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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015
S P ORTS
France bags record fifth handball title
DOHA: France became the first team in
handball history to win five world championships when they beat surprise finalists Qatar 25-22 yesterday.
The win means France’s are now
world, European and Olympic champions, emphasising their current dominance of the sport. It was the country’s
first world title since 2011.
The victory should have been far
more comfortable than it was, but a
dogged Qatar side ensured that France
were pushed all the way to the finish
line, ensuring a nervy finish.
The game ultimately proved one
match too many for the hosts, who, for
the first time in the tournament, found
themselves outclassed for large parts of
the game, particularly in the first 30 minutes. However, there was honor in defeat
for the Qataris as lesser teams would
have been swept away by France’s performance.
Instead, a resolute Qatar side even at
one stage in the final 30 minutes threatened to overturn a six-goal deficit. But
the French were-just-able to hang on,
leaving Qatar with the consolation that
their per formance in the final and
throughout the tournament has confirmed the tiny Gulf state’s status as one
of the sport’s new powers.
Ironically, given the fuss about Qatar’s
foreign legion playing for the national
side, it was France’s Serbian-born Nikola
Karabatic who dominated the game,
especially in the first half.
His power allowed France to exert
control early on and give them a platform for victory. Karabatic scored three
times in the first 17 minutes as the pretournament favourites established a
four-goal lead. He then set up two more,
forced a fine save from Danijel Saric and
drew a tackle which saw Qatar defender
Hassan Mabrouk sin-binned for the second time in the opening exchanges.
Karabatic was at the heart of everything. In the 23rd minute, he gave the
French a six-goal lead as Qatar found it
impossible to stop him controlling the
match. Even his expulsion for two minutes for a foul on had little impact
because as soon as he returned to the
field of play, he scored his fifth.
But resistance came in the form of
Rafael Capote who scored four times
from four shots in the first half to somehow leave Qatar trailing by just three
goals, 14-11, at the break, much to the
consternation of French coach Claude
Onesta. The second-half proved much
tighter. Powered by Capote, tournament
top scorer Zarko Markovic and Borja
Vidal, Qatar pulled to within one goal on
several occasions and but for France’s
goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer would have
been level. The home side scented a sur-
prise victory but goals from France’s
Valentin Porte kept Qatar just about out
of reach. Still Qatar would not give up
and Capote scored a sixth with just four
minutes left to close the gap to two, 2422. A minute later Qatar had the chance
through Abdulla Al-Karbi to pull level
but he struck the woodwork. It was to be
the host nation’s last chance.
France’s Daniel Narcisse capped off a
fine tournament with a goal seconds later to restore their three-goal advantage.
It was a lead they would not relinquish,
although there was time for more heroics from Omeyer. Earlier Poland beat 2928 Spain in overtime to claim third
place.—AFP
McIlroy wins Dubai title
OCALA: Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, acknowledges the gallery after her putt on the 9th
hole during the final round for the LPGA Coates Golf Championship. —AP
Teen Ko youngest
world number one
OCALA: Seventeen-year-old Lydia Ko of
New Zealand became the youngest golfer
to hold top spot in the world rankings by
tying for second place at the LPGA seasonopening Coates Golf Championship in
Ocala, Florida, on Saturday.
American Tiger Woods was previously
the youngest golfer to become world number one when he did it in 1997 at 21, while
Shin Ji-yai held the women’s record after
reaching top spot in 2010 aged 22.
The Korean-born Ko, led by as many as
four strokes in the final round but slipped
behind after a double-bogey six at the 17th
hole as she finished one shot behind winner and good friend Choi Na-yeon of South
Korea, who fired a 68.
Still, it good enough to lift her ahead of
Inbee Park of South Korea in the rankings.
“It’s amazing,” said Ko, who also ended
the 2014 season by winning the CME
Titleholders event in November and a $1
million prize for claiming the season-long
points race.
Ko, who as a 15-year-old amateur in
2012 became the youngest ever winner on
the tour, shot a one-under-par 71 for 15under 273 to share second with American
Jessica Korda and Jang Ha-na of South
Korea at the Golden Ocala Golf and
Equestrian Club. The precocious Ko began
the final round with a one-stroke lead and
was disappointed not to win the tournament, saying she hadn’t thought about her
ranking. “I didn’t really know what I needed
to do to get in that position. All I was
focused on was trying to play my best out
here today,” she said. “So it’s a huge honor
to be in that ranking. “I’m just going to just
focus on my golf, not think about the rankings. The rankings always comes after the
results.” —Reuters
DUBAI: World number one Rory McIlroy
coasted home to capture a second Dubai
Desert Classic title yesterday, winning by
three shots and finishing on a tournament
record equalling 22-under-par.
The four-time major winner shot a final
round 70 to claim his 10th European Tour
success. Sweden’s Alex Noren shot a final
round 65 to finish second on 19-under-par
and three clear of double defending champion Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, who
posted a 69 for a 16-under-par total.
McIlroy’s victory ended a run of three
straight second place finishes, stretching
back to last year. “It’s been a fantastic week
for everyone who played here this week and
it’s just nice to get my name on that trophy
again,” said McIlroy.
“So I am very delighted because I was
feeling like I was playing for second every
time I was teeing it up, so it was time for a
change and the only way I wanted to go was
one better and thankfully I was able to do
that today.”
McIlroy went into the last round of his
second event of the year leading by four
shots at 20-under-par, but it was a slow start
for the 25-year-old, who was level par after
nine holes with a third hole birdie and a
bogey at seven.
McIlroy then went five clear of his rivals
with a birdie at 10 and another on 13. He
then ended with five straight pars and
missed a 20-foot birdie putt at the last that
would have seen him card a 23-under-par
tournament record.
Despite the apparent ease of his victory,
McIlroy said he still gets nervous and was
also conscious of recent European Tour collapses from Charl Schwartzel at the South
African Open and US Open winner Martin
Kaymer in Abu Dhabi.
“I do still get nervous and felt I was a little
tentative the first few holes out there
because I guess we have seen what can
happen to big leads over the past few weeks
with Martin and Charl, so I was conscious of
that,” he said. “So I was trying hard not to
make any mistakes and happy I was able to
play a solid round. “But the thing I do is that
I set myself a target that tries to take everyone else out of it... While I didn’t quite get to
the number I set myself I was still able to do
enough.”—Reuters
DUBAI: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (left) holds the winner’s trophy with Sheikh Mansoor bin
Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum after winning the final round of the 2015 Omega Dubai Desert
Classic. —AFP
Laird leads Phoenix Open
PHOENIX: Scotland’s Martin Laird shot a
three-under-par 68 to hold off some charging youngsters on Saturday and take a
three-stroke lead into the final round of the
Phoenix Open.
Laird sank a pair of 10-foot, par-saving
putts at the 16th and 18th holes to finish
his 54 holes in 13-under-par 200 at TPC
Scottsdale.
Those shots helped keep him ahead of
22-year-old Japanese Hideki Matsuyama,
who birdied the last four holes in a bogeyfree 63, and 24-year-old American Brooks
Koepka, who fired six birdies for 30 on the
back nine in his 64. Former Masters champion Zach Johnson (67) joined them in a tie
for second. “My short’s game’s been really
good this year so far, and the putter especially today,” Laird told reporters. “This
course yields loads of birdies and low
scores, like the guys behind me showed
today, so if I go out tomorrow and keep firing and keep putting the way I did, hope-
fully I can get it done.” Three players were
tied at nine-under, including amateur Jon
Rahm of Spain and Arizona State
University. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Rahm shot a 66 for a 204 total that he
shared with Americans Ryan Palmer (68)
and Justin Thomas (69).
Another stroke back was a large group
that included Italy’s Francesco Molinari,
who had the stadium crowd of over 15,000
surrounding the par-three 16th in a frenzy
with a hole-in-one.
Molinari’s ace helped him to a sevenunder 64 and triggered a wild celebration
in which fans threw their beer cans to virtually cover the slopes leading up to the
green.
“We don’t see a reaction in golf like that
too often,” he said. The ace, the first at the
Phoenix Open since Tiger Woods drained
one in 1997, helped Molinari shoot 64 for
the day, finishing the round eight-under
and five shots back of Laird.—Reuters
SPAIN: Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari drives during the 2015 Formula One Testing at the Circuito de Jerez yesterday. —AP
Red Bull, Williams, Mercedes launch F1 cars
SCOTTSDALE: Martin Laird hits out of the sand trap on the 16th hole during the third
round of the Phoenix Open golf tournament. —AP
JEREZ: Red Bull and Williams have launched the
Formula One cars they hope will be able to better compete with Mercedes when the new season starts in six weeks’ time.
Red Bull’s RB11 and the Williams FW37 were
unveiled yesterday prior to the first day of preseason testing at the Jerez circuit in southern
Spain.
Mercedes, which won the constructors’ championship by nearly 300 points, also launched its
W06 yesterday, with championship runner-up
Nico Rosberg later taking the wheel for the first
day of testing. F1 champion Lewis Hamilton
drives today.
“Long before the end of last season, development work on our 2015 car became the main
priority,” Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes-Benz
Motorsport, said. “It would be so dangerous to
rest on our laurels after 2014.”
Red Bull finished second overall last year and
was the only team to win a race other than
Mercedes, with Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo
winning three as Sebastian Vettel struggled.
Williams finished third in the constructors’
championship. The opening race is on March 15
in Melbourne and given how easily Mercedes
dominated last year, tinkering with the new car
was kept to a minimum, with the work centering
on the chassis and power unit. A maximum of
four power units are allowed this year, one less
than 2014.
“Expectations are now high and a lot of
assumptions are being made about our potential this season,” Mercedes technical director
Paddy Lowe said. “You have to take risks to
progress, but those risks must be carefully managed.” While Red Bull and Ferrari changed their
driver lineups - with Vettel joining Ferrari and
two-time champion Fernando Alonso leaving
Ferrari to join McLaren - Hamilton and Rosberg
are driving together for the third straight season.
The Williams pairing of Felipe Massa and
Valtteri Bottas showed encouraging speed last
year - with Bottas securing six podium finishes.
The new Williams car features some small
changes to the front nose and bulkhead.
“The momentum we carry from last year has
been very encouraging,” said Massa, the champi-
onship runner-up in 2008. “I am excited to be
continuing to work with Valtteri, a driver with so
much talent who has so much to offer both the
team and me.”
After years of stability with Vettel alongside
former driver Mark Webber, Red Bull’s new pairing of Ricciardo and 20-year-old Daniil Kvyat is
exciting and untested.
“We’ve already seen what Daniel is capable of
and we firmly believe that (Kvyat) has all the
same attributes,” team principal Christian Horner
said. “They’re young, hungry, they’re incredibly
quick and I think they are going to push each
other very hard.”
Needing to make vast improvements on last
year, Red Bull made changes to the lower nose
box, the front of the chassis and the Renault
power unit.
“The relationship with Renault is a lot closer
now,” Horner said. “Red Bull is the only partner
for Renault now, through ourselves and Toro
Rosso, and that focus from Renault - together
with a close involvement with our design team is yielding good results.” —AP