Sports

Al Sadd, the recently crowned QNB Stars League (QSL) champions, were taken to a 1-1 draw at home by Al Wakrah yesterday, while Al Duhail beat Al Sailiya 2-0 in their respective Round 19 matches. Rodrigo Tabata gave Al Sadd the lead in the 25th minute, but Khalid Muneer equalized in the 83rd minute, resulting in Al Sadd's third draw of the season. As Al Duhail avenged their 1-2 defeat to Al Sailiya in the first leg, Michael Olunga converted a penalty (20)

FINA President Julio Maglione joined athletes in praising the Qatar Swimming Association (QSA), which will host the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series 2021 Doha tomorrow at the Katara Beach. The season-opening meet, which will feature about 100 long-distance swimmers from 25 nations, will mark the start of FINA open water competitions after a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the suspension of events following the 2020 Doha meet. On March 11, QSA President Khaleel Khaleel Al Jabir hosted a video

Tottenham took one step closer to the Europa League quarter-finals as Harry Kane's double secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night. Kane's predatory finish put the hosts in front (25) before the striker pounced on a slack clearance from Kevin Theophile-Catherine to double his tally for the evening (70). There would be no second European hat-trick of the season for the England captain, who was replaced late on as a precautionary measure following a challenge from Arijan Ademi. The

Sergio Garcia produced a sparkling finish to open a two-shot lead after the opening round of The Players, as Rory McIlroy's title defence got off to a terrible start. Garcia followed back-to-back birdies with a final-hole eagle to close out a seven-under 65 and set a clubhouse target that couldn't be matched at TPC Sawgrass, with late starter Brian Harman his closest challenger after an opening-round 67. Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry sit three off the pace alongside Corey Conners, while Bryson DeChambeau

Formula 1's new-look grid will take on a unique and crucial challenge from Friday as 2021 testing begins in Bahrain, with just three days of track action for teams and drivers to prepare for the season. Less than three months after an intense 2020 campaign ended, 2021's gets up and running at Bahrain's hot and fast Sakhir circuit - rather than the usual Barcelona - with the shortest-ever pre-season ahead of what is set to be the longest-ever F1 season of 23 races.

Diallo, the 18-year-old signed from Atalanta for £37m, scored his first goal for Man Utd with his first shot on goal for the club; Simon Kjaer grabbed late equaliser with a header to take vital away goal back to Milan for second leg on March 18 Simon Kjaer's last-gasp header grabbed a draw for AC Milan and a vital away goal in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Europa League last 16 first leg. Milan dominated the first half as Franck

The 20-times Grand Slam champion had match point in the third set but Basilashvili held on for a deserved victory Roger Federer’s hopes of a fairytale title on his return from injury were cut down by the big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili as the world No 42 came from behind to beat the 20-times Grand Slam champion 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Doha on Thursday. The 39-year-old, who played superbly to beat British world No 28 Dan Evans

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has his eyes set on a Super Bowl victory after signing a new mega deal with the franchise. The 27-year-old, who suffered a compound ankle fracture and dislocation which forced him to miss much of last season, says he wants to forget the past and guide his team to new levels. "That's my plan, to get a parade in Dallas," he said in a press conference on Wednesday as the deal was officially confirmed. "As a competitor, you

Manchester City returned to winning ways in style with a thumping win over Southampton that moves them 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Riyad Mahrez and Kevin de Bruyne both scored twice as City delivered an emphatic and instant response to their defeat in Sunday's Manchester derby, which had ended a 21-game winning run. This was not the disciplined display typical of many of City's victories this season but their incisive attacking, aided by some helter-skelter Saints defending,

Fabinho is "one of the best in the world at number six", Jurgen Klopp said after the Brazilian helped Liverpool beat RB Leipzig to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. The 27-year-old midfielder has had to fill in at centre-back for large parts of this season because of injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, while also suffering from a number of fitness problems of his own. But restored to his preferred position in the centre of the Reds midfield, he excelled in

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman says Lionel Messi can have no doubts over the "great future" the club has after they bowed out of the Champions League with a spirited performance at Paris St-Germain. Messi, 33, who has won the competition with Barcelona on four occasions, outlined his frustrations at the Nou Camp last summer and was heavily linked with a move to PSG prior to this last-16 tie. However, while the result saw Barca fail to reach the last eight of the competition

Cristiano Ronaldo's "unforgivable error" in extra-time against 10-man Porto in the Champions League proved decisive as Juventus was dumped out by the Portuguese side. With the sides all-square in the 115th minute and with penalties just minutes away, Porto was awarded a free-kick 35 yards away from the Juve goal. In a last-ditch attempt to send the Portuguese side through, Sergio Oliveira hit a speculative low shot which traveled through the legs of Ronaldo -- who had turned his back on the ball

Chelsea strengthened their hold on fourth place in the Premier League as Kai Havertz inspired a vital 2-0 win over Everton, while West Ham boosted their surprise top-four challenge with a 2-0 victory against Leeds on Monday. Havertz has endured a disappointing first season following his £70 million ($96 million) move from Bayer Leverkusen last year. But Germany forward was given a rare start by Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and he responded by playing the key role in both goals at Stamford Bridge. Havertz's shot was

A second-half goal from defender Milan Skriniar was enough to earn Inter Milan a 1-0 win over Atalanta on Monday, with the victory sending Antonio Conte’s side six points clear at the top of the Serie A standings and boosting their chances of winning their first league title in more than a decade. Inter’s seventh successive win saw them restore their healthy advantage over second-placed AC Milan. They are also 10 points clear of third-placed Juventus, who has played a match less. “Our

Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 26 shots for his first NHL shutout as the Minnesota Wild ended the Vegas Golden Knights’ six-game win streak with a 2-0 victory on Monday night in Saint Paul, Minn. Kevin Fiala and Jonas Brodin scored goals for Minnesota, which was playing just its third home game since Jan. 31 because of a two-week COVID-19 pause combined with a road-heavy schedule. Kahkonen, 24, improved to 10-4-0 on the season while improving his personal winning streak to seven games. Vegas’ Marc-Andre

Swiss youngster Stefan Bissegger made a statement as he won the Paris-Nice time trial on Tuesday to take the overall race lead in his first World Tour season. The 22-year-old Education First rider completed the 14.4 kilometre circuit, that began and ended in Gien, in 17 minutes and 34 seconds to edge French time trial champion Remi Cavagna by 0.83sec. "I'm quite young so I still have to establish myself to the others. So I think I showed in this time trial that

The PGA Tour will continue testing players for COVID-19 for the "foreseeable future" and until a high percentage of competitors are vaccinated, Commissioner Jay Monahan said on Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference ahead of this week's Players Championship in Florida, Monahan felt there was light at the end of the tunnel regarding pandemic-related protocols but the PGA Tour was not about to let its guard down. "We will continue to provide testing for the foreseeable future and, hopefully, as we get to a high percentage of

Paris St Germain forward Neymar has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Barcelona, the French side said. A PSG statement on Tuesday said the Brazilian, who left Barcelona for the Ligue 1 side for a world record fee of 222 million euros ($264.11 million) in 2017, was continuing an individual recovery programme from a thigh injury sustained last month. Neymar missed the first leg of the tie at the Camp Nou but his absence barely affected his side,

Roger Federer is targeting a third Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games this year after missing out in 2016 due to injury as he looks to gain momentum when he returns to the court this week after 13 months on the sidelines with a knee problem. Federer, 39, is making his long-awaited comeback at the Qatar Open - where he plays Britain's Dan Evans in the second round on Wednesday (March 10) - after two knee surgeries ended his season last year. The

In the last 25 years, Qatar's sporting landscape has changed dramatically. Through witnessing national teams in football, soccer, basketball, handball, and tennis, among other sports, in the 1980s and early 1990s, Qatar transformed the sports industry on a massive scale to make Doha the world's sports capital. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a significant shift in the sporting scene. Qatar, on the other hand, put together a careful schedule while vying to host the 2006 Asian Games. The bid was won in