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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Nico Rosberg has pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Now he just needs someone to get in the way of title rival Lewis Hamilton.

The Formula One (F1) world championship will go to one of the two Mercedes rivals on Sunday, and Rosberg put himself in a competitive position by edging a nervy-looking Hamilton in Saturday’s qualifying to secure a third straight pole and fourth in the past five races.

Hamilton, however, still holds the advantage.

He has a 17-point lead and only needs to finish second to guarantee a second F1 title. But with double points on offer — 50 points for the winner — Rosberg can clinch his first title if he wins and Hamilton crosses the line in third place under floodlights at the Yas Marina circuit.

“Of course pressure is one of the hopes I have. If Lewis feels the pressure and makes a mistake as a result,” an upbeat Rosberg said after securing the 15th pole of his career. “I push flat out, all the time, to try and keep the [pressure] level extremely high. That’s all I can really do.”

Hamilton was quicker than Rosberg in the first two qualifying sessions but almost went off track as his brakes locked heading into the final corner on Q3.

“I didn’t have the best of laps,” Hamilton said. “[I] couldn’t put a comfortable lap together.”

Rosberg set a leading time of 1 minute, 40.48 seconds, with Hamilton clocking 1:40.866 and Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas third, ahead of his Williams teammate Felipe Massa. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth, ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel.

“It’s only one small step. This weekend is about the championship, not pole position,” Rosberg said. “It would have been great if there had been a Williams between us, but that could always happen tomorrow.”

The speed of Williams is encouraging for Rosberg, who needs one to get between Hamilton and himself. But if Rosberg finishes second, he needs Hamilton to cross the line no higher than sixth.

Although Hamilton leads Rosberg 10-5 in race wins, Rosberg is up 11-7 in pole positions this season, although he has not often made the most of them.

“[The] mind set is that I need to get the job done and continue the form I had in Brazil,” said Rosberg, who ended Hamilton’s five-race winning run by beating him two weeks ago in Brazil.

Hamilton, the 2008 F1 champion, insists he is not feeling under any pressure here, but he made a couple of mistakes in both Q1 — where he went wide on turn 14 — and Q3. Rosberg, his childhood friend and teenage go-karting rival, showed no signs of nerves.

Hamilton appeared tense in the post-qualifying news conference, giving terse answers when asked how he will approach the race.

“I’m looking forward, so drive the same as always,” he said.

Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, was surprised by Hamilton’s run in Q3.

“It was a messy lap from Lewis, which was not expected because he had a very good lap in the second qualifying session,” Wolff said. “I won’t tell them anything anymore, they are in their own little bubble and concentrating on the race. I think we should leave them in peace.”

Massa, who lost the 2008 title to Hamilton by one point, was third quickest in third practice.

Six years ago, at the season-ending Brazilian GP, Massa won on his home track and the title was only seconds away, but Hamilton advanced from sixth to fifth right at the end to deny him.

“I don’t remember much from 2008,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully I’m older and wiser, although it’s a bit different when you are racing your own teammate.”

There will be jubilant scenes alongside sad farewells on Sunday night — with four-time F1 champion Vettel competing in his final race for Red Bull before replacing Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.

Red Bull placed a giant sticker on the garage floor which said “Danke Seb!” (“Thanks Seb!”).

British driver Jenson Button, the 2009 F1 champion, could be leaving the sport entirely with Alonso widely touted to replace him at McLaren.

AMMAN — Jordan finished its participation at the 4th Asian Beach Games with a bronze medal in the Muay Thai event, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee.

The medal came on a dramatic penultimate day of action in the tournament which has been taking place in Phuket, Thailand. And it went to Mohammad Salama who lost his semifinal match against Kazakhstan’s Vadim Loparev in the 75kg middleweight category.

Meanwhile, the ladies have provided us with some excellent entertainment this week and finished on a high with a nail-biting win on penalties against Turkmenistan to secure seventh spot overall in the competition.

It looked to be going well for Jordan after securing the first round 13-6 but they let Turkmenistan back in by losing the second leg 11-7. However, Jordan held its nerve in the shoot-out with a 10-9 verdict to win.

AMMAN – The Jordan national football team strives to be among the top four teams at the Asian Football Confederation’s 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, the team’s head coach Raymond Wilkins said. 

The coach’s minimal goal is to reach the quarter-finals, the Englishman told The Jordan Times in an exclusive interview on Thursday. 

Jordan plays in Group D and takes on Japan, Iraq and Palestine.

“The group is tough, but not impossible. We have to finish in the top two to progress. So with a bit of luck, and we need luck in football, we can progress forward. Whenever I look at the players they give me the impression they are confident,” he said. 

Wilkins’ aim is to go far at the tournament.

“We have to reach a level where we are competitive against whoever we play,” he added. 

The head coach is enjoying his job in Jordan very much although the experience of coaching an Arab team and dealing with Arab players is different from what he is used to back in England.

“At the end of the day it is human beings we are dealing with. Obviously, we have different coaches and different way of playing in Europe, but I enjoyed it immensely,” he added. 

Wilkins, who took over as national team coach in September, said he is very fortunate that the Jordan Football Association (JFA) is really supportive. 

“The players also do everything asked of them. They do not always succeeded, but they do try,” he added. 

Commenting on the negative results the team achieved since he took charge of the team, Wilkins said despite the results they had in the friendlies, he is sure once the team wins one game players’ confidence levels will rise.

Under Wilkins Jordan, better known as Nashama, has so far played four matches, losing three and drawing one. 

“The Jordanian fans are right to be worried as I am very worried. Once the team wins one game, we will win more games and the confidence will come back to the team. In Estonia, we had four to five chances to score but we did not. This is life and this is football,” he added.

He stressed that the team’s trip to Estonia was very important because it gave him a chance to see how players handle external factors, such as the freezing temperature. 

“In Estonia it was very, very cold. And you see a different character came out in different players and that for me was very important and it was really a good exercise,” he added. 

He noted that the purpose of playing in Estonia was also to test the physical fitness of his players. 

“The physicality of Europeans is totally different and I also wanted our players to have a different kind of experience with a European referee,” he added. 

Wilkins said he spoke to some of the players to find out about this new experience. 

“I said, what did you think of the referee? The players were astounded because the referee did not give out many fouls. In Europe, you do not give a foul every time a player goes down. I wanted the team to experience that because if we achieve our goal of playing in the World Cup we will have referees not only from Asia, but from anywhere in the world,” he added.

He noted that Asian referees are totally different. 

“I watched the games when we played in Jordan, I asked myself what was the referee doing? But I had to remember that I was not in Europe and referees here are different. I think the Estonia match was a good experience for the players because every time they get hit, they say it is a foul and I tell them it is not a foul, you have to compete,” he added. 

He said many of the national team footballers who play in other Arab leagues do not play a lot.

“Fitness is one of the things I noticed with the games. When we play for one hour, we are very good but by the end of the match, we have a problem. Players are not fit enough to keep the momentum going,” he added. 

He noted that he feels sorry for the players because they come back to Jordan, they train very hard and get better, but when they go back to their clubs they don’t play.

“I asked some players, whom I hadn’t seen for three months, ‘When was the last time you played?’. They replied, ‘It was with you coach’. So their fitness level is down and we have to work on that. It is really important for them to keep playing. Some players are physically strong because they play,” he added. 

He noted that the team’s level of technique is fine yet it has to improve, but the most important thing for him is fitness as the players cannot physically play 90 minutes at a high level. 

He said for the Kingdom to move forward, officials have to sit down and restructure the league in a better way because it is important to have a good Jordanian league. 

“For example, do not allow young players at the age of 19 or 20 to go outside the country. For them to get more experience one can allow them to leave at 21 or 22 years of age. The biggest tip I have for the Jordanian league is to keep players in Jordan,” he added. 

Regarding the Jordanian goalkeeper Amer Shafia, who was kept out of the team’s line-up, Wilkins said he is thinking about many players but certainly Shafia is “in my head”.

“The door is still open to him,” he added. 

In the meantime, he noted that the other goalkeepers who are working hard should be given a chance. 

“We try to give everyone an opportunity,” he added.

Wilkins won 84 caps for England during his playing days, which spanned more than two decades, according to Reuters. He played as a midfielder for a handful of different teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers.

He began coaching in 1994 and worked as an assistant coach with several teams, including Fulham, Chelsea, Watford and Millwall.

He returned to Fulham as an assistant coach in 2013 before leaving the post earlier this year, according to Reuters.

KUALA LUMPUR — Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost will take their new rivalry to Malaysia this weekend after their spectacular crash threatened to overshadow the inaugural Formula E electric car race in Beijing.

As Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg contest Formula One’s championship decider in Abu Dhabi, Heidfeld and Prost’s season is just getting started as Formula E heads into race two.

Their first outing ended in fireworks as leader Prost cut off Heidfeld’s attempted pass at the final corner, sending the former F1 driver’s car cartwheeling into the air.

“My victory was stolen. It is really hard,” said Prost, son of Formula One great Alain, who was confronted by Heidfeld after the accident.

Prost later apologised for causing the crash, which allowed Brazil’s Lucas di Grassi to slip through and become Formula E’s first winner.

The incident provided an explosive start for Formula E, the battery-powered series billed as a more environmentally friendly alternative to Formula One.

The second race is on Saturday in Putrajaya, seat of Malaysia’s government where the single-seaters with the distinctive whine will race close to the prime minister’s office at speeds of 225kph.

The 10-race championship concluding in London next June pits 10 teams and 20 drivers in one-hour, urban-centre races and is being touted as the future of F1-style racing.

It also is seen as a potential boon to the electric car industry by showing “green” cars can also be sleek speedsters, while top-flight racing expertise and competition will help develop the technology.

“Slowly, we’re building something. It’s quite interesting,” Alain Prost, four-time F1 world champion and co-team principal of the e.dams-Renault team, told AFP this week. 

“We’ve done only one race but there’s a lot of interest everywhere in the world.”

Drivers are using identical vehicles this season, a collaboration between Formula One’s Williams, McLaren and Renault, but will be able to design their own next season.

High-profile proponents of Formula E include British tycoon Richard Branson and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, who are each backing a team.

Formula E was developed by motorsport’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which also sanctions F1, and features distinguished names including Prost, Bruno Senna and Nelson Piquet Jr.

Its birth comes with F1 mired in problems as the Marussia and Caterham teams have declared bankruptcy and other teams are also complaining of financial difficulties.

AMMAN — Jordan’s hopes of a medal in the Muay Thai events at the Asian Beach Games were delivered a blow after Mohammed Al Barri was beaten in his quarter-final match on Thursday, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee. Barri was beaten 5-0 by Mahmoud Sattar of Iran in the heavyweight category, leaving the last Jordan medal hopes in the hands of Mohammad Salameh, who competes in the 75kg category on Friday with a match against Vadim Loparev of Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, the women’s beach handball team was edged out in a fifth place play-off after losing a penalty shoot-out against Japan. The ladies lost the first half 13-11, but then played to win the second half 15-13 before losing the deciding penalty shoot-out 9-6. They have one final match to determine their final position on Friday against Turkmenistan, who they beat earlier this week in the group stage.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — With double points on offer in the Formula One finale, there could yet be a bitter twist to the fascinating title duel between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The childhood friends have scrapped for supremacy all year in often tense circumstances, with Rosberg in command before Hamilton roared back to take the initiative after the summer break with five consecutive wins.

Rosberg stopped the rot with a timely win in Brazil two weeks ago, profiting from a Hamilton error.

Hamilton, who leads Rosberg by 17 points, can clinch his second F1 title if he finishes second to Rosberg at the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday.

If Rosberg wins, with Hamilton third or lower, Rosberg earns his first title.

“Double points. Bit of a strange one, definitely, a bit artificial. But in the end, if that keeps the championship alive, so be it,” Rosberg said. “It’s good for the excitement. It’s the same for everybody... [I] just need to make sure to make the most of it.”

Rivals in their go-karting days, they have fallen out at times this season, and there have even been pointed accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Hamilton was furious with Rosberg after an incident late in qualifying cost him pole position in Monaco. He was even more livid with the German driver in Belgium, where the team was plunged into crisis mode after Hamilton accused his rival of deliberately nudging into him and bursting his tyre.

Those rifts have been repaired, thanks largely to a strong public rebuke to both drivers from Mercedes management, but the tension simmers.

It remains to be seen how Hamilton will react if Rosberg leapfrogs over him right at the end.

A Mercedes win appears likely — the pair have won 15 of the 18 races; 10 for Hamilton, five for Rosberg; and taken 17 pole positions.

Only Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo has broken the stranglehold, winning the other three races and relegating teammate Sebastian Vettel to irrelevancy. Vettel, world champion the last four years, is poised to join Ferrari next season to replace Fernando Alonso.

Although Hamilton does not need to win the Grand Prix on Sunday, curbing his natural aggression and driving cautiously may not be the British driver’s best option.

Four years ago, Abu Dhabi was also the scene of the title decider between Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Mark Webber. Alonso was favourite, holding an eight-point lead over Webber, but his team gambled on checking Webber instead of worrying about the other drivers.

After Webber pitted early on, Alonso did the same, and when he came back out he was stuck in traffic behind Vitaly Petrov. The move backfired badly, as a frustrated Alonso could not get past Petrov, and Vettel raced to the first of his four successive titles.

Last-race dramatics also cost Nigel Mansell the title in 1986, when his tyre blew near the end in Australia, and Alain Prost won to take the title away from him.

Yas Marina is built on a man-made island, and the race has a unique feel, as it begins with the sun setting and ends under floodlights.

The glitz and glamour of the track is in stark contrast to the financial plight affecting several teams, with Caterham and Marussia missing the last two races in Brazil and the United States after going into bankruptcy. Caterham, however, will race on Sunday.

AMMAN — Jordan’s top two speed test drivers for 2014 are promising a showdown to remember at Friday’s sixth and final round of the Kumho National Speed Test Championship in Aqaba, according to a statement from Jordan Motorsport.

Rami Kaghado and Mohammad Tayseer are first and second in the championship standings after a thrilling head-to-head battle throughout the year.

But championship victory is in Kaghado’s hands should he finish anywhere in the top three. However, any slip up Tayseer, who won last time out in Madaba, said he is ready to pounce.

“Mohammad is an excellent driver and has been putting the pressure on me all season, as have a number of other very strong drivers,” Kaghado, who is suffering from flu this week, was quoted as saying in the statement.

“I feel relaxed though. I’m leading the championship and will try to finish the season with a win on Friday
in Aqaba.”

Meanwhile, Tayseer said that he will go “all out” to win the event and hope that other drivers will beat his main rival to the podium places.

“I want the 2014 title so will do my best and go all out for the win,” he said. I have prepared very well. The event is very exciting and I am looking forward to putting on a show in front of a big crowd,” Tayseer said in the statement.

Action on Friday morning gets under way at 8:30am in the middle of the Red Sea resort which has closed its roads especially for the event.

The 6th round of the Kumho National Speed Test Championship will provide an exciting finale to what has been a thrilling season of motor sport featuring national championships in karting, drifting, rallying and speed tests.

Jordan Motorsport’s traditional season ending Aqaba showdown has attracted 65 cars for what promises to be an event to remember.

AMMAN — The all awaited Wihdat-Faisali match is among the highlights for this week’s matches as Week 8 of the 63rd Jordan Professional League starts on Thursday.

The league was on break for the past 10 days allowing the national team to play two friendlies in which they lost by 1-0 to both South Korea and Estonia as the squad prepares for the 2015 Asian Cup.

Fans of both teams anticipate much excitement as it will be the 76th encounter between the teams. Wihdat has won 27, Faisali 26 and they tied in 22 matches. One match, won by Wihdat, was later taken off the records when the league was discontinued in 1998. Wihdat have scored 73 goals and Faisali 69.

Saturday’s match will be a chance for Wihdat to further boost their lead after they beat Baqaa 1-0. Faisali are fourth after a 1-0 win over third-placed Jazira.

Ramtha lost their shared lead with Wihdat after they were held 1-1 by former champs Shabab Urdun. They will play Baqaa who have dropped to tenth. 

Hussein are up to sixth place after a 2-0 win over Ahli. They will play Ittihad Ramtha, who are last after a 1-0 defeat to That Ras. Sarih are up to 7th spot after a 2-1 win over Manshieh. They will play Shabab Urdun who have been dropping in the standings.

Wihdat’s Mahmoud Zaatara and Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi top the scorers list with five goals each.

Wihdat won the first major competition of the 2014/15 football season after they beat Baqaa 2-0 in the 32nd Super Cup.

Last season, Wihdat won the Jordan Professional League for the 13th time, and beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup while Shabab Urdun beat That Ras to win the Super Cup. The Jordan Football Association Shield was not held.

AMMAN — The season’s first basketball competition ends on Thursday when Applied Science University (ASU) plays Ittihad Schools for the Jordan Cup title.

The knockout competition saw Riyadi lose to Ittihad 78-77 in the semis as Orthodoxi lost 92-65 to ASU.

Riyadi had eliminated Kufr Youba, Ittihad ousted Jalil, Orthodoxi beat Ashrafieh and ASU eliminated Gazzet Hashem.

The tournament is a good warm-up for teams ahead of the Premier Basketball League as teams scramble to finalise their line-ups and sign import players. 

Observers point to a regression that negatively affected the basketball scene in the past few years and hope players and fans will return to the courts and help bring the zeal of competition to Jordan’s second most popular sport.

Last season, ASU won the league title for the second consecutive and fourth time when they beat Ittihad 3-1 in the best-of-five finals. Riyadi won third place after beating Kulieh 2-0 in the best-of-three play-offs.

Riyadi beat then league champs Orthodoxi to win the inaugural Jordan Cup in 2002 following which Zain (formerly Fastlink) won the title for four consecutive seasons. Then Orthodoxi snatched the 2007/08 title before Zain won again in 2008/09, ASU in 2010/11 and Riyadi in 2012.

AMMAN — Jordan’s final chance for glory at the 4th Asian Beach Games will get under way in Phuket, Thailand, on Thursday with two ambitious Muay Thai fighters confident of making the Kingdom proud, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee.

Mohammed Al Barri will represent Jordan in the 81kg category while Mohammad Salameh competes in the 75kg, with both fighters believing of making an impression in the home of the sport.

“My ambition is to one day become a world champion in this sport,” 22-year-old Barri, who is a soldier from Irbid and started his sporting career as a boxer, was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Boxing was my passion but then Muay Thai coach Khald Al Zaqzouq encouraged me to switch sports and I have not looked back! I am determined to do well here in the Beach Games to show that I am capable of becoming one of the world’s best.”

Salameh, 25, from Karak, mixes brains with brawn by splitting his time between studying accountancy in university and training for Muay Thai. He also gives a lot back to the sport by training the next generation of fighters.

“I started this sport way back when I was 12 so I have experienced how it can help a young man develop,” he said. “I would love to become a professional Muay Thai fighter one day but for the moment I must put in a strong performance here. I told my coach that I would only come here to win a medal for Jordan and I am focused 100 per cent on this,” Salameh said in the statement.