Fawad HussainThe Peninsula

Katinka Hosszu’s pur-suit of Sarah Sjostrom in her title hunt and Chad Le Clos’ bid to continue

his domination in the pool will be the centre of attention as top swimmers from around the globe eye glory at the fifth leg of FINA airweave Swimming World Cup series which begins today in Doha.

Nearly all the stars who com-peted in the opening leg of cluster #2 in Hong Kong earlier this week will be seen in action at the Hamad Aquatic Center during the two-day meet.

With the title race still open in both men’s and women’s competitions, the Doha leg – the final round of cluster #2 of FINA World Cup series - holds an utmost importance for the swimmers, and with the FINA announcing an increase in prize money ahead of the event, mouthwatering battles are on the cards.

South African superstar Le Clos, who managed to maintain his overall lead in Hong Kong after taking 3 gold and as many silver medals, is eyeing another commanding show to keep his title hopes intact.

The Olympic and World champion is leading the points table with 234 points ahead of Tom Shields (147 points) of USA. Both of them will be fighting out for win in cluster #2 after claiming 75 points apiece in Hong Kong.

Le Clos hailed Doha as his favour-ite venue and hoped to increase his tally of points.

“Doha is a second home for me. I am coming here since 2012 and I am happy to be back,” the speedster told at a pre-event press conference yesterday at The Torch Doha.

“I’ve been here for training many times and have spent quality time at Aspetar which was very useful. I have enjoyed a very successful time here

and I look forward to the same.”The men’s competitions will also see

other top stars including South African Cameron van der Burgh – the gold medalist at FINA World Championships Winsdor 2016, Russia’s Vladimir Viktorovich Morozov – Winsdsor 2016 champion at 100m breaststroke and Russian swimming ace Kirill Prigoda in action.

Russia’s Prigoda, who his occupy-ing fourth spot in men’s overall standings with 135 points, was also hoping for a good performance.

“I competed in Doha in 2014 and it was fun. I hope to continue my form and do well here,” he said.

Fiery battles are also expected in the women’s events which will see Swede sensation Sarah Sjostrom defending her lead against an in-form Katinka Hosszu of Hungary, who enjoyed a perfect run in Hong Kong, clinching all the six gold medals in individual events.

Sjostrom, who created two world records in Doha in 2014 said she was

targeting another impressive run at the venue.

“I came to Doha three years ago and broke two world records. I am looking forward to good races again. It’s going to be fun,” said the Swede s e n s a t i o n , w h o marked world records in 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle.

Triple Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the

Netherlands, Rio gold medalist Rie Kaneto of Japan and Jamaica’s star Alia Atkinson, the 2016 world cham-pion are among the other female stars participating in the event.

Apart from the swimmers, Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) Presi-dent, Khaleel Al Jabir, FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu and FINA Technical delegate Daphine Bird also attended the press conference.

Qatar is hosting the World Cup leg for the sixth consecutive time and Marculescu praised the organisational skills of the Gulf nation in hosting the high profile events.

“The purpose of hosting the World Cup outside World Championships is to show our sport to the world. Unfor-tunately, we had the Dubai leg cancelled this year but the event in Hong Kong was excellent and in Doha it is also going to be excellent as ever,” said the FINA Executive Director.

“Don’t forget that in 2023 Doha is the site of FINA World Champion-

ships when we will have all the athletes coming here,” he added.

The event is bring-ing together over 150 swimmers from around the world. As many as 36 gold medals will be up for grabs in the two-day contest which will bring curtains down to cluster #2 of the FINA World Cup series.

SPORTWednesday 4 October 2017

‘Very happy’ Nadal survives French scare at China Open

Sri Lanka skipper Chandimal lauds

‘wily old fox’ Herath

PAGE | 30 PAGE | 31 PAGE | 35

Kubica to test with Williams after a seven-year absence

re‘w

Stars eye glory as Doha show beginsFINA World Cup to benefit Qatari swimmers: Al Jabir Fawad HussainThe Peninsula

As Doha prepares to host another FINA airweave Swim-ming World Cup showdown

which begins today, Qatar Swim-ming Association (QSA) President, Khaleel Al Jabir (pictured) has said that holding such major competi-tions regularly was making a big impact in the promotion of the sport in the region.

Over 150 swimmers from around the world including the World and Olympic champions are taking part in the two-day meet, which is being hosted by Qatar for the sixth consecutive year.

The Gulf nation has become a regular stop for world’s top swim-mers in the recent years and it will also host the FINA World Champi-onships - the top event in the sport after Olympics - in the year 2023.

“This event is very important for us as this is making big impact in the

region specifically Qatar. It gives us a chance to win hosting rights for other major events like the World Championships. We have a good bonding with FINA and the QSA is happy to be organising the FINA World Cup since a long time,” said Al Jabir, who was recently elected as one of the FINA Board Directors.

Qatar will field over a dozen of swimmers in the competition and the QSA chief said the Doha World Cup was also a golden chance for them to enhance their skills.

“It’s an opportunity for our young swimmers as it will give them valuable experience. Top swimmers like Chad Le Close and Sarah Sjos-trom will be battling here and they can learn a lot from them like how they train and perform in the competitions.

“Our swimmers can raise their standards by competing along-

side the big names. I hope they will gain a lot from their experience at the top level level,” said Al Jabir.

I came to Doha three years ago and broke two

world records. I am looking forward to good races again.

It’s going to be fun, says Sjostrom

Doha is a second home for me. I am coming here since 2012 and I am happy to be back, says Le Clos

Today’s schedule

Morning session: Preliminaries

Men’s Freestyle 100mMen’s Breaststroke 50mMen’s Backstroke 100m

Women’s Backstroke 50mWomen’s Medley 200m

Men’s Freestyle 400mWomen’s Freestyle 50m

Men’s Breaststroke 200mMen’s Medley 100mMen’s Butterfly 50m

Evening session: Finals

Men’s Freestyle 100mWomen’s Freestyle 200m

Men’s Breaststroke 50mWomen’s Breaststroke 100m

Women’s Butterfly 100mMen’s Backstroke 100m

Women’s Backstroke 50mMen’s Butterfly 200m

Women’s Medley 200mMen’s Freestyle 400m

Women’s Freestyle 50mMen’s Breaststroke 200m

Men’s Medley 100mWomen’s Backstroke 200m

Men’s Butterfly 50mWomen’s Freestyle 800m

Men’s Medley 400mMixed Medley 4x50m

South African Olympic and World champion Chad le Clos (left), Swedish swimming sensation Sarah Sjostrom (centre) and Russian swimming ace Kirill Prigoda pose for a photograph following a press conference held on the eve of FINA airweave Swimming World Cup, at the Torch Hotel in Doha yesterday. Pictures: Salim Matramkot

/ The Peninsula

30 WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Kubica to test with WilliamsLondon

Reuters

Polish driver Robert Kubica will test with Williams this month as he chases a For-

mula One comeback after a seven-year absence.

The former world champi-ons have yet to finalise their 2018 lineup, with Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa’s place potentially at stake.

While there was no official comment from Williams, media reports yesterday said the 32-year-old would have an ini-tial run out at Silverstone after this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

He will then have a fuller assessment at Budapest’s Hun-garoring in a 2014 car, with the team’s British reserve driver Paul di Resta also featuring in the two-day test for comparison.

A well-placed source con-firmed to Reuters that the reports were accurate but emphasised it was not a question of a “shoot-out” between the two for the seat.

Kubica partially severed his right forearm in an horrific 2011 crash during a rally that he had entered for fun before the start of the Formula One season, and there are lingering doubts about

his arm movement. The Pole is being assisted in his bid to return to the sport by Germany’s 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, who started his grand prix career with Williams in 2006 before

moving to Mercedes. He com-pleted 142 laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix circuit in August in a test with Renault.

The French team have opted to replace under-performing

Briton Jolyon Palmer with Span-iard Carlos Sainz instead, however. Williams are the only top-five team still with an unde-cided lineup and Kubica’s only realistic chance, given that

Sauber are expected to take on Ferrari-backed drivers and Toro Rosso’s focus is on young talent coming through the Red Bull programme.

Renault said after that August test that they had not seen any “obvious roadblocks” to the former race winner’s return but nor had they got all the answers they were looking for.

Di Resta, who stood in for an unwell Massa in Hungary at this year’s race, is also in the frame for the seat while Massa has said he wants to continue.

The Brazilian, now 36, was due to retire last year but returned when Valtteri Bottas moved to Mercedes in January as Rosberg’s replacement.

Canadian teenager Lance Stroll, whose billionaire father has been funding a test pro-gramme using a 2014 car for his son to gain experience, is sure to stay.

Formula One driver Robert Kubica arrives for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Prize-Giving ceremony near Paris, France, in this file photo.

Weary All Blacks in race to recover for Springboks testCape Town Reuters

World champions New Zealand face a difficult battle to

squeeze in time for recovery and preparation ahead of their last game in this year’s Rugby Championship against South Africa at Newlands on Saturday, hooker Dane Coles said.

The majority of the squad arrived on Monday after a long trip from Buenos Aires where they beat Argentina 36-10 on Saturday to secure the annual southern hemi-sphere competition’s title for the fifth time in six years.

“I think this is the tough-est week we have but we are pretty lucky we’ve got a lot of guys who have done this trip before,” he told a news con-ference on Tuesday as the All Blacks rested at their team hotel ahead of Saturday’s test.

It takes three separate flights over more than 24 hours to get from the Argen-tine capital to Cape Town.

New Zealand have only had a regeneration session in the pool since and will prob-ably not take to the practice field before Thursday, some 48 hours before the game.

“It’s a shorter week, we are not on the field that much and there are a lot more meetings and emphasis on recovery. But that’s a good challenge,” Coles said.

“We have shown in the past that we’ve done it really well and we must show that we can do it again this week. We must just make sure we do those little things right. Mentally, you have to get yourself in the right spot,” Coles added.

“We have got to be smart with the time we have,” added assistant coach Ian Foster.

“The overall process doesn’t change but we have an issue now with travel. You don’t have to be Einstein to know that this week is not so much about training hard. We’ve just got to make sure we are smart, get energy lev-els high, the brain adjusted and clear and do that know-ing we can’t do a lot of on-field stuff,” Foster said.

Power edges Svensson to clinch last PGA spotSan Francisco

AFP

Ireland’s Seamus Power edged Canada’s Adam Svensson by $2,888 for the last US PGA

Tour spot in the upcoming 2017-18 season after the Web.com Tour Championship, tour offi-cials announced on Monday.

The full list of 50 newcom-ers for the campaign that begins Thursday with the PGA Safeway Open in Napa, California, included 25 players from the Web.com regular season and 25 more from the developmental tours season-ending final events.

In those finals events, Power won $40,625 to finish in 25th place and capture the last PGA berth available with Svensson next on $37,937.

The Canadian began the week 17th on the finals-only money list but missed the cut while Power shared 48th, a clos-ing par-71 to finish on six-under

278 enough to see him through.Three other players from

outside the United States made the PGA Tour from the finals -- Australian Matt Jones, Germany’s Alex Cejka and Cana-dian Corey Conners, one of five players from the finals who will be new PGA rookies. Other play-ers have been on tour before but lost playing rights.

Among the 25 players who

booked their PGA spots in August from the regular season were China’s first two US PGA Tour players, Dou Zecheng and Zhang Xinjun. Neither is set to play this week.

Others from outside the United States included South Africa’s Aaron Wise, Germany’s Stephan Jaeger and Canada’s Ben Silverman. All three are also US PGA rookies.

Evans gets one-year ban for positive testLondon

AFP

Britain’s Dan Evans (pic-tured) was hit with a one-year suspension yes-

terday after testing positive for cocaine in April.

Evans, ranked 108th, failed the drug test at the Barcelona Open in April and went public with the result at an emotional press conference in June.

The 27-year-old’s ban has been backdated and he will be eligible to play again on April 24 next year.

“A sample was found to con-tain cocaine and its metabolite,” a statement from the Interna-tional Tennis Federation read.

“It was agreed that a period of one year’s ineligibility should be imposed, commencing on 24 April 2017.

“The ITF accepted Mr. Evans’ account of how the cocaine got into his system and that he bears no significant fault or negligence

for the violation.”Evans, speaking via his

agent, vowed to return to action after the ban.

“Following the announce-ment made from the ITF today, I want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout this difficult period,” he said.

“I am determined to return to the sport I love and compete at the level I know I can in the not too distant future.”

Cocaine is only banned in

competition and Evans insisted he didn’t take it during the tour-nament. He said it had got into his system via permitted medi-cation that he had stored in the same pocket of his washbag in which he had previously kept the cocaine.

Evans’ expert, Dr Pascal Kintz, argued the very small amount of the drug present in Evans’ test was consistent with inadvertent contamination.

That explanation, coupled with Evans’ prompt acceptance that he had taken the drug, resulted in a more lenient ban that might have been expected.

Martina Hingis received a two-year suspension for a sim-ilar offence in 2007, when she failed a drugs test at Wimble-don. Birmingham-born Evans had enjoyed his best run at a Grand Slam earlier this year when he defeated former US Open champion Marin Cilic en route to the last 16 at the Aus-tralian Open.

Injured Uchimura’s reign ends at WorldsMontreal

AFP

Kohei Uchimura’s eight-year reign as the undisputed king of gym-

nastics came to a dramatic end on Monday after the hobbling Japanese star was eliminated during qualifiers at the World Championships.

Reigning Olympic champion Uchimura, who had been chas-ing a remarkable seventh straight individual all-around title in Montreal, saw his hopes go up in smoke after the vault rotation.

After a superb jump, the 28-year-old could be seen clutching his left ankle and was in visible discomfort as he limped away from the podium.

He bravely grimaced his way through the parallel bars routine but stumbled badly on his land-ing, clearly struggling with his

lower leg. The two-time Olym-pic champion then scratched from the horizontal high bar, ending his attempted defence of a title he has held since triumph-ing at the 2009 World Championships in London.

“I feel very sorry for the peo-ple who came to support me,” Uchimura told NBC Sports.

“I apologise to my team-mates,” he added, revealing that he feared the worst after the vault.

“After the vault, I couldn’t even walk,” he said. “I just wanted to keep trying to finish the competition.”

Uchimura was later seen on crutches as he gave support to his Japan team-mates.

Uchimura had foreshadowed his sad exit on the eve of the championships, admitting that after nearly a decade at the pin-nacle of his sport he was finding it harder and harder to arrive in

peak form. “When I participated at the World Championships for the first time, I was 20 years old, and now I’m 28 now and at my seventh Worlds. So the question of age is a new element,” Uch-imura had said.

“With age, one loses some muscle tone and also makes mis-takes in complicated routines. Maintaining strength and mus-cle tone requires a completely different kind of preparation beforehand,” added Uchimura, who took up the sport at the age of three under the guidance of his parents, who were both com-petitive gymnasts.

The Japanese star will now turn his attention to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He has already hinted he may prefer to concen-trate on one or two apparatus specialties rather than another all-around title.

With Uchimura out of the reckoning, the leading qualifier

for the all-around title which will be settled on Thursday was Cuba’s Manrique Larduet with a lead of 86.699.

Uchimura’s great rival Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine -- who came within a whisker of beat-ing the Japanese star at the 2016

Olympics -- was second with a total of 85.431. Uchimura’s exit on Monday also further deprives the championships of star power. The women’s competition is already missing the undisputed queen of the sport, Simone Biles of the United States.

Jonathan Byrd holds the winners trophy at the Web.com Tour Championship held at Atlantic Beach Country Club, Atlantic Beach, Florida on Monday.

Kohei Uchimura of Japan competes on the rings during the 47th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at Montreal Olympic Stadium o n Monday.

Comeback move

Polish driver to test with Williams this month as he chases a Formula One comeback after a seven-year absence.

31WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Raonic beats Troicki on tennis return in Tokyo Tokyo,

AFP

Canada’s Milos Raonic looked sharp on his return from wrist sur-

gery yesterday as he battered Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Japan Open.

Austrian Dominic Thiem fared less well, with the the second seed being bundled out 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 by Ameri-can Steve Johnson in the late match on centre court.

But third seed Raonic, who was forced to sit out the US Open due to persistent problems with his left wrist, displayed very few signs of rust after a seven-week absence and took just 71 min-utes to blast his way into the last 16.

Raonic, a right-hander with a double-fisted back-hand, tore through the opening set in bright Tokyo sunshine and secured the much-needed break early in the second with a cleverly disguised drop shot.

Troicki fought gamely but when a Raonic volley clipped the net and trickled over, the Serb slammed his racquet to the ground in disgust and bel-lowed furiously at courtside spectators.

Raonic, a former world number three and winner of eight ATP Tour singles titles, rifled 16 aces to pile the mis-ery on Troicki, completing victory with a kicking serve that his opponent could only waft into the net.

“It was a good match for me in a lot of ways -- disci-plined, competed well -- considering the circum-stances,” Raonic told reporters afterwards.

“The injury developed over the past 10 years, the pain had been manageable,” he added.

“But I hit a breaking point and the pain was not tolerable.”

Currently ranked 12th, Raonic finished runner-up at the Japan Open three years running from 2012-2014 -- twice to local favourite Kei Nishikori.

The former Wimbledon finalist next faces Japan’s Yuichi Sugita, who progressed after 2015 Tokyo runner-up Benoit Paire of France threw in the towel upon losing the first set 6-4, citing fatigue.

A late decision to rush the net failed to save Thiem, who wilted after losing the sec-ond-set tiebreak 7-5, and Johnson closed out an upset win with a fizzing body serve after two hours and 18 minutes.

“It feels great to get off to such a great start,” said Johnson.

“I stuck with it and was able to serve it out.

“A couple of years ago I made the quarters and per-sonally I’d like to stay here all week.”

Frenchman Richard Gas-quet, another former Japan Open finalist, upset American sixth seed Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-6 after clinically winning the second-set breaker 7-2 for his win.

In other matches, eighth seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina beat American Donald Young 6-2, 7-5 while Australia’s Matthew Ebden ousted big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-3.

Croatian Marin Cilic heads the Tokyo field this year at a tournament whose list of former champions includes tennis greats Ken Rosewall, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Chang hails China’s ‘sensational’ growth Beijing

AFP

Former tennis star Michael Chang yesterday lauded the “sensational” growth

of the game in China and said he hopes it will result in more world-class Chinese players.

The retired 1989 French Open champion, now coach of Japan’s world number 14 Kei Nishikori, said he has wit-nessed first-hand how tennis has gained in popularity in China over the last 30 years.

Speaking at the China Open, now a major stop in the tennis calendar, the American said: “I can recall playing here in Beijing in a much smaller venue.

“To see how tennis has

grown tremendously over these years in and throughout China has been sensational.”

World number one Rafael Nadal is competing in the Chi-nese capital, while many of the biggest names in the women’s game are also in Beijing.

But the host country has only ever produced one Grand Slam singles winner, the now-retired Li Na, and Chang said: “Now you’re seeing obviously some of the biggest tourna-ments in the world being played here in China.

“And obviously a lot of smaller tournaments , c h a l l e n g e r s , f u t u r e s , opportunities for young Chinese players to not only play on the ATP Tour or on the WTA Tour, but to be able to go

out and be some of the best in the world.”

The 45-year-old was speaking as he was named a global ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in 2008.

He won 34 top-level professional singles titles, including the 1989 French Open when he was 17. He also was a three-time runner-up at the majors and reached a career best ranking of world No. 2 in 1996.

Since he was shorter than virtually all of his opponents, he played a dogged defensive style utilizing his quickness and speed. In 2008, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Beijing

AFP

World number one Rafael Nadal saved two match points to avoid a shock defeat in

the first round of the China Open, seeing off Lucas Pouille in three sets yesterday.

The Frenchman broke Nadal on the way to taking the first set 6-4, and the world number 23 came within a whisker of sealing an upset when the second set went to a tie break.

But Nadal, 31, with the Beijing crowd backing him on the outdoor hard court, held his nerve when twice staring defeat in the face and fought back to win the tie break 8-6.

The pair headed into a final-set shootout and again Pouille refused to buckle, Nadal getting the critical break of serve in the 11th game before serving for the set and match 7-5.

Nadal, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, tumbled and lost a shoe at one point, and said afterwards he was fortunate to be in the second round.

“He played well, I think, very aggressive. He’s serving well,” said Nadal, who lost to Pouille the last time they met, at last year’s US Open.

“For me it was a little bit diffi-cult at the beginning, then I started to play better. But still, I didn’t have the control of the match for almost all the time. I am very, very happy to be through.”

Nadal narrowly avoided the fate of fellow Spaniard and top-ranked Garbine Muguruza, who exited in the first round on Monday when she retired from her match with a virus.

Also into the second round in the men’s draw are Nick Kyrgios, Juan Martin del Potro, the American John Isner and third seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Maria Sharapova said her third-round clash with world number two

Simona Halep on Wednesday would help her gauge progress since returning from a 15-month doping ban.

The Russian former number one, on the comeback trail since April following the ban for taking the banned substance meldonium, had to dig deep as she defeated compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in three sets.

Sharapova, a lowly 104 in the world and on a wildcard at the China Open, has yet to win a tournament since returning to tennis.

The five-time Grand Slam champion said she had endured “a few ups and downs” in seeing off Makarova 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

But the 30-year-old is relishing her showdown with the Romanian Halep: “We know each other’s games very well, that’s no secret.

“They’ve always been very chal-lenging, tough, competitive, emotional.”

Sharapova, a crowd favourite in Beijing, added: “But I love the chal-lenge of playing against someone that’s number two in the world.

“She’s a great player, she’s had a great year.

“Any time you’re able to face an opponent that’s done something right and well, it’s great to see where you are and where your level is.”

The Halep meeting will be a replay of the first-round match between the pair at the US Open in August, when Sharapova made an impressive return to Grand Slam competition before exiting in the fourth round. Sharapova boasts a 7-0 record against Halep, who made it into the next round after Magdalena Rybarikova retired ill in the second set.

Karolina Pliskova, the fourth seed from the Czech Republic, booked her spot in round three with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

Juan Martin del Potro in action in Beijing yesterday.

‘Very happy’ Nadal survives French scare at China Open

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Rafa Nadal serves against Lucas Pouille

of France at the China Open in Beijing yesterday. Nadal won

4-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Nadal, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, tumbled and lost a shoe at one point, and said afterwards he was fortunate to be in the second round of the top-tier event.

Rafa is relieved

Former tennis star Michael Chang hits balls to the crowd in Beijing

yesterday.

32 WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017SPORT 33WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Injured Bale out of Wales’ gamesLondon

AFP

Gareth Bale (pictured) has been ruled out of Wales’s final two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Geor-gia and Ireland, Britain’s Press Association reported

yesterday.Bale’s fitness has been a source of concern for the

national side since he suffered a calf muscle strain against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week.

The 28-year-old missed Real Madrid’s league clash with Espanyol on Sunday but reported to the Wales camp the following morning.

Wales are currently second in Group D, four points behind leaders Serbia and one point above Ireland.

Two wins in the matches on Friday, away to Geor-gia, and next Monday, at home to Ireland, are likely to guarantee them at least a place in next month’s play-offs for a place in Russia.

Bale’s absence could open the door for Liverpool teen-ager Ben Woodburn to make his first Wales start.

The 17-year-old made a dramatic introduction last month when he scored the winner within five minutes of coming on as a second-half substitute against Austria.

Ibrahimovic must not rush Man United return, says surgeon London

Reuters

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (pic-tured) has been warned not to rush his Manchester

United return by surgeon Fred-die Fu Ho-keung, who operated on his knee in May.

Ibrahimovic has not played since suffering a career-threat-ening knee ligament injury in United’s Europa League quarter-final second leg match against Anderlecht at Old Trafford in April.

“He (Zlatan) is very strong but soccer is still a combative sport. As a doctor, of course I want to see him return as slow as possible, only when he is fully fit for the game,” Fu told the South China Morning Post.

“There have been many

cases of a player returning pre-m a t u r e l y w i t h b a d consequences.”

United manager Jose Mour-inho is keen on leaving the 35-year-old striker out of first-team plans until January though he included him in the squad for the Champions League group stage which runs from Septem-ber to December.

“I have no worry about his injury as it always takes time to fully recover,” Fu added.

“In fact the EPL (Premier League) has just started and I am sure Manchester United would not need the player urgently for any crucial game either in the l e a g u e o r E u r o p e a n competitions.”

Ibrahimovic finished as the club’s top scorer last season with 28 goals in 46 appearances.

Ten-year-old Lithuanian girl takes women’sfootball by storm Vilnius

AFP

In basketball-obsessed Lithua-nia, women’s football is gaining new fans after the

sensational debut of 10-year-old Zemyna Lekaviciute as the Bal-tic state’s youngest-ever scorer in a second-division match.

After just five minutes on the pitch, Zemyna took a pass and sent the ball past goalkeeper Agne Ratkeviciute, who is more than twice her age, handing her Zalgiris Vilnius reserves team a 10-0 lead over Sesupe.

“This was her very first appearance in (second-division) Lyga 1 and she became the youngest scorer in Lithuania,” beamed Svajunas Stravinskas, manager of the women’s foot-ball academy at Zalgiris.

Passing the ball to Zemyna was Greta Jaroseviciute, the other youngster on the pitch born in 2006.

Wearing the green shirt of the Zalgiris reserve team, and reaching barely up to her fellow players’ shoulders, Zemyna also grabbed an assist for a late goal that pushed the final score up to 11-0.

It all started four years ago.“One day, when my dad and

I were going home from the kin-dergarten, we saw an ad inviting kids to play football,” says Zemyna, flashing a smile.

At seven, when she started elementary school, she also started training with boys.

“We strongly encouraged her to play,” says her father Evaldas Lekavicius, sitting on the team bench and talking about his pas-sion for football and small teams like Iceland or the Balkan countries.

At almost eleven, the girl wearing the number three, which her dad had worn during his amateur career, has become the hope of Lithuanian women’s football, together with Jaroseviciute.

Zemyna has been practising passes, tactics and skills with much older girls three times a week on one of the few pitches in central Vilnius since 2016.

Speed and ball control are her favourite aspects of the game.

“Zemyna plays like a boy of the same age,” says her coach Oleg Kricun.

“She’s a dribbler like no other. Her goal was extraordi-nary: a child who scores even though the ball arrived at the height of her belly,” her coach added.

On the day of the game, Zemyna’s parents were not at the stadium.

“When Zemyna scored, the coach called us and said -- ‘there you go’,” says her 42-year-old father, who works in genetic engineering.

In her room, Zemyna dis-plays a cup and 27 medals from other sports.

Football is just one of her many passions. There is also scout camp, and she is dream-ing about competing in a biathlon, a winter sport combin-ing cross-country skiing and shooting.

Women’s football in Lithua-nia is suffering from a lack of finances.

Zemyna’s three weekly train-ing sessions cost €45 ($50), against the average monthly wage of €817. Equipment and transport are in addition.

Zalgiris’s women’s football team is the only Vilnius-based team also playing in Lyga A, the country’s top flight division.

It has received €3,000 in support from the city of Vilnius, while the men’s team secured a subsidy of €868,000.

Lithuania’s female football-ers are now pinning their hopes on the 2018 under-17 European championship hosted by the country to help promote the sport and make life rosier for young players like Zemyna.

Argentina desperate for win; favourites Brazil eye cakewalkBuenos Aires

Reuters

Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the

2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.

Argentina desperately need to beat Peru at home tomorrow and go to Ecuador for their final match five days later. They lie fifth in the 10-team South American group, just below Peru on goal difference.

“Now it’s gotten complicated,” coach Jorge Sampaoli said after they drew their last match at home to Venezuela. “It’s tight.”

The top four teams qualify automatically for next year’s tour-nament in Russia and the fifth-placed side play New Zea-land in a two-legged playoff for an additional spot.

Former Chile and Seville coach Sampaoli took over four months ago with the sole task of getting what is arguably the world’s greatest collection of attacking talent to Russia.

The problem, however, has been how to get the best out of it.

Argentina have so many options in midfield and up front that players such as Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Javier Pas-tore are not automatic choices.

Higuain, who played in nine of Argentina’s first 13 qualifiers, was dropped from the last two squads and Aguero, who will miss the next two games through injury, has started five of the last six on the bench.

The players chosen have struggled to reproduce their club form at international level, with Lionel Messi and Paulo Dybala among those who have been less than influential when wearing the blue and white stripes.

Argentina lost at home to

Ecuador and Paraguay and failed to beat Venezuela, a team with just one win from 16 games, both home and away. They have scored only 16 goals, with only Bolivia managing fewer.

Another problem has come off the field where turmoil within the Argentine Football Association has meant three coaches have led the team since the qualifying cam-paign began two years ago.

The constant chopping and changing has prevented the side from finding a settled style of play.

Sampaoli, who took over in June, has the credentials, having led Chile to the Copa America title in 2015.

But his selections have also been inconsistent and Argentina have used 48 different players since the 2016 Copa America.

Sampaoli this week recalled Fernando Gago after a two-year absence and called up two play-ers who have never started a competitive international.

In a bid to increase the pres-sure on their opponents the home

side have moved the game to Boca Juniors’ tightly-packed Bombon-era Stadium from their traditional home at River Plate’s Monumental.

Elsewhere, in Sao Paulo, Brazil meet Bolivia.

Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has trans-formed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.

No one could have imagined just how influential the former Corinthians coach would be but nine wins in 10 World Cup quali-fiers are just reward for a return to the form that won them a record five World Cup titles.

“There is no questioning the enormous quality of Brazil’s play-ers, Tite and backroom staff,” the normally cautious former World Cup winner Tostao wrote before the final two qualifiers against Bolivia and Chile. “The team is ready.”

Tite retained several players who had misfired under Luiz Felipe Scolari during the 2014 World Cup and his successor Dunga but he transformed their front line with the introduction of attack-minded youngsters Philippe Coutinho and Gabriel Jesus.

In midfield he recalled Paulinho and Renato Augusto, his former charges at Corinthians.

With Real Madrid’s Casemiro an automatic choice to anchor the team and Neymar still the undis-puted talisman, the side is settled and there are no major disagree-ments over the first 11 for the first time in years.

Tite’s task between now and next June is mostly deciding who will support those leading men.

The problem, if there is one, comes with Brazil’s almost cus-tomary over-confidence. They are the only side to play in every World Cup and even after their 7-1 hammering by Germany in the 2014 semi-finals on home soil, they believe they are special.

Just as in 2006, when Brazil sailed through the qualifiers with players like Ronaldo, Roberto Car-los, Ronaldinho and Adriano, they go to Russia as one of the clear favourites.

But Brazil were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by France and over confidence was one of the reasons cited.

Tite is a master of playing down expectations and - crucially in a nation that famously has 200 million coaches – he commands the respect of both players and press.

That has given him an author-ity that few Brazil managers this century have enjoyed and he has used it to warn their outstanding form is no guarantee of success.

“We are at a stage of strength-ening, consolidating and growing,” he said when announcing his squad for this week’s games.

“We’re not in the comfort zone stage but rather a confidence zone stage.”

Socceroos face Syria in ‘do-or-die’ tie Hong Kong

Reuters

After missing out on auto-matic qualification for next year’s World Cup finals,

Ange Postcoglou’s Australia meet outsiders Syria in the first leg of their play-off tomorrow, know-ing the weight of expectation sits squarely on the Socceroos’ shoulders.

Saudi Arabia’s win over Japan in Jeddah in their final group match last month ensured the Gulf nation joined Vahid Halilhodzic’s team on the plane to Moscow next summer while leaving four-time finalists Australia needing to take the long road to Russia.

The first stage of that journey begins at Hang Jebat Stadium in the hot and humid Malaysian city of Melaka where Postecoglou and his players meet a Syrian side that has defied expectations.

But the former Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory coach is expecting few surprises when the teams clash in the first of their two encounters over five days.

“Iraq were a similar type of opponent and most of the teams we have faced have set up that way, so it’s not going to be any-thing new to us,” Postecoglou told the Socceroos’ official website.

“And whether it’s the pitch, the conditions, the venue we have always had to face these chal-lenges and there will be nothing in that first game that we haven’t faced before.”

The Syrians, who have never qualified for the World Cup and have been forced to play all of their home games in neutral Malaysia due to the security situ-ation at home, come into the

game boasting one of the most in-form strike forces in Asia.

Al Hilal’s Omar Khrbin scored a hat-trick in the first leg of his club’s Asian Champions League semi-final meeting with Persep-olis of Iran last week while Omar Al Somah, who recently returned to the national team after a self-imposed exile, was on target in Syria’s 2-2 draw with Iran.

The stifling conditions in Melaka should also present little barrier to their performance given Ayman Hakeem’s team have won

two and drawn three of their five games played there so far in qual-ifying for Russia 2018.

“It’s a critical match on Thurs-day and it’s important for our ambitions and the dreams of mil-lions of Syrians,” said Syria team manager Fadi Al Dabbas.

“The result will be important ahead of the second leg. We have got past the first rounds of quali-fying and we have two decisive matches, but we have a lot of con-fidence in our players.”

At stake for both teams is a

place in a playoff against the fourth-placed team in qualifying from the Concacaf region in November, with the winner of that clash advancing to the finals.

“I’ve never experienced any-thing like this,” Socceroos midfielder Massimo Luongo told reporters. “It’ll probably be a little bit tense. A little bit more nerve wracking knowing there’s a lot rid-ing on these games.

“We’re not playing for points, you can’t make up the points later on. So it’s do-or-die stuff.”

Qatar’s Ali Assadalla (left) vies for the ball possession against Syria’s Zaher Al Medani and Tamer Hag Mohamad (right) during their Group A 2018 World Cup qualifier played at Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka, Malaysia in this August 31 file photo. Syria notched up a 3-1 win to ensure their own attempt to reach Russia 2018 World Cup stays alive for at least one more game.

World Cup venues on trackbut there are delays: PutinMoscow

Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) said yesterday the venues which are due to host the 2018 World Cup soccer cham-pionship were overall in a satisfactory condition, but there

were some delays.“These delays are not critical, there is nothing terrible there, but

as I have always said ... it is the most difficult thing to resolve tasks at a final stage,” Putin told a meeting with senior sports officials, gov-ernors and prominent sportsmen to discuss preparations for the World Cup.

“If we relax, we will not fully accomplish the work.”Moscow has eased visa regulations for foreign soccer fans and

pumped billions of dollars into stadiums, hotels and other infrastruc-ture as the Kremlin is keen to improve Russia’s image in its worst crisis with the West since the Cold War.

Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi (left) and team-mates listen to physical trainer Jorge Desio (right) during a training session in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires yesterday ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador.

Brazil’s soccer players attend a training session ahead of their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in Teresopolis, Brazil on Monday.

34 WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Rookie Butker kicks Chiefs to victoryKansas City, Missouri AP

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker drilled a 43-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in his first game, aton-

ing for an earlier miss and helping Kansas City to a 29-20 victory over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.

Signed off the Carolina prac-tice squad earlier in the week, Butker missed a 46-yarder in the first half before hitting three attempts in the second. The first tied the score 17-all, the next gave the Chiefs the lead and the last made Kansas City (4-0) the league’s only undefeated team.

The Chiefs put an exclama-tion point on the win when linebacker Justin Houston picked up a fumble as the Red-skins (3-2) were trying to keep the game alive and returned it for a game-ending touchdown. The last time there was only one unbeaten team through the first four weeks of the season was 2010, when the Chiefs were the final team standing. They went on to win the AFC West.

Alex Smith threw for 293 yards with touchdowns on the ground and through the air, and it was his 37-yard strike to

Albert Wilson on a broken play that set up Butker’s go-ahead kick. Travis Kelce hauled in seven catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt pounded away 21 times for 101 yards against the Redskins’ stout defensive front.

Kirk Cousins had 220 yards passing and two touchdowns for Washington, but his throw to the end zone with 50 seconds left was dropped by Josh Doctson and forced the Redskins to kick a field goal. That missed oppor-tunity came back to haunt them less than a minute later. The Redskins stunned the Chiefs early when Cousins found Ter-relle Pryor over star cornerback Marcus Peters for a 44-yard touchdown pass, then drove to the goal line before settling for a field goal.

But the plucky Chiefs slowly fought their way back into the

game. Smith started to find his athletic tight end down the seam, then hit Kelce with a 17-yard TD strike late in the first half. The two connected again on third down shortly after the break, and Smith scored a few plays later when he fooled the d e f e n s e w i t h a quarterback-keeper.

The Redskins needed fewer than 2 minutes to answer: Cous-ins’ 69-yard pass to Vernon Davis set up a short throw to Ryan Grant, who also beat Peters, for a touchdown and a 17-14 lead. It was 17-all after Butker, signed to replace the injured Cairo Santos off Caroli-na’s practice squad, made his first career field goal.

Then, the Chiefs picked apart a Redskins defense down to four healthy defensive backs to set up his 32-yard kick. After the Redskins tied the game once more, Butker delivered the big-gest kick of his life. Meanwhile, flags flew at half-staff and there was a moment of silence before the game for victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

The Redskins then locked arms for the national anthem, while everyone on the Chiefs side stood with the exception of cornerback Peters and line-backer Ukeme Eligwe.

Indians and Dodgers teams to beat as play-offs beginWashington

AFP

The Cleveland Indians, seeking their first crown since 1948, and the Los

Angeles Dodgers, whose title drought only dates to 1988, are the clubs to beat as the Major League Baseball play-offs begin.

Only last year, the Chi-cago Cubs ended the longest title drought in North Amer-ican sports history, winning their first World Series crown since 1908 by defeating Cleveland in a dramatic sev-enth-game showdown.

Now the Indians, who unleashed an American League-record 22-game win streak, are back in the play-offs and with the AL’s best record at 102-60, the second-most season wins in club history. Now they own base-ball’s longest title drought.

“From the start of the sea-son, our goal has been to get back to the postseason and then go as far we can,” short-stop Francisco Lindor said.

The Indians boast one of baseball’s top pitchers in right-hander Corey Kluber, who went 18-4 with a majors-best 2.25 earned-run average and 265 strikeouts this sea-son. And Tribe right-hander Carlos Carrasco went 18-6.

Indians outfielder Jay Bruce, who joined Cleveland at mid-season, could feel the hunger for another chance at the crown the minute he walked into the locker room.

“I think the expectations for this year were set from last year’s experience and accomplishments and the failure to win game seven of the World Series, although that wasn’t a failure by any means,” Bruce said.

“But every guy in our club-house feels like they should have won it last year. I felt that as soon as I got here.”

While Cleveland lost the World Series to a team with a championship drought 40 years longer than their own, they could face a team whose title drought is 40 years shorter in the Dodgers, who led the major leagues with a 104-58 mark. Their 57 home wins also topped the majors.

And the Dodgers counter with a mound ace of their own in left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who went 18-4 with a National League-best 2.31 ERA, second only to Kluber in the majors, and 202 strikeouts. Los Angeles also features right-handed closer Kenley Jansen, whose 41 saves shared the NL best.

The playoffs open with two one-game wildcard showdowns between the best non-division winners -- the New York Yankees entertain Minnesota in the American League while Colorado will visit Arizona. The Yankees-Twins winner gets a best-of-five series against the Indians that opens at Cleve-land, the Boston Red Sox visit Houston in the other Ameri-can League semi-final series.

In the National League, the Colorado-Arizona winner visits the Dodgers to open their National League semi-final series while the defending champion Cubs travel to Washington for their opening matchup.

Houston’s Jose Altuve, a Venezuelan second baseman, led the major leagues with a .346 batting average. Yan-kees’ slugger Aaron Judge led the AL with 52 home runs and his powerful hitting could spark the 27-time World Series champions to yet another deep playoff run.

Nick DeSimone (left) of the San Jose Sharks skates with the puck against Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period of their preseason game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday. San Jose won 5-3.

Penguins eye third successive titleLos Angeles AFP

The NHL is set for its 100th season of play with a record 31 teams and Pitts-

burgh looking for the three-peat, but for the first time since 1994 there will be no break for the Olympics.

The Penguins, who beat the Nashville Predators in six games to win their second-straight Stanley Cup title, will get the season started on Wednesday with a banner-rais-ing ceremony at the PPG Arena before they host the St. Louis Blues. Penguins star Sidney Crosby turned 30 in August but isn’t showing any signs of slow-ing down. He has won three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals and two consecutive Conn Smythe trophies as the MVP of the play-offs.

“I feel good. I take care of myself,” he said. “But I am still trying to get faster, whether that

happens or not, we will have to wait and see.”

NHL players have taken part in the last five Winter Olympics but that won’t hap-pen this time around. The league announced they would not be going to Pyeonchang, South Korea and that means there will be no break in the regular season schedule like they have done in the past.

Several players including Russia’s Alex Ovechkin have vowed to take part in the Games anyway. There is hope for Olympic participation in the future though. The NHL did go overseas for two preseason games last month between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings in China, the host of the 2022 Olympics.

The Chinese are building state-of-the-art rinks and attracting new players every year and with a population of 1.4 billion people, the NHL would love to tap into that.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (7) kicks a field goal against the Washington Redskins in the second half at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday.

Meeks, Mac lead Wizards to win over GuangzhouWashington

AP

Jodie Meeks scored all 19 of his points in the first half and Sheldon Mac added 17 as the

Washington Wizards opened their preseason schedule with a 126-96 win over Guangzhou Long-Lions of the Chinese

Basketball Association on Mon-day night.

Tomas Satoransky had 13 points and Jason Smith 12 for the Wizards, who were without four-time All-Star John Wall (rest). Bradley Beal, Washing-ton’s other starting guard, had six points in eight minutes. That left plenty of minutes for the

backups. “We have some fire-power off the bench,” Meeks said.

“Guys are ready to play and ready for the season to start.”

Tyler Hansbrough, a seven-year NBA veteran and a member of North Carolina’s 2009 national championship team, led the Long-Lions with 29 points

and 11 rebounds. Guangzhou missed all nine of its 3-point attempts in the first half and fin-ished 3 of 19 in its sole exhibition game against an NBA team on this trip.

“It’s a great opportunity for a lot of these guys who have never been in an NBA arena,” Hansbrough said.

“It’s good for us to come over here and play against one of the best teams in the world. We can grow from this.”

Meeks, one of the Wizards’ primary offseason additions, made four of five 3-pointers as Washington led 57-38 at halft-ime. He finished 7 for 9 overall from the field.

Dream debut

NFL debutant Butker connected a 43-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to help Kansas City to win over Washington Redskins.

35WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Australia’s Starc set for comeback from injury

Adelaide

Reuters

Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is set to make a return to com-

petitive cricket for New South Wales against South Australia in a one-day match on Friday.

The left-arm fast bowler has been out since June after suffering a recurrence of a foot injury during the Cham-pions Trophy with Australia.

Australia’s assistant coach David Saker confirmed Starc and Josh Hazlewood would feature in first-class cricket before the home Ashes series against England, starting in November.

They will be joined by fel-low speedster Pat Cummins, who has been rested for the upcoming T20 internationals in India.

“Whether the fast bowl-ers play all three of those we’ll wait and see,” Saker told reporters. “Three Shield games to shape the Austral-ian team – it’s going to be good for everybody.

“Josh Hazlewood is on track to play the first test. Mitchell Starc’s going really well and Patty’s obviously flying.”

Starc has backed the team’s fast bowlers to repli-cate the havoc created by the Mitchell Johnson-led attack in the Ashes whitewash of 2013-14.

England batsmen were left shell-shocked by the blis-tering pace and bounce from the Queenslander, who fin-ished with 37 wickets in five tests.

“We’ve got a really solid attack and we complement each other.

“If it’s not me, you’ve got Pat Cummins who can bowl fast bouncers and Josh Hazle-wood bowling consistent line and length,” Starc was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

“It’ll be much like that attack did when Johnno (Johnson) took all those wick-ets, I think we complement each other really well.”

Australia’s five-Test Ashes series against holders Eng-land starts in Brisbane on Nov. 23.

Sri Lanka skipper Chandimal lauds ‘wily old fox’ HerathAbu Dhabi

Agencies

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandi-mal has hailed the contribution of veteran spinner Rangana Her-ath who led the side to a dramatic 21-run victory over Pakistan in

the first Test in Abu Dhabi.With Pakistan chasing 136 for victory,

the 39-year-old left arm spinner showed his class with a match-winning six for 43 in the second innings for a match haul of 11 wickets.

Herath also became the oldest bowler to reach 400 wickets in the longest for-mat of the game on Monday.

“I just want him throughout my career,” Chandimal told reporters after the win at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

“I have no idea how long he is going to play, but I am sure he will do what he can for the team. He is a wily old fox and I have to say Rangana is a team man and an asset to us.

“He is supportive to me and the play-ers, with what he has learnt from cricket. Every young player goes to talk to him about his bowling and experiences. Look-ing to the future, yes, he is 39, a little bit old now, but he always tries to do his best,” the captain said.

Following a 3-0 home drubbing at the hands of India in August, Chandimal was particularly pleased with the way his play-ers responded to the challenge against Pakistan.

It was their first away Test win against a higher-ranked opposition since June 2014.

“As a team, we were below par in our performances (against India), but we have waited for this win and finally we got it. Credit goes to all the players,” the skipper added. “They played some really good cricket and I’m sure this can continue throughout the series. We did more work on our fitness and fielding, and discipline.

“Everyone put their heart and soul into the practices, and the management put lots of hard work in.”

Herath compiled Test 100 wickets against Pakistan in his 20th appearance against them, becoming the first bowler to achieve the feat.

Chandimal also hailed wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella whose battling 40 not out took Sri Lanka to 138 in their second innings after Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah recorded five for 51.

“Dickwella was outstanding in the second innings to get us to the 138 mark. We all knew the legend Rangana would come into play, and finally he did his best.”

Chandimal vowed there would be no let-up from his team despite claiming the series opener.

“We all know Pakistan are a very good team. We never underestimated them nor

will we now. This win will boost our morale.”

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur was disappointed with the performance of his batsmen.

“We should have chased this target,” said Arthur, who saw Pakistan slide to a 10th defeat in 16 Tests since he took over last year.

“We did a lot of homework against Herath.

“But obviously on the last day he was always going to be a factor and you’ve got to give him more respect.

“But I would probably have liked to see our batsmen take him on.

“I would have liked batsmen to attack him, once you take him on and that goes

for any bowler, the game sorts of settle down.”

Arthur said Pakistan needed a good partnership which never came, notwith-standing a 42-run stand for the sixth wicket between top scorer Haris Sohail (34) and Sarfraz Ahmed (19).

“We wanted a good partnership up front but we didn’t get that and that put us under pressure,” Arthur, who guided the team to Champions Trophy glory, said.

“We were always going to be under pressure as the game goes on because we couldn’t expect the tail to get us over the line.”

The second and final Test of the series will be a day-night affair in Dubai start-ing on Friday.

England to lose Ashes, with or without Stokes: BlewettAdelaide

Reuters

An Ashes series shorn of Ben Stokes would be a great shame for cricket

but England are heading for defeat with or without the trou-bled all-rounder, former Australia batsman Greg Blewett (pictured right) has said.

Test vice-captain Stokes and opener Alex Hales have been suspended from interna-tional cricket indefinitely, pending an investigation into an altercation outside a night-club in Bristol last week.

Stokes was initially named in the 16-man squad for the Ashes tour starting in Novem-ber but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rowed back on the decision a day later

Blewett, who struck a cen-tury on his test debut during the 1994-95 Ashes series, cast doubt on Stokes’s chances of playing a full part in the series.

“I’m sure they will (sanc-tion him). They are having their internal investigation. That will play out,” Blewett, a 46-test righthanded batsman, told Reuters in an interview in Adelaide on Tuesday.

“It would be a shame if he’s not out here. I think everyone wants to play against the strongest possible team. It would be a shame if he doesn’t come out because he’s a bit of a drawcard, he’s a world class all-rounder and will leave a

massive hole in their team. But even if he was (to come), I think Australia are going to be too good at home anyway. With or without Ben Stokes I don’t see a different result but I think England would love to have him in their side.”

The Sun newspaper pub-lished footage of what it said was a brawl between the player and two other people, one clutching a bottle. The authen-ticity of the images could not be verified by Reuters.

Media reports said Stokes, who suffered a minor fracture of a finger on his right hand, apologised to the ECB for his arrest on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and described his state of mind as ‘fragile and devastated’.

Blewett, who was

Australia’s fielding coach until stepping down in August, has taken on assistant roles with Sheffield Shield side South Aus-tralia and the Adelaide Strikers in the ‘Big Bash’ domestic Twenty20 competition.

Also coach of South Aus-tralia’s men’s under-19 side, Blewett said he would take a dim view of any player out drinking in the early hours of the morning and days before a match.

“I wouldn’t be over the moon, put it that way, because I did see the footage and it’s not great,” Blewett said, referring to the video posted by The Sun.

“I’m sure he’s got his side to the story which we haven’t necessarily heard yet.

“Yeah, you would be dis-appointed, I think they were

only a couple of days away from the next one-day inter-national so I think any coach would be disappointed with that sort of behaviour.”

The Stokes incident has revived the debate as to whether curfews should be enforced during series, but Blewett said he was against such measures.

“Generally, you’d say play-ers these days are a hell of a lot more professional than what we used to be,” said the 45-year-old.

“These things don’t pop up all that often these days, but when they do, obviously you need to address it.”

The potential absence of Stokes would heap further pressure on England’s bowlers and a batting order featuring players like opener James Vince and Dawid Malan who are yet to establish themselves.

Blewett said Australia and the team’s formidable pace attack led by Mitchell Starc would provide the toughest of initiations.

“Two or three of those guys in the squad haven’t had a great start to their careers,” he said yesterday.

“It’s not going to get any easier when they come out here.

“And it’s looking like Aus-tralia are going to be full strength with their bowling attack so (they) are going to be up against it.”

Vaughan calls for culture change after Stokes incident

London

AFP

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has called for a change in the culture of

the national team after Ben Stokes’ arrest on a night out.

Stokes was arrested in Bristol on suspicion of causing actual bod-ily harm after getting into a fight in the early hours of last Monday.

Stokes and other England team-mates were out celebrating an ODI win over West Indies less than 72 hours before their next game.

“Yes, he’s 26 years of age, he should be more mature, he has made a massive mistake and I have no sympathy for Ben Stokes whatsoever,” Vaughan said yesterday.

“But the management of the England team have to look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘Hang on a minute, could we have been a bit stricter?’.

“I am not saying I want a head-master and have a curfew and say, ‘You have got to be in your room by 11:00 pm and you can never drink’, but there is a time and a place and I just think now the cul-ture of cricket has to change quickly.

“When we go on tour, we go to Australia, to India, to Bangladesh, there is a huge amount of security, there is no way in a million years an England player is allowed out but there is no way they are allowed out on their own at that time of night.”

Rangana Herath (lifted by a team-mate) of Sri Lanka celebrates with his team after victory on the fifth day of the first Test cricket match against Pakistan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

2017-18

ASHES SERIES

�� First Test – Australia v

England, Gabba - 23-27

November 2017

��Second Test – Australia v

England, Adelaide Oval (Day-

Night) - 2-6 December 2017

��Third Test – Australia v

England, Perth (venue TBC)

- 14-18 December 2017

��Fourth Test – Australia v

England, MCG - 26-30

December 2017

��Fifth Test – Australia v Eng-

land, SCG - 4-8 January 2018

2017-18 ODI Series against

England

�� First ODI – Australia v

England, MCG – 14 January

2018

��Second ODI – Australia

v England, Gabba – 19 Janu-

ary 2018

�� Third ODI – Australia v

England, SCG – 21 January

2018

��Fourth ODI – Australia v

England, Adelaide Oval – 26

January 2018

�� Fifth ODI – Australia v

England, Perth (venue TBC)

– 28 January 2018

Rizwan Rehmat The Peninsula

Fahad Khalfan yesterday struck a dream hat-trick as Qatar SC roared back in

fine style to open their QSL Cup campaign with a 5-2 drubbing over Al Duhail.

Abdulhrahman Mohamed (19) opened the scoring for Al Duhail but Said Ali Muhannadi (27) managed to equalise for Qatar SC minutes later. Salman Zayed (45 +2) doubled the lead for Al Duhail seconds before the end of the first half.

However, Khalfan (71, 80 and 84) emerged as the hero for his team while Bruno Gallo (88, penalty) added the fifth for the winners at Al Gharafa Stadium.

Earlier Al Duhail’s Mohamed produced a slick finish to a cross from team-mate Jassim Ali who chipped in the ball from the right flank as Al Duhail went 1-0 up. Mohamed - unmarked inside Qatar SC box - tapped the ball before unleashing a powerful shot that sailed past three defenders and into the net in the 19th minute.

In the 27th minute, Qatar SC produced the equaliser when Muhannadi swiveled inside the

A Duhail box following a high cross from the flank and drove into the net with a slick shot to the left of the goalkeeper.

Al Duhail’s Zayed chipped one into the net for Al Duhail when Qatar SC defender Mohammed Al Jabri failed to clear a balls heading towards his own goal. Hashmi quickly grabbed the lose ball and chipped over the head of Qatar SC goalkeeper in injury time.

In the second half, it was all Al Blushi as Qatar SC staged their comeback win.

Qatar SC’s Khalfan found the back of Al Duhail net in the 71st minute with a close-range fin-ish and added another in the 80th minute following another free-flowing attacking move. Khalfan completed his dream hat-trick in the 84th minute by tapping the ball into the Al Duhail net with sublime ease.

Gallo converted an easy pen-alty kick to seal Qatar SC’s resounding 5-2 win despite trail-ing 2-1 at the end of first half as Al Duhail - coached by Madjid Bougherra for this clash - failed to capitalise on their feisty tac-tics in the first 45 minutes of the clash.

Meanwhile, football giants Al Sadd take on Al Markhiya in their opening Group B clash of the QSL Cup game at Abdullah Bin

Khalifa Stadium today. The match - which will be a repeat of the opening QNB Stars League game three weeks ago - will kick off at 5:45pm.

In other games, Al Rayyan will battle Al Ahli at Al Shamal ground in the north of the country.

The clash is expected to pro-vide fireworks following Al Rayyan’s 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Al Duhail in QNB Stars League last week.

The Al Rayyan-Al Ahli game will begin at 7:55pm.

In the day’s third game, Umm Salal take on Al Arabi at Al Wakrah Stadium with kick-off time set for 7:55pm.

According to the tournament system, the QSL Cup will be held in a one-round tournament in each group, with the first and second teams to reach the semi-finals and semi-finalists to reach the final.

The QSL Cup has been relaunched for the new 2017/2018 domestic football season.

The tournament will see all 12 QSL sides taking part in the tournament and give the sides a new opportunity to lift a trophy over the course of the season.

36 WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Armstrong Vas The Peninsula

Recognition and support serves as a motivation for athletes to overcome all

challenges and reach new heights, said Qatar’s golden boy Mutaz Barshim.

Barshim, who is one of 10 men nominated for the prestig-ious prize World Athlete of the Year by IAAF said: “I am delighted and honoured to be here at Ooredoo, Qatar’s com-munications company, which has always supported its peo-ple and athletes to take part in sports and be active. This rec-ognition and support will be an incentive for me to further my achievements in the future.”

The 26 year-old was speak-ing at a function held by Ooredoo to recognise the achievements of Barshim in high jump.

In a step to motivate the next generation of athletes in Qatar, Ooredoo honoured Barshim at the company’s Headquarters in West Bay yesterday.

Barshim, a gold medal win-ner at the 2017 World Championships in London this

year has been having a consist-ent run in the last couple of years.

He also finished on top posi-tion in the IAAF Diamond League and also clinched the sil-ver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, his second medal at the games having won the bronze in the 2012 Olympics.

Barshim has also to his credit a silver medal in the 2012 Moscow World Championships, and a host of medals in regional Arab and Asian competitions.

Barshim was welcomed by Ooredoo’s Chairman, Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, as well as a host o f s e n i o r O o r e d o o management.

“We congratulate Qatar’s sporting hero Mutaz on his excellence and success in rais-ing the flag of Qatar in the international sorting arena. Ooredoo has a long history of supporting Qatar’s athletes and Mutaz is a perfect example of a Qatari athlete who, despite his youth, has been able to emerge as a model for the next-gener-ation of athletes,” Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani said.

Ooredoo honours Qatari golden boy Barshim

Mutaz Barshim, a gold medal winner at the 2017 World Championships poses for a picture with Ooredoo’s Chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani and a host of senior Ooredoo management officials during a function held by Ooredoo to recognise the achievements of Barshim in high jump.

Khalfan stars as Qatar SC crush Al Duhail

Spain team focus on World Cup, not Catalonia: ThiagoMadrid

AFP

Spain’s players are “focused” solely on Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Albania, Bayern midfielder

Thiago Alcantara has insisted, adding that players were tired of being asked about teammate Gerard Pique’s outspoken stance on the independence referendum in Catalonia.

“As for Gerard we see him as he’s always been, with the same commitment as ever and the same happiness, even in the changing room,” said Thiago at a press conference with teammate Koke.

“We’re sorry because we came here to play football, I didn’t come here to talk about anybody’s life, Koke’s or mine, we came here to play football.”

Barcelona’s Pique has been an out-spoken defender of the wealthy northeastern Spanish region’s right to self-determination, and on Sunday cast

his vote in a referendum deemed illegal by Madrid that was scarred by clashes between voters and security forces.

And the player’s latest declarations have once again raised the debate over his role in the Spanish national team.

Despite playing a crucial part of the Spain sides that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, Pique is routinely jeered when representing his country.

Those jeers intensified in front of just a few hundred fans at an opening train-ing session on Monday amid chants of “Pique leave the national team!”

He has already stated his intent to retire from international football after next year’s World Cup, but insisted he could step aside sooner if Spain coach Julen Lopetegui or the federation believe his political stance to be problematic.

Thiago added: “It’s a pleasure to be in the squad, everyone is there on their sporting merits. We’re sorry to not be able to speak, to not be comfortable to

speak about Albania or Israel which is the fundamental thing for us now.”

Teammate Koke said he was “already tiring of the subject” of the referendum, clashes during which left more than 90 people injured, according to Catalan authorities. “It’s always talking about the same thing,” the Atletico Madrid mid-fielder said. “But we’re professionals and we think about what we have to do, which is playing football.

“The changing room atmosphere has been the same as ever, we’re all focused on the important game against Albania, we want to win and all but seal our qual-ification” for next year’s World Cup in Russia, Koke said.

Thiago had the final word, saying: “We’ll talk amongst ourselves in the changing room, about our focus on hav-ing to be the best team, to be able to produce our best game. We’ll not speak about external things, each person has opinions.

A fan walks past a vandalised poster of Barcelona FC’s Spanish defender Gerard Pique outside the club’s Camp Nou Stadium which was closed as part of a general strike in Barcelona called by Catalan unions yesterday.

Play chess if you don’t want to get hurt, says KeaneLondon

AFP

Manchester United leg-end Roy Keane has responded to growing

fears about the damage done by concussions in sport by tell-ing stars to ‘play chess’ if they are worried about getting hurt.

Keane now serves as assistant to Republic of Ire-land manager Martin O’Neill and his country can no longer call on Kevin Doyle after the striker retired last week because of concussion issues.

The family of former West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle have launched a founda-tion to campaign for better protection for modern players after his death at the age of 59 from a degenerative brain dis-ease, which has been attributed to repeated heading of the ball. Concussion is also an increas-ing concern in rugby union and American football.

“I’m sure there is (a need for more research), that’s ongoing. But if you’re worried about the physical side of any sport, you’re wary of it, then play chess,” Keane said yesterday.

“It’s part of the game, whether it be hurling, foot-ball, American football, the rugby lads, it’s part of the game. When you cross that line, there is an element of risk involved. I don’t think it would make a difference to the players playing now. When you cross that line, there’s a chance that you might get a knock. They’re the risks you take.”

Keane is sympathic to Doyle’s predicament, but the former Republic midfielder insists all injuries are an occu-pational hazard for professional athletes.

“If he’s had concussions over the years and he feels he’s suffering from them, then obviously he feels that’s right for him,” Keane said.

“But it’s part of the game - players picking up injuries and getting knocks. He’s a centre-forward, he’s going to be running the channels with centre-halves - it’s what you’d expect.

Action from the QSL Cup match between Qatar SC and Al Duhail at Al Gharafa Stadium yesterday. Qatar SC won 5-2.