Sports

SEPANG, Malaysia — Daniel Ricciardo claimed an elusive maiden win of the season at a dramatic Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, the Australian handed victory when a race-leading Lewis Hamilton retired with a blown engine.

Ricciardo was shadowed across the line by his 19-year-old Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, a result that gave the former champion team a first one-two finish since the 2013 season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in their dominant heyday.

Nico Rosberg finished third for Mercedes, fighting back from 21st after being spun around by Sebastian Vettel at the start and also collecting a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari.

The result prevented Mercedes from wrapping up a third straight constructors’ title at the home race for title sponsor Petronas but allowed Rosberg to extend his championship lead over teammate Hamilton to 23 points with five races remaining.

The Briton, who kept clear of the chaos unfolding behind him to build on a dominant pole, was comfortably on course to score a 50th career win when his engine exploded in a burst flames, with 16 circuits of the 56-lap race to run.

“I just can’t believe that there are eight Mercedes cars and only my engines are the ones that have been going this year,” the 31-year-old triple world champion, who also suffered a series of reliability woes earlier this season, told reporters.

“Something just doesn’t feel right but there’s nothing I can do about it.

“These next five races, I know me and my mechanics have got it in us but who knows what those next engines that I have are going to do,” the visibly disappointed Briton added.

‘Shoey’ celebration

Ricciardo, who lost a certain victory to his Mercedes rival at the Monaco Grand Prix in May due to a bungled pitstop, was more than happy to accept his good fortune in Malaysia.

“It obviously went the other way at Monaco, so I’ll take this today,” Ricciardo said after marking his fourth career win by drinking champagne from his boot in his now famous “shoey” celebration.

“No hard feelings to Lewis but I’ll definitely take the win,” added the Australian, who last won at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix and had claimed four podiums in the last five races.

There was no evidence of the misfortune that would befall Hamilton at the start when the Briton pulled clear from pole, keeping the lead off the line ahead of his teammate and through the first corner.

Behind him, though, there was a tremendous battle for position with Verstappen and Vettel fighting for the same piece of road only for the Ferrari to tag the back of Rosberg’s Mercedes that pushed the championship leader into a spin.

The damage from the collision broke Vettel’s suspension, ending his race immediately, and prompting the first of several virtual safety car periods.

From that point on the race was finely poised strategically with Verstappen initially gambling on a two-stop strategy as Hamilton and Ricciardo opted for one less tyre change.

The Red Bull pair engaged in a lively tussle of their own in the second half of the Grand Prix, racing side-by-side before Ricciardo gained an advantage, until they both pitted one last time after Hamilton’s retirement.

Raikkonen finished fourth for Ferrari after battling Rosberg for the final podium spot, the Finn unable to take advantage of the penalty handed to his rival after the German clattered into him while overtaking.

The first statement of the NBA preseason was made by the Toronto Raptors, one that came even before Kevin Durant made his unofficial debut with the Golden State Warriors.

The Raptors’ players and coaches linked arms during the playing of the American and Canadian national anthems Saturday night, their statement serving as the latest entry in a widespread series of protests across sports in recent weeks designed to raise awareness of racial injustice and other social problems.

“Guys were real, guys had sincere feelings, sincere thoughts, sincere things to talk about and concerns,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said before the game. “That’s what all this should be about — to induce conversation.”

It’s an issue that has been addressed by high school, college and pro teams in the US often since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first refused to stand for the national anthem in August. The Raptors’ linking arms may be considered more than symbolic — they’re the only Canadian-based team in the NBA, and their game against the Warriors was played in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Warriors’ players and coaches who were on the floor in Vancouver all stood for the anthems as per usual. In Bossier City, Louisiana, so did the members of the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, some with their hands over their hearts.

Durant took the first shot of the preseason, a step-back jumper from the right side that was well short. The former Oklahoma City star’s first basket with the Warriors was a dunk with about a minute left in the opening quarter, one that drew a loud reaction from the sellout crowd of 19,000.

“Felt good to play and play against someone else,” Durant said. “We can start building for the season and what we want to be. So it’s a good first step.”

Durant heard some boos during the game, though said afterward he felt there were more cheers.

“Once the ball was tipped, it was just another game for me,” Durant said.

Raptors 97, Warriors 93

Kevin Durant had nine points on 2 for 9 shooting in his preseason debut with Golden State, while Klay Thompson had 16 points and two-time reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry added eight. None of them played after half-time.

DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points and Kyle Lowry had six for Toronto. DeRozan and Lowry, the All-Star guards who led Toronto to the Eastern Conference finals last season, were taken out midway through the third quarter.

— Warriors: Thompson made 4 of 11 shots from 3-point range. Curry was 1 for 5 from beyond the arc.

— Raptors: DeMarre Carroll, who’s still working his way back from knee surgery performed last year, started for Toronto. He led the Raptors with 14 points, making 6 of 9 shots. Terrence Ross scored 11 for the Raptors and Jared Sullinger grabbed 10 rebounds.

Pelicans 116, Mavericks 102

First-round draft pick Buddy Hield scored 19 points off the bench for the Pelicans, who also got 19 from E’Twaun Moore and 13 from Anthony Davis.

Terrence Jones added 17 for New Orleans. Justin Anderson led the Mavericks with 14 points.

— Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki got the night off to rest, as did Wesley Matthews, Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams and Devin Harris.

— Pelicans: Bossier City is about 520km northwest of New Orleans, and Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said playing the game there was significant. “We want to be Louisiana’s team,” Gentry said.

MADABA — Khaled Juma’s reign continued on Friday as he was crowned champion of the fourth round of the National Rally Championship “La Storia Museum Rally” with the participation of nine drivers.

With this win, Juma’ became the undisputed winner of the National Rally Championship for the 2016 season for the second year in a row with 112.5 points followed by Salameh Qamaz in the second place with 69 points and Ihab Shurafa in the third place with 52.5 points.

Qamaz and Shurafa will still have a chance to battle it for the second and third place at the fifth round as Sharafa still has an opportunity to advance to second place if he wins the fifth round or Qamaz retires.

Juma’ told The Jordan Times that this is a great season.

“This is the moment I have been waiting for in this challenging season and I did it. Last year, it was also tough but winning two season in a row is truly great and I am happy,” he said.

“The rally was tough as it was on asphalt roads and although you have freedom to go fast it is still not easy and you worry more about the tyres especially when it is hot, but it was cool,” he added.

Juma’ and co-driver Imad Juma clocked 42m49s in their Mitsubishi Evo 10 followed by Shurafa and co-driver Hazem Ateyat with 45m58s in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 in the second place while Qamaz and co driver Ahmed Zeidan settled in the third place with 46m14s in their Mitsubishi Evo 5.

The rally witnessed the retirement of Fares Tell, Ahmed Shaban and Thaer Taimeh due to mechanical problems. 

Drivers had to go through Bahra (9.76km), Kroum (5.46km) and Ghernata (6.03km) three times each with a total distance of 184.57km including 63.9km of special stages.

The rally takes its name from the famous La Storia Museum Complex in Madaba which is a combination of folk, history and handicrafts centre.

AMMAN — Jordanians are eagerly anticipating Friday’s kick-off of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2016 in their capital regardless of how tough the Jordan versus Spain match could be. 

Hosting a FIFA World Cup event is a success for the Kingdom and women’s sports in the region. The mere fact that this competition, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East, is being held in Jordan is a great source of pride for fans and citizens in general after Jordan beat bids from Uruguay, South Africa, Ireland and Bahrain. 

Jordan will be competing at this level for the first time, and many anticipate a series of heavy defeats await as the squad has only played in the national league or during the qualifying campaign for the AFC U-16 Women’s Asian Cup. Now they will be coming head-to-head with some of the best teams in the world and it’s no easy task. But their coach Briton Robbie Johnson is stressing the historic nature of their upcoming U-17 Women’s World Cup debut with his line-up joining the world’s top 15 teams playing for the title in the competition running until October 21. 

Johnson was quoted by FIFA.com underlining that the opening match will be “momentous for the girls”. He added: “We’ve prepared extremely well and played Venezuela and Brazil in similar conditions to those we’ll experience at this World Cup. We lost those two matches, but that doesn’t really concern me. The girls have learnt a lot from taking on big teams that are also going to be taking part in the competition.” 

Jordan will face Spain September 30 in the opener at the Amman International Stadium. The Kingdom will also play Mexico on October 3 and New Zealand on October 7 in the first round.

“They shouldn’t be afraid of playing at this level. They’re going to put into practice what they’ve been learning for the last few months at our training camps. I’ve got confidence in them and I know that they have the necessary fighting spirit to achieve what some say is impossible,” coach Johnson added.

The 32 matches over the course of 22 days will be hosted at four stadia: The Amman International Stadium, King Abdullah II Stadium in Qweismeh, Al Hassan Stadium in Irbid and Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa. Jordan will be playing its matches in different governorates on Fridays with the match slated against Mexico in Irbid and the one against New Zealand in Zarqa. 

Jordan will be the only Arab team at the U-17 World Cup after Egypt and Morocco were eliminated in the qualifiers. The 16 teams were divided into four groups with the top two teams from each group moving on to Round 2. Round 1 ends October 8 following which the quarters will be played on October 12-13, the semis on October 17 and the final on October 21. In addition to Group A, competing teams are Group B: Venezuela, Germany, Cameron and Canada, Group C: Nigeria, Brazil, England and North Korea, Group D: US, Paraguay, Ghana and titleholders Japan.

None of the hosts of the U-17 Women’s World Cup have managed to advance past the first round of the competition so far. Azerbaijan and Costa Rica lost all three of their matches in the last two editions respectively. Similarly, Jordan’s line-up has a tough challenge but some observers think there might be surprises. 

“In football, you can’t promise anything when it comes to results,” explained Johnson. “You plan everything out, and then it all unravels on the pitch. I am sure, though, that the girls will give 100 per cent. They’re keen to get going with the tournament and have shown great commitment. They’ve got the right mindset to forget about past mistakes and the determination to show what they’re capable of.”

Women’s teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2007, Jordan qualified to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship as the only Arab team but in 2014, was eliminated from Group A qualifiers for the 2015 championship. 

The U-16 team qualified to the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in 2013 but failed to qualify to the 2015 championship. This year, the U-16 team failed to qualify to the AFC U-16 Championship.

FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP RECORD

Year    Venue                    Winner (Runner-up)

2008    New Zealand            North Korea (USA)

2010    Trinidad & Tobago    South Korea (Japan)

2012    Azerbaijan               France (North Korea)

2014    Costa Rica               Japan (Spain) 

AMMAN — It goes without saying that Jordan has had its best ever summer of sports in 2016 with Olympic and Paralympic success followed by this week’s medal-strewn Asian Beach Games, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service.

Asian and world glory is being achieved regularly now in other sports proving that there is every reason to be optimistic for a prosperous sporting future.

It is, of course, the result of hard work from the athletes and coaches, but credit should also be given to the back rooms of federations and the JOC where plans are hatched, supported and funded to provide the best support possible on the meagre resources available.

More can always be done, but it has to start somewhere and if 2016 is the key to the ignition that we have been looking for, then hop on board for a fun ride ahead.

And that ride is about to take Jordan into the relative unknown this weekend.

The Kingdom, which has hosted world championships in triathlon, fencing, snooker, rallying and cross-country running before, is gearing up for FIFA to bring its U-17 Women’s World Cup to town.

In fact, make that three “towns” to be precise with the capital Amman joined by Zarqa and Irbid in hosting the sporting world on a scale we haven’t seen before.

We caught up with two of the key stars of the show – Jordan captain Luna Sahloul, 17, and Leen Al Btoush, 15, the charismatic striker described as the team’s livewire.

The girls have battled against the tired old cultural stigmas associated with young girls playing sport, particularly football, in the Arab World to take their place at the very top table — a World Cup representing their country.

It is the stuff of dreams and the girls are well aware that their role extends much further than just a few football matches.

“It is the highest honour for any footballer to participate in a World Cup, so I am proud to be leading my country in a tournament being played in my own country,” said Sahloul, a defender who exudes huge confidence, making it easy to see why she has been selected as the team’s leader.

“We are all well aware of our responsibilities, not just as footballers but as young Jordanian women and girls trying to make a difference here.

“This event will hopefully capture the imagination of the whole country. By holding it here, we have the opportunity to show Jordan that girls are no different to boys and we can show parents that there is nothing wrong with their daughters playing football, or indeed any sport.

“No matter what our results are as a team, if we have changed the Jordanian mindset at the end of this tournament that we will be the winners.”

The organisers have pulled off a stunning job. Two stadiums in Amman and the ones in Irbid and Zarqa have been “saved” with an injection of JD25 million to be good enough to meet strict FIFA standards.

Some will say Jordan should have this sort of money spent elsewhere but local observers are quick to point out that without this tournament, the stadiums were close to being condemned as unsafe so when FIFA look for sustainable examples, they need look no further than Jordan this month.

Btoush, waiting for her leader to finish her impressive response to probing questions, replicates the same sort of passion that one hopes is running throughout the team as they prepare to meet European heavyweights Spain in Friday’s opener.

“This tournament is huge for the Arab world, and not just Jordan,” she said. “I really hope lots of families come to watch, not only the Jordan game but also the other matches to show that girls from everywhere in the world are succeeding.

“Football has instilled my self-confidence. I started playing when I was five and it has been with me throughout my life. I was playing with the children in the neighbourhood but was spotted through a programme named ‘Steps’ which included football, so I moved to the national U-14 team when I was 10 and have stepped up now to the U-17 side.”

The skipper’s love affair with football started from the day she registered with the sports club she was living next door to. She was spotted early and has spent her teenage years as a national team player at various age levels since. 

The sporting landscape changed forever in Jordan on August 18 when taekwondo star Ahmad Abu Ghaush, 20, secured gold — Jordan’s first ever medal — at the Rio Olympics.

It has stirred a nation and the girls are using his achievement as a source of inspiration ahead of the biggest moments of their lives.

“Ahmad is a hero to every Jordanian and showed that we are good enough to be the best in the world at whatever we do,” said Sahloul. “He is someone we can all call our idol now whereas before everyone was looking to overseas athletes. He has changed the way we all look at sport and we want to play our part now in inspiring the next generation.”

News from the ticket office is encouraging too. Understandably some of the group games are slow sellers but this Friday’s Jordan match is expected to be a sell-out with 20,000 fans cramming into the Amman International Stadium.

Expectations have to be realistic. Despite training hard for months the girls will be up against it from their more illustrious opposition. But there is one thing that this summer has taught us, never underestimate the Jordanians!

AMMAN — Olympic taekwondo gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush on Wednesday paid a surprise visit to the Jordan U-17 football team preparing to take on the world’s best at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The girls will be playing Spain in Friday’s opener and were delivered some words of advice and encouragement from the history maker.

“I received incredible support from Jordan during the Olympics so I was only too willing to show my support to the girls when the Jordan Olympic Committee asked me.”

Abu Ghaush just returned to light training following his gold medal winning performance in Rio de Janeiro on August 18.

“I told them that we are all right behind them and that all they can do is try their very best. Win or lose they are already our heroes,” he said.

Andre Schuerrle came off the bench to snatch a late goal and earn a deserved point for Borussia Dortmund as they twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Champions League holders Real Madrid in a compelling Group F encounter on Tuesday.

The Germany international lashed high into the net from inside the area to level in the 87th minute after Raphael Varane had restored Real’s advantage in the 68th.

The France defender’s goal made up for an earlier slip that allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to cancel out Cristiano Ronaldo’s 17th-minute opener towards the end of the first half.

Dortmund and Real each have four points with the Germans top on goal difference, while Sporting Lisbon are third on three points after beating visitors Legia Warsaw 2-0.

The hosts made an electric start at the Westfalenstadion after Ronaldo had tested Roman Burki with an early free-kick, with Gonzalo Castro and Aubameyang each firing at Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas and Ousmane Dembele shooting over.

Real were also let off the hook when referee Mark Clattenburg failed to spot a clear handball by Ronaldo in the area while defending a free-kick.

Just as a Dortmund opener looked inevitable, Real struck first with a perfectly executed counterattack.

Karim Benzema began the move with a dart down the left before finding support in Toni Kroos, who worked the ball towards Gareth Bale. He then teed up Ronaldo to arrow into the far corner.

Ronaldo raced to the sidelines to salute Portuguese compatriots Pepe and Fabio Coentrao and coach Zinedine Zidane, signalling that Saturday’s disagreement over his substitution in a La Liga match had been quickly forgotten.

Sporting Lisbon beat Legia Warsaw 2-0 in the other Group F match.

Slimani scores to beat Porto

Leicester City forgot their domestic struggles to secure a second successive Champions League victory as Islam Slimani tormented a familiar foe by grabbing the only goal in a 1-0 win over Porto on Tuesday.

Leicester sit top of Group G with six points after Slimani headed powerfully home in the first half for his sixth goal in his last four matches against Porto, having joined Leicester from Sporting Lisbon in August.

It was the first time Leicester had tasted Champions League football at home and they came into the game on the back of a 4-1 defeat to Manchester United and a run of poor form in the Premier League, but they looked comfortable throughout against Porto.

The defeat ensured Porto, who rattled the post late on through Jesus Corona, have one point from their opening two group games and have not won in 17 games in England. 

Copenhagen needed an own-goal in the second half to kick-start a 4-0 victory over Club Brugge in Group G.

Higuain on target for Juventus

Gonzalo Higuain scored his first Champions League goal for Juventus after his 90-million euro ($99.74 million) move from Napoli as the Italian title holders drubbed Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 in their Group H match on Tuesday.

The result put Juventus top of the section on four points from two games, ahead of Sevilla on goal difference after the Spanish side ground out a 1-0 home win over Olympique Lyon.

It was no more than the Italian title holders deserved after dominating throughout, with Bosnian playmaker Miralem Pjanic running the show in the opening period before he was substituted at halftime.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was purring with delight after his team steamrolled through the lop-sided contest.

“We played well throughout the game and kept going until the end because goal difference can be very important,” he told a news conference.

“I thought Higuain and Dybala linked up superbly and the floodgates opened after we took the lead. We should have scored more in the second half but I am content.

“It was also important to keep a clean sheet, our third in a row in all competitions.”

Wissam Ben Yedder’s first Champions League goal gave Sevilla a 1-0 win over Olympique Lyon on Tuesday and put them level on points with Juventus at the top of Group H.

Son strikes again for Tottenham

Son Heung-min scored his fifth goal in as many games to give Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over a limited CSKA Moscow side in their Champions League Group E clash in Moscow on Tuesday.

Despite missing five key players, Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino was still able to name a strong line-up as Spurs played their first ever Champions League match in the Russian capital.

The English side started well and dominated possession but CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who was looking for his first clean sheet in 39 Champions League encounters, was largely untroubled early on.

Zoran Tosic should have done better for the hosts just after the half-hour mark as he blazed over with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area.

Tottenham continued to press after the break, with CSKA happy to sit back on the counterattack. However, the Army Men lacked any pace to cause Spurs any significant problems when breaking.

AS Monaco’s Kamil Glik scored a fine goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen and keep them top of Champions League Group E on Tuesday.

AMMAN — The fourth round of the National Rally Championship “La Storia Museum Rally” kicks-off on Friday with the participation of nine drivers.

Winner of last year’s Jordan Rally Championship Khaled Juma’ is currently leading the standings with 87.5 points followed by Salameh Qamaz with 54 points and Ihab Shurafa in third place with 34.5 points.

Juma’, who won the first and third rounds and came fifth in Jordan Rally, the third round of the Middle East Rally Championship, will have a challenging time from Qamaz and Shurafa, who will be pressuring Juma’ to gain more points.

Juma’ clocked 55m54s in the third round, while Salameh Qamaz and co-driver Ahmed Zaidan came second clocking 56m54s, while Ahmed Shaban and co-driver Shadi Shaban came third with 1h02m04s.

Juma’ told The Jordan Times that it all ends here.

“The fourth round will be a very challenging for all the drivers as some are taking part on asphalt roads for the first time and asphalt roads are abrasive and if temperatures are hot, drivers must manage tyre wear carefully,” he said.

“My aim is to end it on higher note and win the title again. The most important thing is safety and I hope that everyone will be having fun,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Qamaz said that he is ready for the asphalt roads.

“I have modified my car to fit the asphalt roads of the rally which I am taking part for the first time on asphalt track. I am currently in the second place and first place among Group S which is fine,” he said. 

Drivers will have to go through Bahra (9.76km), Kroum (5.46km) and Ghernata (6.03kms) three times each with a total distance of 184.57km including 63.9km of special stages.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO said that all preparations for an exciting event have been concluded.

“Safety issues are our main concern and we have taken the right measurements to make sure drivers and fans are safe and at the same time enjoy the event,” he said.

“The rally takes its name from the famous La Storia Museum Complex in Madaba which is a combination of folk, history and a handicrafts centre,” he added.

MADRID — Neymar and Luis Suarez will lead the attack again when Barcelona visits Borussia Moenchengladbach in its first Champions League game since losing Lionel Messi to an injury.

Barcelona has won only once in its last six matches against Bundesliga teams in Germany.

Another German club with an important match against Spanish opposition is Bayern Munich, which plays at Atletico Madrid in a rematch of last season’s semifinals.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s matches in the Champions League:

Group A

Three months after playing against each other at the European Championship, the Xhaka brothers meet again.

Granit Xhaka should line-up for Arsenal against his older brother Taulant, a defender for Swiss team Basel. At Euro 2016, Granit played for Switzerland while Taulant featured for Albania after switching his international allegiance in 2013.

Both teams started with 1-1 draws, although Arsenal got the result at Paris Saint-Germain in possibly the English team’s toughest match in the group.

PSG, still without injured winger Hatem Ben Arfa, is away to Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad.

Group B

Napoli was the only group winner in the opening round and has a chance to solidify its lead when it hosts Benfica.

The Italian side will be relying on 22-year-old Poland forward Arkadiusz Milik, who has filled in admirably after Gonzalo Higuain’s Italian-record transfer to Juventus for 90 million euros ($99 million). He scored both goals in the comeback win at Dynamo Kiev and added two more two-goal matches in Serie A.

Benfica, which conceded a late equaliser to Besiktas at home in its opener, is likely to remain without forward Jonas because of an injury.

Dynamo Kiev will try to rebound at Besiktas.

Group C

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be making an emotional return to his hometown of Moenchengladbach.

Ter Stegen made 108 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia from 2011-14.

Celtic lost 7-0 to Ter Stegen’s Barcelona in the opener, and things don’t get much easier for the Scottish champions.

Next up for Celtic is Manchester City, which is on a 10-match winning run under new coach Pep Guardiola. One of its best performances so far was a 4-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.

City will be without one of its leading players, Kevin De Bruyne, because of a hamstring injury.

Group D

Bayern’s last three trips to Spain all ended in defeats and elimination in the semifinals of the Champions League. It happened against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, its opponent again on Wednesday.

Captain Philipp Lahm downplayed any talk of revenge for the match at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Rostov hosts PSV Eindhoven in Russia in the other group match.