Ali Mabkhout put Alberto Zaccheroni’s side ahead after seven minutes but Thitiphan Puangjan struck four minutes from time to earn the Thais a point that sees them take second place in Group A, following India’s late loss to Bahrain, thanks to a better head-to-head record.

While the UAE have qualified for the knockout phase for the second tournament in a row, Thailand will be featuring in the next round for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 1972.

The hosts made the perfect start when, with many in the crowd of almost 18,000 still finding their seats, they hit the back of Siwarak Tedsungnoen’s goal.

Ismail Al Hammadi burst into the area and attempted to clip the ball over the Thai keeper, only for the ball to come back off the crossbar. But Mabkhout rose to head home the rebound from inside the six-yard box.

Khalfan Mubarak sought to double the lead 11 minutes later when he twisted his way past the Thai defence only to send a weak shot trundling through to Siwarak.

It took until almost midway through the half for the Thais to spark to life. Chanathip Songkrasin’s alertness allowed him to dispossess the UAE defence and feed Teerasil Dangda and his pass sent Adisak Kraisorn through on goal, only for Khalid Eisa to be equal to the task.

That was just a preview to the danger posed by Chanathip and, with four minutes left in the half, the Consadole Sapporo midfielder unlocked the UAE defence to secure the equaliser.

The midfielder’s deft ball into the area caused Mohamed Ahmad to panic and, in the ensuing mix-up, Thitiphan Puangjan slipped the ball past Eisa, with his strike delighting the vociferous band of Thais at the far end of the stadium.

A draw would suit both sides but, early in the second half, the UAE looked determined to reclaim the lead. Mabkhout was again the most likely source of a goal for the home side, and the Al Jazira man’s long-range strike had to be palmed around the post by Siwarak.

Teerasil threatened at the other end as he met Teerathon Bumathan’s corner, only for the ball to balloon high over the bar, and, despite attempts from both coaches to inject some urgency from the bench, the game trundled towards a draw that saw both teams go through.

The Thai No 1 struggled to keep her composure in front of a partisan home crowd and succumbed 6-2 6-2 in just 57 minutes.

The 66th-ranked Luksika went into the tough first-round match with good memories at Melbourne Park.

She beat former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the opening round in 2014 and reached the third round as a qualifier last year, her career-best attempt in a Grand Slam tournament to date.

After starting impressively – she converted an early break to go 2-0 up – Luksika lost her focus and made error after error to drop six games in a row and hand the opening set to her 22-year-old opponent in just 27 minutes.

Luksika’s uneven form continued into the second set as she sprayed several shots wide to immediately drop serve again.

She did rally briefly, cutting down her mistakes to break back and drew level at 2-2 but Barty managed another break again, wrong-footing the Thai to regain the lead at 3-2, after which she dictated the points and errors continued to characterise Luksika’s performance.

Unable to defend the 200+ points she gained last year, Luksika is cert to fall into the nineties  when the new WTA rankings are updated after the year’s opening Major.

Luksika is next committed to compete in the home tournament in Hua Hin which starts on January 28.

Isney, Edmund big-name casualties

The top-ranked American and British players led the name of early big-name exits on day one in Melbourne.

Ninth seed John Isner was knocked out of the Australian Open in one of the biggest shocks of the first round.

The 2.08-metre ninth seed, was beaten by his even taller (2.11m) fellow American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (8/6) 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5) in a battle of the giants.

No fewer than 87 aces were powered down between the big-serving pair, with just one break apiece being registered in the fourth set of a match that lasted 2hr 58min.

Kyle Edmund is certain to plummet down the rankings after also going out in the fist round.

The British No 1 was unlucky to draw the veteran Tomas Berdych who is on his way back for a back injury and recently reached the final of the recent Qatar Open as a wildcard. The former Wimbledon finalist won 6-3 6-0 7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes.

Edmund was a semi-finalist last year and was therefore defending a huge number of points, so his early exit means he will slide down the rankings from No 14 to the late 20s as a result.

Kane was hurt after clashing with United defender Phil Jones in the closing seconds of the match as the visitors dug deep to protect their 1-0 lead at Wembley on Sunday.

Pochettino said he would fret over Kane’s fitness, with the 25-year-old set to undergo tests in the next few days while he is set to lose Son Heung-min to the Asian Cup.

“Of course if Harry Kane suffers an injury it would be a massive problem for us. That is my worry, that is our worry,” Pochettino told Sky Sports.

“It was a bad tackle in the last moment from a Manchester United player. It wasn’t an intention, but it was a bad tackle.

“There’s swelling now, we need to assess in the next few days. I hope it’s not a big issue but he was limping off the pitch.”

Pochettino hailed Tottenham’s second-half performance as among the best in his tenure at the north London club, despite  Marcus Rashford’s first-half winner leaving them nine points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool.

“In four-and-a-half years, that’s the best performance I saw Tottenham play,” Pochettino told reporters. “The second half is one of the best performances I’ve seen from my team. I thought it was amazing.”

Earlier, Almoez Ali plundered four goals for Qatar as the 2022 World Cup hosts hit North Korea for six to progress from Group E.

Japan, who have scooped Asian football’s biggest prize on four occasions, enjoyed their share of good fortune against Oman in Abu Dhabi.

Haraguchi clipped the crossbar after just two minutes before Takumi Minamino fluffed a handful of golden opportunities.

That profligacy almost came back to haunt the Blue Samurai as Oman flooded forward and Muhsen Al-Ghassani shaved the post from an acute angle.

But Haraguchi settled Japan’s nerves in the 28th minute, converting from the spot after he had appeared to go down easily under minimal contact from Oman captain Ahmed Al-Mahaijri.

Oman had extra reason to feel aggrieved when their own penalty claims were waved away just before half-time after Yuto Nagatomo looked to have handled a Salaah Al-Yahyaei drive.

“We were unlucky with the handball,” shrugged Oman coach Pim Verbeek, whose team were beaten 2-1 by Uzbekistan last week.

“I just saw it again on the television and for me it was 100 percent a penalty. Against a team like Japan you need a little bit of luck and we didn’t get it. Now we have to pick ourselves up for the last game and make Oman proud.”

Japan reached the knockout stages of last year’s World Cup but they squeaked past Turkmenistan 3-2 in their opening Group F game and were poor against Oman, who almost equalised when Raed Saleh’s acrobatic late volley flashed wide.

But the Japanese remain unbeaten in seven matches since Hajime Moriyasu took charge after the World Cup and have now lost just one of their last 30 games at the Asian Cup, excluding penalty shootouts.

Japan are seeking to make up for their Asian Cup flop four years ago when they lost on penalties to the United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals.

But they will need to find another gear if they are to threaten Iran, who are purring, and a South Korea side set to be boosted by the arrival of Tottenham forward Son Heung-min.

“It was tougher than we thought it would be,” Japan captain Maya Yoshida told AFP. “We were a little bit lucky with the penalty we had — and the one not given as well.

“But we should have scored two or three more. That’s why we struggled at the end of the game in the last 10 minutes.”

– Six appeal –

Qatar’s 6-0 romp over North Korea was played out in an almost eery silence in front of barely 300 spectators in Al Ain.

The long-running blockade of Qatar by Gulf neighbours who accuse Doha of supporting terrorism largely prohibits Qataris from entering the UAE.

“The players know this is the scenario and they deal with it,” said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez.

“We don’t have our supporters here but we know that they’re supporting from Qatar.”

Ali took his tally to a tournament-best five goals with two in each half, completing this Asian Cup’s first hat-trick by dinking the ball over goalkeeper Kim Myong Guk 10 minutes after the interval.

His salvo equalled an Asian Cup record as he became the fourth player to score four goals in one game.

Qatar, who beat Lebanon 2-0 in their opening game, top the group on goal difference from three-time champions Saudi Arabia.

North Korea have failed to find the net once and conceded 10 times in a pair of performances that will not please Pyongyang.

Japan will take on either Saudi Arabia or Qatar after qualifying for the knockout stage for the eighth consecutive time.

In the day’s late kickoff, Eldor Shomurodov bagged a first-half brace as Uzbekistan crushed Turkmenistan 4-0 in a clash of former Soviet republics to progress and go top of Group F ahead of Japan on goal difference.

The Swiss maestro has won the last two Australian Opens and his gunning for a record seventh crown and 21st Grand Slam title.

He starts his campaign on day one against Denis Istomin on Rod Laver Arena — the Uzbek who caused a massive upset two years ago when he knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second round.

“I’m playing good tennis. I’m confident that I think it needs a good performance by my opponent probably to beat me,” said Federer, the third seed.

World number one Djokovic starts his tournament on Tuesday.

Scottish former world number one Murray tearfully revealed last week that severe pain from a hip injury was proving too much to bear and he planned to retire this year.

He said he would like to finish his career at Wimbledon, but admitted the Australian Open could be his last tournament.

Spain’s 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut is the man who could draw the curtain on Murray’s time in Melbourne, where he has been a five-time finalist.

“I can still play, but not to a level I’m happy playing at,” said Murray ahead of his evening clash in Melbourne Arena on a day when temperatures are forecast to soar to 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit).

“The pain is too much really.”

Federer is six years older than Murray at 37, but has so far avoided the type of injuries that have hampered players much younger.

Second seed Rafael Nadal, another who has struggled with injuries, is also in action against Australian James Duckworth.

The Spanish 17-time Grand Slam champion is returning after surgery on a troublesome foot injury, but insists he is recovered and raring to go.

“I feel good. If I am not feeling good, I will not be here,” he said ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.

Denmark’s Wozniacki broke through for her first Slam title in Melbourne last year, beating Simona Halep in the final, and said she was relishing defending a major for the first time.

“I’m just excited. I think it’s a positive to be here as the defending champion. I’m just taking it as a nice, fun challenge,” she said with Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck her first opponent.

Second seed Angelique Kerber, the 2016 champion, has an opening match against Slovakia’s Polona Hercog, while Petra Kvitova, fresh from winning the Sydney International on Saturday, plays Magdalena Rybarikova.

American fifth seed Sloane Stephens and five-time major winner Maria Sharapova are also in action.

INTERIM manager Sirisak Yodyadthai is targeting at least a draw from tonight’s last group A game of the Asian Cup despite being without the rock of his defence, Pansa Hemviboon.

The War Elephants, with three points after a defeat to India and a win over Bahrain, must at take at least a point from hosts United Arab Emirates to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the knockout round. The top two from each group plus the four best third-placed teams will reach the round of 16.

However, Thailand will take their last throw of the dice at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain without centre-back Pansa, who is suspended after receiving two yellow cards from previous games. The caretaker manager insists the remaining defenders are tough enough to fill the gap, though.

“Without Pansa, there will be just a tiny problem. But we have replacements for every position. The player who takes his place will have equal ability,” said the 49-year-old Thai, who was appointed to take over after the shock sacking of Milovan Rajevac last Monday.

Sirisak Yodyadthai 

UAE go into the match top of the group with four points, followed by India with three points, ahead of Thailand only on goal difference. Thailand, though, have a poor head-to-head record against tonight’s opponents, who have won seven of their previous clashes, with three draws and two defeats.

The Middle East team has never lost to Thailand on home soil.

“UAE are fast going forward but there is nothing to worry about. I have discussed a game plan with [assistant coach] Choketawee [Promrut]. The target is to secure at least a point from the game,” said Sirisak.

The acting manager insists spirits are still high among the players, who are hoping to extend their time in the Middle East beyond tonight’s clash.

“The players are hungry to compete and still hoping they will reach the next stage. As for myself, I’ve already been through the big pressure and will focus only on the game with UAE,” he said.

The UAE-Thailand match kicks off at 11pm Thailand time and will be broadcast live on Channel 7 and Fox Sports HD. India and Bahrain play at the same time.

The 25-year-old Thai broke his three-year title drought on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) by staying focused on a pressure-filled final day to clinch the ฿4 million (approximately US$121,700) event with his winning total of 26-under-par 258.

Itthipat will take home a winner’s prize purse of US$21,862.98 and receive 10 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points following his victory at the fifth edition of the event hosted by Thai legend Boonchu Ruangkit.

American Johannes Veerman made a final charge with a 63, to share second place on a 260 total with England’s Steve Lewton, who ended his campaign with a 66 at the Rancho Charnvee Resort and Country Club.

Starting the round with a one-shot deficit, the Thai grabbed birdies on holes three, five and seven to make the turn in 32. He made another birdie on hole 10 before dropping his first shot of the day on hole 11 after hitting his tee shot into the water.

“On hole 11 I hit it in the water and made bogey which made me a little nervous with everyone catching up. But I was still able to control my emotions and rely on my short game.

I made three birdies in a row from there which really gave me that last bit of confidence going into the last hole,” added the Thai, who bounced back with four more birdies on his way home.

Itthipat claimed his maiden ADT victory in 2015 in the Philippines and went on to win again the year after in Singapore.

The Thai, who successfully made the mark at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January, is thrilled to find his groove so early on in the season and hopes that it will provide a timely boost as he aims to win his maiden victory on region’s premier Tour.

“I am very happy to be finally back to winning on the ADT. Winning on home course and in a tournament under Boonchu’s name. I have wanted to win this tournament so bad and I  finally did it.

“My game wasn’t that good and I was struggling for a bit the last couple of years. But now I am just confident in my game and it gives me confidence to win on the Asian Tour,” added Itthipat.

Veerman, the 2016 ADT Order of Merit winner, took pride in his performance at the ADT season-opener where he marked his card with one eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.

“It was a great day today. I knew I had to put pressure on those guys, they’re great players and the course is scorable, so to come out strong was great.

“It’s nice that my last tournament of the year last season on the Asian Tour ended well, and I was able to carry that form into this year. I’m not putting any expectations on myself but it encourages me because my game is where I want it to be,” said the 26-year-old American.

The leading seven players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn playing rights on the premier Asian Tour for the 2020 season.

Leading final round scores:

258 – Itthipat Buranatanyarat 66 64 64 64

260 – Johannes Veerman 65 68 64 63, Steve Lewton 64 62 68 66

261 – Mathiam Keyser 65 67 65 64

262 – Jazz Janewattananond 63 64 66 69

The former world No 9 Paradorn and No 19 Tamarine also played an exhibition match at the 2,500 capacity-court CEO during the ceremony also attended by SCB President  Arthid Nanthawithaya and Suwat Liptapanlop, advisory chairman of the WTA event which offers a total prize money of US$250,000.

The centre court is designed as a sunken court and features the same surface used in the Australian Open. True Arena has been the venue for several ITF circuits, Challenger events and WTA 125K series as well as the Fed Cup.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Gabine Muguruza of Spain will be the top seed in the  Thailand Open, which will be the biggest tennis event in Thailand in several years, while several top Chinese stars including Asian Games gold medalist Wang Qiang, world No 39 Saisai Zheng and No 40 Shuai Zheng will also strut their stuff at the beach resort.

Thai No 1 and world No 66 Luksika Kumkhum will carry the Thai flag into the WTA event which will also feature former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki.

ฺThai badminton boss Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, middle, stops by at the stadium to support Thai players.

The 22-year-old former SEA Games champion easily trounced the error-prone Pornpawee, last year’s finalist, 21-10 21-4 in just 30 minutes to set up the final duel with Indonesian dark-horse Fitriani Fitriani who pipped Deng Joy Xuan of Hong Kong 12-21 21-19 21-16.

“I was staying focussed the whole game. As I mentioned before, the one who took better control would win,” said Busanan who beat Aya Ohori of Japan in the final two years ago.

She will take on the 33^rd-ranked Fitriani, the Giant Killer of defending champion and top seed Nitchaon Jindapol in round two.

“At this court, whoever plays better under the (air-conditioning) draught will have a better opportunity. I’m happy to be in the final again and will discuss a game plan with my coach later,” added Busanan who trails the Indonesian 1-2 in their head-to-head record. Busanan will also attempt to keep the women’s singles title at home as Thai women have won the category over the past three editions.

In mixed doubles, world No 5 Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai also reached the final by beating Nipitphon Phuangphupet and Savitree Amitrapai 21-18 21-16 and will take on top seeded Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia on Sunday.

In men’s singles, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China recovered from a second game lapse to beat compatriot Lu Guangzu 21-11 6-21 21-18. The top seed and Goh Liu Ying will square off in the final tomorrow.