Sports

GUANGZHOU: Fired-up Pakistan annexed the Asian Games men's hockey gold medal after 20 years with a convincing 2-0 win over Malaysia in the final on Thursday. Veteran Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead with his team's first penalty corner in the 26th minute, before striker Rehan Butt increased the margin three minutes after half-time.
It was Pakistan's eighth Asiad hockey gold, ending a drought that stretched back to Beijing in 1990, and handed them their first major title since

GUANGZHOU: Afghanistan beat Pakistan by 22 runs on Thursday to reach the final of the Asian Games cricket tournament as the war-torn nation's battling team continued their fairytale rise in the sport. In Friday's final, they will face Bangladesh, who eased past a disappointing Sri Lanka by five wickets to guarantee that the eventual champions will claim a first ever Asian Games gold medal.
Afghanistan scored 125-8 in their 20 overs before limiting Pakistan's flamboyant batsmen

GUANGZHOU: Aamir Atlas Khan avenged his singles final loss to Mohamad Azlan Iskandar as Pakistan won the men's team title Thursday, preventing Malaysia from sweeping the Asian Games squash golds. But world number one Nicol David grabbed her fourth Asiad gold medal as she powered Malaysia to a 2-0 win over Hong Kong in the women's team final.
It was only Pakistan's second gold of these Games after the women's cricket title. It was also their second squash gold since the racquet

ABU DHABI: Manager Intikhab Alam on Thursday expressed confidence that Pakistan cricket was heading in the right direction after drawing the two-Test series against South Africa. Both Tests were drawn and Alam believes this will establish a solid platform for his team to build upon following a turbulent last four months.
Pakistan cricket was rocked by spot-fixing allegations which led to the suspensions of former Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad

LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation President Qasim Zia has termed the success of the hockey team as one of the biggest wins of recent times. Talking to journalists after participating in the victory celebrations observed by Olympians here at the National Hockey Stadium, Qasim Zia said the win was made possible due to the positive steps taken by the PHF. He also praised the contributions of the senior players in the win.
"Salman Akbar, Rehan Butt and Sohail Abbas have proved that

BRISBANE: Peter Siddle celebrated a hat-trick and career-best Test figures on his birthday to bowl Australia into a commanding position against England after the opening day of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba Thursday.
The stout-hearted Victorian paceman sent England reeling with the first Ashes hat-trick in 11 years, as he captured six for 54 to help dismiss the tourists for 260.
At the close, Australia had negotiated seven overs in fading light to be 25 without loss and

COLOMBO: Part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan bagged two wickets in one over in fading light to boost Sri Lanka's hopes of gaining the lead in the second Test against the West Indies on Thursday.
The off-spinner dismissed well-set Darren Bravo (80) and Brendan Nash (29) before the West Indies reached 165-5 in their first innings at stumps on the third day in reply to Sri Lanka's 387-9 declared. Carlton Baugh was unbeaten on four and Dwayne Bravo on one not out when play was

LAHORE: BBL and Aitchison College Staff won their respective matches of the 4th SPM league here on Wednesday. In the first match of the professional group, BBL beat Muslim Gymkhana by 9 wickets. Muslim Gymkhana scored 185 for 9 wickets after batting first.
Mohammad Mateen 67, Salman Ghafoor 49 and Nadeem Zafar 39 were the main scorers. Romail Bashir took 3 wickets while Muhammad Yousaf and Rehan Rauf grabbed 2 wickets each.
In reply, BBL achieved the target for the loss of

GUANGZHOU: World champion Maryam Jamal failed dismally in her bid for a middle distance double Wednesday as a fired-up Pakistan won its first men's Asian Games hockey gold in 20 years.
The Pakistani breakthrough, their first major title since the World Cup in Sydney in 1994, went some way to compensate for their cricket team being stunned by Afghanistan in the semi-finals.
On Day 13, China has its sights firmly set on shattering its best-ever gold medal haul, which stands at

ABU DHABI: Misbah-ul-Haq played a captain's knock of 58 not out to salvage Pakistan a draw in the second Test against South Africa and finish the two-match series without a result.
Misbah, who scored an unbeaten 76 in the drawn first Test in Dubai last week, countered South African bowlers on a weary fifth day pitch at Abu Dhabi Stadium, taking Pakistan to 153-3 after they were set a 354-run target in 82 overs.
Misbah added 87 for an unbroken fourth wicket stand with Azhar

NEW DELHI: Seven-time champions, Pakistan take on Malaysia in the final of the 16th Asian Games at the Aoti Hockey Field, Guangzhou today (November 25) with the winners gaining automatic qualification for the 2012 London Olympics.
In the first semi final, Pakistan got the better of South Korea in the penalty shoot-out after both sides were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation as well as extra time while Malaysia defeated India through a golden goal after both sides were tied 3-3

ABU DHABI: A humble truck driver from Pakistan's most dangerous Al-Qaeda lair is dreaming of the big time after bowling out the national cricket team's batsmen on the sidelines of their lacklustre Gulf tour. The 25-year-old Abdul Haq thought things were looking up when he swapped the wilds of North Waziristan on the lawless Afghan border to work as a driver-cum-supervisor at a construction company in the United Arab Emirates. Little did he know how much.
When the Pakistan

PARIS: AC Milan and Marseille reached the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, but Arsenal's hopes of joining them are in the balance following a shock defeat at Sporting Braga.
Seven-time champions Milan were made to work hard before emerging from their trip to Auxerre with a 2-0 victory that secured second place in Group G behind Real Madrid. The French side had procured all the clear-cut chances until Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasted Milan ahead in the 64th minute, with substitute

GUANGZHOU: Superstar hurdler Liu Xiang won redemption Wednesday in front of home fans for his Beijing Olympic disaster by claiming Asian Games gold on a day tarnished by a second positive doping test.
On day 12 of the showpiece multi-sports event, dominant table-toppers China made the Guangzhou Games its most successful ever in terms of total medals.
Li Caixia's gold and Li Ling's silver in the women's pole vault were the 343rd and 344th for the hosts, surpassing the

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari awarded cash awards of Rs500, 000 each to the players and Rs200, 000 each to the coaches of the national women cricket team that won the gold medal in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. He handed the cash awards during a reception hosted for the team players in the Presidency to felicitate them on their win.
The reception was also attended by the coaches, managers, PCB officials and the newly appointed Chairperson Women Wing PCB Ms.

LAHORE: Judo players and organizers all over the country have expressed their increasing concerns at the extremely poor performance of the Pakistan Judo team that finished rock bottom in the Asian Games being held in China currently.
Mrs Samina Khan, President Pakistan Women Judo Association, said an eight-member team comprising six players and two officials failed miserably to achieve anything in these Games. All the players lost their bouts in seconds and were thrown out of

COLOMBO: Kumar Sangakkara hit an impressive 135 not out under pressure to boost Sri Lanka in the second Test against the West Indies on Wednesday.
The skipper hit one six and 16 fours in a 252-ball knock for his 24th Test hundred as Sri Lanka posted 294-5 in their first innings at stumps on the second day.
Prasanna Jayawardene was unbeaten on 12 when play was called off after tea due to rain.
Sangakkara steadied the innings with a record 170-run stand for the fourth