Sports

TOKYO: Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek and world number four Jessica Pegula surged into the quarter-finals of the WTA Pan Pacific Open with straight-sets victories in Tokyo on Wednesday. Poland’s former world number one Swiatek beat Japan’s spirited Mai Hontama 6-4, 7-5 and faces Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in the last eight. “I didn’t really start well,” Swiatek, the top …

The Pakistan squad landed in India’s Hyderabad on Wednesday to participate in the ICC World Cup 2023. The national team flew to India via Dubai and landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. A video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) showed the squad exiting the plane. AFP reported excited crowds, held back by officers, cheered and shouted the name …

MANCHESTER: Manchester United kept the critics at bay as they cruised into the League Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on Tuesday. United boss Erik ten Hag and his players have been under fire after a disappointing start to the season. But, following Saturday’s narrow Premier League victory at Burnley, they secured a second successive win …

PALMA: Youngster Fe­r­min Lopez rescued Barce­lona a 2-2 draw at Real Mallorca on Tuesday whi­ch extended his team’s La Liga lead, even though the champions dropped two points. Barcelona came from beh­ind twice to secure a draw, Vedat Muriqi opening the scoring for the hos­ts early on, before Raph­inha pulled them level. However, Abdon Prats sent Mallorca ahead again and …

LAHORE: Twenty-five players earned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) central contract on Wedne­sday, first time for a three-year period, with a significant increase in monthly retainers as well as match fees for all four categories. The period of the central contract starts from July 1, 2023 and runs until June 30, 2026. The PCB had to announce the contracts before …

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was cleared of sexual assault in Sydney on Thursday, saying outside the court that he “can’t wait” to play again. The 32-year-old batsman was arrested in November last year just hours after his country lost to England in their final Twenty20 World Cup match in Australia. He was initially accused of four counts of sexual intercourse without …

Excessive moisture on the field at the Cricket World Cup will make the top-flight ODI competition all the more interesting, India coach Rahul Dravid said. The 50-over tournament kicks off next Thursday across 10 cities, and all but six of the 48 matches will be day-night contests. In India that usually means high moisture on the field after sunset, which …

ALGIERS: Algeria has pulled out of the running to stage the Africa Cup of Nations in either 2025 or 2027, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) said on Tuesday, a day before the announcement of the host nation for each of the two tournaments. The FAF said in a statement that it had “sent a letter to the Confederation of African …

AMSTERDAM: Two-time world champion sprinter Dafne Schippers, known as the “Flying Dutchwoman”, announced her retirement on Tuesday, telling her social media followers “the race stops here”. The 31-year-old from the Netherlands won gold in the 200m at the 2015 World Championship in Beijing and again in London two years later. She was also the silver medallist in the 200m at …

HANGZHOU: Teen sensation Pan Zhanle swam a freestyle leg at world record pace to drive China to the men’s 4×100 metres medley relay gold at the Asian Games on Tuesday after the hosts claimed the first title at eSports’ official debut in the multi-sport event. Two nights after becoming the first Asian swimmer to break the 47 seconds barrier in …