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WASHINGTON — Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios won his seventh ATP title and first in three years by defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in Sunday’s men’s final at the ATP and WTA Washington Open.

The 27-year-old Australian downed 96th-ranked left-hander Nishioka 6-4, 6-3 for his first ATP title since capturing the 2019 Washington crown.

“It’s emotional for me to be back here again and claim another title,” Kyrgios said.

Kyrgios, who lost to Novak Djokovic last month in his first Grand Slam final, made back-to-back tour-level finals for the first time in his career and didn’t allow a service break all week.

“It’s just very emotional for me to see where I was at last year to now. It’s just an incredible transformation,” Kyrgios said. “I’ve been in some really dark places.

“There are so many people who have helped me get there but myself, I’ve shown some serious strength to just continue and just persevere and get through all those times and be able to still perform and win tournaments like this one.”

World No. 63 Kyrgios fired 12 aces and 32 winners against four double faults and 20 unforced errors while taking 22 of 25 first-serve points to defeat Nishioka in 81 minutes.

“I came out with great energy,” Kyrgios said. “I knew I had experience on my side. I’m really happy with myself.”

Kyrgios improved to 4-0 against Nishioka, the most recent prior win coming in the third round of his 2019 Washington title run.

In the women’s final, Liudmila Samsonova won her second career WTA title by beating Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Her first title came at last year’s German Open on Berlin grass.

“It’s like a dream,” Samsonova said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Kyrgios became the first man to sweep singles and doubles titles in the event’s 53-year history — a feat he called “super special” — by joining American Jack Sock to beat Croatian Ivan Dodig and American Austin Krajicek 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Nishioka netted a backhand to surrender a break in the opening game and Kyrgios denied the Asian southpaw’s lone break chance with a backhand winner in the sixth game, holding out to claim the first set with his seventh ace.

Kyrgios broke in the first game of the second set when Nishioka sent a forehand long and again in the final game when Nishioka netted a backhand on the Aussie’s third match point.

Nishioka, who captured his only ATP crown in 2018 at Shenzhen, hadn’t won a tour-level match since March until this week, when he upset eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals. He will jump to 54th in Monday’s world rankings, six off his career best.

“At the beginning of the year I had a nightmare,” Nishioka said. “I thought if I can’t make the top 50 again I will retire. Now I think maybe I can play a few more years.”

Kyrgios will leap to 37th in the world rankings. He would have been 15th had world ranking points been awarded at Wimbledon.

Kanepi drought extended

World No. 60 Samsonova fired 10 aces and 27 winners to beat Kanepi. The 23-year-old Russian came off a six-week layoff after Russian and Belarus players were not allowed at Wimbledon due to the invasion of Ukraine.

“I think we are all very angry about the situation. It was a really tough month,” said Samsonova, who only got her US visa two weeks ago.

Kanepi, ranked 37th at age 37, was foiled in her bid to end a nine-year WTA title drought. She last won a WTA crown at the 2013 Brussels Open.

“Overall the week was very good,” Kanepi said. “She served better than me and maybe that was the key.”

Samsonova dispatched three of the top six seeds, ousting reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu, fifth seed Elise Mertens and sixth seed Kanepi.

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom — Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah rocketed to a sprint double at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday as Australia pulled clear of England at the top of the medals table.

The Jamaican sprint star, 30, was the headline act on the penultimate night of track and field competition in Birmingham and did not disappoint the capacity crowd, destroying the field to win the women’s 200m in a Games record of 22.02sec.

“I was going for a Games record in the 100 and it didn’t work so I said, ‘I must get it in the 200’,” said Thompson-Herah.

“I’m grateful to claim that gold today, the day we celebrate Independence Day in Jamaica.”

Thompson-Herah topped the podium at last year’s Tokyo Olympics in both the 100m and 200m, retaining the titles she had won in Rio four years earlier.

But she only took bronze in the 100m behind compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson at last month’s world championships and finished seventh in the 200m final.

“I knew I had more races to come. I’m not a quitter,” said Thompson-Herah of her disappointing world championships results.

“It’s a motivation for me to continue to learn and just keep going.”

Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m earlier in the Games, faced a tough task on paper in the 200m final despite the absence of her Jamaican rivals.

But she finished nearly half a second ahead of Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, with Namibia’s Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma taking bronze.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards won the men’s 200m in a Games record time of 19.80sec.

World bronze medallist Mary Moraa produced an astonishing late burst to come out on top in a high-class women’s 800m field, timing 1min 57.07sec.

The Kenyan faded after a quick start but found a second wind to pip England’s Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson to gold. Scotland’s Laura Muir won bronze — her first Commonwealth medal.

“I tried to run 57 or 58 seconds for the first 400 but I think I was 56-something [56.8],” said Moraa. “When I reached the 500m, I think everybody went past me.

“But with 200 to go, I closed the gap and then I knew I had to push myself right until the end.”

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo outbattled Kenyan pair Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli and Jacob Krop down the home straight to win the 5,000m in a season’s best time of 13min 8.08sec, completing a distance double in Birmingham after his earlier 10,000m win.

“It was a wonderful performance for me [at the Games],” he said. “I have two [gold medals] and I’m so happy about it.”

Alastair Chalmers won Guernsey’s first ever track and field medal when he took bronze in the men’s 400m hurdles.

In the morning session, Australia’s Oliver Hoare shocked world champion Jake Wightman and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot to win 1500m gold.

The 25-year-old produced a storming late finish to cross the line in 3:30.12, breaking a 48-year-old Games record.

Australia’s Jemima Montag took gold in the women’s 10,000m race walk but the country’s recently crowned high jump world champion Eleanor Patterson was pushed into second place by Jamaica’s Lamara Distin.

Australia won two golds on the last night of action in the diving pool, in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard and the synchronised 10m platform.

England swept the podium in the men’s 3m springboard but Jack Laugher missed out on a third gold in Birmingham after a disappointing penultimate dive, being forced to settle for bronze.

Hot favourites Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets in their women’s Twenty20 semifinal cricket clash at Edgbaston to set up a gold medal match against India, who edged England by four runs in a thriller.

England was also beaten in the netball semifinals by Australia, which will meet Jamaica in the final.

India beat South Africa 3-2 in the men’s hockey semifinals and will play Australia in Monday’s gold medal match after the six-time defending champions beat England by the same scoreline.

The bowls competition wrapped up on Saturday, with Australia taking two of the final three golds on offer, in the women’s pairs and the men’s singles.

With just two days of competition to go, Australia top the overall medals table in Birmingham with 59 golds, nine ahead of hosts England.

PARIS — Lionel Messi scored twice in the second half, including with a stunning overhead kick, as Paris Saint-Germain began their defence of the Ligue 1 title with a 5-0 demolition of Clermont on Saturday.

Neymar was also in outstanding form for a PSG side who did not miss the injured Kylian Mbappe, with the Brazilian opening the scoring in Clermont before setting up Achraf Hakimi and Marquinhos for further goals before half-time.

Messi then exchanged passes with Neymar before sidefooting in the visitors’ fourth goal with 10 minutes left.

Yet Messi saved the best for last, darting into the box four minutes from the end to control a Leandro Paredes pass on his chest with his back to goal, before converting with an acrobatic overhead kick.

That goal had the crowd at Clermont’s Stade Gabriel-Montpied singing the name of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who endured a difficult first season in Paris.

PSG’s victory in new coach Christophe Galtier’s first league game in charge was achieved despite Mbappe missing the trip due to an adductor injury.

Mbappe also missed last week’s 4-0 defeat of Nantes in the season-opening Champions Trophy due to suspension.

Messi had opened the scoring in that game, while Neymar netted a brace.

The duo therefore already have six goals between them this season, with PSG looking in ominous form.

“There is no denying we have lots of talent but what I retain is the collective desire to win the ball back very early, to play with intensity, to never let up,” Galtier, who replaced the sacked Mauricio Pochettino, told broadcaster Canal Plus.

“The squad have been very receptive since I arrived. They like to work hard together, have fun together. But the season is long. This was just the first game.”

‘No risks’ for Mbappe

Galtier said he would have no trouble finding a place in the line-up for Mbappe, who is expected to return next weekend and play his first competitive game since turning down a move to Real Madrid to sign a new three-year deal in Paris.

“Kylian is an essential part of this project. For a coach, it is not very difficult to integrate a player like him into the team,” Galtier said.

“He had a little alert and so we didn’t want to take any risk.

“Obviously if we had a difficult game, or a Champions League match, maybe Kylian would have played. We preferred to delay his comeback but he should be back against Montpellier.”

Neymar fired in the opener in the ninth minute after Messi was unable to control Pablo Sarabia’s cutback, and it was Neymar who set up Hakimi to blast in the second in the 26th minute.

The world’s most expensive player was also the provider for the third goal in the 38th minute when his free-kick from the left was headed in by Marquinhos.

Messi then took over at the end, and it is likely to be a long season for Clermont given four teams will be relegated at the end of the campaign, when Ligue 1 will be reduced from 20 clubs to 18.

Earler Monaco benefited from a favourable late VAR call to claim a 2-1 win at Strasbourg.

The principality side were 2-0 up and cruising when Sofiane Diop struck early in the second half to add to Krepin Diatta’s magnificent opener.

However, Habib Diallo pulled one back for Strasbourg and then appeared to have salvaged a draw when he nodded home in the second minute of added time, only for the referee to disallow the goal for a marginal offside after consulting with the VAR.

Monaco now travel to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League third qualifying round, second leg in midweek. The first leg ended 1-1.

Lyon beat newly-promoted Ajaccio 2-1 on Friday in the season curtain-raiser, with Alexandre Lacazette scoring what proved to be the winner with a penalty.

LONDON — Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool deserved no more than a 2-2 draw against newly-promoted Fulham in a pulsating start to their Premier League season on Saturday.

Aleksandar Mitrovic twice put the impressive hosts ahead, but Darwin Nunez came off the bench to make a huge impact on his Premier League debut.

The Uruguayan, who arrived at Anfield in a deal that could rise to 100 million euros ($102 million) from Benfica, flicked home to level at 1-1 and then teed up Mohamed Salah for an equaliser 10 minutes from time.

Liverpool’s season had got off to a flying start by getting the better of Manchester City to win the Community Shield in what was billed as an early showdown between the two title contenders.

However, the Reds were punished for a sluggish performance in the first hour in what could prove a costly concession of two points.

“The best thing about the game was the result,” said Klopp. “We got a point from a really bad game.”

“The result was fine, I don’t think we deserved more than that. The performance can be massively improved.”

Mitrovic scored 43 goals in as many games last season as Fulham romped to the Championship title and gave Liverpool an early warning as he stabbed just wide inside the first minute.

Much to Klopp’s frustration on the touchline, the visitors did not wake from their slumber and were finally punished on 32 minutes when Mitrovic outmuscled Trent Alexander-Arnold at the back post to head in Kenny Tete’s cross.

“We have to respect Liverpool but of course do our job and trust ourselves,” said Fulham boss Marco Silva. “We did a great first half, almost perfect the way we controlled and blocked. Second half, we matched them.”

Liverpool flickered into life before the break as Luis Diaz smashed against the post from a narrow angle.

However, it was not until the introduction of the towering presence of Nunez that the Champions League finalists began to pose a persistent threat.

Nunez was at fault when Fulham were inches away from doubling their lead when he was caught in possession and the ball was fed to Neeskens Kebano, who drilled off the inside of the post.

At the other end, Liverpool’s new striker quickly made his presence felt as an audacious flick from Salah’s cross was saved by Marek Rodak.

Moments later a replica move did deliver Nunez’s first Premier League goal as he backheeled in from Salah’s low cross 26 minutes from time.

At that point there appeared only one winner, but Mitrovic showed a surprising fleetness of foot to turn Virgil van Dijk, who clipped the Serbian striker inside the box.

Mitrovic coolly slotted the resulting penalty low past Alisson Becker, but Fulham failed to hold out in the final 18 minutes for a famous win.

Another long ball into the box towards Nunez caused panic in the Fulham defence and the ball eventually fell kindly to Salah to score on the opening weekend of the Premier League for a sixth consecutive season.

Liverpool could even have snatched victory five minutes into stoppage time when Jordan Henderson’s long-range strike came back off the crossbar.

But a point was the least Fulham deserved as they made a strong start in their bid to avoid relegation for a fourth consecutive season when in the top flight.

PARIS — The new season that kicks off this weekend in the Premier League and around Europe promises to be like no other with clubs being forced to adapt to the long interruption in November and December for the World Cup, and the resulting consequences.

“The World Cup in Qatar will make this season more intense than any other,” insisted Real Madrid and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois recently as he looked ahead to what is in store at club and international level.

In Spain, like in Italy, the season does not begin until next weekend, but the Premier League kicked off on Friday, along with the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Dutch and Portuguese championships.

All leagues will then stop by the weekend of November 12-13 to allow players involved at the World Cup to join up with their national teams ahead of the opening game in Qatar on November 21.

The World Cup final will be on December 18, but the Premier League will restart with its traditional Boxing Day fixture list on December 26.

La Liga returns on December 31 while the French top flight has done away with its traditional Christmas and New Year holiday — instead Ligue 1 teams will play on December 28 and again on January 1.

In contrast Serie A will remain shut down until January 4, while the German Bundesliga has conserved its long winter break, shutting down on November 13 and not kicking off again until January 20.

“To have the break in the middle, with a World Cup, will affect all the teams in every league around the globe,” observed Jurgen Klinsmann, who coached both Germany and the United States at World Cups.

“It will influence players’ performances and team performances. It will shake up everybody.”

The compressed schedule means just one weekend off for an international break before Qatar, in late September.

The lack of time impacts on European competition too: the six Champions League group-stage matchdays will all be played by early November.

Given the schedule, clubs know they will need to adapt to guard against the danger of losing players to injury.

“We are certainly going to need to let players breathe a bit,” said Christophe Galtier, the Paris Saint-Germain coach.

“We will need to adjust players’ playing time so we lose as few as possible to injury.”

Liverpool could lose as many as a dozen players to international duty but the rest of Jurgen Klopp’s squad, including Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, will head to Dubai for a training camp.

“It’s close [to Qatar] so players can come quickly back, so they can prepare quick with the team again, and it gives us real time to prepare for the second sprint of the season,” Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders, whose side reached the finals of the Champions League and both domestic cups last season, said this week.

“Last season felt like a marathon with 63 games. This season feels like it’s a sprint, a break and then a sprint again. So it is important to start fast and Dubai has to create that — we start fast again after the World Cup.”

To that end, the Premier League’s decision to join the rest of Europe and permit teams to make five substitutions per game can only help.

If clubs are currently focused on how to cope with the build-up to the World Cup, and during the tournament itself, what happens after could be especially fascinating.

PARIS — Fernando Alonso’s move to Aston Martin to replace retiring Sebastian Vettel next year was the focus of interest in Formula One after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Here AFP looks at five talking points as the world championship heads into its annual summer holiday shutdown:

Ferrari’s problems 

Team boss Mattia Binotto faced increasing pressure on Monday after Sunday’s flop as Ferrari started the Hungarian Grand Prix second and third, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, but finished fourth and sixth.

World champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez went from 10th and 11th to first and fifth with a comprehensive demonstration of smart team-work and strategy.

Red Bull lead the constructors championship with 431 points. Ferrari has 334. Rising Mercedes are third on 304.

Although Ferrari have had the fastest car for much of the season, notably in qualifying, they have squandered that advantage with bungled strategy calls, driver error, engine and other technical failures and a lack of consistency and reliability.

Former driver Johnny Herbert, a pundit on Sky Sports F1, described their latest flop as “embarrassing”.

Leclerc, 80 points adrift in the title race, pleaded to stay out on the track on medium compound tyres while leading with 30 laps to go, but was called in, switched to hards and fell down the order.

Binotto remained calm and blamed an unexpected drop in car and tyre performance, but promised another in a series of in-depth reviews.

Mercedes recovery

The Mercedes recovery after a dismal and bumpy start to the season has revived seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, not only rekindling his belief he will secure a 104th career victory this year, but also energising him for a bid for a record eighth drivers’ title. The 37-year-old Briton’s run of five consecutive podium finishes, including two successive seconds, has confirmed the team are back as a competitive — if not yet winning — force. Hamilton said: “For sure, if we take this pace into the second half of the season, we can start to fight those other guys!”

Alonso move 

triggers ‘silly season’

Fernando Alonso’s swift move to take Sebastian Vettel’s seat has triggered ‘silly season’ speculation forecasting more action in the driver market for 2023.

The first vacancy to fill will be at Alpine. Reserve driver Oscar Piastri, winner of the 2020 Formula Three and 2021 Formula Two titles, is an obvious candidate. The Australian, managed by former Red Bull driver and compatriot Mark Webber, is regarded as a major talent.

Another vacant seat could be at Williams, where Nicholas Latifi will be out of contract this year. Williams may be interested in Piastri, if he misses the Alpine seat, or Mercedes reserve Nyck de Vries.

The Dutchman impressed in free practice appearances for Williams in Spain and for Mercedes in France.

An outsider could be Williams reserve driver Jamie Chadwick, who has dominated the female only W Series this season, but a move for a woman driver may not be straightforward.

The future of Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael, is another talking point as he is out of contract this year with Haas.

Bouncing and porpoising

While the drivers take to the European beaches for their vacations, many teams will keep working on solutions to the ‘porpoising’ and bouncing problems that have affected many cars this season.

The ruling body the FIA is scheduled to introduce measures to control the problem and safeguard drivers starting from the Belgian Grand Prix, but some teams, notably Red Bull, remain opposed to any changes affecting the ‘ground effect’ formula introduced this season.

Red Bull have designed a car that is less prone to porpoising and have reaped the reward in results. Team boss Christian Horner has warned of rifts in the paddock and pitlane if new rules are introduced mid-season.

Abusive behaviour

Abusive behaviour from fans at races and on social media has prompted a response by Formula One.

It launched a ‘Drive it Out’ campaign on Saturday, but there were continued reports of abusive behaviour and filmed reports on social media showing Max Verstappen fans allegedly burning Lewis Hamilton merchandise at the Hungaroring.

“It is not acceptable,” sad the 24-year-old Dutchman. “I definitely don’t agree with that because it’s disgusting.”

The recent incidents in Austria and Hungary follow others when fans cheered drivers crashing their cars or generally booed or abused them.

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom — Australian swim star Emma McKeon made Commonwealth Games history on Tuesday by winning her 19th medal as Jacob Kiplimo raced to victory in the 10,000m on the first day of track and field.

McKeon pulled one ahead of shooters Michael Gault and Phil Adams and fellow swim star Chad le Clos, who has endured a nightmare Games in Birmingham.

The 30-year-old South African had looked set to take the record himself when he came to Birmingham but so far he has just a silver medal to show for his efforts.

On another dramatic night of action in the pool, Adam Peaty showed the mentality that has brought him three Olympic titles.

The 27-year-old Englishman admitted to being at the “bottom of the bottom” after his shock defeat in the 100m but bounced back on Tuesday to take gold in the 50m.

“I had two options this morning I either fight or don’t fight,” he told the BBC. “Everyone who knows me, knows I fight.”

Prince William, his wife Kate and their seven-year-old daughter Charlotte attended the morning session of the swimming events.

The evening again belonged to dominant Australia, who have now won 22 golds at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre out of a total of 43 on offer.

Kiplimo win

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo made light of the absence of two-time world 10,000m champion Joseph Cheptegei by destroying his compatriot’s Commonwealth Games record at the Alexander Stadium.

Kiplimo, who took bronze at the recent world championships, celebrated with a dance on crossing the line after finishing in 27min 09.19sec, ahead of Kenyan pair Daniel Ebenyo and Kibiwott Kandie.

“I think for me for winning this Commonwealth Games title was everything, the most important thing for me this season,” said the 21-year-old Olympic bronze medallist.

“But I still have a lot of things to do in the future at the Olympics and world championships.”

There were golds too for Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who built on her bronze in the world championships to take the pole vault title with a best of 4.60 metres, and Chioma Onyekwere of Nigeria in the discus (61.70m).

England’s Jake Jarman claimed a fourth gold medal on the final day of gymnastics while compatriot Joe Fraser grabbed his third with victory in the parallel bars.

“I’m going to find somewhere in my house to store them [the medals] — maybe a glass cabinet or something like that, if there’s space,” said the 20-year-old Jarman.

On another stellar day for the home nation, Alice Kinsella won the women’s floor while Australia’s Kate McDonald won gold in the women’s balance beam. Cypriot Ilias Georgiou won the men’s horizontal bar.

England finished with 10 gold medals out of a total of 14 in the artistic gymnastics.

In the more genteel world of lawn bowls, India triumphed in the women’s fours final, beating 2018 silver medallists South Africa 17-10, while Wales beat England in the men’s pairs final.

“We woke up with the mindset that this is a new day, a new beginning, and that we have the opportunity to do something very special,” said India’s Rupa Rani Tirkey.

“We are glad we been able to achieve that.”

Samoan weightlifter Don Opeloge won 96kg gold after his dreams of competing in the Tokyo Olympics were dashed by Covid-19 travel restrictions.

On Tuesday he performed a celebratory dance and hopes there will be more to come from his compatriots on Wednesday.

“We are called the ‘Dream Team’ in Samoa and we will win more medals. Tomorrow I will be dancing and singing with them.”

The first-ever Commonwealth 3x3 basketball competition came to an end with England beating Australia in the men’s final while Canada beat the host nation in the women’s gold-medal match.

AMMAN — Wihdat maintained their lead at atop the Jordan Pro Football League standings head of Week 13 of the competition with major changes on key positions at both ends of standings.

Wihdat are now four points ahead after a 1-0 win over Jazira. They will next play Aqaba who handed Faisali their first loss 2-1 to move up to fifth. Hussein beat Shaba Urdun 2-1 to stay third ahead of their match against Sarih who moved up to 11th after they beat Salt 2-1.

Sahab moved up to be among the top four after holding Ramtha 0-0 while Ma’an had a big jump after beating newcomers Mugheer Sarhan 3-1.

Ramtha who won the league last year are now at a disappointing 10th. In the last two weeks, Ma’an climbed from last spot to 8th as Jazira, who finished in top five in last few years, are now last.

This week, Salt come head to head with Ma’an, as Aqaba take on Wihdat, Shabab Urdun play Ramtha, Sarih meet Hussein, Jazira face Mugheer Sarhan and Faisali play Sahab.

The biggest surprise so far have been newcomers Mugheer Sarhan who seem able to keep their spot in the Pro League, while Jazira who have scored only one win need to move out of the relegation zone.

Ramtha are the defending champs against traditional champs Faisali and Wihdat. In two of the 2022 competitions played so far, Faisali won the season opening 35th Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield title when they beat Ramtha who in turn upset Jordan Cup holders Faisali 2-0 in the 39th Jordan Super Cup. 

In the 2021 season, Ramtha won the League title for the third time in their history ending a 39 year drought. Newcomers to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th JFA Shield; Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup, while Faisali beat Salt to win the Jordan Cup. 

Last season, Baqa’a were relegated in their worst season, yet, and were accompanied by Jalil. Mugheer Sarhan and Sarih were promoted from the First Division.

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34-time record league champs while Wihdat won 17 times since they joined in 1980. Although Faisali are the all-time record titleholders, Wihdat’s record is quite impressive. After four years in the Pro League, they won their first title in 1980 and have gone on to win the majority of titles since then. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times each, Shabab Urdun twice, Amman and Urdun clubs once each.