Sports

MIAMI GARDENS: Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina survived a spirited comeback from Russian Anna Kalinskaya at the Miami Open on Thursday, progressing to the third round with a hard-fought 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win. Rybakina is aiming for the ‘Sunshine Double’ after defeating Aryna Sabalenka to win the Indian Wells final last week and she came into the match on the back …

LONDON: It was a record-breaking night for Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo as qualifying for the European Championship in 2024 got underway on Thursday. Kane became England’s all-time leading goalscorer as the Three Lions enjoyed a perfect start by winning 2-1 away to Italy. A first-half penalty lifted Kane to 54 goals for his country, one more than Wayne Rooney. …

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi capped a night of unbridled joy with the 800th goal of his career as world champions Argentina celebrated their homecoming with a 2-0 friendly victory over stubborn Panama in Buenos Aires on Thursday. The 35-year-old seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s stunning free-kick in the dying minutes came after 21-year-old MLS sensation Thiago Almada gave a glimpse of …

LAHORE: A high-performance skills camp for emerging women cricketers commences on Saturday at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High-Performance Centre, Multan. In the two-week-long camp, a total of 27 emerging women cricketers will undergo skills and fitness training. The camp is set up to pick a Pakistan team which will represent the national team in the Asian Women Emerging Cup to be held …

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan hailed the team’s maiden T20 victory against Pakistan but said their front-line batters need to improve ahead of the 50-overs World Cup in India later this year. Rashid and his teammates humbled a new-look Pakistan by six wickets in the opening T20 International in Sharjah on Friday. They restricted the young Pakistan side, led by Shadab …

NEW DELHI: India captain Rohit Sharma said his team-mates should consider skipping the occasional match during the Indian Premier League (IPL) to manage their workload ahead of the Cricket World Cup on home soil later this year. A recurring back injury kept middle order batter Shreyas Iyer out of the home one-day series against Australia, which the tourists won 2-1 …

LAHORE: Multan Sult­ans’ team manager Haider Azhar has been handed a one-match suspension for a Level 3 breach he committed during the final of the the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) final at the Gaddafi Stadium last Saturday. The breach relates to the Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. “I hope this sanction will act as a …

SHARJAH: Pakistan skipper Shadab Khan vowed his new-look side will put up a good fight against a formidable Afghanistan side in the three-match T20 International series starting in Sharjah on Friday. Shadab replaced Babar Azam for the series as Pakistan decided to rest their regular skipper along with seniors Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. Instead, …

KARACHI: Pakistan will not participate in this year’s Asia Cup if it is deprived of the hosting rights of the tournament owing to India’s concerns over touring the neighbouring country due to security issues. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting on Monday, Dawn understands, was not enough to break the deadlock between the body and the Pakistan Cricket Board over the matter, …

WELLINGTON: New Zealand middle and long-distance runner Zane Robertson, who competed at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, has been banned for eight years for doping and interfering with the testing process, the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand said on Wednesday. The 33-year-old, a bronze medallist in the 5,000 metres at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, received one four-year ban for testing …