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AMMAN — The Jordan Cup kicks off its Round of 16 matches on Thursday with First and Second Division teams aiming to advance and have a shot at the title of the second competition on the season calendar.

The Round of 16 now groups 10 Jordan Professional Football League teams, four First Division teams and two Second Division teams. Thursdays’ matches include Salt vs. Karmel and Sarih vs. Um Qutain. On Friday Wihdat vs. Yarmouk, Jazira vs. Ahli and Aqaba vs. Balama play. Matches conclude Saturday with Faisali vs. Khaldieh, Shabab Urdun vs. Manshieh and Baqaa vs Ramtha.

League teams Hussein and That Ras were eliminated by Second Division teams Khaldieh and Um Qutain in the knockout first round which included 32 teams. 

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

Last year, Wihdat won the league for a record 16th time as Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira finished runner-up in the league but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after they last won the Jordan Cup in 1984. 

Regionally, Jazira were eliminated from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup west Asia zone final and failed to reach the continent’s final. Faisali bowed out in the event’s semifinals. Likewise, Ramtha were eliminated by Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. 

The 2018/19 football season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup. Regionally, Wihdat were eliminated early in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League losing to Kuwait Club 3-2. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were eliminated, while Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015 and now in 2019, and Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014. Jazira and Wihdat are playing for the 16th AFC Cup.

AMMAN — It has been a bad season for the men’s and women’s national football teams who have both been eliminated from the Asian events.

The women’s team had an unimpressive run in Round 2 of the Asian Olympic qualifiers which ended this week. Jordan held Hong Kong to a goalless draw before losing to Vietnam and Uzbekistan 2-0, as Vietnam qualified from the group. Only the group leader advanced to Round 3 of the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Qualifying teams include Myanmar from Group A, Vietnam from B and Taiwan from C. They who will join Australia, South and North Korea, China and Thailand in Round 3 where they will play in two groups with the group winner and runner-up playing a final round before the top two move on to the finals alongside hosts Japan.

Jordan had played a friendly tourney in Turkey where the team beat Turkmenistan 3-0, held Kazakhstan 1-1, but lost to Ireland 6-0 and the French second tier team 10-0. It was the third time for Jordan in Asian qualifiers. They had also been eliminated in Round 2 in qualifiers for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

This year, the squad won the 6th West Asian Women’s Championship for the fifth time, and the national team is now the leading Arab team at 54th in FIFA World Rankings. 

The men’s team was also eliminated in the Round of 16 at the Asian Cup 2019 as Qatar won the title for the first time. That followed elimination from World Cup qualifiers, as fans pinned hope on the Asian zone events.

In U-19 competitions, the women’s team was eliminated from Round 1 qualifiers for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship. Likewise, the men’s U-19 national team was eliminated from Round 1 of the AFC U19 Championship as the semifinalists advanced to the FIFA U-19 World Cup.

Jordan was hoping to advance in the Asian event after they failed to qualify to the Championships in 2014 and 2016. It was the fifth time for Jordan at the Championship with the best showing when it finished fourth in 2006 and advanced to the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. Jordan exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

The U-23 men’s national team qualified to the 4th AFC U-23 Championship which acts as a qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2018, the team was knocked out of Round 1 of the 3rd AFC U-23 Championship. In 2016, Jordan reached the quarter-finals and in 2014 Jordan finished third.

The U-16 men’s team has just concluded a training camp in preparation for the U-16 AFC Championship in September. Last year, Jordan bowed out of the Round 1 of the 2018 AFC U-16 Men’s Championship. Held once every two years, the competition serves as a qualifier for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. The U-16 women’s squad was also eliminated from Round 1, Group A qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship. 

SHANGHAI — Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix for a record sixth time on Sunday to seize the overall lead from his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One’s 1,000th world championship race.

Bottas, who made a poor start from pole and lost out to five times world champion Hamilton into the first corner, was second for his team’s third one-two finish in as many races this season.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took third place, his first podium appearance of the campaign, with Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly denying the German an extra point with the fastest lap right at the end.

The comfortable win in a race short on thrills was the 75th of Hamilton’s career, and second in a row after his lucky triumph in Bahrain two weeks ago.

“To have a one-two together is really special in the 1,000th Grand Prix. The start was where I was able to make the difference, and after that it’s kind of history,” said the Briton, who also won the 900th in Bahrain in 2014.

He is now just 16 victories short of Michael Schumacher’s all time record tally of 91.

Hamilton has 68 points to Bottas’s 62 with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third on 39. In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes are already a hefty 57 clear of second-placed Ferrari.

There has, yet, to be a winner this year from pole position, with Bottas triumphant in the Australian opener in similar fashion to Hamilton in China.

“I think I lost it in the start. The car was feeling OK and otherwise the pace was similar,” said the Finn, who was never under any real threat from behind. 

“In the first stint in the dirty air I couldn’t follow. Shame about the start, I got some wheel spin when I went over the white line, the start-finish line which is immediately after my box, and I lost it there.”

Ferrari team orders

Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc, on pole in Bahrain but denied victory there after a late loss of power while leading, finished fifth behind Verstappen, who briefly went wheel-to-wheel with Vettel for the final podium spot.

Leclerc got ahead of Vettel at the start but was Instructed by Ferrari to let his teammate through on lap 11, an order the Monegasque complied with while making clear that he did not agree.

“Let Sebastian by,” he was told over the radio while in third place. “But I’m pulling away,” responded the 21-year-old.

Vettel then struggled to find a rhythm when freed up to take on the Mercedes pair, but Leclerc was the clear loser of a situation that pushed him back and behind Verstappen after the pitstops despite an attempted longer stint.

“I’m happy to be on the podium,” said Vettel, who made two pitstops that Mercedes covered by switching to a similar strategy. “But [the race was] tough because we tried to stick with them but just couldn’t.”

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said the team has just wanted to try everything they could, with Hamilton pulling away at the front.

“I understand the feeling of Charles. It’s a shame for him but at that stage of the race Mercedes were slightly faster and we simply tried to give Sebastian a go and see if he could keep the pace of Mercedes,” he explained.

“If Charles is upset, he is right to be upset. We should accept it, it’s a shame for him and next time maybe it will be to his advantage.”

Mercedes pitted Bottas first to protect him from Vettel, a move that reduced Hamilton’s lead, and later on pitted the pair in a perfectly timed sequence with Hamilton leaving the box just as Bottas arrived.

Ricciardo scores

Gasly was sixth, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo — the Australian’s first finish of the season after two retirements — and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth for Alfa Romeo and Thailand’s Alexander Albon, who started from the pitlane after missing qualifying due to a heavy crash in final practice, took the final point for Toro Rosso.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat were the three retirements.

The last two and the other McLaren of Carlos Sainz were involved in a three-car tangle on the opening lap that resulted in a brief virtual safety car period.

Kvyat was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the collision, a decision the Russian felt was unfair and needed clarifying.

AMMAN — Jazira play Syria’s Ittihad in Abu Dhabi on Monday, while Wihdat host Syria’s Jeish Tuesday in Stage 4 of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup — the second-tier Asian club competition.

Jazira now lead Group B after they beat Ittihad 4-0, while Wihdat lost the Group A lead and are now second after they lost 1-0 to Jeish. Wihdat earlier beat Jerusalem’s Quds 6-2 and Lebanon’s Nijmeh 1-0. Likewise, Jazira scored a vital 1-0 win over titleholders Kuwait Club and held Bahran’s Nijmeh 1-1. 

Before the return leg of the matches, Bahrain’s Malkieh lead Group C ahead of Lebanon’s Ahed in the group that also includes Oman’s Suweiq and Kuwait’s Qadissieh.

The top teams from the three competing west Asian groups in addition to the best second placed team will move to the semifinal round of the zone with the winner advancing to the eventual competition final against the East Asia champ.

Jordanian teams won the AFC Cup three times. Faisali won in 2005 and 2006 and Shabab Urdun won in 2007. Other Jordanian teams that participated in previous editions include Ramtha, Hussein, That Ras and Ahli. 

Kuwait Club and the Iraqi Air Force Club are AFC Cup record winners having been crowned champs three times each.

The AFC Champions League the continents leading competition — saw reigning Jordan League champs Wihdat eliminated in the preliminary round by Kuwait Club. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were knocked out, while Wihdat were also knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, and Shabab Urdun in 2014.

Last season 2017/18, Jazira were eliminated from AFC Cup West Asia zone final and failed to reach the continent’s final, while Faisali bowed out earlier in the event’s semifinals. In the AFC Champions League, Faisali was eliminated by Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi and failed to reach the group stages of Asia’s elite club competition. Ramtha were eliminated by Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. 

In 2017, Ahli played the AFC Cup for the first time and Wihdat reached the West Asia zone semifinals. Jordanian league champs Faisali finished runner-up to Tunisia’s Tarajji in the 2017 Arab Clubs Champions Cup after an impressive performance which included two wins over Egyptian veterans Ahli. 

SHANGHAI — Valtteri Bottas will start Formula One’s 1,000th world championship race from pole position after leading Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in a front row lockout at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel qualified third, ahead of 21-year-old Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc, who was unable to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix pole of two weeks ago.

Bottas, who won the season opener in Australia and leads defending champion Hamilton by one point in the standings, was the third different driver to take pole this season in three races.

“The lap was OK, not completely how I wanted. Luckily it was good enough for pole,” smiled the Finn, who pipped Hamilton by 0.023 seconds after setting a best time of one minute 31.547.

“Lewis also managed to improve a lot during the qualifying and it was super-close.”

The pole was a first for Bottas since Russia last September and the seventh of his career. It was also his first in China where Mercedes have won five of the last seven races.

Hamilton sounded happy just to be on the front row, despite six previous poles in Shanghai, after looking out of sorts in practice.

“I didn’t give up, I kept pushing right to the end. Big congratulations to Valtteri, he’s been stellar all weekend and I’ve been struggling and fighting the car,” said the Briton.

“To be as close as we are at the end is fantastic. An incredible result for the team. There was a little bit more time left on the table there but that’s cool, I’ll try and get it tomorrow,” added Hamilton.

Unhappy Verstappen

Ferrari had arrived in China as favourites after showing their speed in Bahrain, particularly on the straights, with Leclerc on pole and leading until a loss of engine power in the closing laps.

While unable to match the quick-cornering Mercedes cars for overall pace in Shanghai, Vettel hoped to be closer on Sunday thanks to the track’s main straight being more than a kilometre long.

“I think there was maybe a little bit more but overall not enough to beat these guys today,” said the 31-year-old German, a four times world champion.

“If we get close we could have an advantage in a straight line.”

The top 10 positions went two-by-two in team order, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly fifth and sixth and ahead of the Renault pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg — the Australian just 0.004 ahead of the German.

With the field of cars bunching up, Verstappen was unable to cross the line to start his final run before the clock ran down, which prompted a frustrated outburst over the radio from the 21-year-old Dutchman.

“I was trying to follow the Ferrari in front of me and trying to overtake him, this time it caught me out and I’m not happy about that,” he said. “It’s annoying because we could have fought for third today.

“Everyone in front of me is starting with the same tyres so we’ll see what happens in the race. For sure we’ll try to get a podium.”

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean completed the top 10 qualifiers.

Kimi Raikkonen, the former Ferrari driver and 2007 world champion, failed to make the final phase of qualifying for the first time since 2016 and will start 13th for Alfa Romeo ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

Raikkonen’s Italian teammate Antonio Giovinazzi failed to set a time due to engine problems and starts 19th and last on the grid.

Thailand’s Alexander Albon did not take part in qualifying after a crash in final practice left his Toro Rosso mechanics with plenty of work to do. The rookie will start from the pit lane on Sunday.

“I am OK. More angry and disappointed than anything else. It was a big one and silly one,” said Albon. “We had a good chance of being in Q3 [the top 10 shootout]. We had a good car.

SHANGHAI — The first Formula One win is special for every driver but Charles Leclerc will feel it magnified by a thousand if he triumphs in China this weekend after being denied by cruel misfortune in Bahrain.

Sunday’s race is the 1,000th in world championship history and the Ferrari driver, who took pole position and set the fastest race lap at Sakhir two weeks ago, can write his name on it with a first victory.

“I hope the car will be as good as it was in Bahrain, so that I can continue to go for the results we deserve,” said the 21-year-old Monegasque.

The same engine that Leclerc used in Bahrain will again be available after Ferrari engineers found a short-circuit in the car’s injection system control unit had robbed him of victory.

Five times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner in Bahrain after Leclerc slowed while leading, has been more successful than anyone in China and will be aiming to win the race for a sixth time.

Champions Mercedes have won the first two races of the season one-two but against the odds, with Ferrari looking ominously quick in Bahrain until Leclerc’s loss of power.

Despite Mercedes taking five Chinese wins from the last seven races, they have a fight on their hands and they know it.

“We are happy but we are also conscious and aware of how lucky we were today to come away with a one-two,” Hamilton said after the race in Bahrain. 

“We all worked so hard through the weekend as we do every weekend but we underperformed.”

Team mate Valtteri Bottas, who leads Hamilton by one point in the standings after winning the opener in Australia, should also be a contender. 

The Finn was on course for victory in Shanghai last year until a virtual safety car handed it to then-Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who has yet to score a point this season for Renault, instead.

Ferrari, however, are expected to have the edge down the Shanghai circuit’s main straight, which is over a kilometre long.

“If they are able to maintain those power levels... on a power sensitive circuit like Shanghai, they are the favourites, clearly,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “The lap time benefit might even be more than in Bahrain.”

Red is seen as a lucky colour in China and Leclerc, who hung on for third in Bahrain and a first podium finish, could do with a slice of good fortune after the disappointment in the desert.

Four-time champion teammate Sebastian Vettel, who spun and was outpaced by Leclerc two weeks ago, will also be fired up to reestablish his number one status and close the points gap to Mercedes.

The German has won just once in China, when he handed Red Bull their maiden victory in 2009, before the current V6 turbo hybrid era.

Vettel is in a pickle.

He might be a four-time world champion but Vettel is facing criticism, especially in comparison with his young teammate.

The 31-year-old German’s errors helped hand the title to Hamilton last season and by his high standards Vettel has had an indifferent start to this campaign.

He struggled with his car and finished fourth in Melbourne, and was then dominated by Leclerc — who is a decade younger — in Bahrain.

Vettel finished fifth there and media in Ferrari’s native Italy have their knives out.

Red Bull will be on the lookout for any opportunity to repeat last year’s success on the 10th anniversary of that first win.

“Overall, Shanghai provides you with a lot of opportunities to fight and set up overtakes,” said Max Verstappen, who botched his chances of victory and a possible one-two last year with scrappy attempts to overtake Hamilton and Vettel.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully having an exciting race there.”

AMMAN — Faisali aim to keep their recently regained lead atop the Jordan Professional Football League when Week 19 kicks off on Thursday.

Like the past two season, leading team Jazira lost their top spot after there were held 0-0 by Salt as Faisali scored a big 4-0 win over Shabab Urdun, who remained third for now. Wihdat are fourth after they beat Baqa’a 3-2 and next face Jazira in a deciding match that will affect the final standings and chances for the title.

Sarih moved out of the relegation zone after beating Ahli 1-0. The latter have a postponed match against Wihdat. Aqaba beat Ramtha 2-1 and pushed them to the relegation zone as Hussein consolidated their position and put That Ras in a difficult last sport after a 3-1 win

The upcoming week’s matches include Sarih against Baqaa, Salt versus Aqaba, Ramtha taking on That Ras, Shabab Urdun versus Ahli and Hussein taking on Faisali. All matches will have a direct impact on leading positions and the relegation zone.

The 2018/19 football season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup. 

Last season, Wihdat won the league for a record 16th time. Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira finished runner-up in the league, but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after their last win of the Jordan Cup in 1984. 

Since the league kicked off in 1944, Faisali are record 33-time winners.

AMSTERDAM — In the wake of Ajax’s stunning victory against holders Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16, the headlines across Europe were mainly about the new golden generation emerging in Amsterdam.

The club of Johan Cruyff, and of Louis van Gaal’s side that lifted the trophy in 1995, are into their first Champions League quarter-final since 2003 with a team packed with products of their famed youth system.

Midfielder Frenkie de Jong, aged 21 and headed for Barcelona at the end of the season, and 19-year-old defender Matthijs de Ligt are the brightest young stars in a side that triumphed 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, the most decisive player in this Champions League campaign for Ajax — which continues into Wednesday’s quarter-final first leg against Juventus — is a grizzled veteran by comparison.

Dusan Tadic, at 30, was the oldest member of coach Erik ten Hag’s line-up in Madrid, with the sole exception of 32-year-old Dane Lasse Schoene.

The Serbian international attacker scored one of their goals in Spain, and now has nine altogether in a continental campaign that started with a second qualifying-round win over Sturm Graz.

The goal apart, Tadic’s display in Madrid will be best remembered for that moment in the first half when he escaped Casemiro with a sensational turn.

“As time goes by we will realise what we did, but now we just want to enjoy our football and these things will come. It’s really special,” said Tadic after that match.

Formerly of Groningen and FC Twente, Tadic came back to The Netherlands in an 11.4 million-euro (£10 million) move from Premier League strugglers Southampton last year.

His signing, and that of Daley Blind, the defender rejoining from Manchester United, highlighted part of the strategy at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

The club’s decision-makers, with former players Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars now respectively chief executive and technical director, needed experience to surround the youngsters.

The main goal for Ajax was reclaiming the Dutch title, last won in 2014. Ten Hag’s team are level with PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table with five games left, having recently beaten their rivals 3-1 in Amsterdam. They are into the Dutch Cup final, too.

Tadic has scored 20 league goals, and has added nine assists — those figures make him the most decisive player in The Netherlands since Luis Suarez with Ajax in 2009/10.

“When he signed, he was expected to be the replacement of Hakim Ziyech, but with the Moroccan playmaker still at the club, the two have struck up a partnership that knows no bounds in terms of creativity,” says Michiel Jongsma, a journalist and an editor with sports analysts Opta, covering the Dutch league.

“It seems like he had settled for being a big fish in a smaller pond by returning to the Eredivisie, but with rumours swirling that AC Milan and Manchester City are interested, his head might be turned,” adds Jongsma of Tadic.

Another star turn against Juventus will only increase the chances of big-money offers coming in.

If Tadic continues his current form, anything is possible.

LONDON — Hugo Lloris has endured a mistake-filled season, but the Tottenham goalkeeper knows his costly blunders will be forgotten if he can lead his side to Champions League success against Manchester City.

Lloris will captain Tottenham in Tuesday’s All-English quarter-final first leg showdown with City at the north London club’s new stadium.

And the France star will be firmly in the spotlight on what promises to be a busy evening given City’s attacking prowess.

Lloris has been well below his best for much of this term, with his latest clanger coming in the last minute of a damaging 2-1 defeat at Liverpool last weekend when he sparked a Toby Alderweireld own goal by spilling Mohamed Salah’s header.

The 32-year-old has shown alarmingly bad judgement all season.

In Tottenham’s 2-2 group stage draw against PSV Eindhoven, Lloris suffered a rush of blood as he needlessly sprinted outside his penalty area to foul Hirving Lozano, earning a straight red card that inspired the Dutch side to snatch a last equaliser.

Lloris had already been at fault for Barcelona’s opening goal in the 4-2 group stage defeat at Wembley, which saw Tottenham fall behind with barely a minute on the clock.

The France captain was also embarrassed in last year’s World Cup final by Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic, although that blunder was ignored as his country carried home the trophy.

In the midst of these howlers, Lloris was arrested for drink-driving in London, an offence that earned him a 20-month driving ban and £50,000 fine.

Despite such a wretched run of form, Lloris has retained the support of Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Reports in recent weeks claim Pochettino has no intention of looking for another keeper at the end of the season, such is his faith in Lloris.

Part of that belief is grounded in Lloris’s role as an influential figure in the dressing room.

That leadership earned him the captain’s armband and was on show as he issued a rallying cry to his team-mates ahead of the City clash.

With Tottenham bidding to reach their first European semifinal since the 1984 UEFA Cup, Lloris knows the team will need the vocal backing of the home support to rattle City.

Pep Guardiola’s Premier League title chasers are eyeing an unprecedented quadruple after reaching the FA Cup final and winning the League Cup already this season.

It should be a raucous occasion as Tottenham finally deliver on their much-derided promise that their £1 billion abode would be the only place in London to watch Champions League action this season.

When Tottenham spent over half of this season playing at their temporary Wembley home due to delays in finishing the new arena, it appeared the PR boast, splashed on posters all around London, would come back to bite them.

But the sparkling 62,062-capacity stadium was opened amid much pomp for the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

Now Lloris wants Tottenham to tap into the crowd’s passion in the same way Liverpool fed off the Anfield atmosphere in last season’s Champions League quarter-final win over City.

“At some moments in the game, we feel the power,” Lloris said. 

“I think this can be a help for the team. We will need the crowd for every game. 

“Of course, this is a big moment for the club. To be part of a quarter-final for the Champions League is a great opportunity.”

Lloris is well aware City imploded twice last season when faced with the intensity of the Anfield effect and he believes a repeat is possible in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“The target is to make City’s life harder. To be ready to compete from the first minute,” Lloris said.

“We know we’re going to have the help of the crowd and so we have just to enjoy the moment. 

“When I say to enjoy, I mean to enjoy running, defending, attacking, to enjoy everything that can be decisive.”

AMMAN — Daan Huizing made golfing history by becoming the first player to win a full-field mixed professional tournament with his triumph at the Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The Dutchman began the final round two shots behind overnight leader Meghan MacLaren, who opened the world-first tournament with consecutive rounds of seven under par 65.

MacLaren started the final day strong, carding two birdies on her first three holes, but Huizing was able to slowly chip away at the Englishwoman’s lead, and by the time the two golfers reached the 13th tee, they were deadlocked on 14 under par.

The stage was set for a never-before-seen battle down the stretch between a male and female golfer competing for the same first prize. In the end, it was Huizing who came out on top as he converted three crucial birdies on the closing holes and signed for a four under par 68, which gave him a two-stroke victory.

MacLaren finished in second place — two shots clear of Martin Simonsen, who matched the Ayla Golf Club course record with a final round of eight under par 64, which moved him 17 places up the leaderboard and into third place.

The event assembled 40 players from the European Challenge Tour, the Staysure Tour and the Ladies European Tour, plus three amateurs, into the same 123-player field and will forever be remembered as a game-changing tournament.