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SPORT | 11

WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2020

Star boxer Sheikh Fahad targets September fight

RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s only professional boxer Sheikh Fahad Al Thani (pictured) is targeting a

return to the ring in September this year.

Undefeated in 13 fights since his debut in 2016, Sheikh Fahad is currently training at home with emphasis on

“strength and balance.” “ H o p e -

fully this pandemic allows life to get back to normal routine in

some shape or form. This

way we can resume our

normal sports activities and get

ready for competi-tions. The target in

my mind is to fight in September,” Sheikh

Fahad, 32, said in an interview.

“Before Ramadan, I had

started to train at home. Training at home is quite restricted as you have to adapt to keep fit, to keep in shape and trying not to shoot up in weight,” the Doha-born boxer said.

“Before this pandemic broke through, I was really in a good spot with my training. I was at my best, actually. But I had to stop training close to peaking as I was getting ready for my 14th fight (in Feb-ruary),” he said.

Sheikh Fahad was scheduled to fight Romanian boxer Marius Petrus on Feb-ruary 29 but the light middle-weight division fight - to be held under the umbrella of the Professional Boxers Associ-ation in Spain - was cancelled due to a sudden injury to Petrus 24 hours before the fighters got into the ring.

“There has been a lot of change to my training routine

(because of the coronavirus pandemic forcing athletes indoors). Now I am working on strength and balance.

“This will help me keep my body in good shape, in good nick. Obviously as an athlete you can’t change things as you know there’s a peaking stage. There are so many different elements to training. We have to break things down,” he added.

“Like i said, I am working on strength and balance at home, using an app to co-train with my French coach Frank Bohic. We take it from there. Each day is different - Sunday is little bit of technique, using shadow boxing. However, the main theme is using exercise to keep the body strong,” Sheikh Fahad said.

Sheikh Fahad said athletes had responsibility to educate those struggling to keep fit.

“As athletes, we have responsibilities as we have to keep fit and motivate others to exercise at the a time like this when we are at home. We have to educate people around us. We have to spend time with family and keep moni-toring the situation locally and globally on developments related to sports activities,” Sheikh Fahad said.

When asked about his diet, Sheikh Fahad said: “Diet in Ramadan is not to jump on sugar so much. We have to monitor the amount we take when it comes to sweets and desserts. Everything has to be consumed in moderation. Also, we have to rehydrate properly. It is a very important factor in our diet as it is getting warmer. Having healthy food is also a key element for ath-letes who are active in training,” he added.

'Wasn’t the right time' to take Barca job, says XaviIANS – DOHA

Former Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez has revealed the reason why he turned down the head coach job at his former club FC Barcelona.

Speaking to former team-mate Samuel Eto’o during an Instagram live session, Xavi stated he felt it wasn’t the right time for him to take over at such a big club so early in his managerial career.

Barcelona had gotten in touch with Xavi in January to replace Ernesto Valverde but citing lack of experience, Xavi turned down the job in favour of staying at Al Sadd in Qatar.

Then Real Betis manager Quique Setien was named as Barcelona boss after Xavi passed on the chance to return to his boyhood club.

“In January the time was not right,” Xavi told Eto’o as per Daily Mail. “I had conversations with (Eric) Abidal and (Oscar) Grau and an important proposal, but it was not the time.

“I need a little more experience. Training for Barca is my dream and I would like someday day to manage them. I have said that many times,” he added.

Xavi is one of the most decorated players in the history of the game, winning multiple team and personal honours on the international arena as well as club level.

At Barcelona, Xavi won eight LaLiga titles, three Copa Del Reys and four Champions League trophies. He is also a one time World Cup (2010) winner and two-time European Champion (2008, 2012) with his national team Spain.

EFL clubs facing a £200m 'cash hole' by SeptemberREUTERS – MANCHESTER

Football League (EFL) clubs are facing a “cash hole” of £200m by September, chairman Rick Parry told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

Parry, the former chief exec-utive of Liverpool, was being ques-tioned by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and said all involved in the game, including players and owners, needed to “share the pain”.

The EFL, which includes the second tier Championship, has not played since early March “We are heading for a financial hole of about £200m, a cash hole we need to fill, clubs will need to fill...the cash hole towards autumn looks pretty grim,” said Parry.

“We need a rescue package. We also need to address the longer term or we will back into problems in two or three years, they need to go hand in hand,” he said, referring to “root and branch” changes.

RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s only professioboxer Sheikh Fahad Al T(pictured) is targetin

return to the ringSeptember this year.

Undefeated in 13 fisince his debut in 2016, ShFahad is currently traininhome with emphasis

“strength and balance“ H o p

fully pandeallows to get bto norroutine

some shor form.

way we resume

normal spactivities and

ready for comptions. The targe

my mind is to figSeptember,” She

Fahad, 32, said ininterview.

“Before Ramadan, I

Before this pandemic broke through, I was really in a good spot with my training. I was at my best, actually.

But I had to stop training close to peaking as I was getting ready for

my 14th fight (in February): Sheikh Fahad Al Thani

ATP, WTAplan $6m fund to support 800 players

AP – LONDON

The governing bodies of tennis plan to announce as soon as this week they are launching a fund of more than $6m aimed at lessening the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic for about 800 singles and doubles players.

According to an email obtained by The Associated Press, the WTA and ATP pro-fessional tours, the groups that run the four Grand Slam tour-naments and the International Tennis Federation are expected to establish eligibility rules that will factor in the players’ rankings and past prize money earnings.

If $6m were evenly dis-tributed to 800 players, each would get $7,500.

The seven entities involved in the initiative are contributing to what the email refers to as the “Player Relief Programme,” and the money will be divided equally among men and women.

The hope is additional funding will come via other sources, including donations from higher-earning players and auctions.

The email also confirms the WTA and ATP would oversee the distribution of the financial aid, something mentioned when word emerged last month of some sort of tennis fund in the works.

Aussie legend Cahill to golive with Generation AmazingQNA – DOHA

Australia football legend Tim Cahill will become the latest star to take part in Generation Amazing's Instagram Live sessions when he appears on the broadcast this week.

Cahill, who appeared in four FIFA World Cups for the Soc-ceroos, will share health and wellness tips on GA4Good today at 8 PM Doha time (GMT+3).

Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) ambas-sador Cahill, Australias record goal scorer, will share advice on how to keep fit during the COVID-19 pandemic a time when most people are staying at home in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Following a 21-year playing career, Cahill has gone on to launch a number of initiatives, including the Tim Cahill Coaching Clinics, the Tim Cahill All-Star Academy, along with a schools programme which provides free football training and has already reached more than 10,000

children. During the live stream, Cahill will also discuss football for development, along with his involvement with Generation Amazing in his role as an SC ambassador.

Ahead of Cahills appearance, Nasser Al Khori, Generation Amazing Programmes Director, said: “Its so important to us at Gen-eration Amazing that we not only ensure the programme continues to impact the lives of people during this crucial period, but also that we are able to join forces with SC ambassadors, like Tim Cahill, who strongly shares our vision for using football to alleviate the stresses we face currently. Together, through the power of football, we can share messages of solidarity and positive affirmation.”

This weeks Generation Amazing Live schedule features an impressive line-up. Along with ses-sions from the Generation Amazing master coaches, there will be an interview with Dutch footballer Nigel De Jong, who currently plays for Qatar Stars League team Al Shahania.

QMMF unveils Online MotoGP racing seriesTHE PENINSULA – DOHA

Following the unparalleled success of the Qatar Online Racing Championship (QORC) for cars, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) is gearing up for their next key event, the QORC MotoGP Racing Championship, the governing body for motorsport in Qatar announced yesterday.

The competition will take place on the PlayStation 4 virtual platform of MotoGP 19 game, starting on Sunday.

Only 42 slots will be available for riders in the cham-pionship. Riders will be split into three groups with each group having maximum of 14.

Each rider is expected to join the three ‘qualifying rounds’ taking place during the first week of the Championship. After that, the top 4 riders from each group will qualify to go to the finals.

The qualifying rounds and finals will take place on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in the first and second weeks respec-tively, starting at 9pm on each day.

Each round will consist of 15 minutes of qualifying and a 30-minute Race.

Commenting on the Cham-pionship, QMMF Executive Director, Amro Al Hamad (pic-tured) said: “The competition is going to start next Sunday. We have already opened up regis-tration for entries. The series will be held for 42 competitors and it’s going to be for two weeks. The first week is going to be for qualifiers, the second week is going to be for the finals, like we did for cars. There is going to be three groups and the races will be held on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting at 9pm. The fastest four from each group will qualify for the finals, which means 12 riders will battle for the top honours in the final week.”

Xavi Hernandez with his

supporting staff and players at Al

Sadd SC.

09WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2020 SPORT

Baseball restarts South Korea’s sports season without fansAFP – SEOUL

South Korea’s professional sport returned to action after the coro-navirus shutdown with the opening of a new baseball season yesterday, while football and golf will soon follow suit in a ray of hope for suspended competitions worldwide.

Friday will see the delayed start of football’s K-League, and next week some of golf’s leading women players will tee up in a domestic tournament as South Korea becomes a rare hotspot for live sport.

Fans were not allowed in when any of yesterday's five opening Korean Baseball Organisation (KBO) matches saw the first pitches thrown, a marked contrast from the packed stadiums of previous years when fans sang and cheered relentlessly no matter the score.

Instead, banners with photos of masked fans stretched across the empty bleachers at the Incheon-based SK Wyverns club’s Munhak Baseball Stadium.

Banners carrying messages for victory were also put up at the LG Twins club’s Jamsil derby in Seoul, saying: “Even if we are apart, we are TWINS.” Fans were divided

over the unprecedented format.

“Baseball is finally back! But I wonder when I can actually go to the stadium,” tweeted one fan.

Another online user said: “This doesn’t feel like the opening of a season at all. I’m watching baseball from home, hugging a pillow.” At the stadium, strict health checks and hygiene measures were enforced.

Players must have their tem-perature checked twice before games, with face masks to be worn in all areas except the playing field and the dugouts, according to the KBO.

Players have also been asked not to shake hands or exchange high-fives, while spitting is pro-hibited -- putting a new com-plexion on what is South Korea’s most popular spectator sport.

ESPN announced it will show six KBO League games per week to fans pining for live baseball in the US, while broad-casters in 10 foreign territories have snapped up rights to air K-League matches.

South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China, prompting professional sports to suspend or delay their seasons.

But the country appears to have brought its outbreak under

control thanks to an extensive “trace, test and treat” programme.

The start-up will bring welcome live action in a barren sports world where fans have had to make do with sports channels and broadcasters airing repeats of past events.

The K-League, originally due to start in February, will kick off Friday with a blockbuster clash between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, champions for the past three seasons, against FA Cup winners Suwon Bluewings.

And South Korea will next week become the first country to see women’s professional golf resume after COVID-19.

South Korean players dom-inate women’s golf with eight featuring in the world’s top 20, including number one Ko Jin-young.

The $1.8m the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Championship begins on May 14 in Yangju, east of Seoul with world number six Kim Sei-young and 10th-ranked Lee Jeong-eun in the 144-strong field.

South Korea has been seeing only a trickle of new coronavirus infections in recent days, with three fresh cases reported on Tuesday taking the total to 10,804.

'Difficult to predict' restart of badminton: BWF chiefAFP – HONG KONG

Badminton will be back in action “as soon as possible” after the coronavirus crisis, the sport’s chief told AFP, adding that international travel restrictions were complicating the picture.

Badminton, like tennis, golf and other sports with an international circuit, faces major hurdles after countries introduced an array of travel bans and quarantine periods to combat COVID-19.

Thomas Lund, Secretary-General of the Badminton World Federation, said an announcement on a rejigged 2020 calendar was expected soon. But he cautioned that the situation remained fluid.

“We are gearing up to be ready to start competition as soon as possible. This includes formulating a revamped BWF tournament calendar for 2020. An announcement on this will be made shortly,” Lund said in a statement.

“But at this point in time, it is difficult to predict when international movement and entry restrictions will be lifted by individual countries and territories in order to guar-antee that players, their entourage, officials and staff can participate in tournaments safely.”

Badminton has already moved the Thomas and Uber Cups, a highlight of the season, to later in the year, hoping that the virus emergency will have passed.

The de facto men’s and women’s world team cham-pionships -- orginally scheduled for May, and then moved to August -- are now set to take place in Aarhus, Denmark in October.

French Sports Minister says no guarantee Tour will go aheadREUTERS – PARIS

There is no guarantee that the Tour de France will go ahead this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said yesterday.

The Tour, cycling’s biggest event of the year, has been rescheduled to August 29-September 20.

With crowd-drawing events being banned in France until the end of August, special arrangements might have to be made for the start of the Tour in Nice, the sports ministry said last month.

“Many people are begging me to keep the Tour even behind closed doors,” Maracineanu told France Television.

“I hope it will take place but I am not sure. We do not know what the epidemic will be like after lockdown.”

France’s lockdown, in place since March 17, will be partially lifted on Monday, although the seasons of several sports cham-pionships, including soccer’s Ligue 1 and rugby’s Top 14, have already been abandoned.

Maracineanu added that the Tour and tennis’s rescheduled French Open, expected to start on September 20, could be held behind closed doors should the ban on popular events be extended.

“Just like the Tour de France, the French Open is the quin-tessence of professional sports with fans. The Roland Garros stadiums have many seats to fill, having it be played behind closed doors would be the worst solution but we would do it if the survival of those sports was at stake,” she said.

LA Clippers complete purchaseof ForumAGENCIES – LOS ANGELES

Steve Ballmer finalised his $400m purchase of the Forum in Inglewood, Cali-fornia yesterday, allowing Los Angeles Clippers to move closer to building their new arena in the neighborhood.

CAPSS LLC, formed recently by Clippers owner Ballmer, bought the Los Angeles Lakers’ former home from Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

MSG, wich also owns the New York Knicks, and the Clippers had been engaged in lengthy litigation over the lat-ter’s plans to construct another NBA venue in the area.

While the Clippers intend to build an 18,000-seat arena at a cost of more than $1bn, they will retain the slightly smaller Forum as a music-only venue. The newly formed Forum Entertainment LLC will run the Fourm.

“We are excited to welcome The Forum to our family,” Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker said in a press release.

“The talented team at The Forum has created a world-class live entertainment venue, and we are committed to building upon that reputation.

The new Clippers arena is slated to be built directly across from SoFi Stadium, the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers that is scheduled to open later this year.

The area once was home to the Lakers and the NHL’s Kings at The Forum along with the now-closed Hol-lywood Park thoroughbred racetrack, but it hasn’t hosted major sports in two decades.

SK Wyverns’ Ro Soo-kwang in action during the KBO Regular season match against Hanwha Eagles at the Munhak Baseball Stadium in Incheon, South Korea, yesterday.

Olympic champions back on the water as Croatia ease lockdown

REUTERS – ZAGREB

Olympic sculls champions Valent and Martin Sinkovic have returned to outdoor training after lockdown restrictions in Croatia were relaxed.

Croatia entered lockdown in March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, but with cases declining the gov-ernment has eased the curbs on movement.

The Sinkovic brothers, who won the men’s double sculls event at the Rio Olympics in 2016, have spent the lockdown training at home, but carried their boat out to Lake Jarun in Zagreb for a light session on Monday.

“We trained all the time at home, we had ergometers and a room bike, so we were in shape, we just have to get back into rowing shape, rowing technique,” elder brother Valent told Reuters.

“That will take more than

a week, probably a couple of weeks.” The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to start in July, have been postponed to July 23-Aug. 8, 2021, due to the outbreak, but younger brother Martin said the change in dates had not affected him.

“I honestly don’t think about it too much. I prepare as if it was going to be the Olympics,” he said. “I had that attitude before they postponed it this year.

“Hopefully everything will be fine. I don’t want it to be delayed again, but it is how it is and we’ll adjust to the new situation.” The European Championships this year have also been pushed back to October but Valent said the brothers kept each other motivated.

“We motivate ourselves day after day, we try to be better, we try a better tech-nique,” he added. “Now our focus is more on ourselves than on competition.”

UK sports leaders outline ‘catastrophic’ impact of coronavirusAFP – LONDON

Rugby Football Union (RFU) Chief Executive Bill Sweeney (pictured) warned of the “cata-strophic” impact coronavirus could have on the sport if the professional game cannot return in the next year.

Sweeney revealed England’s RFU, which has already lost £15m ($19m) due to the crisis, will lose a total of £107m if the autumn internationals are cancelled.

The prospect of also having to postpone or play next year’s Six Nations Championship behind closed doors is even more stark.

“Eighty-five percent of our revenues come from hosting men’s internationals at Twick-enham,” Sweeney told a meeting

of the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) com-mittee yesterday.

“If this was to be prolonged and go into the summer of next year and the Six Nations games were impacted then it would be a catastrophic impact on rugby union in England.

“If we get into a situation where we are talking about Six Nations matches next February/March being impacted then there is a limit to what we can do independently. We would have to be coming to gov-ernment for some kind of support.”

English Football League (EFL) chairman Rick Parry and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison also spelled out the gravity of the financial crisis

facing their sports to politicians. The ECB’s controversial new Hundred competition has been delayed until 2021 and even if Test matches can go ahead later in the summer, they are likely to be behind closed doors.

“We anticipate with no cricket this year a worst-case scenario could be as bad as £380m,” said Harrison on the loss of revenue faced by the ECB.

“That would be the loss of 800 days of cricket across all of our professional clubs and the ECB. That is the worst-case sce-nario for us this year.”

England were due to host the West Indies and Pakistan in Test matches this summer. However, the West Indies series has already been delayed with pro-fessional cricket postponed until at least July.

“Hopefully we will be able to play a significant number of Test matches this summer which will help us mitigate those financial losses that we are facing at the moment,” added Harrison.

The pros-pects for f o o t b a l l clubs below

the Premier League are also dire with lower leagues much more dependent on gate receipts than the top tier.

Premier League clubs are hoping to forge ahead with their “Project Restart” with the aim of salvaging £762m in television deals for the remainder of this season alone.

By contrast, Parry believes it would cost clubs in his organ-isation to put games on behind closed doors.

“We are heading for a financial hole of about £200m by the end of September,” said Parry.

“We have a great deal of uncertainty around next season

of course, the great undeter-mined matter being when

we’re going to return to play in front of

crowds, which for the EFL is absolutely critical.”

Brothers Valent and Martin

Sinkovic are seen rowing during

the training after the relaxation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-

19) restrictions, in Zagreb’s lake in Jarun, Croatia.

Dummy spectators replacing

the audience during the

match.

Rugby Football Union (RFU) Chief Executive Bill Sweeney reveals England’s RFU, which has already lost £15m ($19m) due to the crisis, will lose a total of £107m if the autumn internationals are cancelled.

10 WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2020SPORT

Cricket chief warns of £380m loss if no matches playedREUTERS - LONDON

English cricket is braced for losses of up to £380m if no matches are played this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Tom Harrison, CEO of The England and Wales Cricket Board.

The cricket season was due to begin on April 2, but no matches will be played now until the start of July at the earliest.

“We anticipate the cost of no cricket this year could be as bad as 380 million pounds. That is the worst-case scenario for us,” Harrison told the UK gov-ernment’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee about the impact of coronavirus.

“That would be the loss of 800 days of cricket across all of our professional clubs and the ECB. It is the most signif-icant financial challenge we have ever faced.”

The sport’s new compe-tition, The Hundred, which Har-rison described as a “profit centre” for cricket that was expected to add £11m of revenue to the game in its first year, has been postponed until next year.

The ECB had sold 170,000 tickets for The Hundred, which had a budget of £40m in its first year and was to be partially shown on BBC television - the first time live cricket has been on the channel since 1999.

It has been pushed back until 2021 but Harrison believes the 100-ball competition will still be a success.

"In terms of the position we put ourselves in for The Hundred, right at the moment Covid-19 struck, we were in a very, very strong place," Har-rison said in a reported on the BBC website.

"The game had never sold

that number of tickets at that speed before, with the exception of the Cricket World Cup.

"We were in a very strong position to achieve exactly what we set out to achieve in terms of growing the audience for cricket in this country.

"The profile of ticket buyers was extremely encouraging - young adults and parents

coming with their children."It's a profit centre for

cricket. It was going to bring in £11m of profit to the game this year. It carries with it an extra dividend to the counties, which is critical revenue to them," the report quoted Harrison as saying.

Meanwhile a three-match Test Series with the West Indies originally scheduled for June has been postponed until later in the summer.

England are due to play a series of T20 and one-day internationals against Australia in July and then followed by a Test series against Pakistan in July and August.

Harrison was still hopeful some Test matches would take place without spectators, which would still incur a loss of around £100m.

But he said such matches were subject to serious logis-tical difficulties while the coro-navirus continues to be a global threat.

“The complexities of lockdown in those nations means there’s a huge amount of complexity to bring teams over, follow government guide-lines and get players ready,” he added.

“But with a following wind, hopefully will be able to play a significant number of Test matches this summer which will help us mitigate those financial losses that we are facing at the moment.”

An event promotional poster of The Hundred showing England’s Moeen Ali. The Hundred, a new version of cricket series designed to attract new audiences to the game in England, has been postponed until June 2021.

Kookaburra waxes lyrical over anti-virus cricket ball innovationAFP - SYDNEY

Australian cricket ball manu-facturer Kookaburra is devel-oping a wax applicator that allows players to shine the ball without using saliva or sweat, minimising the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Players regularly shine one side of the leather-clad ball and scuff up the other to make the ball swing sideways in mid-flight and deceive the batter.

But rubbing spit or sweat into the ball’s surface is expressly forbidden under Australian Institute of Sport guidelines released last week that set out the conditions for the game to resume.

Kookaburra said its wax applicator, while still in “very early stage product devel-opment”, could provide a solution.

“At Kookaburra we are committed to continuous improvement and innovation in the game we love,” General mManager David Orchard said yesterday.

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we are always looking for solutions to allow our game to be played safely by all cricketing com-munities around the world,” he said.

Cricket is suspended around the globe because of the pandemic and the wax applicator would need approval from governing bodies to be used when play resumes.

Kookaburra’s innovation involves using a sponge to apply small amounts of wax to the ball.

Current laws forbid the use of artificial substances to alter the ball but there is a long history of tampering that goes well beyond bowlers spitting on the ball and rubbing it on their clothing. Test players have been accused of using lozenges, petroleum jelly and resin to shine the ball, and also scuffing it with bottle tops, trouser zippers and grit.

The most notorious recent case was in 2018, when some Australian players attempted to alter the ball with sandpaper during a Test against South Africa in Cape Town, resulting in lengthy bans for those involved.

Warne suggests weighted ball to solve shining dilemmaREUTERS - MELBOURNE

Australian spin great Shane Warne has suggested using weighted balls to help pace bowlers generate swing without risking health when cricket resumes after the coronavirus shutdown.

The traditional way of shining the ball by rubbing it with sweat and saliva to gen-erate swing is likely to be dis-continued on health grounds when cricket restarts after the pandemic has subsided.

“Why can’t the ball be weighted on one side so it always swings? It would be like

a taped tennis ball or like with the lawn bowls,” the former leg-spinner told Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. “I’m not sure you’d want it to hoop around corners like Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) but it could swing and give the seamer something on flat wickets when it’s hot and the pitch is at its flattest on day two, day three.”

Pakistan greats Akram and Younis are considered the foremost exponents of reverse swing. A weighted ball would also pre-empt any ball-tam-pering, Warne said.

“You wouldn’t have to worry about anyone tampering

with it with bottle tops, sand-paper, or whatever. It would be a good competition between bat and ball.”

Warne, who retired in 2007 with 1,001 international wickets, said compared to the bat, the ball used in cricket has not really evolved over the years.

“If you pick up one of the bats you started with in the ‘80s, and then one you used at the end of your career, it’s like four of your old ones stuck together - but the thing is lighter! So why has the ball not evolved? If anything, it has got worse.”

Red, pink and white cricket balls manufactured by Kookaburra are seen in this photo posted on the company’s official twitter handle. Pic@KookaburraCkt

Dhoni a big idol, great lesson to watch him in action during IPL, says ButtlerIANS - LONDON

Dashing England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler (pictured below) said yesterday Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always been a big idol and while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) one lesson for him has been how the decorated former India captain manages all the fanfare and still performs in crunch situations.

“MS Dhoni has always been a big idol of mine and chaos is always going around him, people wanting a bit of him, the cricket and the noise,” Buttler said in an interview to Lanca-shire Cricket with Warren Hegg.

“....it is such a great lesson to just watch him and see first hand how to manage all that thing if you have to perform at the top level and perform in those crunch moment, that cer-tainly has been one of the massive pluses,” Buttler added.

Buttler plays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL which is the currently postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 29-year old England’s limited over vice-captain said the cash-rich T20 league has taught him how to handle pressure.

“It was one of pressures you have to learn, especially in India, as an oversees players, you are one of the four in the team and you know the other four who are not playing are also world-class players. So you are under pressure to perform,” he said.

“So that’s been a great learning curve. One of the things I came out with from the first IPL is to just learn to deal with the chaos.”

“There is so much going on off the field, with adverts and stuff that you never done before, meet and greet and different things for different sponsors and then thinking about the game all the time and finding ways to switch off,” added Buttler who started his IPL journey with Mumbai Indians.

Talking about cricket being played behind closed doors, Buttler said: “An interesting thought about when cricket returns, if it comes behind closed doors and there is no fans and stuffs, I know that will be really strange for profes-sional cricketers but in a funny sort of way it will take you back to what it was like when you first started.

“There is no one watching you and you are playing because you love the game. I know it will be different because you have experi-enced the other side of it but that is the most purest form of cricket, isn’t it?”

Buttler added that he is hoping for some form of cricket to return this year.

“One thing that sports does is it brings people together, give people hope. So hope there can be some form of cricket whether it is behind closed doors, or we play the Blasts, just a little bit of something, it would be great to see the boys on field again even if it is for TV, and get that enjoyment from sport again,” he said. “But sports is not on the top of tree with how things are going on. But fingers crossed, things can turn in the pos-itive way as quickly as they went the other way.”

Former Pakistan Test, ODI and T20 all-rounder Shahid Afridi (right) wears a face mask while distributing dry food rations to family members of policemen, who died in service, during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Quetta.

England must ‘make do’ with limited T20 chances: MorganREUTERS - LONDON

England’s players would have to “make do” with limited chances to prepare for the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for later this year in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan said.

The England and Wales Cricket Board last month extended the sus-pension of the professional game in the country until July 1 due to the novel coro-navirus outbreak, which has infected over 3.52 million people globally causing

more than 250,000 deaths. Cricket authorities said late last month they were still planning for the World Cup in October this year, although Cricket Aus-tralia has conceded the entire interna-tional schedule is up in the air due to the virus.

Morgan said there are doubts about Australia’s limited-overs tour of England in July, but believes his team’s three one-day internationals against Ireland in September could be converted into T20s to help them prepare for the World Cup.

“For the last month, everybody has struggled to get a sense of what’s pos-sible and what might or might not happen,” Morgan told reporters via Zoom.

“We may have to make do. If Tests were going on, there would be ways and means we could have meaningful practice games in and around those Ireland games in a similar environment.

“We could have proper opposition and maybe use the England Lions there too to make it as highly competitive as

possible.”Morgan said reduced game time in

the shortest format ahead of the World Cup was not ideal.

“If the T20 World Cup goes ahead in the slot that it’s been allocated at the moment, we’ll have certainly played a limited amount of cricket before then,” he added.

“Given the circumstances we’ll have to see how much cricket we play and the opportunities that land on guys’ laps. They’ll have to make the most of them,” Morgan said.

AP – MADRID

If given the option, Rafael Nadal (pictured) said he would scrap this season

entirely so tennis could resume normally in 2021.

The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hoped

to resume playing this year but doubted it

could happen because of the

pandemic.“I would sign up right now

just to being ready for 2021,” Nadal said in interviews with El País and other Spanish newspapers published yesterday.

“I’m more concerned with the Australian Open than with what happens later this year. I think 2020 has been practi-cally lost. I’m hopeful of being able to start next year.”

Nadal said the logistical difficulties of having to move people from country to country for tournaments make it hard for tennis to resume safely amid the pandemic.

“Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feeling is that we are losing a year of our lives,” Nadal said.

“And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuable than at 20, when you have more time ahead of you.”

Nadal recently said he was concerned with the risk of new injuries when players return to action after a long time

without proper training. The Spaniard has had to deal with a series of injuries throughout his career and expects his body to struggle again when com-petitions finally resume.

Nadal also complained about “confusing” information regarding the return to practice of tennis players in Spain. He said he went to train on a private court because it wasn’t clear to him whether he could practice normally after the government eased some of the lockdown measures that have been in place in the country since mid-March.

Professional and high-per-formance athletes have been allowed to resume practicing at any time this week, but sports facilities and training centers are to remain closed, with some exceptions for soccer clubs and a few other sports.

Novak Djokovic apparently broke confinement rules on Monday for going onto a tennis court at a club in the Spanish city of Marbella. The tennis federation had said players are not yet allowed to practice on courts.

“It’s not clear to me whether I can go practice or not,” Nadal said.

He said he won’t be able to use the main courts at his tennis academy in Mallorca because there are still 85 kids confined there.

“Nobody can get in there,” Nadal said.

11WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2020 SPORT

Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feeling is that we are losing a year of our lives. And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuable than at 20, when you have more time ahead of you: Rafael Nadal

Ramsey first back at Juventustraining, Ronaldo in quarantine

AFP – MILAN

Welsh international Aaron Ramsey was the first Juventus player to return to individual training at the team’s sports centre in Turin yesterday as Cristiano Ronaldo began two weeks’ quarantine after returning to Italy.

Ronaldo flew back to northern Italy by private jet on Monday night after almost two months in corona-virus lockdown in his native Portugal.

Midfielder Ramsey joined Juventus this season after 11 years with Arsenal, and scored his fourth goal in their last game against Inter Milan behind closed doors before the championship was suspended on March 10.

Champions Juventus are leading Serie A, one point ahead of Lazio, as they target a ninth consecutive Scu-detto. Captain Giorgio Chiellini fol-lowed shortly after Ramsey, with fellow Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci, wearing a black face mask, arriving later in the afternoon.

Italy’s interior ministry has given the go-ahead for players to return to club training facilities two weeks ahead of schedule, offering a glimmer of hope that the 2019-20 season might yet be saved.

But sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned that training in groups must wait until May 18, and it remains uncertain whether matches can restart as the country battles a pandemic which has killed over 29,000.

“A realistic prediction can be made in mid-May,” Spadafora said in an interview with Corriere della Sera yes-terday, denying that he wanted to call a halt to the season.

“It would be surreal for a sports minister to demonise football,” he said.

“The majority of Italians do not welcome the resumption of the championship. But I’m not looking at polls at the moment. Football is an important world in this country, I know it well compared to those who want to give a different message.

“I hope to start again, but the gov-ernment will decide. We will rely on scientific elements, which are not available today.

“There is no opposition of mine, but the desire to evaluate the restart only if the health of the people within the team group is safeguarded.

Another virus case in German football before key meetingAP – GERMANY AUE

Second-division German soccer club Erzgebirge Aue put its entire squad in home isolation yesterday after a member of staff tested positive for the corona-virus.

It was the first confirmed case in the German league’s second round of testing, coming a day before a government meeting on loosening lockdown measures to pave the way for soccer to return in empty stadiums.

Aue didn’t name the staff member involved or say how the person could have contracted the coronavirus. The club didn’t report any positive tests from the first round of testing last week.

All players, coaches and backroom staff will stay at home ahead of more coronavirus testing tomorrow, though German soccer’s restart plan doesn’t require automatic quarantine measures.

Ten people tested positive last week from the 36 clubs in the top two men’s divisions. That included two Cologne players and a staff member. The club did not put its squad in isolation, nor did second-division club Stuttgart, which reported one “inconclusive result.”

The other cases have not been pub-licly attributed to any club. The German Football League, which oversees the top two divisions, has asked clubs not to dis-close cases.

Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel and 16 state governors postponed a decision on whether the Bundesliga could resume without fans present. She warned there was still a danger that COVID-19 infections could rise if containment measures were relaxed too soon.

A meeting between Merkel and the governors on Wednesday will discuss resuming soccer in Germany. The league’s plan has faced public criticism regarding the use of coronavirus testing kits on people who appear healthy, and concerns that fans could gather near stadiums.

There was a further backlash on Monday after Hertha Berlin forward Salomon Kalou live-streamed a video of himself greeting teammates with physical contact and bursting in on a teammate’s coronavirus test. Kalou was suspended by the club.

Commenting on the incident yes-terday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said German soccer’s plan was sound despite the flouting of social distancing shown in Kalou’s video.

“The basic concept makes sense and can also be an example for other pro sports categories, by the way. But it has to be lived, too,” Spahn told Deutsch-landfunk radio.

Clubs in the top two divisions have committed to finishing the season by the end of June.

Nadal pessimistic aboutreturn of tennis in 2020

French players can resume training

on Monday AP – PARIS

The French Tennis Federation hopes professional players can resume individual training if the lockdown ends as planned on Monday.

FFT president Bernard Giudicelli says the protocol pro-posed was “favorably received by the sports ministry” and could lead to the resumption of training and other amateur activities.

Professional players would train on outside courts only at the national training center in western Paris or other approved training centers if approved. The national training center was made available for COVID-19 patients at the height of the virus outbreak.

Social distancing will remain in place with all staff on site obliged to wear protective masks. Players will not be required to wear them under the proposed guidelines.

All players must arrive alone and in their Tennis gear and with their own rackets. Players will have a maximum of six balls and must serve only with their marked balls. All partic-ipants must keep their towels inside a bag throughout their stay.

AP – MADRID

If given the option, Rafael Nadal (pictured) said he would scrap this season

entirely so tennis could resume normally in 2021.

The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hoped

to resume playing this year but doubted it

could happen because of the

pandemic.

Juventus’ Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey arrives in his car at the Juventus’ Continassa training ground in Turin, yesterday.

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Spanish club says it mistakenly allowed Djokovic to train

AP – MADRID

The tennis club where Novak Djokovic (pictured) broke confinement rules in Spain said yesterday it mistakenly allowed the top-ranked Serb to practice and apologized for the error.

Djokovic published a video of him training on Monday in apparent violation of Spain’s current rules amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The video posted on Instagram showed Djokovic exchanging shots with another man at the club in the coastal city of Marbella, where the Serb has been staying for the past several weeks.

Djokovic filmed the video while hitting shots and wrote he was “so happy to play on clay .. well, just for a

bit with my phone in the hands.”Spain has eased some of

the lockdown measures that had been in place since mid-March, allowing professional athletes to return to practice, but most training centers and sports facilities must remain closed until next week.

“We are sorry that our interpretation of the regu-lation could have been erro-neous, and this could have inconvenienced Mr. Djokovic or any other citizen acting in good faith,” the Puente Romano Marbella Tennis Club said in a statement.

The statement, which was relayed by Djokovic’s man-agement team, said the club received a request from the player to practice and gave him the go-ahead with the

“understanding that from May 4 all professional sports players were authorized to train.” The club said it therefore believed he was “permitted to train in our facilities.”

It said it later received a “clarification” from the Spanish tennis feder-ation and “both parties have agreed that training should resume” only next week.

Rafael Nadal said he also went to train on a court this week, but he did it on private property because the rules weren’t fully clear to him.

Soccer players were among the exceptions who could start training inside sports facilities beginning this week.

WTA chief backs Federer’s ATP, WTA merger suggestion

AFP – NEW YORK

The head of the WTA Tour has voiced support for a merger with the ATP Tour following calls led by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to integrate the men’s and women’s circuits.

In an interview with the New York Times published yesterday, WTA chief exec-utive Steve Simon said a unified circuit made sense.

“I’m not afraid of the full merger; I never have been,” Simon told the Times.

“I would certainly be the first to support it ... Obviously it’s a long and winding road to get there, but I think it makes all the sense in the world.” Simon’s remarks came after Federer and Nadal voiced support for a merger last month.

“Just wondering... am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?” Federer asked in a posting on Twitter.

Federer’s statement drew enthusiastic support, with Nadal and trailblazing women’s tennis legend Billie Jean King among those aligning with the Swiss ace.

“I agree, and have been saying so since the early 1970s. One voice, women and men together... Let’s make it happen,” King tweeted.

“I completely agree that it would be great to get out of this world crisis with the union of men’s and women’s tennis

in one only organization,” Nadal added.

In his interview with the Times, Simon said that any unification was still some way in the distant future.

However, the climate of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic could provide the impetus to reach agreement on a merger.

“This is a unique time,” Simon said. “Crisis and chal-lenges can sometimes provide opportunity as well.

“There’s going to be no shortage of accountants, tax attorneys, attorneys and eve-rybody else that is involved with it. It would take time, but conceptually it may not take as long.

“If you agree on the goal, you can usually get things done quicker.”

Both the ATP and WTA Tours have been forced to take cost-cutting measures since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. Both tours have been on hiatus during the crisis, with several tournaments e i t h e r c a n c e l e d o r postponed.

Simon told the Times that a merger was not necessary to ensure the WTA Tour’s survival.

“This isn’t about trying to save the WTA,” Simon said.

“We’ll be fine, but look, if we’re going to do the right business thing and we’re finally going to bring the sport together, I think the WTA would be very supportive of this concept.