REUTERS – BUDAPEST

Alvaro Morata scored twice before two defensive mistakes helped Juventus to a 4-1 Cham-pions League win at Ferenc-varos yesterday as they bounced back from last week’s defeat by Barcelona.

Morata tapped in Juan Cuadrado’s cross in the seventh minute and swept home Cris-tiano Ronaldo’s pass on the hour to put Juventus in control at a soggy Puskas Arena.

Ferencvaros then self-destructed as a howler by goal-keeper Dense Dibusz allowed substitute Paulo Dybala to add the third and Lasha Dvali put through his own goal after another defensive mix-up. Franck Boli scored a late con-solation for the Hungarians.

Juventus are second in Group G with six points from three games while Ferencvaros have one.

Elsewhere, Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row as Barcelona earned a far from convincing 2-1 win at home to a depleted Dynamo Kyiv to record three consec-utive victories in Europe's top competition.

The Argentine, who had also scored spot-kicks in wins

over Group G opponents Fer-encvaros and Juventus, tucked away a penalty in the fifth minute while Gerard Pique netted in the second half, glancing in a fine cross from

Ansu Fati. Dynamo, who were missing six players due to COVID-19 positives, which also afflicted five members of staff, gave a decent account of them-selves and spurned a couple of

chances to equalise as well as having a goal from a corner ruled out due to the ball going out of play.

They deservedly pulled a late goal back in the 75th minute when Viktor Tsygankov slid the ball into the net, pouncing on a rebound after Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could only parry a shot from Benjamin Verbic.

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig came from behind to beat Paris St Germain 2-1 at home in a pulsating Group H clash yes-terday, with the French club finishing the match with nine men.

Third-placed PSG, who beat Leipzig 3-0 in last season's one-off semi-final in August, have three points, level with bottom of the table Basaksehir.

Angel Di Maria gave the vis-itors an early lead and then missed a 16th-minute penalty before Christopher Nkunku lev-elled in the 42nd with a crisp

low shot from the edge of the area.

Emil Forsberg turned the tide with a 57th-minute penalty after Presnel Kimpembe handled an Angelino cross, having missed a gilt-edged chance shortly after the break.

From there on things only got worse for PSG as Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 68th minute for two bookable fouls and Kimpembe was also dis-missed in stoppage time for a second yellow card.

Di Maria and Moise Kean had goals ruled out for offside in quick succession shortly before Leipzig's equaliser as PSG dominated.

Ultimately, the visitors missed injured forwards Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as well as striker Mauro Icardi.

In other group matches yes-terday, Chelsea swept to a 3-0 win over 10-man Rennes while Sevilla came back from two goals down to pull off a heroic 3-2 win at home to Krasnodar.

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Al Duhail and Al Sadd regis-tered their first wins in the Ooredoo Cup as Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah were locked in a 2-2 draw as the fourth round came to a conclusion yesterday.

Al Duhail beat Qatar SC 1-0 at the Qatar SC Stadium with the help of a goal scored by Yasen Abdallah in the 43rd minute.

In the 16th minute, Qatar SC’s Yusuf Ayman Farhat unleashed a stunning long-range shot that beat Al Duhail goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan, but the ball narrowly missed the crossbar in first real threat from the men in yellow.

At the half-hour mark, Qatar SC’s Anthony Okpotu outpaced Al Duhail defender Mohammed Moosa, but Sofyan stepped out of his position to block the chip shot and kill the threatening move.

As the half neared its end, Yasen swivelled past two

defenders inside the Qatar SC box and quickly rifled a shot into the top of the net with keeper Motasem completely beaten by the pace of the shot.

Yusuf Aymen of Qatar SC was then given the marching orders for picking up two yellow cards, in a space of seven minutes as both teams were unsuccessful in scoring another goal.

Later, at the same venue, a goal at the start of second half helped Al Sadd beat Al Khor 1-0.

Hashem Ali netted the winner in the 48th minute as Al Sadd registered their first win in the tournament. The Wolves have four points and Al Khor six.

Elsewhere, Al Sailiya and Al Wakrah were locked in a 2-2 draw at Al Khor Stadium.

Abdullah Al Marri (18th minute) and Tiago Bezerra (42nd-minute penalty) scored for Al Sailiya. Jassim Al Jalabi (45+1-minute penalty and 59th-minute penalty) scored for Al Wakrah.

7TH RACE MEETING - UMM AL HOUL CUP: Winner: X Force (01:10.15), Trainer: Ibrahim Saeed Ibrahim Al Malki, Jokey: Soufiane Saadi

THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2020

Mourinho defends Kane against diving claimsDon’t speak about Harry Kane. When I say my team has to be ready to compete, I’m not speaking about that. I’m speaking about winning 2-1 against a very difficult Brighton... and controlling the game.

Sport |09Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho

Sport

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS GROUP A

Al Duhail 1-0 Qatar SCAl Sadd 1-0 Al Khor

Al Sailiya 2-2 Al Wakrah

Al Sadd and Al Duhailpick up points in Round 4

AFP – PARIS

Rafael Nadal secured the 1,000th Tour-level victory of his illustrious career yesterday, becoming the fourth man to reach that mark with a comeback three-set win over Feliciano Lopez in the Paris Masters second round.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion, back in

the French capital less than a month after winning his 13th Roland Garros title, edged out his fellow Spaniard 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Nadal, whose first match win on the ATP Tour came in April 2002, is fourth on the all-time list, with Jimmy Connors leading the way on 1,274 victories, 32 more than second-placed Roger Federer. Ivan Lendl also passed the 1,000 barrier.

Paris Masters: Nadal claims 1000th career win

Al Sadd's Hashim Ali shoots to

score against Al Khor yesterday.

Basaksehir punish Sloppy Man UnitedREUTERS – ISTANBUL

Manchester United suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Turkish Champions Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, the English side's first loss in three Champions League group matches.

United fell behind after 12 minutes when Edin Visca found Demba Ba with a long pass in acres of space and the striker ran forward before knocking the ball past goal-keeper Dean Henderson.

Basaksehir doubled their lead five minutes before halftime after Deniz Turuc nicked the ball from Juan Mata and passed to Ba who set up Visca to score.

Anthony Martial's header two minutes later gave United hope but despite enjoying plenty of possession in the second half, they were unable to break down the Turkish side's dis-ciplined defence. United, who beat last season's runners-up Paris St Germain and RB Leipzig in their first two games, top Group H with six points from three matches and Basa-ksehir have three after their first victory in the competition.

Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi (left) shoots a penalty kick to score the opening goal against Dynamo Kiev yesterday.

Leipzig beat injury-hit PSG as Messi-inspired Barca get third win in a row

They scored two goals like

you do in Europe when you

do not defend well enough.

The first one is that we play

a short corner and forget

about the man up top. That

is unforgivable. The second

one as well, we are not very

well organised to counter

the press. You don't turn up

and get three points in the

Champions League. They are

a team well organised and

we were not good enough.

That is it: Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Morata brace fires Juve to 4-1 victoryJuventus’ Alvaro Morata in action against Ferencvaros players.

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Promising youngster Youssef Ibrahim yesterday produced a stunning performance to cause one of the major upsets in Qatar Classic Squash Cham-pionship history, shocking top seed and World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy in a five-game thriller to march into the quarter-finals.

The all-Egyptian clash, which lasted for 65 minutes, is the most fascinating battle yet in this year’s edition as World No.41 saved a match point to tame the ‘Beast of Alexandria’ in the third round.

Barring ElShorbagy, it was a routine day for other top seeds yesterday as they cruised into the quarter-finals at the Khalifa International and Tennis and Squash Complex. Ibrahim, a stylish left-handed talent, showed stunning shots from both sides, barely putting a wrong foot throughout the match to stun his experienced compatriot.

“The word would be surreal,” said the 21-year-old sensation after his memorable win yesterday.

“I don’t know how to describe how I’m feeling right now. I’ve been waiting for a break for a really long time and training really hard for so many years and I haven’t had a good win – this just makes it so much better,” he added.

Ibrahim made his intentions clear right from the beginning as he won the first game before ElShorbagy claimed back-to-back games to take control of the match. But Ibrahim rallied back and survived a match point in the fourth game to draw level.

The young Egyptian played fierce shots and exploited some loose serves from ElShorbagy in the decisive game to confirm his place in the quarter-finals.

“It’s a roller-coaster of emotions, to beat someone like Mohamed in his form and where he is now, top seed of the tournament – it’s just massive. I knew I was in for a fight, I had nothing to lose today,” said Ibrahim, who will meet another countryman Fares Dessouky in the quarter-finals.

“I have no doubt in myself after

beating Mohamed. I’ll just try to enjoy today and recover. I’ve played with Fares (Dessouky) in practice matches, we play with the same fitness coach, so I know what to expect, we know each other’s game very well,” he added.

Dessouky dispatched Spaniard Borja Golan 11-2, 12-10, 11-2 in 34 minutes, earlier yesterday.

Farag and Momen sail into quarter-finals

World No.1 Ali Farag, who will keep his top ranking intact after ElShorbagy’s early exit, eased into the quarter-finals after a 3-0 victory over Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng.

The defending champion looked in top form giving Yow Ng a run for money with his total grip in the match, which he won 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in only 35 minutes.

Second seeded Farag’s next chal-lenge will be against Peru’s World No.7

Diego Elias, who won the all-South American clash against Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez with a 11-5, 13-11, 11-9 score-line in 53 minutes.

“I’ve only beaten Ali (Farag) twice and he’s beaten me more than 10 times, so it’s a really tough match. I’ve been training hard and right now I just want to recover and be ready for tomorrow,” said Elias after winning yesterday’s last match.

Meanwhile, Tarek Momen also entered the quarter-final after over-coming England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop 3-1 (11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-4) to continue his title hunt in Doha, where he won the world crown last year.

Momen conceded a five-point lead early in the first game before he fought back to take 2-0 game lead. Willstrop reduced the deficit by winning the third game but the World No.3 Egyptian com-fortably won fourth game to complete victory.

“As always it’s a pleasure to play James,” said Momen.

“Overall, I’m happy with the per-formance and all credit to James, he played a great match today,” he added.

The reigning world champion will be up against eighth seeded Welshman Joel Makin after he sent Frenchman Lucas Serme packing 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 in 52 minutes.

Earlier in the first third round fixture yesterday, World No.6 Marwan ElShorbagy defeated Germany’s Raphael Kandra 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 to advance in the $175,000 event.

The Egyptian was in complete control against World No.33 Kandra, winning the first game easily. An adductor injury in the second game to the German ended his hopes of making a comeback as Marwan dominated the remainder of the match to advance with ease. Marwan will take on fourth seeded Paul Coll in a mouthwatering quarter-final today after the World No.5 from New Zealand made a comeback against Frenchman World No.17 Gregoire Marche to book his place in the last 8.

11THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2020 SPORT

Schwartzman edges closer to Tour Finals debutArgentina’s Diego Schwartzman

returns the ball to France’s Richard Gasquet during their ATP World Tour Paris Masters men’s singles second

round match yesterday.

AFP – PARIS

A r g e n t i n i a n D i e g o Schwartzman moved within two wins of sealing a debut appearance at the ATP Tour Finals in London by beating Richard Gasquet to reach the Paris Masters third round yesterday, while Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev also progressed.

The 28-year-old Schwartzman was too strong for France’s Gasquet, taking a 7-5, 6-3 victory, and will next face Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 16 at Bercy Arena.

Schwartzman will secure the final spot at the season-ending tournament by reaching the semi-finals in Paris, but would qualify even if he fails to do so, as long as neither Pablo Carreno Busta, Milos Raonic or Stan Wawrinka win the title.

The Tour Finals get underway on November 15.

Schwartzman had never beaten Gasquet in three pre-vious meetings, but the home player’s first win since the US Open came in the opening round.

Schwartzman reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at last month’s French Open after making his first Masters final in Rome.

US Open runner-up Zverev continued his excellent run of form by cruising past Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2 in under an hour.

The fourth-seeded German, who won back-to-back titles in Cologne last month, will face Adrian Man-narino in round three.

Zverev, who has won three Masters titles in his career, broke twice in each set to extend his winning streak to nine matches.

Third seed Medvedev reached the last 16 after

Kevin Anderson retired injured from their encounter.

The Russian will next play Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 7-5, for a last-eight place.

South African Anderson quit when 5-2 down in an opening-set tie-break, with the tournament medical service saying the former US Open runner-up suffered a thigh injury.

The 24-year-old Medvedev is yet to reach an ATP final in 2020 after winning four titles and fin-ishing runner-up five times last year.

But the world number five is set to gain ranking points in the French capital, after a second-round exit 12 months ago.

Raonic kept his slim Tour Finals hopes alive with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The Canadian, who lost

the 2014 Bercy final to Novak Djokovic, plays 91st-ranked American Marcos Giron next.

Raonic’s path through the draw has been made easier by early exits for seventh seed Matteo Ber-rettini and second seed Ste-fanos Tsitsipas.

Greek star Tsitsipas pulled out of the doubles event yesterday after saying he struggled with injury during his second-round loss to Ugo Humbert on Tuesday.

Davidovich Fokina backed up his first-round win over former champion Karen Khachanov by easing past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 6-4, while Man-narino beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets.

Later on Wednesday, top seed Rafael Nadal starts his bid to win the title for the first time when he takes on fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the second round.

Qatar Classic: World No.1 Farag, Momen cruise into last 8

Ibrahim stuns top seed ElShorbagyQATAR CLASSICTHIRD ROUND - RESULTS[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-0 Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (34m)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-0 Borja Golan (ESP) 11-2, 12-10, 11-2 (34m)

[4] Paul Coll (NZ) 3-2 Gregoire Marche (FRA) 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 (83m)

[8] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0 Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (52m)

[2] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-0 Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (35m)

Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-2 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 11-9, 6-11, 3-11, 15-13, 11-6 (65m)

[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-1 James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-4 (37m)

[5] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0 Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 11-5, 13-11, 11-9 (53m)

TODAY’S QUARTER-FINALS 15.00 [4] Paul Coll (NZ) v [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)

15.45 [3] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [8] Joel Makin (WAL)

16.30 [2] Ali Farag (EGY) v [5] Diego Elias (PER)

17.15 Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)

It’s a roller-coaster of

emotions, to beat someone

like Mohamed in his form and

where he is now, top seed of

the tournament – it’s just

massive. I knew I was in for a

fight, I had nothing to lose

today: Youssef Ibrahim

I’ve only beaten Ali (Farag)

twice and he’s beaten me

more than 10 times, so it’s a

really tough match. I’ve

been training hard and right

now I just want to recover

and be ready for

tomorrow: Diego Elias

Egypt's Youssef Ibrahim

celebrates after defeating

compatriot and top seed

Mohamed ElShorbagy

during the third round of Qatar

Classic yesterday.

Tarek Momen of Egypt in action against Englishman James

Willstrop.

World No. 1 Ali Farag (left) and Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia in action during their third round match yesterday.

ATP WORLD TOUR PARIS MASTERSMEN'S SINGLESROUND OF 32

Daniil Medvedev (3), Russia, def. Kevin Anderson, South Africa, 6-6, ret.Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Spain, def. Benjamin Bonzi, France, 6-4, 6-4.Diego Schwartzman (6), Argentina, def. Richard Gasquet, France, 7-5, 6-3.Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Milos Raonic (10), Canada, def. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France, 6-4, 6-4.Alex de Minaur (16), Australia, def. Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, 6-3, 7-5.

Alexander Zverev (4), Germany, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 6-2, 6-2.

THE PENINSULA - DOHA

Producing a well-timed lunge at the final stretch, X Force - ridden by Soufiane Saadi - yesterday grabbed the honours in the Umm Al Houl Cup at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club racecourse.

Trained by Ibrahim Saeed Ibrahim Al Malki, X Force clocked a time of 1:10.15 in the dirt race. Saadi won the top prize of QR57,000 in the 1200m race held under lights at the QREC racecoure in Al Rayyan Park.

Izzthatright, who had J P Guillambert in the saddle, secured the second spot while Cristofano Allori, who was ridden by Ronan Thomas, clinched the third place. All three were Irish entries.

Guillambert won QR22,000 while Thomas got richer by QR 11,000.

E a r l i e r T h o m a s managed a winning run with Sealine as he won the top spot in the 1200m race that offered QR75,000 in prize money. Sealine, trained by Alban Elie Marie De Mieulle, clocked a time of 1:18.65 as Thomas won QR42,750.

Saadi, astride Barra, clinched the second spot and won QR 16,500. Kasser, who had Alberto Sanna in the saddle, fin-ished third. Trained by Mohammed Ali Yousef Al Sheeb, Kasser’s third-place finish got Sanna QR8,250.

In the seventh running of the day - the Purebred Arabian Claiming Race for 4-year-olds - Marco Casa-mento guided Chaval De Ghazal to the top spot. Chaval De Ghazal clocked a time of 2:09.05 in the 1800m race. The Mohammed Gassim

Ghazali-trained entry looked impressive, winning with a margin of 2 furlongs. Casamento won QR57,000. Another Ghazali-trained entry, Anees - who had Eduardo Pedroza in the saddle - finished in second place which was worth QR22,000. Rashid Ali Al-Marri, astride Echo De Faust, settled for the third spot worth QR11,000.

10 THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2020SPORT

Al Arabi players and the team management celebrate winning the Amir Cup basketball title after beating Al Sadd. Al Arabi won 87-78 at Al Gharafa Sports Club's Indoor Hall yesterday. First Vice President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) HE Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al Thani gave away the prizes. Sammy Monroe Jr II (31 points) and Khaled Roushdy Abdelbaset (24) sparkled for Al Arabi. For Al Sadd, the top scorers were Babacar Dieng (30 points) and Konstantinos Vasileiadis (25).

Basketball: Al Arabi beat Al Sadd to become Amir Cup champions

X Force steals the show to seal Umm Al Houl Cup win

X Force, winner of Umm Al Houl Cup

IPL: Mumbai back in the hunt as Delhi eye breakthroughREUTERS - ABU DHABI

Mumbai Indians are in familiar territory as the Indian Premier League moves into the play-offs but the defending champions know they will have to take their game to another level when they face Delhi Capitals today.

Mumbai, the tournament’s most successful team with four titles, became the first side to reach the play-offs last week and used Tuesday’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad to test the strength of their bench.

It did not work out well, a 10-wicket thrashing coming as a wake-up call ahead of the Delhi tie.

“Play-offs will be a different ball game,” Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said after Tuesday’s loss.

“We’ve been in the play-offs many a times before and we do understand the pressure of being in the play-offs.

“We were not good with the bat today, certainly we can’t afford to do that in the play-off. We need to be smart, in terms of our shot selection.”

Delhi, led by the tournament’s youngest captain in 25-year-old Shreyas Iyer, will be hoping it is third time lucky against Mumbai having lost both their group matches to them last month.

Coached by Australian great Ricky Ponting, Delhi’s strong top order is complemented by a potent bowling unit headlined by the season’s leading wicket-taker -- Kagiso Rabada.

The winners of today’s match will move straight into the November 10 final in Dubai but all is not lost for the losers.

They will meet the team that comes through tomorrow’s elim-inator between Royal Challengers Bangalore and 2016 cham-pions Hyderabad to decide the second finalist.

Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli, will have to win three successive matches to capture a first IPL title, something they have not been able to do this season.

Traditionally a batting-heavy side who have South African great AB de Villiers in their ranks, Bangalore have strengthened their bowling but have lost their last three matches to teams who made the play-offs.

In Hyderabad they have an opponent who showed in 2016 what it takes to win three knockout matches in a row en route to the title.

“There is great resilience in the side,” Hyderabad captain David Warner said after Tuesday’s victory against Mumbai.

“We looked back to 2016 when we had to win every game to win the title. When you have your backs against the wall, you have nothing to lose.”

NZ facing injury concerns ahead of Windies seriesREUTERS - WELLINGTON

New Zealand cricket coach Gary Stead will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of medical checks over the next week with six of his players nursing injuries as they prepare to face West Indies later this month.

Stead’s side face the tourists, who are in isolation in a bio-secure facility in Christchurch for the next 10 days, in three Twenty20 internationals starting on November 27 before a two-test series begins on December 3.

Stead’s biggest concern is with his bowling unit.Pace spearhead Tim Southee (back), fellow pace bowlers Neil

Wagner (groin/hip) and Matt Henry (broken thumb), and first-choice Test spinner Ajaz Patel (calf) are all under a cloud because of their injuries.

All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has foot injury while middle-order batsman Henry Nicholls has a calf strain.

“Injuries are always a concern and we’re certainly monitoring each case closely with our medical staff,” Stead said in a statement yesterday.

Southee’s injury is not considered too serious and he was rested from Northern Districts’ first-class match against Canterbury starting today as a precaution.

He is likely to be available for the match against Central Dis-tricts next week but team mate Wagner has to undergo a scan.

De Grandhomme also has to undergo a scan, with the results expected by today.

Patel’s recovery is taking longer than expected and he needs to have another scan, Stead said.

Nicholls is expected to be available for Canterbury’s clash with Otago next week, although team mate Henry is out for between four to six weeks, making him unlikely for the Twenty20 series and a doubt for the Tests.

7TH RACE MEETING - WINNERS(Horse, Trainer, Jockey)

UMM AL HOUL CUPX Force (IRE), Ibrahim Saeed Ibrahim Al Malki, Soufiane Saadi

LOCAL PUREBRED ARABIAN CONDITIONSSealine (QA), Alban Elie Marie De Mieulle, Ronan Thomas

PUREBRED ARABIAN CLAIMING RACE (4 Year Olds & Older)Chaval De Ghazal (FR), Mohammed Gassim Ghazali, Marco Casamento

PUREBRED ARABIAN MAIDEN PLATEKhatafaynee (QA), Julian Colin Smart, Tomas Lukasek

LOCAL THOROUGHBRED MAIDEN PLATEDukhan (QA), Mohammed Hussain Afroz, Luca Maniezzi

PUREBRED ARABIAN NOVICE PLATEWinne Taouy (FR), Hamad Ahmed Al Malki Al Jehani, Rashid Ali Al Marri

THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Fillies & Mares) (Class 5)Romantic Heart (IRE), Mohammed Gassim Ghazali, Meteb Ali Al Marri

THOROUGHBRED HANDICAP (Class 3)High Commander (GB), Gassim Mohammad Ghazali,

Saleh Salem Al Marri

Team members of X Force (IRE) posing for a photograph with the officials after winning the Umm Al Houl cup, the feature race of the day.

09THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2020 SPORT

South Africa commit to Rugby Championship for next decade

REUTERS – WELLINGTON

South Africa have reaffirmed their commitment to the Rugby Cham-pionship for the next decade, organ-isers SANZAAR said yesterday, bringing an end to speculation the world champions may look to join Europe’s Six Nations.

SANZAAR said the four-nation alliance, which also includes New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, would be restructured and a “revised” 10-year strategic plan would include “future growth and expansion” for the Rugby Championship.

“The re-commitment by the four unions to the long term future of the international game is an important start as we embark in a new direction,” SANZAAR Chief Executive Andy Marinos said.

“The disruption during 2020 has been significant, however, despite the numerous setbacks and the inherent complexity of our vast geo-graphical expanse, we have managed to keep the game alive.”

SANZAAR faced turmoil this year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with New Zealand at odds with South Africa and Australia over the future of the club-based Super Rugby competition.

South Africa Rugby withdrew its four teams from any future Super Rugby competition in September and said they would look to join Europe’s PRO14.

They then withdrew the world champion Springboks from the Rugby Championship, which is cur-rently being played as the Tri-Nations in Australia.

Although SA Rugby said player welfare concerns were behind the late withdrawal, the decision came as a surprise to the other nations and triggered fears over the future of the SANZAAR alliance.

SANZAAR said the Rugby Cham-pionship would be restructured with the current home-and-away format replaced by a “mini-tour” schedule when a nation will host a rival for two matches one season and play a double-header away the following year.

Japan, who reached the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, and the Pacific island nations, particularly Fiji, have previously been mooted as possible additions to the competition.

Ex-All Black Nonu forced to wait for second Toulon stintAFP – TOULON, FRANCE

Double Rugby World Cup winner Ma’a Nonu will have to wait for his second Toulon stint as he is in a seven-day quarantine, the French club’s backs coach, Julien Dupuy, said yesterday.

Barn-storming ex-All Black centre Nonu, who reached the Top 14 final during his previous three-year spell with Toulon, returned to southern France from New Zealand last Friday on short-term deal, at the age of 38.

Nonu, who last played in Major League Rugby for San Diego Legion earlier this year, joins the three-time European champions after injuries to Julien Heriteau and Anthony Belleau.

The 103-time capped midfielder has fellow ex-New Zealand centre Isaia Toeava and South Africa World Cup-winning lock Eben Etzebeth with him in the squad and could play for Toulon at Agen on November 14.

Ramos craving for more after netting 100th goal

Mourinho defends Kane against diving claimsREUTERS – LONDON

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has defended Harry Kane against sugges-tions the striker dived to win a penalty in his team’s 2-1 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion over the weekend.

Kane went down under a challenge from Brighton mid-fielder Adam Lallana, earning a penalty for Spurs that he then converted.

Mourinho was asked at a pre-match news conference

yesterday, a day before Spurs’ trip to face Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the Europa League, whether the England striker had been “streetwise” in winning the penalty.

“You are confused,” Mourinho said. “Because you could be speaking about some Manchester United players, you could be speaking about some Man City players, you could be speaking about some Liverpool players, you could be speaking about some Chelsea players and you’re speaking about Harry Kane?

“He was in a position to control the ball in a dangerous position and Lallana came in a very reckless action and committed a foul.

“What are you speaking about being clever or being not clever? Being clever is to hold the ball and shoot and score. It was a foul.”

The Portuguese also bridled at the suggestion that he had instructed his players to show a more cynical side to their game in the pursuit of victory.

“What are you speaking

about us?” he added. “Speak about Liverpool, speak about Man City speak about Man United. Speak about these pen-alties that you see the clever guy that comes (near) somebody and blows, they are on the floor.

“Don’t speak about Harry Kane. When I say my team has to be ready to compete, I’m not speaking about that. I’m speaking about winning 2-1 against a very difficult Brighton... and con-trolling the game.”

Zidane confident

Ramos will extend stay

We know what a great

player he (Real Madrid

captain Sergio Ramos) is ...

He’s our captain, our leader

and of course we want him

to be with us forever.

That’s what he’s doing,

showing that he’s always

got that desire and I’m in

no doubt that he’s going to

stay here and will continue

to rewrite the history

books: Real Madrid manager Zinedine

Zidane

Messi not difficult to

manage: Koeman

Messi is a very good

player, the best in the

world. I see his ambition

but he is not a player I

have difficulty managing.

Every coach is different --

but for me, he is the

captain and I talk to him

every week about things in

the dressing room and on

the pitch and there is a

good relationship:

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman

Real Madrid’s Spanish defender Sergio Ramos celebrates after scoring against Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Former New Zealand All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu

REUTERS – MADRID

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is looking forward to boosting his impressive goal tally after netting a milestone 100th for the club in all competitions to help them secure a vital 3-2 Champions League win over Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Ramos, who has won 22 trophies including four titles in Europe’s flagship club competition with Real, netted a trademark header from a Toni Kroos corner to put them 2-0 up before Inter levelled to force a dra-matic climax to the game.

Brazilian substitute Rodrygo then rifled in a late winner to give Real their first win in Group B after a shock 3-2 home defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk and a 2-2 draw at leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“It’s not bad,” Ramos, 34, said after hitting the mile-stone at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium, Real’s training ground and tem-porary home while their imposing San-tiago Bernabeu ground is being renovated.

“Individual records are secondary, but you like hitting them and as long as they keep on helping the side win, hopefully I can get a few more.

“It was a tough game, but we were able to get a good result in the end and secure three very important points.

“We knew it was a do-or-die game and when you are

pegged back to a draw in a match you were winning, you need to push on. We’d let them off the hook a bit and in

the Champions L e a g u e

y o u

can’t afford to do that.”Under pressure after a

poor start to Real’s Cham-pions League campaign, coach Zinedine Zidane was relieved the winners of a record 13 titles in Europe’s elite club competition were able to bounce back ahead of the reverse fixture in Milan on Nov.25.

“We suffered but we need to pat our boys on the back because they deserved to win,” he said.

“We started really well, pressing high as we like to do. We went 2-0 up but then we conceded quickly and couldn’t play our football.”

Jota shows pedigree with terrific trebleREUTERS – BERGAMO

Diogo Jota’s superb hat-trick lit up Liverpool’s 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Atalanta on Tuesday and served further notice to the club’s famed frontline that the Portuguese striker does not intend to play solely a supporting role.

Liverpool face Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday and it now seems almost unthinkable that Jota’s name will not be in the starting lineup. That may have seemed unlikely at the start of the season when Liverpool signed the 23-year-old from Wolverhampton Wanderers to provide competition to Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who had developed into one of the most feared attacking trios in football.

With Firmino’s form under the spotlight after an underwhelming start to the campaign, Jota slotted in alongside Salah and Mane against Atalanta and put on a clinical display of finishing before being replaced by Firmino in the 65th minute.

“I’m playing in the best team of my career so far, that’s for sure. I don’t know if it was my best moment, but obviously scoring goals is my way of playing football, so I’m really happy with it,” Jota told BT Sport.

Eyebrows were raised when Liv-erpool splashed a reported £41m

($54m) to secure the signature of Jota, who scored 16 goals - nine of them in the Europa League - for Wolves last season.

He has already begun paying back that fee in earnest with seven goals in 10 games, and he tormented the Atalanta defence together with Mane and Salah.

“Obviously (they are) two world-class players, we all know their quality makes it easy for me to do my job because they are outstanding players,” he explained.

Jota is swiftly developing a taste for European compe-tition having scored three hat-tricks in the Champions League and E u r o p a League combined since the start of last season - the only player to have done so more than once.

With a trip to Manchester City to come on Sunday, the Portuguese picked t h e p e r f e c t moment to stake his claim to a starting spot.

“We have to recover, I think we have a day or two more to recover from that game and we will need it,” L i v e r p o o l m a n a g e r Juergen Klopp told BT Sport.

dded. ool, ityed.

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WADA apologises, agrees to pay damages for Sakho banREUTERS – PARIS

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had apolo-gised and agreed to pay damages to France interna-tional footballer Mamadou Sakho for a drugs ban in 2016, British media reported yesterday.

The Crystal Palace centre back, who was a Liverpool player at the time, was inves-tigated by UEFA and given a provisional 30-day ban in

April 2016 after he tested pos-itive for the fat burner Higenamine.

Sakho missed that year’s Europa League final against Sevilla and Euro 2016 as a result, but UEFA dismissed the doping case against him in July and later confirmed that Higenamine had not been on WADA’s list of prohibited sub-stances at the time.

UEFA also criticised WADA for the lack of clarity over the status of Higenamine while

WADA in turn released a statement rejecting UEFA’s criticism.

British media reported that a lawyer for WADA had apol-ogised to Sakho in open court in London yesterday.

“WADA accepts that it should not have made the defamatory allegations it did... given that Mr Sakho had been acquitted by UEFA,” WADA’s lawyer said.

Sakho did not play again for Liverpool after failing the

drugs test, and moved to Crystal Palace first on loan and then on a permanent deal. WADA and Crystal Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“WADA regrets the damage the defamatory allegations caused to Mr Sakho’s repu-tation and the distress, hurt and embarrassment caused to him.

“To indicate the sincerity of this apology, WADA has agreed with its insurers to pay

Mr Sakho a substantial sum of damages. WADA has also agreed to bear Mr Sakho’s rea-sonable costs.”

Sakho said outside the court that he was happy with the outcome.

“It’s not easy when you are a professional athlete and are accused of doping.

"It is the worst thing that can happen to you. I always believed in my lawyers, that’s my squad, my team,” he told reporters.

Diogo Jota

Jose Mourinho

08THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2020SportMotoGP: Gerloff on stand-by with star Rossi still positiveAFP — PARIS

Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi remains a doubt for this weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia after contracting coronavirus, his Yahama team said yesterday.

Rossi, 41, who has featured in just five of the season’s 11 Grand Prixs to date, will be replaced by American Garrett Gerloff if he fails to return two negative tests, 48 hours apart, ahead of the race.

“Today the Italian will undergo a new test,” Yamaha said yesterday.

“Should he test negative, he will still have enough time to complete the required second PCR test and fly to Valencia.

“Should Rossi be deemed ‘unfit’ to ride in Valencia, Gerloff will be backed by the number-46 rider’s usual crew for his very first riding expe-rience aboard a YZR-M1,” the factory team added.

Rossi last raced at the French Grand Prix on October after testing positive following the Le Mans event.

“Luckily I still have two more chances to be back on track on Friday or Saturday. I am very sad because I am feeling well, and I can’t wait to be back aboard my M1 and be reunited with my team,” Rossi

said in statement. “I really hope the next PCR test result will be negative, because missing two races was already two too many,” he added.

Gerloff, 25, could make his MotoGP bow in Spain before the term culminates with the Valencian GP at the same venue on November 15 and the Portuguese GP a week later in Portimao.

Meanwhile, Honda has con-firmed Marc Marquez will not stage a MotoGP comeback this weekend in the European Grand Prix, but has not ruled him out of the final two rounds. Marquez has been absent since his

a b o r t e d

comeback effort at the Anda-lusian Grand Prix a week after breaking his right arm in the season-opening Jerez race.

Requiring a second oper-ation on his arm after breaking the plate inserted into the bone at home ahead of August's Czech GP, Marquez has been sidelined since.

Rumours in the Spanish press last month stated Marquez was due to undergo a third operation as recovery was not

going as planned, but Honda refuted this. But

t a l k o f Marquez not returning to action at all

in 2020 were further escalated when his replacement and HRC test rider Stefan Bradl told Austrian TV he would remain in the bike for the Valencia/P o r t u g a l

triple-header.

Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi remains a doubt for this

weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia after contracting coronavirus.

Rossi, 41, who has featured in just five of the season’s 11 Grand Prixs to date,

will be replaced by American Garrett Gerloff if he fails to return two negative

tests, 48 hours apart, ahead of the race.

egat ve, because ss g tworaces was already two too many,” he added.

Gerloff, 25, could make his MotoGP bow in Spain before theterm culminates with theValencian GP at the same venueon November 15 and the PortugueseGP a week later in Portimao.

stage a MotoG co ebac t sweekend in theEuropean GrandPrix, but has not ruled him out of the final two rounds. Marquez has beenabsent since his

a b o r t e d

ope at o as ecove ygoing as planned, bu

refutedt a l kMarretuacti

in 202further ewhen his repand HRC tStefan BrAustrian would rembike for theP o r t

triple-hea

Seven-time MotoGP

champion Valentino

Rossi

Ethiopia’s Gidey in running for World Athlete of Year awardAFP — PARIS

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, who smashed the women’s 5,000m world record in October, was among the nominees for the female World Athlete of the Year announced yesterday.

Gidey, 22, sliced more than four seconds off the previous mark with a time of 14min 06.62sec in a specially arranged race in the Spanish city of Valencia which featured flashing lights on the track perimeter to guide the athletes’ pace.

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who broke the men’s 10,000m world record at the same meeting with a time of 26:11.00, was among the nom-inees for the men’s award announced by World Athletics on Monday.

In a season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic and deprived of the postponed Tokyo Olympics, Cheptegei also set a stunning world record at 5,000m.

Armand Duplantis was also among the leading nominees for the men’s award after rewriting the pole vault record books.

Aged just 20, the Swede bettered Ukrainian great Sergey Bubka’s mark by setting

a new outdoor record of 6.15m at the Rome Diamond League meeting after posting an indoor mark of 6.18m earlier in the season.

Another Ugandan, Jacob Kiplimo, who recorded a world half marathon win in a record time of 58min 49sec, is also a m o n g t h e m e n ’ s contenders.

The women’s nominees also include Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, who ran the year’s fastest time for 800m time.

The winners will be announced at the World Ath-letics Awards 2020 on December 5.

NOMINEES FOR WORLD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

FEMALE: Femke Bol (Netherlands), Letesenbet

Gidey (Ethiopia), Sifan Hassan

(Netherlands), Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya),

Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), Laura Muir

(Great Britain), Hellen Obiri (Kenya),

Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela), Elaine

Thompson-Herah (Jamaica), Ababel

Yeshaneh (Ethiopa)

MALE:Donavan Brazier (USA), Joshua

Cheptegei (Uganda), Timothy Cheruiyot

(Kenya), Ryan Crouser (USA), Armand

Duplantis (Sweden), Jacob Kiplimo

(Uganda), Noah Lyles (USA), Daniel Stahl

(Sweden), Johannes Vetter (Germany),

Karsten Warholm (Norway)

Letesenbet Gidey

NFL's Ravens place seven more defenders on coronavirus listAFP — NEW YORK

The NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, already rocked by c o r n e r b a c k M a r l o n Humphrey’s posit ive COVID-19 test, placed seven other defensive players on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Humphrey announced his positive test on Monday, a day after the Ravens were beaten 28-24 by the unde-feated Pittsburgh Steelers, and contact tracing led to seven of his team-mates joining him on the deacti-vated list.

Linebackers Matt Judon, Tyus Bowser, Patrick Queen, LJ Fort and Malik Harrison plus defensive backs Terrell Bonds and DeShon Elliott were all identified as having close contact with Humphrey.

The seven players must all isolate for five days and

pass Covid-19 tests to have any chance at becoming eli-gible in time for the Ravens’ game Sunday at Indianapolis in a matchup of 5-2 clubs.

Humphrey played against the Steelers after taking a pre-game Covid-19 test which produced a pos-itive result on Monday.

The situation contributed to tighter NFL Covid-19 guidelines issued on Tuesday that required face masks in locker rooms and post-game interactions and highly rec-ommended face masks for players on the sidelines.

The Ravens defensive unit ranks second in the NFL in fewest points allowed with 132, two more than Miami’s top-rated unit.

Baltimore’s only two defeats this season are to the Steelers and reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City.

Seguin and Bishop out for five months after surgeriesREUTERS — NEW YORK

Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin and goaltender Ben Bishop will each be sidelined approximately five months, the team announced.

Seguin underwent right hip surgery on Monday, while Bishop had a torn meniscus in his right knee repaired on Oct. 21.

Seguin played through a torn labrum in the postseason and has battled hip pain over the past few seasons.

Bishop underwent knee surgery in May to clean up the knee but was only able to play in three postseason games. MRI exams and further medical work determined a more extensive surgery was needed.

Anton Khudobin excelled in

the playoffs while starting 24 games with Bishop ailing. The Stars retained him with a three-year, $10 million deal last month.

Khudobin is also recovering as he underwent surgery on both hands to adjust the nerves in early October. His recovery period was set at four to five weeks, Dallas general manager Jim Nill said at the time.

Khudobin’s strong play helped the Stars reach the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.

With the NHL season likely to begin around Jan. 1, both Seguin and Bishop should return in the second half of the campaign.

Seguin, 28, scored 50 points (17 goals, 33 assists) in 69 games

last season. He tallied 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 26 playoff games.

The six-time All-Star has spent seven of his 10 NHL seasons with Dallas after beginning his career with the Boston Bruins. He has 279 goals and 356 assists (635 points) in 741 career games.

Bishop, who turns 34 on Nov. 21, went 21-16-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average and.920 save percentage in 44 games last season. He has spent the past three campaigns in Dallas.

The two-time All-Star is 222-128-36 with a 2.32 GAA and.921 save percentage in 413 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Kings and Stars.

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (right) in action in this file photo.

Whyte has ‘missed his chance’ of Fury world title bout: WarrenAFP — LONDON

Dillian Whyte can forget about fighting Tyson Fury (pictured) next month, the world heavyweight champion’s co-promoter Frank Warren said yesterday.

Whyte was next scheduled to be in action on November 21 but a rematch with Alexander Povetkin was scuppered when the Russian tested positive for coronavirus.

Whyte’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, then raised the prospect of a bout with WBC champion Fury, who is currently without an opponent for a bout he announced would take place in London in December.

But Warren insisted Whyte was not in contention after being knocked out by Povetkin in August.

“We’re not in the business of bailing out Dillian Whyte,” Warren told Talksport radio in an interview yesterday.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Dillian Whyte get absolutely poleaxed in his last fight?

“At the time he was mandatory challenger to Tyson and they kept banging on about it... but they stupidly put him in with Povetkin and that’s it, he’s lost his chance.”

Warren added Germany’s Agit Kabayel, who enjoyed a majority decision win over Dereck Chisora in

2017, was the leading contender for the Fury bout.

“That’s what we want for Tyson, that’s the preferred opponent,” he added.

“Hopefully, we’ll get it over the line and if not we’ll look at someone else, but it certainly won’t be against Dillian Whyte.”

Chisora has said he is prepared to face Whyte for a third time barely three weeks on from his defeat by Ole-ksandr Usyk.

Chisora told Hearn, on Instagram live:

“Do you want to give me that fight? I’ll take that.”

Ukraine’s Usyk extended his

undefeated record with a unanimous points victory over Chisora in Satur-day's showdown.

That defeat by the 2012 Olympic gold medallist seemed to end to Chisora’s hopes of a second world title shot, eight years after he lost to Vitali Klitschko.

Whyte previously defeated Chisora in 2016 and 2018.

In June, Hearn, also the promoter of superstar Anthony Joshua, the holder of the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles, said an agreement for a unification bout with Fury and a second clash between the British rivals early in 2021 had been reached in principle.

Sydney to Hobart yacht race to go ahead

REUTERS — SYDNEY

This year’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race will proceed with COVID-19 measures in place following Tasmania’s decision to open borders to New South Wales, the race organisers said yesterday.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) confirmed the Boxing Day start of the race with a 100-strong fleet following “a lengthy period of consultation with state gov-ernments, health authorities and other key stakeholders.” “We are thrilled to have so many yachts participating this year, particularly given the general uncertainty and nec-essary restrictions placed on many sporting events in Aus-tralia over the past six months,” CYCA commodore Noel Cornish said in a statement.

“The size of the fleet has exceeded all our expectations and is a tremendous show of support for the race. We are excited that we can host the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in this challenging year.” Pre-vious winners Ichi Ban, Alive and Quest are among the con-firmed starters but several international competitors have been forced out by the ongoing global restrictions following the pandemic.

Teams will be briefed online, social events around the race will not take place, and the organisers will prefer fans to watch digital lives-tream than throng the marina to follow Australia’s most pres-tigious yacht race.