BUSINESSBUSINESSFriday 6 October 2017

PAGE | 19PAGE | 18German industry

concerned over Brexit talks

Imports from China singled out in EU report

Dow & Brent before going to press

GECF playing positive role for environment: Al SadaMoscow QNA

The Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, has reiterated the important role

played by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in developing the exploitation of natural gas efficiently and in raising awareness about its pos-itive results on the environment as a result of the expansion of the use of gas as fuel.

In his speech at the 19th Min-isterial Meeting of the GECF in Moscow late on Wednesday,

while chairing Qatar’s delega-tion to the meeting, Dr Al Sada stressed the importance of stud-ies and research released by the Forum.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Qatar’s

Ambassador to the Russian Fed-eration, H E Fahd bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, the Minister said that Qatar, in view of its leading posi-tion as the world’s largest exporter of gas, is making stren-uous efforts to fulfill its contractual obligations towards its customers. It succeeded to deliver all shipments on time, even during the current siege and without resorting to the legal provisions under the force majeure.

He pointed out that all expec-tations indicate that the growth rate of demand for natural gas will be the highest among other fossil fuels and will reach about 2 percent annually from now until 2030. It is also expected that natural gas will replace coal as the second largest source of energy during the same period, and that the share of LNG in the global gas trade will be equal to that of the gas pipeline business.

He stressed that the decision of the wise leadership in the State of Qatar to increase the country’s production of LNG in the North Field from 77 million tonnes per year to 100 million tonnes per year during the period from 2022 to 2024 was to keep pace with the expected growth in demand.

Dr Al Sada concluded by stressing the importance of the contribution of all to expand of

the use of natural gas to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emis-sions. He also called on members of GECF to promote the use of natural gas, especially during the 23rd Climate Change Conference to be held in the German capital Berlin in November.

The Minister and his accom-panying delegation also attended the opening ceremony of the Russian Energy Week, which was inaugurated by Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin, and its

opening coincided with the con-vening of GECF meeting.

Dr Al Sada also met with Venezuela’s Minister of Energy Eulogio Del Pino, and Minister of Energy of Russia Alexander Novak. He discussed with the Russian Minister the progress made by the joint Qatari-Russian committee for economic, com-mercial, scientific and technical cooperation, the status of the international oil market, the Vienna Conventions and future

work plans. The Minister also met with Algeria’s Minister of Energy H E Mustapha Guitouni and Bolivia’s Minister of Hydro-carbons and Energy Luis Alberto Sanchez, who briefed Dr Al Sada on the ongoing preparations to host the GECF Summit in Bolivia next month.

He also met with President of Russian Rosneft, Igor Sechin, where the two sides discussed cooperation in the field of energy.

H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada (second left, front row), Minister of Energy and Industry, and energy ministers of the member states of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), at 19th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF in Moscow, posing for a group photo with the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (centre).

Demand for gasThe growth rate of demand for natural gas will be the highest among other fossil fuels and will reach about 2 percent annually from now until 2030.

H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada (right), Minister of Energy and Industry, discussing bilateral cooperation with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Moscow.

Qatar-UK trade volume at QR5.6bn in H1QNA

The Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani met yesterday with Liam Fox, British Secretary of State for International Trade and Presi-dent of the Board of Trade, and his accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, they reviewed the bilateral relations and discussed aspects of joint cooperation, especially in the economic, trade and investment fields, and means of developing them.

Qatar and the United King-dom have signed a number of trade agreements. They include an agreement on economic, commercial and technical coop-eration, signed on June 19, 1976 in Doha, an agreement on the promotion and protection of mutual investments, signed on October 27, 2009 in Doha, and a memorandum of understand-ing (MoU) signed between the two countries for cooperation in the fields of business, trade and technology on October 28, 2010 in London.

The signing of the MoU for

the establishment of a joint min-isterial committee for economic, commercial and technical coop-eration between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Government of the United King-dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on March 28 in Birmingham on the sidelines of the Qatar and UK Business

and Investment Forum held on March 27 and 28 in London and Birmingham. The first meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commit-tee will be held before the end of this year.

The volume of trade exchange between Qatar and the United Kingdom in the first half (H1) of this year amounted

to about QR5.6bn, and the number of British companies operating in the Qatari market is 79 companies, working in the field of oil and gas, infrastruc-ture and information technology, while the number of the British-Qatari companies operating in the State of Qatar is 672 companies.

H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani (right), Minister of Economy and Commerce, met with Liam Fox, British Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, in Doha, yesterday.

QSE’s benchmark index closes at 8,132.05 pointsThe Peninsula

Qatar Stock Exchange’s (QSE) benchmark index lost 180.38 points, 2.17 percent, last week when the bourse closed yesterday at 8,132.05 points.

Trading value during last week decreased by 33.94 per-cent to reach QR824.24m compared to QR1.24bn.

Trading volume decreased by 32.29 percent to reach 38.53 million shares, as against 56.91 million shares, while the number of transactions fell by 32.81 percent, to reach 10,550 transactions as compared to 15,702 transactions.

Market cap fell by 2.40 per-cent to reach QR443.71bn as compared to QR454.61bn at the end of previous week.

Banking and financial serv-ices sector led traded value last week with 48.14 percent of the total traded value. Industries sector accounted for 17.12 per-cent. Telecoms sector accounted for 14.25 percent and real estate sector accounted for 10.44 percent. Banking and

financial services sector led traded volume last week with 25.71 percent of the total traded volume. Telecoms sector accounted for 24.76 percent. Industries sector accounted for 22.97 percent and Real Estate sector accounted for 17.76 percent.

Banking and financial serv-ices sector led traded number of transactions last week with 33.86 percent of the total number of transactions. Indus-tries sector accounted for 22.45 percent. Out the 45 listed com-panies seven ended last week higher, while 35 fell and three unchanged. QNB led trading value during this week accounted for 26.9 percent of the total trading value. Voda-fone Qatar accounted for 9.00 percent and Masraf Al Rayan accounted for 6.00 percent, reports QNA.

When compared on daily basis, the QSE index dropped 20.93 points, or 0.26 percent, yesterday. The volume of shares traded decreased to 6.64 million yesterday compared to 8.69 million on previous day.

8,132.05+20.93 PTS

0.26%

QE$50.74 $50.74 +0.76+0.76

BRENT

22,767.58+105.94 PTS

0.47%

7,507.99+40.41 PTS

0.54%DOW FTSE100

18 FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017BUSINESS

Imports from China singled out in EU reportBrussels Reuters

China will be singled out for special atten-tion under new trade rules to limit exces-sively cheap imports

into the European Union, a European Commission official said yesterday.

The Commission, member states and EU lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to treat all World Trade Organization members the same in deter-mining whether they are dumping products.

Under normal circum-stances, dumping will mean selling below domestic prices, but the EU will make exceptions for cases of “significant market distortions”, allowing investi-gators to compare export prices w i t h i n t e r n a t i o n a l benchmarks.

The Commission has said it would produce reports on major countries where it sus-pects such distortions prevail. For the time being, however, it will produce only one.

The official did not rule out reports on other countries in the future. EU officials have regularly said that, despite the changes for anti-dumping cases, China is not a market economy.

Of 32 trade investigations the Commission is carrying out, 22 feature Chinese imports.

The European Union and many of China’s other trading

partners have debated whether to treat China as a “market economy”, which Beijing says was its right at the end of 2016, some 15 years after it joined the WTO. The EU kicked off discus-sions early in 2016 and held public consultations, gathering over 5,000 opinions on how to handle trade complaints against China.

The Commission concluded it could not retain the current practice of considering China as a “non-market economy” and comparing Chinese export prices with those from another country, such as the United States.

But critics have said that Chinese businesses are subject to excessive state intervention with artificially low domestic prices, threatening to expose European markets to more dumping.

EU steelmakers association Eurofer, which has brought a series of trade complaints against Chinese imports, said the new EU agreement was important, but that it wanted to see how it worked in practice.

Anti-dumpingThe Commission, member states and EU lawmakers agreed to treat all WTO members the same in determining whether they are dumping products.

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed (right) shakes hands with his French counterpart Edouard Philippe during a France-Africa economic meeting in Tunis, yesterday.

Sales of new cars in UK fall: ReportLondon AFP

Political and economic uncertainty, not least from Brexit, sent sales of new cars in Britain falling sharply in September, a key month for the industry, data showed yesterday.

New car sales fell by 9.3 percent year-on-year to 426,170 vehicles in Septem-ber, industry body, the Society of Motor Manufactur-ers and Traders (SMMT) said in a statement.

It is the first time in six years that new registrations fell in September, a month in which a change in number plates usually buoys the auto-mobile industry. But this has not been the case this year amid fallout from Britain’s decision to quit the European Union.

Confusion around gov-ernment air quality plans may also have contributed to the decline, Hawes continued.

Under a change in UK tax rules that came into effect in April, all new cars—except for those with zero carbon dix-oide emissions—are now subject to an annual flat-rate charge.

Demand for petrol-fuelled cars fell 1.2 percent in September, while diesel tum-bled 21.7 percent. Sales of alternatively fuelled vehicle, including electric and hybrid cars, surged 41 percent, the industry data showed.

Looking at the nine months to September, total new car sales were down 3.9 percent from the year-earlier period.

ECB plans to cut bond buyingFrankfurt AFP

Encouraged by healthier growth in the eurozone economy, European Cen-tral Bank chiefs are more confident about winding down their mass bond buying pro-gramme from early next year, minutes of last month’s meet-ing showed.

Earlier this week, ECB chief economist Peter Praet seemed to take a more cautious stance, saying the bank may take a longer path to the end of its mass bond-buying scheme than observers expect as it con-fronts stubbornly low inflation

The ECB has set interest

rates at historic lows and buys ¤60bn ($70.5bn) of bonds per month in its attempt to boost price growth—for a total today of more than ¤2.0 trillion.

Policymakers believe the moves encourage banks to lend to businesses and households for mortgages, consumption and investments, powering economic growth and driving up inflation towards the cen-tral bank target of just below 2.0 percent.

Economic growth has picked up in the 19-nation sin-gle currency area, but the ECB is puzzling over why price growth has not risen in step.

Its internal forecasts for September predict inflation of 1.5 percent in 2017, 1.2 percent

next year and 1.5 percent in 2019. Nevertheless, some on the governing council argue the time has come to wind down bond purchases, while the bank must make a decision before the programme runs out in December.

The two biggest questions are how quickly the central bank will wind down its pur-chases, and how explicitly it will outline its plans.

The minutes confirmed ECB President Mario Draghi’s prom-ise last month that “the bulk of the decisions” on bond-buying will be taken at the October 26 governing council meeting—although talks on the shape of the changes remained “very preliminary”.

Dollar pauses before next move; ECB eyedLondon Reuters

The dollar settled just below a seven-week high yester-day as investors consolidated positions though the economic outlook kept ster-ling and the Australian dollar under pressure.

While the dollar has gained almost 3 percent over the last month against a basket of cur-rencies, thanks to a raft of supportive news ranging from robust data to potential US tax reforms, analysts say gains have been too meagre and there is more room for gains.

“The main reason we think there’s a chance we

will continue to see a dollar recovery is that the market is too soft when it comes to expec-tations,” said Richard Falkenhall, a senior currency strategist at SEB in Stockholm.

Expectations of higher interest rates in the United States are more muted than other developed markets despite strong economic data.

For example, markets have assigned a 40 percent proba-bility of two US rate increases over the next year while futures markets are predicting the same quantum of hikes over the next six months in Britain, pricing that is at odds with the overall health of the economy.

The dollar’s index against a

group of six major currencies edged 0.1 percent higher to 93.55. It hit a seven-week high of 93.92 on Tuesday.

“The two powerful forces that have emerged - expecta-tion of a Fed hike at the end of the year and European political challenges - appear to have reached a tentative equilib-rium,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strat-egy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.

Despite the tiny ranges in broad currency markets, ster-ling and the Australian dollar were the standout losers with the former being weighed down by political uncertainty and the latter by soft retail sales

numbers and growing signs of softness in commodity markets. Euro trading was becalmed before ECB minutes of the Euro-pean Central Bank’s September policy meeting due at 1130 GMT. It edged lower to $1.1742.

The ECB signalled at the meeting that while it could announce a plan this month for a gradual exit from its very easy monetary policy, it was in no hurry to end it.

The euro zone’s central bank also mentioned the poten-tially negative aspects of a strong euro at the September policy meeting, so markets will look closely at the minutes to gauge what was discussed about the currency.

Consensus in UK parliament on energy price capsTHERE is a strong consensus within the British parliament that the energy market needs to be restructured and lawmakers will act to give the regulator the necessary power to impose price caps if needed, business minister Greg Clark said.

May stunned the energy market on Wednesday when she announced a plan to impose price caps on stand-ard variable tariffs, the basic rates that energy suppliers charge if a customer does not opt for a specific plan. “If they (the regulator) need legal back-up there is a strong con-sensus in parliament for this, so we will publish legislation and we’ll invite the whole house to endorse this so that they have the legal certainty,” Clark told BBC Radio 4 yesterday.

Madrid stock stage modest rebound amid Catalan crisisLondon AFP

The Madrid stock market rebounded yesterday as investor concerns eased over the Catalan independence crisis.

The Spanish capital’s benchmark IBEX 35 shares index jumped 1.5 percent in afternoon deals, but failed to offset the previous day’s 3.0-percent slump.

Trade was more muted elsewhere in Europe, with Frankfurt receding, Paris flat, and London climbing into pos-itive territory.

The euro meanwhile slid towards $1.17, having topped $1.20 just two weeks ago, as Spain’s Catalonia crisis drags on. “The IBEX 35 has bounced back after suffering heavy losses,” said CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden (pic-tured). “The stand-off between Catalonia and Madrid is still ongoing, so today’s positive move should not be viewed as a sign that the relations are improving.”

Madden added, “Madrid has warned Catalonia that direct rule may be imposed, and such a move is likely to stoke ten-sions even further.”

The European Union urged dialogue to ease the stand-off between separatists in the northeastern region and Madrid, but a regional govern-ment source said an independence declaration could come as early as Monday.

That follows the weekend’s unofficial vote on breaking away, which has fanned uncer-tainty in one of the bloc’s biggest economies.

The tone of the crisis sharp-ened with Catalonia’s president

denouncing the king’s interven-tion and Spain’s government rejecting any possible talks. Shares in Catalonia-based banks have been hit particularly hard in recent days, and Sabadell, Spain’s fifth-biggest lender, said it has discussed yesterday whether to shift its registered headquarters out Catalonia due to leaders’ threats to declare independence.

Sabadell’s shares shot up 3.5 percent. Shares in Caixa-bank, another bank based in Catalonia, gained nearly 3.0 percent. Asian equities firmed in muted trade yesterday, tracking a third-straight record close on Wall Street on Wednesday on more positive US data.

With the US services sector hitting a 12-year high in Sep-tember and manufacturing activity striking a six-year high, expectations swelled for today’s key payrolls release.

US stocks opened further into record territory yesterday, with the Dow edging a handful of points higher, after data showed initial claims for job-less benefits fell last week by a greater amount than analysts had been expecting to 260,000.

The postive data is feeding expectation the US Federal Reserve will announce a third 2017 interest rate hike before the end of the year.

French President Emmanuel Macron (second left) looks on as he stands alongside Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud (second right) and Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer (right) during a visit to The School of Application to the Trades of Public Works (EATP), which is devoted to apprenticeship and vocational training in Egletons, France.

Macron visits EATP

France-Africa economic meeting

19FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017 BUSINESS

Air traffic congestion in GCC a growing concern: IATAMohammad Shoeb The Peninsula

Growing air traffic con-gestion in the GCC airspace is a pressing issue which can be a major hurdle for the

growth and expansion of airlines in the region. If not addressed timely, the average Air Traffic Management delay may go up to an hour over the next few years, noted a top official of Interna-tional Air Transport Association (IATA), yesterday.

The aviation sector of the Middle East and Africa region, including the GCC, contributes significantly in terms of GDP and employment, and still has great potential for growth provided some key issues are addressed on priority basis.

“Air Traffic Management (ATM) is an issue of pressing con-cern. Studies show that the

average ATM delay in the Gulf is 29 minutes with the potential to double by 2025. And the diplo-matic row in the GCC has further exacerbated the problem,” said Muhammad Ali Albakri (pic-tured), IATA’s Regional Vice-President for the Middle East & Africa.

“Without an increase in the overall efficiency of the ATM sys-tems in the region through improved airspace design, Mena’s world-class hubs will be compromised with gridlock. We appreciate the many pro-grammes that are in progress, including the GCC Air Naviga-tion Committee, the ‘Middle East ATM Enhancement Program’ and others. But we must drive these efforts even harder to achieve a real breakthrough,” added Albakri.

He also noted that coopera-tion between states to achieve change is paramount. “Regional governments cannot allow their geographical fragmentation and political complexity to get in the way of finding a long-term solution.”

The IATA, which represents nearly 265 airlines comprising 83 percent of global air traffic, highlighted five key priorities,

including ATM, which must be addressed in order for aviation to deliver maximum economic and social benefits in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

Aviation currently supports 2.4 million jobs in the Mena region and contributes $157.2bn in GDP.

“Aviation has the power to generate significant prosperity. A safe, secure, efficient and sus-tainable air transport industry pays huge social and economic

dividends. But despite the vast benefits enabled by aviation con-nectivity, the operating environment for airlines in MENA remains challenging,” said Albakri speaking at the IATA Middle East and Africa Aviation Day in Jordan.

He also noted that passenger demand is set to expand by 5.7 percent each year on average over the next 20 years, to become a market of 380 million passengers in 2035.

He urged the region’s gov-ernments to address key challenges, so that aviation is able to support this growth.

Commenting on the issue of rising taxes and charges, he said that there has been a recent pro-liferation of new charges and taxes in the Middle East that added $1.6bn in extra costs in 2015 and 2016.

IATA urged governments in the region to establish a charges

consultation process in line with ICAO’s policies which highlight the key principles of non-dis-crimination, cost-relatedness, transparency and consultation.

“Excessive taxes and charges affect the ability of aviation to meet demand and impede eco-nomic growth. Governments will earn more revenues in the long-term by promoting aviation through lower taxes,” he said.

He also urged governments to address issues related to secu-rity to keep flying safe and secure by promoting and adapting smarter regulation to avoid unin-tended consequences when designing or implementing avi-ation policies.

The Aviation Day in Jordan was attended by a broad spec-trum of aviation stakeholders from governments, policy mak-ers, regulators, airlines and manufactures as well as a number of VIP guests.

Eurozone finance ministers to discuss labour tax cutsBrussels Reuters

Eurozone governments should cut taxes on labour and offset the dip in rev-enues by shifting taxation to houses or consumption, the European Commission said as the bloc’s member states pre-pare their budgets for next year.

The appeal comes in a doc-ument that the EU executive will present to eurozone finance ministers on Monday when they gather in Brussels for a regular monthly meeting.

In the 19-country currency bloc, only Germany, Austria, Lithuania and Latvia could afford “an uncompensated” labour tax cut, the commission said, while Italy, together with Belgium and France, would put its public finances at “high risk” if it did so.

In its document addressed to finance ministers, the com-mission said that taxes on houses are the least harmful to economic growth, followed by consumption taxes. It argues that countries with little fiscal margin, like Italy, should shift to them while reducing labour taxes.

Saddled by the highest pub-lic debt in the eurozone after Greece, the Italian centre-left government is considering

limited cuts to the so-called tax wedge but would not finance them by increasing other lev-ies, over fears that would go down badly with voters a few months before elections to be held by May.

The country has recently scrapped a tax on houses and rules out increasing rates of the value-added tax (VAT), a sales tax, because it says it would undermine the country’s frag-ile recovery.

That goes against EU rec-ommendations to shift Italy’s tax burden “from the factors of production onto taxes less det-rimental to growth,” according to a commission’s report pub-lished in July.

Brussels is also urging gov-ernments to reduce expenditures to finance labour tax cuts. It wants states to cut preferential tax treatments that allow some taxpayers to pay less. The EU executive commis-sion monitors the respect of EU fiscal rules and can impose sanctions on countries for their excessive deficits or debts.

Eurozone states have already agreed on the need to cut labour taxes, but national governments remain respon-sible for deciding the most appropriate measures to com-pensate for the lower revenues.

French Junior Minister in Charge of Digital Sector Mounir Mahjoubi (left) & French telecoms group Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard attend the opening of the Orange Cyberdefence division headquarters at Nanterre, France, yesterday.

Data shows US trade gap fell in AugustWashington AFP

The US trade gap fell in August to its lowest level in nearly a year as exports of services, including travel and finance, hit record highs, official data showed yesterday.

Imports of goods also fell,

partly driven lower as a weak US dollar pushed up prices.

By reversing July’s increase, the August dip in the trade def-icit could support GDP growth in the third quarter. The August trade gap fell 2.7 percent to $42.4bn, its lowest level since September of last year. Analysts had been expecting a smaller 2.3

percent decrease. Year-to-date, however, the trade deficit has risen faster than it did over the same period last year, increas-ing by $29.1bn, or 8.8 percent, over the first eight months of 2016. Exports rose 0.4 percent for the month to $195.3bn, the highest level in nearly three years. Imports fell 0.1 percent to

$237.7bn, the lowest level since March. Exports of services, including travel and financial services, hit their highest level on record, reaching $66.1bn.

US exports of goods also were also at a two-year record at $129.7bn, driven higher by surging exports of capital goods and non-petroleum goods.

KPMG CEO hasn’t found systemic problems at firmCape Town Reuters

Weaknesses at KPMG South Africa are not systemic and reforms are under way. The reforms are meant to address mistakes made in work it car-ried out for business friends of President Jacob Zuma, the firm’s new local chief execu-tive told parliament yesterday.

KPMG sacked a number of South African executives last month after it found work undertaken for firms owned by the Gupta family - a trio of Indian-born businessmen with close ties to Zuma - “fell considerably short” of its standards.

Berlin Reuters

German firms with a pres-ence in Britain should make provisions now for a “very hard Brexit”, Germany’s biggest industry group said yes-terday, because the government in London does not know what it wants.

The Federation of German Industries (BDI) accused British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government of lacking a clear strategy on how to exit the Euro-pean Union after last year’s referendum.

“After four rounds of negoti-ations, German industry looks with concern at the progress of the Brexit negotiations,” BDI Man-aging Director Joachim Lang (pictured) told reporters in Ber-lin. “The British government is lacking a clear concept despite talking a lot.” The annual confer-ence of May’s Conservatives showed her party remained deeply divided over Brexit and that a lack of strategy was com-plicating the negotiations with the EU about Britain’s divorce talks,

Lang said. “German companies with a presence in Britain and Northern Ireland must now make provisions for the serious case of a very hard exit. Anything else would be naive.”

A so-called hard Brexit means no agreement with the EU and Britain falling back on World Trade Organization rules rather than being in a tariff-free single market and customs union with the bloc. Britain is Germany’s third most important single export des-tination and its fifth biggest overall trading partner.

The industry group confirmed that it had set up a task force, including major companies, to prepare for a disruptive British departure from the EU.

Sources told Reuters in Sep-tember that big players such as Airbus, Siemens and Deutsche Bank were taking part. “The aim of the task force is to identify potential and acute risks arising from Britain’s departure and to present constructive proposals for solutions,” Lang said.

Germany’s VDA automobile association, which represents major manufacturers such as

BMW, is also involved in the task force meetings on Brexit, a VDA spokeswoman said. The UK is the second-biggest export market for German car manufacturers with a value of nearly ¤29bn ($34bn). German carmakers and suppliers also employ roughly 9,000 peo-ple at 95 production sites in Britain.

The BDI and VDA did not name individual companies tak-ing part in the task force meetings. The industry preparations are the result of growing nervousness after slow and acrimonious nego-tiations so far between Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis and his counterpart at the European Commission, Michel Barnier.

In Europe’s biggest economy, companies are now preparing for

the worst, including the imposi-tion of tariffs and the risk of a loss of access to London financial markets.

Foreign direct investments from both sides amount to some ¤140bn and German companies employ roughly 400,000 people in the UK, according to BDI.

The task force, established in early summer, is accelerating its work in regular meetings in Ber-lin, Lang said. It is expected to present conclusions in December and this could also help shape the position of the next coalition government.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly made clear that she regrets the British decision to leave the EU but that London should not expect a special deal and that keeping the remaining 27 member states together is more important for her.

Dampening hopes among some Brexiteers that London could succeed in driving a wedge between governments and com-panies in other European countries, Lang said German industry fully backed the EU’s negotiation strategy.

Algeria plans to increase budget spending by 25% Algiers Reuters

Algeria plans to increase state spending by 25 per-cent in 2018 after two years of falling expenditures, the presidency said yesterday, despite growing financial pres-sure due to a fall in energy earnings.

The government expects a budget deficit of 9 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, up from the 8 percent forecast for this year but down from 14 percent in 2016, the presidency said in a statement after a cab-inet meeting.

The Opec member North African country’s energy reve-nues have more than halved since crude oil prices started falling in mid-2014. In 2016 and 2017 Algeria cut budget spending.

Oil and gas sales account for 60 percent of the budget and 95 percent of total exports.

In a bid to ease financial pressure, the government has

drafted amendments to the Money and Credit Law to allow the central bank for the first time to lend directly to the pub-lic treasury to finance budget deficits and internal public debt and provide resources for the National Investment Fund.

The rise in spending for next year will help launch delayed projects in the educa-tion, health and water resources sectors and cover subsidies for housing and basic foodstuffs, including cereals, cooking oil and sugar, the statement said.

The extra spending will also be used to settle delayed pay-ments for foreign and local firms mainly in the construc-tion sector.

In addition to a wealth tax, the government plans more taxes on some products, the statement said without elabo-rating. The presidential statement also confirmed plans to launch Islamic financial serv-ices in 2018 as part of steps to diversity funding sources for the oil-reliant economy.

German industry concerned over Brexit talks

Aviation currently supports 2.4 million jobs in the Mena region and contributes $157.2bn in GDP.

Rising demandPassenger demand is set to expand by 5.7% each year on average over the next 20 years, to become a market of 380 million passengers in 2035.

Opening of Orange Cyberdefence

20 FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,132.05 0.26 %QE Total Return Index 13,636.96 0.26 %QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,295.96 0.16 %QE All Share Index 2,294.11 0.33 %QE All Share Banks & Financial Services 2,549.84 0.20 %QE All Share Industrials 2,528.43 0.07 %QE All Share Transportation 1,689.91 0.02 %QE All Share Real Estate 1,598.28 1.62 %QE All Share Insurance 3,239.43 0.30 %QE All Share Telecoms 1,019.15 0.07 %QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services 4,933.02 0.25 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

05-10-2017Index 8,132.05 Change 20.93 % 0.26 YTD% 22.08 Volume 6,642,125 Value (QAR) 151,970,437.67 Trades 2,303 Up 10 | Down 26 | Unchanged 0204-10-2017Index 8,152.98Change 131.70% 1.59YTD% 21.88Volume 8,693,903Value (QAR) 181,217,492.42Trades 2,098

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR150.1605 per grammeSILVER QR1.9600 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

All Ordinaries 5720.311 0.666 0.01 5983.2 5635.1

Cac 40 Index/D 5359.63 -3.6 -0.07 5442.1 4733.82

Dj Indu Average 22661.64 19.97 0.09 22685.94 17883.56

Hang Seng Inde/D 28379.18 205.97 0.73 28248.12 21883.82

Iseq Overall/D 6912.19 -29.93 -0.43 7157.43 6369.05

Kse 100 Inx/D 40468.49 7.49 0.02 53127.24 39869.88

S&P 500 Index/D 2537.74 3.16 0.124675 2535.13 2245.13

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500UK QR 4.7712 QR 4.8374Euro QR 4.2506 QR 4.3108CA$ QR 2.8977 QR 2.9549Swiss Fr QR 3.7048 QR 3.7576Yen QR 0.03209 QR 0.03272Aus$ QR 2..8223 QR 2.8774Ind Re QR 0.0554 QR 0.0565Pak Re QR 0.0343 QR 0.0349Peso QR 0.0706 QR 0.0720SL Re QR 0.0235 QR 0.0240Taka QR 0.0447 QR 0.0456Nep Re QR 0.0347 QR 0.0354SA Rand QR 0.2642 QR 0.2696

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS - A LIST OF SHARES FROM THE WORLD

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LONDON

21FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Hamilton looks to extend F1 title lead SuzukaReuters

Lewis Hamilton says there will be no eas-ing off the throttle even if he does not have to win another

race after Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix to secure a fourth Formula One title.

The Mercedes driver leads Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel by 34 points in the overall standings with just five races remaining.

As long as Hamilton leaves Suzuka with an advantage of at least 29 points, with seven points the difference between first and second, he can poten-tially beat the German to the title without stepping on the top step of the podium again.

“I think for me, the goal is to continue to win races even if I don’t have to win another grand prix through the rest of

the year,” said Hamilton. “I think that’s the best way.

“I’m still hunting for it, I’m not defending it. I’m still chas-ing that championship.

“So until that last flag, until I’ve actually got it sewn up, then that’s what you’ve got to keep doing,” said the Briton, who added that he will not be taking any unnecessary risks.

Hamilton lost the title last year despite winning the last four races, with now-retired team-mate Nico Rosberg chalking up the second-places he needed to stay ahead in the standings.

Vettel crashed out on the opening lap in Singapore and finished fourth in Malaysia last weekend after starting last fol-lowing a power unit problem that sidelined him in qualifying.

Hamilton has been able to capitalise on Vettel’s misfor-tune, winning in Singapore and

finishing second in Malaysia, even though Mercedes were only the third-quickest team on both occasions.

The championship leader said the cooler conditions in Japan should suit his car better than the sweltering heat of Sin-gapore and Malaysia.

But he could not be sure how the car, described as a “diva” by team-boss Toto Wolff, would stack up against Ferrari and a resurgent Red Bull.

“Me and the car I think have lots of things in common -- it’s got great potential but doesn’t always want to do what you tell it to do,” he joked.

“There’s constantly some-thing new thrown in the mix that can catch us off guard and that’s the exciting thing about this sport.

“If the car was perfect every weekend it would be boring.”

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton takes a selfie with local students at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan ahead of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix yesterday.

Stokes absence will not distract England from Ashes focus: Anderson

ColomboReuters

Sri Lanka has dropped Lasith Malinga from the one-day international squad to face Paki-stan in a five-match series starting next week, raising doubts if the fast bowler will feature in the team’s plans for the 2019 World Cup.

Malinga, feared for his awkward action and toe-crushing yorkers, returned to international cricket during June’s Champions Trophy follow-ing a knee injury that kept him out of the World Twenty20 last year.

But the 34-year-old has not been as effective since his return and has managed 10 wickets from 13 ODIs since his return. He has taken 301 wick-ets from 204 matches in his career.

Sri Lanka, who lost 5-0 to India at home recently, will also be without former captain and all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who is struggling with a calf injury.

The first ODI will be played on Oct. 13 in Dubai with the teams also slated to play a three-match Twenty20 series.

Sri Lanka Squad: Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay

SL drop Malingafor Pakistan ODIs

Sri Lanka suspend Gunathilaka for six matches ColomboAFP

Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday slapped a six-match ban on all-rounder Danushka Gunathilaka for “misconduct” during the recent series against India which the island-ers lost 9-0.

The cricket board had ordered an investigation last month follow-ing a complaint from team manager Asanka Gurusinghe against the 26-year-old player.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said Gunathilaka was also fined 20 per-cent of his annual contract fee for violating the board’s constitution as well as the terms of his contract.

An SLC statement said Gunath-ilaka pleaded guilty to the charges without spelling out what exactly they were. Sri Lanka suffered the embarrassment of losing all nine international matches in their home campaign against India.

Gunathilaka has also been dropped from the squad for a five-match ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE.

Gunathilaka, who made his international debut in 2015, aver-ages 42.41 in 12 ODI matches he played this year.

London Reuters

England are focused on getting the best out of their play-ers and beating Australia during the Ashes tour and will not be dis-tracted by the absence of all-rounder Ben Stokes, seamer James Anderson (pictured) has said.

Stokes is among Eng-land’s key match-winners but it is uncertain whether the 26-year-old will be available after he

and team mate Alex Hales were arrested following an altercation out-side a Bristol nightclub last month

and released under investigation.

The England and Wales Cricket

B o a r d ( E C B ) s u s -

p e n d e d both players following the incident and are yet to

make a decision regarding their

participation on the tour as England aim to win their first Ashes title in Australia since 2011.

“When we won the Ashes in 2010/11, we didn’t win it with 11 play-ers - we won with 13/14/15 players,” Anderson told Sky Sports News.

“The biggest thing for us is we get 15 or 16 players to be on top of their game when we get to Australia and be able to perform for our team.

“Once we get there, the only focus will be beating Australia... It’s just a case of being strong enough and having that tunnel vision to focus on the individual and as a team and what will help the team win the series.”

Anderson, 35, reclaimed his number one ranking in test matches as he helped England seal a series win over West Indies last month.

“My own focus will be on my bowling and what I can do to help the team and I’m sure all the other individuals in the side will do that. If we can do that then I’m sure we’ll galvanise and put in a strong per-formance,” Anderson added.

The first of the five-test Ashes series starts on November 23 in

Brisbane.

ngland are focused on getting the best out of their play-ers and beating

AAustralia during the Ashes tour and will not be dis-tracted by the absence of all-rounder Ben Stokes, seamer James Anderson(pictured) has said.

Stokes is among Eng-land’s key match-winners but it is uncertain whether the 26-year-old will beavailable after he

and released under investigation.

The England andWales Cricket

B o a r d ( E C B )s u s -

p e n d e d both playersfollowing the incident andare yet to

make a decisionregarding their

Rio de JaneiroAFP

Brazilian police yesterday arrested the chairman of the Brazilian Olympic Committee as part of a probe into alleged buying of votes to secure Rio’s host-ing of the 2016 Games.

Police said in a statement that Carlos Nuz-man, 75, was arrested on suspicion of corruption, money laundering and criminal association.

Twenty police officers deployed early Thursday in Rio de Janeiro on orders from a federal judge, arresting Nuzman and seizing documents.

The officers also arrested the Rio 2016 committee’s chief operating officer Leonardo Gryner, according to an AFP photographer.

Following an investigation dubbed “Unfair Play” that spanned several countries, Brazil-ian officials last month said Nuzman was the “lynchpin” in a plot to bribe the International Olympic Committee into awarding Rio de Janeiro last year’s summer Games.

At the time, Nuzman was detained and questioned and authorities confiscated his passport.

Authorities allege that former Rio gover-nor Sergio Cabral, who is serving a 14-year prison term for bribery and money launder-ing, was the mastermind of the plot, which saw $2m in bribes paid to the son of Senega-lese IOC member Lamine Diack before the 2009 vote in which Rio beat Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo to win the 2016 Games.

The Rio games were generally credited with being a sporting and organisational suc-cess, but revelations of massive corruption during the preparations and now even in the naming of the host city have tarnished the legacy.

Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) President Carlos Arthur Nuzman (centre) arrives to Federal Police headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil yesterday.

Bangladesh retain injured Tamim for S Africa ODIsDhakaAFP

Bangladesh yesterday retained opening batsman Tamim Iqbal in their squad for the three-match one-day international series against South Africa despite an injury concern.

A hamstring injury forced Tamim out of the second Test beginning todayat Bloemfontein but team physiotherapist Thihan Chandramohan was hopeful he would recover in time for the ODI series which starts October 15.

Tamim pulled his muscle during a three-day practice match at Benoni last month and did not appear fully fit during Bangladesh’s massive 333-run defeat in the first Test at Potchefstroom.

The ODI series will start in Kimberly before Bangladesh play their next two ODIs at Paari and East London on October 18 and 22.

Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga looks at his mobile phone while waiting at Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters in Colombo in this file photo.

Brazil arrests Olympic committee chairman

22 FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Buenos AiresAFP

Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will form a joint bid to host the centenary World Cup in 2030, the presi-dents of the three countries confirmed on Wednesday.

Paraguayan President Hora-cio Cartes said in August that his country would join the shared bid by neighbours Argentina and Uruguay, which hosted and won the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

Cartes met with his Argen-t ine and Uruguayan counterparts, Mauricio Macri and Tabare Vazquez, at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to finalise the announcement.

“The first meeting (for the bid preparation) will be organ-ised in the first week of November,” Cartes said. “Other countries are going to want to host but there is a very strong argument in favour of Uruguay, which will celebrate 100 years”

since it staged the first World Cup.

Hosts Uruguay beat Argen-tina 4-2 in the 1930 final in Montevideo.

Vazquez revealed it took him “less than 40 seconds” to agree to the joint proposal with Argentina when it was first sug-gested following a visit to Uruguay by Macri in January 2016. Macri said the subsequent decision to include Paraguay came equally as quickly.

Macri is a former president

of top Argentina football club Boca Juniors, Vazquez was pres-ident of Uruguayan side Progreso, and Cartes is an ex-president of Paraguayan outfit Club Libertad.

South America last hosted the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. The bidding process is not due to open for several years yet, but any bid for 2030 is likely to face stiff competition from the Asia region, where China is expected to be the front-runner to stage the finals.

Meanwhile UEFA presi-dent Aleksander Ceferin said in June that Europe should host the 2030 tournament, adding he would give his full backing if England or a joint British bid were to declare an interest.

Both Uruguay and Argen-tina have won the World Cup twice before, with Uruguay taking the inaugural tourna-ment and again in 1950.

Argentina won the tour-nament in 1978 on home soil,

and again in Mexico in 1986.The next World Cup takes

place in Russia, with Qatar staging the event in 2022.

A joint United States-Mex-ico-Canada bid is the favourite to host the 2026 tournament, with only one other country, Morocco, hav-ing entered the bidding race.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams with the competition set to expand from its current 32-team format.

Syria dream continues as Al Soma nets late penalty Malacca, MalaysiaAFP

Omar Al Soma buried a late penalty as war-torn Syria drew 1-1 with Australia to put their two-legged World Cup play-off on a knife-

edge yesterday.Australia were within sight of vic-

tory after Robbie Kruse’s first-half goal, but when Mathew Leckie nudged Soma on 84 minutes the towering forward made no mistake from the spot.

It sets up a nerve-wracking second leg in Sydney on Tuesday, with the even-tual winners going into another play-off with a CONCACAF federation team for a spot at Russia 2018.

Syria, playing their ‘home’ games in Malaysia because of the civil war rag-ing in their country, are pursuing their dream of playing their first World Cup, while Asian champions Australia are try-ing to reach their fourth in a row.

Both teams made a cagey start in front of a sparse but Syrian-dominated crowd in sultry conditions at the Hang Jebat Stadium, a low-key setting for such an important game.

Mark Milligan’s fizzing shot with the outside of his left boot tested Mahmoud al-Youssef on 19 minutes, while Soma provided Syria’s chief threat at the other end.

Matthew Leckie blasted over on 29 minutes before Soma twice set up Omar Khribin for opportunities that the in-form Al Hilal striker put wide of the Australian goal.

Five minutes before half-time, Leckie created Australia’s opener when he received a ball down the right from Milos Degenek, cut inside and arrowed a shot which went in off the boot of Kruse.

After the break, Tomi Juric was unlucky to see his shot come back off the woodwork -- and even unluckier when, bizarrely, he crashed the rebound

off the same post.But Syria were looking dangerous

and Khribin had a shot blocked by Leckie, before Soma headed a good chance over and was then denied an almost certain goal by Degenek’s last-ditch lunge.

As the game headed into the final quarter, Ouday Jaffal had a close-range free kick cleared off the line and Khrib-in’s deflected set piece sailed just wide.

Syria should have been level on 78 minutes but Soma’s point-blank header was deflected onto the post in a reflex stop by Socceroos ‘keeper Mathew Ryan.

The critical moment came with six minutes to go, when Leckie made con-tact mid-air with Soma and Iranian referee Alireza Faghani pointed to the spot.

In the dying moments, Trent Sains-bury had a close-range header saved and Ryan clawed away a Moayad Al Ajan shot, but they shared the spoils to set up Tuesday’s tense decider in Sydney.

USA take on Panama in blockbuster qualifier MiamiAFP

The United States face their most important World Cup qualify-ing game in nearly 30 years today when they take on a Panama side thirsting for revenge and chas-ing a historic first ever appearance at the finals.

Twenty-eight years ago, the Americans defeated Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 to book their place at the 1990 World Cup -- the country’s first appearance at football’s biggest tour-nament since 1950.

Since then, the US have qualified for every edition of the World Cup, a record of achievement that reflects the steady development of the world’s most popular sport in a country which for so long remained impervious to its charms.

Yet American hopes of appearing at an eighth consecutive World Cup at next year’s finals in Russia are in jeopardy as Bruce Arena’s side pre-pare to face Panama in Orlando today.

A stuttering campaign in the six-team final round of qualifying for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) has left the United States in fourth place with two games remaining, outside the top three automatic qualifying places.

Panama, who have never quali-fied for the World Cup, sit in third place, one point ahead of the United States.

It means that Arena’s side must take maximum points from Friday’s game to keep their qualification des-tiny in their own hands.

Victory, followed by an away win against Trinidad & Tobago next Tues-day, would guarantee automatic qualification for the Americans and a ticket to Russia.

Any other result in Orlando, and the picture becomes complicated, with a fourth-placed finish raising the possibility of a two-leg playoff against either Syria or Australia.

Panama, who drew 1-1 with the US in Panama City in March, will likely qualify for Russia if they win in Florida today.

A draw would also work in Pan-ama’s favour, leaving them needing only to beat Costa Rica -- who by that

stage may already have qualified -- next Tuesday to book a first ever place at the World Cup.

Today’s game also gives Panama a golden opportunity to avenge their agonising 2013 qualifying loss to the United States.

Four years ago, Panama needed only to beat the US at home to qual-ify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But two US goals in stoppage time turned what looked like being a 2-1 Panamanian win into a 3-2 American victory to leave the hosts devastated.

US coach Arena acknowledged the importance of today’s game, but reiterated that his players still have their qualification destiny in their own hands.

“This is an important game, no question about it. And I think we’ll have a team ready to play,” Arena told reporters, adding that he had given a straightforward message to his players.

“Win the game,” he said. “That’s the message - win the game.”

“We have no excuses. We’re not depending on other teams to win games to help us. We’re depending on ourselves. Whenever you’re in that situation I think it’s a positive,” Arena added.

Arena, who returned as US coach last November following the sacking of Jurgen Klinsmann after qualifying losses to Mexico and Costa Rica, said he expects Panama to take a cagey approach to Friday’s game.

Veteran defensive midfielder Gra-ham Zusi meanwhile voiced confidence that the US would get the result they needed.

“I think you’ve seen this team respond to pressure well in the past,” he told reporers. “We’ve been in this situation before and it always seems like we come together and take care of the job.

“It’s certainly a big game. But we’re in a position where we want to be. Our destiny is in our own hands.”

In other CONCACAF games on Fri-day, already-qualified Mexico face Trinidad & Tobago at home.

Second-placed Costa Rica mean-while can clinch their qualification with at least a draw at home to fifth-placed Honduras.

KolkataAP

India’s team will set a bench-mark regardless of its result against the United States in the Under-17 World Cup today.

It will be the first time the cricket-crazy country of 1.2 bil-lion has played in a World Cup game at any level of soccer, and the anticipation is high in the host nation.

Organisers are confident that the government’s 1.2bn rupees ($18.5m) investment in renovating stadiums in six cit-ies to host the 24-team tournament will help showcase the country as a venue for major events.

The Indian public is keen to put memories of the scandal-hit 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi behind them, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s

government hopes to promote football across the country through the Under-17 event.

The country’s leading sports celebrity — India cricket cap-tain Virat Kohli — lent a big hand with the public relations push locally by posting a video message for the team to his 18.8 million Twitter followers say-ing “Good Luck boys, make us proud!”

But while the infrastructure and facilities were ready well ahead of time and the anticipa-tion is growing around the Oct. 6-28 tournament, analysts and commentators have urged foot-ball fans not to place unrealistic expectations on the team.

Luis Norton de Matos, who

took over as head coach in March to replace Nicolai Adam, is among those calling for patience as his lineup takes “a first step for the future” of the

game in India. In the first of their three group games in the capi-tal, India will play a US team featuring Tim Weah, the son of the 1995 world player of the

year, George Weah of Liberia, who played for PSG, AC Milan and Monaco during his career.

Games against Colombia and two-time champion Ghana

follow. The US placed fourth in the 1999 edition.

Nigeria, which has won the last two titles and five overall at the under-17 level, didn’t qual-ify from Africa, leaving three-time champion Brazil as the most successful country in the tournament.

While the event has been the starting point for the stars such as Ronaldinho and Neymar, this edition will be missing some of the brighter lights in the age group.

Highly-touted Flemengo forward Vinicius Junior missed the Brazil team’s trip to India, while Jadon Sancho will only be available for England in the group stage.

England is in Group F and will play its three group games — against Chile, Mexico and Iraq — at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium.

A goalkeeper with the U-17 English football team practises at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Complex ahead of the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup, in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Omar Al Somah of Syria (centre) heads the ball during the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Australia at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca yesterday. Al Soma scored through a late penalty as Syria drew 1-1 with Australia to put their two-legged World Cup play-off on a knife-edge yesterday.

India set for U-17 World Cup debut

Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay plan 2030 World Cup bid

23FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

QSL Cup: Qatar SC and Al Markhiya battle the odds in thrilling fashionThe Peninsula

The QSL Cup’s first round, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, ended with Qatar SC lead-ing Group A on goal difference ahead of Al

Kharaitiyat. Al Gharafa also had three points, but were pushed to the third position. Both Al Rayyan and Al Markhiya are on top of Group B fol-lowing their wins over Al Ahli and Al Sadd respectively.

Qatar SC registered a big 5-2 vic-tory over Al Duhail, while Al Kharaitiyat defeated Al Sailiya 3-1. Al Gharafa’s 2-1 win came against Al Khor.

In Group B, Al Rayyan and Al Markhiya are followed by Al Arabi and Umm Salal, each having one point.

Al Ahli and Al Sadd failed to open their account.

The fixtures saw most teams field-ing Under-23 players with an aim of providing youngsters with opportuni-ties, so they can gradually graduate to their first teams.

Some sides, struggling to gain ground after the QNB Stars League’s first three rounds, found the tourna-ment as a perfect platform to prepare the players.

Teams that released players for national duty (Russia World Cup qual-ifiers and international friendlies) gave chances to promising youngsters unmindful of results.

The Al Duhail vs Qatar SC match saw many promising faces taking the field for both sides.

Al Duhail played with many age-group players and under their Under-23 coach Majid Bougarra.

Qatar SC coach Gabriel Calderon also fielded juniors and effected sub-stitutions, but later relied on key players and professionals after

Al Duhail took the lead in the first half. The move paid off as they cruised to a big victory.

The game between Al Gharafa and Al Khor also featured some youngsters. Same was the case in the Al Kharaiti-yat vs Al Sailiya tie.

Contrary to the trend, Al Markhiya unleashed most of their key players as they had a point to prove against Al Sadd, who had many juniors in their ranks.

Al Markhiya, who won 2-0, had got the better of Al Sadd in the very first round of QNB Stars League.

However, that result was over-turned and full points were awarded to Al Sadd, for the rivals fielded an ineligible player.

It was Al Markhiya’s first match under Egyptian coach Ayman Man-sour, after parting ways with manager Youssef Adam.

Meanwhile, Al Rayyan fielded a mix of youth and experience against Al Ahli, and that reflected on their 2-0 win.

Overall, the competition had a

highly-promising start and the second round, to be held on Sunday and Mon-day, is sure to witness more exciting action. Al Khor vs Al Kharaitiyat, Qatar SC vs Al Sailiya and Al Duhail vs Al Gharafa are the match-ups in Group A, while Group B will witness Al Ahli-Umm Salal, Al Markhiya-Al Arabi and Al Sadd-Al Rayyan contests.

QSL Cup second-round fixtures:Group A:Sunday, 08 Oct 2017

Al Khor vs Al Kharaitiyat – 17:35 – Thani bin Jassem Stadium

Qatar SC vs Al Sailiyah – 19:45 – Saoud bin Abdelrahman Stadium

Al Duhail vs Al Gharafa – 19:45 – Al Khor Stadium

Group B:Monday, 09 Oct 2017

Al Ahli vs Umm Salal – 17:35 – Saoud bin Abdelrahman Stadium

Al Markhiya vs Al Arabi – 17:35 – Al Shamal Stadium

Thursday, 12 Oct 2017Al Sadd vs Al Rayyan – 17:35 – Al

Khor Stadium

Al Markhiya players celebrate their 2-0 win over Al Sadd on day two of the QSL Cup on Wednesday.

Nadal ready for Isner test in Beijing Beijing AFP

Rafael Nadal said he was braced for the “huge” serve of John Isner after Spain’s world number one bull-dozed his way into the China Open quarter-finals yestyerday.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion Nadal saw off the young Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to set up a clash with Isner in Beijing.

The in-form American, the sixth seed, is renowned for his booming service game and Nadal expects to come under a bar-rage today.

Isner was impressive in blasting his way past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-0, 6-3 and Nadal said: “Tomorrow will be a tough one against Isner, he’s playing unbelievably well.

“I saw him today, he played so aggres-sive, having a lot of success, hitting a lot of winners, returning very well.

“Everybody knows that he serves huge and it is so difficult to break him.

“But if you add that he is playing very well now from the baseline, he is one of the toughest opponents you can meet.”

Nadal, 31, the top seed and coming off the back of a third US Open title, saved two match points against Frenchman Lucas Pouille in his opener in Beijing.

But he was always in control on Bei-jing’s outside hard courts against Khachanov, 21, breaking him in the fourth game of the first set on the way to a rou-tine victory.

Andrey Rublev ensured a continued Russian presence in the men’s draw as he sprang a surprise in fighting back to oust seventh seed Tomas Berdych 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

In the women’s, a heavyweight clash pitched two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova against Denmark’s former number one Caroline Wozniacki.

The Czech Kvitova, seeded 12, stormed through the first set 6-1 and although Wozniacki was better in the second set, Kvitova broke her for 6-4 and will play compatriot Barbora Strycova in the quarters.

Another former world number one, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, became another high-profile casualty, going out to unseeded Sorana Cirstea.

Cirstea follows fellow Romanian Simona Halep into the quarter-finals after the second seed sent Maria Sharapova packing on Wednesday.

Cirstea, ranked 44 in the world, stunned the Czech Pliskova 6-1, 7-5 to

reach the last eight. She will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the Roland Garros champion, after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set.

The 31-year-old Peng said she had been having injections to ease the pain and her right knee was heavily strapped, but she could not play on.

“The doctor suggested I should take a period of rest and get it treated, but I can only rest after the season, that’s the plan,” said Peng, ranked 25 in the world.

World number one Garbine Mugu-ruza and reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska are both out, leaving world number two Halep as the favourite in the Chinese capital.

Also into the quarters is Caroline Gar-cia, who defeated French compatriot Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1 and will play third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Garcia is in red-hot form after win-ning the Wuhan Open on Saturday.

Alexander Zverev of Germany in action against Fabio Fognini of Italy in Beijing. RIGHT, BELOW: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates during his second-round match against Karen Khachanov of Russia.

Results from the WTA/ATP China Open in Beijing (x denotes seeding):

Women - 3rd roundBarbora Strycova (CZE) bt Daria Gavrilova (AUS) 6-0, 6-4

Elina Svitolina (UKR x3) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-2, 7-5

Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-2, 6-1

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt Peng Shuai (CHN) 3-0 retired

Sorana Cirstea (ROM) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE x4) 6-1, 7-5

Men - 2nd roundRafael Nadal (ESP) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-3, 6-3

John Isner (USA x6) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-0, 6-3

Alexander Zverev (GER x2) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-4, 6-2

China Open results Tokyo Reuters

Former world number three Milos Raonic pulled out of the Japan Open with a calf strain yes-terday, just two days after returning from a seven-week layoff that followed surgery on his left wrist.

Seeded third, the Cana-dian was forced to retire after one game of his second-round match against local hope Yuichi Sugita.

“I picked up a strain to the calf. It’s hard to know the extent of it...,” Raonic told the ATP World Tour website (www.atpworldtour.com) yes-terday. “It happened when the score was deuce, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my leg. I will head home now and get medical attention.”

A three-time former finalist in Tokyo, Raonic beat Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4 in Tuesday’s first round.

The Canadian won the last of his eight career titles in Brisbane last year and has since dropped out of the top 10. “It’s been a difficult and frustrating year, I obviously wish I could have focused on tennis more rather than chasing help all the time,” Raonic said.

“My wrist isn’t a con-cern... It was kind of a growth that happened over time. Therefore, it was very sim-ple and something that needed the swelling to go down.”

Earlier, Shenzhen Open champion David Goffin scored a 2-6 7-5 7-6(1) win over Australia’s Matthew Ebden while Richard Gas-quet beat Lu Yen-hsun 6-0 7-6(5).

Also advancing to the quarter-finals was American Steve Johnson, who defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2 6-4.

Raonic is out of Japan Open with new injury

SPORTFriday 6 October 2017

Syria dream continues as Al Soma

nets late penalty

Nadal ready for Isner test in Beijing

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co

Women’s 100m FreestyleGold: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 51.62Silver: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) 52.19Bronze: Femke Heemskerk (NED) 52.29

Men’s 200m Freestyle Chad Le Clos (RSA) 1: 44.40Tom Shields (USA) 1:45.40Kyle Stolk (NED) 1:45.77

Women’s 50m breaststrokeAlia Atkinson (JAM) 29.42Rikke Pedersen (DEN) 30.32Lena Kreundl (AUT) 31.24

Men’s 100m BreaststrokeCameron Van Der Burgh (RSA) 56.11Kirill Prigoda (RUS) 56.31Ilya Shymanovich (BLR) 56.76

Men’s 100m ButterflyChad Le Clos (RSA) 50.17Tom Shields (USA) 50.30Pavel Sakovich (BLR) 50.79

Women’s 100m BreaststrokeKatinka Hosszu (HUN) 56.27Emily Seebohm (AUS) 56.40Deeward Maaike (NED) 58.63

Men’s 50m BackstrokeChristian Diener (GER) 23.58Vladmir Morozov (RUS) 23.71Nelson Junior (BRA) 23.72

Women’s 200m ButterflyYufei Zhang (CHN) 2:07.43Wenk Alexandra (GER) 2:08.17Chan Kin Lok (HKG) 2:08.17

Men’s 200m IMKirill Prigoda (RUS) 1:55.57Daniil (RUS) 1:56.56David Foldhazi 1:57.41

Women’s 400m FreestyleJianjiahe Wang (CHN) 4:02.43Bingjie Li (CHN) 4:02.58Duo Shen (CHN) 4:02.94

Men’s 50m FreestyleVladimir Morozov (RUS) 20.98Chad le Clos (RSA) 21.50Damian Wierling (GER) 21.61

Women’s 200m BreaststrokeRikke Pedersen (DEN) 2:18.86Alia Atkinson (JAM) 2:26.10Lisa Zaiser (AUT) 2:28.57

Women’s 100m Individual MedleyKatinka Hosszu (HUN) 57.26Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 57.60Emily Seebohm (AUS) 58.59

Men’s 200m BackstrokeChristian Diener (GER) 1:50.96Radoslaw Kawecki (POL) 1:51.02Chad le Clos (RSA) 1:51.02

Women’s 50m ButterflySarah Sjostrom (SWE) 24.76Ranomi Koromowidjojo (NED) 25.25Maaike de Waard (NED) 25.87

Men’s 1500m FreestyleGergely Gyurta (HUN) 14:41.84Maksym Shemberev (AZE) 14:43.79Gabriele Detti (ITA) 14:46.75

Women’s 400m Individual MedleyKatinka Hosszu (HUN) 4:27.94Emily Seebohm (AUS) 4:32.57Alexandra Wenk (GER) 4:38.83

Mixed 4x50m Freestyle RelayThe Netherlands 1:32.20Germany 1:34.04China 1:34.44

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS Hosszu, Sjostrom sign off in style as spectacular Doha show endsFawad HussainThe Peninsula

Hungarian sensa-tion Katinka Hosszu lit up the final day of the FINA airweave

Swimming World Cup, fishing out three more gold medals as the spectacular two-day event concluded with thrilling races in Doha yesterday.

South African superstar Chad Le Clos and Swede prod-igy Sarah Sjostrom, who are leading the overall rankings, also lived up to expectations by bagging two more gold medals each on the final day at Hamad Aquatic Centre.

Reigning world champion Hosszu dominated individual medley races as ever to take her tally to five gold medals in the Doha leg of World Cup series.

After her win in 100m backstroke, the Hungarian prodigy won 100 and 400 individual medley races to take the highest number of gold medals on the final day.

“I am happy with my per-formance. The support from spectators was giving me energy and I thank them for their cheers in my support,” said Hosszu.

After a perfect run that gave him two gold medals on the opening day, World cham-pion Le Clos scooped two more gold medals by winning the 200m freestyle and 100m fly finals last night. He also grabbed two silver medals in 50m freestyle and 200m breaststroke finals to maintain his domination in the overall series.

“I am very happy with my tally – four gold and two sil-ver – its a good performance and I am happy with the results,” said Le Clos, who looks set to win the World Cup series for an unprecedented fourth time.

“Most importantly, I have won the cluster. It was a close contest in the cluster and I am happy to win it. I love Doha, it’s second home for me and a very luck one too.”

Both the wins for Le Clos came against his rival Tom Shields of the United States. He clocked 1:44.40 for win in 200m freestyle, one second ahead of Shields. In men’s but-terfly, the South African touched 50.17 with Shields completing the race in 50.17.

Sjostrom, the Olympic and world champion, also finished the meet with five gold med-als, adding two more on the final day with victories in 100m freestyle and 50m fly. She lost to rival Hosszu in 100m IM final and had to con-tent with silver medal, that deprived her a perfect 6-for-6.

“I did some mistakes (in IM) but overall I am happy with five gold medals. I have a good lead in the series,” the Swede star said.“I’ll go back to training after a break to prepare for the next cluster.”

German talent Christian Diener was other star of the day as he claimed two victo-ries in 50m and 200m backstrokes.

Russian giant Vladmir Morozov signed off with three gold medals with a victory in 50m freestyle after touching 20.98. The Winsdor 2016 star overcame Le Clos, who fin-ished second for a silver medal after completing the race in 21.50.

It was also a good day for Morozov’s compatriot, Kirill Prigoda who bagged the 200 IM for his second gold in Doha.

He clocked 1:55.57 to beat another Russian Daniil Pasyn-kov, who finished second with a time of 1:56.56

Denmark’s Rikke Peder-sen also caused an upset on the final night, when she stunned Atkinson to win 200m breaststroke, with a time of 2:18.86, six seconds ahead of the Jamaican.

Chinese teenager Yufei Zhang clinched the 200m fly gold with a time of 2:07.43, edging out Germany’s Wenk Alexandra (GER) 2:08.17

A total of 150 swimmers from 25 countries took part in the event which Doha hosted for the sixth consecutive time.

“I was fast today and I am happy with my performance. So far it’s been tremendous run for me. I am looking for more medals tonight.” Sarah SjostromAfter winning the Women’s 100m freestyle final

“I am having a great series and I am happy to win. I am looking to continue my good performance which I am enjoying.”Kirill PrigodaOn winning the Men’s 200m IM

“It’s my second medal in Doha and I am happy to achieve that. I am looking forward to next races, hopefully will grab some more.” Alia Atkinson Winner of the Women’s 50m breaststroke

“I am very tired. It was very difficult to come back from the tough race earlier but I am happy I am performing well and winning.”Chad Le ClosOn winning his second gold medal of the day

“I am very happy with my overall performance. Four gold and two silver are great. Doha is my second home as well as a lucky venue for me.” Chad Le ClosAfter coming second in the Men’s 200m Backstroke final

Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu on her way to win the gold medal in the Women’s 100m Individual Medley of the FINA airweave Swimming World Cup at the Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha yesterday. Pictures: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

South African World Champion Chad Le Clos reacts after winning the Men’s 200m freestyle gold.

Katinka Hosszu celebrates after winning the Women’s 100m Breaststroke final yesterday. The reigning world champion Hosszu dominated individual medley races as ever to take her tally to five gold medals in the Doha leg of World Cup series.

Stokes absence will not distract England from Ashes focus: Anderson