Sports

HISOR (Tajikistan): In her side’s maiden qualifying campaign for the Olympics, Zahmena Malik ensured Pakistan’s women football team didn’t return winless. The England-based attacker scored in the 25th minute as Pakistan, already out of the race to advance to the second round of qualifying for next year’s Paris Olympics, ended their Group ‘E’ commitments with a 1-0 win over hosts …

LAHORE: The New Zealand cricket squad led by Tom Latham arrived in Lahore in the wee hours of Tuesday to play five T20 Internationals and as many One-day Internationals against Pakistan from April 14 to May 7. After landing at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in the wee hours, the 15-member touring squad arrived at its hotel under strict security. …

NEW DELHI: Pakistan would prefer playing bulk of their 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup matches in the Indian cities of Chennai and Kolkata — the two venues where the team reportedly felt safe during its earlier tours, Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday. The World Cup will start tentatively on October 5, with 46 matches, including the final set to be played …

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board’s interim management committee chairman Najam Sethi attempted to diffuse the prevailing discussion over Babar Azam’s all-format captaincy of the national team on Monday, stating on social media that the “status quo will remain intact” for now. It effectively means that the sword remains hanging over Babar with Sethi stating that a final decision will be “subject …

LAHORE: The tickets for the fourth and fifth T20 Internationals and the five One-day Internationals between Pakistan and New Zealand will be available online from April 11 (today). The fans can log on to pcb.bookme.pk to buy the tickets. According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, tickets for the last two T20 Internationals to be staged in Rawalpindi are priced at …

AL-MAJMAAH: Al-Nassr suffered a huge blow to their hopes of winning the Saudi Professional League after a goalless draw with lowly Al-Fayha, and Cristiano Ronaldo left the pitch in anger after a frustrating performance on Sunday. Leaders Al-Ittihad did not waste the opportunity to widen the gap with Al-Nassr to three points with the last seven games remaining, with a …

LIVERPOOL: After a run of seven consecutive league wins, Arsenal finally buckled under the pressure applied by Manchester City. With eight games to go as they try and close in on a first Premier League trophy since 2004, Arsenal will be hoping that squandering a two-goal lead against Liverpool on Sunday does not end up costing them the title. Through …

MONACO: Novak Djokovic said he hopes to hit the ground running at Monte Carlo having begun preparations for the clay season early after the world number one was forced to skip tournaments in the United States last month. Djokovic, 35, who is unvaccinated against Covid-19, was unable to enter the country after unsuccessfully applying to the US government for special …

BARCELONA: Samu Chu­k­w­u­eze scored twice to inflict a further blow on Real Madrid’s title hopes as they were beaten 3-2 by Villarreal at home in La Liga on Saturday despite twice taking the lead. Carlo Ancelotti’s side had been imperious as they thra­shed rivals Barcelona 4-0 at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday. Yet they …

PARIS: Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another for Sergio Ramos as Paris St-Germain won 2-0 at Nice on Saturday to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table and ease the pressure on coach Christophe Galtier. Messi converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 26th minute before Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several key saves …