ALULA, Saudi Arabia: Defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) used all his experience of the rocky conditions to win a tough 430km second stage from Sea Camp to AlUla in the 45th Dakar Rally on Monday.
As many of his rivals were held up by a series of punctures, including Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive) who lost almost an hour and a half, the Qatari Al-Attiyah plowed to a provisional 14-second win over Erik Van Loon (Overdrive).
Carlos Sainz (Audi) was third man home, 5 minutes 5 seconds back, which was enough to give the Spaniard the lead in the provisional general classification, 2min 12sec ahead of Al-Attiyah.
Mathieu Serradori (Century) is running third, 24min 55sec behind Sainz.
“It was absolutely the time to attack and drive a good stage,” said Al-Attiyah.
“It was not an easy day. There were a lot of rocks and the navigation wasn’t easy. We had one flat tyre, one puncture at the beginning, but after that we tried to be really careful in the stony places. In the sand we pushed and I’m quite happy.”
Loeb’s hopes of competing for a first ever Dakar title hang in the balance after a stage he described as a “car wreck.”
“The whole special was hell,” said a stony-faced Loeb as he stepped out of his car which was missing its bonnet, torn off during an impact.
“At the driving level, (it was) completely uninteresting, driving in rocks in slow motion, trying to cross without puncturing and, well, we had three punctures.
“We did everything to drive slowly but there was nothing we could do, it was not at all suitable for a car like ours.”
The nine-time world rally champion, who finished second last year, is now down in 31st in the overall standings 1hr 21min off the lead.
Meanwhile, American rider Mason Klein took the overall lead in the motorcycling category after winning Monday’s stage.
“Most of the day I was just following the other guys and then at the last part they were making jokes about me leading out or not leading out and letting them all do the work,” said Klein.
“So, I said, fine, I’ll take my turn and I just left them and it was good.”
His compatriot Ricky Brabec had led overnight but could post only the 15th fastest time and was 8min 19sec slower than KTM rider Klein.
In spite of picking up a penalty, Klein timed 1min 9sec faster than Germany’s Sebastien Buhler on the stage with another American Skyler Howes finishing third 1min 13sec adrift.
The 21-year-old Californian benefitted from some tactical slowing down from Australian rider Daniel Sanders who was comfortably leading the stage before opting to ease off in the last kilometers to avoid having to open the way on Tuesday.
“I was pushing a lot at the start to make up a lot of time and that was working, but then I knew we still had 200km to go, so I backed off a little bit and sat back for tomorrow and sit back in the pack,” said the GasGas rider.
“There’s no point, it’s only the second day, to push and risk a lot, for opening tomorrow where anything can happen.
“So, we’ll see how the front guys go and hopefully I’ll be in a good position at the back.”
Klein, who finished ninth as a rooky in last year’s edition, leads Toby Price of Australia, also riding a KTM, by 1min 41 sec with Spain’s Honda rider Joan Barreda third 2min 3sec off the pace.
Tuesday’s stage will take the competitors on a picturesque 447km route from AlUla to Ha’il.
Nasser Al-Attiyah survives rocky route to win Dakar stage
https://arab.news/znr3c
Nasser Al-Attiyah survives rocky route to win Dakar stage
- American rider Mason Klein took the overall lead in the motorcycling category after winning Monday’s stage
Xander Schauffele has 2 majors and still a long way from No. 1 in the world
- Even without the No. 1 player at The Sentry, Schauffele feels a lot further away than his No. 2 ranking might suggest
- The Sentry also starts a new structure on the PGA Tour in which only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup keep their full cards
KAPALUA, Hawaii: Winning two majors only made Xander Schauffele that much more eager for the next one. The only downer about winning the claret jug at Royal Troon was knowing it would be more than eight months until the next one.
Also on his agenda is reaching No. 1 in the world.
That might take a little longer.
The PGA Tour embarks on a new season without Scottie Scheffler, who cut open his right hand on broken glass preparing Christmas dinner. Even without the No. 1 player at The Sentry, Schauffele feels a lot further away than his No. 2 ranking might suggest.
“It’s a wild time,” Schauffele said. “Winning two majors and being closer to the 30th-ranked player than the first ... hat’s off to Scottie. He’s a beast.”
Schauffele, of course, is no slouch. Both put together a season of remarkable consistency. Schauffele had 15 finishes in the top 10 out of his 21 starts in individual play on the PGA Tour. From May until the end of the season, he went 11 straight events no worse than 15th.
That included a birdie on the last hole to win the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and a command performance in the rain and wind of Royal Troon to win the British Open.
It was the latter that got the attention of Chris Kirk, the defending champion at Kapalua.
“You cannot accurately describe how horrible it is to play golf in that conditions,” Kirk said. “That was one where — obviously, I have a lot of confidence in myself, I believe in my game, I’m a top-50 player — I watched that and was like, ‘There’s no way in hell I could do that.’”
The difference in seasons was Scheffler converted more of those top 10s into titles — seven on the PGA Tour, Olympic gold, and the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, all of them boosting his lead at No. 1 to the largest gap since Tiger Woods in his peak years.
“It’s one of my goals that will just have to stay on the calendar for a few more years,” Schauffele said with an easy smile. “If I get there I’ll be very happy. But just based on looking at the numbers, yeah, it’s going to take some time and patience.”
Now he’s on island time, where no one is in a rush.
The 60-man field gets started on the mountainous Plantation Course at Kapalua, which is playing longer than ever with a steady dose of overnight rain.
The Sentry also starts a new structure on the PGA Tour in which only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup keep their full cards, and the size of fields is shrinking to make sure those who have cards get into more tournaments.
This is the second year that a tournament once limited to only winners has been expanded to include anyone who finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup. Of the 60 players, 29 of them failed to win a tournament last year.
That includes Justin Thomas, who at least would appear to be on the upward trend. He missed out on the postseason in 2023 and made it back to the Tour Championship. It was a better year, but not enough for him to be picked for the Presidents Cup.
Consider that to be a big motivator this year with a Ryder Cup on the horizon. The first step is winning, which Thomas hasn’t done since the PGA Championship in 2022. Before that, he piled up 15 wins on the PGA Tour in a seven-year stretch.
“I truly felt like I was going to win multiple times every season pretty much, until I lost it a little bit,” Thomas said. “It’s just so hard to win out here. Naturally, the better player that you are, you can get away with more mistakes, but come the end of the week on Sunday, you have to win the golf tournament.
“I was fortunate where I was doing it quite often and I still feel like I’m fully capable and expect to do that more,” he said. “But I definitely felt like it should have happened regularly.”
Schauffele can appreciate the feeling. He also had gone two years without winning until he ended that drought in the best way possible — not one major, but two.
It starts with chances, and that has become his hallmark, much like it is for Scheffler. Schauffele comes into Kapalua with the longest active cut streak on the PGA Tour at 56 in a row, which will increase because there is no cut this week.
The record is 142 in a row by Woods. That might be even further away than his goal of replacing Scheffler at No. 1 in the world.
Seko Fofana joins French club Rennes after spell in Saudi Arabia
- In July 2023, he joined Al Nassr — where Cristiano Ronaldo plays — in the Saudi Pro League
- Rennes said Fofana signed a four-and-a-half year deal
RENNES, France: Ivory Coast midfielder Seko Fofana ended his brief spell in Saudi Arabia to sign a long-term contract with French club Rennes on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Fofana helped Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, and Rennes hope he can provide a similar boost for the Brittany club.
Rennes said Fofana signed a four-and-a-half year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed. The team is in 12th place.
“There are some talented players at Rennes and I don't think the club is where it should be,” Fofana said in the team's announcement. “We're going to get the chance to play a series of games and show that the start of the season was below the club's potential. I hope we can turn things around very quick.”
Fofana scored 21 goals and provided 12 assists over 112 appearances for Lens.
In July 2023, he joined Al Nassr — where Cristiano Ronaldo plays — in the Saudi Pro League and then was loaned to Al-Ettifaq six months later.
Fofana previously played four seasons for Udinese in Serie A.
He has made 25 appearances for Ivory Coast and helped the team win the Africa Cup of Nations in February.
Arsenal moves up to 2nd place in Premier League with 3-1 win over Brentford
- Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games in all competitions
LONDON: Arsenal is back into second place in the Premier League and in no rush to add players in the transfer window.
Mikel Arteta’s team beat Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday to leapfrog Nottingham Forest and close the gap on league leader Liverpool to six points.
“If there’s an opportunity, we’ll look at it,” Arteta said of the January window. “I really like my players. I really value what we have, because it’s a lot of quality and a lot of commitment from all of them.”
That includes 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who got his first Premier League start in place of the injured Bukayo Saka. The teenager was involved in second-half goals by Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli.
Bryan Mbeumo put the home team ahead in the 13th minute at Gtech Community Stadium, but Gabriel Jesus made it 1-1 just before the half-hour mark — his sixth goal in the past four games.
Merino scored in the 50th minute and Martinelli added a third three minutes later.
It was Arsenal’s second straight win without Saka, who is likely to be sidelined until at least March. The England winger tore his right hamstring in a 5-1 win over Crystal Palace on Dec. 21.
Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games in all competitions.
Liverpool has a game in hand on the Gunners, who play at Brighton on Saturday. Liverpool hosts Manchester United on Sunday.
Brentford remained in 12th place and has lost three of its past four Premier League matches.
Saudi Arabia hosts Italy’s football giants for Italian Super Cup
- Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta prepare to battle it out in Riyadh
RIYADH: The Italian Super Cup hosted by Saudi Arabia gets underway on Thursday with giants Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta preparing to battle it out for the silverware.
The four-team knock-out tournament will take place at Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh.
Serie A champions Inter Milan will play the first semifinal against the Italian Cup runners-up Atalanta on Thursday.
AC Milan, who finished second in Serie A last season, on Friday will play the second semifinal against Juventus, the Italian Cup winners.
The final will take place on Sunday, Jan. 6.
It will be the fifth time that Saudi Arabia has hosted the Italian Super Cup.
The event is organized by the Ministry of Sports and is expected to attract local and international attention from fans and media alike.
It is the latest major global sporting event to be hosted by the Kingdom as part of the Ministry of Sports’ commitment to the Saudi Vision 2030 reform program.
Second Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship set for Abu Dhabi this month
- First edition in 2024 attracted 10,000 participants across 5 rounds
ABU DHABI: The UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation will hold the second edition of its successful Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship from Jan. 17 to 19 at Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Registration is now open for the UAEJJF-sanctioned event, which features competitions across various categories including children, youth, adults and masters.
The first edition of the championship spanned five rounds — two for the no-Gi category and three for the Gi category. It was held in various emirates and attracted over 10,000 male and female participants from leading clubs and academies nationwide.
“We are proud of the success of the first edition of the Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which carries a name dear to us all,” said Mohamed Salem Al-Dhaheri, vice chairman of the UAEJJF.
“This achievement was made possible by the limitless support of our wise leadership for sports and athletes, especially jiu-jitsu.”
Al-Dhaheri said the championship reflects the federation’s strategy to strengthen jiu-jitsu’s presence locally and internationally while continuing to nurture and develop national talent.
He added: “The male and female athletes demonstrated incredible skill and competitive spirit throughout the five rounds, showcasing their dedication to improvement and success.
“The championship has succeeded in providing a platform to identify and develop talent while promoting jiu-jitsu as a sport that instils discipline, patience, resilience, courage, and teamwork.”
He said the event played a “central role in encouraging community participation in sports, helping to build a generation that is physically and mentally strong.
“The large turnout of families supporting their children highlights the championship’s significance. It has evolved into a comprehensive event, combining a professional sports environment with cultural activities, sports exhibitions, and entertainment for all.”
