‘SFP elections held according to constitution’

LAHORE: Recently-elected secretary of the Softball Federation of Pakistan (SFP) Haider Khan Lehri, in a rejoinder, to his outgoing president Mohammad Saleem Khan, has claimed that the fresh elections of the federation were held according to the constitution.

In a press statement, Lehri said as secretary he had sent a letter for the elections to all the affiliated units on March 3, 2015 as per the direction of Saleem, adding that a copy of the same was also emailed to him (Saleem).

“While Saleem did not raise any objection over the schedule of the elections, all the affiliated units sent their nominations to the election commissioner before March 15,” Lehri said.

“The commissioner, after scrutinising the nomination papers, announced the list of eligible contestants on March 19.”

The commissioner, Lehri said, also told all the candidates that any one could withdraw the nomination papers by March 20 (7:00pm).

“Not a single member of the federation raised any objection over this election process.”

Insisting that representatives of the Pakistan Olympic Association and the Pakistan Sports Board were invited as observers for the SFP elections, Lehri said only the latter sent an official.

“More than 50 per cent members of the general council also requested on March 20 in writing for holding SFP elections. In light of this request, the president could not withdraw any letter of election,” he stated..

Lehri said that the membership of the Punjab Softball Association had been cancelled at the general council meeting dated Feb 12, 2011 headed by Saleem Khan, by himself, while the Sindh Softball Association did not take part in the election.— Sports Reporter

All-round Deedar stars in victory

KARACHI: A splendid all-round performance by Deedar Azeem inspired Lakhani Travels to a 52-run victory over Mustafa Enterprises in the 20th Hinopak Trophy KCCA Inter-departmental Cricket League here on Tuesday.

Batting first after winning the toss at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground, Lakhani Travels reached 268-9 in the allotted 50 overs. Deedar hit 10 boundaries and one six in making 64, while Abdul Rehman made 62 with six fours.

Mustafa Enterprises, in reply, were all out for 216 in 43 overs despite a defiant unbeaten 93 (eight fours and one six) from Shiraz Ali.

Bowling medium-pacers, Deedar bagged four wickets for 63 runs while leg-spinner Haris Ayaz took 3-43.

In another match at the KCCA Stadium, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) defeated M.S. Technology by two wickets.

Hyder Ali scored a fine 115 off 128 balls with the aid of 12 boundaries as M.S. Technology were dismissed for 229 in 49.4 overs. Off-spinners Asghar Shah (4-27) and Afroze Khan (3-15) shared the bowling honours.

KW&SB achieved victory by reaching 232-8 in 44.1 overs. Zohaib Abid struck 11 fours in making 76, while slow left-armer Hamza Mahmood captured four wickets for 28 runs.

Summarised scores:

KW&SB beat M.S. Technology by two wickets at KCCA Stadium.

M.S. TECHNOLOGY 229 in 49.4 overs (Hyder Ali 115, Sarfraz Malik 25, Fawad Abbasi 24; Asghar Shah 4-27, Afroze Khan 3-15); KW&SB 232-8 in 44.1 overs (Zohaib Abid 76, Noman Afzal 38, Ali Hashmi 23; Hamza Mahmood 4-28).

Lakhani Travels beat Mustafa Enterprises by 52 runs at Landhi Gymkhana Ground.

LAKHANI TRAVELS 268-9 in 50 overs (Deedar Azeem 64, Abdul Rehman 62, Alman Khan 35; Ali Raza 3-62, Tauqir Malik 2-48); MUSTAFA ENTERPRISES 216 in 43 overs (Shiraz Ali 93 not out, Aamir Qureshi 23; Deedar Azeem 4-63, Haris Ayaz 3-43, Sajid Lakhani 2-22).—Sports Reporter

Top quartet reach semis

KARACHI: Top ranked quartet — Aqeel Khan, M. Abid, Yasir Khan and Heera Ashiq — on Wednesday completed the men’s singles semi-final line up in the Modern Club Founder Members National Ranking Tennis Championship at the club’s court on Wednesday.

Top seed Aqeel beat former Davis Cupper turned coach and sibling Jalil Khan 6-4, 6-3 while second seed Abid was convincing in his 6-3, 6-1 win over veteran Davis Cupper Nomi Qamar. Third seed Yasir sent Lahore’s Usman Rafiq packing 6-0, 6-4 while fourth seed Heera made a 6-0, 6-1 short work of Syed Zuhair Raza in the four quarter-finals.

Similarly, the juniors under-18, boys under-16 and under-14 has also reached the semi-final stage.

Results:

Men’s singles:

Second round: Aqeel Khan bt Jahangir Khaliq 6-0. 6-0; Syed Zuhair Raza bt Abdul Rehman 6-1, 6-2.

Quarter-finals: Aqeel Khan bt Jalil Khan 6-4, 6-3; Heera Ashiq bt Syed Zuhair Raza 6-0, 6-1; Yasir Khan bt Usman Rafiq (Lahore) 6-0, 6-4; Mohammad Abid bt Nomi Qamar 6-3, 6-1.

Ladies singles:

First round: Sara Mansoor bt Wajiha 6-0. 6-0; Sara Ahmed bt Esha Umer 6-0, 6-0; Urooj Ilitfat bt Rida Khan 6-2, 6-3.

Juniors under-18 singles:

Quarter-finals: M. Raza Sawani bt Nadir Khan (Hyderabad) 6-0, 6-0; Ali Shabzada bt Shiraz Khan (Hyderabad) walkover.

Boys under-16 singles:

Quarter-finals: Nadir Ali (Hyderabad) bt Sheraz (Hyderabad) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; Amin Shafi bt Ebad Sarwar Hussain Khan 0-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Boys under-14 singles:

Second round: Mohammad Ahmed bt Asad Ali (Hyderabad) 6-0, 6-0; Mohammad Dada bt Osama Khan 6-2, 6-1.

Quarter-finals: Nauman Aftab bt M.Yahya 6-0, 6-1; Houd Azhar bt Mohammad Ahmed 6-4, 6-1; Amin Shafi bt Mohammad Dada 6-3, 6-3; Shazil Malik bt Rayyan Jawad 6-1, 6-2.

Boys under-12 singles:

Second round: Rayyan Jawad bt Saim Danish 6-2, 6-2; Abdullah Khan bt Ayyan 6-0, 6-0.

Thursday’s fixtures:

Matches start at 3pm.—Sports Correspondent

Adnan inspires Master Paints to victory

LAHORE: Adnan Jalil Azam bagged a brace as Master Paints avoided a major scare by overcoming Noon’s 4-3½ in the Spring Polo Cup as three matches were decided here on Wednesday.

Noon’s, having a 2½-goal handicap, held the sway till the third chukker as they led by the same margin with Saifullah’s goal in the second chukker coming after Master Paints’ Atif Yar opened the scoring in the first.

Master Paints then began a superb comeback with Adnan and Sufi Mohammad Farooq scoring in the third chukker before Adnan hit a brilliant winner in the fourth.

The other two games of the day were of two chukkers each.

Hassan Ali Farrukh’s double and a half-goal handicap helped Hataff record a 2½-2 victory over Lotto Carpets for whom Ahmed Zubair Butt and Giles Twiss hit a goal apiece.

Hassan also excelled with two goals for Hataff in the second match as they thrashed Technimen 5-1. Feroze Gulzar also scored twice for Hataff while the losers earned the solitary goal from Dr Kamran Zaidi.—Sports Reporter

World Polo Championship rescheduled

LAHORE: The new schedule of the 10th FIP World Polo Championship has been announced and now Pakistan will take on England on Saturday in Santiago, Chile.

Earlier, the World Championship was to start on Wednesday but the event was delayed due to a heavy rainstorm.

According to the new schedule, the championship will start on Friday (March 27) with the event opener between Argentina and Brazil followed by the clash between Chile and England the same day.

On Saturday, first US vie against Argentina and then Pakistan meet England. Sunday will witness the US-Brazil game and the hosts Chile playing Pakistan.

The semi-finals will be held on Tuesday. The decider will be played on Wednesday (April 1).

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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