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Preparation for this year's Australian Open has been unlike anything these professional tennis players have previously experienced. Some have been through a "hard quarantine" and unable to leave their hotel rooms at all for 14 days, while others have been allowed out to practice for limited hours during the day. However, there is one element of the upcoming tournament, set to begin on February 8, that will at least give the players some sense of normalcy.For the first time at a grand slam

DOHA: Mohammed Saeed Haidan shone on Friday in the ninth round of Qatar Equestrian Tour Longines Hathab by winning the Medium and Small Tour at the Al Rayyan Racecourse. In the Medium category, Haidan rode MISS CHILI to win the honour while in the Small category, he rode QUICK STEP.ExxonMobil won the team title in the competition. The annual Qatar Equestrian Tour, which takes place over 12 series of competitions, is organized and hosted jointly by Qatar Equestrian Federation and Al Shaqab. The

DOHA: Reigning Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea) and African champions Al Ahly arrived here for the FIFA Club World Cup.The players and officials underwent COVID-19 testing before departing for their designated hotel. They will remain in a medical bubble throughout the tournament in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A large number of Egyptian fans were at the Hamad International Airport to greet their favourite team. Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane said: “We are delighted to be in Qatar for this

DOHA: Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke and his English navigator Sebastien Marshall finished the opening special stage at the 2021 Qatar International Rally with a 6.6-second advantage over Qatar’s ace driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah at Katara on late Friday evening.  Driving a Skoda Fabia R5, Meeke clocked a time of 4min 14.3sec.The 4.4km stage consisted of two runs and two laps of a purpose-built track.This followed immediately after the event’s pre-event press conference and a ceremonial start where 17 cars taking part in

Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be allowed to watch the Australian Open, organisers said Saturday in a big boost to the season's opening Grand Slam. Aggressive restrictions on incoming travel have helped keep the coronavirus largely at bay in Australia, making it one of the few places in the world where fans can still attend sports events in significant numbers. Victoria state's Sports Minister Martin Pakula said it equated to some 390,000 spectators across the two-week spectacle -- around half

Kagiso Rabada achieved the feat on Day three of the ongoing first Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi. Kagiso Rabada became the 8th South African to scalp 200 Test wicketsRabada took 8,154 balls to claim his 200th wicket in the longest formatRabada is the fourth-youngest bowler ever to reach the milestonePace spearhead Kagiso Rabada on Thursday not only became the eighth South African to scalp 200 Test wickets, but also became the third-fastest Proteas bowler to reach the milestone in

Changes to the F1 schedule confirmed for the 2021 season with races to again start at the top of the hour and Friday's two practice sessions reduced from 90 to 60 minutes apiece; first race in Bahrain on March 28 will start at 4pm in UK Formula 1 races will revert to starting at the top of the hour in the 2021 season, the sport has formally confirmed, while Friday practice track time has been cut by an hour. Grands Prix had started

Thousands of cheering fans packed the stands on Friday to watch some of tennis' biggest stars warm up for the Australian Open -- with hardly a face mask to be seen. In an unusual scene for the coronavirus pandemic, the 4,000 crowd sat cheek by jowl as big hitters including Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka emerged from their 14-day quarantine to play exhibition matches ahead of the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne next month.The scene prompted joy on

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah rattled South Africa to help Pakistan win the first test by seven wickets inside four days on Friday. Nauman, a 34-year-old left-arm spinner making his test debut, returned 5-35 and Shah took 4-79 to dismiss South Africa for 245 in the second innings before lunch on day four. It set up a small target of 88 and despite Anrich Nortje’s (2-24) twin strike in one over, Pakistan reached 90-3 before tea in 22.5

In an unprecedented build-up schedule for an overseas Test series, India will take on India A in a four-day practice match when the two sides travel to England later this year. The game will be played at the County Ground in Northamptonshire in July later this year. The exact dates of the match will be unveiled later. The India cricket team is scheduled to tour England in August and September to play five Test matches, beginning with the opening game at Nottingham on

DUBAI, UAE — Richard Sterne fired a superb 8-under-par 64 to open up a one-stroke lead over Kurt Kitayama after the first day of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, with Ryder Cup stars Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey also in contention. Sterne started on the tenth hole at Emirates Golf Club and notched five birdies before the turn and picked up another four shots on his closing nine, with just one blemish coming on the par-4 sixth hole. “It's always good to get

The 2021 Qatar International Rally roars into life at Katara on Friday evening. The ceremonial start podium will be held at 20.15hrs and teams will then tackle two runs and two laps of a purpose-built super special stage from 21.30hrs. Then, ahead of an impressive field of drivers and co-drivers from 12 nations are two days of high-speed competition across the northern deserts of the State of Qatar that will make the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) such

Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath will be the match referee for England's entire tour, which also comprises five T20Is and three ODIs.The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed the pair of Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma to stand alongside Nitin Menon in the first two Tests of the upcoming series between India and England, thus continuing the trend of home umpires officiating in Tests ever since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report in ESPN, Chaudhary will be the on-field

Gearing up for Australian Open 2021, Rafael Nadal said he is not obsessed about breaking records but said he will is looking forward to adding to his Grand Slam tally, which stands at 20. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has said he is not focussed on going behind records but maintained that it would be "amazing" to add to his Grand Slam tally in the new season. Nadal is tied with Federer as the two tennis greats have won 20 major titles each,

MANCHESTER: This season's Premier League race has been touted as one of the most open in years, but Manchester City have quietly moved through the gears and are threatening to pull away from the pack.Pep Guardiola's men, who have won their past seven league games, host Manchester United's midweek conquerors Sheffield United on Saturday (Jan 30), hoping lightning cannot strike twice. United, their closest challengers, face a tricky trip away to rejuvenated Arsenal, while Liverpool travel to high-flying West Ham.Here are some of the

LONDON: Liverpool's spluttering attack burst back to life to help the champions return to winning ways with a commanding 3-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday (Jan 28).Goals from Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane capped a dominant display by Juergen Klopp's side whose first league win since a 7-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace on Dec. 19 restored their place in the top four. Firmino's effort in first-half stoppage time ended Liverpool's barren run of 482 minutes without

Australian Open tennis players have begun to leave hotel quarantine after completing their 14-day isolation, about a week before the event starts.By Sunday, about 500 players will have been released from hotels in Melbourne and Adelaide, organisers said. High-profile stars Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams were among those allowed out on Friday. Players have quarantined because of the Australian government's Covid-19 rules for anyone entering the country. In early January, more than 1,700 players, staff and others tied to the Grand

The organizing committee for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup (Qatar) has confirmed its full readiness to host the 17th edition of the world championship, which will be held at Ahmed Bin Ali and Education City stadiums from February 4 to 11, with the participation of six clubs. At a press conference today, the organizing committee revealed the health protocol that will be implemented during the World Cup period. Fatima al-Nuaimi, Director of Communications for the High Commission for Projects and Legacy, confirmed

Details of Katara International Arabian Horse Festival, which is organized under the patronage of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, were announced during a press conference yesterday. The first edition of the Festival will be held on Katara Beach from February 2 to 6 with a wide international participation in one of the highest beauty contests for purebred Arabian horses, with prizes worth QR13m. The Festival will be held amidst COVID-19 precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the participants

Talk about a busy evening. Zlatan Ibrahimović generated plenty of headlines on Tuesday in the Milan derby -- and then some. From scoring to getting into a spat with a former teammate and then being sent off, the Swedish superstar did it all in AC Milan's dramatic Coppa Italia defeat to cross-city rivals Inter Milan. Ibrahimović's first-half strike put the Italian league leaders in front, further continuing his excellent form against Inter, his eighth goal in seven appearances against the Nerazzurri, who the