NATIONAL
Champions Trophy stays in Pakistan:
World cricket bosses on July 24 backed Pakistan as the ICC Champions Trophy hosts even as threats of a players’ boycott loomed large because of security apprehensions. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Nasim Ashraf emerged triumphant from a three-hour hook-up between the 10-man executive board of the International Cricket Council (ICC). “The Champions Trophy will stay in Pakistan and we thank all member countries for their kind support,” Ashraf said. The PCB chairman promised to hold the “signature” tournament of the ICC in a befitting manner from September 11-18. “The Champions Trophy is a very crucial event for the ICC and for Pakistan. It will be staged as a true world class tournament in a befitting manner,” he assured. But before that, Pakistan will have to convince a special task force set up by the ICC that it was seriously implementing a “fool-proof” security plan drafted for the Champions Trophy. “The ICC has decided to appoint a special task force to ensure that the implementation of the recommendations of the report are indeed being met,” said Ashraf. ICC president David Morgan will head the task force that will include Sharad Pawar (ICC vice-president), Haroon Lorgat (ICC chief executive), IS Bindra (ICC’s principle advisor), Nasim Ashraf and representatives of the Federation of International Players’ Association (FICA) and the official broadcasters of the ICC. An ICC statement said the duties of the task force were “to ensure the effective implementation of the recommendations of the ICC’s independent security advisors and to liaise with various stakeholders, including embassies within Pakistan and other governments, on an ongoing basis to ensure effective communication and the management of any concerns that may exist”. The task force which has been given an August 10 deadline will be visiting the country early next month to review the security arrangements being made by Pakistan.
PHF to decide fate of junior team management next week:
Pakistan will decide next week whether to retain officials of the national junior hockey team that failed to reach the final of the Junior Asia Cup in the South Indian city of Hyderabad earlier this month. Former champions Pakistan were beaten in the semifinals of the tournament by hosts India but managed to thrash Japan in the playoffs to achieve third position in the eight-nation tournament. India won the title by beating Korea in the final. The Junior Asia Cup served as the qualifying event for the 2009 Junior World Cup to be jointly hosted by Malaysia and Singapore next June. Pakistan were lucky to qualify for the Junior World Cup in spite of their failure to reach the final in Hyderabad as the International Hockey Feder-ation (FIH) has decided to raise the number of teams competing in the quadrennial spectacle from 16 to 20 next year. Jahangir Butt, the national junior team head coach, said that any decision taken by the PHF will be acceptable to him. “We worked hard on preparing the junior team and believe that it is improving with every match,” said Butt, a former Olympian. “We will certainly want to continue but only if the PHF believes that we can do a good job,” he added.
Pakistan referees for football course:
Football referees Shahid Rashid and Muhammad Ali will attend the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Project Future Referees Refresher Course, which will commence at Hyderabad, India, from July 27. The six-day course, having 27 participants, will be held during the Second AFC Challenge Cup main round pencilled in for July 30 to August 10. Shamsul Maidin, who had supervised matches in the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, will serve as instructor while AFC’s Project Future Group Manager George Cumming will be the course coordinator. Twenty-six referees from 16 countries including Australia, Bangla-desh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand and Uzbekistan will attend the course.
PCB to take Asif decision next week:
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will take a decision next week on whether to take action against their key pacer Mohammad Asif on his drug-related episode in Dubai. Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer told that a fact-finding committee formed by the Board listened to Asif’s side of the story during a hearing in Lahore and will now submit its reports next week. “We heard Asif’s version on the issue,” said Naghmi, who heads the fact-finding committee. “I will not go into the details of the hearing but basically Asif has pleaded his innocence. However, we will go through all the aspects before preparing our report.” Naghmi said that the committee is likely to submit its findings to the Board on July 28 after which the PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf will announce whether any action has to be taken against Asif.
The pacer is facing a ban following his 19-day detention in Dubai for allegedly carrying a banned substance. Asif was in detention in Dubai from June 1 to 20 for suspected possession of an illegal substance. The case against him was dropped by the Dubai public prosecutor on the grounds of insignificance. He is currently busy in another, more explosive case as he faces a life ban after failing a dope test carried out during the IPL in May. Asif also failed a dope test in 2006.
Malik hails trophy
verdict:
Captains past and present hailed the world governing body’s decision to keep September’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, saying it would help develop cricket in the South Asian country. Current captain Shoaib Malik praised Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for its efforts to retain the hosting rights. “Our stance from the first day was that our country is safe for playing cricket and I give full credit to the PCB for fighting their case with conviction.” He said Pakistan would ensure the tournament is held in the best atmosphere.
“I congratulate the people of Pakistan, who will now witness best players playing in the event and we will all combine our efforts with the PCB and the government to make this tournament a great success.” Malik hoped leading players will not pull out of the trophy. “I call upon all the leading players to come to Pakistan, play here and enjoy our hospitality. We will look after every player,” said Malik. Former captain Wasim Akram agreed Pakistan will benefit from the decision. “It is a positive decision which should be viewed in the larger interest of the game. ICC must be appreciated for taking a decision which will help Pakistan cricket in every way,” Wasim said.
Farhan, Mansoor fall in quarter finals:
Farhan Mehboob grabbed a 2-0 lead over Malaysian world no 11 in quarters but the Malaysian came from behind to overpower 21 places lower ranked opponent to secure his expected place in pre-finals of CIMB Malaysian Squash championship in Kuala Lumpur. Ong Beng Hee battled for 90 minutes against Farhan Mehboob, recovering from two games down to beat the seventh-seeded Pakistani 14-16, 9-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-8.
While, Mansoor Zaman failed to put up a spirited show against defending champion Mohammad Azlan Iskandar and conceded a straight set 3-11, 5-11, 3-11 defeat in 18 minutes. The toughest game of the day was the first fought out by Stewart Boswell and Omar Mosaad — the fourth-seeded Boswell ultimately earning the early lead by virtue of a 26-24 game score — a near record points total.
Mosaad, the fifth seed from Egypt, then struck back to take the lead going into the fourth game. But Boswell restored his advantage to record a 26-24, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4 win. Boswell faces Beng Hee in the semifinal, while Iskandar takes on event favourite Wael El Hindi in the other semifinal.
