SAKAKA, Saudi Arabia: Mike Horn made his name by walking to some of the world’s remotest spots but as the Dakar Rally resumes on Sunday, he is in a diesel car, trying to navigate the Saudi Arabian desert with the aim of “conserving the planet.”
Horn, a 54-year-old Swiss based South African, is famed for exploits that include circling the Equator without using any motorized transport and walking to the North Pole in winter without dogs or motor vehicles.
He is competing in his second Dakar Rally, as navigator for veteran French driver Cyril Despres, in a traditional diesel-powered car with the objective of making such cars obsolete.
In addition to competing, the car is designed to collect data as part of a project named Gen-Z which aims to enter a competitive hydrogen-powered car in the 2023 rally.
The car has been fitted with sensors by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) which plans to manufacture the prototype that will run on an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
“There’s a real goal behind all this, and it’s essential,” said the 46-year-old Despres, who is in his 21st Dakar rally and has won the motorbike category five times. “That’s new for me.”
Horn first raced last year, when he and Despres lasted three stages. The explorer took heavy criticism for participating in a rally with a notorious carbon footprint.
“There are three things that made me come back,” he said: “First of all the human adventure, then the competition, I like to win and to reach the end of my expeditions and of course collect data for research and for future generations.”
“I can play an important part in changing the way we participate in motor sports,” said Horn. “To conserve the planet to be able to leave a future to the younger generation is one of my life missions.”
After a rest day on Saturday, the rally resumes Sunday with the 737 kilometer seventh stage and Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel leading in the car class.
With 55 cars still running and six of the 12 stages remaining, Horn and Despres are 17th in their 340 horsepower Peugeot, 3 hours 42 minutes and 59 seconds behind Peterhansel.
Despres said it was important to compete.
“If we drive at 50% of the speed required to be with the best, the CEA will not be able to make a fuel cell with the power needed to win. We have to push as hard as we can to make this data real,” he said.
For the moment, their biggest problem is navigation.
“Last year we were only able to do three stages,” said Horn.
“I couldn’t learn navigation with the roadbook in only three stages. Besides I have to do it in French, it would be easier for me to do it in Afrikaans.”
He said that navigating in a rally field was different from crossing remote regions alone on foot.
“When you walk where no one has ever walked before it’s different from when you have 40 cars in front of you,” he said. “I have to be able to look up from the roadbook to look outside, find the sun or a line of dunes to find my way around.”
They are accompanied in Saudi Arabia by Matthieu Parent of Vaison Sport, a French company that specializes in building prototype race cars.
“We need to create a new vehicle around the fuel cell,” Parent said.
“To manufacture a vehicle that emits only water vapor and capable of winning the Dakar in 2023 is tough, but it is possible.”
Explorer Horn in Saudi sands seeks a rally without petrol
https://arab.news/8zeh2
Explorer Horn in Saudi sands seeks a rally without petrol
- He is competing in his second Dakar Rally, as navigator for veteran French driver Cyril Despres
- His diesel car has been fitted with sensors, with the aim of manufacturing the prototype that will run on an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell
No place like Dome: Boxing back at Tyson-Douglas Tokyo upset venue
- Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery
- Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson
TOKYO: When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated around the world.
Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990.
Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery.
The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.
But Inoue faces a stern test against the 29-year-old Nery, a former two-division world champion.
Inoue will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson, who arrived in Tokyo more than three decades ago with an aura of invincibility.
“Tyson’s status at that time was of being this godlike, completely unbeatable heavyweight,” James Sterngold, who reported on the fight for the New York Times, told AFP.
“He was really one of a kind — he was up on a pedestal that only a small number of athletes can occupy.”
Tyson was expected to win so easily that Sterngold, a news reporter based in Tokyo, was asked to cover the fight because the New York Times did not want to send a specialist boxing writer “halfway around the world for 90 seconds.”
Veteran Japanese boxing writer Shoji Tsue, who has covered the sport for 50 years, was also expecting a quick win for Tyson, even after seeing the American knocked down by sparring partner Greg Page in training.
“Everyone thought that because Tyson was Tyson, there was no way he would lose, no matter what happened,” said Tsue.
Tyson’s autobiography said he had been too busy partying to prepare properly for Douglas, who had an unspectacular win-loss-draw record of 29-4-1 (19 KOs).
Sterngold interviewed Tyson in his hotel room days before the fight and found him wrapped in a bedsheet watching martial arts movies.
“He seemed like he didn’t really care,” said Sterngold. “He clearly wasn’t in a revved-up frame of mind.”
The fight began at lunchtime and Tsue said the Tokyo Dome was “surprisingly quiet,” with fans anticipating another Tyson demolition job.
But Douglas began to control the fight, and although he was knocked down in the eighth, he got up and sent Tyson sprawling to the canvas two rounds later.
The world heavyweight champion failed to beat the count, with those watching trying to make sense of what they had just seen.
“I was sitting in the press seats closest to the ring, and Tyson went down right in front of me,” said Tsue.
“My heart was thumping. I wondered if it was possible that something like this could even happen?“
The drama was not over as promoter Don King rushed to reporters and tried to convince them that Tyson had not lost.
“He told us that we shouldn’t file stories because it was not a knockout, that the ref had miscounted and that King had already affirmed that it was going to be overturned,” said Sterngold.
“This story was very fishy, but it added to the drama.”
King failed to have the result thrown out and Tyson never regained his superhuman status.
Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson.
Nery said the choice of venue could be an omen.
“If Mike Tyson can lose his unbeaten record there, then so can Naoya Inoue,” Nery said recently at his training camp.
Tsue predicted a Inoue victory but warned that the Mexican, who has a 35-1 record with 27 KOs, was capable of an upset.
Inoue was, he said, the right man to bring boxing back to the historic stadium.
“There hadn’t been any boxers who would have been a good fit for a match at the Tokyo Dome before,” said Tsue.
“And if Inoue wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be any world title fights at the Tokyo Dome for a while yet.”
Celtics incinerate Heat to advance, Mavs trounce Clippers
- Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis
- Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2
The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 to complete an emphatic 4-1 series victory Wednesday and book their place in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The postseason top seeds, who were upset by Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, avenged that loss in spectacular fashion with a one-sided wire-to-wire rout at the TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 25 points apiece to lead Boston, who barely noticed the absence of the injured Kristaps Porzingis.
The Celtics threw down the gauntlet in the first quarter, racking up a whopping 41 points to open up a commanding 18-point advantage.
They extended that lead to 22 points by half-time, and kept up the pressure in the third quarter to lead 98-66 heading into the final frame.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla could afford to rest his frontline players for the fourth with the game effectively won against an injury-hit Miami team missing Jimmy Butler and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Mazzulla said the Celtics had not been thinking about last year’s series loss to Miami.
“I don’t really worry about what happened last year,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day I liked how we approached the series, regardless of who they were playing.
“It had an intentionality to it, had attention to detail, and had a consistent physicality,” he added.
“And that’s the most important thing, regardless of who we’re playing. We wake up tomorrow and we’ve got to do it all over again versus another team.”
Boston will now face either the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers or fifth seeds Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cleveland lead that series 3-2.
The Celtics advance brimming with confidence after ruthlessly taking care of eighth-seeded Miami in five games.
White’s 25-point haul included five three-pointers while Jayson Tatum added 16 points including 12 rebounds with three assists.
Sam Hauser added 17 points off the bench while Jrue Holiday also cracked double figures with 10 points.
In Wednesday’s other playoff game, Luka Doncic delivered a 35-point performance as the Dallas Mavericks thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers 123-93 on the road to take a 3-2 series lead.
The 30-point margin of defeat was the Clippers’ heaviest ever NBA playoff loss.
Dallas, who can clinch the series with victory in game six back in Texas on Friday, pulled away toward the end of the first half to open up a 56-46 lead at the break.
They extended that advantage to 20 points after outscoring Los Angeles 33-23 in the third quarter and piled on in the fourth to open up a 32-point advantage at one stage.
Doncic finished with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Maxi Kleber added 15 from the bench. Kyrie Irving had a relatively quiet night with 14 points.
“In the playoffs it doesn’t matter if you win by one point or you win by 50 point — but it’s still a good win,” Doncic said afterwards.
“But the job is not done. We’ve got one more we need to win. We’re gonna get ready for next game.”
The Clippers were left licking their wounds after a humiliating loss that saw their offense make just nine of 35 attempted three-pointers, and 33 of 87 from the field.
Paul George and Ivica Zubac led the scoring with a meagre 15 points each, while James Harden added just seven points and Russell Westbrook six from the bench.
“We didn’t play our best game, we understand that collectively. We’ll be better for game six,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
“Overall we weren’t good on both sides of the basketball and just had a bad day.”
Asked what he attributed Harden’s poor performance to, Lue replied: “Being human. He’s allowed to have a bad game.”
World Cup cricket ‘square’ arrives in New York after trip from Florida
- Ten cricket pitches prepared in Florida are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup
- New York winter conditions mean grass needed to be grown in warmer Florida before being transported and installed
MIAMI: Ten cricket pitches have completed their journey up the East Coast of the United States from Florida to New York state and are being installed in a new stadium built for next month’s T20 World Cup.
The “drop in pitches” have been prepared in Florida since December and were recently transported by 20 trailer trucks up the I-95 highway to the venue in Long Island.
The surfaces, which will soon be used for games including the highly-anticipated clash between cricket giants India and Pakistan, were developed by Australian Damian Hough, curator of the Adelaide Oval.
Winter conditions in New York meant that the grass needed to be grown in the warmer climate of Florida before being transported and installed.
Hough said the journey from the base in Boynton Beach, Florida, to Nassau County in New York state, took over 24 hours, with regular stops for checks and hydration of the grass.
“From a turf perspective, we made sure that there was no weather or elements getting on them with regards to wind or rain. They’ve come through, the ones we’ve received so far, we couldn’t be happier, they’ve come through in flying colors,” Hough said.
The condition of a cricket pitch, also known as a wicket or track, has a crucial bearing on the game, impacting the speed and bounce of the ball and the degrees of spin or movement off the seam of the ball that can be utilized by bowlers.
Chris Tetley, head of events for the International Cricket Council — organizers of the World Cup that will be co-hosted by the United States and several Caribbean nations — said the pitch production had been a huge logistical challenge for the companies involved.
“It’s been an impressive piece of logistics that has gone into moving 10 pitches, on 20 trucks, plus backup trucks, with the route planning, the timing through, I can’t remember how many different states,” Tetley said.
“The permissions to take out agricultural materials through different states, traffic considerations, timing over bridges and we wanted to make sure the trays are out of the ground for as short a time as possible — extremely, extremely impressive,” he added.
The temporary 34,000 capacity stadium at Eisenhower Park has already been built with stands and hospitality areas already in place and the outfield has been put in place.
Hough said the surface is likely to be a typical of the kind used for T20 matches, where fans expect to see big shots from the batsmen.
“Our ambition is to produce pitches along the lines where they’re good quality pitches, minimal spin, minimal seam and ball coming onto the bat and let the players play the shot,” he said.
The first World Cup game at the venue will feature Sri Lanka v South Africa on June 3 but organizers are planning some test events before then.
Pakistan to announce T20 squad for England, Ireland series today as World Cup looms
- Pakistan will face Ireland in three T20Is from May 10-14, England in four T20Is from May 22-30
- Pakistan will use both series to prepare for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 slated for June 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it would announce the national T20 squad for Pakistan’s upcoming away series against Ireland and England today, Thursday, with exactly a month to go before the T20 World Cup kicks off in June.
Pakistan will play three T20Is against Ireland in Dublin from May 12-14 before they take on 2022 World Champions England from May 22-30 in a four-match series.
The series will be an important one for Pakistan and England as both prepare for the T20 World Cup scheduled to kick off from June 2 in the US and West Indies. Pakistan’s matches against England will be played at Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and The Oval.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board will hold a media conference at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday to announce Pakistan men’s cricket team for the tours of Ireland and England,” the PCB said in a press release.
The announcement will be made by the Men’s National Selection Committee at 11:15 a.m., the board said.
Skipper Babar Azam’s side last week won their fifth T20 match against New Zealand in Lahore by nine runs to draw the series 2-2.
Pakistan will begin their campaign for the T20 World Cup against the United States on June 6 before facing India in New York for a high-voltage clash.
Schedule for Ireland, England series:
10 May – v Ireland, 1st T20I, Dublin
12 May – v Ireland, 2nd T20, Dublin
14 May – v Ireland, 3rd T20I, Dublin
22 May – v England, 1st T20I, Leeds
25 May – v England, 2nd T20I, Birmingham
28 May – v England 3rd T20I, Cardiff
30 May – v England, 4th T20I, The Oval
Fuellkrug outshines Mbappe to hand Dortmund Champions League advantage over PSG
- Dortmund, who had already lost and drawn against PSG this season in the group stage, can continue to dream of a return to Wembley 11 years after their last Champions League final
- Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said pre-match PSG were “built to win the Champions League” since the Qatari takeover a decade ago
DORTMUND, Germany: Niclas Fuellkrug gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League semifinal first leg on Wednesday as the journeyman striker outshone superstar Kylian Mbappe on the night.
Seeking a return to the final for the first time since 2013, the 1997 winners were dogged and determined, outmuscling their heavily favored opponents in front of more than 80,000 fans.
Fuellkrug, playing in his first Champions League season at the age of 31, collected a lofted pass from center-back Nico Schlotterbeck in the 36th minute and blasted a low shot into the left corner of the net.
PSG, led by Kylian Mbappe, hit the post twice in quick succession early in the second-half but could not break through.
“I think we today showed a classic team performance. Each helped the other to win the game. We needed a bit of luck a couple of times, but we can be very satisfied with our performance,” said long-serving center-back Mats Hummels.
“It was a very satisfying, very grown-up performance from us.”
Dortmund, who had already lost and drawn against PSG this season in the group stage, can continue to dream of a return to Wembley 11 years after their last Champions League final.
Despite the setback, however, PSG will remain confident of overturning the deficit at home next week against a side they thoroughly outclassed at their home venue in September.
“The Parc (PSG’s stadium) and our supporters are giving us hope for the second leg, and we know we can do much better,” PSG captain Marquinhos told Canal.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said pre-match PSG were “built to win the Champions League” since the Qatari takeover a decade ago.
Nowhere was the contrast between the two clubs greater than PSG’s global superstar Mbappe, playing in his last season for his hometown club, and journeyman Dortmund striker Fuellkrug, who was playing second-division football this time two years ago.
Spurred on by a passionate home crowd who booed and whistled every Mbappe touch, Dortmund had the best of the opening stages, Jadon Sancho shining down the right flank.
Marcel Sabitzer had Dortmund’s best chance of an opener after 14 minutes, blasting straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma from a tight angle.
The opener came after 36 minutes thanks to some superb old-school forward play from Fuellkrug.
Center-back Schlotterbeck had the ball well in his own half and thought about a safe pass back to the ‘keeper but instead punted it forward, with only Fuellkrug aware of the idea.
The striker controlled the ball with one touch and drilled a low shot past a helpless Donnarumma.
Fresh from wrapping up the Ligue 1 title at the weekend, PSG had few chances despite their attacking riches in the opening half, registering zero shots on target.
The visitors however sprung to life after half-time, Mbappe rattling the inside of one post seconds before former Dortmund wing-back Achraf Hakimi rattled the inside of the other.
PSG should have equalized after 56 minutes, Marquinhos curled a beautiful pass through a crowded Dortmund box but Fabian Ruiz’s diving header went wide.
Another former Dortmund player Ousmane Dembele blasted over right in front of goal with 10 minutes remaining.
The impressive Sancho laid on an excellent pass for Julian Brandt with moments left but Dortmund’s hopes of a second were snuffed out by some desperate PSG defending.
The victory, along with Tuesday’s 2-2 draw between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the other semifinal, guarantees Germany rather than England or France an extra Champions League place for next season.
That has already secured Dortmund’s place in the competition next season.
