DAMMAM: The bylaw for privatization of Saudi clubs will be issued shortly as a panel of experts are now putting final touches to it, said Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, head of the Youth Welfare Presidency.
“Privatization will bring about qualitative improvement to Saudi sports,” the prince said while opening a sports investment forum here.
“We have signed an agreement with FIFA to seek its guidance for building world-class sports facilities,” he said, adding that the forum would contribute to the privatization process. The law firms SNR Denton and Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, a unit of Deloitte & Touche, have been awarded a nine-month project to advise the presidency on the privatization project.
Together, they will complete a study and recommend an approach to privatize the main youth sports clubs and restructure the existing domestic professional soccer league. The study will be completed in two months.
Saudi sports clubs to be privatized
Saudi sports clubs to be privatized
Pacers shock Cavs, Warriors shoot down Rockets to advance in NBA playoffs
- Buddy Hield — playing in his 11th playoff game — drilled nine three-pointers on 11 attempts on the way to a game-high 33 points
- The Pacers overcame a 33-point performance from Cavs star Donovan Mitchell and 17 turnovers of their own that led to 22 Cleveland points
LOS ANGELES: The Golden State Warriors punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Sunday, shaking off two straight defeats to grab a 103-89 Game 7 victory over the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors were the last team to advance to the conference semifinals, which got under way earlier Sunday with the Indiana Pacers handing the Eastern Conference top seeds Cleveland a 121-112 defeat on their home floor.
On a Warriors team stacked with post-season experience, Buddy Hield — playing in his 11th playoff game — drilled nine three-pointers on 11 attempts on the way to a game-high 33 points.
Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors finally frustrated the second-seeded Rockets, who were coming off two dominant victories and had visions of becoming just the 14th team to rally from 3-1 down to win an NBA playoff series.
“A lot of resilience,” Curry said. “Everybody stepping up. Everybody’s been talking about our team the last two games in terms of our execution, our energy, all that.
“We blocked it all out and just understood we had 48 minutes to dig deep. Everybody contributed.
“Buddy Hield was unbelievable,” added Curry after the Warriors lined up a second-round clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who ousted LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
Curry’s first basket was a three-pointer with 33.3sec left in the first half.
But Hield was on fire, making six three-pointers on the way to 22 first-half points and Draymond Green added 10 points to help the Warriors to a 51-39 halftime lead.
They pushed the lead to as many as 15 before the Rockets battled back, cutting their deficit to three.
Amen Thompson scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Alperen Sengun scored 21 with 14 rebounds for the Rockets, but Houston made just six three-pointers and trailed 70-62 going into the fourth quarter.
That’s when Curry came alive, opening the final frame with five straight points. Jimmy Butler had six points in a 12-0 Warriors run that took their lead to 20 points with 2:31 remaining.
Butler finished with 20 points, and Curry said his arrival from Miami in February was key to Golden State’s late playoff push.
“For us to build chemistry on the fly and build trust on the fly and perform like we did in a game seven, it means the world,” Curry said.
“So mission accomplished — step one.”
In Cleveland, Andrew Nembhard drilled five of Indiana’s 19 three-pointers on the way to a team-high 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 points and handed out 13 assists for the Pacers, who had six players score in double figures.
“I thought we did a great job of starting the game the right way,” said Haliburton, who had delivered the game-winner in the 119-118 overtime triumph that clinched the Pacers’ first-round victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Pascal Siakam scored 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter as Indiana took a 36-25 lead.
The Pacers overcame a 33-point performance from Cavs star Donovan Mitchell and 17 turnovers of their own that led to 22 Cleveland points.
The turnovers helped Cleveland claw back from a 12-point deficit early in the third, taking a one-point lead on Evan Mobley’s hook shot with 3:16 left in the period.
Mobley added 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Cavaliers clearly missed All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who missed a third straight game with a sprained toe.
They couldn’t respond as Indiana put together a 15-4 scoring run to pull away again in the fourth quarter.
“We weathered the storm,” Haliburton said. “We did it by getting stops, getting out running and just playing Pacers basketball.”
Mbappe scores twice and Madrid win again to trail Barcelona by 4 points ahead of ‘clasico’
- It was the fourth straight league win for Madrid, who last Saturday lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona and last month was eliminated by Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League
- The Basque Country derby ended in a 0-0 draw between Athletic Bilbao and host Real Sociedad
MADRID: Real Madrid survived a late scare but kept pace with leader Barcelona again on Sunday, ahead of their Spanish league “clasico” next weekend.
Kylian Mbappe scored in each half as Madrid held on to beat Celta Vigo 3-2 and remain four points behind the Catalan rivals going into next Sunday’s match in Barcelona.
“La Liga is in Barcelona’s hands, but we’ll have more chances if we’re able to win,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It’s a great opportunity. We’re going to prepare well for Sunday’s game, which I’m not saying will be decisive, but almost.”
Arda Guler also scored for Madrid, who opened a 3-0 lead early in the second half but saw Celta get back into the game toward the end of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Celta had a couple of great chances to complete its comeback, including a shot by Pablo Durán that stopped just short of the goal line after a deflection by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 78th minute. Courtois had to make a couple of saves near the end to secure the win.
“We did very well for an hour, we could have managed the lead a little better, but in the end it was a nice win,” Ancelotti said.
Barcelona came from behind to defeat last-placed Valladolid 2-1 on Saturday, when coach Hansi Flick rested most of the team’s regular starters ahead of its Champions League semifinal match at Inter Milan on Tuesday. Barcelona and Inter drew 3-3 in the first leg.
Madrid get a scare
Guler put Madrid ahead with a shot into the top corner in the 33rd, and Mbappe scored in the 39th — also finding the top corner — and in a breakaway in the 48th. The France star hadn’t scored in the league since March.
The match appeared under control until Javi Rodríguez pulled the visitors closer in the 69th and Williot Swedberg scored Celta’s second goal in the 76th.
A couple of minutes later, Duran’s shot agonizingly stopped just in front of the goal line after the ball picked up some backspin as it struck Courtois.
“It was a shame,” Celta striker Borja Iglesias said. “We had our chances. That shot by Pablo almost went in. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Celta, which was coming off a 3-0 win over Villarreal, stayed in seventh place.
There were a few jeers from the Bernabeu crowd as Madrid struggled to hold on to its lead late in the game.
‘All the confidence in the world’
It was the fourth straight league win for Madrid, who last Saturday lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona and last month was eliminated by Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
“We played the last game (against Barcelona) a week ago. It was a very competitive game and we came close to winning,” Ancelotti said. “We don’t have to invent a lot of things. We’re going to play a serious game. It’s very important. We’re going to play with all the confidence in the world. Despite all the difficulties, we’re there and to be able to fight this match is something nice.”
He said having Mbappe in top form will be key.
“He’s going to be a very important player in this match due to the fact that Barcelona play with a very high line,” Ancelotti said. “His runs in behind are going to be very important and decisive.”
Forward Rodrygo was not included in the squad because of illness.
Basque Country derby draw
The Basque Country derby ended in a 0-0 draw between Athletic Bilbao and host Real Sociedad.
Athletic are three points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal and six points behind third-placed Atletico Madrid. Athletic was coming off a 3-0 home loss to Manchester United in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals.
Midtable Sociedad is winless in four matches.
Also Sunday, 15th-placed Sevilla drew 2-2 with second-to-last Leganes, while sixth-placed Real Betis beat 14th-placed Espanyol 2-1.
Ruud beats Draper in Madrid Open final to win his first Masters 1000 title
- The 15th-ranked Ruud will return to the top 10 thanks to his campaign in Madrid, reaching No. 7 in the rankings on Monday
- The 13-time tour champion is the first Norwegian to lift a Masters 1000 trophy since the series was introduced in 1990, according to the ATP
MADRID: Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian to win a Masters 1000 title after beating Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday.
The former second-ranked Ruud rallied from 5-3 down in the first set and sealed the victory after capitalizing on his lone break at 2-2 in the third.
The 26-year-old Ruud yelled and thrust both arms into the air after clinching the win on his first match point on the Caja Magica clay court.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ruud said. “(This was) one of the really big goals I dreamed about when I was young, so it’s an incredible feeling to accomplish it. Also the way I did it today, it was a great match. I knew Jack had been playing unbelievable all year, and especially in this tournament, so I knew that if I didn’t bring my A-plus game, I was going to be whooped around the court.”
The 15th-ranked Ruud will return to the top 10 thanks to his campaign in Madrid, reaching No. 7 in the rankings on Monday.
“Luckily, I played really well,” Ruud said. “Jack has become such an incredible player, on any surface now ... This is a really big boost for me, and I would like to keep it going.”
The 13-time tour champion is the first Norwegian to lift a Masters 1000 trophy since the series was introduced in 1990, according to the ATP. It was Ruud’s third such final after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo last year and to Carlo Alcaraz in Miami in 2022.
Ruud has more titles (12) on clay than any other player since the start of 2020, according to the ATP.
Draper won at Indian Wells in March. After his quarterfinal victory in Madrid, he secured a top-five debut in the rankings.
Draper said Ruud was “braver” than him in the key moments on Sunday.
“You deserve this,” he said. “You’ve obviously put in so much hard work and constantly had very good years on the tour ... This sport is brutal, but I think this loss is going to make me better, so I’ll keep trying.”
The tournament in Madrid was disrupted early last week because of a major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, prompting the postponement of 22 matches in total.
Ruud had needed to take a couple of painkillers during his semifinal win over Francisco Cerundolo after feeling a rib ailment during his warmup, but there were no signs of any injury on Sunday.
Draper, who like Ruud had not lost a set on his way to the final, served for the first set at 5-4 but couldn’t finish it. The 23-year-old British player was visibly upset, and kept talking to himself and to his staff for a while during the changeover.
The men’s side of the draw lost most of its top players early. Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz had to withdraw from the tournament because of an injury, and Novak Djokovic lost to Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff in the women’s final on Saturday.
Scottie Scheffler matches PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record in 8-shot win at the Byron Nelson
- The runaway victory came 11 years after his PGA Tour debut at the Nelson as a high school senior, and 22 years after a photo was taken of then-6-year-old Scheffler with the tournament namesake
- Scheffler shattered the previous Nelson scoring record of 259 set by Steven Bowditch in 2015
McKINNEY, Texas: Scottie Scheffler cradled his year-old son Bennett — the reason he missed his beloved hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson in 2024 — and struggled to keep his emotions in check for a TV interview, just as he did a few minutes later during the victory speech.
The top-ranked player had time to prepare for the moment because of the giant lead he took into Sunday’s final round, and he even added a little drama by chasing the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record.
Scheffler matched that mark of 253 set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open and equaled six years later by Ludvig Aberg at the RSM Classic, closing with a 63 to finish at 31 under par.
The runaway victory came 11 years after his PGA Tour debut at the Nelson as a high school senior, and 22 years after a photo was taken of then-6-year-old Scheffler with the tournament namesake.
Scheffler couldn’t help but think about that day in 2014, when his now-wife, Meredith, was his girlfriend — not yet the mother of their first child — and sister Callie, now a mother of two, was his caddie.
“My family was all able to be here, and it was just really, really special memories, and I think at times it all comes crashing down to me at once,” Scheffler said. “We have a lot of great memories as kids coming to watch this tournament. I just dreamed to be able to play in it, and it’s more of a dream to be able to win it.”
Scheffler was in position to break the tour scoring record before a flubbed chip that led to bogey on the par-3 17th hole and a par from a greenside bunker on the par-5 closing hole. His 8-foot putt for birdie and the record slid by the left side of the hole.
Hideki Matsuyama has the lowest score in relation to par this season, 35 under on the par-73 Plantation Course at Kapalua.
Scheffler tied the 54-hole Nelson record with an eight-shot lead, and nobody got closer than six during the final round. Erik van Rooyen of South Africa matched Scheffler’s 8-under 63 to finish at 23 under, three shots ahead of Sam Stevens and four ahead of another hometown favorite, Jordan Spieth.
“We spoke last night, and I told you it was going to be a steep mountain to climb, and it was,” van Rooyen said. “Scottie was practically flawless, which is kind of what you expect from the world No. 1. Really proud with the golf I played.”
Scheffler and Spieth finished with the two lowest rounds of the tournament. Scheffler opened with a 10-under 61 on Thursday at the defenseless par-71 TPC Craig Ranch in a suburban community about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Spieth shot 62 in the final round, knowing his friend and fellow Texas alum was about to become the first of the pair to win the event they both cherish.
Spieth was the first to make his tour debut at the Nelson, four years before Scheffler. On top of that, Spieth contended as a 16-year-old in 2010, leading many to believe that surely he would have won it by now.
Scheffler stole those bragging rights.
“I think I’ll take it easy on him,” Scheffler said with a chuckle.
Spieth played with Scheffler the first two days and was 12 shots behind him going into the weekend, so he understands how things have changed. They started the tournament with 13 PGA Tour wins apiece. Now Spieth trails for the first time.
“It wasn’t that long ago I was definitely better than him, and now I’m definitely not right now,” said Spieth, a three-time major champion. “I hate admitting that about anybody, but I just watched it those first two rounds, and, like, I’ve got to get better. It’s very inspiring.”
It was the first victory this year for Scheffler after he won a total of 10 times before May in the previous three years combined, including two Masters victories.
Scheffler’s previous best Nelson finish was a tie for fifth in his most recent appearance two years ago. Now he’s the first wire-to-wire Nelson winner since Tom Watson 45 years ago.
“I’m not jealous of him winning this event over any other,” Spieth said. “I’m jealous of anyone that wins any week. When Scottie wins, I’m happy. It doesn’t matter where it is. If I’m not going to win, I like when he wins.”
Scheffler shattered the previous Nelson scoring record of 259 set by Steven Bowditch in 2015. That tournament was played at the TPC Four Seasons. Normally a par 70, that course had a par-69 layout the final three days when heavy rain forced officials to convert a par 4 into a par 3. Bowditch finished 18 under.
The margin of victory was the second-largest at the Nelson behind Sam Snead’s 10-shot win in 1957, when it was known as the Dallas Open Invitational.
“This is a golf course where you can kind of make a run, and I knew that I couldn’t just coast to the finish line today,” Scheffler said. “I knew I had to put together a good round.”
Because of heavy rain Wednesday and Friday, players were allowed to lift, clean and replace their golf balls in the fairway for the first three rounds, but not in the final round. Aberg had so-called preferred lies during the first rounds at the 2023 RSM Classic.
Oscar Piastri wins at Miami for 3rd straight F1 victory, 4th win of season for championship leader
- McLaren has won Miami the last two years, with Norris on top last season for his first career F1 victory
- Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in 28 years
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: The first time Oscar Piastri arrived at the Miami Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver he was in the slowest car in the field and only narrowly avoided finishing last.
Fast-forward two years and Piastri and McLaren Racing have come full circle.
Piastri maintained his advantage in the F1 championship fight by winning at Miami on Sunday for his fourth win through six races this season. Piastri has won three consecutive F1 races for McLaren Racing, where he and teammate Lando Norris are trying to dethrone four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
McLaren has won Miami the last two years, with Norris on top last season for his first career F1 victory.
“It’s just incredible, the hard work that’s gone in,” Piastri said of McLaren. “I remember two years ago here in Miami, we were genuinely the slowest team. I think we got lapped twice and to now have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result of the hard work of every single person.”
Piastri is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive F1 races in 28 years; Mika Hakkinen did it with a win in the 1997 season finale and then victories in the first two races of 1998.
He widened his lead over Norris in the driver standings to 16 points, while Verstappen trails Piastri by 32 points.
Norris’ win at Miami last season snapped Verstappen’s two-year winning streak at the course surrounding Hard Rock Stadium. Norris also won the sprint race on Saturday — Piastri dominated but a late safety car cost him the victory — but Verstappen won the pole in qualifying.
Verstappen, who announced the birth of his first child Friday morning, has been determined to disprove the myth that fatherhood would make him a more conservative driver. It was evident as he darted away at the start and then aggressively held off Norris’ challenge for the lead.
The Red Bull and McLaren were side-by-side and Norris was trying to edge ahead of the Dutchman, but he ran off track and lost four spots. Norris said Verstappen forced him off track and there was nothing he could do but try to avoid running into a wall — but F1 took no action against Verstappen.
“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain,” Norris said. “You can’t win. But it really just how it is with Max — it’s crash or their pass.”
Verstappen was unapologetic after fading to fourth and insisted he raced within the rules.
“I mean, I had nothing to lose, so I also wanted to have a bit of fun out there,” Verstappen said, adding McLaren’s strong start to the season is “not frustrating at all.”
“We are here to win and today we were miles off that, so it doesn’t really matter,” Verstappen said.
Norris recovered from the early incident and picked his way back toward the front, but not before Piastri took control away from Verstappen on the 14th of 57 laps. McLaren has decided it will allow Piastri and Norris to race each other cleanly without team orders, and Norris was cleared to challenge his Australian teammate for the victory.
In the waning laps, Norris was able to close the gap but could never catch Piastri and settled for second in a 1-2 finish for McLaren. The two held a nearly 40-second advantage over George Russell of Mercedes, who finished third.
Alex Albon of Williams was fifth, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was sixth and Charles Leclerc was seventh after Ferrari ordered Lewis Hamilton to give his teammate the position in the closing laps. Hamilton was eighth.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was ninth for Williams and Yuki Tsunoda was 10th for Red Bull.
Doohan in doubt
Jack Doohan ran into another car on the opening lap and then crashed on the second lap — a showing that won’t quiet chatter the rookie is on the verge of being replaced at Alpine by Franco Colapinto.
There have been media reports in Argentina that Colapinto will replace Doohan at F1’s next race, later this month in Italy. It was dismissed at the start of the Miami weekend by Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes, who indicated “as it is today” the Australian would still be in the seat at Imola.
“I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco, when he’s going to be in the car. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday,” Oakes said about the speculation. “We’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise. Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But it’s natural that there’s always speculation there.
“As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre (Gasly),” he continued. “We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but today that is the case.”
Doohan, who didn’t complete two laps Sunday and finished last, has yet to score a point this season through six races. His best finish was 13th at the Chinese Grand Prix.
