Sports

AMMAN — Following their recent successes, Jordan’s taekwondo fighters are moving up on the world rankings, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

After winning silver at the latest World Grand Prix round in Moscow, and securing bronze at the Asian Games, Saleh Al Sharabati moved up 10 spots to 25th on the -80kg standings released by the World Taekwondo Federation.

Juliana Al Sadeq climbed seven spots to 23rd after winning bronze in Moscow and a historic gold at the Asian Games. Hamzeh Qattan, a bronze medallist at the Asian Games, moves up to 31, while Olympic gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush, another bronze medal winner in Jakarta, remains fourth missing the Grand Prix event through injury.

AMMAN — Shergo Al Kurdi beat a host of top young golfers to land the Faldo Series England Midlands Championship event at Trentham Golf Club at the weekend, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The youngster carded a final round 70 (two-under) to win his age category and provide a timely reminder that he is in top form going into the U-16 Italian Championship, where he will be the first ever Jordanian taking part.

“It was a tough three days of competition,” said Shergo. “I had a difficult start, but I bounced back on the final day to win. I couldn’t be happier.”

JAKARTA — With a glittering ceremony marking the end of the 2018 Asian Games, here are five top moments from the world’s second-largest multi-sports event:

Falling standards

A flag blunder punctured Sun Yang’s joy at winning the 200m freestyle — and prompted the Chinese swimming star to demand a re-run of his victory ceremony. The triple Olympic champion was overjoyed at winning his first gold of the games, and all was going swimmingly until the flags of China and Japan came loose and crashed to the ground as Sun was belting out the national anthem from the podium. After a delay, the ceremony began again, to titters from the audience as three officials held up the flags, one self-consciously bending his knees as he tried to adjust it to the correct height.

Stray cat strut

A humble cat stole the show on the opening day of the athletics competition when it made an unexpected appearance during the women’s 100m hurdles heats. The tortoise-and-white cat trotted nonchalantly down the track and onto the infield, as athletes and officials did a double take.

It was not the first animal intruder at a major sports event: a squirrel risked its life when it dashed in front of a snowboarder at this year’s Winter Olympics, and at Formula One’s 2011 Indian Grand Prix, a stray dog held up practice when it wandered onto the track.

Two Koreas

A joint team of athletes from North and South Korea reached an emotional women’s basketball final — before falling at the final hurdle in a tense match against China. Nevertheless, the Unified Korea team was a resounding success in Jakarta. The neighbours marched together at the opening ceremony and also formed joint teams in canoeing, in which they clinched a gold and two bronze medals. The athletes even learnt a thing or two about each other: one South Korean basketball player said she had realised that North Koreans are not “scary” after all.

Jokowi’s motorbike skit

The opening ceremony got off to a roaring start with a skit purportedly starring President Joko Widodo on a motorbike doing stunts in Jakarta’s streets. With the crowd whooping, he rode into Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. The scene appeared to take inspiration from the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics when Queen Elizabeth II seemingly made a dramatic entrance to the stadium by parachute along with James Bond.

Son’s tears

After tears of anguish at the 2016 Rio Olympics when South Korea were defeated by Honduras in the quarter-final, Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min sobbed with joy as his team was crowned 2018 Asiad champions. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride for Son as he played to secure a gold that would spare him a career-threatening stint of military service. But it all went to plan in the end, with a 2-1 win against Japan leaving Son beaming from ear to ear and poised to return to Spurs to see out his new five-year deal.

AMMAN — Team Jordan have smashed their previous record for a medals haul at an Asian Games by completing their competition with an impressive 12, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

As the closing ceremony brought the event to a rousing finale in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday night, Jordan departed with an optimistic outlook after securing two gold, one silver and nine bronze medals to finish 23rd on the table. It beat the previous best of eight medals achieved 12 years ago in Doha, Qatar.

The gold medals were won by Juliana Al Sadeq (taekwondo, women’s -67kg) and Haidar Al Rasheed (ju-jitsu, -85kg), with Zaid Sami winning silver in the ju-jitsu -94kg event.

The bronze medals were won by Freeh Al Harahsheh (ju-jitsu, -62kg), AbdelKarim Al Rashid (ju-jitsu, -77kg), Yara Kakish (ju-jitsu, women’s -62kg), Abdel Rahman Al Masatfa (karate, -67kg), Bashar Al Najjar (karate, -75kg), Ziad Ishaish (boxing, -69kg), Ahmad Abu Ghaush (taekwondo, -69kg), Saleh Al Sharabaty (taekwondo, -80kg) and Hamzeh Qattan (taekwondo, +80kg).

NEW YORK — Fifth seed Petra Kvitova became the latest big name in the women’s draw to crash out of the US Open when she lost to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-1 at the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday.

The exit of the Czech, who reached last year’s quarter-finals, leaves only three of the top 10 women’s players in the running, with defending champion and World No. 3 Sloane Stephens the highest ranked player left in the draw.

Kvitova beat Sabalenka in three sets at the Miami Open earlier this year, but the often error-prone 20-year-old Belarusian showed she had tightened up her game considerably since that encounter.

Sabalenka made 15 unforced errors to Kvitova’s 35 and won 80 per cent of her first serves as she wrapped up the victory in one hour and 25 minutes.

She overpowered the twice Wimbledon champion from the back of the court too, winning 49 points from the baseline compared to Kvitova’s 27.

“I really like to play on the big stages,” Sabalenka said courtside. 

“I really like to feel the support of the people. I didn’t expect anything, I just went on the court and tried for every point and now I’m so happy.

“I think I put more balls in [than I did in Miami]. It’s enough.”

Kvitova’s defeat capped a bad day for the top seeds at Flushing Meadows with fourth seed Angelique Kerber, sixth seed Caroline Garcia of France and 10th seeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko all failing to progress.

The quartet’s exit follows that of top seed Simona Halep in the first round and second seed Caroline Wozniacki in round two.

Maria Sharapova continued to enjoy working the US Open night shift with a 6-3, 6-2 humbling of 10th seeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday, improving her record to 22-0 under the Arthur Ashe Stadium floodlights.

There is no denying Sharapova’s love for the big stage or the New York crowd’s love for her and the five-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she feeds off the buzz.

“It’s the energy you get, no doubt I feed off this energy,” said Sharapova, who used that inspiration to carry her to victory at the 2006 US Open. 

“I don’t remember how old I was when I played my first night match, but I’m sure I was young enough to still be intimidated by the city and the lights and the atmosphere, the noise.

“But I really turned that around. I think I thrive on that. 

“I love the atmosphere. I love that they know how to cheer hard. I thrive on playing under the lights for some reason. I love that.”

Even if the match was played at night there was no masking the poor quality of the opening set that featured four breaks of serve.

Ostapenko, who was the runaway leader in double faults at this year’s final Grand Slam, had three alone in her opening service game but was not punished for her sloppiness with Sharapova unable to convert any of five break chances.

Eventually Sharapova would cash in on Ostapenko’s generosity with the Latvian offering up 11 break opportunities and the Russian converting three — more than enough to take the first set.

“First game was a tricky game,” said Ostapenko, who had 41 unforced errors to go along with six double faults. “But then I served two good serves on deuce. I won that game. 

“Then everything went just not my way. I was making so many unforced errors. 

“With that level, it was tough to beat Maria.”

The nightmare serving continued into the second set with four consecutive breaks before Sharapova finally managed a hold for 3-2.

Ostapenko, however, would not manage to hold her serve at any point in the set and Sharapova broke the 2017 French Open champion twice more to clinch the victory.

The 31-year-old will meet Suarez Navarro in the last 16.

AMMAN — Abdullah Al Talha won a silver medal in the Asian Fencing League being held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The youngster lost in the final of the Sabre competition after securing five wins before succumbing to a fencer from Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Roa Al Majali, reached as far as the quarter-final of foil weapon before being defeated.

AMMAN — Long distance runner Abdullah Al Mulaifi will compete at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 6-18, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The youngster clocked impressive times at the Asian qualifiers held in Bangkok, Thailand, in July and received his official notification this week from the International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s governing body.

He will be joined in South America by Samer Jawhar in the 800m. This is the first time athletes have qualified for the Olympics, whether youth or senior, and it takes the number of Jordanians confirmed to an impressive 11.

The others booking their tickets are Rama Abu Al Rub, Natalie Al Humaidi and Zaid Mustafa (taekwondo), karate’s Abdullah Hammad, equestrian’s Sara Al Armouti, as well as four players for the 3x3 basketball team.

MONZA, Italy — Kimi Raikkonen put Ferrari on pole position for their home Italian Grand Prix with Formula One's fastest lap ever on Saturday.

Unhappy teammate Sebastian Vettel completed the front-row sweep for Sunday's race, with championship leader and 2018 winner Lewis Hamilton a close third for Mercedes.

Vettel is 17 points adrift of Hamilton in the standings with eight rounds remaining and can expect Raikkonen to give him every assistance when race day comes.

Raikkonen's stunning lap of one minute 19.119 seconds, at an average speed of 263.587 kph, smashed the track record of 1:19.525 set by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams at Monza in 2004.

"I couldn't think of a better place to be on pole," said Raikkonen, who appeared to benefit from an aerodynamic tow after running behind his teammate on track. Vettel ended up 0.161 slower.

It was the Finn's first pole position since Monaco last year, the 18th of his career and Ferrari's first at Monza since 2010, when they last won at the track outside Milan.

The 38-year-old, who has not won since he was at Lotus in 2013, also became the oldest pole-sitter since Britain's Nigel Mansell in 1994.

Ferrari's last front-row lockout at Monza was in 2000, when Michael Schumacher and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello were first and second on the grid.

Vettel thought he had the pole and exclaimed 'Yes!' as he crossed the line only to be told he was second fastest to the team mate following behind. "We speak later," he said.

"Clearly I wasn't happy but I don't tell you why," explained the German when asked by reporters later what he planned to discuss.

"To be honest it was not a tidy lap and I think the other laps were actually better ones," said Vettel. "I lost time pretty much everywhere.

"It was just not a good lap and not good enough. [I'm] lucky to get second and not third."

Hamilton, who was booed by some of the Ferrari fans with their banners and flags dominating the main grandstand, had been fastest after the session's first flying laps — also with a record time — and congratulated Raikkonen.

"We knew they had the pace this weekend and it was going to take something special to catch them. It's generally been that gap all weekend. It was amazing how intense it was and that's how racing should be," said the Briton.

Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas joined him on the second row, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fifth and Romain Grosjean sixth for Haas.

Canadian Lance Stroll, whose billionaire father now owns the Force India team, gave struggling Williams their best qualifying of the season with 10th place.

"We didn't expect that, we expected a much more challenging situation but the car felt good, we managed to get a good tow throughout qualifying and that helped us," said the teenager.

"It was one of those days when it all clicked."

McLaren's Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, whose team mate Fernando Alonso clashed on track with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in the second phase of qualifying, could not say the same after setting the slowest time.

He will avoid starting at the back of the field, however, with Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson all having grid penalties.

Ericsson escaped unscathed from a huge crash on Friday.

AMMAN — The experienced Khalid Juma has been crowned the 2018 Jordan National Rally Champion after taking the third round of the Jordan Motorsport-organised series on Friday, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Juma cruised to victory by a winning margin of three minutes and 50 seconds, taking the maximum 25 points in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 and securing the drivers’ crown with a round to go.

Salameh Al Gammaz, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, moved into second on the championship standings after finishing second, with Ihab Shurafa continuing his consistent season in third place, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, while Sami Fleifel and Tareq Al Taher completed the top five.

With the drivers title already sorted, there is a dramatic chase for the co-drivers’ crown with Shadi Shaban, who was reading the notes for Fleifel, leading the way by just 1.5 points from Emad Juma, who has been alongside Khalid Juma for his past two victories. The final round of the Jordan National Rally Championship will be held on November 16.

NEW YORK — Defending champion Rafa Nadal eased into the third round of the US Open with a regulation 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded Vasek Pospisil on Wednesday.

A fresh-looking Nadal, whose first round match was cut short after opponent David Ferrer retired with a calf injury midway through the second set, started brightly against the Canadian and never looked back.

The top-seeded Spaniard wrapped up the opening set in 35 minutes after breaking early to go 3-0 up as Pospisil, ranked 88th in the world, struggled to settle into a serving rhythm.

The Canadian rallied briefly in the second set, improving his first serve percentage and managing to break Nadal to lead briefly, but the World No. 1 broke back immediately and went on to win four games in a row to seize complete control.

“In the second set I had two games in a row where I had trouble with my serve,” Nadal said in a courtside interview. “The first one I saved, the second one I couldn’t. I was lucky to be able to break back.

“To win in straight sets is always positive.”

Nadal started the third set on the front foot, breaking early once again as Pospisil ran out of steam. The Spaniard wrapped the contest in exactly two hours, and will next face Russian prospect Karen Khachanov, the 27th seed.

Playing his second night match in a row, Nadal looked a lot more comfortable in the muggy conditions than he did against Ferrer, who was down a set but up a break against his fellow Spaniard when he was forced to retire in the first round.

The weather has been one of the main talking points of the first week at Flushing Meadows, with high temperatures and humidity forcing organisers to impose “extreme heat” rules to give the players some relief.

The 32-year-old Nadal said he was looking forward to the end of the week, when rain is expected.

“We’ll be able to see better tennis than what we saw first couple of days of the US Open,” added the 17 times Grand Slam champion.

“Playing under these conditions is, first thing, not healthy, and second thing, is not good for nobody — not good for the fans, not good for the players. The show is a little bit worse under these conditions.”

Andy Murray lived up to his pre-tournament prediction that he would not win this year’s US Open when he was beaten 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.

The former World No. 1 and 2012 US Open champion, who is still working his way back from hip surgery and had earlier downplayed his chances, battled Verdasco for nearly three hours and 30 minutes before finally surrendering on a fourth match point while trying to force a fifth set.

“I think some of the tennis I played today was some of the best I’ve played since I had the surgery or since I came back,” said Murray.

Home fans rose to acclaim John Isner after he fought back to vanquish Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-7(7), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in a five-set, second-round thriller.

Isner relied on his power serve, delivering 38 aces in the match to surpass Roger Federer with the second-most career aces, ATP statistics showed. 

Isner appeared to feed off the crowd’s energy in the fifth set and thanked them for helping him across the line.

“This right here is what the US Open is all about,” said Isner. “I couldn’t have won this match without the support of you guys,” he added, gesturing to the crowd.

Isner later told reporters that the match had been a struggle “from the get-go” but that overall he was pleased with his performance throughout the year.

“I’m certainly very confident. I’ve had a very good year,” Isner said. “I mean, probably the best year of my career. Doing that at 33 is pretty cool.”

The three hour and 38-minute match was comparatively light work for marathon man Isner, who in July lost a six hour and 36-minute Wimbledon semifinal to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson and in 2010 won an 11 hour and five-minute match against Nicolas Mahut at the All England Club.

Isner next faces Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who beat Briton Cameron Norrie, for a place in the fourth round.