BIPIN DANI One more Sri Lanka women's team player is tested positive in Zimbabwe, it is reliably learnt. According to highly placed sources in Harare, Kavisha Dilhari, who was sharing room with one of the other three players (Sachini Nisansala), tested positive for Covid-19 during the last PCR test conducted on Monday. "Unlike the senior men players, all women players are sharing the hotel rooms and that's how the 20-year-old right-arm off-break bowler was infected", the source, speaking exclusively over the telephone said.   The total four, who are isolated after tested positive are : The vice-captain Harshitha Madavi, Vishmi Gunaratne, Sachini Nisansala and Kavisha Dilhari. All four are under medical care. Tour on Sri Lanka's participation in the Women's World Cup qualifier is in no doubt. The ICC has made it known to all the participating teams that the matches would be played as per original schedule. 

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai:-Bangladesh batters Fargana Hoque and Rumana Ahmed have made notable gains in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings after helping their team beat Pakistan in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 Group B match in Harare on Sunday. Fargana’s steady 45 that laid the foundation for the three-wicket win, helped her gain one slot to reach 25th position in the latest weekly update to the women’s rankings, carried out on Tuesdays. Rumana’s unbeaten 50, that got the team over the line with two balls to spare, has lifted her five places to 29th position. Off-spinner Salma Khatun is up four places to 35th among bowlers while left-arm spinner Nahida Akter has progressed four slots to 41st position after their team’s opening match in the nine-team tournament being played across four venues in Harare with three teams due to book spots in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 to be held in New Zealand in March-April. For Pakistan, Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar have made significant progress among batters after putting on 137 runs for the sixth wicket. Aliya, who scored 61 not out off 82 balls, is up five places to 32nd while Nida’s 111-ball 87 has helped her gain seven slots and reach 37th position. Left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu’s two wickets have carried her four places to 17th position while Nida is also up four places to 29th after taking one for 17 in 10 overs. Anam Amin has gone from 43rd to 40th position.

Islamabad (Sports Desk):-Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka put their first points on board in Harare at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifiers while Bangladesh made it two wins out of two. WEST INDIES BEAT IRELAND BY 6 WICKETS Put in to bat first by West Indies, openers Leah Paul and Gaby Lewis started well for Ireland. With the Windies bowlers bowling tight lines, Paul and Lewis had to pick and choose their moments to attack. The two put on a 79-run stand for the first wicket before Anisa Mohammed struck to remove Lewis. The wicket of Lewis triggered a massive collapse. Amy Hunter was run-out off the very next delivery without facing a ball. Mohammed next scalped Paul (25) as Ireland lost three wickets in a span of eight deliveries. Hayley Matthews then got in the act and removed Laura Delany and Orla Prendergast in the same over. Eimear Richardson (32) helped Ireland go past the 150-run mark but she did not find enough support at the other end, with only Mary Waldron getting to double digits. Chasing 159, the Windies openers knocked off 61 of those runs inside 13 overs. Though Rashada Williams was not at her best in her 34-ball 8, Deandra Dottin was on song, bringing up her fifty in just 47 balls. Eimear Richardson eventually picked Dottin's wicket for 73 but the damage was already done by then. Stafanie Taylor's unbeaten 41 guided West Indies to a win with more than 10 overs to spare. SRI LANKA BEAT NETHERLANDS BY 34 RUNS (DLS METHOD) Sri Lankan openers got the team off to a flier after being asked to bat first by the Netherlands. The 93-run partnership came in just 13.4 overs with Hasini Perera contributing only 26 from 43 balls. At the other end, Chamari Athapaththu went absolutely berserk, with the fall of wickets of Perera and Prasadani Weerakkody making no difference to her approach. She brought up her hundred in just 64 balls. Caroline de Lange eventually brought an end to the whirlwind innings, claiming her third wicket of the day before picking another one her very next over. Nilakshi de Silva and Anushka Sanjeewani steadied the ship after the two quick wickets. Oshadi Ranasinghe's stuck around the tail, taking Sri Lanka to 278/9 in 50 overs. Netherlands lost Juliët Post early on with Udeshika Prabodhani hitting timber in the third over. Babette de Leede and Sterre Kalis stuck in after the early wicket, mixing caution with aggression en route their respective fifties. The duo posted 141 runs for the second wicket before Athapaththu, the star with the bat, broke through for Sri Lanka will the ball, dismissing de Leede for 77. The wicket triggered a mini-collapse as the Netherlands lost their next four wickets for just 21 runs, including the set batter Kalis. Rain interruptions in the game meant that the Netherlands fell short by 34 runs. BANGLADESH BEAT BANGLADESH BY 269 RUNS Coming into game after a stunning final over win over Pakistan, Murshida Khatun and Sharmin Akhter got Bangladesh off to a quick start, stringing a run-a-ball 96 run partnership. Khatun fell three runs short of a fifty but captain Nigar Sultana's 26-ball 33 ensured Bangladesh don't lose momentum after the wicket. Fargana Hoque and Sharmin Akhter then put on 137 runs for the third wicket, during the course of which the latter brought up her century in 117 balls. USA picked up three wickets in quick succession, with Moksha Chaudhary accounting for two of those but Akhter and Lata Mondal finished strong for Bangladesh to take them to 322/5. USA's chase of 323 got off to a poor start, with opener Mahika Kandanala run out in the second over and were soon three down inside the Powerplay. Rumana Ahmed picked up the wickets skipper Sindhu Sriharsha and Shebani Bhaskar while Khatun dismissed Isani Vaghela as USA found themselves stuttering at 26/6. Tara Norris' knock of 16, which was one of the two double-digit scores in the USA's innings, only delayed the inevitable. Once she fell, the USA were bundled out for 53, giving Bangladesh their second win of the tournament by a massive margin of 269 runs.   PAKISTAN BEAT THAILAND BY 52 RUNS Opting to bat first, Pakistan lost their opener Muneeba Ali early in the 7th over. Omaima Sohail and Iram Javed's stay at the crease did not last long either, with both the batters walking back in consecutive overs. Captain Javeria Khan and Nida Dar consolidated the innings with a 38-run stand that came in 72 balls. Once Dar fell, Khan and Aliya Riaz put on a 29-run partnership that took Pakistan past the 100-run mark but at a very slow pace. Thipatcha Putthawong scalped the wicket of Khan soon after. Putthawong then cleaned up the tail, picking up the wickets of Fatima Sana, Diana Baig and Anam Amin to complete her five-for. She finished with figures of 9-3-18-5. Defending just 146 runs for the win, Pakistan needed early wickets and their bowlers did just that. Natthakan Chantham and Wongpaka Liengprasert were back in the hut for a duck inside the first four overs. Onnicha Kamchomphu counter-attacked with a 15-ball 16 but Nida Dar scalped her wicket before she could do more damage. Just when a partnership was building between Sornnarin Tippoch and captain Naruemol Chaiwai, a change of ends for Dar proved to be successful as she broke the stand. Chaiwai's run-out few overs later meant Thailand had lost half their side for 52. There was no coming back from that position for Thailand, despite Nattaya Boochatham offering some resistance with a 50-ball 18. With the pressure of the required run rate building, Thailand's lower order fell apart as Pakistan skittled them out for 93 to get their first points on board.

Lausanne, Switzerland (Sports Report):-Less than 24 hours before the start of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, let's hear what all head coaches have to say. India – Graham Reid “Every coach who comes to an event as important as the Junior World Cup likes to think that they will be there at the end of the tournament. Certainly, our objective is to make that final game. To put ourselves in that category we first need to win the first three games in our Pool. So, we will be taking each game as it comes. That’s the first objective. After that, obviously if we end up in the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals, we’ll go from there. But certainly, we aim to be there at the end. Netherlands – Michiel van der Struijk “We’re very happy to be here in India. We already experienced a very warm welcome at the airport, so thanks a lot for that! It’s really good that we finally can compete with the other teams in this tournament. It’s very good for the players’ experience to play other cultures. It’s also good for their education so that they can finally join the national Men’s team, which is what they’re all looking for. Therefore, it’s also important that we learn a lot here. And of course, we want to win the tournament! Canada – Indy Sehmbi “We want to go and play our best hockey game. We know that we can play with every international team. It’s about getting consistent efforts from our group. At the Junior level, you don’t get as many games, so you don’t get a chance to test yourself as much, so for us here, it’s just about us going to play our best game and see how we go against some of the best teams in the world. I think the Junior World Cup is now considered a major event on the FIH calendar. It’s huge for our young athletes. Playing in India is amazing. We love the environment. This is such a professional environment for our athletes Poland – Jacek Adrian “For my players and for my team, this event is a good opportunity to play with the best hockey teams in the world. Our ambition is to play good hockey. We’ll try to do our best during this tournament. USA – Pat Harris “Being at the Junior World Cup is obviously a huge step for USA field hockey and in particular our junior team, so we are delighted to be here. I know the boys are excited at the opportunity to develop and see what the world’s best are doing and then, hopefully, over time, we can close that gap and, in the future, compete with the top teams. To all the fans at home just want to say thank you for the support. Without you, it would be difficult to be here, so thank you and ‘go USA.” South Africa – Sihle Ntuli “Firstly, we are really excited to be here and looking forward to competing. That is our objective for the tournament. The South African team’s highest finish was 10th at the last Junior World Cup so our objective is to finish in the top eight to get a quarter-final and, from there, we will take it one game at a time. The first thing is that I am super-excited for the boys to play at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. For me it is an experience for the players and already they are enjoying it, so it is a good two weeks in India. Message for our fans back home is that it is really unfortunate, due to the circumstances around Covid, that they haven’t been able to travel to with us, especially the parents. But the messages on social media have been very encouraging to the boys, so keep it up and hopefully we will make you and the nation proud.” Germany – Valentin Altenburg “We came here to Bhubaneswar with the ambition to play successful and attractive. Especially after these difficult two COVID years, my team and I are very thankful and even more motivated than ever before to compete against the friends from around the world. I believe every minute on the pitch in the next couple of weeks will make my team a better team. Also, getting to know this fascinating Indian culture will let my players grow as people of the world. Pakistan – Danish Kaleem “Due to Covid, we couldn’t expose our boys to international hockey but even in these trying circumstances, we will try our level best to perform in this event and we will try to reach the podium. The boys are very excited to play in a World Cup, it is the vision of any player to compete in this sort of tournament. There are 16 teams competing in this event so not only will they play hockey but they will learn from watching these 16 nations. We will play good hockey and we will try to surprise the others and we hope they will send us good wishes and that they will pray for our victory. Follow us on Watch.Hockey!” Korea – Kim Jongyi “We are aiming for the quarter-final – we will do our best. It is important to beat our rivals for the future of Korean hockey. Spain – Alejandro Siri “Our objective is to reach the first positions of the group so that we then play for the first eight positions of the tournament. Then, we aim to go as high as we can in the competition. For our players this is a very big tournament, so they are very excited to be here. Belgium – Jeroen Baart “In terms of ambitions, I think it’s clear that we all want to compete with the best. Last time [in 2016] we went to the final, so all the boys have ambitions to go very far. Let’s start with the pool games and afterwards we’ll see game-by-game. Argentina – Lucas Rey “Our mission as a team is to have a good performance during the whole tournament. It is very important. It is the most beautiful tournament under-21 to play, so we hope they [the players] can enjoy it. Cheer for us, support us! We will try to give our best to reach the top position that we can.” France – Aymeric Bergamo “Our mission is to play each match to the best of our ability, and for that we need a lot of mental strength. We want our hockey team to get out of the group stages and, if we succeed, we will do everything in our power to continue. My squad is particularly young and, for the most part, they don’t have any experience of high-level competition like this one. But the magic of playing hockey in India has been beneficial for French teams in the past, and this group wants to succeed together as a team. We are going to do everything we can to make you [the fans] proud, to go as far as we can in this competition. Your energy is very important to us, so please continue to support us. Chile – Alejandro Gomez “Our ambition is to grow as a team and to make the most of this opportunity, which Chilean hockey doesn’t get so often. Our objective is to reach the highest possible position in this tournament. Our players are enjoying being here in India, playing in this stadium which is unique. I don’t know if we’ll have another occasion to come back here, therefore our players are taking it very seriously. We haven’t come here for a walk around, we’re here to compete and we’re going to do that the best we can. I hope our fans will continue to accompany us like they’ve done during this long process. They’ve always helped us to keep ourselves at our best level. Be it our families, friends or everyone in the country. Malaysia – Wallace Tan “It’s important for the players to experience playing in the FIH Hockey Junior World Cup. It’s an important tournament for the careers of young players as it will help them step up to the senior level. Egypt – Abu-Talib Maggid “Our objective is to give an opportunity, some exposure and also some experience to future national players, as well as preparing the team for which most of them will be eligible to play for the next Junior World Cup as well. Due to the current circumstances, I think that reaching a similar ranking as in 2014 and 2016 is a realistic objective. However, we will always fight to get a little higher, which is our ambition.

KARACHI (Sports Reporter):-Top seed Farhan Altaf, Asher Mir and Nadir Bachani qualified for the next round of the Men’s Singles of the 18th Westbury Ranking Tennis Championships at Defense Authority (DA) Creek Club Karachi on Tuesday. Results (Day-3): Men's Singles (Round-I) Nadir Mirza beat Asif Bachani 6-1, 6-2 Shiraz Bhand (Hyderabad) beat Timur Aslam (Hyderabad) 6-2, 2-0 Bilal Khan (Hyderabad) beat Mohammad Umair Anwar 6-0, 6-0 Nadir Bachani (Hyderabad Second Seed) defeated Mustafa Tariq 6-0, 6-4 Men's Singles (Round-II) Farhan Altaf (first seed) beat Ali Asif 6-0, 6-0. Asher Mir beat Rahim Waqar 6-1, 6-2 Nadir Bachani beat Rehan Iqbal 6-3, 6-1 Under-15 singles (quarterfinals) Munir Darbari (Hyderabad) defeated Faiz Ilyas 4-0, 4-0 Dharaf Das defeated Neil Mirza 3-5, 4-0, 5-4 Under-13 Singles (Round-I)  Zaid Zaman defeated Abid Bachani 4-1, 4-2 Under-13 Singles (Round-I) Ali Bachani (Hyderabad) defeated Nibras Malik 4-0, 5-3 Shahrzar Ali defeated Abdul Wahab (Hyderabad) 4-2, 4-2 Under-11 Singles (First Round) Majid Ali (Hyderabad) defeated Ahmed Asif 4-0, 4-0 Abid Bachani (Hyderabad) defeated Imdad Imran 4-2, 4-2 Shahrzar Ali defeated Hazeq Arejo (Hyderabad) 4-1, 4-2 Ahl-e-Imran defeated Rohan Das 5-4, 4-2 Under-11 Singles (Round-II) Mehd Shehzad defeated Zaid Zaman 1- 4, 4-1, 4-1 Ali Bachani defeated Mohammad Yahya Haleem 4-0, 4-0 Under- 9 Singles (Round-I) Mustafa Naveed defeated Omar Zaman 4-0, 4-0 Mohammad Qasim defeated Ali Imran 4-2, 4-1 Imdad Imran defeated Zain Qamar 0-4, 4-1, 4-2 Plus +35 Singles (Round-I)  Asif Mehmood defeated Jahangir Khan 8-4 Plus +35 Singles (quarters) Rafi Darbari (Hyderabad Top Seed) defeated Amir Mumtaz 8-4 Robin Das defeated Habib Vohra 8-3 Plus +35 Doubles’ (Quarterfinals) Vinod Das + Fahad Anwar defeated Asif Arshad + Saqib 8-3 Abbas Bhagat + Imran Dewan defeated Amir Mumtaz + Shehzad Mumtaz 8-3 Men's Doubles (First Round) Ibad-ur-Rehman + Mustafa Burney defeated Imran + Fahad 9-7 Salman Ahmed + Aamir Mumtaz defeated Shah Rukh + Bilal 8-6.

Karachi (Press Release):-Pakistan's top sports journalist and Daily Dawn Reporter Khalid Hasan Khan died in a local hospital on Monday. A passionate cricket writer Khalid Khan was hospitalised after suffering a brain hemorrhage over two weeks of ago. Khalid Khan was senior member of Karachi Press Club and Karachi Union of Journalists. He was 58 and left behind a widow and four daughters to mourn his death. Late Khalid extensively covered domestic and international cricket at home. His last international assignment was in Rawalpindi where he flew to cover Pakistan Vs New Zealand ODI series which was cancelled due to mysterious security. Late Khalid Khan was an authority on domestic first class cricket which he covered comprehensively for decades. He started his career by contributing for famous monthly cricket magazine The Cricketer and later switched to daily journalism the News soon its launch in 1990. He later joined Dawn over a decade. Khalid Khan was popular reporters at National Stadium Karachi Press Box. Khalid Khan's death is a great loss to sports journalism in Pakistan. May Allah Grant Him Highest place in Jannah. PCB saddened with the passing of Khalid H Khan Our reporter adds from Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed its sadness at the passing of cricket writer Khalid H Khan. He was 59. In a condolence message, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said: “Khalid was one of the most respected cricket journalists in the country who had a long and distinguished career with the iconic Dawn newspaper. In my interactions with him that spanned more than two decades, I found him very passionate and knowledgeable about the game. “Khalid was widely respected and well-loved amongst his peers, players and administrators for his deep affection for domestic cricket and support for the emerging cricketers and leading performers. “My prayers and sympathies are with his friends and family on his sad and untimely passing.”

BIPIN DANI Prof. Arjuna de Silva, the chairman of the medical panel of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board was surprised when he received a call from Trinidad on Sunday late evening.  The unknown caller was Michael Solozano, the father of Jeremy, who was hit on the helmet off Dimuth Karunaratne's powerful shot while fielding at short leg minutes before lunch on the first day of the ongoing Test match. The 26-year-old left-handed batsman was taken off the field on a stretcher and transferred to a Nawaloka Hospital from the Galle Stadium in an ambulance for scans. The family in Trinidad woke up with the news on TV. "I spoke with the doctor (Prof. Arjuna de Silva. He (Prof.) is indeed a wonderful person. He said he (my son) is fine and when I was last updated in the morning (9.00 am Trinidad time, i.e.  6.30 pm Sri Lanka time), he was discharged from the hospital and was on his way to the team hotel", Michael Solozano, speaking exclusively over the telephone from Trinidad, said to the Reporter.   "Yes, I also got a call from him and he is better now", the father, who has been his mentor, added. West Indies debutant Jeremy Solozano is "most-likely" to be out of the first ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka. "He is better now and scan-reports are also normal. He was unconscious for a while and therefore these concussions tests were mandatory", one of the sources, speaking exclusively over the telephone from Colombo. A neurosurgeon having specialty in neck pain , back pain and headache was looking after the player.    Jeremy Solozano, who wore a helmet while fielding at short-leg, but this has been his regular fielding position, informs his childhood coach David Furlone. "He fields at short-leg position for the Trinidad team also", he said over the telephone. The coach got Jeremy's injury news from team's wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva, who also plays for Trinidad.

Karachi (Saad Kayani):-The World Premier Scrabble tournament started with 105 players from 23 countries.  A team of 20 scrabble experts under the tournament director Hammad Hadi is organizing the championship online from their control center at Pharmevo House in Karachi. Nadeem Omar, Franchise owner of Quetta Gladiators inaugurated the event. All players completed 16 games in the first phase. At the end of the first phase Will Anderson of USA was on top with 14 wins and two losses. He has a spread of 1100. World No. 8 Paul Gallen of Northern Ireland is currently second with 13 wins and a spread of 1571. Paul Gallen's average score is an astonishing 499.56 through the 16 games. Another tournament favorite, former world champion and current world No. 2 David Eldar of Australia is 3rd with 13 wins and a spread of 1338. Ben Schoenbrun (USA), Peter Cougi (Australia), Ivan Sentongo (Uganda), Alastair Richards (New Zealand) and Prince Omosefe (Nigeria) make up the 4-8 positions respectively. Another 16 games will be played in the second phase. Top 8 players after completion of 32 games will qualify for the quarter finals. The top player from Pakistan is currently Syed Imaad Ali who is playing on a special seat reserved for the reigning world youth champion. Imaad has 10.5 and a spread of 315. He is just 1.5 wins away from the 8th spot and still has a good chance of qualifying for the quarter finals. Young Ali Salman is not far behind with 10 wins. The second phase will be played over the next weekend on 27 & 28 November while the Quarter finals, Semi finals and final will be played on December 4 and 5, 2021.

Lausanne, Switzerland (Sports Bulletin Report):-The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is delighted to confirm the squad lists for the upcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021, the showpiece event where hockey’s rising stars will take to the field in the global showpiece in Potchefstroom.  The competition, which takes place from 5-16 December, is the first FIH World Cup event ever to take place on African soil. Although the Junior World Cup has a deserved reputation as being a competition in which the stars of the future showcase themselves for the first time, there are numerous players who have already made a considerable impression on the sport. Argentina are blessed by the presence of the Valentina Raposo, the brilliant 17-year-old defender who won silver with Las Leonas at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Issy Petter and Fiona Crackles are also Olympic medallists from Tokyo 2020, being part of the bronze medal-winning Great Britain team and now being named in the England squad for Potchefstroom. India’s women also have Olympians amongst their ranks, with Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi and Salima Tete all included in the Junior World Cup squad after their remarkable fourth place finish in Tokyo. Jette Fleschütz (Germany) and Laura Barrios (Spain) are also Olympians from Tokyo, while Ambre Ballenghien and Charlotte Englebert are two of numerous players named in the Belgium squad to have played in the FIH Hockey Pro League. Looking ahead to the event, FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra said: “The Junior World Cup is a proven launch-pad for hockey’s brightest young talents, and we are certain that the 2021 competition in Potchefstroom will unveil many exceptional individuals who will dazzle us for years to come. “For many of the athletes, this will be the first time they have represented their nation on such a big stage. The honour of representing their respective countries is something that will live with each player for the rest of their lives, regardless of what they go on to achieve in life and sport. “I would like to thank the South African Hockey Association and North-West University and all their partners for their relentless energy in planning for this event. Our thanks must also go to the sponsors and all the volunteers who are crucial to making this event a success.

LAHORE (Sports Reporter):-Peshawar defeated Lahore-Gujranwala by 48-20 in the final match while Faisalabad-Sahiwal team got third position in the 2nd Inter-Regional Junior National Kabaddi Championship Under 23 Weight (Asian Style) at Nishtar Park Sports Complex on Monday. Secretary Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) Rana Sarwar, Deputy Director Tariq Wattoo, Chief Consultant SBP HafeezBhatti, Administrator NPSC Gymnasium Hall Mustafa Shah were also present on this occasion. Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab Rao Zahid Qayyum distributed prizes among the winning and runners-up teams and prominent performers of the event. Earlier, he was warmly received upon reaching the venue and introduced with the participating players and officials. He also had group photographs with them on this occasion. Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab Rao Zahid Qayyum said: We are promoting all games among the young generation in all parts of the province. “Though Kabaddi belongs to Punjab, it is encouraging development that this traditional game is spreading across the country swiftly”. Vice-Chairman Sports Board Punjab Rao Zahid Qayyum appreciated the exciting and thrilling competitions of 2nd Inter-Regional Junior National Kabaddi Championship. He also congratulated the winning team.