LAHORE: Pakistan’s right-arm speedster Naseem Shah has been diagnosed with pneumonia on Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed.
Following his diagnosis of pneumonia, the right-arm pacer stay in the hospital tonight. Whereas, the PCB’s medical panel is monitoring the health status of the star pacer.
Naseem’s participation in the green shirts’ upcoming fixtures including the upcoming tri-series in New Zealand is in therefore jeopardy and will be confirmed upon analyzing the pacer’s medical reports.
“Naseem Shah’s participation in the upcoming matches and departure to New Zealand with the squad will be decided after seeing his medical reports,” said the PCB.
It is pertinent to mention here that the high fever, due to which Naseem was taken to the hospital had kept the right-arm pacer unavailable for selection in the fifth T20I against England.
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LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Selection Committee is facing serious difficulties finalising the players’ names for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and home T20I series against England, sources claimed.
According to the details, the committee’s troubles with the batters’ form and the cricketers’ fitness issues hindered the consultation process for the announcement of the national T20 team from being finalized today.
The deadline for announcing the T20 World Cup roster is September 15; however, if the selection committee fails to do so by that date, the PCB will have to appeal to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for an extension.
Furthermore, the national players sustaining injuries in the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022 added further to the misery of the committee, while the ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi could not start bowling in the nets as of yet and is currently undergoing rehabilitation in the United Kingdom (UK).
Reports, however, suggest that the situation may likely be clear today regarding finalizing the squad including the quota of reserve players.
Wicketkeeper batter Sarfaraz Ahmed, leg-spinner Usman Qadir, and Zahid Mehmood may receive a call-up for the upcoming England T20Is as Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz are expected to be given rest for the initial fixtures.
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NEW YORK: Pakistani teenage tennis star Hania Minhas claimed Girls Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles titles in the 12 and below Division at the recently concluded Little Mo Internationals tournament held in New York, US.
According to the details, Hania outclassed her opponent Juliana Castellanos Trujillo in the Girls’ Singles in straight sets with scores of 6-1,6-1.
She then teamed up with Juliane for the doubles competition and defeated the pair of Nella Glowacka and Janita Files with a score of 8,3.
In the Mixed Doubles, Hania paired up with Thomas O’Neil and claimed her third title as they beat Ishaan Yadlapalli and Elizabeth Sabaev with a score of 8,5 in the final.
“These trophies mean a lot to me and I want to continue playing to the best of my abilities,” said Haniya after her remarkable feat.
It is pertinent to mention here that the “Little Mo” tournaments feature rising tennis stars (aged 8-12) and play a crucial role in grooming their abilities. Little Mo is named after Maureen Connolly, the winner of nine major singles titles and the first woman to win a Grand Slam. She is also the only player in history to win a title without losing a set at all four major championships and was a leading player of the 1950s.
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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has set affordable ticket prices to attract maximum fans for watching their favourite players in action during the upcoming National T20 Cup scheduled at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
The general category tickets for Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Miran Bakhsh and Yasir Arafat enclosures are priced as low as PKR50. Whereas, the tickets for Imran Khan, Javed Akhtar, Azhar Mehmood and Javed Miandad enclosures, which fall under VIP category, are priced at PKR100.
Tickets will be available for sale from tomorrow both online and through physical booths and fans can easily buy tickets, through PCB’s ticketing partner BookMe. The online tickets can be purchased at pcb.bookme.pk.
It is pertinent to mention here that the first leg of the National T20 will be played in Rawalpindi from 30 August till 7 September with the first match of the day starting at 09:30 AM and the second at 02:00 PM.
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sports Board’s (PSB) hesitance to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the players and officials of the national tenpin bowling team put Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming Tenpin bowling World Cup in Australia in jeopardy.
President Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation (PTBF) Ijaz ur Rehman on Thursday claimed that the federation had written a letter to the PSB two weeks ago for the issuance of the NOC but they received no reply from the board.
“Pakistan’s team participation in the upcoming Tenpin Bowling World Cup is in doubt. PSB has still not given the NOC to the federation,” he said. “The federation wrote a letter to the Sports Board two weeks ago for the NOC,” he added.
The Tenpin bowling World Cup is scheduled to take place from November 3 to 23 in Queensland, Australia.
“Players from 120 countries will be featuring in the singles and team event of the World Cup,” Aijaz said.
Six members national team comprising Ahmer Saldera, Ijaz ur Rehman, Shabeer Laskar, Ali Suria, Amjed Mehmood and Muhammad Hussain Chattha were named by the PBTF to participate in the World Cup.
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LAHORE: Young hockey players held a protest against the scrutiny committee’s decision regarding the elections of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Wednesday.
The young hockey players demonstrated in front of the PHF offices here, chanting anti-PHF slogans and complaining that the new ad hoc system favours its favourites.
Former PHF President and Olympian Salman Akhtar Rasool, Ali Akhtar Rasool, Mujahid Afzal, and Muhammad Yaqoob also partook in the protest and alleged current PHF management for the misconduct.
“Pakistan Hockey Federation rewarded their favourite people. Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool, Akhtar Rasool, Afzal Muna, and Dar families have services for hockey,” Salman stated.
Another former hockey player Yaqoob on the other hand termed the suspension of the clubs by PHF an ‘arbitrariness’ while threatening to shut down the federation if their demands were not met.
“We disagree with PHF’s assertion that significant clubs were arbitrarily expelled. We will lock the federation if PHF refuses to grant us our right,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Mujahid made a major assertion that he was told to remove Asif Bajwa from the presidency of the federation and his denial resulted in the suspension of the Afzal Muna club.
“I was instructed to depose Asif Bajwa as president. Because of my rejection, the Afzal Mana Club’s vote was cancelled,” he asserted.
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani medalists who shone in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham were given a warm reception on Wednesday at Islamabad Airport upon their return to the country.
Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Colonel (retd) Mohammad Asif Zaman welcomed the silver medalists Sharif Tahir and Zaman Anwar, bronze medalist Asad Ali and other athletes who reached the country from the UK after competing in the Games.
Speaking on the occasion, DG PSB announced that a ceremony would be held in the honor of the athletes and to present them with awards.
“We say welcome to our national heroes,” he said. “Gold medalists Arshad Nadeem and Nooh Dastgir Butt as well as other medalists will also be given a warm welcome on their return to the country,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistani athletes secured eight medals including two golds by weightlifter Nooh Butt and javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games 2022.
National wrestlers remained the major contributor to the country’s medal tally as Inam Butt, Zaman Anwar, and Sharif Tahir bagged a silver each.
Wrestlers Inayatullah and Ali Asad, on the other hand, managed to bag a bronze apiece, while Shah Hussain Shah claimed bronze in Judo.
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BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan Men’s Hockey team avoided an opening defeat at the Commonwealth Games 2022 as Afraz Hakeem’s late strike bolstered the side to hang on for a draw against South Africa.
Pakistan’s forward Afraz scored the match-saving goal for the Green Shirts, which helped the side to take a point and avoided an opening defeat to their Commonwealth Games campaign.
Earlier, South Africa pulled ahead in the first quarter as Connor Beauchamp struck for the Proteas from the short corner.
South Africa’s lead, however, remained brief as Rizwan Ali scored the first goal for the Green Shirts after 11 minutes to keep the match evenly poised.
The two teams walked out at half-time with the scores level at 1-1. The two teams then fought their hearts out in the third quarter but the scoreboard remained unmoved as both goalkeepers did well to neutralize the threat.
The Proteas then again led the proceedings as Matt Guise-Brown struck in the fourth quarter, only for Afraz to net a late score and prevented the Green Shirts from an opening defeat.
The national hockey team will now take on New Zealand on July 31 in their second match of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
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GILGIT BALTISTAN: Hours after Samina Baig, Naila Kiani became the second Pakistani female mountaineer to successfully summit the second-highest peak in the world – K2, on Friday morning.
With her successful expedition of the ‘Savage Mountain’ – The K2, Naila has become the first Pakistani female mountaineer to achieve this feat in the first attempt.
Samina, on the other hand, who reached the top of the mountain a while ago then Naila at 7:42 AM, became the first Pakistani female mountaineer to stand atop of world’s second highest peak.
According to the details, Naila reached the summit of the K2 with fellow climbers Sirbaz Khan and Sohail Sakhi at around 10:30 AM.
Earlier, the extreme weather conditions above higher camps on K2 had halted the progress of mountaineers who were aiming to push for the summit and as a result, Naila and other mountaineers had to wait for the ropes to be fixed and the weather to get better.
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LAHORE: Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) reinstated Brig (Retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar as President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in the newly-appointed ad-hoc committee after sacking the previous setup earlier this month.
According to the notification issued by the PSB, a four-member ad-hoc committee has been appointed with the strict mandate to hold elections within 30 days besides running everyday affairs of the federation.
Olympians Nasir Ali, Rehan Butt and coach Arshad Mehmood have been named as the other three members of the committee while Khokhar will continue to hold the top position in a temporary setup.
Earlier, PSB de-notified PHF President Khokhar, secretary Asif Bajwa, and treasurer Muhammad Akhlaq for failing to hold elections upon completion of their constitutional term on May 14, 2022.
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