Monday, December 26, 2016Rabia I 27, 1438 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

FOOTBALL

Conte, Guardiola brace for Boxing Day baptismsPage 3

Kaepernick leads Niners to comeback win over Rams

Davon and Macklincombine to crush Qatar SC

BASKETBALL BASKETBALL | Page 2 NFL | Page 5

Even in chess you need to be on right side of age: Anand

FOCUS

By Yash MudgalDoha

Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand has had a mixed 2016.

He won the Leon Chess Rap-id Masters tournament and had a verygood Sinquefi eld Cup in St. Louis, TalMemorial tournament and the London Chess Classic.

He lost the Candidates tournament where, despite beating eventual winner Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, Anand ended up joint second. He fi nished fourth in the 2016 Grand Chess tour, resulting in him not securing a direct qualifi cation for the Grand Chess tour of 2017.

And at the age of 47, he is in no mood to relent.

“My ambitions are high. I’m going to play a lot of chess,” Anand said after the London Chess Classic recently.

Anand, who became a Grandmaster at 18, was called Lightning Kid then.

The former No.1 ruled the world from 2007 to 2012 as the undisputed king, with his famous wins coming against Russian Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov in 2010 and Israel’s Boris Gelfand two years later, all at the World Championships.

In fact, Carlsen even helped Anand pre-pare for the fi nals against Kramnik and Topalov.

Anand is now considered just off his peak and is a generation older than his Norwegian rival, who is 21 years younger to him. Carlsen had beaten the Indian for his fi rst world title in 2013 in Chennai and then again in the 2014 fi nal in Sochi.

Before the Chennai event, Anand had a 6-3 win-loss record in 29 matches against the Norwegian, but Carlsen comfortably dethroned Anand, winning 6.5-3.5.

But does age matter in chess?“In general, age is no criteria for a chess

player, but yes, age has an impact on criti-cal thinking and overall game. I would love to be younger,” Anand, who will play the World Rapid and Blitz championship in Doha starting today, said.

Carlsen, 26, who is on an upswing and will be taking part in Doha event, also ech-oed Anand’s view.

“I agree with Vishy. It’s a combination of youthful energy and knowledge. It is easier to deal with pressure when you are young because the lack of experience is easier to deal with, as compared to lack of energy and motivation, which is a part of older age,” the young champion said.

Talking about his recent performances and the targets for next year, the Indian GM said, “I have had a reasonably good 2016, nothing spectacular, but I have my moments. There are positives to take out from 2016.

“Next year I am not playing much in the fi rst quarter of the year, but rest of the year is hectic. I hope to perform better next year,” said Anand, who has been a part of all the world championship fi nals since 2007.

This is Anand’s third trip to Doha and he is excited to explore the new sights in the country.

“I am coming to Doha after a gap of around 21 years and I can see the changes in the country’s landscape. It has a size-able number of Indians and I am looking forward to visit a new place during my stay here,” he said.

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Gulf Times Monday, December 26, 20162

Carlsen, Anand to headline Rapid and Blitz Worlds

Davon-Macklin combine crushes Qatar SC

FIDE WORLD RAPID AND BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIPS

QATAR BASKETBALL LEAGUE

By Sports ReporterDoha

With 72 points between them, Dominic James Davon and Vernon Leon Macklin sealed the fate of

Qatar Sports Club as El Jaish registered a dominating 108-85 victory in the Qa-tar Basketball Federation Men’s League at Al Gharafa Sports Club yesterday.

In the fi rst match of the day, Qatar SC started slow as Jaish took a 5-1 lead. However, a nine-point run saw Qatar SC wrestle a 10-5 lead. However, by the end of the fi rst quarter Jaish was back in the front at 28-23.

The second quarter was largely an even aff air after both the teams dunked 26 points each, with the half-time score at 54-49.

Moments into the fi nal quarter, with the scoreline at 82-71 in Jaish’s favour, a 13-point haul by Jaish players com-pletely decimated Qatar SC’s confi -dence, and the latter were soon staring at a mammoth task.

Jaish pressed on, even extending their lead to 29 points at 106-77, before ending the game at 108-85.

Davon and Macklin dunked 37 and 35 points respectively, while Mohamed Yousef Mohamed and Fadi Hani Abilmo-

na adding 14 and 11 points respectively.James Edward Justice Jr’s match-

leading haul of 41 points for Qatar SC ended up in vain eventually, while teammates Quinton Meddrick Doggett (14 points) and Abdirahman Ibrahim Giama (12 points) were the other play-ers to get into double digits.

Al Gharafa brushed aside Al Arabi challenge with a big 93-59 win yester-day.

While Arabi did lead in the fi rst few minutes of the game, thereafter it was Gharafa all the way.

A 15-point scoring run by Gharafa meant that they had the upper hand towards the end of the fi rst quarter. Gharafa’s biggest lead was 47 points at 75-28.

Sammy Monroe Jr. II was the top-scorer for Al Gharafa with 25 points, while Wayne Alexander Arnold Jr, Kha-lid Abdulla Adam and Abdulrahman Mohamed Saad added 16, 12 and 10 points respectively.

Adamu Saaka scored 19 points for Al Arabi while teammates Emmanuel Osaro Adako and Fahad Abdulla Abu-Faisal added 12 points each.

Action in the league returns tomor-row, with Al Sadd taking on Al Ahli in the fi rst match at 5:15pm, while Al Rayyan and Al Shamal facing off with each other at 7:15pm.

El Jaish’s Dominic James Davon (right) in action against Qatar SC during their match yesterday. Davon scored 37 points in the match. PICTURES: Anas Khalid

Al Arabi’s Adamu Saaka (left) was the top-scorer for his team in the match against Al Gharafa yesterday. Gharafa won 93-59.

By Yash MudgalDoha

The Fide World Rapid and Blitz Championships should satisfy the appetite of chess lovers who have been craving for big-

ger events in Qatar after two successful editions of Qatar Masters.

The twin world championship fea-turing more than 400 players from 75 countries, including world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and former world champion Viswanathan Anand of India, will start today at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena.

The Rapid and Blitz format is not as prominent as the classic one, but pres-ence of title holders and former cham-pions are a big boost for the champi-onship.

“Rapid and Blitz are for enjoyment. It is touch and go. You make one mis-take and you are gone,” Carlsen said during a pre-event press conference yesterday.

Carlsen’s World Championship challenger Sergey Karjakin (Elo 2785) of Russia will also have an opportunity to avenge his tie-breaker defeat to the Norwegian in the FIDE World Cham-pionships in New York recently.

Anand (Elo 2779), who missed out on a World Championship match this year, will get a chance to lock horns with Carlsen, who will be looking to defend his Rapid title.

The top-seeded Norwegian (Elo 2853) will also face tough challenges from France’s Maxime Vachier-La-grave (2811), Armenia’s Levon Aronian (2795) and USA’s Hikaru Nakamura (2779) in his bid to defend the title.

The young champion is aware of the tough battle ahead and said it would not be easy as many former world champions would be breathing down his neck in Qatar.

“Yes, Vishy and many others will be a hurdle for me. Though I can’t pin-point any specifi c names, who will be a threat to me here,” said Carlsen.

The world No. 1 would be looking for a ‘double’, eyeing the Blitz title he had last won in 2014.

Anand, who was also present for the press conference, said the fi eld looks strong.

“It will be a tough one,” the 47-year-old Indian GM said.

The Chennai-born, who became a grandmaster three decades back, said he has come back to Qatar after a gap of 26 years and over the years the country has undergone drastic changes.

The Grandmaster said he was confi -dent the hosts will deliver an excellent championship.

“I have known (Qatar Chess Asso-ciation general secretary) Mohamed (al-Medhaiki) for many years and I am sure that the organisation of the cham-pionship will match the high standards they have set over the years.”

In the women’s Rapid event, de-fending champion Kateryna Lagno of Russia is once again the favourite,

while Ukraine-born Anna Muzychuk is expected to defend her Blitz title she won in Khanty-Mansiysk.

“I am happy to be in Qatar, this is my fi rst trip to the country and hopefully it will be a memorable one,” the GM, who plays for Slovakia said.

Al-Medhaiki, for his part said, “We are happy to host this tournament in Qatar. This is the second time an event of such magnitude will be hosted in the Middle East. The high calibre of players who have indicated their in-terest to come to Doha is a testimony to the quality of organisation of our past tournaments, especially the Qatar Masters.”

Qatar is hosting the championships for the fi rst time.

“It’s going to be another big occa-sion for us. We’ll live up to our ex-pectations as a good host. The Qatar Masters was a classic tournament, but Rapid and Blitz events will give fans something diff erent to look forward to. We need such big tournaments to edu-cate the parents and kids. The chess activity improved a lot over the last three years with many new students enrolled in QCA training centres,” the Qatari GM said.

The Rapid event will be held over three days (December 26-28) at a time control of 15min+10s and the Blitz Championships will be run on the next two days (December 29-30) at a time control of 3min+2s. Both the events will be Swiss pairings tournaments.

The Blitz will have 21 rounds in open championship and 17 rounds in the women’s championship, with a sin-gle game for each round of the Swiss event.

On the other hand, the Rapid will be of 15 rounds for Open and 12 rounds for the women’s championship, with a single game for each round of the Swiss event.

The total prize fund for the tourna-ment is $400,000 with $40,000 for the winner of each championship and $80,000 in the women championships with $10,000 for the winner of each championship.

World Blitz champions, three-time winner Alexander Grischuk (2006, 2012, 2015), Vassily Ivanchuk (2007), Leinier Dominguez (2008), Levon Aronian (2010), world Rapid champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2013) and other top players are also taking part in the tournament.

In the women’s section former world Rapid champions Alexandra Ko-steniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, Anna Ushenina, Zhu Chen, 2014 world Rapid champion and 2010 world Blitz cham-pion Katerina Lagno, 2012 world Blitz champion Valentina Gunina, FIDE Grand Prix Series winner Ju Wenjun and other top players also feature in the participants list.

SCHEDULE26 Dec: Day 1 – Rapid27 Dec: Day 2 – Rapid28 Dec: Day 3 – Rapid29 Dec: Day 1 – Blitz30 Dec: Day 2 - Blitz

‘The high calibre of players who have indicated their interest is a testimony to the quality of organisation of our past events’

Qatar Chess Association general secretary Mohamed al-Medhaiki (left) poses with women’s Blitz champion Anna Muzychuk (second from left), world champion Magnus Carlsen and former world champion Viswanathan Anand (right) at a press conference yesterday. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed

Qatar Chess Association president Khalifa al-Hitmi

FOOTBALL3Gulf Times

Monday, December 26, 2016

Conte, Guardiola brace for Boxing Day baptisms

EPL

Veteran Lampard open to Chelsea return as player

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AFPLondon

Frank Lampard admitted on Sat-urday he would relish a return to Chelsea as a player and is keen to rejoin the Premier League leaders

in some capacity even if he is not off ered a deal.

The former England midfielder is Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer and is keeping his options open after leaving New York City FC following a two-year spell with the MLS side.

Appearing alongside Blues captain John Terry on Sky Sports, Lampard said: “Myself and John are Chelsea through and through so whatever hap-pens, in some capacity I will be at Chel-sea.

“Whether it’s with my season ticket, watching them, I don’t know yet, I’ll have very close contact. Whether I’ll have the role (as a player), it’s not all in

my hands so I can’t go any further on that.

“I’m very relaxed about it, which is a nice place to be. If the right thing comes, I’ll take it.

Obviously Chelsea, I’d love that, but it doesn’t work that way always.”

The 38-year-old left Stamford Bridge in 2014 after scoring 211 goals in a 13-year spell at Chelsea, briefly play-ing for Manchester City before heading to the United States.

He scored 15 times in 31 appearances for New York City and has yet to decide whether he will retire or not.

“I feel fit, I’m fresh in the mind,” Lampard added. “I understand when you get even past 30, you start to un-derstand things are different.

“What I would say is, if I was to carry on playing, it would have to be perfect.

I’m not being snobby and hand-picking what I want to do but perfect for my family, for me and all those things.”

AFPLondon

Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola are among the Premier League managers who

will sample England’s Boxing Day foot-ball extravaganza for the fi rst time today.

While the rest of the population gorges on Christmas turkey dinners and knocks back festive drinks, 16 teams will be gear-ing up for matches as part of a custom that stretches back over 150 years.

With Chelsea six points clear at the summit and chasing a 12th consecutive win, which would set a new club record, Conte is approaching the visit of Bourne-mouth with a spring in his step.

“This is the fi rst experience for me and my family, to work, to play football (at this time of year),” said the Italian. “It can be, and I hope it will be, a fantastic experience.The atmosphere we fi nd in this period is very diffi cult to fi nd in another period. It’s fantastic.”

Chelsea have registered 11 consecutive wins within the same season for the fi rst time after winning 1-0 at Crystal Palace last weekend.

Another victory will leave them one win from equalling Arsenal’s 2002 record for successive wins in the same campaign, which they extended to 14 the following season.

But Conte will be without both top scorer Diego Costa and midfi eld lynch-pin N’Golo Kante after they picked up suspension-incurring bookings at Palace.

Guardiola, too, is full of festive cheer following his side’s 2-1 comeback win over Arsenal last weekend, which left City seven points below Chelsea in third place.

While the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach appreciates the novelty of Christmas football, he is preparing for his side’s match at bottom club Hull City by pretending it is a regular fi xture.

“This is my fi rst year here and peo-ple say that at Christmas you have to be focused, because at home you celebrate with dinner and lunch, and we have to be prepared,” Guardiola said.

“We are going to train on the 25th in the afternoon and travel to Hull to play on the 26th.We will prepare for the game as if it was not Christmas time or Boxing Day.”

Arsenal slipped to fourth, nine points off the pace, after their loss at the Etihad Stadium, which followed hot on the heels of a 2-1 defeat at Everton.

Arsene Wenger’s side welcome West Bromwich Albion to the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day and centre-back Gabriel says his side cannot aff ord to be distracted by seasonal excitement.

“I think all players just want to be fo-cused on the game, rather than celebrat-ing,” the Brazilian told the Arsenal web-site.

“If I do have some time, I’ll organise a dinner with my friends to make the most of the short time off . Then, I have to be

ready and focused again.”Jose Mourinho has long been an avowed

admirer of England’s Boxing Day tradi-tions and with his Manchester United team chasing a fourth straight win, he is relishing the prospect of Sunderland’s visit. “I love it!” Mourinho told MUTV. “I know that the family miss something from us, but the family loves us.

“They know us, they know our nature, they know that we are happy playing football, giving all of the people that love football something really special in a pe-riod when almost no country has football for the fans.” Sunderland manager David Moyes will return to Old Traff ord for the fi rst time since he was sacked by United in April 2014.

Champions Leicester City will hope to give their supporters some Christmas cheer when they host Everton in a repeat of the fi xture that preceded last season’s title coronation.

Top of the table last Christmas, Claudio Ranieri’s men are three points above the relegation zone after winning just one of their last eight games.

Two points back in 17th place, Palace begin life under new manager Sam Al-lardyce — appointed as the successor to Alan Pardew on Friday — with a trip to Watford.

Liverpool, second, host Stoke City to-morrow, with fi fth-place Tottenham Hot-spur visiting Southampton the following day.

No sooner have those games fi nished than preparations for the breathless turn-of-the-year schedule — 20 games in six days — will begin.

FixturesToday: (1500 GMT unless otherwise stated):Arsenal v West Brom, Chelsea v Bourne-mouth, Hull v Man City (1715 GMT), Leicester v Everton, Man Utd v Sunder-land, Burnley v Middlesbrough, Swansea v West Ham, Watford v Crystal Palace (1230 GMT)Tomorrow (1715 GMT):Liverpool v Stoke Wednesday (1945 GMT):Southampton v Tottenham

Mourinho feeling right at home in Manchester

SPOTLIGHT

AFPManchester

Manchester Unit-ed manager Jose Mourinho says he has started to feel

“really at home” at Old Traff ord and believes foundations are in place to bring success back to the club.

Mourinho endured a diffi cult start to life in Manchester af-ter succeeding Louis van Gaal, but the Portuguese’s impact has started to be felt in recent weeks.

United head into their Boxing Day fi xture against Sunderland on the back of three consecu-tive Premier League victories and with the Champions League places almost within reach.

“What I can say is that in here I felt people with open arms. A very calm, and intelligent, board and owners.

They know what they want,” Mourinho said.

“They have big experience al-ready. Very calm, very pragmat-ic, giving me good conditions to work and the players and people that surround me.

“I felt (aware of) some sadness because people that love foot-ball, they want to be successful and everybody tries to help to go in the same direction.

“For me it was easy to come.A diffi cult job, but easy now to feel at home.

“Easy to feel good in the club, easy to feel that the club wants to progress, the people want to be happy again and I felt good immediately.

“So fi ve, six months here, but really feeling at home. For me it was quite easy.

“Obviously expectations are high, results up and down, we are in a position that is not the position where we want to be.

“But in terms of passion for my work, passion for my new club, feeling really happy here, yes.”

Mourinho is again set to start with striker Zlatan Ibrahi-movic against Sunderland, the 35-year-old having taken his United tally to 16 goals with a brace in last weekend’s 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.

He paid tribute to the endur-

ance of the former Sweden in-ternational and his ability to cope with the rigours of English football despite his advancing years.

“I think 35 for him is the same as 25,” Mourinho said.

“He scores goals, plays well, I’m really happy for him because he will end his career on high, not in America or China.

He’s ending his career at the top. His record is good.He can improve. With no penalties, that is amazing too. Normally other guys that are top scorers have a lot of penalties.He had one pen-alty in 17 matches.I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Mourinho is still without Luke Shaw (groin), but otherwise has a full complement of defend-ers to choose from with Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly all available.

Sunderland manager David Moyes goes back to Old Traf-ford in charge of a team for the fi rst time since he was sacked by United in April 2014.

Moyes was given only 10 months to make an impact after he was chosen to replace Alex Ferguson, but has no regrets about leaving Everton to take the job.

“My time there was too short, but as I have said many times, you have to win games and I didn’t win enough games,” said the Scot.

“I would do it again, 100 %.Very few people are off ered

the job at Manchester United and I was honoured to be off ered the job.

“It was a great experience and one I wouldn’t change because of the quality of the players and professionalism I found.”

Former United players Donald Love and John O’Shea could be in the Sunderland side, but Ad-nan Januzaj, who is on loan from Old Traff ord, is not eligible to face his parent club.

“I will feel that I’m going into a diffi cult game and for us to get a result we will have to play re-ally well,” said Moyes.

“Nevertheless we are in pretty good shape as well. We have had a pretty good run, so we want to go there and do well.”

Another victory will leave Chelsea one win from equalling Arsenal’s 2002 record for successive wins in the same campaign, which they extended to 14 the following season

CHELSEA IN NUMBERS

Antonio Conte is the first Premier League manager to win 14 of his opening 17 matches. He has managed 56 victories over his past 66 league games with Juventus and Chelsea – an 84.8 per cent success rate.Diego Costa has scored 20 Premier League goals in 2016; only Sergio Aguero (27) and Harry Kane (21) have hit more.No team has conceded fewer Premier League goals than Chelsea (11). Chelsea have the best goal diff erence (+24), three better Liverpool.Since the change to a back-three defence, Chelsea have won all 11 Premier League games, scoring 25 goals and conceding two.In Europe’s top-five leagues this season, only Bayern Munich (nine) have conceded fewer goals than Chelsea (11).Eden Hazard (54) and Diego Costa (46) are the two most fouled players in the Premier League this term.

Man City coach Guardiola rates Messi higher than Ronaldo

Hull, UK: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has put Argentine Lionel Messi ahead of Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, adding there cannot be any doubt on the long-stand-ing debate.Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or award on the back of a stellar year which included winning the Champions League and European Championships, but Guardiola said the Real Madrid star still has some way to go to match his FC Barcelona counterpart.“Messi is the best, he is defi-nitely the best,” the Manchester City manager told a news conference yesterday.“He knows how to play, score and make the other players play. He is always there.

“With all the respect to all the players, first to Cristiano Ronal-do – congratulations to him for the award – I think Messi is on another level,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by ESPNFC.Barcelona manager Luis Enrique also backed Messi re-cently, dismissing the obsession with “golden melons” and said it was “ridiculous” to compare Messi with other players.

FOOTBALL

Gulf Times Monday, December 26, 20164

Guardiola pleased with rejuvenated Raheem Sterling

PRAISE SPOTLIGHT

‘The last month and a half, he was a little bit down. But you can forget again how young he is and he needs to live a lot of experience to become more stable’

AFPLeicester

Leicester City host Ever-ton today hoping inspired words from the players can transform a season,

not just a match.The week has revealed how

angry exchanges in the dressing room at Stoke City last Satur-day helped inspire a second half performance that saw them fi ght back from 2-0 down with 10 men to claim a 2-2 draw.

Now the Premier League champions hope those irate words, and the subsequent per-formance, can turn around a season that has left them fl irting dangerously with the relegation scrap — only three points sepa-rate them from third from bot-tom Sunderland.

Goalkeeper Kasper Sch-meichel said: “Every now and then, if something needs to be said, I’ll happily say it. I was very emotional and very irate at the time and had some things that I wanted to get off my chest.

“I wasn’t the only one — a lot of people spoke.We’ve got a dressing room with a lot of leaders in there so we had a good chat and decided that this wasn’t the way the game was going to go.”

Manager Claudio Ranieri said he welcomed the players speak-ing frankly.

“It is important that eve-rybody reacts,” said Ranieri. “Sometimes players speak, sometimes there are leaders on the pitch and it’s important they are linked very well together.”

Ranieri added it could prove to be the pivotal moment of their campaign.

“Yes, it could be our turn-ing point but we have to show it in the next three games,” said Ranieri.

“In the dressing room there was a fantastic atmosphere.The players believed they could get back and they were right.

“You can’t repeat that be-cause there are some moments that are very particular mo-

ments that you can’t recreate, but of course the players must understand that the next games are very important for us.

“Always I encourage my play-ers to speak.”

Ranieri will have to cope, however, without striker Jamie Vardy, who is suspended for three games after being sent off against Stoke, whilst defend-ers Robert Huth and Christian Fuchs will also serve one-match bans against Everton.

And midfi elder Danny Drink-water is still a doubt with a calf injury.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman admits he is uncertain whether Ross Barkley will go on to fulfi l his undoubted poten-tial.

Barkley has been tipped for greatness with club and coun-try ever since he burst on to the scene as a raw teenager fi ve years ago.

The midfi elder’s attributes as a player have seen him favoura-bly compared to the likes of Paul Gascoigne and Michael Ballack.

But Barkley — considered fortunate not to be sent off in the Merseyside Derby last Mon-day for a brutal foul on Jordan Henderson — has suff ered a dip in form this season which has seen him lose his place in the England squad and be dropped to the bench by Koeman.

The Dutchman off ered a ten-tative reply when asked if there was a concern Barkley might never scale the heights for which he seemed destined.

“I am not sure, I am not sure,” Koeman said. “Ross needs to im-prove to be the player that maybe everyone expected when he was 18 or 19.

“I had the same stories in Hol-land with players who, when they were 16 or 17, they were too good in the academy.

“They didn’t really have com-petition but because they were stronger or they were a better player than the rest.

“But then they step up a level and everyone is strong, every-body is a good player, and still you need to make a diff erence.”

Warburton hails battling Glasgow RangersSCOTTISH SCENE

AFPKingston upon Hull, UK

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes winger Raheem Sterling has recap-tured his best form in time for

the club’s hectic festive programme in the Premier League.

Sterling, 22, made a superb start to the season under incoming manager Guardi-ola, but then the England winger endured a diffi cult period as he struggled to make an impression in games.

He produced a fi ne display last time out, though, as City came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 and ahead of Monday’s trip to Hull City, Guardiola believes he looks back to his old self.

“In the last game, Raheem came back to the level he started the season,” said Guardiola, whose side sit third in the ta-ble, seven points below leaders Chelsea.

“The last month and a half, he was a little bit down. But you can forget again how young he is and he needs to live a lot

of experience to become more stable.“But in general, his performance

was high and we need this guy for one-against-one situations.” Sterling has found the net six times in all competi-tions for City this season and Guardiola has urged the former Liverpool player to get into the penalty area more often.

“Sometimes I say to him, ‘You need to play wide, wide, wide and stay there and make action one-against-one,’” said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach.

“When he does that, it’s diffi cult for him to get into the box, but for example the fi rst goal, I think it was against Sun-derland, he played wide like a winger, but he arrived on the penalty spot.I think the strikers and the wingers, they have to move how they feel, especially in the last

metres.“Of course, he is not our top scorer, but

he has to feel how beautiful it is to score goals, how important it is for the team, but for him as well.

“He scored a beautiful goal in the last game and he gave us a lot, especially dur-ing the fi rst month and a half.

He was our key, key player in front and of course we need him.”

City are still without striker Sergio Aguero as he serves the fi nal match of his four-game suspension, but midfi elder Fernandinho is available after a three-match ban.

Captain Vincent Kompany (knee) and midfi elders Ilkay Gundogan (knee) and Fabian Delph (groin) will miss out, while right-back Pablo Zabaleta is doubtful with a knee problem.

Hull manager Mike Phelan, who has no fresh injury concerns, thinks Scottish winger Robert Snodgrass will be integral to his side’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the top fl ight.

The Tigers are languishing three points from safety at the foot of the table, but

Snodgrass’s form in front of goal has been one of the plus points of a testing cam-paign.

“I think he’s an important cog in the system. Robert’s scored goals, he’s played in a couple of positions and he’s enjoying it,” Phelan said.

“From now until the end of the season I think it’s important that he continues in that vein. “He’s willing, he’s capable and he’s performed very, very well.

He had an injury that question-marked whether he would recover. He has done and performed really well.”

Phelan is hopeful the Tigers can hang on to the Scotland international, scorer of seven goals in all competitions, when the transfer window re-opens in January.

“Any football club should be looking to keep their assets and he’s one of them,” said the former Manchester United as-sistant manager.

“Because of his contract situation, he’s under contract, so unless someone comes in with a huge amount of money which it would take to deliver somewhere else, he’s a Hull City player.”

Angry dressing room exchanges spur Leicester

SPOTLIGHT

AFPGlasgow

Rangers manager Mark Warburton praised his side’s resilience as they ground out a 1-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The Glasgow giants struggled against the Scottish Premiership’s bottom side as they needed a Brad McKay own goal to claim their fourth victory in a row for the fi rst time this season.

The victory strengthens Rangers’ grip on second place as they moved seven points clear of Aberdeen and Warburton said it had been a huge win for his side.

“The players have had a bad day in terms of quality of performance but they’ve emerged with the three points,” he said.

“All credit to them.If you can have an off day and still emerge

with the spoils it speaks volumes for the team.“That’s four victories out of four, we’ve got

38 points now from 19 games and we’ll move forward.

“We got the goal, we missed a couple of chances but we were just too open.

Generally we were loose today but they bat-tled and scrapped and they’ve emerged with the three points.

“When you’ve had a bad day and you emerge

with the points against a hard-working good team like Inverness you’ve got to take the posi-tives.

“It’s a huge three points for us because we’ve had three good performances and got the nine points out of nine and today we weren’t good but we still got the three points so I’m very pleased with that.

“If they were perfect every week they would be on a quarter of a million pound a week and playing in the (Santiago) Bernabeu (at Real Ma-drid).

“But the fact is they’re human and they’ve played four games and won four games.

Three very good performances and a sub-par today, but they’ve taken the points against a good team so you’ve got to take the positives out of a negative and that’s what we’ll do.

“We’ll train well this week and look forward to another test on Wednesday.”

Inverness had a number of chances in the match only for Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foder-ingham to deny them with a string of superb saves.

Manager Richie Foran couldn’t hide his dis-appointment at not taking anything from the game.

“I thought we controlled the game.To come and dominate the game and not

come away with anything is probably the hard-est thing to take,” Foran said.

“Performance-wise we were just lacking a little bit of magic and unfortunately we were up against a keeper who was in unbelievable form.

“It is soul destroying to not come away with at least a point. In all my years of facing them I don’t think I’ve been involved in a team that has come to the Old Firm and played that well.

“It was an unbelievable performance but it was not to be our day.

“Man for man we were fantastic and the players are quite defl ated by this.

“If we play like that in the remainder of our games we will be in the top six.”

Ten-man Celtic will be top of the Scottish Premiership at Christmas as they maintained their 14-point lead over Rangers with a 3-0 win over Hamilton.

Sterling, 22, made a superb start to the season under incoming manager Guardiola, but then the England winger endured a diffi cult period as he struggled to make an impression in games

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri

Kaepernick leads Niners to comeback win over Rams

SPOTLIGHT

‘It reminded me of the Miami game. We played good all game, then the last few possessions, it’s like we gave up, man, the whole team, including myself’

MCTLos Angeles

It really could not have ended any other way.

Not for this Rams team. Not in this lost season.

A matchup against the NFL’s worst defense? A two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter?

As usual, none of that mattered on Sat-urday against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams’ 22-21 defeat at the Colise-um – punctuated by a decisive two-point conversion run by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick – added another igno-minious performance to a string of them.

In a season of bad endings, this one probably ranked as the worst.

“Seems like it’s a little bit more of the same,” interim Coach John Fassel said.

Actually, it was a lot more of the same.The Rams have lost 10 of their last 11

games and will limp into next week’s fi -nale against the Arizona Cardinals with a 4-11 record.

Two of the losses came against the 49ers, who have won only two games – both, of course, against the Rams.

The season-opening 28-0 defeat at Levi’s Stadium on “Monday Night Foot-ball” was regarded by some as an anom-aly after the Rams won their next three games and sat atop the NFC West.

That thought vanished as the losses mounted.

But the Rams, wearing their throwback uniforms, were favoured in the rematch with a 49ers team that had 17 players on injured reserve and fi rst-year Coach Chip Kelly on the hot seat.

It did not matter.“It’s horrible,” three-time Pro Bowl

defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. “I don’t know what else to say ... . It’s defi -nitely frustrating, man. I’m kind of tired of going home mad every week.”

Said receiver Tavon Austin: “We had the game. We were up by 14 in the fourth and we gave it away.”

The defense faltered at the end after the Rams’ NFL-worst off ense once again failed to keep it off the fi eld by sustaining drives.

Rookie quarterback Jared Goff com-pleted 11 of 24 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions.

“The off ense needs to play better,” Goff said. “It starts with the quarterback, it starts with me. As the leader of the team, the leader of the off ense I need to be better.

“Better than I was (Saturday), for sure.”Despite Goff ’s struggles – he was

sacked four times – he positioned the Rams for victory by connecting with rookie tight end Tyler Higbee for a touchdown with 10:32 left.

“I felt real confi dent in where we were,” Goff said.

But Rams fans had to feel uneasy.On Nov. 20 against Miami, the Rams

led by 10 points at the Coliseum with just over six minutes left in Goff ’s debut.

The Dolphins drove for two touch-

downs to win.After losing to the 49ers, Rams players

remembered it well.“It reminded me of the Miami game,”

cornerback Trumaine Johnson said. “We

played good all game, then the last few possessions, it’s like we gave up, man, the whole team, including myself.”

The defense had the misfortune of running into Kaepernick just as he recap-tured his vintage form down the stretch.

The sixth-year pro mostly made head-lines this season for not standing for the national anthem and for speaking out against social injustice. On Saturday, he engineered two clutch drives and also ran the ball in for the decisive conversion.

The Rams led, 21-7, when Kaepernick scrambled for a touchdown that pulled the 49ers to within a touchdown with about fi ve minutes left.

The Rams went three and out and the 49ers took over at their 27.

Kaepernick masterfully drove his team down the fi eld, connecting with receiver Rod Streater for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds left. Kaepernick then scrambled to his right and dove into the end zone for the winning points.

“It was a designed rollout,” Kelly said. “That’s what we were trying to do with him_try to get him on the edge.”

The Rams’ hopes for a possible game-winning fi eld goal ended when Rashard Robinson intercepted Goff ’s pass.

“That’s football,” Rams running back Todd Gurley said. “Nothing is in the bag. We done went through this before.”

Way too many times.“It’s defi nitely frustrating to lose the

way we have; we just fi nd ways to lose,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “But I commend these guys for staying together, we haven’t had any big issues with pointing the fi ngers or anything like that.”

The Rams will be off Sunday and then return to begin preparations for the Car-dinals.

Fassel said he had an idea for motivat-ing players in the fi nale but he declined to reveal it.

“Hopefully,” he said, “the last game of the season next week is a good memory.”

RESULTSColts 25 Raiders 33; Buccaneers 24 Saints 31; 49ers 22 Rams 21; Cardinals 34 Sea-hawks 31; Bengals 10 Texans 12

Turnovers, defensive woes cost Bears dearlyBOTTOMLINE

MCTChicago

By the end of Saturday’s game, the Soldier Field stands had emptied signifi cantly. So, too, it seemed had the Bears’ ener-

gy reserves. In an abysmal performance befi tting a woeful season, the Bears were outclassed and outperformed by the visiting Redskins. And so the part-ing gift for the home crowd on Christ-mas Eve was a 41-21 loss, the team’s 12th this year and the latest reminder of how fl awed this Bears group remains.

Receivers Josh Bellamy, Alshon Jef-fery and Cameron Meredith, running back Jordan Howard and left tackle Charles Leno all made tackles Saturday. That’s never a good sign with the of-fense losing the ball over and over and over again. Quarterback Matt Barkley threw fi ve interceptions as the Bears lost the turnover battle for the 10th time this season.

But equally disappointing, the de-fense had few if any answers to slow the

Redskins. A week after allowing 451 to-tal yards to the Packers, the Bears were gashed for 478 more yards Saturday, al-lowing 7.5 yards per play.

Within that debacle, the Redskins converted eight of their 13 third-down attempts.

Four of those eight conversions came in situations in which the Redskins faced third-and-6 or longer.

“Third-and-long, we’ve got to be way better than that,” inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman said.

“Come on, man. We’ve got to be. When you get them in third-and-long, you have to get the ball back. You have to understand situations, know the route combinations, know what they can give you and what they can hurt you with. And then go make a play.”

The Redskins’ fi rst touchdown came on third-and-9, a 17-yard screen pass from Kirk Cousins to Chris Thompson to beat a Bears blitz.

Still, Freeman said, it was more than just a well-timed play call against the extra pressure the Bears brought.

“At the same time, on those screens

when you’re blitzing, you have to feel that,” he said. “You have to know what can hurt you and what can be coming.”

The best news for Bears fans is that only one line remains on the sched-ule. But in the spirit of the holidays, it’s important to acknowledge at least a couple of bright spots from Satur-day’s game.

So here goes. Both Howard, the rookie running back, and Meredith, the second-year receiver, topped 100 yards against the Redskins.

Howard turned his 18 rushes into 119 yards. It was his sixth 100-yard rush-ing game this season and pushed him to 1,178 yards for the season, just 60 short of Matt Forte’s franchise rookie rushing record. Meredith’s nine catches went for a career-best 135 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown grab late in the fi rst half.

Barkley has appreciated Meredith’s development.

“The way he always wants to keep moving after the catch is impressive,” Barkley said. “He has grown in a lot of ways in regards to fi nding open win-dows and feeling the defense, not just

running his route like it says on paper.”The Bears announced 18,116 unused

tickets for Saturday’s game, the latest indication of fan apathy as the team pushes to the end of another last-place season. Over the Bears’ fi nal four home games, the team had a used-ticket av-erage of 44,867. As a reminder, Soldier Field’s capacity is 61,500.

With fewer than 10,000 fans hanging around late into the fourth quarter Sat-urday, the sight of a mostly empty sta-dium proved jarring in the home fi nale.

“The fans expect more,” Meredith said. “We expect more of ourselves. So we can’t blame them.”

The Bears will make their fi rst visit to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on New Year’s Day, facing a Vikings team that is sputtering to the fi nish line. Af-ter starting the season 5-0, the Vikings are 7-8 and were eliminated from play-off contention with Saturday’s 38-25 loss in Green Bay.

For whatever it’s worth, the Bears claimed the season’s fi rst meeting against the Vikings, winning 20-10 on Halloween night at Soldier Field.

MCTOakland

Matt McGloin hasn’t started a game since 2013, but the reigns of the Raiders of-

fense will be turned over to him after MVP candidate Derek Carr suff ered a broken fi bula in Satur-day’s 33-25 win over the Indiana-polis Colts.

Carr will spend Christmas Day having surgery and his season, in all likelihood is done. That leaves the Raiders’ hopes in the hands of McGloin, the fourth-year pro who was a former undrafted free agent out of Penn State.

McGloin’s last signifi cant ac-tion came in the 2015 season opener when Carr left the game in the second quarter with a hand injury and his last start came Dec. 22, 2013.

“I’m ready to go,” McGloin

said. “It has been great work-ing with Derek Carr the past few years and working together and seeing what he has done on the fi eld, trying to learn from that. I’m ready to go. I know this team, these guys around me, this staff , the organization will do a great job of helping me out and em-bracing me.”

That’s clearly the only option for the Raiders as the recover from the devastation of Carr’s injury. Like most backups, Mc-Gloin’s snaps in practice are fair-ly minimal so this next week of practice will be huge to get him up to speed. Rookie Connor Cook also now becomes the backup. He’s been inactive for every game this season.

“We’re going to be fi ne,” left tackle Donald Penn said. “I be-lieve in Matt. That’s why he’s our backup quarterback.”

McGloin completed 2 of his 3 passes Saturday for 29 yards, including a huge 19-yard pass to

Amari Cooper that allowed the Raiders to run out the clock and secure the win over the Colts. The victory means Oakland (12-3) could clinch the AFC West and a fi rst-round playoff bye if the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Cooper said of McGloin. “I really like him. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do. I’m excited to see how he prepares and I’m just excited to just go out there and work with him.”

McGloin said he tried to stay as calm as possible when he entered the game.

“It is a diffi cult situation,” McGloin said. “First and fore-most, he is a very good friend of mine and it is tough to see him go down and get hurt. He has been having such an incredible season and to see him go down like that was tough. At the same time, I’ve got to try my best to stay calm,

stay poised, stay focused and do my job.”

For McGloin’s career, he’s com-pleted 58.3 percent of his passes for 1,847 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 12 games of ac-tion. Saturday’s two completions were his fi rst of the year, but his teammates didn’t waste any time rallying behind him.

“Matt’s defi nitely capable of leading us all the way to ac-complish our goals,” said run-ning back DeAndre Washington, who rushed for a career-high 99 yards and his fi rst two NFL touchdowns. “He’s one of the hardest workers. He’s a perfec-tionist. He hates making mis-takes. Just his preparation week in and week out, you would never tell he’s not the starter the way he prepare each and every week.”

“He’s a competitor,” Cooper added. “He wants to win. He prepares as if he wants to win.”

That’s what the Raiders will now be banking on.

Raiders turn to Matt McGloin aft er Derek Carr breaks fi bula

INJURY

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (L) runs the ball against the defense of Los Angeles Rams defensive end Morgan Fox (R) and defensive tackle Aaron Donald (C) during the second half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is carted off the field after an injury against the Indianapolis Colts.

File picture of Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt McGloin.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick pumps his fist as he acknowledges the cheers.

Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins (L) carries the ball to score a touchdown past Chicago Bears outside linebacker Pernell McPhee.

SPORT5Gulf Times

Monday, December 26, 2016

SPORT6 Gulf Times

Monday, December 26, 2016

Cavaliers-Warriorsrivalry, now a lot like Lakers-Celtics

SPOTLIGHT

‘It’s a rivalry already. We just have a title each, but it’s definitely a rivalry. Each team when you go out and play, you’re definitely thinking about each other. It’s just how it is’

MCTCleveland

There is a highlight in the Cava-liers’ pregame introduction vid-eo this season that always draws ooohs and cheers from fi rst-

time viewers: LeBron James dribbling the ball in one hand with Steph Curry’s throat in the other.

James dribbles with his left hand and throws his right forearm into Curry’s neck in a scene from last season’s Finals, the force of which sends the reigning two-time MVP tumbling backward with his eyes closed. Gets the home crowd every time.

This is where we’re at as the Warriors and Cavaliers lace up the gloves again on Christmas. Goodwill toward men be damned. This is a full-blown, red-blooded rivalry, the likes of which is rare-ly seen in this NBA era of bro hugs and back slaps for the opponent and hasn’t really been witnessed since the bitter Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics rivalry of the 1980s.

The Celtics and Lakers met in the Fi-nals three times between 1984-87. Much like then, this Cavs-Warriors rivalry fea-tures the game’s best players – James, Curry and Kevin Durant are widely ac-cepted as the three best players in the league regardless of order. Now that Du-rant is on board, this rivalry has them all.

“It’s a rivalry already,” said Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, who is well-versed in Lak-ers and Celtics lore from his playing days in Los Angeles and time as an assistant coach in Boston. “We just have one and one [championship], but it’s defi nitely a rivalry. Each team when you go out and play, you’re defi nitely thinking about each other. It’s just how it is.”

Should these two teams meet again in the Finals in six months, Lue said he would declare this on the level of the Celtics and Lakers. The Cavs and Warri-ors would also accomplish an impressive piece of history in the process. No two teams have ever met in the Finals in three consecutive seasons.

That seems hard to believe given the Celtics-Lakers feud of the 1960s, when they met six times in eight years, but never did it happen three years in a row.

“It’s a lot of championships won in that era,” Lue said. “But if both teams stay together and both teams continue to keep winning, it could be like that. They have a great team over there on the other side and we have a great team also. When you talk basketball, you’re going to talk

Golden State, Cleveland, San Antonio. And it’s a great place to be in.”

The Warriors’ addition of Durant adds another level of intrigue. It also changes the way the Cavs match up defensive-ly. Lue used James to guard Draymond Green throughout the series last season, including the critical Game 7. With Du-rant on the fl oor, however, that won’t be possible because Lue said it doesn’t make sense to use Tristan Thompson on Du-rant.

The loss of JR Smith for the next three months stings as well. DeAndre Liggins is a big, physical defender on the perimeter, but he doesn’t have Smith’s off ensive repertoire, and games in this series are predicated on shooting.

Even as far back as July’s summer league, executives across the league were already anointing the Cavs and Warri-ors as Finals opponents for a third con-secutive year. No one in the league offi ce would complain if it happens. These two teams are ratings gold for the league. They’re also meeting for the 18th time in the past 24 months, which might explain the animosity.

There is a deep respect for the op-ponent on both sides, but there is also the issue of James stepping over Green, Curry fl inging his mouthguard into the stands, Klay Thompson taunting James about how the NBA is “a man’s league” and Marreese Speights tweeting out a baby bottle to further incite James.

Both James and Lue cautioned, howev-er, not to be so quick in declaring the Cavs and Warriors the last two teams standing. The Spurs will have a loud voice in these proceedings and there is always the rare chance a team like the Toronto Raptors or Los Angeles Clippers might sneak up and trip one of the heavyweights. For now, however, Cavs fans will continue to dream about the next time James can drive his forearm into Curry’s throat when it matters most.

“I think only time will tell as far as comparing what history has done,” James said. “Obviously we know the history be-tween the Celtics and Lakers of the ‘80s and how many times they’ve faced one another. Only time will tell with us.”

Jagr’s numbers may never be topped againNHL

MCTFlorida

The overused sports’ axiom that records are made to be broken just may not apply to professional hockey.

Sure, future generations of athletes are expected to surpass their predeces-sors because of technological advances in equipment as well as being better educated about nutrition, physiology and exercise.

That said, when 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr notched his 1,888th point Thurs-day to move into second place all-time behind Mark Messier (but still far be-hind Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857) it would be hard to imagine that this Mt. Rush-more of hockey legends will be threat-ened in their lifetimes or perhaps ever.

Unless there are some major rule changes like shrinking of the goalie’s equipment or widening of the net, the top three all-time goal scorers: Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801) and Jagr (755), also seem as reachable as Neptune.

Can they also shrink the slew of 6-foot-6 goaltenders?

From 1985-86 when Gretzky was dominating the sport, until 2015-16, goals-per-game has dropped from 3.64 to 2.79 per team, and games now in-clude shootouts but those don’t count in the player’s scoring column.

During the same time span, the av-erage single-season points leader (Art Ross Trophy) has dropped from 165 to

106, with Jamie Benn winning it with just 87 in 2015.

When Gretzky was scoring a career-high 215 points in 1986 or potting 92 goals in 1982, 13 players topped the 100-point barrier and 22 players scored 40 or more goals in those respective seasons.

Last season four players topped 40 goals, with Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin potting 50, while only Chi-cago’s Patrick Kane reached 100 points

with 106. That’s been the norm over the last decade.

Even Jagr, who possesses an Ein-stein-like grasp of hockey, can’t pic-ture today’s crop of stars such as Kane, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Ed-monton’s teenage phenom Connor McDavid being around long enough to challenge the all-time greats.

“It’s a tough question,” Jagr said while stroking his gray stubble as he often does when contemplating. “First

of all you have to be very lucky with the injuries. ... It looks like it’s a little bit tougher to score goals than it was before because the videos, the prepa-rations of the teams, because of (im-proved penalty killing).

“There’s not one or two good lines. There are four good lines who can play against the top, top players. There’s lit-tle diff erence on the team between the best players on the team or the worst players on the team, so that way it’s kind of tough. When you look at stay-ing healthy for 20 years in this leagues that’s tough to do.”

Jagr, a fi tness fanatic who’s fi fth in games played at 1,664, has never sustained a serious injury. Because of off ensive depth on teams, top-line forwards are only averaging about 19 minutes a game compared to the 24 minutes prolifi c goal scorers such as Pavel Bure averaged in the late ’90s.

Jagr’s numbers would be much higher, but still not Gretzkyesque, if he didn’t take three years out of his prime to play in the KHL in Russia or lose an-other three seasons worth of games due to NHL work stoppages.

“For me, it’s like No. 1,” Jagr told AP. “I don’t really count Wayne Gretzky. He was from another planet.”

New York Islanders Hall of Fame de-fenseman Denis Potvin believes player movement and lack of long-term line chemistry has contributed to decreased scoring. He also feels that McDavid, who has 42 points in 36 games this season after an injury-curtailed rookie

campaign, has an outside shot, but not a realistic one.

“McDavid may get 100 points this year and have a 20-year career?” Potvin said. “But he won’t catch Gretzky, but possibly the others. It will never hap-pen again because nobody plays with the same players for 10 years.

“What’s unbelievable is Jagr has done this playing on eight diff erent teams. The guys that are ahead of him played on lines with (nicknames) and with the same guys for 20 years. ... It’s beyond incredible what Jagr’s accomplished.”

Crosby leads the NHL with 24 goals in 29 games, but at 29 with a history of concussions, his 976 career points trail Jagr by 912 points, which means he would need to average 92 points over the next 10 seasons to catch Jagr for second.

Ovechkin, who has won six scoring titles and averaged 51 goals over the past three seasons, has 540 goals and 940 points. But at 31, the Russian great would have to average 36 goals and 156 points over the next six seasons to catch Jagr in both categories. The former may be doable, but not the latter.

Panthers 39-year-old forward Shawn Thornton, who also played with Jagr in Boston, rivals him in fi tness and Stanley Cups (two each), if not point production.

“There’s a lot more defense nowadays; goalies are a lot better,” he said. “People block a lot more shots, so it’ll be tough. There’s some good players coming up, but again, Jags played for 23 years. Even if you fi nd a player who scores 120 points a year, can he do it for that many years to

put him in the mix? ... Bobby Orr only played until what 28, so you never know what’s going to happen?”

Orr, the Boston Bruins’ Hall of Fame defenseman, notched six consecutive seasons of 100-plus points, but was never the same after injuring his knee at age 26.

Jagr, who started slow after dropping 20 pounds in the off season to keep up with the league’s recent trend toward speed and skill over size and brawn, has heated up lately with nine points (19 overall) in his past 10 games.

“The amazing part is we stopped talking about his age,” Buff alo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said earlier this week. “I see the numbers periodically of who he’s passing . .. guys I thought were untouchable, like Gordie for sure. Who knows how long he’s going to play to get higher?”

Next on Jagr’s milestone list is former Penguins teammate Paul Coff ey, who he trails by one assist (1,134) to tie for fi fth all-time. After that, he’ll set his sights on Howe’s mark of playing until he’s 51 or beyond.

“I thought I’d be standing here at 35,” Jagr joked of reaching No. 2. “When I was 17 I thought I’d be the best in the world for 20 years. That’s the way I think.

“I always compare it to regular life. Some people die at 60, some die at 100. That doesn’t mean when you hit 70, you don’t want to live anymore. It’s the same for a hockey player. If I got the gift from God and have the ability to do it, I’ll play as long as I can.”

MCTMiami

There is tough love and there is enduring pa-tience. There is former a Miami Heat coach in-

volved in the dual approaches and there is the current Heat coach. And caught in the middle this season have been a pair of 2015 fi rst-round picks still trying to fi nd their way in the NBA.

When Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow meet next weekend at AmericanAirlines Arena, there will be plenty to catch up on since Johnson’s De-troit Pistons defeated Winslow’s Heat on Nov. 30 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich.

Since then, Johnson, selected at No. 8 out of Arizona in 2015 by the Pistons, fell out of Stan Van Gundy’s rotation, was briefl y as-signed to the D-League, and only now is getting back into the rota-tion. In the interim, Winslow, the No. 10 pick in 2015, was sidelined by a wrist injury but remained with a staunch supporter in Erik Spoelstra, again back in the Heat starting lineup.

For each multidimensional tal-ent, scoring has been a struggle.

It was, in fact, before the Heat’s previous game against the Pistons, when Van Gundy, the former Heat coach and Spoelstra mentor, said of Johnson, “He’s off to a rough start. It’s hard when perimeter players aren’t getting the ball in the basket.”

After playing 20 minutes that night in a 107-84 blowout victo-ry over the Heat, Johnson did not play more than 10 in any of the next nine games, held completely out of three. Winslow, by con-trast, has not played fewer than 20 since returning two weeks ago from his 16-game absence.

“All the tough love he’s given me,” Johnson said of Van Gundy’s approach that briefl y had him a member of the Grand Rapids Drive, “I kind of take it to heart.”

Spoelstra’s approach, by con-trast, even as Winslow’s shoot-ing percentages have plummet-ed, has been to stress Winslow’s

ability “to make winning plays.”Heat blow 14-point lead, fall in

New Orleans.The Heat have stood by Win-

slow, continue to stand by him.“He’s got a winning attitude

and right now, shooting the bas-ketball, he’s going to have to fi nd his game, fi nd his stroke, and he will,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that that will come with his game. If people are concerned about him, they should be con-cerned in a positive way, because he’s only 20 years old,”

As is Johnson ... which, to Win-slow, makes this all a bit over-blown, the questions of Johnson’s perseverance in Detroit, the con-cerns of Winslow shooting in Mi-ami, all against the backdrop of the individual success that No. 13 2015 pick Devin Booker has had with the Phoenix Suns.

“I don’t read too much into what Stan says, what he’s been saying in the media,” Winslow said of Johnson. “I kind of look at the box scores or I’ll talk to him and we just text back and forth. I mean he’s talented. He’s going to be good in this league. He just has to fi nd his right niche. And that’s what this league comes down to, is opportunity and playing in the right system.”

Spoelstra has referred to Win-slow as his “Swiss Army Knife,” a player capable of excelling in several roles, at several positions. That type of respect has similarly been extended by Van Gundy to Johnson.

“The way the league is going, with position-less basketball,” Van Gundy said, “we have a guy who can guard three or four posi-tions and guard them well. That’s invaluable.”

No matter whether it is being cultivated with tough love or en-during patience.

“Some guys want specialists; some guys want versatility,” Win-slow said of he and his long-time friend fi nding their NBA niches. “On diff erent teams, that versa-tility is more welcomed or that’s what they prefer. You’ve just got to fi nd the right niche, the right sys-tem, the right opportunity.”

Winslow not alone in search for niche

ANALYSIS

File picture of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors reacting to a second half play while playing the Detroit Pistons.

File picture of Justise Winslow of the Miami Heat.

File picture of Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers.

CRICKET7Gulf Times

Monday, December 26, 2016

‘I am still the fastest woman bowler ever’By Russell Jacksontheguardian.com

I always say that I hold two records,” says Faith Thomas, laughing. “I think I’m still the fastest woman bowler ever. And I think I also might have been the

biggest fl ash in the pan ever.”She’s being very modest. Not only was

Thomas (nee Coulthard), the fi rst Abo-riginal woman to represent Australia on a cricket fi eld when she opened the bowling in the Melbourne Test of the 1958 Ashes series, she was the fi rst Aboriginal woman picked in any national sporting team.

On Boxing Day this year, the 83-year-old will be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a guest of Cricket Australia as the game commemorates the 150th anniversary of the country’s fi rst Indigenous team, part of a concerted eff ort by the organisation to inspire a new generation of players like Faith Thomas.

There was no nonsense in Thomas’s ap-proach to bowling. “I used to like bowl-ing yorkers,” she recalls. “The fi rst place I played (representative cricket) was at the Gabba and it was the English captain Mary Duggan facing. I put the stump over the wicket-keeper’s head!”

To get to a game like that one in Brisbane, Thomas would travel by train for three days, arriving with no time for practice runs. She attributes the speed and deadly accuracy of bowling to her childhood days at the Colebrook mission in Quorn in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges.

But how, exactly, were those lethal de-liveries honed? “Chuckin’ rocks at galahs!” Thomas says, laughing. “Kids these days have got toys, we had nothing. We lived near a creek. There were plenty of rocks and plenty of galahs in those trees.”

To say her rise was meteoric is an un-derstatement. Thomas’s six-step run-up billed her as a spinner to the uninitiated, a mistake batsmen only made once. “You didn’t need to take a run-up to knock a galah out of the sky,” she says. “You just picked up a rock and let it fl y.”

Her greater achievement in life, she says, was fi nishing her studies in midwifery and general practice nursing, when she and fi ve contemporaries became the fi rst Aborigi-

nal nurses in South Australia and Thomas the state’s fi rst Aboriginal public serv-ant, the start of a long and varied career in health and community services.

After a year’s training to become a mid-wife she delivered so many children that parents took to giving them her name. “There were a lot of Faiths running around the joint,” she says. “I’d feel really good about them all being named after me.”

It was at work that Thomas got the idea in her head of playing cricket at all, when a nursing colleague griped that she was go-ing to miss training.

Thomas was intrigued. “I said, ‘Hey, women play cricket?’ She told me to come out with her the next Saturday.” Three club games later she was playing for South Aus-tralia, then soon after for her country.

Thomas is a storyteller par excellence. That her run-up stretched beyond just a few paces was down to the former Austral-ian Test captain Victor Richardson, who suggested it at a game in Adelaide.

She chuckles joyously remembering

the time years later she couldn’t recall the name of “Victor Whatsisface” at an event in her home state. “Whatisface? That’s my grandfather you’re talking about,” fi red back Ian Chappell.

She says the male greats of her time weren’t always so supportive of the wom-en’s game. She can’t remember all that much of her own historic involvement, but a mention of the 1958 series against Eng-land and Australia’s star player Betty Wil-son prompts a series of poignant memories.

“I’ve never seen anyone bat like Betty Wilson,” Thomas says. “I can remember I was 12th man at Adelaide Oval. All the blokes were very much against women playing cricket. Don Bradman came out and he sat there and you could tell by his body language that he was out to poo-poo wom-en’s cricket. The body language said it all.

“He came out and Betty was batting, and she would bat all day. She was abso-lutely fantastic. Everything went for four and God knows what. She literally danced around the wicket.

“Well, old Bradman was that tickled pink he was clapping. Then when Betty got out he left. Betty showed him that women could do it. He changed his mind.”

Thomas recalls barely anything about her own Test debut.

“I just got out there and bowled the ball,” she says, adding that her contemporaries played for sheer joy of it, a concept now lost at the top level of the game. “We got out there and we played for the fun of it. With all the money around now they have to play to win.”

Like all female Test stars of her gen-eration, it wasn’t until years later that she was presented her baggy green cap — No. 48, being as auspicious a number as any in Australian cricket.

Yet her Test cricket career was just one week of a long and fascinating life, dedicat-ed mostly to helping others in the commu-nity, her patients and her mob. Throughout it all, sport loomed large. “Sport was al-ways part of the healing process with me,” she says, “and it worked.”

SPOTLIGHT

Faith Thomas was the first Aboriginal woman picked for any national sports team when she bowled for Australia in 1958. As she prepares for a trip to the MCG for today’s Boxing Day Test, she tells how she saw Don Bradman change his mind about the women’s game

AFPChristchurch

New Zealand set aside Christmas festivi-ties to pack in a fi nal training session yes-

terday before their Boxing Day series opener against Bangla-desh in Christchurch.

After being fl ayed by Aus-tralia in a 3-0 series hiding ear-lier this month, the Kane Wil-liamson-led side are desperate to get back on the right side of the ledger and put the record straight against Bangladesh.

In world rankings, New Zealand are number four and Bangladesh seven, but on the fi eld the margin is not so great.

New Zealand won the last time they met in the 2015 World Cup by three wickets but before that, in Bangladesh, New Zealand lost the 2013 se-ries 3-0 and went down 4-0 on the tour before that in 2010.

Williamson sees the advan-tage for New Zealand in this three-match one-day interna-tional series — to be followed by three Twenty20s and two Tests — is that this time they are at home and playing in fa-miliar conditions.

“It’s important we look to exploit those as best we can, and get back to our plans which allows us to give ourselves a chance,” he said as the New Zealanders trained in the nets on Christmas Day.

“You’re always looking to improve and when you go away on tour and get beaten, like we were in Aussie, there’s a number of things that you per-haps think you’d have liked to have done a little bit better.

“But when you’re under pressure, a lot of the time in those games it’s a diff erent prospect,” he added.

Williamson said the white-wash in Australia had been thoroughly analysed with coach Mike Hesson and there were obvious lessons to be learned. “It’s important that we’re looking to be aggressive and take wickets,” he said.

For Bangladesh, it is their fi rst away series since visiting the West Indies in August 2014. Since then they have won six of seven home series which in-cluded 2-1 wins over India and South Africa and a 3-0 sweep over Pakistan before losing 2-1

to England two months ago.Williamson’s team had

journeyed across the Tasman having beaten Pakistan in two Tests and confi dent they could beat a shell-shocked Austral-ian side who had been humili-ated by South Africa and over-hauled by the selectors.

Instead, Australia hammered New Zealand 3-0 with an ag-gressive style of play with Wil-liamson’s team failing to capi-talise on the few opportunities they did have in the series.

“Hess (coach Mike Hesson) and I have spoken a bit about that series,” Williamson added on the eve of the fi rst game against Bangladesh. “I suppose when you go away on a tour and get beaten like we did in Aussie there’s a number of things you would have liked to have done a little bit better. It’s important we learn from it and become a better side going forward.”

Williamson said his side would be more aggressive than they were in Australia, with the team’s pace bowlers to be asked to put pressure on the Bangla-desh batsmen.

The only selection issue at Hagley Oval appeared to be over the balance of the quicks, with rookie Lochie Ferguson and Matt Henry likely to be the toss-up for the third seam-er’s role.

“With the depth in the pace department it is something we’re looking at,” Williamson said of the makeup of the side. “It’s more the balance of the pace bowlers that we’re trying to get right.”

New Zealand won the last match between the two sides, at Seddon Park in the pool phase at last year’s World Cup.

Prior to that narrow three-wicket victory, however, they had lost their previous seven completed fi xtures against Mashrafe Mortaza’s side, al-beit all of those games were in Bangladesh.

“At home they’re extremely tough to beat,” said William-son, who was mindful Bangla-desh in October had recorded their fi rst Test victory over England.

“They’ve turned over nearly everyone in their home condi-tions and are getting more ex-perienced around the world. They have been getting better and better every year. We will need to play our best cricket.”

Christmas Day nets for desperate Kiwis

NZ-BANGLADESH/ 1ST ODI

Hanan XII beat M Pallonji by 14 runs in the final to emerge the Division

I champions of the 22nd Gulf Incon-Metabo cricket tourna-ment, played at the West Bay cricket ground.

After being sent in by M Pal-lonji, Hanan XII, after some ear-ly wobble, posted a competitive 192 for 9 off the stipulated 20 overs, then restricted M Pallonji to 178. Hanan XII’s, who struck a quickfire 43, was adjudged Man of the Final.

Niyamat of Hanan XII was declared Best Batsman, Ruwan of Qalco took the Best Bowler honours, Imran of Hanan XII was named Best Allrounder, and Neeraj of M Pallonji was adjudged Best Wicket-keeper.

Sajjad Ahmed Khan, Senior Sales and Marketing Man-ager of Metabo/Gulf Incon, Ravi Chandran (Senior Stores Supervisor), Guest of honour Adil from Houston USA and Qatar Veterans cricket off icials handed over the trophies and prizes.

Brief scores

Hanan XII: 192 for 9 in 20 overs (Hameed 43, Niyamath 39, Ameen 20) beat M Pallonji: 178 (Aban 38, Rajesh 28, Neeraj 28, Radiq 28; Azan 2 for 8, Parvez 2 for 2, Aswar 2 for 18) by 14 runs.

Hanan XII emerge Div I championsHanan XII captain Kadar receives the Division I trophy from Sajjad Ahmed Khan, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager of Metabo/Gulf Incon.

Tusker defeated Hanan in the final to success-fully defend the 3rd Nation Cup cricket title, in the tournament played at the Old Ideal School ground from December 18-22. Batting first, Hanan posted a modest 68 off the allotted 8 overs, with Imran top-scoring with 28. For Tusker, Rajneesh and Shaji took 3 and 2 wickets each, re-

spectively. Tusker reached the target in 6.4 overs riding on a quickfire knock of 41 by Prashant.Man of the Final: ........................ Prashant (Tusker)Man of the Series: ....................... Aswar (Hanan)Best Bowler: ................................ Rajneesh (Tusker)Best Batsman: .............................. Imran (Hanan)Best Fielder: ................................ Saddam (Hanan)

TUSKER RETAIN NATION CUP TITLE

Monday, December 26, 2016

GULF TIMES CRICKET

Misbah mulls pace change as Pakistan seek series leveller

AFPMelbourne

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq hinted yesterday that Sohail Khan may come in to break up Pa-kistan’s three-man left-arm

pace attack in the second Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne.

The tourists are not expected to tinker with their batting after a he-roic eff ort which took them within 40 runs of what would have been a world record win in last week’s Brisbane se-ries-opener.

But there was speculation that Ra-hat Ali, who took two wickets in Bris-bane, could make way for one of the right-arm pacemen — either Sohail or Imran Khan.

Pakistan’s three-man left-arm pace attack was criticised at the Gabba for being one-dimensional and lacking variety. Misbah, whose team must win the Melbourne Cricket Ground Test to set up a decider in Sydney in the New

Year, was giving little away team-wise but praised Sohail’s work ethic.

“Sohail is working hard and he is the guy who gave us fi ve-fors in the previous matches and that’s what we look for when he plays,” the Pakistan skipper told reporters yesterday.

“He bowls the new ball very well and if he gets you two or three wickets with the new ball it is always helpful for you. He is also good with the re-verse swing. Obviously he knows that he needs to be good in the later spells because you have to bowl at least 20 overs a day so he is working hard. We are hoping that he will be okay.”

Misbah said Pakistan’s bowling had been as much of a problem as their batting on recent tours of Australia. But he is hopeful for a big response from both his batsmen and bowlers at the MCG.

“It’s not just a challenge for the batsmen, it’s a challenge for the bowl-ers as well,” he said.

“The conditions are totally dif-ferent here, especially for the Asian

teams. As a bowler you need to adjust to these conditions, otherwise you are giving away too many runs and leaking too many boundaries and not putting any sort of pressure on the opposition.

“You need to be very precise with your lines and lengths in Australia because of the true bounce and pace. That’s important for us as a bowl-ing unit. To get 20 wickets is always a challenge. But we know and are sure about the bowling combination that we will have tomorrow. We are clear about our strategy.”

Misbah said spirits were high in the Pakistan camp after they almost pulled off an epic come-from-behind victory in Brisbane, posting a massive fourth-innings total of 450.

“The guys are relaxed and confi -dent that they can perform well here,” he said. “You can see that everybody’s spending a lot of time in the nets, working on the basics.

“They won’t leave anything behind before we get into the second Test match. That’s a good sign that we are

confi dent but at the same time, we’re focused and determined.

“I’m comfortable with the position we’re in at the moment as individuals and as a team.”

Misbah said their strong fourth innings fi ghtback that had nearly clinched a remarkable record run chase in the fi rst Test loss to Australia in Bris-bane had given his side the confi dence they needed for the rest of the series.

The visitors, who were dismissed for 142 in their fi rst innings, had Aus-tralian cricket fans chewing their fi n-gernails to the quick as they counter-attacked in chasing 490 for victory.

Asad Shafi q scored a superb cen-tury and rallied the tail for 230 runs as the visitors reached 449 for eight be-fore Mitchell Starc produced a superb bouncer that ended his 336-minute resistance.

Until that point, the Australians had looked nervous in the fi eld and the visitors increasingly confi dent of seal-ing victory, something they needed after losing 2-0 to New Zealand just

before the fi rst game. “The guys are relaxed and confi -

dent that they can perform well here,” Misbah said. “You can see that eve-rybody’s spending a lot of time in the nets, working on the basics. That’s a good sign that we are confi dent but at the same time, we’re focused and determined. I’m comfortable with the position we’re in at the moment as in-dividuals and as a team.”

Misbah said left-arm opening bowler Mohamed Amir had recov-ered well from knee and thigh inju-ries in Brisbane. He also had words of encouragement for under-pressure batsman Nic Maddinson, who has scored just fi ve runs in his three in-nings since debut.

“He’s quite young at the interna-tional level but they’re believing in him,” Misbah said. “You can’t just write someone off . That person can re-ally hit you. I think everyone who is in the Australian team is capable enough to perform at international level so we have to give respect to every player.”

MELBOURNE TEST

‘The conditions are totally diff erent here, especially for the Asian teams. As a bowler you need to adjust to these conditions, otherwise you are giving away too many runs and leaking too many boundaries and not putting any sort of pressure on the opposition’

AFPMelbourne

Rookie batsman Nic Maddinson will be given another chance to prove himself after Australia

yesterday named an unchanged team for the second Test against Pakistan in Melbourne.

Maddinson’s place at number six for the Boxing Day showpiece was in doubt after scores of 0, 1 and 4 in his first three Test innings, following his debut against South Africa in Adelaide last month.

It meant that Zimbabwe-born all-rounder Hilton Cartwright will not make his first appearance in the sec-ond Test beginning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

Paceman Chadd Sayers again also misses out on a Test debut, with Australia sticking with the pace trio of

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird. Spinner Nathan Lyon rounds out the attack.

“We brought the all-rounder into the squad because the bowlers had a pretty heavy workload, but they’ve pulled up well and they’re confident they can get through,” skipper Steve Smith told reporters yesterday.

“Obviously (Nic) hasn’t started the way he would have liked. I was really proud of him in the second innings in Brisbane to come out and do the thing for the team and try and score quick runs and have a crack.

“That’s what we want from our team, to have unselfish players like that, and I thought he did a good job to come out and do that.”

The decision to play Maddinson and not Cartwright means the home side will again field six specialist batsmen in what will be heatwave conditions for much of the second Test.

Pakistan’s spirited fourth-innings comeback at the day-night first Gabba Teat meant that Starc and Hazlewood each sent down 56 overs for the match, while Bird bowled 45.

With plenty of grass on the MCG wicket, Smith indicated he may be tempted to give his bowlers first use of the drop-in pitch should he win the toss today.

“It’s a lot greener than I’ve seen it in the past couple of years,” Smith said. “The grass dies pretty quickly here and the wicket goes white so we’ll sum it up in the morning and see what we want to do from there.

“I think the red ball out here is going to be a lot diff erent to the pink ball (used in the Gabba Test). It will prob-ably stay harder for a lot longer, so we’ll be able to generate that bounce and carry that we couldn’t do for long periods of time (in Brisbane).”

The unchanged team signals a desire

for continuity after a period of turmoil during Australia’s recent 2-1 home series loss to South Africa.

Smith faced criticism for his defen-sive field settings on the final day in Brisbane as Pakistan got within 40 runs of what would have been a famous victory after being set a world-record 490 target. Australia went on to win by 39 runs and take a one-nil lead in the three-Test series.

“People are open to criticise me all they like but in the end, we won the Test match so I’m happy with that,” Smith said. “You can always learn from diff erent things. I’m really happy we won the Test match and that’s five wins in a row for Australia (including one-day victories over New Zealand), so we’re heading in the right direction.”

Smith’s cautious field settings on day five of the Brisbane Test, with Pakistan still needing 108 runs for victory with only two wickets in hand, were queried

by former captains Michael Clarke and Mark Taylor and slammed as “ridiculous” by ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan.

It was the second successive Test victory for the side, which had been overhauled following a humiliating innings and 80-run loss to South Africa in their second Test in Hobart, which sealed the series for the Proteas. The Hobart loss was Australia’s fifth in suc-cession and the selectors swung the axe with five changes to the team for the third game in Adelaide.

Smith’s revamped side responded with a seven-wicket victory and con-tinued that momentum with victory in Brisbane.

Australia squad

David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird

Maddinson survives as Australia name unchanged side

SA captain Du Plessis looks to negate Sri Lankan spin

AFP

Port Elizabeth

South African captain Faf du Plessis said he hoped a grassy St George’s Park pitch would

negate Sri Lanka’s spin threat in the first Test starting today.

“There’s a little more grass on the wicket than might be normal,” Du Plessis said in his pre-match press conference. “That is making sure that we take their most dangerous player out of the game.”

Du Plessis was referring to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka’s match-winner in their only victory in 10 previous Tests in South Africa. Herath took nine wickets when Sri Lanka won in Durban in 2011/12.

But Du Plessis said it was normal for the St George’s pitch to help the spinners in the latter stages of a Test match.

“The pitch looks very dry and Sri Lanka brings a diff erent style of play to Australia (where South Africa won a series last month). They have really good spinners so our focus has been on making sure we prepare for that.”

Du Plessis said he was looking for more consistency from the South African batsmen.

“As a collective batting unit, each of our top seven has had good games and got hundreds but what we are looking for is more consist-ency and to push that bar a bit higher,” he said.

Du Plessis added that South Africa could not aff ord to under-estimate their opponents, despite their poor record in South Africa and them having a young, largely inexperienced team.

“Young guys can pose the same threat as more experienced players, even more so sometimes because they bring something diff erent.”

But he said he expected South Africa’s pace bowlers to pose a chal-lenge to the tourists. “There should be enough in the pitch for the seam-ers,” he said.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Math-ews, meanwhile, said his team had prepared well and that the young batsmen in the side had stepped up to fill the gaps left by Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakeratne Dilshan, who have all retired recently.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq (left) with coach Mickey Arthur during a training session in Melbourne yesterday. (AFP)