SPORT07WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019

My head is 100 percent focused on PSG. I will give everything, as I have at every club I have

played for.

Neymar vows to give his best to help PSG achieve their targets in the new season. U

EFA

CH

AM

PIO

NS

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AG

UE Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid

Olympiakos vs Tottenham HotspurBayern Munich vs Red Star Belgrade

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City

TODAY’S ACTION

Changing lives: Kabbadi making players millionairesAFP NEW DELHI

Siddharth Desai grew up in humble surroundings but now he’s living the life of a millionaire sportsman, driving a souped-up jeep and taking selfies with fans -- and it’s all thanks to kabaddi.

The ancient game has undergone a glitzy makeover through the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), creating a new group of sports stars in a country tradi-tionally obsessed with cricket.

Kabaddi -- which roughly translates to “holding hands” -- is a tag-meets-rugby contact sport widely believed to have originated in the South Asian nation thousands of years ago.

Siddharth and his elder brother Suraj Desai went from playing kabaddi in the dust in their village in the state of Maharashtra, to wrestling on indoor mats in front of a TV audience of millions.

“Even if you work for 50 years of your life, you will never get a financial benefit like you do while playing one year of PKL,” the 27-year-old raider, the proud owner of an orange-and-black 4x4 off-roader, said.

“Nobody knew me before season six but now people want

to touch me, media wants to interview me. People want to take selfies with me.”

The franchise-based profes-sional league was launched by Star Sports in 2014. Players were auctioned, like in the hugely successful Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament, with busi-nesses and Bollywood stars paying big money for players for their city or state-based teams.

Siddharth, who was paid $50,000 last season with U Mumba, was snapped up by Telugu Titans for a record $201,444 this year. Together with endorsements, kabaddi has made him a wealthy man.

The previously shy village boy now dreams of buying a new house where his parents

and his married brother can enjoy the finer things in life.

“After the start of Pro Kabaddi everyone is looking at kabaddi as a career option,” said Siddharth.

“Now I like to go indulge in my hobbies which include playing the guitar and music. I will probably get a tattoo done.”

Kabaddi is a highly physical sport that requires teams to collect points by sending a raider to the rival side to tag an opponent before returning to safety.

Traditionally, raiders chant “kabaddi, kabaddi” to prove they are only using one breath, although in the modern game they usually breathe freely.

Defending teams can also collect points by preventing the

raider from escaping their half of the court, often with body-slamming tackles and vicious ankle-wrenches.

It’s an entertaining sport for TV and promoters have com-pleted the look with slick, Bol-lywood-style presentation of the competition and players off the court.

Keen to follow the glam-orous IPL, PKL’s organisers set about re-vamping the images of the players, who mostly hail from Indian villages.

“We groomed them, got them new haircuts and trained them on how to be on TV,” PKL commissioner Anupam Goswami said.

“We also made sure that the field of play looks slightly aspirational.”

The success of the first few seasons led Chinese smart-phone-maker to VIVO sign up as PKL’s title sponsor in a reported $42m deal.

The tie-up made PKL the second-largest league in India in terms of sponsorship money after the IPL, which also has VIVO as their lead sponsor.

One of the PKL’s foreign stars, U Mumba’s former Iran captain Fazel Atrachali, says the league has given players the chance to have a lucrative

career. “When you have money in your sport then your mind is not busy on other things,” Atra-chali said.

Goswami said that, putting aside the massive salaries of top players in sports like basketball

or football, annual wages of $100,000 for a kabaddi player are “very respectable”.

“The bottom salary is seven lakh ($9,860 per season) which is a salary of a mid-level occu-pation in our country,” he added.

The ancient game has undergone a glitzy makeover through the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), creating a new group of sports stars in a country traditionally obsessed with cricket.

The franchise-based professional league was launched by Star Sports in 2014. Players were auctioned, like in the hugely successful Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament, with businesses and Bollywood stars paying big money for players for their city or state-based teams.

In this photograph taken on August 30, 2019, a player of Puneri Paltan holds onto India’s Siddharth Desai (left), raider of the Telugu Titans, during their PKL match in New Delhi.

Felix in US squad for Doha WorldsAFP LOS ANGELES

United States track and field star Allyson Felix (pictured) was named to her ninth consecutive World Championships team on Monday as the United States unveiled a powerful squad for this month’s athletics showpiece in Doha.

Felix, 33, was selected as part of the US team’s relay pool after failing to qualify for an individual 400m berth at the US trials in Des Moines, Iowa, in July.

It means Felix has the chance to add to her astonishing col-lection of 11 World Champi-onship gold medals, won in indi-vidual and relay events between 2005 and 2017.

Felix, who first appeared in the 2003 World Championships as a teenage prodigy, hit the comeback trail this season after the birth of her daughter in November last year.

After her sixth place finish in the 400m final at the trials, which also served as the US championships, at Drake Uni-versity, Felix said she would only

travel to Qatar for the World Championships on merit.

“If I feel like I’m in good form to be able to help the team, then yes (I’ll go),” the six-time Olympic gold medallist said.

Felix is part of a 141-strong US team for Doha that contains eight reigning world champions and 13 Rio Olympic gold medallists.

Reigning world champions Tori Bowie, Kori Carter, Emma Coburn, Phyllis Francis, Justin Gatlin, Sam Kendricks, Brittany Reese and Christian Taylor all received byes into the champi-onships which will take place from September 27 to October 6.

This season’s Diamond League champions Noah Lyles (200m), Ajee Wilson (800m) and Michael Norman (400m) also received byes.

Meanwhile, 100m sprinter Christian Coleman is included in the squad after he recently escaped a drug ban on a technicality.

Coleman risked a suspension after drug-testers were unable to locate him on three separate occasions in a 12-month period.

However the charges against him were withdrawn because of a technicality on September 2 after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) received guidance on how the 12-month window should be calculated.

That decision left Coleman free to run in Doha where he will start as the favourite for the 100m.

Meanwhile, World 1,500m champion Elijah Man-a n g o i o f Kenya said h e h a s pulled out

of this month’s World Champi-onships. Manangoi did not take part in the Kenyan national trials in Nairobi last week but was named in a four-man 1,500m team to defend his title in Doha.

But Man- a n g o i , who had j u s t

returned to training after an earlier hamstring injury wrote on Facebook that he had once again hurt himself.

“Sad that I am not able to defend my 1,500m title in Doha World champions due an ankle injury I picked (up) in training last week. I have no choice,” said the 26-year-old.

His coach Bernard Ouma said the injury would take a while to heal.

“It’s a tough decision,” said Ouma.

“Manangoi has accepted it and we have also accepted that it is better for him to opt out of the championships and prepare

for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.”

Kenya will be represented in the 1,500m at Doha by the 2019 Diamond League winner Timothy Cheruiyot, Ronald

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Reigning world champions Tori Bowie, Kori Carter, Emma Coburn, Phyllis Francis, Justin Gatlin, Sam Kendricks, Brittany Reese and Christian Taylor all receive byes into the championships.

AFP LONDON

Tyson Fury (pictured) claims he is “ready for war” with Deontay Wilder after the British heavyweight survived two severe cuts in his weekend win over Otto Wallin.

Fury needed 47 stitches following the Las Vegas bout, which saw Wallin take his rival to 12 rounds before the Briton eventually secured a unan-imous points decision victory.

The 31-year-old former world heavyweight champion was taken to the University Medical Center of South Nevada with a gaping gash over his right eye and another smaller one on the eyelid.

Speaking to BBC Sport before

leaving Las Vegas, Fury said: “I went to the hospital, had a few stitches, went home and had an early night.

“Then I’ve got up, gone to the casino, won five grand.”

Fury fought for more than nine rounds with one of the cuts.

The injury prompted promoter Frank Warren to say a proposed Feb-ruary rematch with WBC world

heavyweight champion Wilder could be delayed if Fury does not heal adequately.

“If injury doesn’t heal well the fight may have to be pushed back,” Warren said. “Hopefully that will not be the case. It depends how it heals. If it’s OK it won’t be a problem.

“It’s not just the fight, it’s the training and sparring. He has to be 100 percent right.”

But asked about a delay, Fury made it clear he had no fears about a quick return to the ring against the formidable Wilder.

“I’m ready for war. I think it was just over 40 stitches inside and out with both the cuts. Listen I’m all right. It’s boxing. You can’t go swimming and not get wet. It’s the fight game.”

Fury ‘ready for war’ against Wilder

If injury doesn’t heal well the fight may have to be pushed back: Promoter Frank Warren

Van Baarle signs new three-year deal with IneosREUTERS LONDON

Dutchman Dylan van Baarle said he is targeting one of the big classics next year after signing a new three-year contract with Team Ineos yesterday.

The 27-year-old, who joined the British outfit in 2018, was a key component in Egan Bernal’s Tour de France victory this year as well as winning the Herald Sun Tour.

“I became a better bike rider here and I want to see that progress to continue,” Van Baarle, who will be part of a powerful Dutch team at the world championships in York-shire next week, said in a statement.

“This year with Egan winning the Tour it was a dream. Coming into this team, it’s what I was aiming for - to be part of the Tour team and hopefully winning. With first and second (Geraint Thomas) it was a really nice three weeks.”

Meanwhile, Tour de France winner Egan Bernal will skip next week’s Road World Championships in England, the cycling feder-ation in his native Colombia said yesterday, without indi-cating the reason.

“The talented cyclist of Team Ineos decided to turn down the call-up” for the race in the Yorkshire town of Har-rogate, the Colombian Cycling Federation said in a statement yesterday.

The 285-kilometre course for the world championships road race on September 29 is not particularly hilly and did not seem ideally suited to mountain climbers like Bernal.

08 WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019SPORT

AFP TOKYO

World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said yesterday he had concerns that a reported deal to sell a share of the Six Nations’ commercial arm to Formula One’s former owners CVC for £300m might be detri-mental to players’ welfare.

The Times newspaper reported yesterday that CVC Capital Partners had agreed in principle to buy a 15 percent share in the commercial oper-ations of the six unions in rugby’s annual northern hemi-sphere championship -- England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy.

The unions have been in

talks for almost two years over pooling their commercial interests. The Six Nations would not confirm the sale to private equity firm CVC had been agreed, saying only it had entered into “an exclusive period of negotiation with an external investor partner”.

It added it believed new investment “is vital for the long-term future of our game”.

CVC, who last December acquired a reported 27 percent stake worth more than £200m in the English Premiership, had been reported in March to have bid for a 30 percent share for the Six Nations.

According to The Times, CVC would own a share not only of the Six Nations Championship,

but also the autumn Tests -- when the southern hemisphere powerhouses tour Europe -- and summer tours when the likes of England and Ireland go south.

All sides expect the deal to be completed after the November 2 World Cup final in Japan. Asked about the deal at a Tokyo press conference, Gosper said: “I’d have to say we don’t know enough about the ins and outs of that deal, it’s been shrouded, so we can’t say too much at this stage and we don’t know if it will be good or bad.

“Certainly as big an investor in the sport as a private equity firm like CVC will create influence, and that’s something that in some areas could concern us.”

Boks expect the unexpected from ‘evolving’ All Blacks

AFP URAYASU, JAPAN

South Africa are bracing themselves for “new tricks” from defending champions New Zealand when the fierce rivals lock horns in their heavyweight Rugby World Cup opener this weekend.

Assistant coach Matt Proudfoot said yesrerday that the Springboks expect the All Blacks to come out firing in the Pool B clash in Yokohama after the southern hemisphere titans battled to a 16-16 draw over the summer during the Rugby Championship.

South Africa won that competition for the first time since 2009 to underline their World Cup credentials, but Proudfoot suspects New Zealand are planning a surprise or two this Saturday.

“We’re expecting a new arrow to their quiver,” he said before a training session in the shadow of Tokyo Disneyland.

“They’re an intelligent bunch and there will be something new that they bring to the party.

“They have been working on various aspects of their attack,” added Proudfoot.

“There’s been quite a bit

of evolution in that area of their game. And they’re too good a side not to continue their evolution.”

South Africa famously beat New Zealand on home soil to capture the first of their two World Cups in 1995, when Nelson Mandela presented the trophy to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar in an iconic moment that helped heal a nation divided by decades of apartheid.

Though less politically charged than that spine-tingling Johannesburg final, victory in this weekend’s blockbuster could have huge psychological impor-tance for the rest of the tournament before further pool games against Italy, Namibia and Canada.

“It’s not ideal to start a competition on the back foot,” admitted Proudfoot.

“Both teams understand that. Our mindset in 2019 has been to generate a lot of momentum which we have attained and it will be good to keep that momentum going,” added the forwards coach.

With the All Blacks sweating over the fitness of lock Brodie Retallick, Proudfoot accused New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen of indulging in mind games in the build-up to the game.

“Mr Hansen said he had a full squad to pick from,” he smiled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t have a trick up his sleeve.”

South Africa, who reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2015 despite a stunning loss to Japan in their opening game, have just returned from a heat camp in Kagoshima, southern Japan, where several players shed kilos in weight.

While tighthead prop Frans Malherbe joked that some of the forwards could do with shedding a few pounds, centre Damian de Allende can’t wait to go at it with opposite number Sonny Bill Williams.

They’re an intelligent bunch and there will be something new that they bring to the party. They have been working on various aspects of their attack: Proudfoot

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South Africa’s lock Rg Snyman (left) and flanker Duane Vermeulen take part in a training session in Chiba Prefecture in Tokyo yesterday ahead of the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Aerial battle key to France clash, says Pumas’ SanchezAFP NARAHA, JAPAN

Argentina’s fly-half says the aerial battle will be a key factor in their crunch Pool C encounter with France, hoping that his experience in French rugby will give him an edge.

Nicolas Sanchez was the top scorer at the 2015 World Cup in England, his 97 points putting him ahead of the likes of All Black Dan Carter and the Wallabies’ Bernard Foley.

And the Stade Francais playmaker, who had also enjoyed spells at Bordeaux-Begles and Toulon, said his knowledge of the oppo-sition will be invaluable as Los Pumas seek to get out of a ‘group of death’ that also contains England.

“My experience last season was useful because it allowed me to get to know

the players in the French team. I know their qualities and I can sort of predict how the match will go,” he said at the team camp in Naraha, near Fukushima in eastern Japan.

“We have to put them under pressure. I also think the kicking and aerial game will play an essential part. A lot will go through there,” said the 30-year-old with 77 Puma caps.

Heavy rain is currently forecast to pass through Tokyo on the first weekend of the competition, leading some teams to train with slippery balls.

Argentina bombarded France with high balls during their past two World Cup matches, beating Les Bleus twice in 2007 -- once in the pool phase and then winning the third-place play-off.

Sanchez said that while Argentina are “100 percent” focused on the clash with France, “we also know we have a very high-level match (against England on October 5) where we will also have to be at 100 percent”.

And he said he was rel-ishing competition for the number 10 shirt from Ben-jamin Urdapilleta, also plying his trade in France for Top 14 outfit Castres.

Argentina’s Los Pumas flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez (right) passes the ball infront of New Zealand’s All Blacks prop Karl Tu’inukuafe during their Rugby Championship match at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires in this September 30, 2018 file picture.

All Blacks appreciate tough but talkative BoksAFP TOKYO

South Africa are New Zealand’s toughest opponents, but always good for a chat after the game, according to assistant All Blacks coach Ian Foster.

The rivalry between the two teams goes back to 1921, when New Zealand beat the visiting Boks 13-5 in Dunedin in their inaugural Test match.

Hiatuses during the apartheid era notwithstanding, the two sides have faced off 98 times, the All Blacks winning 58 times to the Boks’ 36, with four draws.

“We’ve always had a huge regard for South Africans as a rugby team,” said Foster ahead of the two teams’ blockbuster Pool B match at Yokohama on Saturday.

“They’re a team which we’ve probably had our most physical contests with and probably have the best chat in the shed afterwards with.

“There’s always been a deep respect based on the level of commitment that both teams put into it.” Foster, who was also assistant to Steve Hansen when New Zealand defended their World Cup title four years ago, added that the All Blacks were always at a “heightened state” when they played South Africa.

“I know it’s the World Cup and the World Cup’s big, but our focus has been on this game for some time,” he said.

World Rugby chief ‘concerned’ by £300m Six Nations deal

New Zealand’s Richie Mo’unga (centre) and team-mates take part in a training session at the Tatsuminomori Seaside Park in Koto, Tokyo prefecture yesterday, ahead of the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatari 400m hurdler Abderrahman Samba (pictured) will be a relaxed man going into the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha.

“I don’t feel pressure because it will be my home,” said Samba, while speaking to IAAF Inside Athletics, who last year set an Asian 400m hurdles record of 46.98.

Samba is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim and attain ‘champion’ status in the coming years.

“Mutaz (Barshim, the world high jump champion) is a great champion and we have learned a lot from him. I consider him as a role model in athletics and I try to follow his example. Hopefully one day I will be a champion like him.

Barshim has won two medals in high jump at the last two Olympics in London and Rio besides

has the World Champ[ion time against his name. He is one the athletes who will be taking part in the World Championship and medal hopeful for the host nation.

“Looking back to the 2017 World Champion-ships where I hit a hurdle and tripped, I was very disappointed after the race, especially because my coach, the managing staff and the president of

the federation were all present.

But these people are the cornerstones that enabled me to come back stronger than before and with more motivation to be the best,” Samba said about his participation in the last World Champion-ships in London.

“I’ve had so much support since then, it has given me a big boost in morale,” he added. “I have to remember that the World Championships was just a setback and I must learn from it.

“My time (46.98) is very good but I don’t con-sider it enough, especially at the moment because several athletes are getting close to the world record. My goal may be bigger than the world record.

Mutaz (Barshim, the world high jump champion) is a great champion and we have learned a lot from him. I consider him as a role model in athletics and I try to follow his example. Hopefully one day I will be a champion like him: Samba

09WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019 SPORT

Samba under no ‘pressure’

TDK, QNB to offer big prize money to record breakersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A galaxy of stars will descend on Khalifa International Stadium from 27 September for 10 days of scintillating action at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, where the IAAF will once again run its world record programme.

The athletes who set a world record at the Championships will be eligible* for a special award of $100,000 offered by

TDK and Qatar National Bank (QNB).

The performance must be an improvement on the existing IAAF world record and per-formances which equal the existing IAAF world record will not be eligible for a world record award.

Portugal’s Ines Henriques, who set a world record of 4:05:56 in the women’s 50km race walk at the World Cham-pionships in London two years ago, and USA’s Ashton Eaton,

who broke the decathlon world record in Beijing in 2015 and will be one of the IAAF’s Ambas-sadors in Doha, are two of the most recent recipients of a world record award.

TDK’s involvement with the IAAF World Championships goes far beyond the world record pro-gramme as the Japanese elec-tronics company has been the main bib sponsor for men’s events for all 16 previous editions and will maintain that involvement in Doha.

QNB, which joined the IAAF as a partner last year, will offer the same generous sponsorship package for women’s events at t h e I A A F W o r l d Championships.

Meanwhile, eight world champions and 13 Olympic champions feature on USA’s team. Tori Bowie, Kori Carter, Emma Coburn, Phyllis Francis, Justin Gatlin, Sam Kendricks, Brittney Reese and Christian Taylor will defend their world titles.

Aside from the world record programme, a total of $ 7,530,000 in prize money will be paid by the IAAF in Doha as follows: Individual events Gold: $60,000 Silver: $30,000 Bronze: $20,000 Fourth place: $15,000 Fifth place: $10,000

Sixth place: $6000 Seventh place: $5000 Eighth place: $4000

Relays (per team) Gold: $80,000, Silver: $40,000 Bronze:$20,000, fourth place:$16,000, fifth place: $12,000 sixth place: $8000, seventh place: $6000 eighth place: $4000

PRIZE MONEY FOR DOHA WINNERS

Japan names team for Doha WorldsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Japan has selected 55 athletes for the IAAF World Athletics Champi-onships Doha 2019, which will be held from 27 September until 6 October.

The team includes Yusuke Suzuki, the world record-holder in the 20km race walk who will be making his championship 50km debut in Doha, and Toshikazu Yamanishi, the world leader in the 20km race walk.

Most members of the squad that earned bronze in the 4x100m at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 will be back on relay duty in Doha, including the country’s three sub-10-second 100m sprinters: Hakim Sani Brown, Yoshihide Kiryu and Yuki Koike.

JAPANESE TEAM FOR DOHA WORLDSMEN

100m: Yoshihide Kiryu, Yuki Koike, Hakim Sani Brown 200m: Yuki Koike, Kirara Shiraishi, Jun Yamashita 400m: Julian Walsh Marathon: Yuki Kawauchi, Kohei Mutaoka, Hiroki Yamagishi 110m hurdles: Shunsuke Izumiya, Taio Kanai, Shunno Takayama 400m hurdles: Takatoshi Abe, Masaki Toyoda High jump: Takashi Eto, Naoto Tobe Pole vault: Masaki Ejima, Daichi Sawano, Seito Yamamoto Long jump: Yuki Hashioka, Shotaro Shiroyama, Hibiki Tsuha 20km race walk: Koki Ikeda, Eiki Takahashi, Toshikazu Yamanishi 50km race walk: Hayato Katsuki, Tomohiro Noda, Yusuke Suzuki 4x100m: Aska Cambridge, Yoshihide Kiryu, Yuki Koike, Hakim Sani Brown, Kirara Shiraishi, Shuhei Tada, Jun Yamashita 4x400m and mixed 4x400m: Shota Iizuka, Yoshinobu Imoto, Rikuya Ito, Mitsuki Kawauchi, Kentaro Sato, Tomoya Tamura, Kota Wakabayashi, Julian Walsh

WOMEN

5000m: Tomoka Kimura, Rina Nabeshima, Nozomi Tanaka 10,000m: Rina Nabeshima, Hitomi Niiya, Minami Yamanouchi Marathon: Ayano Ikemitsu, Madoka Nakano, Mizuki Tanimoto 100m hurdles: Ayako Kimura, Asuka Terada Javelin: Haruka Kitaguchi, Yuka Sato 20km race walk: Nanako Fujii, Kumiko Okada 50km race walk: Masumi Fuchise Mixed 4x400m: Seika Aoyama, Nanako Matsumoto, Saki Takashima

CHAMPION STATUSSamba is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim and attain ‘champion’ status in the coming years.

Germany heading to Qatar with 71 athletesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The German Athletics Feder-ation (DLV) has named 71 athletes on its team for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, which will be held from 27 September until 6 October.

Johannes Vetter will defend his title in the javelin, while two more of Germany’s medallists from 2017 – Carolin Schäfer and Kai Kazmirek – will line up in the combined events.

The team also includes European champion Malaika Mihambo, world ranked No.1 in the long jump.

GERMAN TEAM

MEN

800m: Marc Reuther

1500m: Amos Bartelsmeyer

5000m: Sam Parsons, Richard Ringer

3000m steeplechase: Karl Bebendorf,

Martin Grau

400m hurdles: Luke Campbell, Constantin

Preis

Decathlon: Niklas Kaul, Kai Kazmirek,

Tim Nowak

High jump: Mateusz Przybylko

Pole vault: Torben Blech, Raphael

Holzdeppe, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre Discus:

Christoph Harting, Martin Wierig, David

Wrobel

Javelin: Andreas Hofmann, Thomas Röhler,

Julian Weber, Johannes Vetter

20km race walk: Nils Brembach,

Christopher Linke, Hagen Pohle

50km race walk: Carl Dohmann, Jonathan

Hilbert, Nathaniel Seiler

4x100m: Patrick Domogala, Joshua

Hartmann, Michael Pohl, Julian Reus, Roy

Schmidt, Marvin Schulte

Mixed 4x400m: Tobias Lange, Manuel

Sanders, Marvin Schlegel

WOMEN

100m: Lisa-Marie Kwayie, Gina

Lückenkemper, Tatjana Pinto

200m: Lisa-Marie Kwayie, Tatjana Pinto,

Jessica-Bianca Wessolly

800m: Christina Hering, Katharina Trost

1500m: Caterina Granz, Hanna Klein,

Konstanze Klosterhalfen

5000m: Hanna Klein, Konstanze

Klosterhalfen, Alina Reh 10,000m:

Alina Reh

3000m steeplechase: Gesa Felicitas

Krause

100m hurdles: Cindy Roleder

400m hurdles: Carolina Krafzik Heptathlon:

Carolin Schäfer High jump: Imke Onnen

Pole vault: Katharina Bauer, Lisa Ryzih

Long jump: Malaika Mihambo Triple jump:

Neele Eckhardt

Shot put: Sara Gambetta, Alina Kenzel,

Christina Schwanitz

Discus: Nadine Müller, Kristin Pudenz,

Claudine Vita

Javelin: Annika Marie Fuchs, Christin

Hussong

20km race walk: Saskia Feige

4x100m: Yasmin Kwadwo, Lisa-Marie

Kwayie, Gina Lückenkemper, Jennifer Montag,

Lisa Nippgen, Tatjana Pinto

Mixed 4x400m: Luna Bulmahn, Karolina

Pahlitzsch, Nelly SchmidtHakim Sani Brown

Twenty nine Russians to compete as neutral athletesAP MOSCOW

The suspended Russian track federation is sending a team of 29 competitors to the world championships in Qatar, where they will compete as neutral athletes.

High jumper Mariya Lasitskene is the only reigning world champion among the group announced by the federation yes-terday. Lasitskene has jumped a world leading 2.06 meters this season but has failed to clear 2 meters at four of her last five events.

Other medal contenders include Sergei Shubenkov, the 2015 world champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and high jumpers Mikhail Akimenko and Ilya Ivanyuk.

Many Russian athletes with past doping bans were not cleared to compete, including race walker Elena Lashmanova, the world leader in the 20-kilometer event this year. Lashmanova is a former Olympic gold medalist, as is Anna Chicherova, another athlete who was not allowed to go.

With 29 Russian neutral athletes, there will be 10 more than at the last world cham-pionships two years ago. The squad includes 16 women, compared to just seven in 2017.

Russia has been suspended from inter-national track and field since 2015 over wide-spread doping, but 131 athletes have since been cleared to compete as neutrals. They must present evidence of thorough drug testing to a panel set up by track’s world gov-erning body, the IAAF.

10 WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019SPORT

QSL signs co-operation agreement with SIGATHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Qatar Stars League (QSL) signed a co-oper-ation agreement with Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) on the sidelines of its first Inter-Regional Summit for the Middle East, Asia and Africa, hosted by the State of Qatar.

The event, held under the patronage of H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, Min-ister of Culture and Sports, was organised by SIGA in co-operation with Doha-based International

Centre for Sport Security and Qatar Airways with the participation of

prominent international figures as well as a number of specialists and

decision-makers in the world of sports.

The agreement was

signed by QSL CEO Hani Taleb Ballan and his SIGA counterpart Emmanuel Medeiros.

It may be noted that Qatar’s is the first profes-sional league in Asia to sign such an agreement with an international organisation connected with establishing the foundations of integrity in sport.

The agreement aims at exchanging expe-rience, joint tasks, pre-senting the best prac-tices, exchanging infor-mation, methods, ideas and activit ies by

establishing the concepts of integrity and trans-parency in football.

Commenting on the deal, Hani said, “We’re delighted to be partici-pating in this summit and signing an agreement with SIGA, and we’ll work with them in future through some activities that contribute towards reiterating the principles of integrity. With one thought and one goal: Integrity in football.”

The QSL CEO also attended one of the ses-sions ‘Integrity in Sports on the Field’.

QSL’s CEO Hani Taleb Ballan and SIGA’s CEO Emmanuel Medeiros signing the agreement.

ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Beach volleyball has always been one of the biggest crowd-pullers at any beach sports events and the narrative will doubtlessly remain the same when the maiden edition of the ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019 kicks off in Doha on October 12.

The sport, which gained an Olympic status at the 1996 Atlanta Games, has a massive global following and it has con-tinued to draw capacity crowds wherever it is staged anywhere in the world.

For example, the spectacular beach volleyball stadium for the 2012 London Games had a capacity of 15,000, the largest-ever Olympic beach volleyball venue, and a record 14,500 turned out to watch Russia defeat Brazil 3-2 to clinch the gold medal of the men’s event at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London while the women’s event witnessed a capacity-filled stadium.

The beach volleyball games of the Rio Olympics also

recorded an impressive turnouts and it was one of the most attended events of the competition.

Played on a sand court meas-uring 8m by 8 m per side, beach volleyball is a team sport usually played by two teams of two players each but for Qatar 2019, the competition will feature the 4X4 format which consists of four players from each side.

The 4x4 beach volleyball adapts the rules of the two-a-side beach volleyball discipline with changes in the scoring system, team composition, service order, and the addition of substitution and coaching as its general principles.

As in indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to

ground it on the opponent’s side of the court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent.

Historically, there are reports of men playing volleyball on the beach in Hawaii as early as 1915 but the history of beach vol-leyball really began and gained momentum in Santa Monica, California in the 1920’s. It was then and there that the first vol-leyball courts were put up on the beach and families came to play.

The first two men Beach Vol-leyball tournament was held in Santa Monica, California in 1948 while the first international FIVB-sanctioned tournament was played on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro in 1987, with a prize purse of US$22,000. It was won by Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos.

Volleyball set to steal limelightThe sport, which gained an Olympic status at the

1996 Atlanta Games, has a massive global following

and it has continued to draw capacity crowds

wherever it is staged anywhere in the world.

The beach volleyball games of the Rio Olympics also

recorded an impressive turnouts and it was one of the

most attended events of the competition.

ICC Challenge League: Qatar down Singapore in openerTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Pacer Gayan Munaweera grabbed a five-wicket haul while Iqbal Hussain displayed an all-round show as Qatar overcame Singapore by 19 runs to register their first victory at the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League Group A in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

Munaweera conceded only 39 runs while picking five wickets from 9.2 overs as Al Annabi bowled out their oppo-nents for 213 in 48.2 overs, while defending their total of 232 runs. Apart from Munaweera, Iqbal also played an important role, claiming four wickets.

Earlier, opening batsman Zaheer Ibrahim guided Qatar to a challenging total, scoring 63 runs. Khurram Shahzad (44), Rizlan Iqbar (31) and Qalandar Khan (29) were the other notable scorers.

Iqbal made a brisk 23 off 18 balls including a couple of boundaries, and was later named man-of-the-match for his all-round performance.

Qatar will now meet hosts Malaysia in their second match of the event on September 20.

The team, led by Iqbal Chaudhary, will play their next

matches against Canada and Denmark on September 22 and 23 respectively.

They will meet Vanuatu in their last match on September 26.

All the matches of the event will be played at Selangor Turf Club and Kinara Oval.

ICC Cricket World Cup Chal-lenge League A forms part of the qualification pathway to the 2023 Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India.

The winner of the round robin tournament will be

advancing to a play-off event, which will take place in 2022.

Qatar’s players and team officials pose for a group photo after victory over Singapore yesterday.

Malaysia: Ahmad Faiz Mohammad Noor (captain); Muhamad Syahadat Ramli; Abdul Rashid Ahad;

Mohd Nazril Abdul Rahman; Mohd Suharril Fetri Shuib; Mohd Shafiq Mohd Sharif; Muhammad An-

war Abdul Rahman; Mohamad Norwira Zazmie Abdul Halim; Pavandeep Singh Jagjit Singh; Syed

Aziz Syed Mubarak; Muhammad Hafiz Khair; Virandeep Singh Jagjit Singh; Aminuddin Ramly; Dhiv-

endran Mogan

Qatar: Kamran Khan; Saqlain Arshad; Muhammad Awais Malik; Zaheeruddeen Ibrahim; Iqbal Hus-

sain Chaudhry; Qalandar Khan; Muhammad Nadeem; Dharmang Hasmukh Patel; Mohammad Riz-

lan; Gayan Buddika; Musawar Shah; Syed Yousuf Tameem; Owais Ahmed; Khurram Shahzad

QATAR AND MALAYSIA SQUADS

‘Fearless’ Pant cannot be ‘careless’, warns batting coach RathourAFP DHARAMSALA

India’s new batting coach Vikram Rathour warned Rishabh Pant and other rising stars yesterday not to turn from “fearless” to “careless” as the national team prepare for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup.

The 21-year-old Pant, who is being groomed to take over from MS Dhoni as first-choice wicketkeeper, has also made an impact as an explosive batsman.

But the left-hander, who made his Test debut in England last year and scored his maiden century during the series, has often been accused of throwing away his wicket.

“Of course we want him to play all his shots,” Rathour, who took over from Sanjay Bangar as batting coach, told reporters ahead of the second T20 against South Africa in Mohali today.

“He needs to be fearless because that is what makes him special. He is an impact player but at the same time he cannot afford to be careless.

“Rishabh is a phenomenal player. (But) he needs to bring

a little discipline in to his cricket. “All the young players should understand that there is a fine line between fearless and careless cricket.”

Virat Kohli’s India have focussed on T20s since their failure at the 50-over World Cup this year where they lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals.

“In the past T20 was not taken seriously. Now since you are preparing for the World Cup all these games are going to be extremely important,” said Rathour, a former India opener.

“And I think the next 20-21 games we will be playing will be our prepa-ration for the World Cup.”

The World Cup is to be held in Australia in October-November next year.

Rishabh is a phenomenal player. But he needs to bring a little discipline in to his cricket: Vikram Rathour

Al Duhail’s Ali sidelined for three weeks after injuryTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Al Duhail announced the absence of Iraqi striker Mohanad Ali for three weeks because of the injury he suffered during their QNB Stars League Week 3 match against Al Rayyan, which ended in a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

The player underwent medical tests, which confirmed a muscle injury on his left foot.

Mohanad, who missed the second half of the match against Al Rayyan, will undergo an intensive treatment programme in the coming days.

The 2019-20 season QNB Stars League’s Week 4 matches will start from tomorrow.

The fixtures are Al Arabi vs Al Shahania (16:50, Al Janoub Stadium) and Al Gharafa vs Al Ahli (19:00, Al Sadd Stadium) tomorrow, Al Sadd vs Umm Salal (16:50, Al Janoub Stadium) and Al Sailiya vs Qatar SC (19:00, Al Sadd Stadium) on Friday, and Al Rayyan vs Al Khor (16:50, Al Janoub Stadium) and Al Wakrah vs Al Duhail (19:00, Al Sadd Stadium) on Saturday.

The game between in-form teams Al Gharafa and Al Ahli will be the highlight of fixtures.

Al Gharafa are second in the standings and Al Ahli fourth. They both had won in the last round and sparks are expected to fly when they face off.

Mohanad Ali

AFP PARIS

The visit of Real Madrid to the French capital today means a glamour tie for Paris Saint-Germain to begin their Champions League campaign but a meeting with the Spanish side also brings back unhappy memories.

When the clubs last met in Europe two seasons ago, a PSG side missing an injured Neymar were dumped out in the last 16.

That was one of three consecutive exits in the first knockout round for PSG, who have failed to make their mark on the Champions League despite all the money spent by their Qatari owners.

So the inevitable question at the start of another continental campaign is can Thomas Tuchel’s team this time at least reach a semi-final in Europe’s elite club competition?

Last season it was Manchester United who embarrassed PSG. Since 2012 the only teams PSG have beaten in a Champions League knockout tie are Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea.

For now, PSG will just be eager to make a statement in their opening match. But with Galatasaray and Club Brugge the other teams in Group A, it would be a monumental surprise

if PSG failed to progress, even with Neymar suspended for the first three matches.

The world’s most expensive player has overshadowed everything else at the club in recent months, with the saga of his hoped-for move back to Barcelona and then his return to action at the weekend, featuring a brilliant winner against Strasbourg in response to boos from angry supporters.

“My head is 100 percent focused on PSG. I will give everything, as I have at every club I have played for,” said Neymar.

“Unfortunately in the last two years I have had serious injuries and

I have missed a lot of matches. But when I have played I have performed, and I think my statistics have been among the best of my career.”

There is no doubt the presence of Neymar gives PSG a far greater chance of winning the biggest prize in European club football, as long as he stays fit.

As well as Neymar’s suspension against Real, Kylian Mbappe is still out with a hamstring injury, but the arrival of Mauro Icardi has added another explosive element to their attack.

Icardi was prolific for Inter before being stripped of the club captaincy last season amid a contract dispute.

He signed on loan just before the transfer deadline.

It is elsewhere that Paris really needed to strengthen, though.

Tuchel was unable to settle on a first-choice goalkeeper last season between Alphonse Areola and Gian-luigi Buffon. Both have since left and Keylor Navas has signed from Real Madrid to take over the gloves.

Abdou Diallo has provided an extra option in defence after arriving from Borussia Dortmund. There has been major surgery in the midfield with the signings of Ander Herrera, Idrissa Gueye and Pablo Sarabia.

Whether Marco Verratti can blend with the newcomers to form a midfield as fearsome as it was in the days when he was flanked by Blaise Matuidi and the peerless Thiago Motta, remains to be seen.

11WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019 SPORT

Stakes high as Juventus launch Champions League campaignAFP MILAN

Maurizio Sarri’s first game on the Juventus bench was an unremarkable affair -- a goalless draw against Fiorentina at the weekend failing to set the tone before the Italian giants launch their do-or-die Champions League campaign in Spain.

The 60-year-old Sarri arrived this season as part of a major overhaul of the 35-time Italian champions who are looking for another style of football which will deliver a first European title in nearly a quarter of a century.

The stakes are high for Juventus who have spent big to bolster their supporting cast around five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was poached last season from Real Madrid, while former Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt signed this summer -- starts from the two teams that knocked the Italians out of Europe the past two seasons.

Sarri’s first weeks have been blighted by his bout of pneumonia and his side still need to click into gear with their European opener against Atletico Madrid looming today.

“It has taken time to get them into the rhythm of the game,” conceded Sarri after the match against Fiorentina.

“We’re not at the top physically yet.”A tough Group D awaits with Bayer

Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow also lying in wait as Juventus attempt to lift the trophy for a third time after 1985 and 1996.

Sarri’s appointment in place of Mas-similiano Allegri, who delivered Juven-tus’s last five Serie A titles, had been a surprising choice.

The former Napoli coaches’ first

trophy in a 30-year managerial career was with Chelsea in last season’s Europa League.

Allegri paid for failure in Europe leading the seven-time Champions League finalists to runners-up places in 2015 and 2017.

But club bosses want a more attractive fast-paced eye-catching style of football in an attempt to increase their fan base outside of Italy.

As they chase their European dream the gamble could backfire at home.

Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan have served notice of their intentions to end Juventus’s eight-year reign in Italy.

Inter Milan are top of Serie A after three games with Juventus two points behind.

As at Chelsea, Sarri will need time for his methods to take hold among the new squad of players.

“We are at a stage where rotating is difficult, because we are finding our identity and our structure,” said Sarri.

Apart from Gianluigi Buffon’s return after a season at Paris Saint-Germain, most of Juventus’s signings are young.

Dutch defender de Ligt, 19, arrived for €75m ($82m), along with fellow defenders Danilo and Merih Demiral.

The midfield has been strengthened with PSG’s Adrien Rabiot and former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey.

Last season had appeared to be Juve’s best chance at ending their long wait for European success.

Ronaldo was hailed as the final piece in the jigsaw as he arrived on a €100m ($115) deal, plus €30m a year.

The Portuguese star has won five Champions League trophies, and single handedly lifted Juventus into the quarter-finals with a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid.

But Juventus crashed out to De Ligt’s daring Dutch side Ajax in the last eight.

Juventus ended the season with less than the previous year after losing the Coppa Italia.

Sarri also has to juggle with injuries with captain Giorgio Chiellini facing six-months out with cruciate ligament damage.

Winger Douglas Costa and mid-fielder Miralem Pjanic were injured in Florence to join Mattia De Sciglio and Marko Pjaca on the sidelines.

The coach also has to appease key players like striker Mario Mandzukic and midfielder Emre Can who are furious at being left out of the Cham-pions League squad.

Guardiola on a missionto seal Man City legacyAFP LONDON

After a series of painful Champions League failures, Pep Guardiola is on a mission to seal his Manchester City legacy by finally getting his hands on the trophy again.

City start their latest bid to win the club’s first European Cup with a trip to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Group C opener today.

The long flight to the Ukraine will give Guardiola plenty of time to ponder his curious streak of Champions League flops in recent years.

Guardiola has conquered English football spectacularly after winning the last two Premier League titles, the first in record-breaking fashion and the second as part of an unprecedented domestic treble last season.

Yet the Champions League has proved impossible for Guardiola to master since he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.

In fact, Europe’s elite club compe-tition has been a cruel mistress for Guardiola for most of the last decade, with a series of frustrating exits during his spells in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

Guardiola first won the Champions League as a manager in 2009 with Barcelona.

But he has failed to reach the semi-finals in any of his three seasons as City boss, extending his long wait to win

the tournament for the third time -- his second triumph coming with Barca in 2011.

City’s best Champions League run was under Guardiola’s predecessor Manuel Pellegrini, who made the semi-finals in the last season before the Spaniard took over.

And Guardiola’s inability to win the Champions League without Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in his team is a black mark his critics use to question the 48-year-old’s right to be ranked as a managerial legend.

While that assessment is harsh on the innovative and inspirational Guar-diola, his European campaigns with City have undoubtedly been painful expe-riences that exposed the few flaws in his team.

VAR was the scapegoat for last sea-son’s dramatic quarter-final defeat against Tottenham, but the real reasons for City’s failure to progress were a subdued first leg performance in north London and a defensive meltdown in the second leg.

The year before that Liverpool pun-ished City’s oddly timid display quarter-final display at Anfield, while Monaco shockingly eliminated Guardiola’s side after an error-prone last 16 tie in his

first season.With five Champions League

semi-final defeats on his CV - two with Barca and three with Bayern - Guardiola has become the compe-tition’s nearly-man since 2011, when his Messi-inspired team delivered a

masterclass in the Wembley final against Manchester United.

That memorable evening stands as Guardiola’s last

fond memory of the tour-nament and the clock is ticking on his hopes of winning it for the third time.

REUTERS PARIS

Forwards Kylian Mbappe and Edinson

Cavani have been ruled out for Paris St

Germain’s opening Champions League

group stage match against Real Madrid

today, the French Ligue 1 champions

said.

Mbappe picked up a hamstring

injury and was forced off against Tou-

louse last month and has not featured

since for PSG, while Cavani is out of

action with a hip problem.

Thomas Tuchel’s side will also be

without Neymar, with the Brazilian

forward serving a three-match Cham-

pions League ban.

Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani netted

11 of PSG’s 20 goals in their Champions

League campaign last season, and the

trio will be crucial again in 2019-20 as

the club look to go deep in Europe’s

elite competition.

Neymar out, Icardi in as PSG set CL target CAS reduces Neymar’s European suspensionAFP LAUSANNE

Neymar’s Champions League ban for insulting match offi-

cials on social media has been reduced from three games

to two following an appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport

(CAS) ruled yesterday.

The world’s most expensive player will miss the fixtures

against Real Madrid today and Galatasaray in two weeks’

time due to the original ban from UEFA. However, he will

now be free to face Belgian side Bruges on October 22.

The Brazilian criticised the referee and his assistants

after PSG’s last-16 collapse against Manchester United in

March which he watched from the stands due to injury.

United were awarded a penalty deep into injury time after

a protracted VAR decision, which Marcus Rashford scored

to knock the French side out in the last 16 of the Champions

League.

Paris Saint-Germain’s players in action during a training session at the club’s training grounds in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris yesterday, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League Group A match against Real Madrid.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUETODAY'S FIXTURES

Club Brugge vs Galatasaray Olympiakos FC vs Tottenham Hotspur Atletico Madrid vs Juventus Bayer Leverkusen vs Lokomotiv Moscow Bayern Munich vs Crvena Zvezda Dinamo Zagreb vs Atalanta PSG vs Real Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk vs Manchester City

o knock the French side out in the last 16 of the Champions

League.

Neymar

his spells in charge of Barcelona, BayernMunich and City.

Guardiola first won the Champions League as a manager in 2009 with Barcelona.

But he has failed to reach the semi-finals in any of his three seasons as City boss, extending his long wait to win

shockingly elimiafter an error-p

first season.With five

semi-final dewith Barca anGuardiola hatition’s nearlyhis Messi-insp

masterclass inagainst Manch

That stans d

fonnaticwtim

Pep Guardiola

Mbappe, Cavani to miss Real clash

Juventus’ Paulo Dybala (foreground) gestures as

Cristiano Ronaldo looks on during a training session in

Turin, yesterday.

SPORTPAGE | 07 PAGE | 11

Allyson Felix in US squad

for IAAF Doha World Championships

Pep Guardiola on a missionto seal Manchester City legacy

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Hassan Al Haydos celebrates

after scoring Al Sadd’s

second goal during the

AFC Champions League quarter-final second leg

match against Saudi’s Al Nassr, on

Monday.PICTURE: TWITTER/

@THEAFCCL_AR

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his delight at the ‘unbe-lievable performance’ of his side which helped the Qatari club reach the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League with a 4-3 aggregate victory over Al Nassr.

Al Sadd lost the first leg 1-2 in Riyadh but bounced back to win the second leg 3-1 at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Monday to go through to the next stage for the second consec-utive year.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “Thanks to all those who congratulated us for the win. We are very happy with the result and the excellent performance. We gave an unbelievable performance. In the first leg, we did not play well but we did what was required tonight and we deserve to go through. The players have a winning mentality and they will con-tinue like this in the upcoming games.”

“I took up the Al Sadd coaching role only a month and a half back. I am very happy with what we have achieved,” he added.

The coach also said: “We managed to control the game and so I was not too worried. It was one of the best matches we have played this season.”

“I take this opportunity to salute the fans whose support was excellent. They

are one of the reasons for this win. They were part of the game today. Their support had a clear effect on the players, and on me as well. We need them not only in these matches but throughout the season. They are fans who want to win titles and we will win titles with them. They were brilliant today.”

Xavi also praised man-of-the-match Hassan Al Haydos, saying: “Al Haydos is an example. I told him many times that he is an excellent role model. He has leadership qualities. Gabi may wear the captain’s armband but Al Haydos is a true leader. He is one of the best players in the Middle East, and not just Qatar.”

Al Haydos was in the thick of all action and scored the second of Al Sadd’s three

goals in Monday’s clash.Speaking to the media after the

game, Al Haydos said: “This win did not come about easily. It required a lot of effort from the Al Sadd players. We got a very important victory which took us to the semi-finals.”

Haydos said a pep talk during the halftime break brought out the best from the team members as the scores were tied 1-1.

“The coach spoke to us calmly. Xavi told us something very important which increased our desire to win: he said that he trusts us and that we should enjoy our game. Without a doubt, those words were a boost to the players. We played excellently in the second half and we clinched victory,” Al Haydos said.

“The performance today was better than the away leg and we are happy that we have won this game. I want to thank all those who came to support us; it was an ideal atmos-phere. The fans were the biggest stars behind this victory,” he added.

Away goals take Urawa

into semisREUTERS

TOKYO

Urawa Red Diamonds put their domestic struggles behind them to seal their place in the semi-

finals of the Asian Champions League last evening as the two-time cham-pions secured a 1-1 draw with Shanghai SIPG to advance on the away goals rule.

The two goals scored by Urawa in a 2-2 draw in Shanghai last month proved decisive as the tie ended in a 3-3 aggregate draw, allowing the Jap-anese side to secure their place in the last four for the fourth time since 2007.

Shinzo Koroki’s header gave Urawa the lead six minutes before the break. Although Wang Shenchao lev-elled for Shanghai from close range on the hour mark, the Chinese Super League champions were unable to find a way through for a second time.

The result stands in contrast to the club’s domestic form, with Urawa in 15th in the current J-League standings and just one place above the relegation playoff position.

They will face either defending champions Kashima Antlers or Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande in the next round, with the pair due to meet in Japan today.

Xavi hails ‘unbelievable performance’

Xavi Hernandez

Napoli stun champions Liverpool AGENCIES MILAN

Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente scored late goals as Napoli defeated holders Liverpool 2-0 in yesterday’s opening round of Champions League group stage matches.

Mertens converted a penalty on 82 minutes and Llorente added a second in stoppage time as Napoli gained a measure of revenge for last season’s 1-0 loss at Anfield that denied the Italians a spot in the knockout rounds.

Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund hit the woodwork and had a penalty saved before drawing 0-0 with Barcelona in their Champions League Group F opener yesterday with Lionel

Messi making his first appearance of the season for the Spaniards.

Barca’s in-form 16-year-old Ansu Fati became the club’s youngest player to feature in a UEFA competition when he started but failed to make any real impact before being replaced by fit-again Messi just before the hour mark.

Even after the Argentine took the field it was the Germans who were more dangerous, with captain Marco Reus’ 57th minute penalty saved by Marc Andre ter Stegen and Julian Brandt rattling the crossbar with a thundering shot in the 77th.

In the group’s other game Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 home draw by Slavia Prague.

Earlier, substitute Nicolo

Barella scored a stoppage-time equaliser on his Champions League debut to rescue a dra-matic 1-1 draw for Inter Milan at home to Slavia Prague in their opening group game yesterday.

The Czech champions, beaten on all six previous visits to Italy, took a shock lead through Peter Olayinka in the 63rd minute to stun the San Siro in the Group F match.

Inter, eliminated in the group stage last season, were struggling to find a reply until Barella fired in the rebound in the second minute of stoppage time.

Despite Inter’s relief, they may still come to regret the loss of two home points in a group which also includes Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

Stefan de Vrij and Danilo D’Ambrosio both missed good chances for Inter in the opening half hour before Slavia Prague, Europa League quarter-finalists last season, began to impose themselves.

They took a deserved lead as Olayinka cut the ball back to Jaroslav Zeleny whose shot was saved by Samir Handanovic and fell to the Nigerian, who turned in the rebound.

Nicolae Stanciu nearly added a second from a free kick but it was Inter who levelled.

Stefano Sensi curled a free kick against the crossbar and the rebound fell kindly to Barella, who met it first time and scored with a shot which bounced into the net.

Meanwhile, Olympique Lyonnais started their group stage campaign in disappointing fashion as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Zenit St Petersburg.

Memphis Depay’s penalty cancelled out Sardar Azmoun’s first-half opener as the French side, who have drawn six straight home Champions League games, dominated after the break without inflicting any serious damage on their opponents.

Elsewhere, Leipzig stunned Portuguese champion Benfica 2-1 in Group G after Timo Werner scored twice in the second half.

Ajax Amsterdam gave a pow-erful reminder of their Cham-pions League potential with a resounding 3-0 win over Lille.

Napoli’s Dries Mertens scores their first goal against Liverpool during their Champions League Group E match in Naples, Italy, yesterday.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 ZenitInter Milan 1-1 Slavia Praha

Chelsea 0-1 Valencia Ajax 3-0 Lille

Benfica 1-2 RB Leipzig Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Barcelona

Napoli 2-0 Liverpool Salzburg 6-2 Genk

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS