Sports

AMMAN — Jordan plays Hong Kong on Wednesday in their final friendly before resuming Asian Cup Group C qualifiers when it plays its second qualifier against Vietnam on June 13 in Saigon.

Jordan leads Group C after they scored 7-0 win over lowly Cambodia while Vietnam held Afghanistan 1-1 in opening matches of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The national team, which was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, now aims to advance to the Asian finals. “We will aim to win both matches. Nothing less,” coach Abdullah Misfer told the press at the team’s practice.

Misfer underlined the importance of being mentally and technically focused. He noted that “circumstances surrounding the team’s line-up regrouping late or training circumstances in Ramadan had to be overcome.” 

The match against Hong Kong is important for Misfer to put finishing touches on the line-up. In their latest match, Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq in a friendly in Basra. The team earlier beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a friendly in Amman.

Asian teams in the qualifiers are playing in six groups with group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advancing to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and host the UAE.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Championship three times: the pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking of 37th in August 2004. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.

Jordan is now 109th in the latest FIFA rankings. The squad is still out of the Asian top 10 trailing Iran (30), South Korea (43), Japan (45), Australia (48), Saudi Arabia (53), Uzbekistan (62), UAE (75), Syria (77), China (82), Qatar (88) and India (100). 

The Kingdom has 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. 

PARIS — Simona Halep established her credentials to become the newest French Open champion with a blistering 6-1, 6-1 victory over Carla Suarez-Navarro to reach the quarter-finals on Monday.

With no former champions left in the field, pregnant Serena Williams watching from the sidelines and Maria Sharapova not invited to compete, third seed Halep has a golden opportunity to break into the Grand Slam winners’ circle.

Monday’s evidence suggested the Romanian may be ready for it.

“I was expecting a tough game against a very good claycourt player,” Halep said. “But I managed to push her back.

“I played a good game.”

There could be no arguments from any observers or from Suarez Navarro who appeared stunned at the outcome.

Before this clash there had been little to suggest it would be so one-sided. Halep led their head-to-head record, but only by 6-5.

Ss soon as the match began, however, its complexion became quickly apparent. Halep settled faster and raced into a 5-0 lead before Suarez Navarro could register on the scoreboard.

The Spaniard finally held her serve for 5-1 when Halep made a rare forehand error to end a 15-stroke rally, but the Romanian put that blip behind her to seal the set with a backhand pass a game later.

There are few players who strike the ball more crisply that Suarez Navarro, especially on the backhand side where she usually unfurls a big top-spin shot.

But whether it was the swirling wind which snapped the flags lining the roof of the showcourt, or Halep’s varied pace, the Spaniard repeatedly struggled to find her range.

The one high point for Suarez Navarro was when she broke back for 1-1 in the second set, but it was all downhill from there.

Her timing had gone, then her footwork. At one point she was forced to lunge forward to strike a backhand and accordingly popped it into the net, her foot positioning all wrong.

Halep was toying with her now, switching things up, throwing in drop-shots followed by lobs. Suarez Navarro scampered around court to no effect, while many in the crowd shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

On the stroke of the hour Suarez Navarro was put out of her misery, having made 41 errors. 

As the two kissed at the net, Halep kindly patted her opponent on the back, and the Spaniard could hardly wait to get out of there.

The 21st seed gathered her racket bag and, after a quick wave to the crowd, left the arena while Halep took the plaudits and plotted her course. 

Next she will meet either Croatian qualifier Petra Martic or fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

World No. 1 Andy Murray made short work of unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter-finals with a clean-as-you-like 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Murray largely dispensed with the chuntering and lapses that accompanied his first two matches as he maintained the momentum established in beating Juan Martin del Potro with an assured display on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The 30-year-old Briton made only one unforced error in pocketing the opening set and although he did drop serve late in the second he broke back immediately to take complete control of his first meeting with the talented Russian.

The powerful 21-year-old Khachanov, playing in his third Grand Slam event, showed flashes of brilliance in the sunshine but not for long enough spells to worry Murray who is through to the quarter-finals for the seventh time.

Murray broke in the ninth game of the third set, having just dropped his own with a rare baseline error, and wrapped up his 650th Tour-level win when Khachanov sprayed a forehand wide.

He will face either eighth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan or Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the last eight.

PARIS — Using an armoury of delicate drop shots, Alize Cornet rode a tide of French support into the last-16 of Roland Garros on Saturday with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Frenchwoman flummoxed the Polish ninth seed with a display that delighted the home crowd, and signalled a palpable belief in her ability to go much further here.

“There are no words,” Cornet told the crowd. “It is fantastic to be able to play so well on centre court. There was no better scenario.

“Clay is not my favourite surface but I feel so well on this centre court. I did not let her dictate the points, stayed close to my baseline and tried to mix it up with drop shots. I saw it was working so I continued.”

These two players are similar in many aspects. Radwanska was junior champion here in 2006, Cornet a year later and both rely on brains rather than brawn to overcome opponents.

From the start, Cornet’s forehand drop shot, so effective in beating 20th seed Barbora Strycova in the last round, was her prime weapon, and she gained the upper hand in early exchanges, as French fans trickled into the Philippe Chatrier showcourt earlier than they otherwise might.

Cornet, who had reached the last-16 here only once before in 12 earlier attempts, sensed a big opportunity, and tension crackled on the court as she set about picking apart the game of her higher-ranked opponent.

Having exchanged breaks early on, Cornet again eased ahead as Radwanska attempted to counter the Frenchwoman’s guile with power. Power is not her forte, though, and accordingly errors began to creep in.

Against a backdrop of roars from the crowd, a fist-pumping Cornet sealed the opening set at the first time of asking when Radwanska fired a forehand wide.

The Pole slumped into her seat as Cornet readjusted her ponytail and headband, a look of determination on her face. 

Cornet resumed where she had left off, feathering delightful drop shots over the net to leave Radwanska stranded, but too frequently she let her off the hook with a sloppy double fault.

Radwanska had come from a set down to win her last match, and is no quitter. She chased down a series of smashes from Cornet until the Frenchwoman fired one wide and long then used a drop shot of her own to break at the start of the second set.

But where in the past Cornet has seemed brittle, here the 27-year-old showed real resilience, breaking back and then keeping the pressure up. 

Coming into this match, World No. 43 Cornet had won just one of the pair’s eight matches, but she never looked like being denied.

AMMAN — Jordan settled at 109th in the latest FIFA rankings issued on Thursday as the team prepares to resume its Asian Cup qualifying journey following the end of the local football agenda.

The squad is still out of the Asian top 10 trailing Iran (30), South Korea (43), Japan (45), Australia (48), Saudi Arabia (53), Uzbekistan (62), the UAE (75), Syria (77), China (82), Qatar (88), and India (100). Jordan’s best FIFA Ranking was 37th in 2004, while its lowest ranking was 152nd in 1996.

Brazil, who booked a slot to the 2018 World Cup, leads World rankings at No. 1 followed by Argentina, Germany, Chile, Columbia, France, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. 

African semifinalist Egypt are the top-ranked Arab team at 20th, followed by Tunisia 41st, Algeria 53rd and Morocco 56th.

Over the weekend, Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq in a historic match in Basra, attended by HRH Prince Ali, president of the Jordan Football Association, after a decades long ban on international matches in Iraq.

The friendly came amid a training camp before resuming Asian Cup Group C qualifiers, as Jordan leads Group C after it scored 7-0 win over lowly Cambodia while Vietnam held Afghanistan 1-1 in the opening matches of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. 

Jordan’s squad, which was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, now aims to advance to the Asian finals. The team last beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a friendly and will repeat the encounter on June 6 before playing their second Asian Cup Group C qualifier on June 13 against Vietnam in Saigon. 

Asian teams in the qualifiers are playing in six groups with group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advancing to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals, as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and host the UAE.

LONDON — Arsene Wenger ended months of speculation about his future on Wednesday by signing a new two-year deal with Arsenal that will keep the Frenchman at the Emirates Stadium until 2019.

“I love this club and I am looking forward to the future with optimism and excitement,” the 67-year-old said in a statement issued by the Premier League club to confirm the extension.

Wenger’s contract had been due to expire at the end of the 2016/17 season and he had faced regular questions about his intentions, with supporters divided on whether he should stay or stand down.

“We are looking at what we do well and how we can be stronger everywhere. This is a strong group of players, and with some additions we can be even more successful,” said the Frenchman.

“We’re committed to mounting a sustained league challenge and that will be our focus this summer and next season.”

Arsenal came fifth in the Premier League this season, the first time they have finished outside the top four and failed to qualify for Champions League play since Wenger took over at the club in 1996.

However, Wenger was given a boost by Saturday’s 2-1 win over champions Chelsea in the FA Cup final and was given the backing of the club’s board at a meeting on Tuesday.

“Our ambition is to win the Premier League and other major trophies in Europe. It’s what the fans, players, staff, manager and board expect and we won’t rest until that is achieved,” said majority owner Stan Kroenke.

“Arsene is the best person to help us make that happen. He has a fantastic track record and has our full backing.”

Wenger has been Arsenal manager for 21 years, winning three Premier League titles and a record seven FA Cup trophies.

But it is 13 years since his last league triumph, the 2003/04 season when Arsenal went without a single loss, and some fans have called this season for him to be replaced.

Wenger’s first task now will be to decide on the future of two of his key players, Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil and Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, who have both been linked with moves away from the club and have just one year left on their deals.

He will also be expected to sign new recruits to ensure his side are back among the contenders next season.

Arsenal said the Frenchman and Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis had conducted a full review of the club’s on and off field activities “to identify areas for improvement to build a sustained title challenge”.

Gazidis said there was no complacency.

“Our goal is to compete for and win trophies here and in Europe. Everything we do is designed to make that happen, and we will be working hard on and off the pitch this summer to improve and make a strong challenge next season,” he said.

AMMAN — Jordan plays Iraq on Thursday in Basra amid a training camp before resuming Asian Cup Group C qualifiers next week.

Following the end of the local football agenda, focus now shifts to the national team who was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and now aims to advance to the Asian finals. 

Jordan beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a friendly and will repeat the encounter on June 6 before playing its second Asian Cup Group C qualifier on June 13 against Vietnam in Saigon. Jordan leads the group after they scored 7-0 win over lowly Cambodia while Vietnam held Afghanistan 1-1 in the opening matches of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. 

The Kingdom went up one spot to 109th in the latest FIFA Rankings. The squad is still out of the Asian top 10, trailing Iran (28), South Korea (43), Japan (44), Australia (50), Saudi Arabia (52), Uzbekistan (60), UAE (74), Syria (80), China (81), Qatar (89), and India (100). 

Asian teams in the qualifiers are playing in six groups with group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advancing to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts the UAE.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the championship three times. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011.

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when they lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and 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 the qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

LONDON — Sebastian Vettel has won plenty of races in his career, some more emotional than others, but the German’s one-two victory in Monaco was of special significance for Ferrari fans starved of success in recent years.

The last time the Italian team won in the Mediterranean principality was 16 years ago — in 2001 with Vettel’s compatriot Michael Schumacher leading a one-two.

Schumacher, the eventual seven-times world champion, ended a similar 16-year Ferrari drought in Monaco in 1997 with a victory that followed fan favourite Gilles Villeneuve’s 1981 triumph.

Villeneuve, Schumacher, Vettel. The roll call is spine-tingling but results are what really matter and a quick comparison of Schumacher’s first six races of 2001 and Vettel’s current performance will really get the heart racing at Maranello.

Schumacher — who ended the season with his fourth title — won the opener in Australia that year, as did Vettel this. He then took two more wins and two second places with one retirement.

Vettel is doing better, by comparison, with three wins and three second places, and makes a plausible argument when he says Ferrari could have won every race this year had everything gone to plan.

What happened in Australia, far from being a one-off, has become a sequence of success that has rearranged the Formula One landscape with champions Mercedes already presenting themselves as underdogs.

The contrast between last season, when the oldest and most successful team in Formula One history failed to win a race and a frustrated Vettel was making headlines with radio rants, is marked.

The German is now 25 points clear of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, the British three-times world champion who has won twice but struggled to get performance into his car’s Pirelli tyres while the Ferrari has seemed good everywhere. 

“We are walking on a lovely beach of white sand after having run barefoot over sharp and jagged rocks,” wrote columnist Umberto Zapelloni in Monday’s Gazzetta dello Sport.

“These first six races of the season are worth as much as the arrival of an airplane for someone shipwrecked on a deserted island.”

The front page headline of the national sports daily was “Potere Rosso” (Red Power).

The German’s podium celebrations in Monaco were reminiscent of the glory years of the turn of the century when Schumacher dominated the Italian team and had everyone back at base singing to his tune.

Vettel was the conductor as the Ferrari mechanics and engineers sang the Italian anthem. Kimi Raikkonen, rather like Schumacher’s old team mate Rubens Barrichello, looked a lot less happy.

“We got a lot of hard times last year and this year everything seems to be upside down — but the team is the same, the people are the same,” Vettel told reporters.

“I guess in these small moments you just realise that it’s a special group of people.

“I think you can see when the guys are singing the Italian anthem. I think it’s impossible not to get goosebumps and feel very special standing up there representing them.” 

‘Mercedes now the underdogs’

Once-dominant Mercedes are now the underdogs in the Formula One title race, team boss Toto Wolff said on Sunday.

“They deserved to win, they had the quickest car out there,” Wolff told reporters.

“I like the notion of underdog,” added the Austrian. “Because the underdog is the one that people want to see win. As a matter of fact, I think we have been that since the beginning of the season.

“We have been dropping in and out of the tyre window, never had two drivers or two cars over the whole course of a weekend within that window.”

Mercedes, winners of the last three drivers’ and constructors’ titles and 54 of 64 races before the Monaco weekend, have also won half of this season’s races, but with both of their drivers tasting victory rather than just one.

“That inconsistency has been following us through the season, and on the opposite side Ferrari put the car on track in Barcelona and they were quick from the get-go,” said Wolff.

“So yes, we are the underdog and we need to catch up. This is the new reality at the moment.”

Hamilton has won twice in Monaco, including last year’s race, and Mercedes had won the last four races in the Mediterranean principality.

But the champions were never in contention on Sunday.

“Trust me, I will be pushing, and the guys will be pushing, to fully understand it because we don’t want to be in this position again,” said Briton Hamilton, adding that to be 25 points behind was quite a gap to make up.

“One more race like this and we will be much further behind.

“It is hard just to get to six points and be within firing range. But bit-by-bit we will try and chip away at it.”

AMMAN — May was a month to remember for Jordan’s up and coming golf star Shergo Kurdi, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Playing in a host of tournaments close to his base in southern England, the 13-year-old secured top two finishes in senior events to show he is hitting peak form as we head into the summer season.

This weekend he was runner-up in the men’s 36-hole Worman Sword tournament after rounds of 72 and 76, and showed no signs of fatigue the following day in winning the Sunbury Open with a superb round of 68.

This follows a second placed finish last week at the Wisley Golf Club Championship for men and a fourth place at the Worpelson Championship earlier in the month.

AMMAN —Wihdat host Syria’s Wihdeh on Tuesday in a last ditch effort to remain alive at the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Wihdat went down to Wihdeh 4-1 in the first leg of the West Asia zone semifinals and now have an uphill battle in their match on home ground, as the former Jordanian champs are going through one of their most disappointing seasons in years. 

After winning all four major local competitions in past seasons, and following three successive years at the helm, Wihdat this year settled for third in the Jordan Professional Football League and failed to win even one of the other three major local competition titles.

The team’s coach, Adnan Hamad, resigned after their 2-0 defeat to Faisali in the Jordan Cup semis and Wihdat lost to Wihdeh 4-1 in the first leg.

The winner will face the team advancing from the all-Iraqi encounter of Air Force and Zawra’a who were held 0-0 in the other semifinal with the winners advancing to the West Asia final on September 11 and 29 to decide the West Asia zone’s champ.

The West Asia zone champ will face the winner from the rest of the Asian zones on November 4 to decide the AFC Cup titlist with prize money set at $1 million for the champion and $500,000 for the runner-up. 

Should Wihdat win the zonal championship, they stand a good chance of winning the AFC Cup, a feat that eluded them after it was previously won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007. 

Wihdat reached the AFC Cup West Asia zone semis after they topped grouped C while Ahli, who were representing Jordan in the AFC Cup for the first time, finished third in the Group A.

Locally, the 2016/17 season saw Faisali combine the league and Jordan Cup titles, while Ahli beat Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup and Shabab Urdun won the Jordan Football Association Shield.

It is Wihdat’s 10th time in the AFC Cup. Their ambitions of competing among top tier Asian teams were dashed early when they were eliminated from the preliminary round of 2017 AFC Asian Champions League (ACL). Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. Wihdat were knocked out in 2016 and 2015, while Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.