08WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2020 SPORT

SPORTI'm not going to count on him again this season: Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho says Korean star Son Heung-min's season could well be over.

Champions League, Round of

16: Atalanta vs Valencia

Champions League, Round of 16:

Tottenham Hotspur vs RB Leipzig

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Przygonski to drive alongside Al Attiyah at Manateq Qatar Cross-Country RallyTHE PENINSULA — LUSAIL

Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski, the winner of the 2018 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, has reached an agreement with Overdrive Racing and will drive a Toyota Hilux alongside Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Yazeed Al Rajhi at next week’s Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally.

The Polish former motor-cycle enduro racer switched to rallying on four-wheels after a successful career with the Orlen Team on a KTM and victory at the Qatar event in 2018 was a spring board for his FIA World Cup success. Przygonski fin-ished third in the Lusail-based event in 2019.

He and German navigator Timo Gottschalk have been one of the leading pairings at the Dakar and on rounds of the FIA World Cup in recent seasons and Przygonski is relishing the challenge of racing with a V8-engined Toyota for the first time.

With his switch to a Hilux, Overdrive Racing has a

formidable line up of three T1 Toyotas set to tackle the opening round of the FIA World Cup, which will run over five days and around 1,430 compet-itive kilometres in a route of 2,200km across the length and breadth of the State of Qatar.

Al Attiyah has been a dom-inant force in cross-country ral-lying in recent years, but the

Qatari narrowly missed out on a fourth Dakar Rally victory last month and will be keen to make a good start to his FIA World Cup campaign after falling short to eventual winner Stéphane Peterhansel in 2019.

The Qatari has won his home event on seven occasions, beginning with a win on the candidate rally in 2011 and

following up that success with victories in 2012, 2014-2017 and last year. Two of those wins came with his regular French navigator Matthieu Baumel.

“This is always an important rally for me and a pleasure to compete at home and to see international competitors coming to Qatar,” said Al Attiyah.

“We narrowly missed out on another Dakar Rally win, but Matthieu and I returned to action last week and we won the Oman International Rally. We are looking forward to keeping up that momentum with another win in Qatar.”

Yazeed Al Rajhi finished runner-up to Al Attiyah in Qatar last season and arrives in Doha fresh from finishing fourth in January’s Dakar Rally and from a recent outing at the Ha’il International Rally. He teams up with Ulster navigator Michael Orr, with whom he claimed four victories on rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. The pair used the recent Ha’il event to

test various components and settings after a wheel failure had cost them a potential win on the second day.

Jean-Marc Fortin, CEO of Overdrive Racing, said: “We are delighted to welcome Kuba and Timo to the team and look forward to working with them. We have seen in recent seasons what a determined competitor he can be and know that he will add strength in depth to the Toyota challenge in the 2020 FIA World Cup.”

Overdrive Racing teamed up with Red Bull at the end of 2019 to launch the new OT3 by Overdrive, a prototype T3 vehicle that the Belgian car preparations company hopes will challenge at the top of the leader board in the up-and-coming open and modified all-terrain class.

The car was tested in Morocco in the autumn and driven by five-time Dakar champion Cyril Despres and several rookies at the Dakar Rally, as part of a new Red Bull Off-Road programme.

Two cars have been entered in the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally with Dutch busi-nessman Kees Koolen driving one for the first time and the other being prepared for the Russian driver Fedor Vorobyev, the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas champion. He finished eighth overall and second in T3 in Qatar last season in a Can-Am and again teams up with fellow Russian Kirill Shubin for his debut in an OT3.

Historic Souq Waqif in downtown Doha will host the ceremonial start on February 22 and the prize giving cer-emony on February 27 after five demanding days of timed action through the Qatar deserts, where the emphasis will be as much on precise navigation as outr ight spe e d and performance.

Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in action at the Dakar Rally this year.

Jakub Przygonski

Polish star reaches agreement with Overdrive Racing

Al Attiyah has been a dominant force in cross-country rallying in recent years, but the Qatari narrowly missed out on a fourth Dakar Rally victory last month and will be keen to make a good start to his FIA World Cup campaign after falling short to eventual winner Stéphane Peterhansel in 2019.

Vietnam Grand Prix gets go-aheadAFP — HANOI

Vietnam’s inaugural Formula One Grand Prix will take place in Hanoi in April as planned, organisers said yesterday, avoiding the fate of the Chinese Grand Prix which was post-poned over the deadly coro-navirus outbreak.

The virus, which has killed more than 1,800 people in China, has trashed Asia’s sporting calendar, forcing the postponement of top events including the Hong Kong Sevens rugby.

But Vietnamese authorities said the country’s inaugural F1 race would go ahead as “scheduled” on April 5, Le Ngoc Chi, CEO of Vietnam Grand Prix said.

That flies in the face of mounting fears over the spread of the virus from neighbouring China and the risk of trans-mission among the crowds expected to make the journey to the Vietnamese capital.

“The time for the... F1 race will not be postponed or delayed,” Tran Trung Hieu, deputy director of Hanoi’s tourism department was quoted as saying by state media yesterday.

“Although this is a sports event, it has a very huge impact on Vietnam and Hanoi’s tourism,” he said, adding all measures will be taken to ensure safety. The go-ahead

comes the same day Viet-nam’s football federation announced that an interna-tional friendly scheduled a week before the F1 race will be cancelled.

Vietnam and Iraq’s national teams were supposed to play on March 26 as prepa-ration for World Cup qualifiers But the match has been can-celled because of the outbreak and at “the request of the Iraq Football Federation”, said a statement from Vietnam’s Football Federation.

Last week, Vietnam became the only country

outside of China to enforce a mass quarantine of a com-munity to contain a cluster of virus cases.

Checkpoints have been set up around the six villages that make up Son Loi, about 40 kil-ometres (25 miles) outside Hanoi after six people were detected with the virus there.

Vietnam, which shares a porous border with China, has 16 confirmed cases of the coro-navirus, including those in Son Loi. It banned all flights to and from mainland China in a bid to stop the virus from spreading. It also suspended

new tourist visas for Chinese nationals or foreigners who had been in China over the past two weeks.

The communist country will get its first taste of the glitz and glamour of Formula One with the Hanoi race, as the sport attempts to reach new markets in Southeast Asia.

Hanoi has bet big on the event’s popularity, signing a 10-year, multi-million-dollar deal with Formula One last year which state media said would cost Vietnam $60m per year.

The fee has been picked up

in full by the country’s largest private conglomerate, Vin-Group, which is hoping to dazzle with a night race on a street track.

The commitment to hold the race will likely be wel-comed by Formula One chiefs who are scrambling to fit the postponed Shanghai race into this season’s schedule.

The Chinese GP, scheduled for April 19, last week joined the World Athletics Indoor Cham-pionships and European Tour and LPGA golf tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak.

The RP20 Formula one car of team BWT Racing Point F1 is displayed during a press presentation in Mondsee, Austria.

Rockets to sign veterans Carroll, Green: Reports

REUTERS — NEW YORK

The Houston Rockets are keeping busy during the All-Star break, with plans to sign veteran forwards DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Green, according to multiple media reports.

Green, who has been a free agent since the Jazz waived him on December 24, is expected to sign a 10-day con-tract, according to league sources at ESPN. Sources indicate he will be offered a deal for the rest of the season if he feels comfortable enough to commit to it.

Carroll, who took a buyout from the San Antonio Spurs on Monday after playing only 15 games (averaging 2.2 points, 2.1 rebounds a game), needs to clear waivers before signing with the Rockets.

“I don’t know what went wrong, what happened,” Carroll said via the San Antonio Express-News about his short stint with the Spurs after signing as a free agent last summer.

“I felt like San Antonio was going to be a great place for me, for my talents, but it didn’t work out.”

The 6-foot-6 Carroll, 33, is in his 11th NBA season, having started his career with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2009 after they made him a first-round pick in that year’s NBA draft.

During the 2010-11 season, he played for the Rockets, and also had stints with the Denver Nuggets (2011-12), Utah Jazz (2011-13), Atlanta Hawks (2013-15), Toronto Raptors (2015-17) and Brooklyn Nets (2017-19). In 569 career games, he has averaged 9.0 points and 4.3 rebounds.

The 6-8 Green, also 33, has career averages of 13.0 points and 4.4 rebounds a game while playing for eight NBA fran-chises, beginning his 13-year career with the Seattle Super-Sonics in 2007-08.

Lightning top Avalanche to extend winning streakREUTERS — NEW YORK

Nikita Kucherov scored at 3:30 of overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 for their franchise-best 11th straight win in Denver.

Alex Killorn and Cameron Gaunce scored goals 16 seconds apart in the second period, Steven Stamkos also had a goal, and Curtis McEl-hinney made 24 saves for Tampa Bay.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Andre Bura-kovsky and Valeri Nichushkin also scored, and Gabriel Landeskog had two assists for Colorado. Mikko Rantanen added an assist before leaving with an apparent shoulder injury in the second period.

Kucherov stole the puck from MacKinnon, raced down the ice and beat Pavel Francouz through the pads to win it with his 29th goal of the season.

Francouz stopped 23 shots for the Avalanche, who were without goaltender Philipp Grubauer, sidelined indefi-nitely due to a lower-body injury sustained Saturday night.

Forward Matt Calvert also has a lower-body injury and is expected to miss a few weeks.

09WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2020 SPORT

IANS — LAHORE

The 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Pakistan's domestic T20 tour-nament, will carry a total prize money of $1m. The winners of the tour-nament will collect a cheque of $500K, while the runner-up will receive a cheque of $200K, it was announced yesterday. In addition to the above, there will be a number of other cash awards, including $4,500 each to all the 34 player of the matches.

Furthermore, $80K will be equally distributed to player of the tournament, best batsman, best bowler and spirit of cricket award winner.

The remaining amount will be distributed for other match-related awards like best catch, best run-out and most sixes.

The 34-match 32-day PSL 2020 will start from tomorrow and will end on March 22.

The opening match of the league will be held between defending champions Quetta Gladiators and two-time former winners Islamabad United at the National Stadium.

AFP — NEW DELHI

MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings will take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 extravaganza on March 29, organisers said yesterday.

The 38-year-old Dhoni, Chennai’s captain, has not appeared for club or country since the 50-over World Cup last year and speculation has swirled over his interna-tional retirement.

But cricketers and pundits believe the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman’s performance in the cash-rich IPL could be key if he is eyeing a last hurrah at the T20 World Cup in October and November in Australia.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the IPL fix-tures yesterday but have yet to reveal the venue of the May 24 final.

The tournament, which began in 2008, will run for 57 days -- six more days than the last edition.

Hussey hails ‘focused and driven’ Australia ahead of SA T20 seriesREUTERS — JOHANNESBURG

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey said yesterday he may not know exactly what his title is but he is delighted to be back with the team to help head coach Justin Langer build towards the Twenty20 World Cup on home soil in October.

Hussey is in South Africa with the touring Australian side as they prepare for the start of the three-match Twenty20 International series in Johannesburg on Friday.

“I’m not really sure what my title is, whether it is mentor or batting coach,” Hussey told reporters yesterday.

“But I don’t really mind, I just want to get out there and help as much as I can and throw a lot of balls.”

Hussey previously worked as a batting con-sultant for Australia at the T20 World Cup in 2016, and Langer has asked him to return ahead of the next

edition of the tournament.“I’m hoping to stay

involved with the T20 team right through the World Cup,” Hussey says.

“It is a fantastic envi-ronment, I really like that the guys work so hard and there is some real excitement about the tournament that will be on our doorstep.

“They are focused and

driven to do well and moti-vated to put in the perform-ances that will get them into that squad.”

Hussey said he had mostly been working with the middle order batsman and welcomed the return of Matthew Wade, whose form in the domestic Big Bash T20 competition earned him the chance for a first inter-national appearance in the format since 2016.

“I played with Matty Wade, and I really like the place he is in right now. I think he has a great under-standing of his game.

“I am rapped that he has got an opportunity and I really hope that he can take it and cement his place in the middle order.”

He expects the side to hit the ground running with the recent completion of the Big Bash, but said South Africa would also be in form after their tight 2-1 series loss to England.

“A lot of the guys

are coming off Big Bash, so t h e y have been

playing really good cricket. I think it is going to be a tough challenge though; South Africa are a really good team and are coming off some tough cricket against England.”

Following the series start in Johannesburg, the teams move to Port Elizabeth on Sunday and finally Cape Town on February 26. They then clash in three One-Day International matches.

It is a fantastic environment, I really like that the guys work so hard and there is some real excitement about the tournament that will be on our doorstep: Mike Hussey

n the perform-ll get them into

said he had working with rder batsman med the

Matthew form in Big Bashion earned him or a first inter-earance in the 2016.d with Matty really like the n right now. Ia great under-is game.ped that he has

ortunity and I hat he can take his place in the

r.” ts the side to hit unning with theetion of the Big d South Africa

e in form after1 series loss

the guys

t h e y have been think it is going to be a tough challenge though; SouthAfrica are a really good teamand are coming off sometough cricket againstEngland.”

Following the series startin Johannesburg, the teamsmove to Port Elizabeth on

Sunday and finally CapeTown on February 26. Theythen clash in three One-DayInternational matches.

Justin Langer

PSL 2020 to carry total prize money of $1m

IPL: Chennai to clash with Mumbai in opener

Drums are displayed on the ground for the opening ceremony rehearsal of the upcoming 2020 Pakistan Super League (PSL) at National Stadium in Karachi yesterday. BELOW: Quetta Gladiators’ Shane Watson (right) of Australia talks with Tymal Mills of England during a practice session, yesterday.

Karachi gets set for opening ceremony

Women’s golf great Mickey Wright dies at age 85

AFP — LOS ANGELES

Thirteen-time major winner Mickey Wright, often described as the greatest woman golfer of all time, died on Monday aged 85.

Wright, who accumulated 82 LPGA Tour titles during a professional career which stretched from 1954 to 1969, died in Florida after a heart attack, reports said.

“We’re saddened to learn today of the passing of Mickey Wright, a 13-time Major Champion and 82-time winner on the @LPGA, just three days after celebrating her birthday,” the World Golf Hall of Fame announced on Twitter.

“One of the best to ever play the game, she will be greatly missed. #RIPMickey.”

Born Mary Kathryn Wright in San Diego, California in 1935, Wright enjoyed a stellar amateur career which included a US Girls Junior Championship in 1952.

She won the 1954 World Amateur Championship before turning professional the following season. Her haul of 13 major victories included four US Women’s Open titles and four US Women’s PGA Cham-pionships. Only Patty Berg, who had 15 major wins, has won more.

Her retirement in 1969 shocked women’s golf, coming at the relatively early age of 34. Wright would later cite the pressure of the spotlight as influencing her decision to step away from the sport.

“It was a lot of pressure to be in con-tention week after week for five or six years,” Wright said in a 2000 interview.

“I guess they call it burnout now, but it wore me out. Unless you’re a golfer, you can’t understand the tension and pressure of tournament play.

“And it was the expectations: It was always, ‘What’s wrong with your game?

‘Are you coming apart?’ Second or third isn’t bad, but it feels bad when you’ve won 44 tournaments in four years.

“I’m not real good as far as wanting to be in front of people, glorying in it and loving it. I think you have to love that to make that kind of pressure tol-erable. It finally got to where it wasn’t tolerable to me.”

Kathy Whitworth, who holds the record for LPGA Tour wins with 88 titles, believes Wright would easily have beaten her career haul had she con-tinued playing.

“She was the best I’ve ever seen, man or woman,” Whitworth said in 2015.

“I’ve had the privilege of playing with Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and all of them. And some of our ladies had wonderful swings. But nobody hit it like Mickey, just nobody."

Wright, who accumulated 82 LPGA Tour titles during a professional career which stretched from 1954 to 1969, died in Florida after a heart attack: Reports

Plenty of positives for Clijsters despite comeback defeatDUBAI — REUTERS

Kim Clijsters says there was much to be pleased about in her comeback match against Garbine Muguruza after the Belgian matched the pace and intensity of the Australian Open finalist before losing 6-2 7-6(6) in Dubai.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters was making her first appearance on the WTA Tour since the 2012 US Open and the 36-year-old said she was looking forward to getting more matches under her belt.

“I had a good feeling out there,” she told reporters at the Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“I do feel a little bit of, I’m not going to say relief, but a feeling of the pace I can handle.

“Obviously she’s probably not the hardest hitter out there. There’s some girls that hit the ball a lot harder. I felt like I was able to go toe-to-toe with her from the baseline.

“I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points... the way I was able to get back into that second set, with the type of tennis I played, it’s something that is the positive. I’ll take that with me for the next matches.”

Muguruza, 26, said she was unsure of what to expect from Clijsters but thought she played well, particularly in the second set.

“I’m sure she’s going to get better and better, for sure give us a lot of trouble,” she added.

Bencic soars, then crashes at WTA eventAFP — DUBAI

Holder Belinda Bencic ran off the first 19 points against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before collapsing to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 loss yesterday at the Dubai Championships.

A n o t h e r f o r m e r champion, the 2017 and 2018 winner Elina Svitolina, also fell, 6-2, 6-1, to US qual-ifier Jennifer Brady.

Pavlyuchenkova could not have made a worse start.

“It’s tennis, sometimes it happens,” the 31st-ranked Russian said “You go out there and you just don’t feel anything.

“I just kept on fighting, still trying to hit every ball, trying to be there “It doesn’t matter what the score is, just play. Slowly I started to turn it around, I started to find my game.”

“I honestly wasn’t focusing on the score. Some-times you can play amazing tennis and still lose 6-1. In the third set, it was a good level from both of us.” Pav-lyuchenkova advanced in 92

minutes. Bencic, who is Swiss was seeded four and Ukrainian Svitolina third. That leaves the spotlight to tournament number one Simona Halep and second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who begin in the second round after byes.

Weekend ATP Rot-terdam winner Gael Monfils watched in pain as girlfriend

Svitolina went down to Brady. Svitolina had little to offer as the 52nd-ranked Brady gained her second victory this season over a Top 10 opponent after beating Ashleigh Barty in Brisbane.

The Ukrainian’s usually steady game was nowhere to be found at the Aviation Club as first-round play concluded.

“It was not a bad start, but then everything just went downhill,” Svitolina said.

“I wish I could regroup better. In the end, I didn’t feel so good the ball. Just everything was all over the place today.

“At this level it’s tough to pick just one thing: eve-rybody is putting the ball

over the net, and you have to play long rallies, you have to build the points.

“Before I was more composed with my game. Now it’s little bit of a struggle. Maybe mentally or something.”

Brady, a qualifier with three matches already here, said that her own attitude as underdog may have helped.

“I’m respecting my opponent, but not to the point where I put her on a pedestal.

“I was just focused on my game plan, myself, I competed well from the very beginning."

Brady’s win paved the way for fellow American and Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, who will later begin her campaign against Elena Rybakina, winner of Hobart in January and runner-up at the weekend in St Petersburg.

Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic beat fellow qual-ifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-3 to set up a second-round date with Pliskova.

Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova serves the ball to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic during their match yesterday.

The team has grown, the city is buzzing about football. It’s a continuity, we are trying to go step by step and I am happy to be part of that: Peter Gulacsi

10 WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2020SPORT

Altinordu win against Inter Milan but fail to qualifyTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Turkish academy side Alti-nordu defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in the Al Kass International Cup, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them finishing bottom of Group C at the Aspire Academy pitch yesterday.

Altinordu had given them-selves a huge task to stay in the competition after losing 3-0 to Mohammed XI Academy of Morocco in their opener and they needed to win by three goals to progress to the quarter-finals.

Milan on the otehr hand had a 3-1 opening match victory over Mohammed.

Altinorduwent close after just 45 seconds, Ernesto Greco throwing himself at full stretch to keep out Hakan Ozturk’s well-struck shot.

It was the 20th minute until

another good opportunity pre-sented itself, but Inter striker Dennis Curatolo failed to connect with a header fol-lowing a corner when well placed to score.

Ozturk was the main thrust of Altinordu’s attacks and he fired wide on 26 minutes before setting up the only goal of the match one minute later.

The striker curled a ball towards the edge of the box and Greco came out to try and claim it, only to be caught well out of position and Muhammet Turan sent a superb chip over the stranded keeper to give Alti-nordu the lead.

Most of Inter’s chances were falling to Curatolo and he had a couple of efforts on goal without worrying the Turkish keeper. Kifle Gambato and Nicolo Uberti saw efforts blocked as Inter pushed for a

first-half equalizer but Alti-nordu went in at the break with a narrow lead, despite having had just 41% of the possession.

The Italians went close to an equalizer midway through the second half as Federico Motti let fly with a fine half-volley but player of the match Atahan Arslan pulled off a superb save to keep the Turks ahead.

Despite Inter’s efforts, Alti-nordu held on for the win – a result that saw the Italians top the group while the Turkish side finished bottom.

The Italians face a very tough test in the semi-finals where they take on reigning champions Glasgow Rangers.

Altinordu, meanwhile, will face Barcelona to decide their exact position in the competition.

Action from the Al Kass International Cup match between Altinordu and Inter Milan at the Aspire Academy pitch yesterday.

Leipzig relish Tottenham testAFP — LEIPZIG, GERMANY

Having joined RB Leipzig when they were still in Germany’s second division, Peter Gulacsi has seen the club grow from Bundesliga new boys and on to a first appearance in the Cham-pions League knock-out stage.

The Hungarian goalkeeper is relishing today’s last 16, first leg when the ambitious eastern German club, bankrolled by energy drinks giants Red Bull, face last season’s beaten finalists Tottenham Hotspur in London.

“It’s a new experience to play against an English side. It’s a big opportunity and a big test,” Gulacsi said.

“If we have a good day, maybe we could surprise them.” While Jose Mourinho’s Tot-tenham sit fifth in the Premier League, Leipzig head to London in the midst of a battle at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, with whom they drew 0-0 earlier this month.

“It’s going to be two difficult games, but this is what you look forward to,” Gulacsi said of the Spurs tie.

“These are the games we have been fighting to play in.”

The last-16 showdown is the latest step in Leipzig’s rise over the last decade since starting in Germany’s fifth tier in 2009.

Gulacsi joined from Red Bull Salzburg in 2015, and the club won promotion to the top tier in his first season.

In their debut campaign in the elite, Leipzig shook up the established order, briefly going top before finishing second behind Bayern.

Now they are enjoying their second Champions League campaign, with ambitious 32-year-old coach Julian Nagelsmann steering Leipzig to the last 16 for the first time in his debut season in charge.

Leipzig’s success has been built around a core of key players.

Along with Gulacsi, Sweden winger Emil Forsberg, Den-mark’s Yussuf Poulsen, Austrian winger Marcel Sabitzer and Germany full-backs Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Hal-stenberg played for the club in the second division and have gone on to establish themselves

at international level. “If you look at the team, there has been a lot of changes, but we had a group of six, seven players who provided the base we have built on,” said Gulacsi.

“The team has grown, the city is buzzing about football.

“It’s a continuity, we are trying to go step by step and I am happy to be part of that.”

Today’s game will be a return to England for Gulacsi, who left home-town club MTK Budapest to join Liverpool in 2007 as a raw 17-year-old.

He spent six years with Liv-erpool, yet never made a com-petitive appearance with Pepe Reina the incumbent goal-keeper. Instead, Gulacsi learnt his trade on loan at lower-league sides Hereford United, Tranmere Rovers and Hull City.

“I managed to be on the bench 52 times at Liverpool and I never played a game in the first team but I learned a lot on my loans,” said Gulacsi.

“When you are at a big club like Liverpool, you know it is not easy to get into the first team. “I still gave my best, but Pepe Reina was one of the top three ‘keepers in the whole world at that time.

“It was still a great expe-rience to train with the first team, to learn from those players.” Gulacsi was 23 when he left in 2013 to join Salzburg, winning the Austrian league and cup double in each of his two seasons there.

Today, while Gulacsi tries to keep a Spurs attack deprived of Harry Kane at bay, he will also hope Germany striker Timo

Werner can wreak havoc at the other end. Werner has 20 league goals this season and three in the Champions League.

“In terms of his first few steps, Timo is one of the quickest players in Europe,” said Gulacsi.

“He has also stepped up his game tactically this season and his scoring form is simply superb.”

Gulacsi turns 30 on May 6, when he hopes Leipzig will still be in the running for the German title. They are currently second, a point behind Bayern.

“It would probably be the biggest moment in my career and a fantastic achievement,” he said of the prospect of Leipzig becoming champions.

“But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Mourinho thinks Son’s season is over

AFP — LONDON

Korean star Son Heung-min’s season could well be over said Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho yesterday after the club said the player had fractured his right arm.

The 27-year-old South Korean international forward suffered the injury in the 3-2 Premier League victory over Aston Villa -- in which he scored twice including the late winner -- on Sunday.

Son suffered the injury in a robust first-minute challenge from Villa’s Ezri Konsa.

The club did not specify how long Son would be out but Mourinho was pessimistic.

“I’m not going to count on him again this season,” Mourinho said at a press con-ference on the eve of their Champions League Last 16 first leg match with German outfit RB Leipzig.

Mourinho is already without star striker Harry Kane -- side-lined since January with a torn hamstring -- and as the club enters a crucial period. Midfielder Moussa Sissoko is another long-term casualty.

They host Leipzig on Wednesday and play Chelsea in a match that could prove pivotal to the fourth and final Champions League spot.

“Heung-Min Son is to undergo surgery this week after sustaining a fracture to his right arm,” read Spurs statement.

“The South Korea interna-tional suffered the injury during our win against Aston Villa on Sunday.

“Following surgery, our medical staff shall be reviewing management options for Son’s rehabilitation with the player expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks.” Mourinho said he would have phrased the statement differently.

Atalanta aim to extend wave of remarkable runAFP - MILAN

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta are counting on the wave of enthusiasm generated by the Italian outsiders remarkable run in their Champions League debut season to surge past Spanish club Valencia in the knockout rounds.

The team from Bergamo in the foothills of the Italian Alps take on Valencia on Wednesday in the last 16, first leg, at the 80,000-seater San Siro, which has nearly four times the capacity of their home stadium, 55 kilometres away.

“This is a game that we have been waiting months for,” said Gasperini.

“Being able to play on front of so many of our fans at a venue like San Siro is a beau-tiful achievement that we have been waiting a long time for.

“The Champions League is a dream which we’ll try to carry forward as much as possible.

“The whole city of Bergamo

is practically travelling to Milan.”

The team’s stunning run comes despite losing their opening three Champions League group games, including 4-0 away to Dinamo Zagreb before a 5-1 loss at Manchester City.

But a 1-1 draw against Man City in the San Siro sparked the revival of ‘La Dea’ (The Goddess) who finished seven points behind the Premier League side in second to reach the knockout stage.

Atalanta’s confidence has been further boosted after seeing off AS Roma 2-1 in a cauldron atmosphere on front of their home crowd at their Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium on Saturday.

The victory consolidated fourth place in Serie A, six points ahead of the side from the capital and bolstered their hopes of Champions League next season.

“This victory gives us

confidence for the next games, it was a fundamental clash to be won,” said Mario Pasalic who came off the bench and hit the match winner 19 seconds later.

Their current form is a remarkable achievement for a club with a modest budget

compared to rivals Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.

Their transformation follows the arrival of Gasperini in the summer of 2016 from Genoa.

The 62-year-old previously coached Crotone, Palermo and

briefly Inter Milan, where he was sacked after a run of five winless Serie A games and just one point.

The team -- founded 113 years ago by a group of students from a local school and named after Atalanta, a huntress in

Greek mythology -- had been relegated in 2003, 2005 and 2010.

Gasperini guided them to a fourth-place finish in his first season to qualify for the Europa League. Last season they finished third, powered by Colombian Duvan Zapata’s 23 league goals, and qualified for the Champions League for the first time.

“I think there are a series of elements that now allow this team to chase after the dream,” said Gasperini.

“We have been playing at a very high level for three or four years.

“It’s an extraordinary period of Atalanta.” Atalanta have the best attack in the league with 63 goals scored -- 17 more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus.

Zapata’s three-month injury absence did not hurt the team.

“It gave us the opportunity to experiment with other solu-tions and it gives the opposition defence few reference points,” explained Gasperini.

Valencia's players run during a training session yesterday at the Paterna Sports City in Paterna on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group H match against Atalanta.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen (centre) attends a team training session at Tottenham Hotspur’s Enfield Training Centre, in north London yesterday, ahead of their UEFA Champions League Last 16 match against RB Leipzig.

11WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2020 SPORT

Fraser-Pryce eyes track farewell at 2021 WorldsAFP – BERLIN

Jamaican sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, currently preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, says the defence of her women’s 100m sprint gold at the 2021 world championships could be her farewell from athletics.

The 33-year-old surged to an unprecedented fourth women’s 100m gold at the worlds in Doha in September on her return to major com-petition after the birth of her son Zyon in 2017.

“After Tokyo, I am the defending champion at the world championships in Eugene and that is so close to home,” Fraser-Pryce, who has won two Olympic and nine worlds gold medals over the last 12 years, said ahead of Monday’s Laureus World Sports Awards in Berlin.

“It’s a few hours (flight) from Jamaica and to be able to end a career close to home, where I can have most, if not all, of my family in attendance, would be the highlight of my career.

“I am taking it a year

at a time. After Tokyo I can make that decision.” At a media event before Monday’s award US athletics legend Michael Johnson said he would “put money” on the evergreen Fraser-Pryce winning the women’s 100m final on August 1 in Tokyo.

Having won Olympic golds in the women’s 100m final at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London games, Fraser-Pryce is bidding to complete the hat-trick in Tokyo after having to settle for bronze in the sprint event at Rio de

Janeiro in 2016.

Van Niekerk wins first race this year on comeback trailAFP – BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA

Olympics and world 400-metre record-holder Wayde van Niekerk, who has been slowly recovering from a knee injury, won his first race this year in Bloem-fontein on Monday.

The 27-year-old South African finished first in a 100m race on grass in a hand-timed 10.20 seconds at an unofficial university meet.

Van Niekerk came though the race unscathed in the central city as he eyes the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a chance to defend his 400m title.

He smashed the Olympic and world 400m records of 43.18 set by American Michael Johnson in 1999 when he clocked 43.03 at the Rio Games four years ago.

“It is good to be back running and I am satisfied with my time. Thanks again to everyone who has assisted in my recovery,” said the South African.

Van Niekerk damaged a knee during October 2017 while playing a celebrity touch rugby match in Cape Town that preceded a Test between South Africa and New Zealand.

The injury prevented him seeking a third con-secutive world title in Doha last year after triumphs in Beijing in 2015 and in London two years later.

Speaking in Berlin at the w e e k e n d ahead of the L a u r e u s awards cer-

emony, Johnson said it would be “very difficult” for Van Niekerk to successfully defend his Olympics title.

“An athlete who misses two seasons through an injury usually takes one season to get back into shape,” said the four-time Olympics champion.

“Therefore, expectations around Wayde should not be too high as it will be a huge challenge for him to be at his best in Japan.

“It is mentally tough to stage a comeback in an Olympic year, especially when many of your rivals for medals are clocking really fast times.

“That is not to say, however, that Wayde has no chance of emulating his feat of four years ago and winning another 400m gold medal.

“He is a special athlete who may not follow the normal patterns of recovery. I guess we will just have to wait and see how he per-forms,” added Johnson.

Sport will rebound in China but coronavirus exposes flawsAFP – HONG KONG

The coronavirus exposes an ignorance of China’s lucrative sports market and poor contin-gency planning, experts say, after Formula One became the most high-profile casualty of a mass pullout from the country.

Formula One chiefs are scrambling to fit the Shanghai race into this season’s schedule after the April 19 grand prix last week joined the World Athletics Indoor Championships and European Tour and LPGA golf tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak.

The Formula E Grand Prix, badminton, skiing and Olympic qualifying events have all been cancelled, postponed or moved elsewhere in recent weeks.

All activity in the country’s

two most popular sports -- football and basketball -- has been suspended, but the oblit-eration of the sporting calendar is regarded as unavoidable given the circumstances.

The virus, which emerged in December in the central city of Wuhan, has killed more than 1,800 people, almost all in China, and sparked global alarm.

The world’s most populous country has become a major sporting destination in the last decade and top clubs and organisations, among them the Premier League, FIFA and NBA, have courted fans -- and their money -- in the world’s second-largest economy.

Marcus Luer, Founder and Chief Executive of sports mar-keting agency TSA (Total Sports Asia), said that it will be

business as usual once the virus clears but a lesson has been learnt that extends beyond China.

“This could happen any-where in the world and feder-ations and organisers need good contingency plans, especially in an Olympic year, where athletes

are still qualifying for the Games (Tokyo 2020),” said Luer.

“I think that’s a global learning for major sports organ-isations to be ready and have a good Plan B in case something like this happens again in the future anywhere in the world.

“Honestly, I don’t think any sport or event had a Plan B in place.”

Professor Simon Chadwick echoes that sentiment.

Chadwick, Director of the Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry based in Shanghai, also said that European football clubs in particular had failed to grasp the opportunity to show support for China and its people.

“The current health issues have exposed how distant many international sport stakeholders are from China, in terms of both geographic distance and

cultural understanding,” Chadwick said.

China says that preparations for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing remain on track, despite a test skiing event being can-celled over coronavirus fears.

China has been here before, with the Severe Acute Respi-ratory Syndrome (SARS) epi-demic in 2002-2003, but at that time the country hosted nothing like the number of international sporting events it now holds.

In the summer of 2003, a Real Madrid squad boasting “Galacticos” David Beckham, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo visited China, the first time the Spanish giants had come to the country.

China is now a regular summer destination for top European football teams, but this year’s tours will fall by the

wayside if the coronavirus con-tinues to spread in the coming months.

“When they appeared at Beijing Workers’ Stadium, the panic effect caused by SARS disappeared instantly... the stadium was full and the city’s confidence returned,” said a recent column in the Oriental Sports Daily, reflecting on Real’s morale-boosting landmark trip.

“This is the power of sports!” said the column, declaring that China’s sporting life will simi-larly bounce back with renewed vigour after the coronavirus subsides.

“The confidence of life, the confidence of the city, the con-fidence of the government and the good use of the spirit of sports culture will surely return quickly.”

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Formula One chiefs are scrambling to fit the Shanghai race into this season’s schedule after the April 19 grand prix last week joined the World Athletics Indoor Championships and European Tour and LPGA golf tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak.

Golf: Exciting battle on the cards at Qatar Open

ARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Eight Qatari golfers will be competing alongside 23 profes-sionals at this year’s Qatar Open Amateur Championship at the Doha Golf Club (DGC), organisers of the event announced yesterday.

The tournament, which is into its 34th edition, will be played in an individual stroke play format and will take place at the Doha Golf Club from February 20 to 22, with half the field advancing to Saturday’s final round.

The mixed field of amateur and professional players will be vying for the four qualifying spots up for grabs at the Com-mercial Bank Qatar Masters tournament, which will be held from March 5 to 8 at the Edu-cation City Golf Club course and other prizes.

This year’s edition will see around 105 players partici-pating from 39 countries.

From among the 82 ama-teurs in the fray, the one with the top score will lay his hands on the Qatar Open trophy and qualify for a place in the European Tour event in Qatar a l o n g w i t h t h r e e professionals.

The winning amateur and top professional will also

receive a Royal Air Maroc airline ticket.

The Qatari players who will be seen in action are: Saleh Ali Kaabi, Ali Al Shahraniy, Abdu-rahman Al Shahrani, Jaham Al Kuwari, Fahad Rizwan, Abdelaziz Al Muhannadi, Abdelaziz Al Boainain and Ghanim Al Kuwari.

Out of the eight Qatari players, who will be playing at the Qatar Open, two of them - Saleh Ali and Jaham Jasim

- have confirmed their place in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters tournament, organ-isers said.

The three-day event organised by Qatar Golf Asso-ciation (QGA) is supported from Qatar Olympic Com-mittee, InterContinental Doha Hotel, Doha Golf Club, Royal Air Maroc, Al Rayan Water and Almuftah Car Rent.

This is the third year running that QGA has added the professional division to the amateur event.

“The professional section is growing every year since the time we introduced it three years back. Many players who cannot make it to the Qatar Masters will be trying to qualify for the European Tour event at Education City Golf Club,” said Fahad Nasser Al Naimi, General Secretary of QGA while speaking at a press con-ference yesterday.

“The field is quite strong with many professionals with very high rankings taking part. An interesting tussle is on the cards,” he said.

“Top three professionals and the leading amateur will qualify for the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters to be held at Education City Golf Club, from March 5 to 8,” Al Naimi added.

The event is one of the oldest in the region and was first held in 1983 and con-tested over a sand course in Umm Said. This year sees around 50 golfers from all over the world reaching Qatar for the event.

Denmark’s Mikkel Math-iesen won the title last year while Adrian Meronk, Niclas Johansson and Mike Troop clinched the top three places in the professional section.

FROM LEFT: Youssef Berchid, Country Manager - Royal Air Maroc Qatar; Said Al Hajri, General Manager of Ali Bin Ali, GSA, Royal Air Maroc Qatar; Mohammed Faisal Al Naimi, Tournament Director; Fahad Nasser Al Naimi, General Secretary of Qatar Golf Association (QGA); Andreas Pfister, General Manager, InterContinental Doha; Arun Sreekumar, Trade Marketing Manager of Rayyan Water, and Mike Shoueiry - Technical Expert at QGA, posing for a photograph during a press conference held at Doha Golf Club, yesterday. PICTURE: SYED OMAR

TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

Half the field plus ties after 36

Top 3 Professionals and the leading Amateur qualify for the Commercial Bank Qatar masters to be held at Education City

PROGRAMMEToday: Registration and practice roundTomorrow: First roundFriday: Second roundSaturday: Third and final round, followed by the awards ceremony

QATAR OPEN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

The professional section is growing every year since the time we introduced it three years back. Many players who cannot make it to the Qatar Masters will be trying to qualify for the European Tour event at Education City Golf Club: Fahad Nasser Al Naimi

CHINTHANA WASALA THE PENINSULA

A brace from Qatari national team skipper Hassan Al Haydos and a goal from Akram Afif helped hosts Al Sadd seal a dominant win against Iran's Sepahan in their AFC Cham-pions League encounter yesterday.

The victory at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in front of a large audience of home team supporters, helped Xavi Hern-andez-led Wolves to take the top spot in the Group C standings thanks to the goal difference.

Al Sadd and Saudi's Al Nassr both have collected four points each.

On the other hand, Sepahan, who clinched a 4-0 away win against Al Ain, slipped to third position in the four-team group.

Al Sadd made their inten-tions clear right from kick-off yesterday.

Boualem Khoukhi’s pass put Afif through on goal in the opening 60 seconds, but goal-keeper Payam Niyazmand pro-duced a terrific reflex save to keep out the first of three Al Sadd attempts in the opening six minutes.

The early minutes were promising ones for Xavi’s side,

who regularly tested the vis-iting defence without managing to find the back of the net.

Sepahan captain Mehdi Kiani producing a terrific tackle to stop a breakaway by the Asian Player of the Year Afif in the 18th minute, and Baghdad

Bounedjah passing when he ought to have tried his luck shortly after.

Sepahan began to create encouraging openings of their own, but did not have the luck with them. Al Sadd took control as the match went on, with the

visitors finding it increasingly difficult to contain their pace and movement.

Bounedjah was denied a chance to score just before the interval, but few minutes later Afif lifting the ball over the goalkeeper after receiving a

pass by Bounedjah six minutes after the break.

Al Sadd’s second goal also saw a wonderful exchange between Bounedjah and Al Haydos; the former drilling in an inch perfect low cross, and the latter flicking the ball into the net to double the lead in the 72nd minute.

Al Haydos scored his second goal six minutes later, this time steering the ball into an open net, following an inch-perfect square ball from Afif.

Al Sadd will face Al Ain away on March 3 in their next fixture.

Elsewhere, in Buraidah, the QNB Stars League table leaders Al Duhail lost their Group C away match to Al Taawoun FC 2-0 at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, yesterday.

The result puts Al Taawoun top of the group with six points, while Sharjah’s 2-2 draw with Persepolis in the other fixture means the 2018 quarter-finalists, Al Duhail, stay in second place with three points, while Persepolis are third on one point, ahead of Sharjah courtesy of away goals.

Al Duhail’s next fixture sees them hosting Sharjah in Doha in two weeks’ time.

SPORT | 09

Hussey hails

'focused and

driven' Australia

ahead of SA Seriesa

SPORTFraser-Pryce eyes

track farewell at

2021 World

Championships

SPORT | 11

WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2020

Hamilton, Messi share men’s Laureus AwardAFP – BERLIN

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and football superstar Lionel Messi shared the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award at Monday’s ceremony in Berlin.

Hamilton, 35, a six-time world champion and Barcelona star Messi, 32, share the award for their achievements in 2019.

This is the first time a foot-baller has won the award and also the first occasion in the event’s 20-year history when the jury reached a tied decision.

“I am honoured to be the first to win this award being a sportsperson coming from a team sport,” Messi said from Barcelona via a video message.

US gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, who won five titles at the 2019 world cham-pionships in Stuttgart to leave her with a record 25 world gold medals, took the Laureus sportswoman of the year award for the third time.

“It means the world to me, this is my third Laureus award and I’m really grateful,” said Biles in a video message.

South Africa, who won the 2019 World Cup, were named team of the year, beating Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and the US women’s football team.

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi was joined on stage by six South African team-mates to collect the trophy.

“With this group of players, we came together for the love of the game with one goal and fought so hard for each other,” Kolisi told the audience in Berlin.

“We gave everything we had to win the trophy and hopefully inspire kids for gen-erations to come.”

Snowboarding sensation Chloe Kim, 19, won the action sportsperson award after taking gold medals at the world cham-pionship halfpipe and X Games super pipe.

Oksana Masters, who was

born with limb impairments caused by radiation from Cher-nobyl and was later adopted in the US, won the sportsperson with a disability award.

The 30-year-old won five gold medals and a silver at the world para nordic skiing cham-pionships and also took the cross-country overall world cup title.

She also won silver medals in the road race and time trial H5 at the para cycling road world championships.

Colombia’s Egan Bernal, 22, who became the youngest rider to win the Tour de France for 110 years, won the break-through award after winning the world’s top cycling race in what was only his second three-week classic event.

“I’m really happy, this is a big result for me in my career,” the Colombian said in a video.

German F3 driver Sophia Floersch scooped the comeback of the year award for racing once again at the Macau Grand Prix last November, a year after a crash on the same circuit left her with a spinal fracture.

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar won the public vote

for the top sporting moment over the last 20 years for leading his country to victory at the 2011 World Cup at the sixth attempt.

German basketball star Dirk Nowitzki was recognised with the lifetime achievement award.

LAUREUS AWARD WINNERS

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR: Simone Biles

TEAM OF THE YEAR: South Africa Men’s Rugby Team

BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Egan Bernal

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Sophia Floersch

SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A

DISABILITY: Oksana MastersACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR:

Chloe KimBEST SPORTING MOMENT: ‘Carried on the shoulders of a nation’ – Sachin Tendulkar

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Dirk Nowitzki

LAUREUS ACADEMY EXCEPTIONAL

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Spanish Basketball Federation

LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD: South Bronx United

Joint winner of the Laureus Men's World Sportsman of the Year, Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton during the awards ceremony in Berlin, on Monday.

Qatari international Akram Afif salutes the supporters after scoring Al Sadd's opening goal against Sepahan during the AFC Champions League match yesterday.

Al Sadd's players celebrate after scoring against

Sepahan yesterday.

Dominant Al Sadd crush Sepahan 3-0