NATIONAL
Pakistan beaten to finish a poor 8th in Olympics:
Three-time champions Pakis-tan’s cup of woes filled to the brim as they lost to New Zealand 2-4 to finish eighth — the worst ever showing in their 60 years Olympic Games hockey history, here at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium. After missing a semifinals berth and a chance to qualify for the Champions Trophy in Melbourne next year, Pakistan were looking forward to salvage some pride by beating New Zealand and emerging seventh in the 12-team competition. New Zealand had other ideas as they scored three times in the second half to complete Pakistan’s misery in the Beijing Olympics. Barring the first ten minutes, that saw Pakistan dominating the game, the rest of the sixty minutes belonged to New Zealand as they made life miserable for the opponents defence. Once Simon Child put the ball into the Pakistan net in the 26th minute, the Kiwis started dominating the game and added three more through Hayden Shaw who scooped home two goals on penalty corners and Gareth Brooks. The Pakistan team that missed no less than five penalty corners, scored through Haider Abbas (46th minute) and Rehan Butt (56th minute) to reduce the margin.
The margin of victory could have been even bigger, had the New Zealand forwards capitalised on the given opportunities later in the second half. The match against New Zealand summed up the Pakistan hockey team’s performance here in the Olympics as it was no different to what we had seen during the last two weeks of competition. Pakistan lost four matches here in the Beijing Olympics, winning just two and those too against teams like Canada and South Africa.
The match against New Zealand here was a true picture of ill planning. Lack of team spirit and team planning was evident from the fact that no hard effort was made to win the match. The players showed little or no commitment towards the team effort as they were seen engaged more in individual play.
Ijaz Butt likely to take over as new PCB chief soon:
Former Test cricketer Ijaz Butt will take over as the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) within the next few days. Sources told that Butt’s appointment has been approved by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its leader Asif Ali Zardari and a notification will be issued shortly. Butt, 70, who also kept wicket for Pakistan in one of his eight Tests from 1959 to 1962, served as secretary of the PCB, then known as the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), in the eighties. He recently served as a member of the PCB’s Governing Board. The Sialkot-born Butt also worked as director in the World Cup organising committee for the 1987 World Cup hosted by Pakistan and India. Apart from his rich cricketing background, another factor that helped him emerge as the favourite to take over as the new PCB chief is that he is the brother-in-law of Defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar, a key figure in the ruling PPP. Other leading candidates for the coveted position included former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia, Majid Khan and Khalid Mahmood. Meanwhile, the outgoing PCB chief Nasim Ashraf will have a farewell meeting with the Board employees and the PCB Governing Board in Lahore. Sources said that Ashraf was informed by the Presidency that his resignation has been accepted by acting president Mohammad Mian Soomro. Ashraf visited the National Stadium in Karachi and met with the Board employees there. He also met with chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed and selection committee member Saleem Jaffer.
POF Open to go on in spite of Wah blasts:
Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) announced that an international women’s
squash tournament in Wah Cantt will continue in spite of two deadly bombings in the city. PSF officials were making desperate attempts to save the POF-WISPA Open, a world ranking tournament that is sanctioned by the Women’s International Players Association (WISPA), from falling victim to the twin blasts in Wah. Players from various countries including Australia, England, Egypt, Iran, Russia and hosts Pakistan were in action at a squash complex situated just a stone’s throw away from the Pakistan Ordinance Factories (POF) in Wah when two suicide bombers reportedly blew themselves up at the main entrances to the facility, killing dozens of people. The foreign players are in Wah to feature in what is one of the biggest women’s squash event hosted by Pakistan on an annual basis. The suicide bombings created a panic among the players and some of them want to fly back home after the tragic incident. But a PSF official said that the tournament will continue in spite of the bombings. He said that the players are being provided comprehensive security.
‘B’ sample positive:
Drug-tainted Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif was in high spirits despite the fact that his B Sample tested positive at Lausanne, Switzer-land. “I am still confident that I will play for Pakistan and that day is not far away. I am very confident that I will be cleared of all charges.” Asif’s lawyer confirmed that the second reading was 5.4 mg of nandrolone compared to the 6.2 mg that was found during the previous test. Asif appeared in high spirits and his lawyer said that since the quantity of nandrolone has varied, it allows them to appeal once again. “The variation in quantity of nandrolone (in the two tests) gives me hope because there is discrepancy in the doping test that has been conducted.” The 25-year-old pacer is already suspended from all forms of cricket by the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) after the first test turned out to be positive. But Asif said that he was also surprised at the different test results and was thinking about appealing to the authorities. “We will appeal to the IPL drug tribunal and point out the difference in the test results. I am hopeful of being cleared even now,” Asif insisted. “I can assure everyone that I never took any banned substance or drugs to enhance my performance. Which is why I am so confident. We will fight it to the end,” the lanky pacer said.
Pacer can be cleared - Dr. Zaheer:
Pakistan’s doping expert Dr Danish Zaheer said that doping tainted Pakistan paceman Mohammad Asif can fight his case on the basis of discrepancy in the level of nandrolone in both his samples. “Yes, there have been cases at international level when the athlete tested positive in both the samples but the discrepancy in the level of banned drug helped them fight their cases,” said Zaheer. The most recent case was of an Indian athlete Sunita Rani who won a gold medal in the 1500 metres in the Busan Asian Games, said Zaheer. “She contested her case as the quantity of nandrolone was different in both the samples and I remember that she took the case to Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) where she won,” said Zaheer.
Zeeshan apologises to the nation:
Pakistan hockey captain Zeeshan Ashraf has apologised to the nation for putting up a disappointing show in the Olympics and said he had done all he could to earn a semifinals place in the Beijing Olympics. Talking to media people after the team finished a poor eighth in the 12-team competition in the Olympics here in Beijing, Zeeshan said “I know how important it was to put up a good show here. The whole nation was following us and they wanted us to make at least to the semifinals of the Olympics. However, we could not fulfil their expectations and did not even make it to the top seven teams.” Zeeshan said he knew it was the worst ever showing of the greenshirts in the Olympics
