Pakistani lady powerlifter Twinkle wins gold at Asian Championship
Misbah mulls retirement after England series L AHORE —Test captain Misbah-ul- Misbah told media on the sidelines of of UAE conditions and that will be a
I SLAMABAD —Pakistani female powerlifter Twinkle Sohail has won the gold medal in the Asian BenchP r e s s Powerlifting Championship being held in Muscat, Oman. The Pakistan female team has accompanied the men team for the first time at the Asian Powerlifting Championship being held in Muscat from Oct 1 to 5. Seven powerlifters – three women and four men – are representing Pakistan at the event in Muscat. The Pakistani women team comprises of Twinkle Sohail (57kg), Sonia Azmat (63kg) and Shazia Kanwal Butt (84kg+), while the national men’s side is being represented by Mahmood Heera (120kg), Nadeem Hashmi (105kg), Sohail Butt (84kg) and Rashed Malik (93kg).—APP
Ahmed Ali to represent Pakistan in world military games I SLAMABAD —Olympian Ahmed Ali will depart for South Korea on Saturday from Islamabad to represent the country in super heavyweight boxing contests in the coveted World Military Games starting there from October 3-11. The quadrennial international sports event, dubbed the Olympics for soldiers, will be held in Mungyeong, north Gyeongsang province of Korea. Over 8,000 soldiers from more than 100 countries are expected to participate in the event. Apart from the usual popular sports such as golf, basketball and boxing, the event this year will also feature some unique ones like parachuting.—APP
Haq said on Friday he was mulling retirement after the upcoming Pakistan-
England series, saying he hoped to leave the game on a high. The 41-year-old said the series against England “could be my last”. “I haven´t taken a final decision,”
a training camp in Lahore, adding that he was considering his options. Misbah retired from Twenty20 cricket in 2012 and left the one-day international game after Pakistan´s quarter-final finish in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in March. He said he wanted to leave Test cricket with “good memories”. “People remember your final performance,” he said. Last month Misbah had announced he will retire after an upcoming series against India, but the December-January contest is in serious doubt due to tensions between Pakistan and India. Pakistan take on the Ashes-winning England team in a three-Test series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting in Abu Dhabi from October 13. Misbah warned the conditions in the UAE will be challenging for England. “This English team has done well in the Ashes,” he said. “But they do not have experience
Real Madrid honours Ronaldo for setting scoring record MADRID—Real Madrid held a special ceremony to honor Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday after he became the club’s all-time leading scorer. The club presented Ronaldo with a custom-made trophy in a ceremony attended by his family and teammates at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. After a long video showing
Ronaldo’s official presentation in 2009 and many of his greatest feats and important goals, including some against rival Barcelona, club president Florentino Perez gave a speech praising the Portugal forward. ‘’It’s a very emotional day for all Real Madrid fans,’’ Perez said. ‘’One of our own has achieved something that
Mourinho aims to revive spluttering Chelsea L ONDON —As Chelsea’s problems deepen, Jose Mourinho will attempt to revive his side’s disastrous campaign by masterminding a victory against Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Another testing week has only added to the growing sense of unease around the club, with Mourinho forced to defend his relationship with his players after making unexpected changes for the Champions League trip to Porto.”—AFP
No guarantees for Rooney: Hodgson LONDON— England coach Roy Hodgson can give Wayne Rooney “no guarantees” that he will always pick him for the national team and said the current crop of forwards he has to choose from is the best he has seen during his tenure. Manchester United forward Rooney will be awarded a golden boot by Sir Bobby Charlton before England’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Estonia on Oct. 9 after overtaking him as the country’s leading scorer.—AFP
big challenge for them.” He refused to be drawn on the prospect of another 3-0 rout of the Lions, such as the one in the UAE under his captaincy three years ago. “We have to take it match by match, session by session and once you win sessions you go towards the bigger goals. “We are not thinking of 3-0, England is a top team and we have to play well and think how to tackle them.” When asked if Pakistan would miss Saeed Ajmal — one of the architects of the 2012 rout with 24 wickets — Misbah said Pakistan have replacements in leg-spinner Yasir Shah and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar. “Shah and Babar are doing extraordinarily well and that´s a big plus, so they haven´t made us feel anyone´s absence,” said Misbah. Ajmal was not selected for the series after he struggled with a remodelled bowling action required to overcome suspension. He was suspended for illegal action by the International Cricket Council last year.—AFP
Real Madrid’s President Florentino Perez applauds as striker Cristiano Ronaldo, holds his silver boot award for scoring the most goals for the club during a ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain on Friday.
was considered almost impossible to achieve. Only through his talent, his hard work and his determination was this possible.’’ Ronaldo scored his 323rd and 324th goals Wednesday in Madrid’s 2-0 win over Malmo in a Champions League game in Sweden, matching and surpassing the mark previously held by Raul Gonzalez. Ronaldo also surpassed the 500 mark for career goals in the game against Malmo, reaching 501. ‘’To me it’s an honor to receive this award. I didn’t expect it,’’ Ronaldo said. ‘’When I wore Real Madrid’s jersey for the first time I never imagined that one day I would become the club’s greatest scorer, surpassing my friend Raul and the late (Alfredo) Di Stefano. I’m very happy.’’ Ronaldo needed 308 games to reach his mark, while Raul did it in 741 matches from 1994 through 2010. Ronaldo is also the all-time scoring leader in the Champions League with 82 goals, five more than the injured Lionel Messi. Several of Ronaldo’s teammates were present for the ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu, as well as Madrid coach Rafa Benitez and the player’s mother and young son. The 30-yearold Ronaldo posed for photos with all of them after the ceremony. ‘’First of all, I need to thank my teammates,’’ he said. ‘’Because without their support and their commitment, this achievement would never be possible.’’ Ronaldo caught the eye of talent scouts while playing for Sporting Lisbon in the early 2000s, earning a transfer to Manchester United as a teenager. The Portuguese forward moved to Real Madrid after nearly six seasons in the Premier League. ‘’His name already is a legend in Real Madrid,’’ Perez said. ‘’I hope the legend will keep on going.’’—AP
Inzamam appointed Afghanistan coach for Zimbabwe tour K ARACHI —Former
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was Friday appointed temporary Afghanistan cricket coach for their upcoming Zimbabwe tour, saying he was thrilled to be taking on a team whose rise has been the game´s Cinderella story. Inzamam accepted a 25-day role to coach Afghanistan on their tour of Zimbabwe, where they play five one-day internationals and two Twenty20s starting from October 16. “I have accepted the role of Afghanistan team coach only for the tour of Zimbabwe,” Inzamam told AFP. “It will be exciting and I would love to put their enormous passion on the right track.” Most of the Afghan players learned the game in refugee camps on the Pakistan border after Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. They burst on to the cricket world stage in 2009, graduating from Division Five to Division One in the International Cricket Council programme. Since then they have featured in three World Twenty20 tournaments, and earlier this year made their maiden appearance in the 50-over World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. They also won a silver medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. However they hit a speedbump in August this year, when the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) decided not to extend their English coach Andy Moles´ one-year tenure, admitting communication between Moles and the team had been a challenge. Most Afghan players speak Urdu, how-
ever, and before Inzamam, former Pakistan players Kabir Khan and Rashid Latif also had stints as Afghanistan coach.
Inzamam said the ACB had been pursuing him for two years. “They offered me the role of head coach and had been after me for the last two years, and now they have asked me to help them for the Zimbabwe series, which I have agreed,” said Inzamam, whose batting expertise should boost the wayward Afghan team. “They are aggressive and passionate which could be both good and bad, if it is not controlled, so I will try to teach them that control and how to use their passion in the right manner.”—AFP
Kenya bans two athletes for failing doping tests N AIROBI —Kenya’s athletics body has suspended two runners for failing dope tests, five weeks after two others were kicked out of the World Championships in Beijing for similar offences. Athletics Kenya said on Friday it had suspended road runner Josephine Jepkoech Jepkorir and 800m athlete Agatha Jeruto Kimaswai for two and four years respectively for testing positive for the banned anabolic agent norandrosterone. “Athletics Kenya has sanctioned Josephine Jepkoech Jepkorir for failing a doping test conducted on Dec. 31 2014 during the Corrida de Sao Silvestre, in Luanda, Angola, which revealed the presence of prohibited substance norandrosterone,” it said in a statement.—APP
Sheikh Salman weighs entering FIFA race if Platini withdraws Z URICH —One of Michel Platini’s main of the Association of National Olympic backers in his bid to head world soccer’s governing body, Bahraini Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, might stand himself if a Swiss investigation hampers the Frenchman’s candidacy, two sources have told Reuters. Sheikh Salman, head of the Asian Football Confederation, had given a ringing endorsement to the European soccer chief as the man to lead FIFA out of a graft scandal that broke in May and has grown to the worst in its 111-year history. But on Friday, Platini himself became embroiled in a Swiss inquiry into a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.05 million) payment in 2011 from veteran FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who was placed under investigation for criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. Both Platini, a former French international, and Blatter, a Swiss national, deny wrongdoing over the affair. Klaus Stoehlker, a confidant and former advisor to Blatter, told Reuters he understood that Salman is “carefully looking at the situation of the FIFA election” but has yet to make a decision on whether or not to enter the race. Media reports in Qatar have suggested Salman might run in the February vote in Zurich if Platini dropped his bid. Switzerland’s Attorney General says that Platini is somewhere “between a witness and an accused person” in the investigation of the payment. Asian soccer analyst Osama el-Shekh, a well-connected expert in gulf region football politics, said he has been made aware that AFC president Salman is waiting to see the outcome of the investigation into the payment. “In the case that Platini decides not to stand, or if there is a reason, such as the Ethics Committee, that he cannot stand, then Sheikh Salman maybe will decide to stand,” the Egyptian told Reuters. Sheikh Salman’s office was not available for comment. Sheikh Salman is closely allied with Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad AlSabah, one of the most powerful men in international sports politics. The 51-yearold Sheikh Ahmad is a member of the FIFA executive committee and is also the head
Committees (ANOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). El-Shekh said that Sheikh Ahmad would without doubt throw his weight behind any electoral move from his key ally. “They are very close friends and they
support each other and will coordinate,” he said. Asia already has two hopeful candidates with Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who was defeated by Blatter in May’s vote, running again and South Korean Chung Mong-joon, the 63-yearold billionaire scion of South Korea’s Hyundai industrial conglomerate, also bidding. The situation has also moved European football associations backing Platini to take a more cautious approach, awaiting the outcome of investigations. The UEFA president says the nine year gap between his work for FIFA, which concluded in 2002, and the 2011 payment was due to FIFA lacking the funds to pay him. Platini would have to pass an Ethics Committee ‘Integrity Check’ after submitting his nomination by October 26. The FIFA corruption scandal broke in May when 14 soccer officials and marketing executives were indicted in the United States for bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.—APP
Venus Williams beats Vinci to reach final of Wuhan Open WUHAN (China)—Venus Williams did what this match,’’ Williams said.
The No.15-seeded Italian sliced a backhand into the net on her match point and Williams pounced, hitting a pair of huge groundstrokes in the next two points to break back. Williams ripped a forehand volley to go up 6-4 in the tiebreaker and clinched the victory when Vinci missed a forehand wide. Before Friday’s match, Williams, who earned her 700th career victory to reach the quarterfinals, had never dropped a set against the Italian veteran - who ended little sister Serena’s chances of a calendar-year Grand Slam in the U.S. Open semifinals. ‘’Definitely watching the match at the U.S. Open, I learned a lot from Serena,’’ Williams said. ‘’If I could, I’d give my win to Serena at the U.S. Open - unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.’’ The former top-ranked American will face fifthseeded Garbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final. Muguruza beat sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4, 7-6 (5). ‘’It was a really tough match and I had to struggle today,’’ Muguruza said. ‘’Venus is a legend. I’ll have to go out there and do my best Roberta Vinci returns a shot to Venus Williams during to win against her and I think it’s going to be a great semifinals of the Wuhan Open. final.’’—AP her sister Serena couldn’t do, beating Roberta Vinci on Friday after saving a match point in the semifinals of the Wuhan Open. The unseeded Williams won 5-7, 6-2, 76 (4) after Vinci came from 4-1 down in the final set but failed to serve out the match when leading 6-5, 40-30. ‘’Roberta played so well today - she had match point - so it was lucky for me to win
Jeff Thomson to attend Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture today Bipin Dani OBSERVER CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI—Former Australian fast-bowler Jeff Thomson will attend Dilip Sardesai’s Memorial Lecture on Saturday evening at the (CCI) Cricket Club of India. This was revealed by Prof. Nandini Sardesai, the wife of late Dilip Sardesai. Speaking exclusively, she said, “Jeff Thomson is a special, honoured guest and will be interviewed and speak thereafter”. The 65-year-old Thomson, ten years younger to Sardesai, made his Test debut (against Pakistan at Melbourne on December 29, 1972) four days after Sardesai’s last Test day appearance against England at Delhi. Captaining India “Anil Kumble is delivering the memo-
rial lecture on ‘’captaining India’’, Mrs. Sardesai added. The 45-year-old former leg-spinner Kumble led Team India in 14 Tests out of which India won 3, lost 5 and drew 6 Test matches. “(The renowned writer) Ayaz Memon will introduce the topic and there will be a brief Q&A after the lecture”, Mrs. Sardesai further added. In the memory of Sardesai, who, at the age at 65, died in Mumbai in 2007, every year prominent cricketing personalities deliver lectures. Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have so far delivered lectures in the past. Rajdeep, the son and a prominent TV anchor, will give the vote of thanks, it is learnt.