India eager to cement No 1 status with win in England. Al Duhail favourites for Sheikh Jassim Cup as new season begins

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1 CRICKET Page 2 India eager to cement No 1 status with win in England MLB Page 5 Paxton pitches Mariners past visiting Astros Dhul-Qa da 19, 1439 AH GULF TIMES TENNIS Emotional Murray makes triumphant hardcourt return Page 4 FOOTBALL / SHEIKH JASSIM CUP AL SADD STADIUM, 7PM Al Duhail favourites for Sheikh Jassim Cup as new season begins Al Duhail have been the dominant team over the past few years, while Al Rayyan have hung in around in the top four after their stunning league triumph in By Anil John Doha A new season brings in new hope but it is often accompanied by fears and apprehension. How a team grapples with these factors plays an important role in their successes or failures, for that matter. As the first salvos are fired today in the domestic football season with the traditional curtain-raiser, the Sheikh Jassim Cup, Al Duhail and Al Rayyan will be keen to shake off their summer rust and lay a marker for what is going to be a lengthy 10 months ahead. The season is starting a few weeks early this year in order to accommodate several international events, among them the Asian Games beginning in Indonesia mid-august and the Asian Cup in the UAE earlier next year. Al Duhail have been the dominant team over the past few years, while Al Rayyan have fallen off the radar a wee bit, just about managing to hang in there among the top four last in the last two seasons after their stunning league triumph in The last time Al Rayyan won a cup tournament was in 2013 when they claimed both the Sheikh Jassim Cup and the Amir Cup, and they would be more than eager to make up for their lapses and close calls with glory in the following years. Their appearance in the Sheikh Jassim Cup today also has a quirk to it. Also dubbed the Super Cup, it is played between the League and Amir Cup winners of the previous season. But because Al Duhail player Karim Boudiaf (right) takes part in a training session with teammates ahead of their Sheikh Jassim Cup clash against Al Rayyan. Duhail won both tournaments, they will play Al Rayyan for the title as the latter were the Amir Cup runners-up! Both teams were in Europe preparing for the season and have only returned a few days back. With Al Duhail s long-serving and highly successful coach Djamel Belmadi taking up the reins of the Algerian national side and Al Rayyan s Michael Laudrup also leaving, the new bosses have some really big boots to fill. Nabil Maaloul, who coached Tunisia at the recent World Cup, and has now taken up the hot seat at Al Duhail, was candid enough to acknowledge that at his press conference yesterday. I know Al Duhail has achieved great success under Belmadi. He has been a strong coach who followed a great work ethic. I ll also go along with his methodology and try to maintain the level of the team and maybe also enhance it, the Tunisian said. Tomorrow s match is going to be a tough one. We prepared for a few weeks in Europe but coming out of the off-season is also not that easy. We have a busy schedule ahead, with the QNB Stars League and our Asian Champions League quarter-finals coming up. Al Duhail will be also without their talisman Youssef Msakni who suffered a serious knee ligament injury in his knee towards the end of last season and had to miss the World Cup for Tunisia. Surely he will be missed. Youssef is still recuperating after surgery and will be only back in November or December. Until then we have to cope without him, said Maaloul. But they have plenty of other stars on their roster who have the ability to win matches on their own like Youssef El Arabi, the top scorer last season with 26 goals, Nam Tae-hee and the young Bassam al-rawi. Al Rayyan s new coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena, however, has no such luxuries as his star striker Abderrazzak Hamdalla is doubtful for the match with an ankle Al Duhail head coach Nabil Maaloul (left) and Al Rayyan coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena (right) speak to the media. PICTURES: Othman Khalid injury he suffered at the end of the last season. Hamdalla was their top performer last season and although they have veterans Rodrigo Tabata and Sebastian Soria, they have been often inconsistent in the past. Also, age is against both players, with Tabata now 37 and Soria 34. They will have to be managed sensibly if they are to last the whole season. Argentinian Arruabarrena, who has coached Boca Juniors and also UAE s Al Wasl, is on his first stint with a Qatari club and is eager to make a good first impression. I may be new here but I have followed Qatari football while I was with Al Wasl in the UAE, Arruabarrena said yesterday. Al Rayyan are one of the top teams in the country with a very strong fan following. I am aware of the challenges and we will aim to meet them with a positive frame of mind. The Sheikh Jassim Cup is the first tournament of the year and we would like to win it, for sure. CRICKET Spinner Rashid s recall prompts Yorkshire criticism England s Moeen Ali (left) and Adil Rashid take part in nets at Edgbaston in Birmingham yesterday. () Manchester, England England s decision to recall Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid to the Test side to face India today, despite him not playing four-day county cricket, has been criticised by two of his county s most prominent former players. The 30-year-old signed a white-ball only contract with his county Yorkshire in February but said he was not finished with the longest format of the game. He did not feature in the recent four-day game with Lancashire which included several members of the England squad on both sides. But he will be England s sole specialist spinner in the first Test at Edgbaston with no place for Moeen Ali after the team was announced yesterday. Former England and Yorkshire captain Michael Vaughan said that the decision to pick Rashid was ridiculous prompting the Bradford-born spinner to say that his comments were stupid. If I m stupid to suggest that he should have played a four-day game leading into a Test series against the number one team in the world I firmly believe the cricketing world has gone nuts if he thinks he doesn t have to do that, said Vaughan. This all could have been put to bed if England had sat him down and said he has to play in that four-day game. I cannot be wrong that I m asking someone to prepare their body, their mind. If someone is not playing four-day cricket in our schooling ground to prepare Test match cricketers, I don t think you should be able to play in a Test match. SPOILT BRAT Rashid has taken 38 wickets in his 10 Tests but it is not only Vaughan who has been critical of his inclusion. Former Yorkshire and England batsman Geoffrey Boycott said Rashid s response to Vaughan made him look like a spoilt brat and was scathing of the decision to pick the leg-spinner. In two years England have gone around in a circle. By picking Adil Rashid, they are selecting the unselectable: a player who will not play four-day Championship cricket for Yorkshire because his heart isn t in it but he will play for England in Test Matches. Absurd? Yes, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. The only reason the head selector Ed Smith selected him is because there is no one else, and the fact that there are no decent spinners in county cricket is a shameful indictment on all the 18 counties, he added. An unimpressed boycott, who went into self-imposed exile from England duty for three years in the mid-1970s, said: Let me tell Adil that Vaughan will be remembered as one of the greatest England captains and an elegant, superb batsman. In 10 years nobody will remember Adil s Test match performances. Former England skipper and all-rounder Ian Botham has backed the selection choice, however, and expects Rashid to provide a fascinating element to the Test at Edgbaston. He will toss up the ball and give it a nice flight. On the other hand, the Indians will go after him. It will be a great contest and I am looking forward to it. The pitch will assist him and he will have a point to prove, Botham said. All-rounder Sam Curran will also play at Edgbaston as will Ben Stokes whose trial for affray begins on Monday, the day after the first Test is scheduled to end.

2 2 Gulf Times CRICKET GOLF India eager to cement No 1 status with series win in England Hot weather in England may mean dry and dusty pitches, more akin to surfaces found in India Kohli says he has nothing to prove ahead of England Tests Six great England Test matches England will play their 1,000th Test match when they face India at Edgbaston today. Their overall Test record currently reads, played 999, won 357, lost 297, drawn 345. Here s a look at six particularly memorable encounters from those 999 matches. 1902: V AUSTRALIA, THE OVAL England won by one wicket England seemed set for another defeat in an Ashes series they had already lost when they collapsed to 48 for five chasing a victory target of 263. But Gilbert Jessop s rapid century got them back in the game before the last-wicket Yorkshire pair of George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes saw them to a thrilling win. 1938: V AUSTRALIA, THE OVAL England won by an innings and 579 runs Still the largest innings victory by any side in the history of Test cricket, England s colossal winning margin was built on Leonard Hutton s 364. The Yorkshireman batted for nearly 800 minutes, or more than 13 hours, as he posted what was the then-highest individual score in Tests. It would be 20 years before West Indies great Garry Sobers topped Hutton s mark with 365 not out and nearly 60 before any side made more than England s 903 for seven declared. England s Joe Root and India s Virat Kohli pose with the trophy on the eve of the first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham yesterday. () India may be the world s topranked Test side but they still face accusations they are lions at home and lambs abroad. But a series win in England, where Virat Kohli s men begin a five-test campaign at Edgbaston today, would go some way to ridding India of that unwanted tag. In the past five years, India have won just one of their six Test series outside of Asia, against a struggling West Indies. Their overall Test record in England is uninspiring six wins from 57 matches and three series victories 1971, 1986 and But if the current prolonged hot weather in England continues, the upcoming series may well be played on dry and dusty pitches, more akin to the surfaces that are found in India, rather than traditional green English seamers. Also, while doubts persist about England s ability to cope should either one of veteran new-ball duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson get injured, India do at least have some pace-bowling depth. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah may be unfit for the first Test but the likes of Mohamed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have shown themselves to be capable operators outside of Asia. Anderson is a master of conventional swing, but India may have the edge if conditions favour reverseswing during what will be England s 1,000th Test match. BOWLING VARIETY They seem to have got a good variety of bowlers and strength in depth in their pace bowling, said England opener Alastair Cook. In the last ten years I ve played them, they haven t had the option of playing five or six different types of seamers, added Cook, England s all-time leading Test run-scorer, whose highest score of 294 was made against India at Edgbaston in I ndian captain Virat Kohli brushed off talk of having to prove his batting ability on English soil ahead of the five-match Test series against the hosts starting at Edgbaston today. Kohli struggled to make an impact when India last toured England in 2014, scoring 134 runs in 10 innings, but has since emerged as one of the most reliable batsmen in the world across all three formats of the game. I m not in a frame of mind to prove myself in any country, I just want to perform for the team, the 29-year-old told a news conference yesterday, ahead of what will be England s 1000th five-day match. Obviously I want to score runs for the team and I want to take Indian cricket forward, and that s my only motive. Kohli said he had matured as a person and was not affected by criticism of his performance in the four years since India s 3-1 series defeat by England. Back in the day when I did not know better these things used to bother me because I used to read a lot. But I don t read anything (anymore), he said. If I waste my energy on these Meanwhile India captain Kohli, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, will be desperate to prove he can score runs in England. He managed a meagre 134 in five matches during his maiden Test series in England in 2014, which India lost 3-1 with one draw. But Mohamed Azharuddin, the India batting great, believes everything is now in place for Kohli to have a successful series. I think he will perform wonderfully well, Azharuddin told in Delhi. He has led India in so many Test matches, so I don t think he will have any pressure now as far as leadership is concerned. England captain Joe Root, who like Kohli is at his best when leading from the front, comes into the series having converted only three out of 23 fifties since his Test-best 254 against Pakistan in 2016 into hundreds a poor return for a player of his ability. Batting could hold the key to the things, I am compromising on my mindset... I need to be in the most clear mental space and that happens when I am focused on what I have to do. England won the one-day international series between the teams 2-1 and lost the Twenty20 competition by the same margin this month. Kohli refused to say whether his team were the underdogs or the favourites. India last won a Test series in England in 2007, while the hosts are looking for their first series win in four. If you re an underdog it s not a given that the pressure will only be on the opposition, Kohli added. If series and there are question marks against both top-orders. QUALITY BATSMEN England, following a 1-1 drawn series with Pakistan, are sticking with Keaton Jennings in the hope of at last finding a reliable opening partner for Cook, while India s Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara have both been struggling for runs. We are not worried at all, because both are really quality batsmen, said India s Ajinkya Rahane of you re the favourites it s not certain that the underdogs will just come out and be fearless the whole time. I think it s a balance that is required and we ve played enough cricket at this level to understand that. England captain Joe Root said his team was ready to rise to the challenge of taking on India. That is where we re at, five games against the world number one (Test) side where we can make a statement if we play well and win, Root said. You can see that hunger in the dressing room. It feels like we re in a good place. Now it s just about delivering. his top-order colleagues. It just takes one good innings to get into your rhythm. India would appear to have the edge in spin bowling but off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has rarely performed as well outside of Asia as he has in the sub-continent. Left-armer Ravindra Jadeja is an experienced campaigner while leftarm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has forced his way in after impressing during the preceding one-day series. 1963: V WEST INDIES, LORD S Drawn One of the great draws, this match went all the way to the very last ball, with all four results still possible. England captain Ted Dexter took the attack to the fast-bowling duo of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith with a dashing first-innings 70 before Basil Butcher replied with an excellent second-innings hundred. England, set 234 to win, suffered a top-order collapse before Brian Close s 70 revived their hopes. But with Hall bowling a marathon spell, they were still six short of their target with two balls left when Colin Cowdrey, who had suffered a broken arm batting in the first innings, walked out to bat with his forearm in plaster at No 11. But Cowdrey didn t have to face, with David Allen blocking Hall s final two deliveries to ensure the draw. 1981: V AUSTRALIA, HEADINGLEY England won by 18 runs Perhaps still the most astounding win ever known in Test history. England, following on, were all set to go 2-0 down in the series when Ian Botham, in his first match since being relieved of the captaincy, produced a breathtaking counter-attacking innings of 149 not out, while Graham Dilley gave him valuable support with a maiden Test fifty. A target of 130 should still have been well within Australia s reach but England, with Mike Brearley back as captain, defied mid-match odds of 500/1 thanks mainly to veteran fast bowler Bob Willis s inspired return of eight for : V AUSTRALIA, EDGBASTON England won by two runs England, 1-0 down in the Ashes after a heavy defeat at Lord s, turned things round in Birmingham. They had a stroke of luck when Australia paceman Glenn McGrath was injured shortly before play started after treading on a stray ball on the outfield during a warm-up. England were on top for most of the match from then on until Australia s last two wickets added 104 runs to take them to within touching distance of victory. But fast bowler Steve Harmison had tailender Michael Kasprowicz caught down the legside by wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. The post-match picture of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff consoling distraught Australia not-out batsman Brett Lee became a defining image of one of the most exciting Ashes series of them all. 2012: V INDIA, MUMBAI England won by 10 wickets England have often struggled in Asia and having lost the first Test by nine wickets, few gave them much chance when the teams met in Mumbai. But contrasting hundreds from Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, who shared a double-century stand, put the tourists in control. Spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann out-bowled their India counterparts in both innings as England completed one of their best away wins. BOTTOMLINE South Africa milestone becomes a millstone for Steyn Mumbai Dale Steyn admits overtaking Shaun Pollock to become South Africa s highest wicket-taker has become something of a millstone around his neck but he is determined to prove he still has lot more to offer than merely claiming a 422nd Test victim. The 35-year-old paceman has been closing on Pollock s tally of 421 wickets for a couple of years but, limited by injury to three Tests since November 2016, has managed only to reach, not pass, the milestone. Having proved his fitness on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, however, Steyn wants to get the record in the bag as quickly possible and move on with the rest of his career. Actually, it s like a bit of a burden now, he told in an interview. I hope it just gets out of the way and we can just carry on. Because there s more wickets in me than 421. I have got 500 plus on the horizon so I don t know why we are so consumed on one number. When I am bowling it s like you re gonna get there, you re gonna get there. I know I am, but I m not interested in getting there, he added. What I am interested in doing is performing well for my country, taking wickets and winning cricket games. If I can do that, those records, that fame and all the other things you want with professional sport will come. Steyn s 421 wickets have come in 88 Tests at an average of and he is regarded as one of the sport s greatest fast bowlers for his ability to take wickets in all conditions. His injury problems began in December 2015, and about a year later he broke his right shoulder and tore three major muscles during the first Test against Australia in Perth. In January this year, he made a comeback after 13 months on the sidelines only to injure his heel when he opened the bowling in the first Test victory over India at Newlands. TOUGH GIG After another six months out, he returned for the two-test series in Sri Lanka needing three wickets to overtake Pollock. He picked two in the opening Test but went wicketless in the second. Although Sri Lanka proved to be a tough gig for South Africa s fast bowlers in the 2-0 Test series loss, Steyn was happy with how his body stood up to the challenge. I actually quite enjoyed Sri Lanka, Steyn said at a GoPro promotional event. The interesting thing is that lot of people have been saying he s injured, he s struggling and everything like that. But I probably just got through the hardest Test of my career and I m absolutely fine. That s a plus in my book. I am pretty pleased with that. I walked away from both of those Test matches not leaving the field once or having any problems. So the cloud of injury is, in my opinion, now gone. And as eager as he is to get the issue of the record out of the way during the home series against Pakistan at the end of the year, he will approach his cricket as he has always done. When I started playing cricket I was always told don t play for money, don t play for fame, don t play for records. If you are good enough it will come, he said. I thought that s perfect, I ll take that. I have played for 14 years. That went quickly. And in that 14 years came all of those things. If I have to sit there and focus on one thing like records, it will consume me.

3 Gulf Times CRICKET 3 DOWN MEMORY LANE Spirit of détente breaks out as England take on India The Maharaja of Porbandar was India s leader on their very first Test tour of England, back in 1932 By Andy Bull The Guardian Recent visits have been mired in controversy but Virat Kohli s team will play five Tests and hopes are high for a return of the sporting values that once characterised the tour. The Maharaja of Porbandar was a better captain than batsman, a fact that, it has to be said, had very little to do with his leadership. The Maharaja was India s leader on their very first Test tour of England, back in When it was over, the joke was that he d bought more Rolls-Royces than he scored runs. Which was unfair, since the scorebooks show that he made a combined total of eight in the matches he played, and even the most generous estimates are that he only had seven Rolls in his fleet, the best of them a bright white Phantom, numberplate Porbandar, which he had had shipped over especially from India. After a run of 0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 2, and 0 in the tour matches, the Maharaja decided to excuse himself from the first, and only, Test, figuring, no doubt, that his form had peaked when he hit a leg glance for two while playing against Glamorgan. He was wise that way, blessed, the next year s Wisden said, with all the attributes necessary for his position except that he wasn t able to bat, bowl, or catch. But the Maharaja was a natural diplomat. Which mattered, because there was so much civil unrest in India. Three members of the squad withdrew from the trials in solidarity with Mahatma Gandhi, who was on hunger strike in Yerawada jail. The Maharaja, though, knew just how to butter up the English, and told them all the things they liked to hear. We hope to do well and we expect to learn a great deal, he said during a reception at the House of Commons, but above all we shall play the game on and off the field. That is our mission and by that means we hope to cement still further the bonds of friendship between our two countries. Wisden praised the team s fine regard for the traditions of the game and their modest and correct demeanour at all times. They lost the Test by 158 runs, but they left fifty per cent better The Indian team that toured England in Below, the Maharaja of Porbander, Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji. than when they arrived. Cricket, wrote Ashis Nandy, is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English. The sociologist was talking about the character of Test cricket. But it is true in other ways, too. The changes in the sport reflect the shift in Anglo-Indian relations over the past century. Everything pivoted in the early 1990s, when India started its programme of economic liberalisation, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India wrested control of the sport away from the English Test and County Cricket Board, which, until July 1993, had power of veto over all decisions taken at the ICC, which was run almost as an adjunct of the MCC. The TCCB, said the then BCCI president IS Bindra, has not got over the Raj hangover. The BCCI decided to cure it for them. The ICC was reformed and rebranded, the MCC relegated to a role as custodian of the laws. The 1996 World Cup, which England had imagined they would host, was switched to the subcontinent, and in 1997 Jagmohan Dalmiya, a man who once memorably rebuked the English with the line I wonder how, with this intelligence, you could have ruled us for over 200 years, became the first Asian president of the ICC. The IPL followed in 2008, spurred on by India s success at the inaugural World T20 a year earlier. For 20 years or so, the English chafed against these changes. They stubbornly refused to release their contracted players to appear in the IPL and fought off an attempt to set up a partnership between the league and the English counties. The reason they gambled on that $20mn deal with Allen Stanford, after all, was because they wanted their own lucrative alternative to the Indian tournament. The friction between the two boards seemed to come out on the field, too, and the series between the teams turned fractious. All of a sudden, the English were throwing jelly beans on to the pitch to taunt Zaheer Khan, Andy Flower was storming the tourists dressing room to complain about the way Ian Bell was run out, and Jimmy Anderson and Ravi Jadeja were shoving each other in the corridors at Trent Bridge. More than 80 years after the Maharaja s team arrived, India are back, and being led by a very modern sovereign, Virat Kohli, a man, Suresh Menon wrote in this year s Wisden, whose marriage in December to Bollywood star Anushka Sharma seemed to confirm his royal status. Kohli is the superstar captain of the sport s superpower team, with a wealth, stature and influence entirely beyond the ken of English cricket. He is the only cricketer on Forbes list of the hundred richest athletes, and the only cricketer on Time s list of the hundred most influential people. Kohli is the world s best Test batsman since Steve Smith is banned and he happens to have even more luxury cars than the Maharaja did. Relations between the teams are easier now. Kohli rightly says that this is because the English are finally playing in the IPL. Time was when English players couldn t wait to get out of India done the elephants, done the poverty, might as well go home as Phil Tufnell put it in 1993 now they are so desperate to get there. There was never that familiarity or sort of warmth between the two teams, purely because we didn t know the guys enough to be able to have conversations with them, Kohli said recently. I think this season has broken that barrier to a great extent. Of course the ECB really had no choice but to give in. These days, if you re not in India, you re not in the game. So behind Kohli s line is the tacit suggestion that if everything has now settled down, it s not down to Indian diplomacy so much as the English finally accepting their lot. INTERVIEW/JOS BUTTLER The fun of cricket is exploration...i am always looking at other ways of doing things so I can improve By Will Macpherson Evening Standard Ed Smith started as England s national selector in April and felt that there was one thing, above all others, that he had to do: get Jos Buttler in the Test team. A shortage of recent first-class cricket did not matter. In doing so, he knew he then had four batsmen Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Buttler aged 27 or 28 who have known each other for 15 years, and are approaching the peak of their powers, on which to build the team. One, Root, is captain; another, Bairstow, keeps wicket; Stokes bowls 15 overs a day. Buttler, for Smith, was the exception because he is exceptional. Unique gifts was how Smith described what his luxury player brought. Buttler was one of Smith s first picks to face India at Edgbaston this week, thanks to his performances when he was recalled for the series against Pakistan in May and June. He played both Tests, getting England back into one and helping them win the other. After that, he was man of the series in an ODI whitewash of Australia and lit up Twenty20s opening the batting. This year, in all three formats, Buttler has leaped forward. Speaking to Buttler, it is easy to understand how this happened. He is a curious character who says for me, the fun of cricket is exploration. He watches his favourite players on TV and studies their strokeplay. He will incorporate anything he can find into his batting and spends hours just testing things. How can you do something different? he asks. What will changing my grip a little bit do? What happens to the ball if I try to hit in this way? Or use my hands like this? Practice is fun. Just going to the nets and exploring. I will watch other guys and study their movements. And then you just need someone who is a good thrower. Paul Collingwood is good. He s got a great arm and will send it for as long as you want without saying much! It s more an inward thing. I might ask how something looks or works but it s more about the feeling I get. Buttler is not sure where batting will go next but knows what he wants to achieve: the reduction of risk through rehearsal. I m always trying to improve and look at other ways of doing things but I don t know what s left out there, he says. It s about polishing up shots to have the same trust in them as you have in a forward defence. The reverse sweep is a big one. If I ve practised it enough, there s no reason why I shouldn t have the same confidence playing it first ball. A number of times, I ve got out playing a forward defence, but no-one says I should never play it again! For all that, the most pleasing element of his Test return was proving he could nail the fundamentals. I was very aware I may not play Tests again, he says. Now, I am aware it s just two games. I think I played very differently to how people expected, which was pleasing. I proved I can play the situation. I do have a defence, I can leave a ball. That s what it s all about, being able to adapt. Buttler believes that India are the toughest task England could face at home because, while Australia and South Africa always arrive strong, India have an unusually fine set of pace bowlers. He also believes his IPL experience is relevant, even in a game nine times as long. Familiarity of facing an action, whether it s a white ball or a red ball, you pick up some cues and are used to facing them. That helps, he says. Sometimes knowing people, sharing a dressing room can help. It takes away fear factor, and some unknowns, having had an insight into them off the field. Using IPL experience in a Test series is a reminder of how much Buttler has on his plate. He says the IPL is something I m determined to do because I love it and it s had such a huge impact on my career. He will also play with Root at Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash this year but accepts his schedule will need lightening. Back to Tests. It was India at home where it all started for him in 2014 and he believes he has come full circle. I was fearless, he says. I d just moved counties [from Somerset to Lancashire], with the hope of becoming a Test cricketer, and then it happened that summer. I didn t care what it looked like, I just wanted to play the game, play the situation and have a great time. I probably didn t understand how valuable experience is and thought you could do it or you can t, whereas now, I have experience to fall back on which helps me stay calm and make good decisions. Now, Buttler uses all that experience to lead cricket s exploration of the possible. For the next six weeks, though, he is just happy to keep proving he can leave the ball alone. Evening Standard

4 4 Gulf Times TENNIS Emotional Murray makes triumphant hardcourt return I fought hard and I had to. The movements and stuff were fine. It lasted pretty well Washington An emotional Andy Murray made a triumphant return to hardcourts on Monday in his first match on the surface for nearly 17 months, outlasting Mackenzie McDonald at the ATP Washington Open. The three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, who missed 11 months with a right hip injury and surgery last January, defeated the 80th-ranked American 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Murray, who has fallen to 832nd in the rankings, needed seven match points to subdue McDonald, squandering five before being broken in the 10th game of the final set before breaking back and finally ending matters after two hours and 37 minutes at 12:45am Tuesday. I fought hard and I had to, Murray said. The movements and stuff were fine. I didn t break down. It lasted pretty well. The 31-year-old Scotsman unleashed a primal scream and a right fist-pumping frenzy of joy after McDonald hit a forehand long on the final point. I enjoyed getting through that one. You could see it in the celebration, Murray said. That was a tough match. It could have gone either way. It was nice to get it. Murray had not played in a hardcourt match since March 2017 at Indian Wells, where he lost in his opening match. I hadn t played in darkness or under the lights in a really long time and I felt my rhythm was off, Murray said. I was struggling on my serve. I cut the unforced errors a little bit in the second set and started serving better. Murray booked a secondround match Wednesday against British fourth seed Kyle Edmund, who had an opening bye. I ll have to play much better if I want to win that match, more Andy Murray returns a forehand shot to Mackenzie McDonald during the Citi Open in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/) aggressively, Murray said. It will help having one more match under my belt. It was Murray s first experience with a serve clock, which will be used at the US Open this year. Without a shot clock, that would have been a three-hour match, Murray said. It s a positive change for tennis. After making his return from January hip surgery last month at Queens and Eastbourne, Murray skipped Wimbledon and began preparing for the hardcourt campaign. WAWRINKA RAINED OUT His lone win on grasscourts came over Swiss Stan Wawrinka, another three-time Grand Slam winner fighting back from a left knee injury. The world number 198 had a first-round match against US qualifier Donald Young rained out. Murray s first hardcourt match in nearly 17 months, delayed three hours by rain, turned when he broke in the penultimate game of the second set and again on his fifth break chance in the opening game of the third set. Murray, whose best Washington finish was a runner-up effort in his 2006 debut, served for the match in the 10th game but squandered five match points, four of them on errors, and McDonald broke back to 5-5 when Murray netted a forehand to end the 12-minute game. At in the 11th game, McDonald stuck his racquet over the net to play the ball, losing the point on a violation quickly called by French umpire Arnaud Gabas. McDonald then hit a forehand long to give Murray another chance to serve for the match. Murray, who surrendered four double faults and won only five-of-15 second-serve points in the first set, broke to open the second set but swatted an ugly forehand well wide to surrender a break in the next game, slamming a ball to the court in frustration at what in top form would have been a routine shot. Both held serve until the ninth game, when McDonald sent a forehand wide to hand Murray the break and a 5-4 lead. Murray held on a service winner to force a third set. Tunisia s Malek Jaziri booked a second-round match against third-ranked defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany by defeating Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 6-1. US wild card Noah Rubin beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4 to reach a second-round match against US second seed John Isner. BADMINTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS India s Saina and Srikanth advance IANS Nanjing, China Indian stars Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective matches at the Badminton World Championships yesterday. Saina defeated Aliye Demirbag of Turkey in straight games to enter the third round of the women s singles category. Saina fought off a brave effort from her Turkish opponent to cruise to a 21-17, victory in just 39 minutes. The opening game saw a tough battle in the early stages before Saina produced a fourpoint burst to lead She held on to the advantage till the end to win the game. Saina showcased her class in the second game, scoring at ease as she romped to a win. The Hyderabad-based Indian is expected to face a tougher challenge in the next round where she will meet an experienced opponent in fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Indonesia. Ratchanok staged a strong comeback to win a tough encounter against the impressive Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark. The nail-biting see-saw battle, which lasted an hour and 16 minutes, saw Ratchanok carve out a 16-21, 22-20, victory. In the men s singles category, Srikanth took 37 minutes to defeat Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in straight games. The Indian, who advanced to the second round, did not have to sweat too much on his way to a 21-15, victory over his unseeded opponent. Srikanth forced the early advantage, taking four consecutive points to open up a 7-2 lead before increasing the gap to Nguyen staged a strong fight back with two Saina Nehwal. four-point streaks of his own to level the scores at He subsequently took a slender lead at 15-14, but the Indian came up with an impressive run of seven back to back points to take the opening game. The second game saw a neck and neck battle till the halfway stage when the two players went into the break with Srikanth in possession of a 11-9 lead. The Indian came out all guns blazing after the resumption, taking six consecutive points to open up a comfortable advantage. Although Nguyen closed the gap to within two points, Srikanth produced another late burst to wrap up the match. Srikanth will be up against Pablo Abian of Spain in the next round. The unseeded Spaniard defeated Toby Penty of England 21-18, 21-6 in his campaign opener. Japan s Kento Momota made a blistering start to his Badminton World Championships yesterday then brushed off any talk of pressure. The explosive 23-year-old is the man in form coming into the Nanjing showpiece and is tipped by many to win the tournament. After swatting aside Ukraine s Artem Pochtarov 21-13, 21-12, Momota said: I don t take the attention at home and abroad as pressure, but instead motivation. In the mixed doubles competition, the unseeded Indian pair of Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh lost to eighth seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia by an 18-21, margin in 36 minutes. It was curtains for Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy as well, since they lost 16-21, 4-21 to 12th seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia. FOCUS Wozniacki stresses fitness ahead of US Open Washington Hard work and peak fitness are the major concerns for world number two Caroline Wozniacki as she starts her first run to the US Open as a Grand Slam champion. The 28-year-old Dane captured her first major title in January at the Australian Open, downing current world number one Simona Halep in the final, and the 2009 and 2014 US Open runner-up approaches the hardcourt campaign ahead of New York with new confidence. It feels great to have won my first Grand Slam. It was a great two weeks, Wozniacki said Monday. At this point, you have to keep on working hard and try to be in the best shape possible heading into the US Open. That s all you can do. Wozniacki was sharp as she reached Melbourne, coming off a title in the 2017 season-ending WTA Championship in Singapore, beating Venus Williams in the final. Days later, Wozniacki became engaged to former NBA player David Lee. Wozniacki had previously been engaged to Northern Ireland golf star Rory McIlroy but they broke up in In her 43rd main draw Grand Slam appearance, Wozniacki finally lifted a champion s trophy in Melbourne and reclaimed the world number one ranking six years after last holding the top spot, eclipsing Serena Williams by 11 months for the longest gap between reigns. Wozniacki, who captured her 29th career WTA title a month ago at Eastbourne, made a fourth-round exit at the French Open and lost in the second round at Wimbledon. I took a little time off, Woz - niacki said. It has been a hard season. My old trainer came in and pushed me to my limits. I wanted to be in the best shape possible. So it feels fine. Wozniacki has adjusted her goals after finally braking through for a Grand Slam title, looking now for success on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court where she lost to Kim Clijsters nine years ago in her first Grand Slam final and to Serena Williams in The motivation and hunger has always been there. It s about resetting your goals and having another milestone, Wozniacki said. I reset that after the Australian Open. Wozniacki chose the Washington event over a richer WTA tournament in San Jose this week, happier with a shorter flight from Europe and the same time zones as the next two US Open tuneup events in Canada and Cincinnati. I just prefer being on this side (of the US), she said. AZARENKA OUTLASTS BONDARENKO IN SAN JOSE Former world number one Victoria Azarenka outlasted Kateryna Bondarenko (7) 7-5 at the Silicon Valley Classic on Monday to set up a highlyanticipated second-round clash with top-seeded Garbine Muguruza yesterday. Azarenka took the first set comfortably but faced stiffer resistance in the second from the Ukrainian, who battled hard against the 29-year-old Belarusian on a night when her powerful first serve lacked its usual accuracy. Azarenka committed 12 double faults and was broken four times but did just enough to edge the defensive-minded Bondarenko, who sent a backhand long on match point to put an end to the marathon match. Elsewhere, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Spaniard Georgina Garcia Perez to set up a second-round meeting with second-seeded American Madison Keys. ATP executive expects serve clock success, benefit for Nadal Serve and warm-up clocks making their ATP and WTA main draw debuts yesterday will be a positive for players, even routine-filled server Rafael Nadal, predicted the ATP Tour s officiating head. There may be some bumps along the way but I think in the long run it s going to be a positive for everybody, ATP executive rules and competition vice president Gayle Bradshaw said Monday. I m optimistic this is really going to be a big plus. I think there s some anxiety because it s new, but once they get out and try it they will be fine with it. The US Open tested the clocks in 2017 qualifying and announced plans to use them in main draw matches when this year s Grand Slam event begins August 27 on the New York hardcourts. The ATP, WTA and US Tennis Association agreed on a protocol that would allow the clocks to be used in pre-us Open events so players could better adjust to the change. For myself, it s not going to be easy, said Japan s 20th-ranked Kei Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up. I m not going to have time to think much about where to put my serve between the points and with the heat it s going to be a little bit tougher I think. There are many different players. Some like to play quick. Some guys like to take a lot of time between points. It might be good for fans if they want to see more points and quicker points. I don t know if it s good for players. Bradshaw says players such as Nadal, who makes several adjustments before serving, or Novak Djokovic, who likes lots of ball bouncing, will adjust. Both those guys, when they see the time, will adapt, he said. Rafa, I think it s going to be a benefit, wearing down other guys after chasing down his balls. Players and fans both called for faster pace of play, said Bradshaw, who noted ATP directors will meet in New York to consider using the clocks tour-wide next year. Clocks won t be in place in 2018 ATP Tour events after the US Open except the Next Gen event in Milan where they were tested last year. A warm-up clock will hasten the pre-match process, allowing players five minutes for hitting and another minute to prepare before the start. They don t have to get the ball in play. They just have to be ready to play, Bradshaw said. The serve clock will allow 25 seconds for players to begin the service motion, the umpire starting the clock after announcing the score with receivers responsible for playing at the server s place. We re going to start the clocks when he starts his motion, not when he s bouncing the ball, Bradshaw said. Umpires can pause or reset the clock to allow for an interruption and time is allowed for exchanging balls after games. We built a protocol that has common sense built into it, Bradshaw said. The things where they should pause should be obvious to everyone. If you have a great point, people go crazy, they ll wait until applause dies down. When players hear the score, they know the clock has started. After a warning, servers will lose a serve and receivers will lose a point for clock violations. To me, this is a success if there are no time violations, Bradshaw said. Bradshaw said players liked removing time violation discretion from the umpire and putting a clock on display for all to see. Umpires will be expected to give a time violation if it goes to zero if they haven t started their motion, Bradshaw said. A lot of times it has been common sense to do that. A lot of times it has not. It s the inconsistency that frustrates the players. And he said it makes it easier for umpires, adding, They don t want to be so disrupted that they don t officiate the match. Listening to player feedback will be crucial, said Germany s third-ranked Alexander Zverev, Washington s top seed. It will be important for the ATP to listen to players, to hear their opinions, Zverev said.

5 Gulf Times 5 MLB Back from disabled list, Paxton pitches Mariners past Astros I didn t have to think about my back once, which was great Seattle James Paxton outduelled Gerrit Cole as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Houston Astros 2-0 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series between the American League West s top two teams. Nelson Cruz hit a two-run double for Seattle, sending the defending World Series champion Astros to their season-worst fifth consecutive defeat. The Mariners, with their second win in a row, pulled within three games of the division-leading Astros. Paxton (9-4), who was activated from the 10-day disabled list earlier in the day after being out since July 7 due to lower back stiffness, allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings. The left-hander didn t walk a batter and struck out eight. I didn t have to think about my back once, which was great, Paxton said. That s the point I wanted to get to before I came back. I feel like if I had come back the start before this, I would ve been out there thinking about my back and I wouldn t have been able to compete like I did. Alex Colome pitched the eighth and Edwin Diaz worked a ninth for his major-league-leading 40th save of the season. Cole (10-3) didn t allow a hit until running into trouble in the sixth inning. After Cole struck out the first two batters, Jean Segura grounded a ball up the middle. Astros infielder Yuli Gurriel, playing second base with reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve (knee) on the disabled list for the first time in his career, made a diving stop behind the bag, but his throw to get the speedy Segura was a fraction late. Denard Span then lined a single to centre field, sending Segura to second. Cruz lined the next pitch down the left field line, past a diving third baseman Alex Bregman, to score both Segura and Span and give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Cole went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He walked two and fanned eight. With two on in the top of the first, Houston s Evan Gattis hit a long drive down the left field line that landed in the second deck. After a video review, umpires called it a foul ball. The Astros put two runners on against Colome in the eighth, as Max Stassi singled with one out and George Springer walked with two outs. However, Colome struck out Bregman on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Each team finished with four hits. RED SOX PUSH PAST PHILLIES IN 13TH INNING Blake Swihart hit a walk-off double in the Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton throws against the Houston Astros during the third inning at Safeco Field in Seattle. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports bottom of the 13th inning to score Eduardo Nunez and lift the Boston Red Sox past the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 Monday night at Fenway Park. Swihart s first career walk-off hit gave Boston its fourth victory in a row. Nunez and Brock Holt each had two hits of the Red Sox s seven hits. Boston starter David Price tossed eight solid innings, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk while striking out five. Hector Velazquez (7-0), the Red Sox s sixth pitcher, earned the win in relief. Phillies starter Aaron Nola threw eight strong innings, giving up four hits and one run while throwing 105 pitches, 73 for strikes. He fanned six and walked one. Austin Davis (1-1), the fifth of six Philadelphia pitchers, took the loss. The Phillies managed 10 hits but left 12 runners on base en route to their fourth straight loss. In the second inning, Maikel Franco hit an RBI single to left, scoring Asdrubal Cabrera for a 1-0 Phillies lead. RESULTS Mariners 2-0 Astros Cardinals 5-4 Rockies Red Sox 2-1 Phillies Twins 5-4 Indians A s 10-1 Blue Jays Giants 5-2 Padres Rangers 9-5 Diamondbacks Brewers 5-2 Dodgers Braves 5-3 Marlins The Phillies had a chance to extend their advantage in the third when Carlos Santana hit a grounder to third inning with runners at second and third with one out, but they ran themselves into an unorthodox double play. Rhys Hoskins was caught between third and home, and then Odubel Herrera was tagged out running to third. Hoskins was then tagged out for the bizarre double play. Nunez was credited with an RBI triple in the fifth, but the extra bases occurred because centre fielder Herrera appeared to misjudge the ball in the air. Jackie Bradley Jr. scored to tie the game at 1. Price struck out Franco looking with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth to keep the game tied. Holt led off the eighth with a double off the Green Monster in left, but Nola rallied to retire the Red Sox in order to keep the game tied at 1. Marcell Ozuna hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as St. Louis beat visiting Colorado. Jedd Gyorko also homered for St. Louis, Matt Carpenter had three hits, and Dakota Hudson (1-0) got his first career victory with one inning of scoreless relief. Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam for the Rockies, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. SPOTLIGHT Jays trade suspended pitcher Osuna to Houston Astros Los Angeles ROBERTO OSUNA The Toronto Blue Jays dealt suspended pitcher Roberto Osuna to the Houston Astros on Monday in exchange for three pitchers, including right-hander Ken Giles. The 23-year-old Mexico native is eligible to return on Sunday from a 75-game ban under Major League Baseball s domestic violence policy. Jays general manager Ross Atkins said he considered the team s fan base when making the decision to trade closer Osuna but did not go into detail. We do feel a responsibility to the fans and we do feel empathy for the fans and we ultimately work for the fans, Atkins said. We are human and it is very difficult for accusations not to influence us in some way. Osuna s lawyer Domenic Basile said he wants people to understand that his client still has to go through the legal process. I remind everyone that he is presumed innocent and that our focus is to continue to deal with his court matter, Basile said. Osuna has not pitched in the majors since May 6, two days before he was put on leave when he was charged with one count of assault on a woman in Toronto. He s expected to plead not guilty in a Canadian court on Wednesday. The Jays also received minor league right-handed pitchers Hector Perez and David Paulino in the trade. Elsewhere, the New York Yankees shored up their pitching for a playoff stretch run by acquiring right-hander Lance Lynn from the Minnesota Twins. Lynn will fill the role of relief pitcher and joins Luis Cessa as insurance for a starting rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray and newly acquired J.A. Happ. The Yankees gave up first baseman Tyler Austin and righthanded pitcher Luis Rijo for Lynn. NATIONALS MAKE HARPER AVAILABLE IN TRADE TALKS The Washington Nationals have made six-time All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper available in trade talks ahead of Tuesday s deadline, according to multiple reports Monday evening. MLB.com s Mark Feinsand first reported the Nationals were letting other teams know Harper is available. The Athletic s Ken Rosenthal confirmed the Nats are sending out feelers on Harper, but suggested that any deal appears to be a long shot. I d be shocked if they do it, a rival executive told Rosenthal. They re seeing if someone wants to go crazy. MLB Network s Jon Morosi reported the Cleveland Indians have been in touch with the Nationals about Harper but have thus far refused to include 23-year-old starter Shane Bieber in an offer. Fan Rag Sports Jon Heyman reported earlier Monday that rival teams believed there was almost no chance Washington would market or trade Harper before the deadline. Yahoo Sports Jeff Passan also reported Monday that Harper has been asking friends and confidants if they think the Nationals might trade him. Harper, 25, is set to hit free agency after the season and could command the largest contract in major league history. Washington is expected to try to sign Harper long term, but he is expected to have many suitors. The 2015 National League MVP has struggled to a.220 batting average this season, but his major-league-high 84 walks have contributed to a.369 onbase percentage. He also has 25 home runs and 62 RBIs. His career highs are 42 and 99, respectively, set in The injury-plagued Nationals are 52-53, 5 1/2 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, and six teams are ahead of them in the race for two wildcard playoff berths. FOCUS Mariners boost bullpen with trades for Duke, Warren Seattle The Seattle Mariners made a pair of moves on Monday to strengthen their bullpen in their pursuit of an AL wild-card berth, picking up veterans Zach Duke and Adam Warren. Seattle announced the acquisition of the left-handed Duke, 35, along with cash considerations from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for righty Chase De Jong and minor league infielder Ryan Costello. In a second deal, the Mariners sent international bonus pool money to the New York Yankees for Warren. Duke is 10th among active left-handers with 513 career games and is one of three active pitchers with at least 150 relief appearances and 150 starts in the majors. Seattle is his ninth organization. He is with a 3.20 ERA in 344 career relief appearances, and with a 4.28 ERA overall, making 169 starts. Warren, who turns 31 next month, has a 2.70 ERA in 30 innings of work across 24 games this season, striking out 37 and walking 12. He is with a Left-handed reliever Zach Duke ERA in seven MLB seasons, all but a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs spent in pinstripes. After making a career-high 17 starts in 2015, Warren has started only twice since. De Jong, 24, is 5-5, with a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts with Double- A Arkansas this season, being named a Texas League midseason All-Star. He was 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA in seven games (four starts) with the Mariners in 2017, his only season in the majors. Costello, 22, batted.266 with 16 home runs and 70 RBIs in 101 games with Class-A Clinton this season. The Mariners, who finished the weekend two games ahead of Oakland for the second wild-card spot in the AL, made a handful of other transactions ahead of their Monday night home game against the Houston Astros. James Paxton, who was out 2 1/2 weeks due to lower back inflammation, was activated from the DL to start the series opener vs. Houston. Paxton is 8-4 with a 3.70 ERA this year, and he threw a no-hitter at Toronto in May, but he has lost three of his past five starts. First baseman Daniel Vogelbach was optioned to Triple-A Pitcher Adam Warren. Tacoma to clear a roster spot for Paxton. Vogelbach, 25, hit.212 with two homers and seven RBIs in 25 games for Seattle this season. The Mariners also placed third baseman Kyle Seager on paternity leave and purchased the contract of shortstop Zach Vincej from Tacoma. Seager, 30, has appeared in all but one game for Seattle this season, batting.228 with a.278 on-base percentage, a.409 slugging percentage, 16 homers and 57 RBIs. In 84 Triple-A games this year, Vincej, 27, hit.236 with a.301 on-base percentage, a.341 slugging percentage, six homers and 44 RBIs. He made his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds last year, going 1-for-9 with no RBIs in nine games. The Mariners also brought back left-hander Marc Rzepczynski on a minor league contract. Rzepczynski, 32, began the season with Seattle but was released on June 6 after going 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA in 18 appearances. He subsequently signed with the Cleveland Indians and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings over five appearances this month before he was outrighted off the roster and elected free agency.

6 6 Gulf Times NFL How Gore became a Dolphin, and why that s so right I told him I m going to finish here, not knowing if it would come true or not By Greg Cote Miami Herald Miami Dolphins running back Frank Gore (No 21) during warm-ups in Davie, Florida on Saturday. PICTURE: Miami Herald/TNS The old Hurricane Frank Gore always trained back in Miami, back home, during NFL offseasons, and it was during the spring of 2015, working out with new Dolphins draftee Bobby McCain, when Gore first said aloud what might have always been tucked deep in his heart and mind. I told him I m going to finish here, not knowing if it would come true or not, Gore recalled Monday, face glistening with sweat following the fifth practice of Dolphins training camp. I m happy it did. Thirty-nine former Canes have played for the Dolphins in the franchise s 53 seasons, but none of the homecomings has felt more full circle, more right, than Gore s. Born in Miami, raised in Coconut Grove, schooled at Coral Gables High and then UM, he ll be the first Cane-turned-Dolphin to reach Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. These are tough days for The U s s tightly knit sports family. Former Canes running back Tyrone Moss died late last week at 33 reportedly because of heartrelated issues. Two nights later the 16-year-old son of UM baseball pitching coach J.D. Arteaga died in an auto accident. Gore was a former teammate who knew Moss well. The pain still raw, he preferred not to discuss the loss on Monday. The bond within the UM athletic family is real, and will help two families deal with the grief and heal. That bond also is why, for this community, Gore s return to Miami brings a smile with it. It is the perfect end run for the all-time great runner to finish where he started, at age 35, as the oldest back in the NFL, still beating odds. It had a chance to happen when the Dolphins hired Adam Gase as coach in January 2016, and then when the Indianapolis Colts did not re-sign Gore and left him a free agent this past March. I m happy it came with Gase being the head coach, said Gore of his homecoming. Their relationship goes back 10 years, to their days with the San Francisco 49ers. Gore is an anomaly, still productive at the one brutal position with the shortest careerspan, some seven years after running backs are thought to be in chronological decline. NFL head coaches want nothing to do with 35-year-old backs. But Gase knew better. He envisions Gore as not only a mentor for young Kenyan Drake and rookie Kalen Ballage, but as a major contributor with them. Do not be surprised if Gore ends up starting, or at least getting comparable touches to Drake, who says Gore always has an extra gear even at his age. It s cool seeing that face to face. Says Gase: I wouldn t doubt Frank with anything. (His age) is irrelevant. He s a different dude. He is the last person I will ever doubt. Seeing what he s done through his career, starting in college, has proven every person wrong that ever doubted him. Those included the Dolphins, who scouted Gore hard and worked him out intensely before the 2005 draft, only to select running back Ronnie Brown No. 1. I thought that was out the door, he said of ever playing for the Dolphins. Gore lasted until the Niners took him in the third round, and no wonder. If he s 5-9 he barely is. He had two separate ACL knee injuries while at UM, one erasing an entire season. I m still here, he answered it all on Monday. Here: Fifth all-time in NFL rushing with 14,026 yards and poised early this season to climb to fourth trailing only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders. But here, too: Still trying to prove himself. Of his career, It s a blessing, especially thinking about where I came from, coming out of college with two ACLs and all the doubters saying I wouldn t play two or three years, then saying me getting picked in the third round was a reach. Finishing as a Dolphin is very personal for Gore. My kids get to see me every day now, and I get to see my oldest son s high-school games. I haven t seen him play since he was like 5 years old. Frank Jr. is a junior at Killian. Running back, of course. For Gore home games will be truly that, in front of my fans, family and my coaches still in Miami, Pop Warner to high school. It is personal in another way, too, though. He s still the 5-9 supposed injury risk everybody doubted, even though he has played all 16 games eight times in his career including the last seven seasons in a row. I want to prove I still can, said the man who hasn t had anything to prove for a long, long time. I want to show my fans in Miami I can still be a top guy in this league. NHL Hayes and Rangers agree to one-year, 5.125mn deal By Colin Stephenson Newsday KEVIN HAYES The Rangers avoided arbitration with restricted free agent forward Kevin Hayes on Monday by signing the 26-year-old to a one-year contract worth $5.125mn. The one-year deal means that Hayes will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. With the club in a self-described rebuilding phase, the Rangers had to decide whether to make Hayes one of their building blocks and sign him to a long-term deal before his arbitration hearing, which had been scheduled for Thursday. That s what they did with defenseman Brady Skjei, when they signed him Saturday to a six-year deal worth $31.5 million. With Hayes, however, general manager Jeff Gorton and the Rangers braintrust apparently did not want to make that kind of commitment to the 6-foot-5, 217-pound center, who had a career-high 25 goals last season. With Hayes signed only through the upcoming season, the odds are great the Rangers will look to deal him before the trade deadline. Otherwise, they risk losing him to free agency for nothing. With Hayes signed, the club has only one remaining arbitration-eligible restricted free agent: forward Ryan Spooner. Spooner, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins the day before the trade deadline in the Rick Nash deal, has his arbitration hearing set for Saturday. Hayes, a Dorchester, Mass.- native who was recruited to play college hockey at Boston University by current Rangers coach David Quinn, played his college hockey at Boston College and was originally drafted in the first round by the Chicago Blackhawks in But he never signed with the Blackhawks and the Rangers signed him as a free agent in He has played 310 career NHL games, scoring 73 goals, with 101 assists. Since joining the Rangers for the season, Hayes ranks third on the club in goals and points and fourth in assists. Last season, he was third on the team in scoring with 44 points. WILD SIGN EX-FLYERS READ TO 2-WAY CONTRACT The Minnesota Wild signed former Philadelphia Flyers right winger Matt Read to a two-way contract on Monday. Per the Wild s press release, Read s deal is for one year and is worth $650,000 for time in the NHL and $200,000 for time in the AHL. Read, who turned 32 last month, has played seven seasons in the NHL, all with Philadelphia. Last season he failed to win a spot with the Flyers out of training camp and spent most of the season with Lehigh Valley in the AHL. In 19 games with the Flyers, he had one goal and no assists. Read first burst onto the NHL scene with the Flyers in when he scored 24 goals and added 23 assists. Read earned favor under then-coach Peter Laviolette s up-tempo style and became a top-line player in his first few seasons, leading to a fouryear, $14.5 million deal signed in September However, after scoring 57 goals (19 goals per season) in his first three NHL seasons, Read has netted just 30 goals the past four years (7.5 per season). In his seven seasons, Read has 87 goals and 100 assists in 437 games. NBA Hawks waive Anthony after buyout agreement Atlanta The Atlanta Hawks have placed Carmelo Anthony on waivers, hours after reaching an agreement on a contract buyout. He will become a free agent once he clears waivers. A source told ESPN that terms of the buyout call for the 34-year-old Anthony to receive the $27.9 million due to him under the terms of his contract, then rebate $2.4mn to the Hawks. Once he clears waivers, he is expected to join the Houston Rockets for the veteran minimum contract of $2.4 million. He already has been working out with Houston stars James Harden and Chris Paul. Anthony, who is entering his 16th NBA season, has a career scoring average of 24.1 points per game with Denver, New York and Oklahoma City. In , in his only season with the Thunder, he averaged 16.2 points per game in 32.1 minutes. The Hawks acquired Anthony on July 25 as part of a three-team transaction, with Atlanta also receiving a protected 2022 firstround draft pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Justin Anderson from the Philadelphia 76ers. To complete the trade, the Hawks traded Mike Muscala to Philadelphia and Dennis Schröder to Oklahoma City, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot moved from Philadelphia to Oklahoma City. WADE STILL COY ABOUT FUTURE Dwyane Wade isn t shedding much light on his future. The 12-time All-Star guard sidestepped questions about whether or not he will play at 16th NBA season during a conference call on Monday. In due time, Wade said. Time will tell. The 36-year-old Wade is also considering retirement. He spent his first 13 seasons with the Miami Heat before playing one season with the Chicago Bulls and a half-season with the Cleveland Cavaliers before returning to the Heat last season. Miami president Pat Riley said last week that the franchise is willing to wait on Wade s decision. Riley is hopeful Wade reveals his intentions by mid- August. I want him back as a player, Riley told reporters. CARMELO ANTHONY I want him back as a competitor. I want him back as a guy who wants to have the greatest year he ever had as a player. I read more articles about Dwyane being done, he s lost a step, he s not the same player, he might not have the same motivation. But I still see a player who can contribute heavily if he really wants to. Overall, Wade has averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds in just over 34 minutes per game. Last season, he averaged just 11.4 points in 67 games between the Cavaliers and Heat. JERRY COLANGELO OUT WITH 76ERS AT END OF YEAR Philadelphia 76ers special adviser Jerry Colangelo will not continue with the club when his contract expires at the end of the year, according to multiple reports. Colangelo s departure isn t surprising due to the fact his son, Bryan, resigned under pressure as president of basketball operations in June after an investigation determined his wife was using anonymous social media accounts to praise her husband and criticize others. The investigation, conducted by the outside firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, concluded that Colangelo s wife, Barbara Bottini, was responsible for the existence of four anonymous Twitter accounts that had leaked information about the 76ers and been critical of the team s coach and some players. The accounts also tweeted favorable opinions about Colangelo while denigrating Philadelphia s former general manager, Sam Hinkie. Jerry Colangelo declined to say if his departure was tied into his son s situation. I haven t made any public comments about what transpired, Jerry Colangelo told the Washington Post. I don t think it would be appropriate. It s a very difficult summer for him and his family. Jerry Colangelo joined the 76ers in December The 78-year-old said he will continue in his role as director of USA Basketball.

7 Gulf Times 7 FOOTBALL United hope to sign one more player: Mourinho It s our nature, you always want more for your team but then club decisions are different and normally you don t get what you want which happened during all my career SPOTLIGHT Trump sowing divisions, says LeBron James Washington Basketball great LeBron James yesterday accused President Donald Trump of intensifying racial divisions in the United States. I believe our president is kind of trying to divide us, James, who is also a philanthropist, said in an interview with CNN s Don Lemon. He s kind of used sport to... divide us and that s something I can t relate to, because I know that sport was the first time I ever was around someone white. You know? the bearded and bespectacled James said. Trump has repeatedly criticized National Football League players who kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, a protest begun by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in James, 33, has previously expressed solidarity with the kneeling players and voiced earlier criticism of Trump. He told his CNN interviewer that he can t sit back and not say nothing in the face of Trump s attempts at discord. James, who ranks seventh in career National Basketball Association scoring, will play with the Los Angeles Lakers next season after leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he remains tied to Ohio, where on Monday an elementary school for at-risk youngsters opened in his hometown of Akron, through his LeBron James Family Foundation. James, wearing a grey suit and buttoned-down shirt, said even the most successful African Americans face discriminatory attitudes. They always going to let you know that you are the n-word no matter who you are, he said. I think it s always been there. But I think the president in charge now has given people they don t care now, they throw it to your face. James was asked what he would say to Trump if he could sit across from the president. I would never sit across from him, James replied. I d sit across from Barack, though, he said of Trump s predecessor Barack Obama, the first African American president. LeBron James plays with his daughter Zhuri during the opening ceremonies of the I Promise School on July 30 in Akron, Ohio. Manager Jose Mourinho of Manchester United. Manchester Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he is confident that the club will sign at least one more player before the Premier League s transfer window closes on Aug. 9. The Portuguese boss expressed his hopes of signing two new recruits after United s 4-1 defeat by Liverpool in the preseason International Champions Cup last weekend in the United States but now says one addition seems more probable. I am confident I will get one, BOTTOMLINE but I think two I am not going to get which is not a drama, Mourinho told bein S. In every pre-season it happens the same with every club which is the manager wants more. It s our nature, you always want more for your team but then club decisions are different and normally you don t get what you want which happened during all my career. So if I get one player until the end of the market, that s fine. United have struggled to impress in pre-season with a patchy squad that has been depleted through injuries and key players resting after the World Cup in Russia. Their sole preseason win came against AC Milan last week. The club s inconsistent performances has led Mourinho to express his frustration on multiple occasions throughout the US tour, including criticising individual players and United s lack of transfer activity. Goalkeeper Lee Grant, however, has dismissed the notion that Mourinho is unhappy with the squad. From what we re getting from the inside it (the atmosphere around the camp) has been nothing but positive, Grant told Sky Sports. The messages we are getting from the manager are positive ones and that is important for us going forward. His attitude and demeanour around the place is great and that is helpful for us especially when we are under-manned and we are working our hardest. United play Champions League holders Real Madrid and German champions Bayern Munich in their next two friendlies before hosting Leicester City in the opening league fixture on Aug. 10. CITY SIGN SANDLER Manchester City have signed defender Philippe Sandler from Dutch top division side PEC Zwolle, the Premier League champions announced yesterdaythe 21-year-old, a product of the Ajax Amsterdam youth system, has represented the Netherlands at under-20 level and can play as a centre back or in a holding midfield position. City did not provide financial details of the deal, but media reports said the fee was in the region of 3mn euros ($3.51mn). The reports added that Sandler could be loaned back to a club in the Netherlands. Sandler is City s third signing of the close season and follows forward Riyad Mahrez and defensive midfielder Claudio Gomes into the club. City face FA Cup winners Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday, before Pep Guardiola s team take on Arsenal in their opening league clash on Aug. 12. Under fire New Zealand coach quits after player mutiny Wellington Embattled New Zealand women s coach Andreas Heraf quit yesterday, ending a rocky era which culminated in most top players refusing to play for him. The former Austrian international s resignation came as the New Zealand Football Association (NZF) launched an investigation into complaints about the 50-year-old who has been on special leave since June. NZF president Deryck Shaw accepted Heraf s resignation but said the inquiry would continue into issues raised in written complaints from 13 players who said they would not play for New Zealand again if he remained in charge. Part of the resignation is that Andreas has confirmed that he will fully participate in the review and we will look to the findings of the review to determine the outcomes around this matter, Shaw said. Heraf quit with immediate effect as both coach of the Football Ferns, as the women s team is known, and as New Zealand s technical director. He has not commented in New Zealand but in a recent interview with Austrian newspaper Der Standard he claimed there was a large-scale conspiracy against him. Allegations of bullying and intimidation lack any foundation and are based on fundamental differences in professionalism and performance, he said. Current Ferns players have told reporters, under anonymity, they had to ask Heraf s permission to leave the table at dinner, they were shouted at for passing the ball between defence and midfield or if they passed the ball backwards because it was deemed too risky. Problems within the women s camp spilled into the public arena after their tour of Spain in March, following which New Zealand s most-capped player, Abby Erceg, retired in frustration. Erceg later described the Ferns tactics as cowering in a corner, saying she would prefer to lose a game while trying to win it. That s my mindset, and if you tell me I can t do that, then I can no longer represent that shirt with pride or conviction, she said. The player criticism reached a peak in June following Heraf s comments after a 3-1 loss to Japan in which New Zealand were told to play an ultra-defensive game. Heraf believed they could have lost 8-0 with a more positive approach and said New Zealand, ranked 20th in the world, will never have (the) quality to compete with 11th-ranked Japan, the former world champions. CHESS Qatar players excel in Switzerland QNA Doha Indian women qualify for last eight of world hockey : India entered the last 8 stage of the Women s Hockey World Cup 2018 with a clinical 3-0 win over Italy yesterday. Sjoerd Marijne s side, who are ranked 10th in the world, were the dominant side over the course of the 60 minutes and deserved their win against the Italians, who at 17th were the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup. Goals from Lalremsiami, Neha Goyal and Vandana Katariya were enough for the Indians as they saw the game through with comfort. Lalremsiami, who is considered to be one of the brightest prospects in Indian hockey, showed great calm and composure to put her side in the lead in just the 9th minute. A quick long corner from India saw the ball reach the Mizo sniper near the goal, who allowed it go across her body and slotted the ball home with a fine backhand shot. Qatar s national chess team performed well in the Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland, which features several rounds and concludes today. As Round 6 of the event concluded, Qatar s team have managed good results with Grandmaster Mohamed al-sayed securing 3 points, International The second goal of the game through the stick of Neha Goyal at the end of the third quarter as India earned a penalty corner with the clock stopped at zero seconds left. The flat hit was powerful from the injection which led to a goalmouth melee. Goyal showed her poaching skills and was on hand to prod the ball home at the goal-line. Vandana Katariya, who was a threat throughout the game, got a well-deserved goal in the dying moments of the match. With a few minutes left to play, she displayed quick thinking to slide in front of the charging Italian defenders at the penalty corner and deflected the ball home. India will now off against Ireland in the quarterfinal on Thursday, with the two teams having already faced off in the group stages and the Irishwomen running out 1-0 winners. Master Hussein Aziz Nezad 3.5 points and Salih al-hor 5 points. Ghanem al-shammari also managed 3.5 points in the six rounds that he took part in. The tournament is a major preparation step for the national team ahead of their future events, especially the 43rd Chess Olympiad, which takes place in Georgia from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6. Before that Qatar will take part in the 6th edition of Francophone Chess Championship, which runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2. (QNA)

8 GULF TIMES HORSE RACING Watan wins in presence of Sheikh Joaan at Qatar Goodwood Festival Al Shaqab-bred colt earns first victory for Qatar at this edition of the five-day event Al Shaqab executive director Khalifa bin Mohamed al-attiyah receives the owner s trophy after Watan won on Day One of the Qatar Goodwood Festival. PICTURES: Juhaim and Zuzanna By Our Correspondent Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al- Thani was present on the first day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival yesterday at Goodwood Racecourse in the UK. The fiveday Festival will see a wide range of races with the world s top Arabian and Thoroughbred horses. It was a fantastic start to the Festival with Al Shaqab Racing recording the first victory for Qatar in this edition. In the presence of HE Sheikh Joaan, Watan won the fifth race in the card impressively. The chestnut colt, schooled by Richard Hannon, was steered by Ryan Moore to win the six-furlong race reserved for two-year-old maidens. Al Shaqab executive director Khalifa bin Mohamed al-attiyah received the winner s trophy at the presentation ceremony. Also present on the first day of the Festival were Duke of Richmond, owner of Goodwood Racecourse, Qatar Equestrian Federation president Hamad bin Abdulrahman al-attiyah, Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) general manager Nasser bin Sherida al-kaabi, and QREC racing manager Abdulla Rashid al- Kubaisi, besides numerous horse owners and trainers from around the world. SPOTLIGHT Josoor Institute boosts delegates World Cup dreams By Sports Reporter Doha Two Josoor Institute alumni delegates who attended the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia have taken major strides towards achieving their personal football dreams. Josoor Institute is a centre of excellence for the sports and events industries that is inspired and developed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). TV director Hamad Sultan al-kuwari and Sports Management graduate Eman al-khamiri recently returned from Russia after being picked by Josoor Institute to take part in the SC s Observation Programme. Al-Khamiri described attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup as a huge responsibility, but one she relished, as I aspire to become one of the first woman graduates to work in sports management in Doha. Similarly, al-kuwari, who works as a Senior Director at Al Kass Sports Channels, said the Russian trip has helped him to further his dream to become the first Qatari to join FIFA s production crew for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. Both delegates hold Professional Diplomas in Football and Sports Management from Josoor Institute and have participated in several of its workshops and programmes. Al-Kuwari said the Russian trip added hugely to his professional skills and production competencies. Attending the World Cup in Russia gave me a rare and valuable insight into what awaits Qatar in four years time. I learned first-hand Ryan Moore rides Al Shaqab s Watan to victory. Significant win at Goodwood: Khalifa al-attiyah Al Shaqab executive director Khalifa bin Mohamed al-attiyah was very pleased with Watan s win in a race for maidens on the first day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, especially because the colt is bred by Al Shaqab Racing. Watan s win today at Qatar Goodwood Festival is very special, said al-attiyah, especially as he was bred by Al Shaqab as a son of Toronado, who himself won the Sussex several years ago. We consider this win very significant for us at this stage. Arguably, we have started to reap the rewards of our attention on breeding in Al Shaqab and the performance and form of Watan today are a demonstration of this. He excelled and won the race impressively. We will run Watan in tougher races in the near future as he is up to that. We will maintain Al Shaqab s policy of paying due attention to breeding because we want Al Shaqab s breeding to be prominent in this type of racing. We have been working to this end and we have the opportunity to realise better results. Hamad Sultan al-kuwari, senior director at Al Kass Sports Channels and Josoor Institute alumnus delegate, attends a match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Qatar Equestrian Federation president Hamad bin Abdulrahman al-attiyah (centre) presented the trophies to the winners of Qatar Vintage Stakes (Gr2). Qatar Goodwood Festival kicks off brilliantly By Our Correspondent Q atar Goodwood Festival kicked off yesterday with seven races on the first day. In the first race, Matchbook Betting Exchange Handicap Stakes (Class 2) (4yo+), William Haggas s Alfarris was the winner under jockey Jim Crowley. Mark Johnston s Dark Vision won Qatar Vintage Stakes (Gr 2) (2yo) with jockey Silvestre De Sousa in the saddle. Qatar Equestrian Federation president Hamad bin Abdulrahman al-attiyah presented the trophies to the winners. David Elsworth s Sir Dancealot, was the winner of Qatar Lennox Stakes (Gr 2) (3yo+). It was a blanket finish and Sir Dancealot, ridden by Gerald Mosse, was Eman al-khamiri, Qatar University Sports Management graduate and Josoor Institute alumnus delegate, also was part of the SC s Observation Programme. declared the winner by photo finish. Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) Board member Khalid bin Mohammed al-ali presented the trophies to the winners. John Gosden s Stradivarius was steered by jockey Andrea Atzeni to victory in the Qatar Goodwood Cup (Gr 1) (3yo+). Ajay Sharma, British ambassador to Qatar, presented the trophies to the winners. Ronald Harris s Under The Cover won Chelsea Barracks Handicap Stakes (Class 2) (4yo+) under jockey PJ Mc- Donald. The day concluded with Matchbook Time To Move Over Fillies Handicap Stakes (3yo+) and Haggas scored his second win of the day when he saddled Move Swiftly to victory under jockey James Doyle. Ajay Sharma (left), British ambassador to Qatar, presented the trophies to the winners of Qatar Goodwood Cup (Gr1). that the secret to success is teamwork, particularly when it comes to media coverage, which is the façade of any sporting event, he said. I thought the World Cup was just about the matches, but I ve learned there s far more to it than just the games; such as the logistics and organisational issues outside the stadium. I ve also learned that the community plays an important role in the success of such events. For instance, 6,000 volunteers aged 16-years and over were mobilised in Moscow and positively interacted with fans and visitors. Al-Kuwari believes Qatar should follow Russia s community-focused lead and encourage volunteering among the public, as the country will be visited by more than one million football fans in It s impossible to simply rely on official authorities, so all community members should be encouraged to consider volunteering or helping out, he said. As part of her experience, al-khamiri visited the Sochi Stadium, where she learned about the organisation of games, management of facilities, stadium logistics, media coverage, security and surveillance operations, the entry and exit of attendees, players and teams. Face recognition technology used to capture fans was also among the areas that caught her attention. The visit was a golden opportunity to gain expertise on the organisation of an international event like the World Cup. I was focused on learning so I could later transfer my knowledge to Josoor Institute to be implemented at the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, said al-khamiri. On a personal level, it was an opportunity to prove myself and my ability to assume responsibilities and tasks at a World Cup level and exchange expertise with participating delegations, she said. Al-Khamiri, who also holds a Sports Management degree from Qatar University (QU), believes that joining Josoor Institute is a key step for Qataris looking to contribute or play a role in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. I m keen to play my part in Qatar s World Cup. And joining Josoor Institute was essential in terms of learning new skills that will further my ambitions and goals. She said that after leaving university her skills had been boosted by the practical programmes and workshops run by Josoor Institute in partnership with QU. At Josoor Institute, we applied the skills we d learned at university in very specific and particular fields. For instance, professionals with expertise at international universities and sports clubs provided insight into sports marketing, which we had learned only as a concept at university. TV director al-kuwari said he has also benefited greatly from Josoor Institute s programmes, and has taken part in the organisation s Sports Leadership Summit in 2017, exclusively delivered with Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Al-Kuwari says he is confident Qatar will rise to the occasion and organise a hugely successful FIFA World Cup tournament in four years time. FOCUS Ministry of Interior discusses safety requirements for sports season QNA Doha Tayf and Ebraz to battle again in Qatar International Stakes By Our Correspondent T ayf and Ebraz, who were separated by a nose in a thrilling finish to the Qatar International Stakes (Group 1 PA) 12 months ago, are set for a battle again in this year s renewal at the Qatar Goodwood Festival today. The pair features among ten entries for the 400,000 mile contest, which is also the first leg of the Doha Triple Crown. A stellar cast also includes Ateej, Zikreet, Zayin Angkor Centurion, Storm Trouper, Kao Kat Mhf, Aaley Al Magam, Lightning Bolt and Muraaqib. Tayf will be running for the first time this season, and French trainer Alban De Mieulle believes his charge will benefit from his reappearance. The six-year-old, owned by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-thani, had triumphed in testing conditions 12 months ago but was last seen finishing down the field in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Group 1 PA) at Chantilly last October. However, it was subsequently discovered that he had suffered a minor injury, and plans to run him in Qatar this year had to be shelved. Just after the Arabian World Cup he was lame behind and we found a small fracture, explained De Mieulle. He stayed in his box for more than three months before he started working again slowly. He is in good form now, but I think after 10 months without competition he will need at least one race to reach his top level. The Bordeaux La Teste handler added: We won this race last year, but just by a nose and the weather was so bad we were only to see the race in the last 200m and not from the start. I hope the weather will be better this year. To win during the Goodwood meeting makes this race even more prestigious, and the best Arabian horses are there. This season the competition will be very strong. De Mieulle believes Ebraz will once again prove a formidable rival. Ebraz is one of the best horses, so he will be a big challenge, but we will be trying to beat him again, he added. Qatar-based trainer Julian Smart is hoping Ebraz can go one better than last year after going agonisingly close Ministry of Interior s Establishments and Authorities Security Department held a meeting with sports associations and clubs in the country to discuss the safety requirements for the sports season , to ensure the success of sports tournaments in an atmosphere of comfort and safety. The department s assistant head, Brigadier General Jassim al- Hail, said the meeting is not the first of its kind and was preceded by many other co-ordination meetings to discuss all organisational, safety and training aspects, and based on the future vision to promote co-operation with Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Qatar Stars League (QSL). He added that the meeting sought to discuss all the aspects related to security and organisation of sports tournaments, to reach a comprehensive system that ensures organising safe sports tournaments and prevent any risks that may pose a danger to the security of fans and players. Al-Hail highlighted the importance of good security and organisation s preparations for sports events in terms of equipping fields with tools and equipment for the departments to handle their security role. He also highlighted the importance to landing the 200,000 first prize. The five-year-old has since taken minor honours on three occasions behind stablemate Gazwan, finishing third in the Qatar Arabian World Cup (Gr1 PA) at Chantilly in October, second in the HH The Amir s Sword (Gr1 PA) over 1m 4f in Doha in February and third in the Qatar Gold Sword (Gr1 PA) over 1m 2f at the same venue two months later. Now the His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-thaniowned grey tackles a mile, and Smart feels he will be suited by the drop in trip. Reflecting on Ebraz s gallant second 12 months ago when Goodwood was hit by a deluge, the Al Shahania Stud-based handler said, I have never raced in conditions like that before. It just goes to show how tough the horses are. It was an amazing finish between two warriors of the sport. Unfortunately last year was a small field and he found himself in front too soon where he didn t want to be, so hopefully this year he can run to his strengths and we will see what happens. With that in mind, Smart also runs pacesetter Aaley Al Magam, in the same ownership as Ebraz. Aaley is with us this summer purely to ensure we have pace in all the races we run, he explained. His job is probably the toughest in the barn as he has to get out and do the donkey work every time he runs. He seems to be a horse capable of doing just that though, so fingers crossed all goes well. Dutch trainer Karin Van Den Bos feels Lightning Bolt is ready to put up a bold show. The six-year-old, owned by Landgoed Waterland, was claiming his second top-level triumph when triumphing at Newbury last year, having pipped Tayf by a head in The Presidents of the UAE Cup (UK Arabian Derby) (Group 1 PA) at Doncaster in Van Den Bos, who also bred the chestnut son of Munjiz out of the mare Oleya Du Loup, is unconcerned with her charge having won twice on a fast surface at Duindigt. The most important thing is how he has grown in his mind, she added. Bolt is in good shape I can assure you. He is more mature and has just had two wins behind him in his backyard. of having a control room within each stadium to make binding decisions in a timely manner and communicate with those in charge within the stadium. He said that it is important to have a system that introduces the audience and players to the procedures that need to be taken while entering, exiting and watching events. He also said it is important to work together to build a vision for securing major sports events and providing safety for all. Head of the Stadium Security Department, Captain Mubarak Bilal al-ali, said the aim of the meeting is to set the co-operation mechanisms between the ministry and the related entities in sports. He added that the co-operation is not limited to football but also covers all sports since it is part of the same system. He highlighted everyone s keenness to organise periodic meeting to discuss all that is related to safety and security within sports clubs during all kinds of tournaments. He said this meeting and the upcoming ones are not only limited to discussions on the security requirements of the sports season, but also aim to touch on the security strategy in the long term. Al-Ali urged the associations and clubs to co-operate with the department in raising awareness between the audience and club members on the requirements of sports security.