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Abbas
overlooked for
Pakistan’s
CWG and Asian Games squads
Karachi: Pakistan's hockey
selectors Thursday ignored veteran drag-flick ace Sohail Abbas
for the preliminary squad for this year's Commonwealth Games in
Delhi and Asian Games in
Guangzhou, China.
A 25-man provisional squad was
named by the national selection committee for a series of
training camps ahead of the two major events.
The seasoned defender, who holds
the record for the highest number of goals in international
hockey, apparently paid the price for skipping a training camp
earlier this summer.
However, Pakistan's chief
selector Hanif Khan tried to make it clear that Sohail's
omission had nothing to do with his decision to skip the
training camp.
'We haven't selected Sohail
Abbas because we don't need him any more,' said Hanif, an
Olympian. Hanif stressed that Pakistan has a number of
youngsters capable enough to fill in for Sohail.
'We have found some good young
boys on our team's Europe tour especially Muhammad Tauseeq who
converted penalty corners in matches against Holland and Spain
earlier this month,' said Hanif.
Meanwhile, Sohail who recently
returned home from Dhaka after featuring in the Bangladesh
League is featuring in the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup Hockey
Tournament - a major domestic event - in Karachi. He has been in
prolific form, scoring four goals in two matches in the event so
far.
Preliminary squad: Salman Akbar
(Lahore), Imran Shah (HBL), Zeeshan Ashraf (NBP), Muhammad Imran
(Army), Muhammad Irfan (PIA), Waseem Ahmad (WAPDA), Muhammad
Rashid (Navy), Fareed Ahmad (HBL), Muhammad Tauseeq (NBP),
Kashif Javed (NBP), Rehan Butt (WAPDA), Shakeel Abbasi (SSGC),
Abdul Haseem Khan (NBP), Shafqat Rasool (PIA), Muhammad Rizwan
(Army), Muhammad Waqas (WAPDA), Muhammad Umar Bhutta (HBL),
Imran Butt (PIA), Muhammad Khalid Bhatti (HBL), Tasawar Abbas
(Police), Abdul Ghaffar (Customs), Waqas Akbar (PIA), Muhammad
Zubair (PIA), Shahbaz Ali (HBL) and Mohsin Bilal (PQA). - IANS
Murali and
Kumble eye bowling academy
NEW DELHI: Record-breaking Sri
Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and retired Indian legend
Anil Kumble plan to join hands to set up a spin academy for
youngsters, the players were quoted as saying on Thursday.
Muralitharan, who quit Test
cricket last week after a final match against India in Galle,
said he had first discussed the academy with leg-spinner Kumble
two years ago and was now likely to take it up.
"I would like to be a part of
it," Muralitharan said. "I am not planning a career in coaching
but if Anil starts his academy, I will be happy to go."
Muralitharan is the world's
highest wicket-taker in both Tests (800) and one-day
internationals (515).
"It is in the pipeline. But it
is Anil's call because he is arranging things for setting up the
academy in Bangalore," he added. Kumble quit Test cricket last
year with 619 wickets, the third highest after Muralitharan and
Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (708). "I have been in touch
with Muralitharan," said Kumble.
"However after his retirement
from Tests I have not been able to speak to him. At the moment
he must be busy with all the felicitations and he truly deserves
it. "Once he is free and I have time on my hands, we will sit
down and chalk out plans in detail," the leg-spinner was quoted
as saying by the paper. - Agencies
I am not a
number two at Ferrari: Felipe Massa
LONDONL Felipe Massa insists he
is not playing second fiddle to Fernando Alonso in the wake of
the 'team orders' controversy at the German Grand Prix. The
Italian team appeared to give Massa a coded order to allow
Alonso through to win and have been fined $100,000 and could yet
face further punishment.
Massa said: "When I say I am a
number two driver, I will not race any more. "I've spoken to
everyone inside the [Ferrari] team - and I'm not just here to
race, I'm here to win."
The Brazilian was leading with
18 laps to go at Hockenheim when his race engineer Rob Smedley
told him: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you
understand?" - to which the Brazilian responded by letting
Alonso through a lap later. Alonso went on to win the race with
Massa second.
The Spaniard insisted on
Thursday that the events in Germany did not mean he was now
Ferrari's de facto number one driver.
"There is not a number one and
number two driver," Alonso said. "It is more about respect of
each other, of racing for the Scuderia (Ferrari), which means a
lot."
Alonso refused to comment
further on the incident, saying his focus was now on getting the
best result possible in
Hungary this weekend. "There are many opinions, many things have been said in
the last couple of days," he said.
"The only important thing for us
is the car is competitive and we can do well here in Hungary as
well. We respect other people's opinions, but we concentrate on
our own job."
Since the German Grand Prix,
fierce debate has raged over team orders, which are banned in F1
- and on top of their fine, Ferrari have been referred to the
World Council of the sport's governing body, the FIA, which
could impose further punishment. - Agencies
Four Indians
advance in world junior squash
Quito,
Ecuador: The Indian team had a good start at the world junior men's squash
championships with four players progressing into the top 32
stage Wednesday.
The contingent comprising Aditya
Jagtap, Ravi Dixit, Ramit Tandon, Karan Malik, Abhishek Pradhan,
Mahesh Mangaonkar and coach Cyrus Poncha arrived a week prior to
the championships for acclimatisation. This has been beneficial
as it is the first time the Indian boys are playing at an
altitude of 9,000 feet above sea level.
The quartet of Jagtap, Tandon,
Dixit and Malik advanced to the round of 32 without too much
trouble. Dixit survived a small hiccup but pulled through to
join Jagtap and Tandon who notched up straight game victories.
The notable achievement was
Malik who defeated higher ranked Tom de Mulder from Belgium in
four games. Malik was fitter and more consistent than his
opponent. Mangaonkar went down to England's top seed Charles
Sharpes in keenly contested four games while Pradhan lost to a
fast moving Ricardo from Mexico in straight games. - IANS
Azeem Rafiq
suspended by Yorkshire Club
LONDON: England Under-19
cricketer Azeem Rafiq who has Pakistani roots has been suspended
by Yorkshire County Cricket Club following reports of misconduct
whilst he was on England duty at Northampton. Rafiq, a leg
spinner and a middle order batsman, is also likely to be
summoned to Lords to face an ECB Disciplinary Committee over the
next few days.
A club statement Thursday said a
full investigation will be carried out into the events leading
up to the player being sent home by ECB Team Management before
deciding on what course of action they will take.
The matter came to the attention
of the club following Rafiq’s four-letter outburst on the social
networking site, Twitter.
Stewart Regan, Yorkshire’s Chief Executive said, “Azeem’s behaviour was totally unacceptable and
the club will not tolerate it. Our professional players are role
models to aspiring young cricketers and need to behave as such.
- Agencies
Rs6,25,000 cash
awards for NBP teams
KARACHI,: National Bank of
Pakistan (NBP) Thursday announced cash awards of Rs625000 for
the winners of their badminton and hockey teams.
According to news release of NBP
Sports Division, bank's Chief Syed Ali Raza announced Rs400,000
for the winners of their badminton team and Rs225,000 for the
winners of All Pakistan Golf Cup Hockey Tournament.
In message to NBP Sports Chief
Iqbal Qasim, NBP President said it was a great honour for the
bank.
He expressed the hope that NBP
sportsperson will keep up their momentum in coming sports
events. Sara of National Bank of Pakistan won the National Women
Singles badminton crown in Islamabad and NBP won their own
sponsored hockey event in Faisalabad. - APP
Ibrahimovic
commits to
Barcelona
MADRID:
Barcelona's Swedish striker
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has put an end to speculation that he is
leaving the Spanish champions, saying Thursday that he is
staying put at the club.
"I am a Barcelona player and I
will continue to be one," the 28-year-old was quoted by
Barcelona's website as saying at
a news conference in Oslo ahead of a friendly against Norwegian
side Valerenga.
"The rumours have not affected
me because I have not had any doubts that I want to stay. I have
taken them as a compliment."
Ibrahimovic said Barcelona coach
Pep Guardiola who told him he was "important" to him. "I will
continue to work as hard as possible to maintain his
confidence," he added.
Barcelona signed Spain striker
David Villa, who shone during the World Cup, from Valencia in
May, fuelling speculation that Ibrahimovic was on his way out. -
AFP
Tendulkar’s
double-ton leads
India’s
run feast
COLOMBO: Star batsman Sachin
Tendulkar hit 203 and debutant Suresh Raina made 120 as India
bettered Sri Lanka's run-spree in the high-scoring second
cricket Test on Thursday.
India, kept on the field for the first two days during
Sri Lanka's massive 642-4
declared, responded by piling up 669-9 by stumps on the fourth
day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
With just 13 wickets having
fallen on the placid wicket in four days, the batsman-dominated
Test is heading for a draw with Sri Lanka enjoying a 1-0 lead in
the three-match series.
Tendulkar and Raina, who came
together on the third afternoon with India on 241-4 and
struggling to avoid their second successive follow-on, put on
256 runs for the fifth wicket.
Tendulkar compiled his fifth
double-century, adding another feather to a glorious 168-Test
career marked by more runs (13,742) and hundreds (48) than any
other batsman in history.
He is also the leading one-day
batsman with 17,598 runs and 46 hundreds, including the only
double-century in limited-overs internationals.
The 37-year-old braved the
stifling hot and humid weather in the Sri Lankan capital for
more than eight hours to play a marathon innings studded with 23
boundaries and a six.
Tendulkar reached the 200-mark,
his first in six years, with a flick off Ajantha Mendis for two
runs, earning warm applause from team-mates and spectators
alike.
Left-hander Raina became the
ninth Indian to score a century in his first Test innings,
before holing out to short mid-wicket off Mendis shortly after
lunch.
Raina, just 23 and already a
veteran of 98 one-day internationals, was awarded his Test cap
only after Yuvraj Singh reported sick on the opening day of the
match.
He hit two sixes and 12
boundaries, reaching his century with a fluent off-drive against
seamer Dammika Prasad that raced to the fence.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (76) joined in the run feast after Raina's departure,
adding 95 for the sixth wicket with Tendulkar and 51 for the
eighth with Abhimanyu Mithun (41).
It was left to part-time spinner
Tillakaratne Dilshan to get rid of Tendulkar soon after tea as
wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene held a bat-pad catch moving
swiftly to the silly point area.
Dilshan also dismissed Harbhajan
Singh in the same over and later took a return catch off Dhoni
to finish with three wickets.
Sri Lanka missed the
wicket-taking abilities of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and
injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the young crop of bowlers
failed to contain the Indians.
Mendis finished with 4-157 from
his 54 overs, while off-spinner Suraj Randiv failed to add to
his two wickets on the third day and returned with 2-212 in 64
overs.
Muralitharan and Malinga had
claimed 15 of the 20 Indian wickets in the first Test in Galle
last week, which Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets. – AFP |