Sports

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced 15 probables for the national training camp being organised for a five-a-side event to be held in Lausanne on June 4. All the players selected for the camp have been instructed to report to head coach Olympian Rehan Butt here at the National Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Olym­pian Waqas Sharif will act …

LONDON: Ben Stokes smashed 34 runs in an over to reach a 64-ball century for county side Durham on Friday — his first innings since being appointed as England Test captain. The big-hitting all-rounder, who was announced as Joe Root’s successor last week, is making his first appearance in this season’s County Championship following a knee injury on the tour …

Political discourse in Pakistan has become very black or white — it is very much a ‘you are either with us or against us’ mentality, no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on. Shahid Afridi may be considered one of the greats of Pakistani cricket but that didn’t save him from a barrage of hate for voicing …

LONDON: Mohammad Amir is refusing to rule out a Test return, having admitted that he is “enjoying red-ball cricket”. The left-arm seamer last played Test cricket for Pakistan in 2019 and hasn’t represented his country in any format since retiring from international action at the age of 28. But following an injury to compatriot Naseem Shah, he joined Gloucestershire as …

Mountaineer Sirbaz Khan became the first Pakistani on Saturday to climb 10 of the world’s 14 highest peaks — each at a height of more than 8,000 metres — after he scaled the 8,586-metre-high Kanchenjunga mountain in Nepal, according to the Alpine club of Pakistan. Sirbaz was part of a team led by Nepalese mountaineer Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (Mingma G) …

NEW DELHI: India’s top woman discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, who finished sixth at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned drug, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said. The 26-year-old faces the prospect of being banned for a maximum four years if the positive test is confirmed. “The AIU has provisionally suspended discus thrower …

MADRID: Rafael Nadal enjoyed a winning return after a six-week injury break, opening his Madrid campaign with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) success over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic on Wednesday. The Spanish star had been sidelined with a rib injury since his Indian Wells final defeat in March but showed little sign of rust as he skipped into the third round. Nadal …

LAHORE: While Pakistan took one step up in the ICC Test and One-day International rankings to stand at the fifth place from sixth, Australia, New Zealand and India lead the tables world in three formats of the game, according to the latest rankings announced by the International Cricket Council on Thursday. Pakistan 20 Test matches during 2021-22 to earn 1865 …

PARIS: A third all-English Champions League final in four years seemed to be on the cards but Real Madrid’s incredible late comeback against Manchester City on Wednesday has set up a rematch between the Spanish club and Liverpool in Paris on May 28. Real’s epic European campaign hit new heights as they came back from the dead against Pep Guardiola’s …

The Asian Games due to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely because of Covid-19, organisers said on Friday. The Games were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25 but have now been delayed as China tries to stamp out a large resurgence in infections in several parts of the country. …