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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Sport

Gulf Times

Al Shamal, Al Ahli coaches eye regaining victories tomorrow

Al Shamal coach Poya Asbhagi stressed the importance of his side match against Al Ahli on Friday in Week 19 of the Expo Stars League.Speaking to the media ahead of their 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League Week 19 match against Al Ahli, Asbhagi, said, "A strong match awaits us against a good team that includes players with good potential, but that does not prevent us from looking forward to winning and getting three points in order to advance another step away from the danger zone in the league table."We will play to win and get three points from the first minute of the match."We worked to correct the mistakes during the last training sessions to avoid them in the upcoming matches. I see that the Al Shamal players are ready to play the match and I have great confidence in the extent of their responsibility and their eagerness to be back on the path of victories," said Asbhagi.From his side, Al Ahli coach Pedro Miguel said: "We will play all the remaining matches of the league as final matches that we must win in order to advance in the standings."Although a large number of players were suffering from injuries and are not that ready, we will have the spirit of one team and play with a high spirit in order to score points. The next stage requires victories to make our fans happy."The last break was an opportunity to continue physical training and help recover the players with the aim of entering the next matches with full ranks without absences. I am counting a lot on the good level that the team has been showing recently despite the absence of influential players due to injuries."I am stressing the importance of the match against Al Shamal and the necessity of winning it, given the closeness of both teams in terms of points. Therefore we will enter the match in order to achieve that goal," said Pedro Miguel. (QNA)

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic holds a press conference during the finals group stage of the 2023 Davis Cup at the Fuente San Luis Sports Hall in Valencia on Thursday. (AFP)

Djokovic splits from Ivanisevic with bitter sweet message

Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic are to go their separate ways, the tennis world number one announced on Wednesday, ending a five-year association which yielded 12 Grand Slams.Djokovic brought Croatia’s 2001 Wimbledon champion on board as a member of the coaching team ahead of the grass court Grand Slam in 2019 and although the Serbian admitted their “on-court chemistry had its ups and downs”, it also resulted in huge success.However, Djokovic has had by his high standards a poor start to the year, losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Australian Open semi-finals.The 36-year-old Serbian then lost to Sinner’s unheralded compatriot Luca Nardi in the third round at Indian Wells, prompting him to withdraw from the Miami tournament for what he claimed were scheduling reasons.“Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago,” Djokovic posted on Instagram.“Our on court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid.“In fact, I am proud to say (not sure he is) that apart from winning tournaments together, we also had a side battle in Parchisi going on... for many years,” he said, referring to the online game.“And – that tournament never stops for us. Sefinjo, thanks for everything my friend. Love you.”Djokovic said the volatile and charismatic Ivanisevic had brought more than just his tennis acumen to the partnership, which was exactly what he and his then head coach Marian Vajda had been looking for. “I remember clearly the moment I invited Goran to be part of my team,” said Djokovic.“It was back in 2018, and Marian (Vajda) and I were looking to innovate and bring some serve magic to our duo.“In fact, not only we brought serve, but also lots of laughter, fun, year end No1 rankings, record breaking achievements and 12 more Grand Slams (and a few finals) to the count since then.”

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