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22 Sports Players not distracted by fixing scandal LAHORE Staff REpORt
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said that the team was not distracted by the news of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif’s sentence in spot-fixing case by a London court. Misbah said the team was fully focused on their current series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Misbah, who replaced Butt as the captain since the Lord's Test, has led the Test side admirably, ensuring that Pakistan went undefeated in series against South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies. Pakistan lead the Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after two matches. "We have a good bunch of boys and everyone is focusing on his own performance. There's a good spirit. We know each other well and that's the key. The country's name comes first, people come and go, every player needs to remember that," he said.
Afridi confident of playing long innings LAHORE Staff REpORt
Shahid Afridi has said he is "strong, fit and in good shape" to come back from the wild period he spent out of the Pakistan limited-overs side due to his retirement. Afridi had made himself available for selection after Zaka Ashraf succeeded Ijaz Butt as PCB chairman and was named on Wednesday in the ODI and Twenty20 squads for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. His selection came hours after he met Ashraf in Lahore. Afridi last played for Pakistan in the West Indies in May, when he had a public falling-out with the coach Waqar Younis. He was replaced by Misbah-ul-Haq as captain in the limited-overs formats, after which he announced his retirement, saying that he would not play for Pakistan under that administration. "It's obviously very tough to be out in such a manner. It indeed was a very difficult time and I am happy that I am back," Afridi said. "I am strong, fit and in good shape to cover the wild period I had lost during the time of retirement. "I was well supported by the seniors in the team and also by Misbah, which is really good. Now I am ready to contribute in the team as a senior player." "I am focusing on maintaining my allround abilities. I had a successful county stint, which gave me ample confidence of doing well in both departments."
Pakistan may miss Qatar TT event LAHORE Staff REpORt
The Pakistan Table Tennis Federation named a two-member Pakistan team comprising a male and female to represent the country in the Qatar Peace and Sports Table Tennis Cup. But Pakistan’s representation in the event is in doubt after one of the players employer WAPDA has not despite several requests from the federation given No Objection Certificate to the female player. The event is scheduled from November 21 to 22 and the team is to leave for Qatar on November 20 and return on November 23. It has been learnt that the Army has given its player Awais NOC for participation in the event but Sadia Falak of WAPDA was not being issued the NOC putting the national interest at stake.
Friday, 4 November, 2011
TRI-NATION HOCkEy
Pakistan down hosts Australia to win title LAHORE
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Staff REpORt
AKISTAN won the Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament Thursday beating world champions Australia in the final in Perth. In a thrilling contest, Pakistan defeated Australia 4-3. Shoail Abbas, Muhammad Touseef, Muhamamd Imran and Shakeel Abbasi scored the goals for Pakistan. The third team of the tournament was India. Australia defeated Pakistan in the two round matches while they played draw with India. However, in the final Pakistani team displaced brilliant performance and outclassed Australia to lift the trophy. Pakistan are the ninth ranked team in the FIH’s latest rankings while Australia are at the top of the table. Sohail Abbas showed that he still has a lot of fire in him, Shakeel Abbasi showed glimpses of his class and other scorers Mohammad Imran and Muhammad Tausif gave their hearts out to pull out this improbable win for the greenshirts. The victory will boost Pakistan hockey as they prepare for the London Olympics 2012, which just months away now. Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minsiter Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani congratulated the hockey team for winning the Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament. pcb chAirmAn congrAtulAte hocKey teAm: The new PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf has congratulated the Pakistan hockey team for winning the Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament in Australia. Pakistan beat Australia by 4-3 in the final to claim the title. In a message to Pakistan Hockey Federation President Qasim Zia, Zaka said: It’s a matter of great honour that the national team won the hockey title against one of the best teams of the world. Its is under your leadership the game of hockey is flourishing and I congratulate you and the hockey team for this achievement and wish that the green shirts keep bringing laurels for the country and bring back the lost glory.” Earlier, Australia handed India a 1-2 defeat in a friendly hockey match on Thursday, ending a thoroughly disappointing trip Down Under for the team. India were previously supposed to play for the bronze of the just concluded tri-nation Challenge, meeting the new entrant Australia A. However, the organisers decided to hold a Test match as only Pakistan and Australia's senior team figured in the tri-nation apart from India. A strong Australia led by Fergus Kavanagh was too much for India to handle. The defence which
Pakistanis played their hearts out in the final. held its own most part of the match -- the Indians managed to ward off five penalty corners on the trot in the first half -- fell apart in the closing minutes. Goal-less at the lemon break, Daniel Hotchkiss gave finishing touches to a move by Tim Bates to give Australia the lead. Sandeep Singh, who had till them missed three penalty corners, finally struck to equalise for India. It seemed that the match would end in a draw but the Indian defence began to crumble in the last five minutes, conceding long corners in numbers. Indian forwards again came a cropper upfront, failing to convert good moves into goals. At the same time, barring the last 10 minutes of the first half, in which Tim Bates missed four of the five penalty corners he took, the Australian team was on the backfoot. Gurbaj Singh, Arjun Halappa, Sardar Singh, and Ignace Tirkey set up many chances for the forwards but they failed to score, fumbling in front of the goalmouth. After nearly a three week tour, the Indians will now return home. After a brief rest, they will assemble for a camp in Pune. "Our next target is the Champions Challenge in South Africa late November. The area is about 300 Meters above sea level. We have high altitude training facilities in Pune, we are therefore going to have our camp there," said chief coach Michael Nobbs.
Imran pained at jail sentence for Pak cricketers SHARJAH afp
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan on Thursday said he was pained to hear the news of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer being jailed for fixing parts of a Test match against England. Pakistan former Test captain Butt, 27, received 30 months, fast bowler Asif, 28, received one year in jail and 19-yearold Aamer was jailed for six months. Butt and Asif were found guilty on Tuesday of deliberately bowling three no-balls during the Lord’s Test in August 2010 as part of a “spot-fixing” betting scam uncovered by Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World. Aamer and players’s agent Mazhar Majeed, sent down for 32 months, had already pleaded guilty to involvement in the scam. Khan said it was painful to listen to the news. “It is painful to listen (to) the news as a former Pakistan cricketer and I feel really sorry for their families,” Khan, who was on a political meeting here, told AFP. “In a way I also feel sorry for these cricketers because they are from Pakistan where there are massive corruption cases against president (Asif Zardari) and they must have thought crime pays,” said Khan, who now heads his political party -- Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice). Khan said the punishments are a wake-up call for Pakistan cricket. “The verdict is a wake-up call for Pakistan cricket and from now on we
should be ultra careful and, like we did in the past, should never allow the corruption to set in,” said Khan, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup win in 1992. Khan criticised the previous cricket boards for sweeping the matter under the carpet. “We should not hide behind the justification that it (fixing) happens in international cricket. It does happen, but Pakistan should set its house in order first and anyone involved should be punished,” said Khan. Khan said he always felt sorry for Aamer. “I always felt sorry for Aamer,” said Khan, himself a great fast bowler. “He may have been influenced by the atmosphere around him, secondly he was the best young fast bowler and for the fact that he came out with a confession,” said Khan. Another former captain Ramiz Raja said he has no sympathy for the players. “I have no sympathy, I have always maintined that in a team when the rest of the guys are fighting to win a game and two or three are fighting against it, trying to sell their souls to the devil, they cannot be afforded any sympathy,” said Raja. “They hurt Pakistan cricket, their fans and even though it may sound rough to some of the fans but justice has been done and they deserved the punishement they got.” Raja said the verdict will serve Pakistan cricket well. “Even though it’s a sad situation for their families, justice has been done. You need to rid such elements from the game
and it’s good for Pakistan cricket. “Cricket needs good ambassadors and passionate cricketers who can be good ambassadors, who can serve their country honourably and unfortunately these three were on a diffrerent track,” said Raja. Former coach Waqar Younis, in charge of the team during the England tour when the case surfaced, termed it “ugly.” “I was part of the team when the whole episode took place. It was an ugly side of cricket. I don’t know much about the criminal law in England but cricketers being sentenced to jail is sad for cricket and bad for Pakistan,” Waqar told AFP. “Unfortunately it has happened now and I pray the whole episode should end and clear the Pakistan team to start afresh.” Waqar said he could never think of the three players being involved. “I could not even think of any of these guys being involved when the whole thing was taking place. If I knew then things could have been managed differently and the board could have got involved and unfortunately it ends this way and they have to suffer.” Waqar hoped Pakistan do not lack in role models. “It was a great loss for the team
at that time, especially Amer. He was upcoming and very energetic with a big future. I hope there is no absence of role models. I only hope the whole episode will be taken as a positive thing by the younger cricketers. “Pakistan cricket should be thankful in a way that the whole thing is now taken care of. We need to take this positively and move on from here and we have done well since it started and we can do better than this. “I have no doubt that talent is there and things will improve.”