Sports

SINGAPORE — Caroline Wozniacki produced an almost perfect display to dismantle World No. 1 Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2 at the WTA Finals on Wednesday as the Dane eased into the semifinals with her second dominant victory in as many matches.

Wozniacki had started her fifth appearance at the season-ending tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Romania’s Halep appeared equally as powerless against the 27-year-old former World No. 1.

The Dane’s victory margin assured her of a last-four berth after the loss of four games in two matches while Halep lives to fight another day with her opening straight-sets win over Caroline Garcia giving her a 1-1 record in the Red Group.

Frenchwoman Garcia recovered from her opening loss to rally past Svitolina with an epic 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-5 victory later in the day, a result that leaves the other three women in the group all with a chance of joining Wozniacki in the semis. 

Wozniacki has been the form player on the WTA Tour this season, winning 58 matches, reaching seven finals and claiming one tournament victory in Tokyo last month.

The rankings show Halep as the world leader and Wozniacki in sixth but the Romanian was utterly outclassed as her opponent raced through the first set in 23 minutes on the back of a 94 per cent first serve success rate.

“I think I played really well today and stayed aggressive throughout. I didn’t expect to be leading by that much in the first set and I started to think ‘what’s happening? Am I really playing that well?’,” Wozniacki said in a courtside interview.

Halep had been as much a spectator as the stunned crowd packed into the Singapore Indoor Stadium and although she tried to rouse herself after getting to 30-30 in the first game of the second set, Wozniacki held firm for a 1-0 lead.

Fleeting respite

The Dane had won 17 games in a row across her last two matches before Halep finally got on the scoreboard after 34 minutes when she held to love.

The respite was fleeting, however, as Wozniacki continued to punish Halep’s scrappy forehand to break for a 3-1 lead and an ace snuffed out the only break point the Dane faced all match as she moved within two games of victory.

Another forehand error handed Wozniacki a match point after a little more than an hour, which she duly converted with a forehand winner.

“I just stayed positive, took the ball early and went for my shots,” the Dane added. “It’s a great court for me as I was putting spin on the ball to get in position for my shots and wait for the right opportunities to hit my winners.” 

Garcia was the more aggressive of two well-matched players, even forging a pair of set points in the opening tiebreak, but sloppy forehand errors handed Svitolina the initiative as she edged the tightest of first sets.

Svitolina broke early in the second to assume control until Garcia threw caution to the wind, after shedding a few tears following a pep-talk from her father and coach Louis-Paul, and reeled off five of the next six games to level the match.

The decider followed a similar pattern to the second set with Svitolina keeping her nose ahead until Garcia fought back through a barrage of winners to reel off the last four games and seal her first WTA Finals victory.

Halep will hope to advance with a win over Svitolina on Friday, while Garcia faces the unenviable task of taking on Wozniacki with the world number eight needing a victory to stand any chance of reaching the last four.

AMMAN — The second round of the third major competition on the 2017/18 football calendar — the Jordan Cup — ended with teams trying to make up for defeats in the Jordan Professional Football League.

League teams are playing in four groups in the first round with the top team moving to the semis. Jazira lead Group A after First Division champs Aqaba held Ramtha 0-0. Wihdat lead Group B after they beat Hussein 1-0. Ahli lead Group C after they upset Baqa’a 2-0 and Manshieh lead Group D after they beat That Ras 2-0. Week 1 saw That Ras upset Shabab Urdun 1-0, Jazira beat Aqaba 4-0, Faisali edged Baqa’a 2-1 and Hussein overcame Yarmouk 2-1.

So far this season, Jazira lost two finals as reigning League and Jordan Cup champs Faisali beat Jazira 2-1 to win the 35th Jordan Super Cup, while Wihdat beat Jazira 2-0 to win the Jordan Football Association Shield final.

Since the Cup started in 1980, there have been 37 editions with Faisali being a record 19-time champion, Wihdat won 10 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each, while Jazira, Arabi, That Ras and Ahli won once each.

Last season, Faisali combined the Jordan Cup title with their 33rd league title. Ahli won the 34th Super Cup while Shabab Urdun won their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. 

AMMAN — Paralympics star Khitam Abu Awwad clinched the gold medal at the Thailand International Table Tennis Championships in Bangkok, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games bronze medallist took the gold after beating Japan’s Nihu Sakawa in the final 3-1. She then paired with her teammate Fatimah Al Azzam and took the team silver.

More Jordan glory came from Osamah Abu Jame’ who won bronze in the Men’s singles.

“The players were in great form and have now qualified for the World Championships,” said a delighted coach, Haroun Al Shaltnoi.

AMMAN — Jordan is hosting the opening of two rounds of the Federation Equestrian International (FEI) Arab Horse Jumping League, with the first round getting under way on Thursday at the Royal Jordanian Equestrian Federation under the patronage of its president, HRH Princess Alia Bint Al Hussein, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Jumpers from 17 Arab and non-Arab countries are taking part with places available for the 2018 World Equestrian Championships in France.

The opening two rounds were awarded to Jordan by the FEI, with the second round to follow next month.

LONDON — Cristiano Ronaldo has set his sights on a “lucky seventh” piece of FIFA silverware after collecting his fifth Men’s Player of the Year award on Monday.

Ronaldo’s Real Madrid side, who won both La Liga and the Champions League last season, dominated the 2017 Best FIFA Football Awards at a star-studded ceremony in London on Monday. 

The Portuguese ace has scored 44 goals in just 48 games for club and country so far this calendar year, including two in a 4-1 Champions League final win over Juventus in Cardiff on June 3.

Ronaldo saw off competition from longstanding Barcelona rival Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar, the world’s most expensive player.

But, typical of a footballer who has enjoyed huge success at both Manchester United and Real, Ronaldo was not satisfied.

“I want seven. Five is good but seven is my lucky number so seven would be great.”

Real boss Zinedine Zidane took the corresponding manager of the year award, with the Spanish giants providing five players in the FIFPro team of the year.

Ronaldo won the inaugural Best FIFA men’s player of the year award last year following the end of a six-year merger between the FIFA honour and France Football’s Ballon D’Or.

The 32-year-old previously won the FIFA World Player of the Year award, the precursor to the Best FIFA award, in 2008.

He has now won the last two FIFA men’s trophies as well as three of the last four Ballon D’Or awards.

“Thanks a lot for voting for me,” said Ronaldo after receiving his trophy from Argentina great Diego Maradona and Brazil’s Ronaldo at the London Palladium theatre.

“I mention Leo and Neymar, great to be here. Real Madrid supporters, my teammates, my coach, they all support me all year.

“We are in England for the first time and I win consecutive awards,” he added. “This is a great moment for me. I have fans all over the world.”

Zidane won out ahead of Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and Juventus’s Massimiliano Allegri to be crowned men’s coach of the year after becoming the first man to oversee a successful defence of the European Cup in the Champions League era.

“I’d like to thank all of the players for making this possible,” said Zidane. “This is a very special prize.”

Real’s superb campaign was recognised in a FIFPro team that featured Ronaldo and club-mates Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos.

The XI also included FIFA’s goalkeeper of the year, Gianluigi Buffon. 

AC Milan’s Leonardo Bonucci and PSG’s Dani Alves were in the defence, with Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta in a side also featuring Messi and Neymar.

 Giroud wins best goal

 Juventus and Italy shot-stopper Buffon topped a three-strong shortlist for the goalkeeper award ahead of Real’s Keylor Navas and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer.

Monday also saw the Puskas Award for the best goal of 2017 go to Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.

The France striker received the award named in honour of Hungary great Ferenc Puskas for a spectacular “scorpion-kick” against Crystal Palace in January.

The Frenchman’s flicked volley with his left foot that went in off the crossbar won ahead of goals from Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos, 18, and South African goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.

AUSTIN, Texas — Mercedes won the Formula One constructors’ title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but Lewis Hamilton was made to wait despite cruising to a US Grand Prix victory at one of his favourite circuits.

Hamilton, presented with the winner’s trophy by former US president Bill Clinton, now looks sure to finish off the job and become Britain’s first four times world champion in Mexico next weekend.

The Mercedes driver’s fifth victory in six years at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas extended his lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, to 66 points.

There are a maximum of 75 points still to be won from the three races remaining.

“I love this track, I think this track is now my favourite to be honest,” said Hamilton, interviewed by Usain Bolt on the podium and joining the Olympic sprint champion’s signature victory pose.

“A big congratulations to the team. They work so hard back at the factory and here.”

The victory was the 62nd of Hamilton’s career and his ninth of the season.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third, despite finishing fourth at the flag, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — who had passed the Finn with a great overtaking move — was hit with a five second post-race penalty that dropped him to fourth.

“It is an appalling decision. They have robbed all of the fans here,” raged Red Bull principal Christian Horner as Verstappen left the pre-podium room.

“It was a great Grand Prix and they have screwed it up.” 

Hamilton had started on pole position, waved away for the formation lap by Bolt after an extended pre-race presentation reflecting the sport’s new US ownership and desire to jazz things up.

Celebrity boxing title fight announcer Michael Buffer gave his long and resonant call of “Let’s get ready to rumble”, after announcing the drivers to the crowd one by one, and the battle was on.

But it was Vettel who struck the first blow from second place on the grid, beating Hamilton into the first corner as the Briton moved across and squeezed him as tight as he could without making contact.

Six laps later and Hamilton was back in front and this time he stayed there.

“At the start it was looking good, we got past Lewis, but we had to realise we couldn’t go at his pace,” said Vettel.

“We were then in no-man’s land and were not quite sure. We decided to pit again, with a fresh set of tyres, and it was a bit more exciting but overall it was not the result we needed.”

The German dropped down to fourth after his second stop but passed Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas with five laps to go and teammate Raikkonen obligingly let him pass.

Bottas finished fifth with French driver Esteban Ocon sixth for Force India and Carlos Sainz, on his Renault debut after leaving Toro Rosso, seventh.

Mexican Sergio Perez was eighth for Force India with Brazilian Felipe Massa ninth in a Williams and Russian Daniil Kvyat taking a point for Toro Rosso.

SINGAPORE — Karolina Pliskova put on a ruthless display of big hitting to swat aside crowd favourite Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the opening match of the WTA Finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

The 37-year-old Williams is making her first appearance since 2009 at the elite eight-woman event but her Czech opponent hit the ground running and never looked back after she broke the American’s serve early in the first set of the group match.

The strategy was pretty much established in the opening game, with Williams, the 2008 champion, looking to come to the net whenever possible, while Pliskova was happy to rely on her powerful groundstrokes from the baseline.

Pliskova found her range immediately for a routine hold in the first game, but Williams struggled when it was her turn to serve as the Czech capitalised on some sloppy play from the American to break with a booming forehand.

A flustered Williams settled in the fourth game to finally get on the scoreboard with a second ace of the match and, after the pair exchanged breaks, Pliskova moved 5-2 ahead with a sumptuous volley after working the American around the court.

Another double fault gave the World No. 3 her first set point and she duly wrapped up the opener in 32 minutes when Williams went long with an errant backhand.

“I think my serve was pretty good today but the scoreline makes it look easier than it was,” Pliskova said in a courtside interview.

The second set began with both players holding comfortably before Pliskova edged ahead in a pivotal third game when she fended off two break points with a brilliant volley and an ace before sending down two more huge serves to stay in control.

Williams was now struggling for both range and control and Pliskova, buoyed up by the tough hold in the previous game, pounced on another poor sequence of points from her opponent to break again and surge clear.

Pliskova held to love for a 5-2 lead before a big forehand winner brought up three match points and, while Williams played her best tennis of the match to stave them off, a wayward backhand on the fourth gifted her opponent victory in just 74 minutes.

“There are no easy matches in Singapore so you have to be ready from the first point. That’s what I was trying to do today and it worked,” Pliskova added.

Spanish second seed Garbine Muguruza will face French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the second White Group round-robin match of the day later on Sunday.

The Red Group contains World No. 1 Simona Halep of Romania, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, Dane Caroline Wozniacki and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, with the first matches in that pool taking place on Monday.

AMMAN — There is a fresh impetus on developing the sport of volleyball in Jordan following a meeting between local officials and the Arab Volleyball Federation, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Facilitated by the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) and chaired by HRH Princess Ayah Al Feisal, the meeting discussed ways of growing the sport and increasing participation across the Kingdom.

Princess Ayah was supported in the meeting by her deputy president, Basheer Alwan, and JOC Secretary General Nasser Majali, while the Arab Federation was represented by its Secretary General Jihad Khalfan and Firas Al Halawaji, the assistant secretary general.

A new dawn for volleyball in Jordan broke in July when Amman hosted the Arab Juniors Championship which was soundly praised by the regional body.

As well as pledging to support Jordan’s volleyball development, the Arab Federation was briefed on the pioneering JOC Schools Sport initiative which has included volleyball and will host its next meeting in Amman.

AMMAN — The year has gone from great to exceptional for Jordan’s Olympic taekwondo gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush who has won gold at the London World Grand Prix on Friday, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The 21-year-old beat England’s Bradly Sinden in an absorbing final with a kick in the last second of the golden round after the pair drew 5-5 following the regulation three rounds.

It completed a magnificent day for Abu Ghaush, who was seeded three in London and followed up his Grand Prix bronze in August with this vital gold to boost his Olympic ranking. Abu Ghaush reached the final after winning a thrilling semifinal 19-17 against Russia’s Alexey Denisenko. But an injury sustained at the end of that bout put his final appearance in doubt.

But he came back from being 2-1 down after two rounds to pull level at 5-5 before securing the magnificent gold for Jordan in stunning style.

It builds on an impressive year for the youngster who has also won bronze at the World Championship and another bronze at the World University Games. Abu Ghaush made history last year when he won Jordan’s first ever medal at an Olympic Games – gold in the -68kg category.

AMMAN — Olympic gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush has arrived to London to compete in the third round of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. Abu Ghaush will compete in the -68kg category, which includes 27 of the world’s best from 18 countries.

The 21-year-old arrived yesterday with head coach, Faris Al Assaf, and has already familiarised himself with the Copperbox Arena. “I am very excited to be here in London and can’t wait to compete at this fantastic venue,” said Abu Ghaush.

“My goal is to be on the podium once again and bring home more glory for Jordan.” It has been a decent follow-up year for Abu Ghaush who stunned the world by winning Jordan’s first ever Olympic medal last year in Rio de Janeiro.

Among his medals since, he won bronze at the Moscow Grand Prix in August, which was another first for Jordan.

In his last outing three weeks ago, Abu Ghaush won gold in the International Palestine Championship. The London Grand Prix will welcome over 200 fighters from 57 countries.