Sports

AMMAN — Jordan won a team bronze medal at the 13th Arab Shooting Championships taking place in Kuwait, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.  Raed Al Qurashi, Abduallah Al Batayneh and Mohammad Al Zyoud teamed up to finish third in the 10m air gun competition. 

The national team will continue competition on Wednesday with the women in the 10m air gun, while on Thursday Mufeed Al Lawanseh, Mohammad Al Khaldi, Fayez Salameh and Suliaman Al Masaeed compete in the rifles 50m men’s.

MELBOURNE — Serena Williams plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more Grand Slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

The 35-year-old American won her 23rd Grand Slam title on Saturday at the Australian Open, breaking the open-era record she held jointly with Germany’s Steffi Graf.

Serena will now manage her schedule as she chases down the all-time leader Margaret Court, the Australian whose record of 24 Grand Slam titles straddled the amateur and professional eras.

“Mentally, she has to stay fresh and mentally excited when the Grand Slams start, because they are the goal,” Mouratoglou told a group of reporters after Serena’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over her sister Venus Williams gave her a seventh Australian Open title.

“So we have a lighter schedule — not lighter than last year, which would be difficult [when she played just eight events and did not play after September] — but lighter than the year before [11 events].”

At one stage in 2016, Serena held the world number one ranking based only on seven events over a 52-week period.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber overtook her when she won the US Open last September, but Serena will return to top spot when the rankings are updated on Monday.

Serena has traditionally played fewer tournaments than most top players, but since she usually reaches the final, she is able to pick and choose.

From the start of 2012 to the end of 2016, Serena won 288 matches, second only to Poland’s Agnieska Radwanska, who won 289.

But while Radwanska lost 107 matches in that period, Serena lost just 29.

Mouratoglou said Indian Wells, in March, would be Serena’s next stop but did not expect to see her at too many events before the next Grand Slam, the French Open, which begins on May 29.

“We’ve already done the schedule for the whole year,” Mouratoglou said. “It doesn’t mean that the schedule is not going to change, it’s meant to adapt to situations. But generally speaking it’s already set for the whole season.”

Mouratoglou said numbers alone were not the main factor behind Serena’s continuing hunger, even in her 20th year on tour.

“She was not motivated by 22, she was motivated to win Grand Slams,” he said.

“That’s her motivation. This won’t change until she maybe one day wakes up and is not motivated to win Grand Slams, but for now she is. That’s enough. The record is not the thing that makes her play.”

And Mouratoglou said Serena would not obsess over the record of 24 held by Court.

“With all the respect for Margaret Court, it was another era, the draws were like 16 players and they were not professionals,” he said.

“Of course the record is here and we definitely want to beat it, but there was a professional era and the record was Steffi Graf.”

AMMAN — Reigning league champs Wihdat will play India’s Bengaluru FC at 6:00pm on Tuesday in the first preliminary round match of the premier Asian competition, the 2017 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

The Jordanian champions aim to advance past their guests to play the UAE’s Wihda in the play-off stage, slated for February 7, before qualifying to play in Round 1.

“We have studied our opponents well, they were last year’s AFC Cup runners-up and we cannot underestimate the team. Our line-up is now complete and we aim to advance,” Wihdat coach Adnan Hamad told the media following practice.

Wihdat were Jordan’s representative in the 2016 ACL edition and were knocked out in the preliminary round by Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah. In 2015, they lost to former title-holders Kuwait’s Qadissieh. In 2014 Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd.

Alongside aspirations for the professional league title, which restarts next week, Cup champs Ahli will represent Jordan in the AFC Cup — the second-tier Asian club competition this year. Ahli were drawn to play in Group C alongside Iraq’s Zawra, Syria’s Jeish and a qualifier from Oman or Palestine starting February 20, with clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups from the five Asian Zones, the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16. 

If Wihdat advance past the ACL preliminary round, Jazira will join Ahli in the AFC Cup. On the other hand, should Wihdat be again eliminated from the ACL early round, they will move to play in the AFC Cup alongside Ahli, who will be playing the event for the first time.

The 2017 AFC Champions League is the 36th edition of Asia’s premier club football tournament organised by the AFC, and the 15th under the current AFC Champions League title. Forty-seven teams will be competing this year and the winner will qualify as the AFC representatives at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the UAE. South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are the defending champions, but they were excluded from the 2017 AFC Champions League due to a bribery scandal in the domestic K League. 

In 2016, Jordanian clubs were absent from advanced stages of Asian competitions as Wihdat and Faisali were knocked out of the AFC Cup in the Round of 16. In 2015, Wihdat and Jazira were also eliminated in the Round of 16 with Jazira, who finished runners-up in the Jordan League, participating in the event after two-time AFC Cup champs Faisali declined. In 2014, Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 in their inaugural AFC participation, while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1. 

The AFC Cup was won by Syria’s Jeish in its inaugural edition in 2004. The event was won three times by Jordanian clubs: Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007.

The local season opened with Ahli making history when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup – the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar. Although they are a founding member of the game in Jordan, Ahli had never won the Super Cup. They were relegated to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history and were back among the Pro League clubs in 2014, finished fifth in 2014/15 and third in 2015/16 in the Premier League when they were also the best overall team, and won the Jordan Cup after years in the backstage. 

On the other hand, Wihdat now trail Jazira in Leg 1 of the Jordan Professional Football League. For the past three seasons, Wihdat have won the league title for the 15th time overall since they moved up to the league in 1975.

Winning ACL Arab clubs

1989Al Sadd (Qatar)

1992Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

2000Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

2003Al Ain (UAE)

2004Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)

2005Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)

2011Al Sadd (Qatar)

MELBOURNE — Roger Federer prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3 after a roller-coaster ride of a 35th chapter of his rivalry with Rafa Nadal to win his fifth Australian Open and clinch a first Grand Slam title in four-and-a-half years on Sunday.

The 35-year-old capped his triumphant return from knee surgery with a record-extending 18th major title after a vintage battle with his Spanish rival, who had won all three of their previous meetings at Melbourne Park.

Left-hander Nadal, also returning from injury this year, showed sustained periods of his best from the baseline but was just unable to stay with his rival in the gut-wrenching drama of the deciding set.

Federer was forced to endure a nervous wait for his victory after Nadal unsuccessfully challenged the line call on the second championship point.

But he was finally able to celebrate, with tears in his eyes, after coming out on top after three hours and 38 minutes of enthralling tennis to become the first man to win five or more titles at three different Grand Slams.

“There are no draws in tennis but I would have been happy to share one with Rafa tonight,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. I hope to see you next year and if not it’s been a wonderful run here.”

Nadal, the 2009 champion, was typically gracious after losing his third Melbourne final and coming up short in his bid for a 15th Grand Slam title.

“Congrats to Roger, just amazing the way he’s playing after so long away from the tour,” the 30-year-old said.

“It’s been a great month for me; I worked a lot to get where I am today. It was a great match and I think Roger probably deserved it a little more than me. I will keep on fighting.”

Federer made the slower start to the contest with Nadal drawing him into lengthy rallies and targeting his backhand.

It was the Swiss who made the first breakthrough, though, converting the first break point of the match with a forehand winner to go 5-4 up.

That was enough to take the opening set, but Nadal was all over his opponent’s serve at the start of the second, with two Federer backhands into the net giving the Spaniard a 2-0 lead.

Federer had two break points in the next game, but Nadal fought them off and then broke again as his rival struggled for accuracy under the Spanish onslaught.

Four big forehands gave the Swiss a break back but Nadal held firm to serve out the set, and Federer needed three aces to save three break points in a 10-minute game at the start of the third.

The momentum had swung, though, and Federer stepped up a gear with some brilliant shot-making allowing him to rattle off the next two games, and Nadal left scrambling to fend off a second break in a marathon fourth game.

He was unable to repeat the feat in the sixth game and Federer, his cross-court backhand causing Nadal all sorts of problems, saved a couple of break points to secure a two-sets-to-one lead with a drop volley.

The pendulum had not finished swinging yet, however, and Nadal broke for 3-1 in the fourth when Federer netted a backhand volley and held under unrelenting pressure in the next game with a brilliant cross-court forehand winner at full stretch.

Nadal again closed out the set and Federer took a medical timeout before the start of the decider, returning to court only to give up his first service game.

Federer was not prepared to give up on his first Grand Slam since the 2012 Wimbledon tournament easily, and put the set back on serve at 3-3 when Nadal sent a rasping forehand centimetres wide on his sixth break point.

He needed another five break points on Nadal’s next service game before the Spaniard finally cracked, and Nadal was still battling away when Federer finally sealed the deal.

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 football team has just concluded a training camp in Aqaba as the  squad starts preparations for qualifiers for the third edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in 2018.

The national team is set to play a series of friendlies and hold training camps ahead of the qualifiers which are slated for July, bringing together 42 nations divided into 10 groups, with 16 advancing to the finals.

In 2016, Jordan was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar. The Kingdom failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot, with the continent’s top three advancing to the Olympic Games football tournament in Rio de Janeiro, which was won by Brazil.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014 (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship), Jordan took third place when they beat South Korea, while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

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

The younger squads are also training for their respective Asian qualifiers. The U-19 team, which qualified to the Asian Championship four times and previously reached the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007, was last eliminated from the qualifying rounds of the 2016 Championship. Jordan finished fourth in 2006, but exited the group stages in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. Jordan failed to qualify to the 2014 Championship as well. Similarly, the U-16 team is now steadily preparing for their Asian qualifiers. In 2015, the U-16 squad failed to advance to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.

James Harden had 51 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds as the Houston Rockets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-118 on Friday.

It was the 14th triple-double of the season for Harden and the 18th time he has accumulated over 30 points and 10 assists.

The latter is the highest single-season total since such numbers were first tracked in 1983-84, according to basketball-reference.com.

His points total was two off his season and career high of 53, against the New York Knicks on December 31.

Nene added a season-high 21 points for the Rockets, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Philadelphia rookie centre Joel Embiid, back after missing the three previous games with a bruised left knee, topped the Sixers with 32 points, one shy of his career high.

Pacers 115,
Kings 111 (OT)

Paul George scored six of his 33 points in overtime as Indiana rallied to defeat Sacramento in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

George’s basket with 31.8 seconds remaining broke a 111-111 tie and after Garrett Temple and Darren Collison each missed potential game-tying shots, Jeff Teague made two game-clinching free throws with 0.4 seconds to play.

Indiana improved to 3-18 when trailing after three quarters and 2-7 in the second game of a back to back.

Pelicans 119, Spurs 103

Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 23 points and had 11 assists, and Anthony Davis scored 16 points and grabbed 22 rebounds to power New Orleans to a victory over San Antonio in the Smoothie King Centre.

The victory for the Pelicans snapped the Spurs’ five-game winning streak, and it also ended San Antonio’s streak of five consecutive victories over the Pelicans. The 119 points were the most allowed by the Spurs this season.

Knicks 110, Hornets 107

Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points apiece to lead New York to a win over Charlotte at Madison Square Garden.

Courtney Lee added 16 points for the Knicks, including crucial points in the fourth quarter. Brandon Jennings scored 15 points off the New York bench.

Kemba Walker, who was named as a reserve to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday, poured in 31 points for the Hornets (23-24).

Raptors 102, Bucks 86

Kyle Lowry scored 32 points and added six assists as Toronto ended a season-high five-game losing streak with a victory over Milwaukee.

Norman Powell added 19 points for the Raptors, who were without DeMar DeRozan (sprained right ankle). Patrick Patterson added 10 points while Jonas Valanciunas scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Cavaliers 124, Nets 116

LeBron James scored 31 points and passed for 11 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 28 points and Cleveland beat lowly Brooklyn, just its third win in its last nine games.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Nets and the 15th in their last 16 games.

Celtics 128, Magic 98

Isaiah Thomas scored 21 to notch his 30th consecutive 20-point contest as Boston blew out Orlando at TD Garden.

Thomas is 10 games shy of the Celtics’ franchise mark, set by John Havlicek. Jae Crowder added 19 points and rookie Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 20 and grabbed eight rebounds.

Heat 100, Bulls 88

Goran Dragic scored 26 points and had 11 assists as Miami cruised to a win over Chicago.

Heat centre Willie Reed scored 20 points in place of injured teammate Hassan Whiteside. Guard Dion Waiters added 19 points as Miami won its sixth game in a row.

Wizards 112, Hawks 86

Otto Porter Jr bounced back from a poor offensive night to score 21 points and grab 11 rebounds and sparked Washington to a win over Atlanta and pulled to within one-half game of fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

It was the largest margin of victory of the season for the Wizards, eclipsing their 25-point win at Boston on November 9.

Trail Blazers 112, Grizzlies 109

Damian Lillard scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 112-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at Moda Centre.

Lillard led five Trail Blazers who scored in double figures, including Allen Crabbe, who came off the bench for 23 points.

CJ McCollum had 18 points, Mason Plumlee 13 and Al Farouq Aminu 12 for Portland (21-27), which won their third straight game.

AMMAN — Jordan hosts the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) Championship with an opening match against Syria on Sunday.

The Kingdom is joined by Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Iran in the six-team tournament hosted at Fuheis Club. The points system will decide the zone champion and the top four will qualify to the 29th Asia Cup, to be held in Lebanon in August.

Jordan first won the West Asia title in 2002. 

In 2016, Jordan beat Lebanon 83-82 to clinch second place at the WABA Championship and advanced alongside Iran and Iraq to the FIBA Asia Challenge, where they finished third.

In 2014, Jordan won the WABA title for the second time in the absence of both the Lebanese and senior Iranian teams, and represented the West Asia zone at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup where China, as well as defending FIBA Asia Championship title-holders Iran, had automatically qualified. The competition was previously known as the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup between 2004 and 2010, and as the FIBA Asia Cup from 2012 to 2014. The champion was given an automatic berth to the following year’s FIBA Asia Championship. Qatar were champs in 2004, Jordan in 2008, Lebanon in 2010 and Iran in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

In 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 to qualify directly 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. 

Starting with 2017, the Asian Championships and the FIBA Oceania Championship will merge into one tournament to be known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It will be 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. During the FIBA Asia Central Board meeting in 2016, it was decided that the event is the first step in the process of identifying the qualifiers for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (the new name of the Asian Championship), the first ever Continental Cup played jointly by teams from Asia and Oceania.

Although Jordan reached the World Championship in 2010, official 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.

AMMAN — The national football team returned home in the weekend concluding a training camp in the UAE in preparation for qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup.

During the camp, Jordan played 121st ranked Georgia, beating them 1-0 in the first match under new head coach Emirati Abdullah Misfer.

As Jordan went down to 107th in the last FIFA Rankings, the draw for the final round of qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup put Jordan in Group C with Afghanistan, Vietnam and Cambodia. Misfer said all teams in the group had a valid chance.

“We will not take anything for granted. We seek to top the group to secure qualification and move to the continent’s finals.” However, he added, “winning comes through effort and performance, not expectations”.

This week, players will head back to clubs for the restart of the Jordan Professional Football League and the Jordan Cup, as Wihdat prepare to play the Asian Champions League preliminary round match on January 31 against India’s Bengaluru FC.

In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, Ahli were drawn to play in Group C alongside Iraq’s Zawra, Syria’s Jeish and a qualifier from Oman or Palestine starting February 20. 

MELBOURNE — Roger Federer held firm against a furious fightback from fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, edging his former apprentice 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in a Melbourne Park classic to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.

On the day the Williams sisters booked their place in the women’s final, 35-year-old Federer continued the march of the veterans, becoming the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final in more than 40 years.

The Swiss master was shaken as fourth seed Wawrinka stormed back to level the match at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena but it was his opponent who blinked first in the tension-riven decider.

Wawrinka double-faulted to hand Federer the key break in the sixth game and four-times champion Federer rode a wave of adulation from the terraces to serve out the match to love.

One win from an 18th Grand Slam title and a first in five years, Federer also kept alive the chance of a dream final with great rival Rafa Nadal, who plays the second semifinal against 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

The Swiss will become the oldest men’s grand slam finalist since Ken Rosewall featured in the US Open in 1974 at the age of 39.

“It’s all real, I never thought in my wildest dreams I would come this far in Australia,” a glowing Federer said in his courtside interview, having come to Australia with no expectations after six months out of the game.

“I’ve got a couple of days off. It’s beautiful.

“I’m probably [Nadal’s] number one fan.

“I’m happy we’ve had some epic battles over the years.”

Federer had to close out the win with an upper leg injury and thanked the court’s physio for his “magic hands”.

But he moved superbly to deny his close friend Wawrinka a chance at a fourth Grand Slam title.

Magical moments

Friendship was shelved before the match, however, and Wawrinka kept the doyen of men’s tennis waiting before they walked silently to centre court.

It was a slow-burning start to their seventh Grand Slam encounter, but it sparked into life in a marathon fourth game as Wawrinka saved a trio of break points to grimly hold serve.

There were moments of magic, a regal Federer drop shot sliced high into the air from the baseline just cleared the net to flummox Wawrinka at 3-2.

Federer swapped wands, grabbing a fresh racket after new balls were called and wielded it to devastating effect in the 12th game, breaking Wawrinka’s serve to take the set when he hammered a forehand into the net.

Broken again to trail 4-2, Wawrinka lost the second set in just 31 minutes and hammered his racket into the court.

The barrel-chested Swiss decided to complete the job properly, snapping his racket in half over his knee.

His other knee had been bothering him before the match and he returned to the court with it strapped.

With new racket in hand, he began swinging with abandon and his peerless backhand began to sing.

A searing passing shot broke Federer’s serve in the fourth game and Wawrinka roared through the set in a furious salvo of power hitting.

Another smoking backhand passing shot smashed through Federer’s serve, and the Swiss lost a sixth straight game.

Wawrinka fired a string of huge serves to put the match on level terms and pounded his chest twice in a muted celebration.

Trading backhand blows like heavyweight boxers, the pair pounded away at each other in the fifth before Wawrinka’s serve crumbled.

The decisive double-fault sparked raucous cheers from the pro-Federer crowd and Federer roared to the finish, savouring the chance to add to his four Melbourne Park titles.

AMMAN — The competitive cycling season gets under way in Jordan on Friday with the first race of the year in the Dead Sea area, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Organised by the Jordan Cycling Federation and starting from Wadi Mujib Bridge at 10am, more than 70 competitors will race on a route set through the Jordan Valley. The event is being held to mark the birthday celebrations of His Majesty King Abdullah.