SPORTSunday 1 October 2017

Thunder’s Westbrook hits jackpot with $205m deal

Mickelson helps US grab big lead at

Presidents Cup

PAGE | 26 PAGE | 30 PAGE | 31

Ali new member of 5000 Test club defies Sri Lanka

k f US

Al Arabi edge Qatar SC for first win Rizwan Rehmat The Peninsula

Popular side Al Arabi yesterday produced a hard-fought 2-1 win over Qatar SC in round three of the QNB Stars

League.Diego Jardel (10) and Mardik

Mardikian (43) scored two-first-half goals as Al Arabi - coached by Kais Yacoubi - posted their first win of the new season.

In the first two rounds, Al Arabi lost to Al Duhail and Al Sailiya.

Qatar SC, who beat QNB Stars League newcomers Al Markhiyah 1-0 last week, yes-terday could not unsettle Al Arabi who were playing on home soil.

For Qatar, substitute Yousuf Mohammed Al Kubaisi (63) scored the only goal for his side playing at Grand Hamad Stadium.

Underlining their intention to score first, visitors Qatar SC launched the first attack in the opening minute but a wayward finish on a direct shot from Abdullah Mubarik killed the move.

Continuing the same rhythm, Qatar SC in the 5th minute nearly ended up scoring but for the

timid deflection from Turkish midfielder Mahamdou Bezannier who had only Al Arabi goal-keeper Muhannad Naim to beat from close range following a lob from the midfield.

Despite the early burst of energy from the visitors, Al Arabi opened the scoring through Jardel in the 10th minute. The Brazilian attacking midfielder latched on to a lose ball near the half-line and ran a fair distance towards the Qatar SC goal.

Close to the Qatar SC box and under pressure from Brazilian midfielder Bruno Gallo, Jardel produced a left-footed drive that sailed into the net as goalkeeper Muhannad Naim’s dive to his left proved futile.

Two minutes from the first-half whistle, Al Arabi doubled their lead.

Suad Natiq Naji produced a left-footed drive from inside the Qatar SC box but the ball was blocked by goalkeeper Hamza.

The ball ricocheted off Hamza’s hand and landed at Mardikian’s feet who quickly slipped the ball with a low shot in the 43rd minute.

In the 56th minute, Qatar’s Al Kubaisi fired one towards the

Al Arabi goalmouth but his shot was blocked by home ‘keeper Naim. Moments later, Qatar SC’s Al Kubaisi was not to be denied. Following a goalmouth melee after a corner kick, Al Kubaisi slipped low ball past ‘keeper Naim for his team’s first goal in the 62nd minute.

The referee allowed nearly 8 minutes of extra time - forced by numerous stoppages - but Al Arabi defended stoutly to seal their first win of the new season.

In the second match, Umm Salal collected full points with a 2-0 win over Al Ahli.

Yannick Sagbo gave the win-ners the lead in the 23rd minute while Mahir Yousef put the issue beyond doubt with an injury time goal.

Umm Salal now have seven points from three matches, with two wins and one draw and are in third place behind leaders Duhail and Al Sadd, both who have nine points.

QNB STARS LEAGUE: YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Al Arabi 2 Qatar SC 1Al Ahli 0 Umm Salal 2

Players of Al Arabi celebrate a goal against Qatar SC in their QNB Stars League match at the Arabi Stadium yesterday. Picture: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula

26 SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Maradona’s Kolkata trip postponedKolkata IANS

Argentine legend Diego Maradona yesterday said his trip to Kolkata would

be postponed from October 2 to October 8 during the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

Maradona is slated to visit the city for the second time when Chile take on England and Iraq play Mexico in two group F matches of the U-17 World Cup at the revamped Salt Lake Stadium here.

The 56-year-old’s visit to the city has now been post-poned for the third time.

“To the people of Kolkata, I would like to tell you that due to my work obligations in the Arab Emirates, my visit to India on October 2 has been postponed,” read the English translation of a Spanish post on Maradona’s offi-cial Facebook page.

“I want to thank the author-ities and all those who make possible my visit to their beloved country. See you soon #Kolkata, I wish you happy holidays!!!”

The organisers announced in a statement that Maradona has been held up due to his engage-ments in the UAE.

“Maradona is unable to make it to Kolkata on October 2-5 , 2017, due to his sudden football obligation in the UAE,” the statement said.

“Maradona, is also person-ally apologetic for this unforeseen contingency and has apologised to his Kolkata fans, through his Facebook post and email.”

The Peninsula

Leading figures from sport, business and technology will gather at Stamford

Bridge, London on October 6 and 7, for a two-day event designed to shape the future of the sports industry, enhance the fan experience and spread best p r a c t i c e i n a t h l e t e development.

The unique event brings together unparalleled network-ing and business opportunities for the sports business indus-try. It will review the latest coaching techniques and meth-odologies practiced by leading proponents of the game, help-ing improve sports performance globally and supporting the strategy for developing the Qatar 2022 national team.

And it will explore the inno-vations and technologies shaping sports infrastructure and major tournaments in the future including the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

The Aspire4Sport Congress and Exhibition is organised by Aspire Academy. This year’s event marks the eighth edition, which is hosted in sporting cap-itals throughout the world on an annual basis. Previous edi-tions have been held in Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris.

Attendees at the 2017 Aspire4Sport Congress & Exhi-bition include Crystal Palace FC manager Roy Hodgson, Italy’s Arrigo Sacchi, one of the most influential managers in the

history of football, and world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim. They will be joined by footballing legends Claude Makélélé, Kevin Keegan and Paulo Sousa.

Hosted at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s iconic ground, ‘ Aspire4Sport ’ Congress & Exhi-bition comprises three simultaneous events in the same place.

The Aspire4Sport Congress & Exhibition is organised for the eighth time, the event is a two-day exclusive event and networking session that offers European and Qatari sports industry professionals the chance to engage with key deci-sion makers that are shaping

the landscape of Gulf region’s sports business industry, pav-ing the way for future partnerships.

This year’s Aspire4Sport Exhibition will see higher level of participation from Qatari stakeholders than in previous years. Some of this year’s event partners include the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Leg-acy (SC), Qatar’s Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Qatar Football Association (QFA), the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), Qatar Airways, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), the QNB Stars League and International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS).

The second event is the ‘Aspire Academy Global

Summit’ on Football Perform-ance & Science

In parallel, Aspire Academy will hold the fourth edition of the ‘Aspire Academy Global Summit’, a key component of the Academy’s annual event, which has established itself as a leading gathering for experts in the field of football develop-ment and performance for young players.

Over the two-days, more than 160 representatives from 80 clubs – which form part of the “Aspire in the World Fel-lows” community – including Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Juventus, will take part,

making it one of the largest gatherings of its kind anywhere in the world.

Club representatives will gather to discuss and exchange views on modern training methodologies, using a dynamic and engaging approach com-prising roundtable discussions, workshops, master classes, open debates and Star Chats with legends of the game.

These will be delivered by some of the biggest names in football such as former Italian coach, Arrigo Sacchi, one of the most influential managers of all time, Crystal Palace FC manager Roy Hodgson, retired Portuguese footballer and coach Paulo Sousa, former Newcastle coach, Kevin Keegan, and former French football and assistant coach at Swansea City, Claude Makélélé, as well as Aspire Academy graduate, and Qatar’s high jumping world champion Mutaz Barshim, sec-ond highest jumper of all time.

The third event is the ‘Aspire Tech’.

This year, Aspire Academy will hold the ‘2nd Aspire-Tech Conference’, a one-day confer-ence that will be held on the first day of Aspire4Sport Con-gress and Exhibition.

Aspire Academy and its partners will also make new announcements this year’s events related to the Qatar 2022 national team, the Football Combating Malaria campaign among others.

Stamford Bridge to host Aspire4Sport Congress and Exhibition next week

Former Barcelona star Xavi, who now plays for Al Sadd in the QNB Stars League, answering questions during the Chat session at the Aspire4Sport conference in this file picture of last year. Xavi’s former team-mate at Barcelona Carles Puyol is also seen.

Vazirabad storms to Qatar Prix du Cadran winThe Peninsula

The Qatar Prix du Cadran (Gr1) was one of the few big French races missing from top French stayer

Vazirabad record. Yesterday, the horse owned by Aga Khan won in style the event and in the process to take his third Gr1 victory.

The race was led by Mille et Mille, winner of the 2015 run-ning of the Qatar Prix du Cadran, whilst the eventual winner travelled towards the rear of the field.

Once 450m from the line, Christophe Soumillon pulled out Vazirabad and he went eas-ily to the lead to win by just under a length.

Mille et Mille came second. The Czech runner, Trip to Rho-dos, ran well to finish third seven lengths back.

This was Aga Khan’s third win in the Qatar Prix du Cadran and a second for the trainer, Alain de Royer Dupré.

“He won, but I don’t think that we saw Vazirabad at his best today. He was perhaps moving a little less well than usual. In the straight, he was hanging a bit to the right. He will run in the Prix Royal Oak, at a racecourse that he loves, Saint-Cloud. After that, Meydan is a possibility.

“I won’t write off the Ascot Gold Cup just yet, but he is a horse that will last, and so we won’t run him if the weather is too hot, or the track too quick,” Dupre said.

In other races, Ice Breeze gave Prince Khalid Abdullah his first win of the weekend in Qatar Prix Chaudenay (Groupe 2), the opening race of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with the horse owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah finishing first.

Meanwhile. Damien de

Watrigant took a double in the Qatar Total Arabian Trophy des Juments (4 year old fillies), a Group 1 for Purebred Arabians. Both his runners, Muneera and Jamaheer, finished in the first two places. Both of these fillies ran last time out at La Teste, again finishing first and second, in the Prix Nevadour (Group 3 PA), where Jamaheer had fin-ished in front of Muneera.

Muneera, who runs in the colours of Al Nujaifii Racing, had her revenge yesterday, on the softer ground that she prefers.

Juliet Rose gave her all to retain her title in the Qatar Prix de Royallieu (Group 2) while Garlingari follows in the foot-steps of Cirrus des Aigles in the Qatar Prix Dollar.

Elsewhere, Taareef retains his title in the Qatar Prix Dan-iel Wildenstein (Group 2), a race that he had already won in 2016.

Royal Julius led the race at a decent pace. The eventual winner was held up towards the rear, become coming on the attack 450 meters from the fin-ishing line.

He came up to join Hathal, before passing him with ease, and pulling clear. Taareef won by just over a length in front of a fast-finishing Buthela. Noor Al Hawa was third by a little under a length.

In the other races, Dice Roll wins the first ever edition of the Haras de Bouquetot – Critérium de la Vente d’Octobre Arqana a new race this year, for 2 year old colts and fillies who were bought at the Arqana October Yearling Sale.

The prize money of this race which is exceptionally high for a Class 1 (€271,260) attracted 18 runners, and Dice Roll, in the colours of Giacomo Algranti was the clear winner.

Owner of Vazibarad, Aga Khan posing with Qatar Prix Du Cardan (Gr1) trophy along with jockey Christophe Soumillon and other members of the winning team. Right: Muneera, winner of Qatar Total Arabian Trophy Des Juments 1, in action during the race.

South Africa (I innings): ............496-3 decl.Bangladesh (I innings):Liton Das c Amla b Morkel .....................................25

Imrul Kayes c Markram b Rabada ......................... 7

Mominul Haque c Markram b Maharaj ...............77

Mushfiqur Rahim c Markram b Maharaj ............44

Tamim Iqbal c De Kock b Phehlukwayo ..............39

Mahmudullah b Morkel ......................................... 66

Sabbir Rahman b Olivier ....................................... 30

Mehidy Hasan c Elgar b Rabada ............................8

Taskin Ahmed run out (Bavuma) ............................ 1

Shafiul Islam c Amla b Maharaj ..............................2

Mustafizur Rahman (not out) ...............................10

Extras (B1, LB9, NB1) .............................................11

Total (89.1 overs) ................................. 320Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-36, 3-103, 4-158, 5-227,

6-292, 7-304, 8-305, 9-308

Bowling: Morkel 19-7-51-2, Rabada 24-5-84-2 (1nb),

Maharaj 27.1-8-92-3, Olivier 11-1-52-1, Phehlukwayo

6-2-18-1, Markram 2-0-13-0

South Africa (II innings):A Markram c Liton Das b Mustafizur Rahman .. 15

D Elgar lbw b Shafiul Islam ...................................18

H Amla (batting) ....................................................... 17

T Bavuma (batting) .................................................... 3

Extras (NB1) ............................................................... 1

Total (2 wkts) ......................................... 54Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-38

Bowling: Mehidy Hasan 4-1-15-0, Shafiul Islam 5-1-

18-1, Mustafizur Rahman 4-1-7-1, Taskin Ahmed 2.5-0-

14-0 (1nb)

SCOREBOARD

27SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Abu DhabiAFP

Azhar Ali once more rescued Pakistan’s batting with a fight-ing half century on the third day of the

first Test against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The one-drop batsman was unbeaten on 74 but saw Babar Azam fell for 28 in the last over of the day as Pakistan finished on 266-4 on a Sheikh Zayed Sta-dium pitch which has started to assist spinners.

Pakistan still trail the Sri Lankan first innings total of 419 by 153 runs with six wickets intact.

Pakistan had pinned their hopes on Ali in the post Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq era who retired in May this year after shouldering team’s batting for nearly seven years.

A cautious Ali made sure Pakistan do not concede a big lead in the first innings, having hit only one boundary in his 26th Test half century.

In all Ali has so far hit three boundaries during his 297 min-utes of batting. He added 79 for the third wicket with Asad Shafiq who made 39 to take the figth to Sri Lankan three-pronged spin attack.

Veteran left-arm spinner Herath was the most successful bowler with 2-47.

When on 32, Ali also com-pleted 5,000 Test runs in his 61st Test. He became the eighth Paki-stan batsmen behind Younis Khan (10,099), Javed Miandad (8832) Inzamam-ul-Haq (8829), Mohammad Yousuf (7530), Salim Malik (5768), Misbah (5222) and Zaheer Abbas (5062) to reach the milestone.

But it was the opening pair of Shan Masood and Sami Aslam

who set the platform for a big total by putting together a solid 114-run opening stand after they resumed at 64 without loss.

Sri Lanka, however, hit back by removing both openers in the space of two runs.

Aslam, recalled after being dropped from the West Indies tour on disciplinary grounds

earlier this year, was trapped leg-before by off-break bowler Dilruwan Perera. He hit four boundaries in his seventh Test half century.

Two runs later Masood attempted a sweep shot off the wily Herath but missed the ball and was bowled round his legs.

Pakistan had luck on their side with the reviews as both Ali and Shafiq survived confident appeals. Ali wisely reviewed a leg-before decision off Perera, but the ball hit his bat before the pad.

Shafiq was given not out on a review when he was stumped off Herath on one.

It was Herath who finally dislodged Shafiq when a sharp turner caught an edge off Shafiq’s bat, deflected from wicketkeeper Niroshan Dick-wella’s thigh to slip where Lahiru Thirimanne took the catch.

Ali, new member of 5000 Test club, defies Sri Lanka

South Africa on top against BangladeshPotchefstroom, South Africa - AFP

Bangladesh had their best day in three Test series in South Africa but could not

prevent the hosts from moving into a dominant position on the third day of the first Test at Sen-wes Park yesterday.

Mominul Haque and Mah-mudullah hit half-centuries to enable Bangladesh to avoid the follow-on but their total of 320 was still 176 short of South Afri-ca’s first innings total of 496 for three declared. In contrast to the first day, Bangladesh dis-missed both South African opening batsmen cheaply at the start of the second innings. South Africa were 54 for two when bad light ended play early, an overall lead of 230.

Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram were out for 18 and 15 respectively, after making 199 and 97 in the first innings.

Mominul made 77 -- the highest Test score by a Bangla-desh batsman against South Africa -- and Mahmudullah hit 66 as Bangladesh topped 300 for the first time in nine Test innings in South Africa, where they have lost all four previous Test matches by an innings.

On a slow pitch, Bangladesh had four successive half-cen-tury partnerships between the third and sixth wickets.

The tourists batted with positive intent, although much of the good work was undone

when they lost their last five wickets for 28 runs, four of them after the second new ball had been taken.

The diminutive Mominul and fellow left-hander Tamim Iqbal saw off some hostile bowling by Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada at the start of the day, with the first nine overs producing only seven runs.

Both batsmen survived close leg before wicket deci-sions against reverse-swinging deliveries from Rabada.

But 17 runs came off Raba-da’s fifth over of the day, including two successive boundaries by Mominul, and South Africa’s change bowlers were unable to maintain the pressure. The only wicket of the morning fell to new cap Andile Phehlukwayo when Tamim, on 39, glanced an off-target deliv-ery down the leg side and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock flung himself to his right to take a good catch. Mominul was well caught at short leg by Markram off left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj soon after lunch after a 150-ball innings which included 12 fours.

Mahmudullah, strong on the drive, found another useful ally in Sabbir Rahman (30) before both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession.

Rahman played a lifting ball from Duanne Olivier onto his stumps and Mahmudullah fell to the first delivery with the second new ball.

England have strength in depth, says Bairstow ahead of AshesSouthampton AFP

Jonny Bairstow is confident that England have the bats-men to compete in the Ashes

but admits they need to learn quickly as they plan for Australia not even knowing if star-all-rounder Ben Stokes will be on the plane.

England thumped West Indies by nine wickets on Friday to seal a 4-0 win in the one-day international series and end a long and successful season on a high note.

But the day-night match in Southampton was overshad-owed by the Stokes scandal, with the player arrested earlier this week on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and sus-pended from internationals until further notice.

England can ill afford to be without the big-hitting Durham all-rounder, particularly with question marks over a number of positions in the top-order despite Test series wins against South Africa (3-1) and West Indies (2-1).

Joe Root’s men are Ashes holders but they have lost two out of their past three tours Down Under 5-0 and are des-perate to hit the ground running in Brisbane on November 23.

Friday’s man-of-the-match

Bairstow, who struck 141 not out as England eased to victory with 12 overs to spare against a poor West Indies, said he would go into the winter full of confidence after scoring two hundreds dur-ing the ODI series.

“I’m pretty pleased,” he said. “It’s nice to finish a long summer with some runs and head into the winter with confidence. You wait a long time for a first hun-dred and when it comes you

want to capitalise.”“If selection doesn’t go your

way, you have to bide your time and take the chance when it comes,” added England’s Test wicketkeeper, who appears to have finally secured a regular role in the one-day side.

England’s next international fixture will be the first Test in Brisbane and Bairstow is confi-dent their batting is good enough, when asked if the bats-men measure up to their one-day counterparts.

“If you actually look at it there’s 50 first-class hundreds at six, seven, eight and nine so I don’t know if you’re classing that as weak,” he said.

“Do please let me know another side in the world that’s got 50 first-class hundreds in those three or four batting posi-tions. That’s been a strength of ours over a period of time and will continue to be.

“We’re very fortunate to have all-rounders in those posi-tions, whether that be in one-day cricket, T20 cricket or Test cricket.”

There were Ashes recalls for middle-order batsmen James Vince and Gary Ballance despite the pair’s struggles during their previous Test stints but Bairstow said a settled line-up cannot be achieved overnight.

“It takes a period of time for people to bed into an

environment, to bed into a team, to bed into a role and learn a role,” he said, stressing the dif-ficulty of stepping up from county to international cricket.

“We do need to learn quickly because we’ve got a huge series on the horizon,” he added. “It’s something that is going to be tough but at the same time we’re ready for the challenges that are ahead.”

One-day skipper Eoin Mor-gan said he was delighted with England’s performance against the backdrop of Stokes’s arrest, saying the one-day team was benefiting from great strength in depth. “We’re spoiled for choice with the batsman that we have on offer -- guys missing out, so certainly it raises the standard in the changing room,” he said. But neither player would not be drawn further on the Stokes situation. England said the all-rounder would not be considered for selection “until further notice” following the emergence of a video apparently showing him fighting outside a nightclub in the southwestern city of Bristol.

Test vice-captain Stokes was included in the Ashes squad announced Wednesday, despite reportedly injuring his hand in the incident that led to his arrest.

The all-rounder was released without charge but remains under investigation.

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli throws a ball during a training session at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on the eve of the fifth one-day international match against Australia.

England’s Jonny Bairstow celebrates his half-century during the final One-Day International (ODI) match against the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, southern England on Friday.

India aim to end series on a highNagpur - IANS

India will aim for a return to the top spot in One-Day Interna-tional (ODI) rankings when they face Australia in the fifth and final match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground today.The hosts, who have already clinched the five-match ODI series

with an unassailable 3-1 lead, slipped to the second spot after los-ing the fourth tie in Bengaluru by 21 runs on Thursday. India will look to get back to winning ways banking on in-form batsmen.

Australia rode on an all-round show, with openers Aaron Finch and David Warner starring with the bat along side pacer Kane Richardson to clinch their first victory in the series.

List of Pakistan batsmen who scored 5,000

or more runs in Test cricket (under Test and

runs)

Younis Khan 118 1 0,099

Javed Miandad 124 8832

Inzamam-ul-Haq 119 8829

Mohammad Yousuf 90 7530

Salim Malik 103 5768

Misbah-ul-Haq 75 5222

Zaheer Abbas 78 5062

Azhar Ali 61 5,000

5000 CLUB MEMBERS

Sri Lanka (I innings): ....................419Pakistan (I innings):Shan Masood b Herath ................................59

Sami Aslam lbw b Perera ............................ 51

Azhar Ali (batting) ........................................ 74

Asad Shafiq c Thirimanne b Herath .........39

Babar Azam c Dickwella b Pradeep ........ 28

Extras: (B4, LB9, NB2) .............................. 15

Total: (for four wkts) ....................266 To bat: Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Moham-

mad Amir, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Mohammad

Abbas

Fall of wickets: 1-114, 2-116, 3-195, 4-266

Bowling: Lakmal 15-3-30-0 (1nb), Pradeep 16.4-

1-44-1, Perera 27-7-58-1, Sundakan 26-6-68-0,

Herath 25-6-47-2, Karunaratne 3-1-6-0

SCOREBOARD

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s 28

poi

nts

beh

ind

Ham

ilto

n

in

the

dri

vers

’ ch

ampi

onsh

ip.

“The

rac

e is

tom

orro

w n

ot

toda

y. W

e ha

ve a

ver

y qu

ick

car

and

we

save

d so

me

tyre

s.“I

f it

hap

pene

d to

mor

row

it

wou

ld b

e m

ore

of a

pro

blem

. A

nyth

ing

can

happ

en -

- yo

u sa

w t

hat

in

Sin

gapo

re t

wo

wee

ks a

go h

ow e

very

thin

g ca

n ch

ange

.”In

Sin

gapo

re,

Vet

tel

had

star

ted

from

pol

e on

ly to

cra

sh

on a

rai

n-so

aked

fir

st l

ap a

s H

amilt

on w

on fr

om fi

fth

on th

e gr

id t

o ex

tend

his

cha

mpi

on-

ship

lead

.R

aikk

onen

was

a fi

rst-

bend

ca

sual

ty in

the

Sing

apor

e ca

r-n

age

a

lon

g w

ith

M

ax

Ver

stap

pen.

“W

e’ll

try

to g

et

furt

her

than

10

0 m

etre

s on

Su

nday

,” R

aikk

onen

sai

d.Th

e Fi

nn, w

ho re

cord

ed h

is

mai

den

gra

nd

pri

x w

in a

t M

alay

sia

back

in 2

00

3, th

ough

t he

mig

ht h

ave

pipp

ed H

amil-

ton

to p

ole

but w

as e

dged

out

by

just

fou

r-hu

ndre

dths

of

a se

cond

.“W

hen

you

get

that

clo

se

it’s

a d

isap

poin

tmen

t,” s

aid

Rai

kkon

en.

The

Red

Bul

l of

bir

thda

y bo

y V

erst

app

en w

as t

hir

d,

alm

ost

half

a s

econ

d be

hind

R

aikk

onen

.Th

e D

utch

man

, who

turn

ed

20 o

n Sa

turd

ay, w

ill b

e jo

ined

on t

he s

econ

d ro

w b

y te

am-

mat

e D

anie

l Ric

ciar

do w

ho w

as

four

th f

aste

st, j

ust

0.0

54 s

ec-

onds

slo

wer

.Th

e A

ustr

alia

n se

nsed

an

oppo

rtun

ity in

toda

y’s

race

. H

amilt

on’s

team

mat

e V

alt-

teri

Bot

tas

will

sta

rt fi

fth

with

th

e Fo

rce

Indi

a of

Est

eban

Oco

n ta

king

a s

urpr

ise

plac

e al

ong-

side

the

Finn

on

the

thir

d ro

w

of th

e gr

id.

Mea

nwhi

le, t

he o

rgan

iser

of

one

of th

e su

ppor

t eve

nts a

pol-

ogis

ed to

spec

tato

rs a

fter

eve

ry

car

ran

out o

f fue

l and

em

bar-

rass

ingl

y fa

iled

to c

ompl

ete

the

race

. The

Form

ula

4 So

uth

East

A

sia

Cha

mpi

onsh

ip i

ssue

d a

stat

emen

t ap

olog

isin

g “u

nre-

serv

edly

” for

the

deba

cle

whe

n al

l nin

e ca

rs w

ere

left

str

ande

d ac

ross

the

circ

uit a

fter

a m

is-

calc

ulat

ion

on h

ow m

uch

fuel

w

as n

eede

d.

Malay

sian G

P ‘2

00 pe

rcent

’ ca

ncell

ed, s

ays c

ircuit

chief

Se

pang

AFP Th

e M

alay

sian

G

ran

d P

rix

is

“20

0 p

erce

nt”

can

cell

ed

a

fte

r to

day’

s fin

al ra

ce, t

he

circ

uit’s

hea

d sa

id,

addi

ng th

at th

e lo

ss-

mak

ing

even

t h

ad

been

h

it

har

d

by

com

pet

itio

n

fro

m

ne

igh

bo

ur

ing

Sing

apor

e.T

he h

igh-

spee

d Se

pang

Int

erna

tion

al C

ircu

it,

with

its

toug

h, tr

opic

al r

ecip

e of

stea

my

heat

and

unp

redi

ct-

able

rai

n w

ill d

isap

pear

from

th

e Fo

rmul

a O

ne

cale

nda

r af

ter

19 r

aces

dat

ing

back

to

1999

. And

Asi

a’s

seco

nd-o

ldes

t ra

ce a

fter

Japa

n is

not

like

ly to

re

turn

any

tim

e in

the

nea

r fu

ture

, the

cir

cuit’

s C

EO R

az-

lan

Raz

ali (

pict

ured

) sai

d in

an

inte

rvie

w.

“Th

is i

s th

e fi

nal

gra

nd

prix

. We

are

taki

ng a

bre

ak,”

R

azal

i sai

d. “I

can

tell

you

also

ri

ght

now

, it

will

be

a m

ini-

mum

of f

ive

year

s be

fore

we

even

con

tem

plat

e br

ingi

ng it

ba

ck. “T

his

is d

efin

itel

y...

200

pe

rcen

t our

last

gra

nd p

rix.

”M

alay

sia’

s go

vern

men

t, w

ho h

ave

bank

rolle

d th

e ev

ent

sin

ce i

ts i

nce

ptio

n,

in A

pril

ann

oun

ced

th

ey

wer

e n

o lo

nger

pre

pare

d to

she

ll ou

t $6

7m a

yea

r to

stag

e th

e ra

ce.

“The

retu

rns

are

no lo

nger

po

siti

ve f

or M

alay

sia.

Th

at

incl

udes

dec

linin

g sp

ecta

tors

ye

ar-i

n, y

ear-

out,”

Raz

ali s

aid.

“We

than

k th

e go

vern

-m

ent f

or 19

yea

rs o

f hav

ing

F1

in M

alay

sia.

We

coul

d ea

sily

tell

them

oth

erw

ise

and

ask

them

to

cont

inue

. But

bei

ng

the

oper

ator

of t

he c

ircu

it, su

s-ta

inab

ility

is

impo

rtan

t. W

e n

eed

to s

top

and

give

F1

a br

eak.

”Th

e m

ain

prob

lem

is th

at

Form

ula

One

has

nev

er re

ally

ta

ken

off i

n M

alay

sia.

The

succ

ess o

f Sin

gapo

re’s

gl

itzy

cit

y-ce

ntre

nig

ht r

ace

and

its

asso

ciat

ed e

nter

tain

-m

ent h

as le

ft v

enue

s su

ch a

s re

mot

e Se

pang

, mor

e th

an a

n h

ou

r’s

dri

ve

fro

m

Ku

ala

Lu

mp

ur,

st

rugg

lin

g to

co

mpe

te.

Now

the

Mal

aysi

an G

rand

P

rix

will

fol

low

F1’

s si

mila

r m

oney

-los

ing

excu

rsio

ns,

in

clud

ing

Sout

h K

orea

an

d In

dia,

in

to t

he

wil

dern

ess,

le

avin

g A

sia

wit

h ju

st t

hree

ra

ces

-- C

hina

, Sin

gapo

re a

nd

Japa

n --

on

a re

cord

, 21-

race

ca

lend

ar n

ext s

easo

n.A

t tha

t tim

e th

e M

alay

sian

G

rand

Pri

x w

as h

eld

near

the

star

t of t

he s

easo

n. B

ut w

hen

it w

as m

oved

last

yea

r to

two

wee

ks

afte

r Si

nga

por

e,

a gr

owin

g pr

oble

m b

ecam

e a

cris

is.

Last

yea

r, j

ust

45,

00

0

spec

tato

rs p

opul

ated

Sep

ang’

s

ca

ve

rn

ou

s g

ran

dst

an

ds,

w

hic

h

are

de

sign

ed to

hol

d 12

0,0

00

.“L

ast

year

w

as t

he

low

est

(att

end

ance

) in

ou

r hi

stor

y an

d al

so lo

wes

t in

TV

view

ing.

Hen

ce

in t

hes

e tr

yin

g tim

es w

e ad

vise

d th

e go

vern

men

t, le

t’s

sto

p

it,”

R

azal

i sai

d.B

y co

ntra

st M

otoG

P, t

he

mot

orcy

clin

g eq

uiva

len

t of

Fo

rmul

a O

ne, i

s w

ildly

suc

-ce

ssfu

l at S

epan

g.N

ext m

onth

’s r

ace

will

be

a se

ll-ou

t, w

ith

ador

ing

fans

ch

eeri

ng

on

h

om

egro

wn

hero

es s

uch

as K

hair

ul Id

ham

P

awi,

Haf

izh

Sya

hri

n a

nd

Ada

m N

orro

din

in th

e M

oto2

an

d M

oto3

wor

ld c

ham

pion

-sh

ip s

erie

s.Fo

rmul

a O

ne, m

eanw

hile

, ha

s ha

d ju

st o

ne M

alay

sian

on

the

grid

in A

lex

Yoo

ng, w

ho

last

rac

ed b

ack

in 2

00

2.“W

e ha

ve h

ad M

otoG

P fo

r 27

yea

rs. A

long

the

way

, we

saw

the

bir

th o

f lo

cal r

ider

s.

Now

sinc

e 20

09

we

have

con

-si

sten

tly

seen

thr

ee o

r fo

ur

Mal

aysi

an ri

ders

,” s

aid

Raz

ali.

Raz

ali

did

pre

dic

t th

at

crow

ds

wou

ld b

e u

p t

his

w

eeke

nd a

s peo

ple

grab

a fi

nal

chan

ce to

see

For

mul

a O

ne a

t Se

pang

.“W

e h

ave

reco

rded

65

perc

ent m

ore

ticke

t sal

es th

an

last

yea

r,”

said

Raz

ali.

“It i

s go

od b

ut it

is b

ecau

se

it is

the

final

race

and

we

have

re

duce

d th

e ti

cket

pri

ce f

or

Mal

aysi

ans

by m

ore

than

82

perc

ent.

1st r

owLe

wis

Ham

ilto

n (

GB

R/M

erce

des

)K

imi R

aikk

on

en (

FIN

/Fer

rari

)2n

d ro

wM

ax V

erst

app

en (

NED

/Red

Bu

ll)D

anie

l Ric

ciar

do

(A

US/

Red

Bu

ll)3r

d ro

wV

altt

eri B

ott

as (

FIN

/Mer

ced

es)

Este

ban

Oco

n (

FRA

/Fo

rce

Ind

ia)

4th

row

Sto

ffel

Van

do

orn

e (B

EL/M

cLar

en)

Nic

o H

ülk

enb

erg

(G

ER/R

enau

lt)

5th

row

Serg

io P

erez

(M

EX/F

orc

e In

dia

)Fe

rnan

do

Alo

nso

(ES

P/M

cLar

en)

6th

row

Felip

e M

assa

(B

RA

/Will

iam

s)Jo

lyo

n P

alm

er (

GB

R/R

enau

lt)

7th

row

Lan

ce S

tro

ll (C

AN

/Will

iam

s)C

arlo

s Sa

inz

Jr (

ESP

/To

ro R

oss

o)

8th

row

Pie

rre

Gas

ly (

FRA

/To

ro R

oss

o)

Ro

mai

n G

rosj

ean

(FR

A/H

aas)

9th

row

Kev

in M

agn

uss

en (

DEN

/Haa

s)P

asca

l Weh

rlei

n (

GER

/Sau

ber

)10

th ro

wM

arcu

s Er

icss

on

(SW

E/Sa

ub

er)

Seb

asti

an V

ette

l (G

ER/F

erra

ri)

MALA

YSIA

N GR

AND P

RIX G

RID

Sepa

ng

Reut

ers

Lewis

Ham

ilton

onc

e ag

ain

mad

e th

e di

ffer

ence

for M

er-

cede

s as

the

Bri

ton

cele

brat

ed h

is 7

0th

car

eer

Form

ula

One

pol

e in

Mal

aysi

a to

day.

The

cham

pion

ship

lead

er h

ad b

een

sixt

h on

Fri

day

and

only

fif

th in

yes

terd

ay’s

fin

al p

ract

ice

but

he p

ut in

the

lap

that

mat

tere

d af

ter

engi

ne p

robl

ems

side

lined

Fer

rari

riv

al

Seba

stia

n V

ette

l.“T

his

agai

n w

as a

Lew

is la

p,”

said

Mer

cede

s no

n-ex

ecu-

tive

chai

rman

Nik

i Lau

da.

“It’s

ver

y di

ffic

ult t

o id

entif

y w

hat i

s th

e ca

r (r

athe

r th

an

the

driv

er) b

ut w

e kn

ow t

hat

whe

n Le

wis

put

s th

e th

rott

le

dow

n, h

e re

ally

doe

s it

wel

l. So

I t

hink

it’s

mor

e th

e dr

iver

he

re th

an th

e ca

r, to

be

hone

st.”

Ham

ilton

, 28

poin

ts c

lear

of V

ette

l with

six

race

s re

mai

n-in

g, h

as n

ow b

een

on p

ole

for f

our y

ears

in a

row

in M

alay

sia

and

five

times

in to

tal -

equ

allin

g M

icha

el S

chum

ache

r’s re

cord

at

the

circ

uit.

But

cha

mpi

ons

Mer

cede

s ha

ve lo

oked

off

the

pac

e th

is

wee

kend

whi

le F

erra

ri, w

hose

dri

vers

col

lided

at t

he s

tart

in

Sin

gapo

re t

wo

wee

ks a

go,

have

bee

n q

uick

wit

h V

ette

l fa

vour

ed fo

r po

le b

efor

e hi

s ca

r’s

prob

lem

.Th

e G

erm

an w

ill n

ow s

tart

at t

he b

ack

of th

e fi

eld.

“It w

as a

blis

teri

ng la

p an

d he

put

it a

ll to

geth

er b

ut w

e ar

e le

ft w

ith s

ome

conf

usio

n,” M

erce

des

team

bos

s To

to W

olff

to

ld S

ky S

port

s te

levi

sion

.A

lthou

gh H

amilt

on p

ippe

d Fe

rrar

i’s K

imi R

aikk

onen

to

pole

, his

Fin

nish

team

mat

e V

altt

eri B

otta

s w

ill s

tart

onl

y fif

th

on th

e gr

id.

The

Red

Bul

ls o

f M

ax V

erst

appe

n, c

eleb

rati

ng h

is 2

0th

bi

rthd

ay, a

nd A

ustr

alia

n D

anie

l Ric

ciar

do w

ere

thir

d an

d fo

urth

.R

icci

ardo

won

last

yea

r in

Mal

aysi

a fr

om th

at s

ame

star

t-in

g sl

ot a

fter

Ham

ilton

’s e

ngin

e ex

pire

d w

hile

he

was

lead

ing

the

race

.“W

e di

dn’t

put t

he ty

res

in th

e ri

ght w

indo

w th

e w

hole

w

eeke

nd a

nd th

en w

hen

the

tem

pera

ture

s dro

pped

and

clo

ud

cove

r sta

rted

to c

ome

over

the

circ

uit,

the

car w

as v

ery

quic

k.

So w

e ne

ed s

ome

answ

ers,

” W

olff

sai

d.“O

n pa

per

the

Ferr

ari i

s th

e fa

stes

t car

, fol

low

ed b

y th

e R

ed B

ull a

nd th

en u

s.“B

ut th

en w

e ha

ve th

e qu

ali r

esul

t so

we

just

hav

e to

wai

t an

d se

e w

hat h

appe

ns,”

add

ed th

e A

ustr

ian.

Hami

lton m

akes

th

e diff

eren

ce fo

r Me

rcede

s aga

in

Vette

l sm

iling

thro

ugh t

he pa

in

of qu

alify

ing l

ast

Sepa

ng

Reut

ers

Sebas

tian

Vet

tel s

till h

ad a

sm

ile o

n hi

s fa

ce a

fter

qua

li-fy

ing

for

the

Mal

aysi

an G

rand

Pri

x on

Sat

urda

y, a

s th

e G

erm

an p

ut o

n a

brav

e fa

ce d

espi

te th

e pa

in o

f the

lat-

est s

etba

ck to

str

ike

his

cham

pion

ship

cha

lleng

e.Th

e Fe

rrar

i dri

ver,

trai

ls M

erce

des

riva

l Lew

is H

amilt

on

by 2

8 po

ints

in th

e st

andi

ngs,

will

sta

rt S

unda

y’s

race

dea

d la

st a

fter

pow

er u

nit p

robl

ems

prev

ente

d hi

m fr

om s

ettin

g a

time. H

amilt

on, m

eanw

hile

, will

beg

in o

n po

le.

“It’s

ver

y bi

tter

but

then

it’s

mot

or r

acin

g,”

said

the

four

-ti

mes

cha

mpi

on, w

ho r

an in

to t

roub

le in

Sat

urda

y’s

fina

l p

ract

ice

sess

ion

an

d h

ad h

is e

ngi

ne

chan

ged

bef

ore

qual

ifyi

ng.

“It’s

bee

n a

diff

icul

t day

but

the

guys

wer

e ph

enom

enal

fi

xing

the

car,

cha

ngin

g th

e en

gine

in ju

st tw

o ho

urs.

”V

ette

l’s ti

tle h

opes

hav

e be

en d

ealt

a se

tbac

k fo

r th

e se

c-on

d ra

ce in

a r

ow.

In S

inga

pore

he

cras

hed

out o

n th

e op

enin

g la

p af

ter h

av-

ing

star

ted

from

pol

e, le

avin

g th

e w

ay c

lear

for

Ham

ilton

to

win

from

fift

h.H

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k at

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ts h

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st in

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gapo

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erra

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ead,

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ilton

, who

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om a

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man

ding

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in

Mal

aysi

a la

st y

ear,

goe

s in

to S

unda

y’s

race

poi

sed

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ake

anot

her

huge

str

ide

tow

ard

his

four

th ti

tle.

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gap

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een

the

cham

pion

ship

con

tend

ers

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lrea

dy

the

bigg

est i

t has

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n in

an

othe

rwis

e ha

rd-f

ough

t sea

son

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een

the

pair

.Th

e B

rito

n w

ill n

ot n

eed

to w

in a

noth

er r

ace

this

yea

r if

he

triu

mph

s on

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day

with

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tel l

ower

than

sec

ond

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he

out

scor

es th

e G

erm

an b

y m

ore

than

sev

en p

oint

s.Th

e M

alay

sian

race

has

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er b

een

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from

low

er th

an

eigh

th o

n th

e gr

id.

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ired

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mpi

on N

ico

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berg

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ishe

d th

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last

ye

ar a

fter

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ppin

g to

the

back

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he fi

eld

with

a s

pin

on th

e op

enin

g la

p an

d V

ette

l is

opti

mis

tic

he c

an m

inim

ise

the

dam

age.

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hink

we

have

a v

ery

quic

k ca

r th

is w

eeke

nd s

o w

e sh

ould

be

able

to m

ake

up a

lot o

f gro

und,

” sa

id th

e re

cord

fo

ur-t

imes

Mal

aysi

a w

inne

r, w

ho c

onso

led

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hear

tbro

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hani

cs a

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car

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ved

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sai

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e ne

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ract

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win

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ere,

th

e co

nditi

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n co

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Lond

on

AFP B

riti

sh r

ival

s To

ny B

elle

w a

nd

Dav

id H

aye

have

agr

eed

to a

se

con

d i

nst

alm

ent

of t

hei

r h

eavy

wei

ght

gru

dge

m

atch

in

D

ecem

ber.

Form

er li

ght-

heav

ywei

ght a

nd

crui

serw

eigh

t Bel

lew

ste

pped

up

to

the

hea

vyw

eigh

t cl

ass

to h

and

form

er w

orld

cha

mpi

on H

aye

just

th

e th

ird

defe

at o

f his

car

eer i

n Lo

n-do

n in

Mar

ch.

But

Hay

e fo

ught

for

five

of t

heir

11

rou

nds

wit

h a

rupt

ured

Ach

illes

le

adin

g to

mor

e qu

esti

ons

than

an

swer

s an

d le

avin

g m

any

hopi

ng

for

a re

mat

ch.

Ther

e w

as p

lent

y of

bad

blo

od

betw

een

the

pair

in th

e bu

ild-u

p to

th

e fi

rst

figh

t an

d no

w, w

ith

Hay

e fi

t ag

ain

, th

e p

air

wil

l h

ave

a re

mat

ch a

t Lo

ndon

’s 0

2 A

ren

a on

D

ecem

ber

17.

“I w

ill

hav

e th

e ex

act

sam

e

attit

ude

I had

goi

ng in

to th

e fir

st fi

ght

- w

in a

t all

cost

s,”

the

34-y

ear-

old

Bel

lew

sai

d on

Fri

day.

“I w

ill b

e vi

ctor

ious

on

Dec

em-

ber

17 a

nd I

will

end

Dav

id H

aye’

s ca

reer

. Ano

ther

loss

to m

e cl

oses

the

curt

ain

on th

e H

ayem

aker

.“T

his

isn’

t per

sona

l any

mor

e, it

’s

stri

ctly

bus

ines

s. T

his

is ju

st a

noth

er

figh

t.” Hay

e, a

hea

vyw

eigh

t titl

e-ho

lder

be

twee

n 20

09

and

2011

, has

reb

uilt

both

his

bod

y an

d hi

s te

am s

ince

the

loss

to B

elle

w, w

ith Is

mae

l Sal

as ta

k-in

g ov

er f

rom

Sha

ne M

cGui

gan

as

his

trai

ner.

“I’m

exc

ited

to g

ive

the

publ

ic th

e re

mat

ch th

ey tr

uly

crav

e, e

ver s

ince

th

e ex

plos

ive

firs

t sh

owdo

wn

ear-

lier

this

yea

r. O

n M

arch

4, t

he s

crip

t w

as th

row

n ou

t the

win

dow

and

the

unpr

edic

tabi

lity

of s

port

rev

eale

d its

elf i

n its

mos

t raw

form

,” h

e sa

id.

“He

som

ehow

won

the

lott

ery

in

our

firs

t fi

ght,

but

belie

ve m

e, h

e w

on’t

win

the

lott

ery

twic

e.”

Blo

emfo

ntei

nA

FP New

Zea

lan

d r

etai

ned

th

e R

ugby

Ch

ampi

onsh

ip a

fter

So

uth

Afr

ica

and

Au

stra

lia

dre

w

27-2

7 in

B

loem

fon

tein

ye

ster

day.

Th

e de

adlo

ck le

ft th

e A

ll B

lack

s w

ith

an u

nass

aila

ble

six-

poin

t lea

d in

th

e st

and

ings

ah

ead

of

thei

r pe

nult

imat

e m

atch

aw

ay to

Arg

en-

tin

a w

hich

was

to

be p

laye

d la

ter

yest

erda

y.El

ton

Jant

jies

had

a la

st-m

inut

e ch

ance

to

win

th

e m

atch

for

th

e Sp

rin

gbok

s, b

ut p

ulle

d a

diff

icul

t pe

nalt

y fr

om ju

st o

utsi

de th

e 22

.It

was

th

e se

con

d s

ucc

essi

ve

draw

bet

wee

n th

e te

ams

afte

r th

ey

fini

shed

23-

23 in

Per

th th

is m

onth

.So

uth

Afr

ican

s in

th

e 30

,00

0

crow

d, in

clud

ing

wor

ld 4

00

-met

re

reco

rd-h

olde

r an

d O

lym

pic

cham

-p

ion

Way

de

van

Nie

kerk

, w

ere

hopi

ng f

or a

dra

stic

impr

ovem

ent

afte

r a

57-0

dru

bbin

g at

the

hand

s of

th

e A

ll B

lack

s in

Auc

klan

d th

is

mon

th.

But

a d

raw

was

fair

ref

lect

ion

of

a cl

ose

enco

unte

r in

whi

ch n

eith

er

team

gai

ned

a di

stin

ct a

dvan

tage

in

any

phas

e.

Aus

tral

ia le

d 13

-10

at h

alf-

tim

e an

d th

eir b

acks

look

ed m

ore

thre

at-

enin

g w

hile

the

Sout

h A

fric

an s

crum

fu

ncti

oned

wel

l.So

uth

Afr

ica

had

muc

h m

ore

of

the

ball

in t

he e

arly

sta

ges

only

to

fall

beh

ind

afte

r 11

min

utes

to

an

Aus

tral

ian

try

plot

ted

on th

e tr

ain-

ing

grou

nd.

A d

umm

y ru

n by

Tev

ita

Kur

id-

ran

i an

d

an

insi

de

pas

s fr

om

B

erna

rd F

oley

cre

ated

a c

lear

pat

h to

the

tryl

ine

for

Isra

el F

olau

.Fo

ley

con

vert

ed f

rom

in f

ron

t

of th

e po

sts

to r

aise

his

Tes

t tal

ly to

50

1 po

ints

--

only

the

fou

rth

Wal

-la

by to

ach

ieve

the

feat

.So

uth

Afr

ica

leve

lled

on 19

min

-ut

es w

hen

Jant

jies

conv

erte

d a

try

by R

uan

Dre

yer,

who

shr

ugge

d of

f a

tack

le to

bar

ge o

ver

betw

een

the

post

s. Fole

y an

d Ja

ntj

ies

exch

ange

d pe

nalti

es b

efor

e th

e W

alla

by fl

y-ha

lf sl

otte

d an

othe

r to

ear

n hi

s te

am a

th

ree-

poin

t hal

f-ti

me

adva

ntag

e.

Tem

pers

fla

red

just

bef

ore

the

brea

k w

hen

Fola

u hi

gh-t

ackl

ed D

il-ly

n L

eyd

s, t

hen

pu

lled

his

hai

r,

trig

geri

ng

a m

ini-

braw

l in

wh

ich

Spri

ngbo

ks s

kipp

er E

ben

Etze

beth

w

as in

volv

ed.

New

Z

eala

nd

re

fere

e B

en

O’K

eeff

e se

ttle

d fo

r w

arni

ng E

tze-

beth

an

d r

ival

cap

tain

Mic

hae

l H

oope

r.It

was

a d

isap

poin

ting

ope

ning

h

alf

for

the

Spri

ngb

oks,

wh

o h

ad

mor

e ba

ll, b

ut m

any

atta

cks

wer

e la

tera

l an

d pr

edic

tabl

e ag

ain

st a

w

ell-

orga

nise

d de

fenc

e.Th

e se

cond

hal

f st

arte

d w

ith

a tr

y fe

st a

s Ja

n Se

rfon

tein

and

Cou

rt-

nal

l Sk

osa

n

sco

red

fo

r th

e Sp

ring

boks

and

Mar

ika

Kor

oibe

te

for

the

Wal

labi

es.

All

the

trie

s w

ere

conv

erte

d by

Ja

ntj

ies

and

Fole

y to

lea

ve S

outh

A

fric

a 24

-20

on

51 m

inut

es.

Rug

by L

eagu

e co

nve

rt K

oroi

-be

te s

core

d hi

s se

cond

try

in h

is fi

rst

star

t an

d F

oley

ad

ded

th

e ex

tra

poin

ts t

o nu

dge

the

visi

tors

into

a

thre

e-po

int l

ead

ente

ring

the

fina

l qu

arte

r.Ja

ntjie

s br

ough

t the

team

s le

vel

with

a p

enal

ty 10

min

utes

from

tim

e,

but

cou

ld n

ot g

rab

vict

ory

in t

he

fina

l min

ute,

leav

ing

New

Zea

land

to

cel

ebra

te a

fif

th t

itle

in

six

at

tem

pts.

Bri

tish

boxe

rs D

avid

Hay

e (le

ft)

and

Tony

Bel

lew

exc

hang

e bl

ows

durin

g th

eir h

eavy

wei

ght b

oxin

g m

atch

at t

he O

2 Ar

ena

in L

ondo

n in

th

is M

arch

4, 2

017

file

phot

o. B

elle

w s

tunn

ed b

itter

riva

l to

win

thei

r ea

gerly

-aw

aite

d he

avyw

eigh

t cla

sh w

ith a

n 11

th r

ound

sto

ppag

e.

Belle

w vo

ws to

put a

n en

d to H

aye’s

care

er

All B

lacks

keep

title

after

Bo

ks, W

allab

ies dr

aw

Mer

cede

s’ B

ritis

h dr

iver

Lew

is

Ham

ilton

wav

es

to s

pect

ator

s aft

er ta

king

the

pole

pos

ition

of

the

Form

ula

One

Mal

aysi

a G

rand

Prix

at

the

Sepa

ng

Circ

uit n

ear

Kual

a Lu

mpu

r ye

ster

day.

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cede

s’s

Brit

ish

driv

er

Lew

is H

amilt

on

driv

es h

is c

ar

durin

g th

e th

ird p

ract

ice

sess

ion

of th

e Fo

rmul

a O

ne

Mal

aysi

a G

rand

Pr

ix in

Sep

ang

yest

erda

y.

30 SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

League says players must stand for national anthem New YorkAFP

The National Basket-ball Association sent a memo late Friday to

all 30 teams instructing players to stand for the US national anthem, and warning teams there won’t be any exceptions.

The memo, from Dep-uty Commissioner Mark Tatum, said the league has the discretion to discipline players who violate a rule already on the books stat-ing that they must stand for the anthem, broadcaster ESPN reported.

The memo tells teams that “the league office will deter-mine how to deal with any possible instance in which a player, coach, or trainer does not stand for the anthem.” It adds that individual teams “do not have the discretion to waive” the rule.

In the memo, Tatum suggests that teams make an effort in their first home game to address the current political cli-mate by having players and coaches give a pregame address to their fans.

“This could include a message of unity and how the team is committed to bringing the community together this sea-son,” said the memo. Tatum’s memo comes 24 hours after commissioner Adam Silver said at the league’s board of governors meeting in New York that he expects players to stand for the national anthem.

“We have a rule that requires our players to stand for the anthem,” Silver said. “It has been our rule as long as I have been involved with the league and my expectation is our players will continue to stand for the anthem.”

Last season, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem as a way of protest-ing racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.

Previously only a handful of players had been taking a knee during the anthem, but on Sunday - two days after President Donald Trump’s inflammatory comments directed at players - nearly 200 chose to make their point, including the Pittsburgh Steelers American football team, all of whom remained in the locker room except for one player.

Oklahoma CityAFP

Reigning NBA MVP Rus-sell Westbrook hit the jackpot for the sec-ond time in less than 18 months by signing

a five-year, $205m contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The deal begins with the 2018-19 sea-son, and puts the 28-year-old West-brook under contract with the Thunder through the 2022-23 NBA season.

Westbrook posted a picture of himself on his Instagram page, wearing an orange “OKC” jersey with his arms raised and wrote: “WHY NOT??”WHY NOT??

The 28-year-old Westbrook is coming off a historic season in which he averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists and set an NBA record

with 42 triple-doubles. He broke the mark

of Oscar Robertson (1962) and joined the Hall of Famer as the only players to average a tri-ple-double over an entire season.

The six-time all-star won his second scoring crown and scored 40 or more points on 18 occasions.

Despite his individual suc-cess, the Thunder finished sixth in the Western Confer-ence standings and were

eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by James

Harden’s Houston Rockets four games to one.

The Thunder tried to address

that in the offseason by acquiring forwards Carmelo Anthony and Paul George in trades.

In July 2016, the Thunder were rocked by the surprise departure of the all-star Kevin Durant. Soon after, Westbrook agreed to a contract extension through 2018-19 season, with the final season being a player option.

Westbrook, the number four overall pick in the 2008 draft, beat out runner-up Harden to win MVP honours.

Westbrook has career aver-ages of 22.7 points, 7.9 assists and 6.2 rebounds.

The deal begins with the 2018-19 sea-son, and puts the28-year-old West-brook under contract with the Thunder through the2022-23 NBAseason.

with 42 triple-doubles. He broke the mark

sixth in the Western Confer-ence standings and were

eliminated in the first roundof the playoffs by James

Harden’s HoustonRockets four gamesto one.

The Thunder tried to address

option.Westbrook, the number

four overall pick in the 2008 draft, beat out runner-up Harden to win MVP honours.

Westbrook has career aver-ages of 22.7 points, 7.9 assistsand 6.2 rebounds.

Thunder’s Westbrook hits jackpot with $205m deal

The League office will determine how to deal with any possible instance in which a player, coach, or trainer does not stand for the anthem: NBA

Tanaka strikes career-high 15 as Yankees rout Blue Jays Reuters

Masahiro Tanaka struck out a career-high 15 hit-ters in seven dominant

innings as New York blanked Toronto.

Tanaka delivered the best start of his four-year tenure with the Yankees, who stayed alive in the American League East race.

The Yankees, who will at the least host the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card game, are two games behind Boston with two to play.

Tanaka (13-12) joined Wash-ington’s Stephen Strasburg as the second pitcher to notch 15 strikeouts in an outing this season.

Elsewhere, Jose Ramirez had three hits, including his 54th and 55th doubles of the season, and Trevor Bauer pitched six strong innings as Cleveland routed Chicago.

Bauer (17-9) gave up one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Chicago starter Mike Pelfrey (3-12) gave up all 10 of Cleve-land’s runs in 2 2/3 innings, although three of the runs were unearned.

Cleveland won its 101st game of the season, the second most in franchise history.

Meanwhile, Colorado moved closer to reaching the post-sea-son for the first time since 2009 after walloping Los Angeles.

The victory reduced the Rockies’ magic number to one as they closed in on the post-season for the fourth time in their 25 seasons of play.

Chad Bettis (2-4) made one of the best starts this season for the Rockies since coming back

from a cancer and returning to the rotation on Aug. 14, giving up four hits and one run, and retiring the final 14 batters he faced.

Chase Anderson worked into the eighth inning and

Stephen Vogt knocked in three runs as Milwaukee beat St Louis.

Anderson (12-4) gave up only three hits and a run in seven-plus innings, walking one and fanning five.

Vogt was 2-for-4 for the Brewers, delivering their first three runs. The third, a ground-out to second base in the sixth, scored Travis Shaw for a 3-1 lead.

Elsewhere, Stephen Stras-burg allowed just two hits and no runs in 7 2/3 innings and Ryan Zimmerman went 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs as Washington walloped Pittsburgh.

Zimmerman had doubles in his first two at-bats, then hit a two-run homer off A.J. Schugel in the sixth to give the Nation-als a 4-0 lead.

He then had a solo homer in the eighth off Dan Runzler to make it 5-0.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on Friday.

San Francisco 8 San Diego 0

LA Angels 6 Seattle 5

Kansas City 2 Arizona 1

Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 3

Minnesota 6 Detroit 3

Colorado 9 LA Dodgers 1

Texas 5 Oakland 3

Miami 6 Atlanta 5

Tampa Bay 7 Baltimore 0

Cleveland 10 Chicago White Sox 1

Houston 3 Boston 2

Philadelphia 6 NY Mets 2

Washington 6 Pittsburgh 1

Chicago Cubs 5 Cincinnati 4

NY Yankees 4 Toronto 0

BASEBALL RESULTS

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russel Westbrook goes to the basket against Grizzlies during their Conference Quarterfinal game 7 in Oklahoma City, USA in this file

photo. The reigning NBA MVP hit the jackpot for the second time in less than 18 months by signing a five-year, $205m contract with Thunder on Friday.

31SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Mickelson helps US grab big lead at Presidents Cup

Jordan Spieth (left) and Patrick Reed of the US Team line up a putt on the 18th green during four-ball matches of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on Friday in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Jersey City AFP

A record-equalling win for Phil Mickelson helped the United States seize an unprecedented sec-

ond-day lead against a floundering International team at the Presidents Cup on Friday

With an 8-2 lead over cap-tain Nick Price’s Internationals, the Americans are more than halfway to the 15.5 points they need to win the biennial match play competition for a 10th time.

Mickelson, the only man to appear in all 12 Presidents Cups, rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to seal a 1-up vic-tory with Kevin Kisner over Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman.

The United States won four and halved another of the day’s five fourball matches at Liberty National Golf Club, thwarting the Internationals’ bid to bounce back from a two-point opening day deficit.

“A really special day for us,” said US captain Steve Stricker.

The Americans’ six-point lead is the biggest ever held after two days of the competition, which sees 30 points up for grabs over four days.

The US had led by five points at the same stage in three prior editions, most recently in 2007.

With a 24th Presidents Cup match win, Mickelson tied the record held by Tiger Woods

-- who was watching at the 18th green in his role as an assistant captain.

Leishman and Day had led from the opening hole through the 14th before Kisner squared the match with a birdie at 15 -- setting the stage for Mickelson’s heroics.

Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman – two Presidents Cup rookies – set the tone for the United States, thumping Charl Schwartzel and Anirban Lahiri 6 & 5 in the first match to finish.

Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas then delivered a sting-ing 3 & 2 victory over the International powerhouse duo of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace.

The two South Africans had won four matches at the 2015 Cup, and provided the lone vic-tory for the Internationals on

Thursday. For a time on Friday it looked like the Internationals could be turning things around, leading early in three matches.

“They just have a lot of fight in them,” Stricker said after day’s proceedings.

“They hit some great shots, made some key putts when they had to.. When that momentum gets on your side, you can feel it as a team, and I think that’s what you saw today.”

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed rallied to halve their match with Japanese world number three Hideki Matsuyama and Canadian Adam Hadwin.

Matsuyama and Hadwin were 2-up with four to play. Finally, however, they were lucky to escape with half a point after Spieth barely missed birdie putts at the last two holes.

And world number one Dus-tin Johnson and Brooks Koepka pulled away on the back nine to beat Aussie Adam Scott and Ven-ezuelan Jhonattan Vegas 3 & 2.

The US have won nine of the 11 prior editions, with one end-ing in a draw.

But after a narrow one-point defeat in the 2015 edition in South Korea, there was optimism that the Internationals could pull off the upset, and add a second title to the one they captured in 1998.

Price insisted it was still possible.

“We’re only 10 points through 30,” he said.

“There’s 20 points left. There’s a lot of golf left.”

United States 8 International Team 2On FridayFourballs

United States 4.5 International team 0.5

Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed (USA) v Hideki Mat-

suyama/Adam Hadwin (JPN/CAN) halved

Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas (USA) bt Louis

Oosthuizen/Branden Grace (RSA) 3 & 2

Phil Mickelson/Kevin Kisner (USA) bt Jason Day/

Marc Leishman (AUS) 1-up

Kevin Chappell/Charley Hoffman (USA) bt Charl

Schwartzel/Anirban Lahiri (RSA/IND) 6 & 5

Dustin Johnson/Brooks Koepka (USA) bt Adam

Scott/Jhonattan Vegas (AUS/VEN) 3 & 2

PRESIDENTS CUP RESULTS

Phil Mickelson of the US Team plays a shot on the second hole during four-ball matches of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on Friday in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Captain Price struggling for answers Jersey City Reuters

International captain Nick Price was left scratching his head in search of

answers as he prepared for resumption at the Presidents Cup.

With the United States team already leading 8-2, only a massive turnaround in the eight matches on Satur-day will leave any suspense heading into today’s 12 sin-gles at Liberty National.

“These guys are trying their arses off,” captain Price said.

“I don’t know what the recipe is. This is my third time (as captain) and I’m still try-ing to figure it out.”

The International team, comprised of players from around the world except for Europe, have lost nine of the 11 competitions and Price said it was difficult to come together as a team.

Price’s task has become harder with his top-ranked player, Japan’s Hideki Mat-suyama, struggling to the point he was dropped for S a t u r d a y m o r n i n g ’ s foursomes.

“I think we’ve got some strong teams out there tomor-row. So hopefully we can turn it around,” said Price, who will send out Australians Jason Day and Marc Leish-man against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed in the first match.

US captain Steve Stricker was not quite ready to deliver his victory speech, but said the team was one of the strongest he has been involved with.

“I’ve been on some pretty special teams. This reminds me a lot of the 2008 Ryder Cup team there when we finally were able to win at Valhalla.

“But this team is even I think better than that. They are young, they are explosive, they have a lot of fun with one another.

“We’re getting along great in the team room and they are playing great golf.”

Stricker’s toughest deci-sion was deciding which four players to leave out on Saturday morning with their depth such that Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chap-pell were benched, despite their runaway 6&5 victory on Friday.

The four alternate-shot foursomes will be followed by four four-ball (better ball) matches in the afternoon.

McIlroy fires 64 at British Masters Newcastle AFP

Rory McIlroy produced his lowest European Tour score in over two

years with a sizzling six-under par 64 on day three of the British Masters at Close House in Newcastle yesterday.

McIlroy didn’t drop a shot in managing six birdies to move to a share of the clubhouse lead on 10-under par.

He joined Swede David Lingmerth, who produced the lowest round of the week, an eight-under par 62.

But as McIlroy and Ling-merth enjoyed lunch, overnight leader Tyrrell Hat-ton was struggling early in his round.

McIlroy did shoot a clos-ing 64 in June’s PGA Tour Travelers Championship in

Connecticut, however his British Masters effort is a lowest European Tour round since a second round 64 on route to victory in the 2015 Dubai Desert Classic.

It also boosted McIlroy’s hopes of winning for a first time this season in what is his

penultimate event of the year.“I felt today I got the

most out of my round as I scrambled well when I needed to,” he said.

“Some of these three or four footers that you leave yourself are pretty tricky as the greens are soft, along

with some heel prints and stuff, so I was just trying to make a committed stroke as I could and thankfully they did for me today.”

After a no-frills opening two days, McIlroy finally gave the crowd something to cheer about, including chipping-in from pin high and left of the green at the par three, fifth hole.

Then for a third day run-ning McIlroy birdied the par five sixth hole ahead of birdying the ninth and 13th holes for a second occasion in three days.

McIlroy moved to 10-under for the event hol-ing a five-footer from behind the flag at the par three 17th.

“The crowds out there were brilliant today with a lot of people out there, so it was nice to have that sup-port,” McIlroy said.

Disqualified and excluded, Lahiri’s woes continue Jersey City Reuters

Anirban Lahiri had an afternoon to forget as he and his Inter-national team-mates were left

humbled by a rampaging United States who grabbed a commanding 8-2 lead on Friday in the Presidents Cup.

Lahiri and partner South African Charl Schwartzel absorbed the worst beating as Presidents Cup rookies Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chap-pell administered a 6&5 thrashing to collect the first US point of the day.

Hoffman and Chappell, who sat out Thursday’s opening foursomes, came out flying, 3-up after four holes. The Internationals, meanwhile, stum-bled out of the starting blocks with India’s Lahiri disqualified from play-ing the third hole after taking a practice shot out of the bunker at the

second. Players are allowed to prac-tice putting after the holes have been determined but cannot practice shots from anywhere else on the course.

“I think it was just an oversight on his part,” said International cap-tain Nick Price. “He’s obviously trying to prove to all of us that his pick was worth it and it’s put a lot of pressure on him.”

Price may have been sympathetic but he had no time to ease Lahiri, one of his captain’s picks, out of his 0-4-0 funk and benched him for Saturday’s foursomes.

“I think today he showed that he was very tight out there,” said Price. “Just trying to get him to loosen up and play golf and not be so worried about the fact that he’s got to prove something to us.”

“He doesn’t have to do that. We chose him. The captains and I and a lot of the team members chose him.”

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in action during the third round yesterday.

32 SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Stellar line-up set for Doha Worlds

The Peninsula

Doha is set to play host to another block-buster leg of the FINA airweave Swimming World

Cup 2017, as an array of global superstars have confirmed their participation for the highly-anticipated competition at the Hamad Aquatic Center later this week.

Fascinating battles are on the cards in both men’s and women events in the October 4 to 5, as several gold medalists from Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 FINA World Champion-ships, are eying to reign the Doha pool.

The swimmers, who will arrive in Doha following the Honk Kong leg (September 30 to

October 1), will be targeting to earn maximum points as the competition will reach the mid stage, which promises thrilling competitions during the two-day contest.

The FINA airweave Swim-ming World Cup 2017 includes eight legs in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

This year, the competition kicked off on August 2 in Mos-cow and will conclude on

November 19 in Singapore. Ber-lin, Hong Kong, Doha, Beijing, and Tokyo complete the list of host cities for 2017.

FINA President Dr Julio C Maglione reposed confidence in Doha to stage another spectac-ular show.

“Doha’s presence since 2012 in the World Cup circuit has assuredly reinforced the visibil-ity of this top-notch competition in the Middle East region,” he

said in a message. “After the suc-cessful staging of the 12th FINA World Swimming Champion-ships (25m) in 2014 in the Qatari capital, Doha, the legacy of swimming has continued in this part of the world,” he added.

Fans-favourite Chad Le Clos, the most successful man in the competition’s history with 116 gold medals under his belt, will be looking to extend his medals streak in Doha.

The 25-year-old, who won the 200m championship in Budapest World Championships earlier this summer, won three gold medals in the 2016 leg in Doha while in 2015 he clinched four gold medals.

But, the South African super-star will not be alone to spearhead the men’s competi-tions as his compatriot Cameron van der Burgh – the gold medal-ist at FINA World Championships W i n s d o r 2 0 1 6 ( 5 0 m breaststroke),

Russia’s Vladimir Viktorov-ich Morozov – Winsdsor 2016 champion at 100m breaststroke are also set to compete in the gala. Russian swimming ace Kirill Prigoda will also be seen in action during the event.

Also joining the star-studded line-up in men’s events will be Italy’s Gabriele Detti, who is

expected to excel in Doha after his golden run at this year’s World Championships.

The 23-year-old displayed a stunning performance in Buda-pest to clinch 800m freestyle gold. Radosław Kawęcki of Poland – the former world champion will also be joining the top names at the next week’s Worlds.

Hungary’s ’Iron Lady’ - Katinka Hosszu – will lead the star cast in women’s events, which will also see Olympic champion and world champion Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in action.

Crowd-puller Hosszu, has a staggering number of 226 gold medals to her name, which makes the top swimmer best in the competition’s history.

The 28-year-old will be looking to maintain her 200m and 400m Individual Medley dominance along with other events.

Sjostrom, 24 will set alight the pool as she will also be tar-geting maximum number of medals.

The Swedish is a double gold medalist at the FINA World Championships 2017 in Buda-pest, she had also clinched the 100m butterfly gold at Rio Games last year.

Triple Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands, Rio gold medalist Rie Kaneto of Japan and Jamai-ca’s star Alia Atkinson, the 2016 world champion are among the other stars to take part in the competition.

FINA World Cup (Qatar leg)

Several gold medalists from Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 FINA World Championships, are eyeing to reign the pool in October 4 to 5 event

Swimming superstars including Hosszu, Le Clos and Sjostrom have confirmed their participation

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom poses on the podium with her gold medal at Rio 2016 Olympics, in this August 2016 file photo. Sjostrom will be seen in action in Doha on October 4 and 5 at the Hamad Aquatic Center.

South Africa’s Chad Le Clos

will be looking to maintain his dominance in

Doha.

Doha’s presence since 2012 in the World Cup circuit has assuredly reinforced the visibility of this top-notch competition in the Middle East region: FINA President Dr Julio C Maglione

EPL: City regain top spot; United rout Palace London AFP

Match-winner Kevin De Bruyne came back to haunt former club Chel-

sea as Manchester City defeated the English Premier League (EPL) champions 1-0 at Stamford Bridge yesterday to reclaim top spot.

De Bruyne, who left Chelsea for Wolfsburg in January 2014, struck from outside the box mid-way through the second half, securing a victory that cemented City’s status as the early title favourites.

City recovered first place from Manchester United on goal difference and move six points clear of Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, who were beaten at home for a second time after their shock opening-weekend loss to Burnley.

Earlier, Romelu Lukaku extended his hot streak as Man-chester United powered to a 4-0 victory against Crystal Palace, while Harry Kane inspired Tot-tenham’s 4-0 demolition of Huddersfield yesterday.

Jose Mourinho’s men have now won six successive matches in all competitions and have

dropped only two points from their first seven league games.

Bottom of the table Palace arrived at Old Trafford as the first English top-flight team to lose their first six games without scoring a single goal.

It took just three minutes for United to breach Palace’s leaky defence when Juan Mata marked his 200th Premier League appearance with his first goal of the season, the Spanish winger finishing emphatically from Mar-cus Rashford’s cross.

Mourinho’s men struck again in the 35th minute as Ashley Young whipped a cross to the far post, where Marouane Fellaini stabbed home for his third goal

of the season. Fellaini wasn’t fin-ished yet and the Belgian midfielder headed United’s third from a Rashford free-kick in the 49th minute.

In the 86th minute, Lukaku capped United’s fourth 4-0 league win this term when the Belgium striker scored his 11th goal in 10 games since his close-season move from Everton.

At the John Smith’s Stadium, Kane’s masterclass ensured Tot-tenham cruised to their biggest win of the season.

Kane hit a hat-trick when Tottenham beat APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League in mid-week and the England striker demolished Huddersfield to take

his tally to 11 goals in his last six appearances. He opened the scoring with a clinical strike in the ninth minute and Ben Dav-ies added Tottenham’s second seven minutes later.

Kane’s superb curling effort in the 23rd minute made it three before Moussa Sissoko added a 90th-minute fourth as Mauricio Pochettino’s side kept in touch with the leaders.

Diafra Sakho eased the pres-sure on West Ham boss Slaven Bilic as his last-gasp strike clinched a 1-0 win over Swan-sea at the London Stadium.

Amid rumours that sacked Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ance-lotti is a target for the Hammers, Sakho netted in the 90th minute to give Bilic’s side just their sec-ond league success this season and lift them out of the relega-tion zone. Peter Crouch gave Stoke a 2-1 home win over his former club Southampton.

Senegal forward Mame Biram Diouf put Stoke ahead five minutes before half-time.

Moments later Saints defender Virgil van Dijk con-ceded a penalty with a foul on Saido Berahino, but the striker’s spot-kick was saved by Fraser Forster.

Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrates after scoring their third goal against Huddersfield Town during their English Premier League match at John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield yesterday.

Chelsea 0 Manchester 1 City (De Bruyne (67 minutes)

Huddersfield 0 Tottenham 4 (Kane 9, 23, Davies 16, Sissoko 90+1)

Manchester United 4 (Mata 3, Fellaini 35, 49, Lukaku 86) Crystal Palace 0

Bournemouth 0 Leicester 0

Stoke 2 (Diouf 40, Crouch 85) Southampton 1 (Yoshida 75)

West Brom 2 (Rondon 18, Evans 21) Watford 2 (Doucoure 37, Richarlison 90+5)

West Ham 1 (Sakho 90) Swansea 0

Today’s fixtures (GMT)Arsenal vs Brighton (1100), Newcastle vs Liverpool (1430), Everton vs Burnley

(1315)

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu is in superior form and is expected to topple her opponents again at the FINA World Cup.