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Monday, March 17, 2025 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.
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Sport


Abdullah Alsharbatly (centre) celebrates on the podium after winning the Big Tour title in the 9th round of the 8th season of the annual Qatar Equestrian Tour – Longines Hathab at Al Shaqab.

Alsharbatly claims Big Tour title

Abdullah Alsharbatly continued to excel with his recent form as the Saudi Arabian rider combined with his mount Quisandro to claim the Big Tour title in the 9th round of the 8th season of the annual Qatar Equestrian Tour – Longines Hathab at Al Shaqab on Saturday night. Alsharbatly topped the Big Tour One round against the clock 1.5m class jump-off with a flawless routine in 34.79 seconds to win the top honours and a prize of QR25,000.The only other rider who qualified for the jump off was Cyrine Cherif, and who astride Triple T Calamando Blue had settled for the second place having clocked 37.75 seconds.Khalid Mohammed al-Emadi, who picked up four penalties in the opening round, was third with a time of 64.51 seconds astride Kryptonight.Earlier, the Open Class One round against the clock 1.25m class was won by Hussain Saeed Haidan, riding Viahipi d’Auzay.The duo clocked 50.03 seconds. Khaled al-Hadi, who rode Capoen, was second in 53.46 seconds, while Mohammed Yousef al-Jaber, astride Lisa Perina F, finished third with a time of 55.32 seconds. The dressage competitions held at the Longines Indoor Arena, saw Jassim al-Jaham al-Kuwari combine superbly with his mount Jack Sparrow to win the C 11 – Dressage – Medium Test 1 title garnering a cumulative total score of 71.061 points.Saoud Ahmed al-Boinin with Cacique topped the C 10 – Dressage – Elementary Test 2 with 66.806 points while Abdulla Khalid al-Julandani (H’amour D Caramel VH Bloemenhof) claimed the C 9 – Dressage – Preliminary Test 3 title.Maryam Khalid al-Marikhi and Rociero topped the C 8 – Dressage – Introductory Test 2.

Pep Guardiola

Guardiola relishing ‘big fight’ for Champions League qualification

Pep Guardiola said he is not deflated at having to battle for a place in next season’s Champions League and believes doing so would be a “huge success” in a difficult season for Manchester City. Premier League winners for the past four seasons and in six of the previous seven, Guardiola’s men sit fifth with 10 games to go. A fifth-placed finish will now almost certainly secure Champions League football next season thanks to the strong performance of English sides in European competition this season.However, that is far from guaranteed for City with five clubs down to Fulham in 10th within five points of the champions. City have struggled to match the high standards of Guardiola’s glorious reign this season, losing nine of their last 19 league games. “It’s a big fight and not like a disappointment to be here. It’s a challenge in that if we’re able to achieve that and qualify for the Champions League, it’d be a huge success from my point of view,” said Guardiola ahead of Brighton’s visit to the Etihad.“Sometimes there are seasons in life and in sport where you have to live that. It’s in our hands, it depends on us. We don’t have to recover eight or ten points to go there and wait for the opponent to lose many games, it’s just about us and depends on our behaviours and our football if we’re there or not.”For the first time since the 2012/13 season, City were not involved in the Champions League last 16 this week. The 2023 winners were soundly beaten 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the play-off round after only sneaking through the league phase as the 22nd best out of 24 qualifiers.“I don’t have any disappointment and regret, we don’t deserve to be there,” added Guardiola on watching the best of the action form afar this midweek. “Nobody has to explain me how special is this competition but in this season we deserve to be on the sofa with a glass of wine. Hopefully we can do better, qualify for next season and do it better to be there on the pitch.”Brighton are one of those who pose a threat to City’s Champions League hopes next season. The Seagulls have won four consecutive top-flight games for the first time since 1981 to climb to seventh, just one point behind City.“I think Brighton are one of the best clubs working on and off the pitch,” said Guardiola. “There are many teams who were in the middle positions or bottom or whatever, but they make an incredible step up in terms of organisation and consistency for many years, that’s the reality. It’s not a secret what they’ve been doing. They’re in this position because they’re doing good things, they deserve to be (where they are) in the table.”

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