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07MONDAY 1 APRIL 2019

She played well and I was super tired. The conditions were different to the night matches I played. For sure I could play better but she

went for it in the tie-break.

Karolina Pliskova after losing the Miami Open final to Ashleigh Barty.

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Barty clinches Miami Open titleAFP MIAMI

Ashleigh Barty’s transformation is complete after the Australian defeated Czech fifth seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 on Saturday to win the biggest singles title of her career at the WTA Miami Open.

The 22-year-old Aussie quit tennis five years ago after finding the mental grind of the tour too much to bear, turning to profes-sional cricket in a bid to find sporting happiness.

Barty, however, knew she had the tennis skills to compete at the very top and after returning in February 2016, has taken her career to an elite level, culminating in her first-ever WTA Premier Mandatory title to follow on from the US Open doubles crown she won last September.

Barty, a junior Wimbledon winner at age 15, will rise from 11th to number nine in the world rankings and become the first Australian woman since Sam Stosur in June 2013 to crack the top 10.

“It feels like it’s a long time ago now since I took the break and since I came back,” said Barty, who also reached the doubles semi-finals at the Hard Rock Stadium with Victoria Azarenka.

“It’s been a few years now, but I certainly feel like I’m a very different person. I feel like I’m a more complete player, I’m a better player.

“I was an average cricketer and I’m becoming a better tennis

player. I feel like when I play my best, I’m good enough to match it with the very best in the world.”

Barty hit 15 aces and 41 winners compared to 22 from an out-of-sorts Pliskova.

“I had to keep it physical, make as many balls as possible and keep my running shoes on,” Barty said.

Barty’s victory means that for the first time ever there have been 14 different winners in 14 WTA events so far this season.

Pliskova, who will rise to

fourth in the rankings despite a disappointing final, badly struggled with her serve and movement, off the pace mentally and physically after reaching the quarter-finals or better in her five prior tournaments this year.

“She played well and I was super tired,” said the Czech.

“The conditions were dif-ferent to the night matches I played. For sure I could play better but she went for it in the tie-break.

“The first set was key for the match and one I should have

won.It was tough to fight in the second.”

The 27-year-old Czech , who beat Barty 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16 at last year’s US Open, came into the final with 31 aces, most in the women’s draw, but she won only 65% of points on her first serve compared to 86% from Barty.

“She served great,” said Pliskova who defeated Simona Halep in the semi-finals and denied the Romanian the chance to reclaim the world number one ranking.

When the Australian double faulted at 1-1 to hand Pliskova an early break, it wasn’t the start Barty sought and more errors in the following game allowed Pliskova to extend her lead.

Barty then began to settle down and crisply struck a forehand winner to break Pliskova for the first time.

The Aussie started superbly in the tie-breaker, moving 5-1 ahead before Pliskova hit long to seal the set for Barty, who broke early in the second set to signal it would be her day.

“It’s been an amazing fort-night of tennis and it’s pretty cool to have played a good match on such a big stage.

“It was always going to be a match of small opportunities so getting the first set was massive.

“There were zero expecta-tions coming into this tour-nament, I just saw it as an oppor-tunity to get better every day but I have grabbed my chance with both hands.

“I am proud of myself,” she said.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia celebrates with the trophy after defeating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic in the Miami Open final on Saturday.

I was an average cricketer and I’m becoming a better tennis player. I feel like when I play my best, I’m good enough to match it with the very best in the world: Ashleigh Barty

Lisicki eyes unlikely Wimbledon comebackAFP BERLIN

The 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki has said she is hoping to make an unlikely return to the All England Club this summer after a dramatic decline in recent years.

Lisicki, 29, has battled a string of injuries and plum-meted to 298th in the world rankings since losing the Wim-bledon final in straight sets to Marion Bartoli.

She was knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon in 2017, and failed to qualify in 2018.

Yet in an interview with Bild yesterday, the German tennis star said that she is determined to return to the biggest stage.

“I have unfinished business at Wimbledon, and it would be great if I can be there this summer,” said Lisicki.

She will return to WTA tour action this week, having been granted a wild card for the Charleston Open.

“There are plenty of good players who are older than 30 and are celebrating the biggest successes of their careers,” she said.

Lisicki claimed that she had now returned to full fitness and had never thought about calling time on her career.

“Giving up is not an option for me,” she said.

Gallacher wins Indian OpenREUTERS NEW DELHI

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher sunk three birdies in his final four holes to complete a remarkable one-stroke victory at the Indian Open yesterday for his fourth European Tour title.

The 44-year-old overcame a ter-rible quadruple-bogey eight on the seventh hole to finish one-under-par 71 on a windy day at the DLF Golf and Country Club for a tournament total of nine-under 279.

Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura needed to hole his approach shot to the 18th green to force a playoff but ended up short and finished a stroke behind on eight-under after a final round 73.

Spaniard Jorge Campillo was a shot further back in third with over-night joint leader Julian Suri of the

United States finishing tied for the fourth place alongside South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout at six-under.

The win ended a five-year wait for a European Tour title for the 2014 Ryder Cup player, who had shared the lead after the opening round, and has his son Jack caddying for him this season.

Gallacher also had bogeys on the third and the tricky 14th but a total

of seven birdies more than compen-sated for the dropped shots on a day when low scoring was difficult.

Playing just his second event of the season after undergoing surgery on an abdominal hernia, Suri had shown good form at the DLF Golf and Country Club, which is known for its tough layout.

The 27-year-old, who is of Indian descent, led by three strokes after 12 holes on Sunday but his hard work was undone due to a quadruple-bogey on the par-four 14th.

England’s Callum Shinkwin, who had a two-stroke advantage alongside Suri at the start of the final round, carded 78 to finish tied for sixth.

Finn Kalle Samooja scored the third hole-in-one in the tournament when he aced the 12th with a pitching wedge.

Stephen Gallacher of Scotland poses with his trophy.

The 44-year-old overcame a terrible quadruple-bogey eight on the seventh hole to finish one-under-par 71 on a windy day at the DLF Golf and Country Club for a tournament total of nine-under 279.

Bjerregaard stuns Woods at Match PlayREUTERS AUSTIN

Dane Lucas Bjerregaard pulled off a stunning victory over idol Tiger Woods in the quarter-finals of the WGC-Dell Tech-nologies Match Play in Texas on Saturday.

Woods had beaten Rory McIlroy 2&1 in their first match play meeting in the last 16 but Bjerregaard completed a 1-up victory over the former world number one when the American missed a short putt on the 18th hole.

“Just to get the chance to play against him today is pretty special,” Bjerregaard told PGA Tour Radio.

“I’m pretty proud to say I beat Tiger Woods. Not many people can say that.”

The 50th seed will play American Matt Kuchar, who defeated Sergio Garcia 2 up, in

the semi-final. Bjerregaard, 27, eagled the 16th from 29 feet to draw level with Woods and after both made birdies on the 17th, the Dane won the match at the last to complete a stunning day after he beat Swede Henrik Stenson 3&2.

Bjerregaard missed a

17-foot birdie putt at the last only to have Woods lip out for par from four feet to decide the match. Woods admitted he misread the putt.

“We read it inside left, left centre, and the putt went left,” he said.

“I went back and hit it again

and it did the same thing. Just one of those weird spots.” Bjer-regaard’s birdie at the first gave him the early lead but three consecutive birdies from the third put Woods 2 up.

“Tiger had a great stretch on the front nine where he stiffed a few and made a couple of good putts,” the Dane said.

“So it looked a bit uphill there but I made some great putts coming in.”

Italy’s Francesco Molinari will meet American Kevin Kisner in the other semi-final at Austin Country Club.

Molinari, the highest remaining seed at seventh, beat American Kevin Na 6&5 and Kisner saw off South African Louis Oosthuizen 2&1. Na had knocked out second seed Justin Rose in the morning.

Woods, the 13th seed, never trailed in the showcase opening match between the two former

world number ones, building a three-hole advantage over McIlroy by the 10th hole.

McIlroy rallied, however, cutting the lead to 1-up before the Northern Irishman lost the 16th hole and Woods closed out the match at the 17th.

“I played pretty consistent the entire day,” said Woods.

“I felt like I didn’t give him any holes and Rory didn’t make any putts today. I think he made two birdies today.”

Lucas Bjerregaard (left) and Tiger Woods on the 16th green during their quarter-final round on Saturday.

Quarter-finals Kevin Kisner (USA x48) bt LouisOosthuizen (RSA x19) 2&1 Francesco Molinari (ITA x7) by Kevin Na(USA x57) 6&5 Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN x50) bt TigerWoods (USA x13) 1-up Matt Kuchar (USA x23) bt Sergio Garcia(ESP x26) 2-up

WGC-MATCH PLAY RESULTS

In-bee seizes LPGA Kia Classic leadAFP LOS ANGELES

South Korean Park In-bee drained a long birdie putt at the 18th hole on Saturday to grab a one-shot lead over Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in the LPGA Kia Classic.

Park, a seven-time major champion seeking to end a year-long title drought, carded her second straight five-under par 67 at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.

Her 14-under par total of 202 put her one in front of Hataoka, who had eight birdies without a bogey in her 64 for 203.

Park, seeking a 20th LPGA title in this last event before the first major of the year, the ANA Inspi-ration, said the key to her round was “a combination of consistency and the putting.”

“I holed some good putts, especially on the back nine,” she said. “Just the feel on the greens is really good this week and I really want to keep that going.”

Hataoka, 20, is trying to add to the two titles she won last season.

South Korea’s Hur Mi-jung made the most of them, firing a tournament record 62 that included seven of her 10 birdies on the back nine.

“I got goosebumps,” she said. “So excited playing the back

nine. (I) had great shots and great putts and made seven birdies in a row.”

Her sparkling effort left her tied with world number one Park Sung-Hyun (71) on 205 -- a stroke behind Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura.

Thidapa, tied for the overnight lead with Park Sung-hyun, carded a 70 while the South Korean posted a 71.

Atletico crush Alaves to retain faint title hopesREUTERS BARCELONA

Atletico Madrid thrashed Alaves 4-0 on Saturday to keep alive their faint hopes of winning the La Liga title as they stayed 10 points behind leaders Barcelona in second place in the standings.

Diego Simeone’s side dom-inated at Mendizorroza and tri-umphed with goals from Saul Niguez, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata and Thomas Partey.

Costa’s strike was the pick of the bunch, a curling effort in off the far post from outside the area, until Thomas struck a sublime shot into the top corner from distance.

Hosts Alaves, fifth in the table, spurned the chance to climb into the Champions League qualifying positions by overtaking fourth-placed Getafe, who earlier lost 2-0 to Leganes.

“Today we were excellent, tactically from the start we were superb, we were on our game,” Saul said. “We have to fight, that’s all there is to it.

“We have to keep winning

games, we have to try and keep the league title dream alive. All we can do is keep fighting to try and win the league, we have to do that for the fans.” After Champions League elim-ination by Juventus and defeat by Athletic Bilbao last weekend, Atletico were back to their ruthless best.

Saul drilled home the opener at the near post in the fifth minute after Antoine Griezmann found him on the left of the box.

Costa soon added the second with an unstoppable effort, giving Atletico a com-fortable lead. The former Chelsea forward was taken off with an injury but Morata, on loan from the same London club, extended Atletico’s lead in the 59th minute after being sent through on goal by sub-stitute Thomas Lemar.

The French winger impressed and set up a chance for compatriot Griezmann, who lobbed Fernando Pacheco but saw the ball strike the post.

The goalkeeper could do nothing about Thomas’s missile.

08 MONDAY 1 APRIL 2019SPORT

Rockets down Kings; Thunder and Spurs qualify for play-offsAFP LOS ANGELES

James Harden’s 50-point triple-double powered the Houston Rockets to a 119-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday that sent San Antonio and Oklahoma City into the NBA play-offs.

Harden, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 50 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out 10 assists as the playoff-bound Rockets fended off a Kings squad that was offi-cially eliminated from post-season contention with the defeat.

Harden had his 42nd career triple-double -- reaching double digits in three key statistical cat-egories -- and his NBA record fifth with 50 or more points.

“I just tried to be aggressive, whether it was making assists or into the basket,” said James.

It was his third 50-point game in the last six and his seven three-pointers saw him become the ninth player in league history to reach 2,000 career three-pointers.

The Rockets needed every bit of that output to put away a Kings team fighting for their playoff lives.

Harden, who scored 31 points in the first half, got 12 in the final six minutes as the Rockets came back from a 93-91 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

A 7-2 spurt from Houston

saw the Rockets take a 98-95 lead, and it was nip-and-tuck until Harden scored all 10 points in a 10-2 Rockets run that gave them a 111-102 lead with 3:13 remaining.

From there the Kings wouldn’t get the deficit below seven points, as the Rockets turned the defensive screws -- limiting Sacramento to 15 points in the final frame.

James said the defensive effort was crucial -- and some-thing the Rockets must cultivate for a deep play-off run.

“Obviously, this is the NBA and teams are going to make shots,” he said.

“But when it’s time to get stops, we do a really good job of that. That’s something we can hang our hat on.”

Point guard Chris Paul added 22 points and Clint Capela chipped in 24 points with 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who

improved to 49-28 and edged into third place in the Western Conference when the Portland Trail Blazers lost 99-90 to the Detroit Pistons to fall to 48-27.

“This was a much-needed

win,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said.

“You know we’re trying to win the rest of these games for the rest of the year. Just try to build championship habits and

just try to win every game.” With Sacramento’s elimi-

nation all eight Western Con-ference playoff teams were con-firmed, with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder -- both idle Saturday -- the last two to clinch.

In the East, the battle rages for the last three play-off berths.

The sixth-placed Pistons helped their cause by ending Portland’s six-game winning streak. Reggie Jackson scored 28 points and Andre Drummond added 22 with 19 rebounds as the Pistons overcame the absence of Blake Griffin, who was a late scratch with a sore left knee.

The Pistons remained half a game ahead of the seventh placed Brooklyn Nets, who beat the playoff-bound Boston Celtics 110-96.

D’Angelo Russell scored 20 of his 29 points in the third quarter as the Nets broke open a close game and ended a two-game skid.

The Miami Heat kept their tenuous hold on the eighth and final Eastern berth with a 100-92 victory over the Knicks in New York. Dion Waiters led Miami with a season-high 28 points, while Goran Dragic added 10 points and 10 assists.

“We understand, obviously, every game it means something in the standings of the playoff push,” Heat veteran Dwyane Wade said before the game.

Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles against the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter of their NBA game at Toyota Center on Saturday.

Lopez holds off Yates brothers to win Tour of CataloniaAFP BARCELONA

Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez of the Astana team withstood a late attack by Briton Adam Yates aided by his brother Simon to claim victory in the Tour of Catalonia yesterday.

Lopez seized control of the Tour on Thursday’s summit-finish and the 25-year-old adds this to the Tour of Colombia he won in impressive fashion in February.

“I’m tired but very happy,” the climb specialist said under a photo of himself on Instagram smiling broadly on his team bus.

The day’s racing was marred by a heavy crash of around 20 riders. The great French hope Romain Bardet appeared to break a collarbone, Simon Geschke and Gari Bravo were all taken to hospital for treatment, while Marc Soler also pulled out.

Lopez went into the seventh and final stage with a slender 14sec overnight lead over Mitchelton-Scott rider Yates, who along with his brother the Vuelta a Espana winner Simon launched a late but eventually doomed attack that gave the Briton a brief glimmer of hope.

Eventually a reduced group of around 10 contenders all fin-ished about 55sec behind the solo winner Bora-Hansgrohe rider Davide Formolo of Italy.

Yates’ runner-up spot follows fast on the heels of his gut-wrenching second place, by a single second to Primo Roglic, at the Tirreno Adriatico two weeks ago.

After Chris Froome fell early in the Tour Sky nominated the 22-year-old Colombian Egan Bernal as leader and the all rounder came third overall.

Top Colombia climber Nairo Quintana of Movistar fin-ished fourth, Canadian all rounder Michael Woods fin-ished sixth whilst defending champion Alejandro Valverde ended 10th.

The stage, a hilly 143km ride that started and ended in Bar-celona, culminating in seven laps of the coastal city and its steep climb to Montjuic.

Gvozdyk retains WBC belt as Ngumbu hurtAFP WASHINGTON

Unbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk retained his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title on Saturday with a fifth-round technical knockout of Doudou Ngumbu, who was halted by a right leg injury.

Ukraine’s Gvozdyk, making his first defense of a title he won with a devastating knockout of Adonis Stevenson in December, improved to 17-0 with 14 knockouts.

Although Gvozdyk had some trouble with Ngumbu’s awkward style, he connected with a hard right in the first round and a left hook in the fourth.

The champion was leading on the cards when the pro-ceedings at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia came to an anti-climactic ending as Con-golese-born French fighter Ngumbu suddenly pulled back in the fifth round and limped into a corner.

The bout was paused for a few minutes before referee Eric Dali finally called a halt at 58 seconds of the fifth round.

A distraught Ngumbu, his first world title challenge in ruins, wept in his corner after falling to 38-9 with 14 knockouts.

Islanders edge Sabres, clinch play-off spotREUTERS NEW YORK

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice on Saturday night for the New York Islanders, who capped one of the most remarkable stories of the NHL regular season by clinching a play-off berth with a 5-1 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres.

Jordan Eberle, Michael Dal Colle and Ryan Pulock also scored for the Islanders (46-26-7), who will return to the play-offs for the first time since 2016 thanks to a raucous victory in a building they thought they’d left in the spring of 2015.

The Islanders moved from Nassau Coliseum to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center following the 2014-15 season but began splitting their home schedule between the two arenas this season as they wait for con-struction to begin on a proposed hockey-only building at the Nassau/Queens border.

The Islanders are 12-6-2 at the Coliseum and will close out their home schedule there today. They will be hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs and former teammate John Tavares in the home finale. All first-round home games will be played at

the Coliseum. Should New York advance, it will head back to Barclays Center for home games in subsequent rounds.

Hurricanes 5, Flyers 2 Carolina scored twice on power plays in a victory in Raleigh, N.C., which eliminated Philadelphia from playoff contention.

Teuvo Teravainen, Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin and Brock McGinn scored for the Hurricanes, who strengthened their hold on the top Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The Hurricanes scored two goals in a 21-second span in the first period to wipe out a one-goal deficit and later added two empty-net goals.

Blue Jackets 5, Predators 2 Cam Atkinson scored twice to tie the franchise record for goals in a season, and Artemi Panarin collected four assists to set a team record for points in a cam-paign as visiting Columbus beat Nashville to remain in a playoff spot.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for the Blue Jackets (44-30-4, 92 points), who have won four straight and are one point back of the Hurricanes for the first wild-card spot.

Columbus is tied with the

Montreal Canadiens, but holds the second wild-card spot with the tiebreaker.

Nashville’s two-game winning streak was snapped on a night the Predators (44-29-6, 94 points) failed to take advantage of an opportunity to claim the top spot in the Central Division.

Canadiens 3, Jets 1Joel Armia, Jeff Petry and

Jordan Weal all scored as visiting Montreal held on to claim a win over Winnipeg that was crucial to their playoff hopes.

Montreal goalie Carey Price stopped 23 shots in a victory that keeps his team in the thick of the playoff race, along with fellow wild-card candidates Carolina and Columbus.

Montreal (42-29-8, 92 points) is on a 5-1-1 roll, though the Canadiens have one fewer game remaining than the Hur-ricanes and Blue Jackets.

Senators 4, Maple Leafs 2 Anthony Duclair scored twice, including an empty-netter, as Ottawa defeated visiting Toronto, which missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth.

Craig Anderson made 42 saves for the last-place Senators, who improved to 6-7-1 under interim coach Marc Crawford.

The Edmonton Oilers celebrate a third period goal by forward Sam Gagner (89) against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place during the NHL game on Saturday.

Obviously, this is the NBA and teams are going to make shots. when it’s time to get stops, we do a really good job of that. That’s something we can hang our hat on: James Harden

Atletico Madrid’s Thomas celebrates scoring their fourth goal with team-mates against Deportivo Alaves in the Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain on Saturday.

09MONDAY 1 APRIL 2019 SPORT

Al Khelaifi wins third straight QTCC title

IAAF, Athletics Kenya reach agreement on Diamond LeagueIAAF MONACO

IAAF President Sebastian Coe and CEO Jon Ridgeon have reassured Athletics Kenya that changes to the IAAF Diamond League format next year will not disadvantage African athletes.

Coe, Ridgeon and Athletics Kenya president Lt. General (rtd) Jackson Tuwei met during the World Cross Country Champion-ships in Aarhus in order to avoid any misunderstanding between the two organisations over the new Diamond League format approved by the IAAF Council in Doha earlier this month.

Athletics Kenya was particu-larly concerned by the exclusion of any event longer than 3000m from the Diamond League pro-gramme next year and the reduction in the number of meetings from 14 to 13.

Tuwei sought, and received, assurance that Kenyan and other East African athletes, who feature prominently in 5000m races, would not lose competition opportunities due to this process.

He also sought to understand the reasons why the new format was being introduced.

Coe confirmed that the absence of the 5000m from the official Diamond League pro-gramme would not preclude indi-vidual Diamond League meetings from running the event outside of the 90-minute international broadcast window and that several meetings had already shown interest in hosting the 5000m.

Ridgeon explained that the IAAF’s market research showed that producing a series that con-sistently featured the best athletes competing against each other was a key factor in improving the appeal of the Diamond League for broadcasters and fans.

At the same time the 5000m runners, coaches and agents con-sulted during the process indi-cated that they were unlikely to run six races over that distance during the Diamond League series (last year no leading athlete ran more than two 5000m races during the regular Diamond League season). The 3000m dis-tance was selected because it was more likely to attract the best dis-tance talent more regularly.

As a consequence, distance runners will have the option of running up to seven 3000m races (including the Diamond League Final), plus additional 5000m races, across the season.

“We believe that ultimately these changes will be beneficial not only to Kenyan and East African distance runners, but to our leading athletes around the globe, because it will result in a stronger, higher-profile, com-mercially-successful annual showcase series for our sport,” Coe said.

“And it’s important to remember that the IAAF will be creating other continental com-petition opportunities outside the Diamond League as we

redesign the global calendar.” This he affirmed will increase opportunities for the athletes to compete.

Ridgeon also emphasised the IAAF’s intention to review the new format at the end of the 2020 season and make any adjust-ments to the programme that were required.

Tuwei responded: “I am sat-isfied that our athletes will receive sufficient opportunities to compete internationally in 2020 and I am reassured by the IAAF’s undertaking that the impact of these decisions will be considered again at the end of each season and Member Feder-ations consulted about any changes that might be needed.”

Athletes compete in the men’s 5,000m event during the IAAF Athletics Diamond League meeting at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland in this file photo.

Dane Axelsen overcomes Srikanth in India Open final

AFP NEW DELHI

Danish giant Viktor Axelsen outplayed home favourite Kidambi Srikanth in straight games to clinch the India Open badminton title yesterday.

Axelsen pulled off his shirt in jubilant celebration as he beat Srikanth 21-7, 22-20 in 36 minutes at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

In the women’s singles, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon served past He Bingjiao of China 21-15, 21-14 to claim her third Indian title of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.

But it was the men’s singles that drew maximum interest with Srikanth being the lone Indian hope in the $350,000 event after women’s star PV Sindhu lost in the semi-finals.

Axelsen, who was top seed by default after the last-minute pullout of defending champion Shi Yuqi of China, started with

a bang after taking the first game.

But Srikanth, who played his first final of a BWF world tour event in 17 months, came back in the second game to match the Dane with some good returns as he led 20-18.

Axelsen saved the two game points and went on to win his second India Open title after his 2017 triumph.

Srikanth, a former world number one and 2015 champion, said, “I haven’t played anything differently and so I lost. I should have tried something different.”

Earlier the fourth-seeded Intanon registered her first win against He, ranked seventh in the world, in five women’s singles meetings.

The Thai player bounced back after losing the first game to upstage He who had taken down last-year’s champion Zhang Beiwen in the quarter-finals.

Dane Viktor Axelsen in action during the men’s

singles final of the Yonex-Sunrise

India Open 2019 in New Delhi.

Axelsen outplayed home favourite

Kidambi Srikanth in the final yesterday.

Top three drivers of the Qatar Touring Car Championship, Abdulla Al Khelaifi, Ghanim Al Maadheed and Mohamad Al Khaiat pose for a photograph with Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation President Abdulrahman Al Mannai, Vice President and General Manager of Losail Circuit Sports Club, Khalid Al Remaihi and other officials at the Losail International Circuit, on Saturday.

Qatar Touring Car Championship winner

Abdulla Al Khelaifi celebrates after the

final round of the series on Saturday.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar’s Abdulla Al Khelaifi clinched his third straight Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC) title in style winning again both races in the final round of the series at the Losail International Circuit on Saturday.

Al Khelaifi had already secured the title in the penultimate round, so with no pressure, his goal was to win both races to have a perfect score and he finished the season with 160 points in the final standings.

However, the fight was on for the second position, with Mohamad Al Khaiat, Ghanim Al Maadheed, Hamad Al Sulaiti and Hamad Al Asam for the runner-up in the championship going into the final round.

In the first race, Al Khelaifi took the lead from the beginning and crossed the checkered flag followed by Al Maadheed and Al Asam.

“It was a really good round for me. I had some small issues but I managed to solve them really quickly, and I won the first race with that technical issue,” Al Khelaifi said after the first race.

With the reverse grid in the second race, Hamad Al Asam took the lead during the first four laps but in the middle of the race, Al Khelaifi took again the first position and another victory in the champi-onship. Al Asam finished second and Al Maadheed third in the podium of the second race.

“Second race was smooth, I tried not to push in the beginning to stay out of trouble and leave the guys having their fight for the second place. Once the fight in front was almost over and it was safe for me to pass them I overtook them one by one until I managed the lead until the end of the race,” Al Khelaifi said.

With the two podiums Al Maadeed, secured the second place in the standings with 89 points and the third place was won by Al Khaiat with 77 points.

A smiling Al Khelaifi said ‘This season was a very competitive and winning all the races doesn’t mean that it was easy for me. I had a really good fight with many drivers but the issue with them was the lack of consistency so I encourage them to

participate throughout all the season to get better results and try to be more reliable with the cars as this is the key for winning championships’

For the runner up of this season, Al Maadheed, this was his first season and was very happy with his result.

“This is my first season in the championship. It was a great and I had a good competition with all the driver. I hope it will be better next year for me, we can be more pre-pared for the next season but overall this season was fantastic. I want to thank Mansour Al Hajri for his support during all the season, he was with me all the time, giving me advice and working with the car and without him, I wouldn’t be here today,” he said.

For Al Khaiat it was also the first time to take part in the champi-onship and finished third overall.

“Out of 10 races we missed 3, once disqualified and 2 mechanical issues. Even so facing these issues we won 3rd place overall in the 2018-2019 QTCC Season. It was a great experience. Be ready for the next season, the game has just started,” Al Khaiat said at the end of the competition.

The fourth place in the standings was for Al Asam, who ended with 68 points

“I was not very lucky this season but I am really happy to finish the last round with two podiums. I had a lot of problems with the car, it is a new project, I risked a lot and hopefully now the car is perfect for the next season. I f inished fourth in the

championship and this is amazing as I was back to sixth before this last round,” Al Asam said.

Trophies were presented by, Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Fed-eration President Abdulrahman Al Mannai and Vice President and General Manager of Losail Circuit Sports Club, Khalid Al Remaihi.

Al Khelaifi taking the lead during Saturday’s Race 2.

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10 MONDAY 1 APRIL 2019SPORT

Australian bowlers deny report of Warner riftREUTERS MELBOURNE

Australia’s four front-line bowlers, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, have denied a media report they were prepared to boycott last year’s fourth test against South Africa if David Warner (pictured) was picked for the match.

Vice captain Warner was suspended for the match in the immediate aftermath of a ball-tampering scandal in the third test in Cape Town, which resulted in a 12-month ban for captain Steve Smith.

Local media, however, reported on Thursday that the bowlers had considered boy-cotting the match if Warner, who was identified as the insti-gator of the plot for Cameron Bancroft to scuff up the ball with sandpaper, was selected.

“We are extremely disap-pointed in an article (that) claims we intended to withdraw from the fourth test during last year’s tour of South Africa had David Warner been free to play,” the four bowlers said in a Cricket Australia statement yesterday.

“This claim is disappointing on a number of fronts but most

importantly because it is false.“As a team we are all

focused on moving forward together and helping the Aus-tralian men’s team prepare for the World Cup and the Ashes.”

The statement is the latest episode in the long-running scandal, which forced Cricket Australia into a major overhaul of its organisational culture and administration after a damning review labelled it as ‘arrogant’ which had produced a ‘win-at-all-costs’ mentality in the team.

That hyper-aggressive mindset has disappeared under current test captain Tim Paine and his one-day counterpart

Aaron Finch, but the board are keen on ushering Warner and Smith - their bans ended on Thursday - back into the side as quickly as possible.

CA have attempted to smooth the pair’s return to the national side and published a curated video on their website earlier this month in which they reunited with the team in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the one-day series against Pakistan.

While pundits have ques-tioned whether the playing group are accepting of their return, many have said they would be welcomed back if

selected for the May 30-July 14 World Cup in England and Wales and the Ashes series that follows.

Both Warner and Smith are currently playing in the Indian P r e m i e r L e a g u e Twenty20 competition, while Finch’s side finish their five-match one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE.

They already hold a 4-0 advantage and have now won their last seven one-day internationals in succession.

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IPL: Warner, Bairstow combine in record stand as Sunrisers thrash RCB IANS HYDERABAD

Jonny Bairstow and David Warner struck whirlwind centuries as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) cantered to a 118-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash yesterday.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to field first backfired as Sunrisers -- sans regular captain Kane Williamson -- were on fifth gear from ball one thanks to Bairstow (114; 56b; 12x4; 7x6) and Warner (100 off 55 balls not out; 5x4; 5x6) as the duo recorded the highest IPL-opening wicket part-nership of 185 runs.

Previously, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn held the record with a 184-run partnership against Gujarat Lions in the 2017 edition of the tournament.

In reply to the SRH’s 231, the RCB gave a poor account of them-selves, being bowled out for 113 in 19.5 overs, with the likes of Kohli (3) and AB De Villiers (1) failing to make a mark.

Colin de Grandhomme was their top-scorer with a 32-ball 37.

In yesterday’s second match, Chennai Super Kings registered their third consecutive victory as they beat Rajasthan Royals by 8 runs.

Chasing a total of 176, Rajasthan had a substandard beginning as they gave away three wickets swiftly on just 14 runs.

Captain MS Dhoni played key role in the victory with an unbeaten knock of 75 runs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 231 for 2 in 20 overs (J Bairstow 114, D Warner 100 not out; Y Chahal 1/44); Royal Challengers Bangalore 113 (Colin de Grandhomme 37; Mohammed Nabi 4/11; Sandeep Sharma 3/19)

Chennai Super Kings 175/5 (MS Dhoni: 75*, Suresh Raina: 36, Jofra Archer: 2-17) beat Rajasthan Royals 167/8 (Ben Stokes: 46, Rahul Tripathi: 39, Deepak Chahar: 2-19) by 8 runs.

BRIEF SCORES

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates on the podium after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, yesterday.

Hamilton wins after Leclerc heartbreakAFP SAKHIR

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Ferrari new boy Charles Leclerc’s wretched misfortune yesterday when he claimed a dramatic victory for Mercedes in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The five-time champion, who looked to be heading for second behind the 21-year-old Mon-egasque, gained the lead with 10 laps remaining when Formula One’s new star, who claimed a record-breaking pole position for Ferrari on Saturday, was hit by engine problems.

As he slowed, Hamilton hunted him down to claim his first win of the season, his third at the Bahrain International Circuit and the 74th of his career ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who won the season-opening Aus-tralian Grand Prix.

Leclerc came home third as the race finished behind a Safety Car, following the spectacular late exit of both Renaults at Turn Two, ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

“It happens,” said a calm Leclerc afterwards.

“It’s part of motor sport. It’s a very hard one to take, but I am sure we will come back stronger.”

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth in the second Ferrari, after a late spin had damaged his front wing during a duel with Hamilton, ahead of British rookie Lando Norris who scored his first points for McLaren in sixth.

Kimi Raikkonen, 39, was seventh for Alfa Romeo ahead of Pierre Gasly of Red Bull, Thailand rookie Alex Albon of Toro Rosso, who also had his first points finish, and Mexican Sergio Perez of Racing Line.

It was Leclerc’s first podium finish in F1 and he also scored a point for fastest lap.

His finish made him the first Monegasque driver to take a podium since Louis Chiron in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix.

As the lights went out, it was Vettel who gained most traction to launch his car into the lead as they raced to Turn One, Bottas following the German to secure second.

On lap six, Leclerc swept past

Vettel into Turn One to regain the initiative, resisting a counter-attack in a thrilling duel that proved new team boss Mattia Binotto was as good as his word -- the Ferraris raced wheel to wheel.

A lap later Leclerc and Ham-ilton also came in, the English-man’s move acting as an “under-cut” to Vettel, who stayed out on older tyres. It was costly for the German as Hamilton breezed by before he re-joined following after lap 14.

Finally, as Romain Grosjean

retired his Haas, the order settled with Leclerc in control ahead of Hamilton, struggling with his rear tyres, Vettel and Bottas.

Hamilton, on softs, struggled to stay in touch with the Ferraris, both on medium compound tyres. By lap 27, Leclerc led Vettel by 8.3 seconds and Hamilton was a further three seconds adrift, knowing he had to hang on.

He pitted again after 35 laps, re-joining fourth on medium. Vettel pitted a lap later and, on resumption, was soon locked in battle with Hamilton.

The Briton’s first attempt to pass was resisted, but a on lap 38 he swept round the outside of Turn Four to pass. Vettel, his front wing damaged, spun, recovered and limped back to the pits.

By then, Leclerc had pitted again and led Hamilton by 10 seconds with Bottas third and Ver-stappen fourth, ahead of Hulkenberg. Vettel soon re-joined and passed his compatriot’s Renault for fifth.

With 11 laps remaining, it appeared that Leclerc was heading to his maiden victory before his car lost power.

BAHRAIN GP Hamilton takes his first win of season in Bahrain.

Leclerc third for Ferrari after leading the race.

Loss of engine power denies Monegasque a first win of his career.

Ferrari’s Vettel finished fifth in the race.

Australia complete Pakistan whitewash despite Haris ton AFP DUBAI

World champions Australia completed a 5-0 whitewash over Pakistan with a clinical 20-run win in the fifth and final one-day international despite a brilliant hundred from Haris Sohail in Dubai yesterday.

Sohail scored a 129-ball 130 for his second one-day inter-national hundred but failed to take Pakistan past Australia’s imposing 327-7, finishing at 307-7 in 50 overs.

Australia’s total was built around Usman Khawaja’s 98 and a fiery 33-ball 70 by Glenn Maxwell coupled with Shaun Marsh’s 61 and skipper Aaron Finch’s 53 in a dominating batting show.

The series win gives Aus-tralia an eighth straight one-day victory following their 3-2 series win in India after losing the first two matches.

It gives them a sixth suc-cessive series win over Pakistan since losing in 2002 (in Aus-tralia) and fourth whitewash over their opponents -- 1998 (3-0 in Pakistan), 2010 (5-0 in Australia) and in 2014 (3-0 in United Arab Emirates).

Australia’s resurgence -- after winning just three of their 18 matches between January 2018 to the first two matches in India earlier this month -- could not have been more per-fectly timed as they defend their World Cup title in England in two months.

Sohail, who hit 11 bound-aries and three sixes, had set up the chase during a second wicket stand of 108 with Shan

Masood (50 off 54 balls) and another 102 with Umar Akmal (44-ball 43) before Australia hit back with two wickets in the space of one run.

Umar holed out to off-spinner Nathan Lyon and a run later Sohail’s innings was ended by Kane Richardson.

Stand-in skipper, depu-tising for injured Shoaib Malik (captain for the series), hit a 340-ball 50 not out with six boundaries and a six but it proved futile.

Pakistan had lost Abid Ali -- who made a debut hundred in the last game -- for nought in the first over.

Earlier, Khawaja and Maxwell made merry against Pakistan’s bowling attack in the last ODI.

It was Maxwell’s ten fours and three sixes that helped Aus-tralia to 107 runs in the last ten

overs. He was finally bowled by paceman Junaid Khan who finished with three wickets for 63.

Australia won the first two

matches in Sharjah by identical margins of eight wickets before winning the third in Abu Dhabi by 80 runs and fourth in Dubai by six runs.

AustraliaUsman Khawaja c Yasir b Shinwari ................98A. Finch b Shinwari ............................................53S. Marsh c Ali b Junaid ....................................... 61G. Maxwell b Junaid ...........................................70M. Stoinis b Shinwari ...........................................4P. Handscomb lbw b Shinwari ..........................8A. Carey lbw b Junaid ..........................................0J. Behrendorff not out .........................................6K. Richardson not out ......................................... 5Extras: (b 1, lb 6, w 15) ................................22Total: (for seven wkts; 50 overs) ........327Did not bat: N. Lyon, A. ZampaFall of wickets: 1-134 (Finch), 2-214 (Khawa-ja), 3-274 (Marsh), 4-299 (Stoinis), 5-309 (Maxwell), 6-314 (Carey), 7-318 (Handscomb)Bowling: Abbas 10-0-71-0 (4w), Junaid 9-0-73-3(7w), Wasim 10-1-51-0 (1w), Shinwari 10-0-49-4 (1w), Yasir 10-0-63-0 (2w), Sohail 1-0-13-0

PakistanShan Masood lbw b Zampa .............................50Abid Ali c Carey b Behrendorff .........................0Haris Sohail c Lyon b Richardson ..................130Mohammad Rizwan c Lyon b Maxwell ......... 12Umar Akmal c Behrendorff b Lyon ................43Saad Ali c Marsh b Behrendorff ........................4Imad Wasim not out .........................................50Yasir Shah c Finch b Behrendorff ....................11Usman Shinwari not out .....................................0Extras: (w 7) ....................................................... 7Total: (for seven wkts; 50 overs) ....... 307Did not bat: Junaid Khan, Mohammad AbbasFall of wickets: 1-1 (Ali), 2-109 (Masood), 3-136 (Rizwan), 4-238 (Umar), 5-239 (Sohail), 6-255 (Saad), 7-303 (Yasir Shah, 48.6 ov)Bowling: Behrendorff 8-0-63-3 (1w), Richard-son 10-0-61-1 (2w), Lyon 10-0-50-1, Maxwell 10-0-45-1, Zampa 9-0-68-1 (4w), Stoinis 3-0-20-0

SCOREBOARD

Australian cricketers celebrate the dismissal of Pakistan’s Umar Akmal during the fifth ODI in Dubai.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s

Jonny Bairstow (left) and his team-mate

David Warner run between the wickets during the IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, yesterday.

ARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Esperance Sportive de Tunis (EST) aim to put behind the African Super Cup loss to Raja Casablanca as they take on Club Athletique Bizertin (CAB) in the Tunisian Super Cup today at the Al Duhail Stadium.

EST, who lost 2-1 to their Moroccan rivals in the Friday’s clash, will be hoping to pick the winners trophy and assistant coach Majdi Traore was upbeat on the eve of the clash.

Traore while praising the efforts made by Doha in hosting the match said: “The match between the two Tunisian clubs will give fans in Qatar an idea and the level of Tunisian football. We are looking forward to winning the Tunisian Super Cup after we lost in the African Super Cup.

“The loss was not easy, psychologically. We have asked the players to forget what happened in the last match and to work hard to get the desired results…..the title.”

The Tunisian Super Cup is an annual fixture between the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions and the winners of the Tunisian Cup. Since its return in 1994, the one-off clash has been organised only three times in 1994, 1995 and 2001. Esperance, won the title in 2001 at the expense of Club Sportif de Hammam-Lif

Esperance. Traore hinted that they will have to make some forced changes.

“It’s important that we make some changes to the squad and we try to take these changes into consideration,” he said.

EST player Sameh Al Darbali while talking to jour-nalists said: “We hope to show a good performance, which hopefully will translates into a victory and that will help us to get a new title which will add to Esperance’s coffers.” Mon-tassar Louhichi coach of Club

Athletique Bizertin said they had good preparations for the match and are ready for the challenge.

“We have an important opportunity to win the title and we are looking forward to bagging the title,” said Louhichii.

“We want to win the title for our fans. I have great con-fidence in my players abilities and we have played several preparatory games in the city of Bizerte before we come to Doha.” Louhichi said his team had many close and keenly

fought matches in the past and today’s match will not be any different.

“Our goal was to win and we had great confrontations against Esperance in the Tunisian League over the years and we are ready for the challenge.”

He also praised Doha for organising the match and said the impressive infrastructure, world class stadiums gives the visitors a glimpse of what is in store in Qatar in the years to come as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

AFP LIVERPOOL

Liverpool moved back top of the Premier League in dramatic fashion as Toby Alderweireld’s last minute own goal beat Tottenham 2-1 at Anfield yesterday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side move two points clear of Manchester City once more at the top of the table, but City have a game in hand.

Liverpool’s hopes of ending a 29-year wait to win the title looked set to be dealt a massive blow as Lucas Moura’s strike 20 minutes from time cancelled out Roberto Firmino’s early opener.

However, Hugo Lloris could only palm Mohamed Salah’s header into the path of the unfor-tunate Alderweireld to condemn Tottenham to a fourth defeat in five Premier League games.

Spurs are now in serious danger of crashing out of the top four as they remain level on points with Manchester United and could be usurped by north London rivals Arsenal into third should the Gunners beat New-castle on Monday.

And the visitors will be left to regret a huge missed chance

by Moussa Sissoko five minutes from time when Liverpool were wobbling. The hosts had got off to the perfect start when Firmino headed home the opener on 16 minutes from a delightful Andy Robertson cross.

That was Robertson’s 12th assist of the season from left-back and the Scotland captain was involved again in a flowing move moments later as he forged down the left and neat touches

from Salah, and Georginio Wijnaldum teed up Sadio Mane to curl just wide.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was serving the last of a two-game touchline ban and without the guiding hand of the Argentine, they lacked inspi-ration in the final third.

However, Liverpool were often causing their own problems by gifting away possession inside their own half and Dele Alli

pounced on a slack pass by his England teammate Jordan Hend-erson to power a volley that dipped just over the bar with Spurs’ best effort of the first-half.

Virgil van Dijk had a great chance to double the hosts’ lead at the start of the second period, but the Dutch defender headed over after a well-worked short corner between Trent Alex-ander-Arnold and James Milner.

However, Liverpool were thankful again to Robertson at the other end as he made a vital block to prevent Christian Eriksen firing home the rebound after Alisson Becker was forced into his first save of the afternoon by Harry Kane.

When these two sides met at Anfield last season, Salah scored one his many goal of the season candidates amidst an incredible 44-goal campaign. The Egyptian still has a respectable 20 this season, but only one of those has come in the last 11 games and he passed up a great chance to give Liverpool some badly needing breathing space when his shot was blocked by Alderweireld with Mane better placed and begging for a pass.

That missed opportunity looked costly as Tottenham

struck back. Kane’s quick thinking and excellent long-range pass picked out Kieran Trippier, who fed Eriksen and his scuffed shot fell perfectly for Moura to turn home.

11MONDAY 1 APRIL 2019 SPORT

The players of Esperance Sportive de Tunis train in Doha on the eve of their Tunisian Super Cup clash against Club Athletique Bizertin which will be held at Al Duhail Stadium today. The match kicks off at 7.00pm

Umm Salal script fighting win over Qatar SCTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Umm Salal yesterday relied on a first-half strike to beat Qatar SC 1-0 in a Round 20 clash at Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium.

Mahmoud Kamal Almawas scored the only goal of the match in the 21st minute. It was the sixth win of the season for Umm Salal.

After a few feisty exchanges, Umm Sala grabbed the lead after Qatar SC were guilty of poor marking in the 21st minute.

Hossam Kamal Elsaid, Umm Salal’s lone U-23 player in the match, found Mahmoud Kamal Almawas with a high cross from the right wing. Almawas, strangely enough was unmarked despite the presence of four Qatar SC players inside the box.

Almawas calmly headed the ball into the net, forcing a neat deflection to the right of Qatar SC goalkeeper Jassim Adel Al-Hail who produced a full-length dive but could not block the header by Almawas.

In the 72nd minute, Almawas charged his way into the Qatar SC box but his powerful shot from close range was palmed away keeper Al-Hail.

Elsewhere, Al Sailiyah beat Al Sha-haniya 1-0 after a fighting show at Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium.

Tiberkanine Rachid, the Moroccan football giant, scored the only goal of the match in the first half. It was Al Saili-yah’s 11th win of the season.

Al Khor registered a crucial 4-0 victory over Al Kharaitiyat in Week 20 of the QNB Stars League at the Al Khor Stadium yesterday.

Brazilian striker Tiago Bezerra (58th,

70th and 82nd minutes) and Helal Mohammed (61st minute) were on target for Al Khor. Al Khor moved to 18 points

with their fourth victory, while Al Kharaitiyat stayed on 12, with two matches remaining and putting

themselves very much in the fear of relegation.

The match really came to life in the second half following a barren first session, where Al Kharaitiyat played second fiddle to their rivals.

Al Khor took the field after the break as a transformed lot. The rout started with the red card to Al Kharaitiyat’s Ilyas Hassani in the 50th minute for fouling Wagner.

Al Khor took the lead eight minutes later through Tiago’s free-kick when Brazilian midfielder Wagner Ferreira was fouled just outside the penalty box.

Helal doubled it with a long-range shot that went in after hitting the right upright.

Tiago capped off his outstanding form with two more goals as Al Khor made a big leap in their bid to stay away from the danger zone.

English Premier LeagueEnglish Premier League results yesterday: Cardiff 1 (Camarasa 46) Chelsea 2 (Azpilicueta 84, Loftus-Cheek 90) Liverpool 2 (Firmino 16, Alderweireld 90-og) Tottenham 1 (Lucas 70) Played on Saturday Brighton 0 Southampton 1 (Hojbjerg 53) Burnley 2 (Coady 2-og, McNeil 77) Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Milivojevic 76-pen, van Aanholt 88) Huddersfield 0 Fulham 0 Man City 2 (B Silva 5, Aguero 27) Leicester 2 (Morgan 11, Vardy 82) Bournemouth 0 Manchester United 2 (Rashford 28, Martial 72) Watford 1 (Doucoure 90) West Ham 0 Everton 2 (Zouma 5, Bernard 33) Playing today (1900GMT) Arsenal vs Newcastle

Forrest strikes as Celtic sink RangersAFP GLASGOW

James Forrest capped an explosive Old Firm derby by scoring the late winner with both teams down to 10 men to give Celtic a 2-1 victory over Rangers.

Rangers lost Alfredo Morelos, who was sent off, yet again, after 31 minutes.

Celtic’s Dedyrck Boyata limped off after 75 minutes with the scores level and the home team having made all three substitutions.

The game ended in a brawl as Celtic moved 13 points clear.

Neil Lennon’s side had taken a first half lead through Odsonne Edouard before Ryan Kent equalised for 10-man Rangers after the interval at Parkhead.

Morelos’s dismissal for an off-the-ball clash with Celtic’s Scott Brown made it five red cards for the volatile Rangers striker, although the first of those was rescinded on appeal earlier this season.

Celtic grabbed a late winner when a poor back-pass from Rangers defender James Tav-ernier unhinged the visitors. Celtic exploited the opportunity as Scotland winger Forrest stroked the ball home.

Liverpool back on top as late own goal secures 2-1 victory

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates scoring their first goal against Tottenham Hotspur in Anfield, Liverpool, Britain, yesterday.

ES Tunis, CAB ready for Super Cup clash

Action from Qatar Stars League match

between Al Khor and Al Kharaitiyat at Al Khor Stadium

yesterday.

Montassar Louhichi, coach of Club Athletique Bizertin

Majdi Traore, assistant coach of Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

Ma Long and Wang Manyu bag singles titles in Doha

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Chinese table tennis star Ma Long

yesterday capped his dream run with a

powerful exhibition of attacking shots in six

games to lift the Qatar Open title.

Ma Long, coming off an injury lay-off, yesterday beat

compatriot Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed, to wrap up a 9-11,

8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 victory on the final day of the event at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena.

It was Ma Long’s fourth career title in Qatar where Wang Liqin, Xu Xin (both from China) Croatia’s Zoran Primorac have won three trophies in Doha.

Ma Long, winner in Doha in 2013, 2016 and 2017, has now four victories over Gaoyuan. The Chinese star, 30, picked up the top prize of $33,000.

The Chinese legend now has 27 ITTF World Tour men’s singles titles to his name equalling the record of Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus.

For the losing finalist

Gaoyuan, it was his fourth loss in a title clash.

Earlier, in December, he was the runner up at the Grand Finals, on the ITTF World Tour in January he won in Hungary; in February at the ITTF Challenge Series tournament in Portugal he was the runner-up.

In the women’s final, it was another all-Chinese affair as

Wang Manyu beat compatriot Liu Shiwen 11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5 in the final played in front of a big crowd.

Earlier in the day, China’s 20-year-old table tennis player Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed, beat Grand Slam veteran Ding Ning 11-6, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4. It was Wang Manyu’s third successive win over Ding Ning. The Chinese player won $33,000.

From the very first game, Wang gave no chance to her top-ranking counterpart with a 3-0 lead and finally wrapped up the game 11-6. In the second game, she attacked even harder at every opportunity, ending up with a lop-sided 11-1. Ding Ning tried but still failed to catch up in the following games, and finally lost the semifinal to Wang within less than 30 minutes.

In the other semi-final yes-terday, Liu Shiwen beat Sun Yingsha 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to sign for the title clash eventually won by Wang Manyu.

Success yesterday for Wang Manyu means that she collected her fifth ITTF World Tour women’s singles title.

In 2017, Wang Manyu won in Austria in addition to last year on home soil in China, as well as in Hungary and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, for Liu Shiwen it was her 28th ITTF World Tour women’s singles final and the 15th time she ended up as the runner-up.

The five-day tournament was staged for 24th time by the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA).

Khalil Al Mohannadi, Pres-ident of QTTA, and First Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the Arab Table Tennis Fed-eration, said: “The dominance of Chinese players is unques-tionable. Whether it is the men’s singles final or the women’s singles final or any other title clash, Chinese players are always to the fore.”

He added: “China have out-standing players and it almost feels natural for us to see them dominate world events. I take this opportunity to thank ITTF, the Local Organising Committee and my team for doing a great job this week.”

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SPORTMonday 1 April 2019

PAGE | 07 PAGE | 09Barty downs

Pliskova to clinch Miami Open crown

Qatari driver Al Khelaifi wins third straight QTCC title

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Chinese star Ma Long returns a shot to his compatriot Lin Gaoyuan in the men’s final of the ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena, yesterday.

Chinese stars dominate at ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open

Ma Long seals fourth

career title in Qatar with a fighting

win against compatriot Lin Gaoyuan in the men’s final

Fourth seed Wang Manyu beats Grand Slam veteran

Ding Ning in all-Chinese final to win the top prize

in women’s singles crown

ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open champion Ma Long (third left) and runner-up Lin Gaoyuan pose for a photograph with Khaleel Al Mohannadi (right), President of Qatar and Arab table tennis associations and International Table Tennis Federation CEO Steve Dainton during the presentation ceremony.

Women’s singles champion Wang Manyu (centre) and her Chinese compatriot, runner-up Ding Ning pose for a photograph with the officials.

Federer beats Isner to secure Miami crown

Marquez wins in ArgentinaAFP TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO, ARGENTINA

World champion Marc Marquez won the Argentina MotoGP yesterday ahead of bitter rival Valentino Rossi.

Honda rider Marquez claimed his 45th career victory in the elite class, finishing 10 seconds ahead of Rossi on a Yamaha.

Andrea Dovizioso, who won the season-opener in Qatar, was third on a Ducati.

Marquez, chasing a sixth MotoGP world title, now leads the 2019 championship after two rounds of the 19-race series.

As Marquez was rarely threatened in yesterday’s race, the wheel-to-wheel action was being ratcheted up behind him as Rossi and Dovizioso switched places 12 times.

But 40-year-old Rossi had the last laugh, pouncing on a Dovizioso error on the last lap to take second place on the same

circuit where 12 months ago he had collided with Marquez and crashed out.

Australia’s Jack Miller on a Ducati-Pramac was fourth, Alex Rins of Spain on a Suzuki was fifth ahead of Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci.

Earlier, Italy’s Lorenzo Bal-dassarri won the Moto2 race

with Remy Gardner, the son of 1987 world 500cc champion Wayne Gardner, taking second place.

Baldassarri, on a Kalex, made his push for victory four laps from the end at Termas de Rio Hondo to deny 21-year-old Gardner of Australia with Alex Marquez of Spain in third.

Spanish rider Marc Marquez celebrates on the podium after winning the MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix yesterday.

AFP MIAMI

Roger Federer lifted the 101st title of his remarkable career yesterday, beating ATP Miami Open defending champion John Isner 6-1, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.

Federer has been the form player in South Florida and his performance against big-serving Isner proved it as the 33-year-old home-nation hero was over-whelmed by the Swiss star’s incredible consistency.

An opening break sapped Isner’s confidence and allowed 37-year-old Federer to gain control of a match which he never looked like losing, espe-cially after Isner was injured near the end of the second set.

“Getting a break so early was like a dream start. It relaxes your

nerves and you now you in the match, Federer said after lifting his fourth Miami Open title.

Isner appeared to tell the trainer d u r i n g a m e d i c a l t i m e o u t that he had “broken” his foot, but his spirit was crushed after dropping the first set in only 23 minutes.

This was Federer’s 154th tour final and his

50th ATP Masters showpiece appearance.

Roger Federer celebrates with the trophy after defeating John

Isner at the Miami Open men’s final

yesterday.