CRICKET | Page 2
Captain Brathwaite
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Muharram 12, 1446 AH
GULF TIMES
SPORT
FOCUS
Qatar football getting ready for busy season
QNA
Doha
Q
atari football clubs and national
teams are gearing up for a busy
2024-2025 season which will
feature both domestic and in-
ternational engagements.
The season will kick off with the Oore-
doo Stars League from August 9 and will
be followed by Qatar Cup, and the prestig-
ious HH the Amir Cup.
The seasonal calendar also includes
preliminary rounds of the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) Champions League
in August, as well as the 3rd stage of the
AFC Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA
World Cup, something that necessitates
early preparations.
Qatari clubs will face new challenges
when it comes to AFC competitions, when
Qatar’s league champions, Al Sadd, and
the runners up, Al Rayyan, gained two di-
rect spots in the AFC Champions League
Elite, which will see 24 clubs compete,
12 clubs from East Asia and 12 from West
Asia, with each club playing against eight
different opponents within their region, in
four home and four away matches.
The group stage will take place from
September 16 to February 19, 2025. The
Round of 16 will be held from March 3-12,
with the final stage taking place from April
25 to May 4.
Saudi Arabia will be the host of the
2024-2025 and 2025-2026 finals.
Ranking third domestically, Al Gharafa
will partake in the preliminary round,
facing the winner of the match between
Iran’s Sepahan FC and UAE’s Shabab Al
GOLF
Woods, McIlroy chase major
breakthrough at The Open
‘AS FAR AS THE LEARNING CURVE GOES, I JUST FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO BE MORE CREATIVE HERE’
Reuters
Troon, United Kingdom
T
he 152nd Open Champi-
onship at Royal Troon,
beginning today in Troon,
South Ayrshire, Scotland,
represents a pivotal point of the
summer for the world of golf.
It’s the final chance to see Tiger
Woods play this season, the final
shot for Rory McIlroy to halt his
major championship drought at
10 years, and the last opportunity
for someone new to join Scottie
Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and
Bryson DeChambeau as a 2024
major winner.
Royal Troon takes its first turn
in The Open rotation since 2016,
when Sweden’s Henrik Stenson
staved off Phil Mickelson in a
memorable Sunday duel to win his
only career major.
The course on the Scottish
coast features the longest hole in
the championship’s history, as the
par-5 sixth measures 623 yards.
But it’s perhaps best known for the
devious par-3 eighth hole; though
just 123 yards from tee to green,
that green is merely 33 paces wide,
earning the nickname “The Post-
age Stamp.”
“You don’t need a 240-yard
par-3 for it to be hard,” Woods
said.
Woods, 48, is competing in all
four majors for the first time since
his single-car accident in 2021 US golfer Tiger Woods and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (right) smile during their practice rounds yesterday ahead of the 152nd British Open Golf
that led to multiple surgeries and Championship at Royal Troon on the south west coast of Scotland. (AFP)
an arduous comeback. He’ll play
with Schauffele and Patrick Can- to win one more at his age. At
tlay in the Thursday afternoon and Royal Troon alone, Stenson was
Friday morning waves. 40 years old and Mickelson 46 in
The Open, with its distinctive 2016; Todd Hamilton was 38 when
links style, could present the 15- he won in 2004.
time major champ his best chance “I think the older you get, the
FOOTBALL | Page 4
Southgate’s exit
adamant West
Indies ‘longing’ for
more Test cricket
Ahli, which will be held at Al Bayt Sta-
dium on August 13. Winning teams in the
preliminary round advance directly to the
league stage, while losing teams move to
the AFC Champions League 2 group stage.
The official draw ceremony for the AFC
Champions League Elite group stage will
take place at the AFC headquarters in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 16.
Al Wakrah, ranked fourth in the Expo
less you can carry the golf ball. But
over here, you can run the golf ball
100 yards if you get the right wind
and the right trajectory,” Woods
said.
“It negates somewhat of the
Stars League last season, hope to achieve
good results in their group stage journey
in the AFC Champions League 2 tourna-
ment, which features thirty-two clubs
competing in the group stage from Sep-
tember 16, 2024, to February 19, 2025.
Al Arabi, ranked fifth in the Qatari
League last season, will participate in the
Gulf Co-operation Council Club Cup, a
newly established tournament by the Arab
high launch conditions that most
of the times you see on the tour
nowadays that populate the world.
... I think that’s one of the reasons
why you see older champions up
there on the board because they’re
leaves England
with difficult
successor search
CYCLING
Carapaz ticks off
Tour win as
Evenepoel edges
Pogacar, Vingegaard
Page 3
Gulf Cup Football Federation, held on a
home-and-away format from September
24 to April 25, 2025.
Qatar’s first football team is preparing
to compete in the third round of the Asian
qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, after
the draw placed it in Group A, alongside
the teams of Iran, Uzbekistan, the UAE,
Kyrgyzstan, and North Korea.
The Maroons will begin their matches
not forced to have to carry the ball
320 yards anymore.”
World No. 1 Scottie Schef-
fler was among the players who
skipped last week’s Genesis Scot-
tish Open in order to study Royal
by facing UAE in Doha on September 5, af-
ter which they will face North Korea away
on September 10, before facing the Kyrgyz
national team at home on October 10, then
heading to Tehran to face Iran away on Oc-
tober 15.
It will then host the Uzbek national
team in Doha on November 14 at the end
of the first round.
Qatar will begin the second round by
facing the UAE away on November 19,
before hosting North Korea on March 20,
2025, Kyrgyzstan on November 25 and re-
turn to host Iran on June 5, 2025.
The team will conclude the third round
by facing Uzbekistan away in Tashkent on
June 10.
Next, the Qatar team will also partici-
pate in the Gulf Cup (Gulf 26), scheduled
in Kuwait from December 21, 2024, to
January 3, 2025. Following the resound-
ing success of organising the FIFA World
Cup Qatar 2022, Doha will be on the verge
of an important event in 2025, after FIFA
decided to assign the organisation of the
next five editions of the FIFA U-17 World
Cup to Qatar, with the participation of 48
teams for the first time. The tournament
will be held annually until 2029.
Qatar will also host the Group F quali-
fiers for the 2025 AFC U-17 Championship
(October 19-27, 2024), where the draw was
drawn for the Qatar junior national team
alongside Japan, the defending champi-
ons and four times winner of the tourna-
ment, and Mongolia and Nepal. The Qatar
U-20 team will participate in the AFC U20
Asian Cup China 2025 in Group J along-
side Jordan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Doha will host the group qualifiers from
December 21-29, 2024.
Troon up close. His best Open fin-
ish to date is T8.
“As far as the learning curve
goes, I just feel like you have to be
more creative here,” Scheffler said.
“I love that part of it. I feel like,
when I do come over here, this is
really how golf was intended to be
played. I feel like there’s a lot more
opportunity for shot making and
being creative around the greens.”
Already a six-time winner this
year, Scheffler is favoured once
again, but McIlroy is high on the
board. The Northern Irishman
collapsed down the home stretch
at last month’s US Open, but said
he took the proper time away from
golf to reset and prepare for The
Open. The questions about when
he’ll win another major are grow-
ing louder.
“It doesn’t bother me. I know
that I’m in a good spot,” McIlroy
said.
“If I think about 2015 through
2020, that five-year stretch I sel-
dom had a realistic chance to win
a major championship in that five-
year period. So I’d much rather
have these close calls. It means
that I’m getting closer.”
Robert MacIntyre of Scotland
is sure to be among the crowd fa-
vourites. Last week, he became
the first Scot since 1999 to win his
national open, a dream come true
for MacIntyre. For what it’s worth,
1999 was also the last time a Scot
won the Open Championship.
“(On Thursday) we’ll start off
from level par,” MacIntyre said.
“I’ve got as much chance as eve-
ryone else in the field. Same
Thursday last week, I had the
same chance as everyone else. It’s
just about getting in that position
on Sunday and seeing where the
cards fall.”
 Gulf Times
2 Thursday, July 18, 2024

SPORT
SPOTLIGHT

Skipper Brathwaite ‘longing’ for more Tests

AFP in the format this year, whereas the to do – we’ve got to bat a lot better,” said
Nottingham, United Kingdom West Indies will be playing their third of Brathwaite, who made a Test hundred in
nine in 2024. England, at Headingley, seven years ago.
“It’s a challenge. I mean, we’re longing “We’ve got to find a way. We’ve just got

K
raigg Brathwaite wants the
West Indies to play more Test
cricket as they look to square
their series with England.
West Indies suffered a humiliating in-
nings and 114-run defeat by England in
the first Test at Lord’s last week, with the
hosts wrapping up victory before lunch
on the third day as they went 1-0 up in a
three-match encounter.
But the difference between the two
teams is about far more than on-field
performances. England are one of inter-
national cricket’s ‘Big Three’ financial
powerhouse nations, together with India
and Australia, while the West Indies are
one of the economically poorer members
of the Test-match elite.
The gulf between England and the
West Indies is also reflected in their re-
spective fixture lists, with Tests still
largely a matter of bilateral arrangements
between competing teams – the Interna-
tional Cricket Council merely specifies a
minimum of two matches for a series.
Today’s second Test at Trent Bridge
will be England’s seventh of 17 fixtures
for more Test cricket,” West Indies cap-
tain Brathwaite told a pre-match press
conference at Trent Bridge yesterday.
‘THE MORE YOU PLAY IT, THE FASTER
YOU WILL LEARN’
“I think the more you play it, the faster
you will learn. If it’s drawn over a long pe-
riod of time, playing two Tests here, two
Tests there, you will take longer to learn.
We need more Tests.”
The 31-year-old added: “All I can do is
keep preaching for it. I don’t know how
hard it is to put on a Test series for the
West Indies but all I can do is keep asking.
I just hope the powers that be that may
control the schedule pertaining to white
ball and T20 tournaments, can fit in five
or six more Test matches for us per year.”
A more immediate issue for the West
Indies if they are to be competitive in this
series is how to ensure an improved show-
ing by their batsmen. At Lord’s they were
bowled out for just 121 and 136, with expe-
rienced opener Brathwaite managing just
10 runs in total during what was his 90th
Test. “It’s pretty simple what we’ve got
to put runs on the board. I know what I
have to do and it’s obviously important to
lead this team and lead the batting.
“We’ve just got to keep learning.”
When reminded about his team’s fa-
mous Test win over Australia in January
this year, he said: “I think from a belief
point of view, it shows that we could get it
done after a loss, albeit in different condi-
tions,” Brathwaite said of the Gabba vic-
tory, West Indies’ first in Australia since
1997. “It was (a few) months ago. But yes,
we could take a bit from that. But the main
thing is just having that belief in yourself.
“We have a motivation, we got to be
better than in the first Test. As you know,
the batsmen (have) obviously got to put
runs on the board, and that’s our focus. I
think once we remain disciplined, session
by session, build partnerships that will
put us in a good position, you know, and
the overall result of the game.
“What’s gone is gone. The first defeat
is gone. The preparation period is gone.
I think the guys are in very good spirits.
Mentally it’s really important to believe in
yourself. Guys are ready to go.”

PREVIEW Senior players must step up in

Williamson’s absence: Latham

England skipper Auckland: New Zealand’s

senior players must step up to
compensate for the loss of Kane
Williamson when the former
skipper opts out of part of the
up as well in different leadership
roles.
“It’s never great when you miss
guys of Kane’s calibre but it gives
opportunities to other guys to

Stokes backs
home summer, batsman Tom
Latham said.
Latham spoke to reporters yes-
terday as New Zealand Cricket
released its summer schedule,
which starts with a three-Test
series against England in Novem-
put their best foot forward.”
Though often filling in as skip-
per, Latham missed out on the
full-time test captaincy when Wil-
liamson stepped down, the role
going to fast bowler Tim Southee
instead.

Woakes to shine
ber before white-ball series
against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Williamson gave up the white-
ball captaincy after New Zealand
crashed out of the T20 World
Cup group phase. He plans to
spend January playing T20
Hosts go into the second Test against West Indies with confidence franchise cricket in South Africa
rather than representing the
Black Caps as he would usually
AFP do.
Nottingham, United Kingdom Latham, Williamson’s long-
serving deputy, said he felt a
greater responsibility to step up
New Zealand have yet to decide
on a replacement for William-
son for the white-ball roles but
Latham’s record in T20s may
count against him if selectors
opt for a single captain for both
the short-format teams.
Latham was not in New Zealand’s
T20 World Cup squad and his
last T20I was over a year ago.
The three-match series against
England, which starts in Christch-
urch on Nov. 28, will be the only
Test cricket played in New Zea-

E
ngland captain Ben Stokes
believes “phenomenal”
Chris Woakes can lead his
team’s bowling attack as
they start life without James An-
derson as the new-ball spearhead.
Anderson retired from interna-
tional duty following an innings
and 114-run rout of the West In-
dies in the first Test at Lord’s last
week.
The 41-year-old took 704 Test
wickets – the most by any fast
bowler in the format’s history
– during an England record 188
matches.
With Stuart Broad having re-
tired after last year’s Ashes series
against Australia, it means Eng-
land are now without the pair’s
combined 1,308 Test wickets as
they head into the second Test at
Trent Bridge today.
The match will also be the first
time since 2012 that England have
played a home Test without either
Anderson or Broad.
But England still have seam-
bowling experience in Woakes,
who will be playing his 50th Test
England’s James Anderson with Ben Stokes during practice at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham,
Britain, yesterday. (Reuters)
a very experienced player and a
phenomenal performer, particu-
larly in England. “It’s great for
from the first Test. With England
rebuilding ahead of the 2025/26
Ashes in Australia, Stokes is look-
his Durham team-mate taking 14
wickets in three matches as Eng-
land fought back to draw the five-
and lead.
“I think we’ve seen over many
years now at times we haven’t
had those senior guys whether
(because) they’re playing in the
IPL (Indian Premier League) or
having a rest,” said the 32-year-
old.
“From my point of view it gives
me an opportunity as a senior
player to step up and lead as
well. But also other guys that
haven’t necessarily had those
opportunities in the past to step
FOCUS
In Mexico, cricket hopes
to make positive impact
Reuters
Mexico City
land in the home summer amid
concerns the longest format is
being suffocated by the growing
number of global T20 leagues.
Latham, who has played 80
tests, said players could only
try to adapt to the changing
landscape.
“There’s no Test franchise stuff.
So if that comes out, that’d be
great,” he joked.
“But yeah, I think cricket nowa-
days you’ve got to be so flexible
with the skill-set that you have.”

this week.
The 35-year-old Warwickshire
all-rounder averages an impres-
sive 22.04 per wicket in red-ball
internationals on home soil.
“I see it as an opportunity for
someone like Woakesy to take on
more of a leadership role in the
bowling unit,” Stokes told a pre-
match press conference yester-
day.
“We’ve been so used to Jimmy
and Broady doing that, so it’s a
great opportunity for him. He’s
ANNOUNCEMENT
him to be able to lead the attack
and 50 caps is a huge honour.”
Stokes will also be able to call
on express pace in both rising star
Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood.
Atkinson took 12 wickets on
his debut in Anderson’s farewell
Test and hit speeds of 90mph
(145kph).
Wood has proved himself ca-
pable of even faster bowling and
he is now set to be recalled as a
replacement for Anderson in the
only change to the England team
ing forward to having Atkinson
and Wood at his disposal for the
foreseeable future.
“It’s very exciting, the pros-
pect of seeing Gus Atkinson bowl
at one end and Mark Wood at the
other,” said Stokes. “Look at the
way Gus bowled last week, it’s
not only the 12 wickets, it’s find-
ing another bowler who can bowl
between 87-90mph.
“Woody is someone who had
an unbelievable summer last year
in the Ashes,” added Stokes, with
Test series 2-2.
“He was a massive player for us
with a huge impact and everyone
knows why – because of his pace.”
England could be forced into a
late change if the partner of open-
ing batsman Ben Duckett gives
birth before today’s toss, with
Dan Lawrence on standby.
“There’s a plan in place for
Ben and his partner,” said Stokes.
“We’ll just have to make a deci-
sion if it was to happen before the
game started.”
C
ricket is slowly finding
its feet in Mexico and
driving the growth of
the game is an award-
winning project involving pris-
oners across the Latin American
country.
The governing International
Cricket Council announced its
development awards yester-
day recognising “groundbreak-
ing initiatives and outstanding
performances” by its associate
members.
The Mexico Cricket Associa-
tion (MCA) bagged the ICC De-
velopment Initiative of the Year
award for two projects, includ-
ing its cricket-in-prison pro-

beIN SPORTS to cover Olympic Games extensively gramme.

“It is first and foremost a truly
meaningful recognition at the

b
eIN SPORTS, the leading sports
broadcaster in the Middle East and
North Africa (Mena), has announced
its comprehensive coverage plans for
the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Scheduled to run from 26 July until 11 Au-
gust in the French capital, one of the world’s
most popular sporting events will be broad-
cast across 17 channels, ensuring beIN airs
more live Olympics than any other television
network on the planet.
Continuing its legacy of excellence in sports
broadcasting, beIN SPORTS will deliver un-
paralleled access to the event that brings to-
gether some 10,500 athletes from 206 coun-
tries, offering extensive live coverage of almost
100 per cent of Olympic events.
With numerous athletes from the Mena
region having qualified for the quadrennial
event, the broadcaster will place a special fo-
cus on Arab participants competing in the
Games.
beIN’s pre-event studio coverage will kick
off on 19 July with a nightly preview show,
Welcome to Paris, which will air at 22:30
Makkah on beIN SPORTS 1. Live coverage of
the preliminary stages of the football matches
featuring qualified Arabic nations, Morocco,
Egypt and Iraq, as well as the rugby sevens
events will air starting 24 July, leading up to
the Olympics Opening Ceremony on 26 July
which will be broadcast on beIN SPORTS at
20:30 Makkah.
Starting 27 July, all events will be broadcast
live across 17 dedicated beIN SPORTS chan-
nels with Arabic and English commentary, de-
tails showed yesterday.
The main Arabic studio coverage on beIN
SPORTS will broadcast live for 14 hours daily
from 10:00 to 00:00 Makkah, followed by a
Daily Highlights program in English and Ara-
bic, repeated until the next day’s live events
begin at 10:00 Makkah.
beIN will also broadcast all premium events
on their dedicated 4K Olympic channel, the
only 4K sports channel in the region.
beIN’s award-winning world-class cov-
erage will be delivered by the best line-up of
talent, made up of more than 65 regional and
international pundits, including 10 on-the-
ground reporters in Paris, and a team of 42 ex-
pert Arabic commentators.
Viewers can expect real-time updates and
in-depth analysis of the international multi-
sport event, in both Arabic and English.
highest level,” MCA chairman
Ben Owen said. “... it highlights the power of cricket as a force for social
change as well as raising our profile enormously which should open even
more doors in the future.”
The MCA partnered with Mexico’s sports secretariat to launch the
project last year and both are encouraged by the response.
Hundreds of inmates play modified versions of the game weekly and
MCA is planning a national prison competition later this year featur-
ing teams from each of the 32 states, according to details released by the
Mexican board.
“One prisoner shared that she likes to play cricket because it serves as
therapy for her,” MCA secretary Craig White said.
“Another inmate said that she too wants to keep playing cricket after
being released and would like to teach the sport to other women.”
While it helped the inmates to adapt to their surroundings, the secre-
tariat believed it taught them a much-needed lesson.
“What (the secretariat) likes about cricket and why they chose it for
inclusion in prisons is how the decision of the umpire is always accepted
and they believe this concept can help prisoners to respect rules,” added
White. Oman won the women’s cricket initiative award, while the Neth-
erlands (men) and the United Arab Emirates (women) were honoured for
their team performance last year.
 Gulf Times
Thursday, July 18, 2024 3

SPORT
CYCLING MERCEDES CHASE HAT-TRICK
AT HOT HUNGARORING

Carapaz ticks off

a stage win with
super fast ride Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the British Grand Prix at
Silverstone Circuit on July 7, 2024. (@MercedesAMGF1)
‘That was a big day for me. I suffered but I put a cross on an objective’
Budapest, Hungary: Mercedes ing his own Hungarian hat-trick
AFP will be chasing a hat-trick in the to avoid Red Bull’s longest gap
Superdévoluy, France heat of the Hungaroring on Sun- without a win since 2021, when
day as Lewis Hamilton returns he was fighting Hamilton for the
to a track where he has won a title.

E
cuador’s Richard Carapaz
won stage 17 of the Tour
de France after the rem-
nants of a breakaway fin-
ished ahead of the main pretend-
ers in the High Alps yesterday.
EF rider Carapaz dropped Si-
mon Yates and soloed the final
10km to win his first ever Tour de
France stage after finishing third
overall in 2021.
The former Giro d’Italia cham-
pion, who won the Tokyo Ol-
ympics road race, also wore the
overall leader’s yellow jersey after
his efforts in the second stage to
Bologna.
“That was a big day for me,”
Carapaz said. “I suffered but I put
a cross on an objective.”
“How special it feels, I owe so
much to my team,” he said of the
American Education First team
who will be delighted with their
two million euros a year new
signing.
Overall leader Tadej Pogacar,
defending champion Jonas
Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel
kept their powder dry until a late
series of attacks and counter-at-
tacks put a shine on the medium
mountain run.
The trio produced an enter-
taining scrap with third-placed
Evenepoel finishing 12 seconds
ahead of Pogacar, with Vinge-
gaard losing two seconds to the
leader.
The relentless Slovenian said
his attack was off the cuff and
“maybe stupid”.
“I enjoyed it, I don’t know
what to say, I tested my legs and
theirs. I thought I might be able
to get away, so I had a go,” said the
25-year-old Pogacar.
Pogacar had been the first to try
his luck and Vingegaard was ini-
tially unable to follow.
Evenepoel however closed the
gap while Denmark’s Vingegaard
Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz cycles to the finish line to win the 17th stage of the 111th edition of the
Tour de France cycling race yesterday. (AFP)
then rallied to catch them both on
a daredevil descent after picking
up the wheel of a teammate who
had been in the early attack.
“Well done to Visma for their
tactics,” Pogacar said.
Belgian Evenepoel then broke
again, and finished strongly to
consolidate his third place overall.
A group of over 30 riders broke
away early on a balmy day in the
south as they climbed to the ski
resort of Superdevoluy.
Girmay stays in green
Nursing knee and elbow injuries,
Biniam Girmay retained the green
jersey for best sprinter with 387
points to Jasper Philipsen’s 354.
“It’s never easy a day after a
fall, but I felt okay today,” said the
Eritrean who will race at the Paris
2024 Olympic Games.
Girmay spoke excitedly about
the reaction back home where he
said “from two in the afternoon
until the end of the race everyone
goes out onto the streets to watch
the race or listen to it together”.
Stage 18 today is billed as one
of the prettiest, with lakes and
mountains in Haute Provence and
an opportunity for the one-day
specialists during a 179km ride
from Gap to Barcelonnette.
With the temperatures set to
rise as the 2024 edition reaches
a fascinating climax Pogacar ad-
mitted he had a history of wilting
in the heat.
“Yes it’s easy to see that all the
times Jonas has dropped me, and
maybe it’s coincidence, it’s been
in the heat. So I’ve been working
on heat and high altitude train-
ing,” said Pogacar, cutting a hap-
pier figure than he has all Tour.
The final three stages are all
potential game changers, with to-
morrow’s run taking the peloton
to 2,800m altitude before a huge
descent. Saturday is also moun-
tainous and features another
downhill finale.
But the final stage could shake
up the standings even more with
a 34km individual time trial from
Monaco to Nice potentially taking
the title down to the wire on the
French Riviera.
record eight times and last year
secured his most recent pole
position.
The idea of Mercedes being in
a position to win anything, let
alone three races in a row, after a
2023 season dominated by Red
Bull and Max Verstappen had
looked like wishful thinking back
in March.
It is real enough now, though,
after victory fell into George
Russell’s lap in Austria and seven
times champion team mate
Hamilton won the British Grand
Prix at Silverstone for a record
ninth time.
“I love Hungary,” said Hamilton
after his emotional home victory
left him in tears.
“So, yeah, I definitely am really
looking forward to that, to go in
there, but just also the trajectory
we’re on and the fact, you know,
the car is starting to really, really
come alive and feel great.”
Hamilton won in Hungary with
McLaren in his 2007 debut
season and did it again in 2009
and 2012 before switching to
Mercedes, where he continued
to win in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019
and 2020.
A top- three finish this weekend
would be his 200th podium
while another pole would be a
record-extending 10th at the cir-
cuit. Russell took the first F1 pole
of his career in Hungary in 2022,
finishing third with Hamilton
second and Verstappen winning.
Mercedes have taken the last
four poles in Hungary, a slow
track sometimes referred to as
‘Monaco without the walls’ and
where overtaking can be tricky
and qualifying carries a real
premium.
The fact remains that triple
champion Verstappen has won
the last two editions and is chas-
Mercedes are already the first
team since Ferrari in 2022 to
beat Red Bull twice in a row.
“We had a brilliant race in Hun-
gary last year and have good
memories here as we achieved
(a record) 12 wins in a row,”
said Verstappen, who is now 84
points clear of McLaren’s Lando
Norris after 12 of 24 races.
“Hopefully, we can have a great
race again this year and achieve
another good team result.”
Verstappen beat second placed
Norris by a whopping 33.7 sec-
onds in Hungary last year, with
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez third, as
the champions set a record for
most successive F1 wins.
That gulf is unlikely to be
repeated with McLaren, who also
have Australian Oscar Piastri
bringing in solid points, now
having one of the fastest cars on
track and needing only to avoid
making mistakes.
Perez desperately needs a
strong and clean weekend after
scoring just 15 points from the
last six races with his future at
the team increasingly called into
question despite securing a new
contract only last month.
Ferrari will also be looking to
take some momentum into the
August break, and avoid being
overtaken in the standings by
McLaren, now just seven points
behind. With Belgium following
on from Hungary and conclud-
ing the first part of the season
before the shutdown, Ferrari are
fighting to catch up after an up-
grade package proved problem-
atic and the team were forced to
return to an older specification.
“We will bounce in turns 4 and
11 (at the Hungaroring) but until
something better comes we may
have to live with bouncing for a
while,” said Carlos Sainz.

Nadal, Ruud save match point to TENNIS

make doubles semi-finals

Bastad, Sweden: Rafael Nadal
and Casper Ruud saved a match
point in the deciding set tie-break
to reach the semi-finals of the
doubles in Bastad yesterday,
Cameron Norrie in the round of
16 in the singles.
The 22-time Grand Slam cham-
pion returned to competition for
the first time this week since his
Four-time winner Nadal on entry list for US Open
AFP bledon champion Barbora Krejcikova are also
New York in the field. American Reilly Opelka, also in
through a protected ranking, is set to play his
first Grand Slam tournament since 2022 due to

hours after the Norwegian was
knocked out of the singles.
Nadal and Ruud squeezed past
France’s Theo Arribage and Ro-
man Safiullin of Russia 6-4, 3-6,
12/10 to advance to the last four,
winning the final three points
of the match after being on the
brink of defeat.
“I think we had some fun. It was
an emotional match at the end, a
good level of tennis against two
good players,” said Nadal, who
is also competing in the singles
tournament.
“We enjoy it, the crowd was
amazing. Full crowd in a doubles
match, that’s fantastic. Just enjoy-
ing every single day here.”
While Nadal and Ruud wait to
discover their semi-final oppo-
nents, the Spaniard will be back
in action today against Britain’s
early French Open exit. He will
hope to avoid the same fate as
Ruud, whose Olympic prepara-
tions took a hit when he lost 6-3,
6-3 to Thiago Monteiro in the
second round earlier yesterday.
Billie Jean King Cup finals
moved to Malaga
The Billie Jean King Cup finals in
November have been switched
from Seville to Malaga, organisers
the International Tennis Federa-
tion (ITF) said yesterday, causing
an overlap with the Davis Cup
which will be held at the same
venue. The tournament will kick
off at the Martin Carpena Arena
in Malaga, Spain on Nov 13 and
end on Nov 20, with the last two
days of the competition overlap-
ping with the first two days of the
Davis Cup finals (Nov 19-24).
F
our-time champion Rafael Nadal was
among those on the main draw entry
lists revealed yesterday for the 2024
US Open after missing the event three
of the past four years.
The 38-year-old Spanish left-hander has a
protected ranking of ninth to put himself into
the field for the Flushing Meadows fortnight,
which begins on August 26. Nadal, a 22-time
Grand Slam winner, played his first singles
match since May 27 on Tuesday, beating Leo
Borg 6-3, 6-4 at the Nordea Open. Nadal had
not played since losing in the first round to Al-
exander Zverev on the red clay in Paris.
Nadal has played the US Open only once,
in 2022, since winning his fourth New York
hardcourt crown in 2019.
He was among 14 players to claim a main-
draw spot with a protected ranking.
Nadal won the US Open in 2010 to complete
a career Grand Slam and added US Open titles
in 2013, 2017 and 2019. He reached the fourth
round in 2022 but has played in only two Slams
since, never going past the second round.
World number one Jannik Sinner, this year’s
Australian Open champion from Italy, and
top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who captured her
third consecutive French Open title in June,
pace the men’s and women’s fields.
Djokovic, Gauff at No 2
Defending champions and world number twos
Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff are also in the
lineup. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 US
Open champion, is coming off French Open
and Wimbledon title runs and could become
the first player since Nadal in 2010 to win those
trophies and the US Open in the same year.
Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna
Sabalenka, the 2023 US Open runner-up who
missed Wimbledon due to injury, and Wim-
injuries.
Three other past US Open champions were
on the main draw lists - Daniil Medvedev
on the men’s side plus Sloane Stephens and
Emma Raducanu on the women’s.
Raducanu’s run to the fourth round at Wim-
bledon secured her a spot in the world rank-
ings top 100 and a place in the US Open.
Among past US Open winners who did not
make the direct acceptance list are Bianca
Andreescu, Angelique Kerber and Naomi Os-
aka for the women and Andy Murray, Dominic
Thiem and Stan Wawrinka for the men.
All three women missed last year’s US Open,
Andreescu due to injury and Osaka and Kerber
on maternity leave, and all exhausted their
protected rankings for majors earlier this year.
Osaka ranks sixth on the women’s alternate
list. Wawrinka is men’s seventh alternate with
Murray the 26th alternate and Thiem, who says
he plans to retire after 2024, the 36th alternate.
The US Open field will also include 16 wild
cards, eight each in the men’s and women’s field,
and 16 qualifiers each for the men and women.

FOCUS

Qatar Rail Open Chess Championship starts today, finals at Al Bidda Station
T
he second edition of the
Qatar Rail Open Chess
Championship will start
today with the finals of the
tournament to be held at Al Bidda
Station, Qatar Chess Association
(QCA) announced yesterday.
QCA in co-operation with Qatar
Rail are hosting the event to cele-
brate the International Chess Day,
which falls on July 20 of each year.
The preliminary rounds will
be held today at the Qatar Chess
Training Center, with the partici-
pation of 80 players.
The final round of the tourna-
ment will be held on Saturday at
the Al Bidda Station, which will see
the participation of 20 players. The
final round will be held according
to the Swiss system of 9 rounds.
Mohamed al-Mudahka, presi-
dent of QCA, said that the cooper-
ation between QCA and Qatar Rail
aims to achieve goals like spread-
ing the culture of chess across
communities living in the country.
He said QCA desires to have
more cooperation that helps the
Federation to achieve its vision
and develop the game of chess and
build a huge player base.
Al-Mudahka added that the end
of the tournament will be held in-
side Al Bidda Station, which will
contribute to the promotion of
chess culture in Qatar.
He said QCA tournaments are
held in line with the strategy of the
federation that aims to support the
national teams that could lead the
feature in international tourna-
ments.
He added that the tournament is
part of the QCA’s plans to make a
qualitative change in the game and
attract younger talent.
“This tournament will be a
valuable opportunity to discover
promising talent. This way we can
expand our player base,” the QCA
president said.
Abdullah Ali al-Mawlawi, Di-
rector of Communications and
Public Relations at Qatar Rail,
said: “We are delighted to form a
partnership with Qatar Chess As-
sociation after the great success
we achieved in the first edition last
year.”
He said celebrating the Interna-
tional Chess Day is part of Qatar
Rail’s commitment to promoting
sports activities in Qatar, as well as
spreading the culture of the game
of chess and encouraging more
people to participate in this tour-
nament.
He confirmed that the choice
of Al Bidda Station to host the fi-
nals of the tournament is part of
the strategy of Qatar Rail aimed at
engaging with commuters using
the country’s state of the art metro
system.
Al-Mawlawi stressed the im-
portance of continuing coopera-
tion with QCA to organise similar
sports activities among different
members of the community.
 Thursday, July 18, 2024

GULF TIMES SPORT

FOOTBALL
Eight-month
suspended term

Southgate’s exit leaves handed out for

racist abuse
of Vinicius,

England with difficult Rudiger

A Spanish court has handed
down an eight-month suspend-
ed jail term to a person for online
racist abuse targeting Real

successor search
Madrid players Vinicius Junior
and Antonio Rudiger, the club
said yesterday.
Real Madrid said the individual
“acting under various pseudo-
nyms on the digital forum of
the Marca newspaper, directed
Newcastle boss Howe, former Chelsea coaches Pochettino, Potter and Tuchel are contenders serious racist attacks and insults
against our players Vinicius
Junior and Antonio Rudiger”.
AFP glers to Champions League quali- “The court ordered the accused
London fication for the first time in 20 to serve eight months in prison
years led some to rank him as an and not to participate in the
England boss in waiting. above-mentioned forum for 20

G
areth Southgate’s exit as Yet the 46-year-old fared less months,” the club said.
England manager in the well last term, when Newcastle The accused was found guilty of
aftermath of their pain- finished a disappointing seventh two offences against Brazilian
ful Euro 2024 final de- in the Premier League, and was Vinicius and Rudiger, both
feat to Spain has left the Football also in charge when Bournemouth aggravated by the fact that
Association facing a difficult task were relegated from the top-flight they acted with racist motives
to find a suitable successor. in 2020. Newcastle chief execu- and, in the case of the German
Southgate admitted it was tive Darren Eales also insisted on defender, also in contempt of his
“time for change and for a new Tuesday he would fight to keep religion. The suspended prison
chapter” for the national team Howe if the FA expressed interest sentence was made conditional
when he resigned on Tuesday af- in him. on the defendant’s participation
ter eight years in charge. Adding to the pressure on in a non-discrimination pro-
Selecting the right man to au- the FA is England’s potentially gramme. Real Madrid pointed
thor the next pages of England’s treacherous qualifying campaign out that it was the second
torturous bid to win a first ma- for the 2026 World Cup. criminal conviction for racist
jor trophy since the 1966 World Relegated to Nations League B, insults against their players. On
Cup won’t be easy for the FA’s England cannot be top seeded in June 10, three Valencia fans were
headhunters. the World Cup qualifying stage as sentenced to eight months for
The governing body had been that privilege goes to the 12 best racist insults targeting Vinicius in
keen for Southgate to stay on be- performing sides in League A. May 2023. A prominent figure in
yond his existing contract, which Spain, Germany, France or the fight against racism in Span-
was due to expire in December. Portugal could all lie in wait for ish football, Vinicius has been
But the 53-year-old’s decision England in groups where only targeted several times in recent
to quit has put in motion a tricky the winner is certain to reach the years. In January 2023, an effigy
succession search that will ideally World Cup. wearing a Vinicius shirt was
be resolved by the time England Bullingham wants to make an found hanging from a bridge
travel to the Republic of Ireland appointment “as soon as pos- near the club’s training ground
for a Nations League tie on Sep- England’s head coach Gareth Southgate with his silver medal walks past the trophy after the UEFA Euro 2024 sible” but conceded on Tuesday alongside a banner saying:
tember 7. final against Spain at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 14, 2024. (AFP) there was “an interim solution in “Madrid hates Real”. In Decem-
When FA chief executive Mark place if needed”. ber, four Atletico Madrid fans
Bullingham and his advisers pon- reputation was tarnished by a to be willing to consider a foreign His fine work at Tottenham still Former Everton midfielder were charged over the incident,
der the potential candidates, they dismal spell in charge at Stamford coach. makes him an attractive candi- Lee Carsley, England’s current with prosecutors pushing for jail
will find a list filled with question Bridge. After earning plaudits for Yet as a German, Tuchel might date, as does his strong relation- under-21 coach, is understood terms of four years. No date has
marks about their ability to han- his impressive work with Bright- find it hard to find approval from ship with England captain Harry to be the interim solution. The yet been set for a trial.
dle the unique pressures of a role on, Potter was axed by Chelsea sections of England’s fanbase. Kane, who rose to prominence 50-year-old has little managerial
Graham Taylor once dubbed “the after less than seven months as Tuchel’s reputation lost a little of during their time together in experience but could be consid- Opening probe into Argentina
impossible job” during his time in struggled to handle the squad’s its lustre after his troubled Bayern north London. ered on a permanent basis af- players’ racist chants: FIFA
the England hot-seat. big personalities. Munich reign, which ended last But Pochettino hails from Ar- ter Southgate made a successful FIFA said yesterday it was open-
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe Potter had been brought in to season with his team finishing 18 gentina - another of England’s transition from the England Un- ing an investigation into racist
and a trio of former Chelsea replace Tuchel, who was sacked points behind Bundesliga cham- long-standing rivals - and his der-21 role. chants by Argentina players af-
managers in Mauricio Pochet- despite winning the Champions pions Bayer Leverkusen. failure to lead Paris Saint-Ger- The Three Lions’ limp per- ter they won the Copa America.
tino, Graham Potter and Thomas League with Chelsea in 2021. main to the Champions League formances on route to the Euro “FIFA is aware of a video circulat-
Tuchel are said to be the leading Although Manchester City boss GREAT EXPECTATIONS crown despite their wealth of tal- 2024 final and their cautious ap- ing on social media and the
contenders. Pep Guardiola and former Liver- Pochettino lasted just one tur- ent is a blemish on his CV. proach in that match ensured incident is being looked into,”
Potter was installed as the early pool manager Jurgen Klopp are bulent season at Chelsea before Howe’s success in leading Southgate will be remembered as a spokesperson for world foot-
favourite, but the 49-year-old’s likely out of reach, the FA are said leaving by mutual consent in May. Newcastle from relegation strug- England’s nearly man. ball’s governing body said.
They added: “FIFA strongly con-
demns any form of discrimina-
tion by anyone including players,
MAN UNITED SET TO SEAL MOVE FOR LILLE’S YORO: REPORTS fans and officials.”
The chants were heard during
Manchester United are set to sign Lille’s season. Varane and Lisandro Martinez were He has only started 37 times across the Lozano out as Mexico coach a live video posted on social
promising teenage defender Leny Yoro United’s starting centre-backs in their FA last two league seasons, but remains a Jaime Lozano was dropped as manager of media by Chelsea and Argentina
in a £52mn ($69mn) swoop, according to Cup final victory over Manchester City in key player for coach Carlo Ancelotti, hav- Mexico’s national football team after reject- midfielder Enzo Fernandez from
reports yesterday. The 18-year-old had been May, with Harry Maguire missing the show- ing helped Los Blancos to a Champions ing a plan that included a demotion for the the team bus in the wake of the
linked with a move to European champions piece due to injury an injury that ruled him League-La Liga double last term. Modric upcoming World Cup cycle, the Mexican Copa victory over Colombia in
Real Madrid, but he is believed to have out of Euro 2024. Ten Hag has been chasing became the oldest goalscorer in European Football Federation said Tuesday. The fed- Miami on Sunday. Some players,
travelled to England on Wednesday for a Bayern’s Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt Championship history last month when eration announced Lozano’s departure in including 23-year-old Fernan-
medical with the Premier League club. and is understood to have had two offers he netted for Croatia against Italy at Euro a statement, adding, “The Mexican Soccer dez, sing a chant dating back
United will reportedly pay £52.7mn as an rejected for Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite. 2024, although he could not prevent the Federation thanks and recognizes the com- to the 2022 World Cup final in
initial fee, with add-ons worth a further 2018 World Cup runners-up from suffering mitment and dedication of Jaime Lozano. which Argentina beat France.
£6.7mn. Yoro, who made his Lille debut at Modric extends Real deal a group-stage exit. “I’d like to keep playing Today his time as Technical Director of the The song targets France’s star
the age of 16, has been ranked as one of the Real Madrid captain Luka Modric has forever but there will probably be a time Senior National Team ends.” The federation striker Kylian Mbappe among
best young players in Europe. signed a new one-year deal to keep him I’ll have to hang up my boots,” Modric said said it offered a new contract to Lozano others and includes racist and
He would become United’s second close- at the Santiago Bernabeu for the upcom- after the agonising 1-1 draw with Italy which through 2030 that included him working homophobic insults. Chelsea
season signing following Netherlands ing season, the European champions put Croatia out. “I’ll keep playing on, I don’t under a “more experienced” coach from had earlier announced they had
striker Joshua Zirkzee’s arrival from Bolo- announced yesterday. The 38-year-old know for how much longer.” 2024-2026 for the upcoming World Cup to launched an internal disciplinary
gna last weekend. United manager Erik ten midfielder extended his contract until June The news of Modric’s extension comes the be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the procedure against Fernandez
Hag has been keen to land a new centre- 30, 2025. Modric has won six Champions day after new star signing Kylian Mbappe United States. The federation said that after over the incident. Fernandez has
back after former Real Madrid star Raphael League titles, La Liga four times and lifted was presented to Madrid fans following his Lozano examined the proposal, he “doesn’t apologised and the club said in
Varane left Old Trafford at the end of last the Copa del Rey twice with Real Madrid. move from PSG. wish to continue. We respect his decision.” a statement it had launched an
“internal disciplinary procedure”.
“Chelsea Football Club finds all
forms of discriminatory behav-
OLYMPICS iour completely unacceptable,”
it added. “We acknowledge and
appreciate our player’s public

Oiwa: Japan have the means to win medal
afc.com be required for Japan to advance
Kuala Lumpur to the knockout rounds for the
fourth time since 2000.
“Since these teams won their
tion’s regulations. He has also left
Kuryu Matsuki, a key member of
the side that was successful in
Qatar earlier in the year, out of
apology and will use this as an
opportunity to educate.”
Fernandez, who joined Chelsea
from Benfica for a Premier
League record fee of £105
million ($136.8 million) in 2023,
said in his apology: “The song
includes highly offensive lan-

G
o Oiwa will take his Ja-
pan team to the Paris
Olympics with his sights
set on a medal-winning
performance and his spirits bu-
oyed by the nation’s recent AFC
U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 suc-
cess.
The former Kashima Antlers
coach, who led the J1 League side
to the AFC Champions League
title in 2019, steered his team to
victory in the continental cham-
pionship in May to secure the
country’s eighth successive Ol-
ympic Games qualification.
Oiwa’s team defeated Uz-
bekistan in the final in Doha to
lift the trophy for the second time
as the Japanese continued their
record of qualifying for every Ol-
ympic Games since 1996 and the
head coach is targeting further
success for his team later this
summer. “Our primary goal was
not only to qualify for the Paris
Olympics, but also to win the AFC
U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024,” Oiwa
tells the-AFC.com
“We are very happy to have
achieved this victory. We will ap-
proach the Paris Olympics with
the confidence and pride of being
the champions of Asia.
“The team developed a strong
sense of unity as we advanced
through the AFC U23 Asian Cup,
playing six matches with only two
or three days between each. I also
feel that the players grew stronger
and tougher.
“Since the tournament, many
players have become key play-
ers to their respective teams.
We hope that the growth of each
player will continue to improve
the team.”
Japan’s success in Doha means
Oiwa and his players have been
drawn in Group D in France, where
they will begin their campaign
against Paraguay in Bordeaux on
July 24. They will then face Mali
three days later before complet-
ing the group phase against Israel
on July 30. A top two finish will
respective continental qualifiers
for the Paris Olympics, they are
all very strong,” Oiwa says of the
task ahead.
“Paraguay topped the South
American qualifiers, beating Bra-
zil. We played against Mali in an
international friendly match in
March (a game Japan lost 3-1) and
realised how strong they are.
“Israel have also shown their
strength in youth development,
making significant progress in
last year’s FIFA U20 World Cup.
There are no easy games. To win
medals, we need to play hard in
matches during the middle of
summer. Our ultimate goal is to
reach the final and win the gold
medal at the Paris Olympics.
“However, we want to focus on
the group stage first and take each
match one at a time without look-
ing too far ahead.”
Oiwa’s squad for the Olympic
Games leans heavily on the one
that won the AFC U23 Asian Cup
with the 52-year-old choosing
not to add the three overage play-
ers permitted under the competi-
his 18-man squad while Fuki Ya-
mada, scorer of the goal that saw
Japan defeat Uzbekistan, has only
been included on Oiwa’s four-
man reserve list.
The Japanese will travel to
France attempting to win a first
Olympic medal since claiming
bronze in Mexico City in 1968
having twice gone close to ending
their Olympic medal drought in
the 56 years since.
The nation has twice finished
fourth at the Games, losing in
the bronze medal playoff to Korea
Republic in London in 2012 be-
fore suffering the same fate at the
hands of Mexico in Tokyo three
years ago.
“We have been building our
team based on a consistent con-
cept since we started two and a
half years ago,” says Oiwa. “We
want to approach the Paris Olym-
pics with confidence as the cul-
mination of everything we have
built up so far.
“We have selected the best
players to advance to the final and
to win the gold medal.”
guage and there is absolutely no
excuse for these words.
“I stand against discrimination in
all forms and apologise for get-
ting caught up in the euphoria of
our Copa America celebrations.”
Javier Mascherano, the coach
of Argentina’s Olympic football
team, said he felt the video had
been “taken out of context” as
he sprang to the defence of Fern-
andez. “Argentines, if there’s one
thing we’re not, it’s racists, far
from that,” said Mascherano.
“I know Enzo, he’s a great guy.
He doesn’t have any problems
like that,” he insisted.
Enzo Fernandez