SPORTThursday 9 November 2017

Baseball: Tributes pour in after Halladay dies in plane crash

Modric key to Croatia World

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PAGE | 30 PAGE | 35 PAGE | 36 British star Murray wary of Australia commitment

y MCr

The Peninsula

Al Khor and Al Gharafa reg-istered identical 2-1 wins over Al Sailiya 2-1 and

Qatar SC respectively while Al Kharaitiyat and Al Duhail pro-duced an eight-goal thriller in the Group A matches of the QSL Cup yesterday.

At the Al Gharafa Stadium the round three action kicked off at a fast pace and it was Al Saili-yah who opened the scoring through Sayyaf Al Korbi in the 9th minute. However, despite conceding an early goal, Al Khor produced their equalizer when Ali Abdulkareem found the back of the net in the 22nd minute.

Three minutes later, Abdulkareem doubled Al Khor’s score when he scored his second in the 25th minute as Al Khor camp celebrated the goal with their trademark bow to the fans. Both teams walked off the Al Gharafa Stadium pitch with Al Khor enjoying a 2-1 lead.

Despite feisty attacks in the latter part of the second half, Al Sailiya failed to get the equalizer

as Al Khor picked up three cru-cial points to close the match at 2-1. It was Al Sailiyah’s first win in three matches, having won one and getting a draw in the other clash.

At Al Shamal Stadium, it was former Rangers player Madjid Bougherra taking the reigns from regular coach Djamel Belmadi, Al Duhail saw Al Kharaitiyat open the scoring through Tiber-kanine Rachid in just the 6th minute of the clash at Al Shamal Stadium.

Rachid, stationed inside the Al Duhail box, cleverly headed home on a long-range ball from Sanjar Tursunov who fired in a curling cross.

Al Duhail, in the 10th minute, produced the equaliser in the 10th minute when Nasser Al Khalfan found the back of the Al Kharaitiyat net. Poor marking by Ahmed Eissa allowed Khalfan to charge into the Al Kharaitiyat net and slip the ball past goalkeeper for his side’s first goal.

Some 15 minutes later, Anwar Deya gave Al Kharatiyat the lead in the 25th minute. Deya

produced a curling free kick that smashed into the net in spectac-ular fashion.

A few minutes later, Rabeh

Yahia powered Al Duhail to their second goal of the match in the 38th minute when he converted an easy ball into the net off a cor-ner kick. Yahia scored another in the 59th minute as Al Duhail went into lead at 3-2.

Minutes later Mohammed Moosa scored Al Duhail’s 4th goal (70th) but Abdulla Al Kuwari (72) tapped an easy ball into the net as Al Kharaitiyat reduced the deficit at 4-3. Two minutes later A Amin scored Al Kharaitiyat’s 4th goal (74).

At Al Wakrah Stadium, the fast-paced game was a thrill for most of the fans in the first 20 minutes or so. However, the scene turned sour for Qatar SC fans when Bruno Gallo ended up scoring an ‘own goal’ on a long ball from the flank in the 25th minute.

In an effort to stop the ball reaching Al Gharafa’s Amro Abdulfattah, Gallo raised his leg high to stop the ball but the momentum took the deflection

into his own net from close range.

Ali Jassimi of Qatar SC, how-ever, lifted the gloom in his camp after the own goal when he scored in the 36th minute at Al Wakrah Stadium. After receiv-ing a ball from the flank, Jassimi fired one home from the edge of the Al Gharafa box.

Three minutes from the first-half whistle, Othman Alawi of Al Gharafa charged into the Qatar SC box but his bullet of a shot from close range narrowly missed its target. Six minutes from the final whistle, Moham-mad Ismail (84) gave Al Gharafa the lead over Qatar SC.

It was Al Gharafa’s third suc-cessive win in the tournament.

QSL Cup: Al Kharaitiyat, Al Duhail share points in eight-goal thriller

Action from QSL Cup match between Al Kharaitiyat vs Duhail at Al Shamal Stadium yesterday. The match ended in an four-all draw.

Action from QSL Cup match between Al Khor and Al Sailiya at Al Gharafa Stadium yesterday. Al Khor won 2-1.

Qatar take on Czech Republic in Doha friendly on SaturdayThe Peninsula

Qatar will take on Czech Republic on Saturday at Abdullah bin Khalifa

Stadium of Al Duhail club as part of Qatar’s preparations for the Gulf Cup.

The 23rd edition of the regional championship will take pace in Doha from December 22 to January 5.

The Czech Republic, a tra-ditional powerhouse in international football are cur-rently ranked at 48, did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Qatar is also scheduled to play another friendly match against world Cup-bound Ice-land on November 14.

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez will also be looking to try new players in a bid to form a powerful side in the build-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Sanchez has named a squad of 23 players for the twin matches.

The last two matches for Qatar has been a mixed bag.

They beat Singapore 3-1 in Doha before conceding a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Curacao.

Iceland, after making a splash in their first foray into international football tourna-ments in Euro 2016; Iceland (ranked 21st in FIFA Rank-ings) are going to feature at next year’s World Cup.

In 2016, the Scandinavian side presented a fierce appe-tite for tough football by beating former world Cham-pions England before losing in the quarter-finals to hosts France.

This great form continued throughout their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification cam-paign as they dominated group I above the likes of Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey.

Results from yesterday’s QSL Cup matches Group A

Al Khor 2 Al Sailiya 1Al Kharaitiyat 4 Duhail 4 Al Gharafa 2 Qatar SC 1

QSL CUP RESULTS

Gutsy Qatar qualify for AFC U-19 ChampionshipQatar players celebrate their win over Iraq in Group C match of the AFC U-19 Championship 2018 in Doha yesterday. Qatar qualified for the finals rounds in Indonesia.

The Peninsula

Qatar edged Iraq 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out to qualify for the AFC U-19

Championship 2018 in Indonesia.

With both the teams locked with equal number of points the shoot out had to be used to break the deadlock.

The 2018 AFC U-19 Cham-pionship will be the 40th edition of the AFC U-19 Championship.

The biennial international youth football championship is organised by the Asian Foot-ball Confederation (AFC) for the men’s Under-19 national teams of Asia. It will take place in Indonesia, which was appointed as hosts by the AFC for the October 18 and November 4, 2018.event.

A total of 16 teams will play in the tournament.

Qatar opened their cam-paign in Group C with a 2-0 victory against Lebanon on Monday.

Hisham Ali scored the goals for Qatar, both of which came in the dying moments of the first half.

Lebanon were the better side after the first 15 minutes of the first half, looking more dangerous with their attacks, but a double from Hisham Ali gave Qatar a 2-0 lead and equally importantly, the con-fidence and rhythm which they were lacking until that point.

Qatar took the lead after a mistake from Lebanon goal-keeper Antoine Al Douaihy, who failed to collect a cross from Hussein Fahes on the right.

The ball fell invitingly for Hisham who made no mistake with his shot.

30 THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

(world ranking in parentheses):

Pete Sampras GroupRoger Federer - Switzerland (2)

Alexander Zverev - Germany (3)

Marin Cilic - Croatia (5)

Jack Sock - US (9)

Boris Becker GroupRafael Nadal - Spain (1)

Dominic Thiem - Austria (4)

Grigor Dimitrov - Bulgaria (6)

David Goffin - Belgium (8)

THE DRAW

Nadal doing

his all to play

in London,

says doctor

Madrid AFP

Rafael Nadal’s personal doctor said yesterday they will do “every-

thing possible” to enable the 16-time Grand Slam cham-pion to compete at next week’s season-ending Tour Finals in London.

“We have done and are going to do everything possi-ble for him to be (in London),” Angel Ruiz Cotorro told Cope radio station, while making no guarantee of the Span-iard’s presence in the English capital.

World number one Nadal pulled out of last week’s Paris Masters before his quarter-final with a knee injury, placing his participation in London in doubt.

Nadal, who has suffered from knee and wrist injuries throughout his career, decided to withdraw after having his right knee strapped during a third-round win over Pablo Cuevas.

“Yesterday (Thursday), the pain was very strong but it was not the right moment to stop,” Nadal said in Paris on Friday.

“I had treatment last night to try and be able to play today... But unfortunately it was impossible for me to return to the court.”

Ruiz Cotorro said Nadal arrived in France “in good condition but started to suf-fer a bit after the first or second match”.

“He was worried and we did a series of tests, but there was nothing serious detected in his tendon. We’re going to start a treatment that will allow him to continue mus-cular work... so that he can go to London as he wishes.”

“You have to be optimis-tic but also realistic faced with this situation at the end of an extraordinary season. You have to be careful. Health takes priority,” the doctor added.

Nadal has never won the eight-man Tour Finals -- fin-ishing as runner-up in 2010 and 2013 while missing two of the past three tournaments through injury.

Azarenka to

miss Fed Cup

final over

custody battle Minsk Reuters

Victoria Azarenka will miss this week’s Fed Cup final in Minsk

against the United States due to an ongoing custody battle with her baby son’s father, the former world number one said yesterday.

Azarenka said she was unwilling to leave her son behind in California, where she has a home and where her child was born and must stay until his future is decided.

“It is heart-breaking for me to not have a chance to play and help Belarus in the final but unfortunately, my current custody situation is keeping me in California,” the 28-year-old said.

“Even though I will not be in Minsk for the final my heart is always with my country and my team and I will cheer for them from afar.”

The two-times Grand Slam winner returned to action in June after the birth of her son Leo last December and decided to skip the US Open in September amid the custody battle.

Bad news for line judges: Next Gen players like Hawk-Eye calling!Milan Reuters

Tennis line judges might grim-ace when they hear it, but players reacted positively to them being replaced by com-puterised calls on the opening

day of the Next Gen ATP Finals yesterday.

Hawk-Eye review technology has been a long-standing feature of profes-sional tennis, allowing players to challenge tight calls made by the human eye.

But the ATP has taken it a step fur-ther this week with all lines at the innovative Milan showpiece for the cream of players aged 21 and under con-trolled solely by the state-of-the art system originally invented for missile tracking.

An automated voice instantaneously announced “OUT” or “FAULT” in a rather unnerving British accent -- the only gripe from Russian 21-year-old Karen Khachanov.

“I think for now live Hawk-Eye is a good thing,” he told reporters after los-ing to compatriot Daniil Medvedev in the opening match of the eight-man event showcasing a raft of new innova-tions and branded as “re-inventing tennis”.

“Only thing is I would like to hear a different voice. I think it’s better that all umpires record their voices and each match they are on, it’s the voice of the umpire in the chair.”

World number 65 Medvedev also liked the system.

“It was very fast,” he said. “It doesn’t make mistakes.

“I really liked it. In every other sport there are innovations, and this thing without line judges makes it more fair, I would say.”

Alexander Zverev, the world number

three who pulled out of the inaugural Next Gen Finals to focus on his debut in the ATP Finals in London, joined the experiment with an exhibition match between sessions in Milan on Tuesday.

“I think the shot clock is a good thing, maybe Hawk-Eye calling all the lines, I like that,” the German told reporters yesterday.

“But a lot of the other things I’m sure they won’t happen.”

As well as shot clock to enforce the 25-seconds between points rule, the event features matches played over best-of-five ‘short’ sets to four games not six, with a tiebreak at 3-3.

“It’s more intense,” Canada’s Denis Shapovalov said after losing 1-4 4-3 4-3 4-1 to South Korean Hyeon Chung.

Advantage points have gone, mean-ing deuce becomes “sudden death” with the server choosing which side to serve, as have service lets, briefly catching out Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardes who instinctively called one.

“Let cords are different. It’s difficult,” Shapovalov, who was also deceived by one, said. “The last game was the one where I was slow to react and I had to run to it.

“But I think it makes it more enter-taining. It’s cool to try new things out.”

Players easily stayed within the 25-second shot clock, but felt the count-down could be introduced on Tour.

“It’s a little bit tougher, because you need to follow the rhythm all the time. You need to check on the scoreboard. But in general, it’s the right thing to do,” Khachanov said.

Not everyone liked the crowd being allowed to talk and move around freely during points -- another feature in Milan.

“That was the most challenging thing,” Medvedev said. “If they are walk-ing and talking there is a lot of sound.

“But the rest of the rules? I liked them. It was fun today.”

Federer to face Zverev in Tour FinalsLondon Reuters

Six-time champion Roger Federer was paired in the same group as German

debutant Alexander Zverev for next week’s ATP Tour Finals when the draw was made in host city London yesterday.

World number one Rafael Nadal, who is hoping to recover from a knee injury to play in the season-ending showpiece, heads the other group and will face Belgian David Goffin, Bulgarian

debutant Grigor Dimitrov and Austrian Dominic Thiem.

Also in the Pete Sampras group with Federer is Croatian Marin Cilic, the man he beat in this year’s Wimbledon final, and American Jack Sock who crept into the tournament after win-ning the Paris Masters.

Zverev, 20, has taken men’s tennis by storm this year, rock-eting up to number three in the world rankings after winning five titles, including two Masters 1000 events.

“It’s an honour to play there

in London, it’s my first time and hopefully not my last,” Zverev said in Milan where he took part in an exhibition match at the Next Gen Finals, having dropped out to concentrate on London.

“I will try to prepare myself as well as I can and try to win many matches there.”

He is one of three first-tim-ers with Dimitrov finally qualifying after being long-pre-dicted to become a regular member of the men’s elite. Sock is the first American to qualify since Mardy Fish did so in 2011.

Goffin has qualified for the first time also, although last year he played a match as an alternate.

The draw, which took place on BBC Radio, was delayed because Boris Becker, who Nad-al’s group is named after, was held up by traffic on his way to the studio.

Several big names are miss-ing this year through injury including 2016 winner Andy Murray, four-times London win-ner Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka.

British star Murray wary of Australia commitmentLondon AFP

Andy Murray indicated yester-day he would be prepared to miss next year’s Australian

Open if it meant endangering his return to full fitness from a hip injury.

The British tennis star has not played a competitive match since struggling through to the quarter-finals of this year’s Wimbledon, where he was beaten by Sam Querrey of the United States.

Murray, however, is contemplat-ing a return at the Brisbane International, which starts on Decem-ber 31 and is a warm-up event for the Australian Open -- the first of the sport’s four annual major champion-ships. But speaking ahead of an exhibition match with Roger Federer in Glasgow, the 30-year-old Scot was cautious about his prospects of regain-ing 100 percent fitness.

“You never know when you’re coming back from any injury, but that’s what I’m working towards, for sure,” said Murray. “We have to see, but I believe that will be the case.

“When I get back on the court next year and start playing again, it might not come immediately at the begin-ning of the year,” the two-time Wimbledon champion added.

“I have been hitting the ball very well in practice - it’s just that there is a difference between that 75-80 per-cent practice and going flat out at 100 percent for two-and-a-half or three hours on the match court. Until I do that I can’t say for certain, but I think I’ll be able to come back just fine.”

Murray expects to travel to Aus-tralia after opting for a course of rest and rehabilitation rather than surgery.

“Things have been going pretty well so far in the rehab, but you just never know,” he said. “I’ve been

training for a few weeks now. Some days I’ve felt great and some days not so good. But I will come back when I’m ready and when I’m 100 percent fit. I probably made a bit of a mistake trying to get ready for the US Open but it was the last major of the year and I wanted to give it a go.

“And now it’s time to give my body the rest and recovery it needs. I’ll come back when I’m ready.”

Federer himself enjoyed a superb 2017, winning both the Australian Open -- his first Grand Slam title in five years -- and Wimbledon follow-ing a long lay-off caused by a knee injury.

“Take your time, however long it takes,” Federer told Murray in Glas-gow. “When you come back you want to be at 100 percent, otherwise the problem is you feel you just can’t beat the best at the big tournaments, so it’s wise and worthwhile to take the extra week, extra month maybe.”

Vera Lapko of Belarus attends a news conference before the Fed Cup final against the US in Minsk, Belarus.

Switzerland’s Roger Federer

(left) and Britain’s

Andy Murray pose for a

photograph on court ahead of their exhibition

tennis event, “Andy Murray Live” at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Andy Murray Live” is

a charity fundraiser. Glasgow

based charity, Sunny-sid3up, join Unicef as

charity partner this year.

31THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

Adelaide AFP

Top scorer Dawid Malan boosted his Test claims as England struggled to 278 for eight on the opening day of their

four-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide yesterday.

The Middlesex left-hander hit 63 in a disciplined 128-ball innings before a rare rush of blood cost him his wicket, attempting to cut through point only to be caught at slip in the final over of the pink ball day/night match.

But Malan has probably done enough to cement his place at number five for the Ashes opener in Brisbane later this month after his second half-century in con-secutive innings.

Opener Mark Stoneman (61) and skipper Joe Root (58) made good starts but former captain Alastair Cook failed again with just 15.

“Some of the dismissals we had today were a touch on the sloppy side, so it was a little bit frustrating more than anything that we didn’t kick on and prob-ably have a couple of hundreds scored out there today,” Stone-man said.

“Everyone got a bit of time in the middle, so that was encour-aging, but we also need to be scoring hundreds, and big hundreds.

“So there are lessons to be

learnt from today,” Stoneman told reporters.

Malan helped revive the innings after the tourists had slumped to 195 for five follow-ing Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal for nine in the 62nd over.

Malan put on 76 for the sixth wicket before Chris Woakes fell for 33.

A total of four wickets fell in the final night session of play at the Adelaide Oval, where the first

day-night Ashes Test takes place next month.

Young New South Wales leg-spinner Daniel Fallins, in his maiden first-class match, rocked the tourists with the wickets of Stoneman, James Vince (33), Root and Bairstow to finish the day with four for 71 off 21 overs.

“I was quite nervous last night, but getting a wicket in my first over really settled the

nerves and the boys really got around me, so that was good,” Fallins said.

Cook’s lean start to the tour continued when he was again dismissed cheaply, in the seventh over.

After a second-ball duck in England’s tour opener last week against a Western Australian XI in Perth, Cook faced only 28 balls. He was dismissed when feathering an outside edge from

an attempted forward defensive shot off paceman Jackson Coleman.

Vince was bowled by Fallins when attempting a sweep shot from the spinner’s fifth ball and Stoneman fell to a brilliant one-handed diving catch at mid-wicket by Jake Carder.

And just before the dinner break, Fallins claimed Root when the skipper top-edged a front-foot swipe and was caught by

Ryan Gibson at mid-off position.

England, who have lost pace-man Steve Finn for the tour with a knee injury, rested strike bowler Stuart Broad.

Following the Adelaide game, they have another four-day fixture against a CA XI in Townsville from November 15, before the first Test against Aus-tralia starts on November 23 in Brisbane.

Son of ‘Boof’ has Maxwell looking over his shoulder Melbourne Reuters

Ashes auditions for Australia’s vacant number six spot have seen a number of leading candidates

fluff their lines in the domestic Sheffield Shield but Jake Lehmann’s strong form could force an awkward decision at the selectors table where his father sits.

Lehmann, the son of Australia coach Darren, has been closely watched since emerging with a trio of first class cen-turies in the 2015/16 season, and has built a respectable first class average of 44.95 from 29 matches with South Aus-tralia (SA).

He struck his sixth first-class cen-tury with a first-innings 103 against Victoria and backed that up with a 93 to be awarded Player of the Match as SA fell two wickets short of an outright vic-tory on Tuesday.

Another big score in the third round could force his father ‘Boof’ out of the room when selectors discuss the squad for the first Ashes test in Brisbane start-ing Nov. 23.

Even as the 25-year-old pressed his claims, Victoria batsman Glenn Max-well, probably the strongest candidate for the middle order position, was fight-ing his own battle to win favour, scoring 64 after managing 60 in the first innings.

Dismissed cheaply twice in the

opening defeat to Queensland, all-rounder Maxwell’s twin half-centuries may go some way to easing doubts about his consistency.

Maxwell struck a fine century when batting number six in Ranchi against India in March but has failed to reach 50 in seven Test innings since.

Few others, barring 23-Test Shaun Marsh, who hit a 91 for Western Aus-tralia (WA) against a test-quality New South Wales (NSW) attack, have raised their hand for an Ashes spot.

Marsh’s state team mate and younger brother Mitchell has managed only 46 runs so far in the Shield, the fast-bowling all-rounder failing twice against NSW.

Another WA all-rounder Hilton Cart-wright, who played at six in Australia’s last test against Bangladesh, crashed out with a pair of ducks and would appear out of the running.

Questions over the wicketkeeper position also remain, with Matthew Wade failing to shore up his spot with a decent score for Tasmania and his NSW rival Peter Nevill doing little with the bat to dislodge him. Australia’s attack, by contrast, is settled and has been hum-ming along nicely, with pace spearhead Mitchell Starc firing an ominous Ashes warning with a pair of hat-tricks for NSW in the same match against WA.

Starc’s performance moved fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson, the man

who terrorised England’s batsmen dur-ing the 5-0 whitewash in the 2013/14 series, to tweet his approval.

“Seriously 2 hat tricks in the same game ... Now time to rip in to the poms,” wrote Johnson.

Starc’s NSW team mate and test cap-tain Steve Smith was also impressed, but spread the praise around to fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

“I thought he bowled like an abso-lute genius, he’s a superstar,” Smith said of Hazlewood’s six-wicket haul.

“Patty Cummins has had a couple of good games as well so they’re up and going and bowling really well. So that is positive signs for us.”

F1: Red Bull, Ferrari aim for a sting in the tail London Reuters

The titles are won and the pressure is off but the For-mula One season could yet

have a sting in the tail for four-times world champion Lewis Hamilton (pictured right) and triumphant Mercedes.

Resurgent Red Bull believe they can win the last two races, in Brazil this weekend and Abu Dhabi at the end of November, while Ferrari are also eager to wrap up 2017 with a flourish.

“The last four races we’ve had the quickest car on a Sun-day,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner after Max Ver-stappen won in Mexico and Hamilton finished ninth to take the title.

“Hopefully Brazil can be a good track for us and why not in Abu Dhabi? It will be great to finish the season with at least one more victory.”

Verstappen excelled in the wet at Sao Paulo’s atmospheric Interlagos circuit last year, when his performance in rac-ing from 16th to third in 15 laps drew comparisons with some of the greats.

The Dutch 20-year-old has

now won two of the last four races, after a run of poor relia-bility, while Red Bull have scored more points than sec-ond-placed Ferrari since the end of the August break.

“As you would expect I’m hoping for another damp race weekend as I don’t think we can be as competitive there in the dry, especially with the eleva-tion changes on the straight,” said Verstappen.

Australian team mate Dan-iel Ricciardo, also a winner this season in Azerbaijan, was hope-ful even though the circuit is not one of his favourites.

Hamilton has won nine times this year, including five of the last seven, and can still equal the career best of 11 in a season he achieved in 2014. He took both the pole and victory at Interlagos last year.

Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas is third overall and only 15 points behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, a four-times winner this year, with Mer-cedes determined to finish one-two for the fourth season in a row.

“Now the pressure is kind of off, we can go and enjoy these next couple of races,” said

Hamilton after Mexico. “I think it’s important that we focus exactly as we have and continue to race as we have.

“This is not an opportunity for us to take our eye off the ball,” added the Briton, who was planning on visiting the Inca cit-adel of Machu Picchu in Peru with friends in between the Latin American races.

“The pressure is off so we should be able to perform bet-ter than we ever have and I believe we can.”

Sunday will also be a home farewell for Brazilian Felipe Massa, who is leaving Williams and Formula One at the end of the season.

Last year he made an emo-tional exit only to return when Bottas moved to Mercedes from Williams to replace the retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg.

“I take so many great mem-ories with me as I prepare for my final two races,” said the former Ferrari driver who missed out on the 2008 title to Hamilton by a single point.

“Although they will be emo-tional, I am looking forward to ending on a high note and pre-paring for a new chapter in my career.”

England’s batsmen

(right) and Chris Woakes (far right) in action on the first day of a

four-day Ashes tour match

against Cricket Australia XI at the Adelaide

Oval in Adelaide.

Statistics for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo (Round 19 of 20 races)

Lap distance: 4.309km. Total distance: 305.909km (71 laps)2016 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes. One minute 10.736 seconds2016 winner: HamiltonRace lap record: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:11.473 (2004)Start time: 1600GMTTITLES: Mercedes have clinched their fourth constructors’ championship in a row and Lewis Hamilton his fourth drivers’ crown. Hamilton, who took the title in Mexico last month, is the same age (32) as Michael Schu-macher was when he took his fourth crown. The Briton was the first driver to be lapped in his title-winning race since compatriot James Hunt in 1976. British drivers have won 17 championships, more than any other nation. Germany is next on 12.RACE WINS: Hamilton has 62 victories from 206 races and is second in the all-time list behind Schumacher (91). Sebastian Vettel has 46. Mercedes have won 11 of 18 races this season. Ferrari have won 228 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 75 and Red Bull 55. Former champions McLaren and Wil-liams have not won since 2012.Hamilton has won nine times this season, Vettel four. Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen two each and Daniel Ricciardo once.Verstappen’s three career wins have all come after Russian Daniil Kvyat was dropped or demoted by Red Bull.POLE POSITION: Hamilton has an all-time record 72 career poles.Mercedes have been on pole 13 times in 18 races: Hamilton 11 times and Bottas twice. Vettel has had four poles this season and his Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen one.

Formula One statistics for the

Brazilian Grand Prix

Disciplined Malan boosts Test claim

Rizwan Rehmat The Peninsula

Qatar’s rapid growth in building a strong equestrian team in recent years has impressed Longines Glo-bal Champions Tour (LGCT) President Jan Tops who says young

riders in the country must make the most of existing opportunities to excel at top events.

Last year, Qatar quartet Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani, Bassem Hassan Mohammed, Ali Al Rumaihi and Hamad Al Attiyah fea-tured in the showjumping event at the Rio Olympics, marking the country’s equestrian Games debut with an impressive outing.

Two of the world’s popular 5 *events - the Longine Global Champions League leg held in November and the annually-staged CHI Al Shaqab in March - complement Qatar’s rise in equine sports, Tops said.

“There are countries who have more experience in the sport but Qatar have done well in such a short period of time. We had the Olympic trials three years ago. The Qatari riders (who featured in Games qualifiers) have done very well. They featured at the Olympic Games,” Tops said.

“The development in this sport in the last seven or eight years has been phenomenal. Qatar pushes the boundaries when it comes to developing equine sports. They work very

hard to get their riders and horses to a high level. They have been in showjumping at the Rio Games and did very well,” Tops said.

“The Qatari riders represented the coun-try well in Rio. If I see the progress made in the last three-four years or in the last four-five years, it has been incredible. I hope we can move forward in the same manner at the next Olympic Games,” Tops said.

The introduction of Hathab Series - designed to groom the next generation of Qatari riders - is a step in the right direction, according to Tops.

“Hathab Series is important. That’s the way it’s done. It is always impor-tant to have your top riders as a showcase for your country. At the same time, it is also important to get the new talent in,” Tops said yesterday.

“We are a small coun-try in equestrian. Countries like France, America and Ger-many have more riders but we need to develop the next gener-ation of riders. We need to give them experience and get them ready for the next eight years and have them competing and learning the right way,” he added.

Tops, who will see his wife Edwina Tops-Alexan-der compete at this week’s LGCT from November 9 to 11, said popular venue Al Shaqab continues to provide the platform needed to promote the sport.

“It’s a special place. It feels to be great here. They have been getting the support. Also, to be here at Al Shaqab is not only a magnificent place but it is a venue that is horse-friendly.

“You see the footing of the horses, the stabling ... everything is the best. It is an example for every event and we love to be here in Qatar,” he added.

“You see that through the years, the world’s best riders get ready for such events. Of course, the final leg is here. The best riders are again ready. Stats speak for themselves - the world’s top 8 out of the top-10 are here,” Tops said.

32 THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT 33THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

LGCT President Tops says Qatar’s rapid growth in equestrian has been ‘incredible’

The Qatari riders represented the country well in Rio. If I see the progress made in the last three-four years or in the last four-five years, it has been incredible. I hope we can move forward in the same manner at the next Olympic Games: LGCT President Jan Tops

Action from inaugural Hathab series. LGCT President Jan Tops has lauded the new showjumping series

by Qatar.

LGCT: Smolders leads the star cast as riders eye glory at Al Shaqab Arena The Peninsula

New LGCT champion and points leader Har-rie Smolders from the Netherlands will be eyeing another victorious week of riding

at Al Shaqab Arena where he will lock horns against Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca and Germany’s Christian Ahlmann at the three-day event.

Smolders, who made history this year by taking the title at the penultimate event in Rome, has an overall tally of 278.00 points ahead of this week’s final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) calendar.

De Luca (260.00) and Ahlmann (257.00) are the next two on the points table. Italy’s Alberto Zorzi has a tally of 255 points.

Popular rider and two-time LGCT cham-pion Scott Brash of Great Britain will also be seen in action besides Canada’s Eric Lamaze, Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet, France’s Kevin Staut, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson and Dutch-man Maikel van der Vleuten.

Smolders said: “In the Global Champions Tour the level is very, very high because we have the best horses and the best riders in the world. A higher level is not possible.”

Brash said: “The level of competition on the GCT circuit is so high, so to win a Grand Prix or League class you and your horse have to be at the absolute top of your game.”

Lorenzo de Luca said: “I will be giving eve-rything to keep the second place in the overall LGCT championship ranking. GCT is one of the best and most difficult circuits in the world.”

Event Director Omar Al Mannai (pictured right) said: “We are pleased to host the final leg of the LGCT Tour. Looking at the Qatar National Vision 2030, we believe that Qatar

is the sports hub of the region. The LGCT is such an event that supports this Vision as the best of riders and horses are in Qatar.” Al Mannai added: “We are trying to promote the sport of equestrian in the community. We are engaging with the community by conducting certain activities at the event this week. We are trying to bring the young kids in and then educate about our traditional sport.”

Al Mannai said Al Shaqab was created to take equestrian to a new level of popularity. “As you know H H the Father Emir laid the foundation of Al Shaqab in 1992. It was to pre-serve our racing or riding heritage with eye on the Pure Arabian breed. This sport is a reflec-tion of our sporting heritage,” Al Mannai said.

“Over the years Al Shaqab has grown so huge that it is a centre for education, a hub for showjumping - in short if is centre of eques-trian art. Considering this we focus more on the young generation by giving them the right education, the right coaching, the right envi-ronment to grow and learn. Horsemanship is an art form and we want our future genera-tion to learn the right way,” he added.“National riders will also compete at Al Shaqab this week with the opportunity to see their home and Olympic heroes such as Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani and Bassem Hassan Mohammend in action,” Al Mannai said.

Walter von Känel, President of Longines, said in a statement: “We are pleased to be back at the magnificent Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre which will once again provide the perfect backdrop for this much-awaited final of the series. Our brand also looks forward to the weekend’s highlight, the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Doha, to which we lend our name.”

TODAY10:45 National Class 1/1.15m Against the clock (QR10,000)

13:15 National Class 1.20/1.30m Against the clock (QR20,000)

15:00 CSI5* 1.45m Two Phase (€25,000)

17:30 CSI5* 1.50/1.55m Global Champions League Round 1 (€92,000 indi-

vidual class winner)

TOMORROW13:45 National Class 1/1.15m Against the clock with jump-off (QR10,000)

16:45 National Class 1.30/1.40 Against the clock with jump-off (QR30,000)

17:45 AL SHAQAB 25th Anniversary

18:40 CSI5* 1.45/1.50m (€92,000)

SATURDAY09:00 National Class 1.20/1.30m Two Phase (QR25,000)

11:30 National Class 1.30/1.40m Two Phase (QR35,000)

14:00 CSI5* 1.55/1.60m GCL Final (€160,000 to individual class winner

+ €200,000 to team winner)

18:00 CSI5* 1.60m Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Doha

(€400,000)

LGCT: Order of play atAl Shaqab Arena

Top riders competing this year

Whopping €10m up for grabs in Team Play-Offs next year The Peninsula

A staggering sum of €10m will be up for grabs in the Team Play-Offs set to be introduced from next

season, it was confirmed by Jan Tops, the Founder and President of Lomngines Global Champions Tour (LGCT), yesterday.

At the end of last month it was announced that the new Team Play-Offs will be held in the Czech capital Prague from December 13 to 16 at O2 Arena. The winning team will bag €3m.

“After the final event here in Qatar next year, the 16 best teams will be com-peting in Play-offs in December in Prague,” Tops said yesterday.

“It is going to be an indoor event. Everybody starts on zero points again. It will have a unique the prize money - I think something like that will be one of the highlights of the new series.

“You will see a lot of good teams. The competition will get stronger. This year we have 3-4 teams that can win. Next time we will see 12-14 teams. You will see strat-egies adopted by the teams,” Tops added as he gave details on the new series.

Prague is one of the world’s most beautiful cities and a UNESCO World Heritage site, promising unforgettable excitement for millions of equestrian fans worldwide. The O2 arena hosts major concerts and sports events, and will be the first indoor event on the Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League calendar.

Together with Title Partner and Offi-cial Timekeeper Longines, the Tour has continued to grow and innovate over its 12- year history, delivering world class show jumping in breathtaking destina-tions around the globe.

Gearing up for the final round show

The Longines Global Champions Tour trophy on display at Al Shaqab Arena yesterday.

A rider in action on the eve of final round of the Longines Global Champions Tour at Al Shaqab Arena yesterday. DOWN: A rider pose for a photograph as he prepares for the final round.

Scott Brash said: “The level of competition on

the GCT circuit is so high, so to win a Grand Prix

or League class you and your horse have to be at

the absolute top of your game.”

Lorenzo de Luca said: “I will be giving everything to

keep the second place in the overall LGCT champion-

ship ranking. GCT is one of the best and most difficult

circuits in the world.”

Harrie Smolders said: “In the Global Champi-

ons Tour the level is very, very high because

we have the best horses and the best riders

in the world. A higher level is not possible.”

Harrie Smolders (NED), Scott Brash (GBR), Eric Lamaze (CAN), Lorenzo de Luca (ITA),

Gregory Wathelet (BEL), Kevin Staut (FRA),

Peder Fredricson (SWE) Maikel van der Vleuten (NED)

Other top riders competing in Doha include:Simon Delestre (FRA),

Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS), Daniel Deusser (GER), Marco Kutscher (GER),

Pieter Devos (BEL), Ben Maher (GBR),

Bertram Allen (IRL), Laura Kraut (USA),

Marlon Zanotelli (BRA) Lauren Hough (USA).

Winners of LGCT Grand Prix this season will also be competing including Mexico City winner Mar-

tin Fuchs (SUI), Miami Beach winner Jérôme Guery (BEL), Cannes winner Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP), and

Rome winner Evelina Tovek (SWE).

action begins today.

This file photo shows Rolf-Goran Bengtsson lifting the trophy after winning in the Longines Global Champions Tour Doha leg last year.

Omar Al Mannai, Event Director, Jan Tops (right) Founder and President of the Longines Global Champions Tour, and Marco Danese the Global Champions Tour Sports Director, pose for a group photo after the pre-event press conference at Al Shaqab yesterday.

Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani was among the quartet in Rio Olympics last year in which Qatar made their equestrian debut in the quadrennial multi-sporting event.

34 THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

Qatari players Ahmed Saif and Ali Obadaily in action in Round 32 of the 2017 Asian Snooker Championship at the Qatar Snooker and Billiards Federation in Doha, in this April 2017 file photo. WSF is targetting an entry in Olympic Games.

Snooker among cue sports targetting Paris 2024: WSF Sofia Reuters

Snooker as well as two other cue sports - carom billiards and pool - deserves to be part of the Paris

2024 Olympic programme, the Secretary-General of the newly-formed World Snooker Federation (WSF) said yesterday.

Snooker unsuccessfully bid for a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where baseball and softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding were granted spots as additional sports.

“We hope that, with the support of the French (cue sports) federation and the French Olympic Committee, we’ll find a way to bring bil-liard sports to the Olympics,” Maxime Cassis, who is also the chairman of the European Snooker Federation, said in Sofia.

“First of all, we have to decide if we select only one of the three sports or select the three of them. The plan is not established.

“We’re ready to support

any of the sports and we have to work together. We have to listen to the people who select it.”

Cassis also said that snooker in particular expanded rapidly in recent years, adding its inclusion in the Olympic programme would be “the biggest

achievement of the sport”.“Our dream is to reach

the Olympics, this is a big dream of of every snooker player,” he said. “Everybody will gain from it.”

Snooker officials say the sport is watched by nearly half a billion people world-w i d e a n d p l a y e d competitively in almost 100 countries.

The summer Olympic programme currently includes 28 core sports after golf and rugby sevens were added ahead of the Rio 2016 Games.

Meanwhile, former Namibian sprinter Frankie Fredericks was suspended by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday after being placed under formal investigation in France in a probe into allegations of vote buying to win the 2016 Sum-mer Olympics for Rio de Janeiro.

Fredericks, who won four silver medals at the 1992 and 1996 Games, is suspected of receiving bribes and launder-ing the money through Paris, a source close to the inquiry in France said on Friday.

We hope that, with the support of the French cue sports federation and the French Olympic Committee, we’ll find a way to bring billiard sports to the Olympics, says Maxime Cassis

Galaxy’s Rogers calls it a day New York Reuters

Former US international and Los Angeles Galaxy defender Robbie Rogers,

who became the first openly gay male to compete in a major North American pro-fessional sport, announced his retirement from profes-sional soccer on Tuesday.

Rogers, who came out as gay on the same day he first retired in 2012 only to sign with his hometown Galaxy three months later, spent 10 years in Major League Soccer where he was a two-times All-Star, winning league championships in 2008 and 2014, the latter with LA.

“I’ll never forget the feel-ing of returning to the field in my first game back,” Rogers, 30, said in a statement released by the Galaxy. “That feeling of acceptance and support pushed me as an ath-lete and as a person.

“Having the opportunity to win an MLS Cup in my hometown, with my home-town club as an openly gay man will be something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

After beginning his career in Holland with SC Heeren-veen in 2006, Rogers moved to MLS’s Columbus Crew in 2007. He joined the Galaxy in 2013 after a stint with English club Leeds.

Stenson hopes to make swift recovery from stunt rib injury Paris AFP

Henrik Stenson is hoping a swift recovery to a rib injury sustained in a pro-

motional event will allow him to contest next week’s European Tour season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The Swedish golfer went on Instagram to reveal the news and to also regret the “Super-man” comment he made at the conclusion to last week’s Turk-ish Airlines Open in Antalya.

Stenson last Sunday sug-gested his rib injury some 11 days earlier resulted from an event ahead of the WGC-HSBC Cham-pions event when he, world number one Dustin Johnson and leading China golfer Haotong Li were suspended in the air.

Stenson went onto to finish joint runner-up in Shanghai but the injury clearly affected his showing in Turkey and he fin-ished well down the field after undergoing daily treatment on the injury.

After the event, he said: “I am not Superman given certain peo-ple thought I was Superman.”

He left Turkey indicating he

was returning home for an MRI on the injury but would more than likely miss both this week’s Nedbank Challenge and also the final event in Dubai. “I’m disap-pointed to have to pre-emptively withdraw from the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, as I was looking forward to this important year-end event

on the European Tour,” said Stenson.

“At this point I am back home in Orlando waiting to do a scan on my ribs and get the necessary rest. I am still hoping for a quick recovery and have not ruled out playing in Dubai next week at this point.

“My comment about not

being Superman was a sarcas-tic way of saying that I am susceptible to injury like any other athlete and sometimes these things happen when you least expect them.”

He added: “The plan as of now will be to participate in the DP World Championship if my body is back to 100 percent.”

Henrik Stenson in action in this file photo.

Sun Young-Yoo of

Korea takes early

lead at LPGA Shanghai AFP

Sun Young-Yoo said that “pretty much everything” worked as the South

Korean surged into a one-shot lead after the first round of the Blue Bay LPGA in Hainan yesterday.

Sun shot a seven-under-par 65 at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club on the southern Chinese island with compatriot Park Sung-Hyun, the new number one, in tied ninth, three shots off the lead.

“Pretty solid overall. I saw a lot of positive things in myself today, so hopefully I can get it going,” Sun, who has two wins on the LPGA Tour, told LPGA.com after her lowest round of the season.

Sun leads by one over Chi-na’s Xiang Sui, who shot a six-under-par 66 with just one bogey, and in tied third was a group of six golfers on the opening day.

Park Sung-Hyun, the first rookie in LPGA Tour history to earn top spot in the rankings, was at four-under.

“Before I teed off this

morning, at the first tee, I received a lot of congratulation texts from friends and family,” Park said after her first round as the top player in the world.

“I was a little bit concerned about going into the first round, I thought I might be nervous going through this round.

“But at the first tee, hitting my first shot, I felt comfortable, and the rest of the round was much more comfortable than I anticipated.

“So it was no problem for me.”

65 - Sun Young-Yoo (KOR)

66 - Xiang Sui (CHN)

67 - Ashleigh Buhai (RSA), Choi Na-

Yeon (KOR), Lee Jeong-Eun (KOR),

Pernilla Lindberg (SWE), Lee-Anne

Pace (RSA), Lizette Salas (USA)

68 - Chien Peiyun (TPE), Austin Ernst

(USA), Azahara Munoz (ESP), Park

Sung-Hyun (KOR)

69 - M. J. Hur (KOR), Alison Lee (USA),

Alena Sharp (CAN), Feng Shanshan

(CHN), Ariya Jutanugarn (THA)

LPGA SCORES

Rugby: Irish, French angry over World Cup bid ratings Dublin AFP

Ireland have complained to world rugby chiefs over the selection process for the

2023 World Cup, after a contro-versial technical evaluation gave South Africa the best rating, reports said yesterday.

The Rugby World Cup Board have recommended the World

Rugby Council award the tour-nament to South Africa, which the report placed ahead of France and Ireland on an over-all score across a range of criteria.

But the publication of the evaluation has proved contro-versial. Irish officials are unhappy at coming third with a score of 72.25 compared to 75.88 for France and 78.97 for

South Africa. The report also prompted a furious response from Bernard Laporte, president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), who said the organisa-tion would be writing to World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont ahead of next week’s final vote, seeking a correction over what they said were a series of inac-curacies, including the quality of stadiums and hotels.

The Irish government, re-affirming its support for a 2023 bid, said Tuesday it had been told of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s (IRFU’s) reservations about and that these would be pursued by the IRFU with its counterparts in World Rugby.

Reports yesterday said the chief executive of the IRFU, Philip Browne, had outlined Ireland’s complaints in detail

in a letter to the chief execu-tive of World Rugby, Brett Gosper.

“There are very clear exam-ples in recent times of starkly empty stadia in South Africa for significant fixtures,” said Browne, according to the Irish Times.

“The evaluation report does not appear to address this in any meaningful way,” the letter adds.

He also raised concerns over

security issues. “Was an inde-pendent ly recognised, world-class security organisa-tion used to review the underlying security situation within each bidding country... if not, why not?”

The letter says: “In our opin-ion, Ireland’s scoring has suffered unreasonably, relative to the scoring for other bidders.”

Los Angeles AFP

Giannis Antetok-ounmpo produced a scintillating 40-point masterclass but it was not enough to

stop LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers from claim-ing a thrilling victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo’s superb display, which also included nine rebounds and three assists, threatened to overwhelm the Cavs as they sought to bounce back from Sunday’s shock loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

But 30 points from James and 32 points from Kevin Love helped the Cavs hang on for a 124-119 victory at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

James and Antetokounmpo seemed locked in their own per-sonal duel for long periods of an absorbing contest and finished with similar figures.

Later, James admitted the 22-year-old Athens born Antetokounmpo -- nicknamed “The Greek Freak” -- was all but impossible to defend against.

“He attacked non-stop for however many minutes he was on the floor,” James said.

“You got to put multiple bod-ies in front of him and then when you do put multiple bodies in front of him, he’s still able to score. He’s great in transition and great getting at the rim.”

The high-scoring contest saw three other Cleveland players make double figures, with J.R. Smith posting 20 points and Der-rick Rose and Dwyane Wade grabbing 10 apiece.

Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, was backed by 22 points from Malcolm Brogdon and 20 from Khris Middleton.

Cleveland improved to 5-6

with the win, while the Bucks fell to 4-6.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Harri-son Barnes poured on 31 points as the Dallas Mavericks made a mockery of the form book with an upset over the Washington Wizards.

The Mavs, owners of a league-worst 1-10 record head-ing into the game, made sure of a 113-99 win after producing a late fourth quarter run.

Dennis Smith posted 22 points and Wesley Matthews added 14 as the Mavericks snapped a six-game losing streak in style.

Dallas had led 64-53 at half-time and opened up a 16-point lead at one stage in the second half.

However, they were given a scare when Washington closed to 90-88 with 9:09 remaining.

Yet Dallas responded with a 15-5 run to clinch a deserved win for the Texas franchise.

“We came into the game with a great collective force and col-lective will,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

“We’ve been getting kicked around and it’s no fun. Tonight our guys drew a line in the sand and really brought things to

another level defensively.”Washington, however, were

left ruing their inability to put up decent numbers, making only 42.7 percent from the field against one of the league’s worst defenses.

The defeat was the Wizards’ third straight home loss and their fifth in seven games. Washing-ton fell to 5-5 with the loss.

Wizards ace John Wall, who put up 23 points and 14 assists, blamed slack defending for the loss.

“You have to be able to guard in this league, and we haven’t done that at the beginning of this

season,” Wall told reporters.There was another upset in

Sacramento, where the Kings -- 1-8 going into the game -- stunned Russell Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder by 94-86. Triple-double king West-brook was restricted to 20 points by a determined Sacramento defense. The Kings, meanwhile, shared the offensive load with four players making double fig-ures, led by Buddy Hield with 21 points.

In Salt Lake City, Dario Saric had 25 points and Ben Simmons 16 as the Philadelphia 76ers sank the Utah Jazz 104-97.

In New York, Kristaps Por-zingis scored 28 points as the Knicks staged yet another late rally to win, beating the Char-lotte Hornets 118-113 at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks fought back from a 15-point third quarter deficit to score a win which boosts them to 6-4 for the season. In San Antonio, the Spurs (7-4) romped to victory over the Los Angeles Clippers (5-5), win-ning 120-107. LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points for San Antonio while Danny Green added 24 and Rudy Hall 22 from the bench. Pau Gasol also cracked double fig-ures with 19 points.

35THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017 SPORT

Antetokounmpo magic in vain as Cavs win

Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) of the Milwaukee Bucks passes around Kevin Love (0) of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of thier NBA game at Quicken Loans Arena 7 in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday.

Baseball: Tributes pour in after Halladay dies in plane crashLos Angeles AFP

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay (pictured) died on Tuesday after the plane he was pilot-

ing crashed in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering an outpouring of tributes to the popular ex-Toronto Blue Jays and Phila-delphia Phillies star.

The 40-year-old two-time Cy Young winner, who retired four years ago, was the only person on board the single-engine ICON A5 plane, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.

Halladay’s body was recovered after the plane was found in shallow water off the Florida coast, authorities said. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred said the sport was mourn-ing the loss of a “well-respected figure and fierce competitor.”

“All of us at baseball are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic passing of former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadel-phia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay,” Manfred said in a statement.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball I extend my deepest condolences to his family, including his wife, Brandy, and two sons, Ryan and Braden, his friends and countless fans,” Manfred added.

The Phillies issued a statement of con-dolence soon after news of the crash

emerged. “We are numb over the very tragic news about Roy Halladay’s untimely death,” the Phillies said.

“There are no words to describe the sadness that the entire Phillies family is feeling over the loss of one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game.”

Halladay played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia in a 16-year career which included a perfect game in 2010 and a no-hitter in the playoffs the same year.

He was selected for the All-Star team on eight occasions but never managed to win a World Series.

Tributes to Halladay also came from former team-mates and stars from across baseball. Former Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells described Halladay as an all-time great.

“I had a front row seat to watch his greatness. RIP Doc,” Wells wrote on Twit-ter, referring to Halladay by his

affectionate nickname. Former Phillies infielder Michael Young added: “Devas-tating. One of my favorite teammates ever. The blueprint for what a competitor looks like. RIP Roy Halladay. Heartbroken for his family.”

The Houston Astros 2017 World Series-winning pitcher Dallas Keuchel said simply: “Rest In Peace Doc Halladay. One of the best to ever do it. You will be missed.”

Astros team-mate Justin Verlander said simply: “Shocked and saddened...gone way too soon. One of the best ever.”

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Bran-don McCarthy said Halladay was widely revered amongst his fellow professionals.

“Roy Halladay was your favorite play-er’s favorite player,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter.

“A true ace and a wonderful person. Heartbroken for those who knew him best.”

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco meanwhile said Halladay was a passionate aviator. In an interview last March, Halladay had revealed he had logged around 800 hours of flying time.

“I know there are people in his fam-ily that fly,” Nocco told a news conference.

“That’s where he got it from. He loved to fly. He talked about flying. He talked about refurbishing planes. He grew up doing it.

Calgary Flames defenceman Mark Giordano (5) and Vancouver Canucks right wing Derek Dorsett (15) battle for the puck during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Vancouver Canucks won 5-3.

Shore, Quick dazzle in Kings victoryNew York Reuters

Nick Shore scored in overtime, and Jonathan Quick had 33 saves as the Los Angeles

Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Tuesday.

Shore’s winner, which came at 3:51 of the extra period, was his sec-ond goal of the season. He looked goaltender Ryan Miller off with Dustin Brown charging down the slot and scored on a rising wrist shot.

Los Angeles killed five penal-ties, including a five-minute major, and scored one power-play goal in the game to win the special-teams battle.

The Kings also had two appar-ent goals disallowed in the third period.

Brown and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist in the win.

Calle Jarnkrok scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period, and Nashville extended its winning streak to three games with a vic-tory over Columbus.

Memphis 98 Portland 97

Sacramento 94 Oklahoma City 86

Denver 112 Brooklyn 104

Philadelphia 104 Utah 97

San Antonio 120 La Clippers 107

Ny Knicks 118 Charlotte 113

Toronto 119 Chicago 114

Cleveland 124 Milwaukee 119

New Orleans 117 Indiana 112

Dallas 113 Washington 99

NBA RESULTS

36 THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017SPORT

Rugby: Doha Maroon, Qatar Camels off to flying startThe Peninsula

Doha Maroon and the Qatar Camels head the leaderboard at the end of first round matches of

the Qatar Rugby Federation’s (QRF’s) newly-reformatted domestic XV’s competition, ‘The National Club Rugby Championship’.

Last weekend, Doha Maroon – Doha RFC’s men’s first team – stormed to victory, beating last year’s champions, Blue Phoe-nix, 74-3, while the Qatar Camels equally impressed with a score of 62-10 against Doha Gold – Doha RFC’s men’s sec-ond team.

After Round One, they lead

the competition, with five points each.

Dave Ford, captain of Doha Maroon, said: “Up until this point, we – Doha Maroon and Doha Gold – have trained as one team. So the game against Blue Phoenix was the first time we’ve split into two playing squads this season, the first real opportu-nity to work on patterns, our set piece, line-outs, and scrums. And it all clicked for us today, we were clinical in all the right areas.

“We saw the Qatar Camels play this weekend – they’re a strong team. They’re sevens spe-cialists, so they like big, open rugby, but it’s nothing our defence can’t handle. It’s going to be an interesting challenge,

one which I know we are all looking forward to,” Dave concluded.

Yousef Al Kuwari, QRF Pres-ident, said: “Overall, progress during a mixed lead-up to the start of the 2017/2018 season has been positive to see, especially in the way the teams have organised themselves and are really starting to contribute to this new era of rugby in Qatar.”

The action continues this weekend with all six teams in the league going head-to-head at Doha Football Rugby Centre (DRFC) – home of the Doha RFC teams – in Round Two of the QRF’s National Club Rugby Championship. Visitors will need to pay an entrance fee of QR50.

Joe Dharshan Goonethillaka (centre), from Doha Maroon, discusses team tactics ahead of the game against Blue Phoenix.

Modric key to Croatia World Cup hopesZagreb AFP

Croatia will hope Real Madrid star Luka Modric can carry the nation to the

World Cup finals as they go into the first leg of a tricky play-off with Greece today.

The 32-year-old captain has faced a tumultuous year, with his shining reputation tarnished by a scandal in June over allegedly false testimony he gave at a major corruption trial.

But anger from the fans appeared to be swiftly forgotten after his brilliant performance in the 2-0 victory against Ukraine in Kiev in October, which secured Croatia a play-off place.

The national team now hopes the midfielder will be at his best to help them beat the 2004 European champions and secure a place in the tournament in Russia.

Modric is the biggest star Croatia has produced since 1998, when they surprisingly reached the World Cup semi-finals, los-ing to eventual winners France.

In October, Modric was named, for the third time, to the FIFA FIFPro team selected by thousands of professional play-ers. In 2015, he became the first Croatian voted on to the FIFPro XI.

Modric grew up during Croatia’s 1990s independence war as a refugee in Zadar on the Adriatic coast. There he played football in the corridors of a hotel-turned-shelter and in its parking lot, as the city was shelled.

His talent was spotted by a scout for NK Zadar and Modric joined the club.

Modric left for Dinamo Zagreb in 2000 and then joined English club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.

He was the subject of bids from a host of big European clubs before joining Real Madrid in 2012.

Modric was highly popular in Croatia until he testified in the multi-million-euro corruption trial of former Dinamo Zagreb boss Zdravko Mamic.

Mamic, considered the most powerful man in Croatian foot-ball, is accused -- along with his

brother Zoran Mamic and two others -- of abuse of power and corruption.

They allegedly deprived the former Croatian champions of more than 15 million euros ($17.4 million), and the state of 1.5 mil-lion euros.

Cash was allegedly embez-zled through fictitious deals related to player transfers, including Modric’s to Tottenham.

While testifying, Modric was visibly uncomfortable and con-fused, unable to even remember the year he made his debut for the national squad.

After prosecutors said his

statement differed from the one he gave during investigations in 2015, Modric went from being a witness to a suspect.

He is being probed over alleged false testimony, which is punishable by up to five years in jail.

The prosecutors accuse Modric of wrongly saying that he had signed an annex to a con-tract with Dinamo, over conditions for future transfers, in July 2004.

During earlier questioning, the player said that the annex was signed after he had joined Tottenham.

M o d r i c ’ s t e s t i m o n y

infuriated many Croatian fans as it could undermine the charges against Mamic, who they believe has abused football for personal gain.

Fans criticised Modric on social media, calling him “Mam-ic’s puppet”, while some even wanted him kicked off the Croatian squad.

“My conscience is clear,” the star told reporters in July.

“I’m certain that eventually it will be shown that I did not commit any criminal act.”

Modric told Spanish sports daily Marca in July that peo-ple were criticising him “without really knowing how things are”, although he appeared to be forgiven -- at least for now -- after the Kiev match.

Ahead of tomorrow’s contest, Modric said: “We have confi-dence but also a difficult rival” in Greece.

If Croatia qualifies it would be Modric’s sixth tournament. He has played in two World Cups and three European champion-ships, including France 2016.

Modric has been capped 101 times by Croatia and scored 11 goals.

He took over as captain from Shakhtar midfielder Darijo Srna last year.

Croatia is at home in the first leg of the playoff, which will be played at the Zagreb Maksimir stadium. The return fixture is on November 12 in Piraeus.

The football federations of the two countries have agreed that, for security reasons, both matches will be played without visiting fans.

Video referee for England vs Germany matchLondon AFP

A video referee will be used in England’s friendly against Ger-

many at Wembley tomorrow, half a century after one of the most controversial decisions in the history of the game at the 1966 World Cup final.

Last year the Interna-tional Football Association Board approved a two-year trialling of the video referee-ing (VAR) system.

It is being used in Italy and Germany this season but Friday’s match will see it used for the first time in an official game in Britain -- during a fixture that has been seen its fair share of controversial goalline incidents.

The debate over whether Geoff Hurst’s goal in the 1966 World Cup final crossed the line during England’s 4-2 win at Wembley has never gone away while Frank Lampard’s disallowed strike during Eng-land’s 4-1 defeat at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was shown to have crossed the line by technology.

Video assistant referees, watching the game on TV screens, are available to review four types of situa-tion -- goals, penalty/no penalty decisions, straight red cards, and cases of mis-taken identity.

It is only to be used “to correct clear errors and for missed serious i n c i d e n t s ” i n t h o s e “match-changing” situa-tions, the IFAB has said.

VARs and other match officials are able to recom-mend reviews but the only person who can initiate one is the referee, who will then have the final say on whether their original decision should stand or be changed.

They have the option to review footage themselves on a pitch-side monitor before making a final deci-sion. A trial of the system passed without incident dur-ing last month’s 2017 Wembley Cup charity match.

FIFA have yet to con-firm whether VARs will be used at next year’s World Cup in Russia, but the fledgling system has had a mixed start in Germany.

There has been furious debate over when the VAR should intervene and how long it takes for decisions to be reviewed.

Croatia’s Luka Modric controling the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification match against Finland in Rijeka in this October 6, 2017 file picture.

Honduras set for ‘game of their lives’ against AustraliaParis Reuters

Honduras’ World Cup play-off against Australia will be “one of the most

important games of our lives” and the Central American side believe their hopes of reaching Russia depend on a first leg win at home this weekend, winger Romell Quioto said

Honduras finished in fourth in the CONCACAF region of North and Central America and the Caribbean thanks to a last-day win over Mexico and will meet Australia at home on Nov. 10, before heading down under for the second-leg five days later.

The Central Americans have struggled recently, with just three wins in their last 16 matches, and Quioto admits they will need to produce their

best form to qualify for next year’s tournament.

“I think it is one of the most important games of our lives,” he told Reuters. “It is the chance to go to the World Cup finals. We are going to give it everything.”

Quioto and his team mates have all stressed they need to take a decent result to Australia, whose only losses at home this year were to Brazil and Ger-many. Honduras have recalled veteran striker Carlos Costly in the hope he can add to his tally of 32 goals in 75 international appearances and they were boosted earlier in the week with the inclusion of Eddie Hernan-dez, who is recovering quicker than expected from a cheek fracture.

Both sides have suspensions, with Honduras missing captain Maynor Figueroa and forward

Alberth Elis for the first leg.Australia, meanwhile, are

sweating on the availability of veteran forward Tim Cahill, who flew to Honduras with his physio, in the hope of working his injured ankle into match readiness.

The Socceroos will also be withVfL Bochum striker Rob-bie Kruse, who has a knee injury, and Mark Milligan and Mathew Leckie are both suspended.

They can, however, count on ample playoff experience, most memorably in 2005, when they defeated two-time World Cup winners Uruguay.

This time they have the added disadvantage in having to make two very long trips and coach Ange Postecoglou said securing a result in Honduras will be crucial if their tired legs are to carry them to Russia.

Northern Ireland’s Jonny Evans during a training session in preparation for the 2018 World Cup qualification in Northern Ireland in Belfast, yesterday.Northern Ireland play Switzerland today.