CORDOBA, Argentina: World champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi has become the first Saudi and third non-Argentinian driver to win in Argentina since 2010 after he was crowned the 2024 Desafio Ruta 40 Rally winner on Friday.
The Saudi driver’s win marks the fourth round of the World Rally-Raid Championship, said in a media statement.
Al-Rajhi and his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk finished first by just 13 seconds. They recorded a total time of 17 hours, 38 minutes, and 21 seconds over six days on rough, technical gravel tracks between June 1-7.
“Winning by just seconds is an incredible feeling. It was a long and fierce battle, and I led skillfully every day. This victory is well-deserved for me and the team,” said Al-Rajhi.
“I am delighted with this win. I thank God for this victory … It’s great to be back in Argentina. Last year, I finished third, and today I won the second edition of the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally,” he added.
Co-driver Gottschalk said: “It wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Yazeed fired another rocket in the final kilometers, overcoming every challenge. It was truly outstanding driving. We are thrilled with this victory and definitely deserve the upcoming summer break.”
The Saudi champion secured victories in two of the five stages, finishing second in the remaining three, accumulating valuable points that placed him second in the W2RC standings after the Argentine rally.
The team’s remarkable performance leaves them just 25 points behind the leader, with the competition remaining open until the final round in Morocco in October.
The rally began with a prologue in Cordoba, where Al-Rajhi secured second place. After that, he dominated the first loop stage. In the second stage, the longest at 724 km, he maintained his overall lead. The third stage, a 451-km loop, saw the team perform brilliantly, keeping their lead.
The fourth stage in La Rioja, covering 676 km, was extremely tough, but Al-Rajhi drove cautiously to avoid any issues, finishing the stage still in the lead.
In the final stage, he faced a thrilling challenge, with only one second separating him from his closest competitor in the provisional standings. Ultimately, Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk won by 40 seconds, securing a brave victory.
Covering a total distance of 3,045 km, including 1,917 km of special stages, the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally is one of the most prestigious and challenging rallies in Latin America.
Saudi world champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi crowned winner of Desafio Ruta 40 Rally
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Saudi world champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi crowned winner of Desafio Ruta 40 Rally
- Al-Rajhi’s win marks 4th round of the World Rally-Raid Championship
- ‘It was a long and fierce battle … This victory is well-deserved for me and the team,’ says Al-Rajhi
Mixed fortunes for Saudi golfer Khalid Walid Attieh in round 3 after making the cut in Thailand
- The Black Mountain Championship is second event in this season’s International Series at which the amateur from Riyadh has advanced to the final two rounds
- After a 4-under 68 on Thursday and a 2-under 70 on Friday, in round 3 he had 4 birdies and a bogey on the front 9 but dropped 5 shots on the back 9 to card a 1-over 73
HUA HIN, Thailand: After making the cut at the Black Mountain Championship at Hua Hin in Thailand on Friday, Saudi golfer Khalid Walid Attieh had mixed fortunes as he faced challenging conditions during his third round on Saturday.
It is the second time in five events of this season’s International Series that the 29-year-old has advanced to the final two rounds, following his success at the season-opener in Oman in February when he became the first Saudi amateur to make the cut in a professional tournament.
His campaign at Black Mountain Golf Club began with a solid, 4-under-par 68 on Thursday, followed by a 2-under 70 on Friday.
Battling tricky conditions in the third round, the Riyadh-born golfer recorded four birdies and a bogey on the front nine but dropped five shots on the back nine to card a one-over-par 73.
Reflecting on his performance in the tournament so far, Attieh said he is proud to be representing the Kingdom on a global stage.
“It’s such a great event,” he said. “I am very grateful to the Saudi Golf Federation and the International Series for giving me a spot, and obviously to represent my country, it’s been very special.
“Everyone here on the Asian Tour is super nice as well, and I got to play with some really nice guys and some good people, and then also the people running the tournament are doing an amazing job. So, nothing but positives here.”
Attieh said he has been impressed by the sense of camaraderie on the Asian Tour, including the welcoming attitude of players and tournament officials alike.
“Everyone has been super supportive,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community where once you’ve played with someone, they become a friend for life. That’s not something you find everywhere.”
Black Mountain marks the start of a demanding concluding run of six events in just eight weeks for the 10-event International Series. Despite the challenge this poses, Attieh remains happy with his progress so far and optimistic about his chances, especially after his tied-for-69th finish in Oman.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I’ve been playing some good golf so it’s nice finally to see all the hard work pay off. I have put in a lot of time, a lot of effort and finally I get to see some results.
“I think this week it definitely felt like that. At one stage I thought I could be even further up the leaderboard and I think it was just a few mental errors on the back nine that cost me a little bit. But I am happy, overall, with where the game is and I think that, moving forward, it’s going to give me a lot of confidence.”
When the Black Mountain Championship concludes on Sunday, Attieh’s focus will shift to next weekend and a second International Series event in Thailand, at the Thai Country Club from Oct. 24-27.
UAE’s Al-Qemzi struggles as Anderson claims powerboat F1 win in China to lead title race
- Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qemzi, Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt, Victory Team duo among casualties as championship heads for big finish in UAE
ZHENGZHOU, China: Sweden’s Jonas Andersson cruised to victory in Zhengzhou, China on Saturday to take the lead in the 2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship, setting up a tense climax in Sharjah in December.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qemzi was among those who failed to finish an incident-paced race which saw Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt lose his championship lead when halted by mechanical problems, while a collision between Victory Team drivers Erik Stark and Ahmad Al-Fahim took both of them out of the running.
Defending world champion Andersson now carries a three-point lead over Canadian rookie Wyatt into December’s final round in Sharjah, with Frenchman Peter Morin climbing to third in the standings following his second-place finish in Zhengzhou.
Al-Qemzi’s early retirement with technical issues completed a trail of misfortune in Zhengzhou for Team Abu Dhabi, for whom five-time F2 world champion Rashed Al-Qemzi (Thani’s cousin) was unable to start the Grand Prix following his problems in yesterday’s sprint race.
The team will now look to round off the season with a much-improved showing on Khalid Lagoon in Sharjah, where Thani Al-Qemzi made his F1H2O debut back in 2020, and where he finished third last year, one of his 45 podium finishes.
Andersson had already secured his second world title before the championship arrived in Sharjah last season. He went on to record his fourth successive race victory, and Wyatt will be aiming to prevent a repeat performance in two months’ time.
Sharjah Team’s Canadian rookie has been enjoying a brilliant debut season in the championship, with wins in Indonesia, Sardinia and most recently Shanghai.
He began to lose pace in the early stages in Zhengzhou, however, eventually coming to halt after 14 laps, but will look to quickly shrug off the setback in the hope of securing the drivers’ title for his team on home waters.
The penultimate round of the championship had barely got under way on Saturday when Stark and Al-Fahim collided, sending the two Victory boats out of the race, while the opening lap also saw American Brent Dillard barrel-roll to a halt.
China has been a happy hunting ground in the past for Team Abu Dhabi veteran Thani Al-Qemzi, with two of his 10 race wins arriving there, but his 157th career Grand Prix was brought to a halt after just two laps.
After securing his 13th pole position, followed quickly by victory in the sprint race on Friday, Andersson looked fully in control again on Saturday as he recorded his 15th Grand Prix win, with almost 10 seconds to spare over Morin. Finland’s two-time world champion Sami Selio took third place.
Spurs run riot to beat West Ham
- A third win in four Premier League games lifted Ange Postecoglou’s men to sixth in the table ahead of the later kick-offs but heaps the pressure on new West Ham coach Julen Lopetegui
- Victory for Spurs comes after they blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in their final league game before the international break
LONDON: Tottenham roared back from behind to beat West Ham 4-1 on Saturday, overrunning their London rivals in the second half to ease the pain of their recent collapse against Brighton.
A third win in four Premier League games lifted Ange Postecoglou’s men to sixth in the table ahead of the later kick-offs but heaps the pressure on new West Ham coach Julen Lopetegui.
Victory for Spurs comes after they blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in their final league game before the international break.
The teams were level at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Mohammed Kudus’s opener against the run of play was canceled out by the impressive Dejan Kulusevski.
But the match changed complexion in a frantic spell early in the second half when Yves Bissouma, an own goal from Alphonse Areola and a fourth from Son Heung-min took the game away from West Ham.
Tottenham were in control of the match early on and in-form Brennan Johnson flashed a shot narrowly wide on six minutes.
But West Ham played their part in an absorbingly open contest, giving their hosts a scare when Jarrod Bowen surged down the right and cut back to Kudus, whose stinging shot was palmed away by Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham captain Son went close shortly afterwards after creating space for himself but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock, making their opponents pay for not learning their lessons.
Kudus found the net for the second successive game in the 18th minute following more good work down the right by Bowen, whose shot deflected into the path of the Ghana international.
Johnson should have equalized shortly before the half-hour mark but he mistimed his header from close range, with the ball coming off his shoulder.
As Tottenham continued to press, Pedro Porro unleashed a shot from range, which took a wicked deflection but West Ham goalkeeper Areola reacted sharply to keep it out.
But Spurs got the equalizer they deserved about 10 minutes from half time.
West Ham lost the ball while on the attack and James Maddison surged forward to feed Kulusevski, whose shot came off the goalkeeper’s hand and the inside of both posts.
A measure of Tottenham’s dominance during the first half was that they won 12 corners to two for West Ham.
Postecoglou replaced Maddison with Pape Sarr at half-time in a tactical switch and Tottenham were quickly in charge.
Son played a lovely pass with the outside of his right foot to find Destiny Udogie, whose calm cut-back was met by Bissouma, who stroked the ball home in the 52nd minute.
Lopetegui prepared to make a triple change but did not have time before an own goal from Areola following a mix-up in the penalty area made the score 3-1 three minutes later.
South Korean international Son extended Tottenham’s lead when Sarr sent him clear and he beat the defender before squeezing his shot past Areola.
Kudus was shown a straight red in the final minutes after a VAR check following a melee, compounding a bad day for the visitors, who have just two wins from eight Premier League matches this season.
Gavi back from long-term injury for Barca: Flick
- The 20-year-old has been absent since suffering a severe knee injury playing for Spain in November 2023
- “For Gavi it’s the next step, it’s an important step, all the coaches, the whole club are happy, that is the next step, and he is on the bench,” Flick told a news conference
BARCELONA: Barcelona midfielder Gavi will be part of the La Liga leaders’ squad to face Sevilla this weekend after a long injury lay-off, coach Hansi Flick confirmed Saturday.
The 20-year-old has been absent since suffering a severe knee injury playing for Spain in November 2023, missing his country’s Euro 2024 triumph this summer.
“For Gavi it’s the next step, it’s an important step, all the coaches, the whole club are happy, that’s is the next step, and he is on the bench,” Flick told a news conference.
The tenacious midfielder burst into Barcelona’s first team in the 2021-22 season and became Spain’s youngest ever player at 17, but was soon usurped by team-mate Lamine Yamal.
Barcelona will also be boosted by the return of Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez after their recent injuries, while Flick confirmed teenage star Yamal is fit after a minor hamstring issue.
“The rest and the treatments for him were really good, so thank you to the national team,” said Flick. “He is ready to play.”
Flick said Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who also recently made his comeback from an ankle injury, felt discomfort in training and was a doubt for the game on Sunday at the club’s temporary Olympic stadium home.
Barcelona still have several players out injured including Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres and Andreas Christensen.
‘Sky’s the limit’ for Saudi Arabia as Riyadh prepares for PFL’s ‘Battle of the Giants’
- Fighters share their thoughts ahead of Saturday event featuring Francis Ngannou v Renan Ferreira and Cris Cyborg v Larissa Pacheco
RIYADH: PFL’s “Battle of the Giants: Brace For Impact” takes place in Riyadh on Saturday, headlined by Francis Ngannou fighting Renan Ferreira for the heavyweight world title, and Cris Cyborg versus Larissa Pacheco in the women’s featherweight world title fight.
Other fights on the card at the Mayadeen on Saturday night include the middleweight fight between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards, the featherweight fight between Husein Kadimagomaev and Zafar Mohsen, and the lightweight clash between AJ McKee and Paul Hughes. The preliminary card also features the featherweight fight between Ibragim Ibragimov and Nacho Campos and the bout between Tariq Ismail and Taha Bendaoud.
Some of the fighters sat down with the media to speak about the big fight night in Riyadh on Saturday. Here are some of their thoughts:
Paul Hughes (Ireland)
“As a youngster growing up in Ireland, I obviously looked up to Conor McGregor. Nobody from Ireland had ever made it before on the world stage of MMA and he came and completely took it over and changed it. How could I not take inspiration from that? I hope he comes back victorious.
“I don’t have too much of a relationship with Conor. I think most people would have seen my interaction with him after my Bellator debut in Dublin when he was down cage side and I thanked him after my fight for inspiring me. I had dinner one time with him at the Black Forge and that was cool, that was a real full circle moment for me. He’s always been supportive, it’s all good.”
Johnny Eblen (US)
“Honestly, I don’t know what he thinks. I don’t really care. I know what I’m doing in the gym and I’m training with the best guys in the world. I travel gyms and train with other guys who have fought for other titles and I’m truly trying to evolve every single day. I don’t care what other people think or what they’re trying to do. I’ll dig deep until I die. That’s the only mode I know.”
AJ McKee (US), wearing a traditional Saudi thobe
“It’s part of the culture and obviously I want to respect the culture. And I also have a struggle picking out outfits. So, it’s way easier, I don’t have to worry about what I’m pick out, and it’s comfortable.
“I think Riyadh can become the fight capital of the world. I think if you look at the history of the fights in Riyadh they have promoted and put on, they have all been the biggest cards — from boxing to MMA. If Saudi Arabia continues on that journey, then the sky’s the limit.”
Fabian Edwards (Jamaica/UK)
“I feel like the last fight I beat him. It wasn’t any errors, or he was outclassing me. I don’t hate him. I’ve matured over the past year. I feel in my younger days I was like ‘oh, I need to hate him’ but I don’t. Regardless, my job is a fighter and I need to go in there and try and break his face. It sounds violent but that’s the sport we’re in and on Saturday night I’ll go in there and try and break his face.”
Tariq Ismail (Sudan)
“When it comes to me being a part of this event, I think it goes both ways: the event is very lucky to have a fighter like me and I’m very lucky to be a part of such a big platform in Saudi Arabia. The training camp for this fight has been absolutely phenomenal. I had a training camp out in Thailand at a very credible gym, one of the best gyms in the world. You’re going to see balance between my striking routes and my grappling routes and it’s going to be an incredible performance for people tuning in.”
Zafar Mohsen (Germany/Afghanistan)
“I’m focused, prepared and ready to fight — this is a battle that will show who’s truly ready for the top. I’m fully prepared to step into the cage — this is a highly anticipated featherweight clash. My opponent is a dangerous training partner of Khamzat Chimaev and he will be standing across from me, but I am prepared. This is a great stage to show my talent.”
Taha Bendaoud (Morocco)
“It’s always been my passion. I’ve been doing martial arts since I was three years old. I have competed in Muay Thai and jiu jitsu since I was a little kid. For sure I didn’t have as much experience this past year as I had some problems that happened this past year, but MMA has been life changing for me. MMA has given me life. I’m just going to go in there on Saturday and bang. Nothing is going to hold me back. I’m not going back until I get the win. I love Riyadh. It has always been a dream of mine to fight in Saudi Arabia. I feel the energy and calmness of being here. It’s very special.”
