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AMMAN — Jordan Cup titleholders Ahli drew  0-0 with Oman’s Suweiq while Jordan Professional Football League titleholders Wihdat beat Oman’s Saham 2-1 at home on Monday in Stage 3 of the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Clubs from five Asian Zones are competing in eight groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the Round of 16. This year, prize money is $1 million for the winner and $500,000 for the runner-up.

AMMAN — Jordan Cup titleholders Ahli will play Oman’s Suweiq, while Wihdat host Oman’s Saham on Monday in Stage 3 of the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Clubs from five Asian Zones are competing in eight groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the Round of 16. This year, prize money is $1 million for the winner and $500,000 for the runner-up.

Ahli, representing Jordan in the AFC Cup for the first time, are now third in Group A and need a win to advance up the standings after they held Iraq’s Zawra 1-1 and lost their opening match 1-0 to Syria’s Jeish. Group A is led by Jeish who beat Suweiq 1-0.

Ahli club Chairman Saeed Shuqum met the team prior to departure to Oman and noted the significance of a win to advance in the Asian event. “Our team has had good performances. Now, we need to start scoring and winning,” he said. “We aim to win for Ahli and Jordanian football,” Shuqum said.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah Stadium in Amman will see Jordan Professional Football League champs Wihdat play Oman’s Saham in the battle for Group C lead.

Wihdat’s coach has to deal with a string of injuries plaguing the line-up, including goalie Amer Shafi’e. The Jordanian champs will seek to build on their opening 1-0 win over Lebanon’s Nijmeh to secure a qualifying spot early on. They held Bahrain’s Muharraq 1-1 in stage 2 to lead the group, as Lebanon’s Nijmeh beat Saham 2-1 to share second place. 

Both Jordanian clubs have local and regional aims. Wihdat reached the Jordan Cup semis and are now second in the league. They have been league champs for the past three seasons, and won the title for the 15th time last year since moving up to the league in 1975.

The local season opened with Ahli making history when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup – the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar. However, Ahli have been struggling in the league and were eliminated from the Jordan Cup. 

This season, Wihdat’s regional ambitions of competing among top tier teams were dashed early when they were eliminated from the preliminary round of 2017 AFC Asian Champions League. They beat AFC Cup runner-up India’s Bengaluru FC 2-1 in the preliminary round, but lost 3-0 to the UAE’s Wihda in the play-off thus failing to advance to Round 1 of the prestigious Asian competition. They moved to the continent’s second-tier club event — the AFC Cup. Had Wihdat advanced in the ACL Jazira would have joined Ahli in the AFC Cup.

Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. Wihdat were knocked out in 2016 and 2015, while Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.

It’s Wihdat’s 10th time in the AFC Cup. The competition was previously won three times by Jordanian teams. Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007.

AMMAN — Ayman Najjar on Friday won the second round of the Speed Test Championship at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan racetrack with the participation of 37 drivers.

Najjar clocked 1m14.57s, followed by Mohammed Tayseer (1m14.61s) and Ghaith Wraikat (1m15.18s).

Tayseer took the lead in the first heat with 1m14.57s followed by Najjar (1m 16.09s) and Yazan Qatan (1m17.91s). Veteran driver Husam Salem came in fourth spot with 1m18.63s. 

In the second heat Najjar was able to break Tayseer’s record with 1m14.32s and take the lead in the final heat.

Qatan retired in the second heat due to mechanical problems.

The event witnessed several objection by drivers in which the judges decided to add two seconds penalty to Tayseer for not abiding the regulations when he headed to the service park after his finished his round. 

Palestinian driver Tareq Sarsour took the Best Driver Cup.

“With Najjar winning the second round, a lot of pressure will be placed on Tayseer and make the third round more exciting and open to any other driver to win,” Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsports CEO, told The Jordan Times he said.

“The championship is becoming more and more challenging for the drivers and this is what makes this championship a unique one,” he added.

The first round witnessed Tayseer’s ultimate victory when he clocked 1m29.61s in his Mitsubishi Evo 6, followed by Salem in second place (1m29.86s) in his Mitsubishi Evo 7 and Najjar in third place (1m30.30s) in his Mitsubishi Evo Proto.

AMMAN — The second round of the Speed Test Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of 37 drivers from Jordan and Palestine at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ) racetrack.

Winner of the first round Mohammed Tayseer will face a heated competition from Husam Salem and Ayman Najjar who have a long and solid experience at RACJ racetrack. 

In this season’s opener, Tayseer clocked 1m29.61s in his Mitsubishi Evo 6, followed by Salem (1m29.86s) in his Mitsubishi Evo 7 and Najjar (1m30.30s) in his Mitsubishi Evo Proto.

Gaith Wraikat settled in fourth place with 1m31.30s and Yazan Qatan in fifth place with 1m34.57s.

Salem told The Jordan Times that the second round will be a different case.

“According to organisers, the track has been modified to be tighter and this will be another challenge for all drivers,” he said.

“The first round was a warm-up for me and my Mitsubishi Evo 9 but the second round will be a target and hopefully I will be able to take the first spot,” he added.

The event will witness the return of veteran driver Raed Dahshan, which might rattle the expectations especially as he is joined by experienced drivers who have a long history in such events: Salem Taimeh, Khatcheek Shadian and Suhail Abu Roos.

Palestine is taking part with a strong delegation: Raed Yamouni, Abed Raheem Shaqoor, Tareq Sarsour, Ibrahim Najeh and Rami Jaber. 

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO said that the participation of the five strong delegation from Palestine makes it more challenging.

“We are really excited that the event will have this challenging feel for all and we invite everyone to come and check their favourite driver,” he said.

AMMAN — Jordan slid further down to 115th in the latest FIFA Rankings issued on Thursday.

The squad is still out of the Asian top 10 trailing Iran (33), South Korea (40), Japan (51), Australia (55), Saudi Arabia (57), Uzbekistan (63), the UAE (68), Qatar (84), China (86) and Syria (95). 

World rankings top 10 are led by Argentina at No. 1, followed by Brazil, Germany, Chile, Belgium, France, Columbia, Portugal, Uruguay and Spain.

African semifinalist Egypt is the top ranked Arab team at 20th, followed by Tunisia 37th, Morocco 49th and Algeria 50th.

Jordan last played 126th ranked Georgia 1-0 in the first match under Emirati head coach Abdullah Misfer. The squad will regroup next week for a friendly against Hong Kong, which comes amid preparations for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers kicking off on March 28. Jordan will open against Cambodia in Group C which also includes Afghanistan and Vietnam.

The qualifiers which will start March 28 and end on March 27, 2018, will see teams playing in six groups with group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advancing o the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals, as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 

Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts the UAE.

Over the past year, Jordan was plagued with inconsistent results and a change of five coaches as the team was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Now, the team aims to get pats Asian qualifiers and advance to the Asian finals. 

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the championship three times. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals in 2004. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when it lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986. 

Jordan’s best FIFA Ranking was 37th in 2004, while the lowest ranking was 152nd in 1996.

AMMAN  — Teams hope that the upcoming Week 16 will help shape standings in the Jordan Professional Football League kicking off on Thursday, after leading teams were all held to draws keeping Jazira’s one point lead over Wihdat and Faisali.

Jazira were held 1-1 by 10th-placed Sarih, and next play Hussein who were also held 1-1 by Sahab.

Wihdat were also held 1-1 by Ramtha and maintained second place ahead of their match with Manshieh. Both their match and Faisali’s match with That Ras were ruled by the Jordan Football Association without fans after repeated offences in the past season.

Faisali lost to Ahli 3-1 as Ahli moved to 7th before facing Shabab Urdun, who were held 0-0 by Manshieh, who are fourth.

Hussein are fifth after a 1-1 draw with Sahab who are now 9th while Baqa’a scored their first win 2-1 over That Ras but remained last. Ramtha are 6th and next play Sarih while Sahab take on Baqa’a with the bottom four fighting a heated battle this week, as the last two are in the relegation zone.

In Stage 2 matches of the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, Jordan Cup holders Ahli held Iraq’s Zawra 1-1 and league champs Wihdat held Bahrain’s Muharraq by the same score.

Manshieh who joined the pro league this season with Sahab have asserted themselves among the leading teams while former Jordan Cup champ That Ras are going through financial strains, and are now in the relegation zone together with Baqa’a, who are usually among the upper half of standings. Jazira’s Syrian professional Mardig Mardigian has maintained his scoring prowess and leads the top scorers list with 11 goals.

Wihdat who exited the Asian Champions League, are looking to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall title, while Faisali have not won the league in the past four years and eyeing their 33rd record title.

Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years — Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali. It was Shabab Urdun’s second Shield title after they first won in 2007. In the Jordan Cup, four teams had made it to the semis in which Wihdat will face Faisali, while Ramtha play Jazira on May 12 and 16 before playing the final on May 20.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. It was Wihdat’s third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the league in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

AMMAN — Three-time Equestrian Olympian Ibrahim Bisharat has qualified to the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Finals to be held in Omaha,  Nebraska, USA, from March 29-April 2, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

It hass been a superb start to the year for Bisharat who qualified through the Shaqab Championships that took place in Qatar.

This is only the second time he has qualified to the sport’s top event, he previously competed in Aachen, Germany in 2008. HRH Princess Haya took part in 2002 in Spain. Bisharat is one of Jordan’s most decorated sportsmen, having competed in the Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing and London.

AMMAN — Jordan’s top golfers have all stepped forward to try and win back the Jordan Golf Open, which has been won by Iraq’s Amer Radee over the past three years., according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

The event, from March 23-25 at the Greg Norman-designed Ayla Golf Club in Aqaba, is set to welcome its strongest ever international field, but the Jordanians are training hard to wrest back the title.

Players like 13-year-old UK-based rising star Shergo Kurdi and the UAE-based players Ryad Al Majali and Ramzi Al Zain have confirmed their entry, while those based in Jordan are training under the watchful eye of Radee who doubles up as the national team coach.

“I realise that I am the man to beat so yes it is strange to be training the players who want to beat me but also it is pleasing to see how they have developed too,” Radee said.

“The Federation has invested well in a new facility so they are benefiting from not having to practice on soil.”

One of those local players to benefit is Asad Al Rawashdeh who says there is a new impetus on the out of competition training in order to narrow the gap with the top regional players.

“All of us have been training hard,” Rawashdeh said. “We are training every single day now so we can be in the best form possible for the Open. Like all of us from Jordan, we want to win to keep the trophy at home so.

“Amer is our coach and also the holder of the trophy for the past three years so we know the level we have to reach. It is a very tough course so anything can happen down in Aqaba.”

The gross competition is expected to be held over three days while the nett competition, which takes into account the players’ handicaps, will be held on the second two days.

AMMAN — The women’s national football team is undergoing a local training camp ahead of their upcoming qualifiers the 2018 AFC Women’s Football Championship starting April 3.

Group A qualifiers will be held in Tajikistan with Jordan playing Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Tajikistan and the Philippines. The qualifiers will see 21 teams, divided into four groups, vying for four slots to the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship which will be held in Amman grouping the continents top eight teams. The event, held every four years, has been won by China a total of 8 of 15 times. Japan is reigning champ. The top team from each group will move to the championship which includes Japan, Australia, China and host Jordan who has automatically qualified. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

Team officials and observers have voiced concern over the inadequacy of friendly matches ahead of the qualifiers apart from hosting Algeria in two matches winning 2-1 and losing 3-2. 

Jordan, now 52nd in the latest FIFA Rankings, and 11th in Asia, is eagerly anticipating qualifiers for the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship after the U-17 team competed in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2016, where they were eliminated from the first round after playing Spain, Mexico and New Zealand.  Jordan beat bids from Uruguay, South Africa, Ireland and Bahrain. Jordan was the only Arab team at the U-17 World Cup after Egypt and Morocco were eliminated from the qualifiers.

The U-17 FIFA World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East, was a big boost not only for the Kingdom but women’s sports in the region. Now Jordan will be the first country in the west Asia zone to host an AFC women’s championship. 

The last time the senior team competed regionally was in 2015, when they exited the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record.

Jordan’s women’s football teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2007, the Kingdom qualified to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship as the only Arab team but in 2014 and 2016 the team was eliminated from the qualifiers. The U-16 team qualified to the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in 2013, but failed to qualify to the 2015 and 2017 Championships.

AMMAN — Under the watchful eye of one of Jordan’s greatest ever athletes, there are high hopes from the the new crop of wrestlers, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Yahya Abu Tabeekh retired from his glorious career last year following a decade of competing at the very top of the sport.

It was a natural progression to step into coaching and alongside Ra’ed Al Qaisi he is preparing for Jordan wrestling’s first participation at a major multi-sport event under his supervision.

“We have stepped up training to twice per day for two hours each session,” said Abu Tabeekh, who is preparing six wrestlers for the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku from May 12-22.

“I know how fit and strong you need to be to succeed at these tournaments so we are able to prepare the athletes to be ready mentally and physically.”

Qaisi said the Islamic Solidarity Games are an important early step for his athletes to test their current level against tough opponents as they plan for more Asian and World level participation.

“Baku is important for us,” he said. “Some of the best wrestling countries will be participating, so it will be like a semi-World Cup for us. The best in the world will be there so it will be great for our athletes to compete and build their experience.”

Jordan is competing in 11 sports in Baku with around 70 athletes.

The wrestlers competing are Ahmad Dahshan, Mustafa Al Qadi, Hamzeh Awd Allah, Sultan Al Damen, Ameer Ishakat and Asem Kharabsheh.