Sports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has withdrawn from the world’s biggest international chess tournament in protest at hosts India holding a torch relay for the event through the disputed Kashmir valley, officials said Thursday. The 44th Chess Olympiad will see over 1,700 players from 188 nations compete in Chen­nai from now until August 10. The last two competitions were played virtually because of …

BIRMINGHAM: The Commonwealth Games are sometimes seen as a quirky relic in the modern sporting calender but former International Olympic Committee (IOC) marketing chief Michael Payne says they have consistently defied the doomsayers. The 22nd edition of the Games opens in Birmingham on Thursday, bringing together around 5,000 athletes from 72 nations and territories — mostly former British colonies — …

GALLE: Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf said Wednesday he was confident his team could still play for victory against Sri Lanka in the second Test, despite needing an unprecedented 508-run chase to win. The tourists ended day four on 89-1 with Imam-ul-Haq on 46 and skipper Babar Azam on 26 when bad light stopped play for the second successive day. …

LAHORE: Pakistan’s prominent wrestler Mohammad Inam Butt and the national women cricket team’s captain Bismah Maroof will carry the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham on Thursday, the Pakistan Olympic Association announced on Wednesday. According to a press release issued by the association, POA president retired Lt Gen Syed Arif Hasan made …

The Sri Lanka versus Pakistan Test series cemented something we already knew — Babar Azam is everyone’s favourite player. Even when Sri Lanka won the match by 246 runs on Thursday, Twitter was full of praise for the Pakistani captain. The skipper has also reached a new milestone — securing the third spot in the ICC’s ranking for top batsman …

GALLE: Sri Lankan century-maker Dhananjaya de Silva warned on Wednesday that they needed early Pakistan wickets on the final day of the second Test with bad weather looming. Sri Lanka set Pakistan a record target of 508 and then restricted them to 89-1 to keep alive their hopes of a series-levelling victory. The hosts declared their second innings on 360-8 …

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya grabbed five wickets as Sri Lanka thumped Pakistan by 246 runs in the second Test to end the series 1-1 on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth 508 for victory, tourists Pakistan were bowled out for 261 in the second session on day five with skipper Babar Azam hitting a valiant 81 in Galle. The 30-year-old Jayasuriya, a left-arm …

GILGIT: Bodies of two missing Canadian and Australian mountaineers were found at a location between Camp 1 and Camp 2 of K2 on Tuesday. According to sources at Base Camp, Australian climber Matthew Eakin and Canadian climber Richard Cartier went missing at K2 between Camp 1 and Camp 2 on July 19 in two separate incidents. Mr Cartier, 61, went …

TOKYO: Japanese police on Tuesday raided the home of a 2020 Tokyo Olympics board member who allegedly received money from a sponsor he signed a consulting contract with, local media reported. Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, is suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from high street business suit retailer Aoki Holdings Inc., an “official partner” of last year’s pandemic-delayed mega-event. …

ISLAMABAD: The deadline to receive nominations for the elections for the position of International Hockey Federation (FIH) president and four open positions of EB Ordinary Member has been set for Aug 26. The elections would be held on Nov 5 during the FIH Congress to be staged virtually on Nov 4-5, said an FIH press release. The duration of the …