Sports Bulletin KARACHI:-Karachi Tennis Association (KTA) will organize 2nd Reza Mirza Tennis Academy (RMTA) Tennis League 2022 from Saturday (January 29) at RMTA Tennis Court, Civil Line near Frere Hall Karachi. According to an official, Reza Mirza Tennis Academy will sponsor this two month long Round Robin League (RRL) tennis fixture. Men's Singles and Boys Under-15 Singles events will be the part RRL. Matches shall be played only on Saturday. Names of Men's singles invited players: Farhan Altaf, Omer Shahid, Ibrahim Iltifat, Nadir Mirza, Noor e Mustafa, Aqeel Shabbir, Eibad Sarwar and Mohammad Ali. Names of Under-15 invited players: Ahsan Ahmed, Nael Mirza, Dhuraf Das, and Abdullah Razaq, Soyam Kumar Three players shall be selected through trials.

Bipin Dani World's leading women cricketers have signed to play in the FaiBreak Invitational 2022 tournament to be held in May this year, it is learnt. The latest to sign are : Bangladeshi fast bowler Jahanara Alam, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Atapattu and UAE opener Esha Oza. Jahanara, an outstanding fast bowler was the first Bangladeshi female cricketer to take a five-wicket haul in a single T20 match. Chamari has been a mainstay in Sri Lanka's batting attack for over a decade. According to the sources in Malaysia, where she is participating in the ICC's Women's Commonwealth Games Qualifiers, the organizers have recently signed her for this six-team tournament. There will be nineteen matches played for 15 days. Leading players from other foreign countries and Asian nations including India and Pakistan will also participate in the tournament, which is sanctioned by the ICC. It will take place on May 1-15 this year in Dubai in conjunction with Cricket Hong Kong. Owing to the current pandemic, Hong Kong airport is not operational for airlines from all countries and therefore the decision has been taken to play the matches in Dubai.  and the leading healthcare group Gencor has come forward to be the main sponsor. Interestingly, this is the world's first privately funded tournament in women's cricket history.

Sports Bulletin KARACHI:-Defending Champion Shabbir Iqbal retained the title of Sindh Open Golf Championship 2022 after winning the 23rd edition of top national golf showpiece, as the championship concluded at Airmen Golf Club Karachi on Sunday. Pakistan’s ace Golfer Shabbir Iqbal clinched the title with 208 under par 8 score by maintaining the lead from the first round of the Sindh Open Golf Championship 2022. Mohammad Naeem of PGC remained runner up with 215 one under par and Mohammad Ashfaq of AGC with 216 at par claimed third position. Speaking to media, Shabbir Iqbal who has completed 194 titles, said, “I am thankful to Al-Mighty Allah for winning the Sindh Open Golf 2022. Loosing title at last week’s Rashid D Habib was my bad luck, however now I played carefully. I am well prepared for Pakistan Open, Chief of Air Staff Tournament and DHA Open.” Mohammad Saqib of LGG with seven over par secured first position in Junior Professionals. Second position in this category is jointly shared by Abdul Wadood from MTG and Nabeel Khan of Airmen Golf Club. In the senior professional category Tahir Naseem from GYM stood first with four over par while Mohammad Akram was runner up with eight over par. Salman Jehangir from LG lead Amateurs category with two over par. Yashal Shah and Saim Shazli of KGC secured second and third positions. Omar Khalid of DHA succeeded fourth position with Gross 240 at par. President Sindh Golf Association- Khurram Khan distributed prizes and trophies amongst the leaders of final day. Khurram said, “The strong winds during the last two days did challenged the golfers, however they accepted the challenge. We will continue promoting Golf players in Pakistan.”

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-Bangladesh’s spinners helped their team beat Scotland by nine wickets for their third consecutive win before Malaysia recorded a memorable five-wicket victory over Kenya in the ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. With Sri Lanka already having won three matches, the last match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Monday will decide the winners of the five-team tournament, being played to decide the one remaining slot in this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The line-up for Birmingham will be confirmed in due course, after the Commonwealth Games Federation of the winning country formally accepts the slot. Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are the seven teams already confirmed for the Games. Bangladesh vs Scotland An unbeaten partnership of 78 runs for the second wicket between Murshida Khatun (50 off 35 balls) and Fargana Hoque (20 of 36) led Bangladesh to victory after they bowled Scotland out for 77 in 17.3 overs. After Scotland won the toss and chose to bat, Abbi Aitken-Drummon chipped a full toss back to Suraya Azmim in her follow through before the Bangladesh seamer dismissed Kathryn Bryce in her next over to leave Scotland reeling at 12 for two in the fourth over. Katie McGill then joined opener Sarah Bryce at the crease, and the two stitched together a 38-run partnership, which featured a flurry of boundaries scored in front of square on both the leg side and the off side. However, with the score on 50, Nahida Akter bowled Katie McGill with an arm ball, which sparked a collapse that saw Scotland lose their last eight wickets for 37 runs. Lorna Jack was next to go, suffering an identical fate to her predecessor before Sarah Bryce skied a catch to a gleeful Shanjida Akter in the circle. Scotland never recovered, getting bowled out for 77 with 2.3 overs to spare in their allotment of 20. In reply, Bangladesh lost a wicket off their very first delivery when Shamima Sultana poked at a Kathryn Bryce delivery, edging it through to keeper Sarah Bryce. Fargana Hoque then joined left-handed opener Murshida Khatun at the crease and the two blunted Scotland’s advances to get through to 22 for one at the end of the Powerplay. Feeling more secure at this point, Murshida Khatun started to play away from her body, picking up a boundary to third man to go with a few singles. In the eighth over, she drove Katherine through the covers for two boundaries, as Fargana Hoque held strong at the other end. As Murshida approached her first-ever T2OI fifty, Hoque let her farm the strike. The left-hander carted Kathryn Bryce for six to reach 49 before nudging a single away to register her half-century and deliver a win for Bangladesh with 4.4 overs to spare. Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana was impressed with her team’s all-round display. “After Scotland built a partnership, we didn’t panic. We were strict with our own plan. We knew we could break the partnership,” she said. Player-of-the-match Murshida revealed her simple game plan after Bangladesh lost a wicket of the first ball of their chase. “Until the end, don’t lose my wicket,” she said. Scotland captain Kathryn Bryce backed her team’s newfound aggressive approach despite the loss. “With the way we are starting to be more aggressive with the bat, days like today will happen, but we are building towards a positive future,” she said. Malaysia vs Kenya Off-spinning all-rounder Mas Elysa stole the show with figures of two for 19 and a quick-fire 37 (26) to help Malaysia chase down 89 with five wickets and 10 balls to spare against Kenya. Earlier in the day, Kenya won the toss and chose to bat. In the first over, opener Queentor Abel was dismissed for a duck by an inswinger from Malaysian skipper Winifred Duraisingam. Malaysia’s bowlers kept things tight as Kenya was unable to score any boundaries in the Powerplay. Mary Mwangi broke the shackles by whipping Nur Zulaika away for four in the seventh over before Margaret Ngoche was caught by Shasa Azmi off the bowling of Arianna Natasya to leave Kenya at 24 for two after eight overs. Mas Elysa was then introduced into the attack getting Mwangi stumped before Sarah Bhakita hit one back to Elysa, which ricocheted off her fingers an into the hands of Duraisingam at mid-off. Kenya, to their credit, did not collapse and continued to rotate the strike, scoring 27 runs in their final five overs to post a score of 87 for six. In reply, Queentor Abel had Duraisingam stumped for a duck in the first over. Wan Julia was run out in the next over when Mas Elysa called her through for a run that wasn’t there. Despite Malaysia struggling at nine for two, Mas Elysa was undeterred. She punished Kenya’s bowlers whenever they bowled too straight or drifted down leg and was equally viscous with her off side game. Needing a wicket, Kenyan skipper Margaret Ngoche turned Mercyline Ochieng. The seamer responded by nipping a ball back into Mas Elysa, which the right-hander could only chop onto her stumps to leave Malaysia at 53 for three in 9.2 overs. The runs dried up in the next few overs before Ainna Hamizah was bowled around her legs by Sarah Bhakita. With 30 runs required in the last seven overs, Kenya had a glimmer of hope. However, Intan Jaafar had other ideas. She swept Queentor Abel down to fine leg for four before a late cut beat a diving short third man to race away for another boundary. Malaysia lost Jaafar when she hit Flavia Odhiambo to Ngoche at backward point. However, this would only prove to be a minor speed bump for Malaysia as Arianna Natasya and Nur Zulaika knocked off the remaining runs to deliver a historic win for Malaysia. Malaysia’s fielders ran onto the field once they got the winning runs. Captain Winifred Duraisingam explained the significance of this victory to her and her team. “After this great win, I feel a lot is going to happen and cricket in Malaysia is going to go to another level,” she said. Player-of-the-match Elysa spoke about her aggressive despite Malaysia losing early wickets in their chase. “Still wanted to play in an aggressive and attacking mode and I wanted to rotate the strike. Brief Scores: Bangladesh beat Scotland by nine wickets. Bangladesh 78/1 in 15.2 Overs; Scotland 77 All Out in 17.3 Overs. Player of the Match: Murshida Khatun Malaysia beat Kenya by five wickets. Malaysia 89/5 in 18.2 Overs; Kenya 88/6 in 20 Overs. Player of the Match: Mas Elysa

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-Islamabad Tennis Association (ITA) has nominated Tariq Mehmood Murtaza its chairman in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that met here on Sunday, as president preside over the meeting at Tennis Lounge of Islamabad Club. Also attended by members of its affiliated unites including Margalla Club, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), Pakistan Television (PTV), Islamabad Club Tennis (ICT), Islamabad Tennis Academy (ITC) and Gun Club. On this occasion, Tariq Murtaza appreciated the role of affiliated units for their valuable contribution for the promotion of tennis in the country. He particularly appreciated ICT, ITC and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for organizing national tournaments, camps, league and local tournament. It is also a great honor for Islamabad Tennis Association to organize international tournaments in Pakistan. ITA will start its tournament session with ITF world Juniors Tennis Tournament from February at PTF Tennis complex. ITA also offered Fateh for late Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas, who was the founder of Islamabad Tennis Association. Activities report for the three years also discussed in the meeting. Future plans were discussed in details and each affiliated units assured to play their role for the promotion of tennis in the Islamabad region. Tariq Mehmood Murtaza also nominated as Chairman of Islamabad Tennis Association through special resolution unanimously approved by the council members. ITA president also appreciated the services of Arif Qureshi for organizing the tournaments in professional manners on behalf of ITA. Names of Management Committee: Chairman Tariq Murtaza President Tariq Murtaza Sr. Vice Presidents Hassan Baig Naveed Ahmed Majid Bashir Vice Presidents: Mushaf Zia, Fazal-e-Subhan, Nouman Ahmed, Yasir Javed, Khalil Ahmed Chughtai, Tufail Cheema Secretary: Mohammad Arif Qureshi Joint Secretaries: Kamran Khalil and Ali Murtaza Treasurer: Ahsan Zaidi Women’s Wing: Nighat Saeed (Head), Zahra Ahmed Zaka, Tasha Yasir, Mehwish Chishti.

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-The General Council of the Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBF) has elected Mohammad Iftikhar Mansoor its president and Khalid Bashir as the secretary for the term of next four years, as the House met in the chair of Mohammad Iftikar Mansoor at Olympics House Lahore on other day. According to an official, POA representative Mohammad Jehangir Deputy Secretary General of Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) attended the meeting as observer. The house also constituted committees to look after the various affairs that needed immediate attention. On this occasion, Fateha Khawani was offered for the recently passed away veteran Basketball legends Mian Iqbal Fareed (former President), Major (R). Abdul Waheed Qureshi (former Army and National Coach). Ghulam Fareed, Mahmood butt and Zubair butt. Names of elected office bearers: Brig. (R) Mohammad Iftikhar Mansoor (President), Imtiaz Rafi Butt (Senior Vice President), Ghazi Mohammad Salahuddin (Vice President), Choudhary Al-Mustansar Cheema (Vice President), Choudhary Sagheer Ahemd (Vice President), Mohammad Rajmil Khan (Vice President), Khalid Bashir (Secretary General), Mohammad Yaqoob Qadry (Associate Secretary), Mohammad Faqeer Awan (Associate Secretary), Ouj E Zahoor (Associate Secretary) and Din Mohammad (Finance Secretary). Executive Committee Rep - Quetta Rep - Hyderabad Rep - Faisalabad Rep - Karachi Selection Committee: Col. (R) Shujaat Ali Rana, Mohammad Riaz Malik, Syed Moudood Jaffry, Malik Ijaz, Imran Afzal Referee’s Board: Siraj Ul Haq Qureshi (Secretary), Tariq Nawaz, Mohammad Yaqoob Qadry, Ouj E Zahoor, Saadat Jehangir Khan Coaches Board: Mohammad Riaz Malik (Secretary), Emmanuel Nazarat Lal, Mohammad Khalid Choudhary, Munawar Hussain, Umer Mahmood  

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan tennis start Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi pairing with Ninomiya from Japan have jumped into the quarterfinal of Mix Doubles of the Australian Open after defeating L. Kichinek from Ukraine Andre Golubev from Kazakhstan in straight sets 2-0 at Melbourne Australia on Sunday morning. The final score-line was 6-3 and 6-4.

Sports Bulletin DUBAHI:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today the first set of the individual awards with the associate cricketers of the year category in men’s and women’s international cricket.  The captain of Oman’s men’s cricket team Zeeshan Maqsood was voted as the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for his fantastic performance in 2021, including leading his team at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year. The left-arm spinner was consistent with his performance across both ODI and T20I and aided his team to several victories throughout the year.  Leading his side with aplomb, Maqsood also flourished in both batting and bowling roles for Oman in 2021. He played a crucial role as a middle order batter and picked up wickets consistently. Maqsood made fifties against the USA and Namibia, and was at his consistent best as a bowler, controlling the flow of runs in the middle overs and picking up vital wickets. Maqsood particularly thrived against PNG, registering four wickets against them twice this year, one in an ODI and the other one in at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. His most memorable performance in the year was against PNG at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup where he was also named as the Player of the Match for his performance. Commenting on receiving the honour Zeeshan Maqsood said: “I am very delighted to be presented as the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year. This award surely is one of the biggest achievements in my career and gives me immense pleasure that my efforts have been recognized by the ICC. I would like to thank the Oman Cricket Management, my teammates, support staff, my family, and my organization to have backed me in all stances to express myself on the field. 2021 has truly been god's blessing to me in terms of my accolades and leading Oman to flourish to the highest level”. In the women’s category, Austrian all-rounder Andrea-Mae Zepeda was voted as the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for her stellar performance in 2021. Zepeda was consistent at the top of the order for Austria while scoring her runs at a brisk rate. Out of the eight T20Is she played in 2021, three were against Belgium, while the other five came against Italy. Zepeda was impressive in the series against the Belgians in particular, as she scored over fifty runs, including a century, in all three matches against them. Commenting on her award Andrea-Mae Zepeda said: “It is a great honour and a pleasant surprise for me to receive the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award. Thank you, ICC, for this. I would also like to thank my teammates, my coaches, the Austrian Cricket Association, my home club Austrian Cricket Club Vienna, to my family and friends for always supporting me and encouraging me to play such a wonderful game. “I really enjoyed playing cricket last season despite being surrounded by COVID 19 and working full-time as a medical doctor. Nevertheless, we played some very good cricket, and I was able to perform well. My best innings was probably against Belgium in our home ground when I scored my first century ever. Looking forward, I will try my best to continue my journey and to contribute to my team as much as I can.”

Aamir Ali Janjua DUBHI:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today the T20I cricketers of the year in men’s and women’s international cricket.  Pakistan’s ace wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammad Rizwan was voted the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021, whilst England’s Tammy Beaumont was voted the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021. Aggregating a staggering 1326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan averaged at 73.66 and had a strike-rate of 134.89. Apart from his exploits with the bat, he was as solid as ever behind the stumps, playing a key role in Pakistan's run to the semi-finals during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, where he ended up as the third-highest run-scorer. Earlier in the year, Rizwan also scored his maiden T20I century against South Africa in Lahore and ended it continuing his form with a brilliant knock of 87 against West Indies in Karachi. Commenting on receiving the honour Mohammad Rizwan, said: “I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game, and I am thankful to all my colleagues and peers for voting me as the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. This award gives me further motivation and incentive to do even better in 2022 and beyond for Pakistan so that we can collectively achieve our objective of being the top T20I playing side and in the process enhancing our fan-base. “I want to thank all my team-mates and coaching staff who helped me throughout the year by preparing and training me well enough to contribute to Pakistan’s successes. As cricket is a team sport, I would like to dedicate this award to my teammates and fans.” In the women’s category, England’s all-rounder Tammy Beaumont was voted as the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for her stellar performance in 2021. Beaumont was England's highest run scorer, and third-highest overall in the world in 2021. Earlier in the year, in a low-scoring series against New Zealand away from home, Beaumont was the top scorer and was awarded the Player of the Series for a total of 102 runs in three matches. Her 63 in 53 balls in the second match put England in a winning position after they had lost two wickets in the powerplay. Beaumont continued her form against New Zealand when they visited England for a limited-overs tour. She once again finished as the highest run scorer in the series with 113, which included a stunning 97 in the opening game of the series. Commenting on her award Tammy Beaumont said: “It’s a huge privilege to win the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Award. I’ve worked incredibly hard on my T20 game in the last few years. My T20I career has had its ups and downs and I don’t think I’ve always been known for my T20 abilities, so this award gives me a huge amount of confidence.” “As a team we had a great year in terms of T20I results and it feels great to have contributed to team wins. We’ve got a big year ahead in all formats - with the Ashes, the ICC Women’s World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, and I look forward to continuing to work hard alongside my teammates to help us win as many games as possible.”

Sports Bulletin KUALA LUMPUR:-Scotland and Sri Lanka completed impressive victories on Saturday in the ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 being played at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur to decide the one remaining slot in this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Scotland vs Kenya Quick cameos from Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Kathryn Bryce propelled Scotland to 70 in a rain-reduced eight-over-a-side fixture before their bowlers restricted Kenya at the death to deliver a 16-run win. Winning the toss, Kenya elected to bowl. Sarah Bryce scored back-to-back boundaries kicking things off but got out scoring eight off three balls. A fine partnership of 38 between Abbi Aitken (21) and Kathryn Bryce (27) helped Scotland put up a challenging target. Scotland scored 15 in the final over and ended with 70 for three. Kenya’s opening batter, Q. Abel had a blazing start with consecutive boundaries. She, however, surrendered to Fraser in the second over. Fraser wasted no time in sending Veronica Abuga back to the pavilion on the very next ball. Sarah Wetoto then scored 24 not out and Sharon Juma got 10. Coming out to bat in a rain reduced game, captain and Player of the Match Kathryn Bryce said: “It is always difficult knowing what a good target is in a reduced game, so our plan was just to go out there play positively and assess as we went on. I think our bowling performance today was much more consistent and we bowled more to our fields.” Margaret Banja attributed Kenya’s loss to a slow start: “We did not take full advantage of the power-play and lost two quick wickets. We did not build partnerships in the initial stages and we gave out too many boundaries.” Malaysia vs Sri Lanka Malaysian captain won the toss and elected to field.  The experienced Sri Lankan team put up an imposing 175, and as expected, skipper Chamari Athapaththu handed a great start to Sri Lanka by scoring 30 off 17 balls. After Athapaththu’s departure, Harshita took control and scored a commendable 65 of f42. She was ably supported by Nilakshi De Silva, who scored 49 off 31.  Chasing a mammoth 175, Malaysia lost opener Wan Julia with no runs scored. Captain Winifred was the only batter who managed to play well, compiling 42. Sri Lanka’s Sugandika Dasanayaka and Oshadhi Ranasinghe went on to deliver top notch bowling by taking two wickets each, giving away 12 and 14 runs, respectively. Malaysia could only manage 82, losing by 93 runs. Athapaththu said she was disappointed not to get a big score this time. “But I had complete confidence in my batters and knew they would get us a respectable score.” Player of the Match, Harshitha Madhavi said: “We have been doing a lot hard work in the nets for the past six months. We also underwent several training camps. (And), we can get runs under any conditions. This was on full display today.” When asked about her thoughts on the match, Winifred explained: “the team had two changes and the juniors were given the opportunity to play against a very experienced team. We want to play good cricket and considered this a good opportunity for the team, especially the younger players.” Brief Scores: Scotland beat Kenya by 16 runs. Scotland 70 for 3 in 8 overs. Kenya 54 for 3 in 8 overs. Player of the Match: Kathryn Bryce Sri Lanka beat Malaysia by 93 runs. Sri Lanka 175 in 20 overs. Malaysia 82 in 20 overs. Player of the Match:  Harshitha Madhavi