LONDON: Great Britain’s Reece Prescod and Kristal Awuah set personal bests as they won the 60m races at the ISTAF indoor event in Berlin. Prescod, 22, set a time of 6.53 seconds to narrowly beat Arthur Cisse of the Ivory Coast, who came second, and third-placed Filippo Tortu of Italy.

In the women’s race, 19-year-old Awuah won in 7.19 seconds, beating her previous personal best of 7.30 seconds.  “I am so happy and so excited that I won – I love this track,” she said. “It is just so great to be healthy and to be running fast, I am so satisfied. Indoors means working hard, executing well, feeling powerful and getting out fast.”

Awuah finished 0.08 seconds clear of Klara Seidlova of the Czech Republic, with Germany’s Gina Luckenkemper third. Awuah’s success came only minutes after Prescod had won the men’s race, beating his previous personal best of 6.61 seconds. “This is not a bad time for me,” he said Prescod. “I was quite happy with my start. This is my first time at ISTAF indoor and I have to say it is amazing.

“Being so close to the fans here is very special. The Germans put a great show together. The atmosphere is incredible and I will definitely be back.”

(Agencies)

Second seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6(2) 6-4 to win the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Sunday and claim her eighth WTA singles title. Bertens, the world number eight, was slow out of the blocks, and found herself trailing 5-2 in the first set before staging a remarkable turnaround.

“I would like to say to Donna congratulations on a great week and sorry for today,” Bertens said after collecting the trophy at a glittering presentation ceremony. “It was an amazing final to play… I will be back next year.”

The Dutchwoman won 17 of 18 points to first draw level and then win the first-set tiebreak against Vekic, nearly breaking the Croatian’s will with that unexpected surge before breaking her serve early in the second set.

Vekic, 22, refused to surrender without a fight, breaking back and winning three games in a row before Bertens rallied to snuff out any chance of the match being pushed to a third set with a second decisive break of serve.

Bertens served for the match at 5-4, racing into a 40-0 lead but then displayed some jitters as she allowed Vekic to level at deuce before finally claiming her fourth championship point after her backhand caught the net and dropped short.

Both players made 33 unforced errors each, but Bertens won 79 percent of her first serve points and sent down eight aces and 27 winners compared to 16 from Vekic.

“Congrats to Kiki and your team. You were too good for me today,” Vekic said. “I’m really looking forward to playing doubles with you in Indian Wells.

“Sorry, (coach) Torben (Beltz) we are going to have to wait a little bit longer for that first title but at least the finals are getting bigger.” Reuters

ATLANTA: Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 42-year field goal and the vaunted Los Angeles Rams offense were held scoreless as New England took a 3-0 lead into halftime at the Super Bowl on Sunday in Atlanta.

Gostkowski’s field goal helped make up for an earlier miss from 46 yards at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which kept its retractable roof closed for the game. The Patriots had several promising drives and easily controlled the time of possession but costly errors kept them out of the end zone. Quarterback Tom Brady threw an interception on the opening drive and an incompletion on the fourth down late in the second quarter to end both drives. The Rams will receive the ball to start the second half.

(REUTERS)

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s 20-game unbeaten run in the French league this season ended with a 2-1 defeat at Lyon on Sunday. PSG has lost three times this season, including away to Liverpool in the Champions League and at home to Guingamp in the League Cup, but this was its first Ligue 1 loss since a 2-0 home defeat to Rennes in the penultimate game of last season.

Despite the setback, PSG leads second-placed Lille by 10 points, having played two games less. Yet it was a huge boost for Lyon in the quest to finish second and qualify automatically for next season’s Champions League. Lyon is three points behind Lille, with 15 matches remaining.

Both goalkeepers stood out in a great advert for the French league. Rarely tested in the top tier in France, PSG’s defense ultimately fell short under the watchful eye of Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was present at the game.

A resurgent United side hosts PSG in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 game on Feb. 12. Solskjaer will have noticed glaring deficiencies at the back, which meant PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had to make six saves in a pulsating first half.

France forward Nabil Fekir won it for Lyon when he coolly slotted in a 49th-minute penalty, after center half Thiago Silva impeded striker Moussa Dembele as he burst into the area. Dembele’s towering header from a pinpoint Leo Dubois cross drew Lyon level in the 33rd after Angel Di Maria silenced the home crowd with an opening goal after seven minutes.

Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar clumsily lost possession dribbling out of his own half, and Julian Draxler took the ball off him before feeding Di Maria inside the left of the penalty area. The Argentina winger advanced and finished with a low strike across the body of Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, before provocatively dancing in front of home fans.

PSG then weathered a barrage of Lyon pressure. Preferred to Gianluigi Buffon for this game, in an ongoing goalkeeper rotation by coach Thomas Tuchel, Areola was inspired.

Midway through the first half, he made a double stop to first thwart Bertrand Traore and then surged off the ground to palm away Memphis Depay’s follow-up effort from close range.

But then Areola stumbled coming out to meet a cross from Dubois, and Dembele rose superbly to level at 1-1. The action, at both ends, was unrelenting. Di Maria almost grabbed his second goal late in the first half, only for center half Jason Denayer to deny him with a spectacular diving header near his line.

Silva was adjudged to have obstructed Dembele as PSG conceded its 11th penalty this season _ a statistic Solskjaer will doubtless know. But he will also have seen that PSG has immense firepower, and Lopes needed to be at his best on Sunday.

He made three saves in quick succession, including a stunning finger-tip save with his left hand to keep out a stinging drive from Kylian Mbappe _ who was again denied by Lopes with 20 minutes left.

“It’s difficult to say, we had chances as well,” PSG’s Draxler said when asked if Lyon deserved to win. “But they played very well in the first half. We knew beforehand that Lyon is a classy team.”

Lyon faces Barcelona in the last-16 of the Champions League, having beaten Manchester City away and drawn with City at home during the group stage.

DELORT EARNS DRAW

Striker Andy Delort’s well-taken goal earned Montpellier a 1-1 draw at southern rival Nimes and moved the team up to fifth place. Nimes and Montpellier are roughly one hour apart by car and they have a fierce rivalry. Nimes opened the scoring after two minutes when defender Loick Landre headed in from a corner.

Delort latched onto strike partner Gaetan Laborde’s pass in the 73rd minute, and coolly lobbed the goalkeeper. Montpellier is one point behind fourth-placed Saint-Etienne, while promoted Nimes is in 11th place. AP

LONDON: The wreckage of the aircraft that disappeared over the English Channel last month carrying Premier League soccer player Emiliano Sala and his pilot has been located, the marine scientist directing the search said on Sunday. The 28-year-old Argentina-born forward had been en route from Nantes in western France with pilot David Ibbotson to make his debut for Welsh team Cardiff City when the plane is believed to have crashed into the sea on Jan. 21.

A privately funded underwater search had begun on Sunday, several days after investigators said they found two seat cushions on the French coast that likely belonged to the aircraft. “Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning,” marine scientist David Mearns, who directed the search, said on Twitter.

Mearns said Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) had moved its vessel over the position his team had located to visually identify the plane using a remote-operated vehicle. “The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David,” Mearns said. Reuters

KATHMANDU:  Nepal won the International T20 Series by defeating hosts United Arab Emirates by 2-1 points. In the final match at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on Sunday, Nepal beat UAE by 14 runs. It made 104 runs in 10 overs losing eight wickets. In chasing the target of 105 runs, UAE was restricted to 90 runs in 10 overs at the loss of eight wickets.
The match was reduced to 10 overs due to rains. For Nepal, Lalit Narayan Rajbamshi, Avinash Bohara and Karan KC claimed two wickets each. Likewise, Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane took each wicket.
Captain Paras Khadka hit 29 runs for Nepal. Likewise, Sandip Jora smashed 28, Binod Bhandari 21, Gynendra Malla 11 and Karan KC 10. The national team, who was on a UAE tour to play One Day International Series and T20 Series, also won the ODI Series by 2-1 points.

Meanwhile, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun on Sunday extended messages of congratulation and best wishes to the national cricket team on winning the One Day International and International T20 Series. He also congratulated and extended special thanks to the team coach Jagat Tamata and captain Paras Khadka. The Vice-President congratulated and thanked cricket players Rohit Kumar Poudel, who recorded his name in the international cricket history as a youngest man to smash half a century, and Sandeep Jora, who kept twenty20 international cricket record as a youngest player to hit half a century.
Nepal, which was on a tour of United Arab Emirates to play ODI and International T20 Series, won both the series against UAE. Likewise, Nepal Communist Party Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ extended messages of congratulation and best wishes to the cricket team for winning the matches.

KATHMANDU: The cricket match between Nepal and the UAE scheduled to be held in Dubai has been affected due to the rain today. The match to be held at 2:45 pm according to the Nepali time at ICC Academy in Dubai under the T20 International series would be the third one as well as the last one.
The match has not taken place yet due to the rain and storm. Nepal and UAE have won in one game each of the 3 series match. If today’s match is called off due to the incessant rain, the game will end in equal scores.
The Nepali national cricket team which had gone to the UAE to play three One Day International (ODI) and three T20 series had made a history by winning its first ever ODI against the UAE after defeating the host country’s team in the third and the final match of the 3-match of ODI. Nepal and UAE had ended 1-1 in T20 international series.

(Agencies)

ABU DHABI: Qatar stunned four-time champion Japan 3-1 to win the AFC Asian Cup for the first time as striker Almoez Ali scored his record-breaking ninth goal in the tournament here on Friday. Qatar were crowned the Asian champion with a seven-game winning streak, scoring 19 goals and just conceded one.

Almoez Ali, the top scorer of the tournament, opened the scoring after 12 minutes with an acrobatic volley assisted by Akram Hassan Afif, who delivered his ninth assist in the tournament. Ali broke Iranian legend Ali Daei’s record of 8 goals in a single Asian Cup.

The 22-year-old striker almost had a brace one minute later, but his shot inside the box was deflected for a corner by Japan captain Maya Yoshida.

Japan, who had never lost in the Asian Cup final, pushed for the equalizer but things got worse after 27 minutes as Abdelaziz Hatim doubled Qatar’s lead by curling an unstoppable shot from distance into the far corner.

Qatar nearly made it 3-0 10 minutes before the break as captain Hassan Al Haydos hit the post from range. With the halftime approaching, Japan failed to turn their dominance of possession into clear chances.

The Samurai Blue looked much sharper after the break, Takumi Minamino pulled one back in the 69th minute with a clinical finish after being well set-up by Yuya Osako.

However, Qatar’s nerves were settled minutes later when Abdelkarim Hassan’s header from a corner hit Maya Yoshida’s hand. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) offered to referee a chance to review it and, after a brief period, Afif converted the penalty to seal the win.

Maya Yoshida had an opportunity to make up for the handball but sent his header over the bar with two minutes remaining.

(Agencies)

KATHMANDU: Nepal have won the toss and have opted to field. In the very first over, Sandip Lamichhane has taken the first wicket. UAE batsman Ashfaq Ahmed is out. 

Both Nepal and UAE have players who have endorsed different franchises over the world and on a pitch that has only gotten better, this is one match that should be fought till the very last match. With international pundits at stake, Nepal and UAE would love to make inroads and strike early in the first of the three T20s.

Teams:

Nepal : Gyanendra Malla, Binod Bhandari(w), Paras Khadka(c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Sundeep Jora, Rohit Paudel, Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Lamichhane, KC Karan, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pawan Sarraf, Pradeep Airee, Bhim Sharki, Basant Regmi, Avinash Bohara

United Arab Emirates : Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Ghulam Shabber(w), Muhammad Usman, CP Rizwan, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Boota, Mohammad Naveed(c), Qadeer Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Sultan Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor