Al-Amin, Mosaddek recalled for NZ tour

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Friday recalled pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain and batsman Mosaddek Hossain in their 20-member squad for the upcoming One-day International and Twenty20 International series against New Zealand.

Mosaddek played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in July 2019 and T20I against India in November in the same year. Al-Amin played the last of his 15 ODIs against Zimbabwe in March 2020.

Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who was in the squad for the T20 series against Zimbabwe but did not play any game, was also included in the team.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said the absence of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan prompted them to implement most of the changes.

“Since Shakib is not available, we brought Mosaddek as he is also an all-rounder and an experienced player,” he said.

“We picked Nasum for the same reason. He did well in domestic limited over matches. He came ahead of Taijul Islam, who we want now to focus more on Test cricket.”

Bangladesh will play three ODI matches against New Zealand and as many T20Is from March 20 to April 1.

Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed.—AFP

Master Paints, BN Polo qualify for main final

LAHORE: Master Paints and BN Polo qualified for the main final of the Aquafina Allama Iqbal Polo Cup 2021 after winning their respective matches here at the Jinnah Polo and Country Club (JP&CC) ground on Friday.

FG Polo qualified for the subsidiary final.

Eight goals from Acros Panelo helped Master Paints to edge out Master Paints Blacks by a narrow margin of 13 1/2-12. The winner had half goal handicap. Juan Cruz Losada fired in five goals as he with Panelo shared the scoring honours. For Master Paints, Matias Vial Parez displayed superb polo to give a rocklike opposition with a tally of ten goals. Mariano Raigal and Sufi Muhammad Haroon chipped in with one goal apiece.

The winners made a good start striking thrice in the first chukker to take 3 1/2-0 lead. The losing side, however, bounced back quickly, hitting in two goals to reduce the lead 2- 3 1/2. The offensive losing side, then gained the big lead of 7-3 1/2 by entering five goals at the trot. However, the winners started the recovering operation, scoring seven goals at the trot. In the fourth chukker, Master Paints, successfully converted three goals against two by Master Paints Black to win the match.

BN Polo also earned a place in the final, defeating Diamond Paints 10-6, due a major contribution of four goals coming from Tito Ruiz Guinazu. Eulogio Celestino earned a hat-trick, while Raja Mikael Sami pumped in two goals and Baber Naseem added one goal. For the losing side, Romero Zaveletta was top scorer with a tally of three goals while Saqib Khan Khakwani hit one, as two goals received on handicap.

The third encounter of the day saw FG Polo outpacing Barry’s 10 1/2-6 to reach the subsidiary final of the event.—Sports Reporter

Two-time world champion Vlasic retires

ZAGREB: Croatia’s two-time world champion and double Olympic medallist Blanka Vlasic announced on Friday she was retiring after struggling with injuries for years.

Vlasic, 37, said in an open letter that since winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, “I have been trying to cure my injury, four years full of hope that I will once again stand in front of the bar and challenge myself.

“The following years brought countless rehabilitation treatments, hope and disappointment.”

Vlasic has long suffered from injuries to her Achilles tendon and heel and had to undergo frequent operations.

She said she let the decision to end her career “come naturally”.

“I knew that the time has come and I was completely peaceful with it,” she added.

Coached by her father Josko Vlasic, she made her first Olympic appearance in 2000 aged 16.

Five years later she underwent surgery of her thyroid gland, but she recovered to win silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Eight years later she won bronze in Rio.

Vlasic was world champion twice — in 2007 and 2009 — and was named World Athlete of the Year in 2010.

Her personal best of 2.08 metres puts her second on the all-time list behind the 2.09m leapt by world record holder Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria.—AFP

Osama, Parbat and Farhan make semis

KARACHI: Talented Osama Khan was extended by Ibrahim Iltifat while Parbat Kumar and Farhan Altaf cruised past their respective opponents in the mens singles quarter-finals of the KC Premier Cables Sindh Ranking Tennis Championships at Karachi Club here on Friday.

In the under-17 quarter-finals, Mikaeel Baig and M Usman played superb game to enter the semis.

Results:

Men’s singles (quarter-finals): Osama Khan bt Ibrahim Iltifat ( top seed) 6-3 3-6,10-5; Parbat Kumer bt Farzan 6-3 6-2; Farhan Altaf bt Noor-e-Mustafa 6-2 6-2

Junior U-17 singles (quarter-finals): Mikaeel Ali Baig bt M. Ibrahim 7-5 6-7 10-5; M. Usman bt Kashan Tariq 7-5 6-1 10-8;

U-17 junior doubles: Mikaeel Ali +M. Ibrahim bt M. Usman+M Tahir 8-1; Abdullah +Dhurf Das bt MA Qadir + Danish Ahmed 6-0 6-2; Rahim Veqar +Farzan Ahmed bt Khubab+Abbas Merchant 6-0, 6-2; Haman + Ijaz bt Kirtan+Soyam 6-0, 0-6 1

Boys/girls U-11 singles (quarter-finals): Shezer Ali bt Ruhab 4-1 4-1; Wahab Derbari (Hyd) bt Aidh Imran Moosa 4-2 4-2; Ali Mehdi bt M . Moosa 4-2 4-1

U-13 singles (second round): Ibrahim Sajjad bt Rashid Ali Hyd 4-1 4-1; Dhraf Das bt Aliyan Imran 4-1 4-1 2-4; Shehzer bt Inaya Sayed 7-4, 5-3 4-2; Ali Bachani (Hyd) bt Daliah Shazim 5-3 4-1

Men’s doubles (second round): Danish Ramzan +Noor Mustafa bt Faisal+Awaish Kumar 8-4; Farhan Altaf + Rizwan bt Parbat Kumar + Muhammad Ali 8-3

35-plus doubles (second round): M. Iltifat +Sher Ahmed bt Saqib Jadoon +Qazi Usman 8-4

60-plus doubles: Akber Hayat +Tariq Aziz bt Zakria Ali Muhammad

• M. Akram 8-1; Karim Gul +Noorullah Dhannani bt Altaf Aziz + M Tahir 8-1.—Agencies

Abid faces Heera in decider

LAHORE: Mohammad Abid and Heera Ashiq reached the men’s singles final of Gobi’s Paints Punjab Open Tennis Championship here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-i-Jinnah on Friday.

In the semi-finals, Abid comfortably defeated Ahmed Kamil 6-2, 6-4 whereas Heera struggled to beat Imran Bhatti 6-3, 6-7, 10-6.

Other results (semi-finals):

U-10: Abdur Rehman bt Mohammad Omer 6-0; Abdur Rehman; Hajra bt Fajjar Fayyaz 6-2.

U-12: Ameer Mazari bt Zohaib Afzal Malik 4-1, 4-1; Haniya Minhas bt Omer Jawad 5-3, 4-1.—Sports Reporter

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2021