Three hockey matches decided

LAHORE: Three more matches were decided in the ninth Nishan-i-Haider hockey tournament in Bahawalpur on Tuesday night.

Two goals each by Zeeshan Bukhari, Owais and Kamran Maqsood propelled Railways to earn a convincing 7-4 win against Pakistan Steel Mills, after leading the first half 3-1.

Zeeshan slammed in 23rd and 58th minute, Owais banged home in 38th and 50th minute while Kamran pumped in back-to-back goals in 47th and 48th minute.

Khurram Shahzad chipped in with one goal in the 40th minute. For the losing side, Mohammad Rauf struck three goals in third, 33rd and 43th minute. Yaseen Anwar added one goal.

Wapda carved out 7-2 win against Police after taking 2-1 lead in the first session.

For Wapda, Jaffar Hussain (10th, 36th) was the main scorer.

The other scorers were Mohammad Usman (8th), Zohaib Ashraf (40th), Rana Umair (53rd), Zubair Riaz (59th) and Ejaz (63rd).

For the losing side, Saleem (24th) and Asif Iqbal (69th) reduced the margin.

The National Bank of Pakistan registered a 2-0 win over the Port Qasim as their Atique (39th) and Arslan Qadir (62nd) shared the scoring honours.—Sports Reporter

LRC enhances stake-money for unknown winners

LAHORE: The Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards have announced a sudden and sizeable increase in the stake-money reserved for the winner of a race in events contested by unknown pedigree (UK) horses with immediate effect.

A notification issued by the LRC on Wednesday informed all owners and trainers that from now onwards the winners of a race comprising unknown pedigree (UK) horses will receive Rs50,000 as prize-money.

The increase seems to be an incentive to the owners who were inclined more towards hanky-panky business by getting their horses pulled when installed public fancy and thus they pollute the sporting atmosphere.

Only last Sunday a unique incident took place when a section of punters held demonstrations to voice their resentment over a favourite horse’s dismal showing in a race and subsequent bookmakers’ strike to shut their stalls mid way through the proceedings. That called for some concrete measures to curb elements involved in dirty tactics to make easy money by bringing the genteel sports to disrepute Punters demand that such rotten eggs defaming the sports be thrown out of the club.

Meanwhile the LRC, secretary, Shahzad Akhtar has issued the revised course timings for cantering and trotting of horses in the morning.—Aftab Gilani

Festival cricket match today

LAHORE: The 44th annual cricket festival match of Muslim Gymkhana will be played between Inzamam-ul-Haq Eleven and Taufiq Umar Eleven at the Bagh-i-Jinnah ground here on Thursday.

Chief organiser of the Muslim Gymkhana Cricket Club and former ICC Panel Umpire Mian Mohammad Aslam said all senior and junior members of the club will be seen in action in the match.

He said the Muslim Gymkhana produced a number of cricketers for Pakistan like Inzamam, Taufiq Umer, Aaqib Javed, Ahmad Shahzad, Mujahid Jamshaid, M. Ramzan, Amir Malik and Usman Salahuddin.

Mian Aslam said Misbah-ur-Rehman, Lahore Gymkhana chairman, and MPA Ghazali Butt will be the guests of honour at the opening ceremony of the match while Pakistan cricket team’s chief selector Moin Khan will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony.—Sports Reporter

Handball coaches course begins

LAHORE: The Olympic Council of Asia Handball Technical Course for Coaches started at the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad on Wednesday.

G.A. Baloch from Sweden and Pakistan Handball Federation president Mohammad Shafiq delivered their lectures on ‘defence is the best attack’ and ‘warming up’ respectively. A total of 40 participants from affiliated units are taking part.

Participants: Irshad Ahmad, Babar Sultan, Shahab Khan, Samiullah Khan, Arshad Saeed, Faizan Ali, Abid Riaz, Khizer Mehmood, Ziaullah Khan, Tahira Kausar, Midhat Jahan, Rizwana Kamal, Robina Kousar, Bushra Manzoor, Nida Shafiq Bhatti, Naseer Ahmad, Maqsood Waseem, Mohammad Tahir, Rashad Javed, Ahmad Riaz, Sajid Zia, Mirza Sultan, Mohammad Sohail Shehzad, Asif Ali, Qari Ziaullah, Khalida Parveen, Uzma Shafqat, Mahmood Ahmad, Mohammad Akram, Mohammad Ashfaq Khan, Mohammad Imran, Dabeer Hussain, Sohaib Shafiq, Tariq Nawaz, Tahir Hameed, Javed Ahmad, Mohammad Azhar, Nadeem Akhtar, Zulqadar Ali, Moinuddin.—Sports Reporter

Blind cricket event begins today

ISLAMABAD: The National Bank of Pakistan T20 Blind Cricket Tournament is going to start from today (Thursday).

The seven-day tournament will be played in Islamabad and Abbottabad.

Information director of the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) Tanver Hussain Malik said 12 teams (Karachi, Quetta, Bahawalpur, Multan, Okara, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, Peshawar and Young Star of Pakistan Blind Cricket Council) will participate in the tournament.

The council will select 30 probables for the national team who perform well in the event for the forthcoming Blind World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in December this year. —A Reporter

Sindh Disable Cricket from May 9

KARACHI: All Sindh Disable Deaf and Dumb Cricket Tournament will be held at different grounds from May 9, the Sindh Rims Disable Cricket Association (SRDCA) said on Wednesday.

According to a news release, the organising committee announced Rs5,000 for each team from outside Karachi. Eight teams from across the province of Sindh are expected to take part in the competition.

No entry fee will be charged. A man-of-the-match award will be given to the best performer in each game.—APP

Benazir cricket event from 30th

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is organising the third Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Women Cricket Challenge T20 Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium from April 30 to May 4.

Four departmental teams, namely ZTBL, Saif Sports Saga, Omar Associates and HEC will play matches on single league basis.

Two matches will be played daily.

Top two teams will qualify for the final which will be televised live by PTV Sports.— Sports Reporter

Al-Halal CC win

LAHORE: Al-Halal Cricket Club beat Faran Gymkhana by five wickets in 29th Yaseen Akhtar T20 Tournament at Township ground here on Wednesday.

Chasing a winning target of 205, Al-Halal Club knocked home the runs in 17.4 overs for the loss of five wickets.

Summarised scores: FARAN GYMKHANA 204 in 20 overs (Irfan Shafiq 88; Mohammad Naveed 2-28); AL-HALAL CRICKET CLUB 205-5 in 17.4 overs (Irfan Haider 52, Zeeshan Ahmed 43, Muntazir Ali 41, Zulqarnain 34).