Pakistan prays for Aisam's victory in US Open

Published>Wed, Sep 08 10 10:47 PM

Islamabad, Sep 8 (IANS) Millions of Pakistani fans will be praying for Aisam-ul-Haq to win the US Open mixed doubles finals, so that they have at least something to cheer about on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr that has otherwise been marred by floods and a cricket scandal.

Aisam, partnering Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, became the first Pakistani player Wednesday to reach the finals of any grand slam tournament.

Partnering India's Rohan Bopanna, Aisam also reached the semi-finals of the men's doubles.

Talking to a Pakistani TV channel here Wednesday, Aisam said he was eager to perform well in the biggest match of his career.

'I know that the people back home will be hoping for me to clinch this win and I want to give them this happiness,' he said.

'I am feeling confident about my chances in this clash,' he said just a few hours before the title clash, adding that his job was not yet finished.

'It's about time the authorities give proper recognition to tennis and other sports so that laurels could be achieved for the country,' he said.

Sports other than cricket have remained neglected in Pakistan and players have often complained of step-motherly treatment.

Aisam belongs to a family that has been pursuing different sports and is credited with helping him make a professional career in tennis. His mother, Nosheen Ahtisham, has herself been an amateur tennis player in Pakistan.

Talking to the media, Nosheen said she was definitely nervous ahead of her son's title clash. 'But I am confident that he has the ability to do it,' she said.

Aisam's father, Ahtisham-ul-Haq, said the glory achieved by Aisam was a result of the entire nation's prayers. 'He needs all the prayers and luck for the final again.'

Aisam's coach Rasheed Malik said his protege had the talent and the capacity to go on and win the title.

'I have coached him for 10 years and feel proud of his accomplishments,' he said and hoped that Aisam would also be able to replicate his performance in the singles events in the future.

Aisam's sister, Shiza Qureshi, while talking about her brother, said: 'He has been great so far and I am sure that he'll win.'

The road to the final was the result of Aisam's hard work and dedication to the sport, she said with a beaming smile.

Source: Web Search

We played well but Thais capitalised on the chances: Houghton

Wed, Sep 08 10 10:41 PM

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) National football team coach Bob Houghton was gracious in defeat after his side went down to Thailand 1-2 in their second international football friendly match here today. "They deserved to win. They played better in the first match but it was pretty equal tonight. The performance of our boys was commendable, they kept working hard but I am disappointed that we did not take our chances," Houghton told the post-match press conference. "We attacked more tonight, our counter attacks were also better and we looked more dangerous but they capitalised on the chances. The boys were very good in the air and Climax (Lawrence) especially, was much better compared to Saturday''s match," he added. Bhaichung Bhutia, suffering from a recurring thyroid problem, was brought on in the 70th minute and Houghton said that was pre planned and had nothing to do with the fact that India were trailing at that point. "We always knew that Bhaichung would play at least 20 to 25 minutes," Houghton said. Seemingly pleased with Bhutia''s performance, Houghton said, "He keeps the ball in the opponent''s penalty area and gives a different dimension and it rubs on to the other boys." Meanwhile, Houghton''s counterpart Brian Robson felt both the sides created chances but Thailand were better when it came to converting them. The former England and Manchester United legend was quite pleased with the performance of his young players. "I am delighted with our young players. He (Dechmitr Wichaya) is only 19 and he has got great stamina and ability with the ball. Mentally if he keeps his ground, he will be much better in future," Robson said. On India''s game, Robson said, "They caused a lot of problems defensively but our attack did well. "India attacked a little more tonight, probably to please their fans, but that left more space for us to go for counter attacks." "India looked good at playing little passes in the midfield and that caused us a lot of problems. They will be able to trouble a lot of good opponents this way," Robson added. Despite heavy rains lashing the Ambedkar Stadium turf prior to the match, the pitch, according to Robson, was not bad. "It was quite firm, the players could pass the ball and it zipped off the ground," the Englishman said.

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PCB chairman hooted by cricket fans at airport

Wed, Sep 08 10 10:27 PM

Lahore, Sep 8 (PTI) Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt was today hooted and jeered by angry fans when the veteran administrator landed in the country for the first time since the spot-fixing scandal shocked the world cricket. As soon as Butt came out of the airport terminal, fans raised slogan against him and shouted ''Shame Shame'', expressing their anger over the alleged betting scam which hit the image of the country globally. Butt, who was in London since the expose, was his usual secretive and defensive self, refusing to give out any new details on the ongoing investigations into the scandal involving Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Aamir and Muhammed Asif. But he did say that if any player is found guilty of fixing matches, he would be dealt with severely. "Right now the PCB can''t take any action against the players because the ICC anti-corruption unit is carrying out an inquiry into this matter. But if any player is found guilty he will not be spared," he said. "Even the police interrogated them for nine hours but let them go without pressing any charges. So we are also waiting for the ICC and Scotland Yard to come up with their findings into this matter," he added. Butt said the PCB had filed detailed replies to the charge-sheets issued to the players by the ICC but the the world governing body wanted the players to respond themselves. "We had given the ICC a detailed reply to the charge-sheets sent to the players but the ICC said the players themselves must answer the charge-sheet," he said. Butt was evasive when asked about reports that the ICC was also investigating the Sydney Test between Pakistan and Australia. "I think we shouldn''t be talking about such old issues we need to focus on this current problem and hope it is resolved soon," he added.

Source: Published>

Unimpressive India go down 1-2 to Thailand in football friendly

Published>Wed, Sep 08 10 10:07 PM

New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) An unimpressive India went down 1-2 to a young Thailand side in the return leg of a friendly international football match at the Ambedkar Stadium here on a rainy Wednesday.

Even an indisposed Bhaichung Bhutia, who took the field in the 70th minute, could not save India from losing their second match to Thailand. Indian had lost 0-1 in the first leg in Bangkok, Saturday.

Winothai Teerathap and Keawsombat Keerati were on target for Thailand, mostly comprising under-23 players, in the 49th and the 65th minute while N.P. Pradeep scored from the goalmouth melee for India's solitary goal in the 61st minute.

After an unimpressive performance by strikers Mohammad Rafi and Sunil Chettri in the first half, chief coach Bob Houghton had no other option but to bring on Bhutia, who is recuperating from his thyroid problems and was doubtful to feature in any international till the end of this month.

The Indian captain changed the tempo of the match in the last 20 minutes much to the joy of some seven thousand spectators, who braved heavy downpour to support the home team.

Bhutia nearly scored the equaliser for India in the injury time with his attempted bicycle kick and was denied a penalty in the dying minutes of the game after he was brought down in the box by Suttinun Phukom.

Indian referee Pratap Singh was not convinced that Bhutia was fouled and decided against giving the spot-kick. A furious Bhutia calmed down after he was shown a yellow card for over protesting.

Thailand took the lead from a counterattack when an unmarked Teerathap ran from the centre and lobbed it past goalkeeper Subrata Paul in the 47th minute. Pradeep scored the equaliser from a rebound after Chettri's header was saved by goalkeeper Kawin Thamasatchanan. Keerati scored the winner in the 65th minute after he headed in a rebound from the post.

It was an expected scoreline, and India in fact were lucky to end the fist half goalless. Had it not been for the heroics of Paul and some luck, Thailand would have taken a 3-0 lead before the breather.

In the first half, there was hardly any co-ordination between Rafi and Chettri. Churchill Brothers striker Rafi hardly showed the intent for a challenge to snatch the ball from the Thai defenders while Kansas City striker Chettri just could not find his bearings right.

Rafi wasted the first chance that came India's way in the 17th minute when he raced into the box after latching on to a through pass from the centre and shot wide.

Paul was at his best with acrobatic saves and got praise from Thai coach and England legend Bryan Robson.

Source: Web Search

Advani, Merchant start with comfortable wins

Wed, Sep 08 10 09:57 PM

Pune, Sep 8 (PTI) Pankaj Advani and Yasin Merchant began their campaigns at the National Snooker Championships with comfortable wins over their respective rivals at D Y Patil Vidyapeeth here today. Advani outplayed Simranjeet Singh 3-1 (72-29, 70-18, 54-56, 75-40) in group A while Merchant beat Arun Chhabra 3-0 (69-15, 56-10, 85-09) in group D. National sub-junior Champion Dhvaj Haria also began with 3-1 win over Subrat Das (60-01, 72-13, 32-77, 57-29). In an interesting tie, Mizoram player R Lalrinsanga scored a 3-2 win over Faisal Khan even after forfeiting the first frame due to late arrival for his match. Lalrinsnaga lost the second frame 26-71 to go down 0-2 before making a solid come back an taking the next three frames 65-05, 78(60)-39, 55-49) to score an remarkable win. Following are the results. Group A: Pankaj Advani beat Simranjeet Singh :: 3-1 (72-29, 70-18, 54-56, 75-40) Vijay Nichhani beat Rishabh Jain :: 3-1 (91-35, 77-57, 00-27, 83-36) Group B: Sourav Kothari beat Shantanu Bandekar :: 3-0 (one frame awarded for dress code delay, 65-36, 134-03) Neeraj Kumar beat Rajat Khaneja :: 3-2 (68-48, 82-50, 36-57, 48-58, 69-13) Group C: Shivam Arora beat Anuj Bhargava :: 3-0 (61-31, 63-29, 70-52) Kamal Chawla beat Subhashis Goswami :: 3-0 (81-10, 75-05, 77-16). More PTI AT

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Hleb to miss Liverpool clash with leg injury

Wed, Sep 08 10 09:47 PM

Birmingham City midfielder Aleksandr Hleb will miss Sunday's Premier League match against Liverpool with a leg injury he sustained while playing for his country in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

The Belarus captain was substituted midway through the second half of Tuesday's Group D match against Romania.

"His injury is not too serious but Hleb said to me that he definitely would be unable to play on Sunday," Belarus coach Bernd Stange told local media.

"He should be able to return to action sometime next week. He just needs some rest and have some physiotherapy to be 100 percent healthy."

Hleb joined Birmingham on a one-year loan deal last month after a disappointing spell at Barcelona.

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ICC chargesheeted Butt and Akmal after rejecting their replies

Wed, Sep 08 10 09:37 PM

Karachi, Sep 8 (PTI) The International Cricket Council charge-sheeted Test captain Salman Butt and stumper batsman Kamran Akmal after getting unsatisfactory replies on the show cause notices served on them last month, media reports said here today. A report in the ''Dawn'' said the two players were served the notices on August 21, the day Pakistan won the Oval Test against England. The PCB, though, ignored the notices and went onto announce special victory bonuses for the players and the team management. Sources told PTI that the ICC was tipped off about the suspicious activities of the two players after the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the governing body also had some information on the conversations between them and the alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed. The report said both Salman and Akmal were asked to reply to notice within 14 days, asking them to provide their mobile phone numbers which they used during the World T20 besides some other information. After finding their replies unsatisfactory, the ICC sent charge-sheets to the two players and were delivered at their personal addresses and not through the PCB. The report quoting sources said although the PCB had some reports about the suspicious activities of Akmal, it was unaware about the activities of Butt, who was elevated to the post of Test captain after Shahid Afridi quit job. More PTI Corr AT

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