LONDON: Al-Hilal lost to Qatari side Al-Rayyan 2-1 at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha in the AFC Champions League, with Al-Hilal going into the game with a changed line-up.
The win for the Qataris came thanks to goals in either half from Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah and club captain Rodrigo Tabata.
The visitors got their consolation goal in the 89th minute after Ahmed Yasser fouled Achraf Bencharki in the box and Yasser Al-Qahtani drove home the resulting penalty kick.
The Saudi side had a chance to snatch an equalizer through Al-Qahtani’s header after the onrushing goalkeeper failed to clear the ball, but Al-Qahtani saw his attempt blocked by defender Gonzalo Viera.
The result puts Al-Rayyan on six points with two games to play in the group stage.
Meanwhile, Al-Hilal face an uphill battle to get out of the group, sitting bottom of the table with two points and only two games to spare.
Al-Hilal face uphill task to progress in AFC Champions League after defeat in Qatar
Al-Hilal face uphill task to progress in AFC Champions League after defeat in Qatar
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Pakistan win bronze at 22nd Asian Junior Squash Team Championships
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- Republic of Korea made national sporting history as their men’s team won the tournament for the first time
- In women’s event, Hong Kong ended Malaysia’s decade of dominance by claiming title for first time in 14 years
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan team has won a bronze medal at the 22nd Asian Junior Squash Team Championships held in Hong Kong, state media reported on Monday.
The Asian Junior Team Championships have been held biennially since 1983.
“South Korea secured the gold medal while Malaysia got silver,” Radio Pakistan reported. “Pakistan and India won bronze medals.”
The Republic of Korea made national sporting history as their men’s team won the tournament for the first time, while in the women’s event, hosts Hong Kong ended Malaysia’s decade of dominance by claiming the title for the first time in 14 years.
Prior to Sunday’s conclusion at Hong Kong Squash Center, Republic of Korea had never reached the final of the Asian Junior Team Championships.
Completing the medals in the men’s event were No.6 seeds Pakistan, who beat No.5 seeds Japan in the quarterfinals but lost to Republic of Korea in the semis, and No.4 seeds India, who upset hosts Hong Kong, China in the quarter-final before losing out to Malaysia in the semis.
Completing the medals in the women’s event were No.3 seeds India and No.5 seeds Singapore, with India finishing second in Pool B after comprehensive wins over China, Macau – China, and Mongolia, before losing out to the hosts in the semifinals, and Singapore coming second in Pool A after wins over No.4 seeds Republic of Korea as well as Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei before eventually exiting to Malaysia in the last four.
Revived Champions Trophy up for grabs with no clear favorite
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- Reigning ODI world champions Australia are among several countries sending weakened contingents
- Pakistan are defending champions and hosts as they stage a first global tournament since 1996 World Cup
The sprinkling of stardust over the Champions Trophy may appear somewhat thin on its return to the calendar after eight years but fans can expect a wide open one-day international tournament in the absence of an overwhelming favorite.
The tournament featuring the top eight teams in the ODI format was discontinued by the International Cricket Committee (ICC) after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in the final.
Pakistan are therefore holders as well as hosts as they stage a first global tournament since the 1996 World Cup, even if political tensions mean India will play all their matches, including the March 9 final should they make it, in Dubai.
Reigning ODI world champions Australia are among several countries sending weakened contingents with Steve Smith standing in as captain of a squad featuring a second-string pace attack.
Regular skipper Pat Cummins, fellow quick Josh Hazlewood and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were all ruled out by injury, while left-arm quick Mitchell Starc withdrew for personal reasons and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has quit ODIs altogether.
Sri Lanka did not make the cut for the Champions Trophy but nevertheless handed the Australians a humbling reality check in the run-up to the tournament with a 2-0 series drubbing.
Reigning Twenty20 world champions India have made the finals of the last three ICC events and Rohit Sharma’s team signaled their fine form by winning seven of eight limited-overs matches against England.
Runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil, India boast one of the world’s most destructive batting lineups but will be without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been laid low by a back injury.
Seamer Mohammed Shami’s impressive return to action in the home series against England was a big relief for Rohit, who will also expect vital contributions from spin all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.
SOUTHEE BACKS NZ
New Zealand will also fancy their chances of claiming the title having won the tri-nation trophy in Pakistan, beating the hosts in the final of a warm-up tournament also featuring 1998 champions South Africa.
Mitchell Santner’s Black Caps side went through the tournament unbeaten and now have a fair idea of the kind of conditions they will face in the Champions Trophy.
“If you look at the track record of New Zealand in ICC events, they are always there or thereabouts,” former New Zealand pace spearhead Tim Southee told the ICC.
“In a tournament like the Champions Trophy, if you get on a bit of a roll, anything can happen. I’d love to see the Black Caps there and hopefully lifting the trophy at the end.”
England were unable to defend to defend the T20 or ODI World Cup under Jos Buttler and are now licking their wounds after a tour of India where they were blanked 3-0 in the 50-overs matches.
They have already lost the services of Jacob Bethell through a hamstring injury, while their bowling trio of Brydon Carse (toe), Jamie Overton (hamstring) and Jofra Archer (hand) are all nursing fitness issues.
Giant-killers Afghanistan will make their Champions Trophy debut following their sixth place finish in the ODI World Cup in 2023, when they beat former champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan, who face New Zealand in the tournament opener in Karachi on Wednesday, are hoping a successful Champions Trophy will pave the way open for more such tournaments as the country battles perceptions that it is not safe for visitors.
The icing on the cake would be if Mohammad Rizwan, a stumper-batter like Sarfaraz, could guide Pakistan to a first global title since their Champions Trophy triumph in England eight years ago.
Champions Trophy will rekindle Pakistan’s love of cricket, say former captains
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- Pakistan spent nearly a decade in wilderness after attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players
- Champions Trophy was discontinued by ICC after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in final
ISLAMABAD: Cricket fans in Pakistan are buzzing ahead of the Champions Trophy and hosting the elite one-day international tournament will rekindle the country’s love affair with the sport, three former captains said.
The event, which features the sport’s top eight sides in the ODI format, begins on Wednesday with the hosts up against New Zealand in Karachi.
It will be the first major global tournament hosted by Pakistan in nearly 30 years and former batting great Inzamam Ul Haq told Reuters there was no escaping the excitement in the lead-up to the event.
“Right now everyone is talking about the Champions Trophy, in schools, houses, markets, offices, everywhere,” he added.
Pakistan spent nearly a decade in the wilderness after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players.
Top teams shunned Pakistan after the 2009 attack and it took the Pakistan Cricket Board years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.
“The events of 2009 feel like a bad dream,” Inzamam said. “We were punished for 10 years. Our cricket went backwards.”
The national team, captained for the bulk of those years by Misbah Ul Haq, hosted its ‘home’ games in the United Arab Emirates and remained relatively successful until fixtures trickled back onto Pakistani soil in 2018.
“For fans and young cricketers to see the stars playing live is a big deal,” said Misbah, Pakistan’s most successful test captain. “Not having that meant the whole cricket machinery was jammed.”
Former captain Aamer Sohail said the connection between fans and players was evident at Wednesday’s warm-up game against South Africa where Pakistan reeled in the visitors’ 352 to complete their highest successful ODI run chase.
“What was heartening in yesterday’s game is that people turned up and then the players turned up. It was kind of reciprocating, wasn’t it?” added Sohail.
The Champions Trophy was discontinued by the International Cricket Council after the eighth edition in 2017, when Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan beat India in the final.
Should both teams reach the title decider when it returns to the calendar, Pakistan will not have the advantage of playing at home as India are playing all their matches in Dubai due to political tensions.
“A Pakistan-India match is not just a game of cricket, it’s a game of expectations, of emotions,” said Misbah.
Inzamam recalled a 2004 ODI against India in Karachi where he scored a thrilling hundred in a losing chase.
“I got a standing ovation but so did the Indian team for their performance,” he said. “Supporters from both sides would have wanted to see this match.”
Sohail will forever be remembered for one of the most famous on-field spats with Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals, the last major event played in Pakistan.
“It’s not just important for both the countries, I think this rivalry is important for international cricket,” he said.
Inside Ittihad: How club CEO oversaw an on-pitch revolution at Jeddah giants
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- In the final part of a series about the current Saudi Pro League leaders, Arab News spoke to Domingos Soares Oliveira about the club’s transformation since his arrival in 2023
Australia: When Domingos Soares Oliveira first walked through the doors at Al-Ittihad, on Oct. 1, 2023, the challenge in front of him was immense.
By that stage, the league had already attracted some of the world’s best talent as it began its rapid transformation. But the off-field operation had yet to catch up to the on-field capabilities. In some ways, the cart had been put before the horse.
The players had been signed without the requisite level of infrastructure, both physical and organisational, that they were accustomed to back in Europe. Quite hastily a new training headquarters was built at their training ground to bring the club up to the minimum standard required for an elite club in 2024.
Oliveira’s job as new CEO, therefore, was not only to transform the entire off-field operation, but to do so at a pace that allowed them to catch up with the ambition being shown on the pitch.
Everything was urgent. Everything was a priority. At the same time, he had to learn and adapt to his new surroundings and a new football culture, having spent his entire career in the more familiar surrounds of European football, spending close to 20 years with Portuguese giants Benfica before accepting the job with Al-Ittihad.
While the differences between the structures were vast, the passion for the game remained the same.
“There’re a lot of things that are different between clubs in Saudi and in our case, with Al-Ittihad, compared to Europe,” the 64-year-old told Arab News.
“But there’s something that is very similar, which is the passion from the fans. I’ve been in different parts of the globe, you have countries who are somehow trying to engage with the population around football, but there’s not a culture around football.
“But here, you have it, because you can see kids playing in the street in the morning or in the evening. You can see the passion in the stadiums. In our case, you have 60,000 people going to the matches. So, there’re a lot of similarities in the way people live football.”
But, as he explained, that is where the similarities end, which only underscores the size of the challenge that awaited Oliveira, one he described as the biggest of his career.
When he started, he estimates there were about 100 employees. Today he estimates that number at more than 300, which highlights the rapid rate of organisational growth that has taken place.
“The way clubs were organised,” he explained, “I don’t like to call it amateur, because, of course, coaches and players, have always been for the last, I would say, five decades, professionals. But in terms of organisation, it would rely very much on the people that were elected every year.
“So, there was not an organisation in the different departments, including football, the way we see in Europe with clubs organised in terms of having a proper scouting department, proper strategy and academies.
“When I joined the club, there was not a CFO (chief financial officer), there was not a sporting director, there was not a commercial director, there was not another sports manager.
“So the challenge since we saw the PIF (Public Investment Fund) acquisition of the four big clubs here in Saudi, the challenge was a big transformation from, let’s say, this way of organising things based on passion to something much more professional, which we have in place right now.”
He likened the job to that of a startup, albeit one with 97 years of history behind it.
“Following the PIF acquisition, in terms of strategy, in terms of value creation initiatives, in terms of defining KPIs, (key performance indicators) in terms of governance, in terms of compliance, we were a little bit like a startup,” he said.
“I always say we are a startup that is 97 years old, but we were like a startup. But inside an organisation like PIF, we need to prepare everything in terms of policies, in terms of procedures, in terms of strategy to fulfill the PIF requirements.
“We are not treated in a different way from a telecom company or from an airline company, the rules that we have to implement, the mechanisms that we have to implement, the reporting that we have to implement, the different committees we have inside the club, everything has to be done according to the PIF standards.”
Most urgent was an overhaul of the structures around the first team and the wider football department, which was made more challenging by the difficulties of the season, with the team struggling on the field, which led to Nuno Espirito Santo being replaced by Marcello Gallardo, who was then replaced at season’s end by Laurent Blanc.
But the structures that Oliveira had in mind were to exist regardless of who was in the hot seat; a system that remained consistent even were the club to change coaches.
The experienced Ramon Planes, a veteran of European football with the likes of Tottenham, Barcelona and Real Betis, was appointed as sporting director and given the remit of overseeing the entire football operation, from the first team to youth development and scouting.
Planes, Oliveira and the head coach, which this year is Frenchman Blanc, form the club’s sporting committee, with oversight of the club’s key football decisions, which include recruitment.
Where Planes led, others followed, with key personnel from Barcelona following him to Jeddah, including managing director, Franc Carbó, who was appointed head of strategy and football operations with Al-Ittihad.
Given Planes’ experience in Europe, particularly with Barcelona where he had an intimate insight into their famed youth development systems, it is no surprise to see Al-Ittihad adopt a similar strategy.
In the off-season the club targeted young Saudi players, completing the permanent moves for Faisal Al-Ghamdi (since loaned out to Beerschot) and Saad Al-Mousa, while their signing of Barcelona B star, Unai Hernandez, in January was a window into the future, one which is focused very much on youth development, according to Oliveira.
“We cannot only rely on players coming from abroad, because it’s not sustainable,” he said.
“It’s great that we can bring players like Karim Benzema or (N’Golo) Kante or Fabinho or Moussa Diaby or (Predrag) Rajkovic. We have very, very good international players (and) we want to keep some of them, but in terms of sustainability for the future, we need to develop the Saudi players.
“If we want to do something as a Kingdom, if we want to do something really relevant at the (2034) World Cup, it’s now that we have to start immediately developing this concept of having the best young Saudis trained the proper way.
“So, when you ask me about the long-term vision, that’s my long-term vision; it’s about having Saudi players that can feed the national team.”
Increasing on-field and off-field opportunities for those in Saudi Arabia is a key theme for Oliveira, who spoke frequently about his “Saudi-isation” push across the business.
“Part of my job is to increase the ‘Saudi-isation’ of the club,” he said.
“Our challenge at this stage in the football department is, in the coming two years, we need to increase the ‘Saudi-isation’ inside the football department, because at this stage, we rely very much on people coming from different countries.
“But we need to increase the Saudis, and we are doing this. We are bringing more Saudis in to train them so that they can run the football department in the future.”
Speaking of the future at Al-Ittihad, Oliveira, who cited increasing commercial revenues as a key area for improvement, would not put a limit on what was possible, but outlined more of his vision for Saudi Arabia’s oldest football club and again it came back to youth development.
“We need to develop the young Saudi players in a way that this club, in the future, can rely mostly on Saudi players,” he said.
“I do believe that in terms of commercial activities, in terms of TV rights, there will be a boost in terms of increasing the revenues that will allow the club to be financially sustainable. This will allow the club, in the next decade, to continue chasing the best players around the globe.
“But at the same time, we need Saudi players, different profiles in terms of Saudi players, and for that, you need to work with them at younger ages.
“Once they are under the Ittihad umbrella, we can take care of their education together with the parents. We can take care of their nutrition, we can take care of their physical development, mental development, competitive development. You can only do this if you have a very good youth strategy and very good people inside the youth department.
He continued: “I know that if we are able to put the best training facilities, considering that we’ll have the land for the new headquarters, together with a proper youth strategy, we will be able to have a gigantic centre of excellence here in Ittihad, which in my case, I deeply believe that we can fill the Saudi national team with probably the majority of their players, because we have the skills, we have the strategy, (and) we have the procedures to develop this strategy.
“If you ask me about 10 years from now, I want to develop the Saudi players the best way I can. And for that, I need facilities, I need a strategy, I need procedures, and I need something that we already have in Saudi, which is the raw material we have at the younger ages.
“We just need to take care of them and to develop them the right way.”
UAE win 21 medals at Asian Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship
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- Under-18 team clinch 11 medals including 2 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze on final day
BANGKOK: The UAE National Team wrapped up its participation in the Asian Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship at the weekend with a total of 21 medals.
The under-18 team clinched 11 medals on the final day, including two gold, three silver, and six bronze.
Obaid Al-Ketbi won gold in the 52 kg weight category, and Salem Alqubaisi took gold in the 56 kg category. Silver medals were secured by Fatima Al-Katheeri (44 kg), Ghala Al-Hammadi (48 kg), and Ahmed Al-Shamsi (48 kg).
Bronze medals went to Haira Al-Dhaheri (40 kg), Haneen Alkhoori (57 kg), Zainab Al-Mansoori (70 kg), Aisha Aljneibi (63 kg), Harib Alhammadi (62 kg), and Zayed Alhosani (85 kg).
Mubarak Al-Menhali, technical director at the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said: “We focused a lot on the technical side during preparations for the Asian Championships and kept evaluating our athletes’ readiness.
“Their strong performance at the championship shows that our efforts paid off. These results are the result of the leadership’s support, which has given our players everything they need to compete at the highest level.
“The federation’s continuous backing, through training camps and preparatory tournaments, has been instrumental in boosting the players’ confidence and competitive edge.
“We take pride in these achievements and remain committed to reaching even greater heights in future competitions.”
Al-Ketbi said of his gold medal: “This moment means a great deal to me, as it represents years of hard work and determination to achieve my dream.
“Every fight has been a reflection of my passion for jiu-jitsu and my desire to represent my country in the best way possible. Today’s gold medal is just another step in my journey toward reaching the top globally.”
The UAE’s under-16 team secured 10 medals, including three gold, one silver, and six bronze, on the opening day of the Asian championships last week.
Meanwhile, the UAE National Team wrapped up the 2025 Asian Jiu-Jitsu Cup (under-14) with 11 medals, including two gold, three silver, and six bronze.