SPORTWednesday 18 April 2018

PAGES | 28 PAGE | 29Stokes aims to

restore England’s Test lustre

Champs City readyto reign supreme, says De Bruyne

Al Duhail’s players celebrate after scoring during their AFC Champions League match against UAE’s Al Wahda at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday.

GROUP BAl Duhail SC (QAT) 1-0 Al Wahda FSCC

(UAE)GROUP A

Al Jazira FSC (UAE) 1-2 Al Ahli Saudi FC (KSA)

GROUP HKashima Antlers (JPN) 0-1 Suwon Samsung

Bluewings (KOR)

GROUP GGuangzhou Evergrande FC (CHN) 3-1 Cerezo

Osaka (JPN)

GROUP BPFC Lokomotiv (UZB) 1-1 Zobahan FC (IRN)

GROUP ATractor Sazi Tabriz (IRN) 1-3 Al Gharafa

(QAT)GROUP H

Sydney FC (AUS) 0-0 Shanghai Shenhua (CHN)

GROUP GJeju United FC (KOR) 0-1 Buriram United (THA)

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

GROUP STAGE: RESULTS

Al Duhail remain unbeaten as Al Gharafa beat Tractor Sazi THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Duhail’s young midfielder Abdelrahman Fahmi was on target as the Qatari football giants completed the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage with an outstanding 100 percent record following a 1-0 win over UAE’s Al Wahda yesterday.

At the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Fahmi made the most out of the opportunity he was given and scored the winner for the home team in the 47th minute.

Having already secured their berth in the pre-quarters, Al Duhail coach Djamel Belmadi rested some of the key players and opted for a number of young-sters in yesterday’s match.

The hosts were handed an advantage in the 39th minute when Al Wahda defender Salem Sultan was sent off after pulling down Youssef El Arabi who was through on goal.

Al Duhail took advantage of their numerical superiority and opened the scoring just two minutes into the second half, as young winger Fahmi netted with aplomb following a fine give-and-go with El Arabi.

The match saw little action at either half thereafter, and only came alive in the 84th minute, when Al Duhail were

also reduced to 10 men after Lucas Mendes was shown his marching orders.

The decision had no effect on the result and Al Duhail held on to clinch their sixth straight victory and become just the fourth side in history to win all their group games in the AFC Champions League.

Belmadi’s men will now play Group

D runners-up Al Ain in the Round of 16.

Elsewhere, Al Gharafa defeated Tractor Sazi Tabriz 3-1 to end their 2018 AFC Champions League Group A cam-paign on a high yesterday.

In a battle between two eliminated teams, it was Tractor Sazi who showed

urgency early on and it was they who made the breakthrough.

Just after the half hour mark, the Iranian side took the lead for the first time in this year’s campaign after Mohammad Iranpourian dispatched a penalty, which had been awarded for a foul on Amir Arsalan Motahari.

But Al Gharafa made a stronger approach in the second half and in the 70th minute, they turned the game around in the space of seven minutes.

Moayed Hassan first curled the ball in a free-kick to level the scores before adding another six minutes later.

Taremi’s through ball sent Hassan racing through towards an advancing keeper and he duly squared it across for Abdelaziz Hatem to tap into an empty goal.

Taremi then finally got something to show for his efforts on the night, when he sent a fierce strike past Karousian in the 87th minute to make it 3-1 and reg-ister his fifth goal of the campaign.

Al Gharafa thus finished level on points with second-placed Al Jazira in Group A, but lost out on a Round of 16 spot due to an inferior head-to-head record with their rivals.

Tractor Sazi ended up at the bottom of the group after failing to muster a single win throughout the tournament.

Al Shaqab to host first Qatar Equine Foot ConferenceTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Shaqab will host the first Qatar Equine Foot Conference from May 3 to 5 at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) and Al Shaqab.

The first in a series of planned continuing education seminars and short courses by the Equine Veterinary Medical Centre of Al Shaqab, the con-ference aims to inform and educate horse owners, trainers, farriers and veteri-narians on common equine foot ailments such as limb imbalance, foal podiatry, lam-initis and correct horseshoeing methodology.

It will focus on the form and function of the foot so that horse owners and trainers will be able to make management decisions on the care of the hooves, farriers and veteri-narians will learn evidence based strategies to success-fully manage a myriad of hoof problems in foals, horses in training and breeding horses.

Internationally renowned experts in the field of equine limb anatomy, biomechanics, locomotion and lameness are being specially flown in to lecture and conduct practical sessions for participants. The conference will be conducted in English but Arabic transla-tions will be available.

The fee for the conference is QAR2,300. However, those who register before April 25, 2018 need only pay QAR2,000.

Al Duhail’s forward Youssef El Arabi (left) vies for the ball with Al Wahda’s Rim Chang Woo during yesterday’s match.

Abdulrahman Al Mannai, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President (right) and Manateq CEO Fahad Al Kaabi flag off the vehicle driven by Qatari driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah during the ceremonial start of the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally, which is also the fourth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, at Katara yesterday. See also Page 30

Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally flags off at Katara

THE PENINSULA

MUMBAI: A heroic fight back from skipper Virat Kohli was not enough as Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore succumbed to a 46-run defeat against Mumbai Indians yesterday.

Mumbai amassed a massive total of 213 thanks to a brilliant knock by captain Rohit Sharma (94), supported by a quick-fire 65 by Evin Lewis.

Bangalore lost wickets at regular intervals during the chase, but opener Kohli held his end while others departed without making decent scores.

Krunal Pandya picked 3 for 13 while Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell McClenaghan has two scalps each as visitors fell 46 runs short of their target.

Mumbai Indians: 213 for 6 (Evin Lewis 65, Rohit Sharma 94; Umesh Yadav 2 for 36, Corey Anderson 2 for 47)

Royal Challengers Ban-galore: 167 for 8 (Virat Kohli 92 not out; Krunal Pandya 3 for 13, Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 28, Mitchell McClenaghan 2 for 24)

RCB falter as Mumbai Indians seal maiden win

28 WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018SPORT

Qatar young guns eye good show at Amman meetQNA

DOHA: Qatar youth athletics team is targeting an impressive performance at the 8th Arab Youth Athletics Cham-pionships which will kick off tomorrow in Amman.

The event which is featuring top athletes of the region will conclude on Sunday.

The Qatari team in the tournament is represented by the players; Saud Abdulaziz Al Humaidi in the 110m hurdles and 200m race, Jaber Hilal in the 100m and 200m races, Abdul-rahman Al Khater in the 100m and 200m races, Muhanad Khamis 3,000m steeplechase and 1,500m,

Ahmed Saeed Al Haj in the discus throw, Marzouq Saeed Al Haj in the shot put, Muaaz Muhammad Ibrahim in the discus throw and the shot put, and Rashid Al Suwaidi in the long jump competition.

Qatar Athletics Federation’s (QAF) Member, QAF Executive Director and Head of Qatar youth athletics team mission in Jordan Khalifa Abdul Malik said that the Arab competition in an opportunity for Qatari youth cham-pions to prove themselves in compe-titions that are expected to be strong and at a promising level.

He added that the championship is also an opportunity for Qatari players to compete at a hard level in

order to register the qualification numbers for the 2018 World Athletics Championships in Finland.

Abdul Malik pointed out that Muaaz Ibrahim and Muhanad Khamis achieved the figures qualifying for the 2018 World Athletics Championships in Finland.

He expressed hope that the remaining athletes will achieve the same achievement by qualifying for the World Athletics Championships.

He said that the participation of the Qatar youth athletics team with a limited number of players in the tour-nament aims to achieve good results that reflect the technical and skill development of the champions.

Qatar youth athletics team is set to take part at 8th Arab Youth Athletics

Championships .

Stokes aims to restore England’s Test lustreAFP

LONDON: Ben Stokes (pictured) is desperate to inspire England back to the pinnacle of Test cricket, saying the team has “slacked off” in the past two years, slipping to fifth in the world rankings.

The 26-year-old all-rounder returned to international cricket in February against New Zealand but could not prevent a 1-0 defeat for the tourists to extend a miserable run that has seen England win just one Test series overseas since 2012.

Stokes missed his side’s 4-0 Ashes humbling after being suspended from playing for England over a nightclub incident and admitted he was “gutted” to watch his team-mates struggling in Australia.

Just two years ago England were one Test win away from holding all nine bilateral Test trophies but were denied as Pakistan won at the Oval and squared the series.

“I just want to get us back to playing the way we want to play,” Stokes told Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

“We were so close to being one of the best teams in the world.

“We’ve slacked off in the past two years but knowing how close we were gives you that desire to get back there.” New Zealand-born Stokes said he had accepted the decision

of coach Trevor Bayliss not to rein-state him as vice-captain for

the New Zealand series.Stokes, currently

playing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League,

pleaded not guilty to a charge of affray over

the nightclub incident that

forced him out of the Ashes tour.

He looks set to miss the second Test against India at Lord’s, with his trial set for August 6.

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Indian police crack down on betting racketAFP

NEW DELHI: Indian police have arrested three men suspected of placing illegal bets on Indian Premier League matches as authorities crack down on gambling rackets that emerge around the billion-dollar franchise every year.

The trio were accused of running an online betting syndicate from a residence in New Delhi. Nearly all gambling is illegal in India but is still a huge under-ground industry.

“We arrested the three on Saturday while they were betting during the Mumbai Indians and Delhi Dare-devils match,” Youdhbir Singh, a senior police officer in Delhi, said yesterday.

“They were insisting that they are first-timers and it was just a one-off incident, but we know that they were doing it since the start of the league on April 7.”

Eleven mobile phones, a laptop, a television set and a digital channel receiver were seized, Singh added.

Media reports say police have busted other syndi-cates, in the southern city of Hyderabad and the eastern state of West Bengal, in the first two weeks of the 11th season of the lucrative IPL franchise.

The money-spinning IPL, the world’s most popular domestic cricket league, has been plagued by contro-versy since its inception in 2008. Corruption and match-fixing have often taken centre-stage.

A spot-fixing scandal in 2013 led to the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals being suspended in 2015 for two seasons.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem returns the ball to Russia’s Andrey Rublev during their Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament match in Monaco yesterday.

Thiem saves match point in victory over RublevAFP

MONTE CARLO: Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem saved a match point in a gripping Monte Carlo Masters second-round win over Russian youngster Andrey Rublev yesterday.

The two-time French Open semi-finalist recovered from a set down to book a last-16 clash against either Novak Djokovic or Borna Coric with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory. Thiem is playing in his first tournament since suf-fering an ankle injury at Indian Wells last month.

Rublev spurned a match point on his own serve late in the deciding set as he fired a forehand narrowly wide.

“I had to fight from the first to the last point, which of course I did well. But I was also lucky at the end when he had a match point and missed a forehand by 10 centimetres or so,” said Thiem.

“I was 10 centimetres from being out of the tournament.”

The 24-year-old Thiem could also have to face defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals if he can get past Djokovic or the in-form Coric tomorrow.

“It’s a horrible draw for

sure, from the first round on,” conceded Thiem.

“But I’m happy that I played two hours and forty (minutes)... But I’m looking forward to watching Djokovic and Coric in

front of the TV and then playing the winner on Thursday.” After Rublev had edged a tight first set, Thiem clinched the second on his fourth set point before racing into a 4-1 lead in the decider.

His 20-year-old opponent cut loose, though, claiming four straight games to serve for the match.

But Rublev struck wide on match point and ran out of steam, double faulting to hand Thiem a place in round three as the world number seven won the last three games on the spin.

French number one Lucas Pouille blew a one-set lead to be dumped out by German serve-and-volleyer Mischa Zverev in a third-set tie-break.

Seventh seed Pouille eased through the first set, but Zverev

hit back to claim a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) victory and reach the third round for the first time in his career.

The world number 55 was happy to play baseline rallies with his opponent, saving the serve-and-volleys for the crucial points.

The left-hander trailed 4-2 in the decider, but broke back immediately before clinching the tie-break when a Pouille return dropped into the base of the net.

“I’m really excited to have won two matches here in Monte Carlo, it’s an incredible feeling,” said the 30-year-old Zverev.

Fernando Verdasco saved three match points to beat Uru-guayan Pablo Cuevas in a first-round match, while his fellow Spanish veteran left-hander edged out Benoit Paire.

Germany’s Mischa Zverev celebrates after winning his second round match against Lucas Pouille of France, yesterday.

Second RoundDominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Andrey Rublev (RUS) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5

Mischa Zverev (GER) bt Lucas Pouille (FRA x7) 2-6, 6-1, 7-6

(7/3)

First RoundMarc Cecchinato (ITA) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-3, 6-2

Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 6-3, 6-2

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 5-7, 7-6 (7/5),

6-4

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 5-7, 7-6

(7/4), 6-1

Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-4, 7-5

MONTE CARLO MASTERS

I had to fight from the first to the last point, which of course I did well:Dominic Thiem

AFP

LONDON: Kevin De Bruyne says Manchester City are ready to reign supreme in the Premier League for years to come under the astute lead-ership of Pep Guardiola.

City were confirmed as English champions on Sunday with a record-equalling five games to spare after Man-chester United crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat against strug-gling West Bromwich Albion.

Belgium midfielder De Bruyne has been one of the standout players in City’s record-breaking campaign, but he knows Guardiola was the mastermind behind their triumph.

City’s top priority in the close-season will be securing the services of former Bayern Munich and Barcelona chief Guardiola, who also led his team to League Cup glory in February, for longer than the one year remaining on his contract.

“Everyone knows he’s one of the best coaches in the world. To achieve what he has achieved in the game is special and to be part of a group of players led by him can only help us to keep developing,” De Bruyne said.

“He came in two years ago and changed the way we play. That obviously takes time to

adapt to but we’ve developed together and this season is a reward for all that work.

“What we want to do now is continue playing the way we have this season and become even stronger. He’s a big part of that and hopefully these can be his first trophies of many here at City.”

Backed by City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners, Guar-diola has spent big money to bolster his squad and more reinforcements are likely to arrive before next season.

But De Bruyne believes the current City squad is already well placed to build on this season’s achievements.

“It’s no coincidence that the type of players brought in over the last year or two have all been of a similar age and we will look to build as a group together. The feeling amongst the squad is great,” he said.

“We have enjoyed the season a lot but there is work to do if we want to achieve more in future. That can be the trickiest thing in football, to not only win but keep winning. Having such a young squad will hope-fully help us to achieve that.”

City midfielder Ilkay Gun-dogan also believes the foun-dations are in place for sus-tained success.

The Germany interna-tional, who had been back in his homeland watching former club Borussia Dortmund play Schalke when he learned he was a Premier League winner, said: “Although some of our players have won it before, it’s our first title as a group of players under the new manager.

“We have developed together and there is a lot of potential. What we all have to

do now is to work hard and believe in our ability to keep succeeding.”

29WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018 SPORT

Alonso charged with violent conduct: FA

Champs City ready to reign supreme, says De Bruyne

AP

LONDON: It was a promotion push funded in China, master-minded in Portugal, and realised in an industrial city in central England.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are back in the English Premier League after a six-year absence and the club has taken a very global route to get there.

A contentious one, too.The fact that Wolves’ best

player, Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, joined the club after swapping the bright lights of the Champions League for the gru-elling churn of England’s second-tier League Championship dem-onstrates that this is no normal promotion story.

So does the involvement of so-called “super-agent” Jorge Mendes, whose close links to Wolves’ owner - Chinese con-glomerate Fosun International - has given him vast influence at the club. Seven of Mendes’ clients are at Wolves, including Neves

- the record signing for 15.8 million pounds from Portuguese giant FC Porto - and manager Nuno Espirito Santo, the former coach of Porto.

Throw in Fosun’s spending power and it was hardly a level playing field when Wolves began its bid for promotion last August, starting out with a 1-0 home win over Middlesbrough. Eight months later, they sealed a return to the Premier League last weekend with four matches to spare in one of the most con-vincing second-tier campaigns in years.

Wolves proved to be far too good for their rivals in the Cham-pionship - and one moment, sprinkled with stardust, exem-plified that last week.

Neves scored a goal for the ages in a 2-0 win over Derby at Molineux, teeing the ball up for himself 30 meters out before delivering a looping volley into the top corner. It showed just why the 21-year-old midfielder became the youngest Champions

League captain of all time in 2015 when he skippered Porto against Maccabi Tel Aviv and also why the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea were reportedly interested in him before his surprise switch to Wolves.

Neves hopes his form earns him a place in Portugal’s squad for the World Cup in Russia, and

intends to stay with Wolves for their first season back in the Premier League since 2012.

That must be music to the ears of Wolves supporters who saw their team plunge to back-to-back relegations in 2012 and ‘13 to end up in the third tier.

After that, they had four man-agers in four years - including

Italian Walter Zenga and Paul Lambert - until the arrival in May 2017 of Santo, a former profes-sional goalkeeper and a close friend and first-ever client of Mendes.

By then, Fosun had already showed its intentions by signing winger Helder Costa from Benfica for 13 million pounds. Others to arrive were striker Diogo Jota, on loan from Atletico Madrid, and former Benfica youth player Ivan Cavaleiro from Monaco.

Mendes’ influence is clear and his links to Fosun date to 2015, when he agreed to sell a minority share of his firm to a subsidiary of the Chinese company. Fosun bought Wolves for £45m a year later, adding the club to its port-folio of investments.

Having won 29 of their 43 league games and lost only on penalties to runaway Premier League champion Manchester City in the League Cup, Wolves will take momentum - and likely some more high-profile signings - into next season.

Wolves dreaming big after securing EPL spot

AP

MOSCOW: FIFA charged World

Cup host Russia with fan racism

on Tuesday, less than two

months before the tournament

begins.

Monkey chants were aimed

at black French players, including

Paul Pogba, during France’s 3-1

friendly win over Russia in St.

Petersburg last month.

“Disciplinary proceedings

have been opened against the

Russian Football Union for this

incident,” FIFA said.

The RFU said it is cooper-

ating with the FIFA

investigation.

“A request has been made

to the Interior Ministry to identify

several persons who were

involved in these incidents,” RFU

anti-discrimination officer Alexei

Smertin was quoted as saying on

Monday by the Tass news

agency.

“If these people’s guilt is

proven, then there’s a high like-

lihood they won’t be allowed to

attend World Cup and Russian

league games.”

REUTERS

LONDON: Chelsea defender

Marcos Alonso has been charged

retrospectively with violent

conduct by the English FA for his

challenge on Southampton

striker Shane Long during Satur-

day’s Premier League match.

The 27-year-old Spaniard

appeared to stand on the back

of Long’s calf in the first half as

Chelsea came back from two

goals down to win 3-2 at St

Mary’s Stadium.

The incident was not seen

by referee Mike Dean but was

caught on video and will be

reviewed by an FA panel.

“Each panel member will

review the video footage inde-

pendently of one another to

determine whether they consider

it a sending-off offence,” the FA

said in a statement yesterday.

Alonso has until 1800 BST

today to respond and could miss

Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final

against Southampton if the

charge is upheld.

AP

MOSCOW: Animal rights groups

have condemned the use of a

bear that performed before a

Russian soccer match.

The routine happened

before a third-tier match Sat-

urday in the city of Pyatigorsk.

TV footage from the game

showed the animal being led to

the Mashuk-KMV Pyatigorsk

club’s stadium, clapping at spec-

tators. The bear, named Tima,

also held the ball before handing

it over to the referee.

The stadium’s announcer

claimed that the bear will take

part in the World Cup’s opening

ceremony in Moscow in June, but

World Cup organisers say that is

not true. The club’s manager says

it was borrowed from a circus.

The New York-based World

Animal Protection group con-

demned the stunt Monday,

saying that it’s clear from the

footage that “cruel training

methods have been used” on the

bear.

A new poster showing members of the Manchester City team celebrating is seen at the entrance to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, northwest England to celebrate Manchester City winning the Premier League title on Monday. Pep Guardiola’s side were crowned kings of English football yesterday as their arch rivals Manchester United slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat against struggling West Bromwich Albion.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves celebrates their promotion to the Premier League after their match against Birmingham City on Sunday.

Pochettino proud of Spurs successAFP

L O N D O N : Maur i c io Pochettino says he is proud that Tottenham have closed the gap on the Premier League’s top clubs as he targets Champions League qualification for a third successive season.

“In football it’s about this, it is to be clear who you are and then to try to max-imise your potential,” said Pochettino, whose side can still finish second in the table behind champions Manchester City.

“At Tottenham for us it is to be brave, to believe, to work hard, to work harder than other clubs that the people consider are at our level,” said the Argentine.

He said Spurs had made big strides in recent years and were now consistently challenging at the top end of the Premier League table.

“You can work unbe-lievably hard, you can have these ideas on football as a coach or a coaching staff,” added Pochettino, whose side have 67 points, four fewer than Jose Mourinho’s United, in second spot.

“But then you need the principal actors to deliver this idea and of course if you have better players, better quality... if you want a bigger house you need to pay what the market says.

“In football it’s the same, or you have a spon-taneous generation like there was at Barcelona that appeared with Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta, (Lionel) Messi, (Gerard) Pique, (Cesc) Fabregas, (Carles) Puyol. Or like the ‘92 gen-eration at Manchester United.

“Of course that is not about money, that is a spontaneous generation that makes your team unbelievable.”

FIFA charges Russia for fan racism

Animal rights

groups slam

bear use at

soccer match

Everyone knows he’s one of the best

coaches in the world. To achieve what he has achieved in the game is special and

to be part of a group of players led by him

can only help us to keep developing:

De Bruyne

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RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Two-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah returns to his favourite event at this week’s Qatar Cross-Country Rally (QCCR), confident of another win on home soil.

Al Attiyah, who has won five out of six QCCR events, yesterday featured at the ceremonial start of the FIA-sanctioned event that kicked off at Katara.

“Of course I have the home advantage. Everybody knows I have good experience of com-peting here,” Al Attiyah, 47, said.

“We have a good car the Toyota Hilux. The team has pre-pared well. The team needs to be clever to take the 60 points on offer,” he said.

Al Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel are in fourth spot after missing a couple of races held in the UAE, dropping back 63 points in the overall standings.

The Qatari driver, however, said he would be aiming to cut down the points gap this week.

“I wasn’t interested to feature in races in Abu Dhabi. This is my country. I prefer to start here in Qatar. This will be my second race and fourth round of the World Cup,” Al Attiyah said yesterday.

“I am sure we will have another big challenge this week.

“I am quite happy. I believe in myself. I will do my best to get the lead,” Al Attiyah said.

“It will not be easy since top names are here. But we are focusing on this race. We are ready. I have a lot of experience of this race,” Al Attiyah said.

“It feels good to be here along with a star-studded field. I want to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors for backing our event. This is an expensive sport and you need the support of sponsors. I give my thanks to sponsors Manateq and Katara,” Al Attiyah said.

“I think we need to win here and in Kazakhstan and then the gap will be closed. We had a shakedown and two days of testing 500km, and we also tested some things because we want to improve from Dakar. This is the first race for this new car. We improve the suspension

side a lot and the power side.Al Attiyah’s compatriot Adel

Abdulla, who will be competing in the FIA T2 Championship, said he was feeling confident of com-peting on home soil. Saudi Ara-bia’s Ahmed Shegawi (Toyota Land Cruiser) leads Abdulla by a mere six points.

Abdulla will be joined by Russia’s Yuliya Migunova-Khegay and Romania’s Laurentiu Claudiu Barbu in T2.

“It feels great to be among some great names. We did a great job in 2016 when we won the championship,” Abdulla said. “We lost some points due to

technical reasons this season but I hope we will do a good job this week,” Abdulla said.

“We want the maximum points here so that we lead the championship,” Abdulla said.

Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation President Abdul-rahman Al Mannai yesterday said: “We are ready for a spec-tacular week of driving and riding. Every year we are expected to do something better and different and here we are all set for another round of racing.”

He added: “We are expecting a difficult race since this is a huge challenge for the competitors.

We are happy that Nasser and Adel are here. As always they fight till the end. They are the big names competing this week. We have made changes to the Super Special Stage. We are looking forward to some great racing.”

Al Attiyah said: “It’s great that the race will start in Katara. There is sure to be a nice atmos-phere. Then we will do the Pro-logue the next day and we will try to have a good position for the first day in the desert.”

30 WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018SPORT

2018 Qatar Cross-Country Rally - leading entrants:Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive

Martin Prokop (CZE)/David Pabiska (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo

Jakub Przygonski (POL)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) MINI John Cooper Works Rally

Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI One

Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Toyota Hilux Overdrive

Erik van Loon (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Toyota Hilux Overdrive

Aron Domzala (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive

Giniel de Villiers (ZAF)/Robert Howie (ZAF) Toyota Hilux

Jose Luis Pena Campo (ESP)/Rafael Tornabell (ESP) Polaris RZR 1000 (T3)

Ahmed Shegawi (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Nissan Patrol Y61 (T2)

Adel Abdulla (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Nissan Patrol Y62 (T2)

Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Sergio Lafuente (UGY) Volkswagen Amarok

Claude Fournier (FRA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Polaris RZR 1000 (T3)

QATAR CROSS-COUNTRY RALLY

Manateq, Katara and Milaha join forces with QMMF for Qatar RallyTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: This year’s Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally would not have been possible without the support of crucial sponsors who have offered vital backing to the Qatar Motor and Motor-cycle Federation (QMMF) for the fourth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champi-onship, taking place this week.

Representatives of Manateq and Katara were present at the first of two pre-event press con-ferences being hosted by the QMMF at the Katara cultural

village yesterday. Milaha is also a vital sponsor of this year’s event.

Katara’s General Manager Dr. Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti and Manateq’s CEO Fahad Al-Kaabi joined QMMF President Abdul-rahman Al Mannai at the pre-event sponsors’ press conference.

This opportunity for members of the media to meet senior officials from the three companies preceded a second press conference for a selection of leading drivers taking part in the event.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Adel Abdulla, South

African Giniel de Villiers, Czech Martin Prokop, Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, the Saudi Arabian duo of Yasir Seaidan and Ahmed Al-Shegawi and Poland’s Jakub Prz-ygonski were in attendance at the drivers’ press conference.

Manateq is a government organisation and has formed a strategic partnership with the QMMF to support all motor sporting events and activities for the next couple of years. The company has a vision to promote economic diversification for the benefit of Qatar and a mission to create a world-class business environment that enables domestic and foreign investors

to deliver products and services to local, regional and interna-tional markets.

The company was estab-lished in 2011 under the chair-manship of H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, the Minister of Economy and Commerce, and is a vital cog in the effort of achieving economic devel-opment under the Qatar National Vision 2030. One of the policies is to look way beyond the 2022 World Cup and to establish non-oil related industries in Qatar.

Manateq’s CEO Fahad Al Kaabi said: “We are proud to sign the sponsorship agreement with the QMMF to be title sponsor of all its rallies for the coming two years. These events attract thou-sands of fans of all ages.

“Manateq always demon-strates its continuous support for Qatar National Vision 2030 and would always promote the nation’s aim to become a global sports’ destination and to host world class sporting events. We extend our best wishes to all the competitors who will be taking part in the Qatar Cross-Country Rally and the Baja this week.”

Katara is Qatar’s cultural village and hosted the cere-monial start and the pre-event press conference for the first time, with competitors lining up at the start podium in front of K a t a r a ’ s r e n o w n e d amphitheatre.

The impressive facility was built on the eastern coast between West Bay and the Pearl, north of Doha, and opened in October 2010 during the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. It features an opera house, cinema, con-ference hall, beach, a souq, a maritime museum and

numerous restaurants and up-market retail stores.

Milaha (Qatar Navigation) runs under the chairmanship of H E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani and is one of the Middle East’s largest diver-sified maritime and logistics services companies.

It began life as the Qatar National Navigation & Transport Company (QNNTC) back in 1957 and was the first shipping agent in Qatar. The company gathered impetus through various joint ventures, mergers and acquisi-tions and underwent a strategic transformation into Milaha in 2011.

A first direct container service between Qatar and India was launched in 2015, an offshore office was opened in Singapore in 2016 and warehousing facilities were set-up in Oman last year. The company now has an expanding

fleet, state-of-the-art equipment, well-trained manpower and world-class partners.

“Running an event as complex as the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally requires a considerable amount of logis-tical expertise and co-operation between many different com-panies and Government depart-ments,” said QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai.

“We are delighted to be working closely with Manateq, Katara and Milaha this year and look forward to seeing the event continue to develop as part of the portfolio of motor sporting events that are staged by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation.”

The competitive action gets underway with a 4.50km super special stage at the Losail Inter-national Circuit from 4.15pm today.

QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai and Manateq CEO Fahad Al Kaabi during the pre-event sponsors’ press conference in Doha yesterday.

Al Attiyah, Abdulla confident of picking up points on home soil

FROM LEFT: Rally drivers Martin Prokop, Vladimir Vasilyev, Jakub Przygonski, Abdulrahman Al Mannai, President of Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Fahad Al Kaabi, CEO of Manateq, Adel Abdulla and Giniel de Villiers pose for a photograph during a press conference of the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally at Katara yesterday.

QMMF President Al Mannai flags off the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally at Katara yesterday.

31WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018 SPORT

Al Rayyan and Al Sadd to renew rivalry in Qatar Cup

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Sadd are seeking to do an encore, while Al Rayyan are trying to be third time lucky when they clash in the first semi-final of Qatar Cup on April 21 at the Al Sadd Stadium.

The semi-final will pit the QNB Stars League’s first against fourth-placed team and second against third-placed side. In case of tie after regular time, matches will be decided in tie-breaker without extra time.

Much spotlight will be on Al

Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira and his Al Rayyan counterpart Michael Laudrup when they clash in the last four clash.

Ferreira’s Al Sadd will definitely look forward to continuing their superiority over Al Rayyan in recent times, while Laudrup will seek his second-ever win over Al Sadd as Al Rayyan coach.

Al Sadd emerged as victorious when they met in the Qatar Cup semifinal and Emir’s Cup final last season.

However, honours were even in the high-profile Qatar Clasico between the two sides with massive fan base in the QNB Stars League this season. While Al Rayyan won 2-1 in the first phase, Al Sadd won 2-0 in the second.

Al Sadd have been a regular presence in the Qatar Cup and also in its earlier version Heir Apparent’s Cup. They qualified this time after finishing as runners-up in the QNB Stars League.

The Wolves ended up on 49 points with 16 wins, one draw and five defeats.

On the other hand, Al Rayyan are seeking their first final in the Qatar Cup after ending up third in the QNB Stars League with 43 points

from 13 wins, four draws and five defeats.

It is against this backdrop that Al

Rayyan will embark on their Qatar Cup

campaign this time. And they will face Al Sadd for the second year in a row.

Coaches of both teams are master tacticians who are result-oriented. They are arguably the best coaches around.

Veteran Ferreira is more expe-rienced, having been in the pro-fession since 1981 and coached teams in Spain, Greece and Egypt besides his native Portugal.

The 71-year-old took over Al Sadd in 2015 and has brought them much success. He is like a father and philosopher to the players, and has succeeded in making many youngsters come through the ranks. Many players have acknowledged this fact.

There had been a remarkable improvement in their game tech-nically under the Portuguese.

Laudrup joined Al Rayyan in October, 2016. The legendary player is no stranger to coaching in Qatar, having guided erstwhile Lekhwiya to a league and cup double in the 2014-15 season.

The well-travelled Dane has managed a host of clubs around the world including stints in Russia, Spain and England. His most suc-cessful spell came with Premier League side Swansea City, lifting the league cup during t h e 2 0 1 2 - 1 3

season. It was the first major English trophy in their history.

The 53-year-old has had much more credentials as a forward having donned the jerseys of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Bar-celona. He had also represented top Italian side Juventus and Dutch stal-warts Ajax Amsterdam besides playing for the Denmark national team umpteen times.

Under, Laudrup, Al Rayyan have become a more offensive side. They scored 54 goals, the third best in the QNB Stars League after Al Duhail (86) and Al Sadd (68).and has succeeded in

many youngsters come hehe rankranks Ms. Manyany playplayersers nowledged this fact.had been a remarkable

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(86) and Al Sadd (68).between the two fanfan basebase in in thethe QQthis season. Whi2-1 in the first ph2-0 in the second

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Laudrup rues missed chances in ACLARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Rayyan which failed to make it to the next stage of the AFC Champions League (ACL) aim to put their continental failure behind them when they began their campaign in the twin upcoming home challenges - the Qatar Cup and Emir Cup.

Playing at home, coach Michael Laudrup’s side lost 4-1 to Al Ain in their last match of the group and thus did not make it to the pre-quarter-final stage of the tournament.

Al Rayyan finished third in Group D with six points from six matches, with Esteghal FC Iran topping the four-team group with 12 points from six matches in the home and away format.

Al Ain made it to the next stage as runners-up of the group at the expense of Al Rayyan by virtue of their Doha win over the Qatari club.

Al Rayyan had share points

in the away match against Al Ain but playing at home The Lions lost out to their rivals.

The Al Rayyan tactician said his team did not live up to the

potential and ‘luck’ also did not favour them.

“We did not have luck on our side,” said Laudrup.

“We did not play well today.

The team started on a good note. the first half, was the best per-formance of the AFC Champions League. The team had five to six chances but did not utilize them,”

the Dane added. Laudrup lamented that they had to pay the price of missing goal scoring opportunities in the first half.

“The second goal by Omar Abdul Rahman took the game away from us and things became more difficult, so in the end we lost 4-1 to Al Ain, despite a good performance. In the first half, this is football, when you lose so many opportunities you pay the price for it.

“The team had a chance to qualify, but we were not able to take advantage of the situation,” he said.

Laudrup was happy that his players gave their best and aims to motivate them and raise tier morale ahead of the Qatar Cup campaign.

“I could not have asked more from my players the way they played in the first half. The first half was the best performance by Al Rayyan in the six matches of the AFC Champions League. The team went through a very

critical period between the second and third goals, the period when our team was con-trolling and trying to score goals. The defeat had a negative effect on the players, and their morale has collapsed, but we have to prepare the team mentally before the remaining matches of the season.” Laudrup took home many positives from the AFC Champions League campaign.

“We are not disappointed, we played four tough games, but that was not enough, and the team we competed were the strongest,” he said of the Asian exit for the second year in a row.

Al Rayyan competed with Al Hilal - the Saudi league cham-pions, who qualified for the Asian final last year, Al Ain won the UAE league, and Istiqlal, which topped the Iranian league.

Al Rayyan open their Qatar Cup campaign with a match against Al Sadd in the four-team tournament on Saturday.

The ‘better side’ lost, says Ferreira after suffering Persepolis’ defeatTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Former AFC Champions League winners Al Sadd - who made it to the AFC Champions League pre-quarter-final stage - are happy with their performance in the AFC Champions league even after clinching the runner-up spot in their group.

Al Sadd Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira expressed his sat-isfaction with his team’s per-formance despite a 1-0 defeat to Persepolis in their last group match.

The result meant that Al Sadd lost out on the top spot in Group C, but Ferreira was adamant that his players had performed according to the expectaions.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, he said: “We don’t deserve this defeat; we were the better side. My players put up an entertaining show playing away

from home against a strong team. Despite conceding an early goal, the Al Sadd players came back strongly and threatened their (Persepolis) goal on many occa-sions. We just weren’t lucky.”

Al Sadd finished with 12 points from six matches in the four-team

group, played on a home and away basis. Group leaders Persepolis had one extra point in the kitty, while FC Nasaf of Uzbekistan finished third with ten points and Al Wasl FC of UAE failed to open their account.

He added: “It was an

entertaining match. Al Sadd were better. Anyway, it doesn’t matter if we are first or second in the group. I congratulate both teams for making it to the next round. And I am fully satisfied with what my players performance in the match.”

As for his view on the refe-reeing, Ferreira said: “There was an unfair booking for Pedro, which will rule him out of the Round of 16 first leg match. If the referee had shown a red card to Persepolis captain Seyed Jalal, things would have been very different in the last half an hour of the match. However, this is how football is. All that matters to me is the good per-formance of my players in the game.”

“I am happy with the players’ performance. I hope fortune will favour us in the upcoming matches at home and in Asia,” added the Portuguese.

Al Sadd’s Xavier Hernandez (centre) and Salem Ali Al-Hajri (left)

react as Persepolis’ Ali Alipour falls to the

ground during the AFC Champions League match at the Azadi

Stadium in Tehran on Monday.

Al Ain FC’s midfielder Rayan Yaslam (right) vies for the ball against an Al Rayyan player , during their AFC Champions League match at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday.

I have no problem with Bale: ZidaneAFP

MADRID: Zinedine Zidane insists he has no problem with Gareth Bale despite substituting him at half-time during Real Madrid´s Cham-pions League clash against Juventus last week.

Sources have told AFP that Bale was sur-prised and angry at Zidane´s decision to take him off at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Real trailing 2-0 in a match they went on to lose 3-1. The defending champions progressed 4-3 on aggregate.

Bale was then not included in the squad for Sunday´s 2-1 win over Malaga in La Liga but Real insisted the plan had always been to rest players for the match.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Raphael Varane were also spared the trip to La Rosaleda. Real host Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday and Bale will be hoping for another chance to state his case ahead of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich next week.

Against Juve, Karim Benzema made way for Bale by dropping to the bench but Zidane says neither player feels sidelined by recent selections.

“No I don´t think so, this is football,” Zidane said yesterday.

“I dont see either of them looking sad, they are training well.

“I spoke to the pair of them the other day, they would both like to score more goals but everyone is working well.

“It is always going to happen in a side like ours. There are players in good form and playing well but I have to be ready always to evaluate who is the best players for the team at any given time.”

Zidane has prefered Benzema as a partner for Ronaldo up front this season but the Frenchman has managed only one goal in his last nine games.

Guangzhou Evergrande’s Alan Douglas reacts during the AFC Champions League group stage football match against Japan’s Cerezo Osaka in Guangzhou in China’s southern Guangdong province, yesterday.

Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira

SPORT English Premier League:

AFC Bournemouth vs

Manchester United

Indian Premier League:

Rajasthan Royals vs

Kolkata Knight Riders

FOOTBALL CRICKET

LIVE ON

TUBE

27WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2018

I just want to get us back to play-ing the way we want to play. We

were so close to being one of the best teams in the world.

All-rounder Ben Stokes is desperate

to inspire England

back to the pinnacle

of Test Cricket.

Durant and Thompson sink Spurs as Wade stuns SixersAFP

LOS ANGELES: Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson handed San Antonio a painful shooting lesson as Golden State took a grip on their Western Conference play-off duel on Monday.

Durant and Thompson both weighed in with 30-point games as the Warriors powered to a 116-101 win that puts the NBA champions 2-0 up in their best-of-seven series.

The Warriors - still missing the injured talisman Stephen Curry - outclassed a physical San Antonio from three-point range in a devastating display of scoring.

Golden State made 15 of 31 attempts from three-point range, contrasting sharply with San Antonio, who could only muster four from 28 attempts.

Spurs coach Gregg Pop-ovich pinpointed his team’s failure to threaten from dis-tance as the principal factor in the loss.

“The ball has to go in the basket,” Popovich said.

“That’s the difference in the ball game. They shot 50 percent of threes; we made 14 percent, four of 28 or something. That’s tough to overcome.

“You’ve got to make shots. And it’s been like that the entire

year on the road for us, for whatever reason. And it really showed up tonight. That made it very difficult.”

San Antonio started strongly, with LaMarcus Aldridge - who finished with 34 points - driving the Spurs forward as they shaded the first period 25-23. The visitors con-tinued to rally in the second quarter and had moved into a 53-47 at half-time.

But Golden State’s relentless pressure and offensive variety inevitably began to tell in the second half.

Durant finished with 32 points, six rebounds and six assists while Thompson had 31 points with five assists.

“They took it to us first half,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

“But in the second half we matched that effort level and physicality and were able to get that upper hand.” The Warriors now head to San Antonio for game three tomorrow.

In the Eastern Conference, Dwyane Wade produced a vintage performance as the Miami Heat ended Philadel-phia’s 17-game winning streak to level their series 1-1.

Wade, 36, scored 28 points in 25 minutes as Miami stunned the 76ers’ home crowd into silence with a 113-103 victory.

It was a superb display from Wade, a three-time NBA champion who started this season with Cleveland before re-joining Miami in February before the trade deadline.

Wade’s experience proved crucial throughout, inspiring a

first-half fightback to wipe out the 76ers’ early lead before shepherding Miami to the win in a nervy finale.

Wade, who also had seven rebounds and three assists, was backed by 20 points from Goran Dragic and 18 points from James Johnson.

“I just came in with an aggressive approach,” Wade said afterwards.

“I told myself that whatever minutes I was going to play, I was going to do it aggressively.

“Once the balls start falling for you then it just goes from there.

“I love the stage. I play the game for these moments. To be able to come through for your team when they need you feels good.”

Philadelphia meanwhile were left reflecting on their first loss since early March, jolting their momentum as the series heads to Miami for game three tomorrow.

Ben Simmons led the Phil-adelphia scoring with 24 points, with Dario Saric adding 23 and Marco Belinelli 16.

Sixers coach Brett Brown later was forced to respond to a profane social media post from injured star Joel Embiid, who wrote of his frustration at being “babied” after watching the defeat from the sidelines.

“He just wants to play bas-ketball, to be with his team, to play in front of the fans,” Brown said.

“When he’s not able to do that he gets frustrated and I respect his frustration.”

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (right) shoots over Philadelphia 76ers guard Marco Belinelli during the second quarter in game two of the first round of the 2018 NBA Play-offs at Wells Fargo Center on Monday. RIGHT: Kevin Durant (right) of the Golden State Warriors drives on Pau Gasol of the San Antonio Spurs during Game 2 of Round 1 of the 2018 NBA Play-offs in Oakland, California.

Eastern Conference

In Philadelphia

Philadelphia 103 Miami 113

(Series level 1-1)

Western Conference

In Oakland, California

Golden State 116 San Antonio 101

(Golden State leads series 2-0)

NBA: PLAY-OFF RESULTS

Vikings seal new Kendricks deal worth $50m: ReportAGENCIES

NEW YORK: The Minnesota Vikings locked up standout middle linebacker Eric Kend-ricks to a multi-year extension, the team announced on Monday.

ESPN reported the deal is worth $50m over five years, with $25m guaranteed.

“I like the defense we are on now, I like the group of guys we have in the locker room,” Ken-dricks said at a news conference announcing the deal.

“I’m just excited to get another opportunity to play with them,” he said.

“A crazy front in front of me, so that’s another factor that came into it. At the end of the day, I just want to be out there playing football and winning championships.”

Kendricks is scheduled to make a base salary of $1.138m in 2018 in the final season of his four-year rookie contract.

He has recorded 314 tackles over his first three NFL seasons, including a career-best 113 in 2017.

He also has 7.5 sacks and two interceptions -- returning both for touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Anderson was reportedly close to being traded to the Miami Dolphins earlier this offseason, but the deal fell apart. He spent five seasons with the Broncos, rushing for 3,051 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Releasing him saves a total of $4.5m against the 2018 salary cap.

Devontae Booker is expected to become the starter for the Broncos unless the team drafts a running back early in the 2018 NFL Draft on April 26.

NHL: Sharks pummel Ducks to take 3-0 leadREUTERS

NEW YORK: Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi both collected one goal and one assist during a four-goal second period that led the San Jose Sharks to a 8-1 thrashing of the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.

San Jose, which benefited from a 45-save performance by goalie Martin Jones, holds a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Con-ference opening-round play-off series. The Sharks will look to sweep the series tonight on home ice.

Eric Fehr and Tomas Hertl also tallied during the second period as the Sharks blew open what was a tied game. Donskoi and Logan Couture each fin-ished with a goal and two assists, and Timo Meier, Evander Kane and Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist apiece.

Avalanche 5 Predators 3 Nathan MacKinnon scored

two goals, while Blake Comeau, Gabriel Bourque and Gabriel Landeskog added markers as Colorado roared out to a 4-0 lead en route to a win over Nashville in Denver.

The result cut Nashville’s series lead to 2-1. The Avalanche

ended a 12-game losing streak to the Predators that dated back to April 2016.

Devils 5 Lightning 2 Taylor Hall produced a goal

and two assists as New Jersey rallied for a victory over Tampa Bay in Newark, NJ The Devils will get a chance to even the series in Game 4 at home today.

Hall became the first Devil to record a three-point posts-eason game since Zach Parise on May 21, 2012, against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Maple Leafs 4 Bruins 2 Patrick Marleau’s first two

goals of the Stanley Cup play-offs helped host Toronto get back into its Eastern Conference quarterfinals series with a win over Boston.

James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews also scored goals for the Maple Leafs, who trail the best-of-seven series 2-1. Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen, who was pulled in the first period of Game 2 after giving up three goals on five shots, finished with 40 saves.

San Jose Sharks defenceman Brenden Dillon (foreground) reacts after a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during game three of the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Play-offs on Monday.

Tampa Bay Rays centre fielder Mallex Smith (down) is caught stealing second base by Chicago White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada in the ninth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday.

Rays end losing streakAP

ST. PETERSBURG: While others might dread the beginning of the work week, Mallex Smith is beginning to love Mondays.

Smith had four hits for the second time in eight days and Blake Snell struck out nine on Monday night to help the Tampa Bay Rays stop a four-game losing streak with an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers. Exactly a week earlier, Smith got four hits in Chicago against the White Sox.

This time, he had a double and three singles to raise his

batting average to.409. Perez had a second consecutive outing that was so bad it left the Rangers wondering.

Perez (1-2) allowed eight runs in his previous start last Tuesday against the Angels. He has a 13.14 ERA and opponents are batting.453 against him.

It was the third time this season a Tampa Bay starter has pitched at least six innings. Wilson Ramos had three hits for the Rays and drove in two runs.

Joey Gallo hit his sixth home run to get Texas on the board in the fourth. It was the first home run by a

left-handed hitter against Snell, who has made 47 career starts.

Nomar Mazara added a three-run shot in the eighth off reliever Chih-Wei Hu.

CJ Cron hit his second homer and Daniel Robertson connected for his first off Perez. Rays third baseman Matt Duffy and Rangers shortstop Jurickson Profar left the game early with injuries.

Profar was in concussion protocol after being upended by Smith’s slide in the second inning. Profar came down on the side of his head after making a throw.