SPORTPAGE | 03 PAGE | 07

Djokovic downs Millman to win

maiden Japan Open title

Marquez sealshis sixth world MotoGP title in Thailand

Monday 7 October 2019

September 27 - October 6

Barshim’s gold medal pleased everyone in Qatar: QOC President

QNA DOHA

The President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of the IAAF World Athletics Championship Doha 2019 H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani on Saturday said that the achievement made by Qatar’s Champion Mutaz Essa Barshim by winning the gold medal in the high jump and defending his international title has brought happiness to everyone in Qatar.

In a press statement, the QOC President congratulated the world champion Barshim for making this important achievement and his successive accomplishments.

Sheikh Joaan also praised the persistence of Barshim during the last stage to regain his level after returning from his injury, stressing that the Qatari high jumper is a distinct world champion, who impressed and delighted his fans.

He also expressed his deep appreciation and thanks to the Qatari champions who participated in the World Cham-pionships in Doha, saying that they all worked very hard to represent Qatar.

Sheikh Joaan also thanked the Qatari Athletics Feder-ation for their efforts in preparing Barshim and all his team-mates who participated in the World Athletics Champion-ships, wishing that the results of the athletes would be the best motivation for them in the forthcoming global tourna-ments, most notably the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He also praised the huge crowds attending the Khalifa International Stadium every day in support of the tour-nament, and extended thanks to the volunteers and the committees who worked with determination and sincerity in organising the IAAF Worlds.

‘Best in history’: USA bag three moregolds as blockbuster Doha Worlds end

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Team USA gave the blockbuster IAAF World Athletics Champion-ships Doha 2019 a fitting end, clinching three more gold medals to stamp their authority in the showpiece event.

The final day of the compe-tition at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday witnessed another full house as Qatar suc-cessfully delivered one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Qatar Olympic Committee President and Chairman of Local Organising Committee for Doha Worlds, H E Sheikh Joan bin Hamad Al Thani handed over the baton for World Championships Eugene 2021 to Oregon governor Kate Brown, bringing an end to 10-day championships, which concluded with a spectacular light show at Qatar’s iconic venue.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe described the IAAF World Ath-letics Championships Doha 2019 as the best in history in terms of the quality and depth of perform-ances produced by the athletes, representing more than 200 countries.

As many as 43 countries had won medals while 21 area records were broken – double the number from 2017. In addition, 86 national records were also set at the KIS.

“We are proud of the fact we reach more countries than any other sport,” Coe said yesterday

“These performances are incredible but credit must also go to the facilities and conditions provided by the host country. Doha has created conditions on the field of play and in the warm up that are unsurpassed,” he added.

US stamp authority again at Worlds

Team USA - which comprised 141 athletes and was expected to dominate in Doha - lived up to expectations and clinched a total of 14 gold, 11 silver and 4 bronze medals to top the event by miles.

“We put out the results. There are gold medals everywhere on the team,” American sprinter Noah Lyles said as he hailed the overall performance.

Kenya was second on the table with 5 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals while Jamaica sans retired great Usain Bolt fin-ished third on the table with a total of 11 medals including 3 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals.

The home fans also cele-brated a gold medal by high jump hero Mutaz Essa Barshim and a bronze by star hurdler Abder-rahman Samba.

4x400m sweep for Americans on last day

The last day featured seven

finals, with the Americans sweeping the 4x400m relay races and women’s 100m hurdles title.

Team USA was outstanding in last night’s marquee events, setting the world leading times in both men and women’s 4x400m relay races.

They won the 4x400m men’s relay race in 2:56.69, thanks to consistent run by the quartet with Fred Kerley going first and setting the pace at 43.44. Michael Cherry (44.63) and Will London (44.63) set the perfect platform for Rai Benjamin, who finished

the race after taking just 44.19 to finish ahead of Jamaicans, who got silver with 2:57.90. Belgium took the bronze medal with 2:58.78.

US also dominated the women’s 4x400m relay as they powered to gold medal with a time of 3:18.92.

The stage for victory was set by Phyllis Francis, who sprinted 49.51 to give early lead to USA, before stars Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad extended the advantage over closest Polish rivals. Wadeline Jonathas sealed the title after a comfortable run.

Poland got silver medal with their national record of 3:21.89 while Jamaicans got bronze medal in 3:22.37.

Earlier, Nia Ali, mother of two, clinched the first medal for Americans last night when she ran her lifetime best of 12.34 to win women’s 100m hurdles gold. It was Nia’s maiden outdoor title after a couple of indoor crowns.

“It’s super special. I never won a world outdoor champi-onship. To be able to perform at my best I needed it most. I am ecstatic,” said Nia who celebrated with her children

“Shelly-Ann (Fraser-Pryce) and Allyson (Felix), all the ladies who have come back from child birth are surely an inspiration for me and I am so excited to be able to pull off the world title,” she added.

MEDAL TABLE (TOP 20) COUNTRY G S B T 1 United States 14 11 4 292 Kenya 5 2 4 113 Jamaica 3 5 3 114 China 3 3 3 95 Ethiopia 2 5 1 86 Great Britain 2 3 1 67 Germany 2 0 4 68 Japan 2 0 1 39 Netherlands 2 0 0 29 Uganda 2 0 0 211 Poland 1 2 3 612 Bahrain 1 1 1 312 Cuba 1 1 1 312 Sweden 1 1 1 315 Bahamas 1 1 0 216 Qatar 1 0 1 217 Australia 1 0 0 117 Grenada 1 0 0 117 Norway 1 0 0 117 Venezueuela 1 0 0 1

The President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and

Chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of the IAAF World Athletics

Championship Doha 2019 H E Sheikh Joaan

bin Hamad Al Thani, IAAF President Sebastian Coe

and Oregon Governor Kate Brown taking part in the baton handover

ceremony at the Khalifa International Stadium in

Doha, yesterday. PICTURES: ABDUL BASIT /

THE PENINSULA

02 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019SPORT

September 27 - October 6

DOHA THE PENINSULA

Multiple-time winner Justin Gatlin is happy that the US team has been able to end the 4 x 100m relay team jinx at the IAAF World Championships at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.

Gatlin along with Noah Lyles, Christian Coleman and Mike Rodgers guided the team to the top spot, to pick up gold from the event to add to his col-lection of one Olympic gold and four world championships titles.

The American men overcame the country’s longest and most-notorious track jinx that has bedeviled this team for decades.

Their first sprint relay wins at worlds since 2007 - the pre-Usain Bolt days. Great Britain and Northern Ireland got the silver while bronze went to Japan.

“This gold has eluded me throughout my whole career, from high school, college, always finish outside the window, just not to be able to get the job done. At some points I thought like maybe it was me,” he added.

“But tonight, we all got the job done, we got the stick around and we all stayed with our own self and we were successful final,” added the American.

Gatlin complimented his team-mates for ending the ‘curse’ and for handing him a ‘gift’

“And I take my hats off to my team-mates for being brave not being under pressure with the stick. They broke that curse tonight, I appreciate, you guys gave me a gift tonight. USA sprinting, what can I say? We have the 100m gold medallist, the 200m gold medallist, I think it’s in good hands.

Gatlin said the competition in sprint events is rising.

“I have to say that sprint is high rising across the world. These young guys from UK, from Japan they have risen the bar of the athleticism and being in the family of sport I want see good competition.”

Both Lyles and Coleman are happy that exists a keen rivalry between them.

“We are excited, both very compet-itive and both very talented and we are going to go out there and make USA the best country in the world. Every time we step onto the track we are gonna put our best 100 percent,” Lyles said.

“Like he said, we are both com-petitive and talented and young and caring forward the US sprinting. I think we make each other better. I am working hard, I know he is down there. Whenever we met it’s going to be fireworks. I am looking forward to our rivalry in the future,” Coleman added.

Fraser-Pryce foresees exciting contests in women sprints at Olympics

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who anchored the Jamaican team to the 4x100 relay gold at the IAAF World Championships said the future of women sprinting looks bright.

“The relay with Great Britain and the USA was fantastic. I believe that this year the ladies really showed up and has been tremendous for female sprinting and I am excited for what the future holds in terms of the Olympics, because it means that no team can take anything for granted,” said Fraser-Pryce who won also the 100m gold, her first of the championship.

With Saturday’s relay gold, the Jamaican took her World Champion-ships medal tally to nine, joining the list of Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Allyson Felix of USA, both who have got nine plus medals.

“It’s just a pleasure to be able to be amongt the younger athletes,” she added.

Analysing her team she said they have not been affected much by injury concerns and everybody has taken over the role left vacant by injured athletes.

“The result speaks about the volume of the team and the depth of the team especially with the absence of Elaine (Thompson). For us as a team means it doesn’t matter what happens to any athlete we have four ladies that can show up anytime.

“Natalliah is very confident, Shericka is very strong and focused and deter-mined and Jonielle we call her track bullet. I love the fact they were not nervous or anything, but excited with the opportunity they had to come on here and have a good race,” she added.

With Jamaica winning gold, Great Britain and NI team finished second fol-lowed by USA, who settled for bronze.

Coe hails ‘outstanding’ World ChampionshipsARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

IAAF President Sebastian Coe yesterday praised the world cham-pionships in Doha as an ‘outstanding’ edition in terms of quality of performances and the breakthrough of young athletes.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the final day events at the Khalifa Stadium, Coe said that 28 percent of the medallists at the champion-ships were younger than 24.

“Our sport is in pretty good shape. The best world champion-ships on athletes’ performances we have ever had,” the former middle distance Olympian said.

Coe said Qatar has a history of hosting world class athletic events from the late 80s and 90s, champi-onships in which he took part as an athlete.

“Qatar is not a virgin territory in terms of hosting sports events. I have been taking part in the ath-letic events. It is really important the sport moves around the world, and it cannot forge its relationships based on political structures or transitory political systems,” he added.

He hailed the fact that 40 coun-tries had won medals ahead of the last seven finals, which also showed that it is right to hold the Champi-onships in new markets.

“We live in a global society. We must share the sport with more than nine or 10 places,” Coe insisted.

Coe named sport ‘the best dip-lomat’, saying: “That is why sport will continue to work and sweat as hard as it does to make social change.”

“We are not competitors, we are collaborators and organisations that are smart are actually partnering as they realise they can elicit that change,” he added.

Coe also defended Holland’s Sifan Hassan, who followed up her 10,000m gold by winning the 1500m on Saturday.

The 26-year-old was coached by Alberto Salazar, who was last

week banned for four years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for doping violations.

Coe again questioned if it was fair to put athletes immediately under suspicion.

“Sadly it is the world we live in. It is inevitable that outstanding per-formances, given the broader nature of trust, are permanently questioned. I’m sure that when I was breaking three world records in 41 days back in 1979, there were people looking slightly askance at what I did.

“I think we have to be quite careful about how we draw conclu-sions from the performance par-adigm and shifts in that performance.”

Gatlin and team-mates delighted to end 4x100 relay jinx

Michael Rodgers, Christian Coleman, Justin Gatlin and Noah Lyles of the US celebrate after winning the men’s 4x100 metres relay gold with the US women’s 4x100m relay team who won the bronze medal on Saturday.PICTURE: ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

Kenya finish second as Cheruiyot wins 1,500mARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Kenya picked up one more gold medal on the final day of the IAAF World Championships to finish in second position behind leaders United States of America.

The Kenyans bagged 11 medals including five gold, two silver and four bronze in the 10-day Championships. USA, which sent the biggest con-tingent to Doha, on the other hand collected 29 medals. The tally included 14 gold, 11 silver and four bronze.

Yesterday at the Khalifa Stadium, Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot led from the front to win the men’s 1,500m, going one better than his silver medal in the event two years ago.

The 23-year-old had a huge lead at the bell and the pack never really looked like catching him around the final lap as he strode home to win in three minutes 29.26 seconds.

Taoufik Makhloufi, the 2012 Olympic champion from Algeria, led the chasing pack and took silver, delighting a noisy, flag-waving contingent of fans from the North African country on the first bend.

Marcin Lewandowski set a Polish record as he took bronze.

In the men’s 10,000m, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei tri-umphed after a close battle, winning his first world title and bringing his country their second medal of the championships.

Cheptegei remained near the front of the pack for most of the race and surged in the

final kilometre to pass leader Rhonex Kipruto and held off the challenge of Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia to finish in a world leading time of 26 minutes 48.36 seconds.

Kejelcha finished just under one second behind Cheptegei, clinching silver with a personal best time of 26:49.34.

Kenya’s Kipruto had to settle for bronze after having led for most of the race, crossing the finish line in 26:50.32.

In the men’s javelin throw, Anderson Peters became only the second athlete in history to win a gold medal for Grenada.

Peters, 21, stunned the field with a winning throw of 86.89m, bettering his personal best by more than two metres. He led from the first round, thanks to his 86.69m, improving it to win by 78cm ahead of Magnus Kirt.

“I didn’t think 86m would be enough to win gold. I was up against 90m men throwing high 88’s all season. I just believed in my coach and the work we did all season and eventually I became world champion,” said Peters.

Kirt of Estonia took the silver medal with a throw of 86.21 while Germany’s Johannes Vetter took bronze with 85.37.

Former Olympic and world 400m champion Kirani James is the only other athlete to win a gold medal in Grenada’s history.

In the women’s long jump, Malaika Mihambo of Germany took one of the biggest leaps of recent years and raised her

own personal best by 14 centi-metres to clinch gold at the Championships.

The environmental sci-ences student, a favorite going into the competition but faced elimination if she did not improve on her previous jumps, Mihambo jumped 7.30 meters in the third round. It was the second-best leap by anyone in the last 15 years, topped only by a 7.31 from Brittney Reese of the United States in 2016.

“On my first attempt I had

too many quick steps and the 6.52m jump was not enough. The second attempt was a fault, I stepped on the board. The third attempt had to work. I told myself ‘You have to make this one valid, no matter what.’ And it worked. 7.30m is amazing, I do not know if I will ever jump that far again in my life,” said a delighted Mihambo.

“In training, I do not remember having managed a jump like that. I knew that whole season through that I

was in good shape, I was the world leader. I am really very happy that I was able to get the gold medal and stay the world leader. Today I showed that I am capable of such a great jump. I am over the moon. Thanks very much to all the people who have supported me,” she added.

The silver went to Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk with 6.92, one centimetre ahead of Nigerian bronze medallist Ese Brume.

Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot crossing the finish line to win the men’s 1,500m final at the 2019 IAAF Athletics World

Championships in Doha, yesterdayPICTURES: ABDUL BASIT / THE PEININSULA

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei winning the men’s 10,000m final.

IAAF President Sebastian

Coe speaks during a press

conference at the Khalifa International

Stadium, yesterday.

REUTERS TOKYO

World number one Novak Djokovic won his first Japan Open title and the 76th of his career with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Australian John Millman in the final in Tokyo yesterday.

It was a triumphant return to the tour for Djokovic, who had withdrawn from the US Open in the fourth round due to a shoulder injury, and it was the 10th time he had won a title on his tournament debut.

The top seeded Serb needed only 69 minutes to dispatch Millman -- who was playing in his maiden ATP 500 final -- and the 32-year-old won the title without dropping a set in the tournament.

“It was a fantastic week in every sense,” Djokovic said. “I felt great on the court... (I) didn’t drop a set, played really well, served great. Just overall, a great experience.

“We had a tough battle in the first set. (In) the second set I stepped it up, started swinging through the ball even better than the first set. Overall, it was a great tournament for him.”

Djokovic won a whopping 87% of his first service points and fired six aces, never giving Millman a whiff of a break point. He also broke the Australian ranked 79 places below him three times in the match.

Millman was simply no match for Djokovic, who fired 23 winners and also won eight of 12 points at the net.

“It sounds silly to say but I hope everyone all around the world realises just how good you are,” Millman, 30, said at the trophy presentation. “You’re an absolute champion and you’re the type of person who’s going to be remem-bered forever.

Djokovic has already qualified for next month’s season-ending ATP Finals in London.

03MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 SPORT

September 27 - October 6

Thiem beats Tsitsipasin China Open final

REUTERS BEIJING

Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem overcame a sluggish start and clawed his way back from a set and a break down to beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the China Open in Beijing yesterday.

The win secured Thiem’s fourth title of the year after tri-umphs at Indian Wells, Bar-celona and Austria.

Thiem, who was forced to dig deep and come back from a set down in the semi-final against Karen Khachanov, broke Tsitsipas five times while dropping serve three times to lift his first ever title in Asia.

This was the first time the pair had competed in a final after playing each other five

times in 2018. Thiem now leads Tsitsipas 4-2 in head-to-head meetings.

The top seed dropped serve twice in the opening set to give Tsitsipas the advantage while the Greek fired four of his seven aces to take the lead.

Tsitsipas, 21, was clearly the more fired up player, taking out his frustration on his racket after losing a point in the first set. However, Thiem recovered in the second set, saving three of four break points while con-verting two himself.

In the deciding set, it was Thiem who dominated, breaking twice to take a 5-0 lead.

Tsitsipas won a game back but only delayed the inevitable as Thiem wrapped up the match for his 15th ATP singles title.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates with the trophy after winning the final against John Millman of Australia at the Japan Open in Tokyo, yesterday.

Dominic Thiem of Austria poses with the China Open winner’s trophy in Beijing, yesterday.

Osaka victorious in BeijingREUTERS BEIJING

Japan’s Naomi Osaka fought back from a set down to beat Australian world number one Ash Barty 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the China Open in Beijing yesterday.

It was world number four Osaka’s second title in the Asian swing after clinching the Pan Pacific Open in Japan last month and she is yet to lose a match since her fourth-round exit at the US Open, extending her run to 10 victories.

In a battle between two of the year’s Grand Slam champions, Australian Open winner Osaka broke the reigning French

Open champion Barty three times and dropped serve only once in the one-hour-50-minute encounter.

It was Osaka’s second win over a fellow Grand Slam champion at the tournament after she beat US Open winner Bianca Andreescu in another three-setter in the quarter-finals. The opening set went with serve until Osaka made three double faults in one game to give Barty a 4-2 lead, after which the Australian served out the set, saving a break point along the way.

The Japanese turned the tables in the second set when she broke back to take a 4-2 lead. At 30-all, she unleashed a backhand return to bring up a fourth break point and

then forced Barty to hit her forehand long.Osaka did not concede a single break

point in the second set and took it into the decider after closing out on her serve.

She then upped the tempo right from the opening game of the third set with long baseline rallies which forced Barty into making mistakes, earning the fourth seed a break of serve. A poor service game from Barty when she was down 4-2 in the third saw her broken to love as Osaka won eight points in a row to take a 5-2 lead and serve for the title.

Barty managed to save one match point in the final game but Osaka took to the baseline again to out-rally her opponent, wrapping up the encounter.

Aspire hosts global summit on football performance and scienceTHE PENINSULA DOHA

From today, Aspire Academy is hosting the 5th edition of the “Aspire Academy Global Summit” on Footbal l Performance and Science and is thereby gathering football experts from all over the world representing 50 elite clubs and federations. After previously hosting the event at iconic loca-tions in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London, this is the first time, Aspire Academy is bringing the “Aspire in the World Fellows” to Doha.

Besides high-class discus-sions, the event will also feature highly recognised speakers from the world of international football such as Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio

Pochettino or former star striker Hernan Crespo.

“We always thought of football performance as a lively, vibrant topic that the people who work in this field are enthusiastic about. We felt that there was the need to give these experts a stage to share this passion,” Valter di Salvo, Director of Football Per-formance and Science at Aspire Academy, said.

This observation puts the wheels in motion to build bridges between 50 Clubs and Federations from all continents in order to establish a com-munity, the “Aspire in the World Fellows”, in 2014 and thereby create the world’s richest platform of content in the field of football performance.

More than 260 presentations

have been uploaded by the Clubs and Federations on the online platform since 2014.

The topics selected in the annual summits have been dis-cussed continuously throughout the year and the content shared between the community. Over

time the Aspire in the World Fellows grew into a community that pushes the limits and thereby drives football per-formance forward.

Supported by the platform, the Clubs and Federations have also the opportunity to benefit

from master classes and exclusive interviews with world-renowned football experts such as Johan Cruyff, Arrigo Sacchi, Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel or Marcelo Bielsa. The members even had the unique opportunity to meet

some of these distinguished people at the summits and get an insight into the philosophies and methodologies of some of the world’s greatest coaches and most successful players in inter-national football.

Over the three days, the del-egations representing pres-tigious clubs such as FC Liv-erpool, Manchester United (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Juventus (Italy), FC Barcelona (Spain), Ajax (Neth-erlands), Benfica (Portugal) as well as federations like France, Italy, South Korea or Mexico will be discussing topics such as “Optimising the recovery process in youth players”, “Growth and maturation: how does it inform training” and “Understanding the game: key to developing our players.”

Valter di SalvoMauricio PochettinoHeimir Hallgrimsson

Djokovic downs Millman to win maiden Japan Open title

w e Osa a b o e t e e g g e c etu

Al Rayyan deserved the win, says XaviTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Following their first loss in the QNB Stars League (QSL) this season, Al Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez seemed disap-pointment but praised his opponents on their impressive job.

Al Sadd suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Al Rayyan in the sixth round

of the League on Saturday.With both sides going into

the match unbeaten this season, meaning that it was a matter of maintaining

their super form in the Qatar Clasico

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Xavi

said: “I am very disappointed to lose the game. We played

against a good team and I congratulate them for the win.”

“Winning and losing is part of football. We must work hard to return strongly.”

“Al Rayyan deserved the win. We had many chances but the match was like a boxing ring and Al Rayyan managed to clinch the game in their favour,” Xavi, who took over the coaching job prior to the star of the new season, said.

It was Al Sadd’s second loss on home soil, in a matter of days.

Al Sadd went down to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League semi-finals last Tuesday and Xavi insisted that they need to work harder.

Asked about the effect of the defeat to Al Hilal on the players, Xavi said: “Of course, the last game had an effect on the players. But the Al Rayyan team

performed a great job and they deserve to win. We just needed to work harder.”

“We believe in ourselves and we will continue working. If we defeat Al Arabi in the postponed game, we wil return to the top of the table.”

“This season will not be easy,” Xavi said.

Al Rayyan now find themselves level on 12 points with Al Sadd who still have an extra game, against Al Arabi, in hand.

In other matched of the sixth round, Al Arabi, Al Ahli and Al Duhail recorded wins. Al Shahania and Umm Salal were forced to share the spoils following a 1-1 draw while Al Wakrah and Al Gharafa also played out an entertaining 3-3 draw.

Al Duhail’s 2-1 win against Al Sailiya also fired them to the top of the standings with 14 points.

RANK/CLUB M W L D P1: Al Duhail 6 4 0 2 142: Al Arabi 5 4 0 1 133: Al Sadd 5 4 1 0 124: Al Rayyan 6 3 0 3 125: Al Gharafa 6 3 1 2 116: Al Ahli 6 3 3 0 97: Al Wakrah 6 2 3 1 78: Al Sailiya 6 2 3 1 79: Umm Salal 6 1 3 2 510: Al Khor 6 1 4 1 411: Qatar SC 6 1 5 0 312: Al Shahania 6 0 5 1 1

04 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019SPORT 05MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 SPORT

September 27 to

October 6

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Instead of celebrating her historic 10,000 and 1,500 double – a one of its kind achievement - at the IAAF World Ath-letics Championships Doha 2019,

Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan had to immedi-ately defend herself of any wrongdoing.

“I am a clean athlete. I believe in clean sport,” Hassan repeatedly said in her differ-ent interviews with televisions, at the mixed zone and the post-event press conference, following her 1,500m victory at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday night.

The Dutchwoman, who won the 10,000m race on the opening day of the champion-ships, displayed a devastating front running display to win 1,500m gold in 3:51.95, record-ing the biggest winning margin in World Championships history.

Reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipy-egon of Kenya claimed a silver medal in 3:54.22 while bronze went to Ethiopia’s Gudaf

Tsegay, who finished the race in 3:54.38. Has-san found herself in the centre of storm after her coach Alberto Salazar was handed a ban, following her 10,000m victory.

Salazar, the head coach of the Nike Ore-gon Project (NOP), was banned for four years by US Anti-Doping Agency for “orchestrat-ing and facilitating prohibited doping conduct”. The American coach has denied any wrongdoing.

“I was very angry at what was being said. It was a very tough week and I had a lot of things in my head but I have a good manager and he really supported me. I show the world I am a clean athlete,” Hassan said.

“I don’t know why they have put the spot-light on me. I have been at the top since 2014, before I joined Nike academy, they can go check my background. What do they think, that the world anti-doping doesn’t test me?”

The 26-year old said she was inspired to join NOP after watching British great Mo Farah.

“Since I joined, I have seen nothing, they have never offered anything to me,” she said.

“I believe in clean sport, the group is clean, they work very hard, they have really amazing staff, especially the physio. They have good people.”

Talking about her achievement, she said: “This is amazing for me. This is such an hon-our. It was amazing when I crossed the line and I saw the time. I was so happy. I felt good after the 10k, so I decided to go for the 1500m. It looked like it was easy for me but it took so much hard work.”

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Tsegay, who was third fastest, was satisfied with her performance.

“I did my best, Hassan was at my expec-tation, she finished strong,” said Tsegay.

“I was just focusing on ending in a medal position. I did my best. The race was a good preparation for Tokyo, although I really wanted to do a better medal today. I want to get a good result for my country in Olym-pics,” she added.

“The organisation of these world cham-pionships is fine and the weather is good, it is nice,” said the Ethiopian star.

Ethiopia’s Desisa wins midnight marathonIAAF/DOHA

Lelisa Desisa added a world marathon gold to the silver he won in Moscow six years ago as he and teammate Mosinet Gere-mew headed an Ethiopian one-two on

the Corniche in conditions that were significantly more forgiving than those that had seen a slew of women marathoners pulling out on the open-ing day of the championships.

Desisa clocked a season’s best of 2:10:40, with Geremew four seconds back. Bronze went to Kenya’s Amos Kipruto, who finished in 2:10:51, with Britain’s Callum Hawkins clocking 2:10:57 to repeat his fourth placing from the 2017 World Championships marathon in London.

With the temperature at about 29 degrees, the two Ethiopians were part of a group that caught up with early breakaway leader Derlys Ayala of Paraguay just before halfway point and maintained enough energy to push on to glory in the final kilometre.

They left in their wake Kenya’s Kipruto, who had also been a part of the long-time leading group, and Hawkins, whose massive mid-race effort brought him into the lead group of three with only a couple of kilometres to go.

The effort to get there, however, cost the Briton dearly, and he had to accept his second successive fourth place in this event following the London running two years ago.

In the interim, Hawkins hit the headlines when he collapsed in the heat of the Gold Coast when he was only a mile or so away from what looked like a runaway win at the Commonwealth Games.

On this occasion he maintained his effort to the line, although that seemed little consolation to him in the immediate aftermath.

So Desisa went one better than he had in 2013, although the action that earned him most renown that year was his gesture in donating his Boston Marathon winning medal back to the city in sympathy with the bombing that took place near the finish line nearly three hours after he had passed it.

“It was hot, but I prepared perfectly for this race,” said Desisa, who won the New York City Marathon last year. “I am very tired. But after I took silver in Moscow, this time I kept my power better.”

Zersenay Tadese, Eritrea’s five-time world half-marathon champion, led the lead group for much of the second half of the race before drop-ping to sixth place in 2:11:29.

One place above him, in 2:11:09, was South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka, who had also taken the responsibility for the lead for long periods.

Ayala, who had run a personal best of 2:10:27 only two weeks earlier in Buenos Aires, dropped out very soon after the halfway mark – one of 18 who failed to finish from the field of 73.

I believe in clean sport, says Hassan after historic double

Obiri says coach and manager lifted her spirits ahead of 5k final

ARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

Hellen Obiri was low on con-fidence on the eve of the 5000m event at the IAAF World Championships but it

was the coach and manager who lifted her spirits which assisted in winning the event.

“I think I was a little disappointed with the 10k. It was not my best race,” said the Kenyan, after wining gold in the 5,000m event at the Khalifa Sta-dium on Saturday.

Obiri said she spoke to her coach-ing staff and they had some encouraging words which changed the situation mentally for her.

“I didn’t do well in the 10k so I talked to my manager and my

coach. They

told me that 10k is not my race. That I should go for the 5k and I would get the medal. I knew this would make me happy.

“I also talked to my physio about my recovery and he said to do the 5k and then go back home and get ready for the 2020 Olympics. I am so happy I was able to win my race.”

Obiri, who finished fifth in the 10,000m, said she wanted to fight back and finish on the podium.

“I decided to work hard to retain my title and I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do. I’m so happy about today’s race.”

Obiri face a few initial hiccups with German Konstanze Klosterhalfen shad-owing her.

“I wanted to run a faster race because in a slow race anybody can win. I could see the German athlete was here and she is s 1500m runner, so I decided

to go hard and to do the last lap in 60 (seconds).

If I had gone at a slow pace, I thought she might be able to win. It was a tough pace for me.”

Margaret Kipkemboi took silver to complete the Kenyan 1-2 in the event and she said Obiri is her favourite athlete.

“Hellen is my favourite Kenyan and she has just won the World Champion-ships. I was feeling comfortable so it was my strategy to follow her.”

Meanwhile, Klosterhalfen, who has been under a cloud of suspicion, was happy to take the bronze medal.

“My coach told me that I could fin-ish strongly. I knew about the strong competitors. They told me to stay calm and not to go too early. I’m really happy that I could do this and take a medal home.”

“I didn’t think about my finishing place until the finish line. I just gave eve-rything until the end, but I felt my legs going on the last 100m. But I concen-trated on the finish and was really happy I could get third place,” she added.

FAWAD HUSSTHE PENINSU

Instead of and 1,500achievemletics Ch

Netherlands’ Sately defend h

“I am a clesport,” Hassanent interviewszone and the following her International

The Dutchwrace on the opships, displayedisplay to win ing the biggeChampionship

Reigning Oegon of Keny3:54.22 while b

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Aspire Academy, QOA set to unearth more Sambas and Barshims

THE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Aspire Academy and Qatar Olym-pic Academy (QOA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop administrative

and technical staff as well as students in Olympic education and sports.

The agreement, that was signed by Director General Ivan Bravo on half of Aspire Academy and Executive Director Saif Mohammed Al Nuaimi on behalf of the QOA, aims to strengthen their relations and coop-eration in the fields of academic, sports, administrative, and technical development and related sciences and knowledge.

Present at the MoU signing were the top management from Aspire Academy

including, Deputy Director General, Ali Salem Afifa, Director of Education and Stu-dent Affairs, Badr Al Hay, Director of Corporate Services, Ali Sultan Fakroo, Direc-tor of Sport and Strategy, Markus Egger and Aspire Academy School Principal, Jassem Al Jaber, while Dr Ali Al Bakri, Head of Ath-letes development and Khaled Mohamed Al Qahtani, Head of Media and Marketing represented QOA.

This collaboration focuses on develop-ing coaches, experts and specialists in sports, physical education and its applied sciences, through the establishment and development of programs directly with Qatar Olympic Academy.

Furthermore, it includes joint work on holding workshops and programs in sports

culture and Olympic movement of students and administrators affiliated with Aspire Academy, in addition to benefiting from the sports department program offered by QOA according to the needs of Aspire Academy in accordance with regulations followed to obtain international certificates accredited by the International Olympic Committee.

“It’s timely that we are signing this MoU during this time when Qatar as a country is celebrating the achievements by Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba a few days ago in the IAAF Athletics World Cham-pionships in Doha. Our objective is always to be intertwined and linked to all sport organizations in Qatar and we always say that they should use us as much as possible to do everything from working with young kids starting in sports, to do elite training, to do coaching training, to even do a stra-tegic thinking administration,” Bravo said.

“The Qatar Olympic Committee has always been very supportive to us and I think that now bringing the Qatar Olympic Academy into play gives us a platform where they can help us and we can help them.

“As we always do at Aspire, we are focusing on the development of people and that includes coaching, sport science, phys-iology and also some pathways for our young athletes to be at some point con-nected to the Qatar Olympic Committee,” Bravo added.

“We very proud today to sign this impor-tant Memorandum of Understanding with Aspire Academy which is a leading acad-emy in the field of Sports in Qatar, based on its crucial role in student-athletes develop-ment for all national teams in different sports. This agreement will help us imple-ment educative and instructive workshops that will help the academy student athletes and staff, as well as programs tailored for Aspire Academy which will reflect positively on sports scene in Qatar,” Al Nuaimi said.

“Aspire Academy becomes a shining star in the sky of Qatar sports and worldwide through its graduates, whose achievements put them on the high ranks of the world sports’ map.

“We, at the QOA, are very delighted today to be able to finalize this agreement with Aspire Academy that will unify efforts between our two academies in developing Qatari athletes.

“We will work hard to put forward important programs that benefit our stu-dent-athletes who will represent the country in international big events. This agreement will not be limited to developing student-athletes only, but it will include administrators and coaches in Aspire Acad-emy as well, taking into consideration that the QOA programs cover all academic, Olympic and sportive aspects,” Al Nuaimi added yesterday.

Aspire Academy Director General Ivan Bravo and Executive Director of Qatar Olympic

Academy, Saif Mohammed Al Nuaimi exchanging documents during the MoU signing

ceremony.

I wanted to run a faster race because in a slow race anybody can win. I could see the German athlete was here and she is a 1500m runner, so I decided to go hard and to do the last lap in 60 (seconds).

Desisa clocked a season’s best of 2:10:40, with Geremew four seconds back. Bronze went to Kenya’s Amos Kipruto, who finished in 2:10:51, with Britain’s Callum Hawkins clocking 2:10:57 to repeat his fourth placing from the 2017 World Championships marathon in London.

Desisa clocked a season’sDesisa clocked a season’s best of 2:10:40, with Geremew four seconds back. Bronze went toKenya’s Amos Kipruto, who finished in 2:10:51, with Britain’s Callum Hawkins clocking 2:10:57 to repeathis fourth placing from the 2017 World Championships marathon in London.

With the temperature at about 29 degrees, the two Ethiopians were part of a group that caught up with early breakaway leader Derlys Ayala of Paraguay just before halfway point and maintained enough energy to push on to glory in the final kilo-metre.

06 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019SPORT

September 27 - October 6

France avoid Tonga ‘deja vu’ to book spot in quarter-finalsREUTERS KUMAMOTO

France survived a frantic Tonga fightback to grind into the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup yesterday with a nerve-jangling 23-21 win that only just banished the ghosts of their shock loss to the Pacific islanders at the 2011 tournament.

The thriller at balmy Kumamoto Stadium saw France join Pool C rivals England in the knockout stages, sending Tonga crashing out of the tournament with three successive defeats while also knocking out Argentina and the United States.

In a dramatic finale, flanker Zane Kapeli collected a cross-kick for a last-gasp try, Latiume Fosita’s conversion then bringing the Tongans within two points with under a minute left.

But France winger Damian Penaud, caught out of position for Tonga’s last try, soared high to tap back the re-start and allow France to hold on to the siren.

“Today it was different to what we wanted to do -- it was quite a hard game,” France coach Jacques Brunel told reporters yesterday.

“The most important thing is that we got our ticket to the quarter-finals, so I’m happy about that.”

Tonga, whose 19-14 win over Les Bleus in New Zealand eight years ago remains a fairytale chapter in World Cup folklore, were 17-0 down on the cusp of halftime but battled back valiantly.

For a fleeting moment, it

seemed there could be a repeat of the Wellington result but two second-half penalties from the assured boot of young flyhalf Romain Ntamack gave the French a cushion that proved just sufficient.

“Definitely frustrated, again we didn’t get off to the best of starts and that probably told in the end,” said Tonga coach Toutai Kefu.

“The guys dug in there, there was a period in the second half when the game was in the balance and the guys hung in and hung in. You can’t question their effort.”

Having cemented second place in the pool behind England, three-times finalists France now head to Yokohama seeking victory over Eddie Jones’s men for a kinder route through the knockout rounds.

France had laboured to a 33-9 win over the United States on Wednesday but were switched on from the first whistle yesterday, and the flair and enterprise of Virimi Vakatawa and Alivereti Raka quickly caught the eye.

Winger Raka burst away from a botched Tongan lineout before off-loading to centre

Vakatawa for France’s first try in the fifth minute as France went 10-0 up.

“For me, happy playing next to another Fijian,” Raka said of his partnership with Vakatawa. “We talk a lot and we are talking on the same level so it’s easy for us.”

France lost momentum after their fast start, with handling errors and passes floating forward and wide, but their defence remained solid and they hit top gear again when scrumhalf Baptiste Serin caught Tonga napping with a quick-tap penalty, whipping the ball wide

to a charging Raka who kicked a grubber past the last defender and collected it on the try-line.

Tonga needed to respond and did so through forward muscle. Snatching the ball out of a ruck and leaping for the line, scrumhalf Sonatane Takulua was rewarded with a try after a lengthy TMO review to give Tonga a huge boost and make it 17-7 at halftime.

The match turned on its head shortly after the break, with a thrilling try to France flanker Charles Ollivon ruled out by the TMO due to a forward pass.

Tonga immediately won a turnover with a bone-jarring tackle in midfield and winger Cooper Vuna hoofed the ball down-field where it bounced wickedly and straight into the arms of gleeful centre Malietoa Hingano who barged over. With the ghosts of 2011

stirring, France redoubled their intensity at the breakdown and the pressure told as Tonga’s dis-cipline waned.

Ntamack knocked over a pair of penalties to give his team breathing space at 23-14 and the match appeared settled when winger Damien Penaud cantered over in the 68th minute.

But again, the try was can-celled to leave French fans howling, with a knock-on by fullback Maxime Medard spotted by the TMO and setting up Tonga for their last desperate yet fruitless charge.

Stand-in flyhalf Barrett leads All Blacks’ rout of NamibiaAP TOKYO

Given the keys to the All Blacks machine, first-time flyhalf Jordie Barrett stalled it a couple of times.

Barrett stayed positive, though, refocused, respected the ball, and ultimately drove the world’s No. 1-ranked rugby team smoothly and superbly.

Much like Barrett, New Zealand sputtered for a while then started purring, and put Namibia’s amateurs in their place in the Rugby World Cup by a 71-9 scoreline yesterday.

New Zealand’s third win from three matches in Pool B set up its last pool game against Italy next weekend as a quarterfinal decider.

Just four days after blitzing Canada 63-0, the All Blacks raised the highest score at this World Cup with a victory by 11 tries to nil at Tokyo Stadium.

It was competitive for a while. The Namibians were closer to full strength eight days after conceding 57 to South Africa, and gave New Zealand some bother in the first half.

Their plan to play “boring rugby” by keeping the ball effec-tively frustrated the All Blacks, and their gang-tackling forced errors from the impatient defending champions. Scrumhalf Damian Stevens kicked all three of his penalty attempts to have them trailing only 10-9 after 30 minutes. Moments later, All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala was sin-binned for an arm tackle hitting the ball-carrier’s head.

Nobody believed an upset

was on the cards from the lowest ranked team in the tournament, but the entertained crowd of 48,354 was buzzing.

The All Blacks finally got their act together with 14 men, worked the phases, and stretched the Namibians to score tries through Angus Ta’avao, Laulala’s replacement, and fullback Ben Smith in injury time.

They led 24-9 at halftime, and waiting in the changing room for them was unhappy coach Steve Hansen. He blamed himself. The four-day turna-round meant they had only two soft training runs and weren’t mentally ready for an opponent who were. He advised them to

get their heads in the right space, carry hard and clean out the rucks, and hold on to the ball.

“It’s not a major issue,” Hansen said. “It’s a good reminder to all of us that every time you play, you have to get yourself in the right head space to go and perform at the level you want.”

Namibia couldn’t handle the ferocity of the All Blacks after halftime. They were already out-muscled in the scrums, where New Zealand had an extra 10 kil-ograms per man, and they were beaten up in contact. Namibians were walking off injured as New Zealand was making luxury sub-stitutions and playing people out

of position, and staying in the flow.

Given a dominant platform up front, the All Blacks backs shone. Centers Anton Lienert-Brown, the man of the match, and Jack Goodhue, kept busting the Namibia lines and knocking back their runners.

Lock Brodie Retallick, playing his first test in 10 weeks after a dislocated left shoulder, played only a scheduled 30 minutes but was effective car-rying the ball, and had a chargedown. He showed his desire at halftime by doing shuttle runs behind the posts. He will get 60 minutes against Italy, Hansen said.

New Zealand’s scrum-half TJ Perenara (center) runs to score a try during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool B, match between New Zealand and Namibia at the Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo yesterday.

Erasmus lays down the law as South Africa eye quarter-finals

REUTERS KOBE

South Africa face one final hurdle in their bid for a Rugby World Cup quarter-final place but seem certain to brush aside the chal-lenge of minnows Canada when the teams meet in a Pool B encounter at the Kobe Stadium yesterday.

The Springboks need a bonus-point win to make sure of their place in the knockout stages, though a victory of any kind would do the trick unless Italy produce the shock of the tournament and down New Zealand in their final pool match on Saturday.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, however, has warned that any players failing to produce the required intensity during the game against Canada will quickly find themselves on the sidelines.

Erasmus has continued his rotation policy and made 13 changes from the side that overwhelmed Italy 49-3 in Fukuroi City on Friday, though he has kept captain Siya Kolisi in the starting XV as the flanker continues his return to full match sharpness after a serious knee injury.

“He played a full 80 minutes (against Italy) and was wonderful. I think it was his best game since he has been back from injury,” Erasmus told reporters in Kobe yesterday. “The plan was always just to get him to the World Cup, to make sure the knee holds up.

“After that, we wanted to get him to play a full 80 minutes. He can do that now and his form is back to where it was, so to take him off the pitch would be like starting the process all over again. The more game-time he gets the better.”

Erasmus said he would demand the same commitment and intensity that his side showed against the Italians.

“The team’s make-up is a bit different but we expect the same intensity in all four of our next games (if they make the final). One thing that will be vital going into the knockout stages is intensity and big moments. If these players don’t step up then they will fail to stay in the team. They know that and it will be one of the chal-lenges for them.”

Canada have made six changes from the side that lost 63-0 to New Zealand last time out, with an all-new front-row in props Hubert Buydens and Jake Ilnicki either side of hooker Andrew Quattrin, and the inclusion of lock Kyle Baillie, scrum-half Phil Mack and full-back Andrew Coe. Wing DTH van der Merwe will make a Canadian record 15th World Cup appearance when he lines up against his native country.

No worries for Brunel as France target EnglandREUTERS KUMAMOTO

Frustrated coach Jacques Brunel said France could only improve ahead of their block-buster Pool C clash against England after surviving a big scare against Tonga to stumble into the World Cup quarter-finals yesterday.

Just as in their opener against Argentina, France held on for a nerve-jangling 23-21 win, having built a big lead in the first half before seeing it frittered away after the break at Kumamoto Stadium.

The result left France second in the pool behind unbeaten England, and the northern hemisphere rivals will play off for top spot when they meet in Yokohama on Saturday.

While France have shone only in patches in all three of their pool games, which included a laboured 33-9 win over the United States, Brunel said he was not alarmed.

“I’m not worried but unsat-isfied. The players are frus-trated. They attacked the game well and had good opportu-nities to score in the first half.

“But they made mistakes by rushing and by poor handling. We had wanted to play a better game. There is still work to do.”

France will face the true test of their level when they take on Eddie Jones’s England in “Le Crunch”, and captain Jefferson Poirot, their third skipper in Japan, said they would be working to improve their scrums after struggling against the Tongan pack.

France’s flanker Charles Ollivon (second right) is tackled by Tonga’s prop

Siua Halanukonuka (right) during the 2019 Rugby

World Cup, Pool C, match between France and

Tonga at the Kumamoto Stadium in Kumamoto

yesterday.

07MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 SPORT

September 27 - October 6

Spanish rider Marc Marquez celebrates on the track after winning

the MotoGP in Thailand.

Repsol Honda Team’s Spanish rider Marc

Marquez in action at the Thailand Grand Prix in

Buriram yesterday.

MotoGP: Marquez seals his sixth world title in ThailandREUTERS BURIRAM

Honda’s Marc Marquez sealed his sixth MotoGP title with four races to spare after winning the Thai Grand Prix for the second year in a row yesterday in a thrilling duel with French rookie Fabio Quartararo.

The Spaniard had to score two points more than Italian Ducati rival Andrea Dovizioso, who finished a distant fourth at Buriram’s Chang Inter-national Circuit, to wrap up his fourth championship in a row.

The title was the eighth of 26-year-old Marquez’s Grand Prix career, and he becomes the youngest rider ever to win so many. He was 125cc (now Moto3) world champion in 2010 and Moto2 winner in 2012.

Marquez, who passed Petronas Yamaha’s Quartararo on the last lap after a wheel to wheel duel between the two rivals in sweltering heat, now has an unsurpassable 325 points to Dovizioso’s 215.

The Spaniard, who had a huge crash in Friday practice that sent him to hos-pital for checks and then fell again in qualifying, did not put a wheel wrong as he reined in pole-sitter Quartararo and denied the 20-year-old a first win.

The pair were just 0.171 of a second apart at the line.

Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales finished third to complete the podium.

“I was planning the weekend to try

to win the race, it doesn’t matter about the championship or the distance between me and Dovi,” grinned Marquez after celebrating with his team mates and fan club.

“The target was try to find the best way to win the race and it’s what I did,” he said.

“Fabio was really fast in one part of the race, there was a gap in the middle

but I caught up...amazing year, all the Repsol Honda team did an amazing job,” he said.

The title made Marquez the youngest six times champion in the top class, taking that honour from Italian great Giacomo Agostini who did it at 29 years old.

The previous youngest eight times champion was the late British rider Mike

‘The Bike’ Hailwood, who reached that milestone at 27.

The Spaniard has now won nine races this season, including the last three in a row, with 14 podium appearances.

Quartararo led from the lights while Marquez, who qualified third, almost collided with the Frenchman’s team mate Franco Morbidelli before slotting in to second.

The rookie and the champion then traded fastest laps in a race that became another thrilling duel between the pair, with Marquez stalking the Yamaha, probing for a way past.

He made the move on the last lap but Quartararo fought back and rather than settle for second the Spaniard cut back in front again to take the cheq-uered flag.

“The pace was amazing, the heat was amazing, the

physical conditions were very tough but he didn’t give up, I didn’t give up,” said Marquez.

Quartararo, the only rider truly taking the battle to Marquez, was pleased with his first Thai GP.

“I can’t be more happy; fighting to the last corner, I tried everything,” he said. “If I didn’t try this move in the last corner, I don’t go home (happy)”.

Repsol Honda Team’s Spanish rider Marc Marquez celebrates on the podium after winning the MotoGP race in Thailand yesterday.

Marc Marquez in numbers

From number of wins per year to being the

youngest ever Champion with six premier

class titles, Marquez just keeps re-writing

record books

26: Marc Marquez is the youngest-ever rider

to win six premier class titles, at the age of

26 years and 231 days, taking the record from

Giacomo Agostini, who was 29 years and 25

days old when he won his sixth premier title

at the 1971 East German GP.

8: Marquez is also the youngest rider of all-

time to reach the milestone of eight World

Championships, taking the record from Mike

Hailwood, who was 27 years and 112 days old

when he won his eighth title, the 1967 350cc

crown, at Brno.

6: Marquez has joined Valentino Rossi and

Giacomo Agostini as one of only three riders

to have taken six or more premier class World

Championships.

8: Marquez is one of only six riders to have

taken eight or more World Championships over

all classes, the others being Carlo Ubbiali (9),

Mike Hailwood (9), Valentino Rossi (9), Angel

Nieto (13) and Giacomo Agostini (15).

5: Marquez has won all his MotoGP™ titles

riding Honda motorcycles and moves above

Mick Doohan as the rider with the most premier

class titles with the Japanese manufacturer (5).

13: Only one Spanish rider has won more

world titles than Marquez: Angel Nieto, who

won 13 World Championships (seven in the

125cc class and six in the 50cc class) between

1969 and 1984.

5: Marquez has won at least five GPs per season

over the past 10 years, across three different

categories: 125cc, Moto2™ and MotoGP™,

beating his own record set over the last two

years. Previously, Mike Hailwood was the only

rider to have achieved at least five victories per

season over 7 years, across at least 3 classes,

between 1961 and 1967.

5: Marquez has won at least five GPs per season

(in any class of GP racing) over the past 10 years,

equalling the record set by Giacomo Agostini

between 1966 and 1975 in the 350cc and 500cc

classes.

8: Marquez has won at least eight races over

five different seasons (in any class of GP racing),

equalling Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto.

Only Valentino Rossi did better, with at least

eight wins over eight different seasons.

7: Considering only the premier class, Marquez

has won at least five GPs per season over the

past seven years, beating the record set by Val-

entino Rossi (2001-2006) and Giacomo Ago-

stini (1967-1972), who each won at least five

races over six consecutive seasons.

76: Marquez’s win at the Czech GP was the

76th of his Grand Prix career, equalling nine-

time World Champion Mike Hailwood. At 26

years and 168 days old, Marquez became the

second-youngest rider to reach the milestone

of 76 GP wins, behind Valentino Rossi (26 years

165 days old).

200: At the Aragon GP, Marquez became the

youngest rider to reach the milestone of 200

Grands Prix races, aged 26 years and 217 days

old.

50: The win for Marquez at the Czech GP was

his 50th since he stepped up to the premier

class in 2013, making him the fourth rider to

reach the milestone of 50 premier class wins

along with Valentino Rossi (89 wins), Giacomo

Agostini (68) and Mick Doohan (54)

2: At 26 years and 168 days old, he was the

second-youngest rider to reach the milestone of

50 premier class wins, behind Valentino Rossi,

who achieved this at the age of 26 years 165

days.

9: Marquez’s current tally of nine pole posi-

tions extends his all-time pole record (in modern

era (since 1974) when full poles are officially

recorded) to an incredible 89 poles across all

three classes.

13: This season Marquez has won more

MotoGP™ races than any other rider (8). He

has also scored the most podiums (13) and the

most pole positions (9).

The last 10 world

champions and most titles2019: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2018: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2017: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2016: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2015: Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha)2014: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2013: Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda)2012: Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha)2011: Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda)2010: Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) Riders with the most world titles since 1949 (the

top class was the 500cc class until 2002 before it was replaced by MotoGP:

- Giacomo Agostini (ITA/8 titles in 500cc)- *V Rossi (ITA/6 titles in MotoGP, 1 title in 50cc)- *Marc Marquez (ESP/6 titles in MotoGP)- Mick Doohan (AUS/5 titles in 500cc)- Mike Hailwood (GBR/4 titles in 500cc)- John Surtees (GBR/4 titles in 500cc)- Geoff Duke (GBR/4 titles in 500cc)- Eddie Lawson (USA/4 titles in 500cc)- Wayne Rainey (USA/3 titles in 500cc)- Kenny Roberts (USA/3 titles in 500cc)- *Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/3 titles in MotoGP) (* indicates riders who are still active)

SPORT 08MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019

Al Rayyan deserved the win. We had many chances but the

match was like a boxing ring and Al Rayyan managed to

turn the game in their favour.

Xavi Hernandez after Al Sadd’s first loss in the QNB Stars League this season

INDIA, 1st innings 502-7 dec

SOUTH AFRICA, 1st innings 431

INDIA, 2nd innings 323-4 dec

SOUTH AFRICA, 2nd innings

(target 395, overnight 11-1)

A. Markram c & b Jadeja ...........................39

D. Elgar lbw Jadeja ....................................... 2

T. de Bruyn b Ashwin ................................. 10

T. Bavuma b Shami .......................................0

F. du Plessis b Shami ..................................13

Q. de Kock b Shami ......................................0

S. Muthusamy not out ...............................49

V. Philander lbw Jadeja ...............................0

K. Maharaj lbw Jadeja .................................0

D. Piedt b Shami .........................................56

K. Rabada c Saha b Shami ....................... 18

Extras (b2, lb2) ...........................................4

Total (all out, 63.5 overs) ........... 191Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Elgar), 2-19 (de Bry-

un), 3-20 (Bavuma), 4-52 (du Plessis), 5-60

(de Kock), 6-70 (Markram), 7-70 (Philander),

8-70 (Maharaj), 9-161 (Piedt), 10-191 (Rab-

ada)

Bowling: Ashwin 20-5-44-1, Jadeja 25-6-

87-4, Shami 10.5-2-35-5, I. Sharma 7-2-18-

0, R. Sharma 1-0-3-0

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

2nd T20 international

In Lahore

ATP Shanghai Masters

WTA Hong Kong Open

WTA Tianjin Open

CRICKET TENNIS

TO

DAY

’SA

CTIO

N

September 27 - October 6

India’s Mohammed Shami (centre) shows a broken stump after the dismissal of the South African batsman Dane Piedt during

the fifth day’s play of the first Test in Visakhapatnam, yesterday.

Shami, Jadeja help India take series lead against S AfricaAFP VISAKHAPATNAM, INDIA

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja took nine wickets between them as India outplayed South Africa, winning by 203 runs on the final day of the first Test yesterday.

Set a daunting target of 395, the tourists were bundled out for 191 in the second session in Visa-khapatnam, giving India a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Shami returned figures of 5-35 while Jadeja took four wickets to help current leaders India grab 40 points in the World Test Championship.

Dane Piedt (56) and debutant Senuran Muthusamy (49 not out) put on 91 runs for the ninth wicket to frustrate the Indian bowlers after the visitors had slipped to 70 for eight.

Shami got last man Kagiso Rabada caught behind for 18 to trigger celebrations in the Indian

camp. Rohit Sharma put India in a commanding position with a century in each innings on his debut as a Test opener -- a first by any batsman in Test history.

His knocks of 176 and 127 coupled with a fine 215-run innings by Mayank Agarwal helped Virat Kohli’s India maintain an upper hand in the game. Shami took three key wickets in the morning session including that of skipper Faf du Plessis for 13 to dim South Africa’s hopes of saving the game.

Jadeja soon joined forces to run through the middle order with three wickets in one over including overnight batsman Aiden Markram (39) with a one-handed return catch.

The Proteas resumed the day on 11 for one and soon the batting came under attack by some inspired Indian bowling on a pitch that offered variable bounce.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin struck first to clean up

overnight batsman Theunis de Bruyn for 10, becoming the joint-fastest to 350 wickets in his 66th Test. Ashwin, who claimed eight wickets in the match and regis-tered his 27th five-wicket haul on Friday, now shares the feat with Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan.

Shami continued with his exploits, bowling Temba Bavuma for nought on a delivery that stayed low. The veteran paceman came back in his second spell to rattle the stumps of du Plessis, who was leaving the incoming delivery, and Quinton de Kock for zero.

Rohit Sharma -- India’s lim-ited-overs star -- got 13 of those sixes, the most in a five-day game by one batsman, breaking Wasim Akram’s record of 12 for Pakistan.

South African opener Elgar also made an impression with his 160 in his team’s first innings total of 431 that brought the visitors back in the game.

Ebraz storms to win at ParisLongchamp THE PENINSULA PARIS

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani presented to H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA) following Ebraz’s victory in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA) at ParisLongchamp yesterday.

Ebraz (Amer) gave H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani with his fifth win in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1-PA). He is now the top winning owner in this race. Ebraz started as favourite in this race, ridden by Maxime Guyon. He is trained by Julian Smart. He sat patiently down the field, with plenty of running.

In the straight he stormed down the track to take the lead from Al Shaqab Racing’s Khataab (Amer), trained by Thomas Fourcy and ridden by Jerome Cabre, who battled bravely and finished second three quarters of a length behind his half brother. The P. Collington-trained and Jean-Bernard Eyquem-ridden Mashhur Al Khalediah (Jalnar Al Khalediah) held on to third place almost a further length behind.

“It’s for day’s like this that we race”, commented the winning trainer Julian Smart.

“I am very lucky to train horses such as Ebraz for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. That’s five wins now in this race, not bad at all! Ebraz won the HH The Amir Sword (Gr1-PA). I don’t normally train horses that shine at that age. They tend to be at their best later. He has won the best race in the world at the age of 6 and we are dreaming of next year. We do expect Ebraz to follow the example of Gazwan and continue his excellence for one or two years,” he said.

Waldgeist denies Enable a historic treble in Gr 1 Qatar Prix

De L’arc De TriompheHH Sheikh Abdullah bin

Khalifa Al Thani crowned the con-nections of Waldgeist with the trophy of the Gr 1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe following the 5YO chestnut horse win the world’s best horse race.

It was the race of the decade.The champion mare Enable

(Nathaniel) was attempting a record third victory in the Qatar Prix de

l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1), the best race in the world. A hundred metres from the line, she had taken the lead from her main rivals, Jockey Club (Gr1) victor Sottsass (Siyouni) and Japan (Galileo), winner of the Grand Prix de Paris (Gr1) and the Judd-monte International (Gr1).

Frankie Dettori and Enbale were hugging the rail and the wonder mare was battling bravely to line in the very testing ground, when the 5-year-old horse Waldgeist (Galileo), ridden by French champion jockey

Pierre-Charles Boudot, who had been making up ground down the centre of the track on the better ground, came to pass her inside the final furlong for victory in this leg-endary race.

Waldgeist is owned in part-nership by Gestüt Ammerland and Newsells Park Stud. He is trained by the French magician, André Fabre in Chantilly. This was Fabre’s 8th Arc winner: a new record in this race.

Waldgeist has been an incredibly consistent horse at the highest level throughout his racing

career, number 9 victories – 8 of which are Group victories, of which 4 at came at Group 1 level – and 5 places – all at Group level. He has never been out of the money in his thirteen lifetime starts. His lifetime earnings now total €4,349,180.

Albigna wins Gr1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac

The 2-year-old filly Albigna (Zoffany) ran out the authoritative winner of the opening race, the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr1), on the Sunday of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend. Trained in Ireland by Jessica Harrington for the Niarchos Family, who also bred her, the chestnut filly was winning the first Group 1 of her juvenile year.

Marieta (Siyouni) finished in second by 2 ½ lengths, with Flightly Lady (Sir Percy) in third ½ length further back.

Victor Ludlum scores in Gr1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère

sponsored by Manateq The undefeated Victor Ludlum

(Shamardal) flew home to mark a French-trained victory in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère Sponsored by Manateq (Gr1).

Villa Marina romps home to Gr1 win Prix De L’opera Longines

It was another Group 1 victory for French-trained horses in the Prix de l’Opéra Longines (Gr1), when Villa Marina (Le Havre) came to snatch the win in the final strides.

Qatar’s leadership of Arabian racing confirmed, says QREC ChairmanTHE PENINSULA

Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s (QREC) Chairman Issa bin Mohammed Al Mohannadi yesterday said they are happy with the tremendous success of this year’s edition of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend with such huge turnout.

“In fact, France Galop officials told us that the turnout was higher than in the previous editions. We would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani for their presence at the races, kind attention to all details to ensure the success of Qatar’s sponsorship of the event and the great support we receive in order to maintain and enhance the bright image of Qatar’s horseracing and eques-trian sport,” Al Mohannadi said.

“I would like to congratulate His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani for winning the Qatar Arabian World Cup for the fifth time in France. We are very proud with the victories realised by Qatar’s horses over the three days both at ParisLongchamp and Saint-Cloud,” The QREC Chairman said.

“They underline the successful outcome of our com-mitment to Arabian horses, which is in line with QREC’s vision of promoting Qatar as a world leader in the pure Arabian breed. On the other hand, the presence of the His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani-owned and bred French King in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, is very special. The mere presence in the world’s best horse race is a milestone and we look forward to maintaining success for Qatar. I hope Qatari institutions and organisa-tions will join us on a larger scale in this event and spon-sorship, especially in the Qatar Arabian World Cup,” he said.

Jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot celebrates after Waldgeist won the Gr 1 Qatar

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

yesterday.

H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani celebrates with the winner’s trophy.

Jockey Maxime Guyon guiding Ebraz to win the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA) at ParisLongchamp yesterday.