Sports

AMMAN — Saudi Arabian driver Essa Al Dossari is one of the first international drivers to enter the exciting new Jordan Baja, an FIA candidate event for the forthcoming FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The three-day off-road event for cars, motorcycles and quads will take place in the stunning Wadi Rum area on September 27-29.

Dossari has been out of international rallying action since crashing his ED Racing Nissan Navara on the second stage of April’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. But the Saudi is relishing a return to the hot seat in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after the car’s return was put on hold in June by the cancellation of the Aseer Rally in Saudi Arabia.

He will be partnered by the UAE navigator Ali Hassan Obaid. Organised by Jordan Motorsport, the event is the first of its kind to be based out of the Red Sea city of Aqaba.

It will run 383.80 competitive kilometres in Wadi Rum — a UNESCO World Heritage site that featured in a number of Oscar-winning films. Entries for the new Jordan Baja close at reduced rates on August 30. The final cut-off for entries will be September 11.

AMMAN — Jordan’s medal run at the Asian Games in Jakarta has been taken up by the ju-jitsu team who won three medals on a glorious Saturday, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Leading the way was Zaid Sami, 25, who won silver in the -94kg after losing his final to three-time World Champion Faisal Al Ketbi of  the UAE.

Sami was in scintillating form as he reached the semifinal with submission victories over Kazakhstan’s Ramazan Kussainov and Iran’s Masoud Jalil Vand. 

A hard fought semifinal win over Ilkhom Juraev, of Uzbekistan, then paved his way to the final, but the experienced Al Ketbi proved too much, leaving him settling for silver.

In the women’s -62kg, Yara Kakish, 27, clinched a bronze medal after beating Violetta Krovyakova, of Turkmenistan, in the third-place play-off.

In the same weight for the men’s, Freeh Al Harahsheh, 22, beat Mirali Agayev, of Turkmenistan, in the bronze medal match. 

To cap off a fine day for Team Jordan, the boxers launched their campaign with a win, as Olympian, Obada Al Kesbeh, looked in fine form when comfortably beating Bhupenra Thapa to book a place in the last 16 of the Light Welterweight division.

Abu Ghaush wins bronze

On Thursday, Jordan’s Olympic hero Ahmad Abu Ghaush continued the Kingdom’s excellent run in taekwondo by winning a bronze medal. The 22-year-old student picked up Jordan’s fourth medal in the sport this week after winning a race against time to be fit following a broken rib that he suffered in training last month.

After receiving a bye into the last 16, Abu Ghaush, the World No. 3, beat China’s Hong Phuc Ly, 27-16.

Next up was a hard fought 15-12 quarter-final win over Mongolia’s Natsagdorj Achitkhuu to book his spot in the last four.

His bid for a place in the final fell just short in a classic semifinal contest against former junior world champion, Amirmohammad Bakhshikhalhori, 18, of Iran.

In a match that could have gone either way, Abu Ghaush had to settle for bronze after losing 10-8 despite being 10-2 down at one stage.

It has been a tremendous week for the Jordan taekwondo team with Juliana Al Sadeq winning gold and Hamzeh Qattan and Saleh Al Sharabaty taking bronze medals.

Juliana Al Sadeq has won gold for Jordan at the Asian Games following a superb performance in the taekwondo -67kg competition in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, according to the Jordan Olympic News Service.

The 23-year-old won the country’s first medal in sensational style, beating Jandi Kim, of South Korea, in the final 5-1 following a captivating contest.

She started the day with a one-sided 38-0 win over Nisa Sandmali, of Sri Lanka, before booking her place in the semifinal with a 21-5 victory over India’s Melika Mirhosseini.

In the semifinal she gave a performance to remember by beating world bronze medallist Mengyu Zhang, from China, 14-5.

But she saved the best until last to show the taekwondo world that she is in brilliant form, just a week after winning bronze at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Moscow. ‘I am lost for words,’ she said.

‘To win this gold for Jordan is a dream come true and I hope it inspires others here to win more medals for Jordan.’

AMMAN — Olympic swimmer Khader Baqleh came agonisingly close to getting Jordan’s campaign on Sunday at the 18th Asian Games off to a medal start after finishing fourth in the final of the 200m freestyle, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Baqleh sailed into the final by winning his heat, but faced a world class field in the final, led by China’s world record holding 2012 Olympic champion Sun Yang.

In a brilliant race, Yang won the gold medal in a time of 1:45.43, more than a second clear of Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto, with another Chinese swimmer, Ji Xinji, coming third. Baqlah could not quite find the pace to break into the top three, finishing in a very credible time of 1:46.77.

“I gave it all I could but couldn’t quite make it into the medal positions,” said Baqlah. “Congratulations though to the other guys. They swam a great race and I look forward to the next one now.”

MILAN — Juventus came from behind to snatch a dramatic 3-2 win at Chievo as Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for the Italian champions on Saturday, although the Portuguese was not among the scorers in his first Serie A match.

Ronaldo, signed from Real Madrid in July, was thwarted several times by veteran Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino and his handball in the build-up led to a late Juventus goal being disallowed, following a VAR review.

Napoli, last year’s runners-up, gave new coach Carlo Ancelotti a winning start on his return to Serie A after a nine-year absence when they came from behind to win 2-1 at Lazio in the other match on Saturday, the opening day of the new season.

Sami Khedira put Juventus ahead in the third minute after Giorgio Chiellini knocked down a Miralem Pjanic free kick, as they got off to an ideal start in their bid for an eighth successive title.

Chievo looked outclassed but levelled out of the blue when Mariusz Stepinski was allowed a free header from Emanuele Giaccherini’s cross seven minutes before the break.

It got worse for Juventus when their former player Giaccherini was tripped by Joao Cancelo and converted the penalty against his former club to give Chievo a shock lead in the 56th minute.

Juve levelled when Chievo defender Mattia Bani, under pressure from Leonardo Bonucci, deflected a corner into his own net in the 75th minute.

Juve thought they had won the game when Mario Mandzukic headed home in the last minute but, after a lengthy VAR review, the referee ruled that Ronaldo had handled the ball in the build-up and it was disallowed.

Sorrentino was injured in the incident and was prostate on the ground receiving treatment while players argued around him.

In the next attack, Alex Sandro made a weaving run down the left and his low cross was turned in by Federico Bernardeschi. 

Five-times world player of the year Ronaldo nearly grabbed an early Serie A goal when he shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area shortly after Juve’s opener.

Dipping shot

In the second half, he was foiled when Sorrentino made a brilliant one-handed save from his dipping shot and again when the goalkeeper blocked his free kick.

He had another attempt deflected on to the roof of the next by Fabrizio Cacciatore.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was pleased with Ronaldo’s performance but not at the way his side allowed Chievo back into the match.

“We dropped our guard because we thought the game was in hand,” said Allegri, who has won the league and cup double in each of his four seasons at Juventus.

“We needed this reminder right from the start that every match in Serie A is difficult and nothing is to be taken for granted.”

Ancelotti, who has won league titles in England, France and Germany and the Champions League with Real Madrid since leaving AC Milan in 2009, watched his new team make a slow start against Lazio.

Ciro Immobile gave Lazio the lead with a superb individual goal in the 25th minute as he controlled the ball, left three defenders in his wake and curled a shot past Orestis Karnezis.

Arkadiusz Milik had a goal disallowed on the stroke of halftime after a long VAR review, which found that Kalidou Koulibaliy had committed a foul in the build-up, but levelled in the next attack from close range.

Napoli went in front when Lorenzo Insigne curled in a brilliant finish in the 59th minute and never looked in danger after that.

AMMAN — Ali Al Omari has won the 10m pistol title at the National Open Shooting Championship held over the weekend at the Royal Shooting Club, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

The event welcomed 60 male and female shooters. Hazim Al Atiyat took the trap title while Bashar Al Khairi won the skeet title.

Roger Federer continued his mastery over Stan Wawrinka, but not before getting a fright en route to a 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-2 quarter-final victory at the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.

Federer upped his career record against his Swiss compatriot to 21-3.

A match that started with a low key atmosphere developed into a cracking affair when Federer took the second set tiebreak as lightning reverberated near the stadium.

Play was finally halted two points into the third set. Federer was in a different class once the match resumed after a short delay.

While Federer narrowly avoided an early exit, another high seed was sent packing, as No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro fell to diminutive Belgian David Goffin 7-6(5), 7-6(4).

Goffin closed out a tight match with a backhand winner down the baseline.

His reward is a Saturday evening semifinal against Federer, while the other last four clash will match former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia against Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

It was a busy day for 10th seeded Djokovic, who came from behind to oust defending champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the conclusion of a third round match carried over from Thursday.

Only a couple of hours later, Djokovic stopped Milos Raonic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, improving his career record to a perfect 9-0 against the Canadian. 

“I’m very pleased with my fighting spirit and staying mentally tough to overcome deficits in both matches,” Djokovic said.

“Obviously the match against Dimitrov yesterday didn’t start so well for me. He started tremendously well. We were not the only ones [dealing with interruptions], but it just makes it harder, because you’re warming up, you’re cooling down.

“We went home around 10:30, came back this morning again to play him, and then [had a] couple hours of rest.

“And to go back on the court again against Raonic, who was serving 225-plus-kilometres [per hour] from the first game, that got me going, for sure, from the beginning.”

Former champion Cilic made his way to the semifinals with a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 third-round win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov before toppling Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(7), 6-4.

Earlier Friday, World No. 2 Federer, bidding for his eighth Cincinnati title, outlasted Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-1, 7-6(6) in the third round.

Playing in his first tournament since Wimbledon, Federer lost just four first-serve points and did not face a break point in the match.

Mayer had a chance to force a third set, but Federer held on to win his third consecutive meeting with the Argentine as players double up in matches in the rain-delayed tournament.

Wawrinka beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4, 6-3 in their third-round match.

Fourth seed Del Potro overcame Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 6-2.

Goffin did not face a break point in defeating sixth seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-2, 6-4 in 76 minutes.

AMMAN  — Jordan’s national team will soon start the final phase of preparations as teams count down for the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE.

The squad is set to host Lebanon on September 6 and Oman on September 11 as it gears up for the continent’s most important football event. In case the West Asian Championship is not held officials were contemplating hosting a friendly tournament in November. The team is also set to have a training camp in Qatar in December during which matches against the hosts and Kyrgyzstan have been set ahead of the January 6 Asian Cup kick off.

Jordan last beat Cyprus 3-0 earlier in the summer and players have now started a new season with their respective clubs.

At the Asian Cup, Jordan will play alongside Australia, Syria and Palestine in Group B.

While the team’s path to the championship was not difficult against relatively unknown teams in the Asian continent now comes the serious part. The 24 teams will play in 6 groups with the top two from each group and four third placed teams advancing to the Round of 16. 

The Kingdom’s competitive edge is lacking and judging by FIFA Rankings it seems there will be a tough task ahead. The squad remained 110th when the latest FIFA Rankings were issued over the weekend. Once among Asia’s top 10, Jordan is now 19th in the continent trailing Iran (39), Australia (43), Japan (55), South Korea (57), Saudi Arabia (70), Syria (73), China (75), the UAE (77), Lebanon (79), Oman (84), Iraq (89), Kyrgyzstan (92), Uzbekistan (95), India (96), Qatar (98), Palestine (99) Vietnam (102), North Korea (108). Tunisia is the top-ranked Arab team at 24th, followed by Morocco (46), Egypt (65), Algeria (66) and Saudi Arabia (70).

The national team is now lagging behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams compared to their best FIFA ranking of 37th in 2004. Jordan ended 2017 at 107th — a position they did not better throughout last year. 

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship three times. The peak was at the 13th Asian Cup, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking of 37th in August 2004. Jordan also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, playing in the Asian finals was a priority for Jordan who have steadily slid down FIFA Rankings and the team has had inconsistent results compared to 2013 when Jordan was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie. It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven qualifiers since 1986. 

Jordan’s lowest ranking was 152nd in 1996.

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

Wihdat came from 1-0 down to win the first title of the season 2-1. Jazira club President Mohammad Maharmeh lodged a complaint citing officiating and Wihdat’s controversial first goal. Jazira later announced they would not play in the Jordan Professional Football League.

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

The Super Cup has been won by Faisali a record 16 times out of 22 final appearances, Wihdat 13 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each, while Jazira, Hussein and Ahli won once each.

The local and regional agenda gets into high gear as the Jordan Professional Football League kicks off on August 24. Jazira is set to represent Jordan in the Asian Football Confederation AFC Cup, which was twice won by Faisali and once by Shabab Urdun. Earlier last week, Ramtha lost 3-1 to Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the Arab Clubs Championship and will host them in the return leg in September. Last year, Faisali finished runner-up in the Arab Championship to Tunisia’s Tarajji after an impressive performance which included two wins over Egyptian veterans Ahli. 

BARCELONA — Change is in the air as the new La Liga season begins on Friday without one of its most emblematic players, Cristiano Ronaldo, and with video technology (VAR) being introduced for the first time in Spain’s top flight.

Ronaldo’s departure from Real Madrid to Serie A giants Juventus deprives Madrid of one of their best players ever and ends the compelling rivalry between the prolific Portuguese and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi which has defined La Liga over the last nine years.

Madrid must not only cope without the man who scored 451 goals for them in all competitions and got them out of many holes, they must also adapt to life without hugely popular coach Zinedine Zidane, who walked out after winning a remarkable third Champions League triumph.

Real’s new coach Julen Lopetegui faces a mammoth task in following Zidane, especially given his poor record at club level and his undignified sacking from the Spain team on the eve of the World Cup for the manner in which he signed for Madrid.

Real have, yet, to reinvest the 105 million euros ($119.43 million) they received for Ronaldo in new attackers — their biggest signing of the close season was Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois — and Lopetegui looks set to make Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio his leading forwards this campaign.

The huge changes at the Santiago Bernabeu should play into the hands of last year’s champions Barcelona, who swept to a Liga and Copa del Rey double and finished a staggering 17 points clear of Madrid.

Barca have adjustments of their own to make, however, with Andres Iniesta, one of the flagbearers of their style of play for much of the 21st century, having left after 16 silverware-filled seasons to see out his career in Japan.

Coach Ernesto Valverde has replenished the midfield by adding Brazilian duo Arthur Melo and Malcom and the highly experienced yet volatile Chile international Arturo Vidal, while getting rid of under-performing players such as Andre Gomes, Lucas Digne, Yerry Mina and Aleix Vidal.

Barca will want to improve on their recent disappointments in the Champions League, having fallen three times in a row at the quarter-final stage while eternal rivals Madrid have monopolised the trophy.

The upheaval at Real Madrid also boosts the hopes of last year’s runners-up Atletico Madrid’s that they could repeat their unlikely title triumph of 2014. 

Atletico have had a busy transfer window in signing electric French winger Thomas Lemar for a club-record 65 million euros and adding Colombia international Santiago Arias and Portugal’s Gelson Martins.

Diego Simeone’s side have lost influential dressing-room figures Gabi Fernandez and Fernando Torres but, crucially, they have clung on to top scorer Antoine Griezmann when he looked certain to join Barcelona.

The introduction of VAR will put to the test the idea that Spanish referees give more favourable decisions to the biggest clubs.

“It will make this sport a little more fair,” said Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.

“I’ve been in favour of it for a long time. There will still be lots of controversy because we love controversy in this country, but it will decrease. It will help referees.”

Below the big three, Valencia will try to balance a Champions League campaign with finishing fourth again but will face stiff competition from a renewed Sevilla as well as Real Betis and Villarreal.

At the other end of the spectrum, tiny Huesca will be competing in Spain’s top fight for the first time while Real Valladolid and Rayo Vallecano make welcome returns to the division.