Lahore—Pakistan’s cricket chief Thursday said
that his country would host the Champions Trophy
as planned but that the International Cricket
Council would appoint a commission to ensure
security. The announcement came after the
ICC’s executive board held a teleconference to
discuss the possibility of moving September’s
biennial tournament because of security fears
raised by Australia, England and New Zealand.
Chitral—Mughulandeh club clinched the trophy
after defeating Jang Bazar club in the final of
the Chitral Inter-District Football
Tournament_2008 played at Parade ground here.
District Nazim Chitral Haji Maghfirat Shah was
chief guest on the occasion while Tehsil Nazim
of Chitral Sartaj Ahmad Khan, players and game
spectators were also present and witnessed the
thrilling final. The players of both the
finalist team comprising Mughulandeh and Jang
Bazar produced excellent soccer which was
largely enjoyed by the capacity crowd present on
this occasion. Mughulandeh got the lead in the
7th minute through unmarked Shahryar Khan who
netted a fine goal from the 25-yard distance. It
was in the 15th minute when Shahryar Khan scored
his second and team’s second goal to make the
tally 2-0.
On a slow, benign SSC track, Sri Lanka
accumulated ruthlessly, and looked set to get
themselves a total that would rule out a defeat.
They were helped by the Indian fielders who did
not accept the half-chances that came their way.
Three contrasting centuries were scored: Mahela
Jayawardene was elegant from start to finish,
Malinda Warnapura surer and grittier than
yesterday, and Thilan Samarweera - who came in
to bat when the fielders and bowlers were at
their most tired - almost unobtrusively
capitalised with an unbeaten 111.
There were gripping passages of play when an
Indian bowler bowled well from one end, but that
didn’t translate into breaks for them. Also
India would have ended with one more wicket but
for the review system for umpiring decisions,
which made its debut in this Test.
Karachi—Pakistan State Oil (PSO) “A” and “B” and
KESC, New Jubilee Insurance (NJI) outfits
stormed into the semi-finals of inaugural KTTA
Inter Firm Table Tennis Tournament after winning
their quarter-final at KPT’s Benazir Sports
Complex here on Wednesday evening. PSO “A”
routed Allied Engineering 3-0 and PSO “B” beat
Hinopak Motor “A” by same margin.
Peshawar—Easy sailing for top seed in the
ongoing The Bank of Khyber Raja Adalat Khan
Abbottabad Inter-District Badminton Tournament
being played at City Sports Complex Abbottabad
on Wednesday. In the Men’s singles top
seed Amin-ul-Haq Jadoon defeated Iftikhar Kiyani
in straight sets, the score was 21-14, 21-16 and
23-21. It was only in the last set when Amin
faced tough resistance against Iftikhar Kiyani
in the thrilling battle.Amin raced up to the
victory by leveling the set at 5-5, 6-6, 8-8,
10-10, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 17-17, 19-19,
20-20, 21-21 and thus got the set by 23-21. In
the second singles, second seeded Bilal Mustafa
beat Mehrooz Kiyani by 21-14, 21-18 and 21-13 in
one-sided affairs. In the third singles, Mazhar
of Haripur stunned Aziz Ashraf by 3-1, the score
was 23-21, 21-23, 21-16 and 21-19. The match pro
duced great thrill as both Mazhar and Ashraf
played well which was largely enjoyed by the
sitting spectators. Captain Sarfaraz beat
Aamir Shaheen by 3-0, the score was 21-13, 21-14
and 21-15, Saeed Tariq of Haripur beat Owais
Khan by 3-0.
