QATAR

Retief Goosen took a big step towards re-discovering the form he lost in 2006 with a clinical seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the ,2-million Qatar Masters on Thursday. The South African held his own in the sometimes blustery conditions in the afternoon to take a one-shot lead over Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez and Aussie Nick O’Hern, who shot both shot 66.

Amaglug-glug beat Japan 1-0 during their first opening match of the under-23 international friendly in Doha, Qatar. The only goal of this Group A encounter was scored by the deadly Cosmos striker, Sibusiso Hadebe, in the fourth minute. The next Amaglug-glug game is against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

Nikolay Davydenko of the Russian Federation defeated Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday, leading the top six seeds into the quarterfinals of the -million Qatar Open. Second-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, number three Marco Baghdatis and number four Andy Murray also advanced with straight-set victories.

The Asian Games has been hit by a chickenpox outbreak amongst the Maldives team but organisers insist that the problem will not affect the 10 000 athletes taking part. The disease hit three members of the Indian Ocean island’s volleyball squad.

The ball used in this year’s World Cup final between Italy and France has sold at an auction for a staggering ,4-million. Signed by the Italian team which beat France on penalties, it was snapped up by Qatar’s emir-in-waiting Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani.

Passengers and stewards on board a Qatar Airways plane heading to Qatar from Jordan overpowered an Eritrean passenger who tried to force his way into the cockpit on Thursday, an airline spokesperson said. She told Al Jazeera television that the Eritrean man (21) was carrying a box containing an unknown substance, prompting the captain to return to Jordan immediately.

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal has opposed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s referendum call, protesting that it would annul the results of the January elections. ”This matter represents a nullification of the legislative institution and an annulment of the outcome of the elections,” Meshaal told the Qatari daily al-Watan.

America’s Justin Gatlin set a new 100m world record at the Qatar Super Grand Prix on Friday with a time of 9,76sec. The Olympic champion bettered the old mark of 9,77sec held by Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, which was set in Athens last year. The 24-year-old American, who clocked 9,85sec in the semifinal, was overjoyed by his record.

Roger Federer went a long way towards dispelling doubts about his fitness to remain world number one for a third successive year with a successful defence of his Qatar Open title in Doha on Saturday. Federer celebrated a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win in a fine final over Gael Monfils, the exciting 19-year-old Frenchman.

Roger Federer’s preparation for the year’s first grand slam, the Australian Open in 10 days’ time, gathered momentum as he reached the final in defence of his Qatar Open title on Friday. The world number one from Switzerland produced his best performance of the week so far as he overcame Tommy Haas.

Roger Federer’s preparation for an attempt at recapturing the Australian Open title gathered momentum as he reached the semifinals in defence of his title at the Qatar Open on Thursday. The world number one from Switzerland showed signs of developing rhythm and improving movement during a 6-4, 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis.

Mauritania’s ousted leader Maaouiya Ould Taya arrived on Monday in Qatar, which has reportedly granted him asylum after he was toppled in a bloodless coup almost three weeks ago. ”The delegation arrived in Doha at 8am,” said Mohamad Ould Ali, the private teacher of the exiled leader, adding that he was in ”high spirits”.

Ernie Els won his second straight tournament in the Middle East, rallying to take the Qatar Masters by one shot after carding a seven-under 65 in the final round on Sunday. The third-ranked South African, who finished with a 12-under 276, fired seven birdies to come back from a five-stroke deficit overnight.

Six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has pulled out of the Tour of Qatar, citing family reasons. The Qatar race is scheduled for January 31 to February 4. ”This is quite unfortunate since we were looking forward to seeing him race here for the first time,” the president of the Qatar Cycling Federation said on Friday.

A militant group calling itself the ”Brigades of Iraq’s Honourable People” on Wednesday provided a video that shows the beheading of three members of the Iraqi national guard accused of spying for United States forces, Al-Jazeera television said. Al-Jazeera will refrain from airing the footage ”out of respect for viewers’ feelings”.

Qatar is set to substitute robots for jockeys in camel races, a favourite sport in the oil-rich Gulf region that has faced widespread criticism over the use of child jockeys from the Indian subcontinent. But the sport’s supremo in Doha insists the plan to use ”robot jockeys” within the coming year is not in response to protests by human rights groups.

Al-Jazeera expressed ”outrage” on Monday at Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s criticism of the satellite news channel’s coverage of Iraq and threats to close its Baghdad bureau. ”Al-Jazeera would have hoped the Iraqi government would embark on its new term with initiatives to lift media restrictions,” the station said in a statement.

Chief terror suspect Osama bin Laden is alive and well, a representative for his al-Qaida network said in a statement broadcast on Sunday on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel.