Sports

AMMAN — Jordan Motorsport, the sporting authority for all motorsport events in Jordan, has revealed its calendar of activities for the 2018 season, with a total of 25 events including speed tests, rallying, karting, drifting and for the first time a Baja Rally.

“We have a very exciting season with more challenging events and a new one which is the Baja Rally,” Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Naseef told The Jordan Times.

The calendar, which was approved by the board of directors headed by HRH Prince Feisal, will include five Speed tests in addition to the Al Hussein Rumman Hill Climb, five Karting events, five Drifting events, three 4x4 events and four rallies (two on tarmac and two desert rallies).

The Baja Rally is an off-road race in which various types of vehicle classes compete on the same course and includes small and large motorcycles, production vehicles, buggies, trucks and custom race vehicles.

“It will be a very exciting event and we hope that men and women will be part of such an event and also we hope to see more females participating in our events,” Naseef said.

“Also, MotorFest will have another go this season after the successful presentation in 2017. The Fest organised for the first time in Amman included performances by stunt rider Rok Bagoros, a young motorcyclist from Radenci, Slovenia, and the only rider among the world’s stuntman elite using a single-cylinder engine motorcycle,” he added.

Jordan Motorsports 2018 Calendar:

MELBOURNE — A ruthless Rafa Nadal preserved his creaky knees for tougher tests down the road by routing Dominican journeyman Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 to sail into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.

Playing his first competitive match since pulling out of the ATP Tour Finals with knee trouble in November, the World No. 1 showed no signs of early season rust, as he tore through the evening match at Rod Laver Arena in one hour and 34 minutes.

“Happy for the start, of course,” Nadal, who lost last year’s final in a five-set classic to Roger Federer, told reporters.

“It’s a positive start with a good result. If I do months without playing an official match, it’s always a little bit more difficult.

“But I started with positive feelings. That’s the most important thing for me now. Of course, there are things to improve.

“But the thing that I need to improve, the matches will give me those things, no? Victories are the most important thing now.”

Victory never appeared in doubt against 37-year-old Estrella Burgos who was thrilled just to win three games against the energetic Spaniard.

Nadal mowed through the first set in 23 minutes and appeared determined to keep the points short as he charged forward to win 21 of 24 points at the net.

The 31-year-old raised three match points with a huge serve and completed the rout with another that Estrella Burgos could only send long in return.

The 2009 champion’s bid for a second Australian Open title and 17th Grand Slam win will continue with a step up in class against 52nd-ranked Argentine Leonardo Mayer, who gave him a four-set test in the US Open second round on the way to winning the trophy.

Having warmly embraced Estrella Burgos after sealing the one-sided win, Nadal said he could not afford to underestimate any opponent.

“I believe that the doubts are good because when you have doubts, it’s because you aren’t too arrogant, because you have respect for your opponent, because you have respect for the game and because you don’t consider yourself unbelievably good,” he said.

Home hope Nick Kyrgios launched his Australian Open campaign with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 demolition of Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva on Monday to continue his bright start to the year.

The volatile 17th seed was on his best behaviour and let his racket do the talking as he treated his fans in the Hisense Arena to an impressive opening salvo.

Kyrgios, one of nine Australian men to start in the main draw, is shouldering his nation’s hopes of a first home men’s champion since 1976 and could not have asked for a better start.

He wrapped up the opening two sets in 51 minutes and was never seriously troubled until the third set when the 100th ranked Dutra Silva provided some stiffer resistance.

Kyrgios, who was jeered by the home crowd last year when he lost a second-round match from two sets up against Italian Andreas Seppi, will face Serbia’s Viktor Troicki next.

The 22-year-old warmed up for the Australian Open by winning the Brisbane title — his first on home soil.

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 football team plays Iraq on Tuesday in its third match Group C at the 3rd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship currently under way in China.

Jordan is now second in the group after it lost the chance to secure qualification to the second round after two draws. It lost their 2-0 lead over Saudi Arabia, crashing down to a 2-2 draw. It also followed that by losing its 1-0 lead over Malaysia, felling to a 1-1 draw. 

Now, Jordan has to beat Iraq in its final Round 1 match as the top two teams from each group will move to the quarters. Sixteen teams are now playing in four groups.

Iraq leads group C after it held Saudi Arabia 0-0 and beat Malaysia 4-1.

In the course of preparations, Jordan beat Syria 1-0, held Thailand 2-2 and beat them 1-0. It hosted Oman beating it 2-1 before losing by the same score. This week, the squad held a training camp in Dubai where it beat China 2-0 and beat the Emirates Club 4-3 in the final phase of preparations for U-23 finals as well as the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Jordan advanced to the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers after finishing second behind Palestine from Group E, Oman moved from Group A, Iraq and Saudi from Group B, Qatar and Syria from Group C, Uzbekistan from Group D, Australia form Group F, North Korea from Group G, Malaysia and Thailand from Group H, South Korea and Vietnam from Group I and China and Japan from Group J.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014, Jordan took third place when it beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia. 

In 2016, Jordan reached the quarter-finals of the AFC U-23 Championship and failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot at the Rio Games. 

Jordan’s U-23 squad played the 1st West Asian U-23 Championship in 2015, and in 2014 the line-up represented the Kingdom at the Asian Games where it made to the quarter-finals.

This year, Jordan also qualified to the AFC U-19 Championship after the topped Group E qualifiers. Jordan had failed to qualify to the Championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

Jordan’s U-16 team qualified to the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship after topping Group A qualifiers. Organised by the AFC, and held once every two years, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Jordan failed to qualify to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.

AMMAN — Horse jumper Sara Al Armouti became the first Jordanian to book a spot at the 3rd Youth Olympic Games taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 6-18, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The 18-year-old secured her spot by winning the Amman leg of the FEI Challenge Tour held across a number of countries during 2017 to secure her place which was announced by the Royal Jordan Equestrian Federation.

“On behalf of the sporting community, I’d like to say congratulations to Sara for this wonderful achievement and we wish her well,” said Jordan Olympic Committee Secretary General Nasser Majali.

It will be the first time that a Jordanian will be represented in the equestrian event at the Youth Olympics, where jumpers from 25 countries, including Iraq, Egypt and Qatar, will take part.

Jordan hopes that more young athletes will book their places as the year progresses, with swimmer, Mohammed Al Bdour, already making a qualifying time and awaiting his confirmation.

AMMAN — Jordan plays Denmark on Monday in its second friendly in the UAE which comes amid the preparation agenda for the 2019 Asian Cup finals.

During the training camp in the UAE, Jordan lost 2-1 to world’s 66th ranked Finland at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi ahead of the weekend, and will now play world’s 12th ranked Denmark’s second tier and U-21 line-up.

While Jordan’s coach Jamal Abu Abed tries to finalise the line-up hoping that playing leading teams will help demonstrate and gaps, observers note that facing second tier line-ups and not senior teams might not give the outcomes expected.

Jordan is in 107th place in the latest FIFA Rankings — a position they did not better throughout last year. The team is still out of the Asian top 10 compared to their best FIFA ranking of 37th in 2004 and its lowest ranking of 152nd in 1996.

SYDNEY — Germany’s Angelique Kerber beat Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in straight sets to win the Sydney International for her ninth consecutive win on Saturday ahead of next week’s Australian Open.

The former World No. 1 was too strong for Barty, winning the final 6-4, 6-4 to give her a massive confidence boost for the year’s opening Grand Slam in Melbourne.

It was Kerber’s first title since the 2016 US Open and was the left-hander’s second win over the 19th-ranked Barty in three meetings.

Kerber, who began last year as No. 1 before finishing at No. 22, continued her 2018 resurgence and remains unbeaten this year.

“I had a great week. I played good tennis,” Kerber said.

“The final against Ash was not easy, but I was able to play my game in important moments. So I’m really happy and proud to win the first title in 2018.

“It’s just the beginning of the year, but I think I’m getting closer to my best the level again and just trying to focus from match to match and trying to play again my tennis like I played in the last years, especially 2016.”

Kerber won her four matches at last week’s mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth before her five victories in Sydney.

Kerber claimed the first break of the match for a 3-2 lead, an advantage she would not relinquish as she went on to take the opening set.

Barty was in further trouble when she immediately surrendered serve in the second set, but in the second game she broke back to level at 1-1, igniting the home crowd.

Kerber and Barty went on service until the seventh game, when the German broke after a loose Barty game when she lost serve to love with a forehand into the net.

With the break in hand and a 4-3 lead, the German didn’t falter, remaining aggressive and serving out the match three games later to win her first title in Sydney after falling in the 2014 final.

It is her 11th career WTA title and positions her as one of the favourites for the Australian Open.

It was the first time an Australian woman featured in the Sydney International final since 2005 when Alicia Molik took the title over Sam Stosur.

“I felt like it was a pretty good level. To be honest, I felt like I probably played some of the better tennis that I have this week,” Barty said.

“And Angie is on fire. She’s such a competitor and makes you work so hard for each point. I certainly felt like it was a pretty good level for a final.”

Barty said she would be ready for her Australian Open first round opponent Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. 

“I’m drawn to play Tuesday so the preparation is slightly different as if I was playing on Monday,” Barty said.

“But we will head to Melbourne tonight and do what we need to do over the next couple of days to get ready.”

In the men’s draw, Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev rallied to defeat 18-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the final.

De Minaur, ranked 167 in the world and the youngest player to reach an ATP World Tour final since American Taylor Fritz at Memphis in 2016, showed impressive fighting spirit to recover from 4-0 down in the decider to level the third set at 5-5.

However, Medvedev halted his charge with a break of serve in the 11th game before holding to love to claim his first ATP title.

SYDNEY — Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi continued her impressive run at the Sydney International by racing past Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to set up a last four clash with Angelique Kerber.

Giorgi, belying her ranking of 100th in the world, beat US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the first round and then ousted twice Wimbledon and former Sydney champion Petra Kvitova.

She is yet to drop a set over six matches in qualifying or the main draw and will next meet world number 22 Kerber who staged a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Dominika Cibulkova in the last eight.

Former world number one Kerber fell out of the top 20 last year but has made a strong start to the year ahead of next week’s Australian Open with victories over Lucie Safarova and Venus Williams this week.

“I’m not looking back 2017 any more,” Kerber, who won the Australian Open and the US Open titles in 2016, said.

“I’ve had a great off-season and I’m working hard. I’m trying to do my best on court and win as many matches before going to Melbourne.

“It’s just the beginning of the year. I’m trying to play my game again, enjoy every minute on court. I’m trying to be aggressive and play like I did the year before last.”

The other semifinal in Sydney will be an all-Australian affair between Ashleigh Barty and Daria Gavrilova.

Barty completed a confident 6-3, 6-2 victory over Czech Barbora Strycova, while Gavrilova advanced after her last-eight opponent Garbine Muguruza withdrew due to a leg injury.

“I think it’s amazing for Sydney and for Australian tennis — we’re gonna have an Aussie in the final, which is awesome,” Barty said after her win at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

“Dash and I know each other very well so hopefully we can play some good tennis.”

Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro kept his Australian Open preparations on track with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the Auckland Classic on Thursday, setting up a semifinal meeting with David Ferrer.

Former US Open champion Del Potro fired down 11 aces and did not face a break point during the one hour, 33 minutes match.

The 29-year-old second seed, who won the tournament the last time he played in it in 2009, will now return to the top 10 in the ATP rankings on Monday for the first time since August 2014 after struggling with injuries over the past few years.

Waiting for Del Potro in the last four will be Spaniard Ferrer, who brushed aside ATP NextGen Finals champion Chung Hyeon of South Korea 6-3, 6-2.

Ferrer is yet to drop a set in Auckland and has shown glimpses of his old form that saw him win the tournament in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

“I tried to play consistent and aggressive because with Chung, he plays with power, and it’s never easy,” Ferrer said in a court-side interview. “He has a really great future.”

Ferrer’s countryman Roberto Bautista Agut will play Dutchman Robin Haase in the other semifinal.

2016 champion Bautista Agut defeated Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6(1), 6-2 in the last eight while Hasse beat Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 6-4, 6-4.

AMMAN  —  Jordan plays Finland in on Thursday as the squad strives to boost competitive readiness after qualifying to the 2019 Asian Cup finals.

During their training camp in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, Jordan will play world’s 66th ranked Finland at Zayed Sports City and will also play world’s 12th ranked Denmark on January 15 as coach Jamal Abu Abed tries to finalise the lineup. The coach says playing leading teams will help demonstrate and gaps adding that the squad is set to play six friendlies in the upcoming year.

Jordan ended the year at 107th in the latest FIFA rankings as it had started the year and never bettered that rank throughout the year. The team is still out of the Asian top 10 compared to their best FIFA ranking of 37th in 2004 and its lowest ranking of 152nd in 1996.

Jordan qualified to the 2019 Asian Cup finals after topping Group C eliminating relatively unknown teams in the Asian continent. Jordan beat Cambodia 7-0, Afghanistan 4-1, and was held 0-0 with Vietnam. In the return leg, Jordan managed a 3-3 draw with Afghanistan and beat Cambodia 1-0 to qualify alongside second place Vietnam.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship three times. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, qualifying to the Asian finals was a priority for Jordan who have steadily slid down FIFA rankings, and the team has had an inconsistent two years compared to 2013 when Jordan was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time.

During the 2014 World Cup qualifying journey, Jordan advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. 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 times in the qualifiers since 1986.

LONDON — Two countries, Belarus and China, have dominated the men’s aerials at the last three Winter Olympics and look set to do the same this time around in Pyeongchang.

While traditions, resources and basic geography often sustain the same rivalries in Olympic events, the long-standing duel in the acrobatic skiing event of aerials pits two countries with very different backgrounds against one another.

The unlikely pairing of Belarus and China have won six of the last nine medals in the men’s aerials, including all three golds. 

Belarus, through Anton Kushnir in Sochi and Alexi Grishin at Vancouver, have claimed gold at the past two games, twice relegating the Chinese competitor to third place. 

China’s Xiaopeng Han was the victor in Turin in 2006, edging out Belarusian Dmitri Dashinski into second. 

The two nations are also strong in the women’s event, with five medals between them since 2006. However, Australian Lydia Lassila, gold medallist in Vancouver and bronze winner in Sochi, can never be ruled out as she hopes to appear at a record fifth winter games. 

Following the latest round of the World Cup in Moscow on Saturday — won by American Kiley McKinnon — Belarus’ Hanna Huskova leads the overall standings, followed by China’s Mengtao Xu, who won the World Cup last year in the women’s aerials.

If the women’s competition heading into Pyeongchang is more diverse, the men’s look set to once again come down to Belarus and Russia.

Last season, every single World Cup men’s aerials event was won by either Belarus’ Kushnir — who went on to claim the title — or one of three Chinese athletes. 

This year is no different, with China’s Zongyang Jia leading the standings. Kushnir is second, his compatriot Maxim Gustik is third and Guangpu Qi of China is in fourth.

The depth of quality among the two teams is staggering, with each possessing four athletes in the top 14 in the World Cup rankings, making it difficult for other nations to even dream about reaching the final in Pyeongchang, let alone claiming a podium place.

Speaking to Reuters shortly before the World Cup event in Russia, the head coach of the Belarusian freestyle skiing team, Nikolai Kozeko, said his nation’s aerial prowess stems from the country’s rich traditions in acrobatics and gymnastics.

“We are not strong in all disciplines of freestyle,” admitted Kozeko.

“Our strength is aerial skiing. Belarus has strong acrobatics, diving and gymnastics traditions from the Soviet era and that has helped the creation of training centres for aerial skiing. These training centres were founded on the traditions of these sports.”

China also has a history of success in gymnastics and Kozeko believes these skills are perfectly suited for assimilation into aerial skiing, where athletes perform similar twists, turns and somersaults to achieve scores.

Maintaining dominant success is a challenge for any national sports programme, yet China and Belarus seem to have the traditions, talent and structure in place to continue their hotly-contested battle for aerial supremacy into Pyeongchang and beyond.

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 football team plays Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in its opening match at the 3rd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship currently under way in China.

Playing in Group C, Jordan will face Malaysia on January 13 and Iraq on January 16. Sixteen teams will be playing in four groups, with the top two teams from each group moving to the quarters. 

In the course of preparations, Jordan beat Syria 1-0, held Thailand 2-2 and beat them 1-0. It hosted Oman beating it 2-1 before losing by the same score. This week, the squad held a training camp in Dubai where it beat China 2-0 and beat the Emirates Club 4-3 in the final phase of preparations for U-23 finals as well as the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Jordan advanced to the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers after finishing second behind Palestine from Group E, Oman moved from Group A, Iraq and Saudi from Group B, Qatar and Syria from Group C, Uzbekistan from Group D, Australia form Group F, North Korea from Group G, Malaysia and Thailand from Group H, South Korea and Vietnam from Group I and China and Japan from Group J.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014, Jordan took third place when it beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

In 2016, Jordan reached the quarter-finals of the AFC U-23 Championship and failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot as the continent’s top three advanced to the Rio Games football tournament. Japan was the tournament champ after edging South Korea.

Jordan’s U-23 squad played the 1st West Asian U-23 Championship in 2015, and in 2014 the line-up represented the Kingdom at the Asian Games where it made to the quarter-finals.

This year, Jordan also qualified to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship after the topped Group E qualifiers. Jordan is joined by the UAE (Group A), Tajikistan (Group B), Qatar and Iraq (Group C), Saudi Arabia (Group D), South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia (Group F), China (Group G), Vietnam and Taiwan (Group H), Japan and Thailand (Group I), and Australia and North Korea (Group J).

Jordan had failed to qualify to the Championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-16 team also qualified to the 2018 Asian Football Confederatiton (AFC) U-16 Championship after topping Group A qualifiers. Jordan joined group winners Tajikistan (Group B), Iran (Group C), Iraq (Group D), Yemen (Group E), North Korea (Group F), Indonesia (Group G), Australia (Group I), South Korea (Group H), Japan (Group J). Oman, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia moved as second placed top four teams.