Sports

MONACO — Nico Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix for the third straight year after a late crash involving teenager Max Verstappen undid Lewis Hamilton’s bid for a fourth win of the season.

Hamilton looked set to take his 37th career win after leading from the start, until the 17-year-old Verstappen rammed his Toro Rosso into the back of Romain Grosjean as he tried to overtake the Lotus driver.

That meant a safety car had to come out at the start of the 64th lap, and when Hamilton was then called in for a pit stop by Mercedes, he suddenly found himself behind both Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

“I can’t really express the way I feel at the moment, so I won’t even attempt to,” a despondent Hamilton said. “I thought Nico had pitted, so I thought the guys behind were pitting. I came in with full confidence that the others had done the same.”

When the safety car finally went off track, Hamilton had only a few laps to try and get past Vettel and Rosberg on the most difficult track to overtake on F1.

“It wasn’t the easiest of races, but the team has been amazing all year long and we win and lose together,” Hamilton said. “I’m sure we’ll sit down after this.”

Asked how he will respond, a dejected-looking Hamilton said: “Come back to win the next one.”

Hamilton’s lead has been cut in the past two races and he is now just 10 points ahead of Rosberg, who launched his title bid at a similar stage last season, while Vettel is 28 points behind in third place heading to the Canadian GP in two weeks.

Rosberg was modest in victory.

“I know that I got lucky today, so I’ll just enjoy the moment now,” the German said. “But I need to work hard because Lewis was a bit stronger today.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes team have some explaining to do, with head of motorsport Toto Wolff telling broadcaster Sky that it was a mistake to call him into the pits.

“It was a complete misjudgement. I’m just so sorry,” Wolff said. “There’s nothing to do but apologise.”

Russian driver Daniil Kvyat finished fourth for Red Bull’s best result this season, while former champion Jenson Button finally earned McLaren their first points of the campaign by coming eighth. But teammate Fernando Alonso retired for the second straight race.

It was Rosberg’s second win of the season following his victory two weeks ago at the Spanish GP and he became the first driver since Ayrton Senna to win the Monaco race three straight times. The others to do it were Frenchman Alain Prost and Briton Graham Hill.

But Rosberg, who won back-to-back races for the first time, expressed sympathy for his teammate Hamilton.

“He deserved it for sure, I was lucky in the end. I don’t even know what happened there,” he said. “For sure it is an awful feeling.”

He is now right back in championship contention, but the circumstances of his win will likely infuriate Hamilton, who was leading Rosberg by 15 seconds when Verstappen — who had never driven on Monaco’s sinewy street circuit before — tried to pass Grosjean but found no room and went spinning off. He was unharmed.

The team’s decision to call Hamilton in for a pit stop clearly backfired, and the Briton angrily snapped over the radio: “Please stop talking to me, please.”

Rosberg was 4.4 seconds ahead of four-time F1 champion Vettel and 6 clear of Hamilton.

As Rosberg and Vettel celebrated warmly with each other, Hamilton took a long while to get out of his car, taking his helmet off slowly and walking to join the other two on the podium with his head down.

Asked if he would respect his team’s decisions from now on, Hamilton replied bluntly: “Yes.”

He added that it was “a great feeling to lead the race” and that he felt even quicker than usual.

“On the one hand it’s good to have that pace, and you live to fight another day,” he said.

AMMAN  — The women’s national football team regrouped on Sunday to begin preparations for Round 2 Asian qualifiers — the second phase of the qualifying journey to the 2016 Summer Olympics football tournament — set for September.

Jordan moved to Round 2 after topping Asian Group B qualifiers when it beat Uzbekistan 2-0, Hong Kong 1-0 and Palestine 6-0. The Jordan Football Association is still awaiting confirmation of the venue of Round 2 where the Kingdom will join other group leaders Myanmar, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand following which the top team will move to Round 3 to play the top five seeded teams — Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea and China – which eventually qualifies the top two to represent Asia at the Olympic Games.

It will be Jordan’s second time at the qualifiers after the 2012 London Olympic qualifiers when it advanced to Round 2. 

Jordan last went up two spots to 54th in FIFA Rankings leading all Arab teams and taking 11th spot in the Asian continent ahead of Japan, North Korea, Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar and Uzbekistan.

Team officials hope the squad will make up for a disappointing 2014 season when the senior women’s team exited Round 1 of the 2014 Asian Games and similarly exited the Round 1 of their first AFC 2014 Women’s Asian Cup where it was also the only Arab team that has ever qualified. The squad is reigning West Asian champs after winning the title with Iran, Lebanon and the UAE missing the event last year.

Last month, Jordan retained the 3rd AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championship for West Asia, for the third consecutive year.

In 2015, the U-19 team failed to repeat its 2007 qualification to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship which eventually qualifies the top three teams to the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The U-16 team also failed to qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013. 

Jordan will host the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup and is now gearing up to prepare four stadiums as well as 16 practice fields. Jordan beat bids from Uruguay, South Africa, Ireland and Bahrain.

HOUSTON — Stephen Curry scored 40 points and Golden State Warriors made it look easy against Houston, beating Rockets 115-80 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Warriors won the first two games by just five points combined. There would be no such drama in this one, with Curry leading them to a 26-point advantage in the second quarter.

Now the baby-faced MVP has Golden State just one victory away from its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1975. Game 4 is Monday night in Houston.

“We understand it’s a special moment, it’s just we’re wrapped up in our day to day grind of preparing for games and going out and exerting all the effort we need to make this story happen,” Curry said. “So it’s kind of hard to remove yourself from those emotions.”

Curry was unstoppable, making seven three pointers to break the NBA record for most three pointers in the play-offs in a season with 64.

MVP runner-up James Harden finished with 17 points behind 10-of-11 free-throw shooting, but made just 3 of 16 shots as Rockets dropped three straight for the first time all season.

Dwight Howard, who played despite a knee injury suffered in Game 1, had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Houston rebounded from a 3-1 deficit in the conference semifinals to beat the Clippers and move on. No team in NBA history has won a series after falling behind 3-0.

“We just can’t quit on each other,” Howard said. “We’ve come too far. We’ve been through too many battles to just allow it to end like tonight... we’ve just got to man up.”

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson added 17 points apiece for the Warriors.

Curry had 37 points after three quarters and went to the bench for good with about five-and-a-half minutes remaining after his seventh three pointer made it 103-73. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.

After coach Steve Kerr complained about turnovers in the last game, Warriors had just one before halftime to help them run away with this one early.

Rockets have rebounded from double-digit deficits in three of their eight wins this postseason, but this time they fell into a hole way too big to overcome. Especially when Harden’s shots weren’t falling.

Warriors were in control of this one from the start and were up by 12 at the end of the first. But things got out of hand quickly when Curry heated up.

A pair of free throws by Harden cut the lead to nine points with about 6 minutes left in the quarter when Curry took over. He scored the next six points as part of a 16-5 run where he scored all but two of Warriors points to push the lead to 54-34.

Curry broke the record for three pointers in the playoffs on a long one from the top of the key that put Golden State up 49-32 about four-and-a-half minutes before halftime. Reggie Miller set the previous mark of 58 in 2000.

Warriors led by 25 at halftime and Houston opened the third quarter strong, using a 13-6 spurt to get within 68-50. Thompson made a free throw after that before Curry took control once again, scoring the next five points, including a three pointer under heavy pressure, to push it to 75-50 midway through the third quarter.

He wrapped up the third quarter in much the same way, scoring Golden State’s last five points, capped by a 3-pointer to make it 92-61 entering the fourth quarter.

Howard was the only positive for Rockets in the first half and he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Harden made just one of eight shots in the first half, but had eight points after making all six of his free throws.

Warriors led 30-18 at the end of the first quarter behind 10 points from Australian Andrew Bogut.

MONACO — Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton clinched his first ever pole at the Monaco Grand Prix after a strong drive Saturday, while his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg will start from second as he bids to win the race for the third straight year.

In last year’s race, Rosberg took pole but angered Hamilton when he crashed under no apparent pressure right at the end of the session, bringing it to a halt just as the British driver was poised to beat his time.

There was no repeat of that incident on Saturday but Rosberg had to pit right at the end of qualifying after locking his right tyre.

Hamilton, who has taken pole in five of six races, clocked 1 minute, 15.098 seconds, with Rosberg .342 behind and Sebastian Vettel .751 back after being fastest in third and final qualifying.

“Did I get it?” asked Hamilton as he finished his run, but there was no doubt he’d taken his 43rd career pole position.

“I can’t express how happy I am, it wasn’t the easiest session. I didn’t have the rhythm until the last two laps,” Hamilton said. “This track is so hard, it’s like climbing a ladder: sometimes you slide back down, sometimes you go back up. This is not even half the job. There’s so much to do tomorrow, it’s going to be mentally and physically challenging.”

The 30-year-old Hamilton has been on pole here before, however, just not in F1.

“GP2 in 2006 was the last time I was on pole here, so a big ‘Thank you’ to the team, their performance was incredible,” said Hamilton, who had been worried about his tyres midway through qualifying.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen as drivers switched to the new and faster Pirelli supersoft tyres.

Rosberg, who won the Spanish GP from pole position two weeks ago, pushed too hard as he tried to beat Hamilton’s time and locked his tyre — just as he had done right at the end of the Q2 session.

“Probably the opposite to Lewis. I had a good rhythm starting off and then I lost touch at the end,” said Rosberg, who is looking to become the first driver since Ayrton Senna to win the Monaco GP three times in a row. “I had to go for it and it didn’t work out.”

Vettel, meanwhile, is still looking to close the gap on Mercedes in terms of speed.

“I think everyone was struggling a little bit with the tyres. It was a shame that the sun was hiding behind the crowds,” Vettel said. “We know it’s Monaco and it’s difficult to pass, so if you start from pole you have a great chance.”

Nine of the past 10 winners at the Monaco GP have been from pole, with the only exception being Hamilton when he won from third place in 2008 — the year he won his first title.

Rosberg was quickest ahead of Hamilton and Vettel in Q2 and fastest ahead of Hamilton and 17-year-old Max Verstappen in Q1.

Meanwhile, the problems continue for McLaren as Fernando Alonso’s session was ended by what looked like a mechanical failure, and teammate Jenson Button just missed out on joining the top 10 in Q3 for the first time this season.

“That’s painful, such a shame,” Button said on race radio.

It was an even worse day for Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, fifth in the championship standings, as he was caught in heavy traffic during the first part of qualifying and qualified in 17th. He will move up one place because French driver Romain Grosjean was earlier hit with a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

In the morning, Vettel posted the fastest time in the final practice session ahead of Rosberg and Hamilton.

The 3.34-kilometre Monaco track is the shortest in F1 and also the slowest, with a succession of tight, sinewy turns and claustrophobic barriers making the street circuit the toughest to overtake on, along with the Spanish GP near Barcelona.

After a rain-hit practice on Thursday, the sun came back out to warm fans crowded around the picturesque principality’s glittering harbour.

More privileged spectators had a free view while drinking champagne on their luxury yachts as they took in the atmosphere at F1’s unique race, which sees drivers go past the famous Monte Carlo casino and some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

AMMAN — Faisali managed to beat That Ras and win the 35th Jordan Cup title on Friday, ending a disappointing season by winning one of the season’s titles.

Faisali led 1-0 on a penalty, but That Ras equalised just before the end of the match which went into extra time. Faisali managed to score their all important goal and secured at least one season title with their record 18th Cup title, after last winning in 2011.

After finishing at a disappointing 7th place in the Jordan Professional League, Faisali made up for a bad season. In addition to JD45,000 in prize money, they are now slated to play the Super Cup opening the 2015/16 season, and also secured representing Jordan in Asian regional competitions as well.

That Ras settled for JD25,000. With two key players missing due to injury, they could not repeat their 2012 Jordan Cup win. 

The finalists had upstaged Ramtha and Wihdat to reach the final. That Ras who finished fourth in the League beat Ramtha 4-2 after Leg 1 ended 0-0. In the other match, Faisali stunned League champs and Cup titleholders Wihdat 1-0 after Leg 1 had ended 0-0.

In the quarter-final Leg 1, Ahli held Ramtha 1-1, That Ras beat Jazira 1-0, Wihdat beat Sarih 1-0 and Faisali beat Manshieh 2-1. In Leg 2, Faisali held Manshieh 1-1, Wihdat held Sarih 0-0, That Ras beat Jazira 4-3 on penalties, and Ramtha beat Ahli 2-1. Baqaa, Shabab Urdun, and Hussein were eliminated earlier in the competition in which only Professional League teams played this year. 

Wihdat won two titles in the 2014/15 football season. They beat Baqaa to snatch the 32nd Super Cup and added their 14th League title. The runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha. 

Last season, Wihdat won the Jordan Professional League and beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup, while Shabab Urdun beat That Ras to win the 31st Super Cup. The Jordan Football Association Shield was not held.

Jordan Cup record 

(Runner- up in parenthesis)

1980Faisali (Baqaa)

1981Faisali (Ramtha)

1982Wihdat (Ahli)

1983Faisali (Ramtha)

1984Jazira (Ahli)

1985Wihdat (Faisali)

1986Arabi (Jazira)

1987Faisali (Hussein)

1988Wihdat (Faisali)

1989Faisali (Ramtha)

1990Ramtha (Hussein)

1991Ramtha (Wihdat)

1992Faisali (Wihdat)

1993Faisali (Ramtha)

1994Faisali (Ramtha)

1995Faisali (Ramtha)

1996Wihdat (Ramtha)

1997Wihdat (Ramtha)

1998Faisali (Wihdat)

1999Faisali (Wihdat)

2000Wihdat (Faisali)

2001Faisali (Hussein)

2002Faisali (Hussein)

2003 Faisali (Hussein)

2004 Faisali (Sh. Hussein)

2005 Shabab Urdun (Faisali)

2006 Shabab Urdun (Faisali)

2007Faisali (Shabab Urdun)

2008 Wihdat (Shabab Urdun)

2009Wihdat (Arabi)

2010Wihdat (Manshieh)

2011Faisali (Manshieh)

2012That Ras (Ramtha)

2013Wihdat (Baqaa)

2014Faisali (That Ras)

AMMAN — The 1st official Irbid Race concluded successfully on Friday with HRH Prince Firas Bin Raad running in the 5km race side by side to other participants to demonstrate the importance of adopting sports and a healthy lifestyle.

The 5km and 10km races witnessed the participation of more than 2000 runners across all race categories, exceeding organisers’ expectations.

In the Irbid Race Run Jordan was able to raise awareness for different causes and institutions including: Handicapped Children Care Society, Charitable Mahaba and Salam society, SOS village in Irbid, West Irbid Society For Special Needs, Swimming federation and Amman Club.

AMMAN — Organisers of the 2nd Istiklal Run were happy with the participation on Friday. Unlimited Distances, the organisers, had six ages groups in the 5km and 12km trails. “This year our route for the 12km went from Abdali to Abdoun and back.

We were well prepared and had limited the number of participants to 500,” said Mohammad Asha, one of founders of Unlimited Distances. The event expects a bigger number of quality international runners next year as well as an increased number of local athletes.

MADRID  — Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will discuss his future with the club after Saturday’s final La Liga game of the campaign at home to Getafe and said he wants to stay on despite a season without a major trophy.

Speculation that Real president Florentino Perez is poised to discard Ancelotti, a year before his three-year contract expires, has been rife since the holders were eliminated from the Champions League and Barcelona secured the La Liga title last weekend.

Ancelotti’s post-training news conference on Friday had the air of a farewell, with journalists applauding the Italian at the end, but he insisted he is ready and willing to continue.

Ancelotti led Real to a record-extending 10th European title last term, as well as a King’s Cup triumph, and they went on to win the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup before their form tailed off after the turn of the year.

“I understand that this is a key moment for the club because they are taking an important decision,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“If I don’t carry on I will have spent two fantastic years here and each will go their separate ways, the club one way and me the other,” he added.

“We have had some very happy moments, perhaps the happiest in the history of Real Madrid.”

“I won’t be sad as I will have the feeling that I gave everything I could.

“I have the confidence and the desire and the excitement to carry on because I like this club and these players and I like this city.”

Spanish media reports have suggested Napoli coach Rafa Benitez, who had a stint working in Real’s academy in the mid-1990s, is the front runner to replace Ancelotti.

There has also been speculation that Ancelotti could continue but without his long-term fitness trainer, Giovanni Mauri, and goalkeeping coach Villiam Vecchi, who would be replaced.

Ancelotti dismissed a suggestion a lack of fitness had scuppered Real’s trophy chances and defended his assistants.

“I have a lot of confidence in them and they have been working with me for a long time,” Ancelotti said.

“What I have achieved in my career I have achieved with this staff and I still think they are the best in the world.”

Real are assured of second in La Liga and a Champions League berth for next season.

Los Angeles — Golden State Warriors survived a stirring James Harden-inspired fightback to take command of the Western Conference Final with a 99-98 Game Two victory over  Houston Rockets on.

Harden was close to unstoppable as he scored 38 points and rallied his team from an eight-point deficit in the final two minutes but all his hard work was undone when he slipped and lost the ball as time expired, unable to get a shot away.

This season's MVP runner-up scored 10 of his team's final 12 points and added 10 rebounds and nine assists but again had to accept second billing to Golden State's Stephen Curry.

Curry finished with 33 points and teamed with backcourt mate Klay Thompson to swarm Harden on the final play, lifting  Warriors to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"I knew Klay had [Harden] squared up, I wanted to protect [Harden's] left and I was able to stand him up," Curry told reporters. "That's just determination. [Harden's] making great plays and it takes a total team effort to guard him."

Thompson added 13 points and Andrew Bogut put up 14 for Warriors, who are two wins away from reaching their first NBA Finals since 1975.

Game 3 is in Houston on Saturday, where a desperately disappointed Rockets will need to quickly regroup to climb back into the series.

Houston, though, are no strangers to comebacks this postseason, erasing a sizeable Game 6 lead by Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the play-offs, where they rallied to win the series despite trailing 3-1.

Houston started slowly, falling 17 points behind in the second quarter before rallying to tie the contest by halftime.

Centre Dwight Howard recorded 19 points and 17 rebounds after leaving Game 1 with a knee injury, his presence helping to ease Harden's workload in a fast-paced encounter.

On the final play of the game, Harden pulled down a rebound and dribbled up the floor as Rockets elected not to call a timeout. After receiving a pass back from Howard, he ran into a fatal double team that caused him to lose control of the ball and end up falling to the ground as the final buzzer sounded.

"I'm kicking chairs [in the locker room after the game]. It's frustrating to give the game away like that," Harden said. "We let two slip away. Now we're going home."

Nico Rosberg would love to take the spotlight away from Lewis Hamilton at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix with a third straight win on his favourite track.

While Hamilton is widely expected to announce a new deal with Mercedes during the race weekend, Rosberg returns to Monaco — where he grew up — full of confidence after his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.

It was amid the heat and sharp bends of last year’s Monaco GP where relations between the teenage friends and go-karting rivals started turning frosty, with Hamilton infuriated by what he perceived as Rosberg’s deliberate attempt to thwart him in qualifying.

Unfazed, Rosberg won from pole position to kick-start his own title challenge, and the German driver is aiming to do that again Sunday.

The Monaco qualifying spat set the agenda for a bitter squabble that rumbled on all season — reaching crisis point at the Belgian GP in August — as Rosberg challenged Hamilton for the title until the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Relations have eased somewhat, and Hamilton firmly shook Rosberg’s hand after his win in Spain.

But another win for Rosberg — who is 20 points behind — would start to turn the pressure back on.

“We saw the advantage swing between them last year and I think we will see more of that in 2015,” Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said. “They are mentally tough, resilient and hate to lose. They push each other all the time.”

Rosberg’s Spanish GP win from pole position was vital to check Hamilton’s momentum, after the British driver had secured four straight poles and won three races.

Since leaving McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, Hamilton has competed in 43 races, winning 15 and securing a further 11 podium finishes to replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel — the only other driver to beat him this season — as the sport’s No 1 driver.

Hamilton, who is in the final year of his contract, will reportedly sign a new three-year deal estimated to be worth 90 million pounds ($140 million).

His remarkable consistency has seen him reach the podium in 21 of the past 24 races since the beginning of last season, with 14 wins, five second-place finishes and two third places. With 36 career race wins, and given Mercedes’ superior speed, he should overtake Vettel’s 40 wins this year.

Ferrari, who have yet to say whether Kimi Raikkonen will stay next season, are reportedly eager to sign Hamilton, whose contract situation has dragged on since January.

But given how comfortably he won in Spain two weeks ago, finishing 18 seconds ahead of Hamilton and 45 clear of Vettel, a revitalised Rosberg has not given up hope of catching Hamilton.

Monaco’s tight, sinewy, serpentine-like street circuit is the most difficult to overtake on in F1 along with Spain’s Catalunya track and whoever takes pole will be hard to stop. In a bid to increase the slim chances of overtaking, tyre supplier Pirelli will be bringing a new version of its ultra-fast supersoft tyre.

“To be quick on Sunday, you need a smooth weekend with lots of track time, so the drivers can really attack the limits,” Wolff said. “We will need to be at our best.”

Form is something Red Bull and McLaren lack.

Red Bull dominated F1 when Vettel won four straight titles from 2010-2013, but has been plagued by performance issues this season amid an increasingly uneasy relationship with engine supplier Renault.

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo, so impressive when winning three races last season, is already on his fourth and last allocated engine for the season. Teams using more than four engines per driver over a season face grid penalties.

McLaren have made their worst ever start to the season — no points from five races — since rekindling their once-successful partnership with Honda and despite boasting two F1 champions in Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.