SPORT

QATAR WIN SILVER AT ASIAN PARA GAMES

Wednesday 10 October 2018

PAGE | 28 PAGE | 31Muguruza

to focus on rescuing season

Saha backs Mourinho, chastises Pogba

Al Attiyah reigns supreme in MoroccoTHE PENINSULA

FES, MOROCCO: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah stayed clear of problems through the final stage to claim his fifth successive victory in the gruelling Rally of Morocco and give Overdrive Racing and the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Team a major boost as preparations continue for the 2019 Dakar Rally.

A demanding six-day event that ran with a new organising team under the leadership of former Dakar organiser and nav-igator David Castera featured 1,362 kilometres of tricky navi-gation, dunes, rocky terrain, river

bed crossings and everything that the team needed to shake down its fleet of Toyota Hiluxes before January’s Peruvian challenge. The success marked a hat-trick of wins for Al-Attiyah with the Toyota.

Al Attiyah and his French navigator Matthieu Baumel dom-inated the race from the start and overcame their fair share of minor problems and delays to earn a winning margin of 16min 41sec over the newly-crowned FIA World Cup champion Jakub Przygonski and his Belgian nav-igator Tom Colsoul.

Al Attiyah said: “It’s unbe-lievable that we’ve been able to win our fifth consecutive Rally

of Morocco. I’m so happy with our performance here and our new car has been really strong all week.”

The French crew of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot produced one of their best ever perform-ances to seal an impressive fifth overall in the second of the Over-drive Racing Toyotas.

It was an action-packed event for South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers and Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke in the second and third Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa cars. De Villiers broke a wishbone and suffered exhaust issues that ultimately cost him additional time penalties and pushed him and French

navigator Alexandre Winocq down the order.

Ten Brinke teamed up with Frenchman Xavier Panseri for the first time and started strongly. Small navigational errors and a light roll hampered their progress and the Dutchman reached the finish in Fes in sixth place after passing Jean-Pascal Besson on the last stage.

The Dutch crew of Erik van Loon and new co-driver Harmen Scholtabers were running strongly inside the top 10 until they suffered a heavy impact on the fourth stage that damaged the car’s differential and the resultant time penalties incurred for reaching the bivouac by road dropped Van Loon down at the finish. Russian G-Energy driver Vladimir Vasilyev and navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov lost their slim chance of overhauling Prz-ygonski to snatch a second FIA World Cup title when trans-mission issues sidelined their Toyota.

Al Attiyah clocked the quickest time of 8min 27sec through the opening 10km Pro-logue stage at Fes. The Qatari beat Martin Prokop by nine seconds and Jakub Przygonski by 23.

Ovedrive Racing colleagues De Villiers, Vasilyev, Ten Brinke, Van Loon and Chabot were fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth and 14th. Seaidan lost 13 minutes on the Prologue and stopped the clocks in 21min 04sec after rolling his Toyota and Domzala also suffered a minor technical issue.

THE PENINSULA

FES, MOROCCO: Adel Abdulla recovered strongly from missing two days of the Rally of Morocco with ECU issues and carded the second quickest time on the final selective section between Erfoud and Fes yesterday.

But the massive time pen-alties that the Qatari had incurred for missing Satur-day’s and Sunday’s routes ulti-mately cost him dearly and he was unable to prevent Ahmed Al-Shegawi from claiming the category victory for T2 series production cross-country vehicles.

On arguably the toughest round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, which ran with a dynamic new organ-isational team spearheaded by former Dakar organiser and navigator David Castera, teams faced daunting dunes, pun-ishing heat, rocky tracks and difficult navigation.

Al-Shegawi’s success means that he has provisionally retained the FIA T2 World Championship.

Adel, driving a Nissan Patrol Y62 as part of the QX Rally Team with French navigator Jean-Michel Polato, finished the event in third place behind the Russian driver Andrey Titov, who won the last stage in a time of 3hrs 30min 57sec. Adel Abdulla had the consolation of finishing as runner-up in the T2 World Championship after a long campaign, which was marred on more than one occasion by cruel luck.

Adel said: “We finished the race in third position after all the problems we had at the end of day two. There was nothing we could do about it. The ECU burned. There were no mistakes by the team and we must just accept that. We fought hard to continue the race and we fin-ished on the podium. This was important.”

Qatar’s Adel Abdulla in action during the Rally of Morocco yesterday.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in action during the Rally of Morocco yesterday.

Al Rayyan appoint Uygun as head coachTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: A day after parting ways with Argentine Rodolfo Arrua-barrena, Al Rayyan have announced experienced Bulent Uygun as their new head coach who will take the charge soon, Qatar’s top football club announced yesterday.

Uygun, a former professional footballer from Turkey, will be arriving in Doha soon to oversee Al Rayyan’s preparations for Round 9 of the QNB Stars League (QSL).

Arruabarrena resigned as coach in the aftermaths of Al Rayyan’s shock defeat against Al Khor in the QSL last week. The loss followed Al Rayyan’s 5-0 drubbing to Al Sadd last month in Qatar Clasico. The former QSL

champions, who started this season as main title contenders along with reigning champions Al Duhail and Al Sadd, are on 4th spot with 14 points.

‘The Lions’ will be hoping for a reverse of fortunes under Uygun, who is no stranger to the QSL as he coached Al Gharafa to an impressive 4th position last season.

He was also at Umm Salal’s helm during 2013-16. Bulent had made it big at the club and country levels as an attacking midfielder. He had captained Fenerbahce, where

he spent most of his club career, apart from playing for the Turkey national team 18 times.

The Turk is expected to start his Al Rayyan campaign against his former ranks Al Gharafa on October 19 at Al Sadd Stadium. Al Duhail are leading the QSL points standings with 19 points, followed by Al Sadd (17) and Al Sailiya (16).

Meanwhile, Arruabarrena held a farewell meeting with Al Rayyan’s players and officials exchanging good wishes, before his departure back home.

Former Al Rayyan coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena, who resigned from his post, bidding farewell to players of Al Rayyan.

Bulent Uygun the new Al Rayyan coach.

Qatar’s Sara Masoud (left), silver medal winner in women's shot put F33 at the Asian Para Games celebrates during the award ceremony in Jakarta Indonesia yesterday. Batoul Jahangiri of Iran took the gold while the bronze medal went to Emirati Sara Al Senaani.

Doha hosts coaches conferenceTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The 2018 ITF West & Central Asia Regional Coaches Conference will kick off with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Al Dana Club in Doha today.

Over 130 coaches, including 70 from several West and Central Asian countries and 55 other coaches from Qatar, are participating in the three-day

conference which will be held until October 12.

Hosted by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Feder-ation (QTSBF), the conference will highlight a number of issues including the strategies and plans to develop tennis worldwide and the latest training methods and programmes espe-cially for young players.

The event will also focus on female tennis and strategies to

further develop the sport in the region.

Belgium’s Ruben Neyens, a very inventive coach, who designs physical development programmes that keep young players interested and motivated and Emma Doyle from Australia are among the eight experts from the ITF who will be deliv-ering a series of theoretical and practical lectures for participants at the event.

Adel clinches third place in T2

28 WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2018SPORT

Photo released by the Olympic Information Services (OIS) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of Chilean Ashly Catalina Marin Torres warming up ahead of the Roller Speed Skating Women’s Combined at the Bosques de Palermo, Green Park, during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, yesterday.

Tokyo Olympics: Costs hit almost $25bn - may go higherAP

TOKYO: The price tag keeps soaring for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite local organizers and the International Olympic Committee saying that spending is being cut.

A report just released by the national government’s Board of Audit shows Japan is likely to spend $25bn to prepare the Games, and the final number could go even higher.

This is nearly a four-fold increase over Tokyo’s winning bid in 2013, which the report said projected costs of 829bn yen, or $7.3bn at the current exchange rate of 113 yen to the dollar.

Tracking Tokyo costs is getting more difficult as work speeds up, deadlines near, and disputes arise about what are - and what are not - Olympic expenses. Complicated accounting also makes it dif-ficult to figure out who pays for what, and who profits.

“It’s the most amazing thing that the Olympic Games are the only type of meg-aproject to always exceed their budget,” Bent Flyvberg, an authority on Olympic budgeting, said in explaining his research: “The Oxford Olympics Study 2016.”

Flyvberg said the study failed to “find even one” Olympics that came in on or below budget.

Tokyo is a case study.In December, the Tokyo organizing

committee said the Olympic budget was 1.35tr yen, or about $12bn.

This consisted of equal contributions of 600bn yen ($5.3bn) from the organ-izing committee and the Tokyo metro-politan government, with another 150 billion yen ($1.3bn) coming from the national government.

But a month later, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the city needed to chip in an added 810bn yen ($7.2bn) “for projects directly and indirectly related to the games.” She said this included building barrier-free facilities for Paralympic ath-letes, training programs for volunteers, and advertising and tourism plans.

This raised the overall costs to 2.16tn yen, or about $19.1bn.

The IOC and local organizers dispute these are Olympic expenses, describing them as “regular administrative costs” that fall “outside the overall games budget.”

Flyvberg credited organizers of recent Olympics with trying to control costs, but tight Olympic deadlines make it difficult. Other large building projects can be pushed back a few months. Not the Olympics.

He also said it was inefficient for dif-ferent cities to keep organizing the games.

“All you can do when problems begin - and problems always begin on projects of this size - is to throw more money at the project,” Flyvberg said.

Another Tokyo cost increase popped up a few days ago.

A 178-page report by the Board of Audit said the national government’s share of spending had increased to 801bn yen ($7.1bn) from the $1.3bn estimated

back in December.This brings total spending to 2.81tn

yen, or just under $25bn, with suggestions it could reach 3tn when the games open in just under two years.

The report said “a large amount of spending was expected to continue after 2018 leading up to the event.”

The report urged organizers, the Tokyo city government, central gov-ernment, and local agencies to increase transparency.

In a statement yesterday, local organ-izers again disputed what should be called Olympic costs.

Spokesman Masa Takaya said expen-ditures listed such as “inbound tourism, road constructions, subsidy for creating a hydrogen society, and even improving accuracy of weather forecasts with better satellites,” should not be considered Olympic expenses.

The audit report also faulted Tokyo organizers for excluding other expenses

from the budget. The report said these came to about 650bn yen ($5.6bn) and included things like: repairs to existing buildings; security costs; the cost of running doping facilities.

It said the organizing committee’s December budget did “not reflect all the costs related to the operation of the event.”

About 80 percent of the $25bn will be taxpayer money. The rest - about $5.3bn - comes from the privately funded oper-ating budget. This budget receives $1.7bn from the IOC with the rest coming from sponsors, merchandising and ticket sales.

Tokyo organizers say they have saved billions in the last several years by using existing venues, holding shorter test events and by making other cuts in construction.

The IOC has also tried to promote fru-gality, aware that hidden and soaring costs have driven away many possible Olympic bidders - particularly for the Winter Olympics.

Three bidders remain for the 2026 Winter Olympics: Calgary, Canada; Stockholm, Sweden; Milan-Cortina, Italy. Several others dropped out.

Organizers of the recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, reported a budget surplus of $55m this week. Meanwhile, the provincial gov-ernment is complaining about paying mil-lions for upkeep on empty venues, with the national government unwilling to assume the costs.

There is talk of razing several empty venues.

“Even though people try to bring down costs, it’s very difficult,” Flyvberg said. “But there is some progress. But not nearly as much as for other types of megaprojects.”

Flyvberg added that “for a city and nation to decide to stage the Olympic games is to decide to take on one of the most costly and financially most risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and national have learned too their peril.”

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach gestures during the 133rd IOC session held on the sidelines of the on-going Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, yesterday.

FROM LEFT: Senegal’s President Macky Sall, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and the mayor of Dakar Soham El Wardini, pose for pictures following Dakar’s naming as 2022 Youth Olympic Games host city, during the 133rd IOC session in Buenos Aires. Senegal will become the first African nation to host an Olympic event.

Senegal to host 2022 Youth GamesAA

DAKAR: The International Olympic Committee has chosen Senegal to host the 2022 Youth Olympic Games - making it the first African host of any Olympics.

The other bidders were Nigeria, Botswana and Tunisia.

The announcement was made late Monday by IOC Vice President Ugur Erdener in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Senegalese President Macky Sall, who was present at the event,

said the government-backed bid includes a $150 million budget, a 50,000-seat Olympic stadium, a railway link and an Olympic village.

Last month, IOC President Thomas Bach said “it is time for Africa” after the committee’s Exec-utive Board recommended Senegal over the other three bids.

“Africa is a continent of youth,” he stressed. The Senegal 2022 Youth Games will be hosted in three cities: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.

Muguruza won’t be celebrating, to focus on rescuing seasonAFP

HONG KONG: Former world number one Garbine Muguruza said she had put her birthday celebrations on hold as she battles to rescue a disappointing season by winning the WTA Hong Kong Open.

Muguruza, who has slumped from top of the rankings in 2017 to world number 13, turned 25 on Monday but said celebrations had been low key the night before her first round clash with fellow Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo.

“It was a very simple cel-ebration, we went to dinner with the team, but honestly, if you’re competing the next day it’s very hard to think about something else,” she said. “I’m sure I will have more time after here to do something more fun.”

Muguruza cruised through 6-3, 6-1 but insisted the clash had not been plain sailing.

“It’s not easy to play a Spanish player -- because I know her -- but I’m happy I’m in the second round.”

The former French Open and Wimbledon champion, who enjoys playing at the net, added: “(Sorribes Tormo) is very talented so she managed to put me in trouble and give me difficult balls, so I think it was very competitive.”

Earlier yesterday Chinese number one Wang Qiang, currently enjoying the hottest streak of her career, cruised to a straightforward 6-0, 6-2 victory over Hong Kong’s Zhang Ling.

After her latest win Wang -- who is even being touted as a potential successor to double Grand Slam champion and China tennis icon Li Na -- said she was playing the best tennis of her career, adding she felt more “confi-dence” on court and was hitting the ball more aggressively.

Japan’s Nao Hibino, ranked 125 in the world, bundled out 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur in straight sets. The Aus-tralian, who is still ranked 69, went down 3-6, 3-6.

Meanwhile Australia’s Daria Gavrilova backed Roger Federer after the Swiss great warned temperamental tennis star Nick Kyrgios he needed to work harder to realise his potential.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion offered the tough love to Kyrgios after the 23-year-old made yet another contentious exit from the Shanghai Masters on Monday.

Kyrgios’ first-round defeat was marred by a running argument with the chair umpire who suggested his efforts were “borderline”. Federer described Kyrgios as “a great player” but added he needed to develop a work ethic to go with his talent.

Gavrilova, the second-ranked Australian woman, said: “I’m pretty sure Roger is spot on.” She added: “(Kyrgios) is definitely one of the most talented players out there and I love watching him. I don’t know what hap-pened in Shanghai but... hopefully he can make a breakthrough and win a few slams.”

Gavrilova, the world number 34 who is seeded seventh at the Hong Kong Open, booked her place in the second round after a fiery three-set victory over the Kazakh Zarina Diyas.

29WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2018 SPORT

Asif’s six-for rocks Australia as Pakistan take commandAFP

DUBAI: Test debutant Bilal Asif snatched six wickets to spark a spectacular Australian collapse from 142-0 to 202 all out and put Pakistan in firm command of the first Test in Dubai yesterday.

The 33-year-old off-spinner overshadowed his more expe-rienced team-mate Yasir Shah by finishing with 6-36 as his efforts, the third best figures for a Pakistani bowler on Test debut, derailed Australia on a pitch which started to assist spinners on the third day.

Despite being jolted by spinner Jon Holland’s two key wickets of Mohammad Hafeez (17) and Azhar Ali (four), Pakistan closed the day on 45-3, having an overall lead of 325 with seven second-innings wickets intact to force a win.

Opener Imam-ul-Haq was unbeaten on 23 while night-watchman Asif was dismissed for nought, unable to guard Azhar from coming to bat in a crucial stage.

But it was a day highlighted by Asif who triggered a memo-rable Australian collapse against spin in Asia to mark a long-awaited Test debut.

“I knew that my chance would come, so I waited and waited and thanks God I have done myself proud by getting six

wickets on debut, it’s a tre-mendous feeling,” said Asif.

“I was struggling a bit in the first session, but all my team-mates and coaches gave me con-fidence and that increased my energy which helped me get six wickets.”

By lunch Australia were well-placed at 137 without loss with Usman Khawaja (85) and debutant Aaron Finch (62), but the slump followed shortly after as the Baggy Greens lost all 10 wickets for just 60 runs.

Asif, who had previously played three one-day interna-tionals in 2015, came into his own after pacer Mohammad

Abbas removed Finch following an opening stand of 142.

In a spell of 22 balls Asif took four wickets as Australia slumped to 180-5 by tea.

The second session belonged to Asif, who dismissed Khawaja, Shaun Marsh (seven), Travis Head (nought) and Marnus Labuschagne (nought) in the space of 29 runs.

Asif’s feats on debut had only been bettered by fast bowler Mohammad Zahid (7-66 vs New Zealand in Rawalpindi in 1994) and spinner Mohammad Nazir (7-99 against New Zealand in Karachi in 1969).

Asif is the 11th Pakistani

bowler to take five or more wickets in an innings on Test debut.

Before Asif’s brilliance Abbas had forced Finch to drive straight into the hands of Asad Shafiq at short mid-on.

Khawaja hit eight fours before miscuing a premedi-tated sweep and was caught at short leg while Finch had five boundaries and a six in his knock.

Leg-spinner Yasir was unlucky not to be amongst wickets, having dropped Mitchell Marsh off his own bowling for two and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed missing a stump in the first session with Khawaja on 17.

Yasir went wicketless after 28 probing overs.

Earlier in the day, Finch was more confident as he punched two boundaries and a six off Yasir before sweeping Asif for a boundary to reach his half-century.

Khawaja, the Pakistan-born batsman, improved upon his previous best score in Asia of 26, made against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2011, by reaching his 13th Test half-century.

The second and final Test starts in Abu Dhabi from October 16. Both teams will also play three Twenty20 internationals after Tests.

Pakistan’s Bilal Asif (centre) bowls during the third day of first Test against Australia in Dubai, yesterday.

Pakistan 1st innings ............................. 482Australia Ist inningsUsman Khawaja c Imam b Asif ........................... 85

A. Finch c Shafiq b Abbas ..................................... 62

S. Marsh c Shafiq b Asif ...........................................7

M. Marsh lbw b Abbas ...........................................12

T. Head c Sohail b Asif ............................................. 0

M. Labuschagne c Imam b Asif ............................. 0

T. Paine c Imam b Asif ..............................................7

M. Starc c Sarfraz b Abbas ..................................... 0

P. Siddle b Abbas ....................................................10

N. Lyon c Azhar b Asif ............................................ 6

J. Holland not out .................................................... 0

Extras: (b 6, lb 7) .................................................13

Total: (all out; 83.3 overs) .................... 202Fall of wickets: 1-142 (Finch), 2-160 (S. Marsh),

3-167 (Khawaja), 4-171 (Head), 5-171 (Labuschagne),

6-183 (M. Marsh), 7-183 (Paine), 8-191 (Star), 9-202

(Siddle), 10-202 (Lyon)

Bowling: Abbas 19-9-29-4, Riaz 11-2-39-0, Yasir

28-6-80-0, Hafeez 3-1-2-0, Asif 21.3-7-36-6, Azhar

1-0-3-0

Pakistan 2nd inningsImam-ul-Haq not out ........................................... 23

M Hafeez c Labuschagne b Holland .................... 17

Bilal Asif c Head b Lyon .......................................... 0

Azhar Ali lbw b Holland .......................................... 4

Extras: (lb 1) .............................................................. 1

Total: (for three wkts; 16.2 overs) ..........45Still to bat: Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam,

Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Wa-

hab Riaz

Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Hafeez), 2-38 (Asif), 3-45

(Azhar)

Bowling: Starc 3-1-9-0, Lyon 8-1-23-1, Siddle 2-1-

3-0, Holland 3.2-1-9-2

SCOREBOARD

It’s better late than never for Pakistan’s AsifAFP

DUBAI: Ten years ago Bilal Asif had almost quit cricket by joining his father in Kuwait to work as an elec-trician, but a change of heart brought about by ex-Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has paid dividends.

Yesterday, Asif became the latest spinning bete noire for Australia, snatching 6-36 in the first Test in Dubai to trigger a spectacular collapse for the Baggy Greens, who lost 10 wickets for 60 runs as they slumped from a soild 142-0 to 202 all out.

That gave Asif third best innings figures on Test debut for a Pakistani bowler behind Mohammad Asif (7-64) and Mohammad Nazir (7-99).

The 33-year-old made his international debut when he played three one-dayers for Pakistan in Zimbabwe in 2015, but had to wait another three years for a Test role.

Asif, however, said it had been worth the wait, praising former skipper Malik for some timely advice.

Back from Kuwait “It’s an old story that I

went to Kuwait to help my father, but Malik advised me to return and fight hard for a place in the Pakistan team,” recalled Asif.

“It was a worthy return.” The tall and energetic Asif

hails from a small town of Allo Mahar Sharif, close to Sialkot in the northeast Punjab which has produced players like batting great

Zaheer Abbas, Ijaz Ahmed, Malik and Haris Sohail.

During his one-day stint in Zimbabwe his bowling action was reported as illegal, but on assessment it was cleared -- another tough phase of his career.

Last year he was included in Pakistan’s squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, but did not feature as team management thought he was still not ready.

Asif’s chance finally came as Pakistan deemed him useful against Australia’s three left-handers in the top order in the Dubai Test.

Asif said his success was a reward for hard work and patience.

“Being a professional cricketer, you have to be tough mentally. I always kept working hard. I didn’t think whether I would get a chance or not,” said Asif, who over-shadowed his more illus-trious spin partner Yasir Shah, who went wicketless in Australia’s 202 all out.

Pakistan, having gained a lead of 280 in the first innings, closed the third day at 45-3 in their second innings, an overall lead of 325 runs.

“I was out of the team since 2015. I was at the National Cricket Academy camp where I worked with head coach Mushtaq Ahmed. I got the reward for that hard work,” said Asif, who was dismissed for a duck after being sent in at number three to see out in Tuesday’s play.

Bilal Asif leaves the ground after Australia were bowled out in Dubai, yesterday.

ODI series: England ‘happy favourites’ as hosts SL warn of ‘mystery spinners’AFP

DAMBULLA: England are “very happy” being favourites for the one-day series in Sri Lanka but are aware that past tours have been “tricky”, Jos Buttler (pictured) said yesterday on the eve of the first match in Dambulla.

Sri Lanka’s captain Dinesh Chandimal warned meanwhile that conditions were “very dif-ferent” to England, with some “mystery spinners” who could pose problems for Eoin Morgan’s batsmen.

“Very happy being favourites. It shows we’ve been doing good stuff and I like being favourites,” Buttler told reporters, saying the team were “very confident” and aiming to be “pushing the boundaries”.

The batsman added however: “We’re very aware of Sri Lanka’s qualities in these conditions. They have some experienced players... It’s been tricky in the past for England sides to come here.”

He added that being the number-one ranked one-day side ahead of next year’s World Cup on home soil brought its own pressures.

“There is always pressure being number one. Once you get there, I think that’s when the hard work really starts. You’ve got a bit of a target on your back.

“It is down to you to keep improving and try to stay there. That’s the challenge and it has its own pressures. I think in the dressing room we have a good understanding... and know that we need to keep improving and

pushing the boundaries.” Buttler said the World Cup

was in the back of everyone’s mind, but they were taking every series one at a time and hoped to build a core group of players for next year’s championship.

“It’s about trending in the right way and being able to build a core group of players -- a squad of 15, 16, 17 guys -- who we can call upon hopefully for the World Cup,” he said.

Underdogs Sri Lanka are still reeling from the axing of captain Angelo Mathews after a dismal run of 30 losses in their last 40

ODIs including defeats to Bang-ladesh and Afghanistan in last month’s Asia Cup.

Chandimal, who missed the Asia Cup and the preceding ODI series against South Africa due to injury and suspension, cau-tioned that home pitches had “a lot of spin”.

“Especially for the batters it’s not easy to play... We have some mystery spinners as well.

“They got all the experience and talent and we have to compete with them. When the situation comes we have some game plans which we will have to execute.”

Chandimal said he hoped to improve the team’s fielding. “In the last few days, we worked really hard on our fielding indi-vidually and as a group,” he said.

“That’s the biggest change we are trying to make in this series -- give priority to our fielding and give it a lot of attention.”

The five-match one-day series is followed by three Tests in November.

England captain Eoin Morgan looks at the winged termites flying around him during a practice session ahead of their first ODI in Dambulla, yesterday. Monsoon rains may affect the five-match series. England’s final warm-up match on Saturday in Colombo was washed out.

Very happy being

favourites. It shows

we’ve been doing

good stuff and I like

being favourites:

England batsman Jos

Buttler

30 WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2018SPORT

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return against Jeremy Chardy of France during their first-round match at the Shanghai Masters yesterday.

Roger Federer of Switzerland arrives for a training session at the Shanghai Masters.

Respect ball kids, Federer tells fellow pros

RF warns Kyrgios over work ethicAFP

SHANGHAI: Roger Federer warned temperamental Australian Nick Kyrgios yesterday that he would never fulfil his potential without the work ethic to go with his talent.

The 23-year-old Kyrgios made another contentious exit from the Shanghai Masters on Monday after a running argument with the chair umpire who suggested his efforts were “bor-derline”. The 38th-ranked Kyrgios was on the end of a surprise first-round loss to the American qualifier Bradley Klahn, the world number 104 winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

It is the third time in as many Shanghai appearances that Kyrgios has departed the Masters 1000 event under a cloud.

Speaking in Shanghai, where Federer is the top seed and reigning champion, the 37-year-old Swiss great called Kyrgios “a great player”.

But he also sounded a note of caution.“I think it’s really up to him where he

wants to go and what his potential really holds,” said the 20-time Grand Slam winner.

“We don’t really know and I don’t think he really knows exactly what his potential is. And only through under-standing work ethic and scheduling and whatever it might be, creating the right team around himself, only then can you unlock the potential really.”

Kyrgios, who this week lost his status as Australia’s number one to 33rd-ranked Alex de Minaur, has a chequered history in Shanghai.

Last year he was fined after he walked off mid-way through his first-round match, and in 2016 he was sus-pended and fined after being accused of giving away points in another defeat.

Federer, who admitted that the hard graft did not necessarily come naturally to him either, backed Kyrgios to “win bigger tournaments and do all these things”.

“But there is still a process in place that he needs to do like any other player needs to go through in order to be suc-cessful,” he added.

Australian doubles great Todd Wood-bridge said the scheduling of Shanghai, a compulsory tournament at the tail-end of the season, seemed to be a problem for Kyrgios.

Djokovic storms into third roundAFP

SHANGHAI: Imperious Novak Djokovic declared that he was “a completely different player” from the first half of this year after he beat France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-5 to roll into the Shanghai Masters third round yesterday.

The rejuvenated Serbian second seed has now won all 12 matches against Chardy and this victory was never in doubt.

The 31-year-old Djokovic had to contend with a more stubborn Chardy in the second set, before the world number three’s superior shot-making won through in 83 minutes.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion missed six months of competition in

2017 and had elbow surgery in February. But he has burst back to form and fitness since the summer, winning Wimbledon, the US Open and the Masters 1000 Cincinnati in a terrific run, and says he is back close to his best.

Djokovic, who is eyeing Rafael Nadal’s number one ranking, said: “I haven’t won too many matches the beginning of the year. After the surgery I was not managing to play my best, and that has changed, so obviously the more you win, the more comfortable and more confident you feel on the court.”

The Serb will play either Italy’s Marco Cecchinato or South Korea’s Chung Hyeon next -- he lost to both during his darker days in the first half of the year.

“I think I’m a completely different player than I was in first five, six months of the year,” he said. “Hopefully the outcome can be different as well.”

In the absence of the injured Nadal, holder Roger Federer is the top seed in Shanghai and the Swiss great starts his campaign today against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.

Nikoloz Basilashvili showed that his China Open triumph at the weekend was no fluke as he brushed aside the prom-ising Denis Shapovalov. The Georgian, up to a career-high 23 in the world fol-lowing his victory over Juan Martin del Potro in Beijing on Sunday, beat the teenage Canadian 6-2, 6-2 in just 57 minutes. The 26-year-old Basilashvili will now have another upset in his sights

when he plays fourth seed Alexander Zverev at the Masters 1000 event today.

Basilashvili’s victory over an under-the-weather Del Potro at the weekend was just his second ATP title, the first coming in Hamburg in July. Del Potro, the Shanghai third seed who was suf-fering with a cold and flu in Beijing, meets France’s Richard Gasquet.

A press conference for the Argentine yesterday was cancelled at the last moment, however, which suggests that he could still be unwell. Austria’s Dominic Thiem became the biggest cas-ualty so far when the sixth seed was stunned by Matthew Ebden in a thrilling three-set contest. The Australian finally emerged 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/4) for the biggest scalp of his career.

Meanwhile Tianjin, fourth seed Aryna Sabalenka took down American Sofia Kenin 7-6(4) 4-6 6-0 in the first round of the Tianjin Open yesterday, as the Belarusian maintains slim hopes to secure a spot at this month’s WTA Finals.

Every win in the WTA international tournament counts for Sabalenka, who along with Karolina Pliskova, Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens, is fighting for the three available spots left for the season-ending event in Singapore.

Wuhan Open winner Sabalenka, currently 10th in the Race to Singapore leaderboard, must win in Tianjin this week, and also needs help from other results from Pliskova and Bertens to keep her qualifying bid alive.

Serena confirms presence at the Australian OpenAFP

MELBOURNE: Seven times champion Serena Williams will be back at the Australian Open in 2019 having missed her title defence this year after giving birth, organisers said yesterday.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner, who won on her last appearance in 2017 while pregnant, will be joined in Jan-uary’s tournament by double Melbourne Park champion Vic-toria Azarenka who was forced to withdraw from the 2018 event because of a custody battle with her baby’s father.

Australian Open tour-nament director Craig Tiley said yesterday he was expecting a full contingent of the top 100 men and women players in Melbourne next year.

“I’m delighted to announce that Serena Williams will return to the Australian Open in January,” Tiley said while launching the 2019 event at Rod Laver Arena.

“We last saw Serena here in Melbourne as our champion, holding the Daphne Ackhurst Memorial Cup in 2017. Of course what we didn’t know at the time was that she was already eight weeks pregnant with baby Olympia,” said Tiley.

Williams needs one more Grand Slam singles victory to equal Aus-tralian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.

“Serena loves coming to Melbourne and I know she’s e x c i t e d a b o u t returning in January with her family, it’s definitely a very special place for her,” said Tiley. “She’ll also be super-focused on winning here, and equalling Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.”

Tiley said the

tournament was gearing up to welcome back Azarenka and Williams -- and their children.

“Vika (Azarenka) is also a new mum to toddler Leo and I’m looking forward to showing her, and Serena, our new creche facilities,” said Tiley. “I’m sure they’ll be appreciated.”

Six-time men’s winners Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who captured his 20th Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January, look to be among the players to beat again in 2019. Tiley was also looking forward to the return of Brit-ain’s Andy Murray, the five-time losing finalist who missed this year’s event with injury.

“With his incredible work ethic and competitive spirit it would be foolish to underes-timate him,” he said of the Scot.

Tiley said prize money at the January 14-27 tournament will be increased to A$60.5m ($42.9m) from A$55m in 2018 -- split equally between men’s and women’s tournaments. The 2018 singles winners Federer and Caroline Wozniacki both picked up cheques for A$4m ($2.83m).

The tournament will also introduce a 25-second serve clock to speed up play, after the innovation made its Slam debut at this year’s US Open.

SHANGHAI: Tennis players need to respect ball boys and ball girls, Roger Federer said in the wake of a row following Fernando Verdasco’s rant over a sweaty towel.

Spaniard Verdasco was cast as a villain on social media last week after appearing to berate a ball boy for not bringing his towel quickly enough during a semi-final defeat at the Shenzen Open.

A video of the world number 30 impatiently gesticulating and appearing to rant at the youngster swiftly circu-lated on social media, leading to a raft of criticism from fans and pundits.

Federer yesterday stopped short of criticising Verdasco -- acknowledging that nerves can become ragged in com-petition -- but he did stress the need to respect ball kids.

“Sure you always want to respect the ball kids for who they are and the great job that they’re doing,” the Swiss said, adding “but it’s not easy for each and every player to control their emo-tions exactly.”

Federer, who himself acted as a ball boy in his youth, said he felt most of the young helpers understood the pressure players are under, but that it was vital they enjoyed a good experience at tournaments.

“The ball kids are really important to us because they are also maybe the future of our game,” the Swiss, in Shangahi for the Masters tournament, said.

“I was happy when I left a tennis tournament, I felt like, ‘oh man, it was just all good’,” he said of his time as a ball boy.

“There were no negatives, so you don’t want to have them leave feeling like, oh my god, like I was not appre-ciated or I was not liked or it was actually a horrible thing, you know?

“So yes, it needs to be taken care of.”Not so long ago the likes of Bjorn

Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors would fetch their own drinks and take care of themselves at changeovers.

These days modern pampered players plant themselves in a courtside chair and gesture for drinks, ice-packs, bananas, towels, new rackets and any-thing else they may need.

The tide, though, may be turning.At next month’s Next Gen ATP Finals

in Milan -- the season-ending tour-nament for the best Under-21 male players -- players will be instructed to use a towel rack at the end of the court “to remove the onus on ball kids to handle towels”.

A file photo of Serena

Williams at the 2017

Australian Open.

31WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2018 SPORT

QSL Cup: Teams get ready for Round 2THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The 2018-19 season QSL Cup’s Round 2 games will be played tomorrow and October 13, with three matches on each day.

Fixtures are scheduled during international breaks when the QNB Stars League is stopped. The QSL Cup is also a great platform for clubs to unearth new talents and they give opportunities to as many Under-23 players as possible.

Group A matches will be played tomorrow and Group B on Saturday.

The fixtures for tomorrow are Al Kharaitiyat vs Al Arabi (17:35) at Al Arabi Stadium, Qatar SC vs Umm Salal (17:35) at Qatar SC Stadium and Al Duhail vs Al Gharafa (19:45) at Qatar SC Stadium.

On Saturday, it will be Al Ahli vs Al Sailiya (17:35) at Qatar SC Stadium, Al Sadd vs Al Rayyan (17:35) at Al Duhail Stadium and Al Shahania vs Al Khor (19:45) at Al Arabi Stadium.

Al Duhail are leading the Group A standings with three points they collected from their 2-1 win over Al Kharaitiyat in the first round.

Umm Salal also have three points from their 1-0 victory over Al Arabi and same goal dif-ference (+1), but Al Duhail occupy the top spot having scored more number of goals.

Qatar SC and Al Gharafa are third and fourth respectively with one point they each

collected after playing out a 1-1 draw.

Al Kharaitiyat and Al Arabi face off with both looking to open their account and that should add excitement to the

game.Al Sadd and Al Rayyan are

the first and second-placed team respectively in Group B. And they lock horns each other in Satur-day’s first match that has a

simultaneous kick-off with the Al Ahli vs Al Sailiya fixture. Al Sadd had defeated Al Shahania 3-0, while Al Rayyan got the better of Al Ahli by the same margin in Round 1.

The last match between Al Shahania and Al Khor is also sure to be fought keenly. Al Khor are third in the Group B table with three points as they had beaten Al Sailiya 2-1 in their opener.

Al Sadd vs Al Duhail QSL match rescheduledTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Qatar Stars League Management (QSLM) has rescheduled the QNB Stars League Week 9 match between Al Sadd and Al Duhail, which was to be played on October 21.

The rescheduling was done in view of Al Sadd’s AFC Champions League second-leg semifinal against Iran’s Persepolis at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on October 23.

The new date will be announced later.

It may be recalled that the QSLM had considered rescheduling of this game if either Al Sadd or Al Duhail qualified for the AFC Cham-pions League semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Umm Salal’s Abdulaziz Al Yahri underwent an operation at Qatar’s ortho-paedic and sports medicine hospital Aspetar to correct an ankle injury.

Abdulaziz was out of action for some time as he was nursing the injury. He is to undergo a rehabilitation programme before returning to the field.

Saha backs Mourinho, chastises Pogba for ‘attack’ commentsREUTERS

LONDON: Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha yesterday criticised French midfielder Paul Pogba for speaking out and undermining manager Jose Mourinho with his recent “attack, attack, attack” comments.

Following United’s 1-1 home draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last month, Pogba said United should be more attacking at Old Trafford.

Compatriot Saha, who played for the club between 2004-08, told Reuters the 25-year-old should keep his thoughts private.

“I think he (Pogba) has done it on purpose, and I don’t think that is right,” Saha, 40, said.

“It’s the wrong communi-cation, it puts pressure on the manager... with those talks you should do it in the dressing room with your manager.

“You know that people will question about it, so don’t do it.

This is my opinion and I would have said that to him, I would say ‘No, that’s not something to say because you are not the manager.’”

Saha was speaking at the Emirates Stadium on the side-lines of the launch of the Asso-ciation Football Development Programme Global, a social enterprise set up by former FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan.

When asked if Pogba should instead do his talking on the pitch, Saha replied: “Exactly. You should be like ‘I should score, score, score. I should pass, pass, pass’...

“So I don’t think it was appropriate and I think (now) he understands that for sure. Whatever the situation, they have to sort it out because it’s not good for the club, it’s not good for themselves, it doesn’t give them any space for mistakes so people are going to be on their backs.”

Following Pogba’s critique, media reports circulated that

Mourinho was on borrowed time as United coach, especially after also being dumped out of the League Cup by second-tier Derby County.

However, talk that he might be gone as early as last weekend were allayed after a late 3-2 comeback win over Newcastle United at home in the league.

Saha said that Saturday’s performance, the club’s first win in five matches in all competi-tions, showed that Mourinho is still the right man to lead the team.

The Frenchman, who scored 42 goals across five seasons at United, also urged more understanding from sup-porters and player-turned-pundit Gary Neville, who has been critical of his former side since the beginning of the season.

“Yes (Mourinho can turn it around). He’s a clever man, there is definitely support within the club, there is definitely support from the players, they showed that at the weekend. They

showed desire to come back in a difficult game. They showed quality,” said Saha, who won two league titles at United.

“So this is not a problem of only having big players, just having the right dedication and the right tools at the right moment.

“Sometimes we talk about philosophy, so many people say ‘Attack, attack, attack’ - I get that, because I was a forward. But some games are different nowadays... Football right now is not what it was before.

“However, Gary Neville or the fans will sometimes say (attack more) not knowing all the factors. They have to really understand that there has been a change.”

Fans’ patience will be given a stiff test after the international break when United travel to Stamford Bridge on Oct. 20 to face in-form Chelsea in the league, before a home match against Juventus in the Champions League three days later.

Manchester United’s Paul Pogba reacts during the English Premier League against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, in Manchester, Britain on Saturday.

SLeone files appeal against FIFA suspensionAFP

FREETOWN: Sierra Leone has appealed against its suspension by world football’s top body on charges of government inter-ference.

After a crisis meeting on Monday with the government, the Sierra Leone Football Asso-ciation (SLFA) sent a letter to FIFA asking it to lift the sus-pension so that the country can play Ghana in looming qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations.

It said it would dispatch a delegation to FIFA headquarters in Zurich for talks.

The West African nation was rocked last week when FIFA sus-pended it for government interference.

The bustup is rooted in a move by the country’s

anti-corruption commission to sack SLFA president Isha Johansen and general secretary Christopher Kamara during an ongoing probe into corruption and mismanagement.

The meeting on Monday took place in State House, the official residence of President Julius Maada Bio, in the capital Freetown, ministers said.

“(The) government met with Isha and (her) secretary general so as to commence the mediation process for the lifting of the FIFA ban,” Sports Minister Ibrahim Nyelenkeh said.

“We want FIFA to reverse the suspension to enable us (to) par-ticipate in a CAF pending game with Ghana this month,” he said.

“We are very hopeful that FIFA will lift the suspension after our mediation process.” - The

letter to FIFA, carried the SLFA letterhead and was signed by Johansen, although it was unclear whether she had been reinstated to her job.

On September 20, her deputy, Brima Mazola Kamara,

had said that he had replaced her.

In addition, Nyelenkeh said that both Johansen and Kamara will be part of the delegation heading to Zurich.

Johansen and Kamara were

arrested in September 2016 over alleged corruption offences.

A year later, they were indicted by the anti-graft agency on six counts of abuse of office and corruption. They deny any wrongdoing.

“I want us to resolve all out-standing issues before going to FIFA in Zurich or else it will be difficult to lift the suspension,” Johansen said after the meeting.

Sierra Leone play away to Ghana on Thursday, with the return match next Monday.

The crisis within Sierra Leone football has been rum-bling on for years. Fifteen Sierra Leonean players and officials were suspended in July 2014 over suspect matches including a 2010 World Cup qualifier against South Africa.

However, the scandal has

taken on the dimension of a political emergency in the light of the showdown with FIFA, which threatens Sierra Leone’s participation in the Cup of Nations. Bio, the opposition chal-lenger, narrowly won a hotly-contested presidential election in March.

“We want to organise a high-level delegation to FIFA with all critical football stakeholders involved,” Chief Minister David Francis, the country’s top min-ister, told reporters.

“As a new government we inherited the football problem,” he said, and made a reference to FIFA’s own scandal-ridden recent past.

“We are also aware that FIFA too have been embroiled in series of corruption allegations,” he said.

Sierra Leone Football Association President Isha Johansen attends a panel discussion during the Anti-Corruption Summit London 2016, at Lancaster House in central London in this May 12, 2016 file picture.

Action from last week’s match of the QNB Stars League match between Al Gharafa and Al Arabi.

SPORTFirst Test, Pakistan vs

Australia, Day 4 in Dubai First ODI: Sri Lanka vs England in Dambulla

CRICKET CRICKET

27WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2018

The manager can do so much, but

then it is down to the players on

the pitch to produce and probably

collectively. The poor run of form is

a bit of everything coming together

but Jose is an easy target.

Former Manchester

United striker Wayne

Rooney backs Reds manager Jose Mourinho. T

ODA

Y’S

ACT

ION

Astros, Dodgers advance in MLB play-offs; Red Sox rollAFP

NEW YORK: Defending cham-pions Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers advanced in the Major League Baseball (MLB) play-offs with lopsided road triumphs on Monday while the Boston Red Sox routed the New York Yankees.

George Springer smashed two solo home runs in Houston’s 11-3 romp over the Cleveland Indians, while Manny Machado belted a three-run homer and a run-scoring double to power the Dodgers over the Atlanta Braves by a score of 6-2.

And Boston’s Brock Holt hit for the first play-off game cycle -- a single, double, triple and homer -- and drove in five runs as the Red Sox hammered out 18 hits in a 16-1 humbling of the host Yankees.

“It was a fun night,” Holt said.

“Offensively, we were clicking on all cylinders. Tonight is a night I will remember for a long time.”

Houston completed a sweep of Cleveland in the best-of-five American League division series, holding the Tribe to six runs on 13 hits over three games.

“It’s awesome, a great day for us as a team,” Springer said. “I’m happy to be heading home.”

The Astros will face either the Red Sox or Yankees in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series with the winner advancing to the World Series.

Andrew Benintendi smacked a three-run double to pace a seven-run fourth inning for the Red Sox, who led New York 2-1.

“This was a special group

from day one,” Holt said. “As tonight shows, we can do some special things.”

The Astros outlasted the Dodgers in a seventh-game showdown to win last year’s World Series for their first cham-pionship and could yet face a rematch with Los Angeles.

The Dodgers eliminated the Braves in four games and will face the Milwaukee Brewers starting on Friday in the National League Championship Series to decide the other World Series berth.

“Doesn’t get better than this,” said Machado, acquired at mid-season from major league-worst Baltimore. “Just enjoying every-thing. I just try to enjoy the

moment.“Two good ball clubs facing

off in the championship. It’s going to be great.”

Springer’s solo homers in the fifth and eighth innings gave him eight homers in nine play-off games in a streak dating to last year’s title run, matching a major league playoff record shared by Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome and Carlos Beltran, who did it most recently in 2004.

“Personal results don’t mean anything now. It’s all about how can I help us win,” said Springer. “It’s about having fun and doing whatever it takes for us to win.”

A two-run double to left field by Marwin Gonzalez in the

seventh put the Astros ahead 4-2 and Springer’s solo blast began a six-run eighth inning for Houston, which also included a three-run homer by Carlos Correa.

In Atlanta, the Dodgers took the lead in the first inning on Machado’s run-scoring double.

The Braves answered in the fourth on a two-run single to left field by pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki.

But Los Angeles reclaimed the lead at 3-2 in the sixth when pinch-hitter David Freese, the 2011 World Series Most Valuable Player with the champion St. Louis Cardinals, smacked a two-run single to centerfield.

Machado blasted his

three-run homer in the seventh for a 6-2 lead and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen baffled Atlanta batters for the final outs.

Boston jumped ahead 3-0 after three innings before breaking open the game in the fourth.

Holt and Vazquez singled and Jackie Bradley walked to load the bases, prompting New York to remove Luis Severino for relief pitcher Lance Lynn, who walked Mookie Betts to plate another Boston run.

Benintendi smacked his three-run double down the right-field line and scored on a Steve Peace single that set up Holt’s two-run triple for a 10-0 Boston lead.

No team has rallied from more than an eight-run deficit to win a playoff game in major league history and the Yankees never threatened to be the first.

Holt doubled in a run and completed his cycle with a two-run homer in the ninth.

Houston Astros centre fielder George Springer hits a home run in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians during game three of the 2018 ALDS play-off baseball series in Cleveland on Monday.

George Springer smashed two solo home runs in Houston’s 11-3 romp over the Cleveland Indians, while Manny Machado belted a three-run homer and a run-scoring double to power the Dodgers over the Atlanta Braves by a score of 6-2.

Boston’s Brock Holt stars as the Red Sox hammered out 18 hits in a 16-1 humbling of the host Yankees.

Smart, Smith fined for pre-season scuffleAFP

NEW YORK: Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Cleveland Cavaliers swingman JR Smith were each fined on Monday by the NBA for their roles in an on-court altercation, the league announced.

Smart was fined $25,000 for escalating an on-court incident during an altercation in which he was ejected. Smith was fined $15,000 for initiating the confrontation.

The incident took place with 3:38 remaining in the first quarter of Cleveland’s 113-102 home victory over Boston late on Saturday.

Smith and Australian forward Aron Baynes of the Celtics became e n t a n g l e d a n d exchanged shoves, with Smart entering the scuffle by pushing Smith from behind.

Both Smart and Smith had to be restrained from esca-lating the situation.

Smart was whistled for a technical foul and ejected. Smith was issued a technical foul for shoving Baynes.

The Celtics, who were ousted from the NBA playoffs by Cleveland in last season’s Eastern Con-ference final, will not face the Cavaliers in the regular season until November 30.

NFL: Brees passes Manning as all-time passing-yards kingREUTERS

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees became the NFL’s all-time passing-yards leader in style on Monday night.

A 62-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith against the visiting Wash-ington Redskins allowed Brees to pass Peyton Manning for the record.

The pass gave Brees 71,968 passing yards for his career, including 228 on Monday. He was 13 of 15 with two touchdown passes when he broke the record with 2:36 left in the first half, giving New Orleans a 26-6 lead.

Team-mates mobbed Brees at midfield, and he took his

helmet off to salute the crowd while taking the game ball to the sideline.

He then greeted his family and got a hug from coach Sean Payton. ESPN’s microphones captured him telling his sons, “You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.”

Manning, via the Denver Broncos’ Twitter account, sent a humorous message to Brees.

“Drew, for a thousand days, I’ve held the record for all-time passing yards in the NFL,”

Manning said in the video while at a kitchen cutting board.

“And I gotta tell you, it’s been the greatest thousand days of my life. And thanks to you, that’s over now. You’ve ruined that for me. So thank you very much. I have nothing left to look forward to except slicing my tomatoes, making dinner for my family, putting together this wedge salad.

“Also, let this serve as a con-gratulations for (when you break) the touchdowns record

because as you can see I’m very busy, I don’t have time to keep doing these videos for you, con-gratulating you.

“But, in all seriousness, Drew, congratulations on this record. You’ve done it the right way. All your hard work and dedication have paid off.... Way to go. Proud of you. Good luck the rest of the way.”

After the game, Brees got emotional during an on-field interview with ESPN, citing the influence of his late mother and late grandfather. He added of the record, “I’ll be able to reflect on it maybe a little bit more when my career is done. I still feel like there’s work to be done. But just really proud and very grateful.

“I love playing the game. I didn’t set out on this journey to break these records. I just play because I love the game and I love to compete and I love being part of this organisation.”

Brees, 39, is in his 18th NFL season. He played five years for the then-San Diego Chargers, who made him a second-round pick in the 2001 draft. Brees signed a free agent deal with the Saints in March 2006.

The 11-time Pro Bowl per-former was twice the AP Offensive Player of the Year, in 2008 and 2011. He guided New Orleans to a Super Bowl title after the 2009 season.

I love playing the

game. I didn’t set out

on this journey to

break these records.

I just play because I

love the game and I

love to compete and I

love being part of this

organisation: Drew

Brees.

Drew Brees of the New Orleans

Saints reacts after throwing a 62 yard

pass to take the all time yardage

record against the Washington Redskins in New

Orleans, Louisiana on Monday.

Bergeron’s hat-trick powers Boston BruinsREUTERS

BOSTON: Patrice Bergeron completed a hat-trick in the third period and had an assist as the Boston Bruins won their home opener, defeating the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Monday.

Bergeron scored twice in the first period before netting his third goal on a backhander off an Ottawa defender at 4:38 of the third period for his fourth career hat trick.

David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, and Chris Wagner, a native of Wellesley, Mass, scored his first goal for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy and

Brad Marchand each added three assists. Ryan Dzingel scored twice for the Senators. Dzingel was a game-time decision for the contest after sustaining an undisclosed injury in practice Sunday.

Islanders 4, Sharks 0 Robin Lehner recorded 35

saves in his first start for host New York, which cruised to a victory over San Jose.

Lehner, who signed with the Islanders in July, recorded his ninth career shutout in his first start since undergoing alcohol rehab and being diag-nosed with bipolar disorder fol-lowing his final season with the Buffalo Sabres.

Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron (right) celebrates with David Pastrnak after defeating the Ottawa Senators in Boston on Monday.