AGENCIES

VALENCIA: Valencia ended its winless drought at home with a 3-1 victory over Young Boys 3-1 yesterday in the Champions League.

Santi Mina scored twice in the first half and Carlos Soler added a goal after halftime to give the Spanish club its first win in seven matches at its Mestalla Stadium.

The victory - Valencia’s third overall this season - left the team with five points in Group H, one more than Manchester United ahead of the English club’s match at Juventus. Swiss champion Young Boys, making its debut in the group stage, stayed on one point in last place.

The Swiss side played a man down from the 77th minute as Sekou Sanogo was sent off with a straight red card for a dangerous sliding tackle on Valencia mid-fielder Francis Coquelin.

Young Boys held Valencia to a 1-1 draw in Bern two weeks ago.

In the other match, Lorenzo Pellegrini, the Italy midfielder scored one goal and set up another as Roma beat 10-man CSKA Moscow 2-1 yesterday.

Since losing its opening group game 3-0 to Real Madrid, Roma has won three in a row and only needs one more victory to put qualification for the knockout stages beyond doubt.

On Tuesday, Antoine Griezmann boosted his chances of lifting the most prestigious indi-vidual trophy in soccer with an inspired display and a goal in his 50th Champions League game.

Griezmann helped Atletico Madrid bounce back from a heavy loss to Borussia Dortmund with a 2-0 win over the German club, a result that sent last year’s semifi-nalist Monaco crashing out.

Liverpool was handed a 2-0 shock loss at Red Star Belgrade while Barcelona, without Lionel Messi, drew 1-1 at Inter Milan in

the evening’s showcase match to become the first team to progress to the knockout stage this season.

Red Star’s victory left Group C wide open after Napoli was held to a 1-1 home draw by Paris Saint-Germain, with all four teams still in contention in a very tight pool.

Griezmann, who has scored 10 goals in his last 10 home matches in the tournament, was set up by midfielder Thomas Partey and concluded the smooth counterattack with a soft touch from inside the area in the 80th minute after Saul Niguez had put the hosts ahead.

Dortmund and Atletico are atop Group A. Dortmund routed Atletico 4-0 last month at home in what was the Spanish team’s worst loss under coach Diego Simeone.

Earlier, Monaco was handed a humiliating 4-0 defeat by Club Brugge that prematurely ended the club’s Champions League ambitions as Thierry Henry once again failed to secure a first win as coach. It was Club Brugge’s first

group win in 13 years.Hans Vanaken scored twice,

Brazilian forward Wesley made it 3-0 and captain Ruud Vormer completed the rout. Monaco - which is winless in its last 15 matches - can’t qualify for the knockout phase.

BARCELONA THROUGH Without Messi, Barcelona was still the better team but failed to convert its chances at San Siro stadium.

Despite the draw, the Catalan team sealed its spot in the next round.

Messi had traveled with the team to Milan but Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde opted not to risk the star forward, who hasn’t played since fracturing his arm last month. Substitute Malcom scored with seven minutes remaining but Mauro Icardi leveled in the 87th for the hosts.

Barcelona is top of Group B, three points ahead of Inter and six ahead of Tottenham, which beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1. Harry Kane

scored two late goals for Tot-tenham, which looked in danger of exiting the competition after just four games when the hosts went behind after only 61 seconds at Wembley.

Instead, Kane’s goals - in the 78th and 89th - gave the English team a glimmer of hope of a top-two finish.

RED STAR SHINES AGAIN Red Star Belgrade revived mem-ories of its time as one of Europe’s top teams. Milan Pavkov scored in the 22nd and 29th minutes as the Serbian champions earned a first win in their debut appearance in the Champions League group stage. It last played in the European Cup in 1991 as holders, when beating the likes of Liverpool would not have been regarded as such a surprise.

Back then, eastern European teams were genuine contenders for club football’s biggest prize - Steaua Bucharest of Romania was European champion in 1986 - and Red Star had some of the

world’s best players like Robert Prosinecki and Dejan Savicevic.

VINTAGE PORTO Porto moved even closer to

a spot in the knockout stage after beating Lokomotiv Moscow 4-1 to end the Russian champion’s qualifying hopes.

After scoring at Lokomotiv last month, Hector Herrera and Moussa Marega both netted again to help put Porto on 10 points at the top of Group D. With Schalke beating Galatasaray 2-0.

SPORT

BRONZE MEDAL FOR QATAR

Thursday 8 November 2018

PAGE | 27 PAGE | 29Al Sadd eye full

points against Al Kharaitiyat

Foakes and spinners put England on top

AFC U-23 qualifiers: Qatar’s journey to Thailand 2020 begins in DohaTHE PENINSULA

KUALA LUMPUR: The journey to the AFC U23 Championship - to be held in Thailand in 2020 - will begin in March next year when the qualifiers for the pres-tigious event kick off around the Asian continent.

The official draw ceremony for the qualifying stages was held at the AFC House in the Malaysian capital yesterday.

Qatar will host Group A as they aim to make their third appearance in the AFC U23 Championship Finals. They will face challengers Oman, Nepal and Afghanistan.

The Qualifiers divided the 44 participating teams into two zones of West (West + South + Central) with 24 teams, and East (East + Asean) with 20 teams.

Host of Group B, Bahrain, will make their fourth attempt in qualifying to the Finals, as they go up against Palestine, Bang-ladesh and Sri Lanka.

Islamic Republic of Iran, the host nation for Group C, will prove their mettle against inau-

gural champions Iraq, Turkmen-istan and Yemen.

2013 runners-up Saudi Arabia will be aiming to better their previous best result after failing to progress past the group stage in January. They host United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Maldives in Group D.

Kuwait were among the first teams to participate in the

first-ever AFC U23 Championship in 2013, and will bid to reach the Finals again when they face opponents Jordan, Syria and Kyrgyz Republic in Group E.

Reigning champions and host nation Uzbekistan will begin their title defence against Tajikistan, India and Pakistan in Group F. Mongolia will be counting on home support when they host

Group G and go up against DPR Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Cambodia have yet to reach the Finals but they are deter-mined to impress when they welcome Korea Republic, Aus-tralia and Chinese Taipei in Group H.

After missing out on two edi-tions, Group I host, Myanmar, will

play against 2016 winners Japan, Timor-Leste and Macau.

Group J host Malaysia, who reached the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in their history in January, are set to host China PR, Laos and Philippines.

Vietnam, who finished runners-up in the 2018 edition returns to the Qualifiers as host of Group K, where they will meet Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.

The 11 group winners and four best second-placed teams among all groups will qualify for the Finals, with the host nation of the Finals receiving automatic qualification.

In the event that the host of the Finals, Thailand, finishes among the qualified teams to the Finals (either top of the group or one of the four best second-placed teams), the next (fifth) second-placed team in the ranking among all groups will qualify to the Finals instead.

The 2020 Qualifiers will be held on March 22-26, 2019.

Qatar’s Fares Ibrahim Elbakh, winner of a bronze medal in the clean and jerk category at the World Weightlifting Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, speaking to journalists after the victory ceremony, yesterday. Iran’s Sohrab Moradi (230 kg) won gold followed by China’s Tao Tian (226 kg), and Elbakh lifted 217 kg to clinch the bronze..

Valencia forward Santi Mina celebrates

after scoring a second goal during the UEFA

Champions League group H match against Young

Boys at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia,

yesterday.

Boult hat-trick fuels NZ win over PakistanAFP

ABU DHABI: Trent Boult became the third New Zealand bowler to claim a one-day international hat-trick as his side defeated Pakistan by 47 runs in the first match in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Pace spearhead Boult reduced Pakistan to 8 for 3 in their chase of 267 after he dismissed Fakhar Zaman (one), Babar Azam (nought) and Mohammad Hafeez (nought) in the third over.

He finished with figures of 3 for 54 as Pakistan were bowled out for 219 in 47.2 overs.

“It’s nice to be back out there and get the win for the boys,” said Boult, who missed the 3-0 loss in the preceding Twenty20 series due to the birth of his child.

“I think the new ball is a key part of the game and we know what early wickets can do to chasing totals.”

New ZealandG Worker c Sarfraz b Shaheen .......................... 1

C Munro lbw b Shaheen ..................................29

K Williamson c Hafeez b Shadab ..................27

L Taylor b Wasim ............................................ 80

T Latham lbw b Shadab ..................................68

H Nicholls lbw b Shadab ..................................0

C de Grandhomme c Azam b Shadab .............0

T Southee c Junaid b Shaheen ..................... 20

I Sodhi c Shadab b Shaheen ..........................24

L Ferguson (not out) ......................................... 3

T Boult (not out) ................................................ 8

Extras: (LB3, W3) ............................................6

Total: (for nine wkts; 50 overs) ....... 266Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-36, 3-78, 4-208,

5-208, 6-208, 7-210, 8-252, 9-254

Bowling: Junaid 9-1-56-0, Shaheen 8-1-46-4

(1w), Hasan 9-0-62-0, Wasim 8-0-38-1 (1w),

Shadab 10-1-38-4 (1w), Hafeez 6-0-23-0

PakistanImam-ul-Haq c de Grandhomme b Ferguson 34

Fakhar Zaman b Boult ....................................... 1

Babar Azam c Taylor b Boult ...........................0

Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Boult .....................0

Shoaib Malik c Williamson b de Grandhomme 30

Sarfraz Ahmed b de Grandhomme .............. 64

Shadab Khan c Latham b Sodhi ...................... 7

Imad Wasim c de Grandhomme b Southee 50

Hasan Ali c Boult b Ferguson ........................ 16

Shaheen Shah Afridi b Ferguson .....................0

Junaid Khan not out .......................................... 0

Extras: (LB4, NB1, W12) ............................... 17

Total: (all out; 47.2 overs) ................219Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-8, 4-71, 5-73,

6-85, 7-188, 8-219, 9-219

Bowling: Boult 10-1-54-3 (6w), Southee 9-1-

31-1, Ferguson 9.2-0-36-3 (3w), de Grandhom-

me 10-0-40-2 (1w), Sodhi 9-0-54-1 (1nb, 2w)

Result: New Zealand won by 47 runs

SCOREBOARD

Roma, Valencia pick full points

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS

UEFA Champions League results onTuesday: Group A

At Monaco Monaco (FRA) 0 Club Brugge (BEL) 4

(Vanaken 12, 17-pen, Wesley 24, Vormer 85) At Madrid

Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2 (Niguez 33,Griezmann 80) Borussia Dortmund (GER) 0

Group B At Milan, Italy

Inter Milan (ITA) 1 (Icardi 87) Barcelona (ESP)1 (Malcom 83) At London

Tottenham (ENG) 2 (Kane 78, 89) PSVEindhoven (NED) 1 (De Jong 2)

Group C At Naples, Italy

Napoli (ITA) 1 (Insigne 63-pen) Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 1 (Bernat 45+2)

At Belgrade Red Star Belgrade (SRB) 2 (Pavkov 22, 29)

Liverpool (ENG) 0 Group D

At Porto, Portugal FC Porto (POR) 4 (Herrera 2, Marega 42,

Corona 67, Otavio 90+3)Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS) 1 (Farfan 59)

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany Schalke 04 (GER) 2 (Burgstaller 4, Uth 57)

Galatasaray (TUR) 0 Yesterday’s results

Group G At Moscow

CSKA Moscow (RUS) 1 (Sigurdsson 51) Roma(ITA) 2 (Manolas 4, Pellegrini 59)

Group H At Valencia, Spain

Valencia (ESP) 3 (Mina Lorenzo 14, 42, Soler56) Young Boys (SUI) 1 (Assalé 37)

28 THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

Miami voters approve path to new stadiumAFP

CORAL GABLES: David Beckham was cele-brating in South Florida yesterday after his dream of building a team in Major League Soccer took a notable step forward.

The former England captain’s push to bring a franchise to Miami has been ham-strung for close to five years with a suitable venue for a new stadium extremely difficult to find. But voters in Miami came out in favour of a change in regulations that will allow his ownership group -- Miami Freedom Park Group LLC -- to negotiate a 99-year lease for the latest target: city owned land at the Melreese Country Club, the city’s only municipal golf course, near Miami airport.

The measure voted yesterday, which allows for a no-bid process in negotiations, had a 60 percent lead with 88 percent of precincts reporting.

The 73 acre site is the fifth location put forward by Beckham, whose investment group consists of Jorge Mas and his brother Jose, owners of local infrastructure company MasTec, as well as Sprint chairman Marcelo Claure and SoftBank chief executive Masa-yoshi Son.

The saga has stretched on since February

2014, when Beckham first announced his intentions to own a franchise.

There’s much more work to do, yet the 43-year-old Londoner was delighted to have cleared the latest hurdle in what has been a torturous process so far.

“I need to say a big thanks to the fans who have stuck by us,” the former Man-chester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy star said after speaking emotionally in front of an excitable crowd in Coral Gables, many of whom were decked out in Inter Miami FC colors.

“Today is an exciting day,” Beckham said. “We have had a dream of bringing a team to this great city. We want to create a legacy, something our children will aspire to. But we also want to win. I am not coming here just to have a pretty team. Winning cham-pionships are important to me.”

The next step, however, is far from straightforward.

Beckham’s group must now earn approval from four of the five city commis-sioners. Two of them -- Manolo Reyes, a staunch critic of the plans, and Willy Gort, whose district includes Melreese -- opposed the referendum earlier this year.

Furthermore, with the Melreese site built

on a toxic waste dump which could cost upwards of $35m to clean up, doubters have suggested the plans will encounter many more roadblocks before building permits are granted, something which must happen by November 2019 according to the previ-ously agreed MLS expansion agreement.

Critics fear the clean-up costs could spiral and leave the taxpayers footing the bill -- a daunting prospect after the uproar caused after baseball’s Miami Marlins Stadium fiasco left locals with a tab which has almost reached $3bn.

Beckham’s lavish $1bn, privately financed project will include a stadium complex as well as a huge shopping mall, a 750 room hotel, office space and a 58-acre public park.

Locals were encouraged to vote ‘yes’ to ensure jobs and other benefits for Miami including $20m to help reinvigorate other public parks in the area.

MLS stress the team will begin playing in 2020 although it will have to be at a tem-porary venue, potentially at the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, or the Marlins baseball stadium.

“We will look at all options,” Jorge Mas said.

David Beckham celebrates support from fans Tokyo gymnastics venue gets new roofAP

TOKYO: Attention Simone Biles: They’re building a venue in Tokyo where you can add to the four Olympic gold medals you won in Rio de Janeiro.

The 2020 Olympic gymnastics venue is halfway completed and should be finished by this time next year.

Yesterday, engineers raised a massive timber roof section, one of five curved sections that will top out the 20.5bn yen ($180m) building, which designers describe as being shaped like a wooden bowl.

“Japan’s wood culture will be communicated through the venue,” architect Hidemichi Takahashi said through an interpreter.

Wood has been traditionally used in Japanese housing, and religious shrines and temples.

Each of the five wooden sections weighs 200 metric tons, or 200,000 kilograms (440,000 pounds). Officials said the wood used in the roof is larch, a conifer in the pine family.

The section raised yesterday was lifted from the ground at a glacial pace of about 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) per minute, so trying to see the movement was like watching clock hands barely move.

“By using wood instead of steel, the weight of the roof is cut in half,” Takahashi said.

The venue will also have timber seating “to give fans the feel of the warmth of wood,” Takahashi added.

Officials said all the wood in the venue is Japanese. There has been some controversy about the origin of wood used in the new Olympic Stadium, which is under construction in central Tokyo.

The gymnastics venue will seat about 12,000 and will be used for 10 years after the Olympics as a convention center by the Tokyo metropolitan government. After that, plans call for the building to be razed.

The venue is located in the Tokyo Bay region in an area known as Ariake. The area will also have Olympic venues for tennis, vol-leyball, BMX and skateboarding.

Located close by in the bay region are also venues for tria-thlon, marathon swimming, beach volleyball, swimming, water polo, archery, 3x3 basketball, sport climbing, hockey, equestrian, canoeing and rowing.

Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee have been criticized for leaving behind empty, unused venues in Rio de Janeiro and earlier this year at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Tokyo organizers are using a mix of new, old and temporary venues, hoping to avoid the stigma of creating white elephants.

The main wooden roof section of the Olympic Gymnastic Centre for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is installed at Ariake district in Tokyo, Japan.

US ready for weakened Czechs in Fed Cup finalAP

PRAGUE: United States captain Kathy Rinaldi has had a winning formula since taking over the Fed Cup team, and she’s not expected to change anything in this year’s final against the Czech Republic.

Under her charge since 2017, the US has won five straight matches, including last year’s final against Belarus.

“Being a captain for last year and this year, every match you go into it you never underes-timate any team,” Rinaldi said yesterday ahead of the weekend final on an indoor hard court at the O2 Arena in Prague.

“These are the two teams with most history in Fed Cup, the best record, so it’s very exciting. We’re honoured and humble to be here. For me as a captain to be in the second final is absolutely incredible.”

On the way to the final, the Americans defeated the Nether-lands 3-1 and France 3-2. But they have to rely on a different team in Prague.

After four of the top five US women in the WTA singles rankings - the Williams sisters, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys - decided to skip the final, three players on the team have yet to play a Fed Cup match.

The 18-time champions have Danielle Collins as the highest-ranked player at No. 36, along with 52nd-ranked Sofia Kenin and 63rd-ranked Alison Riske. Nicole Melichar is ranked 15th in doubles.

“In sports, any given Sunday, anything can happen,” said Melichar, who was born in the second largest Czech city of Brno but has been living in the US her whole life.

“We have a great team, we’re going to go out and we’re going to fight.”

The Czechs have more reasons to worry about their sixth final in eight years.

After No. 8 Karolina Pliskova was ruled out of the final with calf muscle and wrist injuries on Saturday, Czech Republic captain Petr Pala had some more bad

news to announce yesterday about Petra Kvitova.

“Petra had a fever,” Pala said. “After an agreement with the

doctors we decided she wouldn’t be training (today).”

However, Pala added: “Nothing suggests she wouldn’t be available for the weekend.”

Missing Kvitova would be a blow for the Czech hopes. She contributed to all five previous titles, reaching fourth place among players with the most Fed Cup trophies.

Kvitova returned to the team this year after recovering from injuries she suffered during a knife attack at her home in December 2016 and won all her four singles matches on the way to the 3-1 victory over Swit-zerland in the first round and a 4-1 win over Germany in the semifinals.

Kvitova won five WTA tour-naments in the first half of the year but lost all her group matches at the WTA Finals in Singapore last month.

The Czechs have the No. 1 doubles pair of Katerina Sini-akova and Barbora Krejcikova, and also 33rd-ranked Barbora Strycova available.

Siniakova, ranked 31st, is expected to play both singles and doubles.

“I just try to work this week to be ready,” she said.

The Czechs have never beaten the Americans in the Fed Cup.

Their last victory came in 1985 as Czechoslovakia. Czech-oslovakia won five titles.

Records

� Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, who combined to lead Spain to 10 Fed Cup Finals, head the all-time lists for total wins and total singles wins as well as re-cording the most wins as a doubles pair.

� Larisa Savchenko, who repre-sented both the Soviet Union and Latvia during her Fed Cup career, has the highest number of all-time doubles wins, combining her record under both flags.

� Anne Kremer holds the record for the most ties played having competed in 74 ties for Luxem-bourg.

� In total, over 3,000 players have represented their nation in Fed Cup.

Kyrgios seeing psychologists, working on hismental healthAFP

SYDNEY: Temperamental Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios says he is talking to psychol-ogists and “trying to get on top” of his mental health after another roller-coaster season where he was criticised for his on-court antics. Kyrgios finished his season early in October after an elbow injury forced him out of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The fiery 23-year-old lost his status as Australian number one to 19-year-old Alex de Minaur in the same month.

Returning home to prepare for next year, the world number 37 admitted he was working through mental health issues that had plagued him throughout the season.

“I was obviously struggling with a couple of things on and off the court this year, so it hasn’t been easy,” he told hometown news-paper the Canberra Times. “But I’m starting to see some psychologists and trying to get on top of my mental health.

“I probably left it a little too long. But I’ve been doing that and I feel more open about talking about it, I don’t feel like I’ve got to hide that sort of stuff any more.”

The supremely talented but combustible Kyrgios has become infamous for petulant behaviour, outbursts and meltdowns on court.

At the US Open in August, an umpire gave the Australian a controversial pep talk during his second-round game for his perceived lack of effort. He exited the Shanghai Masters in the first round last month, where he was also criticised for his lacklustre performance.

Kyrgios said he was “very lucky” to have had an international tennis career and announced an overhaul of his playing schedule to try and avoid a repeat of his mental and physical burnout.

“I’m going to work with my team to get the correct schedule, I don’t think I’ve got it right the last couple of years because I haven’t made it to the end of the year once,” he said.

Junior World No. 1 Jason Tseng is seen with tennis star Roger Federer, who is preparing for the Nitto ATP Finals, in London. The ATP Tour Finals will be played in London next week.

ATP Tour Finals 2018 (November 11-18)Group Guga KuertenMarin Cilic Alexander Zverev Novak Djokovic John IsnerGroup Lleyton HewittDominic Thiem Kei Nishikori Kevin Anderson Roger Federer

The ATP World Tour is a truly global sports property, showcasing the finest male athletes with 63 tournaments, in 31 countries over 11 months, cul-minating in November with the Nitto ATP Finals.

English retired professional footballer David Beckham speaks on stage during the AIA Football Clinic for Youth at SCG Muangthong in Bangkok in this November 3, 2018, file photo.

29THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Adel set to drive

Ford Fiesta R5 THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Adel Abdulla (pictured above) has pieced together a last-minute deal to drive a powerful Ford Fiesta R5 in next week’s Manateq International Rally of Qatar, the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).

The former FIA T2 World Champion has been tackling rounds of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in recent seasons, but has held the ambition of tackling his home round of the regional rally series since taking part in the event for the first time as a navigator in 1990.

The Doha-based driver will drive a car under the man-agement of Roger Feghali’s Autotune operation and is hopeful that the experienced Lebanese navigator Joseph Matar will accompany him to the official start at Souq Waqif in downtown Doha from 7.00pm next Thursday (November 15).

Adel said: “I saw that there were a lot of drivers entering the rally and I wanted to take part. I made the deal very late. It is my dream to do the Qatar International Rally. It is a good time of year, good weather and I think it will be good experience for me. There are no more races in the Cross-Country this year, so the timing is ideal.

“There are no plans to fight to win. I will do my best. It is my first time to drive this type of car. I did my first race here in 1990 and now I have a chance to do it as a driver after three years driving in the Cross-Country World Cup.”

Adel’s challenge for success comes with the support of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and Ooredoo Qatar. While he is realistically not out to challenge the likes of 14-time regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his season-long Czech rival Vojtech Štajf in the R5 battle, Adel is hopeful that a podium finish is the realistic goal against a strong field of MERC 2 entrants.

Manateq International Rally of Qatar from Nov 15 to 17

REUTERS

LONDON: Lewis Hamilton is celebrating his fifth Formula One world championship already and Sunday should see Mercedes catch up with their driver by securing a fifth successive constructors’ title in Brazil.

Only Ferrari have enjoyed such a previous run, with six in succession between 1999 and 2004, and Sebastian Vettel and team mate Kimi Raikkonen are the only ones who can delay the seemingly inevitable.

For Mercedes to be denied at Sao Paulo’s atmos-pheric Interlagos circuit, Ferrari will have to score 13 points more than Mercedes -- a feat they have managed only twice in 19 races so far this year.

Mercedes are 55 points clear of the Italians, with 43 still to be won after Brazil.

Despite that, Mercedes are sticking to their time-worn mantra of taking one race at a time and nothing for granted, even if nobody will be surprised to see cele-bratory T-shirts appear on Sunday.

“Our target for this season was to win both champion-ships, not one title or the other, so our mindset is one of unfinished business as we head to Sao Paulo,” said team boss Toto Wolff.

“We have a big battle on our hands for the con-structors’ title and we have lost ground to Ferrari in each of the past (two) race weekends -- even though we had the base performance to do better.

“This is the moment to keep our feet on the ground, focus clearly on the objective and trust in our processes and people to deliver.”

In 2015 and 2017, Ham-ilton did not win again after taking the title with races to spare and it would also be no surprise for that to happen again.

The constructors’ cham-pionship is still a very big deal for everyone at the 900-strong team, and not just because staff bonuses are paid on it rather than the drivers’ one.

With no Brazilian driver in the race, Felipe Massa’s departure at the end of last year ending an unbroken line extending over four decades, the carnival atmosphere may be slightly more muted.

But there will still be no shortage of drivers keen to put on a show, particularly if -- as often happens -- the heavens open.

Red Bull’s exciting over-takers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who has retired from his last two races, will hope to do that as will Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas now freed from team orders and seeking his first win of 2018.

The race will also be a farewell for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who won his two world titles with Renault at the Brazilian track in 2005 and 2006 and is leaving Formula One after Abu Dhabi.

“I haven’t had the chance to fight for a couple of Grands Prix now, so I hope we can have a clean battle and show what’s possible,” Alonso said.

All teams will approach Interlagos with some trepi-dation after Mercedes mechanics and others were targeted by armed robbers outside the circuit last time, with tighter security measures promised.

Mercedes ready to wrap up fifth successive F1 title

Formula One statistics for

the Brazilian Grand Prix

Lap distance: 4.309km. Total distance: 305.909km (71 laps)2017 pole: Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes One minute 08.322 seconds.2017 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) FerrariRace lap record: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 2017, 1:11.044.

TITLELewis Hamilton has already clinched his fifth world championship, doing so in Mexico with two races to spare. The Briton is only the third driver to win five titles, after the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Mercedes can now clinch their fifth suc-cessive constructors’ championship -- something previously achieved only by Ferrari (1999-2004). The team are 55 points ahead of Ferrari, who must outscore the reigning champions by 13 points to keep the title battle open until Abu Dhabi.

BRAZIL Three of the current drivers have won in Brazil: Vettel (2010, 2013, 2017), Raikkonen (2007), Hamilton (2016). Brazil has been on the calendar since 1973, starting at Interlagos before moving to Rio de Janeiro and then returning to Sao Paulo. The circuit is named after the late Jose Carlos Pace. Hamilton clinched his first title in Brazil in 2008. Pole position has translated into victory 13 times in 35 races in Brazil. McLaren have a record 12 wins in Brazil, eight at Interlagos. Jenson Button’s 2012 win there remains the team’s most recent victory. There is no Brazilian driver on the starting grid at present.

RACE WINSHamilton has nine wins this season to Vettel’s five. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have two each and Ferrari’s Kimi Raik-konen one. Hamilton has 71 victories from 227 races and is second in the all-time list behind seven-time world champion Michael Schu-macher (91). Vettel, third on the all-time list, has 52. Ferrari have won 235 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 85 and Red Bull 59. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.

POLE POSITIONHamilton has a record 81 career poles, Vettel 55. Verstappen, who turned 21 at the end of September, has two chances left to become the youngest ever pole sitter. The current youngest is Vettel, who did it at 21 years and 72 days.

PODIUMHamilton has 132 career podiums and is second on the all-time list behind Schumacher (155). Vettel has 110, Raikkonen 102. Valtteri Bottas has had seven second-place finishes this season.

POINTSEvery driver on the starting grid has scored this season.

MILESTONEMercedes are one pole position away from their 100th in Formula One.

Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (third left), who is playing his career’s last match, walks out to bat as England’s team players welcome him during the second day of the opening Test match between the two sides at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Foakes and spinners put England on topAFP

GALLE: England spinners led by Moeen Ali helped dismiss Sri Lanka for 203 and build on their advantage after wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes’ debut ton in the first Testyesterday.

The islanders conceded a 139-run lead in response to Eng-land’s 342 after being bowled out in the final session of play on day two on a turning Galle pitch notorious for its low scores.

Ali claimed four wickets and was ably supported by fellow spinners Jack Leach and Adil Rashid who took two each.

England were 38 for no loss at stumps in their second innings, stretching their lead to 177 runs. Debutant Rory Burns, on 11, and Keaton Jennings, on 26, were batting at close of play.

“It’s great to be back out there with the boys. A great day for us. It was always nice for a spinner to get some purchase on a wicket like this, I got into things quite early on,” said Leach, who made an impact with his left-arm spin in just his second Test for England.

“Massive influence Moeen has been great to be around and good banter when he’s around in the change room.

“We are enjoying it...Jimmy (Anderson) and (Sam) Curran bowled really well at the top and took the pressure off us,” Leach said of England’s bowling attack.

But it was Foakes who stood out with his patient yet effective batting in England’s first essay to give the team a challenging total after electing to bat first.

The 25-year-old Foakes, who replaced injured Jonny Bairstow converted his over-night 87 to 107 in the morning session to become only the fifth wicketkeeper-batsman to score a hundred in his first Test.

For Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews top-scored with 52 and put on a crucial 75-run stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who made 33, to frustrate the opposition bowlers.

Rashid broke the key stand after getting Chandimal

stumped on a classic leg-spinner but Mathews went on to register his 30th Test 50. He did not trouble the scorers after the tea break as Ali got the dangerman trudging back to the pavilion in the first over of the final session.

Dilruwan Perera, who picked up five wickets in the England innings, crossed 1000 Test runs on his way to 21. He became the fastest Sri Lankan to claim a double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs.

England were troubled by a nasty hit to Burns while fielding at forward short leg, prompting the umpires to call for early tea.

Burns, who injured his shoulder blades at the base of his neck after trying to duck under a sweep shot from Dick-wella, came back to field, much

to the delight of the English fans.The biggest cheer though

was reserved for the retiring Rangana Herath who walked in amid a rousing reception as the English team lined up to receive the spin legend in the middle.

He remained unbeaten on 14 after Rashid got the final wicket Suranga Lakmal for 15.

Herath, 40, bids farewell to his international career at the start of the three-match series at his favourite hunting ground that accounts for 100 -- he got to the mark in England’s innings after getting skipper Joe Root out for 35 -- of his 431 Test victims.

“I have watched Herath over the years, he’s been a legend for Sri Lankan cricket,” Leach said in praise of the veteran left-arm spinner.

England’s Ben Foakes raises his bat and helmet in celebration after scoring a century (100 runs) during the second day of the opening Test in Galle yesterday.

LEFT: England’s captain Joe Root applauds his team-mates during day two of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle yesterday.

England (I innings):R Burns c Dickwella b Lakmal .........................9

K Jennings b Perera ....................................... 46

M Ali b Lakmal ...................................................0

J Root b Herath ................................................35

B Stokes b Perera .............................................. 7

J Buttler c Dickwella b Perera ........................38

B Foakes c De Silva b Lakmal ...................... 107

S Curran c Chandimal b De Silva .................. 48

A Rashid c De Silva b Perera .......................... 35

J Leach c de Silva b Perera ............................. 15

J Anderson (not out) .........................................0

Extras (B1, LB1) ................................................2

Total (all out) ................................... 342Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-10, 3-72, 4-98, 5-103,

6-164, 7-252, 8-306, 9-330, 10-342

Bowling: Lakmal 18-5-73-3, Perera 31-6-75-5, Danan-

jaya 20-2-96-1, Herath 25-4-78-1, De Silva 3-0-18-0

Sri Lanka (I innings):D Karunaratne c Foakes b Anderson 4

K Silva lbw b Curran 1

K Mendis b Ali .................................................. 14

D de Silva c Stokes b Leach ............................ 19

A Mathews c Jennings b Ali ...........................52

D Chandimal st Foakes b Rashid .................. 33

N Dickwella c Buttler b Ali .............................28

D Perera c Buttler b Leach ............................. 21

A Dananjaya c Foakes b Ali ..............................0

S Lakmal c Anderson b Rashid ....................... 15

R Herath (not out) ........................................... 14

Extras (LB2) .....................................................2

Total (all out) ................................... 203Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-10, 3-34, 4-40, 5-115,

6-136, 7-171, 8-173, 9-175, 10-203

Bowling: Anderson 10-0-26-1, Curran 6-1-16-1,

Leach 18-2-41-2, Ali 21-4-66-4, Rashid 9-1-30-2,

Stokes 4-0-22-0

England (II innings):R Burns (not out) ............................................. 11

K Jennings (not out) ........................................26

Extras (LB1) .......................................................1

Total (no loss) .................................... 38To bat: M Ali, J Root, B Stokes, J Buttler, B Foakes, S

Curran, A Rashid, J Leach, J Anderson

Bowling: Perera 5-0-12-0, Lakmal 3-0-14-0, Her-

ath 3-0-10-0, Dananjaya 1-0-1-0

SCOREBOARD

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: For Qatar’s premier rider Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani (pictured), riding at Al Shaqab ‘never feels like a pressure situ-ation’.

Sheikh Ali will be joined by defending champion Bassem Mohammed and youngster Hamad Nasser Al Qadi at this week’s final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) round at Al Shaqab Arena.

“I love this sport. I love com-peting. So it’s no pressure to be competing at home, in front of my fans,” Sheikh Ali said yesterday.

“It is a good kind of pressure as it makes me do well.”

Sheikh Ali said Qatar riders arrive for events well prepared.

“We always prepare well for

home events. This season was very good. We had a lot of top horses. We could have done better but we are happy with the results we got. We had a podium at the Games,” he said.

“We have been riding well for the last few years. We have grown significantly. This is good for us. We are very proud to have the event here. We would like to

win the event again,” he said.When asked about his aims

at the next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, Sheikh Ali said Qatar’s riders are getting decent exposure to aim high.

“For sure, our young riders are competing and riding well. Some are competing at LGCT and other top event across Europe. It is important for any rider’s

development,” Sheikh Ali said. “Our young riders are getting

the right exposure. They are moving steadily. As you know we have events at home also. We do well as Nations Cup. Eventually all of this preparation will lead us to aim for Olympics and other top events. We are committed to backing the young riders,” he said.

Meanwhile, LGCT and GCL Sport Director Marco Danese predicted another nail-biting climax to the season ahead of the new GC Playoffs in Prague in December.

The winner of the LGCT Grand Prix of Doha will take the last qualifying spot for the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the Playoffs. And the top 16 teams in the final overall ranking after Doha will go through to the GCL Super Cup at the Playoffs.

Danese said: “As always we have a lot of riders fighting for the podium in the final and we have actually have seven riders, (Alberto) Zorzi, (Harrie) Smolders, (Daniel) Deusser, (Scott) Brash, Nicola Philippaerts, Edwina Tops-Alexander and Christian Ahlmann competing for the second and third place on the podium so I think its very interesting and I think that the decision is always at the last jump of the jump off.

“It was an exciting season with a lot of winners, of course the regular season is dominated by London and Valkenswaard, they are fighting for the first and the second place. But we have five teams competing for the third place so the battle is open of course for many teams and this is really interesting.

30 THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

I enjoy competing at home: Sheikh Ali

What does this all mean?THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Each Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL event can be separated into two cate-gories - CSI 5* and CSI 2* classes. The CSI 5* is the top level competition, where the top-ranked riders in the world will compete for the highest prize money, over the biggest fences - up to 1.60m which is the highest in the sport. The CSI 2* classes are slightly smaller in height, and offer opportu-nities for many local athletes

as well as international rising stars. The GCL is the team competition, where riders unite like never before to compete for points in the overall Cham-pionship.

All roads lead to the inno-vative new GC Prague Playoffs, which will see the top 16 teams compete in the ultimate showdown in December, so every point counts over the course of the Championship calendar. The Longines Global Champions Tour is the individual Championship, with the world’s

best battling for the LGCT Grand Prix win. This offers the biggest prize money of the weekend, valuable Championship ranking points, and a win would mean they qualify for a place in the GC Prague Playoffs, where the Longines Global Champions Super Grand Prix will take place.

This will see the winners of each Grand Prix throughout the season return for a final locking of horns, to see who will come out on top after another electric season on Tour.

We always prepare well for home events. This season was very good. We had a lot of top horses. We could have done better but we are happy with the results we got. We had a podium at the Games: Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani

We have been riding well for the last few years. We have grown significantly. This is good for us. We are very proud to have the event here. We would like to win the event again: Sheikh Ali

Qatar crush Singapore by 79 runs to win seriesTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar yesterday crushed Singapore by 79 runs to clinch their second consecutive victory and secure 2-0 win in the series in Doha.

Qatar defeated Singapore by five wickets in their opening match on Tuesday at Asian Town Cricket Stadium.

Yesterday, Qatar while batting first posted a total of 241 runs in 49.3 overs and then bowled out their opponents for only 162 runs in 47 overs to reg-ister another comfortable win.

Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) President Yousef Jeham congratulated the squad for their

all-round performance against Singapore.

“This series was a part of our preparations for upcoming inter-

national assignments,” he said.“Our preparation is on track

as the national team has shown tremendous improvement in the series against Singapore,” added Jeham.

“ I would like to congratulate all the team members including the players and coaches for good results in the series.”

He hoped that Qatar will con-tinue to achieve good results to improve international rankings in limited overs cricket.

“One of our aims is to improve in the ICC rankings. Qatar is currently placed 23rd in ICC T20 rankings out of 106 ICC Members, and we look forward to climb more in the rankings.”

Qatar captain Inamul Haq (left) and vice captain Taimoor (right) pose with the trophy along with Singapore Cricket CEO Saad Janjuwa in Doha yesterday.

Our preparation

is on track as the

national team has

shown tremendous

improvement in

the series against

Singapore: QCA

President Yousef

Jeham

REUTERS

L O N D O N : Mauric io Pochettino remains opti-mistic his Tottenham Hotspur side can reach the Champions League last 16 after Harry Kane’s late brace earned them a vital 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven at Wembley on Tuesday.

Playing their fourth match in eight days, Tot-tenham dug deep after Luuk de Jong put the Dutch cham-pions in front after 61 seconds -- the quickest goal Tottenham have conceded in the competition.

Pochettino’s side had 29 goal attempts and 70 percent of possession but were frustrated until Kane’s double after 78 and 89 minutes kept open a route to the Champions League last 16, however precarious

it may be.Despite their first win in

Group B Tottenham are still more likely to be playing Europa League rather than the Champions League football after Christmas -- the consequence of late goals conceded in a 2-1 loss at Inter and a 2-2 draw at

PSV. They have four points and will need to beat Inter Milan and then almost cer-tainly Barcelona to get out of the group, but Pochettino believes his side can manage it.

“We deserved more in Milan (against Inter), we played better than them,” he told reporters. “I am opti-mistic. If we beat them, the percentage of being in the next stage will be higher.

“Two games to play. If we are capable of beating Inter, we’ll be on seven points (each). Then we are going to go to Barcelona and try to win the game.” After losing last Monday to Man-chester City in the Premier League, Tottenham have responded with three con-secutive wins in all compe-titions with Pochettino shuf-fling his pack.

It is a sign of the squad’s resilience, according to the Argentine who brought on Erik Lamela, Kieran Trippier and Fernando Llorente late against PSV.

“The team is growing up. We have the character of never giving up which is so important.”

While Tottenham still harbour hopes of a last-16 place, PSV’s cause looks forlorn as they sit bottom with one point.

Coach Mark Van Bommel refused to be downhearted though.

“We fought like lions,” he told reporters. “After one minute we got a goal and we tried to defend it until the end.

“It’s a very difficult group. We played four games and three times we’ve been leading.”

Pochettino still optimistic Tottenham can reach last 16

Two games to play.

If we are capable

of beating Inter,

we’ll be on seven

points (each). Then

we are going to

go to Barcelona

and try to win the

game: Mauricio

Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino

No margin for error, says Reds’ boss KloppREUTERS

LONDON: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp says there is no reason to panic after his side lost their second Champions League game this season on Tuesday but concedes another defeat could derail their chances of moving onto the knockout phase.

Two first-half goals from Milan Pavkov saw Liverpool lose 2-0 at Red Star Belgrade. They are now tied with Napoli at the top of Group C on six points after four games, with matches against the Italian side and PSG to come.

“I think it made sense to make a few changes, a few we had to make and a few we wanted to,” said Klopp.

“I do not say it is serious we lost two times but of course we have to make sure that it will not happen again, otherwise it will be difficult, because the next game is already an away game again, and then a tough home game.”

Liverpool visit French champions PSG on November 28 before hosting Napoli on December 11.

31THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Qatari riders heading in right direction, says LGCT President RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Dutch equestrian legend Jan Tops believes Qatar’s young riders - keen to make a mark in the world of horsemanship - are heading in the right direction.

Tops, who launched the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT), has helped Qatar drive its equestrian ambitions by finding and grooming young talent in the country.

“You see the Qatari riders have more knowledge. You see now a lot of the riders come to Europe to buy horses, to be involved in other competitions. The numbers are growing,” Tops said in an interview.

A Q&A session with the Neth-erlands’ gold medal winning member in the team event at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Q: What’s your view of the overall growth of the sport here?

A: You see the riders have more knowledge. You see now a lot of the riders come to Europe to buy horses, to be involved in other competitions. The numbers are growing. Last year (Sheikh) Ali won silver medal in the indi-vidual and bronze in the team competition at the Asian Games. I think we are there and people (here) understand more about the horses. Having this facility is great and I would like this momentum to keep going. We are moving in the right direction and I hope we continue in this fashion, to keep growing so that we become one of the leading nations in the coming few years in the world.

Q: Do you think it is possible for Qatar to become a leading nation in this sport?

A; Yes, absolutely. It’s all about the quality. We don’t maybe have the numbers but if you have a good team of dedi-cated people, if you do intelligent work, if you have a good vision

then I think Qatar can be leading in this sport.

Q: Do you feel the home riders have the flair for this kind of sport?

A: They have not been exposed yet. Everything has to go in steps. A lot of the (young) riders have not been exposed to the big competitions. Obviously we need more foundation in their riding, in their flat work and how to build horses. But you see that there are lot of more horses. This summer they were more nosy to see the horses, to come to Europe, to buy horses, to be involved. I hope we can keep this trend going.

Q: Are there any young

Qatari riders who could chal-lenge Bassem or Sheikh Ali?

A: We have a few more riders and I am not telling names (smiles). They have the potential to be very good. Obviously they have not done it yet. But I hope in a year or two they will break through once they get the feel of top competitions. It is an inter-esting stage of their careers. They are young and exciting riders. Other young riders will also follow suit and we can have quality riders.

Q: Do you feel 20 is the right number events for champion-ships in a year?

A: We already have con-firmed that Montreal and

Stockholm will be the new venues for next year. If you ask me I am happy with 18 also. But it is good to see the growing numbers. Clearly we make a dif-ference around the world with 20 events. We have a solid foot-print and our TV viewers have increased to unbelievable numbers.

Q: So Doha will be a per-manent venue for LGCT?

A: Doha will be the final venue of this year but we are negotiating with Qatar (for a new deal) at this moment. Like I said we will tell more at the end of the year. But definitely Doha is part of the LGCT family and we love coming here. It’s very

important for us to be in this part of the world. We have great rela-tions built over the years. All the people associated with this championship, all the riders - they just love being here in this magnificent arena. This is really a horse village - from the sta-bling, to the arena, everything is horse-minded. We all love coming here. We look forward to being here knowing the best riders are here. If we could do the same as last year, it would be a perfect picture. Bassem winning the finals in front of his home crowd was amazing. This year we have three riders and I hope they would be on the podium.

The Founder and President of LGCT Jan Tops (second left) can be seen during a press conference in Doha on Tuesday.

You see the Qatari

riders have more

knowledge. You

see now a lot of

the riders come

to Europe to buy

horses, to be

involved in other

competitions.

The numbers are

growing.

if you do

intelligent work,

if you have a

good vision then

I think Qatar can

be leading in this

sport.

Jan Tops

What’s at stake in Doha this weekendTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: In the overall LGCT Rankings just 28 points separate second placed rider Alberto Zorzi (ITA) (237 points) and Christian Ahlmann (GER) (209 points) in eighth - and with 40 points for a win there is everything to play for the riders in between.

Third in the rankings is World Number 1 and 2017 LGCT Champion Harrie Smolders (NED), just three points away from Alberto on a score of 234, and fourth is Daniel Deusser (GER) just a further point away on 233 overall. Scott Brash (GBR) holds fifth with a tally of 225, two time LGCT Grand Prix winner Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) sits in sixth with 219 and two time LGCT title holder Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) is on 212 overall.

Doha will also provide the last chance for indi-vidual riders to qualify for the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix at the GC Playoffs in Prague this December, with all eyes on who will take the final golden ticket to the 16 rider showdown.

Harrie will return to

the state-of-the-art Al Shaqab Arena next week, and knows the impor-tance the finals hold: “It all comes down to Doha. If I look at the scores at the moment, it is very, very close from second to eighth place, with any of those riders able to finish on the podium. I defi-nitely want to take my chances.”

As the top interna-tional horses and riders prepare to leave for Al Shaqab - a member of the Qatar Foundation - pressure has reached fever pitch as athletes look to secure their place in the 2018 LGCT rankings and vie for a share of the €1m season bonus.

From Mexico City to the sands of Miami Beach, Shanghai’s bright lights, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the sparkling harbour of Monaco and every major capital city in-between the 2018 LGCT season has been an electric mix of top sport and breath-taking destinations - all culminating in an edge-of-the-seat final in Doha, Qatar.

On top of this intense line up, spec-tators will be treated to appearances from plenty

of former champions and home heroes. Last year’s victor Bassem Hassan Mohammed (QAT) will return to Al Shaqab where he made history by becoming the first home rider to take an LGCT Grand Prix win there. He’ll be joined by compatriot Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani (QAT), who in an earlier interview said; “There is more pressure for us at the event in Doha. We are motivated, you have the crowd, your family, everyone watching and you need to do well. We want to show our country what we are doing and how we are improving.”

Big names looking for success at the final show of the 2018 LGCT Cham-pionship include Ludger Beerbaum (GER), Laura Kraut (USA), Peder Fre-dricson (SWE), Maikel van der Vleuten (NED), Bertram Allen (IRL), Marcus Ehning (GER), Lorenzo de Luca (ITA), Michael Whitaker (GBR), Roger-Yves Bost (FRA), Jessica Springsteen (USA), Gregory Wathelet (BEL), Marlon Zanotelli (BRA) and Gerco Schroder (NED).

TODAY14:45: CSI 5* Two phases 1.45m (€25.000) 17:45: CSI 5* GCL of Doha Round 1 - 1.50/1.55m (€60.000 to individual class winners

TOMORROW16:30: CSI 5* Against-the-clock 1.45m (€50.000) 18:30: CSI 5* Against-the-clock with jump-off 1.50/1.55m(€145.000)

SATURDAY 14:30: CSI 5* GCL of Doha Round 2 - 1.55/1.60m (€95.000 toindividual class winners) 17:45: CSI 5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Doha -1.60m (€375.000)

LONGINES GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TOUR SCHEDULE

ARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Third placed Al Sadd will aim to catch-up with QNB Stars League (QNB) leaders Al Duhail and second-placed Al Rayyan when they begin second leg campaign against Al Kharaitiyat here today.

Al Sadd, who have two matches less from the first round owing to AFC Champions League commitments, will have three points on their minds as The Wolves bid to narrow the gap at the top with Al Duhail and Al Rayyan.

Al Duhail are on top of the QNB Stars League standings with 28 points, seven more than second-placed Al Rayyan, while Al Sadd have 20 points from 9 matches.

Visitors Al Kharaitiyat face an uphill task when they run into Al Sadd in Week 12 action.

The teams go into the match with totally-different missions.

The Wolves have won six games, drawn two and lost one.

On the other hand, Al Kharaitiyat desperately need points to avoid relegation and have only three points.

Elsewhere today, defending champions and table toppers Al Duhail and Al Shahania will open the action by facing off at the

latter’s home turf. Both teams go into the match on a confident note even though it has to be seen whether Al Shahania will be able to upset the applecart of Al Duhail side.

Al Shahania are coming from back-to-back draws, against Umm Salal and Al Gharafa.

Meanwhile, Al Duhail coach Nabil Maaloul said his team aims to continue the winning streak but warned his players that Al Shahania are no pushovers.

“This is an important match for us because it is the first game of the second leg. We want to continue at the same pace and we know that we are having a difficult game against a team that faced a number of difficulties. In the first leg, they managed to present themselves well in many matches,” Maaloul said.

“We do not look only at the statistics, but on our prepara-tions for each game. This season, we try to avoid any slip-ups and just think about achieving pos-itive results in all games by keeping our performance up.

“I expect a difficult game, but as I always say to my players, they make the game

easy or difficult. We are facing a tricky side, so we must focus more on the defence and offence,” he added.

“We do not care about the fact that we are the leaders after the first leg and that the league title is in our sights. As I said before, the league will only be decided in the last few weeks,” said Maaloul.

Meanwhile his opposite number Jose Murcia said that the match against Al Duhail will be a tough one.

“A tough match is awaiting us in the opening round of QNB Stars League’s second leg in the form of Al Duhail. We know the importance of the game because our opponents are leaders and winners of the league title more than once.

“Al Duhail are also strong contenders for the QNB Stars League title this season along

with Al Sadd. We will go into the game with great respect for them, but we always play to win and we will fight for it. I think the time that went by was good for us. I am happy with my players’ performance and the enthusiasm they have shown to

achieve our goals,” he added.“When you want to be a

competitive team, you have to work to strike a balance between defence and attack, and we are working on it. It is not just about performance, but also psycho-logical,” said Murcia.

SPORT11.00PM 9:00AM

Celtic vsRB Leipzig

England vsSri Lanka, 3rd day

FOOTBALL CRICKET

27THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2018

I haven’t had the chance to

fight for a couple of Grand Prix

now, so I hope we can have a

clean battle and show what’s

possible.

Fernando Alonso

farewell for McLareen driver T

ODA

Y’S

ACT

ION

FixturesRound 12 fixtures of QNB Stars League

Today’s matches5:10: Al Duhail vs Al Shahania at Al Duhail Stadium7:20: Qatar SC vs Al Gharafa at Qatar SC Stadium

7:20: Al Sadd vs Al Kharaitiyat at Al Sadd StadiumTomorrow’s matches

5:10: Al Ahli vs Al Rayyan at Al Ahli Stadium 5:10: Al Khor vs Al Arabi at Al Khor Stadium

7:20: Umm Salal vs Al Sailiya at Al Gharafa Stadium

QNB STARS LEAGUE

Al Sadd eye full points in key Al Kharaitiyat second leg clash

FIFA warns of World Cup ban for players in breakaway leagueAP

ZURICH: Soccer’s biggest names would be banned from the World Cup if they played in a breakaway European Super League, FIFA President Gianni Infantino (pictured) said yesterday.

Infantino, speaking to a small group of reporters at FIFA headquarters, said the governing body would punish players at clubs like Barcelona, Manchester City and Bayern Munich if they left soccer’s organized structure to form a privately-owned league.

“Either you are in or you are out,” Infantino said, listing the World Cup, European Champi-onship and national leagues as competitions that players from breakaway teams could be excluded from. “This includes everything.”

Talk of a long-threatened

super league was revived Friday when German magazine Der Spiegel published confidential documents and emails from clubs and soccer bodies in its “Football Leaks” series.

Real Madrid was revealed to be working with consultants on a 16-team Super League to kick off in 2021 - effectively replacing the Champions League and outside the control of UEFA.

The plan called for 11 storied clubs from Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France to get ownership stakes and risk-free Super League membership for 20 years, with five more clubs from those countries invited to play.

The breakaway from soc-cer’s historic hierarchy - FIFA, the six continental bodies and 211 national federations - would allow officials to ban players from major competitions,

including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. “The idea is if you break away, you break away. You don’t keep one foot in and one foot out,” said FIFA legal director Alasdair Bell.

“That would be the general approach we would follow, but of course lawyers can debate this for a long time.”

Both Infantino and Bell were long-time staffers at UEFA,

which has steadily changed Champions League prize money and entry rules to favor elite clubs and stall breakaway threats.

“This is the history of the last 20 years,” said Infantino, who has clashed this year with European soccer officials and club leaders over FIFA’s pro-posed Club World Cup project, which is funded by Japanese investor SoftBank.

Infantino said his plan - potentially featuring at least 12 European clubs in a 24-team lineup, and worth a promised $3bn every four years - was a good alternative to a private closed league.

“The Club World Cup is the answer to any attempt to think even about any sort of breakaway leagues,” he said.

Infantino insisted while the plan would be lucrative for clubs taking part, it also kept money

in the soccer family. FIFA would use 25 percent of revenue to share globally.

“If the price to pay is to give proper revenues to a club par-ticipating in a Club World Cup but this allows us to... give $1 million to Haiti who has nothing, or to Mongolia who has three time zones but only two football pitches, well then we should be I think doing that,” he said.

A FIFA task force will assess a revamp of competitions, including a new event for all national teams played every two years. Infantino said he expects a decision in March when he chairs a FIFA Council meeting in Miami.

He also believes the latest breakaway threat will calm.

“People are still quite rea-sonable,” Infantino said. “I trust certainly the club owners and presidents to be able to have a discussion.”

McCollum’s 40 points propel Blazers over BucksAFP

LOS ANGELES: CJ McCollum scored 40 points on Tuesday as the Portland Trail Blazers cooled off the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks with a 118-103 NBA victory.

McCollum connected on 17 of 23 attempts from the field, including five of 10 from three-point range, as the Trail Blazers improved to 8-3 and handed Giannis Antetok-ounmpo and the Bucks just their second defeat of the season.

“It’s a great win for us,” said McCollum, who scored 19 points in the third quarter alone.

Among his myriad high-lights, a wicked move around Donte DiVincenzo that brought the Bucks rookie to his knees.

“Whenever you see a rookie you’ve got to be aggressive, attack them, make them move their feet,” McCollum said.

It was a breakout per-formance for McCollum, who had struggled to find his shooting touch in the first 10 games of the season.

He added six assists and five rebounds as the Trail Blazers snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bucks.

“I just tried to be aggressive and take advantage and help the team get a win,” McCollum said.

Evan Turner posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, also handing out four assists for the Blazers. Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic and Jake Layman also scored in double figures.

Antetokounmpo led a trio of Bucks players to score in double digits with 23 points, along with nine rebounds and six assists.

Luka Doncic scored 23 points to lead five Dallas players in double figures as the Mavericks snapped a six-game skid with a 119-100 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Doncic, the 19-year-old Slovenian rookie, added six rebounds and three assists for the Mavs. Wesley Matthews added 22 points and Dennis Smith contributed 19 -- making a trio of crucial plays down the stretch as the Mav-ericks thwarted Washington’s bid to rally in the second half.

“It’s been a long time since we won a game,” Mav-ericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Feels good.” The Wizards trailed by as many as 24 in the first half and were down 70-49 at halftime.

Pionk, Zibanejad rally Rangers to win AP

NEW YORK : Neal Pionk scored the tiebreaking goal on a sensational, end-to-end rush late in the third period and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win.

Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider each had a goal and an assist, Tony DeAngelo and Pavel Buchnevich also scored, and Kevin Hayes had three assists for the Rangers. Henrik Lun-

dqvist made 31 saves.New York trailed 3-1 early in the

second period before scoring the last four goals - three in the third.

On the go-ahead goal, Pionk brought the puck from behind the Rangers net, spun around one Mon-treal player, skated up the left side, cut in toward the front of the Canadiens net and put it past goalie Carey Price while falling to the ice with 2:44 left.

Zibanejad capped the scoring after he brought the puck up the left side and tried to send a pass across in front.

The puck defected back to him off Jeff Petry’s skate and Zibanejad put it past Price with 1:48 to go.

Tomas Tatar had two goals and Max Domi also scored for Montreal, which was 7-3-1 in its last 11 games. Brendan Gallagher and Petry each had two assists, and Price stopped 27 shots.

The Rangers began their comeback late in the middle period. Just after New York’s power play expired, DeAngelo tipped a shot by Hayes for his second goal with 2:15 left to make it 3-2.

New York tied the score near

midway through the third. Hayes brought the puck down the right side and passed to his left to Marc Staal, who fired a shot that Price knocked down with his glove. With the puck laying on the ice, Buchnevich skated in and put it in before Price could smother it at 8:25.

The teams combined for 44 minutes of penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct on the Rangers’ Cody McLeod in the second period. Montreal finished 1 for 7 on the power play, and New York was 0 for 6.

With the score tied 1-all after one period, Tatar put the Canadiens back ahead with his fifth of the season and second of the game as he tipped a pass from Philip Danault through the legs of a sprawled Lundqvist at 4:40.

Montreal then doubled its lead on a power play less than two minutes later. Domi was standing in front and got a pass from Gallagher from the left side of the goal line, slid the puck to his backhand and put it in from the right side for his ninth at 6:27 to make it 3-1.

Action from week 11 of the QNB Stars League in Doha.

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