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AMMAN — Months of meticulous planning and attention to detail will come to fruition for Jordan Motorsport when the exciting new Jordan Baja fires into life in Aqaba City on Thursday afternoon, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service.

Twenty-two cars and five motorcycles will tackle a super special stage and four demanding desert selective sections on Friday and Saturday, as the Hashemite Kingdom bids to join the prestigious FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and a calendar that includes world famous events in Russia, the UAE, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Hungary, Poland and Portugal.

The stunning Wadi Rum desert area of southern Jordan will play host to the competitive action for competitors from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Ha’il Rally winner Essa Al Dossari makes the short trip from neighbouring Saudi Arabia to top the entry with Emirati navigator Ali Hassan Obaid in a Nissan Navara. Dossari set an impressive pace at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge before his second-day accident and he starts as the favourite to become the first winner of the new cross-country rally.

“Everything is ready and we are looking forward to the rally now,” said ED Racing’s Dossari at the service park. “We travelled nearly 2,000km from Al Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia to be here. I sent the car back to South Africa after the Desert Challenge accident, and they rebuilt it and shipped it back to me. This is the first event for us since then.”

Logistical issues in the Red Sea meant that Yara Shalaby was unable to reach Aqaba by kayak from Taba as planned, but the Egyptian girl is relishing the start of the Baja with navigator Nouran Ashry in their Gazelle Rally Team Nissan Pathfinder. They are the only all-female crew on the starting list.

Salameh Al Gammaz leads the local contingent with Yousef Juma in a new Toyota Prado. A regular competitor in national special stage rallies and the Jordan Rally, Gammaz will be aiming for a podium finish on his home event.

The Jordanian driver said: “I am a rally driver but this is my first race on the sand, my first race in cross-country. I had a small test this morning in some dunes near Aqaba but, I guess, this could be a faster event. That will suit me better.”

Three all-Palestinian crews have entered in a trio of Jeep Wranglers entered in the T2.1 category. Osama El Houashla, Mahmoud Al Maabda and Ihab Al Asibi will drive the four-wheel drive machines with Yousef Ilawena, Adnan Tiaha and Akram Abu Zkika reading the road books and looking after the navigation.

Meanwhile, Palestinian navigators Tawfiq Hraiz and Baha Dagher will co-drive Jordanian drivers Mahmoud Marouf and Amjad Al Nashat in their respective Nissan Patrol and Land Rover Defender.

Kuwait’s hopes of success rest on the shoulders of Salem Al Dhafeeri and his Emirati co-driver Ali Shahim. The Dhafeeri family features regularly on entry lists in Kuwait national rallies and rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and Salem will be looking for T1 category success in his Nissan Patrol.

A fleet of experienced off-roading Saudi drivers boost the field. Ibrahim Al Muhanna won the Hail Rally in 2014 in a Nissan Patrol and has vast knowledge of the Middle Eastern deserts from his participation in events in Qatar, the UAE and in Saudi Arabia. He and navigator Osama Al Sanad are likely to push Dossari hard from the start.

The T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles has been well supported and the likes of Fahed Al Abdellatif, Gammaz, Muneef Al Salmani and Ahmed Al Shammeri will be aiming for class honours.

Ata Al Hmoud tops the five-strong Jordanian motorcycle entry that includes Hamza Zawahreh, Bader Abdul Jawad, Khaldoon Halabi and Saif Al Zyoud.

The UAE’s Khalid Al Jafla and local driver Ahmad Shaban are non-starters from the original entry list.

The two desert selective sections have also been revised slightly after a final route check by officials at Jordan Motorsport. The timed sections will run now for 121.21km and 64.93km, respectively.

Experienced Clerk of the Course George Khoury said: “We are looking forward to this new challenge in the deserts of Wadi Rum. We have concentrated on the safety aspect of the event. The Baja takes place on open tracks in the desert and we have been obliged to make a few very small changes to the route where families are living in the area.

“The stages will offer our competitors a mix of everything. We have rocky tracks, sandy surfaces, hard ground and fast places. They will have to be prepared for everything. This event is a candidate for the World Championship and we are going to the maximum to try and guarantee this championship for Jordan.”

Hectic opening day

Thursday will be a hectic opening day for everyone connected with the new Jordan Baja. Competitors will carry out a reconnaissance of the slightly shortened three kilometres super special stage in the morning before the official pre-event press conference gets underway on the start podium in the service area from 2pm.

The ceremonial start takes centre stage from 3pm on an area of Ayla’s all-encompassing new leisure development close to the Red Sea, a short distance from Aqaba City and with the stunning backdrop of the Shara mountains and the neighbouring Greg Norman-designed 18-hole golf course.

The twisty and potentially dusty special stage fires into life at 4:53pm on an area of sand, and recently-graded gravel close to the Desert Highway on the main access route into Aqaba City.

AMMAN — While the top six remained unchanged, major shifts this week moved the standings ahead of Week 5 of the Jordan Professional Football League kicking off on Thursday.

Jazira remained atop the pack after a 3-0 win over Aqaba who dropped one spot. They will next play That Ras who are 9th after they held Baqa 2-2.

Shabab Urdun remained second after they beat Wihdat 2-0 before facing Sarih, who lost to Hussein 2-0 this week as the latter climbed from last ahead of their match against Aqaba.

Baqa are third after their draw and will next face last placed Ramtha who lost 1-0 to Ahli. The latter are now 7th ahead of their match against Salt who are 5th after holding Faisali to a 0-0 draw.

The highlight of the week will be the Faisali-Wihdat match. Although they are regarded as the leading teams and all-time winners of the competition, Jazira and Shabab Urdun are starting to take some of the limelight.

Wihdat have been inconsistent so far. This week’s defeat to Shabab Urdun, their second after they lost to newcomers Salt 1-0 and drew 0-0 with lowly Sarih, made them settle for 6th in the standings before Friday’s much anticipated match.

Faisali did not fare any better with their only win over Aqaba, and drawing in the rest of matches against relatively weaker teams.

Faisali are 33 time league winners since 1944, while Wihdat have won the title 16 times since 1980. In head-to-head matches, Faisali have won 53 out of 138 encounters while Wihdat have won 46. Thirty-nine matches ended in a draw.

The league will halt after the end of Week 5 matches as the national team regroups to play Albania on October 10 and World Cup runner-up Croatia on October 15 as it gears up for the 2019 Asian Cup. Jordan’s coach Jamal Abu Abed has been relieved of his duty by the Jordan Football Association after the team only managed a 0-0 draw with Oman and earlier lost to Lebanon 1-0.

Jazira lost their home match 1-0 to the Iraqi Air Force in the Asian Football Confederation Cup, which was twice won by Faisali and once by Shabab Urdun. Ramtha will host Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the return leg of the Arab Clubs Championship on September 28 as they seek to makes up for their 3-1 defeat in Leg 1.

AMMAN — Jordan Motorsport has confirmed there will be a strong regional flavour to the official entry lists for this week’s inaugural Jordan Baja, the Kingdom’s first cross-country rally to run since 1990, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Drivers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are joined by navigators from the five Arab countries to support Jordan’s exciting introduction to the FIA international cross-country rallying calendar. The event will be a candidate for the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. 

Twenty-two cars and five motorcycles will tackle 383.80 competitive kilometres in a route of 725.52km on this event being hosted through some of the most beautiful desert terrain on the planet.

Wadi Rum is a giant valley cut into sandstone and granite rock 60km to the north of Aqaba. It is also known as the Valley of the Moon or the Roman Valley, is the largest wadi in the Hashemite Kingdom and the home of the Zalabia Bedouin.

Saudi Arabia’s Essa Al Dossari heads the four-wheel entry in his Nissan Navara, where he faces competition from the likes of Egypt’s Yaha Shalaby, local drivers Salamah Al Gammaz and Ahmad Shaban, Kuwait’s experienced Salem Al Dhafeeri and 11 additional Saudi drivers, including Fahad Al Abdullatif, Ibrahim Al Muhanna and Muneef Al Salmani.

Khaled Zakaria is one of the most successful Arab navigators in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) and the Jordanian returns to competitive action with Shaban in a Humme H1.

Zakaria won six rounds of the MERC with the UAE’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the 2004 Jordan Rally with Amjad Farrah before turning to the organisational side of motor sport when work commitments permitted.

Three drivers will take part in the T3 category: Saleh Al Saif represents Saudi Arabia in a Can-Am Maverick X3 and faces competition from the likes of Jordanian airline pilot Malek Al Hariri and his navigator Ziad Masannat in an MN 1600 and the UAE’s Khaled Al Jafla in a second Can-Am.

Late entries for Saudi Arabia’s Motab Al Shammeri and Jordan’s Ibrahim Mhawish boosted the car field to 24.

Meanwhile, five Jordanian riders have supported the brand new category for motorcycles. Former rally navigator Ata Al Hmoud tops the entry on a Beta 390 and is joined by a pair of Kawasakis for Hamza Zawahreh and Bader Abdul Jawad. Khaldoon Halabi (Honda CRF 450 X) and Saif Al Zyoud (Yamaha WR 450) complete the local entry.

While officials at Jordan Motorsport make final checks and any necessary modifications to the two desert selective sections of 122km and 67.9km that will test man and machine to the limit on Friday and Saturday, competitors prepare their racing equipment before technical scrutineering and administration checks take place at the Aqaba Service Park on Wednesday.

Temperatures have been up in the high 30ºC in recent days and tyre wear on abrasive rocky surfaces, engine overheating and driver and navigator fatigue are all factors that teams will need to take into account.

Competitive action gets under way with a timed super special of four kilometres in Aqaba City from 4:37pm on Thursday afternoon. The result of this short stage takes on extra significance in cross-country rallying, as the top 10 drivers will be able to choose their starting positions for the first of the longer desert sections on Friday.

France manager Didier Deschamps believes Paul Pogba’s strained relationship with the media is due to the “unfair criticism” he has received in the past, and said the misunderstood Manchester United midfielder had learnt to cope with it.

Pogba played an important role as France won the World Cup in Russia this year, but the 25-year-old has been criticised by the media for not consistently exerting his influence at United amid talk of a rift with manager Jose Mourinho last season.

“I’ve spoken to him about his relationship with the media and I think he’s been unfairly criticised in the past. That’s why there has been this aggressive vibe and he’s had this strained relationship,” Deschamps told the British media.

“But criticism is part of the job and I think you learn to take that on board as you get more experienced. That’s what’s happened with him and I think he’s gained some respect.”

Deschamps said the outside world had an incorrect perception of United’s record signing.

“The rest of the world, and certainly in France, has an image of Pogba that doesn’t really reflect who he is. There’s this idea that he’s a bit individualistic — that’s not the case,” former France international Deschamps added.

“He joined us ready to become a world champion and he took the whole squad with him.”

Meanwhile, Pogba said United had to attack more when playing at Old Trafford, following their disappointing 1-1 draw against promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

“We are at home and we should play much better against Wolves. We are here to attack,” Pogba said.

“When we play like [that] it’s easier for us... I think teams are scared when they see United attacking and attacking. That was our mistake.

“Maybe the attitude should be better and we should play better because, again, we are at Old Trafford and we should just attack and press like we did against Tottenham [Hotspur], Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal last season.”

United host Derby County in the League Cup third round on Tuesday before travelling to West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah netted his first league goal since August 25 as the Reds thrashed Southampton 3-0 on Saturday to leap-frog Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table and confirm their best start to a season. 

Juergen Klopp’s side have won all six league games and are two points ahead of Chelsea, who have five wins from five games and play West Ham United on Sunday. 

An own goal by Wesley Hoedt started the visitors’ misery in the 10th minute as Xherdan Shaqiri’s shot hit Shane Long before bouncing into the net off the Dutch defender and Joel Matip made it two with a header from a corner 11 minutes later. 

Liverpool’s Egypt forward Salah, who had failed to score in his last two league games, went close with a delightful flicked effort with his back to goal at the end of the first half, the Anfield crowd singing his name in praise. 

He made amends minutes later, though, bundling home a Shaqiri free kick that came back off the woodwork in first-half stoppage time for his third goal of the season.

Southampton failed to mount a comeback after the break and the result left them languishing in mid-table.

“I’m really, really happy about how we played the game today, because it was clear it was a really difficult game, we knew that form the last few games when we played Southampton, but today we were in a really good mood,” Klopp said.

For all Liverpool’s firepower, it is their defence that has been most impressive this season, keeping another clean sheet and barely allowing Southampton a shot on target. 

“A clean sheet is very important and staying concentrated in an intense period is difficult ... Joel Matip was spot on and the full backs had outstanding work rate and I liked what I saw,” the German coach said. 

Central defender Virgil van Dijk had to be substituted 10 minutes into the second half. 

“He had already before the PSG game a bruise in his ribs which is uncomfortable... he said he could not shout anymore, but he should be ok,” Klopp said.

TOKYO — US Open champion Naomi Osaka stormed past Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final of the Pan Pacific Open, where she will face Karolina Pliskova.

Osaka’s victory in front of an expectant home crowd was her 10th in a row and did not look in doubt from the moment the World No. 7 pounded down a huge ace with her first serve of the match.

The 20-year-old, who became Japan’s first Grand Slam singles champion in New York two weeks ago, hit a further eight aces to overwhelm World No. 37 Giorgi.

Osaka has carried the poise and power that saw her overcome Serena Williams in the Flushing Meadows final across the Pacific with her and, helped by eight double-faults from Giorgi, wrapped up the victory in just 72 minutes. 

A runner up at this event two years ago, Osaka has not dropped a set so far this week and has had her service broken just once. 

“It’s a bit surprising but I felt kind of calm going into the first round match and a lot of people were surprised because they thought I would be very nervous,” Osaka told reporters of her stunning run of form.

“Today was the first match that I felt nervous. But other than that I feel like I’ve been playing well and I’ve been trying to set little goals for myself. 

“Because if you set a really high goal, than normally, for me at least, I tend to overwhelm myself. I’m trying to stay at a consistent level so hopefully I can keep doing that.”

Pliskova battles on

Osaka advanced to face World No. 8 Pliskova in the final after the big-serving Czech outlasted Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a topsy-turvy match that lasted more than two hours.

Pliskova has spent more time on court than any other player at this tournament despite a first round bye and was once again dragged into a long contest by a dogged Vekic.

The former World No. 1 started as if intent on finishing the contest as quickly as possible, storming to a 4-0 lead before wrapping up the first set in less than half-an-hour.

Vekic, though, had defeated top 10 players Sloane Stephens and Caroline Garcia en route to the last four and recovered from an early break in the second set to secure two of her own.

A weary-looking Pliskova dug deep in the decider and the quality of her superior hitting eventually told as she broke Vekic’s resolve with a strong start to the third set.

“I think tomorrow is a completely different day,” said Pliskova, who admitted to feeling tired during the second set. 

“It’s the final, so you just forget about all those minutes that you spent on the court. It’s the last match also, so I just want to put in everything, what I have left in body.”

Currently just outside the eight qualifying spots for next month’s WTA Finals in Singapore, Pliskova has now spent 420 minutes on court in Tokyo compared to 222 minutes for Osaka.

Both players are in the top 10 in terms of number of aces served on the tour this year.

“I have played Pliskova twice already and so I know she is a great player,” said Osaka, who won their last meeting at Indian Wells.

“She has basically every shot and she has a really good serve, so I know it will be a very difficult match.”

Pliskova added: “I know her game. I have my weapons, she also has hers. It’s going to be a lot about serves.” 

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s U-16 women’s football team plays its last Group A match against Guam on Sunday at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Women’s Championship Round 1 qualifiers in currently under way in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Jordan crashed 9-0 to China on Friday and is now third in the group after it held Uzbekistan 0-0 and beat Sri Lanka 7-0. China leads the table ahead of Uzbekistan.

A total of 30 teams are playing in six groups. The top team and best two second placed teams move will move to Round 2 of the qualifying campaign in February 2019, where the teams will play in two groups with the top two from each group advancing to the finals.

Other Arab teams at the qualifiers include Palestine in Group D and Lebanon, the UAE and Bahrain in Group F.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s U-16 men’s team held North Korea 2-2 in the opening match of its Group B 2018 AFC U-16 Championship match on Friday.

The event which will run until October 7 saw Oman beat Yemen 2-0 in another Group B match. In other matches Malaysia beat Tajikistan 6-2, Japan beat Thailand 5-2, Indonesia beat Iran 2-0 and India beat Vietnam 1-0. Jordan will next play Oman on Monday. 

Organised by the AFC, and held once every two years for Asian U-16 teams, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Iraq is the reigning champs. 

The U-19 women’s national team is also preparing for the AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers set for October 20-28. A total of 27 teams will play in six groups with Jordan in Group E alongside Malaysia, the Northern Mariana Islands and Vietnam. 

The top team from each group and the top two second placed teams move to the second round set for April 2019, where the teams will play in two groups with the top two from each group advancing to the finals.

In men’s competitions, Jordan was drawn in Group C for the AFC U-19 Championship to play alongside Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. The Championship hosted by Indonesia as of October 17, will see 16 teams playing in four groups with the eventual semifinalists playing in the FIFA U-19 World Cup.

Jordan had failed to qualify to the championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-23 team were knocked out of the first round of the 3rd AFC U-23 Championship which acts, as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2016, Jordan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the AFC U-23 Championship and missed the Rio Olympics. In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014, Jordan took third place when it beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

In women’s Asian competitions, this year saw Jordan becomes the first country in the West Asia zone to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup which is held every four years. The continent’s top eight teams played the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

In 2016, Jordan hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East from which the top five advanced to the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.