Sports

LONDON — Formula E starts its fifth season next week, braced for a big breakthrough but already looking far down the road to a future when its all-electric cars could rival Formula One machines and race on similar circuits.

The futuristic Gen2, or second generation, cars that will debut in Saudi Arabia on December 15 now boast double the battery range.

That means drivers can do a full distance without having to pit, jump out and change vehicles midway through a race, as they have had to up to now.

“I think season five is the big season for Formula E,” Chief Executive Alejandro Agag told Reuters in an interview at his London headquarters. “Season five is the moment of truth for Formula E.

“Now people are coming, assuming that this is a long-term venture that is going to be playing a really huge role in the motorsports industry and in the car industry,” added the Spaniard.

“And we cannot fail. We have new manufacturers, new sponsors. It’s great, but it also means more responsibility.”

The technological step-up will lend the series, whose shareholders include Discovery Communications and John Malone’s Liberty Global, greater credibility and burnish its credentials as a test bed for electric car manufacturers.

The new cars are still far from Formula One pace, with the Gen2 accelerating from 0-100kph in 2.8 seconds compared to under two for an F1 car.

The top speed of 280kph compares to Formula One’s record of 372, but the gap is closing.

“Electric cars are going to go faster and faster,” said Agag. “I see us going now towards smaller batteries with the same amount of power, and ultra-fast charging so maybe one or two pitstops during the race in generation three.

“This will mean less weight, even more power, so a lot more performance.

“And I think generation four or five can be at the same level as the Formula One cars today.”

Track tests

Ultimately, he said, the time could also come when Formula E was ready to break away from being purely a city-based street circuit series, where speeds are limited by track characteristics.

The Spaniard said he and Jean Todt, president of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) had discussed a lot whether Formula E might one day feature on regular circuits.

“I think when the performance is there, we need to provide a platform, a laboratory for these electric cars to go to the limit,” he said. “At the same time, racing in cities is part of our DNA.

“I see maybe a hybrid situation in which we keep some races in the cities but we do maybe three, four, five at racetracks to allow these cars really to express themselves, to show their level of performance.” 

The Spaniard stated recently that he saw Formula One starting to feel the heat from Formula E in the next five years, with the electric series destined to become “the main motorsport in the world”.

Speaking to Reuters, he said his series — with manufacturers like Nissan, Citroen, BMW, Jaguar, Audi with Porsche and Mercedes set to join in 2019-20 — had reason to feel confident but there was plenty of room for both championships.

“We are not competitors with Formula One and we are still always big fans of Formula One. But obviously the fact that we are still here and now probably in the best moment of our history, of course we feel more confident,” he said.

“I don’t think Formula One should be worried at all about Formula E.

“I think our rival is tennis, golf, football. Other sports. The better Formula One does, the better Formula E will do. And vice-versa.”

Mario kart

Season Five will also feature a new “attack mode” or “hyperboost”, introducing a new level of strategy with drivers going off the racing line in certain sectors to collect more power — as in the video game Mario Kart.

“I think the cars, just the look of the new cars is incredible, but the sound of the new cars is a lot more exciting,” said Agag, summing up the draw of the new season.

“The attack mode I think is going to be super-fun to watch...we’ve just seen a glimpse of it in Valencia during the test and it looked amazing, but I’m so excited to see this thing in action.

“There will be a little bit of chaos in the first race but that’s OK.”

PARIS — Real Madrid’s Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d’Or on Monday, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Lionel Messi’s decade-long hold on the prestigious award.

Juventus forward and 2017 winner Ronaldo came second, while Atletico Madrid and France striker Antoine Griezmann came third.

Paris St Germain’s France forward Kylian Mbappe, who also collected the Kopa award for the best under-21 player, was fourth, with Barca forward Messi finishing fifth.

Olympique Lyonnais’ Norway striker Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural Ballon d’Or for women’s football, having led her side to the Women’s Champions League title, scoring in extra time in the 4-1 win over Vfl Wolfsburg in the final.

Modric, 33, helped Real Madrid win a third successive Champions League title in May and also captained Croatia to its first World Cup final, being named player of the tournament despite his side losing 4-2 to France.

“It’s a unique feeling. I’m happy proud and honoured, I have a lot of emotions right now, it’s hard to describe in words,” said Modric, wearing a tuxedo as he collected the award from presenter and former France forward David Ginola after a glamorous ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris.

“It’s a big pleasure to be here among all these players. I am still trying to realise that I have become part of a group of exceptional players to win the Ballon d’Or throughout history.”

Difficult start

Modric, who joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012 for a reported 40 million euros ($45.40 million), was criticised in his debut season at the Bernabeu and named the worst signing of the year in a poll by newspaper Marca.

But the diminutive playmaker began to demonstrate the quality he had shown at Spurs when Jose Mourinho deployed him in a deep lying role in Real’s midfield rather than the attacking role he had been given at the start of that campaign.

Modric said the positional change, which was first suggested to him by Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, transformed his form.

“The change of position helped me a lot in my career. I used to play more offensively. When I dropped back, I was able to read the game better and show my creativity,” added Modric.

He is the first Croatian to win the Ballon d’Or and also picked up FIFA’s “The Best” award in October.

The Ballon d’or, voted for by journalists and organised by French magazine France Football, has been dominated by Barcelona’s Messi and Ronaldo, first when he was at Manchester United and subsequently with Real Madrid, since 2008.

The last player to lift the award apart from the Argentine and Portuguese, who have won it a joint-record five times each, was Kaka in 2007 when the Brazilian played for AC Milan.

The Ballon d’Or was first presented in 1956 and partnered with football’s world governing body FIFA as “The Best” award from 2010 to 2015, until becoming its own entity again.

DeAndre Jordan torched his former team for 16 points and a season-high 23 rebounds Sunday, and Dennis Smith Jr., who had a front tooth knocked out in the third quarter, came up with a game-saving block to allow host Dallas Mavericks to earn their seventh consecutive home victory, 114-110 over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Jordan was pivotal in the victory, scoring on a late tip-in and then tipping, and stealing a Lou Williams pass attempt with 19 seconds to go and Dallas trying to hold onto a 111-110 lead.

After the Mavericks went ahead 112-110, the Clippers called timeout and went inside to Tobias Harris. However, Smith blocked the shot and then made two free throws at the other end to seal the victory.

Smith amassed nine points, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Dallas got huge contributions from Harrison Barnes, who finished with a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds, and reserve J.J. Barea finished with a season-high 24 points, four assists and five rebounds. Montrezl Harrell led Los Angeles with 23 points while Williams and Danilo Gallinari had 21 apiece.

Lakers 120, Suns 96

Kyle Kuzma had 23 points and eight rebounds to lead Los Angeles past the visiting Suns. The Lakers ran their winning streak to three and climbed a season-high five games above .500.

LeBron James had 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists and Brandon Ingram had 15 points for the Lakers.

Richaun Holmes scored a season-high 15 points off the bench, and Deandre Ayton finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost five in a row.

76ers 103, Grizzlies 95

Jimmy Butler hit two free throws with 1:31 remaining and a jumper 41 seconds later to stave off a Memphis rally, helping host Philadelphia hang on for a win.

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid recorded double-doubles for the 76ers, who completed a 3-0 homestand with their fourth straight win. Butler finished with 21 points and JJ Redick a team-high 24 for the 76ers.

Mike Conley had a team-high 21 points and five assists for the Grizzlies, who have lost four of their last five games.

Pelicans 119,
Hornets 109

Anthony Davis had 36 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists, and visiting New Orleans handled Charlotte. Jrue Holiday added 19 points, and Nikola Mirotic scored 16 for the Pelicans.

New Orleans won for just the second time in seven games while the Hornets lost for the fourth time in six games.

Frank Kaminsky had 19 points to lead a strong effort from the Hornets’ bench, which had a combined 67 points.

Spurs 131,
Trail Blazers 118

DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 36 points — including 15 straight in the third quarter — and LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor as host San Antonio Spurs defeated Portland.

The Spurs snapped a two-game losing streak while the Blazers lost for the fifth time in six games.

Rudy Gay added 18 points for San Antonio, with Patty Mills scoring 15. Damian Lillard led all scorers with 37 points and added 10 assists for Portland, while CJ McCollum added 24 points.

Heat 102, Jazz 100

Dwyane Wade made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left, and Miami defeated visiting Utah when Jazz star Donovan Mitchell saw his 3-point attempt from the left elbow bounce in and out.

On the winning play, Wade drove to his right in a tie game and drew a foul on Jazz 7-foot-1 centre Rudy Gobert, who went for the block.

Mitchell scored 18 points, but he finished the game shooting just 8 of 24 from the floor. He also missed six of his seven 3-point tries. Miami’s Hassan Whiteside had a monster game: 23 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks. It was his 11th career 20-20 game and his third this season.

BREMEN — Niko Kovac says the belief is starting to return to Bayern Munich after they claimed a second win this week to climb to third in the Bundesliga table after a 2-1 victory at Werder Bremen.

Bayern built on their 5-1 midweek thrashing of Benfica in the Champions League with Serge Gnabry scoring twice in Bremen to end a run of woeful results after going the whole of November without a league win.

Bayern lag nine points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund, and will drop back to fifth if Eintracht Frankfurt earn a fifth straight win at home to Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig beat second-placed Moenchengladbach.

“The team believes in itself again and is firmly convinced that we can do it,” said Bayern head coach Kovac when asked if they can close the huge gap behind Dortmund.

“When everyone’s fit and playing for each other, in defence and attack, we are hard to play against and hard to beat.”

The last time Bayern were so far behind in the table was in 2010/11 and their bid for a seventh straight Bundesliga crown is in danger after only their third win in their last nine league games.

Subdued celebrations

Moreover, there is still huge room for improvement in defence as Bremen’s Japan striker Yuya Osako out-leapt Jerome Boateng to equalise before the half-time break before Gnabry’s second-half winner.

“We defended too passively, especially in the 10 minutes after we took the lead,” admitted Kovac.

“We have talked about things again and again, but sometimes talking isn’t enough and you have to deal with things directly — we did that today.”

Gnabry, 23, has had a hand in Bayern’s goals in the last three games and was pleased with his brace, but kept the celebrations muted against his ex-club Bremen, who he joined from Arsenal in 2016.

“We know about the situation in the table — every game is important to get the three points and reduce the gap,” said the Germany winger.

“The victories ensure a good mood and gives us confidence for our next game [against Nuremberg next Saturday].

“We didn’t give much away — that gives us confidence.

“I enjoyed my goals, but I didn’t cheer much out of respect as I had a great time here in Bremen,” he added.

Franck Ribery, 35, limped off with a leg injury in the first half, but there was good news for Kovac as Kingsley Coman made his first appearance after an ankle injury, while Thiago Alcantara also returned after a month sidelined.

Kovac also said he was pleased with Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, who had a hand in both goals, as the pair are forging an impressive midfield partnership.

Alcacer equals record

Meanwhile, Alcacer’s phenomenal scoring run continues for Dortmund as he netted his 10th goal of the season to become the league’s top scorer in their 2-0 home win over Freiburg.

The Spaniard has already now equalled the Bundesliga record for most goals by a substitute in a season with his ninth goal off the bench in his eighth league game.

The ex-Barcelona forward is averaging a goal for Dortmund every 28 minutes.

Ex-Germany defender Christoph Metzelder is convinced his mere presence off the bench makes teams nervous.

“This has it’s own psychology, for his own team and the opposition,” said Metzelder, a Sky pundit.

“He trots on the field with 20 minutes to go and everyone knows something is going to happen.”

Sure enough, after Marco Reus converted a first-half penalty, Alcacer came on for the last 20 minutes at Signal Iduna Park and scored as a replacement for the third game in a row.

The Spain international tapped home a minute in added time after brilliant play by Jadon Sancho and Lukasz Piszczek, as Dortmund were rewarded for breaking down Freiburg’s dogged defence.

MANCHESTER — Jose Mourinho fears Manchester United will be unable to make major signings in January because their rivals no longer need to sell to them.

United have spent almost £400 million on players since Mourinho arrived at the club in 2016, but the manager claims buying top-level players is becoming increasingly difficult.

Mourinho claims the balance of power has shifted in the Premier League — using the example of Tottenham, who spent no money on players during the last transfer window, but also managed to keep their key names, in Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min.

There was no attempt by United to sign any of those four players, but Mourinho is adamant Tottenham would have refused to sell even if there had been.

He argued it did not used to be the case, with United prising England midfielder Michael Carrick from Tottenham in 2006, then luring Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov from White Hart Lane in 2008.

“Is Manchester United by its history, by its dimension, bigger than Tottenham? With all respect, Tottenham is an amazing club, but I think everybody would say yes,” Mourinho said.

“Can you buy Tottenham’s best players? No, because they don’t sell. Of course, they are so powerful that they can say no.

“A few years ago, who was Tottenham’s best player? Michael Carrick. And a few years later, who was the best player? Berbatov.

“Can we go there now and bring Harry Kane? Dele Alli, Eriksen, Son? Can we go there and bring those players here? No. So who is more powerful now? Them or us?”

Financial muscle

In what appeared to be a covert criticism of Manchester City, Mourinho suggested financial restrictions sometimes did not apply in the Premier League.

Mourinho said some clubs could buy multiple full-backs at the same time, a comment he has made before when referencing City’s transfer policy. 

City manager Pep Guardiola bought three-full backs in 2017 while allowing another four to leave as he reshaped his squad.

“It’s more difficult to make the team better and stronger with buying — unless you do what some clubs do, and for some reason they can do this and others cannot, which is say: I need a right-back and a left-back, send away the ones you have and buy four at the same time,” Mourinho said.

After making this comment, Mourinho was asked why United did not have the financial muscle required to buy the best players.

“I cannot say the answer because one of the answers you had a few weeks ago. I don’t want to speak about that. But one of the answers you had a few weeks ago,” he said.

He refused to confirm whether this was a reference to allegations made at the start of November that Manchester City had circumvented UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

“We do what we can. Last season, it was fantastic to finish second and we are fighting hard,” he added.

“I know that we have to do better than what we are doing, absolutely, we have to do better, but one thing is to do better and another is to compare ourselves with what Manchester United was in the past because it is impossible.

“That’s not just because Manchester United was fantastic, but because there was a big difference to the others and now it is not like that.”

Asked if he would buy any players in January, the manager said: “Honestly, I don’t think we are going to sign anyone. If we do, I would say one player. I don’t see us going more than that.”

AMMAN — Jordan takes on South Korea on Sunday in their Round 2 Asian Group E qualifier for the FIBA World Cup 2019.

The national team lost 96-69 to New Zealand on Thursday and is now fifth in the group behind New Zealand, South Korea, Lebanon and China. Also on Sunday, Lebanon plays China and New Zealand plays Syria before Round 2 stops until February 22, 2019 when Jordan plays China and on February 25 plays New Zealand. In previous Round 2 matches, Jordan lost 88-79 to China and 86-75 to South Korea. 

Jordan’s task seems tough with incoming coach Joe Stiebing facing the hurdle of an incomplete line-up as team leader Zeid Abbas sustaining an injury in the games against New Zealand while naturalised players’ FIBA papers were not completed in time.

In Round 1, Jordan topped Group C after they beat India 102-88, Lebanon 87-83 and Syria 109-72. First Round results were carried over to Round 2, and out of 16 competing teams in Round 1, 12 teams (the top three teams from each group) moved to the Round 2 following which seven teams (the top three teams from each group and the best 4th) in addition to host China will move to the FIBA World Cup finals set for August 31, 2019 which will include 32 teams.

Australia has qualified from Group F and are followed in the standings by Iran, the Philippines, Kazakhstan Japan and Qatar.

Fans were hopeful the Jordanian squad would return to of competitive form after discord among the governing body of the game ended with the resignation of the Jordan Basketball Federation Board last year. A transitional care-taking body of former players and marketing experts has taken over until a new board is elected.

Support for Jordan’s second most popular game is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the game locally and less competitive advantage on the regional scene, although the basketball squad was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a World Championship in a team sport in 2010 alongside the junior team in 1995.

Last year, Jordan took third place in the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) 2017 as Lebanon was crowned champs. The top four qualifiers then played at the 29th FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon where Jordan finished in disappointing 8th as Australia won the title, Iran came second and South Korea third.

Apart from the 2010 milestone, Jordan’s basketball team won the West Asia title in 2002 and again in 2014, when Jordan managed to win the title in the absence of both the Lebanese and senior Iranian teams.

In WABA 2010, Jordan finished second behind Iran and qualified to the 26th FIBA Asia Championship where, for the first time in the country’s history, Jordan reached the final, but lost the chance qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing the final 70-69 to China. Jordan then played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Men, but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. The OQT gave Asia’s second and third teams a chance to qualify to the London Games basketball event.

As of 2017, the Asia Championships and the FIBA Oceania Championship merged into one tournament — the FIBA Asia Cup, held every four-years like the EuroBasket, AfroBasket and Americas Championship. The tournament will determine the composition of the joint FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

AMMAN — Tahek Al Tayer drove superbly well to take the fourth and final round of the 2018 Jordan Rally Championship, but it was a double success for the Juma family, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service. 

Khaled Juma had done enough from the previous three rounds to clinch the drivers’ title, and even brought his winning touch by reading the notes for Friday’s winner, Taher.

But it was all eyes on another Juma, Emad, to see whether he could secure enough points in Salameh Al Gammaz’s navigator seat to take the co-drivers’ title.  And, despite only finishing fourth on the day, the 15 points were enough for Gammaz to finish second in the drivers’ championship, and for Emad to be crowned 2018 co-drivers’ champion.

Ahmad Shaban settled for third in the championship, missing out on the runners-up spot by just half-a-point, with Taher’s win moving him up to fourth overall, following a consistent year. Ihab Al Shurafa completes the top five for the season.

The rally brought the curtain down on another successful season for Jordan Motorsport, which has organised a record number of events this year, and is now preparing for a busy 2019 with local, regional and world events planned.

Lionel Messi scored an excellent individual goal and laid on another as Barcelona beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 to secure top spot in Group B of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Messi provided an assist for defender Gerard Pique to score the second for the Spanish side, who have 13 points from their five matches and an unassailable lead at the top of the pool. PSV will finish bottom.

Captain Luuk de Jong scored a late consolation for the home side as they matched Barcelona for much of the contest at the Philips Stadion, striking the woodwork three times in the first half alone and missing a number of other chances. 

In a bright start, PSV forward Gaston Pereiro latched onto a poor pass from Ivan Rakitic, but his low drive came back off the post, and minutes later he shot over the crossbar from five yards.

PSV had some good fortune, too, though, as Barca had two efforts cleared off the line within the space of a minute, with Arturo Vidal the unlucky player on both occasions.

His hooked effort from 12 yards was cleared by Pablo Rosario before Angelino blocked the Chilean’s goal-bound header from the resulting corner.

It was Barcelona thanking their lucky stars just before halftime, though, when De Jong’s header from a free-kick came off the crossbar and the follow-up from close-range by Denzel Dumfries struck the post.

The visitors took the lead just past the hour mark, thanks to a typical piece of Messi magic as he picked up the ball on the edge of the box and, with four defenders around him, managed to drive forward and provide a thunderous finish.

It was 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining when the Argentine’s free kick was guided into the PSV net by an unmarked Pique.

De Jong set up a frenetic finish with his headed goal but Barcelona were able to hold on under heavy home pressure.

Fans boo and jeer

Schalke have reached the last 16 of the Champions League, but their progress to the knock-out stages did not stop travelling fans booing their team’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Porto.

German fans celebrated before kick-off in the Portuguese city yesterday when Lokomotiv Moscow’s 2-0 win over Galatasary meant both Schalke and Porto were through to the last 16 from Group D.

However, the mood soured after Schalke were well beaten by Porto as the Germans only had a late Nabil Bentaleb penalty to show and their fans voiced their disappointment over a dismal away display.

“It’s hard for us when the fans are upset, but we need to understand their reasons,” said defensive midfielder Omar Mascarell.

Schalke were floored as Porto netted two second-half goals in quick succession, as Brazilian defender Eder Militao struck in the 52nd minute and Jesus Corona three minutes later. Moussa Marega hit a third late for the hosts in added time.

The German fans whistled and booed their team off the pitch and sports director Christian Heidel was surprised given their passage into the last 16.

The mood of the disgruntled fans was made worse as the team did not acknowledge the travelling support after the final whistle.

Schalke’s injury-hit attack failed to manage a single shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes while Porto ripped the Royal Blues defence apart after the break.

Only good saves by Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann kept the visitors in the game.

Schalke have lost only one of their five games so far in Europe, but are just four points clear of the bottom three in the Bundesliga after seven defeats in 12 games.