SPORTMonday 15 May 2017

Hamilton wins in Spain to reduce Vettel's lead

A strict diet plan, regular training key to Misbah's

longevity in cricket

PAGE | 24 PAGE | 25 PAGE | 26Garcia charges into contention for title

At

We deserved to qualify for the final, says Laudrup Rizwan Rehmat The Peninsula

Al Rayyan coach M i c h a e l Laudrup was

impressed with the fighting spirit his players exhibited in the Emir Cup semi-f i n a l a g a i n s t Lekhwiya on Satur-day, saying his team 'deserved' to win the feisty contest.

On Saturday, Al Rayyan produced three goals in the sec-ond half to beat Qatar Stars League (QSL) champions Lekhwiya 3-1 to sail into their second successive Emir Cup final.

Star striker Rod-rigo Tabata scored twice at Al Sadd Sta-dium where the former champions delighted their Dan-ish coach.

" A l R a y y a n deserved to qualify without a doubt," Laudrup said after the tense clash under lights.

"The way we played in the second half is proof how well we played," he added.

"We are delighted with this result, which gives us hope to end the season by winning the Emir Cup title. We couldn't

qualify last year (lost in the semis) but hopefully we will compensate the fans with another (title) win," he added.

Laudrup refused the suggestion that Lekhwiya were under-strength for the semi-final.

"It is not true that Al Rayyan ben-e f i t e d f r o m Lakhwia's partici-p a t i o n w i t h s e c o n d - c h o i c e players. They have promising players on the pitch," Laudrup pointed out.

Laudrup said he wasn't looking who qualified from the second semi-final between Al Sadd and El Jaish, saying it was time to 'celebrate'.

"Do not ask about Al Rayyan's opponents in the final. Now we cele-brate our victory

and two days later we will pre-pare for the final," Laudrup said with a smile.

"We have prepared the

players psychologically after the loss against Al Hilal in the Asian Champions League game (last week). Now we have to look at the final regardless of the team we will play against.

"We are happy with the spirit of the players and their desire to win whatever the cir-cumstances," he said.

Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi said it was a tough loss to take.

"We played against a strong team. It is difficult to explain the

scenario of the match," Belmadi said.

"We created many chances during the match and even after Al Rayyan scored the first goal, we came back and equalised. We tried to score a second goal but Al Rayyan's second and third goals came in the final minutes. That made it difficult (for us) to recover," the Algerian said.

When asked about the lineup that Lekhwiya began the

match with, Bel-madi said he stepped on to the pitch with the best possi-ble XI.

"Choosing the lineup is a technical deci-sion and we presented a good level in the first half. I am happy with the performance of the players who fought well," Bel-madi said.

"In the second half, we made some changes but we did not have a problem in controlling t h e

game," he said."In the first half, we were

good and created many chances to score. In the second half, I went with the experienced play-ers but not much happened.

"The season, in general, was good. We wanted to win the Emir Cup title or even reach the final but this did not hap-pen," Belmadi said.

players psychologically after the loss against Al Hilal in the Asian Champions League game (last week). Now we have to look atthe final regardless of the team we will play against.

"We are happy with the spirit of the players and theirdesire to win whatever the cir-cumstances," he said.

Lekhwiya coach Djamel Belmadi said it was a tough loss to take.

"We played against a strongteam. It is difficult to explain the

scenario of the match," Belmadi said.

"We created many chances during the match and even after Al Rayyan scored the first goal, we came back and equalised. We tried to score a second goal but Al Rayyan's second and third goals came in the final minutes. That made it difficult (for us) to recover," the Algerian said.

When asked about the lineup that Lekhwiya began the

match with, Bel-madi said he steppepep dd d onononon tt too the e pppipittch withh theee e e best ppposososo iisisisi--blllee e XI.

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gggagamemeee,", hhhhee e e sasaaaid.""IIIn ttthhthe ffifiif rsrst t hahahah lflflf, , wewee w wwererre e

gggogog odddd aa ndndndd ccrereeeatatedd mmaany y chchananancececeecec s stotootot sccocoocoreee. . InnnnI t t hehee s second d hahalflflf,, II I wwwwew ntt wwithh hh thhht e ee exxpepeeeriririenenncecc d pllayyayy-eeerre s bubuuubut nonooonot t mumumuchhchc h hapapapa pepep ned.ddd

"TTT"Thhe sssseaeaaee sos n, ii inn n gegeegegeneneenerararr l,l,l,l, w w wasas gogogoogood. WWeWWW wwwwanannana tetet dd tototot wwwinnin t thehhe Emmmmmir CCupuupup tt t ititi lele or rr evevvevevenenenen rr rreaeaeaeae hchchchc the fififfifinanananal l but ththhisiis dddd didididdid nnnn notototo hhh h happapapap--pen," Belmadi saiddidid.

Star of the day for Al Rayyan, skipper Rodrigo Tabata celebrates after scoring one of his two goals during the Emir cup semi-final against Lekhwiya at Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday.

Al Rayyan's coach Michael Laudrup

Emir Cup: Al Sadd reach finalArmstrong VasThe Peninsula

Two goals in the second half kept Al Sadd on track of picking up a season dou-ble as the Wolves booked a place in the final of the

Emir Cup with a 2-0 win over El Jaish at Al Sadd Stadium yesterday.

Baghdad Bounedjah gave Al Sadd the lead in the 47th minute and Hassan Al Haydos added the second one in the 76th minute to set up title clash with Al Rayyan.

At half time, both the teams were locked goalless.

Both teams had their share of chances in the first half, but could not trouble the scorers.

In the 24th minute, El Jaish came up with a threatening move but luck failed to be on their side.

El Jaish’s Seydou Keita saw his volley from the edge of the box fly-ing inches over the cross bar.

The Armymen kept up the pres-sure and Brazilian Romarinho, who scored crucial goals in the earlier matches, essayed a threatening goal bound shot which failed to find its target.

At the other end, Al Sadd, with many of their moves plotted by former Barcelona legend Xavi, opened the defense a few times but failed get the decisive goal.

In the second half, Al Sadd hardly took time to settle down. The Wolves scored three minutes into the second session.

Bounedjah, who scored four goals in Al Sadd’s convincing 4-1-win over Al Kharaitiyat in the quarter-finals, live up to the expec-tations of his fans by delivering the knockout punch.

The 25-year old volleyed home

from the edge of the box to beat El Jaish keeper Khalifa Ababacar N'Diaye's outstretched hands to give Al Sadd the lead.

Thereafter El Jaish pressed the panic button, pushing Al Sadd on the defensive.

In the 69th minute, both the teams introduced one fresh player in a tactical move.

El Jaish were determined to find the equaliser while Al Sadd were con-tent in holding on to the one-goal lead.

Coach Jesulado Ferreira’s team

increased the lead much against the run of play.

With El Jaish going all out for the equaliser, Al Sadd consolidated the lead off a counter attack.

Al Haydos scored in the 76th minute to make it 2-0 and take the game completely away from El Jaish.

On Saturday, Al Rayyan made it to the May 19 final at the Khalifa Sta-dium with a 3-1 win over defending champions and Qatar Stars League winners Lekhwiya.

Brazil-born Rodrigo Tabata

played a key role for Al Rayyan scor-ing two goals and one setting up one.

Al Sadd, who have won the Qatar Cup will be looking for their second title of the season while Al Rayyan will be looking for their maiden sil-verware of the season.

With both Lekhwiya and El Jaish losing in the semi-finals, football fans in Qatar have seen the last of the two QSL clubs as the two are being merged to form a new club 'Duhail', which will feature in next season’s QSL.

We changed ourtactics in second half, says Al Haydos

The Peninsula

Star striker Hassan Al Haydos yesterday said team coach Jesualdo Ferreira brought a swift change in tactics at the

start of the second half that saw Al Sadd beat El Jaish 2-0 and reach the Emir Cup final.

Spectacular goals by strikers Baghdad Bounedjah and Al Haydos helped former champions Al Sadd produce a slick win over El Jaish as the Doha football giants sealed their Emir Cup final berth in convincing fashion.

Following a goalless first half, Algerian striker Bounedjah scored the opening goal in the 47th minute while Al Haydos doubled Al Sadd's home delight by firing the second goal in the 76th minute.

"The first half was really bad. The coach addressed our problems we faced in the first half and then he told us not to go for long passes and told us to stick to short passes," Al Haydos said after the game at Al Sadd Sta-dium yesterday.

"He told us that so that we could cut the running distances," he said.

"The early goal (by Bounedjah) really turned things around for us. That goal lifted us. The first half was scratchy. Both teams were equal. Maybe there was too much of respect between the two sides," he said.

"That's what we did and when we got the second goal, we knew things were under con-trol," Al Haydos said with a smile.

"I want to congratulate the Al Sadd fam-ily including the technical set-up and the backroom staff. This is a gift to them and the club fans. Now we are in the Emir Cup final. We are waiting for the final now," he said.

Al Sadd's Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah (centre) controls the ball during the Emir Cup semi-final against Lekhwiya at Al Sadd Stadium yesterday. Al Sadd booked a place in the final with a 2-0 win over El Jaish. Picture Baher Amin/The Peninsula

24 MONDAY 15 MAY 2017 SPORTGiants Cavs and Warriors eye third finals showdown in a row Washington

AFP

Defending champion Cleve-land and powerhouse Golden State enter start

of the play-off semi-finals push-ing toward an unprecedented third consecutive NBA Finals showdown, adding more sparks to an already historic rivalry.

Golden State entertains San Antonio in best-of-seven West-ern Conference final opener while the LeBron James-led Cav-aliers await today's game-seven winner between Boston and Washington in an Eastern Con-ference final that begins Wednesday in Cleveland.

No two teams have ever met for the title in three consecutive seasons, as the Cavs and Warri-ors could, and only a handful of

players have made the NBA Finals seven years in a row, as James could do.

The Warriors beat Cleveland for the 2015 crown and were one win shy of capping a repeat title run last year after a record 73-win campaign only to have James spark the Cavaliers from a 3-1 deficit to the greatest come-back in NBA Finals history, taking the trophy in seven games.

So it's no wonder that War-riors guard Stephen Curry, the two-time reigning NBA Most Val-uable Player, can ponder a matchup with the Cavs even as he admits Golden State has plenty of work ahead to oust the Spurs.

"We'll hammer it out when we get there but we've got four more wins to go," Curry said. "We'll be keeping an eye on them."

Both the Warriors and Cav-aliers have swept through the first two playoff rounds without dropping a game. Golden State forward Draymond Green said he had hoped to see more from Cleveland's East rivals.

"I thought teams would com-pete a little harder," Green said. "When you watch Cleveland

play, you only watching one side of good basketball. That's kind of weak."

James does not diminish Cleveland's strong start in elim-inating Indiana and Toronto, saying, "It's rewarding when you can advance. It's not just given to you. You have to go out and earn it."

But even "King James" admits: "We have another level and we believe we can get there."

In the play-offs, James is averaging 34.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game. And last year, he became the first player in NBA history to lead the finals in every major statistical category.

"I'm going to let you guys talk about that as far as if this is the most complete I've been in my career," James told reporters.

Cavs' coach Tyronn Lue, who played on two championship teams with the Los Angeles Lak-ers, sees no problem with a "Three-peat" Cavs-Warriors final, comparing fan interest to the 1980s finals that often pitted the Lakers against Larry Bird-led Boston.

"I think nowadays a lot of

people want to see Golden State-Cavs. It's two of the teams playing some of the best basket-ball right now," Lue said.

"Why not want to see it again? I think last year had some of the best (TV) ratings in NBA history. The way they are play-ing, we are playing, it can be even higher."

The 30.8 million US viewers for last year's final game were the most for any NBA Finals con-test since Michael Jordan's 1998 farewell game for Chicago.

And it doesn't hurt that the Warriors added former NBA MVP Kevin Durant this season.

"You have that third player (Durant) who is definitely one of the top three players in this league, that can go get his own shot at any time," said the coach.

Stephen Curry LeBron James

Sergio Garcia in action during

the third round of the Players

Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on Saturday.

Garcia charges into contention for title Miami

AFP

Masters champion Sergio Garcia charged into con-tention during Saturday's windy

third round of The Players Championship while Americans Kyle Stanley and JB Holmes shared the lead after 54 holes.

Spain's Garcia, the 2008 Players winner, and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo each fired five-under par 67s at the TPC Sawgrass course to leap up the leaderboard even as Holmes and Stanley clung to the lead of the US PGA Tour event at nine-under 207.

"Even though it was much tougher with the windy condi-tions and how gusty it was out there, I was able to hit some really quality shots," Garcia said.

In his first start since last month's breakthrough win at Augusta National after 73 prior major failures, Garcia shined with six birdies, three bogeys

and a 17-foot chip-in eagle at the par-5 16th.

Stanley fired and 72 and Hol-mes a 70 with each making a birdie at the par-3 17th island green to stay one stroke ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen, who shot 73 to stand on 208.

South Korea's Kim Si-Woo was fourth on 209 after a 68 with Grillo and Britain's Ian

Poulter on 210 and Garcia shar-ing seventh on 211 with American Patrick Cantlay and Swede Alex Noren.

Stanley, who birdied 17 for the third day in a row, took his only PGA title at the 2012 Phoenix Open. It came a week after his only prior 54-hole lead, a six-shot edge that he squandered at Tor-rey Pines, a triple bogey at the last hole leading to a play-off loss to Brandt Snedeker.

Holmes made an 18-foot birdie putt at the 11th and five-footers at 12 and 17 for birdies to boost his chances of his fifth PGA title, his first since the 2015 Houston Open.

Kim birdied the par-5 sec-ond and ninth holes, began the back nine with another birdie had a tap-in birdie at 12. He found the water at the par-5 16th and made bogey but answered with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th.

"My shot feels really good and I'm getting better," Kim said. "Just trying to be aggressive in these conditions."

Scores207 - JB Holmes 68-69-70, Kyle

Stanley 69-66-72

208 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 69-66-

73

209 - Kim Si-Woo (KOR) 69-72-68

210 - Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 72-71-67,

Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-67-71

211 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 73-71-67,

Patrck Cantlay 69-70-72, Alex Noren

(SWE) 68-71-72

212 - Pat Perez 74-72-66, Francesco

Molinari (ITA) 69-74-69, Rafa Cabrera

Bello (ESP) 69-70-73

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

2024 Games: IOC officials commence three-day Paris visit to evaluate bid Paris

AFP

The 11 members of the Inter-n a t i o n a l O l y m p i c Committee's Evaluation

Commission yesterday began a three-day visit of Paris as they study the French capital's bid to host the 2024 Games.

Paris, which last hosted the Games in 1924, is competing against Los Angeles, with the IOC due to a hold a vote in Lima on September 13 to decide on the winning bid. The Evaluation Com-mission completed a three-day tour of Los Angeles on Friday.

"Paris has a special place in the Olympic movement," said Switzerland's Patrick Baumann (pictured below), chairman of the IOC's Evaluation Commis-sion with a nod to the first Olympic Congress, which took place at the city's Sorbonne Uni-versity in 1894.

It was also the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin, the IOC's founder.

"Now this beautiful city is building on that heritage. Paris is a special city and everybody in this commission has a special attachment with this city."

The visit began on the day

Emmanuel Macron, who has given his firm backing to the city's candidacy, was inaugu-rated as French president, succeeding Francois Hollande.

Macron intends to meet the Evaluation Commission during their visit, according to Paris 2024 co-chairman Tony Estanguet, a former Olympic canoeing champion.

The first day of the visit was expected to be dedicated to a host of meetings, including to assess the likely heritage left by a Games in Paris.

The Olympic movement is eager to avoid the spectacle seen from recent Games of white ele-phant venues left to fall into disuse. The IOC visit will con-tinue today with visits to the city's iconic and sporting sites set to feature during the Games, before concluding tomorrow.

Co-president of the Paris bid

for the 2024 Olympics Tony

Estanguet (back) attends the

IOC Evaluation Commission

session for the 2024 Olympic

Games in Paris, yesterday.

Ryan gives Senators 2-1 win in opener Washington

AFP

Bobby Ryan scored 4:59 into over-time on Sat-urday to give the

Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over defending champion Pittsburgh in the opening game of the NHL Eastern Conference finals.

The visiting Senators seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series that continues Monday in Pitts-burgh. The series winner will play either Nashville or Ana-heim in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ryan assisted on Jean-Gabriel Pageau's goal 14:32 into the first period, his back-hand pass setting up the Canadian center to fire the puck past Penguins goal-tender Marc-Andre Fleury.

But after Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin equalized with 5:35 remaining in the third period to force over-time, Ryan saved the best for last.

The American right wing outraced a defender, crossed left across the front of the Pittsburgh goal, pulled the puck to his backhand and flipped it past Fleury high into the upper left corner of the net.

"We talked about it all night, just winning those lit-tle puck battles," Ryan said. "I felt good with the puck and the decision making."

Pageau has eight goals in this playoff run for Ottawa, which improved to 6-1 in over-time games this year.

"Bobby was everything on both goals," said Pageau. "I just had to put it in and on the last goal I didn't know he could skate that fast. He's a real dangerous skater on the breakaway."

The Penguins enter the series a heavy favorite after winning the Cup last year and ousting Washington in the second round in a battle between the NHL's two win-ningest teams this season.

"We feel like nobody is picking us," Ryan said.

"We stuck with our game. We didn't collapse when they scored. Now here we are with a 1-0 lead and we will take an hour and then we'll get ready for game two."

The Senators clung to their lead until the dying minutes, when Malkin deflected a shot between Craig Anderson's legs for his sixth goal of the play-offs.

Kipchoge in Kenya team for London Worlds Nairobi

AFP

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kip-choge (pictured

above) and London marathon winners Daniel Wanjiru and Mary Keitany will represent Kenya in the event at this summer's World champion-ships in the British capital.

Kipchoge is one of most consistent runners and set a world-leading time of 2hr 00min 25sec but it was not recognised as a world record considering the circumstances the race was held under.

Wanjiru, 24, will be returning to the British city where he recorded his great-est marathon victory.

25MONDAY 15 MAY 2017 SPORT

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton

celebrates on the podium.

Hamilton wins in Spain to reduce Vettel's leadBarcelona

Reuters

Lewis Hamilton won a strategic Spanish Grand Prix thriller yes-terday to cut Sebastian Vettel's overall lead in

the Formula One championship to six points with a quarter of the season completed.

The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense, with Ferrari's Vettel seiz-ing the lead from Hamilton at the start and in the hunt all the way as the tyre strategies played out.

Hamilton took the cheq-uered flag 3.4 seconds clear of the German, who did all he could to beat him with a thrilling move to pass the Briton's team mate Valtteri Bottas that will be replayed for some time to come.

"That's how racing should be

and I loved it," said a happy Hamilton, who raced side by side with Vettel at turn one after the German's final pitstop. "This is what the sport needs to be every single race...to have that close battle with him, a four times champion, is awesome," added the triple champion.

Vettel now has 104 points to Hamilton's 98.

The Briton, who made the move stick seven laps later and then made his tyres last to the finish, had sounded strangely breathless during the race when fretting about a strategy that turned out to be spot on.

"Lewis saved the race with an incredible drive. The strategy was great, but it was the driver who won it," said Mercedes F1's

non-executive chairman Niki Lauda.

The win was Hamilton's sec-ond in Barcelona and ended a run of 10 different winners in 10 years.

"I was eight seconds ahead and then...I don't know how we managed to lose that," said Vet-tel, who made the most of Hamilton's poor start. On an afternoon that saw the two mul-tiple world champions in a battle of their own with the rest so far behind they might as well have been in another race, Daniel Ric-ciardo finished 75.8 seconds behind the winner.

Ricciardo was the only driver not lapped by the top two in a race after inheriting third, and his first podium of the year, from Bottas after the Finn's engine expired.

On a day of Finns failing to finish, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen went out at the start after a col-lision with Red Bull's 2016 winner Max Verstappen.

Bottas, who celebrated his first career victory in Russia two weeks ago, made glancing con-tact with his compatriot and the impact pitched Raikkonen into Verstappen on the other side, smashing the suspension on both cars.

The 19-year-old Dutch driver, with a legion of fans around the Circuit de Catalunya, shook his fist as the field disap-peared in front of him and Raikkonen stopped.

Stewards investigated the incident and decided to take no further action.

Bottas retired 38 laps later, having started with an engine that had already done four races and was hurriedly shoe-horned into the car overnight on Friday after a water leak was discovered.

Spain's double world cham-pion Fernando Alonso, starting seventh for McLaren after a troubled practice, was forced

into the gravel in a tussle with Williams's Felipe Massa and dropped to 13th. He finished 12th.

The virtual safety car was deployed when Alonso's team mate Stoffel Vandoorne broke his car's suspension in a collision with Massa on lap 34.

Mexican Sergio Perez fin-ished fourth, his 15th successive points finish, for Force India with French rookie team mate Este-ban Ocon fifth.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Renault, with com-patriot Pascal Wehrlein eighth for Sauber after a five second time penalty was applied -- the Swiss team's first points of the season -- and Carlos Sainz sev-enth for Toro Rosso.

Russian Daniil Kvyat was eighth for Toro Rosso and French driver Romain Grosjean took the final point for Haas.

Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel leads after the start of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya yesterday in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:35:56.497

2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari +00:03.490

3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Heuer 01:15.820

4. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap

5. Esteban Ocon (France) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap

6. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Renault 1 lap

7. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap

8. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap

9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap

10. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas - Ferrari 1 lap

SPANISH GRAND PRIX RESULTS (TOP 10)

That's how racing should be and I loved it. This is what the sport needs to be every single race...to have that close battle with him (Vettel), a four times champion, is awesome: Lewis Hamilton

WTA unhappy with Nastase presence at Madrid OpenLondon

Reuters

The head of women's ten-nis has condemned Madrid Open organis-

ers for allowing controversial Romanian Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase to take part in the trophy presentation cere-mony following Saturday's final.

The 70-year-old is under investigation by the Interna-tional Tennis Federation (ITF) following last month's Fed Cup tie with Britain, where he swore at members of the opposing team and made a derogatory remark about Ser-ena Williams's unborn child.

However, the former world number one shared the stage with Madrid cham-pion and compatriot Simona Halep, who defended her title with a 7-5, 6-7 (5) 6-2 victory over Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic.

"It was an exciting final match and the only shadow cast on the day was Mr Nas-tase's invitation to participate in today's award ceremony. He had no place on court today," Women's Tennis Association (WTA) CEO Steve Simon said in a statement

Nadal primed as Murray seeks redemption Peschici Italy

AFP

Whether he likes it or not, Rafael Nadal will seek to rubber-stamp his status as the favourite for the

French Open when he heads to the Rome Masters today looking to underline his return to form on clay.

World number one Andy Murray may have wowed the crowds at the Foro Ital-ico last year when he bossed Serbia's four-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final to claim his maiden win in the Italian capital. But what was just the Scot's third title on the surface, following wins in Munich and Madrid, has never looked further away.

A year on from a triumph that sug-gested Murray had finally mastered the toughest surface of them all, the 29-year-old is back to square one after a humiliating exit to unseeded 20-year-old

Croat Borna Coric before the business end of the Madrid Masters began earlier this week.

By contrast, Nadal cruised to a 14-0 win record on clay when he ousted long-time rival Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Currently ranked fifth in the world, the Spaniard will now meet Austrian Dominic Thiem in the final.

"It is a great result," said Nadal. "To win against Novak by that score

you have to be playing very well, other-wise it's impossible."

Yet Nadal, coming back into form after two underwhelming years, was quick to play down suggestions he was already the favourite for the French Open and, by default, the Rome Masters – a tournament he is looking to win for the eighth time.

"I know that I am playing well. I'm on the right track," added Nadal.

"It's really important being able to make it to another final in a Masters 1000, especially here in Madrid, at home. Right now I'm not thinking of anything else."

Given his past record in Rome – Nadal won seven titles from 2005 to 2013 – the 30-year-old Spaniard can look forward to a rousing reception from the notori-ously noisy Rome crowd.

Even moreso if he comes up against Murray, who, to his credit, has blamed himself for an early-season slump in form that has placed huge question marks over his chances of a Rome repeat.

"There's no blame on anyone, it's down to me," Murray said after an error-strewn performance against Coric.

But Murray, who said he has been talking to part-time coach Ivan Lendl "every Monday", is hoping fortune turns in his favour.

"Things can turn around quickly in tennis. Borna lost in the qualifying here a few days ago. Now he's in the quarters playing very good tennis. Things can change fast," he added.

"But you need to have the right sort of ideas, correct ideas, understand why you're in the position you're in. Hopefully I can do that with my team and play bet-ter in Rome and Roland Garros."

For the third straight clay-court Mas-ters 1000 event, Djokovic and Nadal have been drawn in the same half.

Despite a straight sets defeat to Nadal that suggested the Serb, too, has yet to reach his peak, Djokovic remains buoyed.

"It was a positive week, a positive experience. I take more positives than negatives into the next week in Rome," said Djokovic, the second seed in Rome.

"As I go along, I hope to continue get-ting better and getting stronger."

In the absence of world number one Serena Williams, who is pregnant, top seed Angelique Kerber has been drawn in the same quarter as Russian Maria Sharapova, who will play Christina McHale in the first round, and Madrid Open winner Simona Halep.

Sharapova returns to the event for the first time since returning from a 15-month doping ban.

Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates the last point against Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic

during their ATP Madrid Open semi-final match in Madrid on Saturday.

Andy Murray

26 MONDAY 15 MAY 2017SPORT

A strict diet plan, regular training key to Misbah's longevity in cricketR izwan Rehmat The Peninsula

Pakistan's Test skipper Misbah Ul Haq relies on a strict diet regime to stay in shape and never misses a train-

ing session, according to former Pakistani leg-spinner and World Cup hero Mushtaq Ahmed.

"Misbah is the only interna-tional player appearing in Test matches at the age of 43 and the reason for his longevity is his self-imposed disciplined way of living off the field," Ahmed said.

The Pakistani Test skipper played his 75th and final Test against the West Indies this week. Misbah's team-mate and former skipper Younis Khan also featured in the final Test of his career as the two top batsmen said goodbye to international cricket.

"When it comes to diet, then Misbah and Younis Khan are the greatest examples to follow," Ahmed said.

"Misbah is 43. He doesn't eat carbs in the night. He doesn't dig into chapatees (bread) or rice. Never. He is always training in the morning. You can't teach this," Ahmed added in a TV inter-view broadcast in Pakistan.

"At PCB's academy, that's what we are trying to instil in the minds of the youngsters," Ahmed, 46, said.

"We tell the youngsters that nothing is possible without fit-ness, proper diet and rest. Being

the cricketers of the 90s, we can still run for 6-7 kilometres every day in an hour's time.

"Quality training is never wasted. It becomes part of your system," Ahmed, who played 52 Tests for Pakistan, said.

Ahmed was captain Imran Khan's key bowling weapon when Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup final in Melbourne.

The former leg-spinner said Pakistan players are lagging in general fitness standards fol-lowed around the world.

Ahmed, who appeared in 144 ODIs, said scratchy fitness stand-ards and inadequate bench strength have caused Pakistan to lose ODI games that they should have won.

"For the last two years, we haven't played good cricket. What has happened is that Paki-stan have played most of their cricket in the UAE where the pitches suit our spinners,"

Ahmed said when asked about the reasons for poor ODI form since the 2015 ICC World Cup where Pakistan reached the quarter-finals.

"Even if we score around 250 over there, our spinners would win us matches. I am talking about spinners like Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Hafeez. The game would be decided in their 30 overs."

"The moment when Ajmal and Hafeez had their actions scrutinised and were taken away from the game, Pakistani spin department suffered. Now when we go to countries other than the UAE, we see that a score of 300 is actually par score in ODIs these days," Ahmed said.

"The other thing that really matters these days is fitness and diet. When you come in after

your first spell, you should have energy and enthusiasm to bowl another few overs at the death," Ahmed said.

"Take a look back at Paki-stan's recent ODIs. There are so many games that we seem to have lost in the last 5-7 overs. There have been instances where we have lost games which were ours for the taking.

"Pakistan has lost games they should have won. The rea-son for such losses is that we are not fit as some of the other teams," he added.

"I was with the England cricket set-up for six years. I will tell you their routine. In the Eng-lish summer, the sun sets around 10 or half past 10 in the evening. The England players would be in bed by 8:00pm following a light dinner at 6:00pm during Tests or ODIs.

"When you sleep for eight regular hours every day, only then international sportsmen can thrive fitness-wise. Even a good sleep can help you recover from small niggling injuries," he said.

Ahmed, who played for Eng-lish counties Somerset, Surrey and Sussex in his distinguished career, said new skipper Srafraz Ahmed could change Pakistan's fortunes by way of bold captaincy.

"Sarfraz's body language is aggressive. He is always on alert and he is involved with all plans. (Former captain) Azhar Ali was also good but positive leadership is a must," Ahmed said.

Former Pakistani leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed

Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq (left) is greeted by team-mate and fellow retiree Younis Khan on the fourth day's play of the final Test match against the West Indies at the Windsor Park Stadium in Roseau, Dominica on Saturday.

Champions Trophy winners to bag $2.2m Mumbai

Reuters

The winners of next month's Champions Trophy in England and

Wales will earn $2.2m, the International Cricket Coun-cil (ICC) said yesterday.

The overall prize money for the 50-over tournament between the world's top eight sides had been increased by half a million from the last edition in 2013 to $4.5m, the governing body said in a statement.

The runner-up of the June 1-18 tournament will earn $1.1m, while the other two semi-finalists will receive a cheque of $450,000 each.

Teams finishing third in each group would take home $90,000, while the teams finishing last in each pool would receive $60,000 each, the ICC added.

Caixinha wants Rangers to finish with flourishGlasgow

AFP

Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha has challenged his players to finish the

season with a flourish after his side clinched third place in the Scottish Premiership.

The Glasgow giants now can-not be caught by fourth-place St Johnstone following their 2-1 win over 10-man Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday.

Despite having nothing to play for in their final two matches, Caixinha wants his

players to sign off the season in style with victories against Aber-deen and St Johnstone.

"It is all about winning," Caixinha said. "It is going to be the last working week before a short period of vacation and return again.

"The working week is ready. I am always working in advance and depending on what is going on, I make some changes after I analyse the game.

"We want to finish good and until the last moment they are here and I am here, we can think only about winning."

Rangers trail second-place Aberdeen, beaten 3-1 by cham-pions Celtic on Friday, by six points ahead of Wednesday's clash at Ibrox, but have a vastly inferior goal difference.

Joe Garner headed Rang-ers into a sixth-minute lead before Prince Buaben was shown a straight red for Hearts midway through the half.

The Jambos grabbed a 51st-equaliser through Isma Goncalves, but Barrie McKay fired Rangers in front again a minute later.

Caixinha confirmed the

process of bringing in new recruits was well under way, with a number of players also expected to leave Ibrox during the close season.

One of those departing is former Queens Park Rangers defender Clint Hill, after the 38-year-old confirmed he has not been offered a new contract.

"I will be moving on, unfor-tunately. It has been a great year," the veteran defender said.

"It has been hard on the pitch in terms of performances, but it has been brilliant for me to play

at this club. Obviously you are a little bit disappointed because when you play at such a big club, you want it to last as long as possible.

"But I have been in football long enough to know that when a new manager comes in they have different ideas, different personnel.

"So I am just trying to enjoy every minute as if it's my last and hopefully I will only take good memories away."

Hearts' hopes of clinching a Europa League spot are over as they remain in fifth spot, just

four points above Partick This-tle. Hearts head coach Ian Cathro said his side were deserving of more from the match at Ibrox.

"We were strong and consist-ent throughout," said a despondent Cathro, who has picked up just six wins in 24 matches.

"We're putting the gun in our own mouths sometimes. It makes it difficult."

Meanwhile, Inverness are on the verge of relegation from the top flight after they lost 2-1 at Kilmarnock.

Early strikes push Pakistan towards series win Roseau, Dominica AFP

Pakistan's push for an historic series-clinching victory was aided by three wickets in the

morning session with the West Indies reduced to 73 for four at lunch on the last day of the third and final Test at Windsor Park in Dominica yesterday.

Set an improbable target of 304 and having already lost the wicket of Kieran Powell overnight, the home side suffered two further setbacks inside the first hour of the morning.

Kraigg Brathwaite's poor run of form continued when the opening batsman miscued an attempted cut off Yasir Shah for Hasan Ali to take the comfortable catch at backward-point.

It was the leg-spinner's second wicket of the innings and 22nd of a three-match duel in which he has emerged as the tourists' outstanding individual performer.

Shimron Hetmyer's attacking nature presented scoring opportu-nities for the left-hander who stroked three boundaries and sug-gested at a substantial counter-attack.

However the introduction of his nemesis, Mohammad Amir, put paid

to those expectations as he was com-prehensively bowled for 25. It was the third time in the series that the left-armer had dismissed Hetmyer in that manner.

Roston Chase, the first innings top-scorer, then joined Shai Hope with the pair defying all the challenges pre-sented to them by the Pakistani attack, including Mohammad Abbas, the

fast-medium bowler who had taken five wickets in the first innings.

But it was left to the debutant Hasan Ali to provide the break-through 20 minutes before the interval as a full-length inswinger trapped Hope leg-before for 19 and removed a significant obstacle in the visitors' quest for a first-ever Test series triumph in the Caribbean after seven previous failed campaigns.

Chase will resume in the after-noon session in partnership with Vishaul Singh, the left-hander who has so far failed to make any sort of impact in his debut series.

This is also the final day in national colours for Pakistan cap-tain Misbah ul Haq and senior batsman Younis Khan.

Pakistan (1st innings): ...................................376West Indies (I innings): .................................247Pakistan (II innings): ......................... 174/8 declWest Indies (II innings):K Brathwaite c H Ali b Shah ................................................6

K Powell c Masood b Shah ..................................................4

S Hetmyer b Amir ............................................................... 25

S Hope lbw H Ali................................................................... 17

R Chase (batting) ................................................................19

V Singh (batting) ....................................................................1

Extras (W-1) .............................................................................1

Total (for 4 wkts at lunch) ............................... 73Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-47, 4-66.

Bowling: Mohammad Amir 5-2-8-1 (w-1); Mohammad

Abbas 10-6-12-0; Yasir Shah 13-3-43-2; Hasan Ali 5-2-10-1.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistani bowler Yasir Shah (second left) celebrates with team-mates

after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite on

the fifth day's play of the final Test match at the Windsor Park Stadium

in Roseau, Dominica yesterday.

Pune beat Punjab to seal IPL play-off spotPune

IANS

Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) yesterday cemented their place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs thrashing Kings XI

Punjab by nine wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

The Pune victory came off a superb perform-ance by their bowlers which was later complemented by their top-rung batsmen to overhaul the meagre 74-run target set by a hap-less Punjab.

Pune now have 18 points in 14 matches and are at the second spot. They displaced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who slipped to the fourth spot with 16 points.

Earlier, Riding on some disciplined bowling, Pune restricted Punjab to 73 runs. Axar Patel (22) and Wriddhiman Saha (13) were the major con-tributors for Punjab's cause.

Later, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi.

Brief scores: Rising Pune Supergiant: 78 for 1 (Ajinkya

Rahane 34 not out) beat Kings XI Punjab: 73 (Shar-dul Thakur 3/19, Daniel Christian 2/10, Jaydev Unadkat 2/12) by nine wickets.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 161/6 (Virat

Kohli 58, Chris Gayle 48; Pat Cummins 2/22) beat Delhi Daredevils: 151 (Rishabh Pant 45, Harshal Patel 3 for 43) by 10 runs.

27MONDAY 15 MAY 2017 SPORT

Qatar's Dana wins gold at Baku Games

Armstrong Vas The Peninsula

Dana Saad Al Mubarak kept her nerve in c r u c i a l moments of a

tightly-contested women’s 25m pistol final to help Qatar win their first gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku yesterday.

Qatar now have so far won three medals at the Games, two bronze and one gold, all of which have come in shooting.

The Qatari sharpshooter, who took to shooting in 2010 and trains under the watch-ful eyes of coach Marina Solodovnikova finished fifth in the qualification rounds but came back strongly in the final rounds.

Dana came up with a more consistent display in the medal rounds, finishing with 28 points ahead of Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan on 23.

Three-time African champion Olfa Cherni of Tunisia stumbled in the final rounds, but still managed to hold on to the bronze medal.

The 24-year-old, who excelled at various GCC events for the last four years picking up many medals, topped the field which con-sisted of home shooter Irada Ashumova, who bagged a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Ashumova came up with a disappointing show and fell short of a podium finish.

Earlier yesterday, Nasser Ali Al Hemaidi of Qatar

bagged the second bronze for Qatar at the Games.

The 31-year-old finished third in the men’s trap event behind Turkey's Orguzhan Tuzun, who took the silver medal. Ahmed Kamar of Egypt took gold with perfect score in the final rounds.

Kamar hit an impressive 25 consecutive targets to leapfrog into first place and he never let go of his leader-ship, finishing with an

impressive 42 points, three more than Tuzan, who had to settle for second place. Al Hemaidi shot down 33 clay targets in the final round.

On Saturday, Qatar opened their medals account with Kholoud Hassan Al Khalaf winning the first medal for Qatar at the Games. She won bronze in the trap shooting competi-tion, winning third place overcoming stiff competition

from several world champi-ons who were in the fray.

World champion Nihan Gurer of Turkey took gold from the event. She finished with 41 points, four more than second-placed Shafag Amrahova of Azerbaijan. Al Khalaf settled for the bronze a further eight points adrift.

Over 3000 athletes from 54 countries are participat-ing at the 11-day Games, which end on May 22.

Qatar's Dana Saad Al Mubarak (third left) winner of the gold medal at the women’s 25m pistol final at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku is seen with Dr Thani Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, General Secretary of Qatar Olympic Committee and other officials of Qatar Shooting and Archery Association. Right: Dana and Nasser Ali Al Hemaidi of Qatar, who won bronze in the trap event, pose with their medals.

Shooters on targetThe 24-year-old Qatari sharpshooter clinches the top place in the 25m pistol event to give Qatar their third medal at the Games.

Markhiya confirm Belhadj dealThe Peninsula

Newly promoted Markhiya have announced their first signing ahead of the new

2017-2018 Qatar Stars League (QSL) season.

The club confirmed that they had come to an agreement with Algerian midfielder Nadir Bel-hadj to play with the side over the course of the new campaign.

Belhadj has previously played in the QSL with Al Sadd, enjoying six seasons with the Wolves.

Speaking of the signing Al Nuaimi said: “Belhadj will be a leader for us on the pitch, his expe-rience will be vital for us in surviving in the QSL.”

“Belhadj can play in either the center of midfield or on the left

hand side, which is important for the side” added Al Nuaimi who noted that the midfielder’s ability to play in a number of positions was another key factor for the move.

Markhiya will now turn their attentions to hiring the three remaining professionals for their side as they prepare for their sec-ond ever campaign in the QSL.

"The signing of Algerian Nadir Belhadj will be a strong addition to the football team in the new sea-son 2017/2018, which will play in the Qatar Stars League," added Al Nuaimi.

Al Nuaimi said in a statement to the QSL website that former Algerian player Belhadj had signed a one-season contract and the club is waiting for him to join the team in preparation for the new season.

Belhadj played in the third season of French side Sedan after leaving the Al Sadd at the end of last season.

Meanwhile, QSL side Al Sailiya has confirmed their preseason training plans ahead of the new 2017/2018 season.

Head coach Sami Trabelsi revealed the news in an interview with QSL online.

Trabelsi revealed that the club will be heading to his native Tuni-sia for their training camp, which is set to take place from the August. 5 to 28.

The club will also play a total of five friendly matches as they ramp up preparations for the new campaign.

Al Sailiya finished in eighth place in the QSL standings this sea-son, with a tally of 31 points.

Nadir Belhadj (left) in action in QSL match in this 2015 file picture.

EPL: Liverpool boost top four bidLondon

AFP

Liverpool are on the brink of qualifying for the Champi-ons League after Philippe

Coutinho inspired a 4-0 rout of West Ham, while Tottenham said a fitting farewell to White Hart Lane with a 2-1 win against Man-chester United yesterday.

In contrast to Liverpool's jubilation and Tottenham's cel-ebratory send-off, there was only misery for Hull as they were rel-egated after a 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace.

It was a day of high emotion as the Premier League's remain-ing issues at the top and bottom were played out in dramatic fashion.

At the London Stadium, Liv-erpool took the lead when Coutinho's sublime pass was converted by Daniel Sturridge early in the first half.

Coutinho stole the spotlight again in the second half with a superb solo strike and a cool

finish to put Jurgen Klopp's side three goals ahead before Divock Origi netted to cap the Reds' swaggering display.

Liverpool moved back one point above Manchester City into third place.

Although City and fifth placed Arsenal both have a game in hand, Klopp's men will be guaranteed a Champions League berth if they beat relegated Mid-dlesbrough at Anfield next Sunday.

In the unlikely event Arsenal lose at home to relegated Sun-derland on Tuesday then Liverpool will clinch a top four spot without playing.

"At the end it was amazing but the start was not that good," Klopp said.

"After that we controlled the game and took our chances. We scored some really nice goals."

Playing their last game at White Hart Lane after 118 years, second placed Tottenham responded to the end of their title dreams by stylishly bringing

down the curtain on 118 years at the famous north London stadium.

Chelsea were crowned champions after their win at West Bromwich Albion on Fri-day, but Tottenham had the ideal occasion to forget that frustra-tion as they prepare to

temporarily play at Wembley while the Lane is demolished to make way for a new arena.

With numerous Tottenham legends watching from the stands, Kenya midfielder Victor Wanyama put the hosts ahead in the sixth minute.

Harry Kane doubled

Tottenham's lead in the 48th minute with his 28th goal of the season.

United's Wayne Rooney who had the distinction of scoring the last goal at the Lane with a close-range finish in the 71st minute.

Down in south London, Hull knew only a victory would give them a realistic chance of stay-ing up, but goals from Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aan-holt consigned them to the drop.

Third-bottom Hull, winners just once in their last six matches, return to the Championship 12 months after their promotion via the play-offs.

They paid the price for a cha-otic campaign marred by poor signings and boardroom turmoil. Marco Silva was unable to save them despite improved perform-ances following his January appointment and he said: "You need to prepare better. The most important thing is for the club to understand what they did in a bad way.

'Rich' fans don't influence me, says WengerLondon

AFP

Arsene Wenger dis-missed protests from Arsenal fans seeking

his removal as manager and called on his players to focus instead on the club's push for Champions League football next season.

An emphatic 4-1 win at Stoke kept the Gunners in contention for a top four fin-ish and a 21st consecutive season of elite European football.

But while Wenger's name was sung out heartily by sup-porters inside Stoke's stadium early in the game a plane flew overhead carrying a banner calling for the Frenchman not to return next season.

"When you say fans, who do you mean? The rich ones?" said Wenger when asked for his reaction.

"Look, I am paid to do my job for the club I love and I will do that as long as I'm here with full commitment. I'm not influenced by that at all, all I do is give my best.

"We have 69 points today so let's make 72 on Tuesday and after that I will give my best for as long as I'm here for the values of this club and for the club.

"I want to focus on foot-ball and the rest is less important. I'm not in politics. I'm in sport, I love sport and give my 24 hours a day for what I love. I am in a public job, some agree with me, some not."

Earlier in the day, reports in France had even suggested that Wenger has already agreed a one-year deal to remain in charge at the Emir-ates, but the 67-year-old refused to confirm or deny the claim.

"There's no information about that," said Wenger.

Tottenham Hotspur's striker Son (right) vies with Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick during the English Premier League match at White Hart Lane in London, yesterday.