London

AFP

Jamie Vardy gave Claude Puel the perfect start to his Leicester City reign yesterday as the former Pre-

mier league champions returned to their counter-attacking best, brush-ing aside managerless Everton 2-0.

In a throwback to their 2015-16 title-winning season, Leicester caused problems for the visiting side from the start, breaking with pace and pur-pose as Demarai Gray proved a real handful for the struggling Merseyside team on just his second league start of the campaign.

Despite a poor start to the season that cost Craig Shakespeare his job,

Leicester’s third win of the campaign lifts them to the relative safety of 11th in the table while Everton, who parted company with Ronald Koeman ear-lier this week, are mired in the relegation zone.

The home side took the lead in the 18th minute following a surging run by Gray, who picked up the ball deep in his own half, skipped past a cou-ple of challenges and raced over the halfway line before releasing Riyad Mahrez on the right.

Mahrez crossed for Vardy to blast into the roof of the net, sending the King Power Stadium into raptures.

The rampant hosts were 2-0 up 11 minutes later when Jonjoe Kenny sliced Gray’s effort from the left into

the far corner of his own net past the helpless Jordan Pickford. It initially appeared to be an own goal but was awarded to Gray following a review.

Everton’s caretaker boss David Unsworth made a double change at half-time, bringing on Oumar Niasse and Beni Baningime for Aaron Lennon and Kevin Mirallas but although his team were brighter, Leicester kept them at arm’s length, limiting clear-cut chances.

The away team enjoyed the bulk of the possession as the game wore on and Unsworth brought on Gylfi Sigurdsson for Wayne Rooney with just over a quarter of an hour still to play, but it was Leicester who were again the more threatening side in the closing stages.

SPORTMonday 30 October 2017

Fit-again Al Sulaiti ready for WorldSBK challenge

Fans helped us win Clasico,

says Laudrup

PAGE | 31 PAGE | 32-33 PAGE | 36 Wozniacki crowned champion after big win over Williams

win

Vardy gives Puel perfect start

Vettel celebrates 50th pole in Mexico Mexico City

Reuters

If the Formula One world championship is all over bar the shouting, then Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel provided plenty of noise as he chalked

up a 50th career pole position in Mexico on Saturday.

The German whooped and hollered after clinching the top slot for yesterday’s race ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton, who needs only to finish fifth for Mercedes to secure his fourth championship, will start third and right behind the only man still left in the chase - even if Vettel is 66 points behind the Briton with two races remaining.

“It sounds like a lot. I guess it is a lot. I don’t know really what to say. It’s a big number,” said the delighted German, already a four-times cham-pion with Red Bull, of his 50 poles.

“I’m very, very happy with today. Before qual-ifying I didn’t look at it that way, so I was surprised myself to hear just now,” added the German, whose title challenge has almost evaporated after recent retirements.

The German was only the fourth driver to reach the milestone half century, after Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

Hamilton has been the pole king this season, with 11 from 17 races before Mexico, and an all-time career record of 72. Saturday was Vettel’s fourth of the campaign.

The German’s best time of one minute 16.488 was nearly half a second faster than Hamilton, with all eyes instead on 20-year-old Verstappen who had looked like becoming the youngest driver ever to secure pole after leading the sec-ond phase.

AFP

Real Madrid suffered a backlash on the field rather than from an

expected hostile atmosphere amid political turmoil in Cata-lonia as they slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at Girona yesterday.

Goals from Cristhian Stu-ani and Portu in four second-half minutes cancelled out Isco’s opener for Madrid as Real fell eight points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after just 10 games.

Madrid were making their first appearance in the deeply divided region since a violence marred October 1 referendum plunged Spain into political crisis. As a reported one mil-lion people joined a rally in Barcelona in favour of Span-ish unity yesterday, just over 100 kilometres away in the pro-independence heartland of Girona, the visitors were expected to receive a hostile reception.

However, it was events on the field that proved far more troublesome for Zinedine Zidane’s men as they lost more ground on rivals Barcelona in the Liga title race.

Real Madrid beaten in Girona

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (second right)scores their first goal against Everton during their Premier League match played at King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain yesterday.

Elias sees off Willstrop in DohaArmstrong VasThe Peninsula

Diego Elias of Peru began his Qatar Classic 2017 cam-paign on an emphatic note by

pulling off a stunning win over former World No.1 James Will-strop of England on the opening day of the $165,000 event at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.

An impressive performance from Elias saw the Peruvian World No. 15 defeat the Doha 2005 champion from England 12-10, 11-5, 11-8 in 46 minutes.

“It’s always hard playing experienced players like James and Nick,” said Elias.

“I just try to put a lot of pres-sure on them and I’m feeling good at the moment and today, I think I played well. This could be a good tournament for me.

“Today the first game was very important. I tried to play as fast as I can and it was working.”

Elias takes on India’s Saurav Ghosal in the second round match tomorrow.

Hong Kong qualifier Leo Au and Ghosal also continued the upsets trend on day one in Doha. Au overcame the challenge of Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in a high quality four-game affair while the Indian posted a win over Daryl Selby of England to become the second qualifier to advance to the second round.

The second match of the day followed the trend of the first with Cuskelly falling flat against an inspired Au.

“I had no expectations today,” said Au.

“Ryan is a good player, he’s

very solid and consistent. Today I don’t think I had any pressure and I played well and that third game was key.”

Au will meet fifth seed Ali Farag of Egypt in the next round.

India’s Ghosal, who is having an impressive run of form at the start of the new season, booked a place in the second round of the Qatar Classic for the first time in his career.

“I had a good week last week in St George and had a decent start to the season in Macau too – so I’m just trying to enjoy my squash as much as I possibly can. If I can enjoy it for the most part then I feel I can give a good account of myself,” said Ghosal.

Former World No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt, seeded third in the tournament, kept his com-posure to get past the challenge

of qualifier Chris Simpson of Eng-land in three straight games and joining him to the next stage were top seed Gregory Gaultier of France.

Gautlier got the better of Mex-ican Cesar Salazar in straight games and will face the winner of the match between Zahed Mohamed of Egypt and Gregoire

Marche of France in the second round.

Also making it to the next round of the tournament where Egyptian Farag on a day which saw home hope Abdulla Al Tamimi of Qatar crashing out after his loss to Fares Dessouky of Egypt.

Qatar’s Tamimi too had a bad day on the court and must be bit-terly disappointed with his performance yesterday.

Tamimi was just not mentally and tactically not there and Des-souky took full advantage of that.

“I know he always plays well here in Doha, so I had to make sure I kept my focus at all times,” Dessouky said.

“He played very well in the

2nd and 3rd game, I had to change my game plan, and I’m very glad I managed to get through in third game, and par-ticularly happy with my low unforced errors counts,” he added.

Fares meets Mohamed El Shorbagy in the all-Egyptian affair in the second round.

Mohamed El gave credit to his team for his consistent show on the World Tour.

“You don’t arrive to the top of the ranking by yourself. I have a whole team behind me, whether for the squash side of things, the physical side, the mental side,” the Egyptian said after winning his first round match against Eng-lishman Simpson.

“It takes a whole support group to get up there and stay there, both on tour and back home. Without them, I’m noth-ing, and I want to thank them for it,” he added.

(1) Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt

Cesar Salazar (Mex) 11-6, 11-2,

11-9

Zahed Mohamed (Egy)

Gregoire Marche (Fra)

(Q) Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt

Daryl Selby (Eng) 11-4, 11-8, 11-2

Diego Elias (Per) bt (7) James

Willstrop (Eng) 12-10, 11-5, 11-8

[5] Ali Farag (Egy) [Q] Karim

Ali Fathi (Egy) bt 11-7, 11-5, 11-1

(Q) Leo Au (HKG) bt Ryan

Cuskelly (Aus) 7-11, 11-7, 11-8,

11-4

Fares Dessouky (Egy) bt [wc]

Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat) 11-7, 118,

11-5

(3) Mohamed El Shorbagy

(Egy) bt 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 [Q] Chris

Simpson (Eng)

QATAR CLASSIC : RESULTS

Diego Elias of Peru in action against James Willstrop of England during their Qatar Classic 2017 match at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha yesterday.Pictures: Anvar Sadath

Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi in action

France’s Gregory Gaultier (right) and Cesar Salazar of Mexico in action.

30 MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Lahore

AFP

Pakistan marked the return of Sri Lanka with a 3-0 Twenty20 series white-

wash yesterday, as officials hoped it will help reestablish the country’s reputation for hosting international cricket.

The third and final Twenty20 match, which Paki-stan comfortably won by 36

runs at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, was Sri Lanka’s first since their team bus was attacked near the same venue in March 2009.

Those attacks, which left eight people dead and seven Sri Lanka players and their staff injured, suspended interna-tional cricket in Pakistan and forced them to play at neutral venues of United Arab Emir-ates (UAE).

The first two matches, which Pakistan won by seven and two wickets respectively, were played in Abu Dhabi before Sri Lanka flew to Lahore in a 24-hour fly in, fly out arrangement. The match was the fourth international since the attack, with Zimbabwe playing a five-match limited over series in 2015 followed by the final of Pakistan Super League and a three-match Twenty20 series with World XI comprising of players from seven countries -- both this year.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi dubbed the match “historic”.

“This is historic because it marks the beginning of a new era of international cricket in Pakistan,” said Sethi.

However, a rampaging Pakistan side did not show any mercy to their opponents as they piled up 180-3 in their 20 overs.

Shoaib Malik, the only player from both the sides to have also featured in the fate-ful 2009 Lahore Test, smashed

a 24-ball 51 with five bounda-ries and two sixes. He added 75 for the third wicket with Babar Azam (34 not out) in just 45 balls.

Openers Umar Amin (37-ball 45 with a six and three boundaries) and Fakhar Zaman (27-ball 31 with three fours)

were the other contributors.Pace bowler Mohammad

Amir, playing his first interna-tional match before the home crowd after making his debut soon after the terrorists’ attacks, finished with a career best 4-13 as Sri Lanka managed 144-9 in 20 overs.Only Dasun

Shanaka batted with aggres-sion during a 36-ball 54 with five boundaries and three sixes. Thousands of fans filled Gadd-afi Stadium under intense security, as the countries’ respective national anthems were played before a capacity 23,000 crowd.

Pakistan mark SL’s return to Lahore with win

Masakadza bags unbeaten century on rain-hit day

Miller fires fastest ton as SA rout Bangladesh

Bulawayo

Reuters

Opener Hamilton Masa-kadza struck an unbeaten century as

Zimbabwe reached 169 for four at the close on a rain-curtailed first day of the second Test against West Indies at the Queens Sports Club yesterday.

After Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, Masa-kadza reached 101 not out from 171 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

He will resume on Mon-day with Sikandar Raza (nine not out).

Masakadza watched from the opposite end as Zimba-bwe slipped into early trouble when they limped to 14 for three as West Indies seamer Kemar Roach (two for 24) made early inroads for the visitors, including the big wicket of Brendan Taylor (one).

But Masakadza, who scored his fifth test century, put on 142 for the fourth wicket with Peter Moor (52) before the latter was bowled by Roston Chase (one for 26).

The players left the field at the end of the 61st over and persistent rain kept them off for the remainder of the day.

West Indies won the first Test by 117 runs and cannot lose the two-match series in Zimbabwe.

Potchefstroom

AFP

David Miller smashed the fastest century in Twenty20 interna-

tional cricket as South Africa outclassed Bangladesh by 83 runs in the second and final Twenty20 international at Senwes Park yesterday.

Miller’s 35-ball hundred propelled South Africa to 224 for four before Bangladesh were bowled out for 141, com-pleting a clean-sweep for South Africa in two Tests, three one-day internationals and two T20 internationals.

It was an extraordinary innings by Miller. He had only scored 18 runs off 14 balls, then came an assault which yielded 82 runs off 21 balls to get to his century.

The previous fastest T20 international century was made off 45 balls by fellow South African Richard Levi against New Zealand in Ham-ilton in 2011/12.

Zimbabwe (I innings):H Masakadza (batting) .............................101

S Mire c Dowrich b Roach.............................. 4

C Ervine b Gabriel ...........................................0

B Taylor b Roach .............................................. 1

P Moor b Chase ............................................. 52

Sikandar Raza (batting) ............................... 9

Extras (2NB) ..................................................2

Total (4 wkts) ...............................169Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-11, 3-14, 4-156.

Still to bat: M Waller, R Chakabva, G Cremer,

T Chisoro, C Mpofu.

Bowling: Gabriel 13-3-37-1, Roach 10-4-24-

2, Blackwood 4-1-8-0, Holder 11-1-28-0, Bi-

shoo 14-2-46-0, Chase 9-1-26-1.

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran

Powell, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Roston Chase,

Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich (wk),

Jason Holder (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Kemar

Roach, Shannon Gabriel.

SCOREBOARD

Spectators hold placards during the Twenty20 international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Lahore, yesterday.

Indian cricketers celebrate after dismissing New Zealand’s Tom Latham during the third and final ODI at the Green Park Cricket Stadium in Kanpur yesterday.

India prevail in thriller

to clinch NZ series 2-1

Kanpur

AFP

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah helped India pull off a thrilling six-run win over New Zealand in the

third and final one-day inter-national and clinch the series 2-1 yesterday.

Bumrah claimed three wickets and effected a crucial run out of danger man Tom Latham in the 48th over to make the visitors falter in their 338-run chase at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium.

The Kiwis, who looked like favourites with 35 runs required from the last 24 balls, ended on 331-7 despite Latham’s 52-ball 65.

Earlier, sparkling centuries by opening batsman Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli steered India to 337-6 after being put in to bat.

Sharma, who smashed 147 off 138 balls, and Kohli, who made 113, became the first pair in ODIs to record four double-century stands between them after putting together 230 runs for the second wicket.

But it was the superb death bowling show by Bumrah that stood out in the big-scoring

game. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also chipped in with two crucial wickets.

Kiwi opener Colin Munro hit a quickfire 75 to give the visitors a blazing start despite losing his partner Martin Gup-till for 10 to Bumrah.

Munro put together a cru-cial 109-run partnership for

the second wicket with skip-per Kane Williamson, who made 64, as the pair took the attack to the opposition bowlers.

The left-handed Munro, who smashed 8 fours and 3 sixes in his 62-ball knock, took a special liking to Indian pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whose first five overs cost 51 runs.

Chahal soon spun into action to send Munro and Wil-liamson trudging back to the pavilion as New Zealand stum-bled in their chase.

It was then that the left-handed Latham got down to the grind, forming crucial part-nerships with Ross Taylor and Henry Nicholls and take the attack to the opposition.

Kumar bowled Nicholls for 37 and Bumrah soon took over to dash New Zealand’s hopes of winning their first series on Indian soil.

PakistanFakhar Zaman b Munaweera ................................ 31

Umar Amin c Perera b Udana .............................. 45

Babar Azam (not out) ........................................... 34

Shoaib Malik c de Silva n Sanjaya ........................ 51

Faheem Ashraf (not out) ....................................... 13

Extras: (LB2, NB2, W2) .........................................6

Total: (for three wkts) ......................... 180Did not bat: Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed,

Imad Waseem, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan

Ali

Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-91, 3-166

Bowling: Sanjaya 4-0-41-1 (2nb), Munaweera 4-0-

26-1, Udana 3-0-32-1, Gunathilaka 2-0-16-0 (1w),

Perera 4-0-28-0 (1w), de Silva 1-0-14-0, Shanaka

1-0-13-0

Sri LankaD Gunathilaka c and b Hafeez ................................ 9

D Munaweera b Amir ................................................. 1

S Samarawickrama c Azam b Wasim ...................4

M Udawatte c Azam b Ashraf ................................11

D Shanaka c Wasim b Ashraf .............................. 54

P de Silva b Amir ..................................................... 21

T Perera c Shadab b Hasan .................................... 10

S Prasana c Ahmed b Amir ....................................16

S Pathirana c Hafeez b Amir .................................14

I Udana (not out) ....................................................... 0

V Sanjaya (not out) .....................................................1

Extras: (LB1, W2) .................................................... 3

Total: (for nine wkts) ............................ 144Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-21, 4-57, 5-96 (Shana-

ka), 6-106, 7-114, 8-142, 9-143

Bowling: Wasim 4-0-30-1, Amir 4-0-13-4 (1w),

Hafeez 2-0-11-1, Ashraf 4-0-19-2, Shadab 2-0-31-0,

Hasan 4-0-39-1 (1w)

Result: Pakistan won by 36 runs, take series 3-0

SCOREBOARD

South AfricaH Amla c Soumya Sarkar b M Saifuddin .85

M Mosehle b Shakib Al Hasan ..................... 5

J Duminy b Shakib Al Hasan ........................4

A de Villiers c Imrul Kayes b M Saifuddin 20

D Miller (not out) ........................................ 101

F Behardien (not out) ....................................6

Extras (LB1, W2) ........................................... 3

Total (4 wkts, 20 overs) ...............224Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-37, 3-78, 4-157

Bowling: Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-22-2, Taskin

Ahmed 3-0-41-0 (1w), Mehedi Hasan 4-0-46-

0, Rubel Hossain 4-0-51-0 (1w), Mohammad

Saifuddin 4-0-53-2 Mahmudullah 1-0-10-0

Did not bat: A Phehlukwayo, D Pretorius, R

Frylinck, A Phangiso, B Hendricks

BangladeshImrul Kayes run out (Miller) .........................6

Soumya Sarkar c Hendricks b Phangiso .44

Shakib Al Hasan b Duminy ...........................2

Mushfiqur Rahim c Mosehle b Frylinck .....2

Sabbir Rahman c Hendricks b Duminy ...... 5

Mahmudullah st Mosehle b Phangiso .... 24

Liton Das c Frylinck b Pretorius ...................9

M Saifuddin c Amla b Hendricks ............... 23

Mehedi Hasan c Mosehle b Phehlukwayo 13

Taskin Ahmed run out (Phehlukwayo) ......4

Rubel Hossain (not out) .................................1

Extras (LB2, NB2, W4) ................................ 8

Total (18.3 overs) .......................... 141Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-29, 3-32, 4-37, 5-72,

6-93, 7-98, 8-130, 9-136

Bowling: Hendricks 2.3-0-28-1 (1w), Duminy

4-0-23-2, Frylinck 2-0-9-1, Pretorius 3-0-27-1,

Phangiso 4-0-31-2 (1w), Phehlukwayo 3-0-21-

1 (2nb, 2w)

Result: South Africa won by 83 runs

SCOREBOARD

India: Ro Sharma c Southee b Santner ........................147

S Dhawan c Williamson b Southee .....................14

V Kohli c Williamson b Southee ..........................113

H Pandya c Southee b Santner ..............................8

M Dhoni c Munro b Milne .......................................25

K Jadhav c Guptill b Milne .....................................18

D Karthik (not out) .................................................... 4

Extras (LB-1 W-7) ....................................................8

Total (for 6 wkts) ...................................337 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-259, 3-273, 4-302, 5-331,

6-337

Did not bat: A Patel, B Kumar, J Bumrah, Y Chahal

Bowling: T Southee 10 - 0 - 66 - 2(w-1); T Boult 10

- 0 - 81 - 0(w-3); A Milne 10 - 0 - 64 - 2(w-2); C de

Grandhomme 8 - 0 - 57 - 0; M Santner 10 - 0 - 58 - 2

C Munro 2 - 0 - 10 - 0(w-1)

New Zealand :M Guptill c Karthik b Bumrah ................................10

C Munro b Chahal ....................................................75

K Williamson c Dhoni b Chahal ...........................64

R Taylor c Jadhav b Bumrah .................................39

T Latham run out (Dhoni, Bumrah) ......................65

H Nicholls b B Kumar ..............................................37

C de Grandhomme (not out) ...................................8

M Santner c S Dhawan b Bumrah .......................... 9

T Southee (not out) ...................................................4

Extras (LB-4 W-16) ..............................................20

Total (for 7 wkts) ...................................331 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-153, 3-168, 4-247, 5-306,

6-312, 7-326

Bowling : B Kumar 10 - 0 - 92 - 1(w-7); Bumrah 10 - 0 - 47

- 3(w-2); H Pandya 5 - 0 - 47 - 0 (w-2); Patel 7 - 0 - 40 - 0(w-1);

Jadhav 8 - 0 - 54 - 0(w-3); Y Chahal 10 - 0 - 47 - 2(w-1)

SCOREBOARD

31MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Wozniacki crowned champion after big win over Williams Singapore

Reuters

Caroline Wozniacki claimed the biggest title of her career after the Dane staved off a ferocious Venus Wil-

liams fightback to take a 6-4 6-4 triumph in the WTA Finals title showdown at a captivated Sin-gapore Indoor Stadium yesterday.

The 27-year-old former world number one entered the contest having lost to the ever-green Williams seven times in as many matches but the resilient Dane served and retrieved bril-liantly and emerged with a deserved victory after 89 minutes.

Wozniacki was faultless for an hour as she raced to a one-set and 5-0 lead but Williams always plays to win and the 37-year-old American reeled off four games in a row before the Dane could finally lift the title at the elite, eight-woman event in her fifth appearance.

“It was all going well at 5-0 in the second set, then she went for her shots and I was just so happy to get it done in the end,” Wozniacki, who will rise three places to third in the world rank-ings after the win, said in a courtside interview.

“Well eight is my lucky number and I figured if I was ever going to beat her it would be today... and I just went out there and did my best,” Wozni-acki said.

The first three games were dominated by the server until the Dane started to find the corners with her powerful backhand and fashioned the first break of the match with back-to-back win-ners off both flanks.

Williams was trying to get to the net at every opportunity and came forward to good effect after dropping her serve. A vicious cross-court backhand enabled the American to break back immediately on her way to levelling the score at 3-3.

She continued to be the aggressor but the Dane held on in the face of some brutal hitting for her opponent and somehow forged her second break of the

set with some exqui-site deep hitting to move within one game of taking the opener.

The American came roaring back once more, leaving the Dane looking on as a helpless specta-tor, with a barrage of winners to get the high-class contest back on serve.

After working so hard to stay in touch, Williams would have been deeply frus-trated to gift her opponent the set when the Dane did not have to work to seize the third break in a row, the way-ward American sending forehands wide, long and into the net.

Wozniacki had seized the momen-tum with her variation, depth of shot and complete lack of errors

preventing Williams from grab-bing any sort of foothold in the

contest and the flying Dane raced into a 5-0 lead in 11 sec-

ond-set minutes.Needing to hold serve just to

stay in the contest, Williams found her rhythm to belatedly get on the scoreboard in the sec-ond set and then secured her first break of the second with some solid play against an increasingly anxious Wozniacki.

W i l l i a m s s u d d e n l y appeared relaxed and free, holding easily to heap more pressure on the Dane before stretching every muscle and sinew in an impressive ninth game to break once more and get it back to 5-4.

The crowd wanted more but Wozniacki was not pre-pared to give them what they wanted, breaking again and sealing victory on her second match point with a backhand winner down the line, and toss-ing her racket in the air as she celebrated a stunning triumph.Wozniacki’s victory is her sec-ond of the season in eight finals after she successfully defended her Pan Pacific Open title in Japanese capital Tokyo last month.

Federer beats Del Potro for 95th career title triumphBasel

Reuters

Roger Federer (pic-tured above) claimed an eighth

Swiss Indoor title when he out-lasted Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 in front of a partisan Basel crowd yesterday.

Federer now has 95 career titles, with Jimmy Connors leading the all-time list on 109.

The 36-year-old local favourite, beaten by Del Potro in consecutive Basel finals in 2012 and 2013, was ragged at times and looked in danger of an unwanted hat-trick, but showed all his battling qualities to turn the match around.

Fourth seed Del Potro, making a late run to try and qualify for next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London, broke serve in the first game of the decider but wilted as Federer stormed back to the delight of a raucous crowd inside the St Jakob-shalle. World number two Federer charged into a 5-2 lead and while Del Potro delayed the end by hold-ing serve, Federer would not be denied and racked up his 95th career title as Del Potro fired a backhand long under pressure.

Victory means Federer trails world number one Rafael Nadal by 1,460 points going into the Paris Masters where 1,000 points are on offer for the champion.

Singapore

Reuters

Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova rallied to claim the WTA Finals doubles title in a match tiebreak yesterday, the Hun-garian-Czech pair recovering from a set down to record a

4-6 6-4 (10-5) victory over fighting duo Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson.

The third seeds overcame top-ranked Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-jan to bring an end to the Swiss 37-year-old’s career in her last ever tournament on Saturday and followed up that triumph with a gutsy display in the final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Belgian-Swedish pair claimed the opening set with the only break in the 10th game before the eventual champions broke twice in the second set to level the title contest and then raced to a 4-0 lead in the match tiebreak on their way to victory in 92 minutes.

“I think our game complements each other very well. Yeah, definitely the key to our success. I think we really played well this week,” the 24-year-old Babos told reporters after the pair claimed a fifth title of the year.

“We put our game together for this one, and we really beat the best teams in the world. Yeah, I’m very, very happy with how we performed here.”

Hlavackova had reached one WTA Finals title match with com-patriot Lucie Hradecka in 2012, losing to Russians Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, and the 31-year-old was delighted to claim victory in her second final at the event.

“It was a very tough match to turn around but I think in the end, I think you (Babos) changed it. We were very, like, loud and we started to scream “Come on” on every ball,” she told reporters.

“We turned it around inside us. We started to believe that this match is not going from us. And in the super-tiebreak, we were just outstanding.

Babos and Hlavackova rally for WTA Finals doubles triumph

Denmark’s Caroline

Wozniacki celebrates with

the trophy after winning

the final against USA’s

Venus Williams in Singapore

yesterday.

Halep targets Grand Slam breakthroughSingapore

AFP

Simona Halep (pictured above, right) set her sights on breaking through for her first Grand Slam title yesterday after

securing the year-end world number one ranking -- and a vote of confidence from Roger Federer.

The Romanian became the 13th year-end women’s number one despite struggling at the WTA Finals in Singapore, winning just

once to bow out at the round-robin stage. Halep was officially recognised with the

end-of-year trophy and a sparkling new ring yesterday. Her next challenge is a maiden Grand Slam win. Halep came desperately close in this year’s French Open final, when she blew a set and 3-0 lead against 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko.

“Of course, my new dream is to win a Grand Slam,” she told reporters in Singa-pore. “I just want to work harder to get better, because I need to do that and we will see

what is going to happen.” Halep admitted it would be a challenge to stay at world number one, a position which has been occupied by five different players this year. “I have to work harder to stay there,” she said.

The 26-year-old recently received sup-port from Swiss great Federer, who said Halep “deserves” to be world number one.

“I felt really proud of myself that Roger Federer could talk about me like that,” Halep said. “It’s a great feeling that I can finish the year number one.”

Lucas Pouille of France holds up the thophy after winning against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in their singles final match during the ATP tournament in Vienna, Austria, yesterday. Pouille won 6-1, 6-4.

32 MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017SPORT 33MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT32 MONSPORT

Fit-again Al Sulaiti readyfor WorldSBK challenge

Rizwan RehmatThe Peninsula

Popular Qatari rider Saeed Al Sulaiti yesterday said he had regained ‘complete’ fitness ahead of this week’s final round of the WorldSBK

Championship to be held under lights at Losail International Circuit.

The 32-year-old, who featured in all the races of last year’s WorldSBK Championship, under-went a surgery on his left wrist

following his successful run in the Qatar SuperStock Championship.

“I am really excited about the WorldSBK ride this week. I am not short of confidence. I am 100 percent ready. I have been training well since I had my surgery during Ramadan,” Al Sulaiti told The Peninsula in an exclusive chat yesterday.

“I had a wrist injury. I did nothing but rest for the two months. I had to rest as there was no option. After the lengthy rest, I did go to Spain and test myself in a couple of races in which I finished in second spot in both,” Al Sulaiti added.

“Actually this week will be my first big test on how well I have recovered from the surgery. After this week, I will be able to gauge my fitness and chart out my racing schedule,” Al Sulaiti informed.

“The Qatar Championships starts in December and I intend to defend my title. I had great battles last season with Mashel (Al Naimi). He is a great rider. Our rivalry produced exciting battles on the circuit.

“I was pushing myself last season and I want to go to the next level. I know mentally that I am a better rider than I was last year or the years before that. Last season gave me motivation to be better and faster in the coming compe-titions,” he said.

“It will be totally different to what I had been doing in World SBK calendar last season. But I must say I will enjoy my break riding here. Surely we will get to

see explosive action. I had been riding the 1000cc bikes and now I will have to switch to the 600cc bike. This involves different riding tactics.”

Al Sualiti said the coming week makes him eager to get into the pits at Losail Circuit.

“As a rider, I am delighted that I will be featuring in the final round of the WorldSBK Championship for the sec-ond time. I have benefited from my previous participation in 2016 in all rounds of the tournament. Last year I gained experience, self-confidence, knowledge of riders and manufactur-ers and became the first Qatari or Arab rider to feature in all rounds of this Championship,” Al Sulaiti said.

“Last season, QMMF and LCSC, opened the doors of competition with a new competition - the Qatar Super-stock 600 - and I won the title. Because of my stellar performance, I and Mashel have been awarded the Wild Card for the final round of the WorldSBK Cham-pionship,” Al Sulaiti said.

“This has come about in recognition of my championship win in Qatar last season. I did my best to win the title last season and all of this did not come by chance. My best rival and buddy is the experienced Mashel. I hope I can defend my title next season also,” he said.

“I have returned to practice after a three-month break. I was injured when I took part in the MotoGP round at Losail

Circuit in the Moto2 category. I suffered a severe injury to my left wrist. I needed a surgery but I postponed it because I was part of the Qatar Superstock 600 races.

“After the regular home season, I went to Aspetar Sports Medicine Hos-pital where I got treatment and then I proceeded to train with talented rider Abdullah Al Qubaisi. I have stepped up my training with a specific plan, a spe-cial programme with my trainer to boost my physical fitness as I approach the final round of the WorldSBK Champi-onship,” Al Sulaiti said.

The 32-year-old rider was quick to acknowledge the support he enjoy from various quarters in Qatar.

“The presence of H E Salah Bin

Ghanim Al Ali, Minister of Culture and Sports, at our races gives us great moti-vation. It is very gratifying to know he follows us riders,” Al Sulaiti said.

“I take this opportunity to thank the President of QMMF Abdul Rah-man Al Mannai, the President of the Losail Circuit Sports Club, and Al Rumaihi, Vice President of LCSC, for making our dream come true of par-ticipating in a WorldSBK round at home circuit, in front of our own fans,” Al Sulaiti said.

“Last but least, I thank my sponsors Ooredoo for they way they have backed me. Their support is the reason I am competing so fiercely at the top level,” Al Sulaiti said.

MOTOGP1. Andrea Dovizioso(ITA/Ducati)44 minutes 51.497

seconds, 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA/Ducati) 0.743, 3.

Johann Zarco (FRA/Yamaha) 9.738, 4. Marc Marquez

(ESP/Honda) 17.763, 5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda)

29.144, 6. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati) 30.380, 7.

Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 30.769, 8. Jack Miller

(AUS/Honda) 35.238, 9. Maverick Vinales (ESP/

Yamaha) 38.053, 10. Pol Espargaro (SPA/KTM)

39.847

MOTO21. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 40min 28.955sec, 2.

Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at 2.387, 3. Franco Morbidelli

(ITA/Kalex) 6.878, 4. Mattia Pasini (ITA/Kalex) 21.774,

5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 22.086, 6. Hafizh

Syahrin (MAS/Kalex) 23.410, 7. Fabio Quartararo

(FRA/Kalex) 23.488, 8. Xavi Vierge (SPA/Tech3)

24.976, 9. Issac Vinales (SPA/Kalex) 25.044, 10.

Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN/Kalex) 27.199

OVERALL STANDINGS1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 282 points, 2. Andrea

Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 261, 3. Maverick Vinales (ESP/

Yamaha) 226, 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 197,

5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 185, 6. Johann Zarco

(FRA/Yamaha) 154, 7. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Ducati)

116, 8. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati) 121, 9. Cal

Crutchlow (GBR/Honda) 104, 10. Jonas Folger (GER/

Yamaha) 84.

OVERALL STANDINGS 1. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex) 288 points, 2. Thomas

Luthi (SUI/Kalex) 243, 3. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM)

216, 4. Alex Marquez (ESP/Kalex) 190, 5. Francesco

Bagnaia (ITA/Kalex) 161, 6. Mattia Pasini (ITA/Kalex)

148, 7. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) 128, 8. Simone

Corsi (ITA/Speed Up) 110, 9. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM)

109, 10. Xavi Vierge (SPA/tECH 3) 98

Malaysian Grand Prix results Dovizioso extends title fight with victory in Malaysia Sepang

AFP

Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso won a dramatic and damp Malaysian MotoGP grand prix yesterday to keep his world title hopes

afloat after championship leader Marc Marquez of Spain finished fourth.

“Yes, I am happy to keep my championship challenge alive,” he said at the trackside.

The Italian adopted a cool strategy and worked hard to stay in the front pack as a downpour just before the start left standing water on much of the Sepang circuit.

Dovizioso, who now has six wins this season, quickly defused speculation that teammate Jorge Lorenzo had been under orders to let him through at turn 15 when the Spaniard was in the lead.

“He lost the front. I (also) lost the front many times,” the Italian said.

Dovizioso who started on the front row, crossed the line in 44 minutes 51.497 seconds. Lorenzo was 0.743 seconds slower while French-man Johann Zarco was third at 45:01.236.

Lorenzo said he pushed hard for victory but lost his grip in lap 15 when he tried to break.

Asked if there had been any team instructions to let Dovizioso win, Lorenzo told reporters: “Hon-estly, I did not see anything. In the rain you cannot lose any concentration.

“I wanted to win the race but was not prepared to do something crazy. I lost grip in the front in turn 15. I thought I was going to crash. I did not want to crash into Dovizioso.”

It was the first time this year that the Ducati riders had achieved a 1-2 finish.

The 31-year-old Dovizioso, who has a slim mathematical chance of claiming the title at

Valencia in two weeks, said the whole team worked perfectly.

“We did everything perfect and it wasn’t easy. So I am so happy about that, to show to everybody that with our work we can really be competitive in this difficult track in the dry and wet,” he said.

The Italian won in Malaysia last year in simi-lar wet conditions.

But Dovizioso admitted that Marquez would be competitive in Valencia, adding that it would not be a suprise if he wins the title there.

“What Marquez did this season is incredible,” he said.

Marquez, 24, can lose the championship if Dovizioso wins in Valencia and he himself fin-ishes outside the top 11.

Zarco rode a brilliant race and set an electric pace to lead most of the way. He said he enjoyed riding fast at Sepang and was glad to secure a podium finish.

“It is okay Lorenzo and Dovizioso overtook me. They are much better riders,” Zarco said.

“I am happy with a third position. We had a good day. I am highly motivated for the season-ending race in Valencia.”

Marquez, who started from the third row on a Honda, was under intense pressure to wrap up the championship battle in Malaysia. He quickly moved up to third in a fast-riding pack led by Zarco but could not maintain his pace on the wet track.

Dani Pedrosa, who started on pole, finished fifth for Honda ahead of Danilo Petrucci.

Italian legend Valentino Rossi finished sev-enth on his Yamaha.

The riders will meet in Valencia on Novem-ber 12 for the final showdown, with Marquez leading Dovizioso by 21 points.

Ducati Team’s Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso celebrates as he wins the Malaysia MotoGP at the Sepang International circuit in Sepang yesterday. LEFT: Dovizioso celebrates on the podium.

Morbidelli crowned Moto2 champion

SepangAFP

Italy’s Franco Morbidelli (pictured) clinched the Moto2 world champion-

ship at yesterday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, which was won by Miguel Oliveira.

Morbidelli, who finished third, took the title even before the race started when rival Thomas Luthi withdrew with a broken foot.

Luthi hurt his foot in Saturday’s qualifying and was declared unfit.

Morbidelli is the first Italian to win a Moto2 title since Marco Simoncelli in 2008.

South African rookie Brad Binder was second.

Portuguese rider Oliveira who started second on the front on a KTM machine, dominated the race from the start.

Rain started falling towards the end of the race and dark clouds could be seen over the Sepang circuit.

As a rider, I am delighted that I will be featuring in

the final round of the WorldSBK Championship

for the second time. I have benefited from my previous participation in 2016 in all rounds of the tournament. Last year I

gained experience, self-confidence, knowledge

of riders and manufacturers and

became the first Qatari or Arab rider to feature

in all rounds of this Championship: Al SulaitiQatari rider Saeed Al Sulaiti is congratulated by Qatar Motor

and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President Abdulrahman Al Mannai at the Losail Circuit in Doha ahead of the WorldSBK Championship.

Lausanne

AFP

They may apparently require no more than a comfortable chair, decent

knowledge of a computer screen and nimble mastery of control-lers, but the International Olympic Committee insisted on Saturday that eSports are indeed...sports.

An Olympic Summit, under

the guidance of IOC president Thomas Bach, meeting in Lausanne hailed the phenome-nal growth of video games.

In a statement, the Summit members agreed that “compet-itive eSports could be considered as a sporting

activity, and the players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be com-parable to athletes in traditional sports”.

The eSports explosion has already been widely recognised in Asia with the 2022 Asian

Games in Hangzhou, China, planning to include it as a medal sport for the first time in what is seen as an important step towards Olympic recognition.

“eSports are showing strong growth, especially within the y o u t h d e m o g r a p h i c

across different countries, and can provide a platform for engagement with the Olympic Movement,” added the Olympic Summit statement.

However, Olympic chiefs were keen to keep enthusiasm in check.

“In order to be recognised by the IOC as a sport, the con-tent of eSports must not infringe on the Olympic values.

“A further requirement for recognition by the IOC must be the existence of an organisa-tion guaranteeing compliance with the rules and regulations of the Olympic Movement (anti-doping, betting, manipu-lation, etc.).”

34 MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

IOC says eSports are indeed ...sports

IOC backs 2018 Games despite tensions Lausanne

AFP

The International Olym-pic Committee on Saturday gave its “full support” to the 2018 Winter Olympics in

Pyeongchang despite tensions over North Korea’s nuclear tests which have raised concerns over the showpiece event.

The Olympics, which run from February 9-25 in South Korea, will be staged only 80km (50 miles) from the heavily guarded border which separates the two nations.

But at the sixth Olympic Sum-mit in Lausanne, leading officials including IOC president Thomas Bach insisted that there is no question of the Games not taking place.

“With regard to the situation

on the Korean Peninsula, the Summit expressed its apprecia-tion that the IOC has been in close contact for many months already with the governments and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) concerned,” said a statement.

“The Summit took note that none of them has called the Olympic Games Pyeongchang 2018 into question.

“The safety and security of the athletes are of course the top pri-ority for everyone in the Olympic Movement, and this was high-lighted again by the Olympic Summit.

“The IOC will continue to monitor the situation in cooper-ation with governments, NOCs and International Federations (IFs).”

In recent weeks, several countries, including France,

Germany and Austria, have raised concerns over the safety of their athletes during the Games while the United States Olympic Com-mittee said on Friday that it was prepared “to face any scenario”.

Meanwhile, officials heard that a doping task force, set up by winter sports federations, will focus in particular on Russian athletes.

Russia has been accused of backing state-sponsored doping, especially at the 2014 Winter Olympics on home ground in Sochi, and is the subject of two IOC disciplinary commissions.

“The Summit supported the intention of the IOC Executive Board (EB) to take a decision with regard to the participation of Rus-sian athletes in the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 in December,” added the statement.

The mascot for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Soohorang is seen during the Pyeongchang Winter Festival, near the venue for the opening and closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea in this February, 2017 file photo.

Johnson’s collapse allows Rose to win in ShanghaiShanghai

Reuters

Justin Rose roared back from an eight-stroke deficit to claim a stunning two-shot win at the

WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai yesterday after world number one Dustin Johnson threw away the tournament with a record-tying collapse.

Eight strokes adrift of Johnson on the first tee, Englishman Rose fired a five-under 67, tearing up the back nine with five birdies at Sheshan Golf Club as the American gave up a six-stroke lead to finish runnerup with Henrik Stenson and Brooks Koepka.

Johnson, who had been bidding to become the first to win three WGC titles in a year, instead joined Sergio Garcia and Greg Norman with the record for the largest blown lead in surrendering a PGA Tour event.

Garcia lost at Quail Hollow in 2005, with Norman’s famous melt-down coming at the 1996 Masters.

“I kind of played matchplay against the golf course,” said former US Open winner Rose, who finished the $9.75 million event with a 14-under total of 274.

“I kind of figured I was playing for second. I thought 13 (under) was going to be an important number to get to.

“Then obviously I saw DJ get back to about 14 or 15 (under) and then the game was on. So it was certainly exciting coming down the stretch.”

Rose was heartbroken earlier in the year when he was denied his sec-ond major title at the Masters by Garcia and also missed out with run-nerup finishes at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the BMW Championship last month.

“This is really, really satisfying,” said the 37-year-old.

“I’ve won every year since 2010 and I was very aware that that was kind of slipping away from me this year.

“I certainly left it late but to win a WGC is just amazing, obviously. They count for so much.”

While Rose was sublime, launch-ing his victory charge after consecutive bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes, an ashen-faced Johnson trudged grimly through Sheshan as

his game fell apart in a five-over 77.Having dominated fellow Amer-

ican Koepka in a third round shootout, Johnson was straight on the back foot on Sunday bogeying his first two holes and finishing the day without a single birdie.

A frustrating run of nine pars was the precursor to his meltdown, which began in earnest with a third bogey at the par-four 12th.

After landing his approach short, he missed a putt from five feet to save par, cutting his lead to two.

A further bogey followed on 15 and Rose, one hole ahead, ramped up the pressure with a birdie on the 16th.

Needing to respond, Johnson miscued his tee shot at 16, popped his approach shot into a greenside bunker and missed a seven-foot putt for bogey number five.

While nothing was going right, hope still flickered for the long-hit-ting American, who could still force a playoff with an eagle on the par-five 18th.

Going for broke, Johnson’s sec-ond shot caught the edge of the green but rolled down into a water hazard, an apt finish to a miserable day.

Former world number one Jason Day shot a 68 to finish in a group tied for 11th and Phil Mickelson (67) also closed strongly to be T15.

Justin Rose of England kisses his trophy after he stormed back from eight shots behind overnight to win the $9.75m WGC-HSBC Champions by two strokes in a thrilling finale at the Sheshan International golf club in Shanghai yesterday .

Panuphol secures victory in Indonesia Jakarta

AFP

Thailand’s Panuphol Pit-tayarat completed a total of 25 holes yester-

day to secure victory and a $54,000 cheque in the rain-interrupted Indonesia Open.

The 24-year-old ended with a five-stroke lead and moves up to 14th place in the Order of Merit.

Panuphol, 24, was lead-ing on Saturday before the event was suspended due to heavy rain.

He returned yesterday morning to finish the remaining seven holes from his third round, finishing with a five-under-par 67 to lead by three shots heading into the final round.

Panuphol traded three birdies against a bogey for an outward 34, grabbing just a one-shot edge over compa-triot Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, who closed in with four bird-ies, at the turn.

But Panuphol pulled ahead with three straight birdies from the 10th hole before adding two more birdies in his final five holes for a last-round 65 and a total of 23-under-par 265 at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.

“I tried to play every hole the same way and not think about the result and it works!” he said in comments supplied by the Asian Tour.

“I will keep that mental-ity going into the next couple of tournaments.”

Tirawat Kaewsiribandit ended second with a second straight 67 but said he was pleased.

Other Thai golfers Jazz Janewattananond and Nam-chok Tantipokhakul, shared third place on 273 following respective rounds of 67 and 69.

Kerr captures 20th LPGA golf title Kuala Lumpur

AFP

Cristie Kerr captured a 20th career LPGA title at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia yester-day after a sensational 35-foot birdie putt

on the 18th hole earned her a one-stroke victory over Feng Shanshan, Danielle Kang and Jacqui Concolino.

A slight rain delay at TPC Kuala Lumpur only intensified the action afterwards and play was heading into a four-way playoff until the sea-soned American rolled in the massive putt.

Kerr broke into a huge grin and pointed to the sky immediately after securing the landmark achievement for a prize purse of $270,000.

“That’s probably the longest putt I’ve ever made to win a golf tournament. I was so deter-mined all day,” she said.

“Things were just not going my way. When I hit good shots, I’d get in some bad spots. You know, that’s just the way it goes sometimes in golf, but I stuck it out.”

Her success ended a strong challenge from defending champion Feng, who came into con-tention with two birdies in her final three holes.

The two-time Chinese champion was unde-terred despite coming up short and vowed to return.

“In the last three holes, I made two birdies, and on the last hole, Cristie held that putt. You know, I was just trying to make that putt but, well, I mean, I didn’t make it,” she said.

“But I think second is still not a bad finish here, and I’m still keeping my record pretty good here in Malaysia. So it goes 2-1-2-1-2; I’ll come back next year and see if I can keep it up.”

Kang burst into late contention after she fired an eagle and followed up with three birdies on the back nine for a five-under-par 66.

Concolino also finished tied-second with a 67 to cap a sturdy performance throughout the four days.

Cristie Kerr of the US

holding the trophy after

winning the LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur

yesterday.

35MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017 SPORT

Dodgers rip Astros to level series Houston

AFP

Two unlikely heroes, a pitcher who lost his only prior play-off start and a bat-

ter in an 0-for-13 slump, rescued the World Series title hopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Alex Wood baffled Houston batters for 5 2/3 no-hit innings and Cody Bellinger snapped his drought with two crucial doubles as the Dodgers downed Houston 6-2 to level Major League Base-ball’s best-of-seven final 2-2.

“It’s hard to put into words really right now. I needed a win and I was glad to keep us in it long enough to where our bats came alive,” Wood said. “It’s a big win for us.”

Clayton Kershaw, an 18-game winner, will face Astros ace Dallas Keuchel in a matchup of star left-handed pitchers Sunday, when the winner will reach the brink of a World Series crown ahead of game six on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

“I like where we’re at,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“There have been so many emotional swings and we’re dead even right now. It’s a three-game series and we’ve got our ace going tomorrow so I know in our clubhouse we feel good.”

The Dodgers seek a seventh championship but their first since 1988 while the Astros are trying for the first World Series title in their 55-year history.

“It’s game five of the World Series, so there won’t be any need to press any buttons or let them know how big these outs are,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said.

Wood, a 26-year-old US left-hander, sparked talk of the first World Series no-hitter since New York Yankees’ legend Dan Larsen’s perfect game in

1956. “He pitched an incredible game,” Roberts said. “Woody’s command, his ‘compete’ was just off the charts. Woody set the tone for us -- just outstanding.”

But Houston’s George Springer blasted a 3-ball, 1-strike offering over the left-field wall in the sixth inning for a home run on the only hit Wood surren-dered, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead and ending the Dodgers’ deepest World Series no-hit bid.

“Once I was heading into the fifth, I thought about it a little bit,” Wood said of his no-hit bid.

Houston’s Charlie Morton surrendered only one hit while striking out seven in facing the mini-mum 15 batters over five innings, but allowed the

Dodgers level at 10-1 in the seventh when Bellinger, who had eight strikeouts in the World Series drought, doubled and scored on Logan For-sythe’s single.

Bellinger’s run-scoring double ended Houston’s major-league record play-off run of more than 70 home innings without trailing.

“He came up big. It was absolutely good to see him come back with a couple of big doubles,” Roberts said.

Austin Barnes drove in another run with a sacri-fice fly and Joc Pederson followed with a three-run homer.

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen surrendered a solo homer to Alex Bregman or Los Angeles would have boasted the first World Series one-hitter since 1967.

The Astros had been 7-0 at home in the play-offs this year, matching the best post-season start in major league history.

It was practically a must-win game for the Dodgers, since teams fall-ing behind 3-1 in the Series have lost 84 percent of the time while those pulling level at 2-2 have won 45 percent of the time.

It’s hard to put into words really right now. I needed a win and I was glad to keep us in it long enough to where our bats came alive, says Alex Wood

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Alex

Wood throws a pitch in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros in game four of the 2017 World Series at Minute

Maid Park in Houston on Saturday.

Texans owner meets players after ‘inmates’ commentNew York

Agencies

A day after his “inmates running the prison” comment in refer-ence to ongoing player protests

during the national anthem became public, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair met with team players on Sat-urday and issued a second statement.

“I know they were upset,” McNair told the Houston Chronicle. “I wanted to answer their questions. I told them if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t use that expression.”

ESPN The Magazine reported McNair had said last week, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison,” after other owners in an Oct. 18 NFL meeting talked of business concerns surrounding the anthem protests.

In his statement on Saturday, McNair said:

“As I said yesterday, I was not referring to our players when I made a very regretful comment during the owners meetings last week.

“I was referring to the relation-ship between the league office and team owners and how they have been making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from ownership over the past few years.

“I am truly sorry to the players for how this has impacted them and the perception that it has created of me which could not be further from the truth. Our focus going forward, personally and as an organization, will be towards making meaningful progress regarding the social issues that mean so much to our players and our community.”

A Texans offensive starter told ESPN that the team would meet Sat-urday night “to discuss a demonstration tomorrow,” he added.

The player also said that he expects everyone on the team to travel Saturday to Seattle for game against the Seahawks.

Westbrook shines as Thunder thump Bulls

Los Angeles AFP

Russell Westbrook completed his col-lection with a

triple-double on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls, the only NBA team that had denied the Oklahoma City star the statistical feat.

Westbrook, the reign-ing NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 12 points with 13 rebounds and 13 assists in Oklahoma City’s 101-69 rout of the Bulls.

He’s the first player to post a triple-double -- notching double digits in three statistical categories -- against all 29 opposing teams in the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, new arrivals in Oklahoma City this sea-son, combined to drain

nine three-pointers, Anthony scoring 21 points and George 20.

Kiwi center Steven Adams and Raymond Fel-ton scored 12 points apiece as part of a balanced Thun-der attack, and Oklahoma City held the Bulls to an anemic 28.2 percent shooting.

“(Defence) just set the tone,” Westbrook said. “When we’re able to do

that, it puts us in position to do good things.” Friday’s defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves, followed by a worrisome flight from Minneapolis to Chicago that left their charter plane with frightening damage, didn’t appear to affect the Thunder on court.

They opened the game on a 15-3 scoring run, and led 50-31 at halftime.

Westbrook had two steals as part of a solid defensive effort that forced 19 Bulls turnovers.

“Honestly, my main thing coming into this year was finding ways to impact the game defensively the way I know I can,” West-brook said.

“For me, that’s part of my job ... to be that player who is able to do that on a night in, night out basis.”

Detroit 95 LA Clippers 87

Portland 114 Phoenix 107

Utah 96 LA Lakers 81

Philadelphia 112 Dallas 110

Boston 96 Miami 90

O’ City 101 Chicago 69

Memphis 103 Houston 89

New Orleans 123 Cleveland 101

NBA RESULTS

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell

Westbrook (right) dribbles the ball against Chicago

Bulls guard Justin Holiday during the first half of their NBA game at United Center

on Saturday.

Kuznetsov scores twice as Capitals top Oilers 5-2 Edmonton, Alberta

AP

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals didn’t let an early deficit

rattle them on Saturday night.Evgeny Kuznetsov scored

twice and Ovechkin added three assists as the Capitals roared back from two goals down to earn a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

“We knew we could bounce back,” Ovechkin said.

Devante Smith-Pelly, Lars Eller and Jay Beagle also scored for the Capitals, who had lost four of five. Braden Holtby made 38 saves.

“If we play like we did those last two periods, we’re going to win a lot more games than we lose,” Smith-Pelly said.

Patrick Maroon and Adam Larsson had the goals for the Oilers, who have lost three of four.

“There’s a lot of points that have gone by,” frustrated coach Todd McLellan said.

“You never get them back. They have the same value now as they do at the end of the year. It’s tough not only falling behind in the game, but it’s tough falling behind in the sea-son, so we have a lot, a lot of work ahead of us and we’re going to have to play better than we have. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

The Oilers took the lead 12 minutes into the first period when Maroon followed up on Connor McDavid’s shot for his fourth goal of the season.

Edmonton made it 2-0 with two minutes left in the period as some sustained pressure led to Larsson getting some open ice and sending a shot into the top corner past Holtby.

The Capitals got one back

with 18 seconds to go in the first when an Edmonton breakdown led to an odd-man rush. Smith-Pelly finished the play by firing the puck past goalie Cam Tal-bot, who stopped 26 shots.

Midway through the sec-ond, with a delayed penalty coming to Edmonton, Washing-ton tied it on a bullet of a one-timer from Eller.

The Capitals took a 3-2 lead 30 seconds into the third as Ovechkin picked up his third assist of the game by feather-ing a pass toward the net that was deftly tipped in by Kuznetsov.

Washington got some insurance with four minutes left when Kuznetsov put on a one-man show, fighting off a defender and then hooking back to tuck the puck past Tal-bot at the side of the net for his second of the game.

“It’s nice to see guys smil-ing after games,” Kuznetsov said.

“We feel like we played well starting from the first period, (but) we just gave up some goals. But then we scored that goal late in the first and that was huge for us.”

Washington 5 Edmonton 2

Colorado 6 Chicago 3

St. Louis 4 Columbus 1

NY Islanders 6 Nashville 2

Minnesota 2 Pittsburgh 1

Los Angeles 2 Boston 1

Philadelphia 4 Toronto 2

Montreal 5 NY Rangers 4

Anaheim 4 Tampa Bay 1

Detroit 3 Florida 2

New Jersey 4 Arizona 3

San Jose 3 Buffalo 2

NHL RESULTS

36 MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2017SPORT

Fans helped us win Clasico: Laudrup

The Peninsula

Al Rayyan’s Danish coach Michael Laudrup (pic-tured right) was all

praise for the club fans, saying their ‘presence in large num-bers’ helped the side beat arch-rivals Al Sadd 2-1 in the ‘Qatar Clasico’ on Friday.

Al Rayyan on Friday night rallied from a goal’s deficit at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium where Abderazzaq Hamdallah and Myongin Koh scored for the winners. Baghdad Bounedjah scored the only goal for Al Sadd.

“We had a wonderful atmosphere ahead of the Cla-sico. We played amazing in the presence of the fans. I thank them for their attendance in such large numbers,” coach Laudrup said after the clash.

“I wish the fans continue

their support for the team. Their support makes a differ-ence,” he added.

“Al Rayyan was much bet-ter in the second half. I do not want to change the players in the first half, but I had to replace them because the team

needed it,” Al Rayyan coach said.

Laudrup said Al Rayyan’s fringe players were making it count for the senior side.

“I think the changes are already happening. The under 23 players years like Ahmed Al

Saadi, Sultan Bakhit and Abdel-hamid Anad are doing well,” Laudrup said.

“I have a number of fit and eager players and this is good for us. The presence of sea-soned players like Sebastien Syria and Mohsen Metwally on the bench shows how well the juniors did,” he said.

“The players gave us the ability to change the game in time. The commit-ment of the players is wonderful,” the Dane added.

Meanwhile, Al Sadd head coach Jesualdo Ferreira expressed his disappointment with the way things turned out.

“There were two different halves. I am happy with what we showed in the first half.”

“We were better than Al

Rayyan and we controlled pro-ceedings fully, having scored an early goal,” Fer-reira said after the game.

“Unfortunately, we did not perform similarly in the sec-

ond half. There were some ref-ereeing errors

and some

o f our young players displayed their lack of experience, all of which contributed to the loss,” Ferreira said.

“I am happy with the players and their effort but I am sad for losing three

important points in the cam-paign and missing out on first place,” the coach added.

As for not making the third substitution, Ferreira

said: “I did not make the third change because

I did not want it. S u b s t i t u t i o n s

don’t clinch the result of the game. If I had made a change then, I would have made the biggest error of my life, espe-cially as the team was close to getting the equal-

iser , ” he added.

Saadi, Sultan Bakhit and Abdel-hamid Anad are doing well,” Laudrup said.

“I have a number of fit and eager players and this is good for us. The presence of sea-soned players like SebastienSyria and Mohsen Metwally on the bench shows how well thejuniors did,” he said.

“The players gave us the ability to change the game intime. The commit-ment of the players is wonderful,” the Dane added.

Meanwhile, Al Sadd headcoach Jesualdo Ferreira expressed his disappointmentwith the way things turned out.

“There were two different halves. I am happy with whatwe showed in the first half.”

“We were better than Al

Rayyan and wecontrolled pro-ceedings fully, having scored anearly goal,” Fer-reira said after the game.

“Unfortunately, we did not perform similarly in the sec-

ond half. There were some ref-ereeing errors

and some

o f our young players displayed their lack of experience, all of which contributed to the loss,” Ferreira said.

“I am happy with the players and their effort butI am sad for losing three

important points in the cam-paign and missing out on firstplace,” the coach added.

As for not making the third substitution, Ferreira

said: “I did not make the third change because

I did not want it. S u b s t i t u t i o n s

don’t clinch theresult of thegame. If I had made a change then, I wouldhave made the biggest error of mylife, espe-cially as the team was close to gettingthe equal-

iser , ” he added.

We had a wonderful atmosphere ahead of the Clasico. We played amazing in the presence of the fans. I thank them for their attendance in such large numbers, says Al Rayyan coach Michael Laudrup after win over Al Sadd

Valentin Lazar (Al Sailiya)Valentin has been a consistent performer for Al Sailiya this season,

contributing to their victories and a creditable fifth place in the stand-

ings with 12 points. He scored two times and provided the pass for

Temurkhuja Abdulkholikov’s goal in their 5-1 victory over Qatar SC in the

fifth round of QNB Stars League on Saturday. Al Sailiya signed the Roma-

nian attacking midfielder on loan from Dinamo Bucuresti in January this

year. He had played for a number of Romanian clubs before joining

traditional powerhouse Dinamo in 2013, representing them 89 times

and scoring 16 goals.

Sebastian Soria (Al Rayyan)The powerful striker and Qatar international did not start in the ‘Qatar

Clasico’ between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan. But ever since coach Michael

Laudrup fielded him in the 28th minute, replacing Ahmed Mohammed

to sharpen the attack after being in deficit by Baghdad Bounedjah’s

goal, he made an influence in The Lions’ game. Soria did not score a goal,

but always kept the rival defenders busy and Al Rayyan went on to win

the match, with Abderrazak Hamdallah and Koh Myong-Jin getting on

the scorers’ list. Players like Ahmed Maqsoud, Mohammed Kassola and

goalkeeper Omar Barri and Mohammed Alaeddin also did well, but So-

ria’s efforts stood out.

Vladimir Weiss (Al Gharafa)Weiss played an influential and inspiring game for Al Gharafa, who

made leaders and champions Al Duhail drop points for the first time in

this season’s league by holding them 1-1. Al Gharafa’s Amro Abdullfat-

tah Seraj’s 56th-minute strike cancelled out in-form Youssef El Arabi’s

25th-minute goal, with Weiss doing the spadework. The Slovakian

midfielder passed the ball to Luis Jimenez, enabling the latter to set up

Amro to score. Weiss had a two-season stint at erstwhile Al Duhail before

joining The Cheetahs and is a regular with his national team since 2009.

QSL: STARS OF THE WEEKReview: Al Rayyan renew zeal with Al Sadd victory, Al Gharafa impress The Peninsula

The QNB Stars League’s Round 6 witnessed some packed action over Thurs-

day, Friday and Saturday. The ‘Qatar Clasico’ featuring

Al Sadd and Al Rayyan high-lighted the week’s matches and it did rise to the occasion, with both teams fighting it out, cheered on by a huge crowd.

In the end, Al Rayyan pre-vailed by a 2-1 margin, thus ending their winless run against arch-rivals Al Sadd in recent times.

The Lions had lost to the Wolves in both phases of the league and also in the Qatar Cup and Emir’s Cup final last season. Al Rayyan’s more passionate fans finally had something to celebrate.

Al Sadd dominated the first half and took an early lead, but Al Rayyan made a brilliant comeback and struck twice in the second session.

It was also a tactical victory for Dane Michael Laudrup over his Al Sadd counterpart Jesualdo Ferreira from Portugal.

Laudrup had admitted that his players had to be really strong on the field to contain Al Sadd. Xavi & Co’s fading influ-ence in the second half, Algerian

attacking midfielder Jugurtha Hamroun taking the field only in the 57th minute and the absence of Boualem Khoukhi with an injury did not help Al Sadd’s cause either.

Al Duhail dropping points, the first time as Al Sadd, after being held 1-1 by Al Gharafa and minnows Al Markhiya, with Yousef Adam back at the helm, drawing goalless with Al Kharaitiyat were the other sur-prises of Round 6. Al Gharafa put up a much-improved perform-ance against Al Duhail than in

their big loss to Al Kharaitiyat in the previous round. Moroccan forward Yousef El Arabi was on target again, taking his tally to 11 goals on top of the scorers’ list, but Al Gharafa hit back through Amro Abdullfattah Seraj.

The first seven positions in the standings, however, remained the same. Al Duhail are on top with 16 points, fol-lowed by Al Sadd and Al Rayyan who both have 15, but better goal difference favouring the former. Umm Salal (13), Al Sailiya (12), Al Gharafa (six) and Al Kharaitiyat

(five) are in the next positions in that order. Al Markhiya climbed one place from bottom.

As expected, Umm Salal defeated Al Khor by a solitary goal, while Al Arabi gave their Tunisian coach Qais Yaakoubi a lifeline by playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Al Ahli.

Al Arabi, who twice took the lead but failed to close the game after the second such occasion, and Al Ahli moved up by one position, to 10th and eighth respectively.

Al Rayyan players acknowledge fans after beating Al Sadd 2-1 in ‘Qatar Clasico’ at Al Sadd Stadium on Friday.

‘Qatar Clasico’ between Al Rayyan and

Al Sadd at Al Sadd Stadium hogged the limelight in Round 6 of the QSL last

week.