Sports

AMMAN — Jordan has sent its national team to compete at the 21st Arab Volleyball Championship in Cairo, Egypt, from October 27 — November 3, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The event will welcome seven teams including Egypt, Algeria, Oman, Bahrain, Palestine, Iraq and Jordan.

MANCHESTER — An impressive Juventus beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday to take command of Champions League Group H with a maximum nine points from three games and demonstrate just how far Jose Mourinho’s side are from Europe’s elite.

Paulo Dybala’s 17th minute goal, a simple conversion after a low cross from the right by former United favourite Cristiano Ronaldo, won the game but the dominant Italian champions could have won by a much more convincing margin.

United needed their Spanish keeper David de Gea to be in top form as he made a series of good saves, including an excellent effort to keep out a second-half strike from Ronaldo.

If United fans can see little hope of their side catching up the top trio in the Premier League they will also know after this game that there is precious chance of them doing better in continental action.

With four points leaving them second in their group, ahead of Valencia and Young Boys, United may still progress to the knockout stages, but the gulf between them and a team equipped to reach the latter stages was all too evident.

United were unchanged from the team that drew at Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday but the visitors very quickly demonstrated that they had no fear of the task in front of them.

Perhaps United’s players would have been better joining their manager Jose Mourinho on the ten-minute walk from the team’s hotel to the stadium than sitting in traffic for an hour on the team bus because they made a woefully slow start.

Right from the outset, Massimiliano Allegri’s side were sharper, faster, more precise and showed more purpose than Mourinho’s men, who struggled to even match the tempo of the Italian champions.

The most disconcerted Juve looked in the early exchanges was when a fan invaded the pitch only to be apprehended by security before he could reach his apparent target, Ronaldo.

It was no surprise at all when, in the 17th minute, Juve took the lead.

Ronaldo broke down the right and put in a low cross towards the near post which Chris Smalling and Juan Cuadrado challenged for before the ball fell kindly to Dybala, who converted with ease.

Juve sensed the fear in their opponents and looked for a quick second as Joao Cancelo burst unchallenged into the area and then tested United De Gea with a fierce drive.

It was a busy opening half for the Spanish keeper — Ronaldo struck a swerving free-kick straight at De Gea, who then did well to keep out the follow-up effort from Blaise Matuidi.

The halftime statistics showed a remarkable dominance for a visiting side at Old Trafford with Juve enjoying 67 per cent of possession and double the amount of passes.

Ronaldo, operating in a free role, roaming wide when he felt it would be fruitful, brought another fine save from De Gea seven minutes after the interval with a thundering shot after being set up by Cuadrado.

United’s effort could not be faulted, however much guile and penetration they lacked, and they could have drawn level in the 75th minute when Paul Pogba, facing his former club, struck the post with a left foot shot from outside the box.

At the final whistle, another fan tried to greet Ronaldo and came up against security officers but the Portuguese insisted on taking a photograph with the interloper and left the field to the applause of both sets of fans.

Once again, United fans were left with a reminder of their glorious past in the shape of their old boy Ronaldo. It was their only consolation after a game in which their current weaknesses were so comprehensively exposed.

AMMAN — Jazira maintained their lead atop the Jordan Professional Football League as it resumed this week, while standings remained mostly unchanged.

Week 6 saw Jazira beat Ramtha 2-0 to take a five-point lead as the rest of the teams stumbled. They will next play Salt, who are fourth after they beat Baqa’a 2-1.

Shabab Urdun lost 2-0 to Hussein and remained second for now ahead of their match against Faisali who are third after a 1-0 win over Sarih.

Wihdat went up two spots to 6th after a 1-0 win over Ahli ahead of their match against Baqaa who are now 7th. Aqaba are 8th after beating That Ras 3-0. They will next play Ramtha, who are 9th, while That Ras, who dropped to last, play Hussein, who climbed to 5th.

The league had halted for the national team’s two friendlies in which Jordan held Albania 0-0 and lost to Croatia 2-1 as it gears up for the 2019 Asian Cup. The break gave the league coaches a chance to amend mistakes and refocus. However, for most teams it has been a very inconsistent season so far.

Jazira were eliminated from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup West Asia zone final when they lost on aggregate to the Iraqi Air Force team thus failing to reach the continent’s final. Faisali had bowed out earlier in the event’s semifinals. 

Likewise, Ramtha lost to Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel and were eliminated from the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. Last year, Faisali finished runner-up to Tunisia’s Tarajji in the Arab Club Champions Cup after an impressive performance which included two wins over Egyptian veterans Ahli. 

This season, league titleholders Wihdat will represent Jordan in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali failed to reach the group stages of Asia’s elite club competition and settled to play the AFC Cup. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, while Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.

The 2018-2019 football season agenda kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup — the first major competition on the annual football calendar.

AMMAN — Jordan returned from the World Taekwondo Grand Prix round in Manchester empty handed, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

There were high hopes for a top class delegation hoping to build on the previous medals won at Grand Prix events, but it was not to be with Olympic gold medallist, Ahmad Abu Ghaush, advancing the furthest, losing in the quarter-finals of the -68kg weight to Iran’s Mohammadi Husaini on the golden point.

Earlier he had beaten fighters from The Netherlands and Brazil.

Juliana Al Sadeq missed out in the -68Kg after losing 11-6 to Wales’s Lauren Williams who went on to secure the gold medal. Saleh Al Sharabati lost his opening fight in the 80kg weight to Belgium’s Robert Ordiman, 11-9.

Hamzeh Qattan also lost his first round contest to Kazakhstan’s Samuel Desabi, 6-4. The event welcomed the best fighters in the world representing 53 countries.

APORE — Caroline Wozniacki overcame a mid-match wobble and withstood a barrage of big hitting to get her WTA Finals title defence back on track with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

In the second White Group encounter of the day, Elina Svitolina moved to the brink of the semi-finals with a gutsy 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova, the Ukrainian recording her second straight win of the tournament to top the pool.

Wozniacki and Kvitova came into their contest on the back of opening defeats in round robin play, but the Danish World No. 3 ended a run of four straight losses to the Czech to stay alive in the eight-woman tournament for at least one more match.

The Dane, who started her campaign with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Pliskova on Sunday, spent most of the match against Kvitova pinned on the baseline but her consistency and patience proved vital as she pulled away in the final set.

“I played much better today. I served and returned pretty well, and moved really well against a player who is so powerful that you have to stay on your game,” Wozniacki said

“You never know what is going to happen against Petra, so I just stayed focused and got a lot of balls back.”

The match was a cagey affair from the outset with seven holds of serve in a row. But after they traded breaks as the intensity levels picked up, Wozniacki broke again to seal the opener when Kvitova blasted a forehand into the net.

Bundle of energy

Kvitova took control of the second set with an early break, then lost momentum when Wozniacki took a timeout for treatment on her knee, before regaining the upper hand to level the match with a sliced backhand winner on her third set point.

Sensing her title defence was hanging by a thread, Wozniacki regrouped to break at the start of the decider when she put away a backhand to win the longest rally of the match, and ran away with the contest as Kvitova wilted.

The 28-year-old Wozniacki sealed victory on her first match point with a big serve that Kvitova sent long, and will hope to complete round robin play with a victory over Svitolina to secure a semi-final berth.

Svitolina was a bundle of energy at the start of the second match, full of intensity and covering every inch of the court as she rode her early momentum to wrap up the opening set with a forehand winner that was greeted with a big clenched fist.

The Ukrainian had played almost perfect tennis until midway through the second set when a combination of good fortune and rasping cross-court winners earned Pliskova her first break of the tie, a feat she repeated two games later to level the match.

Svitolina shrugged off the setback to come storming out of the blocks in the decider, racing to a 4-0 lead that she carried all the way to victory despite a late fightback from Pliskova.

She only needs to take a set off Wozniacki on Thursday to reach the last four for the first time but as it stands, all four players can still mathematically reach the semifinals.

AUSTIN, Texas — Lewis Hamilton was made to wait for his fifth Formula One world championship on Sunday after the Mercedes driver finished only third in a US Grand Prix won by Ferrari veteran Kimi Raikkonen.

The victory was the 21st of the 39-year-old Finn’s career and first since the Australian Grand Prix of March 2013, a gap of 113 races dating back to when he was racing for now-defunct Lotus.

Red Bull’s Dutch youngster Max Verstappen took a surprise second after starting 18th in a thrilling finale with the top three cars running nose-to-tail and separated by just 2.1 seconds at the chequered flag.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton’s only title rival, spun down to 15th on the opening lap, but fought back to finish fourth — a result that means the championship remains mathematically open going into Mexico next weekend.

Hamilton, on 346 points, has a lead of 70 over his four-times champion rival with a total of 75 remaining to be won from the last three races.

That means even if Vettel wins in Mexico, the Briton needs to finish only seventh to be sure of the title but Sunday was still a missed opportunity for Mercedes, who got their tyre strategy wrong.

“I actually thought we would have been able to do better but this is the best we were able to do in the end,” said Hamilton. “We just have to keep working and keep pushing for the next race.

“I’m not really quite sure how the strategy ended up like that,” added the Briton, who had started on pole position but lost the lead to Raikkonen into the first corner at a sunny Circuit of the Americas.

Late charge

Hamilton pitted early during a virtual safety car period but had to make two pitstops to his rivals’ one, losing time on fading tyres before being called in. 

A late charge over the final 19 laps from fourth was not enough.

Team mate Valtteri Bottas helped by letting him through for third, but the Finn then lost out to Vettel as his tyres wore down and finished fifth. 

Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen with two laps left but failed to make the move stick and ran wide at turn 18 after giving the Dutchman plenty of space.

“Did you win the championship?” enquired 2007 world champion Raikkonen, whose last previous win with Ferrari was in 2009, in the cool-down room.

“No,” replied Hamilton.

The outcome had looked very different at the start, when Vettel, fifth on the grid, spun on the opening lap after making contact with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in the battle for fourth place.

It was the second time in two races that the German had come off worse against a Red Bull — in Japan he had started eighth, dropped to 19th after a collision with Verstappen and fought back to sixth — and he seemed to have handed the title to Hamilton.

Instead, he staged a solid recovery drive to delay the inevitable. 

“I’m happy for Kimi, really. Tough weeks for the team and the tough times don’t seem to be stopping for me. It should have been a better day,” said Vettel.

Ricciardo, who is leaving for Renault at the end of the season, made it easier for him by retiring with a power unit failure after eight laps while in fourth place.

“He’s taken out his frustration in his room by putting his fist through the wall, which you can totally relate to,” team boss Christian Horner told reporters later.

Amateur drivers

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth, ahead of Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz, with Force India’s Esteban Ocon eighth before being disqualified for a fuel breach.

So too was Kevin Magnussen, ninth across the line for the US-owned Haas team.

Their removal from the results lifted Force India’s Mexican Sergio Perez to eighth, with Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley ninth and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson 10th.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso retired after an opening lap collision with Williams’ Lance Stroll, who was handed a drive-through penalty.

“I drive in another series with amateur drivers, theoretically, and there has never been a problem,” said the angry Spaniard, who also races in the World Endurance Championship. 

“There are more amateurs here than in other series.”

TOKYO — Spain’s Marc Marquez wrapped up his third straight MotoGP championship with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday after title rival Andrea Dovizioso fell on the penultimate lap while trying to find a way past the Honda rider.

The 25-year-old is now tied with Australian Mick Doohan on five premier class world titles, with only Italian’s Valentino Rossi (seven) and Giacomo Agostini (eight) having won more.

Marquez, who had sealed two of his previous titles at Motegi, moved 102 points clear of Ducati’s Dovizioso with three races remaining.

Dovizioso started on pole and led for most of the race before Marquez, who had started sixth on the grid, made his move with four laps left.

Marquez had been on the Italian’s tail for much of the race and the pressure eventually told on the Ducati rider as he relinquished the lead.

Dovizioso attempted to move back past Marquez on the penultimate lap but pushed it too far and came off his bike. He recovered but eventually finished 18th.

That left Marquez knowing he was going to secure his fifth title as he completed his final lap, shaking his head in disbelief at the achievement.

“I feel really, really good,” said Marquez after celebrating with the Honda team, who were joined by the company’s CEO Takahiro Hachigo at the manufacturer’s home race.

“After Aragon I already felt, I already imagined that it will be here, but the good thing is when you have the first chance [to win the title], then you do it.”

Marquez pipped Dovizioso on the final lap of the Thailand Grand Prix last time out and while he did leave it quite as late at Motegi the result was the same.

“I was able to follow Andrea, then I say okay, I will try to use the same strategy as Thailand, attack before the last lap because I felt like they had something,” he said.

“I was pushing really hard and he did a mistake.”

“I disappointed because he deserves to be here on the podium with us, but okay, the big boss will enjoy it.”

Dovizioso, who was the championship runner-up to Marquez in 2017, will have to wait another year for a shot at his first MotoGP premier class title.

“The battle [with Dovizioso] has been great all year,” said an exuberant Marquez. 

“Dovi had been a great opponent throughout the year and coming into this he was very, very fast.”

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was second after a brilliant performance that saw the Briton hang with Marquez and Dovizioso until the final stages.

Another Spaniard, Alex Rins, was third for Suzuki.

The next stop is the Australian Grand Prix next weekend.

AUSTIN — Fernando Alonso heaped praise on Lewis Hamilton and omitted Sebastian Vettel on Friday when he was asked to name his five greatest Formula One drivers of all time.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, the two-time world champion Spaniard said that Hamilton had proved his talent by winning in cars that were not expected to be victorious.

“It is difficult to compare those different times and different championships, but Lewis matching [Juan-Manuel] Fangio with five championships will be a great achievement,” said Alonso.

“If one [driver] had to do that in our generation, I am happy it is Lewis as he has showed the talent and commitment. When the car is dominating, then he delivers — and when it is not good enough to win a world championship, he still puts in the performance to show his talent.

“That is difficult to see nowadays.”

Hamilton needs to outscore Vettel, a fellow-four-time champion, by eight points in Sunday’s race to clinch his fifth title, but he avoided all talk of any glory that may ahead.

Alonso spoke twice in glowing terms of Hamilton’s raw talent and speed, the pair having been McLaren team-mates in 2007 when the Briton entered Formula One. 

“Thank you,” said Hamilton, softly, after his first response.

The Spaniard went on to say his top five would include seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, five-time champion Fangio, three-time champion Ayrton Senna, four-time champion Alain Prost and Hamilton.

“This would probably be the top five for me,” he said.

Asked by Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, who was sitting close to him, if he would include himself, Alonso said: “No. Not really.”

Hamilton spoke of both Fangio and Vettel as he responded to questions.

“Fangio is the Godfather of the sport for us,” he said in one answer. “He’s one of the greats from the beginning. It’s crazy for me to think that l am embarking on a similar number of championships that he had.”

He also explained why he had recently defended and supported the luckless, under-fire Vettel, with a social media post on Instagram, following his and Ferrari’s recent slump in form.

“I think if I was in the same position they would do the same thing,” he said. 

“As drivers, we are all members of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Associationand I think we all need to stick together.

“And I think the respect that we have for one other is the best that it has been for many years, at least in the years that I’ve been in Formula One.

“Ultimately as a four-time world champion, it is the most intense year that we’ve had. Every hiccup is magnified, as it is with any sport at the top, but there have been several times where I’ve been in the firing range and Seb has always been really respectful in supporting me so I thought it was only just to do the same.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s contingent to the Invictus Games — the only international sporting event for wounded, injured and ill veteran and active service personnel — joined over 500 athletes at the competition which started in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday.

The Invictus Games was launched by Prince Harry of Britain in 2014 for the positive impact sport could have on the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded, injured and ill servicemen and women. It highlights the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation, and generate a wider understanding of and respect for those who serve their country.

The word “Invictus”, Latin for “unconquered” and embodies the fighting spirit of those servicemen and women who have been tested and challenged, but they have not been overcome They have proven that by embracing each other and the support of family and friends, they can reclaim their future. 

Jordan will compete in athletics, sitting volleyball, indoor rowing and weightlifting. A total of 17 athletes, including two women are among the delegation. They range from anti-narcotics agents, injured on duty to border guards and gendarmerie and army servicemen.

Interviewed ahead of departure by the Jordan Times, the Kingdom’s athletes, supported by the Hashemite Commission for Disabled Soldiers, include Ahmad Al Barahmeh, who served on the northern border with Syria when a gunshot resulted in a spinal cord injury in 2015. 

Barahmeh, who hails from the Jordan Valley and commutes a long way to train with his colleagues, is still on active duty with the Jordan Armed Forces and will compete for the first time. “I enjoy sports and am looking forward to representing Jordan in three disciplines: 100m wheelchair race, rowing, and weightlifting. My injury has not diminished his fighting spirit.”

Another competitor, Anwar Saidat comes from Wadi Mousa. A Public Security Directorate anti-narcotics department officer since 2009, who suffered a broken hip and impaired vision in one eye following an accident while on duty, used to travel for three hours to train with his colleagues. Saidat is new to sports competitions and said he was happy to have met fellow disabled servicemen who come from different parts of the country. “I loves the team spirit that sports competitions create and boost in people.”

The inaugural Invictus Games was held in London in 2014 and was attended by over 400 competitors from 13 nations. In 2016, Florida hosted the second Invictus Games with 485 competitors from 14 nations taking part. In 2017, Toronto hosted 540 competitors from 17 nations. The fourth current edition will host 18 countries in Sydney, from October 20 through October 27. 

The next edition will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands in May 2020. 

The Invictus Games Sydney 2018 will feature 500 competitors from 18 participating nations.

The Invictus Games are open to competitors from all branches of the regular or reserve armed forces of participating nations who have become wounded, injured or ill during, or as a direct consequence of their service. Participants are allowed to compete in as many individual and team sports as they wish, and in as many events as they desire, provided the competition schedule and individual sport programme allow for it and they are selected by their nation. Every attempt has been made to create a competition schedule that will permit competitors to participate in as many sports as possible.

AMMAN — Jordan has completed its competition at the 3rd Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a bronze medal, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The final member of the delegation, Karate youngster, Abdullah Hammad, narrowly missed out on the later stages of the -61kg competition.

Hammad beat the host nation’s Roderigo Tello in his frst fight, before losing to Former Yugoslav Republic of  Macedonia’s Vesle Faheek and drawing with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Ossairi.

He finished third in his four-man group behind Al Ossairi and Faheek who went through. A record number of Jordanians, 12,  qualified for the games with taekwondo’s Zaid Mustafa bringing home the bronze medal.