Sports

AMMAN — Local football action gets back into high gear on Friday as the CFI Jordan Professional Football resumes while the Jordan Cup is also up for grabs in the final stages of the seasons competitions.

Hussein are eight points ahead of Wihdat and seem on their way to retaining the title with an unbeaten record so far.

The League was on a 20- day break for national team’s duty in Round 3/Group B qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Players returned to their clubs ahead of the weekend after Jordan held South Korea 1-1 in an away match to move up to second in the group with one stage to go. Jordan earlier beat Palestine 3-1 and now have the June 5 away match against Oman and June 10 home against Iraq to conclude Round 3 qualifiers.

As Palestine scored a dramatic last minute 2-1 win over Iraq and Kuwait held Oman 1-1, Jordan now need to beat Oman hoping Iraq stumbles against South Korea to automatically qualify to the World Cup as 18 Asian nations play in three groups in home and away format, with the top two from each group advancing directly to the World Cup while the rest will play Round 4 in two groups with group leaders advancing and a possible ninth team advancing through intercontinental playoffs after FIFA expanded the format to include 16 more teams in the upcoming 2026 edition.

Iran has booked a spot from from Group A and Japan has qualified from Group C leaving the rest to contest a spot depending on their final stage results and Round 4 to qualify.

Also this week. Jordan lost 3-1 to Oman in the final of the 6th U-23 West Asia Championship. Jordan was looking to win the title for the second time, and on their way to the final they beat Kuwait 2-0 and Syria 1-0.

MIAMI — The Miami Heat thrashed the Golden State Warriors 112-86 on Tuesday, handing Jimmy Butler a stinging loss in his first game against his old club since his acrimonious exit.

Butler, who was traded away to Golden State in February after a series of bust-ups with the Heat management, finished with just 11 points as the Warriors offense struggled to click.

Instead it was Miami who dominated from the outset, grabbing the lead early on before coasting to a wire-to-wire victory.

Butler, who played six seasons in Miami and was a talismanic figure in the team's run to the NBA Finals in 2020, was given a video tribute before the game started.

Although there were scattered boos in the Kaseya Center crowd, Butler was greeted largely positively on his return.

"This was a huge part of my career so I continue to say that I'm very grateful," Butler said. "I ain't spiteful towards nobody."

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said his team had not used Butler's presence in the opposition line-up as a motivating factor.

"The energy in the building was great," Spoelstra said.

"We didn't do any extra motivational speech leading up into this -- it was more about us staying the course with our process."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Miami had been ready for his team.

"People don't ever seem too amped up around here," Kerr said of the atmosphere. "It really wasn't that rabid an environment. It was typical Miami. The main part of Jimmy's return is that the Heat were ready.

"And Spo [Spoelstra] had them ready. It was about how hard they played and how well they competed. They took it to us."

Thunder, Cavs march on 

Miami improved to 31-41 with the victory to remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and on course for the play-in tournament.

The Warriors fell to 41-31 and are in sixth place in the West, just ahead of the seventh-placed Los Angeles Clippers (40-31).

In other games, the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 121-105 road win over the Sacramento Kings in northern California.

NBA Most Valuable Player contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Oklahoma brought up their 60th win of the season.

"It's a testament to our hard work," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "There's a lot more work to be done. We haven't done anything. We haven't achieved half of our goals yet."

Oklahoma City have already secured top spot in the Western Conference and are aiming to close out their regular season campaign by clinching the best overall record in the league.

In the race for second place in the West, the Houston Rockets remain in pole position after a battling 121-114 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Jalen Green led the Rockets with 32 points.

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their lead at the top of the standings with a 122-111 defeat of the Portland Trail Blazers, improving to 58-14.

AMMAN — The Jordanian national team, popularly known as " Nashama", drew on Tuesday with South Korea 1-1 at Suwon World Cup Stadium. The host scored after only five minutes when Lee Jael-sung rushed into the five- metre box to push Son Heung-min's corner over the line.

South Korea capitalied on a confused defensive play by the Jordanian team to create a goal-chances and in 12th minute Cho Yu-Min header from the left side of the five- metre box went over the crossbar.

In 30th minute Mousa Al Tamari saw his initial shot saved by Jo Hyeon-woo's dive ,but the rebound looped up towards Mahmoud Al Mardi and his strike was deflected past the keeper off the back of Korean defender Kwon Kyung-won.

Jordan created an opportunity when Tamari blasted the ball too high after a corner kick.

When the second half started, the host continue to press Jordanian defenders as the possession during the game was 75-25% for South Korea. Koreans tried desperately to find a net while Jordanians relied on counter-attacks.

In 69th minute, Park Yong-Woo's header from a close range was saved by Yazeed Abu Laila and that was the biggest opportunity for the Korean squad in the second half.

The tie moves South Korea to 16 points, three ahead of Jordan, with third-placed Iraq a point behind with 12 points.

Later during the evening Palestine beat Iraq 2-1 in Amman, helping the Jordanian team consolidate in the second place. Oman surprised Kuwait in Kuwait City with 1-0 victory clinching the fourth place with 10 points.

However, the race for the World Cup 2026 is far from over and Nashama has two more games: an away match with Oman on June 5th and a home game vs Iraq in Amman on June 10th.

After eight rounds in Group B, one thing is certain-there is no clear favourites and even experienced squads like South Korea can drop points against underdogs.

MIAMI GARDENS, United States — Australia's Alex de Minaur put and end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca's challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest.

Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout Monday, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca's match, complete with Brazilian flags and football-style chanting.

Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with both the blistering forehands and the partisan crowd.

Such was the dominance of Fonseca's raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet.

But de Minaur won six of the final seven games to move into the fourth round, keeping his cool even when the crowd, at times, disrupted his serve preparation.

"Mentally I was ready for this match, I knew I was not only going to play an incredible talent like Joao, playing with immense confidence and nothing to lose, but also an incredible crowd that was on his side from the first point until the last," de Minaur said.

"One of my biggest strengths is my mentality and that is what got me the win today," he added.

Top seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a slow start to power into the fourth round of the Miami Open with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Australia's Jordan Thompson.

The German was 4-1 down in the first set but then went on a roll, winning eight of the next nine games to progress.

Zverev lost in the opening round at Indian Wells, but with Carlos Alcaraz already out in Miami he will fancy his chances of adding to his list of seven Masters 1000 titles.

Third-seed Taylor Fritz also moved into the fourth round beating Denis Shapovalov of Canada 7-5, 6-3.

The American let slip a 5-2 lead in the first set, but regained control with his serve proving too much for Shapovalov.

In the women's draw, third-seed Coco Gauff's bid ended with a 6-4 6-4 loss to Poland's Magda Linette.

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka eased her way into the last eight with a 6-4, 6-4 win over last year's winner Danielle Collins of the USA.

Next, Sabalenka will be up against ninth seeded Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen who reached her second consecutive WTA 1000 quarter-final, with a straight-sets win over Ashlyn Krueger.

"I'm super happy to get this win in straight sets and happy with the level I played today," said Sabalenka.

"She's a tough opponent, and we had a lot of tough and tricky matches in the past. So was very happy to get through this one," she added.

Paolini sinks Osaka 

Italy's Jasmine Paolini enjoyed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback win over Naomi Osaka in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Since her comeback from maternity leave 15 months ago, Osaka has been showing some signs of getting back towards her best but Paolini was the first top 10 player Osaka has faced this year.

"I don't think that I can say that I've played a lot of matches against top players like this in a while," said Osaka.

"The way she plays kind of catches me off guard, simply because of her height. I didn't know she could hit like that," she added.

Emma Raducanu continued her impressive form in Miami, cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 in 69 minutes over American Amanda Anisimova, who had eliminated Indian Wells winner Mirra Andreeva on Sunday.

It is the first time Raducanu has won four straight WTA Tour main draw matches in a row since her US Open triumph in 2021.

Raducanu, who has brought in some old faces from the early days of her career for this tournament, said she was benefitting from their presence.

"I feel pretty relaxed and can be myself and be expressive and true to myself. I'm really happy with how things are on and off the court right now and just so happy that's able to transfer on to the match court," she said.

Alexandra Eala, the 19-year-old from the Philippines who upset Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday, was handed a place in the quarter-finals after her fourth round opponent, Spain's Paula Badosa, pulled out with a lower back injury.

In the last eight Eala will face the winner of Monday's match between Ukraine's Elina Svitolina and second-seed Iga Swiatek.

AMMAN — Jordan faces South Korea in an away match at 2:00 pm Amman time on Tuesday in Round 3/Group B qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup hoping to consolidate their qualifying chances after they beat Palestine 3-1 on the weekend to move up to second in the group.

Also Tuesday, Palestine plays Iraq in Amman while Kuwait plays Oman in matches that will somewhat determine the group qualifiers. Eighteen Asian nations playing in three groups in home and away format, now enter the final stretch of qualifying with the top two from each group advancing directly to the World Cup while the rest will play Round 4 in two groups with group leaders advancing , and a possible ninth team advancing through intercontinental playoffs.

After reaching the Asian Cup final last year, expectations are high Jordan can make it to the World Cup finals for the first time after FIFA expanded the format to include 16 more teams in the upcoming 2026 edition.

Jordan’s win against Palestine on goals by Yazan Al Arab, Abdullah Nasib and Mousa Ta’mari boosted the squad’s qualifying chances ahead of the Korea match as Yonhap News Agency reported “undermanned Korea has gone from feeling hopeful it could grab an early World Cup berth to standing on the precipice of losing the top spot in the qualification group”.

So far, Jordan held Iraq 0-0 and Kuwait 1-1 after earlier held Kuwait 1-1, beat Palestine 3-1, lost 2-0 to South Korea and beat Oman 4-0. Jordan will play Oman and Iraq in the concluding qualifiers in June.

In other matches, Iraq managed to equalise against Kuwait in the final minute as Oman held South Korea 1-1 on Thursday. Iraq will next play Palestine whichdrew 1-1 with South Korea as Iraq beat Oman 1-0 earlier.

World No. 23, South Korea now leads the group with 15 points but 64th-ranked Jordan is only three points behind after beating Palestine. Therefore, if Jordan beats South Korea on Tuesday, it will climb top of Group B. Iraq is in third place, also with 12 points, butwith a +2 goal differential, and it could threaten South Korea for second place too.

In the first leg it was Jordan which had a depleted lineup with star striker Ta’mari sidelined against South Korea , whileYazan Nu’eimat joined the second half as Jordan lost 2-0. 

Now, the Korean team will be without several injured players. The squad will miss Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in, who had replaced Birmingham City midfielder Paik Seung-ho late in the first half after Paik, starting in place of banged-up Feyenoord midfielder Hwang In-beom, sustained a hamstring injury.

Their lineup was already without Bayern Munich centre back Kim Min-jae, due to left Achilles tendinitis. Jung Seung-hyun of Al-Wasl, a candidate to take Kim's place, also sat out against Oman due to a calf injury.On the weekend, head coach Hong Myung-bo dropped Lee, Paik and Jung from the squad. 

Looking back, had South Korea defeated Oman, a win over Jordan would have put South Korea in the 2026 World Cup with two matches left. However, after the draw -- Hong called it the team's "worst performance" so far in the third round -- South Korea must beat Jordan just to stay atop the Group B tables.

On the other hand, throughout earlier rounds, Jordan’s Moroccan coach Jamal Sellami has had to contend with constant injuries to top strikers like Ta’mari and Nue’imat, and now Ali Alwan will miss the upcomingtwo qualifiers. As he announced the lineup last weekend, the coach was eyeing players abroad like Yousef Saleh who plays for England’s Cardiff City and Ahmad Bani Mustafa who plays in Romanian’s league’s Otelul Galati. However, both players will not be part of the upcoming two matches as the lineup also included absentees Noor Bani Atiya, Saad Rousan, Rizeq Bani Hani and U-23 team star goalie Antwan Awad.

Sellami has recalled players including Hussein Irbid’s Adham Qureishi, and Wisam Riyalat, Salt’s Mohammad Amwasi as well as Mohammad Assaf who plays for Germany’s Bremer SV and Mohammad Nasser who plays in Denmark’s for HB Koje.

SHANGHAI — Oscar Piastri hailed his "mega" McLaren after winning a Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday later overshadowed by the disqualifications of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for technical infringements.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was also kicked out after Piastri led a McLaren one-two from pole position with Lando Norris second.

Almost three hours after the chequered flag, stewards ruled that Leclerc and Gasly had cars that weighed less than the 800 kilogram minimum, while Hamilton was found to have excessive plank wear underneath his car.

Leclerc had finished fifth and Hamilton sixth. Their points have been stripped with all the drivers below them gaining places.

Gasly finished 11th so was already out of the points.

It means that Esteban Ocon moves up to fifth, Kimi Antonelli to sixth, Alex Albon to seventh and Oliver Bearman to eighth.

Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz were promoted to score points for ninth and 10th respectively.

It was a disastrous end to a weekend that had started so brilliantly for Ferrari when Hamilton took his maiden win for his new team in Saturday's sprint.

The plank assembly is a skid plate which is designed to wear away when the floor strikes against bumps on the track or kerbs.

If it is too worn it can improve performance as cars can run closer to track, increasing "ground effect" down force.

During the race Piastri kept a cool head to bounce back from the disappointment of his spin in the closing laps of the season-opener in Melbourne a week ago.

From the moment he fended off George Russell's Mercedes at the first bend, Piastri was in total control for all 56 laps around the 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit as he took his third grand prix win.

'Lucky Norris' 

Norris darted past from third on the grid at the same turn and the two McLarens then sped away, leaving Russell to take his second third-place finish of the season.

It was McLaren's 50th one-two finish in their long history.

"It's been an incredible weekend, the car has been pretty mega," said Piastri, 23, after McLaren made a one-stop strategy work to perfection.

"Very, very happy. The hard was a much better tyre than everyone expected so to go all the way to the end was a bit of a surprise, but a happy surprise."

Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen snatched fourth place after a thrilling late pass on Leclerc.

Norris had to cope with a late brake issue which forced him to settle for second rather than launch a challenge on his teammate.

"I was lucky. Lucky to finish the race today and that's not something you want to be saying," said a relieved Norris, for whom the finish line came just in time.

"Brakes are something you hate but something you really do need and it can save your life," he added.

Norris leads the championship after two race weekends on 44 points from Verstappen on 36. Russell is on 35 with Piastri closing in on 34.

Russell was delighted with third place.

"The car has been great this weekend and probably one of my best weekends in Formula One in terms of performance, so really pleased with that," said the Englishman.

Four-time world champion Verstappen showed all his race craft and experience to nurse his tyres to perfection, biding his time to make his move on Leclerc.

"I suddenly picked up tyre grip... where others maybe plateaued a bit more," he said.

"The first half of the race was quite tough but we set out to do our own pace."

Haas were much improved from Melbourne, where they ran 13th and 14th, finishing with two cars in the points with Ocon and rookie Bearman.

The third round of the season is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on April 4-6.

AMMAN — In a commanding performance, the Jordanian national team "Nashama" on Thursday defeated Palestine 3-1 in its World Cup qualification match at Amman International Stadium. Under the leadership of coach Jamal Sellami, Jordan showed complete dominance throughout the game, securing a crucial win in Group B. This victory has raised the hopes of Jordanians as they continue their journey towards qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The match kicked off with a fast-paced start, and in the 3rd minute, Yazan Al Arab opened the scoring for Jordan with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner. The goal came after a well-delivered cross from Mousa Al Ta’mari, following a corner kick, setting the tone for the rest of the match. The early goal energised the home crowd and boosted Jordan's confidence.

Just 8 minutes later, in the 11th minute, Abdallah Nasib doubled Jordan’s lead with a header from close range into the center of the goal. The assist came from Yazan Naimat, who provided an excellent pass during a set-piece situation. This early dominance by Jordan left Palestine struggling to respond. The team’s quick passing and well-coordinated play on set pieces highlighted their attacking strength.

However, in the 33rd minute, Palestine pulled one back. Tamer Seyam found the net with a left-footed shot from a close range to the high centre of the goal, following a well-executed cross from Ahmad Taha. While Palestine’s goal sparked a brief moment of hope, Jordan quickly regained control of the game. Despite Palestine's efforts, the Jordanian defense remained resolute, preventing any further breakthroughs.

Just before halftime, in the 45+3rd minute, Jordan restored their two-goal advantage. Mousa Al Ta’mari scored a brilliant left-footed shot from the right side of the box into the bottom left corner, giving Jordan a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into the break. This goal was a fitting reward for Jordan’s attacking intensity and marked the perfect end to a dominant first half.

The second half saw Jordan manage the game efficiently, never allowing Palestine to threaten their lead. The 3-1 victory reflected Jordan’s overall dominance and strategic play. The result has instilled confidence among Jordanians as it continues, the World Cup qualifying campaign. The Nashama controlled the pace of the match and showcased their ability to respond to pressure, ensuring they never let the game slip out of their hands.

With this victory, Jordan sits in second place with 12 points, tied with Iraq but ahead on goal difference. South Korea remains at the top of the group with 15 points. Oman follows with seven points, while Kuwait has five points, and Palestine sits at the bottom with three points.

Looking ahead, Jordan now prepares for the upcoming match away against South Korea, the top team in the group, which will be a crucial test in its journey towards qualification. With the momentum from this win, the Nashama are eager to take on this challenge and continue their push towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

AMMAN — The national football team, The Nashama, beat Palestine 3-1, moving again to second place in Group B in FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers with 12 points after South Korea.

The Nashama scored the first goal through defender Yazan Al Arab in the 3rd minute,  second goal by Abdullah Nasib in the 12th minute and third goal by star player Musa Taamari, at the end of first half.

Thamer Seyam scored the goal for Palestine in the 31st minute.