SPORTWednesday 6 December 2017

Usain Bolt’s statue unveiled in Kingston

De Villiers, Steyn set to make Test return

PAGE | 30 PAGE | 31 PAGE | 32-33Klopp urges Liverpool to finish the job

The Peninsula

Eyeing a successful run at the upcoming Jet Ski Aquabike World Cup

2017, Qatari squad left for Thailand to take part in the event starting in Pattaya City from Friday.

Team Qatar - Tamim Al Majd – will be represented by Waleed Mahmoud Al Sharshani and Ali Moham-med Al Nuaimi in the event which will see riders from as many as 35 countries in action. The event will con-clude on December 10.

Ahead of the departure, the team underwent a stren-uous training camp at Al Wakra beach to prepare for

the mega competition. The delegation is headed by the vice president of the Doha Club for Marine Sports, Salah Ibrahim Al Mannai.

Seasoned rider Al Shar-shani, who will compete in the Pro Runabout Grand Prix will be Qatar’s main hope in the event.

It will be fourth appear-ance for Al Sharshani in the World Cup. He competes in the in the Pro Runabout Grand Prix and his best result so far was the top spot he earned in the US in January 2016 edition.

This year’s World Cup will be the fourth appear-ance for the Qatari rider, with a top spot in the US in

January 2016 remains his best performance in the event. Al Nuaimi is a budding pilot and will take part in beginners category.

Al Sharshani recently in an interview with The Penin-sula expressed satisfaction over his preparations.

“I am in good form and very much confident of achieving a good result in the upcoming challenge,” said the top Qatari rider.

“It’s a top class event and the competition will also be very tough but I am hopeful of good results. I have trained hard for this compe-tition and have so far competed in five races this season.”

Aquabike: Qatari squad off to Thailand for World Cup

Qatari aquabike riders Waleed Mahmoud Al Sharshani and Ali Mohammed Al Nuaimi pose for a photograph with team officials prior to their departure for Thailand at the Hamad International Airport yesterday.

Lukaku, Rashford power United into last 16

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring their second goal against CSKA Moscow during the UEFA Champions League match played at Old Trafford in Manchester, Britain yesterday.

BenificaReuters/AP

Manchester United reached the C h a m p i o n s League last-16 as Group A winners

after coming from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 at home and finish ahead of Basel who also went through with a 2-0 win at Benfica yesterday.

The result left United top of the section on 15 points, three more than second-placed Basel and six ahead of third-placed CSKA who will carry on in the second-tier Europa League after the winter break.

Having missed a string of good chances in the opening period, United fell behind to a freakish Vitinho goal, heavily deflected off Alan Dzagoev, on the stroke of halftime before Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford struck within a minute to turn the match on its head.

Rashford hit the post in the fourth minute and saw a shot from a tight angle saved by CSKA’s busy keeper Igor Akin-feev, who also kept out a Luke Shaw volley as United’s left back enjoyed a fine evening after mak-ing his first start since April.

CSKA struck out of the blue as Mario Fernandes broke down the right and set up Vitinho, whose miscued shot struck Dzagoev in the back and bounced into the net.

United piled the pressure after the break and Akinfeev parried another fierce Rashford shot before the home side’s siege finally paid dividends.

Lukaku used his physical strength to steer in the equaliser in the 64th minute, as he got on the end of a probing Paul Pogba pass despite being tugged by CSKA cen-tre back Viktor Vasin.

Rashford got his reward for tireless work less than a minute later, drilling in a sublime Juan Mata chip with a fierce left-footed shot from 13 metres which gave Akinfeev no chance.

Needing to match CSKA’s result to go through, Basel quickly estab-lished their grip on a knockout stage berth as Mohamed

Elyounoussi headed the Swiss side into an early lead in Lisbon after Michael Lang’s inch-perfect cross.

Another close-range header by striker Dimitri Oberlin doubled Basel’s lead midway through the second half as Benfica finished bot-tom of the group with zero points from six games.

Elsewhere, Juventus advanced to the round of 16, beating Olym-piakos 2-0 on goals from Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi.

Elsewhere, With Barcelona already through, the result saw the Greek team end its European run without a victory in Group D. Third-place Sporting Lisbon con-tinues in the Europa League.

Cuadrado lunged forward to meet a cross from Alex Sandro and beat Olympiakos goalkeeper Sil-vio Proto in the 15th minute.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri left striker Mario Mandzu-kic on the bench as he recovered from a calf injury, but the Biancon-eri looked comfortable in low gear. The hosts tired toward the end of

the game at Karaiskakis stadium, leaving Bernardeschi with little to do for the second goal in the 90th minute.

As the lone Olympiakos striker, Uros Djurdjevic could have leveled with a header in the 41st but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny managed to get his left leg in the way.

Marko Marin replaced Seba at the break to give the hosts some pace, but Szczesny denied the German who threatened on the hour after Panagiotis Tachtsi-tidis slipped the ball past the Juventus defense.

With eight minutes remain-ing, substitute El Fardou Ben tried to grab a point for Olympi-akos but his header hit the bar.

Group winner Barcelona beat Sporting Lisbon 2-0.

Bayern Munich ruined Paris St Germain’s perfect Champi-ons League record this season with a 3-1 victory at the Allianz Arena yesterday but their rous-ing win could not stop the French side advancing as Group B winners.

With both teams already qualified for the knockout

stages, Corentin Tolisso’s double and another goal from Robert Lewandowski gave Bayern hope of pulling off the improbable win by a four-goal margin that would see them top the group.

Yet PSG, who had thumped Bayern 3-0 in Paris, always looked likely to avoid that indignity in a high-quality contest once Kylian Mbappe scored just after halftime when they were 2-0 down.

The German champions started hungrily, Lewandowski having time to turn and score in the eighth minute after being played onside by a careless Dani Alves, before Tolisso headed home James Rod-riguez’s cross in the 37th minute.

With the home crowd sensing an extraordinary story, Mbappe ruined the script when heading in from Edinson Cavani’s neat chipped cross five minutes after the break.

Still, the French midfielder Tolisso kept the pressure on, fin-ishing clinically in the 69th minute after David Alaba’s storming run and cross down the left flank.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Yesterday’s Results

GROUP ABenfica 0 - 2 FC Basel

Manchester United 2 - 1 CSKA Moscow

GROUP BCeltic 0 - 1 RSC Anderlecht

Bayern Munich 3 - 1 Paris Saint Germain

GROUP CChelsea 1 - 1 Atlético Madrid

Roma 1 - 0 FK Qarabag

GROUP DBarcelona 2 - 0 Sporting Lisbon

Olympiakos 0 - 2 Juventus

Today’s FixturesAll matches kick off at 19:45

GROUP ELiverpool vs Spartak Moscow

NK Maribor vs Sevilla

GROUP FFeyenoord vs Napoli

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City

GROUP GFC Porto vs Monaco

RB Leipzig vs Besiktas

GROUP HReal Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

Tottenham Hotspur vs Apoel Nicosia

30 WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

Klopp urges Liverpool to finish the jobLondon AFP

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is desperate to avoid any slip-ups from his side as he tar-gets a place in the

Champions League knockout stages with the odds heavily stacked in their favour.

A draw at home to Spartak Moscow in their final group match would put Liverpool through while a win would ensure they top Group E but Klopp is taking nothing for granted after his side let slip a 3-0 lead against Sevilla in the last round of matches.

Three years ago the five-time European champions needed to win at home to Basel to progress but a draw dropped

Brendan Rodgers’ side into the Europa League.

“All good and bad things that happened in the Champions League -- mostly good --- has brought us to this situation and if we win we are through and that is cool,” said Klopp, whose Liverpool side are bidding to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2009.

“I know a lot of people might think we should be already through but that’s not life, it is not ‘if’ and ‘when’, it is about the moment.

“Spartak could say the same as they gave away four points against Maribor so they would be in a different situation.”

Klopp says he will play his strongest team despite Sunday’s derby at home to an Everton side buoyed by the appointment

of new permanent manager Sam Allardyce. The starting team is likely to include playmaker Coutinho, who continues to be the subject of speculation over a renewed bid from Barcelona after the Catalan club’s failure to sign him in the summer.

Klopp was asked what made him so sure Coutinho would still be at the club in February but he dismissed the question.

“Nothing -- but I don’t think about it, I think about the Mos-cow game,” he added. “Not one second have I thought about that so far. I am not unsure, I am not sure, I don’t think about it.”

Klopp is also optimistic of having Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez back to bolster his defence. Forward Sadio Mane is expected to return after being rested at the weekend.

London AFP

Liverpool will host city rivals Everton for the sec-ond time inside a month

when they face-off in the third round of the FA Cup in early January after the draw was made on Monday.

Liverpool -- who beat Everton in the 2012 semi-final, their last FA Cup meeting -- also host their struggling neighbours in the Premier League next Sunday.

Everton have had a torrid time in the Premier League so far this season and failed to progress to the knockout stages in the Europa League, although they have the sur-vival specialist Sam Allardyce now installed as manager.

Adding extra spice is a tense relationship between Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Allardyce, with the latter making disparaging remarks about the German in the past.

Klopp, though, offered an olive branch last week, wish-ing Allardyce -- who has brought in former Liverpool midfielder and coach Sammy Lee onto his staff -- well in his new job.

Liverpool have beaten Everton on both the occasions

they have met in the final in 1986 and 1989.

Their overall head to head FA Cup record has seen them clash on 23 occasions, with Liverpool winning 10, Everton seven, and six draws.

Elsewhere, holders Arse-nal’s first challenge is an away trip to second tier Nottingham Forest while Premier League leaders Manchester City face a potentially tricky home tie with Burnley.

Arsenal are not the only Premier League giants to face

second tier opposition with Manchester United at home to Derby County and last season’s beaten finalists Chelsea away at Norwich.

Several Premier League sides could fall prey to giant killing exploits.

Inconsistent Southampton travel to Fulham, and strug-gling West Ham and Swansea are away at third tier highfly-ers Shrewsbury and Championship leaders Wol-verhampton Wanderers respectively.

Merseyside derby headlines FA Cup third round draw

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp attends a press conference at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League match against Spartak Moscow.

Woking’s Nathan Ralph in action with Peterborough’s Alex Penny during the FA Cup Second Round match at the Laithwaite Community Stadium on Sunday,

Ben Yedder leads a Sevilla playing for coach BerizzoMadrid AFP

Barely an hour after the elation of a historic fightback to draw 3-3 against Liverpool, news that Sevil-

la’s coach Eduardo Berizzo (pictured) is suffering from prostate cancer was made public.

The reaction of the Sevilla players to Guido Pizarro’s 92nd minute equaliser -- having trailed 3-0 at half-time of their last Champions League match -- as they raced to embrace Berizzo was therefore all the more understandable, if tinged with sadness.

Berizzo will not be on the bench as the Andalusians look to seal their place in the last 16 away at Slovenian cham-pions Maribor today, as he recovers from a successful operation carried out on his tumour last week.

However, Sevilla’s players have been fighting hard for their coach ever since learning of his condition in the days before the Liverpool clash.

In the final match before his opera-tion, Berizzo masterminded another three-goal fightback from 2-0 down at Villarreal to win 3-2.

Meanwhile, his assistant Ernesto Marcucci has overseen victories over

Cartagena in the Copa del Rey and Deportivo la Coruna on league duty in the past week.

“We are working with the same seri-ousness as if he was here with us,” said defender Gabriel Mercado.

Sevilla need just a point at Maribor to secure their place in the knockout phase and will even make it through with defeat, so long as Liverpool don’t lose at home to Spartak Moscow in the other game in Group E.

Their position just a point behind the five-time European champions is owed in large part to the goals of Wissam Ben Yedder.

The French forward, who has turned

down Tunisia’s offer to face the likes of England and Belgium at next year’s World Cup, has scored eight goals in seven Champions League games this season.

While Pizarro’s late strike ultimately earned a thrilling point two weeks ago, it was Ben Yedder who inspired the comeback with a quickfire double in the second-half to send belief coursing through the Sanchez Pizjuan.

It is thanks to Ben Yedder that Sevilla even made it to the group stages as he scored in each leg when the Spaniards edged past Turkish side Istanbul Basa-ksehir 3-2 on aggregate in qualifying.

Ben Yedder also netted a hat-trick when Maribor visited the south of Spain back in September, but has been far less prolific in La Liga as his opener against Deportivo on Saturday was just his third of the campaign.

“We have qualification in our hands and now it is the decisive game,” Ben Yedder told Sevilla’s Youtube channel.

“Sealing our qualification is very important for the club and everyone involved,” added Mercado.

Sevilla certainly won’t lack motiva-tion to make the last 16 as they hope Berizzo will be back in charge come the knockout stages in February.

Ronaldo deserves more respect: ZidaneMadrid Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo deserves more respect, Real Madrid coach Zin-edine Zidane said yesterday as

he backed the usually prolific Portu-guese to come good in the second half of the season amid his worst domes-tic campaign in Spain.

Ronaldo has scored two goals in 10 league games and came in for criticism in the Spanish media for his display in Real’s goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday which left the Liga champions eight points behind lead-ers Barcelona.

The 32-year-old is still expected to pick up the Ballon d’Or award on Thursday for firing Real to Champions League glory last season, scoring hat-tricks against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the quarter and semi-finals and a double in the 4-1 win over Juventus in the final.

If he wins the award, Ronaldo will tie Lionel Messi’s record of being named the best player in the world five times.

“I think Cristiano deserves more respect because he is such a great player that when things don’t quite go his way everyone has something to say about him,” Zidane told a news con-ference yesterday ahead of Real’s final Champions League Group H game with Borussia Dortmund.

“The club and the fans who love Cristiano Ronaldo know what he is doing. Just last season he had a phe-nomenal campaign. We are halfway into the season, we still have six months left of the season. Six months is a very long time for Cristiano.”

Ronaldo has lived up to his high standards in the Champions League in which he is the top scorer with eight goals from five games and on course become the top marskman in Europe’s elite competition for a sixth straight year.

“For me he deserves to win the Bal-lon d’Or because he’s had an incredible year,” Real midfielder Mateo Kovacic said.

“I’m very happy for him, the Bal-lon d’Or means a lot to him and to us although the most important thing is that we win together as a team.

“I see Cristiano train every day and he is doing fine. He’s going to score a lot of goals this season. Right now the ball doesn’t want to go in for him, but there’s a long way to go and he’s going to start scoring again.”

Real are guaranteed to finish sec-ond in Group H behind Tottenham Hotspur, while Dortmund need to win to secure third spot in the group and a place in the Europa League as they are locked on two points with fourth-placed APOEL Nicosia but have a superior head-to-head record.

Barca face Celta in Cup last 16Madrid AFP

Holders Barcelona will face Celta Vigo in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey as La Liga’s top five were kept

apart in yesterday’s draw.Celta, coached by former Barca goal-

keeper and assistant manager Juan Carlos Unzue, became the first side to take league points from Barca at the Camp Nou for a year on Saturday in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The Galicians also shocked Real Madrid on their way to the semi-finals last season, but Barca, who haven’t been eliminated by any side other than Real in the Cup since 2010, remain strong favourites to make the quarter-finals once more with the second leg to come at the Camp Nou.

Real Madrid also have the security of the second leg at home against sec-ond division Numancia, who eliminated top-flight opposition in Malaga in the last 32.

Third tier Lleida Esportiu are rewarded for their remarkable come-back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat Real Sociedad on away goals with a matchup against Atletico Madrid.

The other side from Spain’s regional third tier left in the draw, Formentera, face last season’s final-ists Alaves.

Sevilla were handed an Andalusian derby at Cadiz, whilst high flying Valen-cia face a trip to the Canary Islands to take on Las Palmas.

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo attends a training session at Valdebebas Sport City in Madrid on the eve of their Champions’ League match against Borussia Dortmund.

31WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Bolt statue unveiled in Kingston; legend blown away by honour Kingston Reuters

Multiple Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt has described the

unveiling of his statue in front of Kingston’s National Stadium as one of the greatest moments of his career.

The statue, commissioned by the Jamaican government and revealed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, stands in front of the place where 15 years ago Bolt won the junior champion-ships to announce himself to the world.

“For me this is up there, it can’t be doubted that this is one of the greatest moments in my career,” the sprint legend said

after the unveiling on Sunday.“Having a statue in the

National Stadium where it all began; there are no words, I am just happy and really excited about this.”

The statue was sculpted by Jamaican artist Basil Watson and features the 31-year-old in his trademark ‘lightning bolt’ pose, seen many times over the years as he set world records in the 100 and 200 metres, winning 11 world and eight Olympic golds.

“It was all worth it: the losses, the injuries, everything I’ve been through, it’s all worth it,” said Bolt, who signed off his stellar career with bronze in the 100m at the world championships in London earlier this year.

“It’s a wonderful thing to look

back and see what your career has brought you. I’m very happy and proud of myself for the work. It’s just a good time and I am in a good place.”

Holness has previously said that Bolt’s performances over the years has elevated the status of Jamaican sport.

“I have always aimed to make my country proud and to put my country in the best light possible so for the Prime Minster to say that it showed that my work paid off and it’s something that I am happy about,” Bolt added. “In any way that I can continue doing that, it would be great.”

Bolt was stripped of one of his nine Olympic gold medals when his former 4x100m relay team mate Nesta Carter

retroactively tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhex-anamine at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Carter has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision resulting from the doping test.

Bolt, the only sprinter to win the 100m, 200m and 4x100 relay titles at three consecutive Olym-pics (2008, 2012, 2016) until Carter’s test result, was not los-ing any sleep over the medal missing from his glittering collection.

“I haven’t really been follow-ing it (the appeal). I’m just waiting on the time for them to say what is what. I’m just focusing on which direction I want my career to go,” he said.

Olympic champion Bolt poses after the unveiling of his statue at the Statue Park at the National Stadium, in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday.

Fit-again Woods pleased with ‘good signs’ in Nassau

Nassau, BahamasAP

It wasn’t the best shot Tiger Woods

hit all week. It might have been the

most telling.

He had 271 yards to the par-5

third hole at Albany Golf Club, a trop-

ical breeze working against him. Woods

went with a 2-iron. He held nothing back

on the swing and then quickly recoiled

the club as he watched it soar against

the blue sky toward the flag.

That it rolled through the green

and down a slope wasn’t the issue.

“I thought it was money,” Woods

said.

So did Justin Thomas, the PGA Tour

player of the year who was paired with

Woods in the first and final rounds of

the Hero World Challenge.

“I didn’t say anything,” Thomas

said. “I just looked at him. I was like,

‘That was pretty good.’”

This was his fourth day of his first

tournament in 10 months after recov-

ering from a fourth back surgery. He

was as strong Sunday as when he

started. He was like that all week, and

the state of his health was far more

important than his scores.

His scores weren’t too bad, either.

Woods had rounds of 69-68 to

start, struggled in the worst of the wind

for a 75 on Saturday, and then closed

with a 68 despite finishing with back-

to-back bogeys. He finished 10 shots

behind and never had a chance to win.

He also tied for ninth against an 18-man

field, his best result in four years.

Woods always keeps score. At

some point, results will matter more

than his health to everyone else.

“I knew I was going to be able to

play all four rounds. That wasn’t going

to be an issue,” Woods said from the

broadcast booth, fulfilling his role as

tournament host.

“The issue was how was my scor-

ing going to be? How was my feel? How

am I going to get used to the adrena-

line in my system for the first time in a

while? That took a little bit of time. I

was still good with my irons. I drove it

pretty good all week, made some good

putts. But overall, I’m pleased.

“I showed some good signs,” he

said. “I hit some really good shots out

there, and a bright future.”

That might be the biggest

takeaway.

A future.

Woods will be 42 the

next time he plays. His age,

not to mention four surger-

ies on his left knee and four

on his back, means he no

longer has time on his side.

This was only the second time he

completed 72 holes — both times in a

tournament with no cut — since he tied

for 10th at the Wyndham Classic in

August 2015, a month before he went

through his second and then third back

surgery.

The next step for Woods is build-

ing a schedule.

“We’re going to figure out what’s

the best way for me to build my sched-

ule for the major championships,”

Woods said. “Play enough, but don’t

play too much. I don’t know what golf

courses I’ll be playing and what’s the

best way to go about it. We’ll sit down

with the whole team and we’ll figure

it out.”

The best bet is the Farmers Insur-

ance Open at Torrey Pines, where

Woods has eight professional victo-

ries, one of them the 2008 U.S. Open.

His foundation runs the Genesis Open

at Riviera, where last year Woods

wasn’t even healthy enough to get out

of bed for a news conference.

A rush to judgment is dangerous

— not only for his golf, but his back.

Woods has never been forthcom-

ing about his injuries, especially

concerning his back. Go back to the

Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 2, when

Woods opened with a 77 in relatively

benign conditions. “I wasn’t in pain at

all,” Woods said after that first round.

The next day, he cited back spasms

for withdrawing. Two months later, he

had fusion surgery on his lower back.

So the question was raised Sunday

whether he would even say if his back

was hurting him.

“Yeah, I would tell you,” he said,

and followed that by saying it was not.

There was little reason to doubt

him this time. Whether he was duck-

ing under the rope to get to the

practice range or stepping in and out

of bunkers, he looked like the Woods

of old instead of an old Woods.

More than anything, it was the

swing.

Woods easily kept up off the tee

with Thomas, and at times drove it past

him. Ditto for his second round with

Henrik Stenson, and Hideki Matsuyama.

Length is not an issue. He made more

mid-range putts than he has in recent

returns. His chipping raised concerns,

though the grass was so tight and thin

at Albany that it wasn’t easy for any-

one, even Jordan Spieth, one of the

best with those shots.

“I’m sure he would be the first to

tell you that he still has a lot to do in

terms of getting back to where he

wants to be,” Thomas said. “But he’s

definitely moving in the right direction.

I think it will take a couple more tour-

naments to kind of get the juices going.

... I think if he stays healthy like this, I

think he’ll be fine.”

Melbourne’s Metropolitan Golf Club to host 2018 Worlds Melbourne Reuters

Melbourne will host the World Cup of Golf for the third con-secutive time with the 59th

edition of the event to be held at the Metropolitan Golf Club from Novem-ber 21 to 25, 2018, tournament organisers said yesterday.

The tournament features two-man teams from 28 nations and is one of the only competitions, outside the Olym-pics, where players can represent their

countries on an international level.The 2018 edition will allow the

highest-ranked player from each coun-try to pick their playing partner and follows the same format as the 2016 event with teams playing four rounds of ‘best ball’ and ‘alternate shot’.

“The World Cup of Golf has been a celebrated and valued tradition in the game for decades,” PGA Tour Commis-sioner Jay Monahan said.

“The International Federation of PGA Tours is proud to see that tradition continue in 2018 with the best players

from around the globe convening at The Metropolitan Golf Club.”

“Golf in the Sandbelt region speaks for itself, and we appreciate The Met-ropolitan Golf Club opening its doors for this historic team event.”

Australia has hosted the event on five previous occasions with Melbourne hosting the prestigious competition in 2013 and 2016.

Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen sealed Denmark’s maiden World Cup of Golf title in 2016 while Australia’s Adam Scott and Jason Day

triumphed at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 2013.

“It is a true thrill to bring this unique, global team-event back to Mel-bourne and the Sandbelt region. “We appreciate the strong cooperation of all involved to ensure Australia’s golf fans would be able to enjoy this spir-ited team competition in the Sandbelt region,” Executive Director of the Mel-bourne World Cup of Golf Robyn Cooper said. The 2019 Presidents Cup will also be hosted in Melbourne at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

DeGale in top shape ahead of Truax bout LondonAFP

Britain’s James DeGale says he is fight-ing fit ahead of the fourth defence of his IBF super-middleweight cham-

pionship against American Caleb Truax in London.

DeGale takes on Truax at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday in his first fight on home soil for three years - the box-er’s first bout since surgery on his right shoulder following his bruising draw against Badou Jack in January.

But the 31-year-old, who also had a bridge replaced after his two front teeth were knocked out by Jack, believes he is in as good a condition as when he beat Andre Dirrell to become world champion back in 2015.

“It has been a good couple of years since I have felt as healthy as this,” DeGale said. “Probably since before the Dirrell fight when I won my world title.

“As soon as I had the operation on my shoulder in June I was straight back into the gym, doing my physio and building my strength up. I could run after a couple of months following the fight, so my fitness was there, but it was just about getting back, and starting to punch and spar.

“The road has been frustrating. I could not lift my arm and all I could do were slight movements and routines, so it was annoying. But I am in good shape.

“My shoulder has healed well. It is nice and strong and I can’t wait to box again in London.”

After defeating Dirrell in Boston, DeGale won on points against Lucian Bute in Quebec and Rogelio Medina in Wash-ington before his controversial draw with Jack in Brooklyn.

DeGale’s compatriot Anthony Joshua saw off Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley earlier this year before defending his title with a 10th-round stoppage against Car-los Takam in Cardiff.

Gut DeGale -- Britain’s first Olympic gold medallist to win a world title -- says he is not a forgotten man despite his fights overseas and 11-month spell away from the spotlight.

“A lot of people have called for me to come back here and I don’t think I was for-gotten when I boxed away,” he added. “If anything it made me more exclusive.

“It feels good to be back and I can’t wait to box in front of my own people and fans who could not afford to watch me fight abroad.”

British boxer James DeGale

I was still good with my irons. I drove it pretty good all week, made some good putts. But overall, I’m pleased. I showed some good signs. I hit some really good shots out there: Woods

Tiger Woods of the United States warms up on the range prior to the final round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, Bahamas in Nassau, Bahamas on Sunday.

32 WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017SPORT 33WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Sri Lanka wobble in chase of 410 in polluted New Delhi New Delhi Reuters

India set Sri Lanka a daunting 410-run victory target and dented the tourists’ top order to

maintain their iron grip on the third and final Test yesterday.

Having secured a handy 163-run first-innings lead, India declared on 246 for five about 45 minutes after tea and Sri Lanka were reeling on 31 for three when bad light stopped play with the tourists still needing 379 runs to level the series.

Dhananjaya de Silva was bat-ting on 13 with first-innings centurion Angelo Mathews yet to open his account at the other end.

Mohammad Shami dismissed opener Sadeera Samarawickrama for five with a vicious bouncer before Ravindra Jadeja struck twice in the same over, dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind for 13 and bowling nightwatchman Suranga Lakmal for a duck.

Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal made a career-best 164 to help Sri Lanka post 373 all out, their highest total in the series.

Lakmal denied India a strong

start to their second innings, dis-missing Murali Vijay for nine.

The paceman was subsequently seen vomiting and temporarily left the field as the Delhi smog contin-ued to affect the match.

Ajinkya Rahane has been the lone batsman in India’s top six without a fifty in the series and

was sent in ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara in a bid to help him redis-cover his form ahead of the tour of South Africa.

The move, however, did not work.

The right-hander survived two reviews and scored only 10 runs before trying to hit his way out of

trouble and holing out in the deep off Dilruwan Perera. Shikhar Dha-wan initially looked subdued but the left-hander soon accelerated, step-ping out to hit Lakshan Sandakan over his head for a huge six.

The left-arm wrist-spinner had the last laugh, though, as he lured Dhawan into charging out to play a similar shot only to be stumped for 67.

Pujara (49) fell short of his fifty but Virat Kohli (50) and Rohit Sharma (50 not out) batted with characteristic ease against the jaded Sri Lankans to keep India in com-plete control of the match.

“We are in a good position now. They are three wickets down, so they would be under lot of pressure tomorrow,” Dhawan told reporters.

The opener praised pace duo Shami and Ishant Sharma for trou-bling the Sri Lankan batsmen despite lack of help from the pitch.

“They gave everything. They bowled really good pace, I could feel it from slip. It speaks volumes about their mindset, because there was lit-tle for them in this flat track,” the batsman added.

Sri Lanka batsman and team captain Dinesh Chandimal plays a shot during the fourth day of their third Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium in New Delhi yesterday.

India (I innings): ......................... 536-7 dec. Sri Lanka (I innings):D Karunaratne c Saha b Shami .............................0

D Perera lbw b Jadeja ..........................................42

D de Silva lbw b I Sharma ......................................1

A Mathews c Saha b Ashwin ............................... 111

D Chandimal c Dhawan b I Sharma ............... 164

S Samarawickrama c Saha b I Sharma .............33

R Silva c Dhawan b Ashwin ....................................0

N Dickwella b Ashwin ..............................................0

S Lakmal c Saha b Shami ........................................5

L Gamage lbw b Jadeja ...........................................1

L Sandakan (not out) ..............................................0

Extras (B4, LB5, NB2, Penalty 5) ......................16

Total (all out) ......................................... 373Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-14, 3-75, 4-256, 5-317, 6-318, 7-322,

8-331, 9-343, 10-373

Bowling: Shami 26-6-85-2 (nb1), I Sharma 29 3-7-98-3,

Jadeja 45-13-86-2 (nb1), Ashwin 35-8-90-3

India (II innings):M Vijay c Dickwella b Lakmal .................................9

S Dhawan st Dickwella b Sandakan ................... 67

A Rahane c Sandakan b Perera ...........................10

C Pujara c Mathews b De Silva ...........................49

V Kohli c Lakmal b Gamage ................................ 50

R Sharma (not out) ............................................... 50

R Jadeja (not out) ....................................................4

Extras (B1, LB2, NB3, W1) ..................................... 7

Total (5 wkts) ....................................... 246Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-29, 3-106, 4-144, 5-234

Did not bat: R Ashwin, W Saha, I Sharma, M Shami

Bowling: Lakmal 14-3-60-1, Gamage 12 2-1-48-1 (nb3), Perera

11-0-54-1, De Silva 5-0-31-1, Sandakan 10-0-50-1

Sri Lanka (II innings):D Karunaratne c Saha b Jadeja ........................... 13

S Samarawickrama c Rahane b Shami ................ 5

D de Silva (batting) ................................................ 13

S Lakmal b Jadeja .....................................................0

A Mathews (batting) ................................................ 0

Total (3 wkts) ...........................................31Fall of wicket: 1-14, 2-31, 3-31

Extras ......................................................................... 0

Still to bat: D Perera, D Chandimal, R Silva, N Dickwella, L

Gamage, L Sandakan

Bowling: I Sharma 3-0-6-0, Shami 3-1-8-1, Ashwin 5-2-12-0,

Jadeja 5-2-5-2

SCOREBOARD: FINAL TEST BETWEEN INDIA AND SRI LANKA

Doctors say no to sport in Delhi as cricketers choke in smog at Kotla New Delhi AFP

Unprecedented scenes of Sri Lankan cricketers wearing face masks have reignited debate

about hosting major sports in heavily polluted New Delhi, where doctors are increasingly vocal about the health risks posed by smog.

Medics urged cricket’s governing body to revise its rulebook after the third Test match between India and Sri Lanka went ahead in the capital despite players visibly struggling and wheez-ing for air.

Sri Lankan fast bowler Suranga Lakmal vomited twice on the ground while fielding on day four of the match yesterday, before returning to the dressing room looking pale and sick.

Groundsmen rushed in to cover the spot with sand and sawdust as air pol-lution at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium soared to hit 15 times the World Health Organization’s safe level.

A doctor present at the stadium examined three Sri Lankan players and said their vitals were normal.

But the visiting side had complained of illness in the days before, with the match halted three times on Sunday as umpires consulted team doctors before allowing play to resume.

The Indian Medical Association condemned that decision, warning that playing in such conditions put athletes’ health at serious risk.

“This match should not have taken place in the first place. It is time the ICC (International Cricket Council) comes up with a policy on pollution,” said IMA president K. K Aggarwal.

“You have fast bowlers, batsmen and fielders out there exposed to these very harmful pollutants over five days at a stretch. It takes a serious toll on your health in the long run.”

The sport’s governing body declined to comment.

India’s powerful cricket board accused Sri Lanka of making a “big

fuss”, pointing to Indian skipper Virat Kohli who hit a record sixth Test dou-ble century despite the smog.

But the US embassy website has repeatedly urged Delhi residents to “avoid all outdoor exertion” as concen-trations of the smallest and most harmful airborne pollutants known as PM2.5 soared to hazardous levels.

These tiny particles -- a fraction the size of human hair -- lodge deep in the lungs and are linked to higher rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease.

The concentration of such particles yesterday hit 398 -- compared to a maximum level of 25 considered safe by the World Health Organization over a 24-hour period.

Even limited exposure can cause shortness of breath and make the eyes weep and throat burn.

Pollution levels generally rise dur-ing the winter in Delhi and across northern India and neighbouring Paki-stan, fuelled by crop burning in the

region and the fact that cooler air traps particulates close to the ground.

The smog has become especially alarming in the past two years, casting doubt on the future of sports events in the sports-mad swathe of South Asia.

“This should be a wake up call for Pak. Our children are at a huge risk because of dangerous pollution levels,” tweeted former Pakistani captain and political opposition leader Imran Khan about the India-Sri Lanka Test.

Doctors and public health cam-paigners have escalated their fight against sports events in Delhi in recent years.

Last month more than 30,000 run-ners competed in the Delhi half-marathon -- just days after smog shut schools amid a public health emer-gency in the capital.

Doctors warned of dire health con-sequences and challenged the race in court but it went ahead, with runners complaining of burning eyes and sore throats.

Greenpeace lobbied in October against India hosting the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, warning it posed unacceptable risks to the world’s youngest soccer stars.

It also proceeded but the schedule was adjusted to avoid Delhi at its worst.

“Others should also think about ath-letes health first,” tweeted tournament director Javier Ceppi after images of Sri Lankan cricketers wearing face masks went around the globe.

Other events in Delhi -- like an Asian tour golf title in November and Indian Super League football matches -- attract less controversy but doctors say pose no less risk.

“Ideally, sporting events should not be scheduled in the winter months in Delhi,” chest and lung cancer special-ist Doctor Arvind Kumar said.

“We cannot expose our athletes to inhuman levels of pollution just because a few hundred crores (tens of millions of dollars) is at stake,” the doctor added during an interview.

Sri Lanka players, wearing face masks, celebrate the dismissal of India’s Ajinkya Rahane during their third Test in New Delhi yesterday.

Holder suspended for 2nd NZ Test Wellington Reuters

West Indies captain Jason Holder has been suspended for one Test after his team were found guilty of maintaining a slow

over rate during their defeat to New Zealand in the first test, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.

Holder, 26, will miss the second Test in Ham-ilton and has also been fined 60 percent of his match fee while his team-mates incurred a 30 per-cent fine after West Indies were charged with the over-rate offence following their innings and 67 runs defeat in Wellington.

The all-rounder was previously found guilty of the same offence during the Jamaica Test against Pakistan in April and was there-fore suspended as the Wellington match was his second offence in a 12-month period.

“Chris Broad of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the suspension on Holder after the Windies were ruled to be three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration,” the ICC said in a statement.

West Indies’ captain Jason Holder walks

from the field after being

caught during day four of the

first Test against New Zealand in

Wellington on Monday.

Minister stops SL team leaving for India ODIS

De Villiers, Steyn set to make Test return for South Africa

Colombo AFP

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera stopped nine cricketers leaving for India yesterday to take part in a one-day series because he was unhappy

with the team choice, sources said.The nine players were on their way to Colombo air-

port late on Monday for the overnight flight when they were ordered to return, one of the team said on condition of anonymity.

The rest of the squad are already in India taking part in a Test series. Sri Lankan cricket is in chaos and the national side has lost 21 one-day games this year and won just four.

Sports Ministry sources said Jayasekera was incensed that the players had been cleared to leave before he had given formal approval to the team selection.

A 1973 law gives the Sri Lankan sports minister the power to change national teams before they compete.

The ministry sources said Jayasekera may order at least two changes to the squad named by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board.

The nine players stopped from leaving were led by captain Thisara Perera who was only named last week.

The other eight are Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunath-ilaka, Asela Gunaratne, Chathuranga de Silva, Sachith Pathirana, Dushmantha Chameera, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep.

Johannesburg AFP

AB de Villiers (pic-tured) and Dale Steyn will both have

a dress rehearsal for an expected return to Test cricket when they play for a South African Invitation XI against Zimbabwe later this month.

The teams will meet in a day-night match in Paarl from December 20 to 22 in Zimbabwe’s only warm-up match before South Africa stages its first day-night Test, a one-off match in Port Elizabeth from Decem-ber 26 to 29.

Batsman De Villiers and fast bowler Steyn have both been out of Test action for more than a year.

De Villiers has not played in a Test since captaining South Africa against Eng-land in January 2 0 1 6 , firstly

because of an elbow injury and then because he decided to take a break from the five-day format.

Steyn suffered a broken shoulder in a Test in Aus-tralia in November 2016 and only started playing again in November.

He has shown impres-sive form in four T20 matches for his franchise, the Titans, taking six wick-ets at an average of 13.50 and conceding only 5.78

runs an over. nly warmre South ts first st, a

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has not Testng

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runs an over.

Root and Anderson star as plucky England roar back Adelaide AFP

Skipper Joe Root led a spirited English fightback to frustrate Australia and raise hopes of a miracle victory in the grip-ping second Ashes Test in

Adelaide yesterday.After three days of Australian dom-

inance, Root took up the challenge of a record run chase with a fighting unbeaten half-century as the momen-tum began to shift towards England, roared on by their bellowing Barmy Army supporters.

In contrast, his counterpart Steve Smith, who attracted criticism for not enforcing the follow-on despite a 215-run first innings lead, burned two reviews in the space of three balls and put down a tough catch.

At the close of an absorbing fourth day in the first day-night Ashes Test, England were 176 for four with Root unconquered on 67 and nightwatchman Chris Woakes not out on five -- 178 runs from victory with six wickets in hand heading into today’s final day.

The highest winning fourth innings at the Adelaide Oval is 315 for six by Aus-tralia against England in 1902.

“A win would be huge for us, both in terms of what it would do for our con-fidence as a team and we would be all square in the series,” England paceman James Anderson said.

“It would also have a potential effect on them (Australia) for a team to be in such a commanding position to then lose that,” he added.

“It’s very rare that a team declares and loses a game so if we can get a result tomorrow it would be huge for a number of reasons.”

Root had a leg before wicket deci-sion on 32 off Nathan Lyon overturned on review, with the ‘Hawk-Eye’ tracker indicating the ball would have gone over the stumps. Smith-led Australia

then lost their second and last review in the 43rd over when Dawid Malan survived an lbw challenge on three off Josh Hazlewood, with the ball again tracked as going over the stumps.

Adding to Smith’s anxiety, he also dropped Malan on eight in a sharp one-handed attempted catch at slip off Lyon.

“We’re still reasonably confident,” the Australia team bowling coach David Saker told reporters.

“Obviously, the last two days haven’t gone to plan ... we’re still in front of the game but it’s getting closer and closer and Joe’s innings has made that possi-ble,” he added.

“But if we can get his wicket in the morning I think the game changes quite quickly.”

After the chaos of the previous night’s session when Australia lost four wickets, England had a much better time under the lights. They only lost the wick-ets of James Vince and Malan and otherwise scored freely.

Vince was beaten by a pitched-up Mitchell Starc delivery, getting a big nick to Peter Handscomb at slip for 15. Malan put on 78 with Root before he was

bowled by Pat Cummins for 29.England lost openers Alastair Cook

and Mark Stoneman before the dinner break.

Lyon won a successful lbw review to remove Cook (16), ending a 53-run opening stand with Stoneman, who was snapped up in the gully for 36.

The Australians were knocked over for 138 off 58 overs at tea but, bolstered by their 215-run innings lead, this left England with a record chase.

England’s all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson took five for 43 -- his first five-wicket haul in Australia -- while fellow paceman Woakes captured four for 36.

Usman Khawaja and Starc were joint top scorers with just 20 each in Austral-ia’s modest second innings.

England kept the Australians under pressure after they resumed the day at 53 for four.

England paceman James Anderson (right) sends down a delivery to Australian batsman Pat Cummins (left) on the way to capturing five wickets on the fourth day of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide yesterday. RIGHT: England’s batsman Joe Root walks off undefeated against Australia yesterday.

Australia (I innings) .......................... 442-8 decl.England (I innings) ....................................... 227 Australia (II innings) C Bancroft c Bairstow b Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

D Warner c Root b Woakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

U Khawaja lbw b Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

S Smith lbw b Woakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

P Handscomb c Malan b Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

N Lyon c Broad b Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

S Marsh b Woakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

T Paine c Overton b Woakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

M Starc C Moeen b Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

P Cummins (not out) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

J Hazlewood c Malan b Overton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Extras (LB2, W2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Total (all out) ............................................... 138Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-39, 3-41, 4-50, 5-71, 6-75, 7-90,

8-122, 9-128, 10-138

Bowling: Anderson 22-7-43-5 (1w), Broad 13-6-26-0

(1w), Overton 2-0-11-1, Woakes 16-3-36-4, Moeen 5-0-20-

0

England (II innings) A Cook lbw b Lyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

M Stoneman c Khawaja b Starc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

J Vince c Handscomb b Starc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

J Root (batting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

D Malan b Cummins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

C Woakes (batting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Extras (B3, LB5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Total (4 wkts) .............................................. 176Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-54, 3-91, 4-169

Bowling: Starc 14-2-65-2, Hazlewood 14-5-37-0, Cum-

mins 14-5-29-1, Lyon 20-5-37-1

SCOREBOARD: SECOND ASHES TEST IN ADELAIDE

34 WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

Calgarty, Alberta AP

Brian Elliott’s return to Calgary went much better than his last playoff game there.

Scott Laughton scored twice and Elli-ott made 43 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers snapped a 10-game losing streak Monday night with a 5-2 win over the Cal-gary Flames.

“That’s a big streak to end, and in doing it the way we did tonight with punctua-tion was really good for our group,” Elliott said.

Elliott lasted just 5:38 during Game 4 of Calgary’s opening-round playoff series with Anaheim last spring before being pulled. The Ducks went on to win 3-1 to sweep the series, and Elliott left in the summer as a free agent.

“Whenever you’re coming to a city you lived in for a year and played and enjoyed yourself, you really look at it as an oppor-tunity to show your stuff again one last time,” he said.

Calgary held a wide edge in play, out-shooting Philadelphia 45-21, but the opportunistic Flyers scored three times in a 1:11 span of the second period to break open a 1-all game. Valtteri Filppula, Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds also scored for Philadelphia (9-11-7), and Jakub Voracek had three assists. The Flyers have points in six of their last 11 games because

five of the losses during their skid came in overtime.

“Guys have worked real hard and more importantly than that, guys have really stuck together through a pretty tough stretch here,” coach Dave Hakstol said. Troy Brouwer, with his first of the season, and Sean Monahan scored for Cal-gary (14-12-1). The Flames lost three of four on their homestand and now head out East for games on back-to-back nights in Toronto and Montreal starting today.

“Any time you lose there is cause for concern, but there are no big issues,” Brou-wer said. “Our effort was there. It was one of those nights that we weren’t rewarded.”A key moment came early in the second when a misplayed puck by Fly-ers defenseman Ivan Provorov enabled Johnny Gaudreau to race off on a breakaway.

35WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017 SPORT

Curry faces injury fear as Warriors stun Pelicans

Los Angeles AFP

Stephen Curry sparked a second-half comeback to inspire the Golden State Warriors to vic-tory over the New

Orleans Pelicans on Monday, but suffered a late ankle injury to take the shine off a dramatic win.

Curry rolled badly on his right ankle in the final minute of the Warriors 125-115 win in New Orleans, limping off the court and later leaving the Smoothie King Center on crutches.

X-rays taken after the game however indicated no serious damage although Curry was tak-ing nothing for granted having already suffered an injury to his right ankle earlier in his career.

“I sprained my ankle and I’ll see how it feels tomorrow and kind of go from there,” said Curry, who scored 31 points in the win.

“Obviously, it’s the second situation, but ... this is more on the concerned side. I’ve been

through this before on this ankle, and knowing the surgical repairs from like five or six years ago are fine, I should be able to bounce back.”

Earlier, the reigning NBA champions had overturned a 69-49 half-time deficit to grab a victory which improved their record to 19-6.

It was the second time this season that the Warriors had come back from 20 points down or more to claim victory. No other team in modern NBA his-tory has posted 20-point halftime comebacks in the same season.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr however was unimpressed that his team had once again been required to dig themselves out of a hole of their own making.

“It’s absolutely too much,” Kerr said. “We’re not composed out there. We’re a championship team. We’ve got to be poised and we’ve got to execute.

“We’re getting way too emo-tional, myself included. We’ve got to show some poise when

things aren’t going our way and stop worrying about everything else and just worry about the game.”

That lack of composure was evident in an ugly confrontation between Warriors star Kevin Durant and Pelicans DeMarcus Cousins. Both players were ejected after facing off in the closing minutes of the game.

Durant, who scored 19 points, later reproached himself for his loss of control.

“I can’t get involved with that type of stuff,” Durant said. “I’ve just got to stay locked in and stay

focused on the game.“I’m not going to fight

nobody. I don’t want to get injured. I don’t want to get sus-pended. I love to play. I love making money for my family, so I’m not trying to get suspended.”

Elsewhere on Monday, Kyrie Irving scored 32 points as the Boston Celtics overcame a 40-point performance from the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo to score a 111-100 win.

The Celtics, who also had 20 points from Al Horford, improved to 21-4. The Celtics have now won 11 of their last 12 home games.

Irving, who joined Boston from Cleveland earlier this year, paid tribute to his burgeoning understanding with Horford.

“When you’ve got guys who are willing to be as selfless as we are, then it makes everything in terms of our system work,” Irv-ing said.

“Me and Al, we’re pretty self-less guys, but we understand

when we’ve got to make our mark in the game and if we do that, whatever’s needed we do.”

In Chicago meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers notched a 12th straight win in a 113-91 blowout over the hapless Bulls.

Dwyane Wade and Kevin Love scored 24 points apiece while LeBron James added 23 as the Cavs improved to 17-7 in the Eastern Conference.

It was a satisfying return to Chicago for Wade, who played for the Bulls last year before join-ing Cleveland.

“I’m just in a good groove and I’m just taking my opportu-nities as they come,” Wade said.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg meanwhile lamented a loss of concentration in the first half which allowed Cleveland to pull away.

“We had about a five-minute stretch in the first half when we just lost our minds,” Hoiberg said. “It’s those stretches that we have to find a way to eliminate. When we’re not making shots, we have to continue to guard.”

Utah 116 Washington 69

Dallas 122 Denver 105

San Antonio 96 Detroit 93

Cleveland 113 Chicago 91

Memphis 95 Minnesota 92

Golden State 125 New Orleans 115

Brooklyn 110 Atlanta 90

Boston 111 Milwaukee 100

Charlotte 104 Orlando 94

Indiana 115 NY Knicks 97

Phoenix 115 Philadelphia 101

NBA RESULTS

Philadelphia 5 Calgary 2

Nashville 5 Boston 3

Ny Islanders 5 Florida 4

Washington 4 San Jose 1

NHL RESULTS

Flyers snap 10-game skid with win over Flames

Brown, Boswell

lead Steelers to

victory in NFL

Cincinnati AP

No matter how high the stakes, how big the deficit or how late in

the game, Ben Roethlisberger and his tough-to-catch play-makers always find a way to leave the Bengals wondering what just happened.

Chris Boswell kicked a field goal on the final play shortly after Antonio Brown caught a 6-yard touchdown pass — taking a hit to the head while landing in the end zone — and the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off another improba-ble comeback against the stunned Bengals, rallying for a 23-20 victory on Monday

Down 17-0 early, the Steelers (10-2) extended their best start since 2004 in a physical game with a couple frightening injuries. Brown’s touchdown tied it at 20 with 3:51 to go — safety George Iloka was penalized for hit-ting him in the head after the catch. Boswell won it with 38-yard field goal, his second straight winner in the closing seconds.

Both teams know the script.

“It sort of reminded me of the playoff game — what was it, two years ago?” Steelers defensive end Cameron Hey-ward said. “It’s sort of the best reality TV show out there — b e t t e r t h a n t h e Kardashians.”

Two years ago, the Steel-ers came to Paul Brown Stadium and pulled out an improbable 18-16 playoff win set up by Cincinnati’s fumble and personal fouls on Vontaze Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones. Boswell won that one with a 35-yard kick with 14 seconds left.

Desperate for a win to sal-vage their playoff hopes, the Bengals (5-7) still couldn’t find a way to beat their Ohio River rival, not even after getting off to the big early lead. They’ve dropped six straight and nine of 10 against Pittsburgh.

“Very disappointing,” said Bengals receiver A.J. Green, who had two touchdown catches in the first half. “We had it.”

Nope. They never do, not against the Steelers.

“We’ve got a no-blink group,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’ve been in this sit-uation before, and in this stadium before.”

The hard-hitting game was full of personal fouls, penalties and injuries that could have a long-term effect, especially for the AFC North leaders.

Pittsburgh lost leading tackler Ryan Shazier to a back injury in the first quarter.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives past New Orleans Pelicans centre Omer Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives past New Orleans Pelicans centre Omer Asik (3) during the second quarter of their NBA game at the Smoothie King Center on Monday.Asik (3) during the second quarter of their NBA game at the Smoothie King Center on Monday.

Calgary Flames

goalie Mike Smith (41)

makes a save in

front of Philadelphia

Flyers centre Travis

Konecny (11) during the second

period at Scotiabank

Saddledome on Monday.

36 WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017SPORT

How the Russian doping scandal has unfolded

ParisAFP

The Russian doping scandal has hit world sport and the country itself hard, as

medal after medal has been stripped from the hosts of the 2014 Sochi Winter

Olympics. Here are key dates in the scandal:

FEBRUARY 2014Russia basks in a golden hue after topping the medals table at the Sochi Winter

Games in the Black Sea resort, with 13 titles and 33 medals in total. President

Vladimir Putin poses for photographs with many of the Russian winners.

AUGUST 2015ARD airs a second documentary with new accusations aimed at Russian and

Kenyan athletes based on a leaked IAAF database with details of 12,000 blood

tests from 5,000 competitors which revealed “extraordinary” levels of doping.

NOVEMBER 2015WADA’s report calls on Russia’s track and field team to be banned from

international competition, including from the 2016 Rio Olympics, until “state-

sponsored” doping is eradicated. The IAAF suspends the Russian athletics team.

WADA also suspends Russia’s national anti-doping body, RUSADA, over

non-compliance.

MAY 2016The former head of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, who is

exiled in the United States, describes an organised doping campaign including at

least 15 medallists from the Sochi Olympics, with the close involvement of the

sports ministry and Russia’s FSB security service, the successor to the KGB.

Three days after calling the claims “absurd”, then Russian Sports Minister Vitaly

Mutko changes tack, saying he is “ashamed and sorry”.

JUNE 2016Another ARD programme claims that Russian authorities have been covering up

for coaches disgraced by the doping programme, directly pinpointing Mutko for

his alleged involvement in the cover-up.

The IAAF Council unanimously votes to extend the ban on the Russian athletics

federation, but offers an Olympic lifeline to athletes training outside the Russian

system to compete in Rio as neutrals.

JULY 2016Barely two weeks before the Rio Games, Canadian law professor Richard McLaren

releases a report for WADA which outlines rampant Russian state-run doping at

the Sochi Olympics and other major sports events.

The investigation finds the FSB helped “the state-dictated failsafe system” carried

out by the sports ministry and covering 30 sports.

WADA calls for Russia to be banned from the Rio Olympics.

IAAF clears only US-based long jumper Darya Klishina to compete in Rio, after 136

Russian athletes applied for exemption from the blanket ban.

JANUARY 2016WADA’s second report into doping and corruption is published. It says high-

ranking IAAF officials must have known about the wide scope of doping.

JULY 2016After CAS dismisses the Russian appeal, the IOC executive decides that any

Russian wanting to compete in Rio will have to prove that he or she was not

involved in doping.

DECEMBER 2016Second part of McLaren Report published, alleging state-sponsored doping by the

Russians between 2011 and 2015 with sample tampering at the 2012 London

Olympics and Sochi 2014.

Twenty-eight Russians competing in Sochi are implicated in cheating by McLaren.

SEPTEMBER 2017At the IOC’s Congress in Lima to award the 2024 Summer Olympics to Paris and

2028 Games to Los Angeles, 17 national anti-doping agencies including the United

States, France, Germany and Britain demand Russia’s exclusion from

Pyeongchang, calling it “one of the biggest doping scandals in sporting history”.

OCTOBER 2017President Putin warns of Russian “humiliation” and serious harm to the Olympic

movement if the country is forced to compete under a neutral flag or excluded

altogether.

NOVEMBER 2017IOC comes down hard on Russian cheats, stripping Alexander Legkov of his Sochi

50-kilometre cross country gold medal and banning him for life. In the space of

one month the IOC dishes out similar sanctions to 25 Russians from Sochi Games.

Russia is stripped of four 2014 titles, and a third of their 33 medals, including the

two titles won by their Sochi flag carrier, bobsleigh star Alexander Zubkov.

DECEMBER 2017Mutko, now Russia’s deputy prime minister, uses a speech before the draw for the

2018 World Cup that Russia will host to slam doping allegations as “an attempt to

create an image of an axis of evil.”

He says: “This is all because we are such a great sport superpower.”

AUGUST 2016At Rio, around 270 Russians are cleared to compete, with 111 excluded.

DECEMBER 2014German broadcaster ARD airs documentary alleging systematic doping in Russian

athletics. A week later, Russian athletics chief and the treasurer of world athletics

body IAAF, Valentin Balakhnichev, and IAAF marketing consultant Pape Massata

Diack, son of then-IAAF president Lamine Diack, step down. The World Anti-

Doping Agency (WADA) sets up an independent commission headed by its former

chief, Dick Pound, to investigate the claims.

La usanne, SwitzerlandReuters

Russia has been banned from the 2 0 1 8 P y e o n g c h a n g Winter Olympics

after evidence emerged of widespread doping but some of its athletes will be allowed to compete under the tag of “Olympic Athlete of Russia”, the IOC said yesterday.

The International Olym-pic Committee also decided to suspend Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Alexander Zhukov as an IOC member given that his mem-bership is linked to his position as chief of the ROC who have been suspended from the Games.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko was

also banned from any future participation at the Olympic Games.

The IOC told a news con-ference that the Schmid report confirmed “the sys-tematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia.”

Samuel Schmid, author of the report, told journalists: “The results are not based only on (whistleblower) Gri-goory Rodchenkov’s testimony. There is scientific evidence, witness statements d o c u m e n t s a n d correspondence.

“The facts are that in Russia there was systemic manipulation of doping and the anti-doping system ... that also took place at Sochi 2014 (Winter Olympics).”

The IOC’s decision comes 18 months after it had

refused an outright ban of Russian athletes at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and told international sports fed-erations to decide individually on the partici-pation of Russians in Brazil.

While all the track and field athletes bar one and the entire weightlifting team were banned from Rio, around 70 percent of Russia’s original 387-strong squad ended up taking part at those Games.

Yesterday’s decision, however, looks to have taken into account growing vocal protests from other coun-tries, major national anti-doping agencies and individual athletes who felt they had been robbed by their Russian opponents for years and had demanded a full suspension of Russia.

IOC bans Russia from Pyeongchang Games

Lausanne

AFP

Russia’s state-sponsored dop-

ing scheme constitutes an

“unprecedented attack on the

integrity of the Olympic Games and

sport”, the IOC chief Thomas Bach

said yesterday.

Bach was speaking after Russia

were banned from the 2018 Olym-

pics yesterday over state-sponsored

doping. However, Russian compet-

itors would be able to compete

under the Olympic flag as neutral

athletes, the IOC said.

Bach explained: “The IOC EB

(Executive Board), after following

due process, has issued proportional

sanctions for this systemic manipu-

lation while protecting the clean

athletes.”

The IOC announced the decision

after examining evidence of state-

sponsored doping over several years

that reached a high-point at the

Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi,

Russia, in 2014.

Nations have in the past been

barred from taking part in the Olym-

pics, notably South Africa during the

apartheid years, but none has ever

been handed a ban over doping.

Doping scandal an ‘unprecedented’attack on Olympics, says IOC President

Lausanne AP

Russians will be allowed to compete at the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympics as neutral athletes despite orchestrated dop-

ing at the 2014 Sochi Games, the International Olympic Committee yesterday.

The IOC ruled that some Russians will be invited to compete as an "Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)" without their national flag or anthem.

Russia could refuse the offer and boycott the games. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said it would be humiliating for Russia to compete without national symbols.

"An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference. "Secondly, I don't see any reason for a boycott by the Russian athletes because we allow the clean athletes there to participate."

Putin is expected to speak publicly about the ruling in Moscow today.

The IOC also suspended the Russian Olym-pic committee and IOC member Alexander Zhukov, and banned Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko from the Olympics for life. Mutko was the sports minister in 2014 and is the head of the organizing committee of soc-cer's next World Cup.

The IOC also imposed a fine of $15m on the Russian Olympic committee to pay for inves-tigations into the case and toward future anti-doping work.

The sanctions could be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Russia has repeatedly refused to accept that a state-sponsored doping program existed. Such denials helped ensure bans on its track feder-ation and anti-doping agency have not been lifted.

Instead, Russia blames Grigory Rod-chenkov, the former director of Moscow and Sochi testing laboratories, as a rogue employee.

It wants the scientist extradited from the United States, where he is a protected witness.

The executive board reached its decision yesterday after a scheduled 4½-hour debate when it heard from a Russian delegation that included world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva. The delegation was led by Zhukov, who was later suspended.

Two IOC commission leaders — appointed after World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren upheld Rodchenkov's dop-ing claims in July 2016 — also reported to the Olympic board.

Schmid's report included a 50-page sworn affidavit from Rodchenkov, who was also a key witness for McLaren and an IOC disciplinary commission.

The chairman of that disciplinary panel, Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, reported about prosecuting Russian ath-letes implicated in cheating at the 2014 Sochi Games. By Monday, 25 Russians had been disqualified from the Sochi Games and banned from the Olympics for life, and 11 medals were stripped. One Russian was cleared.

The banned Russian athletes have said they will appeal against the Oswald judg-ments at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Any sanctions imposed by the IOC can also be challenged at CAS, and later at Swit-zerland's supreme court, which can intervene if legal process has been abused.

The IOC said a panel of officials chaired by former France Sports Minister Valerie Fourney-ron will decide which ath-letes to accept at the Olym-pics in February.

Russians can compete as neutrals

This file photo taken on February 07, 2014 shows Russian contingent marches during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi. Russia were banned from the 2018 Olympics yesterday over state-sponsored doping but the International Olympic Committee said Russian competitors would be able to compete “under strict conditions”.

IOC President Thomas Bach