On the eve of the second Test against Australia at Sheikh Zayed Stadium here, Pakistan on Monday named limited overs opener Fakhar Zaman, uncapped quick Mir Hamza and all-rounder Shadab Khan in the 12-man squad.

Left-arm quick Wahab Riaz has been dropped for the series decider, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed confirmed on Monday.

Wahab, who returned to the side after a year, failed to impress in the first Test where he returned wicketless after bowling 27 overs.

Fellow left-armer Hamza appears the most likely man to replace him, though Shadab, who has recovered from a groin injury, could be considered if Pakistan want another spin-bowling option.

In the batting department, Fakhar is in line to make his Test debut, and replace injured Imam-ul-Haq, who fractured his finger in the drawn opening Test.

Squads:
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (Captain & WK), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez.

Australia: Tim Paine (Captain & WK), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc.

IANS

The Indian Under-18 men’s and womens Hockey team finished their 2018 Youth Olympic Games campaign with silver medals.

While the women suffered a heart-breaking 1-3 loss against hosts Argentina, the men were handed a 2-4 loss by Malaysia in their respective final of the hockey 5s competition on Sunday night.

In the women’s affair, India’s Mumtaz Khan (1′) opened the scoring in the match after just 49 seconds, but the hosts scored thrice through Gianella Palet (7′), Sofia Ramallo (9′) and Brisa Bruggesser (12′) to secure the Gold Medal.

Indian women started the first period well as they attacked the hosts right from the opening whistle, and were rewarded after just 49 seconds as in-form forward Mumtaz scored to give her team a crucial lead.

However, Argentina put the pressure on their opponents to find the equalizer in front of their home crowd and were successful in their efforts as Gianella Palet (7′) and Sofia Ramallo (9′) scored to turn the match around and help their side to a 2-1 lead at half-time.

The second period saw Argentina keep most of the possession, not allowing the Indian team to find space or create chances. It was Argentina’s Brisa Bruggesser who had the first real chance of the second period in the 12th minute, and the Midfielder made sure that she hit the target, giving her team a solid 3-1 lead.

Argentina, backed by their crowd, made sure that they managed the game well, as they kept possession and saw themselves through to the final whistle to register a historic Gold Medal victory.

Coming to the men’s contest, India captain Vivek Sagar Prasad (3′, 6′) scored twice within the first six minutes of the match to give India a 2-1 lead, but the Malaysians struck thrice in the second period through Akhimullah Anuar (14′, 19′) and Arif Ishak (17′) to secure the victory, after Firadus Rosdi (5′) had equalized for them in the first period.

Both the teams started the match well but it was India who struck first through Vivek in the 3rd minute. However, Malaysia were not behind for too long as Firadus Rosdi threatened the Indians in the 5th minute, and struck the equalizer in his second attempt to make the scores 1-1.

The Indian skipper looked in prime form as he forced a save from the Malaysian Goalkeeper Shahrul Saupi in the 6th minute and then managed to beat the Malaysian in the same minute to give India the lead again.

The second period, however, turned out to be a difficult one for the Indian team as they had to face constant pressure from the Malaysians. After having denied Malaysia of levelling the scores, Indian goalkeeper Prashant Chauhan was beaten for the second time in the match in the 14th minute as Akhimullah Anuar scored past him to make the scores 2-2.

Malaysia took the lead on the counter in the 17th minute through Arif Ishak. Having taken a 3-2 lead, it was the Malaysian team who now started to dominate the proceedings, and it was Akhimullah Anuar who popped up again in the 19th minute to seal the Gold Medal win for his team.

Indian girls were defeated 3-1 by Argentina here at the Youth Olympics while boys went down 4-2 to Malaysia.

The South American side created history by winning its first ever Olympic gold in the women’s hockey in any category as Gianella Palet, Sofia Ramallo and Brisa Bruggesser scored for the hosts. Mumtaz Khan netted India’s only goal on Sunday.

Chinese girls won the bronze medal with a 6-0 rout of South Africa, while the Argentine boys took bronze courtesy a 4-0 win over Zambia, Xinhua news agency reported.

IANS

India won the Test series 2-0 by registering a comfortable 10-wicket victory over the West Indies in the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing a paltry 72-run target, openers Prithvi Shaw (33 not out) and KL Rahul (33 not out) guided India home with ease in just 16.1 overs on the third day of the Test.

After scoring 367 runs in their first innings in reply to the West Indies’ 311, India bowled out the visitors for 127 runs in the second innings, setting themselves a 72-run target.

Earlier, India had crushed the tourists by an innings and 272 runs in the first Test at Rajkot.

Indias rising star Archana Kamath put up a spectacular fight to overcome Hong Kongs Lee Ka Yee and storm into the quarter-finals of the table tennis event at the Youth Olympics here on Tuesday evening.

Archana triumphed 4-2 in the women’s singles to be just one step away from a medal in this super elite event.

Archana had to summon all her skills, energy and nerves to beat Lee in a gripping contest. Each game went down to the wire, with Archana showing more composure to win 14-12, 14-12, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 15-13.

She will play her quarter-final late in the evening — early morning back home in India — and a victory will ensure her a place in the Last 4 and at least a bronze medal.

“It was a tough match and I am glad I came through,” she said shortly after her victory.

“I am feeling confident now and hope to get past the next hurdle too to get into the medals’ bracket,” she added.

The country’s other medal hope Manav Thakkar, however, couldn’t emulate his compatriot and lost to top seed and former world junior champion Tomokazo Harimoto 1-4 in the men’s singles pre-quarters.

Manav began on a rousing note, winning the first game 11-9. But he couldn’t sustain the momentum and despite creating a number of opportunities lost the next four 8-11, 7-11, 8-11, 7-11.

IANS

Tamil Thalaivas succumbed to their second successive defeat in a row as they lost to Telugu Titans 28-33 on the third day of the Pro Kabaddi tournament at the packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

Playing their first game of the sixth season, Telugu Titans rode on star raider Rahul Chaudhuri’s nine raid points and Iranian Mohsen Maghsoudlou’s all round effort (three raid points, four tackle points) to down Tamil Thalaivas.

Chaudhari scored nine points and made crucial raids for the Titans. Ajay Thakur (9 raid points) and Amit Hooda (5 tackle points) were the top players for TamilThalaivas but their effort wasn’t enough.

The home team, looking to take inspiration from their remarkable back against U.P.Yoddha last night where they fought back from 7-27 to lose 32-37, raced to a two-point lead riding Athul MS’s successful raid and Titans’ star raider Chaudhari being sent out of the mat in his first attempt.

Tamil Thalaivas led till 8-7 in front of a vociferous home crowd who were lapping up the south Indian derby.

But from there on, they lost ground as the Titans fashioned a late all out to take a healthy 16-9 lead and go into the break 17-11.

Chaudhuri, who stepped down from his captaincy ahead of this season to hand over the reins to young all-rounder Vishal Bharadwaj, started the second half by getting the back of Manjeet Chhillar in the first raid to further extend Titans’ lead.

Manjeet Chhillar was a rock at the back for Tamil Thalaivas as they mounted a comeback in the second half.

After 25 minutes, Telugu Titans led 21-16 and the match hung in balance.

The fatigue was showing on Tamil Thalaivas as they played their third match in three days.
Telugu Titans were the fitter team with their defence and raiders looking sharper.

It was a Titans Tuesday Tho for Chaudhari’s team as they maintained their composure in the last few minutes of the match and didn’t give Thalaivas a chance to make a comeback.

Amit Hooda attained a high five in the last minute of the match but it wasna¿t enough. Tamil Thalaivas made critical errors throughout the match and crashed to 28-33 defeat.

IANS

India continued to hold on to its eighth spot in the medals table with the addition of 11 more medals, including three golds after the action ended on Day 3 of the Para Asian Games here on Tuesday.

With the addition of 11 medals, India’s medal tally rose to 6 gold, 9 silver and 13 bronze for a total of 28 medals.

Ekta Bhyan and Narayan Thakur clinched a gold each in women’s F32/51 club throw event and men’s T35 100m dash respectively before para-shooter Manish Narwal bagged the yellow metal in the men’s SH1 10m air pistol event.

Bhyan clinched the gold in the women’s club throw F32/51 event as she produced her best throw in her fourth attempt, 16.02 metre.

The F32/51 class features athletes with significant impairment in hand function.

Thakur then boosted India’s gold count by winning the T35 100m final race in 14.02 seconds. Athletes in T35 class have coordination impairments.

India also bagged three silver medals through Surender Aneesh Kumar (men’s F43/44,F62/64 discus), Ram Pal (men’s T45/46/47 high jump), Virender (men’s F56/57 shot put).

Para athletes continued to make India proud by bagging five bronze medals on Tuesday. Monu Ghangas, Jayanti Behera, Anandan Gunasekaran, Sundar Singh Gurjar and Pradeep settled for the bronze medal in their respective categories.

Behera finished third in the women’s 200 metre T45/46/47 event for athletes with limb impairment.

Gunasekaran bagged bronze in the men’s 200 metre T44/62/64 class that covers impairment in foot, ankle and/or lower leg but the athletes compete without prothesis.

Ghangas finished third in the men’s shot put F11, which covers vision impairment, while Gurjar bagged the bronze in men’s F46 discus throw.

On Monday, India had bagged 11 medals, including three gold.

The Indian junior mens hockey team registered their third successive victory at the 8th Sultan of Johor Cup 2018 as they beat Japan 1-0 in a closely-fought match here on Tuesday.

The rain-affected India-Japan match which was stopped for a few minutes during the first quarter was intensely fought between the two teams.

With Japan on the rise with both their senior and junior teams making good progress in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, the India colts had their task cut out.

Their attack was often challenged with good, disciplined defence structure that Japan adopted during the entire duration of play. Though India made a few chances in the opening quarter with the team winning a PC, it was denied by a good Japanese defence.

With the second quarter too ending in a stalemate with both teams at 0-0, the third quarter saw India up their attack.

While two PCs were awarded to India after a Japanese infringement, it was in the second attempt that skipper Mandeep Mor converted a well-executed PC in the 42nd minute.

Leading by only a goal, India put all their might into defence with goalkeeper Pankaj Rajak making some excellent saves to keep his team in the lead.

India overcame a close shave when Japan won a PC with minutes left for the final hooter, however, the chance was missed and India held their nerves to seal the match.

Earlier in the tournament, India had won 2-1 against Malaysia and 7-1 against New Zealand.

The Indian colts will next take on defending champions Australia in their fourth match on Wednesday.

IANS

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced there will be a Olympic team made up of refugees at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, as happened in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“Last time (in the 2016 Rio Olympics) we were under very high time pressure. Now we have two years. We have already taken precaution… and we have a pool of athletes in place. Already now we’re supporting 51 or 52 refugee athletes who we have identified. This pool can still grow in the run-up to Tokyo 2020,” IOC president Thomas Bach of Germany said at the close of the 133rd IOC Session, which ended on Tuesday in Buenos Aires, Efe news reported.

The IOC said in a statement that with the creation of this refugee team, the committee seeks to convey a message of solidarity and hope to millions of refugee and internally displaced athletes around the world.

“In an ideal world, we would not need to have a Refugee Team at the Olympic Games. But, unfortunately, the reasons why we first created a Refugee Olympic Team before the Olympic Games Rio 2016 continue to persist,” Bach said, adding: “We will do our utmost to welcome refugee athletes and give them a home and a flag in the Olympic Village in Tokyo with all the Olympic athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees.”

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, the team comprised ten refugee athletes from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The 32nd Summer Olympic Games will take place from July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo.

Tokyo will hold this international sports event for the second time after the 1964 Olympic Games.

IANS

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who played a hockey coach in “Chak De! India”, will attend the opening ceremony of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 on November 27. He says his heart beats for the sport.

The actor, who is a sports enthusiast himself, has urged people to support hockey and Team India.

He took to Twitter to extend his support.

Hockey player Manpreet Singh asked SRK via Twitter if he would be a part of the hockey tournament and if the actor would support them.

SRK replied saying he would jump at the opportunity. “I wish you and our team the best. Hockey is the pride of India. We will cheer Chak De India! Thank you for thinking of me. #HeartBeatsForHockey.”

The Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 is just a few weeks away. While the team is also gearing up for the mega tournament and training in Bhubaneswar, they will also leave for the Asian Champions Trophy on October 14.

In a statement, Shah Rukh has said: “Hockey is the song of my heart. It is that time of my youth that is forever etched in my consciousness. I follow the game and watching the game, even now, gets my pulse racing.

“India is hosting the Hockey World Cup in November at Bhubaneswar, and I am honoured to be a part of hockey at the highest level. We have a young and promising team and they have my unconditional support. They are my heroes and I pledge my heartbeat for India, for the Indian team and for hockey.”

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said Shah Rukh’s support for hockey will not only motivate the team, but it will also catalyse the nation to join this movement for hockey. “I thank him for the same.”

IANS