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AMMAN — The U-23 national men’s team beat Yemen 3-1 in their opening match at the West Asian Championship that kicked off in Doha on Wednesday.

The team left Amman over the Eid holiday to play the inaugural event in Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Palestine and Yemen. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will play in Group B while the UAE, Oman and Syria are in Group C. The Kingdom will next play Qatar on October 3.

AMMAN – Jordan’s national basketball squad on Tuesday lost to Lebanon 80-76 in Round 2 Group F action of the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China, which qualifies the winner to represent Asia at the 2016 Summer Olympics basketball tournament.

The Kingdom dug in and shaved points off the deficit until the very end, closing the gap to just three points. But it came up a couple of plays short of completing the comeback.

Though Lebanon had the wind in its sails and a big lead early in the second half, it almost saw the advantage evaporate. Jordan’s Mohammad Abdeen hit a three-pointer with 3:03 left in the contest to cut the deficit to 75-70. Jordan got the ball back after and could have pulled to within three but Alex Legion was off target with a jumper.

According to fiba.com, Jordan hit a drought from long range, making just 4 of 21 (19 per cent) while Lebanon was far more impressive 10 of 25 (40 per cent). 

In the end, Jordan dug its a huge hole that it simply could not climb out of against a Lebanese team that showed great mental fortitude after suffering heavy defeats to Korea and China, according to fiba.com. Lebanon is expected to be extremely dangerous opponent for the Philippines on Thursday.

Jordan, which is coached by former Philippine national men’s basketball team coach, Rajko Toroman, bowed out of the tournament with the loss. 

Jordan played the preliminary round in Group C losing to South Korea (87-60), beating Singapore (98-68) and losing to China 84-67.

In Round 2 the team joined the top three from Group D: Lebanon, Kazakhstan and Qatar. Jordan beat had earlier beaten Qatar (84-73) and Kazakhstan (87-73).

The Kingdom clinched a qualifying spot to the tournament when it came in runner-up at the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) Championship earlier this summer.

It is the Kingdom’s 9th time at the Asian Basketball Championship for 2002 and 2014 West Asia champ Jordan. The country’s best performance at FIBA Asia was in 2011, where for the first time in history, Jordan reached the final but lost the chance to qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing the game 70-69 to China and settling for runner-up. 

Jordan then played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Men, but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. The OQT gave Asia’s second and third teams a chance to qualify to the London Games basketball event. 

Although the men’s basketball team reached the 2010 World Championship — and was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a world championship in a team sport alongside the junior team in 1995 — official support for Jordan’s second most popular sport is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the game locally and a less competitive advantage on the regional scene.

AMMAN – The organising committee of the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will focus on the promotional side of the event to further engage football fans, organising committee CEO Samar Nassar said on Tuesday.

Jordan is the first Arab country to host such a prestigious competition, slated to start on September 30, 2016.

"During the previous stage, we focused on infrastructure; now we are going to highlight the promotional side. We will hold a number of activities in the Kingdom's hosting cities," Nassar told reporters during a press conference held at the Jordan Football Association on Tuesday.

Nassar said the competition’s motto is "Jordan is our stadium", to show that the country is ready to host this important contest.

FIFA representative Tatjana Haenni said work was on track.

"We are on the way to finalise contracts with hotels to provide participating teams, FIFA delegations and referees with accommodations," she told the attendees.

The event is going to benefit the Kingdom in more than one way. Besides putting Jordan on the sports, map, for hosting such an important competition, it will also highlight the peaceful atmosphere and bring economic benefits.

President of the organising committee Salah Sabra said the championship will establish a precedent and leave an impressive legacy, so a few understandable setbacks have to be accepted.

"Although the Amman International Stadium will be closed for a while for maintenance, which might negatively affect some clubs, the country as a whole will enjoy this and other high-standard stadiums in the future. Without this competition we would have never had the chance to rehabilitate these facilities," said Sabra.

The Kingdom has to finish the infrastructure for the matches six months ahead of the beginning of the competition. Sabra is optimistic that the work will be done eight months before the beginning of the tournament.

During the championship, over the course of 22 days, a total of 16 teams will play 32 matches on four stadiums, which will be located in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa.

The Amman International Stadium, in Al Hussein Youth Sports City, has a capacity of 13,000. It is few minutes away from Amman’s main hotel districts.

The King Abdullah International Stadium, located at King Abdullah II Sports City in Qweismeh, has a capacity of 12,000 and is equally conveniently set vis-à-vis Amman’s hotel areas.

Irbid's Prince Al Hassan Stadium, located at Al Hassan Sports City, 88 kilometres north of Amman, has a capacity of 12,000.

Prince Mohammad Stadium, in Zarqa, can accommodate 12,000 spectators and is 33 kilometres northeast of Amman.

AMMAN – Jordan defeated Kazakhstan 87-73 on Monday in the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China. 

The national basketball team will play West Asia Basketball Association (WABA) rivals Lebanon on Tuesday, a fixture described by FIBA as a do-or-die game as each team needs to win in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. 

According to FIBA, Alex Legion had 23 points and five assists while Zaid Abbas finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for the Jordanians.

Kazakhstan got another solid showing from Jerry Johnson but the point guard's game-high 26 points were not enough to prevent the side from enduring a fourth defeat in five FIBA Asia Championship games.

Its 0-3 record in Group F means the Kazakhs have no chance of advancing to the next stage of the competition, even if it was to beat Korea on Tuesday, FIBA reported on its website.

Kazakhstan fought Jordan hard but began to lose the initiative late in the first half. Trailing 38-35 after a Johnson three-pointer, Vitaliy Strebkov's team fell further behind after jump shots from Sam Daghlas and Ali Jamal Zaghab, and two free-throws from Daghlas. The Kazakhs got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The FIBA described Abbas as the game hero, saying he did a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor to help Jordan win with the team 14 points better than Kazakhstan when he was on the court.

On Sunday, Jordan defeated Qatar, 84-73. 

AMMAN — Qatar rally legend Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah can clinch his 11th Middle East Rally Championship title in 13 years when the series moves to Jordan for round six from October 15-17, according to a statement from the Jordan Rally Media Service.

Attiyah stepped closer to the crown after an exhilarating Cyprus Rally that he won for the fourth time by the narrowest of margins from one of Europe’s leading drivers.

With just 1.3 seconds separating Attiyah and Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz heading into the 16th and final 13km stage, the Qatari held on to record his 58th MERC victory and another maximum points haul. Kajetanowicz had led from the third to the start of the 15th stage but eventually lost out by just seven seconds.

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari finished third.

“Nasser has shown once again this year what a fantastic competitor he is so we are looking forward to seeing him coming to Jordan along with the region’s other top drivers,” said Othman Nassif, CEO of Jordan Motorsport, which organises the Jordan Rally.

“For sure, he won’t have it all his own way but he has won our event on a number of occasions and will be tough to beat. It makes for a very interesting event here in a few weeks time.”

Attiyah now leads the championship by 49 points from the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi. Victory in Jordan would give him an unassailable lead at the top with two round left in Oman and Dubai.

The Jordan Rally gets under way with a special spectator event on October 15, followed by two days of action based out of the Dead Sea Service Park.

BARCELONA — Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is expected to be out for up to two months after suffering a knee injury in their La Liga victory over Las Palmas on Saturday, the club said in a statement.

The Argentine picked up the injury in a clash of legs with Daniel Castellano after three minutes and tried to continue but was substituted six minutes later.

“Tests have confirmed that Leo Messi has torn the internal collateral ligament of his left knee,” Barcelona said in a statement.

“The estimated time that he will be absent is around seven or eight weeks.”

Barca went on to win 2-1 with a double from Luis Suarez, but midfielder Sergio Busquets said losing Messi was a big blow.

Villarreal top

Villarreal went top with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday after a toothless Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to 10-man Malaga.

Villarreal’s victory came courtesy of a goal from Leo Baptistao, who finished clinically having been found by Roberto Soldado inside the area after 14 minutes to secure their fifth straight win.

The best chances for a below-par Atletico fell to Antoine Griezmann at the end of each half, but he was denied by Villarreal keeper Alphonse Areola.

Villarreal are surprise leaders with 16 points from six games, a point more than Barca and two ahead of Real.

Iago Aspas grabbed a 76th-minute equaliser to give fourth-placed Celta Vigo a 1-1 draw at Eibar.

Barca, who were looking to rebound from a 4-1 hammering by Celta Vigo on Wednesday, lost Messi after just nine minutes following a clash of legs.

The Argentine, who was in the process of shooting, collided with Daniel Castellano after three minutes.

He tried to continue but was eventually forced off the pitch, with the club later confirming that tests had shown he had suffered knee ligament damage.

Best player

“He [Messi] is the best player in the world, our best player and the most dangerous so we are going to notice this,” midfielder Sergio Busquets told reporters.

“We are having a lot of bad luck with injuries and particularly now when we cannot sign players.”

Suarez gave Barca the breakthrough with a powerful header into the corner from a Sergi Roberto cross after 25 minutes.

The tension was taken out of the game when Suarez doubled his tally, cracking the ball into the roof of the net from 12 metres after Munir El Haddadi crossed from the right and Busquets left the ball for the former Liverpool striker to finish.

Neymar blazed a penalty over the crossbar, following a handball by Antolin Alcaraz, after 66 minutes and Las Palmas pulled a goal back with a deflected Jonathan Viera strike two minutes from fulltime.

Real pushed forward from the start in their match against Malaga, but a combination of fine goalkeeping from Carlos Kameni and near misses prevented them from breaking the deadlock.

Malaga’s most dangerous player Nordin Amrabat was sent off for elbowing Marcelo after 76 minutes, but Real could not find a way through, and it was a frustrating match for Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow forwards.

“We are angry because we could have won and didn’t,” Real keeper Keylor Navas told reporters.

“There’s a long way to go, we will try not to lose more and achieve our objectives.”

Isco, who was lively for Real and stretched the Malaga defence, had the best chance of the first half when he volleyed a deep Marcelo cross just wide of the post.

Kameni was a rock at the back making a series of saves including a block from a Ronaldo volley after the break that left the Portuguese looking skywards.

AMMAN — The U-23 national team will play Yemen in its opening match at the West Asian Championship kicking off in Doha on September 30.

The team left Amman over the Eid holiday to play the inaugural event in Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Palestine and Yemen. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will play in Group B while the UAE, Oman, and Syria are in Group C. The top team from each group will move on to Round 2 alongside the best second placed team.

The relatively easy draw might have served Jordan making up for an otherwise modest preparation period hampered with no training camps and no serious friendlies. Coach Jamal Abu Abed noted “the Asian and Olympic agenda needed competitive playing experience underlining that the U-23 team squad did not have enough high level friendlies”. Even a four-nation friendly in Slovakia was cancelled after clubs did not release U-23 players to join training citing the local agenda. 

In 2014, Jordan’s U-23 squad had similar circumstances when it represented Jordan at the Asian Games. The team made to the quarter-finals despite a bumpy preparation period amid the busy agenda of the national team as well as local clubs. 

Following its West Asian Championship agenda, the U-23 national team needs to prepare for the 2nd edition of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship, which also serves as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Jordan got a tough draw where it will play in Group D next to Australia, the UAE and Vietnam at the 16-team competition set for Qatar in January 12-30, 2016.

The Kingdom qualified to the U-23 Championship after it topped Group B qualifiers in Amman as Jordan held Kuwait 3-3, beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0 and Pakistan 5-0 to advance. 

In the inaugural edition, the U-23 team impressed observers when it beat South Korea to take bronze at the AFC U-22 Championship (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship) as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to take the title.

Coach Jamal Abu Abed described the draw as “tough”. He added a serious effort was needed to counter the team’s aim of qualifying to the Olympic Games, adding that the mere effort of regrouping the line-up was complicated with the national team’s and clubs agendas taking precedence. 

“ The AFC U-23 Championship serves as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games. We need the support of all concerned so that a full line-up of recalled players attend practice when regrouped,” underlined Abu Abed.

SUZUKA, Japan — Mercedes go into Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix hoping to show that their baffling lack of pace in Singapore was just a one-off but Lewis Hamilton and team mate Nico Rosberg need some convincing.

“I don’t have any confidence. I don’t have any information to give me that confidence,” world champion Hamilton told British reporters when asked how confident he was that Suzuka would be different.

“I’m hoping it’s a one-off but it was a strange weekend to say the least.

“Our car has not got slower. I think some other people might have brought an upgrade package... but that doesn’t explain it,” added the Briton.

Eclipsed in qualifying after 11 poles in 12 races, Hamilton suffered his first retirement of the season in Singapore and saw his lead over Rosberg cut to 41 points with six rounds remaining.

On a tight and twisty circuit, the previously dominant Mercedes were a second and a half slower than Sebastian Vettel’s winning Ferrari.

The heat and slow nature of the track may have played to rivals’ strengths, but there will be worried faces among the championship leaders until at least Friday practice at Suzuka and possibly beyond.

The Japanese circuit is both fast and demanding, with the flat-out 130R curve a stand-out feature, and should be much more to Mercedes’ liking. If Ferrari are quicker there too, then the fight is really on.

“To be so far off the pace all of a sudden, to not understand it, that’s really bad because then how are you going to improve it?,” asked Rosberg, who finished fourth, after Sunday’s race.

“You just hope that at the next track it’s going to come towards us again. The chances are extremely good, because at all other tracks we’ve been so fast, but who knows?”

Red Bull principal Christian Horner, whose team have been rebuffed by Mercedes in their quest for a new engine partner, expected to see the champions pick up speed but hoped a different scenario might evolve.

Senna mark

“It’s quite confusing to see them so far off but maybe some of the new changes that have been introduced tyre-wise may have had an effect, who knows?,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll see maybe business as usual next weekend.

“If it’s not, then it’s obviously something that’s been introduced that’s affecting their performance.”

Singapore was Hamilton’s chance to equal the 41 wins of his late hero Ayrton Senna and he has every chance of doing that on Sunday, even if from one more start than the great Brazilian triple champion.

In other respects, he and Mercedes will be starting over after falling just short of the all-time records for most individual and team pole positions in a row.

But the Briton, winner of seven races this season and still firmly on course for a third title, can consider himself fortunate.

“The car broke down... and I didn’t lose a huge amount of points to the guy who’s right behind me. It could have been a lot worse, so I’m looking at the glass half-full,” said Hamilton.

The Suzuka weekend will be a tough homecoming for Honda, whose return as engine partners to McLaren has been painfully uncompetitive, even if Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso can count on plenty of local support.

The race could also be a farewell from Button, a winner at Suzuka in 2011, to his Japanese fans if speculation that he is set to quit the sport at the end of the season are accurate.

It will also be emotionally charged for the entire paddock, returning one year on from the late Jules Bianchi’s horrific accident.

AMMAN — Jordan’s national basketball squad lost to South Korea 87-60 on Wednesday in its opening match at the 28th Asian Basketball Championship which tips off in Changsha, China starting September 23 and qualifies the winner to represent Asia at the 2016 Summer Olympics basketball tournament.

Jordan will play in Group C alongside China, Singapore and South Korea and the top three teams will move to Round 2 to join the top three from Group D which includes Taiwan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Qatar.

AMMAN – Jordan’s national basketball squad plays South Korea on Wednesday in its opening match at the 28th Asian Basketball Championship which tips off in Changsha, China starting September 23 and qualifies the winner to represent Asia at the 2016 Summer Olympics basketball tournament.

Jordan will play in Group C alongside China, Singapore and South Korea and the top three teams will move to Round 2 to join the top three from Group D which includes Taiwan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan and Qatar.

Group A includes Iran, Japan, India and Malaysia, while Group B is made up of the Philippines, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Palestine.

In the preliminary round, the 16 teams will play in four groups with the top three teams from each advancing to the Round 2 where the qualifying teams from Groups A and B will form Group E, while those from Groups C and D will form Group F. Teams will play the teams from the group they had not faced before. The top four teams from each group will proceed to the final round. The champion will qualify to the 2016 Summer Olympics. The runner-up, third and fourth place will qualify to the Final Olympic qualifying tournament.

The Kingdom clinched one of three qualifying slots after it beat Iraq 86-71, lost to Lebanon 92-74 and beat Palestine 92-76 and took runner-up spot after it beat Syria 80-69 at the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) Championship earlier this summer.

Lebanon took top spot from the zone, but it was the qualification of Palestine for the first time ever that was historic following their 70-62 win over Iraq. Host China and 2014 FIBA Asia Cup champion Iran automatically qualified to the FIBA Asia.

It will be the 9th time at the Asian Basketball Championship for 2002 and 2014 West Asia champ Jordan. The country’s best performance at FIBA Asia was in 2011, where for the first time in history, Jordan reached the final but lost the chance to qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing the final 70-69 to China and settling for runner-up. Jordan then played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Men but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. The OQT gave Asia’s second and third teams a chance to qualify to the London Games basketball event. 

The national team just concluded a training camp in the Philippines and earlier played a four nation friendly in China where the squad lost the final match 76-65 to the Chinese Olympic team after earlier beating China 72-70, Palestine 95-55 and the UAE 101-72.

The participation of stars Zaid Abbas and Sam Daghlas, who were both playing abroad and were not part of the line-up in the past two years, made up for the mediocre training agenda as the squad only managed to play two friendlies against Palestine prior to departure. 

Due to financial constraints crippling the Jordan Basketball Federation (JBF), Jordan declined participation at the William Jones Tournament and the King Abdullah Cup was cancelled. Participation at the EXPO four nation friendly was not deemed technically needed with no top tier teams competing, but the JBF went ahead after all other options were exhausted and after managing to secure part coverage of participation costs.

Although the men’s basketball team reached the World Championship in 2010 — and was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a world championship in a team sport alongside the junior team in 1995 — official support for Jordan’s second most popular sport is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the game locally and less competitive advantage on the regional scene.