Sports

Zeeshan plans revenge in India clash

October 22, 2010 on by Staff Report

Zeeshan plans revenge in India clash

October 22, 2010 on by Staff Report

LAHORE
Pakistan hockey captain Zeeshan Ashraf is confident that his team can end its losing streak against India and tame the arch-rivals in next month’s Asian Games at Guangzhou, China.
Pakistan and India will meet in a crucial Pool B encounter in the Asian Games hockey event on November 20. “We have to win our match against India at any cost,” Zeeshan said in an interview on Thursday. “We played badly against them in our last match but we won’t repeat the same mistakes

Aleem honoured for his laurels

October 22, 2010 on by Staff Report

LAHORE
Pakistan’s top umpire Aleem Dar, recently nominated the ICC Umpire of the Year, was given half-a-million rupees and a souvenir by the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt at the National Cricket Academy here on Thursday.
Aleem made his international debut as an umpire in 2000 and joined the ICC’s Elite panel of umpires in 2004. It is the second time that Aleem has received the award ahead of his colleagues Tony Hill and Simon Taufel, the five-time ICC umpire of

US duo battle the Russian star for all-around title

October 22, 2010 on by

ROTTERDAM
Rebecca Bross and Alexandra Raisman will be gunning to restore US pride and scupper Russian star Aliya Mustafina’s bid for a gymnastics double in the women’s all-around final at the world gymnastics championships here on Friday.
Mustafina helped Russia to their first ever women’s team gold by a narrow margin ahead of the US at the Ahoy Arena on Wednesday night, and is now a favourite for all-around gold after leading qualifiers.
World silver medallist Bross is

Redknapp vows not to sell hat-trick hero

October 22, 2010 on by

MILAN
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp vowed not to sell hat-trick hero Gareth Bale for any figure after the Welshman lit up the San Siro in the Champions League.
Spurs hit back from a 4-0 half-time deficit and the early sending off of goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes as Bale stunned the holders with a brilliant treble in the second period. And although Spurs didn’t win, the form of Bale gave Redknapp hope for the future. But he said there’s no chance he’d be selling his star

Sun City welcomes the Ryder stars

October 22, 2010 on by

JOHANNESBURG
World number two Lee Westwood will lead five of the victorious Europe Ryder Cup team to the Sun City Challenge golf tournament in December.
Fellow Englishman Ross Fisher, Irishman Padraig Harrington, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiminez and Italian Edoardo Molinari are the other members of the team heading for north-west South Africa.
Europe pipped defending champions the US by one point in a Celtic Manor thriller this month that went to the wire with the final

Russian men fail to fire-up home crowd

October 22, 2010 on by

MOSCOW
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko, top seed of the joint ATP and WTA Kremlin Cup tournament, crashed out of the event beaten by unheralded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in straight sets.
The 24-year-old Cuevas won 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) in one hour 48 minutes to level his record with Davydenko, three-times a champion here (2004/06/07), at 1-1. It was not a good day for the Russian hopes as defending champion Mikhail Youzhny pulled out because he has not recovered after falling ill in

Bale hits treble in Spurs loss, Rooneyless United win

October 22, 2010 on by

PARIS
A second half Gareth Bale hat-trick enabled Tottenham Hotspur to limit the damage on Wednesday but was still not enough to stave off a Champions League loss at holders Inter Milan in a seven-goal thriller.
Manchester United, meanwhile, missing injured and want-away striker Wayne Rooney, thanked an early Nani goal to see off Turkey’s Bursaspor at Old Trafford to go two points clear of Rangers in Group C after the Scots could only draw 1-1 at home to Valencia.

Top seed Jankovic crashes out of Kremlin Cup

October 22, 2010 on by

MOSCOW
Top seed tennis player Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the Kremlin Cup at the first hurdle in a 6-1 6-2 thrashing by Kazakh teenager Zarina Diyas on Thursday.
Serbia’s former world number one, who had a bye in the first round, looked out of sorts from the start, committing numerous errors and winning only 43 percent of her first serves. The 268th-ranked Diyas beat her in less than an hour.
Diyas, who had not won a tour match this year before this week, now takes

Hussey to miss decider

October 22, 2010 on by

VISAKHAPATNAM
Cricketer Batsman Mike Hussey will return to Australia ahead of the third and final one-day international against India, Cricket Australia said on Thursday.
Hussey will return to play in West Australia’s Sheffield Shield match with South Australia. “Mike (Hussey) will have a few days off and then resume cricket in the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and West Australia commencing on Oct 29 at Adelaide Oval,” national selection panel chairman

Bollinger back home with injury

October 22, 2010 on by

SYDNEY
Australian fast bowler Doug Bollinger has been sent home from the one-day series against India with an abdominal strain, team officials said Thursday, raising further injury concerns before the Ashes.
Middle-order batsman Mike Hussey, who is returning to play for his domestic side West Australia, will accompany Bollinger. Bollinger also missed the second Test against India with an abdominal problem.
Sims said Bollinger would undergo further assessment and

Lillee backs Aussie bowlers to decide Ashes battle

October 22, 2010 on by

LONDON
Australia cricket legend Dennis Lillee believes his country will regain the Ashes from England because Ricky Ponting’s team has a stronger bowling attack.
Lillee, who took 355 wickets in 70 Tests from 1971 to 1984, knows what it takes to win the Ashes after forming a lethal partnership with Jeff Thomson to destroy England in the 1974-75 series in Australia.
While Australia’s current crop of bowlers may not be in the same class as Lillee and Thomson, the fiery

Khan wants to forget the past

October 22, 2010 on by

LAHORE
Pakistan’s former captain Younis Khan said Thursday he wanted to move on from bitter troubles this year and rebuild his career, after winning back a place in the national team.
The 32-year-old resolved a long-running battle with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday and was immediately picked to play for Pakistan’s limited over series against South Africa starting next week.
“I am happy to be back and eager to play for my country,” Younis told reporters. “I

Schleck team signs Italian sprinter Bennati

October 21, 2010 on by

PARIS: Italian sprinter Daniele Bennati has signed a two-year deal with the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project, where brothers Andy and Frank Schleck will carry hopes of winning the Tour de France yellow jersey.
Bennati has joined compatriots Davide Vigano and first-year pro Giacomo Nizzolo, as well as Portugese Bruno Pires in signing for the team. “Bennati is such a classy rider and we are very happy to have him,” general manager Brian Nygaard said.
“He is really passionate

S.Korea GP fails to draw big crowds

October 21, 2010 on by

YEONGAM: After three years of work, a 275 million dollar investment and frantic last-minute building work, Formula One comes to South Korea this weekend on what is touted as Asia’s best circuit.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has predicted the world will watch a “great race”, on a 5.6-kilometre (3.5-mile) track featuring a mix of corners, long straights and good overtaking opportunities.
But ticket sales have been slow and big business groups have shunned the opportunity to

Bangladesh team showered with gifts

October 21, 2010 on by

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s national cricketers have been showered with gifts including new cars and plots of land in the smartest part of the capital Dhaka after the team’s home series victory over New Zealand.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hosted a reception for captain Shakib Al Hasan and his men late Tuesday after Bangladesh recorded their first series win over a major opposition team with a 4-0 clean sweep of one-day internationals.
“It’s a glorious accomplishment for the

Kohli stars as India continue domination

October 21, 2010 on by

VISAKHAPATNAM: Young Virat Kohli overcame a bout of cramps to make a career-best 118 as India posted a thrilling five-wicket win over Australia in the second one-day international on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old hit one six and 11 fours in his third hundred to help India achieve a stiff 290-run target with seven balls to spare in the day-night game for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The opening match was washed out due to rain. The third and final international will be

Federer ready to take back lost crown

October 21, 2010 on by

STOCKHOLM: Roger Federer has endured his leanest season on the men’s circuit since 2001 but the Swiss maestro is already plotting a way to grab back the number one ranking from rival Rafael Nadal.
World number two Federer cannot dislodge his Spanish bogeyman from the top spot this year but that has not stopped the Swiss from planning his goals for 2011. “For me it’s not that important to be two, three or four. Sure you would like to be ranked as high as possible but for me it’s

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