Tag: Open

DAVOS - Human Rights Watch (HRW) fears that Egypt's army may open fire on protesters during demonstrations planned for Friday, the head of the New-York based group said on Thursday.
Police in Cairo have already fought thousands of Egyptians who defied a government ban on Wednesday to protest against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old rule, firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowds and dragging away demonstrators.
"We are enormously fearful that the army would

LAHORE - The 'Indo-Pak Express' of Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna went down fighting to the French-Serbian pair in the third round doubles category of the Australia Open on Monday.
Things did not fall in place for Aisam and Bopanna after their successful first two rounds. They used all the weapons in their armory but lost to France's Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7, 6-7 in another tough third round match which spanned over two hours. Against Llorda

TEHRAN - Iran is open to holding further talks with six world powers over its nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday, a day after the failure of the latest round of dialogue.
Ahmadinejad's remarks came after the world powers expressed disappointment over the two days of talks held in Istanbul, even as the United States and Germany voiced hopes of holding new negotiations with the Islamic republic.
"They have talked for a few rounds, but we never

MELBOURNE - World number one Rafael Nadal survived a brief scare against local teenager Bernard Tomic to reach the Australian Open last 16 Saturday, as women's favourite Kim Clijsters also battled through.
Nadal, gunning to unite the four Grand Slam titles for the first time since 1969, was surprisingly broken twice by the confident Australian 18-year-old in the second set before recovering strongly to win 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Nadal, ironically the last teen to beat a world number one

MELBOURNE - The unique ability of sport, and in particular tennis, to conquer political divides was on full display at the Australian Open Thursday as war-riven nations were united on court.
Less than 24 hours after a security alert over feared clashes between ethnic Serb and Croatian fans, Serbia's Dusan Vemic and Croatia's Ivo Karlovic teamed up for doubles.
On the court next door, another bitter rivalry was put aside, with India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq

LAHORE - Pakistan have been placed in Group A and will open their campaign against Kenya. They will have to win two matches to move to the next round in the ICC World Cup 2011.
Apart from Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya are their group mates in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The mega event will be held in the South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The event will begin from February 19 till April 2.
The first

LAHORE - Pakistan's top tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi will pair with Rohan Bopanna of India in the first grand slam tennis championship of 2011, the Australian Open, in Melbourne, Australia.
The pair, famously known as IndoPak Express, has been seeded no. 10 in the doubles draw of the Championship.
In their first round encounter they will face the Brazilian pair of Andre Sa and Franco Ferreiro.

MELBOURNE - Defending champion Roger Federer and 2008 winner Novak Djokovic roared into the Australian Open's second round on Monday, as Venus Williams eclipsed her women's rivals on day one.
In cool and cloudy conditions, Federer was irresistible as he banished 97th-ranked Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, while Djokovic was also in destructive mood against Spain's Marcel Granollers. Federer, the world number two, broke Lacko's serve seven times and hit a stream of 37 winners

MELBOURNE - Former world number 27 Sania Mirza boldly declared she was back to her best after giving seven-time major-winner Justine Henin a scare in the Australian Open's first round on Monday. Mirza, currently ranked 145th after battling injury in recent seasons, stunned Henin in a whirlwind first set before the pint-sized Belgian came back to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.
The 24-year-old Indian only completed qualifiers on Sunday and admitted she tired during the final set, but

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have history against them as they strive to win the season's opening major at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
World number one Nadal is bidding to become the first man in 42 years to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously, but the 'Rafa Slam' is the subject of some debate.
Australian legend Rod Laver, who twice accomplished a calendar Grand Slam in 1962 and 1969, contends that what Nadal is pursuing cannot be technically

KARACHI - The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has permitted banks to immediately open dedicated and permanent booths to facilitate the flow of foreign remittances to the country through formal channels.
The decision to open Home Remittance Payment Centers (HRPC) has been taken by the central bank keeping in view the rising trend in the home remittances and their importance for the country's ailing economy.
According to State Bank estimates, in the last six months of the current

MELBOURNE - Russian beauty Maria Sharapova accused a New Zealand journalist of "stalking" her Saturday after he asked if she spent time with Anna Kournikova and frequented a club for "hot Russians". "You're the guy from New Zealand, huh?" Sharapova said, when she recognised the male journalist from this month's Auckland Classic. "Oh God, you're stalking me!" "It's not stalking if you love someone," the journalist said jokingly, to which Sharapova replied: "It can be slightly, trust

LAHORE - Lyari Town made short work of Balochistan's Bela 4-0 on Wednesday in Group D of PFF-KESC Lyari Football League 2011 at Shaheed Abdul Rehman Park. The winners were 3-0 up at interval.
Bela's defence failed to resist Muneer Ahmed's fine performance. Muneer struck twice, in the 21st and the 28th minutes. Midfielder Zohaib Nisar also earned a brace, striking the ball past Bela keeper in the 27th and 51st minutes.
Earlier, Agra Taj and Balochistan's Uthal were involved

MELBOURNE - Matt Millar celebrated the birth of his second child by booking a ticket to the British Open at International Final Qualifying (Australasia) on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old Australian secured his first appearance in a major championship by winning 36-hole qualifying at Kingston Heath Golf Club with a 10-under-par total of 134. "My wife gave birth on Wednesday so I haven't had a chance to play much golf and practise ... maybe that's the secret for me," Millar told

LAHORE - Open auction of shops in the newly constructed Park n Ride Plaza, at the prime location of Liberty Market, will be held on January 26, 2011 and the proceedings will be conducted in the presence of print and electronic media for ensuring transparency. LDA Additional Director General Ihsan Ul Haq informed this while briefing an eight member Turkish delegation of state owned development company ISBAK, visitors of the Lahore Development Authority head office on Tuesday.