Japan PM Suga says he has ‘never put Olympics fi rst’

Returning Serena hints she could miss Olympics Olympic president’sJapan trip postponed

Tuesday, May 11, 2021Ramadan 29, 1442 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Emotional Mother’s Day victory forWolves’ Towns

Lyles, Felix fi nish strong, Metcalf comes up short

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Shaheen’s ‘fi ve-for’ sees Pakistan to big win over ZimbabwePage 3

SPOTLIGHT

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More than 300,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the Games since it was launched about five days ago

AFPRome

Serena Williams raised doubts over her partici-pation at the Tokyo Ol-ympics yesterday, ahead

of her return to the limelight this week at the Italian Open.

The 39-year-old, still ranked eighth in the world, has been absent from the courts since her semi-fi nal defeat by eventual champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open in Melbourne in February.

Williams remains uncom-mitted about whether she will join up with Team USA in Ja-pan this summer, especially if it means time away from her three-year-old daughter Ol-ympia.

“I haven’t spent 24 hours without her (Olympia) so that kind of answers the question itself,” said the American, who has won four Olympic gold medals, a record she shares with her sister Venus.

“I haven’t really thought much about Tokyo, because it was supposed to be last year and now it’s this year, and then there is this pandemic and there is so much to think about.

“Then there are the Grand Slams. It’s just a lot. So I have really been taking it one day at a time to a fault, and I defi nite-ly need to fi gure out my next moves.”

Williams says she is “ready” to get started again in Rome as preparation for the French Open which starts in Paris on May 24.

“It’s good to start fresh but

it’s also hard to start fresh,” she told a press conference on yes-terday.

“I feel like I’m good. I’m in Rome. I’m going to have some good matches here hopefully

and then I will be at anoth-er Grand Slam which always makes me excited. So I think ei-ther way I’ll be ready.”

Williams has been stuck on 23 major trophies, one behind Australia’s Margaret Court, since winning the 2017 Austral-ian Open while pregnant.

Since then she has given birth, returned to the tour, and fi nished runner-up at four ma-jor tournaments — after losing just six out of 28 fi nals before 2017.

Speculation about her future followed her Melbourne defeat and her subsequent withdrawal from the Miami Open because of oral surgery, but she insisted she did not pay attention to on-line whispers.

“I really try not to get in-volved in too much of what people say about me, because I feel like it can make you nuts,” she said, adding that she had been doing some “very intense” training on clay.

“One thing I’m really good at is just to not really even engage so much but I do feel like people are wondering if I’m playing.

“And I have to say I always am, you just don’t see it. I don’t show what I do. I don’t always show my cards.”

AFPTokyo

International Olympic Com-mittee chief Thomas Bach has been forced to postpone a visit to Japan, organisers

said yesterday, after a coronavirus state of emergency was extended less than three months before the Tokyo Games.

Bach’s trip was scheduled for May 17-18 but organisers “decided to postpone it based on various situations including the (govern-ment’s) extension of a virus state of emergency”.

It is just the latest coronavirus disruption for the postponed 2020 Games, which have seen several test events cancelled, postponed or moved.

An athletics test event involv-ing more than 400 competitors took place behind closed doors at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium on Sun-day.

The Japanese government and Olympic offi cials insist the virus-postponed Games can go ahead safely this summer, although polls show most Japanese people sup-port cancellation or another delay.

In a statement, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee said it hoped the visit could go ahead “as soon as possible” and would continue to assess the coronavi-rus situation. Japanese media said organisers planned to reschedule Bach’s visit for June. Japan’s state of emergency, which is less strict than blanket lockdowns in other countries, was last week extended to the end of May in the hardest hit regions, including Tokyo.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Games, said Fri-day it would be “very diffi cult” to arrange the visit given the state of emergency.

Japan’s Covid-19 outbreak re-mains much smaller than in many countries, with around 10,800 deaths.

But its vaccine rollout is moving slowly and some areas have seen record cases as more infectious variants drive fresh waves of con-tagion.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was forced on the defensive yes-terday, insisting in parliament he has “never put the Olympics fi rst” and that his priority remains “the lives and health of the Japanese people”.

ReutersTokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said yes-terday that he has never “put the Olympics fi rst”,

as an opinion poll showed nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Games cancelled with fewer than eleven weeks left before they are due to open.

Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May and is struggling to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases, raising more questions about whether the Games should go ahead. Its vaccination rate is also the lowest among wealthy nations.

International Olympic offi -cials, Tokyo planners and Suga himself have insisted the Games will go on in “a safe and secure” way. Foreign spectators will not be allowed and planners issued an elaborate set of rules last month aimed at preventing coronavirus infections.

But such arrangements have not eased public worries over the Games that were postponed last year due to the coronavirus.

A opinion survey conduct-ed on May 7-9 by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily showed 59% of respondents wanted the Games cancelled as opposed to 39% who said they should be held. “Postponement” was not of-

fered as an option.Another poll conducted at

the weekend by TBS News found 65% wanted the Games cancelled or postponed again. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the Games since it was launched about fi ve days ago.

Opposition members of par-liament grilled Suga for hours about holding the Games under these circumstances.

In apparent acknowledgment of the public concern about holding the Games no matter what, Suga, when asked if the Games would go ahead even if

infections spiked, replied: “I’ve never put Olympics fi rst”.

“My priority has been to pro-tect the lives and health of the Japanese population. We must fi rst prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.

Voter support for Suga’s gov-ernment is now at its lowest lev-

el since he took offi ce last year, with a majority of the public un-happy with his handling of the pandemic, a poll showed.

A tweet by one of his advisers downplaying the pandemic and laughing off calls for the Games to be cancelled has also drawn public ire.

Suga has said the Internation-al Olympic Committee (IOC) has the fi nal say on the Games and the government’s role was to take steps so they can be held safely. Several test events with foreign athletes have been suc-cessfully held, most recently on Sunday.

A visit by IOC head Thomas Bach scheduled for May 17-18 has been cancelled “in the light of the extension of the state of emergency last week and vari-ous circumstances we are fac-ing,” Tokyo 2020 organisers said in a statement.

“We will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation in Japan and other relevant factors and will re-arrange his visit to Japan as soon as possible.”

Media said the visit would likely take place in June, with one outlet saying that lifting the state of emergency would be a

prerequisite.An offi cial in Okayama prefec-

ture said they were considering keeping the Olympic torch relay off public roads when it passes through next week. Though oth-er prefectures have taken similar steps, they were under states of emergency or other restrictions at the time.

Top Olympic offi cial John Coates said on Saturday that while public sentiment in Japan about the Games “was a con-cern” he could foresee no sce-nario under which the sporting extravaganza would not go ahead.

On Sunday, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka said that even though she had waited her whole life to take part in the Ol-ympics, the risk of holding the Tokyo Games should be carefully discussed.

The Games are set to open on July 23 and run until Aug 8.

A man with a child walks past a poster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics along a street in Tokyo yesterday.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (R) attends a lower house budget committee session in Tokyo yesterday.

“My priority has been to protect the lives and health of the Japanese population. We must fi rst prevent the spread of the virus”

2

SPORT

Lyles, Felix fi nish strong, Metcalf comes up short

‘New butterfl y queen’ boosts China’s swim hopes

Nishikori agrees with Osaka that ‘discussions’ needed on Tokyo Olympics

ATHLETICS

BOTTOMLINE

SPOTLIGHT

200m world champion Lyles is the favourite to win gold at the Tokyo Games

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 11, 2021

ReutersLos Angeles

Americans Noah Lyles and Allyson Felix fi nished their races with a burst of speed

while NFL star DK Metcalf out-performed expectations but came up short of making next month’s Olympic trials at the Golden Games meet in Walnut, California on Sunday.

The 200m world champion Lyles, the favourite to take home gold in the event at this summer’s Tokyo Games, trailed for most of his race but found another gear late to catch coun-tryman Kenny Bednarek over

the fi nal fi ve meters to seal the win.

“I don’t always want to rely on my biggest strengths, I want to work on my weaknesses just as much,” Lyles said when asked if he plans to rely on his impres-sive closing speed going for-ward.

“But today it got the job done.”

Lyles fi nished in 19.90, edg-ing Bednarek (19.94) with Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards (20.20) third.

Running with her daughter looking on, nine-time Olym-pic medallist Felix made sure she had a happy Mother’s Day by turning on the jets down the stretch to fi nish second in her

fi rst 200m of the year.“It felt good to be back, just

kind of working my way,” a smiling Felix said after posting a time of 22.26, behind win-ner Gabby Thomas (22.12) and ahead of Lynna Irby (22.27) as Felix looks to make her fi fth Ol-ympics.

“Such a special day, I just wanted to come out here and have fun.” Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Metcalf, who decided to try his hand at the 100m after he famously chased down a 90-yard interception in an October game, won the respect of the track and fi eld world by posting a time of 10.37.

Despite the solid perform-ance, the towering Metcalf still

fi nished 15th of the 17 in the event and said he plans to turn his attention back to the foot-ball fi eld.

“These are world class ath-letes, very diff erent than foot-ball,” he said. “I’ve got a mini-camp to go to.”

Metcalf stuck around to watch Cravon Gillespie win the 100m fi nal with a time of 9.96 under sunny skies at Mt. Sac college. Rising star Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100m by a comfortable margin despite facing headwinds.

The blue haired dynamo, who is a favourite to win the event in Tokyo, posted a time of 10.74, ahead of Javianne Oliver and Morolake Akinosun.

“Everybody should keep their eyes open,” she said.

“And I want everyone to know, we’re not done yet!”

Fellow American Elle Purrier was also impressive, winning the 1500m with a sub-4 minute time while the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, Keni Harrison, also cruised the victory.

Rai Benjamin posted the world’s best time so far this year to win the 400m hurdles in 47.13 but said he had room to improve.

“I have a lot to work on,” he said. “A few missteps in the race, I was kind of behind, but I just trusted my fi tness and brought it home.”

AFPRome

Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori yesterday said he agreed with compa-triot Naomi Osaka that

organisers have to “discuss” whether they can hold the de-layed Tokyo Olympics safely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A virus state of emergency in Japan’s capital city and other parts of the country was ex-tended on Friday, less than three months before the delayed Games are due to begin.

There has been increasing pressure from the Japanese pub-lic to cancel the Games, which have already been postponed once from the original dates last summer due to the pandemic.

Osaka said on Sunday there “defi nitely should be a discus-sion” on whether the Olympics should go ahead.

Former world number four Nishikori said it could be dif-fi cult to host the Olympics even behind closed doors, due to the high number of athletes expect-ed to take part.

“I don’t know what they are thinking, and I don’t know how much they are thinking about how they are gonna make (a) bubble, because this is not like 100 people like these tourna-

ments,” he said after beating Fa-bio Fognini in the Italian Open fi rst round.

“It’s 10,000 people in the vil-lage and playing tournaments. So I don’t think it’s easy, espe-cially (with) what’s happening right now in Japan. It’s not doing good.”

Organisers have already said that foreign fans will not be al-lowed to travel to Japan for the Games. Nishikori missed last year’s US Open after contracting coronavirus, while he also had to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks ahead of the 2021 Austral-ian Open in February.

“If you think only about ath-letes, I think you can do it,” said the 31-year-old.

“If you can make (a) good bubble, maybe you can do it, but there is some risk too. You know, what happens if there is a hun-dred cases in the village, or can be thousands?

“The corona, it’s been spread-ing very easy. So I will say same as Naomi. You have to really discuss, you know, how you can play really safely to happen.”

Japan has recorded just over 10,500 deaths from Covid-19, much lower than in many other countries, but its vaccine rollout is moving slowly and some areas have seen record cases as more infectious variants drive fresh waves of contagion.

AFPShanghai

Chinese media hailed Zhang Yufei as “the new butterfl y queen” after she soared at the national

swimming championships, fi ring a warning of intent with the To-kyo Olympics under three months away.

The 23-year-old walked off with fi ve gold medals and a silver after the action — which doubled as Olympic trials — concluded on Saturday in the coastal city of Qingdao.

She clocked 2:05.44 in the women’s 200m butterfl y, easily the fastest time in the world this year, and also blitzed the rest of the fi eld to win 100m fl y and 50m freestyle gold.

“I felt exhausted in the last three days,” Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying, having also taken part in relay races.

“I think I will focus on the 100m and 200m fl y at the Olym-pic Games.”

Zhang, who was a disappoint-

ing sixth in the fi nal of the 200m fl y at the Rio 2016 Games, could be China’s leading light in the pool at the Tokyo Games with

Sun Yang’s participation in severe doubt. Sun, a three-time Olym-pic gold medallist, will go before the Court of Arbitration for Sport

later this month with his career hanging in the balance.

Sun was suspended for eight years by CAS in February last year

for refusing to give samples dur-ing a surprise doping test where a vial of his blood was smashed with a hammer.

But Switzerland’s top court overturned the ban, in a surprise decision in which it said CAS was guilty of bias.

Beijing Youth Daily said Zhang was the outstanding performer in Qingdao.

“The tremendous progress of the new butterfl y queen Zhang Yufei is the most exciting and en-couraging for Chinese swimmers and the swimming industry,” the newspaper said.

“At the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei... alone can compete for two gold medals and has heavy re-sponsibility on her shoulders.”

China will be hoping she can match the performance of Liu Zige who won the women’s 200 m butterfl y Gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and is the current world record holder.

The Tokyo 2020 Games, which were postponed last summer because of the coronavirus pan-demic, are scheduled to begin on July 23.

Noah Lyles beats Kenny Bednarek and Aaron Brown to win the 200m dash during the USATF Golden Games and World Athletics Continental Tour event at the Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

ReutersLondon

Ash Barty was feeling fatigued after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open fi nal

at the weekend but the world number one said it was a “good problem” to have since it meant she was going deep in a run of tournaments.

Since leaving Australia in March for the fi rst time in more than a year, the 25-year-old won the Miami Open, reached the quarters in Charleston, beat Sabalenka in the Stuttgart fi nal before reaching the decider at the Madrid WTA 1000 event.

Barty, who is building towards the French Open at the end of the month, also won the doubles with American Jennifer Brady at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart.

After losing to Belarusian Sabalenka in Madrid on Satur-day, Barty said being tired meant she was doing something right.

“It’s a good problem to have,” she told reporters.

“I think any time you can play a lot of matches and a lot of ten-nis, it means you’re putting yourself out there over and over again. Of course there was a little bit of fatigue.

“I’m really proud of the week, kind of the month we’ve had since we’ve been away. It’s been a great start. We look to bigger and better things.”

Barty has little time to catch her breath.

The Australian fl ew straight to Rome for another WTA 1000 event this week before she shifts focus to Roland Garros, where she won her only Grand Slam ti-tle in 2019 but did not defend last year due to the Covid-19 pan-demic.

“I’m always proud at the end of every tournament. I think whenever you have an oppor-tunity to leave the tournament with a smile, that’s always a good thing,” Barty said.

“I feel like we have another opportunity in Rome to try do the best we can there. Then we just reset and focus for Roland Garros.”

Fatigue a ‘good problem’ to have, says Ash Barty

FOCUS

CRICKET3Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Shaheen’s ‘fi ve-for’ sees Pakistan to big win over Zimbabwe

Bamboo bats could revolutionise cricket: study

England stars told to put international duty ahead of IPL

ICC clears Sri Lanka’s Gunawardene of match-fi xing

Visitors complete a comprehensive series victory after innings victory in first Test too

2ND TEST

INNOVATION

FOCUS

DECISION

ReutersCape Town, South Africa

Seamer Shaheen Afridi took a career best fi ve for 52 as Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by an innings

and 147 runs early on the fourth day of the second test at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

Pakistan needed just one wicket at the start of the day and it took a little over 20 minutes for Shaheen to induce an edge from Luke Jongwe (37) to wick-etkeeper Mohamed Rizwan, wrapping up the contest as Zim-

babwe were bowled out for 231 in their second innings.

Pakistan won the fi rst test by an innings and 116 runs and have now completed a comprehen-sive series victory, which fol-lowed limited overs success in

South Africa.The tourists had elected to

bat and posted a massive 510 for eight declared, boosted by a maiden double-ton for opener Abid Ali, who spent almost 11 hours at the crease for his 215.

Seamer Hasan Ali claimed 5-27 in Zimbabwe’s reply, skit-tling the home side for 132, be-fore Nauman Ali (5-86) and Shaheen did the damage with the ball in the follow-on innings, claiming all the wickets to fall.

Only Regis Chakabva (80) and stand-in skipper Brendan Tay-lor (49) off ered much resistance to the Pakistan victory charge, with most of the damage done on the third day when the visi-tors picked up 15 wickets.

Babar looks to Windies aft er Pakistan’s latest series success

AFPHarare, Zimbabwe

Pakistan captain Babar Azam lauded his players after they completed a

successful southern Africa tour with a second straight innings victory over Zimbabwe on Monday — then looked ahead to his team’s planned tour of the West Indies in July.It took Pakistan five overs to take the remaining Zimbabwe wicket to seal a win by an innings and 147 runs on the fourth day of the second Test at Harare Sports Club and take the series 2-0.Shaheen Shah Afridi had Luke Jongwe caught behind for 37 to complete a five-wicket haul.

He took five for 52.Zimbabwe, who resumed at 220 for nine, were all out for 231.Speaking at the post-match presentation, Babar said his players had shown character and he was particularly pleased with the performance of the batsmen, especially man-of-the-match Abid Ali, who scored 215 not out in Pakistan’s only innings.“The partnership between Abid and Azhar Ali was crucial,” he said. Azhar scored 126 in a second-wicket stand of 236.“The confidence of our bats-men will be high and we have an important series in the West Indies coming up,” said Babar.Pakistan are due to play three Tests and three Twenty20

internationals in the Caribbean.Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said he was disap-pointed with his team’s batting in both Tests but praised the Pakistan bowlers.“They’re always at you. They’re a world-class attack and they made it very diff icult for us,” he said.Fast bowler Hasan Ali was named man of the series. He had match figures of nine for 89 in the first Test at the same venue and took a career-best five for 27 in the first innings of the second Test.“I would like to have seen more positives,” said Taylor. “To fin-ish both games in three days or just after three days is off the mark.“We’ve got a lot of things to

address, particularly with the batting, maybe the mental side of that. A little more discipline. The wicket played well enough to take it five days.”But Taylor said there had been some promising signs in a side depleted by injuries to four leading batsmen.“I can’t fault the guys’ eff orts. They are a young side, full of enthusiasm, wanting to learn and to get better day by day.”Pakistan won the first Test by an innings and 116 runs.It was Pakistan’s fourth successive series win on a seven-week southern Africa tour. They beat South Africa 2-1 in one-day internationals and 3-1 in Twenty20 internationals before defeating Zimbabwe 2-1 in a T20 series.

Pakistan players and off icials celebrate their Test series victory over Zimbabwe in Harare yesterday. (PCB)

PAKISTAN 1st inn 510-8 dec.

ZIMBABWE 1st inn 132

ZIMBABWE 2nd inn (o/n 220-9)

K. Kasuza b Nauman Ali 22

T. Musakanda c Rizwan b Afridi 8

R Chakabva c Azam b N. Ali 80

B. Taylor c Rizwan b Afridi 49

M. Shumba c Butt b N. Ali 16

L. Jongwe c Rizwan b Afridi 37

D. Tiripano lbw b N. Ali 0

R. Kaia c S. Khan b N. Ali 0

T. Chisoro b Afridi 8

R. Ngarava b Afridi 0

B. Muzarabani not out 4

Extras (b1, lb5, nb1) 7

Total (68 overs) 231

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Musakan-da), 2-63 (Kasuza), 3-142 (Tay-lor), 4-170 (Chakabva), 5-188 (Shumba), 6-196 (Tiripano), 7-196 (Kaia), 8-205 (Chisoro), 9-205 (Ngarava)

Bowling: Afridi 20-5-52-5 (1nb), T. Khan 11-3-46-0, H. Ali 10-7-9-0, S. Khan 6-1-32-0, N. Ali 21-3-86-5

Result: Pakistan won by an innings and 147 runs

SERIES: Pakistan won the two-match series 2-0

Scorecard

AFPLondon, England

Cricket is a sport de-fi ned by tradition, but change may be in store after research suggest-

ed bamboo could be an attrac-tive alternative to willow in the manufacture of bats.

The Cambridge University study said its prototype bamboo bat was cheaper to produce, more sustainable and stronger than tra-ditional willow blades and could grow the game worldwide.

The article, published in the Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology on Sunday, also found the laminated bamboo bat possessed a larger sweet spot,

making it “a batsman’s dream”.Willow trees take 15 years

to mature enough to produce cricket bats, whereas bamboo only requires fi ve to six years and abounds in China, South Amer-ica and southeast Asia as well as cricket-obsessed India.

Bamboo bats could increase participation in lower-income countries thanks to lower pro-duction costs and make cricket much more sustainable without compromising quality, the study claimed.

Co-author Ben Tinkler-Dav-ies said: “Whether you’re play-ing or spectating, you wouldn’t notice much of a diff erence.

“Because laminated bamboo is so strong, we’re very confi dent we can make a bamboo bat light

enough, even for today’s fast-scoring, short forms of the game.”

The study found that bamboo is 22 percent stiff er than wil-low and that its sweet spot per-formed 19% better.

The prototype bat’s sweet spot — the point where the ball is hit most eff ectively — is larger than a traditional bat’s and lo-cated closer to the toe.

That allows it to transfer more energy to the ball, the research-ers said.

Bamboo bats would be “a batsman’s dream”, according to co-author Darshil Shah, who played cricket for Thailand at youth level.

“The sweet spot on a bamboo bat makes it much easier to hit a four off a yorker for starters,

but it’s exciting for all kinds of strokes,” he added.

Bamboo’s higher density means that the bat’s shape would have to be redesigned to make a lighter product before batsmen can blast bowlers with their new weapon.

The London-based Maryle-bone Cricket Club (MCC) — the conservative custodian of crick-et’s laws — must approve any change to the material used to make bats.

Cricketers have long experi-mented with diff erent types of bat, from the length of the han-dle to thickness of the blade and weight, to try to gain a competi-tive edge.

In 1979, Australia’s Dennis Lillee caused controversy by

using an aluminium bat, which was then banned.

Cricket’s current laws — brought in after the Lillee inci-dent — state that bats must be made of wood, but bamboo is a type of grass.

“Playing with a bamboo bat would be within the spirit of the game because it’s a plant-based material. Cane, a type of grass, is already used in the handle,” said Shah.

“Tradition is important but think about how much cricket bats, pads, gloves and helmets have already evolved.

“If we can go back to having thinner blades but made from bamboo, while improving per-formance, outreach and sus-tainability, then why not?”

Darshil Shah, the co-author of a paper looking into the viability of bamboo as a material for making cricket bats. (AFP)

AFPLondon, England

England stars such as Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler have been told their international

commitments will have to take precedence in the event of a fresh fi xture clash with a delayed fi n-ish to this year’s Indian Premier League.

The 2021 edition of the lucra-tive franchise Twenty20 tourna-ment was suspended last week due to the devastating coronavi-rus outbreak in India.

There is speculation the IPL may resume midway through September, which could lead to a clash with England white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh that are meant to take place be-tween the end of the home sea-son and a T20 World Cup in India scheduled for October.

Halting the IPL has left Eng-land with a potentially larger player pool than they envisaged for next month’s two-Test series at home to New Zealand.

Previously, the England and Wales Cricket Board had been prepared to let players miss those matches in order to honour their previously agreed IPL deals.

A position that angered some England fans was justifi ed by the ECB on the grounds that the New Zealand series had been a late addition to an already crowded fi xture list.

But Ashley Giles, the England managing director, has made it clear he expects national service to be the priority from now on in a year culminating with Joe Root’s men heading to Australia in a bid to regain the Ashes.

“We’ve got a full future tours programme and if those tours are going ahead I’d expect them (IPL players) to be there,” Giles said yesterday.

“The New Zealand scenario was very diff erent. A rearranged IPL...none of us knows what that looks like at the moment, where it’s going to be, or when or if.”

Giles, a former England left-arm spinner, added: “But we’ve got a lot of important high profi le cricket including a T20 World Cup and Ashes, so we’re planning on the involvement of England play-ers in England matches.”

Giles reduced England’s back-room staff last month when he ditched national selector Ed Smith and gave his responsibili-ties to head coach Chris Silver-wood.

“It’s a change I’ve been look-ing at for some time. For me, it’s more modern and it’s cleaner; let the coach pick the team,” said Giles.

“His head’s on the block. I don’t want that to be the head-line but it’s a conversation I’d have had with Chris...if we lose in Australia the pressure is on all of us. You might as well have a free run at it, it’s your team.”

AFPColombo, Sri Lanka

Former Sri Lanka Test player Avishka Guna-wardene has been cleared of match-fi xing charges

by an independent tribunal, cricket’s world governing body announced yesterday.

The independent anti-corrup-tion tribunal also dismissed three out of four charges made against another former Sri Lankan inter-national, Nuwan Zoysa, who was last month banned from cricket for six years. Both players had been accused of trying to fi x matches in a T10 tournament in the United Arab Emirates in 2017.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said the tribunal had “unanimously” cleared Gunawardene, 43, who played six Tests and 61 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka.

The ICC said Gunawardene, who went on to become a Sri Lanka A coach, was free to take up cricket activities again.

Gunawardene had been ac-cused of “facilitating” match-fi xing and failing to disclose

approaches to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.

The ICC declined to make any other comment on the case.

Zoysa, 42, who was a bowling coach after his career of 30 Tests and 95 one-day internationals, was cleared of three out of the four charges against him, but his six-year ban will continue, the ICC said.

He has been cleared of directly being a party to corruption, in-fl uencing others and failing to disclose full details of an ap-proach to fi x a match, but the charge of failing to co-operate with investigators stands.

Last month, another former Sri Lanka fast bowler, Dilhara Lokuhettige, was banned for eight years for trying to fi x the same T10 tournament in 2017.

Sri Lanka introduced a law against match-fi xing in 2019 af-ter then-sports minister Harin Fernando declared that the ICC considered it the world’s most corrupt cricket nation.

Former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was banned for two years in October 2018 for failing to co-operate with a match-fi xing inquiry.

IPL ‘can’t happen’ in India while coronavirus rages: GangulyAFPNew Delhi, India

This year’s suspended IPL cannot be completed in India while it bat-tles a raging coronavirus crisis and

could struggle to find a slot elsewhere, India’s cricket chief Sourav Ganguly has said.The Indian Premier League was abruptly halted at the halfway stage last week after several players became infected. India is reporting nearly 4,000 deaths and about 400,000 new cases a day.Ganguly, president of the Board of Con-trol for Cricket in India, said there was no way for the lucrative tournament to resume before India play the final of the World Test Championship against New

Zealand in England on June 18.“Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL,” Ganguly told Sportstar magazine in India at the weekend.“There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine. It can’t happen in India. This quarantine is tough to handle,” he added.Virat Kohli’s side have a complicated schedule in coming months.India will go to England in early June to prepare for the world Test final.They are then scheduled to visit Sri Lan-ka in July before returning to England for five Tests in August and September.Last year’s IPL was moved to the United Arab Emirates because of the pandemic and a number of English counties have off ered to host the remainder of this IPL.

As pandemic case numbers took off in India, more than 10 players and support staff in the IPL teams tested positive in the biosecure “bubbles” set up for the league.

The IPL was halted after four players from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals tested positive.Most foreign players have since left India. New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert and Chennai Super Kings’ Australian batting coach Michael Hussey remain under treatment after testing positive. Hussey recently returned a negative test.“Bubble life is harsh; it’s the toughest thing,” said Ganguly.“Since last September, a majority of play-ers around the world have been living inside a bubble. There is no option. We can’t play cricket without the bubble.“Better to be on the field than sit at home.”

4

SPORT

Van der Hoorn refuses to quit, takes debut Giro stage

2021 Jordan Rally route unveiled

Red Bull ‘desperately’ need Sergio Perez closer to the front

Sinner sets up Nadal clash in Rome second round

Murray, Evans to play at Queen’s Club

CYCLING

MOTORSPORT FORMULA 1

TENNIS

FOCUS

‘Five months ago, I considered quitting cycling because I didn’t have a contract’

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 11, 2021

AFPCanale, Italy

Taco van der Hoorn, who was thinking of quitting cycling a few months ago, yesterday delivered

a dramatic fi rst Grand Tour win as he held off a chasing pack to take the third stage of the Giro d’Italia in Canale.

“Five months ago, I consid-ered quitting cycling because I didn’t have a contract,” the 27-year-old Dutchman said. “Today I win a stage of the Giro! I can’t believe it.”

“After the fi nish I was think-ing: ‘is this real?” the Intermarche rider said on the podium.

The victory backed up the judgement of Van der Hoorn’s team which is competing in its fi rst major tour since Inter-marche became the principal sponsor.

“Van der Hoorn likes to race against the clock, against the wind and against the peloton,” says his biography on the team website.

Asked about his goals for the rest of the race, he said: “fi rst I have to celebrate. This a dream come true. I have to celebrate it.”

Italian Davide Cimolai (Israel Start-Up Nation) won the sprint for second, four seconds behind the winner.

The stage had only a small im-pact on the overall standings as Filippo Ganna of Ineos increased his lead by three seconds to 16 seconds.

Edoardo Affi ni, an Italian with Jumbo-Visma who started the day closest to Ganna was dropped on the climbs, allowing his Norwegian teammate Tobias Foss to inherit second place.

Behind them are two De-ceuninck riders, Belgian Remco Evenepoel and Portuguese Joao Almeida, both 20 seconds off the lead.

“I saw that Remco has fan-tastic legs,” said Ganna. “It will be diffi cult for me to defend the pink jersey.”

Ganna and the other favour-ites, including former Grand Tour winners Simon Yates of Bike Exchange and Ineos’ Egan Bernal, fi nished safely in the main pack.

‘IT WAS SO SURREAL’Van der Hoorn was part of a break that escaped the main pack fi ve kilometres into the 190km stage. The breakaway disintegrated on the short sharp hills in the second half of the stage in the vineyards near Alba.

With the pack closing on the two survivors, Van der Hoorn and Swiss rider Simon Pellaud of Androni kept riding.

“I didn’t believe when we had one minute with 25k,” said van

der Hoorn. “I just think that 0.5 per cent, it’s enough chance and I just take it.”

After following Pellaud up the last climb, and with only a 35-second lead over the pack, Van der Hoorn accelerated away.

“Simon was pulling me hard on the climb. I’m a bit heavier and I was struggling. But on the descent I was feeling much stronger,” said Van der Hoorn. “I was thinking I have to go now and do a bit higher speed.”

He was helped by a disorgan-ised pursuit as the leading teams in the peloton waited for their rivals to do the work and close the gap.

“For me it was so surreal that I was there in front and the pelo-

ton was not coming back at me. I didn’t believe it,” said Van der Hoorn. “The (team radio) was saying 40 seconds, still 40 sec-onds. I was thinking ‘Ah! maybe I really make it’.”

Today’s fourth stage is a 187km ride south from Piacenza which ends with a second cat-egory climb into to Sestola.

STAGE 3 RESULTS1. Taco van der Hoorn (NED/INT) 4:27:292. Davide Cimolai (ITA/ISR) +00:043. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR)4. Elia Viviani (ITA/COF)5. Patrick Bevin (NZL/ISR)6. Gianni Vermeersch (BEL/ALP)7. Fernando Gaviria (COL/UAE)

8. Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF1)9. Stefano Oldani (ITA/LOT)10. Jacopo Mosca (ITA/TRE)

General classification1. Filippo Ganna (ITA/INE) 8:51:262. Tobias Foss (NOR/JUM) +00:163. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/DEC) +00:204. Joao Almeida (POR/DEC)5. Remi Cavagna (FRA/DEC) +00:216. Gianni Moscon (ITA/INE) +00:267. Aleksander Vlasov (RUS/AST) +00:278. Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF1) +00:299. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/INE) +00:3010. Diego Ulissi (ITA/UAE) +00:32

Team Wanty’s Dutch rider Taco Van der Hoorn celebrates as he wins the third stage of the Giro d’Italia in Canale, Italy, yesterday. (AFP)

AFPRome, Italy

Jannik Sinner booked a second-round showdown with nine-time champion Rafael Nadal at the Italian

Open after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Frenchman Ugo Humbert yes-terday.

The Italian teenager will face the 20-time Grand Slam win-ner for the second time, having impressed against Nadal in last year’s French Open quarter-fi nals despite losing in straight sets.

Nadal has a 9-2 record on clay this season but was beaten in the last eight at both previous Mas-ters events, in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

Aslan Karatsev matched Sin-ner with his 20th win of the sea-son. The Russian beat Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the opening round. Only Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev have won more ATP matches this year (27).

Australian Open semi-fi nalist Karatsev will play compatriot and Melbourne runner-up Daniil Medvedev for a place in the last 16. Medvedev, who had a fi rst-round bye, is chasing a fi rst win in Rome in his third appearance at the tournament.

Taylor Fritz awaits defend-

ing champion Novak Djokovic in round two after the American brushed aside Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic and Nadal have ac-counted for 14 of the past 16 ti-tles at the Foro Italico.

Kei Nishikori overcame Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4 in a meeting of former top-10 players.

Reigning women’s French Open champion Iga Swiatek ad-vanced when Alison Riske retired in the fi rst set of their opening-round encounter, while Coco Gauff outlasted Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Petra Kvitova recovered from a dreadful start to overhaul Magda Linette of Poland 1-6, 6-0, 6-2.

ReutersBengaluru, India

Former world number one Andy Murray will play in next month’s Queen’s Club Championships in

London, organisers said yester-day.

The 33-year-old Murray, who has won the ATP 500 event fi ve times, last played in March at the Rotterdam Open, where he was beaten by Russian Andrey Rublev in the round of 16. He then pulled out of the Miami Open with a groin injury.

The tournament at Queen’s will accommodate about 25% of its full capacity, with strict safety protocols in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It starts on June 14, two weeks before Wim-bledon.

Murray, who was won three Grand Slam titles, has fallen to 123 in the world rankings after long injury lay-off s because of hip operations.

“It’s been such a diffi cult time for everyone and it’ll be great to play in front of home fans in Brit-ain again,” Murray, who has also won a doubles crown at the event partnering Feliciano Lopez, said in a statement.

“The tournament at Queen’s has always meant a lot to me — it’s where I won my fi rst ATP match, I’ve won the singles at

Queen’s more than any other in my career and I’ll never forget our doubles title in 2019. I can’t wait to get back out there.”

Also in action will be British number one Dan Evans, who has climbed to a career-high ranking of 26 after reaching the Monte Carlo semi-fi nals and beating Novak Djokovic along the way.

“I know how lucky we’ve been to be able to still play the sport in recent months, it’s been a good year for me on court, and I’m re-ally looking forward to the grass over the next couple of months,” Evans said.

Hamilton hopes new contract can be sealed by AugustSeven times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton hopes to agree a new contract with Mercedes before the sport’s August break. The 36-year-old Briton is out of contract at the end of this season, after his latest one-year extension was announced only in February, but has said he plans to continue. “We never want to be in the position that we were in January, in February. It ruined my whole winter and I’m sure it wasn’t helpful for Toto’s,” said the championship leader, referring to team boss Toto Wolff . “Naturally we don’t have to rush anything but I think we have to be sensible and start conversations,” he added after winning Sunday’s Span-ish Grand Prix. “They’re very complex, it’s never a super simple procedure and so hopefully soon we can start, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the actual job. We still have 19 races to do but it would be great to get something in place before the break.”

Wolff ’s message to race control signals new move for F1

Formula One broke new ground on Sunday when a radio mes-sage from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to race control during the Spanish Grand Prix was broadcast to television audiences. Wolff addressed race director Michael Masi directly when Haas’s Rus-sian rookie Nikita Mazepin delayed Mercedes’ seven times world champion and eventual winner Lewis Hamilton on lap 26. “Blue flags, Michael,” viewers heard the Austrian say. “This guy makes us lose the position.” Masi said the broadcasting of messages in-volving race control was an innovation agreed between Formula One and the governing FIA. Viewers have previously heard only communications between teams and drivers over team radio. “It actually came about through a discussion at an F1 Commis-sion meeting last year so they (the fans) could hear, as part of the broadcast, the communications between the pit wall and the teams,” he said.

AgenciesAmman, Jordan

The 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) resumes with the Jordan Rally on May

27-29.Absent from a revised regional

rallying calendar in 2020 because of the global Covid-19 situation, this year’s event has been pushed back one week in the calendar by Jordan Motorsport but retains its spot as the second round of the MERC following the postpone-ment of the event in Oman.

A record-breaking 15th victory at his home event in Qatar at the end of January has given Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah the early lead in the 2021 series and the winner of 13 Jordan rallies will be hoping to continue his remarkable winning streak over 10 planned special stages.

Jordan Motorsport has now re-leased details of the itinerary for the rally that features two legs of six and four gravel stages in the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo areas, which hosted the FIA World Rally Championship on three occa-sions (2008, 2010 and 2011).

Two loops of three specials make up the itinerary for the opening leg on Friday, May 28, with crews set to face the 9.8km of Syagha, a demanding as-sault on the 34.70km of a brand new Adasiyah special and a run

through the 11.34km of a stage near the Baptism Site in a leg comprising 123.02 competitive kilometres.

The punishing Jordan River stage of 31.01km gets leg two (114.72km) underway and there is no respite for competitors with a pass through the new chal-lenge of Joufeh (26.35km) before the midday regroup and service at the Dead Sea. Both stages are repeated in the afternoon, prior

to the podium fi nish and post-event press conference, sched-uled from 17.30hrs onwards.

This year’s rally is based at the Crown Plaza Dead Sea Re-sort and Spa, where all neces-sary Covid-19 protocols will apply, including proof of nega-tive tests (48hr validity) before any access is given to the serv-ice park area.

Entries close on Thursday (May 13).

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah in Jordan action in 2019.

ReutersLondon, England

Red Bull need Sergio Perez much closer to the front to put pressure on Mercedes and help Max Verstappen in

his title battle with Lewis Hamilton, team boss Christian Horner said after Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Mexican Perez started in eighth place, after suff ering shoulder pain in qualifying, and fi nished fi fth at Bar-celona’s Circuit de Catalunya — more than a minute behind Mercedes’ win-ner Lewis Hamilton.

Seven-times champion Hamilton and Verstappen were so far ahead of the rest that the decisive strategy of a second pit-stop and fresh tyres opened up for the Mercedes driver as he chased his Red Bull rival.

“We desperately need him (Perez) to be in that gap so that Mercedes don’t have the strategic options that they had,” said Horner.

“I’m convinced that that will come for Checo (Perez) as he fi nds more confi dence and time in the car.”

Perez, a race winner with Racing Point (now Aston Martin) last season, was signed as an experienced driver to bring extra fi repower to Red Bull’s arsenal as they mount a serious cham-pionship challenge.

Verstappen’s most recent teammates had failed to perform on the Dutch driver’s level, leaving him exposed to rivals’ strategy even when leading.

Perez has said he needs time to feel fully comfortable in the car, however.

“I’m getting more confi dent with the car now and every time I get to the end of a weekend I think, ‘I wish the weekend was just starting now’,” he said on Sunday.

“Also every circuit is diff erent so what I learn here will be diff erent to what I need in Monaco but the main thing is that I am still adapting and hopefully soon we can be 100%.”

Monaco, where grid position is of crucial importance on a tight and twisty street circuit with little overtaking, is the next race up on May 23.

SPORT5Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Emotional Mother’s Day win for Wolves’ Towns

DeBrincat tops 30-goal mark as Blackhawks beat Stars

NBA

NHL

AFPLos Angeles

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 128-96 rout of the Orlando Magic Sunday,

then lifted the lid on how emotional it is for him to play on Mother’s Day.

The two-time all-star Towns lost his mother, Jacqueline Towns, to Covid-19 last April.

“I have been emotional all day,” Towns said. “I told my dad it will be very diffi -cult to come out here. But my family, my memories and this team gives me strength to come out here and play the game.

“It is diffi cult, but to all the mothers out (there) that hold the house down, and all mothers not here anymore... today is for you. Happy Mother’s Day. There is no bigger job in the world than a mother.”

He spent the day with his father Karl Towns Sr, and the two shared a touch-ing embrace at courtside before Sunday’s victory in Florida.

“It’ll be emotional. But it’ll be reward-ing because she’ll be happy to know we’re still doing the stuff that she would want us to do,” Towns Sr told USA Today ahead of the game.

Towns has not only lost his mother, but also six other family members over the last year to the coronavirus, before test-ing positive himself in January.

On Sunday, he and D’Angelo Russell both fi nished with 27 points to snap a three-game losing streak for the Tim-berwolves. Towns also had nine rebounds and four assists, and Russell chipped in eight assists and six rebounds.

Elsewhere, Tim Hardaway scored 25 points and drained seven threes as red-hot Dallas overcame the ejection of their top scorer Luka Doncic to beat the Cleve-land Cavaliers 124-97.

The Mavericks won their fourth con-secutive contest in the second game of a home-and-home series to improve to 40-28 on the season. Dallas are in fi fth place in the Western Conference with four games left in the regular season.

Doncic was ejected just under two minutes into the third quarter for fouling

Cavaliers’ Collin Sexton as the two tussled at the side of the basket. Sexton appeared to push Doncic, who swung his arm back-wards, striking Sexton near the groin area. “I hit him. It wasn’t nothing on purpose. That kind of stuff happens all the time in the games,” Doncic said. Dallas was al-ready playing without Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed six straight games and nine of the past 10 with a sore right knee. Josh Richardson added 20 points for the Mavericks, Jalen Brunson hit for 13 points and Dwight Powell scored 12.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks showed why they are headed to the posts-eason as Derrick Rose scored 25 points in a 106-100 win over the Los Angeles Clip-pers. The Knicks used a combination of well-executed perimeter shooting and solid defense to break down Los Angeles and bust the game open in the second

quarter before holding on in the fourth for their third win on a six-game road swing.

The Knicks also have two losses on the road trip, which closes Tuesday against the reigning NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers. Rose came off the bench to deliver eight assists, while Reggie Bullock scored 24 points and made fi ve threes for the Knicks, who have fi ve games left in the season and all against clubs headed to the postseason.

“He’s sort of the unsung hero. Every night he’s guarding a tough opponent, he never stops working on the defensive end,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Bullock. “He’s got to continue to do that for us, it opens up so many things.”

Also, Anthony Davis fi nished with 42 points and 12 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the Phoenix Suns 123-110 in the late game in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles avoided the three-game season sweep by the Suns and stayed one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the seventh spot in the Western Con-ference standings with four games left.

BROWN TO MISS REST OF SEASONVeteran NBA referee Tony Brown will miss the rest of the regular season and the playoff s after being diagnosed with pan-creatic cancer last month.

“Tony is a beloved member of the NBA family, and in particular, our offi ciating family,” Monty McCutchen, NBA senior vice president for referee development and training, said in a news release Mon-day.

“In addition to exemplifying what it means to be a world class referee on the court, Tony also touches so many lives off the court.

ReutersPhiladelphia

Alex DeBrincat eclipsed the 30-goal plateau with two tallies, Patrick Kane dished out a pair of assists and the Chicago Blackhawks welcomed back

fans Sunday night for the fi rst time in over a year with a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars.

By scoring twice – six total against Dallas this season – DeBrincat extended his point streak to seven games and his career-long goal streak to six, with eight tallies in that span for Chicago (24-25-6, 54 points).

Kane’s two helpers give him 51 – second only to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid’s 68 – and eight points (one goal, seven assists) against Dallas in seven games. Brandon Hagel posted a goal and an assist, MacKenzie Entwistle netted his fi rst NHL goal and Kevin Lankinen regis-tered 37 saves for the Blackhawks, who are 5-2-0 against Dallas. Winners just once in their past seven games (1-4-2) as their chances for a play-off berth slipped away from them, the Stars (22-19-14, 58 points) got markers from Denis Guri-anov and Mark Pysyk and 21 saves on 25 shots by netminder Anton Khudobin. After 426 days without fans in attendance, Chicago’s United Center was fi nally open to 3,820 Blackhawks faithful – the last U.S-based NHL arena to allow fans inside.

Entwistle became the third Blackhawk to score his fi rst NHL goal this week – joining Riley Stillman and Mike Hardman – getting a primary assist from Hardman at 6:23 of the fi rst period.

Eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night after the Nashville Predators earned the Central Division’s fi nal spot with a 3-1 win over

Carolina, Dallas evened the game at 1-1 when Gurianov notched his 12th goal at 9:40.

However, Hagel scored for Chicago just 51 seconds later when his shot struck the crossbar and went straight up. The puck landed behind Khudobin and spun into the goal for Hagel’s ninth marker.

DeBrincat cashed in by wiring a shot from the left dot off a point pass from Kane, who provid-ed two assists in the frame as Chicago headed into the fi rst intermission with a 3-1 lead.

In a scoreless, penalty-free second, Lankinen stood strong by stopping 10 Dallas shots, while the Blackhawks mustered just fi ve, leaving them outshot 27-14 over the two periods.

Early in the third, Pysyk cut the defi cit to 3-2 with his third goal of the season, but DeBrincat secured the outcome for the Chicago with his 31st goal with 3:12 remaining. It is the second time in his career that DeBrincat has topped 30 goals, the other coming with a 41-goal season in 2018-19. The two clubs will conclude the regular season with a rematch Monday night.

FLAMES REMAIN IN PLAYOFF HUNT WITH WIN OVER SENATORS

Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk both collected one goal and two assists and the Cal-gary Flames kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 6-1 home victory over the Ottawa Sena-tors on Sunday.

Mikael Backlund, Michael Stone, Dillon Dube and Mark Giordano also scored, while goal-tender Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves as Cal-gary snapped a two-game skid. Gaudreau has collected 15 points in 12 games (6-9-15).

The Flames (23-26-3, 49 points) must win their fi nal four games of the regular season and need the Montreal Canadiens to lose in regula-

tion both of their fi nal outings. Calgary ends the season with four games against the last-place Vancouver Canucks, while the Canadiens twice play host to the Edmonton Oilers.

Josh Norris replied with the lone goal for the Senators (22-28-5, 49 points), who have long been eliminated from playoff contention. Start-ing goalie Anton Forsberg was victimised for four goals on 23 shots before being pulled in fa-vor of Filip Gustavsson – who stopped 11 shots in relief.

Ottawa, which has long been eliminated, fi n-ishes the season with Wednesday’s home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Gaudreau’s breakaway tally just past the midway point of the fi rst period gave Calgary a much-needed boost. While holding off Vic-tor Mete, he deposited a backhand shot for his 19th goal of the season. Backlund snapped an 11-game goal drought 17 seconds into the second period. Shortly after he was denied on a golden chance, Backlund buried a sharp-angled shot for his ninth tally of the season.

Tkachuk from the doorstep converted Gaud-reau’s pass to make it 3-0 at 4:38 of the middle frame. His 11th goal of the campaign ended a 13-game goal slump.

After Stone extended the lead at 10:55 of the period with a bullet of a slap shot – a goal that saw rookie Glenn Gawdin receive an assist and earn his fi rst point – Norris, who is third in rookie scoring this season, put the Senators on the board 61 seconds later with his 16th goal of the season.

Dube restored the four-goal edge in the mid-dle of the third period when he wired a one-tim-er on the two-on-one rush for his 10th goal of the season and Giordano rounded out the scor-ing with a late power-play goal.

‘I told my dad it will be very diff icult to come out here. But my family, my memories and this team gives me strength to come out here and play the game’

RESULTS

Lakers 123-110 Suns

Heat 130-124 Celtics

Wolves 128-96 Magic

Knicks 106-100 Clippers

Pelicans 112-110 Hornets

Bulls 108-96 Pistons

Kings 126-98 Thunder

Mavericks 124-97 Cavaliers

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (right) defends Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner’s shot during the first half at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, USA. (USA TODAY Sports)

Stanton gives Yankees victory over NationalsReutersNew York

Giancarlo Stanton sin-gled with one out in the ninth inning to give the New York Yankees a

3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees started their rally against Brad Hand (2-1) when Tyler Wade and pinch hit-ter Aaron Judge drew walks. DJ LeMahieu beat out a double-play grounder to move Wade to third and Stanton won it by sharply hitting a sin-gle into left fi eld between shortstop Trea Turner and third baseman Starlin Castro as the infi eld was in for Washington.

It was Stanton’s seventh career game-ending hit and second since joining the Yankees following the 2017 season in a trade with the Miami Marlins.

The Yankees posted their second straight win in their last at-bat, im-proved to 12-5 since open-ing the season with 11 losses in 17 games and also capped a 7-2 homestand.

After blowing a 2-0 lead, New York staged a rally against Hand for the second straight day. Hand blew a save chance on Saturday after having converted his previous 24 regu-lar-season chances.

Yankee closer Aroldis Chap-man (2-0) stranded a runner in a scoreless ninth after Wandy Peralta retired Juan Soto to end the eighth. New York’s Domingo German took a shutout into the seventh before the Nationals’ Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer to tie the game. German allowed two runs on fi ve hits in 6 1/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts.

Washington’s Joe Ross al-lowed two runs on three hits in fi ve-plus innings. He was lifted

in the sixth after Gary Sanchez followed a Gleyber Torres home run by drawing a walk.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third when Aaron Hicks followed two walks by lining an RBI single to center fi eld. Torres made it 2-0 in the sixth when he hit a 2-0 sinker into the left fi eld bleachers for his fi rst regu-lar-season homer since Sept. 17 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Josh Bell opened the seventh with a double to left-center fi eld and, one out later, Schwarber reached the second deck in right fi eld by hitting a 1-2 four-seam

fastball for his third homer.

METS OVERCOME INJURY TO DEGROM, SWEEP D’BACKSJacob deGrom exited after fi ve innings due to tightness in his right side Sunday afternoon, but a trio of pitchers helped the host New York Mets record a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Mets have won fi ve straight after completing a sweep of the Diamondbacks, who were outscored 33-12 on their 0-6 road trip.

DeGrom, who was scratched from his scheduled start Tues-day due to a sore right lat, set down the fi rst 12 batters he faced on just 39 pitches.

MLB

RESULTS

Yankees 3-2 Nationals

Red Sox 4-3 Orioles

Mets 4-2 D’Backs

Astros 7-4 Blue Jays

White Sox 9-3 Royals

Brewers 2-1 Marlins

Pirates 6-5 Cubs

Angels 2-1 Dodgers

Cardinals 2-0 Rockies

Padres 11-1 Giants

Rangers 10-2 Mariners

Braves 6-1 Phillies

Rays 4-3 Athletics

New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton (centre) celebrates with teammates and coaches after hitting a walk-off single against the Washington Nationals at Yankee Stadium in New York. (USA TODAY Sports)

Alex DeBrincat of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrates his 31st goal of the season in the third period against the Dallas Stars at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty Images/AFP)

SPORTGulf Times Tuesday, May 11, 20216

McIlroy snaps title drought with third win at Quail Hollow

GOLF

AFPWashington

Rory McIlroy snapped an 18-month US PGA vic-tory drought on Sun-day, overcoming a tense

last-hole dilemma to win his third Wells Fargo Championship by one stroke.

The 32-year-old from North-ern Ireland defi ed windy condi-tions to win his 19th career US PGA title, fi ring a fi nal-round three-under par 68 to fi nish 72 holes at Quail Hollow in Char-lotte, North Carolina, on 10-un-der 274.

It was the fi rst victory by McIl-roy since the WGC HSBC Cham-pions at Shanghai in November 2019 and it comes with the start of the year’s second major tour-nament, the PGA Championship, looming on May 20.

“It’s awesome,” McIlroy said. “It’s never easy to win out here. It has felt like a long time since that victory in China in 2019. The world is a completely dif-ferent place than it was before. We’ve been through a pandem-ic.”

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer was second on 275 after a closing 66 with Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American Keith Mitchell sharing third on 276 and 2019 US Open champion Gary Wood-land fi fth on 277.

The triumph was also McIl-roy’s fi rst as a father, his wife Erica having given birth to daughter Poppy last year, and it came on US Mother’s Day.

McIlroy also won at Quail Hollow in 2010 for his fi rst US PGA triumph and again in 2015, when he fi red a course-record 61 in the third round and cruised to a seven-stroke victory.

This one was a battle to the end. Leading by two strokes at the 18th tee, McIlroy hooked his drive the left rough near a wa-ter hazard. With a tricky side-hill lie, he took a penalty drop, then smashed an 8-iron onto the green and two-putted from 44 feet for bogey and the long-sought victory.

McIlroy pumped his right fi st as a cheering crowd, among the biggest since the pandemic struck last March, began to chant his name. He was inspired to throw his ball into the crowd.

“It’s just awesome to play in front of these people again,” McIlroy said. “To bring the best out of myself, I need this. I feed off the energy so much, maybe no place more so than this.

“They carried me though to-day.”

McIlroy has won four US PGA events at least twice, includ-ing the PGA Championship and Tour Championship, but this is the fi rst one he has taken three times. Four-time major win-ner McIlroy was playing in his fi rst event since missing the cut at the Masters last month with a chance to complete a career Grand Slam.

World number 15 McIlroy was left alone in the lead at 9-under

when Woodland made bogeys at the par-4 12th and par-3 13th.

But Mitchell matched McIlroy at the top with a nine-foot bird-ie putt at 13 and Ancer joined them with a late charge, holing a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th. McIlroy answered the challenge at the par-4 14th, driving into a greenside bunker, blasting his second shot within fi ve feet of the hole an sinking the birdie putt to reclaim the solo lead at 10-under.

McIlroy found a bunker with his second at the par-5 15th but blasted out three feet past the cup and sank the birdie putt to lead by two at 11-under with three holes remaining.

That gave McIlroy 49 con-secutive putts made inside six feet for the week in as many attempts. McIlroy and Wood-land began the round two back of leader Mitchell, who opened with a birdie. But Mitchell

stumbled with bogeys at the par-4 fi fth and par-3 sixth while McIlroy and Woodland charged.

McIlroy sank a birdie putt from just inside seven feet at the third, saved par from seven feet at the par-3 sixth and birdied from 24 feet at the par-5 seventh to reach 9-under.

Woodland, playing one group ahead of McIlroy in the pe-nultimate pairing, birdied the seventh and par-4 eighth from about four feet to match McIlroy for the lead as they reached the back nine.

Canada’s Corey Conners aced the par-3 sixth hole using a hy-brid from 254 yards.

LEADING FINAL-ROUND SCORES (USA unless noted, par-71)274-Rory McIlroy (NIR) 72-66-68-68275-Abraham Ancer (MEX) 69-70-70-66

276-Viktor Hovland (NOR) 69-72-68-67, Keith Mitchell 67-71-66-72277-Gary Woodland 67-69-70-71279-Matt Wallace (ENG) 69-67-73-70, Patrick Reed 71-69-69-70, Luke List 67-72-68-72280-Bryson DeChambeau 70-74-68-68, Aaron Wise 72-71-68-69281-Ben Martin 69-71-72-69, Scott Piercy 70-68-73-70, Satoshi Kodaira (JPN) 68-72-68-73282-Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 74-66-72-70, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 67-75-70-70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71-71-70-70, Xander Schauff ele 72-71-68-71283-CT Pan (TPE) 74-69-72-68, Brian Harman 68-72-73-70, JJ Spaun 69-75-69-70, Keegan Bradley 66-75-71-71, Joaquin Niemann (CHI) 71-71-70-71, Joel Dahmen 68-72-71-72, Russell Knox (SCO) 70-71-70-72, Bubba Watson 70-69-71-73

Springboks to play Georgia in fi rst Test since winning WCAFPJohannesburg

World champions South Africa will play for the fi rst time since winning

the Rugby World Cup in Novem-ber 2019 when they host Georgia in a two-Test series this July, SA Rugby announced Monday.

The Springboks are prepar-ing for three matches against the touring British and Irish Lions later in July and August.

South Africa will meet Geor-gia on July 2 or 3 and 9 or 10, then tackle the Lions on July 24 and 31 and August 7.

Venues for both series will be confi rmed later.

The coronavirus pandemic has prevented South Africa from playing since they defeated Eng-land 32-12 in Japan to lift the World Cup a record-equalling third time.

“Nothing beats a full-blooded international to test your skill set, readiness and ability under pressure, and we are delighted to have this opportunity before the Lions series,” said director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

Former Springbok Erasmus coached the World Cup-winning squad and has since returned to his original role, with Jacques Nienaber appointed head coach early last year.

“Jacques, his coaching staff and management have been working around the clock to get the team as well prepared as pos-sible,” Erasmus said.

“The Georgia series is a much-needed opportunity after such a long and unforeseen interrup-tion due to Covid-19.”

Nienaber said: “The confi r-mation of the Georgian Tests, and the announcement of the British and Irish Lions squad last week have caused a lot of excite-ment.

“I am sure it will lift the spirit of the players - we can now ac-celerate our preparations for our return to Test rugby.”

The Springboks have played

European second-tier side Geor-gia only once, winning 46-19 at the 2003 World Cup in Australia. South Africa are ranked fi rst in the world and Georgia 12th.

Senior Georgian offi cial La-sha Khurtsidze said the series stemmed from growing friend-ship and co-operation between rugby offi cials in the two coun-tries. “Playing against them is a great honour for us,” he said.

“We have only played the Springboks once before and scored the fi rst try of the match. A lot of time has passed since, they are the current world champions and we have devel-oped as well.”

Cape Town, Soweto and Jo-hannesburg, in that order, were the original venues for the Li-ons Tests, but there has been speculation regarding possible changes. Cape Town could stage the fi rst Test instead of the sec-ond, with the other two at the 95,000-capacity FNB Stadium in Soweto.

Discussions are ongoing be-tween rugby and government of-fi cials over the possibility of fans attending with SA Rugby hoping to at least half fi ll stadiums.

Yesterday’s announcement came as World Rugby unveiled a revised international men’s schedule for the July window in response to Covid-19.

“This has taken a monumen-tal eff ort from all concerned,” said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont in a statement.

The former England and Lions captain explained fans around the world could now look for-ward to an “exciting bumper schedule” of Tests involving at least 25 teams, with Beaumont adding offi cials are anticipating a “fascinating” Lions series in South Africa.

RUGBY

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates with the trophy alongside his wife Erica and daughter Poppy after winning the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Getty Images/AFP)

‘IT’S JUST AWESOME TO PLAY IN FRONT OF THESE PEOPLE AGAIN’

England Rugby announce USA, Canada Tests

England will play Tests against the United States and Canada in front of crowds at Twicken-ham Stadium in July, the Rugby Football Union announced yesterday. Eddie Jones’s men, who will be missing a clutch of players who are involved in the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, will face the USA on July 4 and Canada on July 10. For the first time since England beat France in the Autumn Nations Cup Final in December 2020, supporters will be able to attend England matches. Coronavirus restrictions mean the stadium will be operating at reduced capacity but it is expected that at least 10,000 fans will be able to attend each match. A total of 11 England players are in the Lions squad, giving Jones the opportunity to experiment with fresh talent. “The summer series will give us the chance to look at a lot of

players and see how they step up, and it’s an important part of our World Cup preparation,” he said. “For younger players, it’s a chance to show what they can do at international level and how they are in the team environment. “There aren’t too many oppor-tunities to lead at international level, so for the more experi-enced players it’s a chance to take further leadership roles and grow their game in that area.” England, beaten finalists in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, made a disappointing defence of their 2020 Six Nations title, finishing second bottom in this year’s championships. Jones, though, received the “full support” of the RFU last month following a review of the campaign. The United States are 16th in the world rankings while Canada are 23rd. (AFP)

Al Duhail edged past Al Khor 29-28 at the Al Duhail Indoor Arena on Sunday to emerge Qatar Handball League champions. Al Duhail finished the league with 47 points, while Al Arabi and Al Wakrah finished second and third respectively. President of the Qatar Handball Association Ahmed al-Shaabi distributed the prizes. (Twitter/QHF)

QATAR HANDBALL LEAGUE: AL DUHAIL EMERGE CHAMPIONS

South Africa will meet Georgia on July 2 or 3 and 9 or 10, then tackle the Lions on July 24 and 31 and August 7. Venues for both series will be confi rmed later

Cejka wins fi rst major, outduels Stricker in playoff Alex Cejka went from alternate in need of a break to winning the first major of his career as he prevailed over Steve Stricker in the first hole of a playoff on Sunday to win the Regions Tradition at Birmingham, Ala. Cejka carded a 14-foot birdie putt on the playoff hole and Stricker was unable to match as his 9-foot putt went just wide of the hole.The ending left Cejka as an unlikely champion as he was only added to the field when Jay Haas withdrew yesterday.

The 50-year-old shot a 5-under 67 in the final round to finish with an 18-under 270 at Greystone Golf & Country Club.“It’s incredible. I still can’t believe it. I have no words,” Cejka said. “I fought so hard.“We work so hard. I think it’s everybody’s dream to win trophies and I did it.”Stricker, the defending champion, shot 4-under 68. The win, coming in Cejka’s third Champions start, gives him a full exemption. He tied for 38th at the Cologuard Classic in February in his first

outing and tied for second at the Chubb Classic last month. Cejka was born in communist Czechoslovakia and escaped as a refugee to Germany when he was 9.According to the PGA Tour, Cejka and his father travelled by boat and train and also had to swim and bike along the way through Yugoslavia, Italy and Switzerland before settling in Frankfurt, Germany.“I’m one of the thousands, millions of people who have a dream and got it done,” Cejka said. Cejka opened the final

round with a bogey and sprinkled in six birdies the rest of the way. He trailed by three shots but later had a key sequence in which he made three straight birdies on 12, 13 and 14 to take a two-shot lead.Stricker made birdies at 16 and 18 to force the playoff . He carded six birdies and two bogeys on his final trip around the course. “I’m proud of the way I kind of fought back and battled back to get into the playoff ,” Stricker said. (Reuters)

FOOTBALL7Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Cavani extends Manchester United contract to 2022

West Bromwich relegated aft er 3-1 defeat at Arsenal

SPOTLIGHT

PREMIER LEAGUE

AFPLondon

Edinson Cavani will remain at Manchester United next season after the on-form Uru-guayan signed a one-year contract exten-sion yesterday. The 34-year-old Uruguay-

an has scored 15 goals in his fi rst season in England, including eight in his last seven games, to help United to second place in the Premier League and to the fi nal of the Europa League.

“Over the season I have developed a great aff ec-tion for the club and everything that it represents,” Cavani said in a United statement. “I have been touched with how much the supporters have want-ed me to stay, and I will give everything to bring

them happiness and joy with my performances on the fi eld. I’ve not yet been able to play in front of the Old Traff ord crowd and that is something that I

cannot wait to do.”United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had repeat-

edly stressed his desire for Cavani to remain at Old Traff ord despite reports the striker was keen to return to South America. “I said when Edinson signed, that he would bring energy, power and leadership to this group and I haven’t been proved wrong, he has been everything I thought he would be and more,” said Solskjaer.

“As coaches, we knew about his goalscor-ing record. However, it is his personality that has brought so much to this squad, he has a winning mentality and has an unequivocal attitude to eve-rything he does.”

United could end a four-year trophy drought when they face Villarreal in the Europa League fi nal on May 26 and are set to match their best Premier

League fi nish since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Cavani’s form in recent months has played a ma-jor part in that success, after a slow start to his time in Manchester. He was banned for three games in December after an exchange on Instagram in which he addressed a friend, Pablo Fernandez, using the commonly used Spanish term “negrito” (small black person).

United are in action twice in the next three days at home to Leicester and Liverpool in the Premier League. Defeat in either game or two draws would end the Red Devils’ small chances of catching Manchester City at the top of the table for a fi rst league title in eight years.

City are 10 points clear, but have played a game more than their local rivals.

ReutersLondon

West Bromwich Albion were relegated from the Pre-mier League on Sunday after a 3-1 loss at Arsenal

sent them straight back down to the Championship after one season in the top fl ight. The defeat left the Baggies in 19th place with 26 points, 10 points be-hind fourth-bottom Burnley with only three games left to play.

It is the fi rst time manager Sam Al-lardyce has suff ered relegation from the Premier League during his 17 cam-paigns. West Brom started brightly but struggled to move the ball into good at-tacking positions, and when they did they failed to get their eff orts on target.

Arsenal, on the other hand, put on a brilliant display of fi nishing to con-demn them to the drop. Emile Smith Rowe connected perfectly with Bukayo Saka’s cross in the 29th minute to deftly volley Arsenal’s opener, and Nicolas Pepe cut in from the right before curl-ing home an unstoppable left-foot shot six minutes later.

Pepe had another thumping eff ort saved by Sam Johnstone early in the second half and, with Saka carving West Brom open down the left, Arsenal had lots of chances to add to the score.

However, Matheus Pereira pulled one back for the visitors in the 67th after a surging run from deep inside his own half ended with him scoring from West Brom’s only shot on target.

That was all the Baggies could mus-ter and Willian’s brilliant 90th-minute

free kick wrapped up the points for Ar-senal, who are in ninth place on 52 from 35 games.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said it was important for the club to get back to winning ways after their Europa League exit and was particularly pleased with his players' attitude. “After not going through to the fi nal, it's always very im-portant to win the game," said Arteta.

“It's always the best way to remedy the pain that we had, to win the game, to score the three beautiful goals that we have done and create so many more chances."

Arsenal travel to third-placed Chel-sea on Wednesday and Arteta said his side had a duty to the fans to fi nish the season strong. "We have a huge respon-sibility to win every game we play when we represent this football club," he

added. "If anybody can question any-thing, our level, our ability, whatever it is, they can.

West Brom will join basement club Sheffi eld United, who are already down, in the second-tier next season, but de-fender Kyle Bartley was in defi ant mood despite his side’s relegation. “(I’m) massively disappointed, (but) it’s time to focus on these next three games, get as much momentum as possible to make sure we come straight back up next season,” he said. “I am really proud of the way the boys kept going. It would have been so easy to fold out there and lose four or fi ve nil, but everyone kept going.”

Third-bottom Fulham were host-ing Burnley last night knowing a defeat would also send them straight back down to the Championship.

Ahly to meet Berkane for

CAF Super Cup in Qatar

Johannesburg: The de-layed CAF Super Cup match between Al Ahly of Egypt and Renaissance Berkane of Morocco will be played on May 28 in Doha, the organis-ers confirmed yesterday.

Coronavirus and disagree-ments over the venue led to several postponements of the annual fixture between the winners of the CAF Champi-ons League and the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup. Last November, Ahly beat Zamalek 2-1 in an all-Egypt Champions League final and Berkane edged another Egyptian club, Pyramids, 1-0 to lift the Confederation Cup. This will be third consecutive Super Cup match to be staged in Qatar, who will host the 2022 World Cup, the first to be staged in the Middle East.

SALERNITANA PROMOTED TO SERIE A,

MONZA IN PLAY-OFFSSalernitana earned promotion to Serie A as they secured second place behind Serie B champions Empoli, while Silvio Berlusconi’s ambitious Monza will go into the play-off s after finishing third.

A 3-0 victory over relegated Pescara ensured Salernitana will return to Italy’s top flight for the first time since the 1998-99 season. The Campa-nia club’s promotion means Lazio president Claudio Lotito will have to sell his stake in Salernitana, as Italian Football Federation rules prevent two clubs in the same league from having the same owner.

Monza’s outside hopes of automatic promotion were dashed by a 2-0 home loss to Brescia. The teams that finish from third to eighth go into a promotion play-off , with the four lowest-ranked clubs playing a preliminary round before the two-legged semi-finals and final. Former AC Milan owner and Italian prime minister Berlusconi purchased Monza in September 2018 with the club in the third tier, having sold Milan in April 2017. Monza signed Mario Balotelli in December, three months after ex-Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng joined the club on a free transfer.

FLICK HAS AGREED GERMAN NATIONAL

TEAM DEAL: REPORTHansi Flick, who is stepping down as Bayern Munich coach at the end of this season, will take over the German national team after this summer’s Euro, a German newspaper report-ed. Flick is expected to sign for three years, according to the Abendzeitung, a Munich newspaper, allowing him to lead the national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024, which is scheduled to take place in Germany.

Flick, 56, has long been considered the preferred candidate for the post of national coach by the German Football Association (DFB). He was assistant to Joachim Low, who is standing down after 15 years, between 2006 and 2014, when Germany won the world title.

Flick took over at Bayern in 2019 and has won seven trophies, including two Bun-desliga titles and a Cham-pions League. Flick feuded with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic over recruitment and asked for his contract, which was due to run until 2023, to be terminated.

Real Madrid strike late but title hopes hit by dramatic Sevilla draw

LA LIGA

AFPMadrid

Eden Hazard’s 94th-minute equaliser salvaged Real Madrid a dramatic 2-2 draw against Se-villa on Sunday as an extraordi-

nary penalty decision swung La Liga’s title race back in Atletico Madrid’s fa-vour. Zinedine Zidane’s side had lev-elled through Marco Asensio midway through the second half and thought they had a penalty when Karim Ben-zema was brought down after rounding Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bono.

But VAR prompted referee Juan Mar-tinez Munuera to check an Eder Militao handball a few seconds before, with a huge decision seeing Madrid’s penalty cancelled and a spot-kick awarded to Sevilla instead. Ivan Rakitic converted and while Madrid still managed to hit back in injury time, Toni Kroos’ shot defl ecting in off Eden Hazard’s foot, the draw hands the advantage back to Atletico at the end of another dramatic weekend in the Spanish title race.

“They have to explain the exact rules of the hands to me,” said Zidane after-wards. “But now we have to think about the next game. It is not up to us now, but we will fi ght to the end, to the death.”

After Barcelona and Atletico played out a goalless draw on Saturday at Camp Nou, the second instalment of La Liga’s blockbuster weekend also fi nished hon-ours even, meaning the situation at the top is unchanged with three games now remaining. Atletico are two points clear of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, with the title very much back in their hands. A Sevilla victory might have given them an outside chance but instead they re-main six points back and are surely out of the running.

“We’re disappointed but we are not going to give up,” said Sevilla coach Ju-len Lopetegui. “We are going to try to keep this dream going a little longer.”

With a superior head-to-head record over Barcelona, Real Madrid scraping a draw could also yet prove decisive, given they only have to overtake one team now instead of two. “It’s a shame but we’re alive,” said Luka Modric. “We have seen that everyone is dropping points so you have to have faith.”

Hazard had to come off the Real bench after his controversial reaction to the Champions League defeat by Chel-

sea and while the equaliser was eventu-ally credited to him, there was hardly a sense of redemption given how little the Belgian knew about it.

Sevilla had 75 per cent of the ball in the fi rst 10 minutes but it felt like more, with Madrid chasing shadows and inca-pable of escaping their own half. They scored with their fi rst attack, Benzema rising above Jules Kounde to head in, only for the goal to be chalked off , with Alvaro Odriozola off side in the build-up.

Madrid looked jaded, the usually re-liable Modric guilty of sloppy passes

while Kroos and Casemiro struggled to aff ect the game. Sevilla took the lead in the 22nd minute and it was brilliantly worked, a short free-kick down the right improving the angle before Rak-itic’s cool header down gave Fernando Reges the chance. He dummied past the diving Casemiro before slotting in.

Madrid emerged early after half-time. Vinicius Junior poked onto the outside of the post after a clever short corner before Modric departed for Asensio, who scored 65 seconds after coming on. Sevilla’s Joan Jordan was caught in mid-fi eld and Benzema sped away.

Asensio looked like he had overrun the ball but it was returned to him by Kroos and he swept fi rst time into the net. Madrid had the momentum and they thought they had a penalty before the pendulum swung one way and then the other in a matter of seconds.

Sevilla’s corner was cleared and Ben-zema was sent through one-on-one, rounding Bono and going down for what looked an obvious spot-kick. Instead, Martinez was prompted to look at the monitor, where he saw Militao had dan-gled an arm onto the ball before Sevilla’s corner was cleared.

Both benches made their feelings clear while the voices from the stand in front of Martinez, most of them be-longing to Madrid, insisted the ball had struck Militao’s back. But Martinez cancelled Madrid’s penalty and award-ed one to Sevilla instead, with Rakitic stepping up and slotting into the corner.

Hazard came on and the drama was not yet fi nished. Kroos ghosted forward in the 94th minute and fi red off a shot that defl ected off the Hazard’s foot and in. Madrid still had two minutes to fi nd a winner and they almost got it, Casem-iro’s eff ort curling agonisingly wide.

Atletico are two points clear of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, with the title back in their hands

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (centre) vies for the ball with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde (left) and Joan Jordan Moreno during the La Liga match on Sunday. (AFP)

Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe (left) celebrates with Bukayo Saka after scoring against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday. (Reuters)

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

GULF TIMES SPORT

Juve face expulsion if still in Super League: Federation head

SERIE A

AFPParis

Neymar was on target the day after signing his contract ex-tension but Paris Saint-Ger-main were held to a 1-1 draw at

Rennes on Sunday night that leaves Lille a step closer to a remarkable Ligue 1 title triumph. PSG led at half-time after Ney-mar converted a controversial penalty award, but they were pegged back in the second half as Serhou Guirassy headed in the equaliser.

Presnel Kimpembe was later sent off for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who could not get back to winning ways on their return to domestic action following their Champions League semi-fi nal exit against Manchester City.

PSG are now three points adrift of Ligue 1 leaders Lille, who know they will be champions for the fi rst time since 2011 by taking four points from their remain-ing two matches of the season. The Paris-ians have won the French title in seven of the last eight years but they have regular-ly wobbled this season and the decision to replace coach Thomas Tuchel with Pochettino during the winter break looks like it will not have the desired impact.

“We will keep believing until the end, we won’t lose faith, but at Paris Saint-Germain we need to do much better,” captain Marquinhos said. “Lille are a really good side and are winning every match. We have two games left and we need to believe, focus on ourselves and perform better.”

Lille had opened up a provisional four-point lead by winning 3-0 at Lens on Fri-day, with Burak Yilmaz scoring twice. It appeared PSG might respond in kind, de-spite being without the suspended Kylian Mbappe or the injured Marco Verratti in Brittany. They were given the chance to take the lead in fi rst-half stoppage time when referee Ruddy Buquet surprisingly awarded a penalty after reviewing foot-age of Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd at-tempting to block a Layvin Kurzawa shot.

Neymar marked Saturday’s announce-ment that he had extended his contract until 2025 by stroking home from the spot. However, Rennes are chasing Euro-pean qualifi cation and they went looking for the equaliser, getting their reward 20 minutes from time when Guirassy headed in Benjamin Bourigeaud’s corner.

PSG were then reduced to 10 men three minutes from time when Kimpembe’s lunge on Jeremy Doku earned the defender a straight red card. PSG’s last two games are at home to Reims and away at relegation-threatened Brest, while Lille fi nish at home to Saint-Etienne and away at Angers.

Earlier, a first senior goal for Belgian youngster Eliot Matazo gave Monaco a 1-0 win at Reims that kept the prin-cipality club on course for a top-three finish and a return to the Champions League. Teenager Matazo, signed from Anderlecht aged 16 in 2018, struck in the 20th minute and Monaco then saw out the victory to get back on track after losing at home to rivals Lyon last weekend. However, Sunday’s vic-tory took Niko Kovac’s side back up to third on 74 points, one point better off than Lyon.

Champions and Champions League

semi-fi nalists in 2017, Monaco are also fi ve points adrift of Lille and two points behind PSG.

Only the top three in France qualify for the Champions League, with the top two going straight into the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition and third entering in the third qualifying round. Fourth will have to settle for the Europa League with fi fth set to go into the new Europa Conference League.

Marseille remain fi fth, above Lens on goal diff erence, despite losing 1-0 at Saint-Etienne. Rennes are a point behind them in seventh.

By Sports ReporterDoha

Ahmed Elkhoully took the top honours in the fi rst round of the Qa-tar Digital Motorsports

Championship on Sunday. Elkhoully, the defending cham-pion, was once again impressive in the virtual race played on Gran Turismo Sport game on PlaySta-tion 4. The event is organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF).

Elkhoully was dominant throughout the 13-lap virtual race set at Japan’s Fuji Interna-tional Speedway.

In second placed was Sheikh Soud Jassim al-Thani with Hade

Ahmed coming third. The opening round saw 12

participants, with seven of them being Qataris. The second round of the championship will be held today.

RESULTS

1. Ahmed Elkhoully, Time: 16.44.584 seconds; 2. Sheikh Soud Jassim al-Thani +08.013 secs; 3. Hade Ahmed +16.796 secs; 4. Rashid al-Mannai +20.803 secs; 5. Zaid Al-bani +20.984 secs; 6. Mansour Dbeissy +23.289 secs; 7. Omran Yahya +25.025 secs ; 8. Khalid al-Maraghi +25.734 secs; 9. Faesal Alyafei +29.106 secs; 10. Khalid al-Abdulla +30.153 secs; 11. Ali al-Zubairi; 12. Ahmad Shaheen

By Sports ReporterDoha

Xavi Hernandez heaped praise on his players af-ter Al Sadd entered the fi nal of the Amir Cup

on Sunday with a convincing 3-0 win over Al Arabi.

Al Sadd, who are coming off after a disappointing Asian Champions League campaign where they failed to make it to the last 16, posed too much qual-ity for Al Arabi.

Nam Tae-hee, Baghdad Bounedjah and Santi Cazorla were on the scoresheet as Al Sadd stayed on course for their 18th Amir Cup title.

“We are happy with this victo-ry. I am happy with our perform-ance and ensuring qualifi cation for the fi nal. We know that the task is not easy but we will con-tinue to work hard in order to win the title,” Xavi said. “We played wonderful football for the fi rst half hour of the match. I consider this match as one of the best we have played,” he added.

On Al Sadd’s ambition to win the title, Xavi said: “Certainly our goal is to win the title and we will wait for the winning team in the second semi-fi nal between Al Duhail and Al Rayyan. We know that they are strong but

we will be focused to defend the tournament. We will work hard to win Amir Cup.”

Meanwhile, Al Arabi coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said his team lost the match in the fi rst half after conceding an early goal to Al Sadd.

“We gave away the goal early at the start of the match and this gave Al Sadd an advantage. It was diffi cult from thereon for us to comeback into the game as Al Sadd are strong team,” he said.

And about playing in a de-fensive way at the beginning, Hallgrimsson said: “It was a cor-rect decision to play in this way because many players were not ready to play 90 minutes, such as Munisa, Sebastian and al-Ansari. So best decision was to defend in the beginning to stop Al Sadd and the look to score in the counterattack. Ofcourse we always expect to win, but it was not surprising that Al Sadd won. We played to win and tried hard to achieve that.”

Asked whether he will stay on a coach of the Al Arabi nest sea-son, Hallgrimsson said: “I always speak with the administration periodically when hiring new players and when we compare ourselves with Al Sadd. The dif-ferences between the two team is huge. There decision is not in my own hands.”

ReutersMilan

Juventus will be excluded from next season’s Serie A should the Ital-ian football club decide to persist with the proposed European Super

League project, the head of the Italian football federation (FIGC) said yesterday.

Nine of the clubs who tried to breaka-way, including six English Premier League teams, backed out of the Super League idea, but Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid are still involved in the project. “If Juventus does not respect the rules they will be out,” Gabriele Gravina told a news conference. “At the time of regis-tration for the next Serie A championship the club will be excluded if they decide not to withdraw from the Super League.”

Juve, Real and Barcelona said they were ready to reconsider the proposed ap-proach to the breakaway plan following the angry backlash across the continent, but added it would be “highly irrespon-sible” for them to abandon the project altogether. “We are fully aware of the di-versity of reactions to the Super League initiative and, consequently, of the need to refl ect on the reasons for some of them,” their statement said on Saturday. “We are ready to reconsider the proposed approach, as necessary.”

They did also denounce the “intoler-able” pressure put on them by UEFA to drop the project. The Super League ar-gued it would increase revenue for the top clubs in Europe and allow them to distrib-ute more money to the rest of the game. UEFA, other teams and fan organisations, however, said the league would only boost the power and wealth of elite clubs, with European soccer’s governing body insist-ing on Friday that the three clubs will face sanctions. Juventus declined to comment when approached

I WON’T RESIGN, I THINK I CAN DO BETTER SAYS JUVE’S PIRLO

Meanwhile, Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said he will not resign after seeing his side slip out of the Champions League qualifi cation places in Serie A following a 3-0 home defeat by AC Milan on Sunday night, insisting he can do better.

Last weekend, two late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo earned Juve a dramatic

victory at Udinese to give them confi -dence going into the crucial clash with Milan who, like the Turin side, have stut-tered in recent matches.

But the hosts never really looked like earning victory on Sunday, with the loss leaving Pirlo’s outfi t fi fth in the standings with three games to go, as doubts linger over the rookie’s managerial capabilities.

“Step aside? No,” Pirlo said. “I have undertaken this job with a lot of enthu-siasm, there are diffi culties but my work goes on and I am available. I think I can do better and be able to get out of it, together with the team. We have to look forward, I will continue to do my job as long as I

am allowed. We had actually started fairly well in the match, but we lost our way and this was the fi nal result. It’s diffi cult to explain now. There were many compo-nents that didn’t work.”

Milan led the way for much of the season but could not keep pace with In-ter Milan, who are the newly-crowned champions.

Sunday’s win, however, thanks to goals by Brahim Diaz, Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori, helped Milan climb to third spot, three points clear of Juve, and put them in a strong position to return to the Cham-pions League next term.

“I have always thought that there are

no perfect matches but tonight we came close in terms of attention, spirit and quality,” coach Stefano Pioli said. “It was a very important match and the victory I want to dedicate to the fans who have given us an exciting charge. This win could be a turning point (in the top four race) if we manage to continue this path on Wednesday against Torino.”

The fi nal whistle was greeted with wild scenes of celebration from Milan staff and players, with their fi rst away league win at Juve since March 2011 putting them in a strong position to return to the Cham-pions League, potentially at their oppo-nent’s expense.

If Juventus does not respect the rules they will be out, says Gabriele Gravina

PSG draw leaves Lille closer to Ligue 1 titleElkhoully triumphs at Qatar Digital Motorsports Championship

Xavi delighted aft er Al Sadd enter Amir Cup fi nal

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Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez (right) with Al Arabi manager Heimir Hallgrimsson after the Amir Cup semi-final at the Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Sunday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) and Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo react during the Italian Serie A match on Sunday. (AFP)

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar (left) is challenged by Rennes’ French midfielder Andy Diouf during the French Ligue match at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, northwestern France on Sunday. (AFP)

The opening round of the Qatar Digital Motorsports Championship was set at Japan’s Fuji International Speedway.