The Nation : Sports News

Ponting, Katich make England toil at Cardiff

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

CARDIFF (Reuters) - Australia captain Ricky Ponting and opener Simon Katich scored unbeaten centuries during a second wicket partnership of 189 on the second day of the first Ashes test against England on Thursday.
At the close, Australia had reached 249 for one in reply to England's 435 all out with Ponting on 100 and Katich on 104.
Ponting, who became the fourth man to score 11,000 test runs, scrambled a single to reach his 38th test hundred off the penultimate ball of the

PCB has made Pakistan a laughing stock, says Inzamam

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LAHORE - Former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq today berated Pakistan Cricket Board for dissolving the national senior and junior selection committees, saying they have made the country a laughing stock in world cricket.
"The way the selection committee issue was handled it made us a laughing stock in world cricket," Inzamam was quoted as saying in an Indian newspaper.
The former batsman, who represented Pakistan in 104 Tests and 378 ODIs, said even though chief selector Abdul Qadir

Gangloff throws down gauntlet in 100m breaststroke

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana) (AFP) - Mark Gangloff burst through the one-minute barrier in the 100m breaststroke on Tuesday, booking his World Championship berth with a victory in 59.01sec at the US Swimming Championships.
Gangloff's time was the second-fastest ever posted, behind the current world record of 58.91sec owned by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima.
With Beijing Olympic hero Michael Phelps waiting in the wings on the first day of the championships, US swimmers showed they won't

Phelps launches World Championship campaign

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana) (AFP) - Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps launched his World Championship bid on Wednesday with the fastest qualifying times in the 200m free and 200m butterfly at the US championships.
Phelps clocked 1min 46.31sec to book his berth in the 200m freestyle finals, with Peter Vanderkaay second-quickest after winning his heat in 1:46.42. David Walters was third-fastest overall after finishing second to Phelps in their heat in 1:46.46 and Ryan Lochte was

Sajjad overpowers Lippe of Germany

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

KARACHI - Muhammad Sajjad of Pakistan scored crucial victory over Sascha Lippe of Germany in his five-player group C to ensure a place in the second stage of 3.8 million baht second SamSong six-red Grand prix snooker in Bangkok on Thursday according to information received here.
Out of five matches, Sajjad won three and lost two. While losing to Habib Subah of Bahrain, Sajjad struck a break of 68.
Another Pakistani Raees Alam placed in group F had won one and lost four

Pakistan handball squad named for World Beach Games

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Handball Federation (PHF) named eight-man national team to compete in the World Beach Games, scheduled to be held from July 16-26 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Two officials would also accompany the squad for international mega handball showpiece.
According to a spokesman for Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), Pakistan team had got the berth in the international fixture by winning the Asian Beach Games Bali. Pakistan will meet world champions Croatia on July 18 in

Cancellara in yellow as Voeckler defies sprinters

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

PERPIGNAN (France) (AFP) - Thomas Voeckler handed France their first victory of this year's Tour de France when he won the fifth stage here on Wednesday.
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland retained the overall leader's yellow jersey, with a 0.22sec lead over American Lance Armstrong ahead of Thursday's sixth stage from Gerona to Barcelona in Spain.
Voeckler was part of a six-man group which broke away from the peloton in the first kilometres of the 196.5km stage from Cap

Asian, European tours form new alliance

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

KARACHI - The Asian Tour and The European Tour on Thursday have announced an alliance designed to invigorate the game internationally by fortifying existing co-sanctioned tournaments, generating new competition at all levels and reinforcing relationships with sponsors, tournament promoters, national associations and regional professional bodies, the Asian Tour has announced.
This alliance will ensure unity and cohesion on the commercial and media fronts. The immediate strategic

PEL sign Asian star Safiullah for top notch event

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LAHORE - Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) signed deal with Asian star Safi Ullah Khan for their marathon campaign in KASB Pakistan Premier Football League. The 182-match event is slated to commence from 25 July 2009. Safi rose to limelight when he finished as leading marksmen of third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers alongwith Sri Lankan's spearhead Kasun Jayasuriya (Ratnam Sports FC).
PEL's Director Operation Murad Saigol believes the man from NWFP will be a huge different at the club

Qotbi gets vote of confidence as Iran coach

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Wednesday kept faith with coach Afshin Qotbi agreeing a new 18-month contract despite the team's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.
The Iranians, a traditional powerhouse of Asian football, were dumped out of the World Cup qualifiers in the closing matchday of Asia's qualifying final round last month, only managing a 1-1 draw against South Korea.
Iranian-American Qotbi vowed to resurrect the team's fortunes in the

First Ashes Test: Honours even on day one

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

CARDIFF (AFP) - Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood kept Australia at bay with an unbroken century stand as England got through the second session of the first Ashes Test here Wednesday without losing a wicket.
At stumps, England were 336 for seven with both Pietersen and Collingwood having made responsible 69 and 64
The pair knew all about building a big partnership after sharing an England fourth-wicket record against Australia of 310 at Adelaide in 2006/07.

Aisam likely to join Pakistan team in Philippines

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LAHORE - Pakistan's tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi is likely to join the team in the country's Davis Cup tie scheduled to be played in Phillipnines.
Rubbishing reports of the player's rifts with the Pakistan Tennis Federation, Aisam's father said that the player was scheduled to play the Hall of Fame tournament, an ATP event extremely important to Aisam's international ranking and would have serious bearing on his future participation in big events .
He said Aisam had

ICC brings forward start of Champions Trophy

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

KARACHI (Reuters) - The start of this year's Champions Trophy in South Africa has been brought forward by two days to Sept. 22.
The International Cricket Council had orignally scheduled the eight-nation tournament from Sept 24. to Oct. 5.
"But now on the recommendations of some countries who wanted longer gaps for their players between matches, the tournament will start two days earlier," a Pakistan Cricket Board source told Reuters on Wednesday.
The tournament, which

Inzamam pleads for more Tests for Pakistan

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan's former captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, on Wednesday begged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give more tests to his country, saying a dearth of top-level matches could damage the game.
Inzamam, Pakistan's most capped player with 104 test and 378 one-day international appearances, said the team could not survive on a diet of one-dayers and T20 matches.
International teams have stopped touring here because of worries over violence and the ICC

Yousuf moves to number one on return

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

CHENNAI (India) (Reuters) - Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf moved to the top of the official test rankings for batsmen this week after his first test since being recalled on quitting the unofficial Indian Cricket League.
Yousuf struck 112 and 12 to give his side the upper hand against Sri Lanka before they dramatically collapsed to lose the opening test by 50 runs on the fourth day at Galle on Tuesday.
Yousuf toppled countryman Younis Khan to move to the top of the rankings for