Swiatek

emulates
Serena
Williams
with fifth
successive
title
PAGE 14
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022

Qatar will organize a wonderful World Cup: Pochettino

PSG arrive in
Qatar for
spring tour
QNA/TNN
DOHA

COACH of Paris Saint-Ger-

main (PSG) Mauricio Pochet-
tino said on Sunday that FIFA
World Cup 2022 hosts Qa-
tar will organize a wonderful
World Cup.
The Argentine said the
World Cup is a remarkable
event and Qatar’s preparations
are in sync. Pochettino ex-
pressed this while speaking to
the media along with PSG play-
ers Italian Marco Verratti, and
French Presnel Kimpembe.
PSG, who recently
emerged as French champions
for the tenth time, arrived in (L to R) Paris Saint-Germain’s French defender Presnel Kimpembe, Argentinian head coach Mauricio PSG’s Argentine star Lionel Messi and other players on their arrival at the team hotel in Doha on Sunday
Doha for a new spring tour on Pochettino, and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti pose for a photo at a press conference during the spring morning.
Sunday morning. training camp in Doha Sunday. (AFP)
Pochettino expressed his French champions for a tenth away courtesy of a Lionel Mes- in a live feed on Instagram
happiness on being a part of tion. The visit was supposed to them. We don’t have time for na is placed alongside Poland, time. si double with Angel Di Maria with Qatar Airways, to show
the promotional two-day tour be last January but due to the training, and today and to- Mexico and Saudi Arabia and During the Qatar srping and Kylian Mbappe scoring as many viewers as possible
in Qatar which includes a visit pandemic, it was postponed to morrow are allocated for a this makes the group a com- tour, PSG will be taking part the others. around these football venues.
to two of the eight stadiums a later date, and there was a marketing tour as well as some plex one. in a series of events organ- On Sunday, PSG players Qatar has welcomed vari-
hosting the FIFA World Cup new eagerness from everyone activities, which is an excellent Pochettino expressed his ised with the club’s partners visited the PSG Qatar Acad- ous Paris Saint-Germain tours
Qatar 2022. in the club to come to Doha opportunity to strengthen the optimism about the future of present in Qatar, such as emy at the University of Doha over the last decade, such as
The Paris Saint-Germain and to take advantage of the relationship between the club PSG, stressing that the ambi- ALL, Aspetar, Ooredoo, Qatar for Science and Technology. the Qatar Handball Tour in
coach said: “We are here in a opportunity to meet many of and its fans,” he added. tions are great, and there is a Airways, Qatar Tourism and Messi and co later also met 2014 and 2015, the Qatar La-
country that loves football, and the team’s fans here. Speaking about his coun- goal set by everyone, which is QNB. up with some kid cancer pa- dies Tour in 2015, and the Qa-
it will host, after a few months, “It is important for us to try at the forthcoming World to win the Champions League. Paris St Germain, on Sat- tients at Sidra Medicine. tar Tour in 2013, 2015, 2017,
the World Cup in its 22nd edi- spend some moments with Cup, Pochettino said Argenti- PSG recently emerged as urday, beat Montpellier 4-0 PSG’s players will take part 2018, 2019 and 2022.

Mahrez misses late penalty

as Man City held by West
QFA board approves final
Ham in thrilling 2-2 draw
nominees for Best Awards STATS PERFORM/DPA
LONDON
a chance for Bernardo Silva
that drew a superb stop from
Fabianski, though shambolic
QSL unga (Al Duhail), Akram Afif MANCHESTER City came defending might have cost City
DOHA (Al Sadd), Jacinto Dala (Al from two goals to draw 2-2 had Bowen or Michail Antonio
Wakrah). with West Ham but Premier being more clinical.
THE Board of Trustees of the The Mansoor Muftah League title rivals Liverpool West Ham were made to
Qatar Football Association Award for the Top Scorer will were handed hope thanks to pay with 21 minutes left - Cou-
(QFA) Awards approved the go to Al Duhail striker Michael Riyad Mahrez’s late missed fal heading Mahrez’s free-kick
final nominees for the Best Olunga (24 goals). penalty. beyond Fabianski.
Awards for 2021-2022 season, The winners of Football for The Reds celebrated an FA Aymeric Laporte diverted
after completing the screening All and Best Referees Awards Cup triumph on Saturday and a goal-bound Bowen shot wide
process of nomination forms. will be announced along with their chances of an unprece- before City were awarded a
The results were as fol- the final awards results. dented quadruple looked very golden opportunity to win it
lows: Participants in the voting much alive after Jarrod Bow- when Dawson brought down
1. Nominees for the Best process are: QNB Stars League en’s double put West Ham 2-0 Jesus.
Under-23 Player Award – team coaches; Qatar national up at the break. Mahrez stepped up but Fa-
Hashem Ali (Al Rayyan), team coach; Qatar Olympic Yet Jack Grealish pulled bianski guessed the right way,
Homam Al Ameen (Al Ghara- team coach; Club team man- one back for City who, despite much to Pep Guardiola’s frus-
fa), Salah Zakaria (Al Duhail). agers; National team man- more shaky defending, drew tration.
2. Nominees for the Best ager; Media representatives; level when Vladimir Coufal City would have moved six
Coach Award – Younes Ali Representative of QFA; Rep- headed into his own goal. points clear with a win, and
(Al Arabi), Marques Lopez resentative of QSL; President The stage looked set for Manchester City’s Algerian midfielder Riyad Mahrez misses to score a penalty kick during the English though Liverpool have two
(Al Wakrah), Luis Castro (Al and Board members of the Mahrez to seal a brilliant Premier League match against West Ham United at the London Stadium in London on Sunday. The match games remaining, they would
Duhail). QFA Awards Board of Trus- comeback win when Craig ended in a 2-2 draw. (AFP) have required a significant
3. Nominees for the Best tees; Aspire; and Qatar Olym- Dawson’s foul on Gabriel Je- swing in goal difference.
Player Award – Michael Ol- pic Committee. sus was spotted by VAR, but Ham were dangerous on the struggled to respond, though the box and drilling a crisp fin- As it is, Liverpool - who
Lukasz Fabianski made a counter and that tactic paid Jesus’ dipping shot almost ish beyond Ederson. face Southampton on Tues-
strong save to keep Liverpool, dividends in the 24th minute found the bottom-left corner City’s response came in- day - might well be relying on
who are four points back with a when Bowen beat the offside in the 36th minute. side four minutes of the re- an old Anfield hero, as Steven
game in hand, in the title hunt. trap, rounded Ederson and Yet West Ham struck again start, Grealish’s volley deflect- Gerrard takes his Aston Villa
Bundesliga City had control of pos- coolly squeezed home. before the interval - Bowen en- ing in off Dawson. side to the Etihad Stadium on
session early on but West A shocked City initially gineering space on the edge of Grealish brilliantly teed up the final day of the season.
Bremen join Schalke in Bundesliga return,
SV Hamburg reach play-off
Werder Bremen followed Schalke back into the top flight Bundesliga
on Sunday and SV Hamburg could finally also leave the second divi- AGCFF delegation inspects Basra stadium in Iraq for 25th Gulf Cup
sion again via a play-off against Hertha Berlin who are coached by
former Hamburg star Felix Magath. A delegation from the inspec-
Four-time Bundesliga champions Bremen prevailed 2-0 against mid- tion committee of the Arab Gulf
table Rgensburg from Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch to finish Cup Football Federation (AGCFF)
second behind Schalke in the standings. on Sunday visited the Al Mina
“There is a lot of emotion. We are very proud to have taken this last Stadium in Basra Governorate in
step today,” Bremen official Clemens Fritz said. Iraq to figure the latest prepara-
Schalke, who had clinched promotion a week ago, won their last tions and stages of completion in
game 2-1 in Nuremberg from a wonder goal by Rodrigo Zalazar who preparation for hosting the “Gulf
netted from his own half, and the 30th strike by league top scorer 25” tournament, which is sched-
Simon Terodde. Schalke and Bremen managed an instant Bundes- uled to be held at the beginning
liga return after relegation 12 months ago while Hamburg are in of 2023. The Iraqi Federation in
their fourth season in the second tier after a first-ever drop in 2018 an official statement said: “The
followed by three fourth-place finishes. They seemed down and out Minister of Youth and Sports
a few weeks ago but five victories in a row saw them place third on accompanied by the President
goal difference against Darmstadt, the final one a nervy 3-2 come- of the Iraqi Football Association,
back success at Hansa Rostock from second-half goals by Robert Adnan Darjal, the inspection completion.” up on the details of the achieve- preparations are going perfectly by Jassim Sultan Al Rumaihi,
Glatzel, captain Sebastian Schonlau and Mikkel Kaufmann. The play- committee for the 25th Gulf Cup, The statement added: “Derjal ment in stadiums and facilities for a distinguished tournament. Secretary-General of the Federa-
off starts Thursday in Berlin with the return leg in Hamburg four days toured the Al-Mina stadium in praised the joint cooperation that have reached advanced The delegation of the Arab Gulf tion, on a three-day visit as part
later against Hertha who finished third last in the Bundesliga.(DPA) Basra Governorate, to see the with the Gulf federations, and the stages.” According to the state- Cup Football Federation arrived of a series to view stadiums and
stadium and the stages of its committee’s keenness to follow ment of the Iraqi Federation, in Basraon Saturday, headed hotels. (QNA)

Social Media Pakistan 0345-6738217


Kane penalty for Spurs puts pressure on Arsenal in top-four race
STATS PERFORM/DPA
LONDON
HARRY Kane’s first-half pen-
alty was the difference as Tot-
tenham did just enough to
beat Burnley 1-0 in the Pre-
mier League on Sunday and
increase the heat on Arsenal in
the race for fourth.
Spurs’ 3-0 north London
derby victory over the Gun-
ners on Thursday left just a
one-point gap between the
two rivals in the table and,
while Antonio Conte’s men
disappointed during the visit
of Burnley, Kane secured the
desired result.
The relegation-battling
Clarets initially did a fine job
of keeping Spurs at bay until
conceding what they felt was
a harsh penalty, with Kane
converting his 23rd successive
spot-kick for Tottenham.
Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski greets from a
balcony with the trophy of the Bundesliga season victory in the center
of Munich, on Sunday, one day after the last match of the season. (AFP)
Bayern won’t
completely rule out
Lewandowski exit
DPA
MUNICH
BAYERN Munich were set to
celebrate a 10th Bundesliga
title in a row with their fans
from the town hall balcony
later on Sunday as the club ap-
peared to soften its stance on
a summer exit of of their star
striker Robert Lewandowski.
Bayern and their top scorer
confirmed around Saturday’s
season finale that Lewandows-
ki will not renew his contract
beyond 2023 and club officials
have insisted he must fulfil his
deal.
Club president Herbert
Hainer reiterated this stance
Sunday in a programme of
broadcasters Sport1 but would
now not completely rule out
transfer this summer if “both
sides give their consent” to
such a move.
“It could be that both sides
agree on it,” Hainer said.
Hainer added that Bay-
ern’s future plans are an im-
portant aspect in the case
because the club would need
a successor on short notice
should Lewandowski depart.
“There is no replacement for
a world class player like Robert
Lewandowski,” Hainer said.
Lewandowski said on Sat-
urday that a summer transfer
should be considered in the
case of an offer, with Spanish
top side Barcelona reportedly
interested.
Fellow forward Thomas
Müller said he hopes that the
33-year-old will stay another
year but has no illusions.
“Let’s see what happens.
He has a contract until 2023.
That means that Bayern have
the saying. Of course we would
want him to stay. But of course
we all know the business...,”
Müller told Sky TV.
He added that Lewan-
dowski would continue to de-
liver even if he had to stay an-
other season.
“Lewy is top professional.
When you are on the pitch as
a player, and especially as a
striker, you want to perform,”
Müller said.
Lewandowski has been in
Munich since 2014 after four
campaigns at German rivals
Borussia Dortmund.
In those years he has won
every club title on offer includ-
ing the 2020 treble with Bay-
ern, and 10 Bundesliga titles in
Burnley then enjoyed en-
couraging spells after the in-
terval, with Ashley Barnes hit-
ting the post, but Spurs - who
saw Son Heung Min denied
twice by Nick Pope - managed
to cling onto another impor-
tant win.
A dominant Spurs start
did not yield many clear-cut
chances, with Kane and Emer-
son Royal going closest when
forcing straightforward saves
from Pope.
Burnley grew as an attack-
ing presence themselves and
should have taken the lead
when Maxwel Cornet shot
straight at Hugo Lloris in a
one-on-one situation.
Kane fired wide as Spurs
looked to be heading into the
break frustrated, but a VAR
review subsequently spotted
a handball by Barnes in the
build-up to that chance, and
all with the two clubs.
He bettered Gerd Müller’s
Bundesliga season scoring re-
cord to 41 goals a year ago and
was season top scorer seven
times, including the last five
years. He is the second best
scorer in league history with
312 goals, with only Müller
ahead with 375.
Müller had recently ex-
tended his contract until 2023
by another year and Hainer
said he hoped the same would
apply for captain and goal-
keeper Manuel Neuer as well
as winger Serge Gnabry.
Hainer admitted to “a few
disagreements” in the talks
with Gnabry but added that
“we can hopefully soon over-
come those.”
Muller hopes
Lewandowski stays
Bayern Munich were set to cel-
ebrate a 10th Bundesliga title
in a row with their fans from
the town hall balcony later on
Sunday amid big uncertainty
around the immediate future
of Robert Lewandowski.
Fellow forward Thomas
Müller said he hopes that the
33-year-old Lewandowski will
stay another year but also has
no illusions.
“Let’s see what happens.
He has a contract until 2023.
That means that Bayern have
the saying. Of course we would
want him to stay. But of course
we all know the business...,”
Müller told Sky TV.
He added that Lewan-
dowski would continue to de-
liver even if he had to stay an-
other season.
“Lewy is top professional.
When you are on the pitch as
a player, and especially as a
striker, you want to perform,”
Müller said.
Lewandowski has been in
Munich since 2014 after four
campaigns at German rivals
Borussia Dortmund. In those
years he has won every club
title on offer including the
2020 treble with Bayern, and
10 Bundesliga titles in all with
the two clubs.
He bettered Gerd Müller’s
Bundesliga season scoring re-
cord to 41 goals a year ago and
was season top scorer seven
times, including the last five
years. He is the second best
scorer in league history with
312 goals, with only Müller
ahead with 375.
Tottenham Hotspur’s English striker Harry Kane (L) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the
English Premier League match against Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday. (AFP)
Bastianini wins in France
after Bagnaia crashes out
AGENCIES
ENEA Bastianini secured a
big win at the French MotoGP
Grand Prix on Sunday after a
battle with Francesco Bagnaia,
which ended with the latter
crashing out.
Bagnaia started on pole
at Le Mans alongside fellow
Ducati rider Jack Miller, and
led for most of the race.
However, after working his
way up from fifth, Bastianini
overtook Miller and started
making ground up on Bagnaia
at the front.
The drama arrived on
lap 21 as Bastianini overtook
Bagnaia, before the latter im-
mediately took his position
back, only to hit the kicker and
run wide, allowing Bastianini
to ease back into the lead.
Matters got much worse
for Bagnaia just a few turns
later as he crashed out, seem-
ingly trying too hard to make
the ground up.
Bagnaia had  finished on
the podium in six of his previ-
ous 12 MotoGP races of which
he won five, though had not
reached it in any of his three
grands prix at Le Mans in the
top category, and that run con-
tinued this time around.
Miller came home in sec-
ond to at least give Ducati
something to cheer, while
Aleix Espargaro held off a
challenge from championship
leader Fabio Quartararo to
take third.
Bastianini said: “I’m really
happy about this race, because
it was also unexpected be-
cause the weekend started re-
ally complicated for me, with
three crashes. Every time I’m
Liverpool’s English striker Harvey Elliott wears a mask depicting
teammate Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah as
they hold the trophy and celebrate winning the English FA Cup
final at Wembley stadium in London on Saturday. (AFP)
Social Media Pakistan 0345-6738217
Sports
First placed Gresini Racing Italian rider Enea Bastianini celebrates after the French Moto GP Grand Prix at
the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, northwestern France, Sunday. (AFP)
consistent, but here it was re- raro (Monster Energy Yamaha
ally difficult. But in the race, MotoGP).
I saw that my pace was really The atmosphere in the
nice, like the group that was in circuit hit fever pitch as rid-
front of me. At the end, when ers revved up for the start of
I saw Pecco very close, I tried Round 7, and it was Miller
to overtake him in the second who got the perfect launch
corner. In the end, he went from the line to take the hole-
long and I won this race. It’s shot ahead of Bastianini, who
all for my team because they pushed his way through from
work a lot at this Grand Prix to the second row. Bagnaia was
give me the best bike and it’s in third with Team Suzuki Ec-
incredible, the job they did.” star’s Alex Rins and Joan Mir
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo split by Takaaki Nakagami
Team) maintained it as a Bor- (LCR Honda Idemitsu) in P5.
go Panigale 1-2, with Aprilia’s A poor start from Aleix Espar-
Aleix Espargaro making it garo saw him drop to seventh,
three premier class rostrums while Quartararo also went
on the spin for the Noale facto- backwards, the Frenchman in-
ry for the first time ever - just itially swallowed up by a num-
denying home hero and reign- ber of riders before starting to
ing Champion Fabio Quarta- make progress forward.
Salah certain he will
be fit for CL final
STATS PERFORM/DPA
LIVERPOOL star Mohamed Salah
is confident he will be fit to face Real
Madrid in the Champions League fi-
nal despite suffering an injury in the
FA Cup final win over Chelsea.
Salah was forced off just over
30 minutes into Saturday’s show-
down at Wembley.
Even without their talisman,
Liverpool went on to claim their sec-
ond trophy of the season - the Reds
triumphing 6-5 on penalties after a
goalless draw over 120 minutes.
Liverpool have two Premier
League games remaining, and sit
three points behind leaders Man-
chester City, before they then face
Madrid in Paris on May 28 and
there was concern over Salah’s par-
ticipation after he was withdrawn.
But asked by reporters if he
would be fit to feature against Los
Blancos, a smiling Salah replied:
“Of course.” Salah was not the
only Liverpool player to suffer in
north London.
Andrew Robertson had to go
off with apparent cramp, albeit
his replacement Konstantinos
Tsimikas scored the winning
Monday, May 16, 2022
A wild first lap came to
a close with Marc Marquez
(Repsol Honda Team) aggres-
sively lunging up the inside of
both Quartararo and Nakaga-
mi to move into P7, and it was
all go everywhere. Not least for
home hero Johann Zarco (Pra-
mac Racing), who was having
an equally difficult start to
the GP just behind, locked in
a battle mid-pack with Brad
Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory
Racing) and the two making
contact at Turn 6. The RC16
lost a front wing as a result.
The manic start continued
back at the front, with Baga-
nia and Rins both picking off
Bastianini to drop him out
of the podium places. Rins’
ambitions would come crash-
spot-kick, while Virgil van Dijk
was replaced by Joel Matip at the
end of normal time.
Van Dijk had an issue with his
knee, but told ITV Sport that he is
hopeful it was a minor injury.
“Hopefully well, we’re going to
check it out,” he said. “I felt in the
first half when I sprinted, I felt a
twinge behind my knee, I played on.
In the end, I can’t risk it for the team
and I need to trust Joel. Hopefully it
will be fine.”
In his post-match news con-
ference, manager Jürgen Klopp
said: “Obviously I spoke to both
already after the game, both are
really okay. All that we know is
it’s not a big thing, we really came
through.” However, he is unsure if
the pair will be fit to face South-
ampton on Tuesday.
“But the next game is on Tues-
day and that’s obviously pretty
quick,” he continued.  being lucky and unlucky, Rüdiger
“I think they both will be fine,
but not. maybe. we have training
tomorrow morning, then if they
tell me ‘I’m completely fine’ I will
be surprised but I will take it and
then we have to go from there. So
we will see.”
13
Spurs’ talismanic striker was
clinical from 12 yards.
Spurs’ start to the second
half was sloppy, however, and
Burnley almost capitalised.
Josh Brownhill headed ag-
onisingly wide, before Barnes
smashed against the post from
25 yards just past the hour.
Son twice looked destined
to finish Burnley off in the fi-
nal 25 minutes, but Pope pro-
duced a fine save down low
and then made a reaction stop
to deny him late on - not that it
mattered for Spurs.
Premier League Sunday Results
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 0
Aston Villa 1 Crystal Palace 1
Watford 1 Leicester City 5
Leeds United 1 Brighton &
Hove Albion 1
West Ham United 2 Manches-
ter City 2
Wolverhampton 1 Norwich City
1 Everton 2 Brentford 3
Winner Gresini Racing Italian rider
Enea Bastianini celebrates at the
end of the French Moto GP Grand
Prix, at the Bugatti circuit in Le
Mans, France, on Sunday. (AFP)
ing to a halt at the beginning
of the third lap though, with
the Suzuki off track at Turn 2,
through the gravel and back
on at Turn 4. Unfortunately,
he couldn’t keep his machine
upright as it returned to the
tarmac, temporarily rejoining
but retiring soon after.
As a result, it was a Ducati
one-two-three with the factory
riders building up a gap out
front, Miller ahead. Bagnaia
was through on Lap 4 though,
and the race began to settle
slightly as riders found their
groove. Just back of that fight,
Mir led Aleix Espargaro, Quar-
tararo and Marc Marquez.
Top three
1 Enea Bastianini (Gresini
Racing MotoGP) - Ducati -
41’34.613
2 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo
Team) - Ducati - +2.718
3 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Rac-
ing) - Aprilia - +4.182.
Quick read
Rudiger frustrated
after missing out on
final Chelsea trophy
LONDON: Antonio Rüdiger is
gutted to be leaving Chelsea
without one last winner’s medal
after Liverpool made Thomas
Tuchel’s side pay on penalties
in another cup final. Having lost
February’s Carabao Cup show-
piece to Jürgen Klopp’s Reds on
spot-kicks following an engag-
ing, scoreless battle, history
repeated itself as the sides met
back at Wembley Saturday vying
for FA Cup glory. It was Chel-
sea’s third FA Cup final loss in
as many years and compounded
February’s Carabao Cup frustra-
tions for Rüdiger who is leaving
the Blues after the season.
“We had chances, they had
chances. But at the end of the
day we know that penalties are
always a lottery. We lost.” Asked
what the difference is between
said: “It’s always difficult to say
whether we are lucky or unlucky.
Personally for myself it’s the
third time (I have lost a final) so
you can’t always say unlucky,
unlucky, unlucky.” (DPA)
14 Monday, May 16, 2022 Sports

Indian badminton team claims maiden

Thomas Cup trophy, creates history
ANI
BANGKOK

THE Indian badminton team

created history on Sunday as
they lifted the Thomas Cup
trophy for the very first time.
In what was India’s first-
ever appearance in the tour-
nament finale, they defeated
the record 14-time champions
Indonesia in the Thomas Cup
2022 final at the Impact Are-
na in Bangkok, Thailand by
3-0 to lift the coveted trophy.
No Indian team had previ-
ously reached the final of the
Thomas and Uber Cup in its
70-plus year history. Indian
men reached the Thomas Cup
semi-finals in 1952, 1955 and
1979 while the women’s team
made it to the Uber Cup top-
four in 2014 and 2016.
India finished second in
Group C behind Chinese Tai- India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (R) and Chirag Shetty (L) compete against Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan
pei to qualify for the knockout Members of the Indian men’s badminton team celebrate after defeating Indonesia in the men’s finals of and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo during the men’s finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton tournament
stage, where they came up on the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton tournament in Bangkok on Sunday. (AFP) in Bangkok on Sunday. (AFP)
top against strong Malay-
sian and Danish teams in the Ginting looked fast, accu- second game to take the match tie, the Indonesian scratch and Chirag Shetty then sur- In the third match of the The Indian team, featuring
quarter-finals and semi-finals, rate and extremely dangerous to the decider, by winning it pairing of Mohammad Ahsan vived four match points to tie, India’s Kidambi Srikanth Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth,
respectively. in the opening stage, enjoying 21-17. and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo come back and snatch the win took the opening game against HS Prannoy, doubles pair
Starting the tie, Lakshya a twelve-point run, to claim Sen completed the come- got off to the right start after in the second game, 23-21. In- Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag
Sen clinched the first point for the opening game 21-8 in just back by winning the match winning their opening match dians won the deciding game 21-15 and clinched the match Shetty and others, have given a
India after defeating Anthony 17 minutes. But Lakshya Sen 8-21, 21-17, 21-16. 21-18. to clinch the match 18-21, 23- and final by winning the sec- good account of themselves at
Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16. responded brilliantly in the In the second match of the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 21, 21-19. ond game 23-21. this year’s tournament.

Swiatek emulates Serena with 5th successive title

STATS PERFORM/DPA Wells and Miami.
BERLIN But she was quick to salute
Jabeur’s efforts after another
IGA Swiatek plans to “cel- commendable showing.
ebrate with a lot of Tiramisu” Swiatek said: “I want to
after becoming the first player congratulate Ons because she
since Serena Williams in 2013 had such a good run on the
to win five successive WTA clay court.
Tour events with victory at the “You have shown fight,
Internazionali d’Italia. spirit, so much variety that
The world number one it’s really nice to have you on
faced Ons Jabeur - who had tour. Your tennis is different
been on an 11-match winning and your tennis is really in-
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds the winner’s trophy after winning the fi- run - in Sunday’s final in Rome teresting for women’s tennis I
nal match of the ATP Rome Open tennis tournament against Greece’s and simply had too much for think.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas at Foro Italico in Rome on Sunday. (AFP) the Tunisian. As for her own perfor-
Swiatek won 6-2, 6-2, with mances, Swiatek added: “It

Djokovic seals sixth the 20-year-old Pole getting

an early break to establish a
3-0 lead that put her in control
wasn’t easy for the whole
week to play every day, but
the crowd gave me so much

Italian Open title of the first set.

AGENCIES
ROME
WORLD number one Novak
Djokovic won his sixth Italian
Open title on Sunday after a
straight-sets victory over Stefa-
nos Tsitsipas, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) in
Rome.
The Serbian saw off under-
little of the drama of that five-set
thriller won by the Serb in Paris.
Djokovic made surprisingly
short work of Greece’s Tsitsi-
pas, who had also reached the
semi-finals of last week’s tour-
nament in Madrid and still
leads the men’s tour for wins
this season.
Ranked fifth in the world,
As it happened, last
week’s Madrid Open cham-
pion Jabeur never managed
to wrest control back from
her opponent - her only break
of the match came while 4-1
down in the second, with
Swiatek digging deep to save
four break points in her next
service game.
energy.
“It was so nice to play here,
be in Rome, and I agree with
Ons in terms of good pasta!
And today I’ll celebrate with
Poland’s Iga Swiatek (L) holds the winner’s trophy, and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur the finalist’s trophy, after a lot of Tiramisu - no regrets!”
Swiatek won the final of the Women’s WTA Rome Open at Foro Italico in Rome on Sunday. 9 Swiatek now heads to Ro-
land Garros - the scene of her
Swiatek then saw things cent streak. WTA 1000 event she has en- first and only previous Grand
out to defend her Rome title Additionally, Swiatek has tered this season, having pre- Slam success in 2020 - as the
and add to her impressive re- emerged victorious from every viously won in Doha, Indian firm favourite.

Jordan Motorsport outlines revised route for Jordan Rally

whelming Monte Carlo Masters Tsitsipas was taken apart in the
champion Tsitsipas to claim the first set and looked oddly reluc-
last major tournament before tant to take on Djokovic, but put
Roland Garros gets underway up more of a fight in the second
later this month. right until he threw away the set TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK have their fair share of drama
The 34-year-old won his after serving for the match, suc- AMMAN (JORDAN) over the years.
first tournament of the sea- cumbing in the tie-break with- The loop is completed by a
son and confirmed his return out much resistance. JORDAN Motorsport has run through an 11.34km stage
to form after an opening few An emotional Djokovic tweaked the itinerary for the (first car – 10.43hrs) close to
months of the season domi- then spoke to the crowd in Ital- forthcoming Jordan Rally, the historic Baptism Site. The
nated by COVID-19 vaccination ian, telling them that they were round four of the 2022 FIA three specials are then repeat-
controversy. the reason he had such a good Middle East Rally Champi- ed from 12.47hrs, 14.05hrs
“I’ve been building my form record there and revealing his onship (MERC), which takes and 15.17hrs, respectively.
for the last couple of weeks and son Stefan was playing in his place on May 19-21. The first of two passes
like the previous years I knew first ever tennis tournament. A round of the FIA World through the Bahath stage
that my best shape on the clay “It’s a very special day obvi- Rally Championship on (12.69km) gets the action
is usually coming around Rome ously. I never forced him to play three occasions and regard- underway on Saturday (May
time,” Djokovic said. tennis, it was fully his decision ed throughout the world as 21st) to the right of the main
“So it couldn’t be a better that he wanted to play tourna- one of the most demanding Amman-Dead Sea highway
time coming into Roland Gar- ments,” added Djokovic. gravel events of its kind, the from 08.52hrs. Competi-
ros with a title.” “He’s playing a club tourna- 2022 version features 12 chal- tors then tackle an 11.08km
Sunday’s clash was a re- ment, just a small one but it’s lenging loose surface special stage at Suwayma (first car –
match of the pair’s final at last very meaningful for him and stages in a compact two-day 09.26hrs) and the 17.00km of
year’s French Open final but had for me.” format. Ma’in 1 (first car – 10.24hrs)
Friday’s (May 20th) three to the north and east of the Nasser Khalifa Al Atya in action at Jordan Rally in 2021.
timed tests will be used in Dead Sea hotel area, before
the morning and the after- returning to the service park
Quick read noon and are centred around before midday.
Svitolina and Monfils expecting baby girl the Jordan Valley area to the The three specials will then
north of the Dead Sea. Ac- be repeated from 12.26hrs,
Tennis stars Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils announced on Sunday tion gets underway with a 13.00hrs and 13.58hrs in
they are expecting a baby girl. Svitolina, currently ranked 27 but a run through the 9.71km of the afternoon, while the po-
fixture in the top 10 for most of the last decade, has not played the Yakrut stage (first car dium finish is scheduled for
a match since suffering defeat by Heather Watson at the Miami - 08.27hrs) that carves its 16.30hrs adjacent to the Dead
Open in March. The 27-year-old Ukrainian has been one of the most way across winding off-road Sea. Competitors will tackle
outspoken voices regarding tennis’ reaction to the invasion of her trails to the left of the main 205.22 competitive kilome-
home country by Russia and said following Miami that she would desert link road between tres in a route of 588.62km.
be taking a break after a difficult couple of months emotionally Amman and the Dead Sea Back in 2011, these gruel-
and physically. Svitolina and her French husband Monfils posted hotel area. ling and energy-sapping spe-
the same message on Twitter on Sunday, writing: “With a heart full Rally officials have then cial stages hosted the closest
of love and happiness, we are delighted to announce that we are laid on a mammoth stage of finish in the history of the FIA
expecting a baby girl in October.” Tennis’ most high-profile couple 40.79km (first car - 09.49hrs) World Rally Championship.
were married last July having first gone public with their relationship that runs along the Jordan Frenchman Sébastien Shadi Shaban represents Jordan again this year at his home event.
in 2019. Svitolina, who has reached two Grand Slam semi-finals River valley close to the fron- Ogier, driving a Citroën DS3
and six quarter-finals, becomes the latest leading player to step tier with the West Bank. This WRC, overtook flying Finn Site Power Stage of 10.50km morning over slightly differ- event comes from Zain Jor-
away from the sport mid-career to start a family, following in the stage can be affected by in- Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Fies- - to claim the win by just 0.2 ent versions of the Yakrut, Ba- dan, Mountain Dew, the
footsteps of Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams. (DPA) clement weather conditions ta RS) - who led by 0.046 sec- seconds. The duo had traded hath and Mahes specials. Guarantee Travel Group, Hala
and has seen competitors onds before the final Baptism blows throughout the final Support for this year’s and Bliss FM.

Social Media Pakistan 0345-6738217


Australian cricket star Andrew
Symonds dies in car crash
DPA
SYDNEY
FORMER Australian cricketer
Andrew Symonds has died in
a car accident in Queensland,
the AAP news agency reported
Sunday, citing police.
The 46-year-old Test star
and two-time World Cup win-
ner was involved in a single-
vehicle accident late Saturday.
In a statement, Queens-
land Police said they are inves-
tigating the crash.
“Early information in-
dicates, shortly after 11 pm
the car was being driven on
Hervey Range Road, near Al-
ice River Bridge when it left
the roadway and rolled,” the
statement read.
“Emergency services at-
tempted to revive the 46-year-
Rajasthan Royals beat
LSG, jump to second
AGENCIES
MUMBAI
RAJASTHAN Royals (RR)
registered their 8th victory
in the Indian Premier League
(IPL) 2022 defeating Lucknow
Super Giants (LSG) at the Bra-
bourne Stadium by 24 runs on
Sunday.
RR bounced back with a
24-run victory courtesy Ya-
shasvi Jaiswal’s crucial 41 at
the top and Trent Boult’s eco-
nomical figures of 2/18.
The win also saw RR dis-
place LSG as second on the
points table with eight wins
and 16 points and a better run
rate. LSG also with 16 points
were third.
Chasing 179 for victory,
LSG were 15/0 after 2 overs
before Trent Boult dismissed
Quinton de Kock and Ayush
Badoni on consecutive deliv-
eries. While Neesham took a
sharp catch inside the circle to
dismiss de Kock, Badoni was
trapped LBW by the left-arm
seamer.
KL Rahul played an exqui-
site lofted shot for a maximum
before the LSG skipper was
caught by Jaiswal inside the
circle off Prasidh Krishna’s
bowling. LSG were placed at
34-3 at the end of the power-
play and found themselves in
a tricky position.
Deepak Hooda and Krunal
Pandya stitched a crucial part-
nership for the 4th wicket after
both batters added a six each.
LSG were 66-3 at the end of
10 overs and the fifty partner-
ship was up between the duo.
Ravi Ashwin put an end to the
partnership after Jos Buttler
and Riyan Parag produced an
excellent relay catch to dismiss
Krunal Pandya.
Hooda reached his half-
century in the 15th over and
LSG required 72 off 30 deliver-
Gazoo Racing clinches stunning victory at Croatia Rally
Toyota leads WRC Manufacturers’
Championship by 42 points
T
HE Gazoo Racing (GR)
World Rally Team
(WRT) recently secured
yet another impressive victory
this season for its GR YARIS
Rally1 vehicle in round three
of the 2022 FIA World Rally
Championship (WRC).
Adding to his victory at
Rally Sweden in February,
Kalle Rovanperä made a thrill-
ing finish to the Croatia Rally,
extending his FIA World Rally
Drivers’ Championship lead
to 29 points. As round three
of the season ended, the team
has under its belt 14 of the 19
stages across the event, which
enable Toyota to lead the
manufacturers’ championship
by 42 points.
Despite the challenging
In this file photo taken on March 30, 2022 former Australian cricketer
Andrew Symonds arrives to attend the state memorial service for the
former Australian cricketer Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground (MCG) in Melbourne. (AFP)
old driver and sole occupant,
however, he died of his in-
Rajasthan Royals players celebrate one of Trent Boult’s (3rd right) scalp against Lucknow Super Giants in
their Indian Premier League clash at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. (BCCI/IPL)
ies. Chahal scalped the all-im-
portant wicket of Hooda after
the all-rounder was stumped
by the opposition skipper.
Obed McCoy then scalped
two wickets in an over to dismiss
Jason Holder and Dushmantha
Chameera. A maximum from
Marcus Stoinis brought the
equation down to 49 off 12.
As many as 15 runs came
from the penultimate over and
LSG required 34 off 6 deliver-
ies. Stoinis hammered the first
ball for six but was caught in the
outfield on the next ball as LSG
fell 25 runs short of the target.
Earlier, RR, who opted to
bat first, made two changes
– Jimmy Neesham and Obed
McCoy were named in the
eleven.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was off
the mark with consecutive
fours but Avesh Khan pro-
weather and road conditions
due to heavy rains, Rovanperä
was in superb form throughout
the rally together with co-driver
Jonne Halttunen in the No.69
Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 and
won six of the eight stages on
the first day of the rally to open
up an advantage of more than a
minute over his rivals.
On the second day, Rovan-
perä secured a stage win to
take a lead of almost 20 sec-
onds into the deciding leg and
continued that performance
into the final day.
Akio Toyoda, President
and CEO of Toyota Motor Cor-
poration, commented: “Kalle,
Jonne, congratulations on
your victory! Their win at the
Power Stage was unbeliev-
juries.” Cricket Australia
chair Lachlan Henderson
vided the first wicket for LSG
after the seamer rattled the
stumps of Jos Buttler. Jaiswal
was dealing in boundaries and
was joined by skipper Sanju
Samson.
The final over of the pow-
erplay produced 21 runs after
Jaiswal hammered three fours
and a six.
The fifty partnership was
up for the second wicket after
Samson added three fours. Ja-
son Holder put an end to the
64-run stand after the RR skip-
per was caught at deep point.
Devdutt Padikkal immedi-
ately got going with a four and
a six each and RR were 90/2
at the halfway stage. Ayush
Badoni scalped a wicket in the
12th over after taking a catch
off his own bowling to dismiss
Jaiswal.
Bishnoi joined the wick-
Kalle Rovanperä made a thrilling finish to the Croatia Rally, extending his FIA World Rally Drivers’
Championship lead to 29 points.
Social Media Pakistan 0345-6738217
Sports
said:  “Australian cricket has
lost another of its very best.
Andrew was a generational
talent who was instrumental
in Australia’s success at World
Cups and as part of Queens-
land’s rich cricket history.”
“On behalf of Australian
cricket our deepest sympa-
thies are with Andrew’s fam-
ily, team-mates, and friends,”
Henderson added.
Symonds played 26 Tests
for Australia, scoring 1462
runs at 40.61 and picking up
24 wickets.
In recent years Symonds had
worked as a TV commentator.
Symonds’ death comes
barely two months after the
deaths of fellow former cricket-
ers Shane Warne at age 52 and
wicketkeeping great Rod Marsh
at 74, both from heart attacks.
ets tally after Padikkal’s slog
sweep failed to clear the ropes
in the 14th over.
Jimmy Neesham joined
Riyan Parag as the duo added
two fours and a six in the next
three overs. RR were 149/4
before they lost two wickets in
the 18th over.
While Riyan Parag holed
out to the deep, Neesham was
run-out for 14.
Trent Boult crunched
consecutive fours in the pe-
nultimate over as RR added
24 runs in the final two overs
which helped them register a
first innings total of 178/6.
Scores: Rajasthan Royals
178/6 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 41,
Devdutt Padikkal 39; Ravi Bish-
noi 2-31) beat Lucknow Super
Giants 154/8 (Deepak Hooda
59, Marcus Stoinis 27; Trent
Boult 2-18) by 24 runs.
‘Roy’, the true all-round fielder
will remain larger-than-life
figure in world cricket
ANI
NEW DELHI
THE sports fraternity across
the world was left shocked and
saddened at the sudden de-
mise of Andrew Symonds who
died at an early age of 46. The
great Australian cricketer left
a deep impact on international
cricket at the highest levels
with his ingenuity and deter-
mination.
The two-time World Cup
winner Symonds was the sole
passenger in the car crash just
outside of Townsville in his
home state of Queensland and
police confirmed that he died
on the spot. Whether he was
thumping runs, taking wickets
or fielding like a demon, An-
drew Symonds was a larger-
than-life figure in Australian
cricket.
The loss of Symonds comes
just two months after the tragic
passing of champion leg-spin-
ner Shane Warne, while former
Australian wicketkeeper Rod
Marsh also died of a heart at-
tack earlier this year.
Symonds averaged 40.61
with the bat from 26 Tests for
his country, but was perhaps
more well known for his ex-
ploits in white-ball cricket and
sublime fielding whether in
the outfield or inside the circle.
He featured in 198 ODIs
- scoring six centuries and 30
half-centuries - while also con-
tributing 133 wickets with his
more than handy off-spin and
medium pace.
There were several mo-
ments of the magic created by
the man they called ‘Roy’. But
perhaps the greatest of them
all was at the 2003 World Cup
where Symonds burst onto the
Gujarat Titans make lightwork of CSK
AGENCIES
MUMBAI
THE Gujarat Titans (GT) con-
tinued their winning run in
the Indian Premier League
(IPL) 2022 beating the Chen-
nai Super Kings (CSK) at the
Wankhede Stadium by 7 wick-
ets on Sunday.
An unbeaten 67* at the top
by Wriddhiman Saha guided
GT to a resounding 7-wicket
victory as they successfully
chased down the target with
five balls to spare.
Chasing 134 for victory, GT
were off to a positive start after
Wriddhiman Saha creamed
three fours in the first over.
The wicketkeeper-batter
was given a reprieve in the
third over off Mukesh Choud-
hary. Saha smacked his first six
of the innings in the 5th over.
The fifty partnership was
up for the opening wicket after
Gill struck consecutive fours
and GT were 53-0 after 6 overs.
Pathirana broke the part-
nership after Gill was trapped
lbw and GT were 81/1 at the
halfway stage.
Moeen Ali provided the
second breakthrough after
Monday, May 16, 2022
Australia’s Andrew Symonds
looking on during the game
against New Zealand at an ICC
World Twenty20 warm-up match
at the Oval in London. (AFP)
stage with his best innings as
he torched Pakistan with an
unbeaten 143 in Johannes-
burg early in the tournament
and helped Australia remain
unbeaten and then defeated
India in a one-sided final.
The burly right-hander
was also part of the victorious
World Cup side at the 2007
World Cup in West Indies as
Australia claimed their fourth
50-over World Cup title.
Symonds also played 14
T20I for Australia, managing
337 runs and eight wickets.
Whether it be Tests and
ODIs for Australia or early
Gujarat Titans players celebrate with Mohammed Shami after he
claimed a Chennai Super Kings wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai on Sunday. (BCCI/IPL)
Wade was caught at long-on.
Pathirana claimed his second
wicket to dismiss GT skipper
Hardik Pandya in the 14th
over. Saha crossed his half-
century and GT required 17 off
the final four overs.
David Miller joined Saha
and GT wrapped the chase
with five balls to spare.
Earlier, CSK, who opted
to bat first, made four chang-
es – N Jagadeesan, Prashant
Solanki, Mitchell Santner and
Matheesha Pathirana were
named in the eleven.
Mohammad Shami pro-
vided an early breakthrough
able as it must have been not
an easy rally with the unstable
weather. The team has been
doing various tests and de-
velopments for two months
since Sweden and I want to
thank all the team members
because Kalle’s great driving is
based on their cumulative ef-
forts. The hard work will pay
off for sure, and it will lead to
the base of Toyota’s car mak-
ing. I believe we can repay the
fans by showing exciting ral-
lies and keep pursuing ever-
better cars. Lastly, to the fans,
thank you very much for your
continuous support.”
Over the years, Toyota has
been participating in many dif-
ferent forms of motorsports,
including Formula One, the
‎ FIA World Rally Champion-
World Endurance Champion-
ship (WEC), and the Nürbur-
gring 24 H
‎ ours endurance race.
Toyota’s participation in
these events was overseen by
15
in his career for Queensland,
there were arguably no better
fielders in world cricket than
Andrew Symonds.
In the outfield, Symonds’
fearless willingness to throw
himself in a Superman-style
dive in pursuit of a ball ap-
proaching the boundary
proved not only a new means
of run-saving in the game but
a trailblazing technique that
has since been adopted all
over the world.
Symonds was always in
the discussion of the best all-
round fielder world cricket has
ever seen, along with modern
marvels Ricky Ponting, Her-
schelle Gibbs, Jonty Rhodes
and Paul Collingwood.
Rhodes, the South African
whippet many consider to be
the greatest fielder of all time,
is in no doubt that Symonds
was a better fielder than he
ever was.
Symonds, according to
the Proteas star, was a true
all-round fieldsman. “Where
he’s better than me is that he’s
a true all-round fieldsman,”
Rhodes said in 2006 as per
cricket.com.au.
Adding further Rhodes
said “For a big guy, he moves
well close to the wicket, get-
ting down to the ground, div-
ing, cutting off balls if he’s in
the ring. He’s quick and can
cut off boundaries. But the ex-
tra dimension is his strength.
From the middle of the in-
nings, he can be out on the
fence saving twos because he
has such a strong arm.”
From a player like Rho-
des, there can be no higher
praise, and all these years on,
it remains a fitting tribute for a
truly unique cricketer.
for GT after Devon Conway
was caught behind.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and
Moeen Ali upped the scoring
rate and added three sixes
inside the powerplay as CSK
were 47/1 after 6 overs. The
fifty partnership was up for
the second wicket before Sai
Kishore dismissed Moeen Ali,
who holed out at deep mid-
wicket in the 9th over.
Scores: Gujarat Titans 137/3
(Wriddhiman Saha 67*, Mathew
Wade 20; Matheesha Pathi-
rana 2-24) beat CSK 133/5 (R
Gaikwad 53, N Jagadeesan 39*;
Mohd Shami 2-19) by 7 wickets.
separate ‎ entities within the
company until April 2015,
when Toyota established GR,
‎to consolidate all of its motor-
sport’s activities under one in-
house brand.
Representing ‎ Toyota’s be-
lief that ‘the roads build the
people, and the people build the
cars,’ GR highlights the role of
motorsports as a fundamental
pillar of Toyota’s commitment
to ‎ making ‘ever-better’ cars.
Harnessing years of experience
gained under the extreme c‎ on-
ditions of various motorsports
events, GR aims to forge new
‎technologies and solutions that
bring the freedom, adventure,
and joy of driving to everyone.
Round four of the 2022
ship is the Vodafone Rally de
Portugal, which will take place
from 19 – 22 May, and fea-
tures classic stages on sandy
and rocky roads.