Sports

AMMAN — The Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla, the first-of-its-kind international golf tournament that will feature 123 international male and female players representing 26 countries, will kick off at Ayla Golf Club on April 4, according to a statement from organisers.

The 54-hole, three-day tournament, will take place on the Greg Norman-designed championship course at Ayla, Aqaba. With men and women competing alongside each other for the first time, the tournament is a major event on the global golf calendar and for the City of Aqaba and its Special Economic Zone.

With a unique concept and the participation of some of the game’s most notable players, the Jordan Mixed Open Tournament presented by Ayla has been enjoying widespread global media attention, with millions of golfing enthusiasts set to tune-in to watch the tournament. 

The tournament will be broadcast to 390 million homes with a 47-minute highlights programme as well via daily live social media posts.

The 40-strong field of Ladies European Tour players features several notable players, including Trish Johnson, Beth Allen, Meghan MacLaren, Carly Booth, Emily Kristine Pedersen, and Julia Engstrom, while the European Challenge Tour entries include Romain Langasque, Ryan Evans, Marcel Siem, Henric Sturehed and Chris Hanson.

Meanwhile, several big names from the Staysure Tour will be looking to take on the next generation of up-and-coming talent, with Phillip Price, James Kingston, Barry Lane and Paul Eales among the well-known players in attendance. 

It is equally exciting that prominent Arab players Maha Al Hidaywi (LET) and Saudi national Othman Al Mulla (Challenge Tour Invite), as well as the promising local golfer Shergo Kurdi, who was invited to participate as a guest of Ayla, the tournament sponsor, are set to tee it up at the pioneering event.

“A tournament of this magnitude is one that should be celebrated. All preparations for the event have been completed under the supervision of the relevant European Tours and governing bodies. This golf tournament, which is the first of its kind globally, places us on the map as a venue for major international sports events,” Director of Operations and PGA Fellow at Ayla Oasis Development Company Chris White said at a recently press conference, while speaking of his pleasure of organising and sponsoring this notable international sports event:

White went on to add: “The tournament also highlights Jordan’s groundbreaking efforts in the area of women’s empowerment, offering all the opportunity to demonstrate their boundless abilities, particularly in sports. The tournament further emphasises Jordan’s capacity for achievement and its ability to rise to any challenge it may face and is a true testament to its capability in organising major events with a high degree of professionalism that potentially can showcase the beautiful country to the world.”

The Jordan Mixed Open tournament is wholly in line with the objectives of equality for all. The unique format brings both genders together on an equal playing field and highlights the openness of Jordanian culture in offering all possible opportunities to emphasise the great abilities of women, not only in the sporting arena but also in life in general.

The Ayla Oasis Development Company continues to play a substantial and highly effective role in supporting the local golf scene, with the aim of developing it further on an international level. Ayla Golf Club, conceived according to the highest international standards of the game, is an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman, a champion player and a pioneer in golf course design. Today, the Ayla Golf Club is a favoured destination for regional and international golf professionals and enthusiasts. 

White concluded by thanking the tournament’s sponsors, which include the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, the Jordan Tourism Board, the Arab Bank, Zain, Turkish Airlines, Grand Hyatt Regency Ayla, Ro’ya TV, Watar FM, Mood FM and Beat FM.

The Miami Open lost two of its biggest drawcards on Saturday with World No. 1 Naomi Osaka suffering a shock third-round loss to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei after eight-times champion Serena Williams withdrew due to a knee injury.

The 33-year-old Hsieh came from a set down to prevail 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 as her unorthodox style frustrated, perplexed and finally wore down US and Australian Open champion Osaka.

Osaka, who lost in the fourth round at Indian Wells and could lose her No. 1 ranking depending on how others do in the tournament, said the mental side of her game had let her down. 

“I just think I got too emotional, which is something I did last match, too,” she said. “I would just say I was kind of immature today. I was thinking too much.”

Hsieh had lost her two previous matches with Osaka, including a hard-fought contest in Melbourne in January, but came back from a break down in each of the last two sets, saving eight of the 12 break points she faced.

The Taiwanese had knocked out then World No.1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon last year and again demonstrated her range of clever shot making against a much more powerful opponent.

“It’s always great to pick up a better level during the match,” Hsieh said. 

“Every time you’ve made it and you beat a good player, you feel: ‘Wow, this is everything. This is so amazing, and I’ve made it.’”

Depressing

Osaka looked on course for a straightforward win after she broke for a 5-4 lead in the opener then delivered an ace to serve out the set.

Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second, Osaka’s charge began to wilt and Hsieh fought back with some brilliant tennis to take it to a tiebreak before levelling the match with a lovely passing winner.

At 3-3 in the third set, Hsieh took advantage of Osaka’s ineffective serve and mounting error count to get a key break and had no trouble holding for a 5-3 lead.

A delightful dropshot winner finally put paid to an exasperated Osaka’s resistance, sealing another break and the victory after two hours and 18 minutes of play.

Osaka had won 63 straight matches after taking the first set but Hsieh’s victory brought that run to an end and set up a fourth round meeting with Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-4, 7-6(4).

“It’s depressing,” Osaka said of the streak coming to an end. “I know that record. I was thinking about it right after I lost.”

Asked if she might have underestimated Hsieh, Osaka said: “I don’t think I ever underestimated her because all the times I played her was three sets. In Australia, honestly she should have won but I found a way to win it.

“I think maybe today, I overestimated myself maybe in a way.”

The stunning upset came after the tournament had earlier lost American great Williams to a left knee injury.

It is the second consecutive WTA event she has been forced to retire from after she withdrew from last week’s tournament in Indian Wells with a viral illness

Earlier, world number two Petra Kvitova needed three sets and more than two and a half hours to beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a clash of heavy hitters.

The two-time Wimbledon champion will meet Caroline Garcia in the fourth round after the Frenchwoman knocked out 15th seeded German Julia Goerges 6-0, 7-5.

Canadian Bianca Andreescu continued her rapid rise with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory over former World No.1 Angelique Kerber.

In was the second win over Kerber in less than a week for the 18-year-old Andreescu, who also beat the German in the final of the BNP Paribas Open.

Seventh seed Kiki Bertens also prevailed over Viktoria Kuzmova 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

BASEL — Jose Mourinho is gunning for a return to top level management and a third Champions League title, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager revealed on Friday in an interview with AFP.

Mourinho has been out of work since being sacked by United in December, and said he would like to be appointed as a boss at a club where he can add to his European triumphs with Porto in 2003 and Inter Milan seven years later, and draw level with Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti and Bob Paisley.

“If I can win a third Champions League, great,” the 56-year-old told AFP.

“I would like to play in the best level, which is the Champions League.

“I want to be [in the race to win the Champions League next year]. Sometimes, you are not in the race, but you have to win other races.”

Mourinho, who has coached in his native Portugal as well as in England, Italy and Spain left the door open to returning to those leagues or taking over at a club elsewhere.

“I can go back to a country I’ve been before and to be honest, I have enjoyed working in every country I did,” he said.

“[Or] I can try something very important, which is to work in a fifth country and try to win everything in the fifth country like I did in the previous ones.”

Powerful Premier League

Mourinho’s time with United was his third with a Premier League club after two spells with Chelsea, where he won the title three times, and he is not surprised that England has four teams in the quarter-finals of Europe’s top competition.

United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool have all made it to the last eight.

“English teams are powerful, they have a very competitive league. Sometimes, it goes against them because many times, you have very difficult situations in the calendar”” he said.

“The teams are good and strong, and you look at Man City, the level of investment. Top players, experienced players, top manager, experienced manager.”

Asked about France attacker Kylian Mbappe, Mourinho praised the World Cup-winning teenager, who he says has the ability take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when they eventually hang up their boots.

“He is there, he is ready for next step. When the big monsters decide to stop, he will be there, just waiting,” Mourinho said.

“Sometimes, you can be part of the team that reaches something, and you are just lucky to be at the right moment at the right time. That’s not the case. He was very important for France being champion.”

Jonas Valanciunas’ offensive rebound and free throw with 0.1 second left in overtime helped the host Memphis Grizzlies topple the Houston Rockets 126-125 on Wednesday.

Valanciunas paired a career-high 33 points with 15 rebounds and teamed with Mike Conley (35 points, eight assists) to help Memphis fend off James Harden and the rallying Rockets. Valanciunas corralled a miss by Conley before absorbing a foul from Houston centre Clint Capela on the game’s deciding play.

That followed an MVP-calibre stretch from Harden, who scored 18 of his game-high 57 points in the fourth quarter before adding eight points during a 28-second stretch in overtime.

Memphis averted a four-game season series sweep against Houston, which lost for just the third time since the All-Star break. Former Rockets forward Chandler Parsons drilled two 3-pointers in overtime to keep the Grizzlies in control despite Harden’s efforts.

76ers 118, Celtics 115

Joel Embiid collected 37 points and a career-high 22 rebounds to go along with a late key block on Kyrie Irving as host Philadelphia averted a season sweep by Boston.

Jimmy Butler scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for the 76ers, who have won six in a row overall. Irving scored 16 of his 36 points in the first quarter for the Celtics, who fell short against Philadelphia for just the third time in the teams’ past 20 regular-season meetings.

Al Horford scored 22 points and Terry Rozier added 20 points off the bench for Boston, who saw guard Marcus Smart receive a flagrant-2 foul and an immediate ejection less than a minute into the third quarter following a two-handed shove into the back of Embiid.

Raptors 123,

Thunder 114 (OT)

Pascal Siakam scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Toronto to an overtime win at Oklahoma City.

The Raptors dominated the extra session, outscoring the Thunder 13-4 after letting a 19-point, second-half lead slip away. Oklahoma City did not score in the extra period until 31.5 seconds remained. Kawhi Leonard scored five of his 22 points in overtime, and Fred VanVleet finished with 23 points for the Raptors.

Russell Westbrook, returning from a one-game suspension and coming off a 2-for-16 shooting performance Saturday in a loss to the Golden State Warriors, helped lift the Thunder with 42 points and 16-of-29 shooting, including 5-of-10 accuracy from behind the 3-point arc.

Cavaliers 107, Bucks 102

Collin Sexton scored 25 points, and Jordan Clarkson added 23 off the bench to lead host Cleveland over short-handed Milwaukee.

Coming into the game, Sexton had been the first rookie to score at least 23 points in six consecutive games since Tim Duncan did it twice for the San Antonio Spurs in 1998. Sexton now has accomplished the feat in seven straight games.

Milwaukee dressed only nine players and was without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Mirotic. Antetokounmpo missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. The Bucks announced on Wednesday that Mirotic will be out two to four weeks with a thumb injury. Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 26 points.

Heat 110, Spurs 105

Goran Dragic scored 22 points off the bench, and Dwyane Wade had a big basket and a steal in the final minutes as visiting Miami outlasted San Antonio to snap Spurs’ nine-game winning streak.

After trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter and by 13 with 9:50 to play, San Antonio charged back, pulling within 106-103 with 2:05 left. With Miami on top 108-105, Wade stole the ball from DeRozan with 9.1 seconds left. Kelly Olynyk then converted a pair of free throws to cement the win for the Heat.

Dion Waiters scored 18 points for the Heat, who hold a one-and-a-half-game lead on the Orlando Magic for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli and Aldridge scored 17 points each for the Spurs.

Magic 119, Pelicans 96

Orlando led from start to finish, pounding visiting New Orleans for its third consecutive win.

Evan Fournier scored 22 points for the Magic, and Aaron Gordon had 20. Nikola Vucevic contributed 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Frank Jackson was the only Pelicans starter to score in double figures, netting 14 points. Reserve Stanley Johnson scored a team-high 18 points off the bench. Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis did not play due to a family matter.

Bulls 126, 

Wizards 120 (OT)

Kris Dunn atoned for a late miss in regulation with a pair of 3-pointers in overtime, and Lauri Markkanen added a back-breaking trey with 32.3 seconds remaining to send Chicago to victory over visiting Washington.

The loss assured the Wizards (30-42) of a losing season and cost them a key game in their desperate quest to move up from 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Markkanen, the game’s leading scorer with 32 points, also collected a game-high 13 rebounds. Dunn had 26 points and 13 assists for the Bulls, who won their second straight after a five-game losing streak. Jabari Parker scored 28 points for the Wizards against his former team.

Trail Blazers 126, Mavericks 118

Damian Lillard scored 33 points and handed out 12 assists as Portland knocked off visiting Dallas.

Six players scored in double figures for the Trail Blazers, including Seth Curry with 20 off the bench. It was the fifth win in six games for Portland.

Luka Doncic scored 24 points and Justin Jackson contributed 21 for the Mavericks, who have lost 14 of their past 16 outings.

Jazz 137, Knicks 116

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points in three quarters and Utah easily ran its winning streak to five games by rolling over host New York.

Mitchell helped the Jazz get their latest win by shooting 12 of 20 and hitting five 3-pointers. Utah matched a team record by hitting 20 3-pointers.

The Knicks lost for the 10th time in 11 games. 

Bianca Andreescu has brushed aside several big-name players during her meteoric rise in women’s tennis, but the Canadian teenager is wary for now of injuries, and not opponents, becoming the biggest obstacle in her career.

Andreescu, who has dealt with several injury setbacks in her young career, needed to overcome nerves, fatigue and arm and leg issues during her triumph over former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber in Sunday’s Indian Wells final.

The triumph made Andreescu, 18, the youngest Indian Wells champion since Serena Williams in 1999 and the first wildcard to take home the title from one of the biggest tennis tournaments outside of the four Grand Slams.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that before. Never been in a final of a premier event playing a very high-level opponent,” Andreescu said on Tuesday during a conference call from Florida where she is competing in the Miami Open.

“So I think it was also all of the emotions and all of the tension that was going through my body that caused me to get even more tired than I usually would.”

A struggling Andreescu called for her coach after falling behind 3-2 in the decisive third set of her win over three-times Grand Slam champion Kerber and said her “feet were burning” and that she was having trouble moving on the court.

Andreescu, who as a junior in 2016 missed six months due to stress fractures in her foot and last year missed action with back issues, said she has already taken steps to try to find ways to avoid further injuries.

“Tennis Canada has a great group of doctors and I’ve been running some tests with them to see what the problem is,” said Andreescu. “But definitely after Miami I will take a good two or three weeks off just figuring out what to do better with my body and my nutrition and my mind.”

Andreescu first made waves in January when she beat former World No. 1s Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams on consecutive nights in a tune-up event for the Australian Open where fatigue seemed to play a factor in her second round loss.

Still, the whirlwind start to the year, a period in which Andreescu has shot to 24th in the world rankings from 152nd, has given the Canadian a sense of confidence when competing against the world’s best players.

“Now that I am gaining more and more experience and getting more and more confident playing against these top-level players I am definitely not starstruck anymore,” said Andreescu, whose run in Indian Wells included wins over five seeded players.

“But I want to just go into every match not trying to focus on who’s on the other side [of the net] and just focus on myself.”

LONDON — A damaged car accounted for some of Lewis Hamilton’s lack of relative pace in Formula One’s Australian season-opener, but the Briton can have no doubt that his winning Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is a man on a mission.

The Finn, mentally battered after a winless 2018 season that left him dismissed as no more than a “wingman” for five-times champion Hamilton, returned meaner and more determined for Melbourne.

Telling his critics where to go in blunt language over the team radio after taking the chequered flag 20.8 seconds clear of Hamilton on Sunday, Bottas showed he was ready to fight for his place at Mercedes and become a true contender.

The Finn will need plenty more of that inner steel against a teammate whose race was decided by a slow getaway from pole position before his car lost a chunk of its floor, compromising performance.

“It was really about bringing the car home in one piece and making sure we had the one-two. Pretty straightforward to be honest,” said Hamilton.

The Briton has won four of the last five championships, beaten only by then-teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016 when Mercedes were dominant, and also started last season with a second place in Melbourne. 

He will be losing no sleep after a race that is always something of an outlier.

“I’ve been here a long, long time and I’ve never known after the first race,” he said when asked how he read the situation.

“You usually take from the first four races a bit of an idea of where we all stand. It could be like this for four races or it could be scattered. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t tell you but I can assure you we’ll be pushing onwards and upwards from here.”

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won last year’s opener but the Italian team’s lack of pace, after arriving as favourites following a strong showing in pre-season testing, provided a major talking point.

That could prove only a temporary blip, however, with the next race in Bahrain more of an indicator of the Italian team’s true position. 

Honda showed they have got their act together by powering new partners Red Bull to third place with Max Verstappen overtaking Vettel for a place on the podium.

That was the first top-three finish for a Honda-powered car since 2008 and Hamilton welcomed that.

“I remember growing up watching Ayrton [Senna] drive with the [McLaren] Honda and they were a formidable force back then and it’s great to seem them back up there,” he told reporters.

“The Red Bulls are there with us and I think they’re going to have a really, really great battle between the three of us,” he added.

“With Ferrari something’s not been right this weekend but I’m pretty sure that car is still good. I think it’s going to be a really interesting season.”

Further back down the grid, the midfield battle looked intense as predicted with Haas the best of the rest and then four drivers from four different teams filling the positions from seventh to 10th.

There was also no surprise from Williams, confirmed as the slowest team on the grid and with a chasm between them and the rest.

Meanwhile, Bottas won the season-opener with the fastest lap and in the process achieved a Formula One first, while also ignoring team instructions to play safe.

The Finn was the first driver since the 1950s to win a point for the fastest lap, under a new rule introduced this year, and also the only one ever to score more than 25 points in a race on more than one occasion.

The only other race in which drivers have been able to score more than the maximum allocated for a victory was the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when double points were handed out for the first and only time.

Bottas finished third in that race at Yas Marina for Williams, behind winner Hamilton and now-retired Brazilian Felipe Massa, and banked 30 points. On Sunday he scored 26.

Bianca Andreescu pictured herself as BNP Paribas Open champion so many times during the tournament that actually winning it should have come as no great surprise, but the Canadian wildcard was still stunned by Sunday’s victory over Angelique Kerber.

The 18-year-old, who relies heavily on meditation and visualisation techniques to get her mental game in shape, had to dig deep against three-times Grand Slam champion Kerber and found another gear late on to claim the 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.

She said she had visualized winning the tournament prior to the match, where the unseeded wildcard won her first career title despite playing with an injured right shoulder and cramp. 

“I did [visualise the victory]. Not only this morning but so many times,” she told reporters at a news conference.

“It’s crazy to think that it became a reality today.” 

She said the key to the match came during a visit with her coach when she was trailing 3-2 in the third set.

“After I spoke to my coach I just let it all out there,” she said.

“At that point I was really tired, so I went for my shots more, and that obviously worked. The next couple of games I did the same thing. 

“And I just fought till the end, because physically I wasn’t feeling too well.”

Not being 100 per cent fit is nothing new for Andreescu.

She missed six months in 2016 with stress fractures in her foot and was sidelined last year with back problems. 

“A year ago, during this period, I had been struggling a lot with my tennis and with my body too. So it’s crazy what a year can do,” she added.

She said she tries to stay positive when dealing with injury setbacks like the foot fractures, which required her to practice hitting on the court while wheeling around in an office chair. 

Those sessions helped her develop her drop shot, which she used to great effect in Sunday’s final. 

“I don’t necessarily think that being injured is a bad thing,” she said. 

“I try to take it in a positive way and just find different things about me that might work later on.” 

She said she hoped the Indian Wells title would do for her what it did for Naomi Osaka last year. The 21-year-old Japanese followed up her win in the desert with titles at the US and Australian Opens to achieve the World No. 1 ranking.

But for now, she said she was happy to simply stay in the moment.

“It’s definitely inspiration seeing her claim the trophy last year and winning two Grand Slams right after,” she said.

“But I don’t really want to focus on the future right now. I just want to enjoy this moment, because I don’t want to take anything for granted.

“You never know what next week brings.”