Imran Khan will invite all members of the 1992 World Cup-winning Pakistani cricket team for his oath-taking ceremony as Pakistan Prime Minister. This was revealed by his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson, Fawad Chaudhry.

“Due to some legal issues, we are yet to finalize the final date of the ceremony and therefore the invitations are not sent yet,” said Chaudhry.

Imran Khan-led Pakistan had defeated England by 22 runs in the final to win the Benson & Hedges World Cup on March 25, 1992.

Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning squad included the likes of Aamer Sohail, Ramiz Raja, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram, Saleem Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Aaqib Javed, Zahid Fazal, Wasim Haider and Iqbal Sikander while Intikhab Alam was the manager of the team.

The spokesperson also confirmed Imran Khan’s plan to invite India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Navjot Singh Sidhu for his swearing-in ceremony.

“Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Sidhu are Imran’s friends and therefore their availability (subject to Indian government clearance) will be sought,” Chaudhry said.

Significantly, Sachin Tendulkar is not invited. “It is because both are from different generation and have not faced each other in many matches,” added Chaudhry.

“We have also decided to keep this ceremony simple and therefore politicians and other dignitaries will not be invited,” concluded Chaudhry.

PTI

Spain’s Rafael Nadal continued to lead the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals world singles rankings released on Monday with 9,310 average points, ahead of Switzerland’s Roger Federer.

Top-10 players are holding on to their positions except for South Africa’s Kevin Anderson who dropped to the sixth, elevating Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov to the fifth spot, reports Efe.

Further down the rankings, Martin Klizan of Slovakia rocketed 35 places to World No. 77, thanks to winning the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria, while Australian Alex de Minaur jumped 27 positions to the 45th for being a runner-up in the Washington Open.

The current top-10 ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:

1. Rafael Nadal (Spain) 9,310 Points

2. Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7,080

3. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 5,665

4. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) 5,455

5. Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 4,610

6. Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 4,355

7. Marin Cilic (Croatia) 3,905

8. Dominic Thiem (Austria) 3,665

9. John Isner (USA) 3,490

10. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 3,355.

Young Swastika Ghosh annexed a medal in the Hang Seng Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open table tennis meet, claiming the bronze in the junior girl’s doubles along with Singapore Jingyi Zhou.

The pair began on a high note, beating their Taipei opponents Pei-Ling Su and Yu-Chin Tsai in the round-of-16, according to the official statement issued on Monday.

They won 3-1 to progress to the next round. Swastika starred in the quarters too, overcoming the Chinese duo of Binyue Zhang and Yi Chen with a similar score.

The combination of Li Lin Jassy Tan of Singapore and Ruei Ling Wen of Taipei, however, proved to be too strong for them in the semi-finals as they clinched the final game and won 3-2.

In the Junior boys’ doubles category, the combination of Raegan Alberquerque and Payas Jain got through to the pre-quarters but couldn’t continue their momentum as they lost to the Thai pair of Yanapong Panagitgun and Supakron Pankhaoyoy.

In the junior boys’ singles category, even though Raegan made it to the main draw, his journey was short-lived as he couldn’t get past local lad Pak Hei Cheng as he went down with a narrow 3-4 margin.

India were bowled out for 162 in their second innings, losing the first Test to England by 31 runs before lunch on the fourth day here on Saturday.

Chasing 194, India resumed the day at 110/5 but kept losing wickets, including the one-off captain Virat Kohli (51), to fall short by 31 runs.

For England, medium pacer Ben Stokes was lethal, taking the important wickets of Kohli and Hardik Pandya (31) on the day.

England could add just two runs to their overnight total of 285 runs in their first innings before being bundled out on the second morning of the opening Test at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground here on Thursday.

India needed just 10 balls on the second day to end England’s innings, that slipped from a comfortable 216/3 to 287.

Pacer Mohammed Shami, who started the proceedings along with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, got Sam Curran (24) caught behind by Dinesh Karthik, with the stumper making no mistake this time around. Karthik had dropped Curran on an opening day off the same bowler.

Brief Scores: England 287 (Joe Root 80, Jonny Bairstow 70, Keaton Jennings 42; Ravichandran Ashwin 4/62, Mohammed Shami 3/64).

Indian stars Kidambi Srikanth and P.V. Sindhu registered contrasting wins to enter the third round of the men’s and women’s singles at the Badminton World Championships here on Wednesday.

Srikanth registered a hard-fought win over Pablo Abian of Spain while Sindhu had a much easier day in office, easing to a straight games victory over Fitriani of Indonesia.

The fifth-seeded Srikanth needed more than an hour to clinch a 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 victory over his unseeded opponent.

He will face another unseeded opponent in American Daren Liew in the next round. The American defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-16, 21-16 in the second round.

The first game was a closely fought see-saw affair before Srikanth clinched four back-to-back points to reach game point at 20-13. Although the Spaniard managed to reduce the deficit, it was not enough to prevent the Indian from taking the opening game.

Abian made a strong comeback in the second game. He went into the break with a narrow 11-10 lead and took the game away from Srikanth immediately after the restart with an awe-inspiring run of seven consecutive points.

The third and decisive game was also a neck-and-neck fight, but the Indian held his own in the closing stages to clinch the issue.

Later in the day, Sindhu did not encounter too many problems, registering a 21-14, 21-9 victory over Fitriani.

The only period of the match when Fitriani managed to match Sindhu was during the early stages of the opening game. But Sindhu took charge after the break, taking six consecutive points to build up a comfortable lead which she never relinquished.

The Hyderabad shuttler completely dominated the second game, scoring almost at will to simply blow away the Indonesian’s challenge.

But it was curtains for other Indians in action on Wednesday. In the men’s singles Sameer Verma lost 21-17, 21-14 to veteran Chinese star Lin Dan while H.S. Prannoy went down 21-8, 16-21, 15-21 to Ygor Coelho of Brazil.

In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting by a 21-18, 15-21, 21-16 margin to eighth seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.

In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy lost 21-14, 21-15 to the second seeded Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.

English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur’s striker Son Heung-Min feels sorry for having to leave his club to represent South Korea at the Asian Games this month.

The 26-year-old is one of three overage players who has been named in South Korea’s Under-23 squad for the tournament starting August 14.

“I feel sorry because Tottenham is my team and I feel very sorry to be leaving my teammates,” Son was quoted as saying by ESPNFC.

Handed a new five-year contract recently, Tottenham agreed to release Son after their opening game at Newcastle on August 11.

“I am playing for my country and that is also important, but honestly I feel very sorry about that. That is what I feel,” he said.

“We can talk about (the national service) afterwards. We haven’t won it already. We are going there to win something, and winning trophies for my country is always good. I don’t travel there for nothing.”

Son and his South Korean teammates would want to erase the pain of World Cup group stage exit by winning gold at the Games in Indonesia.

South Korea lost their opening two matches against Sweden and Mexico — although they went on to beat Germany in their third and final game.

“It was disappointing but we finished well against Germany,” said Son.

“Our country was happy because they were No. 1 in the FIFA rankings and the defending World Cup champions. For me, the tournament was disappointing because I always expect more than the group stage. I wanted to stay longer than we did. But it was a good experience to play at the World Cup and I look forward to playing in another in four years.”

On teammate and World Cup’s Golden Boot winner in Russia Harry Kane, Son said: “Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in the world. That is why he has won the Golden Boot twice in the Premier League and once at his first World Cup.

“He deserved it as well because he worked really hard. He will come back with a lot of confidence and I think he can win another Golden Boot.”

Indian star Kidambi Srikanth has entered the third round of the men’s singles category at the Badminton World Championships following a hard-fought win over Pablo Abian of Spain.

The fifth-seeded Indian needed more than an hour to clinch a 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 victory over his unseeded opponent.

Srikanth will face another unseeded opponent in American Daren Liew in the next round.

The American defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-16, 21-16 in the second round.

The first game was a closely fought see-saw affair before Srikanth clinched four back-to-back points to reach game point at 20-13. Although the Spaniard managed to reduce the deficit, it was not enough to prevent the Indian from taking the opening game.

Abian made a strong comeback in the second game. He went into the break with a narrow 11-10 lead and took the game away from Srikanth immediately after the restart with an awe-inspiring run of seven consecutive points.

The third and decisive game was also a neck-and-neck fight, but Srikanth held his own in the closing stages to clinch the issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded athlete Hima Das and para-athletes Ekta Bhyan, Yogesh Kathuniya and Sundar Singh Gurjar during his monthly radio show “Mann Ki Baat”.

“Just a few days ago, in the Junior Under-20 World Athletics Championship in Finland, India’s brave daughter and a farmer’s daughter Hima Das made history by winning the gold medal in the 400 m race event,” Modi said during the 46th episode of the show.

“Bhyan, another daughter of the country, has brought glory to the nation. Ekta, we all are proud of you. Ekta has won the gold and bronze medals in World Para Athletics Grand Prix 2018 held in Tunisia. Her achievement is all the more special because she has made the imposing challenges in her life the key to her success,” he added.

Bhyan in 2003 met with an accident after which half of her lower body became paralyzed.

“But this daughter did not lose courage and made herself all the more stronger to perform this grand feat,” Modi said.

He also lauded para-athletes Yogesh Kathuniya and Sundar Singh Gurjar.

Kathuniya won the gold medal in discus throw in Para Athletics Grand Prix in Berlin and in the process bettered the world record.

Gurjar also won the gold medal in the javelin.

“I salute Ekta Bhyanji, Yogesh Qathuniaji and Sundar Singh Ji, all of you for your fortitude and passion and congratulate you! May you go further than these successes, keep on playing and keep on blooming,” Modi said.

Having broken new ground by becoming the first Indian to participate in the Thailand Superbike Championship, Sandesh Prasannakumar is now focussed on finishing on the podium in the remaining two phases of the competition. The Bengaluru racer made it a memorable debut by finishing second in the first phase of the competition.

“It was one of the toughest race of my career. In fact, I was badly dehydrated in the few last minutes and it was really difficult to stay strong and fight for the title. But trust me, to be on that podium was the best feeling I have ever experienced. It was worth the effort and had something very positive about it,” Sandesh told IANS.

“This was a long-awaited podium and the journey to reach here has demanded a lot from me. I had to struggle hard to start from the scratch and get back in the form. As of now, I need to focus on winning the next two rounds.”

Sandesh, who had made elaborate preparations before flying off to Thailand, said the tournament offers a lot of lessons for Indian racers.

“I have been doing a lot of supermoto practice before I head to race in Thailand. Keeping myself fit in the gym as well.

Thailand track luckily suits my riding style as well and I have got a really good bike and setup to ride there. So everything is syncing in well,” the 27-year-old said.

“Lot of learning to be done in Thailand. The way the country works for motorcycle racing and how riders are fast and how they give their 100 percent. This championship is a big learning curve for anyone from India.

“I’m the first Indian to participate in Thailand Superbike Championship. It wasn’t an added pressure I would say, but I was nervous so was my team because it was all new from both the sides. But once on the bike it all turns off and I focus only on my riding and following faster riders to learn more. I wish to get more practice there and win more races,” he added.

The achievement is all the more laudable since Sandesh is making a comeback from a long injury lay-off. He had broken his collar bone in January last year and was only able to return to competitive racing earlier this year.
“I crashed in January 2017 which broke my collar bone in two pieces and I have a rod and nine screws fit in to my Clavicle. I thought it would be easy to get back in to form after this as I have seen all Moto GP riders coming back from injuries very easily and stronger. But that was not the same for me,” he said.

“I was mentally not strong to go 100 percent on the bike as even my bike had damaged in the crash and superbike racing required utmost precision for a rider to go 1000 percent and be confident on the bike which also depends on rider to rider. It took me a good one and a half year to gain that confidence back and get back my form. Hopefully this stays for a long time and I’ll work hard for it.”

Apart from his formidable battles with form and injury, Sandesh also had to overcome personal tragedy as one of his friends had committed suicide a few days before the tournament.

In his friend’s honour, Sandesh had participated in the race with a sticker on his helmet which read ‘say no to suicide’.

“I was disheartened to know about a very good friend named Varna, who committed suicide two weeks before the race. All I wanted to do was to raise awareness about the same. I dedicate this victory and the podium to her,” he said.