Maybe I’ll get lucky, says Vonn as fi nal races loom

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Tuesday, February 5, 2019Jumada I 30, 1440 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

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Brady wins sixth title as Patriots out-muscle RamsPage 6

Asian win just one step in team’s development: coach

SPOTLIGHT

While the Ali-Afif combination is always a threat, it was the compact defence that laid the foundation for the title

ReutersAbu Dhabi

He may not get there with them, but if Qatar’s fast-improving squad do make a decent fi st

of their World Cup campaign in 2022, the host nation will have plenty to thank Felix Sanchez for.

On the face of it, the amiable Spaniard has transformed the footballing fortunes of the oil-rich nation since taking over as their 11th head coach in the space of a decade in July, 2017.

After fi nishing pointless and ranked 13th out of 16 teams at the last Asian Cup in 2015, not a great deal was expected of the Qataris, 93rd in the FIFA rankings, in the United Arab Emirates.

Sanchez had expectations, however, and his team fulfi lled them, storming to a fi rst conti-nental title with seven wins in seven matches — four against former Asian champions.

“This is one step more to continue developing the team,” Sanchez told reporters after the 3-1 fi nal win over Asian power-house Japan.

“We play another big tourna-ment in the summer and we will be ready in 2022 to represent Qa-tar as a really competitive team in the World Cup.”

The roots of the Asian Cup tri-umph go back a lot further than 2017, however.

Sanchez fi rst coached many of the players in his squad at Qatar’s Aspire Academy when they were as young as nine-years-old.

He moved up with them through the age-group national teams, leading them to a fi rst title at the Asian under-19 champi-onship in 2014 and the semi-fi -nals of the under-23 tournament in 2018.

Almoez Ali is one of those players and the 22-year-old striker won the Player of the Tournament award in the UAE after scoring a record nine goals.

“I am very proud of working with the coach, I’ve been with him for nine years,” Ali said, be-fore comparing him to Manches-ter City coach Pep Guardiola.

“He’s highly intelligent.”The longevity of the rela-

tionship with the coach is also reflected on the park, not least in Ali’s partnership with Akram Afif, the gifted forward who sets

up many of the striker’s goals.“Akram and I have been to-

gether for seven years and I know where Akram will be, and where he will pass, and he knows what is expected from me,” Ali said.

While that Ali-Afi f combina-tion is always a threat, it was the compact defence that laid the foundation for the run to the ti-tle in the UAE, conceding just the one goal in seven matches.

It is likely to be severely tested in June at the Copa America in Brazil, however, when the Qa-taris will play as a guest team in a group featuring Argentina, Co-lombia and Paraguay.

“We’re not expecting to get re-sults but just to learn because after the World Cup, the Copa America is one of the biggest competitions in the world,” said Ali.

“Asia is the weakest continent for football so at the Copa Amer-ica we will learn more. As a team from the Gulf, that will help us to have a better performance in 2022.”

Qatar have never qualifi ed for the World Cup, which means they will play their maiden fi nals match on home soil — the fi rst team to do so since Italy in 1934.

Star names like Zinedine Zi-dane and Xavi have been linked to Sanchez’s job.

“We’re focused on our work and enjoying this historic mo-ment,” Sanchez said when asked if he wanted to coach the team at the World Cup.

“2022 is three years away and this is football, we don’t even know what’s going to happen in three weeks.”

Qatar set to overtake Saudi, UAE in FIFA rankings aft er continental victoryBy Sports ReporterDoha

Asian Cup champions Qatar are set to be-come the highest ranking Gulf side

when the FIFA rankings are announced this Thursday.After their historic triumph in the UAE, the Al Annabi are set to rise 38 places to 55th in the world rankings from their previous ranking of 93. At the Asian level, the Felix Sanchez’s men will be become the fifth best-ranked team behind leaders Iran, Japan, South Korea and Australia.Qatar are also ahead of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who occupy sixth and seventh spots respectively. Qatar, who beat Japan 3-1 to clinch their maiden Asian Cup title at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday, added 139 points to their tally.Japan will also make huge progress to become the Asian No. 2 as they rose 23 positions to become world No. 27. Iran, who lost in the semi-finals, will meanwhile maintain their number one spot in Asia and will also rise six ranks to be-come 22nd in the world. Aus-tralia fell to No. 4 in Asia while South Korea also leapfrogged the Socceroos to become third ranked side in Asia.India, who failed to make it

past the Asian Cup group stages despite an impres-sive show, will drop outside top-100. There are set to fall six places to 103rd in world rankings and 18th in Asia.The latest ranking system, first used on 16 August 2018, is adapted from the Elo rating system used in chess.Qatar emerged champions for the first time after seven straight wins, in which they scored 19 times and conceded just once to claim the newly-minted AFC Asian Cup trophy as the country continues along the road towards the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022.Almoez Ali emerged as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while Akram Afif and others impressed over the last four weeks, with the Qataris boasting one of the youngest squads at the tournament.Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in just under four years’ time and have qualified for the tournament automatically as a result, meaning Sanchez and the Qatar Football Asso-ciation will be able to focus on further enhancing the team until November 2022.The QFA has lined up appear-ances at a number of key events, with the team next slated to feature at the Copa America in Brazil in June as Qatar look towards impress-ing on home soil in 2022.

More than 350mn fans watch Asian Cup on beINBy Sports ReporterDoha

Over 350 million peo-ple tuned in to beIN SPORTS to watch the AFC Asian Cup which

culminated with Qatar winning their fi rst title, beating continen-tal giants Japan 3-1 in the fi nal last Friday in Abu Dhabi.

For the very fi rst time in the Mena region, viewers and fans could tune into beIN SPORTS’ Facebook and YouTube ac-counts and enjoy live streaming of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 fi nal on any device and on every screen.

beIN’s world-class cover-age at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 included a parade of studio guests representing the best in

talent and commentating, such as Mohamed Saadon al-Kuwari, Lakhdar Berriche, Youssef Seif, Raouf Khleif, Mohamed Abutri-ka, Jamal El Hajj, Ayman Jadah, Feras

al-Khateb, Ahmad Khalil, Ibrahim Khalfan and Mubarak Mustafa.

beIN was also host to legen-dary manager Jose Mourinho during the AFC Asian Cup. In

his fi rst TV appearance since leaving Manchester United in December, the former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto manager took part with a panel of expert analysts based in beIN SPORTS’ studios exclu-sively covering the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 game between Qatar and Saudi Arabia for the very fi rst time in his career and in Asian football.

beIN has secured continued growth in viewership across the Middle East and the world, es-tablishing itself as a household name with the exclusive broad-cast of some of the world’s top sporting and entertainment properties, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, AFC Asian Cup, as well as other sporting and entertain-ment channels.

That heady feeling: File photo of Qatar coach Felix Sanchez being tossed up in the air after the team beat Japan to win the Asian Cup on Friday.

File photo of FIFA President Gianni Infantino (2nd-L) and AFC President Salman al-Khalifah (3rd-L) presenting the Asian Cup trophy to Qatar’s captain Hassan al-Haydos (2nd-R) in Abu Dhabi on February 1.

FOOTBALL2 Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

QFA hosts reception for Asian Cup winners

Man City back in title hunt, says GuardiolaPSG, Kashiwa play

out draw, Aspire lose

SPOTLIGHT

PREMIER LEAGUEALKASS INTERNATIONAL CUP

By Sports Reporter Doha

Qatar Football Federation, under the patronage it’s president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani,

organised a reception and luncheon in honour of the Asian Cup-winning Qa-tar team yesterday.

The event was attended by Saud Ab-dulaziz al-Mohannadi, vice president of Qatar and Asian Football Confedera-tion, Ahmed Abdul Aziz al-Buainain, Hani Taleb Ballan, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad al-Thani and Abdul Rahman al-Qahtani, besides the players, sup-port staff and members of the QFA.

QFA president Sheikh Hamad ex-pressed appreciation to all the members for their eff orts and generosity, which he said was key reason for the success at the Asian Cup. He said the title win will help QFA develop a strong outfi t for 2022 FIFA World Cup. Battling the odds stacked against them from a hostile playing environment in the UAE, Qatar broke several records on their way to beating Japan 3-1 in the fi nal on Friday. Qatar scored 19 goals and conceded just one in seven matches.

Coached by Felix Sanchez, Qatar re-mained unbeaten in the seven fi xtures and posted wins against Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Lebanon, Iraq, South Ko-rea, the UAE and four-time champions Japan. “The Qatari team has made the country proud,” QFA president said. “It was a wonderful performance that showed that this bunch will learn more as they play more. I think all clubs and players should cooperate more so that the national team keeps getting positive results,” Sheikh Hamad added.

“We deserved this win. We are happy our hard work paid off . I am sure this is a win for the entire Arab world. I am confi dent that we will be able to de-velop the side further and keep getting stronger before the 2022 FIFA World Cup” he said.

The QFA president said the devel-opment of youth football in Qatar is

paving the way to get quality players for the national side. “I am confi dent we will do well at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland this year,” the QFA President noted. “Now we will look at our next competition which is the Copa America in June. That tournament will also help our players get the right kind of exposure,” he said.

Qatar football team captain Has-san al-Haydos said: “I thank all of you and we are really happy with what has been achieved, as it has bought joy to everyone. I would like to stress that this achievement was possible because of the support from QFA. We hope our Asian Cup triumph will serve as a cata-lyst for future generations in Qatar. I hope that the spirit of the team will continue to lead us towards achieving the best in the coming years.”

ReutersManchester

Manchester City manager Pep Guar-diola feared last week’s defeat at

Newcastle United had all but ended their Premier League ti-tle hopes but said the defending champions were back in the hunt after Sunday’s 3-1 win over Ar-senal.

City are on 59 points from 25 games, two points behind league leaders Liverpool who were fac-ing West Ham United late last night and Guardiola was relieved the gap was not wider after Juergen Klopp’s side drew with Leicester City last week.

“After the Newcastle game everybody was convinced, my-self too, that Liverpool were go-ing to beat Leicester and it would be seven points and it would be almost over,” Guardiola said. “Now we’re on two points and that’s why we don’t have to look too much at the table... I can-not deny we would prefer West Ham to beat Liverpool, but Liv-erpool would have preferred Arsenal to beat us.” City take on ninth-placed Everton tomor-row and Guardiola is well aware of the need to build momentum, with third-placed Tottenham Hotspur two points behind them and breathing down their necks. “Another big week, now we rest and prepare for Goodison... we have to win,” Guardiola added. “Tottenham have showed in-credible mentality, they fi ght and

fi ght. A lot can happen.”Meanwhile, Ilkay Gundogan,

who won a league title under Klopp is determined to do all he can to deny his old boss this sea-son. City midfi elder Gundogan was a member of the Borussia Dortmund side that Klopp guid-ed to the second of two Bundes-liga championships in 2012.

But he is now trying to frus-trate Klopp in the German man-ager’s quest to bring Premier League title glory to Liverpool. Gundogan believes Klopp’s po-sition at Liverpool is similar to the one he encountered at Dort-mund, with both clubs’ league challenges benefi ting from a rel-ative lack of other fi xtures.

“When you have to run in the season you don’t think about much things — you go out and play,” Gundogan said. “When you have no concerns in your mind you are able to win a lot of times,” he added.

Liverpool are no longer in-volved in English domestic cup competition while City are fi ght-ing for silverware on four fronts in the League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League. The 28-year-old said: “That’s how I felt when we were able to win at Dortmund that title. We had an advantage of just playing Saturday, Saturday, Saturday and the week off in be-tween. He (Klopp) is in a similar situation now with Liverpool — just the Premier League and then the Champions League on top. Maybe it’s going to be an ad-vantage for them, I don’t know. It’s nothing we can change right

Paris Saint-German and Kashiwa Reysol shared the spoils in the opening match of the under-17 Alkass International Cup at the

Aspire Academy yesterday. In another match, hosts Aspire Academy lost to Mo-roccan Raja Casablanca 0-1 in a fi erce en-counter.

Barcelona and Cameroon legend Sam-uel Eto’o performed the ceremonial kick off to get the fi rst game underway, with Reysol’s striker Yuki Shimizu catch-ing the eye in the early stages. However, it was midfi elder Naito Saito who went close to opening the scoring for the Japa-nese on six minutes, his short-range ef-fort smothered by Romain Sallard, who also confi dently claimed the resultant corner with a minimum of fuss.

The French keeper was called into ac-tion again soon after, when Hayato Fu-jimoto crossed well from the right and Shimizu planted a fi rm header that Sal-lard did well to save. He was quickly es-tablishing himself as PSG’s standout performer, and had to once again react quickly to keep out Daichi Sugawara’s curling eff ort direct from a corner.

Almost 20 minutes passed before PSG had a chance of note, after the ball ran un-der Kashiwa centre back Hayato Tanaka’s foot to let in Samuel Noireau, whose hard and low drive forced a good save from Masato Sasaki. By now, the game had settled into a familiar pattern, with Rey-sol dominating possession with patient build-up play, while PSG sought to break swiftly on the counter. The fi rst half drew to a close with Kashiwa in the ascendan-cy, but unable to break the deadlock due to a resolute Parisian defence.

PSG are the only club apart from Aspire Academy to have participated in all eight editions of the tournament, and are also the record holders, having taken the cup home on three occasions. Meanwhile, Kashiwa Reysol are competing for the fi fth time. Both sides are therefore famil-iar fi xtures at Aspire Zone.

However, Al Kass tournament is no-table for the introduction of several new elements. VAR is being used for the fi rst time, and the tournament also boasts an all-female match offi cials roster. Cana-dian referee Chennard acquitted herself well in this opener, content to let the play fl ow whenever possible.

Ten minutes into the second period, Noireau went close with a fi ne drive that Sasaki could only parry, but the danger was cleared by Reysol’s alert backline. By

now, the game was developing into a full-blooded encounter, typifi ed on the hour mark when Sugawara saw yellow follow-ing a thundering challenge on Hubert Muamba.

On 70 minutes, hard-running attack-er Noireau was withdrawn for Edouard

Michut, and the French side’s attacking threat was blunted as a result. Kashiwa continued to fashion the better chances, but Sallard performed admirably to keep the French side from conceding.

And – implausibly and against the run of play – PSG appeared to have stolen

a winner with fi ve minutes remaining, when Tidjany Chabrol forced the ball home following a frenzied goalmouth scramble. It was desperately cruel on Kashiwa, yet they refused to be beaten, pouring forward and snatching a sensa-tional 92nd minute leveller when substi-tute Hidetaki Maei crashed a rising eff ort in off the bar.

In another match, Red cards outnum-bered goals as a bad-tempered match saw Raja Casablanca edge out hosts Aspire Academy. VAR played a major role in the outcome, when Minutes before Oussama Zemraoui’s successful spot-kick, referee Claudia Umpierrez of Uruguay had ruled out a Raja goal for off side after Chiboub Abdennabi found the net.

In the end, it didn’t matter as Aspire lost their discipline in the second half as they ended the game with six yellow cards, two of which became reds. The game was physical from the start but both sides created opportunities. Raja displayed plenty of skill and Zemraoui put Abdennabi through on goal only for his eff ort to be blocked by the determined hosts. Mekki Tombari had Aspire’s best chance of the opening half but his on-target eff ort was blocked by Yahya Laa-mech and went out for a corner.

Barcelona and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o performed the ceremonial kick off

Mourinho humiliated by fall at Russian hockey league face-off

Moscow: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho em-barrassingly slipped after pre-senting a symbolic face-off to a match in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) yester-day. Videos of the 56-year-old boss falling on a red carpet on the ice rink in Balashikha appeared on social media after the accident.

Mourinho was invited by KHL side Avangard Omsk in Siberia to take part in promotional work for the club and signed autographs ahead of the match with SKA Saint Petersburg.

The two-time Champions

League winner was helped back to his feet by Avangard’s former Detroit Red Wings centreman Pavel Datsyuk after the puck drop.

Avangard play their home games in the city just outside Moscow after their usual arena was found to be unsafe for hosting games. Mourinho has been out of work since he was sacked by United in December after two-and-a-half years at the helm. Norwegian Ole Gun-nar Solskjaer has lifted the Old Traff ord side to fifth place in the Premier League table and is yet to lose as Red Devils boss.

Qatar Football Federation off icials, players and support staff pose at the reception and luncheon held for the Asian Cup-winning team yesterday.

Qatar Football Federation president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani poses with the support staff of the Qatar team.

Raja Casablanca players celebrate after scoring a goal against Aspire Academy at the under-17 Alkass International Cup yesterday.

The U-17 Al Kass International Cup features female referees, who are using the tournament as part of their preparations for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

FOOTBALL3Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Benzema on target again as Real close gap at the top

Santander stuns Inter, Roma draw against AC Milan

Dembele stars as Lyon end PSG’s unbeaten run

LA LIGA

SERIE A

LIGUE 1

AFPMadrid

Real Madrid gained ground on both Barce-lona and Atletico Ma-drid in La Liga as Ka-

rim Benzema and Vinicius Junior each scored in a 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday night.

Benzema, Vinicius and Gareth Bale started together for the fi rst time and two thirds of the new-ly-dubbed ‘BBV’ delivered as Madrid capitalised on Barca be-ing held by Valencia and Atletico losing at Real Betis.

Mariano Diaz, on as a substi-tute, added a third late on.

After 22 rounds, this is the fi rst in which Madrid have been the only winners from the estab-lished three clubs, which is as much an indication of their own inconsistency as the sturdiness of Atleti and, particularly, Barca.

Madrid could now overtake Atletico if they win the city derby next weekend but the diff erence behind Barcelona, whom they face in the Copa del Rey tomor-row, is still a considerable eight points. “We will fi ght for every-thing until the end,” Solari said. “Today there was a real hunger to cut the gap.”

It may have been the 5-1 loss to Barca in October that proved the fi nal straw for Julen Lopetegui but Alaves’ 1-0 victory at Mendi-zorrotza, their fi rst over Real in 87 years, was perhaps the team’s rock bottom. Benzema has been the revival’s ringleader since and his latest goal was his sixth in four games, his best streak since January 2016.

The only La Liga player to have scored more in all competitions this season is Lionel Messi. He did it starting alongside both Bale and Vinicius but it was the latter, not the former, that looks to be Benzema’s most dangerous partner.

Bale endured one of his quieter nights and it was noticeable that while Benzema and Vinicius both departed to rousing ovations late on, there was a scattering of disgruntled whistles when the Welshman was replaced by Mar-

co Asensio shortly after the hour.“It was diffi cult,” Solari said.

“Alaves defended very well, they were determined and there weren’t many spaces.” It was Vinicius’ clever reverse pass through the legs of Carlos Viga-ray that led to Benzema’s opener as Sergio Reguilon was set free down the left, his cross ensuring the Frenchman could not miss. Alaves defended so deep at times that Madrid’s defence were play-ing more as creative midfi elders but the visitors were not with-out chances on the break. Tomas Pina took too long to shoot and Jony Rodriguez forced a smart save from Thibaut Courtois.

Madrid, though, ended any hopes of a comeback with 10 minutes left as Asensio picked out Vinicius at the back post. The teenager controlled, picked his spot and put it there. Mari-ano’s diving header in injury-time from Isco’s cross added a fi nal fl ourish.

Earlier, there had been another fi rst for Atletico up front as Al-varo Morata made his debut but it ended in disappointment af-ter a 1-0 loss to Real Betis. Atleti could have reduced the defi cit to three points at the top but Sergio Canales’ second-half penalty means that Barcelona fi nish the weekend one point further ahead than when they started it.

“The match was clear,” Atleti-co coach Diego Simeone said. “A few chances for both teams, they took advantage of the penalty we gave them and that was enough.” Morata enjoyed the occasional link on the counter-attack with Antoine Griezmann but there was little to suggest the pair’s chemistry will be instant.

Diego Costa is expected back from injury soon. Morata has limited time to stake his claim. “In the few days that he has been with us, Alvaro has worked very well,” Simeone said. “Hopefully he can fi nd a way to score goals, which is what we need.”

Betis’ penalty came after Filipe Luis put his hand up while antic-ipating a cross and looked away at the crucial moment. Canales’ shot clipped Jan Oblak’s hand but nestled in the corner.

AFPMilan

Federico Santander scored the winner as struggling Bologna stunned Inter Milan 1-0 to pile the pressure on coach Luciano

Spalletti as Roma rescued a point with a 1-1 draw to AC Milan in Serie A on Sunday night. Santander’s header gave new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic the perfect start as his relegation-threatened side earned their fi rst win in over four months. But Spal-letti’s Inter were booed off the pitch at the San Siro after their third-place cushion was cut to four points on city rivals AC Milan, who occupy the fi nal Champions League berth, with Roma a further point back in fi fth.

Paraguayan forward Santander broke through after 33 minutes with his header enough to seal just a third win this season and fi rst since September 30. Inter are still searching for their fi rst win of 2019, being held to a goalless draw by Sassuolo and losing 1-0 to Torino in Serie A before exiting the Coppa Italia on penalties to Lazio in the San Siro this week.

“Unfortunately when we have to fi ght or to cope with diffi culties we lack some-thing, that bit of dash that can make you make a diff erence,” said Spalletti. “In any case, I repeat, I don’t feel under scrutiny. The team is still behind me, I’m convinced,” added the former Roma and Zenit St Petersburg coach.

The damage could have been worse

but for a solid performance from goal-keeper Samir Handanovic, with captain Mauro Icardi proving wasteful, extending his goal drought in Serie A to six games. Bologna keeper Lukasz Skorupski denied Andrea Ranocchia a late equaliser as the northern side reignited their push for top-fl ight survival.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start,” said Serb Mihajlovic. “This proves

that if you are brave you can do anything — you can beat Inter at the San Siro.”

At the Stadio Olimpico, Roma eased the pressure on their coach Eusebio Di Franc-esco who was still stunned by a 7-1 Coppa Italia whipping by Fiorentina. AC Milan’s Lucas Paqueta combined to set up fellow new boy Krzysztof Piatek to tap in after 26 minutes for his third goal in two outings.

But Roma piled on the pressure with

AC Milan saved by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s heroics denying Patrik Schick and Edin Dzeko before the break. Just after the interval Nicolo Zaniolo equalised for the hosts who were boosted by the return of veteran midfi elder Dan-iele De Rossi.

Donnarumma again came to the rescue to frustrate Dzeko, while a searing Loren-zo Pellegrini header rattled the post, with Roma goalkeeper Robin Olsen denying Diego Laxalt late. “It’s a pity we need a slap in the face before waking up,” said Di Francesco. “This was a positive response to Florence, but could never wipe out that game, even if we had won. “The lads showed character and I hope it is yet an-other starting point.”

“Roma probably deserved a little more, but I really liked our second half perform-ance,” said Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso. Both Milan and Roma edge closer to Inter but Atalanta and Lazio have a chance on Monday to close in on the top four against Cagliari and Frosinone respectively.

Earlier Fiorentina battled back to share a point in a 1-1 draw with Udinese, as the Tuscany side sit fi ve points off the Champions League places. The match was halted at the 13th minute as the fans remembered former Fiorentina captain Davide Astori, who died before last year’s game in Udine.

Elsewhere Paraguayan striker Toni Sanabria scored his second goal in as many games for Genoa since his loan move from Real Betis, in a 1-1 draw with Sassuolo.

AFPParis

Moussa Dembele scored and won a penalty as Lyon stunned Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Sunday night to end

the runaway leaders’ hopes of an un-beaten Ligue 1 campaign. Angel Di Maria fi red PSG into a seventh-minute lead, but Dembele equalised and Nabil Fekir scored the winner from the spot three minutes after half-time.

“I don’t know if the defeat was de-served. In the fi rst half it was deserved, but after half-time, we still dominated,” said PSG forward Kylian Mbappe. The reigning champions remain 10 points clear of second-placed Lille at the top of the table despite the defeat, with two games in hand, while Lyon strengthened their grip on third spot, three points fur-ther back. “We did what we had planned, namely high pressing, quick transitions, and to cause them problems every time

we had the ball,” said Lyon coach Bruno Genesio. “I don’t think they’re used to that in Ligue 1.”

All eyes will now turn to the Champions League for PSG, with only a French Cup tie at third-tier Villefranche and a home game against Bordeaux to come before the last-16, fi rst-leg clash with Manches-ter United at Old Traff ord on February 12. Man United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his assistant Mike Phelan were both in attendance at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday, just hours after their side’s 1-0 Premier League win at Leicester.

The pair would have learned plen-ty from watching Lyon regularly slice through the PSG defence against seem-ingly little resistance, while Mbappe shouldered the majority of the attacking responsibility in the absence of the in-jured Neymar. “I’m not worried about the Champions League,” insisted Mbappe. “We must take it match by match and wait for the Champions League.”

On paper, this looked the toughest test remaining for PSG in their bid to go

through the league season unbeaten, having won on just two of their previous 13 Ligue 1 visits to Lyon, losing seven.

But Thomas Tuchel’s men almost forged ahead inside the fi rst two min-utes, as Kylian Mbappe raced clear only to shoot tamely at Lyon goalkeeper Antho-ny Lopes. The away side did not have to wait long to strike, though, as Houssem Aouar carelessly gifted possession to Ju-lian Draxler, who strode forward and teed up Di Maria to slot in his 10th goal of the season.

But Lyon, on a six-match unbeaten run in the league themselves, quickly improved and twice wasted clear-cut chances to level, as PSG ‘keeper Alphonse Areola denied Bertrand Traore from point-blank range before Dembele nod-ded wide. Areola had to be alert again, springing to his right to tip away a vicious long-range drive from Nabil Fekir, before producing a wonderful double stop from Traore and Memphis Depay.

However, just seconds after another excellent save to deny Fekir, Areola was

totally at fault for Lyon’s 33rd-minute equaliser. The 25-year-old misjudged Leo Dubois’ cross, allowing Dembele the sim-plest of tasks to head into the net.

PSG almost snatched a half-time lead against the run of play, but Lyon centre-back Jason Denayer made an incredible diving header to keep out Draxler’s close-range shot. Lyon, who face Barcelona in the Champions League knockout stage, continued to dominate after the restart, and were awarded a spot-kick when Dembele was brought down by Thiago Silva, with Fekir doing the rest.

That provoked PSG into life, and Lopes made two brilliant saves from Mbappe in the space of just 20 seconds.

Mbappe was PSG’s best hope of sal-vaging their unbeaten record, but he saw Lopes divert away a low drive, before former Celtic striker Dembele wasted a golden opportunity to wrap up the points as he was again foiled by Areola.

But Lyon held on anyhow, ending their opponents’ 21-game unbeaten run in the French top fl ight.

Reigning champions remain 10 points clear of second-placed Lille at the top

Bayern face tough Hertha Berlin test in German cup

Munich: Record 18-time win-ners Bayern Munich must over-come their latest Bundesliga setback quickly if they want to reach the quarter-finals of the German cup at Hertha Berlin to-morrow. Munich slipped seven points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund when they lost 3-1 at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, and their best chance for domestic silverware now appears to lie in the cup.

But there they run into a Hertha team that beat them 2-0 in the league in September and wants to repeat this feat Wednesday, despite also losing on the weekend, 1-0 at home to Wolfsburg. Hertha forward Dav-ie Selke didn’t dwell too much on the setback as he said: “That will be an important match for us and the fans. I am convinced that we will present ourselves in a very diff erent way.”

Hertha have an extra incen-tive as they want to reach the final for the first time since it is played in their home stadium every year since 1985. Only their second team has managed to reach the decider, in 1993.

Bayern coach Niko Kovac hopes for an instant reaction from his players after lamenting careless moments in defence in Leverkusen. “We’ll work

through the game, analyse it and address the issues,” Kovac said. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is doubtful with a hand injury which saw him miss Saturday’s game, with Sven Ulreich to deputise again if Neuer remains on the sidelines.

Four-time winners Dortmund can meanwhile dream of a do-mestic double as in 2012 when they take on Werder Bremen in their last 16 match today. Dort-mund have played in five of the last seven finals and also lifted the trophy in 2017.

Dortmund or Munich have been in every final since 2011 while RB Leipzig aim for their first-ever quarter-final berth when they face the 2015 win-ners Wolfsburg tomorrow. The other all-Bundesliga duel is between Schalke and Fortuna Dusseldorf who are tied on 22 points in the lowlands of the league which is poor by their standard for Schalke while promoted Dusseldorf are happy to be seven points above the danger zone. The remain-ing ties are between top and second-tier sides in the form of SV Hamburg v Nuremberg, Heidenheim v Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel v Augsburg; plus a second-division duel between MSV Duisburg and Paderborn.

Lyon’s forward Moussa Dembele (right) tries to score past Paris Saint-Germain’s goalkeeper Alphonse Areola during the French Ligue 1 match on Sunday night. (AFP)

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior (centre) celebrates with teammates Daniel Ceballos (left) and Mariano after scoring against Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Sunday night. (AFP)

Bologna’s forward Federico Santander (centre) scores a header during the Italian Serie A match against Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan. (AFP)

AFPJeddah

Sergio Garcia is set to avoid a hefty fi ne and suspension after Europe-an Tour boss Keith Pelley

declared the matter “over” fol-lowing the Spaniard’s stunning disqualifi cation from the Saudi International.

Garcia was thrown out of the event on Saturday after reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed and a number of other players complained that Garcia had dis-played his frustration by damag-ing six greens.

Garcia apologised for his ac-tions and the Spaniard report-edly spoke with Reed and other fellow competitors express his remorse.

The former Masters winner was accused of scuffi ng up six of the opening greens and also leaving a large divot-like mark on the sixth green of the Royal Greens course.

And while Garcia has a long history of ‘misconduct’, it seems on this occasion he will escape

any further action.“The incident is over,” Pelley

told The Scotsman newspaper. “We have dealt with it. Sergio has apologised to the players and we move on.”

Garcia’s actions were not on fi lm but he was spoken to by tournament director David Wil-liams in the latter stages of his third round.

“I went out after the referees

had spoken to me,” said Wil-liams.

“I managed to catch Sergio around the 12th and 13th and there had been no more dam-age after nine holes. I told him this was a disqualifi able off ence. He was in his game zone, but he listened. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then he nodded and carried on walking.

“It was obviously not a good

situation to be in. He was obvi-ously very frustrated and it is something very unusual to hap-pen. Some of the marks were similar to what we sometimes see out in South Africa when a buck has run across a green. Over here it could have been a camel.

“The players in the groups immediately behind didn’t know what was going on. They wanted to know what was happening to the greens. To be honest, they were pretty shocked.”

Garcia’s third-round playing partner, Renato Paratore of Italy, remarked: “I was not complain-ing.

“It was a bad day for him and I saw only one hole when he was doing something wrong. I don’t remember what it was. I was fo-cused on what I was doing. But it is okay.”

Garcia had fi rst displayed his frustration during Friday’s sec-ond round when he attacked a bunker following a poor shot ahead of just making the cut by two strokes.

“Yes, but that can happen on the course,” added Paratore. “I

know him really well and he’s a very good guy off the course. It can happen to everyone.”

Garcia has a long history of petulant behaviour dating back to 1999 when he hurled his shoe at an advertising board at the back of the tee during the World Match-Play Championship at Wentworth.

Two years later in Sydney, he incurred a £5,000 fi ne after kicking a golf cart and attacking a tree with his club when unhap-py at being handed a two-stroke penalty for an incorrect drop.

In 2010, Garcia was believed to have been slapped with a $10,000 fi ne after spitting into a hole during the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in Flor-ida.

And more recently, Garcia kicked in a metal panel of the scorer’s hut after the third round of the 2018 Valspar Champion-ship last March.

Later the next month Garcia hurled his driver into bushes after a poor 14th-hole tee shot during the second round of the Valero Texas Open in San Anto-nio.

Garcia avoids suspension over Saudi meltdownBOTTOMLINE

Fowler banishes demons to capture fi rst Phoenix Open

AFPLos Angeles

Rickie Fowler survived a nervy back nine on Sunday to shoot a three-over 74, out-duelling Branden Grace down the stretch

to win the Phoenix Open for his fi fth US PGA Tour title.

Fowler lost a fi ve-stroke lead on a roll-er-coaster back nine, and closed with the highest score by a winner in tournament history, but he still managed to banish some demons at TPC Scottsdale.

He held the 54-hole lead here twice be-fore, including last year when he fi nished in a tie for 11th.

“I had to dig deep and fi ght through. It wasn’t easy out there,” said Fowler. “I am happy to get this one out of the way.

“It has been long time to get a win here. There have been plenty of good fi nishes,

but too many second-place fi nishes.”His 17-under 267 total was good enough

to win by two strokes over South Africa’s Grace, who briefl y held the lead on Sun-day but made a bogey on 17.

Grace fi red his second straight two-un-der 69 to fi nish alone in second.

American Justin Thomas was third af-ter a one-over 72 for a 14-under total to fi nish three strokes back of his roommate this week Fowler.

Matt Kuchar (75), Bubba Watson (71) and Chez Reavie (68) fi nished tied for fourth at 12-under.

This is the PGA Tour’s lone stop in Arizona and the only event on the annual west coast swing that’s held outside of California.

For a while, it appeared the tournament might even be heading for a playoff for a fourth straight year as both Fowler and Grace found sand and water on the back nine.

Playing in a driving rain, Fowler had to survive a shocking triple bogey on the par-four 11th hole.

He chipped his third shot into the wa-ter. After his penalty drop, his ball rolled back into the water resulting in another penalty stroke. He would eventually sink a 16-foot putt for a wretched seven score.

Determined not to let another title slip through his fi ngers, Fowler helped clinch the win with a nice approach shot and then a two-putt birdie on 17. Fowler now has had seven career 54-hole leads and converted just two.

On the fi nal hole, Fowler hit his third shot to three feet and then tapped in the winner for his fi rst victory since the 2017 Honda Classic.

“I will tell you what, it wasn’t fun,” said Fowler, who had a fi ve-shot lead at the tee at No. 11. “Couple bad swings, couple of bad breaks. You have to roll with the punches.”

Fowler followed his triple bogey with another bogey on No. 12 but righted the ship with two birdies in the fi nal four holes. Last year he stumbled to the fi nish with three straight birdies beginning at No. 15.

“No. 11 could have turned this tourna-ment the complete opposite way, and, fi -nally we got it done,” said Fowler. “To fi -nally get a win with my dad, grandma and grandpa around, happy about that.”

Grace vaulted into contention with back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 but lost his title bid with a bogey on the par-four 17. He drove his tee shot into the water on the left then fl ew his chip shot past the hole and into a bunker. He eventually tapped in for bogey. He then made par on 18.

Grace plays on both the European and PGA Tour and is known as the fi rst player in history of the European Tour to win his fi rst four Europe titles in the same year.

GOLF

Irish need to ‘roll up sleeves’ for Scotland

RUGBY

AFPDublin

Ireland have to pull them-selves together after the defeat by England and get into the mindset they can

beat Scotland next Saturday to keep alive hopes of retain-ing their Six Nations title, head coach Joe Schmidt said.

The 53-year-old New Zea-lander has to rouse his side for the daunting trip to Murray-fi eld after they were soundly beaten 32-20 by a resurgent England.

Their performance was hardly befi tting of the fi rst match — at home to boot — since Schmidt, the team and playmaker Johnny Sexton won World Coach of the Year, Team of the Year and Player of the Year.

Schmidt, who experienced his fi rst Six Nations home de-feat since taking over the reins following the 2013 edition, said preparation this week would be as much about rebuilding bruised morale than anything else.

“It is a mental challenge,” he said.

“There are a lot of guys hurt-ing at the moment and they will be looking for a way back in and I think the only way back in is to roll our sleeves up, show that resilience mentally that we are going to be have to be able to demonstrate next Sat-urday.”

Schmidt, whose decision to play centre Robbie Henshaw out of position at fullback in-stead of the fi t again but ring-rusty Rob Kearney did not pay off , said his players needed to change their attitude to how they approached the England game.

The Irish had gone into the game with two successive wins over England — one in 2017 denying their opponents back to back Grand Slams and last year clinching their own Grand Slam at Twickenham.

“As I have said we are human and there are times that hu-man beings without ever be-ing complacent, if you assume anything in this world of high performance sport, assump-tion will undo you,” he said.

“We couldn’t assume we could rock up and just deliver a performance that they (Eng-

land) would accept.“They accepted nothing

from us and gave us as little as possible and that’s a credit to them.”

Schmidt, who has turned Ireland round from a demor-alised squad when he took over into one capable of beat-ing world champions New Zealand twice, said victory next Saturday would put them back on track in what is his fi -nal Six Nations tournament as he steps down after the World Cup later this year.

“I like to think that we can demonstrate we can take a step up next week and, beyond that, we can demonstrate how we can get back into the tourna-ment because it is a very tough championship,” he said.

“If you are a little bit off the mark, any team can knock any team over. Even for us, the last time we went to Murrayfi eld, we did not get off the bus and we were 21-5 down at half-time.

“On the back of that expe-rience, we ended up beating England at the end of that Six Nations and getting second.”

Schmidt said the panic but-ton should not be pressed yet.

“I think it would be a lit-tle bit of a knee-jerk reaction to believe, on the back of one poor performance, we’ve sud-denly lost all the progress and all the confi dence we’ve tried to build over the last number of years,” said Schmidt, whose side had won 18 of their previ-ous 19 Tests prior to the Eng-land defeat.

One of the major disap-pointments was the ineff ec-tive display of their world class half-back partnership of Sexton and scrum-half Conor Murray.

However, Schmidt said al-lowances should be made for both of them on what was the 50th time at Test level — in-cluding two British & Irish Li-ons Tests — they had partnered each other.

“Johnny hasn’t played since... well he hasn’t played this calendar year so I do think there is always a need to get a little bit of rhythm into your game,” he said.

“Conor is still coming back from that long-term injury (he missed the November Tests as he was recovering from a neck injury).”

Rickie Fowler holds up the trophy after winning in the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona

SPORT

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 5, 20194

Canberra, AFP: Stephen Larkham was axed as Wallabies assistant coach after disagreements with Michael Cheika over strategy and game philosophy just months away from the World Cup in Japan.Rugby Australia said he will move to a new role as national high performance coach advisor, focusing on mentoring and skills devel-opment across the Sevens and junior teams.Larkham, a former World Cup-winning flyhalf, said he was “disappointed”.“Ultimately Michael is responsible for the perform-ance of the team,” he said of head coach Cheika.“We have diff erences in attacking strategy and overall game philosophy. We couldn’t agree on these key points and it is in the best interest of the team that they receive clear and consist-ent messages from their coaches.”“I am obviously disappointed with this outcome as I had chosen to pursue the experi-ence of taking the Wallabies through to the World Cup,” he added.The move comes less than two months after Cheika himself survived the axe and had his powers curtailed over an alarming slide in the team’s form.

From March, he will have to report to Scott Johnson in his newly-created role of director of rugby.Cheika must also now work with a three-man selection panel — himself, Johnson and an independent.The move followed a mount-ing backlash from dismayed fans and former players after the Wallabies won just four of their 13 Tests last year — their worst campaign in decades.Rugby Australia chief execu-tive Raelene Castle said she was glad Larkham was stay-ing on in another role.“He was one of our great-est ever Wallabies and has developed a strong depth of experience during his coach-ing roles with the Brumbies and Wallabies,” she said.“It was very important from Rugby Australia’s perspec-tive to retain Stephen’s services and to ensure his experience is used to grow and develop coaches and players in our next genera-tion.”

Larkham dumped as Wallabies assistant coach

‘It has been long time to get a win here. There have been plenty of good finishes, but too many second-place finishes’

ReutersNew York

Three players who were with the Carolina Hurri-canes last season scored for the Calgary Flames

in a 4-3 victory against the Hur-ricanes on Sunday afternoon at Raleigh, N.C.

Former Carolina players Elias Lindholm, Derek Ryan and Noah Hanifi n each had a goal, provid-ing the team with enough of-fense so that coach Bill Peters’ return to Raleigh was a happy homecoming for all of them. Peters left his Carolina coach-ing position in the summer to become the coach of the Flames, while Lindholm and Hanifi n were acquired in a trade later in the off season.

Garnet Hathaway also scored for Calgary. Ryan, who joined the Flames as a free agent, assisted on Hathaway’s tally and fi nished with two points.

Teuvo Teravainen and Dougie Hamilton, who was part of the off season trade with Calgary, scored for the Hurricanes, who had a four-game points streak snapped. Sebastian Aho scored with 54.6 seconds left. Aho, Hamilton and Teravainen each had one assist, while Micheal Ferland – another piece of the trade – notched two assists.

Flames goalie David Rittich made 34 saves. Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots.

Teravainen’s goal resulted from a Calgary turnover, with the Hurricanes quickly convert-

ing after Aho’s takeaway to open the scoring at 4:03 of the fi rst period.

Lindholm’s power-play goal on a redirect in the slot drew Calgary even slightly less than

eight minutes into the game. Lindholm, who has racked up 23 goals, stretched his points streak to 10 games.

Ryan gave the Flames the lead with a wrap-around goal 7:39

into the second period, his fi fth goal of the season.

Hathaway scored with 7:26 to play in the second period for Calgary’s 3-1 lead. It was the Flames’ league-leading 16th

short-handed goal of the season.With 1:33 left in the second

period, Hamilton tallied against his former team, giving the ex-Flame nine goals this season.

Hanifi n’s fi fth goal this season

came with 6:55 to play in regula-tion. The goal was confi rmed for the former Carolina fi rst-round draft choice after a Hurricanes coach’s challenge alleging that Calgary’s James Neal interfered with Mrazek.

This was the Flames’ only visit to Raleigh this season. Calgary defeated Carolina 3-2 in over-time last month at home.

DROUIN’S OT GOAL GIVES

HABS WIN OVER OILERSMontreal’s Jonathan Drouin scored the game-winning goal 58 seconds into overtime as the Ca-nadiens continued their tradition of winning on Super Bowl Sunday in a 4-3 matinee victory against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

The Canadiens earned their NHL-best 20th career win on the day of the NFL’s biggest game, improving to 20-11-1 with two ties. The Washington Capi-tals are second with 17 wins.

Drouin took the puck from be-hind Montreal’s goal and rushed the length of the ice down the right side.

The speedy winger then cut left at the right circle and fi red in his 15th goal.

Max Domi had a goal and an assist, and Shea Weber and Jes-peri Kotkaniemi also scored for the Canadiens, who improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight.

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored twice and Connor Mc-David tallied for the 31st time. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Dar-nell Nurse each posted two as-sists for the Oilers, who have lost fi ve straight (0-3-2) and blew a

third-period lead for the second time in two days.

Carey Price returned from a one-game suspension (for skip-ping the All-Star Game) and re-corded 21 saves to win his fi fth straight for Montreal. Edmonton’s Mikko Koskinen made 23 saves.

The Oilers’ problem early was a recent nemesis – a 29th-ranked penalty-kill unit – which Montreal exploited early. Phila-delphia scored four power-play goals in fi ve chances in its 5-4 win over Edmonton on Saturday.

Weber rocketed home his eighth goal at 2:23 with the man advantage.

The defenseman one-timed a pass from the top of the left circle off Drouin’s pass. Draisaitl fl ipped in a backhander to tie it at 1-1 at the 9:44 mark.

Montreal grabbed a 2-1 lead when Domi swung around be-hind Koskinen and slid in a spectacular goal, his 17th, while falling to the ice at 1:09. But the Oilers scored a pair of power-play goals in a six-minute span to take their fi rst lead at 3-2.

McDavid scored just his sec-ond career goal against Montreal off a feed from Nugent-Hopkins, and Draisaitl cashed in his career high-tying 29th marker at 14:55.

Kotkaniemi knotted the score at 3-3 at 13:35 of the third, as-sisted by Domi and Tomas Tatar.

Ex-Hurricanes drive Flames past former teamNHL

Irving scores 30 as Celtics snap Thunder winning streakAFPNew York

Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and passed out 11 assists on Sunday as the Boston Celtics snapped Oklahoma City’s seven-game

NBA win streak with a 134-129 home tri-umph.

Marcus Morris added 19 points and Marcus Smart netted 18 as eight of nine players taking the court for Boston scored in double fi gures and the Celtics improved to 34-19, matching Philadelphia for third in the Eastern Conference.

“We have great continuity, great rhythm,” Irving said. “Playing the best we can every single day.”

The Thunder fell to 33-19, four games adrift of Western Conference leaders Denver and Golden State, despite a sixth consecutive triple double from Russell Westbrook, who had 22 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds.

Westbrook hit a 3-pointer, made a steal and sank two free throws to pull the visi-tors within 121-119 in the fi nal minutes.

Jerami Grant’s 3-pointer pulled the Thunder within 129-128. Boston’s Jayson Tatum hit only 1-of-2 free throws but Ir-ving forced a Westbrook turnover and Tatum added two more from the line to give the Celtics a 132-128 edge with 7.4 seconds to play.

Westbrook sank a free throw but missed the rim on his second attempt trying to set up a Thunder rebound and the Celtics took the ball, Smart hitting two fi nal free throws to seal the victory.

“Down the stretch it’s winning time. Just like that,” Irving said. “That’s a great team over there. It was a great challenge.”

Paul George led the Thunder with 37 points and New Zealand’s Steven Adams added 16 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City. The Thunder reeled off 11 points in a row in just over two minutes for a 76-73 lead in the third quarter but Morris answered with a corner 3-pointer to begin a 12-2 Boston run and the Celtics bounced back to lead 99-93 entering the fourth quarter.

“We played with more aggressiveness on off ense and we moved better on de-fense,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, whose club improved to 20-0 at home when leading after three quarters.

The Celtics hit a season-best 59 percent of their shots from the fl oor.

RAPTORS, GRIZZLIES WIN

At Toronto, the host Raptors ripped the Los Angeles Clippers 121-103 behind 18 points from Kawhi Leonard plus 16 points and 12 rebounds from Congo-born Span-

iard Serge Ibaka.Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a

20-year-old guard playing in his home-land, led the Clippers with 19 points.

The Raptors improved to 38-16, second in the East by 1.5 games to Milwaukee, while the Clippers fell to 29-25, clinging to the last Western Conference playoff spot by one game over Sacramento.

Memphis guard Mike Conley scored 25 points and Spanish big man Marc Gasol added 24 to spark the Grizzlies over the NBA-worst New York Knicks 96-84 at

Madison Square Garden. Conley added eight rebounds and seven assists while Gasol contributed nine rebounds and fi ve assists for Memphis, which also had 19 points from Justin Holiday.

New York’s league-worst record slid to 10-42 after a 13th consecutive loss while the Grizzlies, second worst in the Western Conference, improved to 21-33.

Kevin Knox led the Knicks with 17 points while DeAndre Jordan, in his fi rst game after arriving in a deal with Dallas, contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds.

NBA

‘We have great continuity, great rhythm. Playing the best we can every single day’

Pujols expected to be ready for spring training

MLB

ReutersNew York

The Los Angeles An-gels are expecting Al-bert Pujols to be ready for the start of spring

training, general manager Billy Eppler told MLB.com Pujols underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee in late August.

“Albert is progressing well,” Eppler said. “He’s been hit-ting and increasing his weight training. He’s been hitting for a while now. Based on that, we’re very optimistic that the next stage for him is when we get out on the fi eld and start mov-ing around a little bit more, and then incorporating at-bats in games and how he responds.”

Angels position players are slated to report to camp in

Tempe, Ariz, on February 17. The fi rst full-squad workouts are the following day.

Pujols batted .245 with 19 homers and 64 RBIs in 117 games last season, his seventh campaign with the Angels.

Pujols, who turned 39 on Jan. 16, stands sixth in major league history with 633 career homers. He also has 3,082 hits and 1,982 RBIs during 18 sea-sons with the St. Louis Cardi-nals (2001-11) and Angels.

The 10-time All-Star has three seasons remaining on a 10-year, $240 million deal.

Pujols is slated to split time at fi rst base and designated hitter this season. How soon Shohei Ohtani (elbow) returns to play designated hitter will partly determine how much action Pujols sees in the fi eld. Ohtani won’t be ready for the start of the season.

Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving (left) drives to the basket while Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook defends during the second-half of their NBA game at TD Garden. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich stops a first period shot against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

RESULTS

Memphis 96-84 New York

Boston 134-129 Oklahoma

Toronto 121-103 Clippers

SPORT5Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Still a year away from moving to Las Vegas, the Oakland Raiders have reportedly reached a deal with the San Francisco Giants to play in their baseball stadium in 2019.The Raiders’ preference to spend next season in San Francisco was reported first by NBC Bay Area KNTV. NFL Network reports both the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL must approve the decision for it to become final.Oracle Park, a stadium along the waterfront in San Francisco, was known as AT&T Park before its recent name change.Las Vegas is set to welcome the Raiders for the 2020 season. The Raiders are searching for a one-year home after their lease expired at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum at the end of last season.The team was expected to stay in the Bay Area one way or another, whether through a resolution at the Coliseum, or by sharing with the 49ers or MLB’s Giants.NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked last week whether the Raiders might spend one season in San Diego.“I think the hope of (Raiders owner Mark Davis) is to continue to be in the Bay Area with Raider fans,” he said.

Raiders eye Giants’ stadium in 2019

RESULTS

Boston 1-1 Washington

Montreal 4-3 Edmonton

Calgary 4-3 Carolina

MVP Edelman hardest worker I’ve coached: BelichickFOCUS

AFPAtlanta

Tom Brady wrote his name into the record books here Sunday, win-ning the Super Bowl for

a sixth time as the New England Patriots defeated the Los Ange-les Rams 13-3 in the lowest scor-ing NFL championship game in history.

Brady, 41, became the fi rst player ever to win six Super Bowls, 17 years after leading the Patriots to his fi rst title way back in 2002.

The total of 16 points scored in the game was the lowest ever in a Super Bowl, surpassing Mi-ami’s 14-7 win over Washington in 1973. The attritional season-fi nale was swiftly dubbed the “SuperBore” by critics on social media.

“We’ve been this far and lost which is really tough,” a jubilant Brady said.

“We had a lot of resolve the last couple of weeks I wish we played a little better on of-fense but we won. Super Bowl champs.”

Patriots head coach Bill Beli-chick meanwhile said the team had been determined to dispel suggestions they were a dynasty in decline.

“It’s sweet,” Belichick said. “Everybody counted us out from the beginning of the season, mid-season, but we’re still here.”

Brady – already widely re-garded as the greatest quar-terback the National Football League has ever seen – provided the decisive moment to break open the game midway through the fourth quarter at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

With the score fi nely balanced at 3-3, Brady picked out tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 29-yard completion that left the Patriots just two yards from the line.

It was the fi rst time in the game that either side had ad-vanced to 1st and goal in a de-fense-dominated game that failed to live up to its billing.

The Patriots were in no mood to waste the hard-fought oppor-tunity, and rookie running back Sony Michel crashed over for what turned out to be the crucial score.

The Rams looked to have fi -nally found some fl uency as they chased a touchdown to level, but quarterback Jared Goff was picked off by corner Stephon Gilmore to leave the Patriots in sight of victory.

The Patriots marched up fi eld on the subsequent possession and Stephen Gostkowski’s sec-ond fi eld goal with 1min 16sec remaining made it a two-score game.

The Patriots’ triumph saw them join the Pittsburgh Steelers

with six Super Bowl titles, the most by any franchise.

Patriots receiver Julian Edel-man was named Super Bowl MVP for a series of crucial re-ceptions that kept the Patriots on the front foot at critical mo-ments.

Edelman missed all of last season after suff ering a serious knee injury and was also banned for failing a drugs test last year.

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do,” Edelman said. “I preach that, and I guess you have to live to it.”

MISSED CHANCESThe Rams meanwhile were left refl ecting on what might have been, with receiver Brandin Cooks twice having what looked like certain touchdowns denied

by last-ditch defensive plays from New England in the sec-ond half. It was a bitter end to the season for Rams coach Sean McVay, who at 33 would have been the youngest winner of the Super Bowl.

Instead McVay was outfoxed by Patriots counterpart Beli-

chick, whose defensive game-plan choked the life out of the Rams, the second most potent off ense in the NFL this season who had averaged more than 30 points a game.

“There is really no other way to put it. I’m pretty numb right now, but defi nitely, I got out-

coached,” McVay said after-wards.

“I didn’t do nearly enough for our football team.”

An attritional fi rst half had seen defense dominate, with the Rams – the second most potent off ense in the league this season – restricted to a meagre 57 yards.

The Patriots meanwhile looked the more composed with their run game making good yardage early on.

Although Brady suff ered the indignity of throwing an inter-ception with his fi rst pass at-tempt, the Rams were unable to escape the Patriots defense.

Gostkowski missed an early fi eld goal attempt from 46 yards but the Patriots fi nally got on the board early in the second quar-ter through the veteran kicker’s

42-yard eff ort. The Rams mean-while mysteriously left star run-ning back Todd Gurley on the sidelines for long periods, with doubts swirling about his fi tness.

There was little improvement in the opening exchanges of the second half. Goff almost gave up a pick with his fi rst attempt, but Dont’a Hightower was unable to haul the ball in.

Gurley raised Rams hopes with a 16-yard run but the drive fi zzled once more.

Cooks was denied a certain touchdown after hauling in the ball in the end zone only for Ja-son McCourty to bat the ball out of his control.

Goff suff ered a sack on third down to leave Greg Zuerlein with a 53-yard eff ort but the Rams kicker stroked it over to level at

3-3 with just over two minutes remaining in the third.

But that was as good as it got for the Rams, who also saw Cooks denied a game-tying touchdown after he fumbled near the end zone.

SUPER BOWL AUDIENCE DIPS FROM LAST YEAR,

EARLY DATA SHOWSThe US television audience

for Sunday’s Super Bowl on CBS Corp. dropped about 5.3 percent from last year, according to pre-liminary Nielsen data released by the network on Monday.

About 44.9 percent of house-holds in 56 major markets tuned in to watch the favoured New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams, CBS said, down from 47.4 percent a year earlier.

‘We had a lot of resolve the last couple of weeks I wish we played a little better on off ense but we won. Super Bowl champs’

Wide receiver for the New England Patriots Julian Edelman holds the trophy as he celebrates Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. (AFP)

Brady wins sixth Super Bowl as Patriots out-muscle Rams

REPORT

ReutersAtlanta

Julian Edelman is going to Disney World.

A fl ier draft pick – No. 232 in 2009 – from the Mid-American Conference,

Edelman earned MVP honours Sunday for his latest standout performance in a Super Bowl. Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards and gained eight yards on one rushing attempt.

Introduced yesterday morning as MVP of Super Bowl LIII by commissioner Roger Good-ell, who noted his “off the charts” playoff per-formances, Edelman will extend his latest ride with a parade this afternoon at Disney World. By Tuesday at noon, Edelman should be near the end of his third victory parade in Boston. “To see how this team grinded and worked each week, when things weren’t at its best, we constantly tried to improve,” Edelman said. “A resilient group. One you’ll never forget.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said yester-day morning Edelman is one of the players he never could forget, putting him in a class with wide receiver Troy Brown and Mike Vrabel.

“No one has worked harder in my career to develop his skills and his craft at a position he’d never played,” Belichick said.

Edelman caught 26 passes in the three playoff wins this postseason, going for 151 yards against the Chargers, 96 yards at Kan-

sas City and polishing it off with his MVP performance Sunday. Edelman caught passes on all three scoring drives for New England.

“I’m just so proud and happy to be a part of the team,” Edelman said. “Guys that just battled, brought their lunchpail, hard hat to work. A lot of noises out there – we just con-tinued to try to get better.”

New England converted only three third downs Sunday night – all Edelman recep-tions. But when asked what his favourite play in the victory was, Edelman went off script.

“The knee at the end,” he said with a smile barely visible through a thicket-level beard. A close friend and confi dant of quarterback Tom Brady, Edelman found Brady immedi-ately after the game for a celebratory em-brace. “He just said, ‘I’m proud of you.’ That was big,” Edelman said. “It’s pretty fl atter-ing. He’s a fi ghter. It’s a fl attering comment to hear that from a guy you look up to.”

Edelman credited Brady for coming through in the clutch.

“He’s just an awesome player, great team-mate, friend, and I’m so proud of everything he’s done for our team,” Brady said. Belichick recalled Monday, a few hours after the party in celebration of Super Bowl LIII ended in down-town Atlanta, unearthing Edelman as a sev-enth-round pick from Kent State playing like he belonged on the same fi eld with Ohio State.

“It’s an incredible story. He played the game with an intensity that was hard for

them to handle,” Belichick said. “I go back to his fi rst playoff game against the Ravens, he was probably our best player on the fi eld. He played that game the way he played the Ohio State game against Kent State. We didn’t play very well that day. But I know he did. He caught a slip screen, broke about fi ve tackles for a fi rst down.”

“He’s there every day competing against himself trying to get better,” Belichick said.

Following Sunday’s eff ort, Edelman, 32, now ranks second all-time in playoff receiv-ing yards with 1,412. Edelman has at least fi ve receptions in 13 consecutive postseason games, the longest streak in playoff history. His 115 career postseason receptions rank second in NFL history. Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice holds the record with 151 ca-reer catches in the playoff s.

Not all celebrated Edelman’s honour.USA Today published an editorial yester-

day arguing Edelman shouldn’t even have been on the fi eld due to the performance-enhancing drug violation, revealed when the 198-pound receiver was suspended four games to start the 2018 season.

Edelman, who missed the 2017 season with a torn ACL, said he was driven by watching New England lose in the Super Bowl last sea-son to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“My head was down, just trying to go out and try to win ball games and help the team,” he said.

Julian Edelman (left) of the New England Patriots and teammate Tom Brady celebrate after winning the Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday. (Getty Images/AFP)

LAST 10 MOST VALUABLE PLAYERSFeb. 3, 2019 - Julian Edelman (New England)Feb. 4, 2018 - Nick Foles (Philadelphia)Feb. 5, 2017 - Tom Brady (New England)Feb. 7, 2016 - Von Miller (Denver)Feb. 1, 2015 - Tom Brady (New England)Feb. 2, 2014 - Malcolm Smith (Seattle Seahawks)Feb. 3, 2013 - Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens)Feb. 5, 2012 - Eli Manning (New York Giants)Feb. 6, 2011 - Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay)Feb. 7, 2010 - Drew Brees (New Orleans)

NFL

Gulf Times Tuesday, February 5, 20196

ReutersAre, Sweden

US ski great Lindsey Vonn prepared for the fi nal speed races of her glittering career at the

Alpine world championships yesterday, hoping to do her best and get lucky in the end.

The 34-year-old’s time in the fi rst women’s downhill training session in Are certainly suggest-ed she remained a contender.

The greatest of female skiers, who has battled knee injuries and said last week that her body was ‘beyond repair’, was fi rst out of the start hut and ended up equal 11th fastest despite easing off at the end.

“I hate number one, fi rst training run like it’s the worst number to have,” she told Eu-rosport television in the fi nish area.

“My line was defi nitely wrong on a couple of parts of the course and it cost me a lot of speed.

“I think in general my skiing was pretty solid,” she added.

“I just wanted to have a nice clean run, get that feel for the terrain for tomorrow for the Su-per-G. And I did that, so it’s all good.”

Vonn said preparing to bow out after so many years was a ‘weird’ feeling and she would just do her best, whatever level that turned out to be.

“I’ll just try as hard as I can and maybe I’ll get lucky,” she said.

Gian-Franco Kasper, presi-dent of the governing FIS, hailed Vonn’s contribution in a news conference ahead of yesterday’s opening ceremony.

“She will leave a big hole,” he told reporters. “She was one of our really great ambassadors, a PR machine for our sport and we

are more than grateful.”Five Austrians were in the top

eight of a delayed session led by Tamara Tippler, who was 1.44 seconds faster than the Ameri-can, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion.

Switzerland’s Corinne Suter was second fastest with Nor-way’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie third.

Olympic snowboard and Su-per-G champion Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic did not fi nish the training run while World Cup Super-G leader

Mikaela Shiff rin, Vonn’s teammate, was one of six who did not start.

The two-week championships start today with the women’s Super-G. The women’s down-hill is on Sunday, a day after the men’s race.

Organisers said transport problems, that have left some athletes still struggling to reach the resort in western Sweden

with limited fl ights and weath-er-disrupted trains, were being resolved.

All competitors were expected to be in Are by last night.

VONN RETIREMENT? WAIT AND SEE, SAYS SKI BOSS

Describing Vonn as a “PR ma-chine” for skiing, Kasper said yesterday on the eve of champi-onship competition the US racer “will leave a big hole when she leaves.”

But the international ski fed-eration FIS president showed he was not fully convinced of Vonn’s impending departure by adding a few moment

later, “if she really stops – we’ll have to wait for that.”

The 34-year-old US star has said she will quit following to-day’s Super-G and Sunday’s downhill races in Are after losing a battle for full fi tness following injury.

“She will leave a big hole when she leaves but don’t forget all the athletes, all the big champions have to fi nish their career one day and it will be the same with Lindsey,” Kasper said. “She was one of our really big ambassa-dors...she was a PR machine if you want for our sport. We are more than grateful for her.”

Asked whether Vonn’s depar-ture could be compared to ath-letics’ loss following the retire-ment of sprint star Usain Bolt, Kasper went back to the legacy left by Italian star Alberto Tomba in the late 1980s and 1990s.

During Tomba’s heyday non-skiing Sicily had television view-ing quotas “you can’t imagine,” he said.“Nowadays in Sicily no one is watching alpine skiing but if Tomba should come back they will,” he said

“If you have a big champion it always helps not only the nation but the sport of skiing itself.

‘My line was definitely wrong on a couple of parts of the course and it cost me a lot of speed’

Red Bull, Mercedes to launch 2019 F1 cars on same day

MOTORSPORT

ReutersLondon

Red Bull will give a fi rst glimpse of their new Honda-powered RB15 Formula One car next

week on the same day that world champion Lewis Ham-ilton’s 2019 Mercedes breaks cover at Silverstone.

Former champions Red Bull, who fi nished third overall be-hind champions Mercedes and Ferrari last year, have switched from Renault power units to Honda for the season starting in Australia on March 17.

They also have a changed line-up, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo now donning yellow Renault overalls and replaced by young Frenchman Pierre Gasly alongside Dutch driver Max Verstappen.

Verstappen, 21, won two races last year and will be hop-ing Honda provide a reliable and powerful engine after the manufacturer’s return to For-mula One with McLaren ended in divorce at the end of 2017.

Honda supplied Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso last year.

Red Bull announced the Feb. 13 date on the team’s Twitter feed, without details. Mer-cedes have already said they will run their W10 car for the fi rst time in a private shake-down session that day.

Racing Point, the team for-merly known as Force India before being taken over by a Canadian consortium led by the billionaire father of racing driver Lance Stroll, will also present their new team brand-ing in Toronto on Feb 13.

Formula One starts pre-sea-son testing at Barcelona’s Cir-cuit de Catalunya on Feb. 18, which will be the fi rst chance to see the new cars together on track.

The team launches kick off this week, with US-owned Haas fi rst out with their new livery in London on Thursday

before Toro Rosso on February 11.

Fourth-placed Renault show off their new car at their En-stone factory in central Eng-land on Feb. 12, with McLaren removing the covers at Woking on February 14. Ferrari have an online reveal on February 15.

WEHRLEIN, HARTLEY JOIN FERRARI IN

SIMULATOR ROLES Ferrari have hired ex-For-

mula One drivers Pascal We-hrlein and Brendon Hartley to help develop their 2019 race car in the simulator.

The pair were among four simulator drivers named yes-terday to work at the Italian team’s Maranello factory in support of racers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.

Wehrlein, who last year ended ties with Mercedes, drove for now-defunct Manor and Sauber in Formula One in 2016 and 2017 and the German is now racing for the Mahindra team in the all-electric Formu-la E series.

New Zealander Hartley, a two-times world endurance champion who won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche in 2017, competed for Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso last year.

Italians Antonio Fuoco and Davide Rigon were the other two drivers appointed.

“Our team has taken on four undoubtedly talented drivers, who possess innate feeling, with a strong understanding of race cars and tracks,” said team principal Mattia Binotto in a statement.

“These are exactly the quali-ties required in the skilful role of driving in a simulator, one of the vital pieces of equipment in the Formula One of today.”

Russian Daniil Kvyat and Italian Antonio Giovinazzi, who performed simulator du-ties for Ferrari last year, are racing this season for Toro Rosso and Sauber respectively.

The season starts in Austral-ia on March 17.

SPORT7Gulf Times

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Maybe I’ll get lucky, says Vonn as fi nal races loom

ALPINE SKIING

Lindsey Vonn of the US in action during the downhill training at Are, Sweden, yesterday. (Reuters)

Participants and Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) off icials pose after Round 2 of the Manateq Qatar National Sprint. Abdullah al-Khelaifi took his second successive win in the Class 1, to extend his overall lead. Aziz al-Jabri came second, followed by Elie Daccache. The Class 2 was won by Mohamed al-Khayarin, followed by Mohamed al-Delaimi and Ali Emadi.

Manateq Qatar National Sprint

‘Flying Finn’ Nykanen dies at 55Finnish ski jumping great Matti Nykanen died in the early hours of yesterday at the age of 55, local media reported citing his wife.“Matti died last night,” his wife Pia Nykanen told Finnish weekly magazine Seiska, without revealing the cause of death.Nykanen, dubbed the ‘Flying Finn’, won four Olympic gold medals, three of them at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, as well as five World Championship gold medals during his active years from 1981 to 1991.Back in 2008, Nykanen’s long-term coach Matti Pulli said he considered Nykanen, who claimed 46 World Cup wins, as the best ski jumper ever.“His structure was excellent, he had very good thrust and he was persistent,” Pulli said. “He was child-like, almost like a cherub and that charmed peo-ple.”After his sports career, Nykanen struggled to find a new path for his life, leading him to tempt his fate as a singer and even as a stripper for a short period of time.Nykanen often made headlines in the local media for his person-al relationships including several marriages, violent behaviour, and alcohol-related incidents.Nykanen was sentenced to prison on two diff erent occasions, for a stabbing in 2004 and for assaulting his then-wife in 2009.He was diagnosed with diabetes last year.In addition to this remarkable sports career, Finns remember Nykanen for his one-liners that have become widely adopted in every day use.“The odds are fifty-sixty,” Finns often quote him to describe a situation when things could take a turn either way.

Kovalev regains WBO title by winning rematch with AlvarezAFPLos Angeles

Sergey Kovalev made his reputation as the ‘Krusher’, but on Sat-urday in a rematch with

Eleider Alvarez, the Russian champ regained his light heav-yweight title by using his Box-ing smarts.

The 35-year-old Kovalev won by a 12-round unanimous deci-sion to avenge a stunning loss to Alvarez six months ago and re-take the World Boxing Organi-zation 175-pound belt.

The judges had Kovalev con-trolling the fi ght with one scor-ing it 120-108. The other two scored it 116-112.

Kovalev did some of his best Boxing in the 10th round, where he hurt Alvarez, and the 12th, where he had a strong fi nish.

Saturday’s victory makes him

the fi rst fi ghter since 1990, and the third all time, to win the light heavyweight title three times. Kovalev, who improved to 33-3-1 with 28 knockouts, seemed all but invincible in the light heavyweight division un-til he lost consecutive fi ghts to Andre Ward in 2017 and 2016.

Alvarez seized the WBO belt from Kovalev on August 4. The Colombian was trailing on every scorecard, but knocked Kovalev down three times in the seventh round to win his fi rst world ti-tle. Saturday’s fi ght at the Ford Center in Dallas, Texas started out like the fi rst fi ght but Kova-lev switched the script.

Kovalev appeared to be in better shape, he used his jab more eff ectively and his defence was much improved.

The Russian threw almost twice as many punches (213-111) and landed 60 jabs com-pared to just 33 for Alvarez.

Kovalev blamed the fi rst loss on “overtraining” so this time he brought in a new trainer Buddy McGirt and strength coach Teddy Cruz.

Alvarez, 34, suff ered the fi rst loss of his career to go with 24 victories. This was his fourth straight fi ght against a former or current champion.

On the undercard, Richard Commey earned his fi rst world title by stopping Isa Chaniev in the second round of a IBF world lightweight champion-ship fi ght. Commey, of Ghana, takes the vacant title and sets up a more lucrative title fi ght with Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Commey knocked Chaniev down three times in the bout before referee Laurence Cole stopped it at 39 seconds of the second. “I am very happy I won this world title,” said Commey. “It is everything for me, this is what I worked so hard for.”

BOXING

Tuesday, Febraury 5, 2019

GULF TIMES CRICKET

Starc on fi re as Australia romp to series victory

SPOTLIGHT

AFPCanberra

A resurgent Mitchell Starc took fi ve wickets as Australia wrapped up a confi dence-boosting 2-0 series thrashing

of Sri Lanka yesterday, with the tour-ists skittled for 149 in the second Test at Canberra. In front of a sparse crowd on day four, Sri Lanka resumed on 17 with-out loss, needing a daunting 516 to win and ending 366 short.

There was little resistance from the under-strength visitors who wilted un-der a pace onslaught led by spearhead Starc, who ended with 5-46 and took 10 wickets in the game as he emphati-cally bounced back from a lean spell. “It’s nice to get some reward. I’ve said all summer this group has been working really hard,” said skipper Tim Paine.

“I think we’re starting to build to-wards something so it’s great to get some reward for the work we’ve been putting in.” He was especially pleased with his bowlers, who worked well as a unit. “The wicket didn’t off er a lot but they kept smacking away and bowled beautifully. For our group to get some belief out of this will be excellent mov-ing forward.”

Paine set the big run chase after de-claring Australia’s second innings at 196 for three, following their mammoth fi rst innings 534 for fi ve declared. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 215 in reply. “We were outplayed as a team in all departments,” Sri Lankan skipper Di-nesh Chandimal said. “Credit goes to Australia. They have played some out-standing cricket throughout the series,” he added. “It was really tough. Espe-cially in the last six months we couldn’t get the right combination to fi nalise our best XI.”

Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne had survived a tough six overs on Sunday ahead of stumps, and they resumed with hopes high of tak-ing the game into a fi fth day to provide momentum ahead of an upcoming Test tour to South Africa.

But Karunaratne failed to add to his overnight eight with Starc, bowling at close to 145 kph (90 mph), clipping his leg bail in only the third over of the day. It was a big blow with the experienced opener their best batsman in the fi rst innings before he was struck in the head by a Pat Cummins bouncer.

Chandimal also failed to deliver, struggling against the speed and bounce of a fi red-up Starc, bowling at perhaps his best over the past year. He poked at an away swinger and was caught at slip for four by Marnus Labuschagne, capping a miserable series in which he managed just 24 runs in two Tests.

Niroshan Dickwella, promoted to number four from his usual six, was building a handy partnership before Thirimanne was removed by Cummins for 30.

Thirimanne tried to fend off a short ball but it ricocheted off his bat and

Cummins took an athletic diving catch. It went from bad to worse with Dick-wella bowled by Starc for 27 just before lunch and Kusal Perera, cleared to play after taking a hit on the helmet on Sun-day, out for a golden duck next ball.

Dhananjaya de Silva fell soon after the break and while young gun Kusal Mendis added a brisk 42, the tail soon folded. It extended a dire run of Test re-sults for troubled Sri Lanka, who were missing their three injured strike bowl-ers in Canberra.

They have now lost a home series to England 3-0, then away to New Zea-land 1-0 to go with their two defeats in Australia. Australia won the fi rst Test in Brisbane by an innings and 40 runs and end their summer on a high after los-ing an intense home series against top-ranked India.

While they were outplayed by Virat

Kohli’s men, they at least broke a centu-ry drought stretching back to October in Canberra, with Joe Burns, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson and Usman Khawaja all cashing in.

Their knocks put them in prime po-sition for the Ashes tour to England — their next Test assignment later this year, where champion seam bowl-ers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad

await. Starc’s Canberra performance cemented his place in the side, while Richardson emerged as a handy compli-ment to fellow pace bowlers Josh Hazle-wood and Cummins.

Needing a daunting 516 to win, Sri Lanka were skittled out for 149 with Starc taking five wickets

Guptill out of T20 series against India

Captain Holder banned for slow over-rateSmith and Warner to play ‘huge’ part in Ashes series: Paine

England hold crisis meeting

INJURED

PENALTYT20

FOCUS

AFPWellington

Martin Guptill was yesterday ruled out of the New Zealand side for the Twenty20 series against In-dia after failing to recover from

a back injury. Coach Gary Stead said Guptill failed a fi tness test but he remained hope-ful the big-hitting opener would recover in time for the one-day international series

against Bangladesh starting next week.“Unfortunately Martin hasn’t recovered

in time for this Twenty20 series which is very condensed with three games over fi ve days,” Stead said. “It’s a shame as he’s obvi-ously a big part of our white-ball sides, but we’ve got to look at the big picture and en-sure he gets the injury right.”

Guptill was injured before Sunday’s fi fth ODI against India in Wellington which the tourists won by 35 runs to wrap up the series 4-1. He has been replaced by Jimmy Nee-

sham for the three-game Twenty20 series, which starts in Wellington tomorrow. The New Zealand squad includes newcomer Daryl Mitchell, a son of former rugby player and one-time All Blacks coach John Mitch-ell, who is now an England assistant coach.NEW ZEALAND SQUAD: Kane Williamson (capt), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grand-homme, Lockie Ferguson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

AFPDubai

West Indies captain Jason Holder has been suspended for the third and fi nal Test against England due to his team’s slow

over-rate during their victory in Antigua last week, the ICC announced yesterday. Cricket’s governing body banned Holder, despite the hosts playing four seamers and the regular fall of wickets as England were bowled out for 187 and 132.

The ICC said that the Windies were two overs short of their target for the match. Holder was previously found guilty of a slow over-rate during his team’s third Test defeat

by Sri Lanka last June. “(Match referee) Jeff Crowe... imposed the suspension on Holder after the Windies were ruled to be two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration,” the ICC said.

The 27-year-old all-rounder, who has taken seven wickets and scored 229 runs in the series so far, was also fi ned 40% of his match fee, while all the other Windies play-ers were fi ned 20% each. The Windies, who also thrashed England by 381 runs in the fi rst Test, have sparked hopes of an upturn in form with their excellent performances against a side ranked fi ve places higher than them at third in the Test rankings.

The fi nal Test in St Lucia starts on Satur-day, with the Caribbean side looking for a famous series whitewash.

AFPCanberra

Skipper Tim Paine yes-terday said he expects the banned Steve Smith and David Warner to play “a

huge” role in this year’s Ashes series against England, with Australia now in “a really good place.” After a torrid 12 months marred by the ball-tampering row and poor form without their top stars, Australia ended their summer on a high by emphati-cally winning two Tests against Sri Lanka.

They claimed the fi rst in Bris-bane by an innings and 40 runs and the second in Canberra by 366 runs, following a tough home series defeat to top-ranked India.

Smith and Warner’s bans for their role in trying to alter the ball in South Africa expire late next month and they are widely expected to quickly return to the national set-up. “I think every-one to a degree has to earn their stripes. I think those two have got plenty of runs in the bank if you like,” Paine said when asked if they could slot straight back in.

“Look, I see us going to the

Ashes and them having a huge part in us winning the series. That’s how I see how important they are to this team. We know how good they are and hopefully once their bans are up they’ll be welcomed back and they will win Test matches like they did before.”

Without the experienced pair, Australia struggled. But at least they broke a century drought stretching back to October in Canberra, with Joe Burns, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson and Us-man Khawaja all cashing in.

Their knocks put them in prime position for the Ashes against an England side reeling from an embarrassing capitu-lation in the West Indies. Fol-lowing a 381-run defeat by the hosts in the fi rst Test in Barbados last month, England suff ered a 10-wicket thrashing in Antigua on Saturday to lose the three-match series 2-0.

With the imminent return of Warner and Smith, there are now question marks over Marcus Harris and number four Marnus Labuschagne. Harris struggled in Canberra on a batting-friendly wicket as fellow opener Burns hit 180, while Labuschagne man-aged just six and four in his two innings. Khawaja’s snapping of a run drought is widely seen as being enough for him to remain at fi rst drop, with Head’s 161 and 59 not out sealing his place at number fi ve. Paine said he has a “fair idea” of what the Ashes team might look like.

“What we have seen over this summer is we are starting to build a squad with plenty of depth. There’s probably anywhere be-tween 16 and 25 players we think are now in the mix, which is a re-ally good place to be,” he added.

ReutersNorth Sound, Antigua

England have held a crisis meeting after a second humiliation by the West Indies in as many Tests

left the team worried by their poor form in a year they host the World Cup and the Ashes series against Australia, coach Trevor Bayliss said.

Following a 381-run defeat by the hosts in the fi rst Test in Barbados last month, England suff ered a 10-wicket thrashing in Antigua on Saturday to lose the three-match series 2-0 after only seven days of cricket. “We want to get to the root of why we haven’t played as well as we’d like. We posed some questions to them last night in the changing room and gave them 24 hours to think about it,” Bayliss said.

“Any defeat is not good. It’s how you come back. Obviously we didn’t come back too well in this game. It’s a big year ahead... I’d have to say it’s a concern.”

Skipper Joe Root said after their latest loss that England’s batting was to blame after man-aging 187 and 132 in two innings. “We haven’t seemed to have the will to fi ght. There have been some loose shots and other guys have been tentative,” Bayliss added. “We have a lot of guys averaging in the low thirties. In years gone by, that wouldn’t have been good enough to stay in the team.”

England host the 50-overs World Cup starting in May be-fore welcoming arch-rivals Aus-tralia in August and September. Bayliss said some batsmen in the team were more confi dent in the one-day game than the long-est format, suggesting that they needed to strike a balance.

“Some are more suited to the one-day style and still trying to come to terms with what is the best rhythm of playing their test cricket,” he added. “We’ve got to fi nd a way to score. If that means batting time, or pick-ing guys (who play) more in that vein, then so be it. Sometimes I feel the message between one-day cricket and Test cricket gets muddled.”

AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS 534-5 dec (J.

Burns 180, T. Head 161, K. Patterson 114

no; Fernando 3-126)

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS 215

(D. Karunaratne 59; M. Starc 5-54)

AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS 196-3 dec

(U. Khawaja 101 no, T. Head 59 no;

Rajitha 2-64)

SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS

(overnight 17-0)

D. Karunaratne b Starc 8

L. Thirimanne c & b Cummins 30

D. Chandimal c Labuschagne b Starc 4

N. Dickwella b Starc 27

K. Mendis c Patterson b Lauschagne 42

K. Perera c Paine b Starc 0

D. de Silva c Head b Richardson 6

C. Karunaratne c Paine b Cummins 22

D. Perera c Paine b Cummins 4

K. Rajitha not out 2

V. Fernando b Starc 0

Exras (lb1, b1, w2) 4

Total: (10 wickets; 51 overs) 149

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (D. Karunaratne), 2-28 (Chandimal), 3-58 (Thirimanne), 4-83 Dickwella, 5-83 (K. Perera), 6-97 (De Silva), 7-143 (Mendis), 8-143 (C. Karunaratne), 9-148 (D. Perera), 10-149 (Fernando)

Bowling: Starc 18-2-46-5, Richardson 9-1-29-1, Lyon 13-1-51-0, Cummins 8-2-15-3, Lauschagne 3-1-6-1

SCOREBOARD

Australian players pose with the trophy after defeating Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Manuka Oval Cricket Ground in Canberra yesterday. (AFP)

England opener Keaton Jennings during a nets session in North Sound, Antigua yesterday. (Reuters)