Monday 30 September 2013

Li, Williams through in China

BEIJING: Li Na said she was enjoying her most consistent season ever after she won her first match at the China Open Sunday, joining top seed Serena Williams in the second round. The Chinese star opened her bid for her biggest title on home soil in stunning fashion by winning every game in the first set against Daniela Hantuchova, much to the enjoyment of her fans at Beijing’s National Tennis Centre.

But the world number five had to overcome a late surge from her Slovakian opponent which sent jitters through the home crowd. Hantuchova did not get on the scoreboard until the hour mark, with the 2011 French Open singles champion cruising at 4-0 in the second set and seemingly in command.

The 30-year-old, who has beaten Li four times in their previous six meetings, then staged an impressive comeback until Li regained her composure to close in on victory. The Chinese star has faced scrutiny in the past for seemingly breaking down in matches. She blamed herself for losing her US Open semi-final match this month after being overwhelmed by the occasion.

But the 31-year-old said her only problem in Beijing could be that she was too relaxed this year, following a strong season which has also brought a seventh career title, her second Australian Open final and a strong run at Wimbledon. 
“I think I had a pretty good match until I was 4-0 up in the second set, and then I thought ‘OK, maybe I should relax a little’,” Li said. “But at this level you cannot do this,” she added. “It just gives the opponent time to take their chance.”

Li also said she was not under pressure to perform in Beijing, adding: “I think this season I am having the most consistent performances of my career.” Li has twice reached the semi-finals at the prestigious Beijing event without being able to go all the way. She has won twice in China, in Shenzhen this year and in Guangzhou in 2004.

Joining her in the second round is top seed and 2004 champion Williams. The American claimed victory over Russia’s Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2. Another former champion, Agnieszka Radwanska, overcome early tournament nerves to cruise through to the next stage.

The Polish world number four and 2011 winner in Beijing lost the opening set of her first-round match to a feisty Stefanie Voegele, who is ranked 52 places behind her.

But the tournament’s third seed recovered her composure to seal a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory which sent her Swiss opponent out at the first hurdle.

Reaching top is ‘tough’: Nadal

BEIJING: Rafael Nadal said it will be “very tough” to seize Novak Djokovic’s crown as the top ranked men’s tennis player, paying tribute to his “unbelievable” opponent at the China Open Sunday.


The world number two can unseat Djokovic from the top spot with a good performance in Beijing, but the Serb will go into the tournament with confidence he can retain the title he won last year. Djokovic is unbeaten in three visits to the China Open, having won it in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Panesar feared England career was over

LONDON: England spinner Monty Panesar has admitted that he thought he had destroyed his international career after being fined for urinating on a nightclub doorman. The incident occurred two months ago, after Panesar was asked to leave a club in Brighton on the English south coast.

The 31-year-old was fined by police and released by county side Sussex, but he was nonetheless named in the England squad for the return Ashes series in Australia later this year.

He says that he regrets the incident, but insists that it was not a deliberate act. “I know it looks terrible, but I wasn’t as drunk as people believe,” he told British weekly newspaper The Mail on Sunday. “Yes, I’d had a lot to drink, but I wasn’t paralytic. I was asked to leave and then got caught short. The next thing I knew the bouncers were shouting at me and running after me.  “I swear I didn’t see them and I had no intention of purposefully urinating on them or near them. To be honest, I barely went (urinated) at all and I’m pretty sure I didn’t hit them.”

“My first reaction was that I’d just thrown my England career away, maybe even my whole cricket career. I felt very lonely and very depressed. It was a very dark time.”

However, after joining Essex for the remainder of the domestic season, he called the England management to apologise for his behaviour and was rewarded with an international recall. “I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am with the selection,” Panesar said. “It’s an incredible boost I needed as a cricketer and as a person, after a chapter in my life I’m ashamed of.”

Matters were made worse when a video of Panesar being restrained by bouncers from the club emerged a few days after the incident, which his new Essex team-mates took great delight in showing him.

“I knew it was out there, but I hadn’t seen it and had no wish to, either,” Panesar said. “But the boys showed it in the dressing room and had a friendly laugh at my expense. It’s how sport deals with things like this.

“I was fine with it but, of course, it didn’t make great viewing. I’ve seen it now, I lost whatever dignity I had, and I have no intention of ever seeing it again.”

Panesar was the subject of fresh controversy this week when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) handed him a suspended one-game ban for acting in a “potentially threatening and intimidating” manner towards Worcestershire’s Ross Whiteley.


Olympians meet next week to firm up strategy

The Olympians are expected to discuss the ways to compel the current PHF management to resign before the elections. They have already asked the government to sack it and appoint an interim committee to hold elections impartially, the sources said the Olympians want prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is the patron in chief of PHF, to review the summary submitted by the ministry of IPC, which has recommended the removal of the PHF management because of its poor performance during the last five years.

The sources said that former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was once president of PHF, is present in Islamabad these days and rivals of the PHF have persuaded him to play his role in the larger interest of Pakistan’s hockey. They have asked him to coax Nawaz Sharif to remove the present PHF management.

Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh, when contacted, said it was time the government took some steps to save the prestige of Pakistan’s hockey in the world. He said the latest show of Pakistan’s junior hockey team in a tournament in Malaysia was evidence of the poor performance of the current management. The national junior team stood fourth in the event although the world’s top teams, including Australia, Germany, Holland and Spain, were not participating. “What would be the position of this team in the Junior Hockey World Cup in December 2013 in India where all leading teams would be in action!” Shahnaz said.

“One can imagine the standard of our hockey. Junior players who are about to replace the entire senior team according to the PHF announcement could not perform well in the event in Malaysia. How would they play at the senior level!” Shahnaz said. He declined to go into details of the Olympians’ plans. “We are waiting for the PM’s return.”

Kipsang breaks marathon world record

Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang admitted he was delighted to break the marathon world record in Berlin on Sunday in a new official best time of 2hrs 3 mins and 23 seconds.

Kispang, 31, shaved 15 seconds off the previous world record set by compatriot Patrick Makau, who ran 2:03.38 over 42.195 kilometres (26.2miles) in the German capital two years ago. 

Having said in the build up that he was running to break the world record in Berlin, Kipsang was true to his word. “I think in the last few kilometres I had the feeling it was on and I was feeling strong,” said Kipsang, who collected the winner’s cheque of 40,000 euros (US$54,068) with a 50,000 euros bonus for the world record. “My plan was to really push in the last few kilometres, I knew it would be a fight. “I just wanted to make sure we had a good pace at the start and I knew the record was beatable. “It was my first time racing here, it’s a really nice course and a great city. I love it here!”

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, who won the Hamburg marathon in April on his debut over the distance, finished second in a personal best time of 2:04.05 with compatriot Geoffrey Kipsang third with 2:06.26.


This is the ninth time a world record has been set in Berlin and five men’s world records have been set here in the last decade alone.

Flame lit for Sochi 2014 Winter Games

OLYMPIA, Greece: The Olympic flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece on Sunday and began its long journey towards the opening ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games which begin on February 7.

Actors in ancient Greek costume in the bright midday sunshine invoked the god Apollo in the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, using a parabolic mirror to harness the sun’s rays and kindle a flame on the torch for a relay that will take it around Greece and hosts Russia as well as for the first time in space.

Dignitaries at the ceremony included the new president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, as well as the head of the Sochi organising committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko.

“The Olympic flame should be an inspiration for millions of people throughout the world,” Bach, who was making his first overseas trip on Olympic duty, told the thousands of spectators. “The Olympic relay represents the values of friendship without any form of discrimination,” . Chernyshenko said “Russians are very proud to accept the most important symbol of the Olympic movement. This is great honour for us.”

After thanks to the god Apollo, “king of the sun and the idea of light”, in the shadow of the Greek, Russian and Olympic flags, the flame was handed by high priestess Ino Menegaki to the first relay runner, Greece’s 18-year-old Alpine skier Ioannis Antoniou.

He then passed it to 28-year-old Russian ice hockey superstar and Sochi 2014 Ambassador Alex Ovenchkin who had said that “this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and something I will never forget.” “I think you all felt awe at this sacred place and realized the power of the flame which is the symbol connecting the ancient Olympic Games with the modern Games,” said Hellenic Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos.

The ceremony marked the start of a week-long torch relay, which will take it to 20 Greek towns before it arrives on October 5 at the old Olympic stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896.

A Russian delegation will receive the flame at a night-time ceremony where one potential torch-carrier could be Ovechkin’s mother Tatyana, winner of gold medals in basketball at both Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980, the only other occasion the Olympics have been staged in Russia.

It will be carried through all 83 Russian regions and visit 2,900 towns and settlements before arriving in Sochi for the opening ceremony on February 7 ending a 65,000-kilometre journey.

The torch relay will make history when it is taken into space for the first time later this year.  
It is due to travel to the International Space Station where it will then be taken on a spacewalk.


Saturday 28 September 2013

Nadal merits mention in all-time great debate

NEW YORK: Spaniard Rafael Nadal’s name should be mentioned in any debate on the greatest tennis player of all time, according to former world number one Pete Sampras.

American Sampras, owner of 14 grand slam titles, considers Swiss Roger Federer as the all-time best but was effusive in his praise for world number two Nadal.

“... I would say that, with Rafa doing what he’s been doing, he has an argument to be in the conversation,” Sampras said.

“Rafa isn’t done yet. He could win more majors. He’s got a winning record against everyone that he has played in his generation. He’s won the Davis Cup, he’s won the Olympics.”

Venus denied fastest serve in absence of technology

Tokyo: Venus Williams was denied a chance to better her world record for fastest serve in women’s tennis in absence of proper measuring technology at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Williams blasted a 209 km/hour serve during Thursday’s 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 win over Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard in the quarter-final match.

The WTA uses IDS radar guns to measure service speeds but they are not deployed in Tokyo, the governing body said in an email response to Reuters. It meant that the 33-year-old American’s serve of 207.6 km/per hour, hit during the 2007 US Open, stands as the fastest serve in women’s tennis till date. The multiple grand slam-winner, who has suffered a spate of injuries in the last two years, was herself surprised with the reading on the speed gun on Thursday.

“I saw that but I was like: ‘Is that real?’ So I don’t know if that’s real,” Williams told the WTA in an interview. “I know I’ve been serving a lot harder this tournament than since I’ve come back from my back injury.

“I couldn’t really serve that hard at the US Open and this summer. It feels good but I don’t know if it was that hard. I hope it was... that’s insane, it’s awesome.”

Williams, who beat world number two and top seed Victoria Azarenka in the second round, lost to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (2) in the semi-finals on Friday. —Reuters

Iran knock Pakistan

Pakistan colts were sent packing when they lost to Iran 0-2 in their Group E match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Championship Qualifiers at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore on Friday. This was the second successive loss for the Greenshirts who were also beaten by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2-0 in their opener on Wednesday.

Iran, who had crushed Sri Lanka 8-0 in their first match the other day, went ahead through Nima Mukhtari Dehabneh in the 30th minute. At half time, they were leading 1-0. In the second half the visitors added to their tally when Mohammad Shamsi scored for them in the 78th minute.

In spite of the second win, Iran’s position is not yet confirmed. Their main rivals are UAE and the lone qualifiers from the group to the next year’s main round in Thailand will be decided after the key battle between the two on Sunday (tomorrow).

In spite of the loss Pakistan coach Sajjad Mehmood was satisfied with his team’s performance. “Iran were a tough side as their players were physically very strong and our boys had problem in body contact. But still we restricted them to only two goals,” Sajjad told ‘The News’ after the match.

“We also got three chances but could not be availed. But overall it were Iran who played technically solid game,” Sajjad observed. However he was quick to add that substantial improvement was seen in the team’s performance as compared to the SAFF Championship.

“In the SAFF Championship we played with the teams of our region and there we held Bhutan and Afghanistan and lost to Nepal. But here you see we played against tough sides of the UAE and Iran who have strong structure but still we put them in trouble and it’s a good sign,” he said.

“Previously we were losing to Iran with eight, ten and even 14 goals margin but now we have brought down the same ratio to just two goals which shows that we have made improvement,” Sajajd pointed out.

Meanwhile, in the match of the day, UAE were leading 5-0 against Sri Lanka in the first half till filing of the story. Pakistan will now face minnows Sri Lanka in their last game on Sunday.

In Orange County Open, Maria falls at first hurdle

Pakistan’s Maria Toor Pakay lost in the first round of the $10,000 Orange County Open at Irvine, United States, on Thursday.

Second seed Emily Whitlock of England defeated Maria 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6 in 40 minutes.

Sindh (Pakistan) Swimming begins

KARACHI:- Over 300 swimmers will be featuring in the 52nd edition of Sindh Open and Junior Age Group Swimming Championship which starts at Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday (today).

Mazhar Naqvi, who represented Pakistan in the World Swimming Championship and Ghulam Muhammad, who has featured in several international competitions are star attractions in the open category. International Saad Amin and Hasan Paracha will be battling for top honours in junior category.

The Open category Swimmers will be able to compete in only four events as compared to juniors, who can compete in four open and as many age group events. This may lead to disparity in the selection of Group Champions for overall performance in the championship.  
However Secretary of Sindh Swimming Association (SSA) Muhammad Ali Shishmahal said Group Champion in Open will be determined separately. SSA Secretary said they are using state of the art computer program to run the championship and for the first time two official video cameras will be installed for referrals.

Apart from top clubs, leading schools like Karachi Grammar, Beaconhouse, Bayview Academy, DA SKBZ College, DUA Swimming Club, Habib Public School, DHA Moin Khan Academy,Karachi American School, Karachi Dolphin, Links, Lyceum, Metropolitan Academy, St Patricks High School, The City School, Karachi Club and host Karachi Gymkhana will be taking part.

The events to be contested include freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Individual medley and freestyle relays and Medley relays in Under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and open age group.

UEFA Champions League 2013-14


UEFA will organise Europe's premier club football tournament, 2013–14 UEFA Champions League which is the 59th season of this tournament.Also, this happens to be the 22nd season since it underwent a change in the name, from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

The finals of 2014 UEFA Champions League Final will be played at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal. First time in the history, the teams who qualified for the group stage will also automatically qualify for the newly formed 2013–14 UEFA Youth League, a competition meant for players aged 19 or under.

Totally 76 teams from 52 of the 54 UEFA member associations will take part in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions are Liechtenstein, as it does not conduct  a domestic league, and Gibraltar, which starts contesting in the 2014–15 season , having been admitted as a UEFA member in May 2013). The ranking of the association is based on the UEFA country coefficientsand used to fix the number of partaking teams for each association.

Tournament details:
2 July – 28 August 2013 (qualifying)
17 September 2013 – 24 May 2014 (competition proper)

Bayern Munich who won 2013-13 tournament, are the defending champions.The final (2013-13) was held at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Though Wembley had hosted the 2011 finals, the competition final was again played in Wembley, in view of its completion of 150 years since the establishment of the English Football Association which also, happens to be the world’s oldest foot ball association. This is the seventh instancethat Wembley Stadium hosted the Champions League final. Bayern Munich, which had ended the season as runner-up last year, defeated Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund by 2–1 in the 89th minute -the goalwas scored by Arjen Robben, in the final. This happens to be Bayern's tenth final, their first European Cup in twelve years, and their fifth, on the whole. This was the fourth final contested by the teams from the same league. The other three occasions are 2000, 2003, and 2008, and the first all-German final.

Friday 27 September 2013

Malaysia maul Pakistan out of Johor Cup

A day after a 0-4 thrashing from arch-rivals India, Pakistan suffered a 2-4 defeat at the hands of hosts Malaysia, which sent the Green-shirts out of the title race in Sultan of Johor Junior Hockey Cup in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Thursday.

The fourth consecutive win for the hosts helped them accumulate 12 points to secure their berth in Sunday’s final where they will face India, who have also won four straight matches to accumulate 12 points, which gave them an unassailable lead over the third-placed Pakistan.

Pakistan have six points after winning two and losing as many matches. Pakistan will be playing their last league match against Argentina on Saturday.

Malaysia started the match as favourites with some strong showings from their players. Backed by the home crowd, Malaysia forced penalty corners in the 6th and 7th minutes, but failed to capitalise on them.

The forceful show helped the Malaysians gain confidence and they came close to scoring the lead in the 10th minute, but Firhan Ashaari was a bit too late to take an attempt on the Pakistani goal, as the defenders cleared the ball from the danger area.

Pakistani colts tried to put some pressure on the hosts at this stage. Muhammad Dilber, Pakistan’s top scorer in the tournament, put up a brilliant show as he broke through the defence and his shot from the edge of the circle raced past goalkeeper Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman, inches away from the goal in the 13th minute.

Dilber eventually earned his side a 1-0 lead when he deflected a cross from Muhammad Suleman into the goal in the 26th minute.

However, Malaysia took only two minutes to level the arrears when Mohammad Zulhairi Hashim converted a penalty corner, sending his drag flick past Pakistani goalkeeper Mazhar Abbas.

The hosts took the lead when Shahril Saabah, the joint top scorer with India’s Ramandeep Singh in the event, converted a penalty corner, when his shot hit Mazhar’s pads and crept over the goal line.

Pakistan forced three penalty corners in the 45th, 47th and 48th minutes and the team was finally rewarded when defender Muhammad Tousiq’s third attempt on the goal hit Malaysian skipper Fitri Saari on the foot and were awarded penalty stroke by umpire Grant Hudley. Tousiq converted it to equalise the score-line at 2-2.

Malaysia again took the lead in the 52nd minute when Fitri Saari tucked the rebound into the goal after the initial attempt by Shahril was charged down by Pakistani  defenders. Mohammad Syamim Yusof then deflected a cross by Rashid Baharom in the 65th minute into the goal to make it 4-2.

Earlier in the day, India thrashed South Korea 6-1, recording their fourth consecutive win in the tournament. Pakistan’s defeat to Malaysia confirmed India’s place in the climax.

Thursday 26 September 2013

Venus enters semi-final

The 33-year-old American, who won the last of her seven grand slam singles titles in 2008, recovered from a poor second set tiebreak with a series of electrifying shots and acrobatic volleys in the decider, completing victory with another ferocious forehand cross-court after a shade over three hours.

“It’s hard to believe it’s my first semi-final in Tokyo after all these years,” said Williams, currently languishing at 63rd in the world after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder in 2011.

“I’ve played against so many great players over a couple of generations, it seems,” added Williams, who giggled when reminded Thursday was sister Serena’s 32nd birthday.

“I’ve put a lot into the game and I’m not going to give it up easily. As a professional athlete you have a window. My window’s still open and I’m going to take advantage of it.”

Misbah as skipper for SA Tests

Misbah-ul-Haq was retained as Pakistan captain for next month’s Test series against South Africa despite poor results in a first loss to Zimbabwe in 15 years.

Misbah’s position was announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday, but the full Test squad will be announced later. The PCB also said 23-year-old batsman Umar Amin will skipper Pakistan A in a three-day warm-up game against the Proteas. A training camp for Pakistan will be held in Lahore next week from Monday, and 28 players will participate.

Pakistan have won only one of five Tests this year, and that against lowly ranked Zimbabwe this month. Zimbabwe, however, came back to win the second Test to square that series two weeks ago, its first win over a major Test team in 12 years. Pakistan hadn’t lost to Zimbabwe since 1998.

South Africa whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in a Test series at home in February. They will meet again in two Tests in Abu Dhabi from October 14-18, and Dubai the following week. The three-day match will be in Sharjah from October 8-10 followed by the Tests. After that series will be five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20s.

The A team includes Pakistan Test players Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faisal Iqbal and Aizaz Cheema. Legspinner Usman Qadir, son of former Test cricketer Abdul Qadir, is also among the 15 players.

Pakistan A team includes Umar Amin (captain), Shaan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Faisal Iqbal, Asad Shafiq, Ehsan Adil, Ahmad Jamal, Akber-ur-Rehman, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan probables: Khurram Manzoor, Sohaib Maqsood, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Adnan Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Usman Qadir, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Aizaz Cheema, Ehsan Adil, Ahmed Jamal, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan.

Friday 20 September 2013

Shane Warne admits rocky phase

Shane Warne is seemingly fighting hard to save his relationship with British actress and model Elizabeth Hurley. According to media, Warne cancelled a high-profile event in Melbourne on Wednesday to launch his own foundation's ambassadors programme, fuelling speculation that relationship with Hurley was over. 

According to reports in the Australian and British media, Warne is lying low after splitting with the former model and actress. The rumours come exactly two years since Warne proposed to Hurley following a whirlwind romance. In September 2011, the lovebirds got engaged.

In spite of not reaching out to each other for several weeks, both Warne and Hurley broke their 'silence' on Wednesday.


Shane Warne-Liz Hurley to call it quits?

Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik urge Pakistan selectors

Senior cricketers Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik have stepped up their campaign to earn a recall to the national team after Pakistan's dismal show in their recent tour to Zimbabwe.

Pakistan lost second Test against a lowly-ranked Zimbabwe to level the two-match series by (1-1). They had also lost a game in the three-match ODI series earlier on the tour.

With the axe likely to fall on a number of players, who were a part of the team during the Zimbabwe tour, both Razzaq and Malik have met with the caretaker chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi in Lahore and pleaded their cases.

While Razzaq, after his meeting, told that he had been assured of being given a fair chance and be considered for selection for the upcoming South Africa series, 
" former Pakistan captain Malik said" he just informed the board and selectors about his form and fitness. I believe in performing and letting the selectors do their task,.

Razzaq said he was keen to play for Pakistan again.

He said "I have been involved in cricket and have been training regularly. I still have a lot to give to Pakistan cricket. The selectors have assured me of a fair chance and said 'I should go and concentrate on my game'," . 

Sources in the PCB said Razzaq had told Sethi that he had not been treated fairly by the selectors, who had ignored him for national selection since last September.

"Razzaq also blamed Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq for him not getting a fair chance from the selectors," the source said.

Razzaq had publicly blamed the two for his ouster from the team and for being continuously ignored after he last played in a World T20 Cup match against Australia in Sri Lanka in September 2012.

The experienced all-rounder was fined by the board and was cautioned last year after he told the media upon returning from Sri Lanka that Hafeez should be questioned about his captaincy decisions.

Razzaq had also refused to play for the Lahore Lions team in the last national super eight T20 tournament in Lahore because Hafeez was captaining the side.

Sania Mirza

  • Tennis Player:

  • Sania Mirza is a professional Indian tennis player, well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She holds the record for being the highest ranked player from India for over a decade. 
    Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza have been married since 2010.
    She born in Mumbai, India on November 15, 1986. She married with Shoaib Malik in 2010 Famous Pakistani Cricket Player and former captain. 

    Shoaib Malik is Famous Pakistani Cricket Player and former captain born on 1st February 1985. He made his One-Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh.



  • Thursday 19 September 2013

    Basketball takes hold in Central Asia

    Basketball, historically a stepsister among Central Asian sports, is expected to grow in popularity now a new organisation is being formed to promote it.
    The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) August 25 announced plans to create a Central Asian Basketball Association (CABA), which will be headquartered in "Almaty" and cover Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.