Sports

MELBOURNE: Ageless Venus Williams opened her 2021 season with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Arantxa Rus, while former top 10 players Jelena Ostapenko and Caroline Garcia also scored wins as a packed week of Australian Open warm-up events kicked off at Melbourne Park on Sunday. Venus, 40, showed few signs of having spent 14 days in quarantine in her first-round …

KOLKATA: Indian cricket great Sourav Gang­uly was discharged from hospital on Sunday after undergoing a second heart operation in a month, with doctors optimistic that he will make a full recovery. The 48-year-old, who now heads the country’s powerful cricket board, was admitted to hospital in Kolkata last Wednesday after complaining of chest pains. It was the second time this …

KARACHI: Having relinquished his Sindh Open title last week, Ahmed Baig had vowed he will rebound very quickly. For sure, he did. Ahmed stormed to victory at the DHA Karachi Cup All Pakistan Golf Championship on Sunday as he emphatically turning a two-stroke deficit into a six-shot margin of victory, leaving his rivals trailing in his wake. The 22-year-old sensation …

KARACHI: Spinner Asif Afridi and opener Sahibzada Farhan were the standout performers on Sunday as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa retained their Pakistan Cup title with a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat of Central Punjab in the final here at the SBP Sports Complex. The decider of the 50-over competition failed to provide the anticipated spills and thrills while the unstoppable Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stamped their …

RAWALPINDI: The cricket teams of South Africa and Pakistan arrived in Islamabad on a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Karachi on Sunday. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said the national flag carrier had reserved PK-368 exclusively for the cricket teams and all Covid-19 precautionary measures were put in place. He said disinfection of the aircraft was carried out and …

KARACHI: Mohammad Ashfaq remained atop the leaderboard at the DHA Karachi Cup All Pakistan Golf Championship. Barely. Ashfaq saw his three-shot lead reduced to just one on Saturday as he failed to match his opening-day exploits, managing a 73 for a six-under 138 at the Defence Authority Golf and Country Club. He hit three birdies but a triple-bogey on the …

LIVERPOOL: Newcastle United celebrated their first Premier League win in 10 games and lifted some pressure off manager Steve Bruce after two goals from Callum Wilson gave them a 2-0 win at Everton on Saturday. The 16th-placed Magpies put some distance between themselves and the bottom three after Wilson scored his 50th and 51st Premier League goals, leaving them on …

SYDNEY: The Australian Open will be allowed to admit up to 30,000 fans a day, around 50% of the usual attendance, when the Grand Slam gets underway on Feb 8, Victoria state sports minister Martin Pakula said on Saturday. The limit will be reduced to 25,000 over the last five days of the tournament when there are fewer matches, but …

NEW DELHI: Keeping wicket on India’s low and turning tracks is a stumper’s litmus test and England’s Jos Buttler is keen to ace it in his only appearance in the four-Test series between the sides next week. The Indian pitches traditionally offer little bounce, forcing wicket-keepers to stand closer, which demands quick reflex to grab any edge. “There’s some big …

KARACHI: It took a Super Over in the end to separate the winners of the second semi-final in the Pakistan Cup at the SBP Sports Complex here on Saturday as Khyber Pakhtun­khwa qualified for the third final of the season after overcoming Northern’s spirited challenge. Both teams scored 303 in their respective innings to tie the match but Northern were …