Sports

AARHUS, Denmark — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed regret that the world’s best ice hockey players will miss next year’s Winter Games after the National Hockey League (NHL) opted against participation in Pyeongchang.

The NHL reached a decision on Monday not to release its players for the games, saying talks to find a solution to the problem of halting its league mid-season to accommodate the Olympics in the past had not been successful.

The decision triggered a wave of critical reaction from the IOC, players and even Canada’s sports minister.

“I feel sorry for the athletes because for them it must be a great disappointment. Obviously, they [NHL] wanted more money or whatever; we do not know what they really wanted,” IOC President Thomas Bach told reporters in Aarhus on Tuesday.

“The IOC policy cannot be there to give more money, finances, to a commercially orientated owner of a club in a national league,” Bach added, admitting that he had anticipated the NHL’s decision.

The Pyeongchang Games will take place in South Korea from February 9-25 next year. The NHL, unhappy over the prospect of shutting down its season for almost three weeks, sought major concessions from the IOC, comparable to that of an Olympic top sponsor.

The IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation had agreed to ensure payment of transportation and insurance for the players after having initially refused, in an effort to foster an agreement.

Players upset

The NHL decision will impact almost every major hockey-playing nation since the Swedish, Finnish, Russian, US and Canadian teams are almost entirely comprised of NHL representatives.

“Like all Canadians, I am super disappointed that NHL players won’t be easily able to participate in the Olympic Games. It’s Canada’s sport, and we want our best athletes to be playing in the Olympic Games,” said Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough.

“Athletes, I understand, will still have the option to play, but they have to work that out with their teams... and I don’t really know the ramifications of not being able to acquire insurance for these athletes for their jobs,” she said.

Several players have said they would go irrespective of the NHL’s decision.

With both the 2018 and the 2022 Winter Games in Asia and the NHL making efforts to tap into that region’s lucrative market, the logic behind the decision was lost on Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who plays for the New York Rangers.

“A huge opportunity to market the game at the biggest stage is wasted,” he said on Twitter.

While it remains unclear whether many NHL players could indeed compete in the Olympics, some club owners, including Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, have said they would support players who want to represent their country.

Former Stanley Cup winner and current South Korea ice hockey programme director, Jim Paek, told Reuters that hockey fans would still watch the competition.

“The Olympic spirit, I believe, is that your best athletes have an opportunity to represent their country,” he said.

“That being said, there are great hockey players all over the world. I truly believe the real hockey fan will still be excited about the Olympics.”

Bach said all players, including those in the NHL, were welcome in South Korea. “For us, the players are always welcome. If any NHL player wants to join his Olympic team then he is most welcome.”

AMMAN — The women’s national football team plays the UAE on Wednesday in its second Group A qualifier for the 2018 AFC Women’s Football Championship.

Playing its qualifiers in Tajikistan, Jordan beat Bahrain 6-0 in its opening match to lead the group. In other matches Tajikistan beat Iraq 1-0 and the Philippines beat the UAE 4-0. 

Twenty-one teams divided into four groups are playing for four slots to the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship which will be held in Amman grouping the continents top eight teams. The top team from each group will move to the championship which includes Japan, Australia, China and hosts Jordan, which have automatically qualified. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

As host country, the national team has already technically secured a slot in the competition, but seeks to benefit from competition in the qualifiers championship.

AMMAN — Ahli beat Oman’s Suweiq 2-1 at home while Wihdat drew 1-1 with Saham in Oman on Tuesday in Stage 4 of the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Ahli remained in 3rd place in their group with five points and is out of the tournamnet, while Wihdat remained in 1st place with 8 points. Wihdat next take on Lebanon’s Nijmeh  on April 17.

AMMAN — Ahli, host Oman’s Suweiq, while Wihdat play Saham in Oman on Tuesday in Stage 4 of the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Wihdat now lead Group C as they beat Oman’s Saham 2-1, scored a 1-0 win over Lebanon’s Nijmeh and held Bahrain’s Muharraq 1-1.

Representing Jordan in the AFC Cup for the first time, Jordan Cup titleholders Ahli are now third in Group A after they held Oman’s Suweiq 0-0 and Iraq’s Zawra 1-1, and lost their opening match 1-0 to Syria’s Jeish. 

Ahli need a win to advance up the standings with Group A led by Jeish, who beat Suweiq and Ahli 1-0 but went down 3-1 to Zawraa. 

This year, prize money has been set at $1 million for the winner and $500,000 for the runner-up. Clubs from 5 Asian Zones are competing in eight groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the Round of 16. 

This season, Wihdat reached the Jordan Cup semis and now lead the Jordan Professional Football League. They have been league champs for the past three seasons, and won the title for the 15th time last year since moving up to the league in 1975.

Ahli started the season beating league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup — the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar. However, recently Ahli have been struggling in the league and were eliminated from the Jordan Cup. 

The AFC Cup was previously won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007. 

It is Wihdat’s 10th time in the competition after their ambitions of competing among top tier teams were dashed early when they were eliminated from the preliminary round of 2017 AFC Asian Champions League. 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.

The Los Angeles Clippers started strong and experienced some lulls again before holding off a late charge by the Los Angeles Lakers as Doc Rivers won his 800th game as a coach when the Clippers defeated the Lakers.

Blake Griffin scored 36 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Clippers (47-31), who pulled within a game of the idle Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Griffin topped 10,000 points for his career in the first quarter. Griffin, who now has 10,034 points, is the first player to achieve the feat in a Clippers’ uniform and the second in the franchise.

Randy Smith scored 10,467 as a member of the Buffalo Braves.

Chris Paul contributed 29 points and 12 assists and J.J. Redick added 19 points for the Clippers.

DeAndre Jordan chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Bulls 106, Hawks 104

Jimmy Butler capped his 33-point performance by making two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining as Chicago beat Atlanta.

Butler scored Chicago’s final nine points of the contest.

With the win, Chicago moved into the seventh play-off spot in the Eastern Conference and into a virtual three-way tie with the idle Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.

“Nobody picked us to be in the play-offs, nobody picked us to win,” Butler said. “I’m just out there playing basketball. I want to win — I think everybody knows that.”

Rajon Rondo had 25 points, Denzel Valentine added 13 and Paul Zipser had 10 for the Bulls.

Chicago drew even with the idle Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat for the final Eastern Conference play-off spot.

Dennis Schroder scored 29 points for the Hawks, who nearly pulled out the victory when Tim Hardaway Jr. — who scored 20 points — narrowly missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Dwight Howard and Ersan Ilyasova each scored 13 points for Atlanta.

Nets 121, Magic 111

Trevor Booker scored a season-high 23 points and the Brooklyn Nets surged ahead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter for a victory over the Orlando Magic.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 30 points while Sean Kilpatrick added 15 for Brooklyn. 

Elfrid Payton recorded his fifth triple-double by totaling 20 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.

Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 27 points and Aaron Gordon added 22, but Orlando missed seven of its first eight shots in the fourth quarter when the Nets pulled away.

Kings 123, Timberwolves 117

Rookie Buddy Hield scored a career-high 22 points while Ty Lawson added 21 points off the bench to lead Sacramento to a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The big night by Hield helped the Kings put an ugly road loss behind them as they picked up a road victory just one night later.

“That’s what you want as a rookie. You want to play and show everybody what you’re capable of doing,” Hield said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity and keep working at it.”

Five Kings players scored in double figures.

Andrew Wiggins had 32 points for Minnesota, while Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Trail Blazers 130, Suns 117

The Portland Trail Blazers moved closer to clinching an NBA play-off spot as Damian Lillard scored 31 points and CJ McCollum 29 paced Portland in a 130-117 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

The Blazers remained solidly in the eighth and final Western Conference play-off spot.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 31 points. TJ Warren had 25 points and Marquese Chriss added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

AMMAN — The women’s national football team plays Bahrain on Monday in its first Group A qualifier for the 2018 AFC Women’s Football Championship.

Jordan will also face the UAE, Iraq, Tajikistan, and the Philippines as 21 teams divided into four groups start their quest for four slots to the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship, which will be held in Amman grouping the continents top eight teams. 

The national team that is playing its qualifiers in Tajikistan has already technically secured a slot in the competition, as host country seeks to benefit from competition as officials have voiced concern over the inadequacy of friendly matches ahead of the qualifiers apart from hosting Algeria in two matches winning 2-1 and losing 3-2. 

The top team from each group will move to the championship which includes Japan, Australia, China and host Jordan, which have automatically qualified. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

The competition held every four years, has been won by China a total of eight of 15 times. Japan is a reigning champ. 

Following 18 inactive months, Jordan recently lost its FIFA Ranking, after it was 52nd and 11th in Asia. The last time the senior team competed regionally was in 2015, when it exited the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record.

After hosting the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2016, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East, now Jordan will be the first country in the west Asia zone to host an AFC women’s championship.

Jordan’s women’s football teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2007, the Kingdom qualified to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship as the only Arab team, but in 2014 and 2016 the team was eliminated from the qualifiers. The U-16 team qualified to the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in 2013, but failed to qualify to the 2015 and 2017 Championships. The U-17 team was eliminated from the first round of the 2016 World Cup after losing to Spain, Mexico and New Zealand.

Roger Federer needed more than three hours to outlast Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) in a pulsating Miami Open semifinal on Friday to set up another mouthwatering final clash with Rafa Nadal.

The Swiss, who has won two of his last three tournaments including the Australian Open, had to dig deep to get through a second straight test after fending off a match point in his quarter-final victory over Tomas Berdych.

The 35-year-old’s victory sets up a re-match of January’s Melbourne Park title-decider against Spaniard Nadal, who earlier rolled over unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-5.

Kyrgios, who has twice beaten Novak Djokovic over the last month, left his racket a twisted heap on the court after coming up short in a battle against the former world number one and a partisan crowd. 

In their only previous match in Madrid in 2015, the Australian came out on top in a similar three-set thriller that went to three tiebreaks with the last decided 14-12.

“It’s great winning this way, especially of course I remember the loss against him few years ago,” Federer told reporters.

“I know I can’t always show my fighting skills because everything else sort of takes over.”

The temperamental Kyrgios came apart in the late stages of the last tiebreak after a fan yelled out when he was leading 5-4 and he miscued a forehand.

The 21-year-old turned to the fan and unleashed a volley of obscenities before serving up a double fault that gave Federer the window he needed to clinch the battle.

“Obviously, I’m an emotional guy. I had some ups and up and downs, bit of a roller coaster,” Kyrgios said.

“Ultimately, I think I put in a good performance. I thought the crowd would’ve enjoyed watching it, people at home would’ve enjoyed watching it. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if they found something bad to say about me.”

Nadal, who lost all four of his previous Miami Open finals, will be out to snap a run of three straight defeats against Federer, including in the Melbourne final and at Indian Wells. 

“Winning here would be something great, and an important title I haven’t won,” Nadal told reporters. “I served well [today]. That gives you calm when you have opportunities on the return.”

The fifth-seeded Spaniard did not face a break point against Fognini and put his opponent’s serve under pressure throughout the 90-minute match.

The 30-year-old raced through the first set in 26 minutes, losing only four points on serve while Fognini made 14 unforced errors.

“I was missing a lot of balls,” Fognini said. “I give him a present of the first set. I was playing really bad.”

The Italian came to life in the second set, especially in a stretch where he fended off five break points during his first two service games.

At 5-5, however, just when it looked as if Fognini might force a decisive third set, he double faulted and Nadal grabbed the break before sealing the match four points later.

Russell Westbrook recorded the highest scoring triple-double in NBA history Wednesday night, totalling 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a come-from-behind, 114-106 overtime road victory over the Orlando Magic.

For Westbrook, it was just another day at work as he compiled his fourth consecutive triple-double and his 38th of the season, leaving him three shy of the NBA record held by NBA legend Oscar Robertson. The 57 points were one short of his career high.

“You just got to want it more than other people,” Westbrook said. “I don’t think about getting tired. I just keep going and going. I don’t think about it. I just think about making the next play, making winning basketball plays. I’m blessed.”

The Thunder (43-31) have won eight of the last 10 games. Westbrook scored 16 points in the fourth quarter Monday when Oklahoma City erased a 13-point deficit in the final 3:31 to win in Dallas. He scored 19 points in the final six minutes of regulation to force overtime on Wednesday when the Thunder erased another 13-point fourth quarter deficit.

“Russell was spectacular coming down the stretch and the way he closed the game,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Overall, it’s just incredible what he’s doing now. He played an exceptional second half again. He just has an incredible competitive spirit.”

“That [Westbrook’s performance] was one of the best,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “It’s tough to rank those over the years, but it’s right up there with the best. Give him credit.”

Westbrook hit 21 of 40 shots and six of 15 3-pointers. He made nine of 11 free throws.

He led a late rally by scoring 19 points in the final six minutes of regulation, hitting a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Westbrook scored seven points in overtime.

Until Westbrook’s 3-pointer, the Magic led the entire second half. 

The Magic led by as many as 21 points in third quarter.

“I was just looking at the scoreboard, taking it one possession at a time,” Westbrook said. “I don’t take this game for granted. I just try to come out each and every night and compete at a high level.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 squad concluded a successful training camp and eight nation tournament in Dubai, as part of preparations for qualifiers for the 3rd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in 2018.

Jordan finished third after it beat Singapore 2-0, held China 0-0, lost 1-0 to the UAE before beating Malaysia 4-0. 

Head coach Iain Brunskill expressed his satisfaction with the overall performance. “To finish with a deserved 4-0 victory in the last game and get the third place in the tournament was a reward for the hard work that we have put together, as players and staff,” he was quoted as saying on the Jordan Football Association website.

Goalkeeper Obaida Zoubi, only conceded one goal in four games and was named the goalkeeper of the tournament, while Khaled Dardour was named the best goalscorer with three goals from four matches.

The AFC U-23 qualifiers, set to kick off from July 19-23, will see Jordan play in Group E along with Tajikistan, Bangladesh and host Palestine. The qualifiers will include 40 teams playing in 10 groups with the top team from each group, in addition to the top five second-placed teams will move to the championships finals. 

In 2016, Jordan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar and 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 later won by Brazil.

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

In 2015, Jordan’s U23 squad was eliminated from the 1st West Asian U-23 Championship and in 2014 the line-up represented Jordan at the Asian Games where it made to the quarter-finals.

The Kingdom’s 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 vhampionship. 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 preparing for their Asian qualifiers. In 2015, the U-16 squad failed to advance to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.

AMMAN — Teams return to local football action on Friday when the 17th week of the Jordan Football Professional League resumes after a two-week break for national team’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifiers.

During the break Jordan beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a friendly before opening Asian Cup qualifiers with a 7-0 home win over lowly Cambodia.

Before heading to break Wihdat led the standings after scoring an important 3-0 win over 4th placed Manshieh. Jazira dropped to second after they were held 1-1 with Hussein, while Faisali remained third after a 0-0 draw with That Ras.

Wihdat will next play Ahli who lost 3-0 to 7th placed Shabab Urdun and dropped to 8th, while Baqa’a, who have managed to move out of the relegation zone for now, take on Jazira.

Baqa’a moved from last to 10th after their second consecutive win beating 9th placed Sahab 3-1, while That Ras remained 11th joining Sarih who dropped to last in the relegation zone. Ramtha are fifth after beating Sarih 2-1 and next play 6th placed Hussein.

Wihdat also lead their AFC Asian Cup Group C after they beat Oman’s Saham 2-1. They earlier scored a 1-0 win over Lebanon’s Nijmeh and held Bahrain’s Muharraq 1-1.

Representing Jordan in the Asian Cup for the first time, Ahli are now third in Group A after they held Oman’s Suweiq 0-0. They earlier held Iraq’s Zawra 1-1 and lost their opening match 1-0 to Syria’s Jeish. 

Wihdat, who exited the Asian Champions League, are looking to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall league title, while Faisali have not won the league in the past four years and eyeing their 33rd record title.

Joining the top three this season is Manshieh who joined the league alongside Sahab. Former Jordan Cup champs That Ras are now in the relegation zone, while Baqa’a, a usual top five team is also struggling in the lower half of standings. Jazira’s Syrian pro Mardig Mardigian has maintained his scoring proficiency and leads the top scorers list with 12 goals followed by Wihdat’s Munther Abu Amara with eight.