-trick when the West Indies batted again -- needing a wicket first ball he removed Powell on his third delivery.

As New Zealand built on their lead, the West Indies continued to fight with Miguel Cummins reviving memories of a time when the calypso cricketers had seri-ously venemous bowlers.

He zipped the ball around the ears of the New Zealand batsmen in a short-pitched salvo mixed with full-length deliveries to have three for 69.

His scalps included William-son for 54 when the New Zealand skipper could not get his bat down

fast enough on a yorker the ripped out the middle stump.

It was Cummins first ball after lunch and followed his first ball caught and bowled dismissal of Jeet Raval for four in the morn-ing session.

He returned to the short deliv-ery to send off the inconsistent Henry Nicholls for five when an attempt to fend the ball away was taken by wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich.

Mitchell Santner had a life when an edge off Cummins burst through Dowrich’s hands to the boundary, and he was hit on the helmet when he ducked into a ball that did not bounce as expected.

But when the short-pitched salvo ended it was spinner Ros-ton Chase who accounted for Santner, caught at long-on for 26.

New Zealand were 190 for five at tea and declared three wickets later to have 40 minutes bowling at the West Indies before stumps.

India to hostAfghanistan’s first-ever Test New DelhiIANS

India will host newly promoted Test side Afghanistan for their first-ever Test match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India

(BCCI) announced yesterday. The dates of the historic Test will be chalked out later, BCCI act-ing Secretary Amitabh Choudhary announced after a Special General Meeting here.

He said India will also host 81 matches across all the three formats from 2019 to 2023 accord-ing to the new Future Tours Programme (FTP).

“Afghans were scheduled to play their first Test in 2019 versus Australia but considering the historic relationship between India and Afghanistan, we decided to host their first Test,” Choudhary told reporters.

The next FTP cycle at home will include high-profile series against England, South Africa and Australia.

Among other important decisions taken at the SGM were lifting the ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association, provided former IPL czar Lalit Modi stays away from its functioning.

“Yes, the ban on the RCA has been lifted but with certain conditions,” BCCI acting President C.K. Khanna told IANS.

The RCA was suspended by the Indian cricket board in May 2014 when ex-Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Modi was re-elected its President.

Since its suspension in 2014, RCA’s cricket affairs are being looked after by the BCCI.

The RCA filed a suit against its suspension by the BCCI, to which the board had asked the association to withdraw all pending cases and not to involve the cricket board in any case.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) already dissolved the ad-hoc committee that was constituted to run the affairs in Rajasthan cricket, paving the way for the ban to go.

The BCCI also decided against coming under the jurisdiction of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and reiterated that it already follows the regulations laid down by World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).

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HamiltonAFP

An emotional Ross Taylor paid tribute to his men-tor the late Martin Crowe

following a superb century which put New Zealand in sight of a series sweep against the West Indies in Hamilton yesterday.

Taylor equalled the New Zealand record of 17 Test cen-turies, held by Crowe and Kane Williamson, and was unbeaten on 107 when New Zealand declared their second innings at 291 for eight in the second Test.

The West Indies, set a daunting 444-run target, were two for 30 after eight overs at stumps and staring at a second loss after their innings defeat in the first Test.

A teary-eyed Taylor attrib-uted his success to Crowe, the former New Zealand captain who died last year from lym-phoma at the age of 53.

“We had some good nights with Hogan (Crowe) over some red wine. Talking about my bat-ting, and lot of it probably not positive. It came from a good place and I guess that’s why I’m here today,” he said.

“Martin always got me to have goals and they weren’t there to be the be all and end all but be just a little reminder now and then.”

Taylor, 33, whose first cen-tury was also at Seddon Park when he made 120 against Eng-land in 2008, said before the Test that Crowe wanted him to break his record.

“Seventeen is the bench-mark that Hogan wanted me to get to and beat. But he said, also, carry on and don’t stop there.”

Taylor had a near chance-less innings, and when he was

dropped by Shai Hope on 35, he said that became a motivation to press on.

“I said ‘Let’s make it pay’. Sometimes you go through dif-ferent parts of your career and you go ‘Dammit’ and you go through a bit of a lull, and that was the first thing I said to myself when it happened. Very fortunate,” he said.

“I did hit it pretty hard though. Sometimes when you get dropped you say ‘Oh no’ but I was trying to convince myself I hit that pretty hard.”

Miguel Cummins led a feisty West Indies bowling attack, at times reminiscent of an earlier era when they had bowlers with serious venom.

The only other New Zea-lander to pass 50 was Williamson who managed 56 before he was undone by Cum-mins yorker.

But most of the New Zea-land batsmen were hurried up by a salvo of short balls.

“A lot of the batters coming in were under pressure straight away, which is never easy as a batsman,” said Taylor, who had partnerships of 58 with Wil-liamson, 50 with Mitchell Santner (26) and 51 with Colin de Grandhomme (22).

Taylor pays tribute to ‘mentor’ Crowe

Jamshed was allegedly the middle man between players and an alleged bookie. He has denied all charges. The PCB has not levelled any fixing charges on him as yet as there is another investigation under way against him in the UK.

KS Williamson ............17MD Crowe ....................17LRPL Taylor .................17JG Wright ....................12BB McCullum ...............12NJ Astle ....................... 11

New Zealand (I innings): .............................. 373 West Indies (I innings):K Brathwaite c Southee b de Grandhomme ...............66

K Powell c Blundell b Southee ..........................................0

S Hetmyer c&b Boult ........................................................ 28

S Hope c Taylor b Southee ................................................ 15

R Chase b de Grandhomme .............................................12

S Ambris hit wicket b Boult ................................................2

S Dowrich c&b Wagner .....................................................35

R Reifer (not out).................................................................23

K Roach c Boult b Wagner ............................................... 17

M Cummins b Boult ........................................................... 15

S Gabriel b Boult ...................................................................0

Extras (B1, W7, NB0) ......................................................... 8

Total (all out) ................................................. 221Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-46, 3-90, 4-112, 5-117, 6-135,

7-169,8-204, 9-221, 10-221

Bowling: Southee 19-9-34-2 (1w), Boult 20.5-5-73-4

(2w), de Grandhomme 12-1-40-2, Wagner 15-2-73-2

New Zealand (II innings):J Raval c&b Cummins ..........................................................4

T Latham lbw Reifer .......................................................... 22

K Williamson b Cummins ................................................ 54

R Taylor (not out) .............................................................107

H Nicholls c Dowrich b Cummins ...................................... 5

M Santner c Ambris b Chase ........................................... 26

C de Grandhomme lbw Gabriel ...................................... 22

T Blundell c Powell b Gabriel.............................................. 1

N Wagner c Hope b Chase .................................................8

T Southee (not out) ........................................................... 22

Extras: (B4, LB2, WD2, NB12) ..................................... 20

Total: (for 8 wkts) .........................................291Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-42, 3-100, 4-111, 5-161, 6-212,

7-235, 8-257

Bowling: Gabriel 15-0-52-2 (8nb), Roach 6-1-28-0

(1nb), Cummins 17-1-69-3 (1w, 2nb), Reifer 13-1-52-1 (1w,

1nb), Brathwaite 9-0-33-0, Chase 17.4-1-51-2

West Indies (II innings):K Brathwaite (batting) ...................................................... 13

K Powell c Southee b Boult .................................................0

S Hetmyer c Wagner b Southee ...................................... 15

S Hope (batting) .....................................................................1

Extras: (LB1) .........................................................................1

Total: (for two wkts) .......................................30Fall of wicket: 1-4, 2-27

Bowling: Southee 4-0-18-1, Boult 4-0-11-1

SCOREBOARD MOST TEST HUNDREDS BY A NEW ZEALANDER

Martin always got me to have goals and they weren’t there to be the be all and end all but be just a little reminder now and then: Ross Taylor

General view of the WACA in Perth, Australia. The WACA will host its final Ashes Test from Thursday.

Future Ashes contests will be held at the shiny, new Perth Stadium on the opposite bank of the

Swan River, a 60,000-seat arena that will use a drop-in pitch, host rock concerts and share tenancy

with two Australian Rules football teams.

Australia’s Cameron Bancroft

(right) hugs team mate

David Warner after hitting

the winning runs to win the

first Test match of the Ashes

series at the GABBA Ground

in Brisbane, Australia in this

November 27 file photo..

England’s paceman

James Anderson

celebrates

dismissing

Australia’s batsman

Cameron Bancroft

on the third day of

the second Ashes

Test match in

Adelaide.

Pakistan’s former opening

batsman Nasir Jamshed

Ross Taylor of New Zealand bats during

the third day of the second Test against

West Indies at Seddon Park in Hamilton

yesterday.

34 TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

35TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Celtics turn tables on Pistons

Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving (11) dribbles while defended by Detroit Pistons forward Eric Moreland (24) in the first half of their NBA game at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.

Los Angeles

AFP

The Boston Celtics notched a satisfying win in Detroit on Sunday, handing the

slumping Pistons their sixth straight NBA defeat just two weeks after losing to them in Boston.

Al Horford led the way with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Kyrie Irving added 16 points and Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown scored 12 apiece for the Celtics, who held the Pis-tons to season lows in points scored and field goal percentage in the 91-81 triumph.

“I wouldn’t call it payback,” star point guard Irving said. “It’s just always good when you can respond the way you want to, especially on their home floor, just like they did on our home floor.”

It was also good to get a win, Irving said, after a tough three-point loss to the San Antonio

Spurs on Friday night. “We were locked in,” said Aron Baynes, who pulled down 13 rebounds for Boston and was primarily responsible for holding Detroit center Andre Drummond to a season-low six points.

The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics did have some offensive struggles of their own. They were up by 16 in the fourth quarter when they hit a dry spell and the Pistons closed to within four.

But Boston scored on four of their next six possessions to rebuild their lead.

“Our offense wasn’t as crisp tonight as we wanted it to be but defensively we had a game plan and we stuck with it,” Baynes said.

In Indianapolis, Victor Olad-ipo poured in a career-high 47 points to lead the Pacers to a 126-116 overtime triumph over the Denver Nuggets.

His electrifying performance had chants of “M-V-P” ringing

around Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but Oladipo isn’t the kind of player to let the admiration go to his head.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “I’m trying to be great. There’s no in between, and I can’t settle for anything less.”

The Pacers scored the last eight points in regulation to tie it. Oladipo’s driving layup sliced the deficit to 114-112 with 55 sec-onds remaining.

After an Oladipo miss, Thad-deus made the put-back basket to tie it at 114-114 with 5.5 sec-onds left. Denver’s Will Barton had a chance to win it but missed at the buzzer.

The Pacers dominated over-time 12-2 -- Oladipo delivering six points in the extra period.

“The biggest thing in the overtime is we got stops,” Olad-ipo said after the Pacers won their fourth straight. “That’s what won the game.”

The Toronto Raptors posted their sixth straight win with a 102-87 victory over the Kings in Sacramento.

The Raptors now boast the third-best record in the East, but coach Dwane Casey saw plenty of room for improve-ment after his team squandered an early 15-point lead before taking control for good in the third period.

“Consistency is something we’re fighting for,” Casey said. “We’re trying to scratch at it.”

Maybe so, but the Raptors are averaging 117 points per game during their winning streak, and have scored more than 100 in 12 straight.

“I don’t think our coach is

ever happy,” guard Kyle Lowry quipped. “But the thing about our coach is that he’s always hard on us. He wants us to be a champi-onship-caliber team.”

In New Orleans, the Pelicans used an 18-4 fourth-quarter scoring run to rally past the Phil-adelphia 76ers 131-124.

The Pelicans had led by 11 at halftime, but the 76ers roared back with a 40-point third quar-ter and the visitors were up 103-96 with less than 10 min-utes to play.

Jrue Holiday made three three-pointers in the Pelicans’ decisive run, finishing with 34 points.

The Minnesota Timber-wolves beat the Dallas Mavericks for the third time this season, hanging on for a 97-92 win in Minneapolis.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Tim-berwolves, who consolidated their fourth place in the West.

Johannesburg

AFP

Indian Shubhankar Sharma completed his maiden European Tour triumph yesterday in Johannesburg by win-

ning the Joburg Open tournament he almost did not compete in.

He carded a three-under-par last-round 69 to finish three strokes clear of South African Eric van Rooyen in an event that stretched to five days because of bad weather.

The final round was suspended Sun-day due to torrential rain, lightning and hail and resumed Monday at 0730 local time (0530 GMT).

Sharma birdied three holes on the outward trek, then parred all the inward-nine holes with immaculate approach shots and putting highlights of his game.

After three bogeys during his open-ing-round 69 last Thursday, Sharma played 55 holes without dropping a shot and his second-round 61 was the lowest score of the tournament.

Visa delays and tiredness after a long Asian Tour campaign left the 21-year-old Indian contemplating missing the

tri-sanctioned European Tour, Asian Tour and South African Sunshine Tour event.

His late decision to visit South Africa for the first time paid rich dividends as he pocketed a 2.6m rand ($190,000/160,000 euro) first prize.

Victory also guaranteed Sharma, along with Van Rooyen and joint third Shaun Norris of South Africa, places at the 2018 British Open in Carnoustie next July. “I am thrilled that I came to the Joburg Open,” said Sharma after adding

to five victories on the Indian circuit.“It has been a very long Asian Tour

season for me so I was considering whether I wanted to visit South Africa. I am really happy that I did.”

The previous best European Tour fin-ish for the golfer ranked 462 in the world was sharing ninth place at the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur last February.

“Winning the Joburg Open on my first trip to South Africa is a wonderful feel-ing,” Sharma said after receiving the trophy from Johannesburg mayor and golfer Herman Mashaba.

“I met my caddie for the first time last Monday and we worked so well together. Heeding his advice was a key factor in my success.

“Saving par on a number of holes thanks to up and downs played a signif-icant role in keeping me at the top of the leaderboard.

“It has been absolutely fantastic and the people were very welcoming. I do not think I will ever forget this week.

“This is my first win on the Asian Tour and the European Tour so it means a lot to me,” said Sharma.

Joburg Open leading scores after weather-affected final

round was completed yesterday at Randpark Golf Club in

Johannesburg (RSA unless noted):

264 - Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 69-61-65-69

267 - Eric van Rooyen 64-67-70-66

270 - Shaun Norris 69-68-68-65, Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN)

65-64-73-68

272 - Marcus Armitage (ENG) 69-66-67-70

274 - James Morrison (ENG) 64-70-67-73, Joachim Hansen

(DEN) 66-67-71-70

275 - Christofer Blomstrand (SWE) 70-68-62-75, Jinho Choi

(KOR) 69-66-70-70, Charlie Ford (ENG) 70-64-71-70, Daniel

Greene 70-68-67-70, Paul Peterson (USA) 70-67-69-69

JOBURG OPEN SCORES

NY Knicks 111 Atlanta 107

Minnesota 97 Dallas 92

New Orleans 131 Philadelphia 124

Indiana 126 Denver 116

Boston 91 Detroit 81

Toronto 102 Sacramento 87

NBA RESULTS

Sharma wins South African event he nearly missed

Stricker and O’Hair win QBE ShootoutMiami

AFP

Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair captured the QBE Shootout on Sunday, finishing off a wire-to-

wire victory with a best-ball eight-under 64 in the final round.

The duo finished two strokes ahead of Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry to win the 24-player unofficial PGA Tour team event in Naples, Florida.

Pat Perez and Brian Harman placed third, four strokes adrift of O’Hair and Stricker. Lexi Thompson, the lone woman in the event, tied for fourth with her playing partner Tony Finau.

O’Hair and Stricker finished the tournament at the Tiburon Golf Club at 26-under 190.

The Americans set the tone in the tournament with a superb 15-under 57 during the opening round scramble.

“We just really jelled well together,” Stricker said.

“With his length the first day,

getting some clubs into the greens, some short irons for me, we just fed off that first day quite a bit. We felt comfortable with one another.”

This is the second time both play-ers have won this event -- Stricker having won in 2009 with partner Jerry Kelly and O’Hair five years ago with Kenny Perry.

O’Hair and Stricker are the sec-ond team paired together for the first time to win the tournament. The first was Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron in 2000.

“This is always a great event to finish the year off with and to pull this off is special,” O’Hair said.

The 50-year-old Stricker has won a dozen times on the USPGA Tour with his most recent victory coming at the 2012 Tournament of Champions.

He captained the US to victory at the Presidents Cup two months ago.

O’Hair has won four times on the Tour with his most recent victory coming six years ago at the Canadian Open.

Eagles and Steelers bag division titles

Los Angeles

AFP

The Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East divisional crown with a

roller coaster NFL victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday but saw quarterback Carson Wentz exit early with a knee injury.

Wentz threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns before limping off in the third quarter as the Eagles held on to claim a pulsating 43-35 victory at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But the gloss was taken off the win by Wentz’s injury, which US media reported could be a season-ending torn ligament.

Eagles coach Doug Ped-erson refused to speculate on the severity of the injury.

“We will find out more tomorrow,” he said.

The Eagles improved to 11-2 and clinched the NFC East title for the first time since 2013. The Rams mean-while remain on top of the NFC West at 9-5, one game ahead of the Seattle Sea-hawks (8-5) who fell 30-24 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Seahawks’ frustration boiled over at the end of that contest, with defender Shel-don Richardson ejected for throwing a punch in the final minute and defender Quin-ton Jefferson trying to go after fans who threw a drink at him after he was tossed late in the game.

The Eagles victory came after a gutsy fourth-quarter fightback, when they clawed back the momentum as the Rams appeared to be closing in on victory. Wentz was out of the picture by then, having gone down in the third div-ing for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty. He gamely remained in the game and threw a clutch TD before heading to the sideline.

The Steelers clinched the AFC North division title in dramatic style, edging the Baltimore Ravens 39-38 on Chris Boswell’s field goal with 42 seconds left in the game.

The Steelers improved to 11-2 with their eighth straight win after trailing by 11 points going into the fourth quarter.

36 TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

Match against Real Madrid a ‘wonderful opportunity’ for PSG: EmeryParis

AFP

Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery is confident his side have

what it takes to get the better of title holders Real Madrid after the teams were drawn together in the Champions League yesterday.

The sides will meet in the last 16, surely not the tie PSG would have wanted after winning their group ahead of Bayern Munich.

Real, the two-time defending European cham-pions and 12-time winners overall, came second behind Tottenham Hotspur in their group and will host PSG in the Spanish capital in the first leg on February 14.

“I don’t think it’s the worst draw possible. I think we are of a level where we can play against Real Madrid,” said Emery.

“If you want to do some-thing big in the Champions League you have to play against the best sides.

“I think these matches will be the centre of the foot-balling world when they come around.”

Bayern were rewarded for finishing behind PSG with a tie against Besiktas, the Turkish champions, while the French club will once again have to overcome one of the Spanish giants.

Last season Paris faced Barcelona in the last 16 and were eliminated in extraor-dinary fashion, winning 4-0 at home in the first leg only to lose 6-1 in the return at the Camp Nou.

In that match, Barcelona needed to score three times from the 88th minute onwards and did so.

But since then PSG have strengthened, signing Neymar for a world record €222m euros ($264m) from Barca and beating Madrid to the sig-nature of Kylian Mbappe from Monaco.

The Brazil striker scored in five straight wins as the team finished ahead of Bay-ern Munich in its group.

The tie will be the first meeting of the sides since the 2015-16 group stage, when Madrid won 1-0 at the San-tiago Bernabeu after a 0-0 draw in Paris.

“I have lots of friends in Madrid, I know Real Madrid well too, having watched a lot of their matches. I know what the atmosphere is like there,” said Spaniard Emery.

“It is a wonderful oppor-tunity for us. I am sure the team will be in perfect shape when the tie comes around.”

Meanwhile, Emery admit-ted that he has allowed Neymar to return to his native Brazil to deal with a family matter.

The 25-year-old was sus-pended for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Lille in Ligue 1 anyway, and now looks likely to miss Wednesday’s League Cup tie at Strasbourg, where Paris lost 2-1 only 10 days ago.

“Neymar called me on Saturday,” Emery said.

“He said to me he had a family issue and wanted to know if the club and I would allow him to go to Brazil to deal with the problem,” said Emery.

“The person comes first, then the footballer. We gave him permission to make the trip.

“I hope he’ll be back in three or four days, but I don’t know if he’ll be back for Wednesday’s match.”

QND cricket blockbuster: Misbah and Dilshan lead Doha star cast Rizwan Rehmat

The Peninsula

Recently-retired Paki-stan spinner Saeed Ajmal will join his former team-mate and highly successful

Test captain Misbah Ul Haq in a three-match series to celebrate Qatar’s National Day.

Ajmal, who said goodbye to all forms of cricket a few days ago, is one of top names to fea-ture in matches to be played on December 15, 17 and 18, organ-isers Ibn Ajayan Projects (IAP) revealed yesterday.

Misbah, who captains Islam-abad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), retired from Test cricket in May this year fol-lowing a successful career.

Former Indian opener Waseem Jafar is also one of the players of the Asian Stars XI.

Dashing opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, now retired, will also feature in the series, Sajjad Mohammed Hus-sain Chaudhary, CEO of Pro Event, said at a press conference yesterday.

Hard-hitting Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal will be

joined by Pakistani fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul, organisers said.

“We are bringing world-class cricketers from around the world for the QND celebrations,” Chaudhary said.

“There will be a three-match series of matches between ‘Qatar Stars’ and ‘Asian Stars’ on December 15, 17 and 18 at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium,” he added.

“Many international players from India, Pakistan, Sri lanka and Bangladesh are participat-ing in the matches representing the two teams. The names include Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Misbah ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, Sami Aslam, Imam ul Haq, Waseem Jafar, Laxmi Balali, S Badrinath, Tillakeratne.Dilshan, Dilhara Fernado, Maha-roof, Jeevan Mendis, Tamim Iqbal, Arafat Sunny, and Inam ul Haq,” he said.

“At Pro Event, we have been organising cricket tournaments for the last three years. This year’s National Day celebrations - held under the patronage of Ministry of Interior - will is something special as we see it as

an opportunity showcase our love and respect for this coun-try,” he said.

Pro Event, one of the organ-izers, is an international event management company, special-izing in sports event.

“We can see a growing inter-est for the game of cricket in Qatar,” he said. “One of the best ways to develop the game is by arranging such hugely popular matches,” he said.

Qatar Stars players include Ch Iqbal (captain), Kamran Khan, Tamoor Sajjad( vice captain), Rizlan Iqbar (wicketkeeper), Zaheer Ibrahim, Inam ul Haq, Nadeem Aslam, Imran Asharaf, Faisal Khan, Mohammed Tan-veer, Nouman Sarwar, Aslim Ali, Aqib Javed, Awais Malik, Khur-ram Shehazad, Ushantha Madushanka, Ikramullah Khan and Mohammed Murad.

Tickets are available in

Indian Super Market, Filli Café, Today’s Fashion and Asian Town Cricket Stadium Gate number 1.

Lt Muhammad Ali Al Muraizeeq, Public Relation Officer, Ministry of Interior, Faisal Al Hudawi, Community Reach Out Coordinator, MOI, Salem Al Fuhaid from Ibn Ajayan Projects, and Manzoor Ahmed from Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) were also present at the press conference,

FROM LEFT: Manzoor Ahmed from QCA, Salem Al Fuhaid, Ibn Ajayan Projects, Sajjad Hussain Chaudhary CEO Pro Event, Lt. Muhammad Ali Al Muraizeeq, PRO Ministry of Interior, and Faisal Al Hudawi, Community Reach Out Coordinator MOI, during a media conference in Doha.

Al Duhail unstoppable as Msakni and Belmadi sweep top awards The Peninsula

Al Duhail’s Tunisian star Youssef Msakni has been adjudged the QNB Stars League’s Best Player for the

months of November/December.In a similar accolade for Al Duhail fans

to celebrate and cherish, team coach Djamel Belmadi was named ‘Best Coach’ for the same period.

Msakni scored five goals from as many matches during the period and played an influential role as Al Duhail ended the tournament’s first phase in lead position with 29 points. He gave four assists as well.

The attacking midfielder brought out some exceptional performances and con-tributed a lot to Al Duhail’s four victories and one draw, starting from Week 7 till Week 11.

The high points were the 4-2 win over Al Sadd in Week 9 and 8-2 victory against Al Kharaitiyat in Week 8, the biggest mar-gin in the first phase.

The Red Knights’ other wins were against Al Khor (4-2) and Al Markhiya (2-1), while they were held by Al Sailiya 1-1 in the last round.

Msakni, who was named the Player of the Month for September as well, was at times unlucky not to have scored despite creating many chances and tak-ing shots, either goalkeepers thwarting him or his attempts going narrowly wide.

The technical analysis of the player released by Stats, the official statistics and figures provider for the QNB Stars League, showed he made 48.7 passes, out of which 37.7 were successful.

He spent 480.4 minutes on the pitch, scoring four goals from inside the box and one from outside.

The physical aspects revealed that Msakni covered a total distance of 8,904.3 metres with a very high speed distance of 214.5 and very high speed sprints of 12.6.

Meanwhile, Belmadi’s influence at Al Duhail camp is also becomig apparent.

Under the Algerian who is known for his shrewd tactics and astute acumen, Al Duhail played five matches (Weeks 7 to 11) during the period, winning four and drawing one.

In the process, they garnered 13 points that helped their cause of staying on top after the first phase of the tournament ended on 8th December.

The Red Knights scored 19 goals and conceded only eight. In fact, they have pumped in 40 goals, way ahead of their nearest rivals Al Sadd and Al Rayyan, while receiving 16 to have a goal differ-ence of +24 halfway through this season’s league competition. They had 46 shots on

target and 22 against. The only blip on his CV this season is that the team bowed out

of the QSL Cup in the group stage. Accord-ing to Stats, the official statistics and figures provider for the QNB Stars League, Al Duhail made an average number of 591 passes, out of which 513 proved success-ful. Short passes numbered 354 and forward passes 188.

There were 8.8 crosses from the left and 15 from the right. They also made 19 tackles and 13 dribbles.

They made 66 final-third entries and 43 penalty-area entries. Shots for reached 18 and shots against were nine. The aver-age number of total shots on target was eight. The total distance covered was 102,206.

The Algerian coach has a tough task on hand as Al Sadd are breathing down their neck with two points behind. And then, Al Duhail have the AFC Champions League campaign as well on their shoulder.

Misbah Ul Haq Saeed Ajmal Waseem Jafar Tillakaratne Dilshan Laxmi Balaji