Sports

AMMAN — Jordan has won three medals, including two silver, at the South Africa International Badminton Championship, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Domo Amro took silver in the women’s singles, while her teammate Baha Al Shneik won bronze in the men’s singles. They then teamed up to win silver in the mixed doubles.

Malcom Brogdon made two 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter, including the one for the go-ahead points with 40.7 seconds to play, and the visiting Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Toronto Raptors 104-99 on Sunday night.

Brogdon finished with 18 points for the Bucks, who have twice defeated the Raptors this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 19 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Bucks and Brook Lopez also had 19 points while Khris Middleton and Tony Snell scored 10 each.

Serge Ibaka scored 22 points, Kawhi Leonard had 20, Fred Van Vleet scored 19 and Pascal Siakam added 17 for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row.

Kyle Lowry did not score a point for the Raptors for the first time since March 13, 2013, against the Miami Heat.

The Bucks led by 11 points early in the fourth, but Ibaka’s 3-pointer brought the Raptors to within three at 90-87 with 5:18 left.

Van Vleet’s 3-pointer put Toronto up by two with 3:13 to go.

Middleton’s two free throws tied the game at 94 with 2:23 to play, but Toronto regained the lead on Leonard’s 3-pointer. Brogdon tied the game with a 3-pointer, then gave Milwaukee the lead with the other 3-pointer.

VanVleet’s layup trimmed the lead to one with 28.9 seconds left.

Antetokounmpo’s driving dunk returned the lead to three points with 12.6 seconds to play before Leonard missed a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play that would have tied the game.

Thon Maker’s 3-pointer ended the scoring in the first quarter with the Raptors leading 30-25.

Lopez hit successive 3-pointers and Snell made a free throw and Milwaukee led 51-49 at halftime.

Lopez had 16 first-half points, Ibaka and Van Vleet topped Toronto with 11 points.

Milwaukee led by three points when Middleton banked in a two-foot hook shot with 3:22 left in the third quarter. The lead reached seven when Ersan Ilyasova made two free throws with 1:15 remaining

The Bucks led 79-74 after three quarters.

The Bucks scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to lead by 11, but Toronto was within four points on two free throws by Leonard.

Spurs 110, Jazz 97

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and Rudy Gay added 23 points and a career-high-tying 15 rebounds, as host San Antonio pulled away late to beat Utah.

The win was the second straight for the Spurs and gave them consecutive victories for the first time since winning four straight in an eight-day span October 27-November 3.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 27 points, while Ricky Rubio scored 26 and Rudy Gobert added 12 for Utah, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Pelicans 116,
Pistons 108

Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle combined to score 65 points to overcome a limited performance from Anthony Davis as New Orleans Pelicans edged host Detroit.

Holiday had 37 points and Randle had 28 while Davis was limited to six points in 26 minutes as he played through an injured hip suffered in the first quarter. Tim Frazier added 14 points and Nikola Mirotic scored 12 off the bench as the Pelicans won for the third time in five games.

Blake Griffin scored 35 points, backup Langston Galloway added 24 and Andre Drummond had 23 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Pistons, who lost their fourth straight after a five-game winning streak.

Hornets 119, Knicks 107

Kemba Walker scored 25 points before sitting out the entire fourth quarter and Charlotte rolled to an easy victory over host New York.

Walker, a native New Yorker, turned his only scheduled appearance in Madison Square Garden this season into another great performance. He finished 8 of 20 from the field, hit four 3-pointers, and added six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

The Hornets (13-13) won their second straight, following up an impressive home win over Denver on Friday night. Kevin Knox led the Knicks with 26 points off the bench. The Knicks also got 21 points from Tim Hardaway Jr and 18 from Frank Ntilikina.

AMMAN — Jordan will return to the global motorsports’ scene in 2019 after being accepted onto the newly formed FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Baja Rallies, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Following its hugely successful candidate event in September, the world governing body, the FIA, has rubber stamped Jordan’s application to become a part of the exciting 10-round championship that will get under way on February 14-17 in Russia.

It will then visit rounds in the UAE, Italy, Spain, Hungary and Poland before its Jordan entry from September 19-21, and then finish the eight-round season in Portugal.

The 2019 Jordan Baja will once again be based out of the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba, one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the Middle East.

The stages are run through stunning desert terrain to the north and east of the city.

Jordan has a successful track record in hosting major motor sport events after receiving widespread praise for its three editions of the FIA World Championship hosted in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

LONDON — Chelsea brought a whole new dimension to the Premier League title race when they handed Manchester City their first defeat of the season on Saturday to leave Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool as the new leaders.

Egyptian Salah was back to his best with a hat-trick in his side’s 4-0 win at Bournemouth in the early game to move Liverpool a point clear of champions City.

Their tenure at the top was expected to be brief, but five hours later City’s aura was dented by a shock 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, with N’Golo Kante and David Luiz proving their unlikely executioners.

The results left Liverpool on 42 points after 16 games and the only team in the league still undefeated after City’s 21-match unbeaten streak, stretching back to a loss to Manchester United in April, was ended.

Chelsea’s win moved them temporarily into third on 34 points, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference after the Gunners beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 with a belated and brilliant Lucas Torreira bicycle kick.

But Tottenham Hotspur strolled to a fifth win in six league games with a 2-0 victory at Leicester City in the day’s late kick-off to reclaim third spot.

Nonetheless, it was City’s lacklustre loss after seven straight wins that sent tremors through a league that had been beginning to talk up the domestic invincibility of Pep Guardiola’s team.

They had dominated proceedings until just before the break when Eden Hazard set up the normally goal-shy Kante to fire home brilliantly into the roof of the net.

It was the first time City had been behind in the league since drawing with Wolverhampton Wanderers in August and they were surprisingly toothless chasing the game either side of Luiz heading home Chelsea’s second from a corner in the 78th minute.

Luiz said he felt Chelsea had beaten “the best team in Europe at the moment”.

Yet City hardly looked like it, their effort proving in stark contrast to Liverpool’s.

Salah, who had suffered a slow start to the season after his golden boot exploits of 2017-18, struck with what looked an offside rebound in the first half before scoring two individual beauties after the break.

A Steve Cook own goal for Liverpool’s third summed up Bournemouth’s misery at the Vitality Stadium as the Reds took their unbeaten streak to a club record-equalling 17 top-flight matches. 

Juergen Klopp hailed his side’s performance as “mature” and saluted the “absolutely brilliant” Salah who clambered alongside Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts on 10.

Salah handed over his man-of-the-match award to team mate James Milner, saying it was the “perfect” way to celebrate him joining the elite club of players who have made 500 Premier League appearances.

“I have to congratulate him on an amazing career — he deserves this today,” Salah said.

Stodgy form

The grumbles at Old Trafford around the stodgy form of Manchester United, who had not won in four league matches, were silenced when goals from Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford wrapped up a 4-1 win over 10-man Fulham.

The visitors had Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa sent off in the second half, minutes after an Aboubakar Kamara goal from the penalty spot had given Claudio Ranieri’s side a glimpse of an unlikely escape.

“The fans today enjoyed it. That is the Manchester United that we want to see,” said a delighted Mata.

Defeat left Fulham on nine points, alongside Southampton, who offered new Manager Ralph Hasenhuettl a glimpse of the task he faces in a 1-0 loss at fellow relegation contenders Cardiff City, Callum Paterson scoring the 74th-minute winner.

Torreira built on his new cult status at Arsenal with an acrobatic 83rd-minute winner that extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 21 matches.

Huddersfield’s defeat left them on 10 points in 18th place as Burnley leapt out of the bottom three with James Tarkowski’s first-half goal earning them a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Turf Moor.

Spurs made light work of claiming back third spot, with goals from Son Heung-min and Dele Alli’s 50th for the club enough to inflict a first league defeat in seven on Leicester.

Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino could even afford to give Harry Kane a rest from the start ahead of their must-win Champions League clash with Barcelona.

AMMAN — The Jordan Professional Football League is now on hold to allow the national team to prepare for the Asian Cup 2019 in the UAE, where Jordan will play in Group B alongside Australia, Syria and Palestine.

Jordan, now at 109th when the latest FIFA Rankings, is now holding a training camp in Oman after they played two friendlies at home beating India 2-1 and holding Saudi Arabia 1-1 in the final home camp ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup. Their final friendlies will be in Qatar where they will play against Kyrgyzstan on December 20, Qatar on December 24 and China on December 28 in the final phase of preparations before their first Asian Cup match on January 6.

Earlier, Jordan tied Oman 0-0, lost 1-0 to Lebanon, held Albania 0-0 and lost 2-1 to World Cup runner-up Croatia.

The league break will give coaches a chance to reassess strategy and work on their line-up until Leg 2 starts on February 2. As the clubs headed to the break, Jazira held on to a slim lead after suffering their first defeat to Faisali (1-0) and a previous 1-1 draw with Shabab Urdun, who are second after they beat Aqaba 3-0.

Salt remained third after they beat Hussein 2-0 and Wihdat remained fifth after they beat Ramtha 2-1. Ahli temporarily move out of the relegation zone and are 10th after they beat Baqaa 2-1.

Jazira maintained their lead like the past two seasons, ahead of usual champs Wihdat and Faisali. Last season, Wihdat won the league for a record 16th time. Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira also finished runner-up in the league but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after they last won the Jordan Cup in 1984.

The 2018/19 football season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup — the first major competition on the annual football calendar.

Since the league kicked off in 1944, Faisali are 33 time record winners, while Wihdat were crowned champs for 16 times since they joined the league in 1980.

On the regional scene, Jazira were eliminated from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup West Asia zone final losing to the Iraqi Air Force team and failing to reach the continent’s final. Faisali had bowed out in the event’s semifinals. 

Likewise, Ramtha bowed out to Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. League holders Wihdat will represent Jordan in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were eliminated, while Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, and Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.

AMMAN — Jordan’s delegation for the World Short Course Swimming Championships has arrived in Hangzhou, China, ahead of the start of competition on December 11, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Mohammad Al Bdour (100m, 200m Freestyle), Amro Al Wer (100m, 200m Breaststroke), Lara Aklok (100m, 200m Butterfly) and Lydia Al Safadi (100m and 200m Freestyle) will join 950 swimmers from 178 countries at the six-day event in the 25m pool.

GENEVA — A small country with a modest footballing infrastructure, Croatia has consistently churned out world class players and performed well at the top level.

Their footballing success, which culminated with the team reaching the final at this year’s World Cup in Russia with wins over Argentina and England along the way, left many observers asking the question: how do they do it?

The secret may lie in Croatia’s approach to coaching at grassroots level, and an emphasis on producing players who can think on their feet, according Boris Kubla, a top official from the Croatian Football Association’s coaching department.

Kubla said that what the country of 4.2 million people lacks in facilities, it makes up for by providing top-quality coaches and staff at all levels.

“Our players are raised in conditions at the clubs which are not so good — we don’t have good facilities or infrastructure,” he told Reuters after giving a presentation to the International Sports Convention in Geneva. “But we invest in a good education for coaches.”

Kubla said that all coaches in the country had to have a UEFA licence and were paid, even at junior level.

“We don’t have any volunteers... everyone has a part-time job, or full-time job,” he said.

“I know this is a little different to other countries, but in Croatia everyone has a licence and everyone gets some financial benefits. Why? Because we want them to do a good job.”

When clubs and academies cannot afford to pay for staff, the local city council often chips in, Kubla said.

Croatia joined FIFA in 1992 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and has missed only one World Cup — in South Africa in 2010 — since entering the competition for the first time in 1998.

In addition to reaching the final this year, they were semifinalists in 1998 and twice European championship quarter-finalists — a record that many bigger countries would be proud of.

Dozens of Croatians play in the top leagues around Europe and midfielder Luka Modric won both the major player of the year awards this year.

‘Tactical thinking’

Kubla said that much of the structure had been inherited from Yugoslavia, which was itself known for producing an abundance of technically-gifted players.

“These structures have been the same for 30 years, since before independence, but we are now more focused on our own country and our own possibilities to develop our players into top players,” he said.

Croatian clubs also get some financial help from FIFA’s solidarity mechanism, as they get a small part of the transfer fee every time a player they raised moves clubs during his career. 

Meanwhile, coaching methods emphasise the importance of tactical awareness in players.

“The tactical thinking of the player; this is the main aim we want to develop in our football schools and our national team. We don’t want just robots,” said Kubla.

“Today’s players need to know how to react under pressure, against better opponents.”

“If we have just drills in training, that leads to automation and players don’t think about why they are doing that. Players are not developed for automation, they must be able to think.”

Kubla conceded that Croatia enjoyed some luck on its way to the World Cup final, but said that was an important part of sport.

“If you remember the game against Argentina there were several clear chances for Argentina but it didn’t score... maybe that game could have gone a different way,” he said.

Yet, he rejected the idea that Croatia had benefited from having a so-called golden generation of players, saying that more were rolling off the production line.

“It is one player one year, three players next year, four players next year,” he said.

“For the last [Nations League] game against Spain, there were some players from the under-21s, so several young players are coming into our national team.”

There is one other important factor — the country’s passion for football.

“There is a football mentality in the region. We live for football, we grow up with football, we recognise good football,” he said. 

“When we came back from Russia there was a national explosion of happiness on the streets, in every city, every town, every place. That can only happen in a country which lives for football.”

LONDON — It has taken less than two weeks for the optimism generated by a 12-match unbeaten start to Maurizio Sarri’s reign at Stamford Bridge to fizzle out, and this weekend the Italian faces his biggest test to date when Manchester City visit.

In fairness to the former Napoli manager, he stressed throughout the heady days of early Autumn that Chelsea were not equipped to challenge City for the title and ahead of Saturday’s clash between the sides a 10-point gap has opened up.

On Tuesday, Pep Guardiola’s City maintained a searing pace at the top with a win against Watford. Twenty four hours later Chelsea went down 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers — their second defeat in three Premier League games.

Sarri said his side had only played well for 55 minutes at Wolves and knows they will have to be at full tilt for 90 minutes on Saturday evening if they are to have any chance of halting the City juggernaut.

He said he expects a “big reaction” on Saturday, but already appears to have settled for a top-four scrap along with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal rather than chasing down Liverpool and champions City.

“Manchester City are in another category. We have to play and to fight to be in the top four,” Sarri said after the setback at Wolves. 

“City are the best team in Europe, maybe the best in the world. They can win the Champions League.”

Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool, who like City are unbeaten, started without Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at Burnley on Wednesday but still won 3-1.

With a huge “must-win” Champions League game coming up next week against Napoli, Klopp may well gamble on squad rotation as they travel to seventh-placed Bournemouth for Saturday’s early kickoff.

Victory for Liverpool would take them top, at least until City’s later clash with Chelsea.

Third-placed Tottenham Hotspur will also have a massive Champions League night on their minds when they travel to Leicester City on Saturday evening.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino will be less than pleased that his side kickoff at 1945 GMT with a trip to Barcelona following on Tuesday — a game Tottenham will almost certainly have to win to reach the last 16 of the tournament.

Fifth-placed Arsenal have no such concerns as they host Huddersfield Town on Saturday looking to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 21 matches.

Manchester United, who are 18 points behind leaders City and eight adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea after three successive draws, are at home to bottom club Fulham.

United boss Jose Mourinho has made 46 changes to his starting lineup already this season and all eyes will be on his selection again as he comes face to face with the original “tinkerman” Claudio Ranieri, now at the helm at Fulham.

Mourinho left record signing Paul Pogba on the bench for Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal and also started without Romelu Lukaku, but goalscorer Anthony Martial picked up an injury against Arsenal and is a major doubt to face Fulham.

Also on Saturday, Burnley host Brighton and Hove Albion while new Southampton boss manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be in the dugout for the first time as his side take on fellow strugglers Cardiff City.

West Ham United will be seeking a third consecutive win when they host Crystal Palace in a London derby. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Basketball League resumes on the weekend after a break that allowed for the national team’s qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

After a local season that seemed to revive old memories and competitive spirit in the Kingdom’s second most popular sport, Jordanian basketball fans were disappointed after the national team dropped to fifth in the standings behind New Zealand, South Korea, Lebanon and China following defeats to South Korea (86-75) and New Zealand (96-69). The qualifiers will resume on February 22 when Jordan plays China and New Zealand on February 25. 

In previous Round 2 matches, Jordan lost 88-79 to China and 86-75 to South Korea. 

In Round 1, Jordan topped Group C after it beat India 102-88, Lebanon 87-83 and Syria 109-72, and Round 1 results were carried over to Round 2 in which 7 teams (the top three teams from each group and the best 4th ) in addition to the host China will move to the FIBA World Cup finals set for August 31 which will include 32 teams.

Therefore, basketball action now returns home to the league’s final four as Orthodoxi play Kufr Youba, while Wihdat play Ahli in the best-of-three play-offs to decide the finalists.

There were many close matches early in the season but titleholders Riyadi and Jazira failed to make it to the final four after an inconsistent season. Riyadi, champions for the past two seasons, did not have the winning edge, however, Ahli, who won the Jordan Cup earlier this year, advanced thanks to the combined determined efforts of the team led by Zeid Abbas and coach Zeid Alkhas, who has now been replaced by veteran club player Imad Saeed. 

In an effort to revive the game which was suffering from administrative snags, low funding, clubs pulling out of the competition as well as fan disenchantment, the Jordan Basketball Federation’s temporary board held the Jordan Cup earlier this year and tried to technically support teams getting around 21 clubs competing again. The board even held Jordan’s first player draft and national team stars dispersed to play among the teams and got the flavour back into the competition. Following the Jordan Cup, won by Ahli, the top six headed into the Premier Division, the rest into the First and Second divisions.

In 2015/16  season, Riyadi were crowned league champs — a title which had eluded them for 20 years — when they beat titleholders Orthodoxi. Riyadi had last won the league in 1997 by then Jazira-Aramex team (whose players later on formed Riyadi’s line-up). Riyadi won the League again in 2016/17.

Teams like former league and cup champs Applied Science University, Ittihad, and Wihdat had pulled out of the competition over differences with the Jordan Basketball Federation and players dispersed over the rest of clubs. Orthodoxi, who won their record 23rd league title in the 2014/15 season, won the Jordan Cup in 2016. 

The league, which started in 1952, has had 59 editions with eight teams crowned champion. It was cancelled in three seasons and discontinued once. Orthodoxi have won 23 times, Ahli 21, Zain (Fastlink) six times, ASU four times, Riyadi and Jazira-Aramex twice each, while, Urdun, Watany and the Electricity Co. won once each.

LONDON — Formula E starts its fifth season next week, braced for a big breakthrough but already looking far down the road to a future when its all-electric cars could rival Formula One machines and race on similar circuits.

The futuristic Gen2, or second generation, cars that will debut in Saudi Arabia on December 15 now boast double the battery range.

That means drivers can do a full distance without having to pit, jump out and change vehicles midway through a race, as they have had to up to now.

“I think season five is the big season for Formula E,” Chief Executive Alejandro Agag told Reuters in an interview at his London headquarters. “Season five is the moment of truth for Formula E.

“Now people are coming, assuming that this is a long-term venture that is going to be playing a really huge role in the motorsports industry and in the car industry,” added the Spaniard.

“And we cannot fail. We have new manufacturers, new sponsors. It’s great, but it also means more responsibility.”

The technological step-up will lend the series, whose shareholders include Discovery Communications and John Malone’s Liberty Global, greater credibility and burnish its credentials as a test bed for electric car manufacturers.

The new cars are still far from Formula One pace, with the Gen2 accelerating from 0-100kph in 2.8 seconds compared to under two for an F1 car.

The top speed of 280kph compares to Formula One’s record of 372, but the gap is closing.

“Electric cars are going to go faster and faster,” said Agag. “I see us going now towards smaller batteries with the same amount of power, and ultra-fast charging so maybe one or two pitstops during the race in generation three.

“This will mean less weight, even more power, so a lot more performance.

“And I think generation four or five can be at the same level as the Formula One cars today.”

Track tests

Ultimately, he said, the time could also come when Formula E was ready to break away from being purely a city-based street circuit series, where speeds are limited by track characteristics.

The Spaniard said he and Jean Todt, president of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) had discussed a lot whether Formula E might one day feature on regular circuits.

“I think when the performance is there, we need to provide a platform, a laboratory for these electric cars to go to the limit,” he said. “At the same time, racing in cities is part of our DNA.

“I see maybe a hybrid situation in which we keep some races in the cities but we do maybe three, four, five at racetracks to allow these cars really to express themselves, to show their level of performance.” 

The Spaniard stated recently that he saw Formula One starting to feel the heat from Formula E in the next five years, with the electric series destined to become “the main motorsport in the world”.

Speaking to Reuters, he said his series — with manufacturers like Nissan, Citroen, BMW, Jaguar, Audi with Porsche and Mercedes set to join in 2019-20 — had reason to feel confident but there was plenty of room for both championships.

“We are not competitors with Formula One and we are still always big fans of Formula One. But obviously the fact that we are still here and now probably in the best moment of our history, of course we feel more confident,” he said.

“I don’t think Formula One should be worried at all about Formula E.

“I think our rival is tennis, golf, football. Other sports. The better Formula One does, the better Formula E will do. And vice-versa.”

Mario kart

Season Five will also feature a new “attack mode” or “hyperboost”, introducing a new level of strategy with drivers going off the racing line in certain sectors to collect more power — as in the video game Mario Kart.

“I think the cars, just the look of the new cars is incredible, but the sound of the new cars is a lot more exciting,” said Agag, summing up the draw of the new season.

“The attack mode I think is going to be super-fun to watch...we’ve just seen a glimpse of it in Valencia during the test and it looked amazing, but I’m so excited to see this thing in action.

“There will be a little bit of chaos in the first race but that’s OK.”