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Issue 247, Friday 27 November 2009 - 10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1430

Sport Brief

By Elham A Buaras & Zeeshan Akhtar

Football
Arsenal’s Robin van Persie is set for a long spell out after seriously injuring an ankle while on international duty. The striker went off 10 minutes into the Netherlands’ friendly against Italy on November 14 in Pescara after hurting his right ankle in a tackle by Giorgio Chiellini. The 26-year-old Van Persie, who will not require surgery, has had a scan to assess the extent of the injury.
Islam Feruz, 14, made his first appearance for Scotland on Oct 20, when the Under-17s took on Cyprus at East End Park. Feruz came on as a second-half substitute and made an immediate impact, setting up fellow Celt Callum McGregor to open the scoring. But two late goals for the visitors gave Cyprus a 2-1 victory. Scotland coach Ross Mathie “the high spot was the debut of Islam…We saw enough to know we have a player but he is young and hopefully things will settle down for him now he is a Scotland player.”
Feruz made history when he became the first player to be selected for Scotland under the new FIFA eligibility ruling, which states that a player who holds a British passport, and has been educated for at least five years in one of the home nations, is eligible to play for that country.


Boxing
Kevin Mitchell believes that a win against Breidis Prescott next month could lead to an all-British showdown with Amir Khan. Prescott, the Colombian who knocked out Khan in 54 seconds last year, faces the unbeaten Mitchell in an eliminator for the WBO lightweight title at the Metro Radio arena, Newcastle, on December 5. Khan tops the bill, making the first defence of his WBA light-welterweight title against Dmitriy Salita, the Ukrainian-born American. “If Prescott thinks he is going to do the same thing to me that he did to Khan, he’s got another think coming,” Mitchell, 25, said. “He is going to be in for 12 rounds of pain.” The East Londoner, who is the British super-featherweight champion and has won all his 29 bouts, believes a move up in weight will create opportunities. “There are a lot of big matches to be made domestically with the likes of Khan, John Murray and Alex Arthur,” Mitchell said. “I would be happy to move up in weight again to get a shot at Khan.”

Athletics
18th Asian Athletics Championship in Guangzhou (CHN) Nov 10-14:
Men’s Discus throw: Iran’s Asian record holder Ehsan Hadidi hurled to 64.83m to win his third in a row continental title; team mate Mohammad Samimi came second with 64.01m, while China’s Wu Tao took the bronze with a throw of 59.27m.
Men’s 10,000m: Hasan Mehaboob Ali, Asian Games champion from Bahrain set a new championship record with a timing of 28:23.70s beating Qatari pair Kemboi Nicholas of who clocked 28:25.22s and Ahmadh Abdullah on the third place with 28:28.38s.
Men’s 400m: was won by Liu Xiaosheng of China with a performance of 46.55s. Yuzo Kanemaru of Japan 46.60s won silver and Ismail Alsibyani of Saudi Arabia 46.84s and bronze.
Men’s 3,000m steeplechase: Tarek Mubark of Bahrain defended his title establishing an early lead to clock 8:33.58. Lin Xiangqian of China fought back from behind to take the silver in 8:34.13. Abubaker Ali Kamal of Qatar finished third in 8:34.73.
Men’s 800m: Sajad Moradi won gold for Iran with a timing of 1:48.58s. Mohammad Alazemi of Kuwait won silver in 1:48.93s. Bronze medal went to Iraq’s Adnan Al-Mntfage who clocked 1:49.00s.
Women’s 400m hurdles: Satomi Kubokura of Japan successfully defended her title with a timing of 56.62s beating her Malaysian rival Noraseela Mohammad Khalid (57.15s) who once again failed to upstage Satomi in the continental championships. Natalaya Asanova of Uzbekistan was distant third with 59.37s.

Former SPAR European Cross Country champion Mo Farah of Great Britain is ready for the 2009 edition of the premier continental Cross Country championships to be held in Dublin, Ireland, on December 13. Farah became the SPAR European Cross Country champion in 2006 when he broke Ukrainian Sergey Lebid’s winning streak in the Italian city of San Giorgio. He also won the silver medal at the 2008 edition of the championships in Brussels. The prospect of dethroning the Ukrainian veteran will be the extra motivation Farah will need with less than 50 days to go until the annual meet. “My aim is to go to Kenya and train with the (Kenyan) boys at 8,000 feet and get ready for the European Cross Country in Dublin. That’s the next big step,” said the 26-year-old. Farah, European indoor 3000m champion and 5000m outdoor silver medallist, is also keeping a close eye on the European Athletics Championships to be held in Barcelona, Spain, next July. He is adamant he can improve and win the 5,000 metres gold medal he missed out on by less than a stride three years ago in Gothenburg.

Tennis
Marat Safin, the former US and Australian Open champion, brought down the curtain on his career at the relatively tender age of 29 and waved goodbye to the tennis circus with a gently emotional farewell. “Today I will put all my memories, all my wins and losses in a small box,” Safin said after receiving a special trophy. “Today a door is closed, hopefully another one will open.”
In Nusa Dua, Indonesia Aravane Rezai has won the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in the all French final after top-seeded Marion Bartoli retired from the final with a thigh injury after losing the first set 7-5. Bartoli was up 4-2 on Nov 8, and then had a set point in the ninth game before the 44th ranked Rezai broke back to level at 5-5. Bartoli then needed medical treatment on her left thigh in the 12th game. She continued to play but double-faulted to hand Rezai the set and then retired.It was Rezai’s second title of the year after winning in Strasbourg.


Cricket
New Zealand had to weather a remarkable innings from Pakistan tail-ender Mohammad Aamer before clinching the one-day series decider in Abu Dhabi. Chasing 212 to win, Pakistan were 47-0 after eight overs but hit the self-destruct button to reach 101-9.
Aamer then hit a stunning unbeaten 73 in a stand with Saeed Ajmal worth 103, but Pakistan fell seven runs short. The 17-year-old Aamer made the highest score by a number 10 in one-day history but Ajmal was out with five balls left. Though New Zealand could celebrate a 2-1 series win, much of the talk remained centred on Aamer. He blazed three sixes in one Daniel Vettori over and then took on all the bowlers in a hugely successful assault considering he had come into the game with a best score of 37 in all organised professional cricket.
Pakistan edged past injury-hit New Zealand by seven runs in the second of their two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai to take the series 2-0. Teenager Umar Akmal top scored with an unbeaten 56 from 49 balls as Pakistan, who won the toss, made 153-5, while Kiwi seamer Ian Butler took 3-28. Opener Brendon McCullum (47) and veteran Scott Styris (43) gave the Kiwis hope of levelling the series, but they both fell in the last two overs as New Zealand fell just short.
The final one-day international between India and Australia was called off without a ball being bowled because of a waterlogged pitch in Mumbai. The pitch for the seventh match in the series at the DY Patil Stadium was still too wet following torrential rain from Cyclone Phyan. The umpires held two inspections but decided no play was possible.
World number one side Australia had already clinched the series by a taking a 4-2 lead
In Guwahati.

Squash
Egypt’s Amr Shabana won a fourth World Open title defeating compatriot and defending champion Ramy Ashour 11-8, 11-5, 11-5. An angry Ashour was in tears at the end as his countryman equalled the achievement of Geoff Hunt, the great Australian, win winning four world crowns. Only Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, the legendary Pakistanis who dominated the sport in the 1980s and early 1990s, have won more than Shabana - but despite its historical context the final never quite lived up to expectations. Two of the most gifted players of their era did not produced their absolute best, and instead it was the adrenalin charge generated by the one-sided outcome which was most dramatic.

By Zeeshan Akhtar & Elham Assad Buaras