ROSSOUW, IHSANULLAH LEAD MULTAN SULTANS TO EMPHATIC WIN OVER GLADIATORS

Multan Staff Report

CLINICAL Multan Sultans

Wednesday defeated Quetta Gladiators by nine wickets in the third match of the ongoing eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Explosive batter Rilee Rossouw led the charge for the Sultans as they easily chased down 111 runs with 39 balls in hand.

Impressive Rossouw brought up his eighth PSL 50 off 33 balls to help Sultans finish off the job with the bat. He scored 78 not-out off just 42 balls laced with nine boundaries and three maximums.

It was Ihsanullah’s day today as the 20year-old bowler took five wickets to help Sultans bowl out Gladiators for 110. Ihsanullah shined brightly with his speedy deliveries and bagged back-to-back wickets to dominate in just his second match of the debut PSL season. He claimed five wickets and conceded just 12 runs in his four overs.

Apart from Ihsanullah, Sultans’ other two pacers, Sameen Gul, and Abbas Afridi gave their side an early boost by claiming a wicket each. Sameen struck in his first over as aggressive batter Martin Guptill was sent packing after scoring seven runs.

The next to fall was Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, who was caught by mid-on fielder Kieron Pollard off Abbas Afridi.

Meanwhile, Quetta lost Sarfaraz Ahmed after Ihsanullah bowled a fiery delivery to topple the stumps. The skipper went back after scoring only two runs.

Ihsanullah struck again in his second ove, as he sent destructive batter Jason Roy packing after scoring 27 runs.

The tall bowler continued to impress with his fiery pace. He trapped in-form

Iftikhar Ahmed for an lbw.

After all three pacers played their part, Usama Mir delivered for the home side, trap- ping Mohammad Nawaz for an lbw on the last ball of his second over, reducing Quetta two 66-6 in 12 overs.

The Gladiators lost one more wicket to none other than Ihsanullah, who bowled a deadly bouncer that hit Umar Akmal’s bat and was caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan. The right-arm pacer finally completed his five-for after bowling out Naseem Shah (1) with a brilliant delivery.

Despite having some top batters of the format, Mohammad Hasnain was the second top-scorer for Quetta, gathering 22 runs off 20 balls before being sent back to the pavilion by Sameen.

Quetta’s innings ended after veteran batter Mohammad Hafeez fell to Abbas after scoring 18 runs. While chasing, Sultans lost Shan Masood earlier but Rossouw and Rizwan carried the innings superbly. Nuwan Thushara gave Gladiators an early breakthrough as he sent opener Masood back to the pavilion.

7th national cycling C’ship to begin tomorrow

PESHAWAR AGENCIES

The 7th edition of the National Road Cycling Championship Men/Women, Elite/Junior competitions are going to start from February 17 under the aegis of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cycling Association and with the collaboration Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) on Northern Bypass here.

This was stated by President Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) and South Asian Federation Syed Azhar Ali Shah here at the Conference Room of the Directorate General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. President KP Cycling Association Nisar Ahmad, international technical official Sarmad Khan were also present. The championship will continue up till February 20 in which more than 110 national and international cyclists from all 12 unites including Pakistan Army, Wapda, Pakistan Railways, Crank Addicts, SSGC, PCF Technical Official team, POF Wah, Bikestan Cycling Academy, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Syed Azhar Ali Shah said that these races in different categories including

Road Time Trials Individual and Team events of both Women and Men would start on the Northern Bypass Road (Motorway) Peshawar for which all preparations and arrangements have been completed.

The arrival of the teams will be completed by Wednesday and on February 16 a practice round would be held before the opening of the races in the morning at 8 a.m. This is a circuit race which is being played under Asian and UCI rules, Azhar Ali Shah said.

There will be a loop of 13.5 km, PCF

Top seeds move to semi finals of ‘ITF World Junior Tennis Championships’

ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

All the seeded players moved into the semi-finals of both Boys Singles and Girls Singles events of ITF Pakistan PPL – Syed Dilawar Abbas World Junior Tennis Championships 2023 after beating their respective opponents in the quarterfinal stage at PTF-SDA Tennis Complex Islamabad on Wednesday. Only one upset was caused by unseeded Yejun Lee of Korea when she eliminated the 7th seed of Maia Visan of Romania in the Girl’s Singles quarter-final 6-1 60. Yerzhan Kistafin Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Pakistan visited PTF Complex to witness some of the matches. He appreciated the high standard of tennis and also interacted with players and parents from his home country as well as other countries. Senator Taj Haider also visited PTF Complex and interacted with the players, coaches and parents and appreciated the efforts of PTF for conducting International tournaments in a highly befitting manner.

The following are the results: Boys Singles Quarter-Finals: Cem Atlamis (TUR) bt Jihwan KIM (KOR) 6-0,6-4: Yuan Lu (CHN) bt Dogan Can Sipahioglu (TUR) 6-0,6-2: Bugra Ozkoc (TUR) bt Edward Kruppe (CAN) 6-0,7-5: Kamonpanyakorn Thadpong (THA) bt Mahatir Muhammad (PAK) 5-7,7-6(3),6-2: Girls Singles Quarter-Finals: Yejun Lee (KOR) bt Maia Visan (ROU) 6-1,6-0: Vlada Guryleva (RUS) bt Jinshu Xia (CHN) 5-7,6-0,6-4: Zeynep Erbakan (TUR) bt Pitchayapak Srimuk (THA) 6-2,6-2: Defne Erbkan (TUR) bt Lilya Piskun (RUS) 3-6 6-1 6-3.

Boys Doubles Quarter-Finals: Keagan Jonathan (MAS) / Jihwan Kim(KOR) bt Ahmad Nael Qureshi (PAK) / Krittamaet Thammakun (THA) 6-3,7-5: Cem Atlamis (TUR) / Mikhail Khodorchenko (RUS) 1-6,7-5(10-6): Mahatir Muhammad Khan (PAK) / Nadir Mirza (PAK) bt Asad Zaman (PAK) / Boda Zheng (CHN) 6-2, 6-2: Yash Bahalkar (GBR) / Hamid Israr Gul (PAK) Vs Teetawat Tavachphongsri (THA) / Kamonpanyakom Thadpong (THA) (in progress).

President Syed Azhar Ali Shah said. Cycle races were organized in which DUCI changed the rules and separated the road and track races. Now it is our 7th year that we are organizing a separate national road race, he said. “We have not got any special sponsors from other organizations and only Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has extended a support to the federation.” He said that races are being organized under different categories. He said that this race is also very important for the International Road Cycle Race to be held in

Thailand in June because out of the race, a team of Pakistan would be short-listed purely looking after the performance of the cyclists.

Athletes from all over the country will be judged and a team will be prepared consisting of athletes who give the best performance in this competition, Shah said.

PCF President said that no progress has been made yet regarding the velodrome to be built in Peshawar. The velodrome should be prepared with the help and consultation of the international technical officials of the world body. Shah said that there are thirty-five velodromes in India and unfortunately, we have only velodrome in Lahore.

He said that due to lack of funds and politics, the construction of the velodrome could not be started yet, which is very regrettable. In the sports in which we are ahead, the infrastructure should be all over the country. He said that some people are still a hindrance in the development of cycling.

Shah said that even before the international cycle race in Pakistan, tourism had been greatly promoted and now the proposals for the international cycle race have been sent to the government.

PSG left looking to Mbappe to keep Champions League hopes alive

PARIS

AFP

Paris Saint-Germain were deservedly beaten by Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, but Kylian Mbappe’s cameo on his return from injury gives them reason to believe they can still prevent another premature exit from Europe’s elite club competition. Mbappe did not look like a player who had been brought back much earlier than expected following a thigh injury as his electrifying pace caused panic in the Bayern defence when he came on for the final half-hour.

The France superstar could not inspire a comeback as Bayern left the Parc des Princes with a 1-0 win, but only a brave Yann Sommer save and then a marginal offside call denied him an equaliser. “We only lost 1-0, there are no more away goals, and if we play our attacking game, cause them problems and score once, we’ll be level,” Mbappe said as he looked ahead to the return leg in Germany on March 8.

“We are not beaten, not at all. We still have every chance.”

However, what Tuesday’s game confirmed was the extent to which PSG are dependent on Mbappe, despite the presence of Lionel Messi and Neymar in their attack as well.

Messi and Neymar struggled to have any real influence on the game in the first 57 minutes before Mbappe came off the bench, by which time Kingsley Coman had put the away side ahead.

The Argentine may have just inspired his country to World Cup glory and Neymar may still be the world’s most costly footballer, but there was a reason why PSG were so desperate to keep Mbappe last year when it seemed certain he would join Real Madrid. “When he came on Mbappe completely lifted the atmosphere in the stadium and that also gave the other players a lift,” admitted Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. “It is clear that Kylian Mbappe can change any game.”

The 24-year-old, scorer of seven goals in six matches during the group stage, now has three weeks to get back to full fitness and try to lead PSG into the quarter-finals.

Failure is almost unthinkable for a club who have never won the Champions League despite all the investment of their Qatari owners over the last 12 years, and who have gone out of the Champions League in the last 16 in four of the past six seasons.

Qatar’s emir watches on: Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad AlThani, was in attendance at the Parc des Princes to watch PSG suffer a third consecutive defeat, the first time that has happened since 2011, just after the Gulf state’s takeover of

Urvashi Rautela wishes Naseem Shah on his birthday

LAHORE STAFF REPORT the club.

His presence came amid intensifying speculation that Qatari investors are looking to buy Manchester United.

Whether such a move could have any impact on PSG remains to be seen, but the French champions need to turn things around in Munich next month to avoid the sense that the Qatari project is seriously stalling. After all, they may be five points clear of Marseille at the top of Ligue 1 despite a recent slump but domestic success alone is not enough.

Nevertheless, the emir cannot failed to notice that neither nor Neymar could make a serious impact on Tuesday’s match — both were given a rating of three out of 10 by sports daily L’Equipe, as was midfield lynchpin Marco Verratti.

Messi and Neymar create another problem — their lack of running and tracking back needs to be compensated by their teammates.

According to UEFA, Bayern’s team ran nearly eight kilometres more than PSG, almost as if they had an extra player despite the Bundesliga leaders finishing the match a man down after Benjamin Pavard was sent off.

“Obviously we have identified that problem but we can’t change the characteristics of the players,” acknowledged Paris coach Christophe Galtier.

Bollywood actress, Urvashi Rautela raised eyebrows as she posted a birthday message for Pakistan pacer, Naseem Shah. The pacer celebrated his 20th birthday today, by cutting a cake alongside his Quetta Gladiators’ teammates. Rautela posted a comment on Naseem’s Instagram picture, in which the pacer had congratulated Shadab Khan on his wedding. The actress also congratulated Naseem for being conferred with an honorary DSP rank in Balochistan Police. “Happy Birthday Naseem Shah. Congratulations on being conferred with honorary DSP rank,” commented Rautela. Naseem also acknowledged Rautela’s greeting, and commented,” Thank you”. Last year, Rautela had shared an Instagram reel featuring Pakistan pacer after the Asia Cup game on September 4. In a video, Rautela could be seen enjoying the India-Pakistan match and there were some glimpses of Naseem Shah in the video shared by her with Atif Aslam’s ‘Koi Tujhko Na Mujhse Chura Le’ playing in the background. The clip went viral, and she deleted it, but users ensured it went viral. Naseem was asked about the Indian actress, to which he replied that he is unaware of Urvashi. “I am smiling at your question. I don’t know who Urvashi is. I only focus on my match. People usually send me videos but I have no idea. I have nothing special in me but I thank people who come to watch cricket and give a lot of respect,” Naseem said. Meanwhile, Urvashi Rautela clarified the viral video on her Instagram story, stating it was nothing but “fan made cute edits.” She further asked the media to refrain from making any news out of it. On the other hand, Pakistanis were quick enough to find that Urvashi was following Naseem Shah on Instagram, however, she unfollowed the Pakistan pacer after the latter disclosed he doesn’t know who Urvashi really is. Now it seems that both of them are aware of each other and are on cordial terms.

Saudi Arabia to host 2023 World Club Cup

PARIS AFP

Saudi Arabia will host the 2023 World Club Cup, FIFA said on Tuesday. Saudi club Al-Hilal reached the final of the 2022 edition in Morocco last week, losing 5-3 to European champions Real Madrid. The seven-team event will take place on December 12-22. Saudi Arabia is believed to be building towards a bid to host the 2030 World Cup, having seen neighbours Qatar host last year’s tournament.