Author: ali.hassan

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has urged all stakeholders to join hands to make Pakistan Boat Rally a success and put emphasis on organizing international sea sporting events to portray a soft image of the country.

President Alvi expressed these thoughts while addressing a meeting with the CEO of Pakistan Boat Rally and Fishing Tournament, Ahmed Mamoor Amimi, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The President received a briefing on Pakistan’s potential in blue tourism besides the role of the Boat Rally and Fishing Tournament in enhancing Pakistan’s soft image.

The earlier edition of the event organized last year witnessed nine boats voyaging 650 kilometers for five days and four nights from Karachi to Gawadar, making it the ‘world’s longest boat rally’.

Alvi underscored the huge potential of the sea sporting events to generate revenues and promote tourism in the country and called upon the stakeholders to ensure the success of the Pakistan Boat Rally.

“It (Boat Rally) will help in promoting water sports in Pakistan and will increase the influx of foreign tourists in the country,” he said.

President Alvi further emphasized the importance of building Pakistan’s beaches, islands, and coastal resorts in accordance with international standards in order to encourage coastal tourism and the blue economy of the country.

Meanwhile, Secretary Ministry of the Inter-Provincial Coordination, Ahmad Hanif Orakzai, representatives of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Pakistan Sports Board, and Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation were also present at the meeting.

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SINGAPORE: Pakistan Junior Girls Netball team defeated Singapore in the second match to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the International Junior Girls Netball Series 2022.

In the second contest of the three-match series, the touring side displayed sheer dominance over Singapore as they sealed a dominant 39-15 victory.

Following this victory, the touring side have attained an undefiable 2-0 lead in the series, whereas, will contest in the third match tomorrow.

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KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja has revealed the plan for conducting the inaugural edition Pakistan Junior League (PJL) as he charged legendary batter Javed Miandad to supervise the league.

Speaking at a press conference, PCB Chairman announced Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, and Darren Sammy to be the icon players of the league,

“There is no batsman better than Miandad to supervise the league,” he said. “We’ve selected three icon players for the PJL, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, and Darren Sammy,” he added.

He further stated that 30 companies were ready to own the six franchises planned for the tournament.

“PCB is the first cricket board which is organizing a junior league,” claimed Ramiz.

The PJL will be the first of its sort T20 league contested by under-19 teams, featuring local as well as international players. The teams will recruit the young players via a draft system and will be allowed to avail the services of an iconic player as the team mentor to boost the confidence of the players.

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PHANDAR: Ghizer Tigers and Ghizer Highlanders qualified for the next round of the ongoing NLC Polo Tournament 2022 here after securing victories in their respective matches.

On an eventful day, the highly-anticipated event got underway with a rather one-sided clash as Ghizer Tigers outclassed Ghizer Bazigars by three goals. The Tigers scored seven goals while Bazigars could only score four.

The second match of the day between Ghizer Highlanders and Phandar Defender also concluded with a similar result as the Highlanders thrashed the Defenders by a three-goal margin. The Defenders could only manage to make three strikes in response to the Highlanders’ six.

The two sides, who qualified for the next round will join Ghizer Superstars, which was awarded the direct qualification.

It is pertinent to mention here that the infamous Polo tournament marked its return to the region after a gap of two years due to the previously imposed COVID-19 restrictions.

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ORTACA: Olympian Inam Butt started his Beach Wrestling World Series campaign on a high as he stormed into the quarter-finals of the tournament, here on Saturday.

Inam, who won the gold medal in the 2021 World Beach Wrestling Championship, displayed his brilliance in the recently commenced tournament here as he sealed two group stage victories to book a quarter-finals spot.

In his opening fight of the tournament against Turkey’s Azkara, Inam edged past his opponent by the scores of 2-1. In his second fight, however, the Olympian completely thrashed his Georgian opponent Dato Pirazushvili by 4-0.

The wrestler will now compete in the tournament’s quarter-finals on May 28. The two-day event will conclude tomorrow, with the knockout rounds taking place on the same day.

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KARACHI: Sri Lanka’s right-handed batter Imesha Dulani, has been ruled out of the ongoing Pakistan tour following an injury.

Sri Lanka women’s team, which is scheduled to take on the hosts Pakistan in the second T20I today, has been rocked by an injury blow as their young right-handed batter will miss the remainder of the tour.

Gulani suffered a leg injury, which resulted in her missing the all-important tour. The 20-years-old batter will fly back to Sri Lanka later and the team management will consider a replacement in a due course.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are set to lock horns in the second T20I of the three-match series today with Pakistan leading 1-0.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan started their home series on a high as the Green Shirts defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the first T20I on Tuesday.

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MALE: Pakistan Under-15 boys’ table tennis team has lost against the arch-rivals India in the final of the ongoing South Asian Junior Cadet Table Tennis Championship 2022, here on Tuesday.

Pakistan U-15 boys team comprises Muhammad Ahmad and Abbas Amjad, suffered a thumping defeat in the final from the arch-rivals India by the scores of 3-0.

The green shirts, who avenged Bangladesh in the semi-final, could not carry the momentum in the final as India U-15 boys crushed the team in a one-sided affair.

On the other hand, the Pakistan U-19 girls’ team is set to face the team of arch-rivals India in the semi-finals. The green shirts had been in the splendid form before making their way to the final four.

It is worth mentioning here that the players participating in the event were initially directed by Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) to arrange their tickets by themselves since the PTTF could not get the funds from Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

The players, however, then got private sponsorships from different organizations, which allowed them to compete in the Championship.

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KARACHI: The head coach of the Pakistan women’s national cricket Team, David Hemp said that he is trying his players to achieve the fitness benchmark set by the Australia.

Hemp stressed the significance of the players’ fitness during a news conference following the team’s first training camp for the forthcoming home series against Sri Lanka while wanting to emulate the fitness benchmark set by Australian cricketers.

“I think fitness is very important. There are fitness benchmarks for women cricketers in Australia and we are trying to emulate them,” he said.

“We are working hard on the fitness and also to increase the skill level of our players,” Hemp added.

The women’s team head coach also talked about the preparation of the green shirts for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka and said the players are training hard for the series.

“We are preparing hard for the home series against Sri Lanka, I have been working as the head coach for 15 months now and I am striving to foster consistency in the team’s performance,” he said.

Hemp then also backed the out-of-form wicket-keeper batter, Sidra Amin, saying she is a better player than her record while also revealing that the replacements are also being prepared.

“Sidra is a very good and talented wicket-keeper. I think she is a better player than her record,” Hemp said.

“We are also preparing replacements for the wicketkeeper,” he added.

The head coach of the women’s team then commented about the below-par run of the green shirts in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup 2022, claiming that there have been some positives to take. Whereas, is also keen to rectify the mistakes made in the global event.

“We are trying to overcome the mistakes, we made in the World Cup but I must say that there were some positives to take from our run in the event,” he concluded.

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LAHORE: Pakistan is set to host the Asia Cup Shooting Championship, scheduled to be held here in March 2023, which will be the country’s first major international shooting event as the hosts.

According to the Secretary Rifle Association of Pakistan — Razi Ahmad Khan –, Iran and India were also in the line to host the championship but Pakistan was instead invited to host the Asia Cup for the first time.

“Pakistan will host the Asia Cup for the first time. India and Iran were candidates to host the event but the Executive Committee chose Pakistan as the host which is an honour for us,” he said.

Razi further shared that India is also set to participate in the Asia Cup since their shooters would need rating points for Olympics qualification.

The Asia Cup will feature shooters from 25 counties including India.

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KARACHI: The former Pakistan Test cricketer and qualified coach Atiq-uz-Zaman has moved to England to serve as the batting scout of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The former Test cricketer, who represented Pakistan in one Test and three ODIs and also served as the qualified coach for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has flown to England after being appointed by the ECB as the batting scout.

As a batting scout, Atiq will travel to numerous counties in search of new talent, who will then represent England’s national team and the England Lions.

“I am extremely grateful that the ECB saw me in a different light and thought I could do a fantastic job for them,” he said.

“I am currently working as an ECB Level 4 Coach and am the highest qualified Pakistan Test cricketer. I will also be the first Pakistani to hold the position of ECB Batting Scout.,” he added.

It is worth noting that England and Lions scouts are crucial in identifying, monitoring, and suggesting players for the national team. It also monitors and assesses players’ current preparedness and future potential to represent England.

Whereas, reports also suggest that Atiq, who was working as the fielding coach in the National High-Performance Center (NHPC), requested that the PCB offer him the same position with the national team, but the cricket board turned him down.

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