Sports

AMMAN — Fahad Al Abdullatif has entered the Jordan Baja, the Kingdom’s first cross-country rally to run since 1990. The event takes place in the Wadi Rum region of southern Jordan on September 27-29, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Running under the banner of the Deaf Rally Team Saudi Arabia to highlight his handicap to the motor sporting world, the Saudi Arabian driver has entered the three-day event in a T2 Nissan Patrol.

His friend Ziad Al Harbi will co-drive and the pair will use special instructions and hand signs to overcome the disadvantage of the driver’s lack of hearing. Previous successes for the Saudi include a T2 victory at the Umm Al Quwain Rally in the UAE in 2016, seventh overall in the category for series production cross-country vehicles at the Ha’il Rally the same year and sixth in 2017.

“My car for Baja Jordan is a T2 Nissan Patrol. I did not get sponsorship or backing so I have put the colours and logo of the new big Saudi project NEOM on my car. My target is to achieve the first or second position in the T2 category.

My guiding light was Abdullah Bakhashab. I hope to walk in his footsteps. He was a great champion and a real gentleman. Now I want to encourage other drivers with disabilities to take part in this exciting sport.”

WASHINGTON — Playing in the Ryder Cup will be the culmination of an amazing comeback season for Tiger Woods, one the 14-time major champion feared might never happen after back surgery.

The 42-year-old American has shown flashes of the form that made him golf’s dominant player in younger days in his first campaign after spinal fusion surgery, a last-gasp operation to try and extend his legendary career.

“It was a last-ditch effort,” Woods said. “I tried everything else because fusion is the last-ditch effort and nothing beyond that. So didn’t know what my playing career would be like. This is all uncharted territory.”

So far, Woods’ performances are steadily improving and the medical charts are showing no back issues after years of nagging problems.

Woods has hit drives longer than his youthful days, led the British Open in the final round in July, finished second in last month’s PGA Championship, and fired a 62 earlier this month, his lowest US PGA opening round since the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic.

And the former world number one achieved his goal of securing a Ryder Cup captain’s pick from Jim Furyk, who pulled him from a planned assistant captain’s role after seeing the quality of his game.

“Deep down, I wanted to make the team. I really wanted to play on it,” Woods said. “I had not started playing golf really yet, but still, it was a goal at the end of the season to make this team.

“As the year progressed, I gained some traction and was somehow able to get some high finishes and lo and behold, I’m a part of this team. It’s incredible, it really is, to look back at the start of the year and to have accomplished a goal like that. To be a player is just beyond special.”

‘One of my best years’

Woods still has not won a major since the 2008 US Open and has not won any event in more than five years, but has rediscovered the joy of playing after fears it might never happen again.

“It’s about enjoying being back,” Woods said. “Enjoying being able to play golf again. Competing at this level. All of these things at the beginning of the year were all unknowns. It has been one of my best years as a whole.

“To have a winless year, but to go through what I’ve gone through ― I didn’t know if I was ever going to play again, I was just hoping to be able to play with my kids and golf with my buddies at home ― this has been a blessing.

“It has been so special to have this opportunity again. I’m certainly not taking it for granted, that’s for sure.”

Woods went into spinal fusion fearing his chronic back pain might linger for life.

“I had resigned [myself] to it because I had lived in a pretty difficult situation for a while. I just wanted the pain to go away,” Woods said. “It was painful sitting, laying, moving, anything. It was just constant pain in my back and down my leg.

“Anything beyond that was going to be a plus considering where I was coming from, and so to get to where I’m at, I never thought that was going to happen.”

Now Woods, who had 79 career PGA titles, hasn’t given up his quest to reach the record 18 major wins of Jack Nicklaus or Sam Snead’s all-time PGA mark of 82.

“In order to get to Jack’s record, I have to pass Snead’s record. Just simple math,” Woods said. “And I want to make that happen. I’m close. I have been close to winning tournaments this year. I think if I keep giving myself opportunities, I’ll get the job done.

“I feel my next wins are coming soon. How soon, I don’t know, but I’m putting myself in tournaments now so I’m not that far away from getting it done.”

Woods, whose first major title came at the 1997 Masters, has seen huge support from crowds at events, his amazing shotmaking at an older age sparking roars and cheers rivalling those of his youth.

“People are more appreciative,” Woods said. “They know that I’m at the tail end of my career and I don’t know how many more years I have left. I’m certainly not like I was when I was 22 — 42, it’s a different ballgame.”

And, Woods says, people can relate more to fighting back pain than superb golf heroics.

“Everyone has got aches and pains,” he said. And whether you’ve had kids or not, you get to your 40s, you’re feeling it, and I’m not the only one.”

Mohamed Salah outshone Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on the Champions League stage last season, but as Paris Saint-Germain’s star duo head to Anfield on Tuesday seeking to make amends, the Egyptian is struggling to match the heights of his debut campaign at Liverpool.

Salah’s failure to hit top form dates back to his last Champions League appearance four months ago.

Back in May, Salah was on the crest of a wave as his 44-goal campaign had carried Liverpool to the Champions League final and ensured qualification for this season’s competition.

However, he lasted just 30 minutes in Kiev after injuring his shoulder when wrestled to the ground by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, and the Spanish giants went on to lift the trophy in a 3-1 win.

That started a difficult few months for Salah as he was also robbed of being 100-per cent fit for Egypt’s first World Cup in 28 years.

Without their talisman, the Pharaohs were beaten by Uruguay in their opening game and his goals against Russia and Saudi Arabia could not prevent Egypt returning home without a single point.

Salah has also gone to war with the Egyptian federation over the use of his image and the decision to host their base camp in Chechnya.

That hangover has been felt on the field with Salah scoring just twice in Liverpool’s opening five games of the campaign and missing chances he ruthlessly put away last season.

No one-man team

So far Salah’s slackness has not cost Jurgen Klopp’s men. A summer of shrewd investment to build on the already substantial progress made under the German is already bearing fruit with five straight wins.

“Of course, it’s important that we don’t have only one goalscorer,” Klopp said after an impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday, that should have been a far more comprehensive victory if the visitors had taken their chances.

“It’s still early. Five games, fantastic we’ve won all of them, we have improved.”

The 39 million euros ($45 million) Liverpool paid for Salah from Roma was brilliant business not just based on Salah’s production, but the hyper inflation that took place in the market just weeks later when PSG smashed the world transfer record by splurging 222 million euros on Neymar.

A further 180 million was then splashed on beating Europe’s big guns to the signature of Mbappe, who confirmed his status as the rising star of world football in winning the World Cup for France.

Both Neymar and Mbappe will see themselves as heirs to the throne of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s best player.

But it is Salah who is on the shortlist for FIFA’s Best Player award alongside Ronaldo and Croatian midfielder Luka Modric of Real Madrid, after PSG failed to get beyond the last 16 of the Champions League last season.

The limited spotlight offered by Ligue 1 means Europe’s premier club competition is where Neymar and Mbappe need to shine to be in the running for individual awards.

However, a blockbuster clash on a Champions League night at fortress Anfield is also the perfect stage for Salah to demonstrate to the world he is no one-season wonder.

SINGAPORE — Britain's Lewis Hamilton eased to victory from pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday as the Mercedes driver extended his championship lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to 40 points with six rounds remaining.

Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to register a record-equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race.

"Great job everyone, what a weekend... keep pushing, keep pushing, we've got this," Hamilton told his team over the radio soon after crossing the line at the end of the 61st lap.

Hamilton's 69th overall victory was his seventh of the season and it was built on the foundations of a stunning qualifying lap on Saturday, when he stormed to pole in a car deemed inferior to the Ferraris and Red Bulls on this circuit.

For Vettel and Ferrari it was another disappointing weekend after the car showed plenty of pace through all three practice sessions, the German's cause not helped by a questionable strategy and a poor pitstop.

Hamilton won this race from the third row a year ago when Vettel, Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen collided before Turn One, but there was no repeat of such drama this time after the drivers got off to a clean start at the head of the field.

There has, however, been a safety car period in every race in Singapore since it joined Formula One in 2008 and it was deployed on the opening lap after Sergio Perez pushed his Force India team mate Esteban Ocon into a wall after Turn Three.

"Sorry guys there was no room," Perez told his team over the radio.

Vettel got past Verstappen before the safety car emerged and slotted in behind Hamilton, but his race unravelled when the German pitted first on the 14th lap but got stuck in traffic and overtaken by the Dutchman when he made his stop for fresh tyres.

Back markers

Hamilton was cruising up front but suffered a mini-crisis on the 38th lap when he got stuck in a queue of tail-enders, which allowed Verstappen to get right up behind him.

The Dutchman had a look up the inside as Hamilton struggled to pass the back markers but the Briton just stayed ahead and was able to pull clear all the way to the chequered flag once he had a clear track ahead of him.

"It definitely got a little bit interesting towards the end with the back markers as you could already feel the draft from the cars when you were five and six seconds behind," Hamilton added.

"And you can't really see the blue flags [telling back markers to move aside], they are quite dark."

Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas held off a prolonged late challenge from Raikkonen in the other Ferrari to claim fourth place, the pair finishing just ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who was closing on them in the final laps.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso came home in seventh, with Renault's Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg claiming eighth and 10th respectively, either side of Sauber's Charles Leclerc.

"Overall we had a very strong package, both Kimi and myself looked very competitive throughout practice, but in the end, the race result, we finished third and fifth," Vettel said.

"Like yesterday, not where the speed of our car belongs."

SINGAPORE — Lewis Hamilton tightened his grip on securing a fifth Formula One world title by coming from nowhere to claim a stunning pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix in his Mercedes on Saturday.

The Briton, 30 points clear of closest rival Sebastian Vettel with seven rounds remaining, lapped the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 1:36.015 to claim a record-extending 79th pole position, 0.319 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The Ferrari pairing of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had set the pace for most of the weekend, but the German could manage only third place, more than half a second down, and will start alongside Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas.

"That lap felt like magic. I don't really know where it came from," Hamilton said in an interview.

"It was just perfectly to the limit. It felt like one of the best laps I can remember feeling," the Briton added, describing the 23-turn floodlit circuit as "Monaco on steroids".

Hamilton's time was three-and-a-half seconds quicker than Vettel's pole position a year ago and should he make a clean start on a circuit where he has won three times before, the Briton is highly likely to extend his championship lead.

Verstappen also sprang something of a surprise to finish just behind Hamilton, narrowly missing out on becoming the youngest ever pole-sitter in Formula One.

The 20-year-old was delighted. "Honestly, this feels like a victory. To be second is unbelievable," Verstappen said. "We just have to make sure we have a clean start and then everything is possible."

Tyre gamble

Vettel is also seeking a fifth world title and while he remains a huge threat in a very competitive car, the German was disappointed not to have been able to capitalise on the dominance Ferrari had over their rivals in practice.

"For us it was a bit of a messy qualifying," he said. "We had two laps [in the final qualifying session] and they were both not good enough."

Raikkonen ended in fifth place, almost eight tenths of a second behind Hamilton, the Finn lining up next to Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull. Ricciardo was the only other driver to lap the 5.063 km track in lower than 1:37.000.

Force India's Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon will start seventh and ninth respectively, while Romain Grosjean is eighth on the grid for Haas with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10 in his Renault.

Hamilton admitted that Mercedes had been too conservative in their tyre choices for the race and after sneaking through the first phase of qualifying on the slower ultrasoft tyres, the Briton was unstoppable with the high-grip hypersofts on his car.

"I didn't have a wheelspin, I didn't have a snap anywhere, the car was just underneath me and I managed to maximise every corner... and I do feel like I got absolutely everything possible on that lap," Hamilton added.

Ferrari also gambled in the second phase of qualifying by using the more durable ultrasofts, which they would start on in Sunday's race, but the team aborted the plan when it was fairly obvious they would not advance to Q3.

"The race is a different story and things will not be the same tomorrow but we are, for sure, not happy with how it went today," a despondent Vettel said.

SINGAPORE — Lewis Hamilton may have tightened his grip on a fifth world title after extending his championship lead with a surprise victory in Monza two weeks ago, yet Mercedes are playing down the Briton’s chances of adding to that triumph in Singapore.

In the last three of his four Formula One title wins, Hamilton has returned from the annual summer break in brilliant form, reeling off a succession of victories in his dominant Mercedes to close the door on his title rivals.

However, while the Briton has finished second in Belgium and first in Italy since the season resumed in August, his car is seen as inferior to Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari and Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix should once again favour the German.

Second-placed Vettel slipped 30 points behind Hamilton after coming off the worst in a first-lap collision with the Briton in Monza and the 31-year-old knows he has little room for further mishaps with only seven rounds remaining.

The pair arrived in Singapore in a similar position a year ago, but the pole-sitting Vettel crashed into Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Raikkonen soon after the start, as Hamilton cruised to victory and never looked back. 

Vettel and Hamilton are the most successful drivers on the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit with seven wins between them but Mercedes chief Toto Wolff says the odds are stacked against the Briton matching the German’s four Singapore victories.

“Singapore has features that we’ve struggled with in the past. The short straights, the slow, tight corners and the bumpy surface all make [it] one of the trickiest tracks of the season for us,” the Austrian said in a team statement. 

Defending Vettel

“Last year, we started the race from the third row — and came home with a win and a third place. On paper, the track should favour the Ferraris, but the championship fight is so close that predictions are almost meaningless. 

“We’re in the middle of a monumental championship fight... every man and woman in the team is willing to push themselves to the limit; we will be fighting with everything we’ve got for these two championships.” 

Vettel, who will be joined by Sauber’s Charles Leclerc next season with Raikkonen heading the other way, has been criticised for losing points through over-aggressive driving but Wolff came out in defence of the German after his Monza spin.

“I’m not completely neutral, but for me Lewis is the best driver of recent years. Even so, I find the criticism of Sebastian not quite fair,” Wolff told Die Welt newspaper of Vettel, also a quadruple world champion.

“If possible to win, he has the ambition to do it with the necessary aggression. That requires a lot of courage and his way of driving sometimes leads to collisions.

“It could easily have been Lewis instead of Sebastian who spun [at Monza]. Then the whole grand prix would have been different.”