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TU ESDAY, MAY 12, 2015
SPORTS WEST ASIAN EVENT
‘MAGHAZI’ WINS SECOND PLACE AT LINGFIELD PARK
Sheikh Mohammed bin Nasser Al Hashar-owned Maghazi won second place in the 1600m eighth round of HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship (IFAHR), a premier handicap for UK trained horses and International lady riders, at Lingfield Park, Great Britian. The race, with a total prize-money of £30,000, was organised as part of the seventh edition of Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival for Arabian Horse Racing. The first place went to Man of Dreams. The success of Maghazi comes close on the heels of Lahoob, also of Sheikh Mohammed bin Nasser Al Hashar, which won the fifth round of Sheikh Zayed Cup for 1600m race. — Supplied photo
Oman gears up for Chess World Cup zonal qualifiers MUSCAT: The Oman Chess Committee is gearing up for the Asian Zonal Qualifiers of the 2015 Chess World Cup. The West Asian qualifiers for the World Cup will take place at the City Seasons Hotel from May 16 to 25. The Oman Chess Committee (OCC), speaking at a press conference organised to reveal the details of the tournament, revealed that players from 13 countries will take part in the qualifiers. OCC chief Laila bint Ahmed Al Najar said a total of 26 players, 16 men and 10 women, will take part in the event. The tournament has attracted players from the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and Iraq besides. During the press meeting, Laila Al Najar also revealed Oman’s readiness to host the qualifiers with the co-operation of the
Pietersen hits triple century Pietersen sent a message to new England chief Strauss as the exiled batsman blasted a career-best score of 326 not out to boost his hopes of an international recall CAREER-BEST SCORE:
Kevin Pietersen.
LONDON: Kevin Pietersen sent a message to new England chief Andrew Strauss as the exiled batsman blasted a career-best score of 326 not out on Monday to boost his hopes of an international recall. Pietersen surpassed his previous first-class best of 254 in a mammoth innings for Surrey on day two of their County Championship Division Two match against Leicestershire at The Oval. The 34-year-old’s new record total came in just 373 balls as he smashed 34 fours and 14 sixes to all corners of the south London venue. His mastery of the Leicestershire attack was so complete that, by the close of play, no other Surrey player scored more than 36 in their first innings total of 528 for nine. It was a perfectly timed state-
ment of intent from Pietersen just 24 hours before Strauss’s first public address as England’s new director of cricket. The South Africa-born star had notched his first Championship double century since July 2012 earlier in the day and then passed his previous first-class best of 254 not out for Nottinghamshire against Middlesex in August 2002. Pietersen wasn’t finished there and he continued to demolish Leicestershire’s bowling before reaching his triple hundred in typically flamboyant fashion with a sweep for six. But, despite his welcome return to form, Pietersen will know that routing a team from English cricket’s second tier is still a far cry from dominating in similar
fashion in the Test arena against New Zealand and Australia, who both face England over the coming months. Pietersen’s slender hopes of a recall remain with Strauss, who was appointed the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new director of cricket over the weekend at the same time Peter Moores was dismissed as coach. Strauss, who captained Pietersen during their time in the England team and had a difficult relationship with the batsman, will hold his first press conference on Tuesday, before announcing the Test squad to face New Zealand at Lord’s next week. Pietersen has been cast adrift from England’s plans since he was sacked from all apparent future plans in the aftermath of their 2013-14 Ashes whitewash defeat. But incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves provided renewed hope that Pietersen could yet return when he hinted in March that runs for Surrey could provide the pathway he needs and he responded by agreeing a new contract with the county. Pietersen sought to diminish the significance of Monday’s innings, before taking the field on 35 not out overnight, when he told one of his Twitter followers he did not expect it to have a decisive bearing on his England return. At the suggestion it could be “the most important innings of your life”, Pietersen posted: “Ha! Seriously? Not sure my career can be decided on one innings on a Mon in London...we get judged on Ashes series’.” - AFP
STRENGHTENING TIES
Palestine sports official visits OOC
MUSCAT: Taha Al Kishry, General Secretary of Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) has received at his office Abdulsalam Ismail Haniyah, member of the Higher Council for Youth and Sports in the State of Palestine. Sheikh Badr bin Ali Al Rawas,
Oman Olympic Committee board member and chairman of Oman Volleyball Association, was also present on the occasion. During the meeting, the officials discussed a number of issues of related to the development of sports in both countries.
The officials also exchanged ideas to further improve the cooperation in the field of sports. In his remarks, Abdulsalam Ismail Haniyah expressed his delight over the support extended by the Sultanate to the sports activities in Palestine.
NEW ROLE
England coaching call for Strauss: ECB boss LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new chairman Colin Graves insisted that the decision on England’s new head coach was one for Andrew Strauss. Former captain Strauss was on Saturday named as English cricket’s new director and his first job will be to find a replacement for Peter Moores, who was sacked in the wake of his appointment. Graves will start his role with the ECB on Thursday and there
has been speculation that he is keen to appoint Yorkshire’s titlewinning coach Jason Gillespie to replace Moores. But Graves said the decision was not his to make. “It is Andrew Strauss who takes that call as he builds his team around him,” Graves told The Times. “We will not rush into any decision overnight. “The decision to sack Peter Moores was not a knee-jerk one
and this will not be either. Andrew will have an idea who he has in mind and wants to talk to.” “It is his recommendation and he will bring that to (chief executive) Tom Harrison and then to me,” he said. Moores’ former assistant Paul Farbrace will take charge of England’s forthcoming series with New Zealand and formerly served as an assistant to Jason Gillespie at Yorkshire. - AFP BADMINTON
HECTIC SCHEDULE
ISC table tennis off to flying start
HUGE FIELD: All the participants pose for a group photo at the opening ceremony. – Supplied photo
MUSCAT: The Junior Table Tennis League organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat got off to a hectic start at the club premises with the participation of 42 players in the 10 to 16 years age group. Sponsored by New Makha Enterprises, all matches in the league will be played on the round-robin basis thereby giving the juniors more opportunities to play with all the players in their group. On the opening day of the league, in the under-10 category,
Ministry of Sports Affairs. Meanwhile, the OCC chief said the opening ceremony of the tournament will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed Al Mardhouf Al Saadi, Minister of Sports Affairs. World chess federation, Fide, chief Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will also grace the occasion. The closing ceremony will be attended by Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation. Speaking about the national team players rating in the international rankings, Al Najar said that OCC began since its launch a year and a half ago to establish and prepare governing regulations, laws and mechanisms of the sport and then worked to look after the talented and shorten the training period for an international classification by participating in three international championships. - ONA
Neil Joseph and Vishal Shibu scored two outright victories in Group A. Neil defeated Aditya Sharma 11-3,11-0, 11-4 and Nithyalakshmi 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 while Vishal struggled to beat Nithyalakshmi 11-5, 11-2, 7-11, 14-12 and in his second outing defeated Aditya Sharma 11-7, 11-8, 14-12. In Group B, Manvi Sarawanan also scored two wins defeating Allen Benni 12-10, 13-11, 11-6 and Raj Nathan 11-0, 11-2, 11-3. S. Kavineeshwar enjoyed
mixed fortunes winning his first match with a hard-fought 11-4, 7-12, 10-12, 11-8, 13-11 but went down in his second match when Rahul Raj defeated him with a 118, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 result. Vihaan Mauskar and Shayaan Tanveer shared the honours in Group D. Vihaan started with a fine 11-1, 11-7, 11-4 victory over Mathew Saroj. But his celebrations were short lived when Shayaan Tanveer defeated him by a 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7 margin.
Malaysia call on Lee KUALA LUMPUR: Double Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei will take part at the world championships later this year after Badminton Association of Malaysia controversially selected him on Monday at the expense of better-ranked shuttler Chong Wei Feng. Lee’s world ranking has fallen to 46th after an eight-month ban for doping at last year’s championships, leaving him as the third-ranked Malaysian behind Chong (31st) and Zulfadli Zulkiffli (41), who were due the country’s two slots at the tournament. Lee, 32, failed in a bid to get a wildcard for the Aug. 10-16 event in Jakarta but BAM officials selected him anyway after an impressive return to action on Sunday in victory over South Korea at the Sudirman Cup in China. “We strongly believe that he has a better chance to do well at the world championships,” BAM president Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff told reporters after an emergency meeting. - Reuters