THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA), presided over QFA’s General Assembly meeting in the presence of top QFA office-bearers, directors, and club members representatives yesterday.

Several key decisions were taken during the meeting con-ducted via video technology.

Mansoor Al Ansari, Sec-retary-General of QFA, explained the mechanism for voting on the General Assembly agenda electroni-cally. The General Assembly agenda was swiftly approved after the amendment of some of its clauses, while the pre-vious meeting minutes were also approved.

“We have successfully started the first steps to develop the Qatar Stars League further. This will result in strong deci-sions and radical changes in the coming weeks and months,” the QFA President said.

“Our strategic plan is based on six main goals that we work on annually – the most important of which are devel-oping national teams, providing an effective system of gov-ernance and technical devel-opment for our leagues, clubs and referees. We also consist-ently seek to increase partici-pation in football activities in

our communities,” the QFA President added.

“We are working on expanding the professional set-up by allowing Second Division clubs to join the Qatar Stars League roster,” he added.

The General Assembly attendees agreed to extend the term of the current Executive Office, which ends in December 2022, until the 2023 General Assembly.

“The exit of Qatari clubs from the first round of the AFC Champions League is not satis-factory, and we need to assess the situation in detail,” the QFA President said.

“We seek to raise the effi-ciency of Qatari coaches

through training courses with different football schools around the world. We hope to see Qatari coaches heading our clubs in local competitions in the future,” Sheikh Hamad said.

The QFA President applauded the induction of 200 referees who completed chal-lenging qualifying procedures to win their official badges.

The General Assembly was informed that 42 MoUs were signed last season, including 37 with national federations, 3 with continental confederations and 2 with regional federations. Several friendly tournaments and matches have been hosted to test the operational plans before hosting the 2022 FIFA

World Cup, it was revealed during the meeting.

The General Assembly was

attended by members of QFA’s Executive Committee Saud Abdul Al Aziz Al Mohannadi,

Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Buainain, Hani Talib Ballan, Ibrahim Khalil Al Muhannadi, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani and Abdul Rahman Al Qahtani, in addition to the members of the General Assembly from the clubs, directors of departments and heads of the various com-mittees of the QFA.

“This year, we are approaching the end of the period of the QFA’s strategic plan, whose basic foundations were outlined in 2011 to con-tinue to the year 2016. And this plan was subject to review and reorientation in 2018 to con-tinue until the end of the year 2022,” the QFA President said.

“With the Almighty’s blessing, we will have finished hosting the biggest football event in the world – the 2022 FIFA World Cup – on Qatari soil by the end of next year,” he added. “We feel honoured to represent the Arab world, the Middle East region and Asia in hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” he said.

“It will be the best World Cup. I am fully confident about this,” he added.

He stressed that the vision of QFA during the past decade was to become a football asso-ciation characterised by lead-ership and creativity. "This vision had inspired us to work hard and strive to achieve our collective goals,"the QFA Pres-ident added.

REUTERS – KIAWAH ISLAND

Phil Mickelson turned back the clock to secure a two-shot victory over Brooks Koepka and South African Louis Oost-huizen at the PGA Championship and become the oldest major winner in history aged 50.

Mickelson, who began the day with a one-shot lead over Koepka, put the fin-ishing touches on one of the most impressive feats in golf with a one-over-par 73 at the Ocean Course that left him at six under on the week.

When Mickelson’s approach shot safely found the green at the final hole a wild scene ensued as adoring fans raced to follow one of the game’s all-time greats up the fairway and completely enveloped him in a frenzied swarm.

Security officials eventually had to step in to create a narrow path for Mick-elson to navigate his way to forward where he two-putted from 16 feet (4.9 metres) to seal the win.

“This is just an incredible feeling because I just believed that it was pos-sible but yet everything was saying it wasn’t,” said Mickelson, who is also now the only player to have gone 30 years between his first and last PGA Tour victory.

By collecting the sixth major of his career and first since the 2013 British Open, Mickelson surpassed Julius Boros, who was 48 years old when he won the 1968 PGA Championship, as the oldest major winner.

After an eventful front nine that

p r o d u c e d twists and

turns at

seemingly every hole, it was fan-favourite Mickelson who emerged two shots clear at the turn and soaking up energy from the limited spectators in attendance at the year’s second major.

Mickelson moved three shots clear after a birdie at the par-four 10th and the final stretch was more a coronation than a dogfight as four-times major champion Koepka and 2010 British Open winner Oosthuizen ran out of holes.

Mickelson, who led by five shots with six holes to play, did see his lead cut to two shots after bogeys at the 13th and 14th compounded by a birdie at the 16th by Oosthuizen, who was playing in the penultimate pairing. With victory in

sight, an undeterred Mickelson showed great resolve and even flashed a thumbs-up to the crowd as he went on to reclaim a three-shot cushion with a birdie at the 16th before a bogey-par finish.

“Truly inspirational to see @PhilM-ickelson do it again at 50 years of age. Congrats!!!!!!!,” 15-times major champion Tiger Woods, who is home recovering from serious leg injuries suffered in a February car crash, wrote on Twitter.

Oosthuizen (73) and Koepka (74) fin-ished in a share of second place while European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington (69), Ireland’s Shane Lowry (69), Englishman Paul Casey (71) and Harry Higgs (70) were a further two shots back in fourth place.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in 2012 and was a favourite this week, closed with an even-par 72 that left him at five over par.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS (TOP 4) 1. Dustin Johnson 10.16, 2. Justin Thomas 8.61, 3. Jon Rahm 8.36, 4. Bryson DeChambeau 6.94

TUESDAY 25 MAY 2021

Asher-Smith defeats Richardson ahead of Doha Diamond LeagueI feel really good. Conditions were far from ideal for sprinting but the most important thing is to come away with a good result and a win and I was very happy to do that.

Sport | 18

AaIbr

Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith

Sport

Mickelson defies age to win PGA Championship

Phil Mickelson poses for a portrait with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Action during the semi-finals of the 2021 Amir Cup Handball Championship held at the Al Duhail Indoor

Stadium yesterday.Al Rayyan and Al Arabi advanced to the final

after recording impressive victories yesterday over their

respective opponents. Al Arabi defeated Al Wakrah

36-20 while Al Rayyan booked their place in the final with a 29-22 win over Al Gharafa.The final will take place on May 29 with the kick-off set

for 7.00pm.

QFA President chairs General Assembly meeting

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP POS PLAYER TO PAR R1 R2 R3 R4 TOT1 Phil Mickelson -6 70 69 70 73 282T2 Louis Oosthuizen -4 71 68 72 73 284T2 Brooks Koepka -4 69 71 70 74 284T4 Padraig Harrington -2 71 73 73 69 286T4 Shane Lowry -2 73 71 73 69 286T4 Harry Higgs -2 72 71 73 70 286T4 Paul Casey -2 71 71 73 71 286T8 Abraham Ancer -1 74 72 76 65 287T8 Justin Rose -1 72 75 73 67 287T8 Collin Morikawa -1 70 75 74 68 287T8 Jon Rahm -1 72 75 72 68 287T8 Will Zalatoris -1 71 74 72 70 287T8 Scottie Scheffler -1 72 74 71 70 287T8 Tony Finau -1 74 72 70 71 287T8 Rickie Fowler -1 71 76 69 71 287T8 Kevin Streelman -1 70 72 70 75 287

OLDEST MAJOR GOLF WINNERSPhil Mickelson, 2021 US PGA Championship, 50 years, 11 months, 7 days.Julius Boros, 1968 US PGA Championship, 48, 4, 18.Tom Morris Sr., 1867 British Open, 46, 3, 10.Jack Nicklaus, 1986 Masters, 46, 2, 23.Jerry Barber, 1961 US PGA Championship, 45, 3, 6.Hale Irwin, 1990 US Open, 45, 14.Lee Trevino, 1984 US PGA Championship, 44, 8, 18.Roberto De Vicenzo, 1967 British Open, 44, 3, 1.Harry Vardon, 1914 British Open, 44, 1, 10.

Amir Cup: Al Arabi, Al Rayyan storm into final

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of the Qatar Football Association, chairs the General Assembly meeting in the presence of top QFA officials via video technology yesterday.

19TUESDAY 25 MAY 2021 SPORT

Al Ahly squad arrives in Doha ahead of CAF Super Cup showdown

The players and officials of Egyptian side Al Ahly upon their arrival at the Hamad International Airport in Doha, yesterday ahead of the CAF Super Cup 2020-21. The CAF Champions League winners, Al Ahly will face Morocco's RS Berkane, the winners of the CAF Confederations Cup in the CAF Super Cup final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday. Berkane's squad will arrive today.

Lille’s Yusuf Yazici celebrates with team-mates after winning the Ligue 1 title on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid’s Koke and Renan Lodi lift the La Liga trophy as they celebrate after winning the title.

184 goals and out as City's Aguero bids farewell to EPLAP – MANCHESTER

For Sergio Aguero, it’s 184 goals and out as he bids farewell to the Premier League.

Could there be one final scoring hurrah in the Champions League? The 32-year-old Aguero scored twice in a fairytale last appearance in English soccer as Manchester City completed its title-winning campaign by thrashing Everton 5-0 on Sunday.

City’s record scorer moved onto 260 goals for the club with one game remaining - the Champions League final against Chelsea in Porto on Saturday.

The Argentina striker is likely to start on the bench for the match but City manager Pep Guardiola didn’t rule out Aguero scripting one last amazing chapter to cap his 10 years with the team.

Asked if Aguero could play against Chelsea, Guardiola said: “Of course. We have five substitutions. He has a special feeling, he has something special.

“Of course he will be ready if we need him to help us win the Champions League.

The post-match ceremony, which saw City’s players and staff lift the Premier League trophy for the fifth time in 10 seasons, included a special tribute to Aguero in recognition of a City career that reached its heights at the end of his first year there. That was when he scored the stoppage-time winner against Queens Park Rangers in the final game of the season to clinch the title for City.

Aguero’s final season at City has been blighted by injuries but he showed against Everton how lethal he still is, scoring twice after coming off the bench with 25 minutes remaining.

“Before the game I felt so strange, the sensation is not good. I prefer to think about the good moments,” Aguero said.

“I’m a striker, my target is to score goals, so I’m so happy because it’s my last game and to score two goals is fantastic for me.

“When I came here, the first title for me was the most important, for the club and for me. Then Man City started to win more titles so I’m so happy because it’s not easy to be 10 years at one club. For me it’s an honor.”

Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden also scored as City showed no sign of letting up ahead of the Champions League final.

Everton, which had gone into the game with a chance of qualifying for Europe, was overwhelmed on an emotional afternoon that saw fans return to the Etihad.

The Merseysiders, for whom Gylfi Sig-urdsson missed a penalty, slumped to a 10th-place finish in the standings.

It was a first chance for City’s fans to salute the champions and acknowledge their European exploits, and they certainly made their presence felt throughout the afternoon. Before the game, big numbers spilled into the streets as City’s team coaches made what is normally a straight-forward journey from the nearby training complex to the stadium.

Everton formed a guard of honor to greet City players as they came onto the field and players from both sides then did likewise for Aguero.

Aguero ended his Premier League career at No. 4 in the competition’s all-time scoring list, behind Alan Shearer (260), Wayne Rooney (208) and Andy Cole (187).

Juventus thrash Bologna to seal CL spotREUTERS – TURIN

Juventus climbed into the top four on the final day of the Serie A season to secure Champions League qualifi-cation after the Turin club beat Bologna 4-1 and other results went their way.

Andrea Pirlo’s Juve side moved one point above Napoli into fourth place as Gennaro Gattuso's team could only muster a 1-1 draw with mid-table Hellas Verona.

Serie A top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was surprisingly left on the bench for the crucial game, but Juve made a fast start in his absence as Federico Chiesa put them in front after five minutes.

Alvaro Morata and Adrien Rabiot struck before halftime to put the result beyond doubt and Morata doubled his tally early in the second half before Riccardo Orsolini pulled one back late on.

The Juve players huddled around a pitchside monitor at the end of the game to watch the final minutes of Napoli’s clash with Verona and roared with delight when the final whistle blew in Naples to guar-antee Pirlo’s team a top-four spot.

It has been a disappointing campaign for the Turin club, who won nine consecutive league titles before this season, but they ended strongly by beating Atalanta in Wednes-day’s Coppa Italia final before making short work of a 12th-placed Bologna side with little left to play for.

Lille clinch Ligue 1 titleREUTERS – PARIS

Lille clinched their first Ligue 1 title since 2011 as they beat Angers 2-1 away on Sunday, becoming only the second club since 2013 to break Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance.

A goal by Jonathan David and a Burak Yilmaz penalty put Christophe Galtier’s side on 83 points, one ahead of defending champions PSG, who had won seven of the eight previous titles and snatched a 2-0 win at Stade Brest.

“It was a long, tough day, we were under a lot of pressure and beating PSG on the last day is outstanding,” said Galtier, who could be leaving the club after four seasons in charge following a change of president during the season.

Monaco secured third place with 78 points and a spot in the Champions League despite a 0-0 draw at RC Lens as Olympique Lyonnais slumped to a 3-2 home defeat by Nice to finish fourth on 76 and will enter the Europa League.

Olympique de Marseille drew 1-1 at Metz after the teams traded pen-alties deep into stoppage time as they ended up fifth on 59 points to also secure a Europa League place.

Stade Rennes, sixth on 58 thanks to a 2-0 home victory against Nimes, qualified for the Europa Conference League.

Nantes finished 18th after a 2-1 home defeat by Montpellier and go into a playoff against Ligue 2 side Toulouse. Nimes and Dijon were already relegated.

Troyes and Clermont have been promoted to the top flight.

All eyes were on Lille’s game at Angers as a failure to win by the north-erners would have handed the capital side another League title provided they beat Brest.

But there was little suspense as Lille were 2-0 up at halftime thanks to David’s cool finish and Yilmaz’s spot

kick. Angelo Fulgini reduced the arrears in stoppage time for Angers.

PSG struggled against Brest and were lucky to reach the interval with a 1-0 advantage after Angel Di Maria’s curled corner kick was deflected into his own net by Romain Faivre after Neymar had missed a penalty.

Kylian Mbappe added another in the second half at the end of a sharp counter attack to finish as the season’s top Ligue 1 scorer with 27 goals.

“We lost the title. I’m only a player so it’s not up to me to say what we should do apart from focusing on the future,” said Mbappe.

Lille’s compact and effi-cient style was rewarded at the end of a nail-biting season as the Turkish trio of Zeki

Celik, Yusuf Yazici and Yilmaz worked wonders.

Galtier’s side, who were five points behind PSG after 10 games, took the lead at the top for good with seven matches left when Jonathan David earned them a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes.

They gave PSG a lifeline when they drew 0-0 at St Etienne last weekend, leaving the defending champions one point behind them.

But the consistency of Lille, who were never outside the top three after matchday five, eventually bore fruit.

Sergio Aguero with the

Premier League trophy.

Captain Ramos left out of Spain squad for Euro 2020

REUTERS – MADRID

Spain captain Sergio Ramos has been left out of the squad for Euro 2020, coach Luis Enrique said yesterday.

The Real Madrid centre-back won the last of his 180 caps in March but has endured an injury-plagued season that has limited him to just 15 La Liga appearances and only five games in all competitions in 2021 - the last of which came in the club’s 2-0 Champions League semi-final second leg defeat by Chelsea on May 5. Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte was included after FIFA approved his switch from France to Spain earlier this month.SPAIN SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), David de Gea (Manchester United), Robert Sanchez (Brighton) Defenders: Pau Torres (Villarreal), Eric Garcia (Man City), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Diego Llorente (Leeds), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Jose Luis Gaya (Valencia), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid) Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Rodrigo (Man City), Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool), Pedri (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Fabian Ruiz (Napoli) Forwards: Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Ferran Torres (Man City), Adam Traore (Wolverhampton), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Pablo Sarabia (PSG)

LIGUE 1 ROLL OF HONOURWho will play in which European competition next season after

France's Ligue 1 campaign ended on Sunday:

CHAMPIONS: Lille - Champions League group stage

RUNNERS-UP: PSG - Champions League group stage

THIRD: AS Monaco - Champions League third preliminary round

(or group stage if Manchester United win Europa League)

FOURTH: Olympique Lyonnais - Europa League group stage

FIFTH: Olympique de Marseille - Europa League group stage

SIXTH: Stade Rennes - Europa Conference League

Paris Saint-Germain’s

Kylian Mbappe with the Top Goalscorer

of the Season Award.

Glick said masks will not be required for fans and there will be no proof of vaccination required to attend games. He also said there will be no temperature checks.

18 TUESDAY 25 MAY 2021SPORT

Asher-Smith beats Richardson ahead of Doha Diamond LeagueREUTERS — GATESHEAD

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith overcame appalling home conditions to destroy a strong field, notably new American golden girl Sha’Carri Rich-ardson, to win the 100 metres in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season on Sunday.

The 200m world champion got a fabulous start and held her form into a fierce headwind of 3.1 metres to win in 11.35 seconds. Fast-finishing Rich-ardson, who ran a startling 10.72 last month, clocked 11.44 for second, with Marie-Josee Ta Lou (11.48) just pipping double Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for third.

The meeting took place in cold, wet and windy weather in north-eastern England, although the few thousand fans allowed to attend stayed in their places until the end and were rewarded by Asher-Smith’s morale-boosting run.

“I feel really good,” she said.

“Conditions were far from ideal for sprinting but the most important thing is to come away with a good result and a win and I was very happy to do that.”

Richardson, 21, in her first Diamond League outing, said: “I’m definitely proud that I was able to execute and now I know what I need to go back and work on and what I need to get better at.

“This won’t be the last time that I’m going to line up against these ladies and I want to let the world know and let the ladies know that I’m here to compete just as well as they’ve done for many years.”

American sprint dominance was re-established in the men’s 200m as Kenny Bednarek was an impressive winner, opening a big lead off the bend and increasing it as he powered home well clear. He clocked 20.33, with Canadian duo Arron Brown (20.79) and Andre de Grasse (20.85) splashing home in his wake.

NORMAL WEATHER Jakob Ingebrigtsen

delivered another middle dis-tance master class to win the 1,500m in an impressive 3:36.27.

The Norwegian’s tactical awareness seems to be improving with every outing. He

hit the front for the last lap and eased clear, almost impercep-tibly, to draw the speed out of Australian duo Oliver Hoare and Stewart McSweyn who fin-ished second and third.

“This is normal weather back in the west coast of Norway - I’m used to these c o n d i t i o n s , ” s a i d Ingebrigtsen.

“It’s really tricky to run fast in these conditions and it turned out to be a tactical race.” Scot-land’s Laura Muir has also spent plenty of time in the rain and she obliterated the field in the women’s 1,500m to come home in 4:03.73.

Spaniard Mohamed Katir

also produced a gutsy last lap to win the 5,000m in a personal best 13:08.52, with Kenyan Nicholas Kimeli (13:10.11) breathing down his neck until the final metres Poland’s Kamila Licwinko won the women’s high jump after clearing 1.91 metres to end world champion Mariya Lasitskene’s run of 14 event wins as the Russian fin-ished fourth.

Fellow Pole Marcin Kru-kowski donned a woolly hat with built-in pony tails and he might keep it on in the future after producing a series of 80 metre-plus throws, including a best of 82.61 two win the men’s javelin.

Italian Filippo Randazzo took the win in the men’s long jump with a monster leap of 8.11m in the shootout.

“For me, it’s a dream,” he said.

“I watched the Diamond League when I was young and today I’ve won. I have no words.”

American Sam Kendricks emerged victorious from the latest of his pole vault battles with Mondo Duplantis - helped by the world record holder, who held an umbrella above the world champion as he prepared his run-up.

Kendricks won with 5.74 metres to the 5.55m of Sweden’s Duplantis, who thought he had cleared 5.80 with his last jump of the day, only to see the bar wobble then fall.

The next round of Diamond League action is in Doha on Friday.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith in action on her way to winning the women’s 100m final.

I feel really good. Conditions were far from ideal for sprinting but the most important thing is to come away with a good result and a win and I was very happy to do that.

Dina Asher-Smith

Brooks stars as Grizzlies stun top-seeded Jazz to open series

REUTERS — NEW YORK

Dillon Brooks scored 31 points and Ja Morant added 26 to lead the No. 8 seed Memphis Griz-zlies to a huge 112-109 road upset win over the No. 1 Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Sunday night in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The young Grizzlies fell behind by 14 points in the first half, rallied to jump ahead by 17 points early in the fourth quarter and then held on to win on the top-seeded team’s home court just two days after earning a spot in the playoffs.

While Utah rested, the Griz-zlies had to beat San Antonio and Golden State in the NBA’s new play-in tournament to qualify.

The Jazz were short-handed after All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell (ankle sprain) was ruled out of the game in the afternoon.

Suns 99, Lakers 90Devin Booker recorded 34

points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead Phoenix to a home victory over Los Angeles in the opening game of their Western Conference first-round series.

Deandre Ayton added 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting and collected 16 rebounds for the

second-seeded Suns, who were playing in their first postseason game since 2010.

76ers 125, Wizards 118Tobias Harris set a play-off

career high with 37 points to help host and top-seeded Phil-adelphia hold off eighth-seeded Washington in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Harris scored the most

points by a 76er in the first half of a playoff game (28) since Allen Iverson’s 30-point, first-half performance in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hawks 107, Knicks 105Trae Young drove the lane

for the game-winning floater with 0.9 seconds left as Atlanta mounted a late rally and edged host New York in Game 1 of an

Eastern Conference quarter-final series at Madison Square Garden. Young scored 13 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks, who led by as many as 11 in the first quarter.

He also had 10 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18 points, while Lou Williams scored 13 points off the bench and John Collins fin-ished with 12 points.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks (24) gets past Utah Jazz guard Joe Ingles (2) and goes to the basket during the second quarter at Vivint Arena.

All-rounder Afridi ruled out of PSL due to back injuryAP — ISLAMABAD

Star all-rounder Shahid Afridi (pictured) has been ruled out of the Pakistan Super League due to a back injury, the Pakistan Cricket Board said yesterday.

Pakistan’s premier domestic Twenty20 league will resume in Abu Dhabi next month after it was postponed in March with 20 games to go when several players and support staff among the six franchises tested positive for COVID-19.

Afridi represented Multan Sultans in four of its five league games at Karachi, scoring just three runs in two innings and picking

up two wickets from 15 overs. Afridi experienced pain in his lower back during training in Karachi. He was examined by a doctor, w h o

prescribed a period of complete rest.

“Unfortunately, I have been advised to rest and can no longer accompany my team Multan Sultans,” Afridi said in a statement.

“I am disappointed that I would be sitting out of the tournament, but my best wishes, support and prayers are with the team to take the trophy.”

Multan has won just one of its five league games and is fifth in the points table.

The PCB is yet to announce the schedule for the remaining 20 PSL games, but the tour-nament is expected to be com-pleted before the Pakistan team departs for England on June 23.

Shah expelled from PSL for violating COVID-19 protocols

Fast bowler Naseem Shah has been expelled from next month’s Pakistan Super League in Abu Dhabi after breaching the tournament’s COVID-19 protocols.

The 18-year-old Shah arrived at a team hotel in Lahore yesterday with an out-dated negative test for COVID-19 and the Pakistan Cricket Board said the right-arm fast bowler “is now out of the competition.”

The PCB’s protocols require all the players traveling to Abu Dhabi tomorrow to present a negative test taken not more than 48 hours prior to arrival at

the team hotel. Shah presented a report on Monday from a test that was conducted on May 18.

“The PCB doesn’t take any pride in releasing a young fast bowler from its marquee event,

but if we will ignore this breach, then we will potentially put at risk the entire event,” said PCB’s director commercial Babar Hamid in a statement.

Hamid, who also heads the PSL, said that Shah’s expulsion from the event “will also send out a loud and clear message to all involved in the remaining matches that the PCB will not compromise on any violations and will expel the player or player support personnel irre-spective of his stature and standing in the game if they are found to be flouting the pre-scribed protocols or regulations.”

Shah was supposed to be the key player for Quetta Glad-iators in the PSL.

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advised to rest longer accompaMultan Sultans,”a statement.

“I am disappwould be sittintournament, bwishes, supporare with the teatrophy.”

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Naseem Shah

Giro d’Italia : Bernal wins shortened stage 16 to extend overall leadREUTERS — MILAN

Colombian Egan Bernal won stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia yesterday to strengthen his grip on the overall leader’s Maglia Rosa, as bad weather condi-tions forced the race from Sacile to Cortina d’Ampezzo to be shortened from 212km to 155km.

Cold, wet and snowy con-ditions led to the decision to shorten the stage as two high-altitude climbs at the Fedaia and Pordoi passes were cut from the race.

But the Ineos Grenadiers rider battled against the ele-ments to finish 27 seconds ahead of Frenchman Romain

Bardet and Italy’s Damiano Caruso.

Bernal now has a lead of two minutes and 24 seconds over second-placed Caruso in the general classification rankings.

British Maglia Rosa hopeful Simon Yates lost two minutes and 36 seconds on Bernal in the Dolomites, finishing 11th in the stage to fall from second to fifth overall, four minutes and 20 seconds behind the Colombian.

Bernal now has a lead of two minutes and 24 seconds over second-placed Caruso in the general classification rankings. Britain’s Hugh Carthy and Russia’s Aleksander Vlasov are third and fourth.

Egan Arley Bernal Gomez of Colombia celebrates after winning stage 16.

Panthers to open season at full capacity, says GlickAP — NEW YORK

Carolina Panthers Pres-ident Tom Glick yesterday announced that Bank of America Stadium will open at full capacity for all events this year, including NFL and college games.

The Panthers had extremely limited seating last year due to COVID-19.

Glick said masks will not be required for fans and there will be no proof of vaccination required to attend games. He also said there will be no temper-ature checks.

The stadium in Char-lotte, North Carolina, will continue to have enhanced cleaning, which includes the use of disin-fecting robots.

The Panthers also announced they plan to host training camp at Wofford College in Spar-tanburg, South Carolina after a one-hiatus due to the coronavirus.

17TUESDAY 25 MAY 2021SportTeen Gauff sets sights on Paris after success on Italian clay

REUTERS – PARIS

American Coco Gauff is brimming with confidence ahead of the French Open, buoyed by strong results in Italy on clay in the past two weeks that have helped the 17-year-old climb 10 places to a career-best 25th in the rankings.

Gauff has already made the fourth rounds of the Australian Open and the Wimbledon in her nascent career and this week she will be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career when the clay court major starts on Sunday.

This month the American reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final in Rome and followed it up with her maiden title on clay the week after in Parma.

“I feel really good about going into the French,” Gauff told reporters after her second career WTA title. “I hope I can continue to build and keep getting better. I feel like I’m hitting good, moving good, my body feels good, my mentality and emotionally I feel good.

So I think it will be a good tournament for me.”

At the French Open, Gauff will be the youngest seed at a major in 15 years since Nicole Vaidisova was seeded at the Wimbledon Championships in 2006.

The American also won the doubles title with Caty McNally on Parma’s clay courts to become the youngest player to complete the sweep in nearly 17 years since M a r i a Sharapova won both titles in Birmingham in 2004.

Tsitsipas heads to Paris with ‘best’ Slam preparationREUTERS – PARIS

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is brimming with confidence and will be heading to Roland Garros this week with his best Grand Slam preparation after picking up his seventh ATP Tour title in Lyon on Sunday.

Basking in the glow of his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title last month at Monte-Carlo, the 22-year-old added the Lyon crown for his second title in 2021 and leads the 2021 season with most wins at 33.

“I’ve been feeling my game well; I’ve been using my patterns really well,” Tsitsipas told reporters. “I’ve been pressing a lot with my serve. Just consistent on court, consistent with my power and the way that I attack and way I (take) risks.

“I think it would be considered my best (preparation) so far pre-Grand Slam and now all the attention is on next week. I love playing in Paris. I find it mesmerising.”

Patrick Mouratoglou, the long-time coach of Serena Wil-liams, who is often seen in Tsit-sipas’ player box at tournaments, is pleased with the consistency displayed by the Greek.

“He’s developing really well,” Mouratoglou said of Tsitsipas, who is coached by his father Apostolos.

“He’s always been able to beat the best players,” the Frenchman, who often works in an advisory role with Tsitsipas, told Reuters recently.

“He beat Rafa (Nadal) on clay several years ago already. He beat Roger at a Grand Slam, beat Novak at a Masters 1000 on hardcourt. But he was a bit up and down, and there were several reasons for that.

“And I think he’s getting more and more solid. He’s losing less and less. He’s slowly but surely, imposing himself as a top guy who

doesn’t lose to guys who are ranked under. He’s gained a lot of consistency in everything he is doing in his game.”

Tsitsipas reached the semi-finals on the red clay at Roland Garros last year before falling to Novak Djokovic in five sets and Mouratoglou believes the two-time Australian Open semi-finalist was getting closer to a maiden major title.

“Rafa and Novak are still at the top of the game. But I think their margin

is getting smaller and smaller. Several young guys can

beat them now. The margin is getting thinner,” Mouratoglou added.

“Every year I’m asked about Roland Garros and I answer that the only thing we don’t know

about Roland Garros is who

Rafa is going to beat in the final.

“This year I can say Rafa is the favourite but some guys can beat him.”

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