SPORTTuesday 6 March 2018

Stage set for ITTF World Tour Platinum

Qatar Open

Shastri sees shades of Khan in Kohli

PAGE | 32-33 PAGE | 34 PAGE | 36Aussies wrap

up Durban win

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ACL: Injury-time goal helps Al Gharafa to draw with Al AhliARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

DOHA: A last-gasp equaliser from Robert Quijada earned Al Gharafa a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in the 2018 AFC Champions League Group A match here yesterday while another QNB Stars league (QSL) club Al Sadd went down fighting 1-0 to Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf in an away match.

Al Ahli came off the blocks racing and nearly found an opener inside four minutes when striker Mohannad Assiri met Saeed Al Muwallad’s cross first time, but saw his shot saved by goalkeeper Qassem Burhan.

Despite the quick start, the visitors had to wait until the 62th minute to finally find a break-through. Defender Aqeel Balghaith powered in a header into the top corner of Burhan’s goal following Taiseer Al Jassim’s

cross from the left flank.As Al Ahli looked set for an

away win, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder sent a pinpoint cross for Quijada who watched his header ricochet off the post then followed through on the rebound to drive home the equaliser in second half added time.

Al Gharafa travel to the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah for the reverse fixture next Tuesday.

In Qarshi, Azizjon Ganiev’s second-half penalty proved the difference as Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf beat Qatar’s Al Sadd 1-0.

Hosts Nasaf looked closer to opening the scoring in the first half, while Al Sadd struggled.

Al Sadd, whose Qatar Stars League title chances were severely dented last week when they were beaten 4-3 by leaders Al Duhail, failed to get their act together against Nasaf who dom-inated the game and created several scoring chances.

With the injured Xavi not playing the match, the Qatar giants were clearly short on inspiration and could have

leaked more goals but for the efforts of their defenders and goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb.

Al-Sheeb, however, couldn’t deny the Uzbeks in the 62nd minute when Azizjon Gainev scored from the penalty spot after Bobir Abdixolikov was fouled by Salem al-Hajri.

Ruzikul Berdiev’s men then held on to their slender lead for their second win in the competition.

Elsewhere,UAE’s Al Wasl suffered their third straight defeat yesterday as Iran’s Perse-polis dominated Al Wasl for a 2-0 victory at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Meanwhile in Tehran, Far-shad Ahmadzadeh and Ali Alipour were on target in a span of five minutes as

Persepolis saw off Al Wasl. Ahmadzadeh scored with a volley in the 36th minute when a long throw-in by Hos-sein Mahini was headed into his path by captain Jalal Hos-seini and Alipour consolidated in the 41st from the spot after he was felled while trying to get around Al Wasl goalkeeper Yousif Abdulla.

Australian midfielder Anthony Caceres came close to reducing the deficit for Al Wasl but his free-kick was tipped away for a corner by Alireza Beiranvand.

Yesterday’s Group C results leave Al Sadd, Nasaf and Perse-polis level on six points, while Al Wasl languish at the bottom hav-ing failed to open their account from three matches.

Al Gharafa’s midfielder Wesley Sneijder is challenged by an Al Ahli player during the AFC Champions League football match at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha yesterday.

Players of Al Gharafa celebrate after scoring a goal against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli during the AFC Champions League football match at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha yesterday.

Results and fixtures for the AFC Champions

League yesterday

Nasaf (0) 1 Al Sadd (0) 0

Persepolis (2) 2 Al Wasl (0) 0

Al Jazira (0) 0 Tractor Sazi (0) 0

Al Gharafa (0) 1 Al Ahli (0) 1

Today’s, fixtures (GMT)

Sydney vs Kashima Antlers (0830)

Suwon Bluewings vs Shanghai Shenhua

(1000)

Kawasaki Frontale vs Melbourne Victory (1000)

Shanghai SIPG vs Ulsan (1200)

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Al Duhail and Al Rayyan eye winsTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Duhail are looking for their third successive win in Group B of the AFC Cham-pions League when they host PFC Lokomotiv at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium today while Al Rayyan will be looking to pick pionts in the away match in Riyadh.

The table-toppers fell behind to Al Wahda last week but a Youssef El Arabi brace and a Karim Boudiaf goal saw the Qatari team run out 3-2 winners as they built on their opening-day victory over Zobahan.

Lokomotiv, meanwhile, lost 2-0 against Zobahan last time out to slip to third in the standings, having eased to a 5-0 victory over Al Wahda in their first game as their con-trasting home and away form followed a similar trend to their past three campaigns.

On Lokomotiv’s only previous trip to Doha, they suffered a 6-2 defeat to Al Sadd in the 2015 group stage, although they did avenge that loss three weeks later by easing to a 5-0 victory in Tashkent.

In Riyadh, Al Hilal will be desperate to bring an end to a five-game winless run in the AFC Champions League ahead of the visit of Al Rayyan to King Saud University Sta-dium on Tuesday.

Al Hilal drew their opening Group D fix-ture with Al Ain and then lost 1-0 to Esteghlal

two weeks ago after Abdullah Al Hafith’s own goal. The 2017 runners-up have now not won on the continent since the first leg of last year’s semi-final and have yet to score in the current campaign.

Today’s visitors are only a point ahead of Al Hilal but will be far happier with their start, having followed a 2-2 draw with Esteghlal with a 1-1 draw against Al Ain. They did, however, lose both group games – 2-1 and 4-3 – to the Saudi side in 2017.

The hosts will be without Ali Al Habsi after the goalkeeper was sent off against Esteghlal, while Al Rayyan welcome back their talisman, captain Rodrigo Tabata, after the playmaker was suspended for the draw with Al Ain.

Meanwhile, the 2016 AFC Champions League runners-up Al Ain will be seeking their first win of the 2018 campaign when they entertain Esteghlal in Group D at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium today.

The Emirati side, who are without the suspended Mohamed Abdulrahman, have drawn their first two matches, after Al Rayyan left the UAE with a point following Swedish striker Marcus Berg’s opener from the spot two weeks ago.

Esteghlal drew their opening game 2-2 with Al Rayyan then claimed an impressive 1-0 victory over Al Hilal on Matchday Two after Abdullah Al Hafith’s own goal.

A positive result in Al Ain would leave the Iranian side in a strong position at the mid-way point of the group stage.

Al Ain will have happy memories of the last time they met, in the first knockout round last year, when, after Esteghlal won 1-0 in Tehran, the Emirati team stormed back to post a resounding 6-1 home victory to advance 6-2 on aggregate.

In Jeonju, in Group E table-toppers Jeon-buk Hyundai Motors take on Tianjin Quanjian at Jeonju World Cup Stadium.

The 2016 winners Jeonbuk have returned to the competition in fine style, following up a 3-2 opening-day victory over Kashiwa Reysol with a comprehensive 6-0 win against Kitchee SC two weeks ago in a game that saw Brazilian striker Adriano net a hat-trick.

Another Brazilian, Alexandre Pato, scored a late equaliser away at Kashiwa on Matchday Two as Tianjin secured a 1-1 draw to leave Japan with a point. The Chinese Super League team have now won one and drawn one ahead of their visit to Korea Republic. Defender Hong Jeong-ho is sus-pended for the hosts, who kicked off their K League 1 campaign with a 2-0 victory over Ulsan Hyundai last Thursday. Tianjin, mean-while, defeated Henan Jianye 4-0 as they got their Chinese Super League season off to a perfect start.

Matches of AFC Cup in Iraq postponedREUTERS

BAGHDAD: Two AFC Cup matches involving Iraqi clubs have been postponed until April in the hope that FIFA will lift a ban on the country hosting competitive interna-tional games, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday.

Al Zawraa were sched-uled to host Bahraini side Manama Club today, while Air Force Club’s home game against Malkiya of Bahrain was to be held a week later but now stand postponed in a decision taken by the foot-ball governing body for Asia.

The AFC and the partici-pating clubs had given their consent to stage fixtures in Iraq but FIFA are yet to allow the country to host competi-tive club fixtures of Asian tournaments.

“FIFA have emphasised that the lifting of the ban on playing matches in Iraq applies only for international friendly matches and that the AFC Cup matches are not friendly games and therefore cannot be staged in Iraq without a change in the cur-rent ruling by the FIFA Council,” the AFC said in a statement here yesterday.

“As the next FIFA Coun-cil is to be held on March 15-16, 2018, the AFC, in order to provide the Iraqi clubs with an opportunity to play the matches on home soil and in accordance with the AFC Cup Regulations 2018 (Article7.3) have decided to postpone the affected matches until April 16 and 17, 2018.”

The AFC said it would decide venues for the two matches after the FIFA Coun-cil considers the issue in their next meeting.

Al Rayyan players get ready for the AFC Champions League match.

REUTERS

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi in full flow is one of the most exhilarating sights in football and a threat that puts defences on red alert, but the Barce-lona talisman has become just as dangerous from dead ball situations too.

With a perfectly-placed dipping free kick from 23 metres out on Sunday, Messi beat Atletico Madrid’s wall and towering goalkeeper Jan Oblak to earn Barcelona a vital 1-0 win over their La Liga title rivals at Camp Nou.

It was a sensational effort which leaves the unbeaten Catalans eight points clear at the top of the standings.

Oblak got his fingertips to Messi’s strike but its power made it impossible to keep out, with the goal the Argen-tine’s career 600th for club and country.

It was also the third consecutive game Messi has scored a free kick, exhibiting three different styles. Against

Girona on February 24, the 30-year-old struck a low effort underneath the

wall, catching Barcelona’s derby rivals by surprise during a 6-1 win.

On Thursday, in the 1-1 draw at Las Palmas, Messi smashed a rising effort from the edge of the box into the top corner, bypassing the wall and leaving goalkeeper Leandro Chichizola with no chance.

His latest strike against Atletico was his fifth free kick goal in 2018 alone and no other player in Europe has scored as many this season. The No. 10 had pre-viously scored a high of four free kicks in a calendar year in 2012.

In February last year against Ath-letic Bilbao, Messi broke Ronald Koeman’s club record of 26 set-piece strikes. The forward now has 33 to his name for Barcelona, 24 of those com-ing in La Liga, and another six with Argentina.

Messi has scored from a free kick in every year since 2008 and accord-ing to former Argentina fitness coach

Fernando Signorini, in 2009 then-national team coach Diego Maradona offered him some advice which changed his style.

In an interview with Spanish televi-sion channel La Sexta, Signorini said Maradona saw Messi get frustrated after missing three free kicks in training and started walking away from the field.

“Maradona hugged him and said ‘You can’t tell me that you, on your way to becoming one of the best play-ers in history, are going back to the dressing room because of this non-sense?’ “Maradona told him ‘Listen to me, when you hit the ball don’t take your foot away so soon because if you do, she doesn’t know what you want. You have teach her what you want and then she will understand,’” Signorini said.

Nearly a decade on, Messi appears to have mastered the art completely.

30 TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018SPORT

Neymar-less PSG aim to oust Real MadridAFP

PARIS: Dani Alves insists Paris Saint-Germain have what it takes to beat Real Madrid in their Champions League showdown today even with-out the injured Neymar.

“We always have two options -- either we sit down and cry, or we get up and do what we have to do,” said Alves when asked about the absence of his compatriot, who is back in Bra-zil recovering from a foot operation.

“With Neymar PSG are stronger, and with-out ‘Ney’ we are still strong because there are other players,” added Alves, who was speaking at yesterday’s eve-of-game press conference in Paris.

“For sure, we will feel his absence. But I insist that between sitting down and crying and get-ting up and getting on with it, I always opt for the second option.” The world’s most expensive player had an operation on Saturday in Belo Hor-izonte on a small fracture to a metatarsal in his right foot and is now recovering with the aim of being back towards the end of the season.

The hope for PSG is that they might be able to get their 222m-euro man back for the latter stages of the Champions League.

But in order to make it to the quarter-finals in mid-April, they will need to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit in their last-16 tie against Real following their defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last month.

Asked if he had been in touch with his inter-national colleague, Alves said: “I speak with him practically every day, so yes we have agreed between us that we would see each other again later on in this competition.”

In Neymar’s absence, Angel Di Maria is likely to start for PSG against his former club, along-side Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani in a front three at the Parc des Princes.

“When one player is missing, it opens the door for someone else, and I know that whoever comes in through that door tomorrow (Tuesday) will do so with all their force,” said coach Unai Emery.

The Spaniard said he was confident centre-back Marquinhos, midfielder Marco Verratti and both Mbappe and Cavani would be ready for the game after minor fitness concerns.

They all trained on Sunday, but one man who didn’t was Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore, who is a doubt. Midfield duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have both been struggling with injury for Madrid, although they travelled to the French cap-ital with the rest of Zinedine Zidane’s squad yesterday.

Gareth Bale became Real Madrid’s second top-scorer for the season on Saturday night but it is in Paris today when he will discover where he truly sits in the pecking order.

Bale is not guaranteed to start what is poten-tially a season-defining match for Los Blancos.

Adrift in La Liga and out of the cups, success

for Real in 2017-18 now depends entirely on their exploits in Europe. Zidane’s future as coach may also be tied to them lifting the trophy in May.

It leaves the Frenchman with no room for error at the Parc des Princes, where an absence of Bale would represent the surest indication yet of a lack of trust when it matters most.

Bale could hardly have done more in Satur-day’s 3-1 win over Getafe.

He opened the scoring, his eighth goal in 13 league starts this season, and would have fin-ished with two but for a bending shot nicking the outside of the post. In the final rehearsal before psg, he was brave, bold and industrious.

It is no coincidence that this improved per-formance came after Zidane deployed the Welshman in his more natural position of advanced midfield, rather than the lone striker role he was mysteriously presented with in last week’s dreary defeat to Espanyol.

Real were poor, and Bale spent much of the game with his back to goal.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Dani Alves gestures during a press conference ahead of their Champions League match against Real Madrid at Parc des Princes, Paris, France, yesterday.

Free kick king Messi proves he has mastered the art

Arsenal face major overhaulREUTERS

MANCHESTER: After a week in which two 3-0 defeats by Manchester City highlighted the gulf between Arsenal and the Premier League champions-elect, Sunday’s loss at Brighton suggested even the Gunners’ membership of the “Big Six” is in question.

The focus is again on the future of French manager Arsene Wenger, but whether he sees out the remaining year of his contract or steps down at the end of this cam-paign, it is clear the North London side need a major overhaul.

Arsenal are closer to seventh-placed Burnley than they are to fifth-placed Chelsea.

Wenger’s side are 13 points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur, who occupy the fourth Champions League spot, and a yawning 33 points adrift of the runaway leaders.

Worse than the statistics is the clear sense that Spurs, Liverpool and Manchester United are improving, evolv-ing into quality teams who can compete at the highest level in Europe and with the potential to give City a real challenge next season.

Arsenal, in contrast, are drifting, still with more qual-ity than the likes of Burnley and Leicester City, but no longer with the aura of a team that is part of the elite group.

Those questioning Wenger’s suitability are no longer restricted to the hardcore of hostile Arsenal fans who have long campaigned for him to leave the club where he won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups in his 21 years in charge.

Former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness, now a pundit with Sky Sports, is one of those who believes the club need a change of helmsman.

“He is responsible for every single decision at Arse-nal and he has to hold his hands up and I think it is time for another voice. I come from a generation where Arse-nal were a very special football club and they have slipped a long way from that,” he said.

“All the players are there because he wanted them there. For whatever reason a lot of them have not been anywhere good enough for Arsenal and the message is not getting across to them anymore.”

But whether chief executive Ivan Gazidis or Ameri-can owner Stan Kroenke decide to pull the trigger or allow Wenger to see out the remaining 12 months of his con-tract, the same problem will confront them.

Can Arsenal, without a Premier League title in 14 years, still attract the calibre of manager capable of bringing in top talent and transforming the team into one which can compete with Pep Guardiola’s City in the near future? The bookmakers’ favourite for the job is Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich boss.

But while the 58-year-old has vast experience at the highest level, including winning the Premier League in 2010 with Chelsea, and he is available, his strength has been more in managing established top teams than lead-ing clubs out of mediocrity.

Another Italian, Massimiliano Allegri, has been linked with the position but is unlikely to see the Gunners as a step up from his current role with Italian champions Juventus.

Paris St Germain players during a training session at Ooredoo Training Centre, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, yesterday.

Arsenal supporters hold up anti-Wenger banners in the crowd after the English Premier League football match at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England, yesterday.

Champions League Round of 16 matches today:

Liverpool vs FC Porto

(Aggregate: Liverpool leads 5-0)

Paris Saint Germain vs Real Madrid

(Aggregate: Real Madrid leads 3-1)

Kick off: 10.45pm (Doha time)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (right) kicks the ball and scores during the Spanish league football match against Club Atletico de Madrid at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on Sunday.

31TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018 SPORT

‘Excited’ Sneijder praises unifying potential of 2022 FIFA World CupTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Wesley Sneijder says he has settled into life in Qatar very easily, and revealed he is ‘excited’ to call the 2022 FIFA World Cup host nation his new home.

In an interview with the Supreme Committee for Deliv-ery & Legacy (SC), the former Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Ajax midfielder says even after a short period of time living in Qatar, he knows the country will host a special FIFA World Cup.

“From the moment I arrived here I was really impressed,” he said. “I’d already been told all the stories from the people that I know who have lived here or still play here – like Ronald de Boer or Anouar Diba,” Sneijder said.

“They told me a lot about Qatar, but since day one I have been impressed. The organisa-tion is amazing, the pitches are some of the best in the world, everything (is great).”

The 33-year-old, who has appeared at five major interna-tional tournaments in three different continents, also said it is the Middle East’s time to wel-come the world in 2022.

Speaking following a tour of the SC’s Legacy Pavilion, hosted by Assistant Secretary General

for Tournament Affairs Nasser Al Khater, he highlighted the unifying power of the beautiful game and said the country is ideally situated in the centre of the world, making it geograph-ically accessible to more people than ever before.

“Sport in general brings

many things together,” he con-tinued. “So it is good to change the location. We did it in South Africa in 2010, then we went to South America. Before we were in Europe in Germany, now we go to Russia – another new part of the world.

“Qatar will be an amazing

place, as I could see in the video (at the Legacy Pavilion). I never thought about Qatar being really central. So many countries can watch it. I think it’s time to do it here.”

Sneijder, a runner-up with Holland at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also discussed matters closer on the sporting calendar, includ-ing his former team Real Madrid’s chances of winning an unprece-dented third consecutive UEFA Champions League title.

“It’s going to be really tough for them this season,” he said. “It’s going to be hard, but they managed a great result in the Bernabéu against PSG so I think they will progress. They have not been that good this season, but the Champions League is always different and they know how to play in finals, so for sure they will reach the final.”

The midfielder has now swapped the UEFA Champions League for the AFC equivalent, with his new club Al Gharafa – where he says the challenges of balancing domestic and

continental football are just as intense, and rewarding.

“People in Holland think it’s (QSL) an easy league, but it’s not as easy as they think it is,” he explained. “The games are on a good level, and when you play in the (Asian) Champions League every four days it’s really tough.

“At Al Gharafa, every week we try to improve and every week we want to go to the next level. That’s what I like and I see it in all the guys I play with.”

Finally, when the season is over, Sneijder admitted a tough summer lies ahead – as he will be forced to sit out a FIFA World Cup for the first time in his career, after Holland failed to qualify for Russia.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “We have always been there

and now, for the first time, we won’t be. That’s a big disap-pointment for the whole country, but not only for the country, for the whole world. Holland needs to be at the World Cup and I hope we will be back here in Qatar in 2022.”

No resting on Liverpool’s laurels for coach KloppAFP

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ruled out making wholesale changes when Porto visit Anfield today despite holding a massive 5-0 lead from the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

Klopp’s men travel to Man-chester United on Saturday in a clash not only laced with huge

ramifications due to the rivalry between the sides, but also in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“We respect Porto too much and the competition too much that we would think about real rota-tion,” Klopp, who has rotated his side more than any other Premier League manager this season, said yesterday.

Liverpool have carried on their

fine form since dishing out Porto’s heaviest ever European home defeat three weeks ago by strengthening their position in the Premier League’s top four with routine wins over West Ham and Newcastle.

And Klopp is keen to keep that momentum going rather than give his key players the night off.

“You don’t rotate to avoid

something, you only use players that are in the best shape,” he added.

“If it will be a different line-up to Saturday I don’t know, but only because we want to win the game. We don’t rest players.”

Barring a disaster, Liverpool will book their place in the Cham-pions League last eight for the first time in nine years.

And midfielder James Milner believes they are serious contend-ers to win the competition for a sixth time if they can eradicate the inconsistency that has let them down during the course of the campaign.

Liverpool are the only side to beat runaway leaders Manchester City in the Premier League this season.

However, after edging out City 4-3 in a thriller at Anfield in Jan-uary, Liverpool went on to lose their next two outings to Swansea and West Brom.

“At this stage of the tourna-ment you need to have that belief you can go on and win it,” said Mil-ner of Liverpool’s Champions League chances.

“We are an exciting team to watch, but I think we are learning to manage games better than we have done in the past.

“We’ve proved over the past few years we can beat anyone, but you have to be consistent. We’re not looking too far ahead and want to put in a good per-formance and get through tomorrow night.”

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp during the press conference ahead of their Champions League match against Porto at Anfield, Liverpool, Britain, yesterday.

Champions League live and exclusive on beINDOHA: Four teams will secure their places in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League this week and beIN will have the matches covered throughout the two days of action.

Liverpool and Manchester City go into their second leg fixtures all but guaranteed a spot in the final 8, while Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain, Juventus and Tottenham will battle it out for the other two spots.

beIN English studio coverage gets underway at 22:00 Mecca time on beIN SPORTS HD11 today and tomorrow.

Presenter Angus Scott will be with studio analysts Ruud Gullit and Steffen Freund to cover all the main talking points.

Paris Saint-Germain will look to overcome a 3-1 deficit against Real Madrid in the pick of the action today. As well as English studio coverage, the match will also be available live from the Parc des Princes in both Arabic and French commentary on beIN SPORTS HD1 and HD14 respectively. If you prefer, you can watch the night’s other game between Liverpool and Porto on beIN SPORTS HD12.

All tied up at 2-2, Juventus against Tottenham Hotspur is a fixture you surely won’t want to miss tomorrow. That will be the main game on beIN SPORTS HD11, with Arabic, French, Spanish and 4K coverage also available. Meanwhile on beIN SPORTS HD12, you can watch Manchester City as they take on FC Basel.

Fans can follow the heated action by following beIN’s social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also get all the latest on the beIN SPORTS website and mobile application.

Fans can visit beIN.net/subscribe and picking one of many available packages to follow football’s top club competition one won’t want to miss. The packages includes the beIN Elite package, which brings free connect subscription, beIN’s over the top (OTT) offering that allows viewers to watch matches anytime and anywhere.

Champions League Round of 16 matches today and tomorrow:

Liverpool vs FC Porto

(Aggregate Liverpool leads 5-0)

Paris Saint Germain vs Real Madrid

(Aggregate Real Madrid leads 3-1)

Tomorrow

Tottenham Hotspur vs Juventus

(Aggregate: Teams tied at 2-all)

Manchester City vs Basel

(Aggregate: Manchester City leads 4-0)

Kick off: 10.45pm (Doha time)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES

Italy mourns death of Fiorentina’s AstoriAA

ISTANBUL: Italy is mourning the sudden death of Fiorentina foot-ball team captain Davide Astori as several leading sports newspapers in the country headlined the play-er’s death on their front pages yesterday.

The newspapers, including La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport, mentioned the death of 31-year-old Astori on their front pages.

In addition to Italian

newspapers, FIFA, UEFA, Turkish Football Federation (TFF), many football clubs and players extended their condolences.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Davide Astori who has passed away at the age of 31,” FIFA said on Twitter.

“Our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Fioren-tina captain and Italian international Davide Astori, who passed away suddenly last night,” European football’s governing body UEFA said on social media.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) tweeted in Turkish and Italian to commemorate Astori and offered their condolences to the player’s family as well as Fiorentina and Italian Football Federation.

“We are deeply saddened about Fiorentina captain Davide Astori’s sudden death. We are offering our condolences to Fiorentina, Italian Football Fed-eration and family of Astori,” TFF stated. Many football clubs from Turkey and Europe, famous Ital-ian football figures such as

Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon, and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos extended condolences on social media. On March 4, Astori was found dead in a hotel room in which his club Fiorentina stayed for their league match against Udinese. A prose-cutor in Udine said Astori’s death was due to suspected cardiac arrest by natural causes. After his death, Italian top-tier football league Serie A matches scheduled to be played in 27th week has been postponed.

Wesley Sneijder of Al Gharafa celebrates with team-mates during their QNB Stars League (QSL) match in this file picture.

32 TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018SPORT 33TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Australia bowler Josh Hazlewood celebrates with team-mates after taking the wicket of Morne Morkel in Durban yesterday.

Aussies wrap up Durban win as Warner, De Kock bust-up probedAFP

DURBAN: Australia wrapped up a 118-run win on the fifth day of the first Test against South Africa yester-day but the result is likely to be overshadowed by an ugly bust-up between David Warner and Quin-ton de Kock.

It took Australia 18 minutes and 22 balls to claim the last South Afri-can wicket when De Kock swung across the line and was leg before wicket to Josh Hazlewood for 83.

South Africa were bowled out for 298, adding five runs to their overnight total of 293 for nine.

The win gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

Just before the rapid conclusion of the match, however, video foot-age emerged showing Aussie

firebrand Warner pointing and directing a verbal barrage at De Kock during Sunday’s play at Kings-mead before he was restrained and pulled away by his team-mates.

The incident reportedly took place as the players were returning to their dressing rooms at tea.

“CA (Cricket Australia) is aware of reports of an incident between players in Durban,” a Cricket Aus-tralia spokesman said in a

statement. “CA is working to estab-lish the facts of what has occurred and will not be commenting further until that has been done.”

The Australians had earlier been criticised for their ebullient celebra-tion of the dramatic run-out of Proteas’ star batsman AB de Villiers.

De Villiers was run out for nought after being involved in a mix-up with opening batsman Aiden

Markram, with Warner playing a key fielding role in securing the cru-cial wicket.

The vice-captain then led ecstatic celebrations with his team-mates as Nathan Lyon, who had knocked off the bails, dropped the ball towards a sprawled De Villiers as he ran over to join them.

In a statement issued by Cricket South Africa yesterday, team man-ager Mohammed Moosajee said: “It’s rather unfortunate that the incident took place and certainly not in the spirit of the game.

“The match referee had spoken to us after the day’s play. We will await any further communication from the ICC around this incident.”

The Australians’ behaviour was slammed by former South African

captain Graeme Smith, who told Cricket Australia’s cricket.com.au website in Durban that Lyon as an experienced cricketer would “prob-ably say (his action) was unnecessary himself”.

“We’ve got used to Davey (Warner) over the years. I think the less interest you take in him the bet-ter,” Smith added.

“He can be a bit of a fool at times. It’s best just to let him be.”

The match was effectively won and lost in the first innings when Australia took a lead of 189 runs.

Half-centuries by Warner and skipper Steve Smith and 96 by Mitchell Marsh enabled Australia to make 351.

Early wickets by off-spinner Lyon and a devastating spell of fast reverse swing bowling by Mitchell

Starc sent South Africa tumbling to 162 in reply.

South Africa fought back in the second half of the match, bowling with more purpose to bowl out the tourists for 227, then recovering from a nightmare start to their sec-ond innings, largely through Markram, who made 143, and De Kock.

The batting of the lower order of the teams was a significant difference.

Australia’s last five wickets fell for a total of 166 runs overs the two innings, while South Africa could muster only 27 runs over the same period.

Starc had match figures of nine for 109 and was particularly effec-tive against South Africa’s tailenders.

It took Australia 18 minutes and 22 balls to claim the last South African wicket when De Kock swung across the line and was leg before wicket to Josh Hazlewood for 83.

‘Personal insults’ behind Warner-De Kock rowAFP

DURBAN: Personal insults were at the root of a row between Australia’s David Warner and South Africa’s Quin-ton de Kock during the tea break of the fourth day of the first Test, their captains said.

The incident is in the hands of match referee Jeff Crowe, with no immediate clarity about when a deci-sion could be expected. CCTV footage showed Warner apparently turning on De Kock as the players walked up a narrow staircase leading to the dress-ing rooms at the start of the interval in Durban in a match won by Australia.

“What was said and done during that interval was regrettable on both sides,” said Australian captain Steve Smith.

“Quinton got personal and evoked an emotional response from Davey. Those things are not on from both sides. Getting personal on the field is crossing the line in my opinion.”

Smith’s version was disputed by South African manager Mohammed Moosajee, who blamed Warner.

“There were words said out on the field. If you are saying something you’ve got to take it and that’s the opinion of Quinton. Let the investiga-tions begin and let the match officials decide,” said manager Moosajee.

South African captain Faf du Ples-sis said the umpires needed to ensure proper behaviour on the field.

“From what I’ve heard there was a lot of personal stuff being said, to and from. Who started it, I don’t know. If it was happening on the field it should have been nipped in the bud.

“The fact that it spilled over after the field shouldn’t have happened.” - ‘Very chirpy’ - The CCTV footage shows Warner being restrained by team-mates Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon before being persuaded to go into the dressing room by Smith.

Du Plessis said he had been aware of the incident.

“I heard the commotion and went outside and just asked David to go into his dressing room. It needs to stay on the field when you are chirping each other. There need to be boundaries on that.”

Smith acknowledged his players were “certainly very chirpy on the field”.

But he said that as far as he aware his players had not got personal with De Kock.

Smith said he hoped the

remaining three Tests would be played in the right spirit. “We play our best cricket when we’re aggressive, when we’re in the fight together and hunt-ing as a pack as one. We’re working for each other and backing our mates up in the field. That’s part of being an Australian.”

He said there had been “regretta-ble incidents from both parties” but hoped for better behaviour in the next three Test matches.

“I’m not going to say nothing will ever happen again but as far as I’m concerned we’ve just got to try and play within the spirit of the game.” Du Plessis said he expected aggression from the opposition when he played against Australia.

“I’m certainly not sitting here com-plaining about it. I was disappointed to see the way it unfolded yesterday

but I expect a tough series and I look forward to the battle.” According to Du Plessis, De Kock was unaffected by the incident.

“Quinny’s fine. I don’t think you get a reaction from him most of the time. When you look at him now it’s like nothing happened.”

Meanwhile, Australian off-spinner Lyon was charged with conduct con-trary to the spirit of the game after he dropped the ball next to AB de Villiers after completing a runout of South Africa’s star batsman, an incident cap-tured on television.

Lyon was expected to be fined or penalised with a demerit point for what is classified as a level one offence.

He was said to have apologised to De Villiers and the pair were seen shaking hands while the teams warmed up yesterday.

Australia’s David Warner and captain Steven Smith leave at the end of play yesterday.

Starc’s swing the difference, says Du PlessisAFP

DURBAN: Mitchell Starc’s ability to blow away South Africa’s tail was the crucial difference between the teams, South African captain Faf du Plessis said after Australia wrapped up a 118-run win on the fifth day of the first Test yesterday.

It took Australia 18 minutes and 22 balls to claim the last South Afri-can wicket when Quinton de Kock swung across the line and was leg before wicket to Josh Hazlewood for 83.

South Africa were bowled out for 298, adding five runs to their over-night total of 293 for nine as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

The result is however likely to be overshadowed by an unseemly row between Australia’s tempestuous David Warner and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock as the players returned to the clubhouse for tea.

From the fall of the sixth wicket in the four innings, Australia added a total of 166 runs while South Africa scored only 27 runs from the same stage.

“There was a real difference in skill with the reverse swing,” said Du Plessis, who said Starc and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada were the two stand-outs.

“One bowler in each team has the potential to do that to the tail. We’ve got to find ways to eliminate their tail a lot quicker. As I said before the series, it’s going to be a real crucial part, the amount of runs scored between eight and eleven.”

Man-of-the-match Starc had match figures of nine for 109, with six of his victims being lower order batsmen.

Du Plessis acknowledged that it was difficult for his tailenders.

“Starc reverse swings the ball at pace and the only weapon we have right now is Kagiso. The tail are going to have to scrap it and get as many runs as possible but we know as the top seven or eight batters that the responsibility lies with us.”

Australian captain Steve Smith also identified runs from the lower order as crucial.

“Our tail played really well, it was probably the difference in the end,” he said.

“It’s really satisfying to win the first Test match of the series, espe-cially against quality opposition like South Africa,” said Smith.

The Australian captain said it was disappointing that none of the bats-men had gone to make a hundred, although he praised Mitchell Marsh, whose 96 in the first innings, batting with the tail, enabled Australia to cre-ate the foundation for a 189-run first innings lead. “Reverse swing played a huge part throughout the game,” said Smith.

“The ball started reversing inside 20 overs in the first innings, which you don’t see too often, but it was a very abrasive surface.”

Looking ahead to the second Test, which starts in Port Elizabeth on Fri-day, Smith said: “For us it is about ensuring we keep doing those basic things really well and keep winning the big moments.”

Australia’s bowler Mitchell Starc

celebrates after taking the wicket of South Africa’s batsman Keshav Maharaj during

their Durban Test on Sunday.

SCOREBOARDAustralia (I innings) ................................351South Africa (I innings) ........................ 162Australia (II innings).............................. 227South Africa (II innings)A Markram c Paine b M Marsh ............................143

D Elgar c Paine b Starc .............................................. 9

H Amla lbw b Hazlewood ........................................8

A de Villiers run out (Warner) ................................. 0

F du Plessis b Cummins ............................................4

T de Bruyn c Paine b Hazlewood .........................36

Q de Kock lbw b Hazlewood .................................83

V Philander c Paine b Starc ......................................6

K Maharaj b Starc .......................................................0

K Rabada b Starc ........................................................0

M Morkel (not out) .....................................................3

Extras (B2, LB3, NB1) .............................................. 6

Total (92.4 overs) ................................. 298Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-39, 3-39, 4-49, 5-136, 6-283,

7-290, 8-290, 9-290, 10-298

Bowling: Starc 18-2-75-4 (1nb), Hazlewood 15.4-2-61-3,

Lyon 32-7-86-0, Cummins 15-3-47-1, M Marsh 7-2-21-1,

Smith 5-3-3-0

Result: Australia won by 118 runs

Series: Australia lead the four-match series 1-0

MacLeod leads Scotland to stunning victoryAFP

HARARE: Calum MacLeod struck a magnificent 157 not out as Scotland stunned Afghanistan by seven wickets in their opening 2019 World Cup qualifier at Bulawayo on Sunday.

Afghanistan, one of the pre-tournament favourites to qualify, made 255 all out batting first, but MacLeod hammered 23 fours and a six in his blistering 146-ball knock to lead Scotland to victory with 16 deliveries remaining.

Hosts Zimbabwe lead the early Group B table, though, after their 116-run thrashing of Nepal, while the United Arab Emirates and Ireland got off to winning starts in Group A against Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands respectively.

The 10 teams in Zimbabwe are fighting it out for only two places alongside the world’s top eight ODI sides at next year’s World Cup in England and Wales.

A famous Scotland win looked unlikely when 16-year-old Afghan leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman dis-missed openers Matthew Cross and Kyle Coetzer inside the first six overs.

But Richie Berrington joined MacLeod at the crease as the pair put on a 208-run stand to see off Afghani-stan and gain a measure of revenge for their narrow defeat by the same opposition at the 2015 World Cup.

Rising star Rashid Khan, the first teenager to cap-tain a men’s international side, was attacked by MacLeod and conceded 68 runs from his nine overs.

The 19-year-old finally ended the partnership by trapping Berrington lbw, but by then the game was gone and Afghanistan will have to bounce back against Zim-babwe on Tuesday, with only the top three teams from each group to reach the Super Six stage.

Earlier, Afghanistan had recovered from 71-4 to post a challenging total thanks to 92 from all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and the big-hitting Najibullah Zadran’s 67.

Elsewhere, Zimbabwe restored some confidence after their 4-1 series defeat by Afghanistan last month by crushing Nepal as both Sikandar Raza and Brendan Taylor hit hundreds.

Wicket-keeper Taylor managed an even 100, but the headlines were grabbed by all-rounder Raza’s 66-ball 123 that featured nine maximums.

Nepal battled bravely in reply but never threatened Zimbabwe’s massive total of 380-6, as Raza added 3-48 with his off-spin in a virtuoso individual display.

Ireland, who have beaten Pakistan, England and the West Indies over the last three World Cups, got off to an impressive start with a comfortable 93-run win in a weather-shortened game against the Dutch.

Andy Balbirnie’s 68 led the Irish to 268-7, before Tim Murtagh took three wickets as the Netherlands slumped to 149 all out in pursuit of 243 from 41 overs.

The UAE, who gave two-time world champions the West Indies a scare in a warm-up match earlier in the week, had little trouble in brushing aside Papua New Guinea to edge ahead of Ireland at the top of Group A on net run rate. The Windies get their Group A cam-paign under way against the UAE today.

Group A In Harare

Ireland 268-7 in 50 overs (Andy Balbirnie 68; Timm van der

Gugten 3-59) v Netherlands 149 all out in 32.2 overs

(Tim Murtagh 3-28)

Ireland win by 93 runs (DLS) United Arab Emirates 221 all out from 49.4 overs (Rohan Mustafa

95, Ashfaq Ahmed 50; Norman Vanua 4-39) v Papua New Guinea

113 all out in 25.5 overs (Mohammed Naveed 5-28)

UAE win by 56 runs (DLS) Group B

In Bulawayo Afghanistan 255 all out in 49.4 overs (Mohammad Nabi 92, Na-

jibullah Zadran 67; Brad Wheal 3-36, Richie Berrington 3-42) v

Scotland 256-3 in 47.2 overs (Calum MacLeod 157 not out,

Richie Berrington 67)

Scotland win by seven wickets Zimbabwe 380-6 in 50 overs (Sikandar Raza 123, Brendan Taylor

100; Solomon Mire 52) v Nepal 264-8 in 50 overs (Sharad Ve-

sawkar 52, Aarif Sheikh 50; Sikandar Raza 3-48)

Zimbabwe win by 116 runs

2019 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

PSL: A glimpse

TOP: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi (second right) along with PCB and security officials visiting the National Stadium in Karachi to assess renovation work yesterday. The venue is scheduled to host the Pakistan Super League final on March 25.

RIGHT: Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim clean bowled during the PSL match against Islamabad United on Sunday night in Sharjah.

BELOW: Islamabad United’s Luke Ronchi (left) and JP Duminy during the PSL match against Karachi Kings in Sharjah on Sunday night. Islamabad United won the match by eight wickets following a swashbuckling knock of 71 off 37 balls by Ronchi.

34 TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018SPORT

Stage set for ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar OpenTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open, one of the top events on the international table tennis calendar, will feature world’s top players from 43 countries.

Doha is the first stopover of the six Platinum events, which was only a part of ITTF World Tour, and Qatar will be hosting the 23rd edition at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena from March 8-11, with qualifying rounds on March 6-7.

China’s Olympic champion Ma Long won the men’s singles title last year, beating compa-triot and No.2 seed Fan Zhendong 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 11-4 in a gruelling final.

Among the women, Chen Meng defeated Wang Manyu

12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 2-11, 11-6 in an all-China final. Germany’s Dim-itrij Ovtcharov will lead the men’s pack in Ma’s absence.

“As China is focussed on the

2020 Tokyo Games, they are keen on promoting juniors,” said Al Mohannadi, President of the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA). Zhendong and Timo Boll are seeded second and third respectively.

In the women’s category, Chen and Zhu Yuling are the top two seeds followed by Singa-pore’s Feng Tianwei, Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa and Wang.

“The strong presence of top players is a testimony to Qatar Open’s importance. Even a cou-ple of editions ago, the organisers used to pay for the players’ lodgings and travel expenses, but since the last cou-ple of years they borne their own expenses to participate in the tournament,” said Al Mohan-nadi, who is also heads the Arab Table Tennis Federation

Prize MoneyMen’s Singles and Women’s Singles:Winner: $28,000

Runner-up: $14,000Semi-finalist: $6,750

Quarter finalist: $3,500Round of 16: $2,000Round of 32: $1000

Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles:

Winner: $8,000Runner-up: $4,000

Semi-finalist: $2,000Total: $235,000

Qatar win 13 medals at Dortmund meet THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s swimming team claimed 13 medals in Dortmund International Swimming Cham-pionships on Sunday.

Omar Ashraf claimed the gold medal of 200m butterfly event and the bronze medal of 50m butterfly event.

Abdullah Al Ghamri took the gold medal of 400m freestyle event while Ibrahim Al Hilal grabbed the gold medal of 200m backstroke event.

Moreover, Abdulaziz Al Obaidli clinched the gold medal of 200m backstroke event for boys under 18 years old.

Khaleel Al Jabir, President

of the Qatar Swimming Associ-ation hailed the results made by the Qatari swimmers in Dort-m u n d I n t e r n a t i o n a l Championships.

Al Jabir told reporters that the results reflect the efforts of the association to prepare its athletes for international championships.

The Organizing Committee of the FINA Marathon World Series 2018 (Open Water) is chaired by Khalil Al Jaber, President of Qatar Swimming Association (QSA), along with members of the committee. During the meeting, issues relating to the event were discussed. The one-day event will be held on March 17 with competitions for men and women in the 10-km class.

Main round of Qatar F2 Futures begins; Qatar juniors prep up for qualifiersQNA

DOHA: The main round of Qatar F2 Futures, organised by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation (QTSBF) in cooper-ation with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), kicked off yesterday.

The six-day event ends on Saturday.The tournament will feature 32 players

in singles and 16 doubles teams represent-ing several Arab and foreign countries.

QTSBF awarded invitation cards to a number of Qatari players; Mubarak Shanan, Mousa Shanan, Jabor Al Mutawa and Rayyan Al Jufairi.

Future championships are a major step for tennis players, who seek to qualify for the professional level, participating in the tournaments allow them to earn points in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP),

raising their international rankings and qual-ifying them for strong international tournaments.

Scott Griekspoor of the Netherlands claimed the title of Qatar F1 Futures singles event after beating Fajing Sun of China 6-4 6-3 in the final match. (QNA)

Meanwhile, the Qatar junior tennis team is featuring in the pre-qualification round of the Davis Cup Under-14 for the first time, in the Asia-Oceania group, which is being hosted in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, details showed yesterday.

The event, that started yesterday, is being held under the auspices of the ITF.

The Qatari junior team comprise Ibra-him Al Sulaiti, Rashid Nawaf, and Nasser Al Yafei.

The 10 participating teams are divided into three groups and the Qatar team is

drawn in group A alongside Pakistan and Philippines.

Competitions are conducted in the group league system, with two teams from each group ascending to the qualifying stage of the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup competition in Thailand from March 26 to 31, according to the regulations of ITF.

Head of the national teams’ committee of the QTSBF Khalid Al Khelaifi said that Qatar’s debut participation reflects the hard work that has been done over the years to build strong teams in all age groups.

Al Khelaifi told media reporters present in Colombo: “The QTSBF has great confi-dence in the national team’s players who will participate in the pre-qualification round of the Davis Cup to deliver their best per-formance to qualify for the next round in Thailand.”

New British number one Edmund wants ‘legitimate’ battle with MurrayREUTERS

LONDON: Kyle Edmund is proud to have become Britain’s top ranked tennis player but the 23-year-old says he would have preferred to have beaten Andy Murray fair and square for the honour rather than inherit it from the injured Scot.

While a hip issue has kept Murray on the sidelines since Wimbledon last year, Edmund progressed to his first grand slam semi-final at the Austral-ian Open in January and has risen to a career high 24th in the latest ATP rank-ings released on Monday.

Three-times Grand Slam winner Murray, who took over as Britain’s number one in 2006, has slipped to 29th in the world.

“As proud as I am, I would have been much happier had Andy stayed healthy and occupied his place at the very top where he belongs,” Edmund told British media.

“It is humbling to become the Brit-ish number one and perhaps unwittingly, as Andy has dropped down in rankings due to his injury.

Serena’s comeback her greatest challenge: Coach MouratoglouREUTERS

NEW YORK: Serena Williams’ return to the WTA Tour following the birth of her first child will be the “greatest challenge” of her career, but the American can get back to her best in time for the French Open, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Williams, who won her 23rd Grand Slam title at last year’s Australian Open before going on maternity leave, pulled out of this year’s tournament in Melbourne.

She represented the United States in a Fed Cup doubles match last month and is sched-uled to take part in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells this week.

Asked if her latest comeback represented the biggest test of her career, Mouratoglou said: “It probably is... now she is 36, just had a child, a second blood clot, has gone more than a year without any competition. I think we can say without a doubt that this is her biggest challenge.”

Former world number one Williams, who returned in 2012 from surgery for a life-threat-ening blood clot on her lung and climbed back to the top of the rankings, said she almost died after giving birth to her daughter in September.

Mouratoglou said fans had to give Williams time to adjust to the rigours of the sport.“I think she’ll be ready for Roland Garros. The competitions she will play until then will

help her and every day she progresses on her fitness,” he told the Women’s Tennis Association website.

“Serena’s target will be to win grand slams. She knows that com-ing back might take some time, but her level of expectation is high as always. There are three grand slams left this season.

“They will be her three main goals for 2018.”

RIGHT: Serena Williams and her baby girl are seen on the cover of Vogue magazine, February issue.

Qatar’s Giorgi Sakandelidze claimed the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships which came to an end on Sunday. In the 120kg event, Sakandelidze defeated Natsagsurengiin Zolboo of Mongolia in the semifinals before losing to Davit Modzmanashvili of Uzbekistan in the final match. Yousef Al Kazem, President of the Qatar Wrestling Federation (QWF) congratulated Sakandelidze on his achievement and said that the medal came as a fruit for federation’s efforts to develop wrestling in the state of Qatar.

Scotland ring changes for Six Nations clashAFP

LONDON: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has picked fit-again Richie Gray for the remainder of the Six Nations, the Scottish Rugby Union announced yesterday.

The experienced second-row forward returns from long-term back and calf injuries to be named in Townsend’s revised squad ahead of their final two fixtures against Ireland and Italy, with 10 players added in total.

Alex Dunbar, Zander Fagerson, Darryl Marfo and Fraser Brown are also recalled after injuries, while George Horne has been handed a first senior call-up.

Scotland, who play unbeaten Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, are third in the Six Nations table after beating England 25-13 at Murrayfield on February 24.

Squad:Forwards (22): John Barclay, capt (Scarlets), Simon Berghan

(Edinburgh), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow), David Denton (Worcester), Cornell du Preez (Edinburgh), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Leicester), John Hardie (Edinburgh), Scott Lawson (New-castle), Darryl Marfo (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Gordon Reid (London Irish), Tim Swin-son (Glasgow) Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow)

Backs (18): Mark Bennett (Edinburgh), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow), Nick Grigg

(Glasgow), Chris Harris (Newcastle), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow), George Horne (Glasgow), Pete Horne (Glasgow), Ruaridh Jackson (Glas-gow), Huw Jones (Glasgow), Lee Jones (Glasgow), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Byron McGuigan (Sale), Ali Price (Glasgow), Henry Pyr-gos (Glasgow), Finn Russell (Glasgow), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow)

35TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Sixers blow lead, fall to BucksREUTERS

NEW YORK: Giannis Antetok-ounmpo registered 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the Milwaukee Bucks over-came a 19-point third-quarter deficit to post a 118-110 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday at the Bradley Center.

Eric Bledsoe contributed 22 points and seven assists as Mil-waukee halted a four-game slide. Jabari Parker scored 13 points, Tyler Zeller and John Henson had 11 apiece and Khris Middleton scored 10.

Dario Saric scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting for Phila-delphia, which committed a season-worst 26 turnovers while losing for just the third time in 12 games. Joel Embiid had 19 points and eight rebounds, JJ Redick added 17 points and Ben Sim-mons recorded 12 points and 15 assists for the 76ers, who shot 55.7 percent from the field.

Embiid (seven), Simmons (six) and Redick (five) combined for 18 turnovers. The 76ers led by 20 points in the first quarter, and the outcome marked the team’s fourth setback of the season after holding a lead of 20 or more points. Milwaukee, which shot 49.5 percent from the field, moved within a half-game of sixth-place Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference race.

Kings 102, Knicks 99Skal Labissiere hit a tiebreak-

ing 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining as Sacramento squan-dered a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter and escaped with a nar-row win over visiting New York.

The Kings needed Labissiere’s 14th career 3-pointer in 38 career attempts because they gave up a 24-5 run after appearing to be in command in the opening min-utes of the fourth.

Labissiere, who finished with 14 points, put Sacramento ahead for the final time after Kyle O’Quinn hit two free throws to

even the game with 16.6 seconds remaining.

Clippers 123, Nets 120Austin Rivers scored 27 points

and drilled a 3-pointer with 33.8 seconds left to give host Los Ange-les the lead for good in a win over Brooklyn. Tobias Harris added 26, while Lou Williams scored 21 points, including a jumper with 8.9 seconds remaining to give Los Angeles a three-point advantage.

DeAndre Jordan contributed a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Miles Teodosic chipped in 14 points and Mont-rezl Harrell netted 11.

Caris LeVert came off the bench to score 27 points for Brooklyn, while DeMarre Car-roll hit for 20, going 6-for-11 on 3-pointers. Three other reserves had big scoring games for the Nets, with Joe Harris adding 19 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 15 and Dante Cunningham 14.

Raptors 103, Hornets 98DeMar DeRozan canned

a 3-pointer and converted a

three-point play in the final three minutes, enabling host Toronto to hold off Charlotte.

Charlotte had cut a 13-point deficit to 88-86 with 5:11 left on a three-point play by Jeremy Lamb, but the Raptors’ corner-stone backcourt of DeRozan and Kyle Lowry kept the visi-tors at bay.

Kemba Walker poured in a game-high 27 points for Char-lotte, which fell 5 1/2 games behind Miami for the last East-ern Conference playoff spot with 18 games left.

Pelicans 126, Mavericks 109Jrue Holiday scored 30 points

and Nikola Mirotic added 24 as New Orleans beat host Dallas to capture their eighth straight win.

Holiday and Mirotic com-bined for 13 points during a 15-2 run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Pelicans a comfort-able lead after Dallas had pulled to within 91-87 at the beginning of the period.

Pacers 98, Wizards 95

Victor Oladipo finished with a game-high 33 points as Indi-ana snapped a four-game losing streak against host Washington.

Oladipo, who grew up in nearby Silver Spring, Md., scored 19 in the first half as Indiana never trailed and took a 10-point half-time lead.

Overall, four Indiana play-ers finished in double figures. Bojan Bogdanovic (20 points) was the only other Pacer to reach the 20-point level.

Hawks 113, Suns 112Taurean Prince scored 22

points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds to play, to help Atlanta nip visit-ing Phoenix.

TJ Warren scored a game-high 35 points and gave the Suns a 112-110 lead with a layup with 20.8 seconds to play. Prince got to the left wing on the Hawks’ ensu-ing possession and hit a tough, lean-in 3-pointer for the win. It was Prince’s sixth 3-pointer of the day, a career-high.

Brooklyn Nets’ forward DeMarre Carroll (9) lands on the court side seats as he goes for a loose ball in the second half of an NBA game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Centre. RIGHT: Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Tobias Harris (34) hangs on to the rim after a dunk.

Wiggins vows to hit back as lawmakers accuse him in drugs reportAFP

LONDON: British cycling great Bradley Wiggins said it was “so sad” after he and his former team were accused by MPs of manipulating drug rules before major races, including Wiggins’ 2012 Tour de France victory.

A report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee of the House of Commons published Monday, accused Wiggins and other Team Sky riders of using the drug triamcinolone not for its recognised purpose as an asthma treatment, but because it helped them lose weight without compromis-ing their power in the saddle.

Russian computer hack-ers revealed three years ago that Wiggins had applied for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), which allowed riders to have injections of other-wise banned drugs, permitting him to take the powerful corticosteroid.

United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) launched an inquiry in September 2016 after British newspaper the Daily Mail reported a mystery package meant for the now-retired Wiggins had been delivered to Team Sky during a 2011 race in France.

It was alleged the pack-age in question contained triamcinolone but Wiggins’ then doctor, Richard Free-man, insisted it was the decongestant fluimucil, a legal substance.

Freeman revealed he had lost a lone written record confirming this when his laptop was stolen while he was on holiday and after more than a year UKAD dropped its investigation, saying it had been hampered by a lack of “contemporane-ous evidence”.

But the DCMS report, cit-ing new evidence from an unnamed source, as well Freeman and Wiggins’s former coach Shane Sutton, dismissed the legal decon-gestant defence and said Sky, which had made much of its commitment to be drug free in a sport long tainted by dop-ing scandals, had broken its own in-house rules.

Australian coach Sutton, who quit as the performance director of British Cycling in the run-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics following an unre-lated sexism row, told the committee that “what Brad was doing was unethical but not against the rules”.

And the committee said: “We believe this powerful corticosteroid was being used to prepare Bradley Wiggins, and possibly other riders sup-porting him, for the Tour de France. The purpose of this was not to treat medical need, but to improve his power-to-weight ratio ahead of the race. The application for the TUE...also meant he benefited from the performance-enhancing properties of this drug during the race.”

But the 37-year-old Wig-gins, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, said in a statement: “I find it so sad that accusa-tions can be made, where people can be accused of things they have never done which are then regarded as facts. I strongly refute the claim that any drug was used without medical need. I hope to have my say in the next few days.”

British Cycling chief exec-utive Julie Harrington said the DCMS report was “thorough and timely”

Panthers run win streak to 6REUTERS

NEW YORK: Evgenii Dadonov scored twice as the Florida Panthers completed a 6-0-0 win streak, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers are 13-3-0 in their past 16 games, making them the hottest team in the league since Jan. 30.

Florida’s win, at the moment the game ended, put the Panthers in playoff position for the first time all season, and they have games in hand in their battle with all of their closest competitors, including the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets beat the San Jose Sharks later to reclaim the lead by one point. The Flyers lost their third consecutive game, but they are still 26-10-4 since Dec. 4. They are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, but they might have been worn down on Sunday, playing their second game in 24 hours.

Blue Jackets 4, Sharks 2Artemi Panarin scored twice as Colum-

bus nearly let a three-goal lead slip away before holding on for a 4-2 win over host

San Jose. Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves, 14 in the third period, for the win at SAP Center which snaps his team’s two-game losing skid.

Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno opened the scoring 9:12 into the affair, as the visi-tors turned the tables on the hosts for failing to score on a power play. Foligno came out of the penalty box and finished an odd-man rush by wristing a shot from the top of the left circle past Sharks goalie Martin Jones.

Predators 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)Filip Forsberg scored 1:07 into overtime

as Nashville won its eighth straight game, rallying past Colorado in Denver.

It was the 18th goal of the season for Forsberg, who beat Semyon Varlamov with a wrister as Nashville closed out a perfect 4-0-0 road swing. The Predators also won their ninth consecutive game against Colo-rado, dating back to April of 2016. Nashville forced overtime when Ryan Ellis tallied his sixth goal at 18:54 on a slapper with a sixth attacker on the ice.

Ducks 6, Blackhawks 3Jakob Silfverberg and Corey Perry each

scored twice and goalie John Gibson made

37 saves as host Anaheim scored the first four goals and cruised to a victory over Chi-cago. Rickard Rakell and Marcus Pettersson -- with the first goal of his NHL career -- also scored for the Ducks, who are on a roll with a 6-1-1 mark in their last eight games.

Golden Knights 3, Devils 2Marc-Andre Fleury had 33 saves and

David Perron had a goal and an assist as Vegas snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over host New Jersey. Tomas Tatar and Deryk Engelland also scored for Vegas, which improved to 18-11-3 on the road and 7-5-1 against Metropolitan Divi-sion teams.

Jets 3, Hurricanes 2Patrik Laine scored twice and assisted

on newcomer Paul Stastny’s goal as Winni-peg defeated host Carolina. Stastny, who was in his second game with the Jets, also posted an assist.

Wild 4, Red Wings 1Jason Zucker scored two third-period

goals, Devan Dubnyk stopped 28 shots and host Minnesota defeated Detroit. Zach Parise fired in the go-ahead goal in the second period for Minnesota..

NBA star Bryant wins Oscar for animated short filmREUTERS

LOS ANGELES: Retired basketball star Kobe Bryant has won five NBA titles, but taking home an Oscar on his first attempt was a bigger thrill than the victories earned with the Los Angeles Lakers, the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer said on Sunday.

“I feel better than winning the championship, to be hon-est with you. I swear I do,” Bryant told news media back-stage after accepting the Academy Award for “Dear Basketball,” the animated short film he wrote and produced.

“To be here right now and to have like ... a sense of val-idation is ... this is crazy, man,” Bryant added. “It’s crazy.”

“Dear Basketball” is based on the NBA great’s 2015 poem, published on the Player’s Tribune website, announcing his final NBA season. Bryant narrated the five-minute film, which was directed by Glen Keane and scored by Oscar winner John Williams.

The film shows top moments from Bryant’s career animated in hand-drawn images while he recites the letter about his devotion to the sport from a young age and a body that will no longer allow him to compete at the highest level.

Bryant, who played 20 seasons, has started his own production company in retirement, Kobe Studios.

The short can be seen here: https://www.go90.com/vib=details

Winnipeg Jets’ defencemen Ben Chiarot (7) with

forward Patrik Laine (29) battle over the puck against

Carolina Hurricanes’ defencemen Jaccob Slavin (74) during the third period

of their NHL game at PNC Arena. The Winnipeg

Jets defeated the Carolina Hurricanes

3-2.

36TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2018 SPORTI think that we need games like this and to beat these

teams to take a step forward and so that our opponents

really take notice of PSG.

10:45PM 10.45PM

Champions League: PSG vs Real Madrid (2nd Leg) Round of 16

Champions League: Liverpool vs Porto (2nd Leg) Round of 16

FOOTBALL FOOTBALLDani Alves, says ahead of PSG’s do-or-die clash against Real Madrid at Champions League

Live on TUBE

Shastri sees shades of Khan in KohliIANS

KOLKATA: Heaping praise on skipper Virat Kohli and his recent exploits in South Africa, India cricket team coach Ravi Shastri has compared the mercurial player to Pakistan’s World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.

“It’s still early days for Virat. He is still very very young. But he is already there among the very best. He wants to lead by example. He reminds me a lot of Imran. He is still very young but he has got lot of qualities that Imran had when it came to leading a side. Which is great,” Shastri told Anandabazar Patrika.

Kohli, ranked No.1 batsman in One Day Internationals, was in imperious form against the Proteas becoming the first batsman ever to score 500 or more runs in a bilateral ODI series.

The dashing right-hander, rated as one of the finest in modern times, finished the series with 558 runs racking up three centuries, a record for an Indian

batsman, and one fifty in six innings. Kohli’s six innings in the series are - 112, 46*, 160 not out, 75, 36 and 129 not out.

Imran led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup and was argu-ably the best cricketer produced by Pakistan.

Asked about the similarities between Imran and Kohli, Shastri said the desire to always be on top and having an infectious energy level made him draw the comparison.

“Just the ability to always want to dominate, want to com-pete, irrespective of whatever conditions you get, believe that you can do it and when you have that kind of quality it spreads

among the other players as well. And that was very similar to the way Imran led.”

“I think he was fantastic on the last trip. It was a tough trip,” Shastri said on Kohli’s leadership and performance in South Africa.

India lost the Test series 1-2 but came back strongly in the 50-over format, winning the six-match series 5-1. In the T20Is, India edged past the hosts 2-1.

“When you are the leading batsman in the side plus the cap-tain, plus the conditions you get, plus the side that you are playing which is formidable, you need to be on top of your game.

“Mentally and physically. And he did just that. For someone to score 870-plus score on a single tour in two months, is an unbelievable achievement. Really unbelievable achieve-ment,” said Shastri who has played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs for India.

Shastri lashed out at former cricketers asking Kohli to cut down on his aggression on the field, saying they should allow him and his captain to go about their business.

“My only advice to them is to mind their own business. I will keep it very simple. Whoever is saying that, mind your own busi-ness. Let us get on with our job.

“I think he is absolutely fine.

If there was a problem, the umpires are there. The match-referee is there to sort it out. What are they there for? He is hardly been called by the match-referee for going over the top in his career. So where is the problem?”

Shastri also rated India’s bat-ting performance in the third Test at the Wanderers in Johan-nesburg as “one of the most cou-rageous and bravest batting per-formances ever.”

India braved hostile batting conditions to win the game by 63 runs with batting salvos from Cheteshwar Pujara (50) and Kohli (54) in the first innings, then Ajinkya Rahane and (48) and Kohli (41) again in the second being the highlights.

“It has to go down as one of the most courageous and bravest

batting performances ever,” the 55-year-old opined.

“Not only in the history of Indian cricket, but in the history of the game. Absolutely no ques-tion about that because the con-ditions was such and with the kind of attack they had, it needed a lot of guts, courage, applica-tion, determination to do what they did. And above all, belief. And there is a reason why I give them credit.

“On that track, everyone was surprised that we batted first. But the end result shows we were right,” the former all-rounder added. The South Africa sojourn, Shastri said, was the toughest of all, owing to the surfaces the tourists played on and still fought hard.”

“It is one of the toughest tours and if you look at the

pitches that were on offer to us, it is chalk and cheese when you look at the track that has been given against Australia A.

“When you look at the track now in Durban and looked at the tracks we played on, they look like chalk and cheese. And on those tracks, to perform the way they did, I think, was simply out-standing,” Shastri said.

Australia are currently playing their first Test against South Africa in Durban.

Shastri signed off by priding that they don’t shy away from playing in any condition and never whine.

“I have always said that we don’t want a team that would complain about the tracks. We will play on whatever is on offer. And we will try and get the right combination to counter that.”

Pakistan great Imran Khan

Indian captain Virat Kohli (left) and coach Ravi Shastri during a training session in this file photo.

Kohli wants to lead by example. He reminds me a lot of Imran Khan. He is still very young but he has got lot of qualities that Imran had when it came to leading a side. Which is great, says Ravi Shastri

Qatar aim for strong start at KataraTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Two of hosts Qatar’s three pairs will start charting new life on the FIVB Beach World Tour through the prestig-ious four-star Katara Beach Volleyball Cup 2018 starting today at the scenic sandy beach at Katara.

This is the first time that a four-star status event is being organised in the Middle East and Qatar has fielded a trio of Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan, Jef-ferson Santos Pereira & Julio Cesar do Nascimento and new-comers Benlouaer Ziad & Ahmed Ali Nassir – with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games.

The final of the event will be played on March 10.

Earlier, Jefferson and You-nousse were treated as the No. 1 team of Qatar. But towards the close last year, the Qatar Volley-ball Association decided to change the top pair and replaced Jefferson with Tijan.

Todate, Younousse and Tijan have already got the taste of two events on the World Tour after reuniting first time since the 2014 Doha Open, while Pereira and do Nascimento have yet to launch the New Year together. Both the Qatari teams appeared in the Palembong AVC Beach Tour Event in November last year in Thailand. Younousse and

team bagged the title, while Pereira and do Nascimento fin-ished third. Ahead of going for a practice session in Katara, Pereira said he was keen to have a strong start to the World Tour after the change in the team.

“This is our first event together on the World Tour. After Julio joined me in the new team, it is indeed going to be a new experience for me and let us see how it goes.”

The two used to play together when they were young so Pereira doesn’t forsee much

problem in terms of adjustments.

“When we were young, we played a lot of junior tourna-ments in Brazil together. We know each other well and have been sharing practice sessions for long. So I hope we should be able to find the necessary cohe-sion and unity required in the beach volleyball.

“The Katara tournament is a big opportunity for all of us to showcase our talent and I’m con-fident that we’ll will put up our best-ever show at the home

event,” he added.Pereira however feels that if

he had started the World Tour a bit earlier, it would have given his team more competition time.

“We’re going to start the World Tour in the Katara tour-nament, while other teams have already got a head start on us by playing a couple of events.

“We can’t afford to miss big events like four-star or five-star tournaments on the World Tour. There are lot of points at stake and the more you play, the chances are better to improve

the rankings, which help you to get automatic spots in major events,” Pereira added.

Do Nascimento is the player to have teamed up with him.

Earlier, Thiago Santos was the partner with him from December 2013 to November 2014. Younousse then played along side with him. Assam Ahmed Mahmoud figured in just one event with Pereira before Younousse returned to pair up with him again.

Both Pereira and Younousse had indeed formed a potential combo. Besides clinching the three-star Kish Island Open in 2016, they figured in two World Championships and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Three years ago in the Netherlands worlds, they had amazed the entire beach volleyball community and nar-rowly missed out on a semi-final spot.

Then in the Rio Olympics, Pereira and Younousse earned a creditable ninth place. Last year, they were on the way to forming a dangerous duo, fin-ishing ninth in four World Tour events in a row, including the five-star Gstaad Open and the Vienna worlds.

With a new test coming up at home, Pereira and do Nasci-mento would be more than keen to give it a good shot and make up for the lost time on the Tour.

This file photo shows action at Katara.

Aspire Academy, OFC sign agreementQNA

DOHA: Aspire Academy and Oceania Football Confeder-ation (OFC) signed a new partnership agreement to promote the performance and development of youth players.

Through this agreement, the confederation will be able to provide planning, training, testing and follow-up infor-mation in accordance with best practices in a number of areas related to sports sci-ence, including power, adap-tation and sport movement science, enabling trainers to improve the physical and mental aspects of football players in international competitions.

Under the agreement, Aspire Academy will provide scholarships for the best players to benefit from its world-class facilities to pre-pare for major competitions, as well as its support in the fields of training, young talent development, per-formance analysis and sports science.