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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)


Daniil Medvedev serves against Dominik Koepfer of Germany during their Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. (AFP)

Medvedev, Alcaraz and Sinner through in Miami

Defending Miami Open champion Daniil Medvedev and top seed Carlos Alcaraz marched into the quarter-finals of the tournament on Tuesday with convincing victories.Medvedev earned a 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 win over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer while Alcaraz took care of Italian Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-3, 6-3 win in 85 minutes.Second seed Jannik Sinner of Italy also moved into the last eight beating Christopher O’Connell of Australia 6-4, 6-3.Alcaraz, who is searching for the ‘Sunshine Double’ after winning in Indian Wells, was too much for 23rd seed Musetti although the Italian certainly contributed to a crowd-pleasing contest.Stadium court erupted after a rally in the third game of the second set saw Musetti clip the ball between his legs, lobbing Alcaraz but the Spaniard returned it with a ‘tweener’ only to lose the point to a deft volley at the net.But overall it was a comfortable match for Alcarez whose all-round game looks in strong shape.“I don’t know if this is the best game I’ve played but without a doubt it is the best feeling. I feel great on the court, I’m moving great, I am not injured and not thinking about my ankle anymore.....it’s the best feeling since the summer,” he added.In the quarters, Alcaraz will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Pole Hubert Hurkacz, triumphing in a third set tie-break for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win.Medvedev made an unusually sloppy start on Stadium court, with a series of unforced errors, and found himself trailing 4-0 in the first set tie-break.But having overturned that deficit, Medvedev went on to win all the remaining games as he showed that, despite his concerns over the rapid deterioration of balls on the hard court surface, he is comfortable with the conditions.The Russian suggested that Koepfer had struggled to recover from the blow of seeing his tie-break lead vanish.The world number four, Medvedev will face Chilean Nicolas Jarry who upset Norwegian seventh seed Ruud with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win.Cheered on by a large contingent of Chilean supporters, Jarry had 39 winners to Ruud’s 17 and was delighted at his progress into the last eight.Italy’s Sinner trailed 3-1 in the first set against O’Connell, as the Australian cleverly mixed up his approach, asking a variety of questions of his Italian opponent.He faced a potential double break at 0-30 but responded strongly to come back and take the set after 58 minutes.The second set was more straightforward for Sinner who broke O’Connell’s first service game and then took care of business to wrap up the win.“He started off really well, I made a couple of mistakes. When you are a break down especially in the beginning, it’s always tough, also mentally,” said Sinner.Sinner will face Czech Tomas Machac who eased into the quarters with a 6-3, 6-3 win over another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi.Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, ranked 57th in the world, continued his impressive run with another upset win, triumphing 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 over ninth seed Australian Alex de Minaur.Maroszan, who will break into the top 40 in Monday’s rankings, is playing in just his fourthMasters 1000 event and will play in his second quarter-final at this level against German Alexander Zverev.World number five Zverev crushed Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-4 inside 69 minutes, losing just nine points on his serve all match and never facing a break point.

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