RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA

German tennis star Angelique Kerber is aiming to hit the ground running at this week’s Qatar Total Open that kicks off today.

The 31-year-old Wim-bledon champion arrived in Doha four days ago to prepare for the six-day tournament.

“It’s nice to be back here. I came a little bit earlier to get ready for this tournament and to get used to the courts, to the weather, conditions and eve-rything else,” Kerber said yesterday.

The three-time Grand Slam champion said she expects a tough grind in Doha where she will be joined by former champion Simona Halep, 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova.

“You know, there are a lot of (tough) players. It’s a tough draw but I like to play here. I mean, of course the conditions are always a little bit different than if you play during the day and the night sessions,” Kerber said.

“But this is a challenge and I’m always looking to come here and play in Doha. For me, it’s important to be playing good,” she added.

“I saw against who I would play here but that’s it. I’m not the player who is really watching the draw. I know who is playing here. I know it is a tough draw.

“I think it’s also good for us to have a huge competition. I mean, this is always the chal-lenge if you’re going to a tour-nament. Let’s see. The tour-nament is set to start. I’m ready for that,” Kerber said.

The German, who has won more than $27m in career prize money, said a good run in Doha remained her target for the week.

“To play well in this tour-nament, that for sure is my goal, to have good matches. I want to have a good time as well,” Kerber said.

When asked about the goals in the new season, Kerber said yesterday: “It’s just the beginning of the year. For me, the goal is always to play con-sistent and to play good in the

big tournaments. This is also my goal this year.”

Kerber said repeating her performances from last season remained a possibility.

“I’m always trying to improve my tennis every day and I try to play better and better every year. You always have up and downs. For me, I have so much experience right now,” Kerber said.

“For me, it’s important now to enjoy my tennis. If everything comes together, I can still play better and play the same dom-inating way (like last year) but it’s always important to improve my tennis. This is what I’m trying to do,” she added.

The German tennis veteran said her fourth-round loss to Danielle Collins at last month’s Australian Open was ‘just a bad day’.

“It was just a bad day from my side. It can always happen. It was of course not the best timing. She played good. She played good matches after (beating) me,” Kerber said.

“I did not think too much about this match. (After the loss) I flew back home. I had a few days off and then I started to get ready with fitness days. Then I arrived here a little bit earlier to get ready for the tennis. More or less, (it is) here I start,” she added.

To a question, Kerber said winning the Wimbledon title last year wasn’t exactly her best performance.

“I think I have played a lot of good tournaments already. Wimbledon for me was for a tournament that I wanted to win one day. That’s for sure. And I had a lot of emotions last year. But I also played well in Australia when I won there (in 2016). So I cannot really say that (winning Wimbledon) was my best performance ever,” Kerber said.

Most memorable, perhaps?“Yes,” Kerber said with a

smile.

ARMSTRONG VAS THE PENINSULA

World No.7 Elina Svitolina is hoping her ‘last-minute’ decision to feature at this week’s Qatar Total Open will pay off positively after a brief injury lay-off.

The Ukrainian has impressed with her form during the Australian Open where she lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winner Naomi Osaka of Japan.

However, last month, the 24-year-old withdrew from her country’s Fed Cup team in Poland because of injury and she is entering the WTA tournament at the Khalifa Tennis Complex as one of the four wild cards of the tournament.

“I did some time off because I needed to recover. And for me it was important just to take some time off to recover. I had some tough matches in Australia,” Svi-tolina, the 4th seed said, on the eve of the event.

“I didn’t plan to come here. I thought I’d have some more rest. But I was ready, I think, a little bit earlier. I always remember coming here with good memories, so it was a last-minute decision,” she said while explaining her change in plans.

Svitolina said she is slowly getting back in shape after the injury troubles in Melbourne.

“The injury was (for) my shoulder and my neck. I was strug-gling during the Australian (Open). It’s slowly getting better. It’s work in process, I would say.”

Things were not great on court for Svitolina for much of 2018 until the final week of the year when she defeated five top-10 opponents to win the WTA Finals.

In the season-ending champi-onship, Svitolina won the biggest title of her career after mounting a three-set comeback win over Sloane Stephens.

Svitolina will be hoping to carry forward her consistent run when she opens her tournament campaign in the second round match against the winner of the tie between Mihaela Buzarnescu and Jelena Ostapenko. The Ukrainian is one of the four seeds who have got a bye in the first round.

The Qatar tournament boasts a stellar field and although, world No.1 Osaka withdrew from the tour-nament through injury, six of the women’s top 10 players have descended in Doha this week.

Former champion Simona Halep is the top seed and the Romanian will be joined by the Czech Repub-lic’s Karolina Pliskova and Ger-many’s Angelique Kerber as the top seeds.

All three were formerly at the top of the women’s rankings, Halep only being ousted by Osaka last month after Melbourne.

Halep, now ranked three in the world, and Kerber, sixth, are both Grand Slam winners. Pliskova, the world number five, is a former US Open finalist Svitolina, feels with many top-10 ranked players there will no easy games at the six-day tournament.

“There are lots of good players. We have lots of players who play

well (and) who are consistent. I think it is a strong field, with top-5 and top-10 players. It’s not going to be easy,” Svitolina said.

“From the first rounds we have very tough matches. So this tour-nament is always tough. Everyone wants to play well. That’s why it makes it not easy at all,” she added.

All three top seeds of the tour-nament have a good record in Qatar.

Halep and Kerber met in the 2014 final, with the Romanian winning, and Pliskova won the title two years ago.

Svitolina said like all tourna-ments she is taking part she aims to win the event in Qatar.

“I always set high goals for myself for each tournament. Any tournament that I play, I always try to win it, to give everything what I have and to fight for every match and every point. I try to just stay focused for each match.”

Svitolina has previously played in the event on four occasions, with her run to the third round last year the best result she has managed in the competition.

Last year, Svitolina lost to Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova, who went on to win the tournament, defeating Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza in the final. Kvitova, however, will not defend her title in Doha this year.

SPORTMonday 11 February 2019

PAGE | 08 PAGE | 11Al Attiyah set

for Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

debut

Qatarbraces for action-packed 2019

I always set high goals for myself for each tournament. Any tournament that I play, I always try to win it, to give everything what I have and to fight for every match and every point. I try to just stay focused for each match: World No. 7 Elina Svitolina

I think it’s also good for us to have a huge competition. I mean, this is always the challenge if you’re going to a tournament. Let’s see. The tournament is set to start. I’m ready for that: Germany’s Angelique Kerber

Svitolina ready to challenge the top players

Kerber aims to conquer ‘tough’ field in Qatar

The centre court at the Khalifa International Tennis

and Squash Complex.

QATAR TOTAL OPENToday’s Order of Play

Centre Court

Starting at 3:30pm

Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs Polona Hercog (SLO)

Followed By

Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs Anna Blinkova (RUS)

Followed By

Alison Riske (USA) vs Lin Zhu (CHN)

Not Before 8:00pm

Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs [WC] Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA)

Court 1

Starting at 3:00pm.

Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) vs Karolina Muchova (CZE)

The Ukrainian World No.7 Elina Svitolina speaks during a press conference in Doha, yesterday.

German World No. 6, Angelique Kerber speaks during a press conference held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex ahead of the Qatar Total Open 2019, in Doha yesterday.PICTURES: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

09MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019 SPORT

Munro stars as Kiwis pip India in final T20REUTERS HAMILTON

Colin Munro struck a 40-ball 72 as New Zealand pipped India by four runs in the third and final Twenty20 interna-tional in Hamilton to seal a 2-1 series victory yesterday.

Dropped for the opening two one-day internationals of New Zealand’s upcoming series against Bangladesh, Munro responded in defiant fashion to help the hosts post a commanding 212 for four wickets after the hosts were asked to bat first.

A 75-run partnership for the second wicket between stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and Vijay Shankar put India in a strong position but their middle-order failed to capitalise and the tourists finished with 208 for six in 20 overs.

“It was touch and go, but the boys did well to finish it

off,” Man-of-the-Match Munro said.

“I came out nice and free, tried to play my game and put pressure on the bowlers. Had my luck, it went my way.”

Munro, who was dropped twice, smashed five bound-aries and as many sixes in the

company of fellow opener Tim Seifert to lay the foundation for a big total.

Man-of-the-Series Seifert, whose big hitting helped inflict an 80-run defeat on India in the opening match, made 43 off 25 balls before being dis-missed, but s teady

contributions by the Kiwi middle order helped them post a big total. Dinesh Karthik (33 not out) and all-rounder Krunal Pandya (26 not out) flexed their muscles towards the end but could not get India, who needed 16 off the last over.

“Both teams put in strong performances, we did slightly better,” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said.

“We travel-train-play and straight into the next series against Bangladesh, that’s the nature of international cricket but the guys are looking forward to it.”

India earlier won the one-day international series 4-1 and Rohit said there were positives despite defeat in the T20s.

“It would have been nice to fly back with a series win, but yes, lot of positives through the tour, looking forward to heading home and playing Australia,” he said.

New Zealand players celebrate with the trophy after winning the final T20 against India in Hamilton, yesterday.

New ZealandT Seifert st Dhoni b Yadav ................................43

C. Munro c H.Pandya b Yadav ..........................72

K. Williamson c Yadav b Ahmed ....................27

C. de Grandhomme c Dhoni b Kumar ............30

D. Mitchell not out .............................................. 19

R. Taylor not out .................................................14

Extras: (lb 4, wd 3) ............................................ 7

Total: (for 4 wickets; 20 overs) .............212Fall of wickets: 1-80 (Seifert), 2-135 (Munro),

3-150 (Williamson), 4-193 (de Grandhomme)

Bowling: Kumar 4-0-37-1 (1w), Ahmed 4-0-

47-1, H. Pandya 4-0-44-0, K. Pandya 4-0-54-0

(2w), Yadav 4-0-26-2

IndiaS. Dhawan c Mitchell b Santner ......................... 5

R. Sharma c Seifert b Mitchell ..........................38

V. Shankar c de Grandhomme b Santner ......43

R. Pant c Williamson b Tickner ........................28

H. Pandya c Williamson b Kuggeleijn ............ 21

M. Dhoni c Southee b Mitchell ........................... 2

D. Karthik not out ...............................................33

K. Pandya not out ..............................................26

Extras: (lb 1wd 11) ............................................ 12

Total: (for 6 wickets; 20 overs) ............208Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Dhawan), 2-81 (Shankar),

3-121 (Pant), 4-141 (Sharma), 5-145 (H. Pan-

dya), 6-145

Bowling: Santner 3-0-32-2 (2w), Southee

4-0-47-0 (2w), Kuggeleijn 4-0-37-1, Tickner

4-0-34-1 (2w), Sodhi 2-0-30-0 (1w), Mitchell

3-0-27-2

Toss: India

Result: New Zealand won by four runs

Series: New Zealand 2-1

Umpires: Shaun Haig (NZL), Wayne Knights

(NZL)

TV umpire: Chris Brown (NZL)

SCOREBOARD

Mashrafe confident of success in New ZealandAFP DHAKA

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza is confident his team can break their drought in New Zealand during the upcoming series, even without their talis-manic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Shakib was ruled out of the upcoming three-match one-day international series at the eleventh hour, with a fracture to the little finger on his left hand.

The all-rounder’s absence will make winning that much tougher for Bangladesh, who have not defeated New Zealand in any format during their pre-vious four visits to the country.

Bangladesh’s only win in New Zealand came in 2015 when they beat Scotland by six wickets in a World Cup group match at Nelson.

The ODI series starts in Napier on February 13.

“It was already a big chal-lenge. The loss of Shakib made it a bigger challenge,” Mashrafe told reporters before leaving for New Zealand yesterday.

“We have to play with a pos-itive frame of mind,” he said.

Mashrafe did not rule out winning the series against the hosts, despite their poor record in the country, saying it was “dif-ficult but possible.”

“Mental strength” is crucial, he said, for his team to pull of a surprise win.

The final stage of the Bang-ladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament also lifted Mashrafe’s hopes for success, as he watched some of the team’s batsmen return to form.

Opener Tamim Iqbal struck 141 off 61 balls in the final of the tournament to help his Comilla Victorians beat Shakib’s Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs for the title on Friday.

Bangladesh will play three Test matches, along with the ODIs, during their long visit to the country. The first Test is due to start on February 28 in Hamilton.

Australia’s refusal forces Pakistan to play ODIs in UAEAFP KARACHI

Pakistan cricket authorities were forced to schedule all five one-day internationals against Australia in the United Arab Emirates after the Aussies refused to visit the Asian country over security fears.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had invited Australia to play two of the five one-day internationals in Pakistan to further their attempts to revive interna-tional cricket at home.

Since then Pakistan have hosted finals of Pakistan Super League for the last two years and played matches against a World XI, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

A West Indies women’s team played three Twenty20 internationals in Karachi from January 31-February 3 this year.

But Cricket Australia (CA) acted on their govern-ment’s advice not to tour Pakistan where no Aus-tralian senior team has played since 1998 over security fears.

PCB director Zakir

Khan showed disap-pointment over Australia’s refusal to tour.

“The PCB was opti-mistic that it will be able to convince Australia to send its side for some matches after successfully staging high-profile bilateral inter-national series,” said Khan.

“But we are disap-pointed for the enthusiastic and passionate cricket fans in Pakistan who will now have to wait for some more time before they can see Australia playing in our country.”

The five-match series will kick off both team’s preparation for the World Cup to be held in England from May 30-July 14.

Sharjah will host the first two matches on March 22 and 24 followed by matches in Abu Dhabi (March 27) and Dubai (March 29 and 31).

22 March - 1st ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

24 March - 2nd ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

27 March - 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi (d/n)

29 March - 4th ODI, Dubai (d/n)

31 March - 5th ODI, Dubai (d/n)

ITINERARY

England 277 (B. Stokes 79, J. Buttler 67; K.

Roach 4-48, S. Gabriel 2-49) v West Indies

2-0

Match Situation: West Indies trail on first in-

nings by 275 runs with ten wickets in hand

Toss: West Indies

BRIEF SCORES

Australia can win World Cup with Smith, Warner: PontingAFP MELBOURNE

Australia can successfully defend its World Cup title in England this year with Steve Smith and David Warner back in the fray, newly-appointed assistant coach Ricky Ponting (pictured) said yesterday.

His upbeat assessment comes despite the misfiring team losing its two most recent ODI series at home, to India and South Africa.

“Absolutely, I actually do,” said Ponting when asked in Mel-bourne if Australia could win the World Cup.

“India and England are probably the two standout teams right now but if you add Warner and Smith back into that lineup, I think that team looks as strong as any.

“Conditions in England will suit our style of play,” added Ponting, who was appointed on Friday as assistant to coach Justin Langer for the World Cup, focusing on the batting group.

The former national captain is hugely experienced in the one-day game, playing at five World Cups and winning at three.

“I think I have a pretty good grasp on what it takes for tour-naments like that,” he said.

“Hopefully I can have an impact right from the start. The

feedback from the boys has been positive.”

Ponting, a close ally of Langer, will start after Aus-tralia’s upcoming one-day tours against India and Pakistan.

Smith and Warner are available for selection again from March 29, when their one-year bans for ball-tampering expire. Cameron Bancroft, who was suspended for nine months, is already back playing.

“Once we get Warner and S m i t h a n d

Bancroft back into the fray, and looking ahead to the World Cup, I don’t think they’ll be too many better teams on paper.

“You’ve got a lot of expe-rience as well as a fair bit of youth going into that tour-nament,” he added.

“Any team I’ve been a part of, we’ve always had a really good mix of youth and expe-rience and this current group will certainly have that going into the World Cup.”

Ponting, who played 375 one-dayers and 168 Tests, pre-viously worked as an assistant with Australia’s Twenty20 side in 2017 and 2018.

He also accompanied Langer during his first tour -- to England -- after taking over as

head coach from Darren Lehmann last April

following the tam-pering scandal in South Africa.

P o n t i n g suggested he

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Twenty20 World Cup

next year, although his

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WI pacers force another England collapse AFP GROS-ISLET, SAINT LUCIA

England’s batsmen collapsed to West Indian pace yet again as they lost six wickets for 45 runs to be dismissed for 277 in their first innings just before lunch on the second day of the third and final Test at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia yesterday.

Having already reclaimed the Wisden Trophy with compre-hensive victories in the first two Tests, and seeking a first clean sweep of their opponents for 33 years, the home side will resume their reply at two without loss after the interval.

Wicketless on the first day when an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 124 between Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes lifted the tourists to 231 for four, Kemar Roach stole the spotlight in scy-thing through the middle and lower order to finish with figures of four for 48. He now has 17 wickets in series.

It was Shannon Gabriel though who made the first strike of the morning by bowling Buttler on his overnight score of 67 with just one run added to the total.

That was the trigger for the slide and a reinvigorated Roach quickly got involved by dis-missing Stokes for the innings top score of 79 when the attacking left-hander miscued an attempted pull and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich sprinted 30 metres to backward square-leg in clinging on to a superb diving catch.

Pushed down the order after struggling at the pivotal number three position in Barbados and Antigua, Jonny Bairstow laboured for 33 deliveries in managing just two runs before Roach breached the right-hander’s defence.

It was the 30th time he has been bowled in Test cricket, a worrying statistic for a player seen worthy of occupying the number three spot.

It was then the turn for Alzarri Joseph to star with the ball and in the field.

First he induced Moeen Ali to follow a delivery angled across him to offer a simple catch to Darren Bravo at first slip for his second wicket of the innings.

Then he raced round the boundary’s edge at fine-leg to pouch a well-judged catch when Mark Wood top-edged a hook off Roach.

Last man James Anderson proved easy prey for the rampant Roach, fending his second delivery into the waiting hands of Keemo Paul at third slip to put a seal on another dominant session for the West Indies in a series where they started as massive underdogs.

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10 MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019SPORT

Pedder wins Qatar Golf Lovers tournamentTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Cherehzade Pedder emerged victo-rious in the golf tournament organized by Qatar Golf Lovers (QGL) at the Education City Golf Course over the weekend.

40 golfers participated in the tournament which was played on a Strokeplay format. QGL also became the first golf society to organize a tournament at the magnificent Edu-cation City Golf Course.

Andrea Smilski was declared first runner up while Surinder Bhagat won the third prize. Sanjay Jain won the ‘closest to pin’ award, Mrityunjay Dhawal won the ‘longest putt’ award

and Nathaniel Hayes won the ‘closest to pin on second shot’ award. Naeem Nanji won a special surprise prize.

QGL hosted a prize distribution dinner for all golfers which was attended by Rhys Beecher, Director golf operations and Nico-James Visser, Manager golf operations of Education City Golf Course who donated and gave away prizes to all winners.

Meanwhile, QGL bid farewell to Jean-Dominique Lucas who has been an active member of QGL for 9 years. On behalf of all members, QGL captain presented a memento to Lucas and wished him all the best for his future endeavours back home in France.

The prize winners at the Qatar Golf Lovers tournament (from left) Manoj Megchiani, Nico-James Visser, Cherehzade Pedder, Sanjay Jain, PK Mathew, Surinder Bhagat, Nathaniel Hayes, Naeem Nanji, Mrityunjay Dhawal and Rhys Beecher pose for a picture during the prize distribution ceremony.

Cavani out of United game, PSG confirm

Emery defiant as leaky Arsenal failLONDON REUTERS

Arsenal’s 2-1 triumph at Huddersfield was their fifth away Premier League win of the season -- having won four in the whole of the last campaign -- but the manner of victory suggested much improvement is still needed.

After losing their first two league games to champions Manchester City and Chelsea, Unai Emery’s reign as Arsenal manager went smoothly and they did not taste defeat again until December 16 - a run of 22 matches unbeaten in all competitions.

Since that loss at South-ampton, however, things have not gone so well and Arsenal have been beaten six times, four in the Premier League, in less than two months.Even before the Southampton reverse, the warning signs were there. Before Saturday’s match, Arsenal had held a halftime on only three occa-sions in the league this season and had won 12 points from losing positions -- only Leicester City had won more.

Arsenal have also won the joint most points this season in the final 10 minutes of matches, but relying heavily on second-half turn-arounds and late shows could only go on for so long. At the heart of the problem is their defensive record -- Arsenal remain the only team in the Premier League without an away clean sheet.

United can mount title challenge next year: MaticAFP LONDON

Nemanja Matic says Manchester United can mount a title challenge next season after they moved into the Premier League’s top four for the first time since the opening weekend of the campaign.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s superb start to life as care-taker manager continued with a comprehensive 3-0 victory for United at strug-glers Fulham.

Anthony Martial scored a superb solo effort in between two Paul Pogba goals at Craven Cottage, putting United back in the Cham-pions League spots after a six-month absence.

They had been 11 points off fourth when Jose Mourinho was sacked in December but Solskjaer’s side have dropped just two points since his December appointment and Matic was buoyed by the latest win.

“We knew that if we win then we will be in fourth position,” said the defensive midfielder.

“Of course, Chelsea have one game less, but we are happy for three more points.

“We played well, we fight for each other. Clean sheet, we scored three goals, so we are very pleased.” United are the Premier League’s in-form side, with their upturn in for-tunes and Matic talked up next season’s title chances.

“To win the league you need to win the games like we did in the last seven, eight games,” said Matic, a two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea.

“So you need to win six, seven games in a row, then you can drop some points, to draw, to lose one game. But we have to continue, we have to continue like this. We have to learn always, and this is the way to play.

“This is the way to fight so if we play like this for the next season then we will be one of the teams who is going to fight for the title.”

United play Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie before a trip to face Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba (cetre) vies for ball possession with Fulham defender Calum Chambers (right) and Fulham midfielder Jean Michael Seri during the English Premier League match at Craven Cottage in London on Saturday. Manchester United won the game 3-0.

Man City trounce Chelsea to go topAFP MANCHESTER

Sergio Aguero grabbed a hat-trick as Manchester City scored four times inside 25 minutes to thrash Chelsea 6-0 and leapfrog Liverpool again to top spot in the Premier League on goal difference yesterday.

Aguero should have had even more than three as the Argentine missed a glorious early chance and hit the bar in the second-half in a humiliating afternoon for Maurizio Sarri’s men.

Raheem Sterling started and ended the scoring and Ilkay Gundogan also netted in the first quarter of the game as City ended what could have been a testing week with a trip to Everton in between the visits of Arsenal and Chelsea with maximum points.

Jurgen Klopp’s men maintain the advantage of a game in hand, but handed a reprieve by Liverpool’s draws against Leicester and West Ham in recent weeks, City look deter-mined to become the first side in a decade to retain the Premier League.

Chelsea on the other hand slip to sixth with the scale of the defeat sure to raise further doubts over Sarri’s future.

A 4-0 defeat to Bourne-mouth in their last away game was Chelsea’s heaviest league defeat since 1996.

And this was their worst loss in any competition since 1991 after failing to recover from

Sterling’s fourth-minute opener.Eden Hazard went to sleep

from Kevin de Bruyne’s quickly taken free-kick and Bernardo Silva had acres of space to cross for the England international to fire home.

Pep Guardiola had described this match as a “final” for his side given that Chelsea had a week to prepare, while City ground out a 2-0 win at Everton on Wednesday.

Guardiola fell to the floor in exasperation when Aguero somehow side-footed wide with his easiest chance of the game moments later.

But the Catalan coach need not have worried that would prove a costly miss as Aguero made amends in stunning fashion by blasting into the top corner from 25 yards to double City’s after just 13 minutes.

Aguero had a simple task to make it 3-0 six minutes later when he pounced on Ross Bar-kley’s slack header towards his own goal. And Gundogan’s shot from the edge of the area then had too much power for the world’s most expensive goal-keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to compound Chelsea’s woes.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring their sixth goal with David Silva and Bernardo Silva during their English Premier League match against Chelsea at Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain, yesterday.

English Premier League results yesterday: Manchester City 6 (Sterling 4, 80, Aguero 13, 19,

56-pen, Gundogan 25) Chelsea 0

Tottenham 3 (Sanchez 33, Eriksen 63, Son 90+1)

Leicester 1 (Vardy 76)

Played on Saturday:

Brighton 1 (Duffy 76) Burnley 3 (Wood 26, 61,

Barnes 74-pen)

Crystal Palace 1 (Zaha 76) West Ham 1 (Noble 27-

pen)

Fulham 0 Manchester United 3 (Pogba 14, 65-

pen, Martial 23)

Huddersfield 1 (Kolasinac (90+3-og) Arsenal 2

(Iwobi 16, Lacazette 44)

Liverpool 3 (Mane 24, Wijnaldum 34, Salah 48)

Bournemouth 0

Southampton 1 (Stephens 90+1) Cardiff 2 (Bam-

ba 69, Zohore 90+3)

Watford 1 (Gray 65) Everton 0

Playing today:Wolves vs Newcastle (2000 GMT)

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Aspire Academy in Al Kass Cup semisTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hot on the heels of Qatar’s Asian Cup success, Aspire Academy raised hopes of another triumph for the nation when they reached the semi-finals of the Al Kass Cup.

Yesterday at the Aspire Academy training grounds, a hard-fought 1-0 win over Turkish side Altinordu set up a last-four clash with either Roma or Spartak Moscow.

Aspire went close on seven minutes when Fahad Al-Abdulla sent his shot narrowly wide on but it was only a tem-porary reprieve for Altinordu

as Khaled Bin Sabaa sent a fine curling shot into the net two minutes later. Receiving the ball from Abdulrahman Al-Abdulrahman, he gave Emirhan Emir no chance with a finely executed finish and it turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Five minutes before the break, Kadira went close to doubling the advantage when his effort was saved by Emir but then hit the Aspire mid-fielder and looped over the keeper but Rahmi Kaya tracked back to clear.

Aspire also started the second half well and Mekki Tombari saw his 48th minute

effort deflected wide after good work from Al-Abdulrahman Tatli then sent a powerful effort wide as Altinordu pushed for an equalizer, but Aspire remained well organized and allowed the Turks very few clear chances.

Aspire tried to make sure of victory and Osamah Altairi found Bin Sabaa who beat one player before forcing a fine save.

Meanwhile, Rangers pro-gressed to the semi-finals with a win 7-0 over Ecoile Sportive du Sahel yesterday. The winners of the Real Madrid and Kashiwa Reysol match will face Rangers in the semi-final.

The players of Aspire Academy and Turkish side Altinordu vie for ball possession during the Al Kass Cup in Doha yesterday.

AFP PARIS

Edinson Cavani will sit out the first leg of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League encounter with Manchester United, the club confirmed yesterday saying the striker had sustained damage to a tendon in his hip.

PSG will are already be missing superstar striker Neymar, sidelined until at least April with a foot injury, while Manchester United have won ten of their eleven games under new coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

French sports daily L’Equipe reported earlier yesterday that a medical had revealed a torn right-thigh muscle for Cavani, but PSG reported shortly afterwards the problem was the right hip.

“The tests carried out have shown an injury in the right hip. The treatment and the amount of recovery time will depend on how he reacts over the next few days,” PSG said on their website.

L’Equipe suggested Cavani, known as El Matador for his clinical finishing, would also miss the return leg March 6.

Earlier yesterday Tuchel described Cavani’s situation, stemming from a fiercely converted penalty on Sat-urday, as bleak.

“There is no good news for Edi this morning,” he said.

“In my opinion the news is not going to be very good,” Tuchel said.

“It will be very difficult for him to play,” he predicted.

The Uruguayan centre-forward has scored 17 times in the French league and twice in the Champions League this season.

PSG visit Old Trafford on Tuesday for the first leg of their encounter in the round-of-16, the stage at which the French champions went out in the last two seasons.

11MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019 SPORT

Qatar braces for action-packed 2019THE PENINSULA DOHA

The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championship to be

held in September will be one of the top international

events to be staged in Doha this year, the Qatar

Olympic Committee (QOC) has announced.

MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar at the Losail

International Circuit, the Qatar Masters at Doha Golf

Club and the CHI Al Shaqab will be some of the other

key international events dotting the sports calendar

for this year.

Qatar will host 58 sporting events in all, the QOC

has confirmed in a list which was released to the media.

Feb 11-16: Qatar Total Open at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex

Feb 14-16: Qatar Open Amateur Golf Championships at Doha Golf Club

Feb 14-16: FINA Marathon Swim World Series at Doha Corniche

Feb 21-23: Amir’s Sword Show Jumping at the QEF’s Outdoor Arena

Feb 21-23: Amir’s Sword Horse Racing at QREC

Feb 24-27: Qatar Men’s Squash Tournament at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

Feb 26-Mar 2: Qatar International Endurance Cup at Marathon Village

Mar 4-9: 1st Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

Mar 7-10: Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club

Mar 7-10: MotoGP: Grand Prix of Qatar

Mar 11-16: 2nd Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa International Tennis

and Squash Complex

Mar 18-23: 1st Qatar ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Open at Khalifa International

Tennis and Squash Complex

Mar 20-23: FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup at Aspire Academy

Mar 25-30: 2nd Qatar ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Open at Khalifa International

Tennis and Squash Complex

Mar 26-31: Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Qatar Open at Ali Bin Hamad

Al Attiyah Arena

April 18-19: FIBA 3x3 Basketball World Tour at Katara

May 2-3: IAAF Diamond League at Khalifa International Stadium

June 23-26: 2nd Qatar Closed Satellite Squash Tournament at Khalifa International

Tennis and Squash Complex

Sept 22-25: 3rd Qatar Closed Satellite Squash Tournament at Khalifa International

Tennis and Squash Complex

Sept 28-Oct 6: 2019 World Championships in Athletics at Khalifa International Stadium

Oct 21-26: 3rd Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

Oct 28-Nov 2: 4th Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa International Tennis

and Squash Complex

Nov 7-15: World Squash Championships

Nov 7-9: FINA Swimming World Cup Doha 2019

at Hamad Aquatics Center

Nov 14-16: Al Rayyan International Show

Jumping

Nov 28-30: Qatar International Show

Jumping Championships

Dec 5-10: Qatar International Weightlifting

Championship at Rotana Hotel

Dec 9-14: 5th Qatar International Tennis

Championship at Hamad

International Complex

Dec 16-21: Sixth Qatar

International Tennis

Championship at

Khalifa International

Tennis and Squash

Complex

Dec 27-28: Qatar

International Karate

Championship (age groups)

and Davis Cup at Khalifa

Tennis Complex

GLOBAL EVENTS

Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium, the host venue for the IAAF World Athletics Championships 2019. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

March 16-18: Doha Junior Squash Open

Championship at Khalifa International Tennis

and Squash Complex

March 19-21: Qatar Junior Squash Open

Championship

April 2-5: West Asia Rugby Championship

(Men and Women) at Aspire Dome

April 8-12: Inaugural Qatar Asia Junior Tennis

Championship at Khalifa International Tennis

and Squash Complex

April 15-19: Second Qatar Asia Junior

Tennis Championship at Khalifa international

Complex

April 21-24: Asian Athletics Championship at

Khalifa International Stadium

October 17-27: 2020 Olympics Handball

Qualifiers at Duhail Sport Arena

November 3-11: 14th Asian Shooting

Championship at Lusail Shooting Complex

Nov 11-16: Asian Indoor Tennis Championship

(Under 19) at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

Nov 27-Dec 1: Asian Beach Volleyball

Championship at Aspire playgrounds

Dec 23-28: Qatar Asian Tennis Championship

(teams)

Nov 11-16: Asian Indoor Tennis Championship

(Under 19) at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

CONTINENTAL

EVENTS

GCC EVENTS

Feb 20-22: 10th GCC Junior Athletics Championship for

boys and 7th for girls at Qatar SC

Feb 22-26: GCC U-16 and U-12 Tennis Championship at

Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex

Dec-Jan: 24th Gulf Cup (football)

��The iconic Khalifa International

Stadium will host the Asian

Athletics Championship from

April 21 to 24 before making its

maiden appearance in the IAAF

Diamond League on May 2-3. The

40,000-seat venue will then host

the global athletics spectacle, the

2019 World Championships from

September 28 to October 6.

��The Khalifa

International Tennis

and Squash Complex

will host the Qatar

Total Open, starting

from today. It will also

host major events

including Qatar

Men’s ITF World Tennis

Tour (February-

December), the

inaugural Qatar

Asia Junior Tennis

Championship, Qatar

ITF World Tennis Tour

Junior Open (March),

Asia Junior Tennis

Championship (April)

and Asian Indoor

Tennis Championship

-Under 19 (Nov 11-16).

AMIR CUP

FINALS

April 30: Basketball Amir Cup final

at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall

May 1: Handball Amir Cup final

at Duhail Sport Arena

May 11: Football Amir Cup final

at Khalifa International Stadium

May 17: Volleyball Amir Cup final

at Federation Indoor Hall

QATAR CUP FINALS

March 30: Basketball: Qatar Cup final at Al Gharafa SC

Indoor Hall

April 5: Volleyball: Qatar Cup final at QVF’s Indoor Hall

April 17: Football: Qatar Cup final at Al Sadd Stadium

April: Handball: Qatar Cup final at Duhail Sports Arena

Nov 11-16: Asian Indoor Tennis Championship

(Under 19) at Khalifa International Tennis and

Squash Complex

ational

its

AF

The

host

, the

rom

l

Qatar’s star high jumper, 2017 World Athlete-of-the-Year Mutaz Barshim will return to action after an injury-hit season during the IAAF Doha Diamond League on May 2-3 and the IAAF World Championships at Khalifa International Stadium from September 28 to October 6.

Oct 21-26: 3rd Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa Internationa

Squash Complex

Oct 28-Nov 2: 4th Qatar Men’s ITF World Tennis Tour at Khalifa Internati

and Squash Complex

Nov 7-15: World Squash Championships

Nov 7-9: FINA Swimming World Cup

at Hamad Aquatics Center

Nov 14-16: Al Al RayyRayyan Ian Internternatnat

Jumping

Nov 28-30: Qatar Internat

Jumping Championships

Dec 5-10: Qatar International W

Championship at Rotana Hotel

Dec 9-14: 5th Qatar Interna

Championship

International C

Dec 16-21:

InteInternatrnatioio

Champ

Khalifa I

TennTennis ais a

Complex

Dec 27-

Internation

Championship

andand DaviDavis Cus Cupp

Tennis Comple

Qatari athlete Abderrahman Samba

will be among the star attractions this

season.

Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha

SPORT EPL: Wolverhampton

Wanderers vs

Newcastle United

ODI Series: Pakistan

women vs West Indies

women

FOOTBALL CRICKET

08MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019

India and England are probably the two standout teams right now

but if you add Warner and Smith back into Australia line-up, I think that team looks as strong as any.

Assistant coach Ricky Ponting feels Australia can defend World Cup title with Steve Smith and David Warner back in the fray. T

OD

AY

’SA

CT

ION

Al Attiyah set for Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 debutTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar’s premier rally driver and recent Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (pictured) will give a Middle East debut to a brand new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, when he tops the entry for the Manateq Qatar International Rally, which opens the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) from March 14 to 16.

The Qatari has won his home event on 13 occasions in the past 17 years and will take part in the new car alongside French nav-igator Matthieu Baumel.

Ken Skidmore’s Autotek Motorsport oper-ation take delivery of the new Polo from Volkswagen Motorsport this week and it will be refettled in the colours of Al Attiyah’s sponsors and Qatar.

The Polo was built by Volkswagen Motorsport to Group R5 regula-tions and made its compet-i t i v e

debut at the 2018 Rally Catalunya in the hands of the 2003 World

Champion Petter Solberg and Frenchman Eric

Camilli. The four-wheel drive machine is powered by a

1 . 6 - l i t r e , f o u r - c y l -i n d e r

engine and follows on from the Polo R WRC with which the

German team dominated the FIA

World Rally Champi-

onship. Entries for the season’s regional rallying curtain raiser close on February 27, while the Rally Guide for prospective entrants will be available online from today.

Reconnaissance of the special stages will be permitted on March 12 and March 13. The start (18.45hrs - March 14) and finish (16.55hrs - March 16) will be located on the beach in front of the Souq Al Wakra Hotel, although the event’s rally head-quarters and service park will remain at Lusail Sports Arena for a second year.

The Qatar Motor and Motor-cycle Federation (QMMF) have also released route details for the two-day gravel event over loose surface tracks around remote parts of the State of Qatar. The timed action will get underway with a timed two-kilometre special stage at Al-Wakra from 20.00hrs on March 14.

After an overnight Parc Fermé at the Lusail Sports Arena, Friday’s action (March 15) takes place over two repeated desert stages in the north east of Qatar.

The 20.10km Al Ghariyah special gets proceedings under way from 10.17hrs and precedes the first of two passes through the 19.70km of Al Ruwais, starting at 10.58hrs.

The traditional midday service has been replaced by a remote refuelling stop and teams will need to ensure that their cars

are in full working order for a repeat of the two specials at 12.20hrs and 12.58hrs, respectively.

Saturday’s timetable makes up 122.60km of the event’s com-petitive action and consists of three special stages that are repeated after a regroup and

service at Lusail. The action gets unde rway with passes through Eraida (19.00km) and Al Dhakira (24.00km) from 08.40hrs and 09.10hrs and this precedes the 18.30km of the Al Khor stage also in the north of the country from 09.50hrs.

The three specials are

repeated at 12.30hrs, 13.00hrs and 13.40hrs before a quick final service in Lusail and the road section to Souq Al-Wakra for the post-event press conference and finish ceremony.

In a route of 810.52km, 204.20km will be timed against the clock.

An artist’s impression of Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah’s new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

Manateq Qatar International Rally to open MERC next month

Qevent on 13 occasions in the past 17 years and will take part in the new car alongside French nav-igator Matthieu Baumel.

Ken Skidmore’sAutotek Motorsport oper-ation take delivery of the new Polo fromVolkswagen Motorsportthis week and it will be refettled in the colours of Al Attiyah’s sponsors and Qatar.

The Polo was built by Volkswagen Motorsport to Group R5 regula-tions and madeits compet-i t i v e

y yin the hands of the 2003 World

Champion Petter Solbergand Frenchman Eric

Camilli. The four-wheel drive machine ispowered by a

1 . 6 - l i t r e ,f o u r - c y l -i n d e r

engine andfollows on from the Polo R WRC with which the

German teamdominated the FIA

World Rally Champi-

qrema se

cyclalsotwosurfparttimewithspec20.0

AFermFridplacstag

specwaythe the star

servremwill

Al Attiyah has won his home event on 13 occasions in the past 17 years and will take part in the new car alongside French navigator Matthieu Baumel.

Manateq Qatar International Rally will be held from March 14 to 16.

Al Khelaifi seals 4th consecutive QTCC title with another doubleTHE PENINSULA DOHA

For the fourth time in a row, Abdulla Al Khelaifi secured the prestigious Qatar Touring Car Championship (QTCC) title following another double win in the penultimate round at Losail International Circuit, yesterday.

Driving Honda S2000, Al Khelaifi, who entered the round needing only 20 points to ensure the title, stormed to victory in both the races.

In the first race, Saadon Al Kuwari took the lead and battled with Al Khelafii during the first four laps, but then Al Kuwari had a problem with his Honda Civic and abandoned the race, with Al Khelaifi easing to victory.

Mohamad Al Khaiat (Toyota GT86) finished second, crossing

the line 6.970 behind Al Khelafi and in front of Ahmed Al Asiri (Honda Civic), who came third.

In the second race, Ibrahim Al Abdulghani (Honda S2000) lead the race until the seventh lap, when the unstoppable Al Khelaifi, who started from the back due to the reverse grid, overtook him and won again the race by 6.577 ahead of Al Abddulghani. Mohamad Al Khaiat finished in third place.

Al Khelaifi was delighted to win another title before the last round of the championship.

“For this round, I came with the plan to collect just 20 points. In the first race, I changed something in the car to be as

fast as Saadon, and I managed to follow him until he had a mechanical problem and retired. So, first race was easy, since I had only Saadon until he was out,” said Al Khelaifi.

“Second race was better and it was more fun. I went to the race with no pressure and I enjoyed with all the compet-itors. I stayed calm with the guys battling in front of me and took them one by one as soon as I had a safe gap. By lap seven, I overtook Ibrahim Al Abdulghani, who was a really good competitor and took another victory. I would like to thank Qatar Scientific Club for providing me their facilities to

work on my car and to Qatar Islamic Insurance for spon-soring me in this round and the next one,” he added.

Al Khaiat was happy to step on the podium twice in the same round.

This is my first time that I am in the podium in both races and it is great,” said Al Khaiat.

With the title already taken by Al Khelaifi, the next round will decide the runner-up of the championship between Mohamad Al Khaiat (67 points), Hamad Al Sulaiti (65) and Ghanim Al Maadheed (63).

Trophies were presented by LCSC Vice President and General Manager, Khalid Al Remaihi and CEO of LCSC, Juan Baquero .

The fifth and final round of Qatar Touring Car Champi-onship will be held from March 29 to 30.

With the title already taken by Al Khelaifi, the next round will decide the runner-up of the championship between Mohamad Al Khaiat (67 points), Hamad Al Sulaiti (65) and Ghanim Al Maadheed (63).

Abdulla Al Khelaifi (centre), Mohamad Al Khaiat (left) and Ahmed Al Asiri pose on the podium after yesterday’s first race.

Golf: Law and Boutier clinch Vic Open crownsREUTERS MELBOURNE

Briton David Law produced a sparkling eagle on the 18th hole to snatch a one-stroke victory at the Vic Open in Barwon Heads, Australia, and claim his maiden European Tour title yesterday.

The 27-year-old Scot’s six-under 66 at 13th Beach Golf Links left him with an 18-under total of 270, one ahead of local duo Wade Ormsby and Brad Kennedy.

Law, who began the day three shots off overnight leader

Ormsby, struck a brilliant approach to within 10 feet of the pin on the par-five 18th and coolly rolled in the eagle putt to pressure the leading Ormsby.

Ormsby, playing the hole behind, crumbled with a double-bogey on the par-three 17th to give Law the club-house lead when he dragged his tee-shot left and failed to make the green with a chip before missing the bogey putt from about 10 feet.

The Australian also missed a long eagle putt on the last that would have forced a play-off.

“We stood on the tee and we said we need to make eagle,” Law said after claiming the A$1.5m ($1.06m) winner’s cheque.

“We had to go for it, so I sort of took a bit off a hybrid and lucky it went to eight-10 feet. At the time I was just trying to get into solo second.

“It’s an amazing event, we’ve loved it all week.” Kennedy made a strong start, with six birdies before the turn, but had two bogeys on the back nine and had to settle for a share of second. South African Justin

Harding finished fourth, a stroke further back on 16-under.

In the women’s tournament, France’s Celine Boutier eased to a two-stroke victory after an even par final round that moved her to eight-under overall, ahead of Australian duo Sarah Kemp and Su Oh in joint second.

Kemp opened her round with a double bogey but struck nine birdies to finish strong, unlike overnight leader Kim Kaufman, who blew a two-stroke lead with a disappointing six-over 78 and finished in a tie for eighth place.

Celine Boutier of France (left) and David Law of Scotland hold their trophies after winning the joint LPGA and EPGA tour Vic Open titles, yesterday.