Sports

NEW DELHI: Star batsman Virat Kohli’s absence from the India squad for undisclosed “personal reasons” will extend to the remaining three Tests against England, the country’s cricket board said Saturday. The series is level at 1-1 after two matches that Kohli also missed and will resume without him in Rajkot for the third Test starting Thursday. Both he and the …

BIRMINGHAM: Chelsea responded to a troubling week with a superb 3-1 win at Aston Villa to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup and put a smile back on the face of Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday. Successive heavy losses in the Premier League had left manager Pochettino under intense scrutiny ahead of the fourth-round replay, but first-half goals by …

PARIS: Podium finishers at the upcoming Paris Olympics will be rewarded with a piece of the Eiffel Tower, organisers said on Thursday, unveiling the events medals which are set with hexagon-shaped tokens forged out of scrap metal from the monument. The idea was to link the Games with symbols of France, said Thierry Reboul, creative director of Paris 2024. “The …

PALLEKELE: Sri Lanka won their one-off Test match against Afghanistan by 10 wickets, but skipper and captain Kusal Mendis said on Thursday they face a tougher challenge on the eve of their three-match ODI series. Afghanistan are making a name for themselves in white-ball cricket, and will take the field with several of their key stalwarts. “In ODIs, we know …

Using two fans he picked up from a scrap market and rigged to some wires, teenager Hussam Al-Attar has created his own source of electricity to light up the tent where he and his family are living after being displaced by Israel’s assault on Gaza. In recognition of his ingenuity, people in the surrounding tent camp have given him a …

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand took their time but eased to a comprehensive victory over an inexperienced South Africa side by 281 runs late on the fourth day of the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series here at the Bay Oval on Wednesday. The Black Caps had held a first-innings lead of 349 and declared their …

DOHA: Hosts and holders Qatar squeezed into an Asian Cup final showdown with Jordan after beating Iran 3-2 with an 82nd-minute winner in a frenetic semi-final on Wednesday. Almoez Ali struck in Doha to send Qatar into their second straight final, further exorcising the demons of their first-round exit at the 2022 World Cup. Qatar lost all three of their …

DOHA: Jordan upset South Korea 2-0 in their Asian Cup semi-final on Tuesday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium where Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari scored second-half goals to guide the Middle Eastern country into the final for the first time. After a goalless first half, Jordan found the breakthrough in the 53rd minute when Al-Taamari intercepted a poor back …

CANBERRA: Australia needed just 6.5 overs to thrash a woeful West Indies by eight wickets in an embarrassing end to their One-day International series in Canberra on Tuesday, with Jake Fraser-McGurk slamming 41 off 18 balls. The hosts won the first game in Melbourne by eight wickets and the second in Sydney by 83 runs to clinch the series, with the West Indies playing …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Mini­ster Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has nominated Tariq Bugti as president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the Pakistan Sports Board confirmed on Tuesday. “Upon acceptance of the resignation tendered by retired Brig Mohammad Khalid Sajjad Khokhar from the post of President, Pakistan Hockey Federation and in pursuance of powers conferred under Article 15 of the Constitution of Pakistan Hockey Federation, …