Sports

Former Real Madrid and Chelsea winger Eden Hazard announced his retirement from football at the age of 32 on Tuesday four months after leaving the Spanish giants. The former Belgium international joined Real in 2019 as the club’s record signing but suffered injuries and struggled to settle at the Santiago Bernabeu during a dismal four-year spell. Despite limited playing time …

In-form Kusal Mendis hit his third one-day international century as Sri Lanka piled up the runs against Pakistan in the World Cup on Tuesday. The match is being played at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in India. The 28-year-old reached his century off 65 balls with 13 fours and four sixes, the last of which off Hasan Ali brought …

KARACHI: Shiraz Hassan had two tickets for Pakistan’s opening World Cup game against the Netherlands in Hyderabad. He had high hopes of travelling to India and witnessing Babar Azam’s men in action on their first tour across the border since 2016 at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium. Instead, like many of his compatriots — fans and journalists alike — waiting …

DOHA: Max Verstappen added his name to the list of triple Formula One world champions on Saturday after Red Bull team-mate and sole title rival Sergio Perez crashed out of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race. Mexican Perez needed to finish in the top three to keep the title open for another day but his hopes ended in a cloud …

LONDON: Liverpool missed the chance to go second in the Premier League as the Reds were pegged back in a pulsating 2-2 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, while Newcastle United were also held 2-2 by West Ham United. A point leaves Liverpool three points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur and after their justified fury in losing to Spurs …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), under its incumbent interim Management Committee, hired over 60 high-ranking officials during its first 90 days in office, Dawn learnt on Sunday. The appointments were made despite the committee’s mandate being limited to running day-to-day affairs of the PCB leading to the board’s pending elections. However, led by chairman Zaka Ashraf, the PCB roped in eight …

HANGZHOU: Hosts Chi­na racked up a record 201 gold medals before the curtain came down on two weeks of tears and triumphs at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday. The 19th and biggest Asi­ad concluded at the 80,000-capacity Olympic stadium with China handing over to Japan for 2026 at a celebratory closing ceremony. Dancers holding lit-up pro­ps fanned out …

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday denied that Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas was deported from India — where she was a part of the World Cup 2023 broadcast team — adding that her exit from the country was due to “personal reasons”. ICC official C. Rajshekhar Rao confirmed the development to Arab News, although some media reports suggested her …

Indian police have received a “threat email” from an anonymous sender to blow up Prime Minister and the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad — the ground where the World Cup final is scheduled to be played — if Rs5,000 million were not paid to a local gangster, according to Indian media. A report in Hindustan Times said the email insisted that the funds must …

HANGZHOU: Pakistan missed out on bronze in men’s cricket at the Asian Games after losing a rain-shortened, last-ball thriller against Bangladesh on Saturday while weightlifter Mohammad Abdullah Butt ended sixth in the men’s +109kg final. On another disappointing day for Pakistan, wrestlers Zaman Anwar, Inayatullah and Haider Ali all failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals of their respective categories while …