Sports Bulletin ReportLausanne (Switzerland): The Italian Alps are set to host the next Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2028. This decision was taken by the IOC Members today during the 143rd IOC Session in Lausanne, following a presentation by the project leaders.Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 will be the fifth edition of the Winter YOG. Competitions will take place only in existing venues across three clusters in Valtellina, Trentino and Cortina, returning to some of the iconic sports venues that will be used for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The 2028 YOG will be part of the Milano Cortina 2026 legacy, and will reinvest in communities with strong winter sports traditions.The project is led by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), and the governments of the regions of Veneto and Lombardy and the Autonomous Province of Trento, supported by the Italian national government, and is in line with long-term plans to raise the regions’ profile as a winter sports destination.The Italian delegation at Olympic House comprised Giovanni Malagò, CONI President and IOC Member in Italy; Andrea Abodi, Italian Minister of Sport and Youth; Attilio Fontana, Lombardy Region President; Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento; Cristiano Corazzari, Veneto Regional Councillor for Culture and Sport; and Olympic champions Diana Bianchedi and Antonio Rossi.IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The election of Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 is an expression of the IOC’s confidence in Italy’s ability to deliver world class, exceptional winter sports events. The Olympic Movement and the host regions are already excited about Milano Cortina 2026, with just over one year to go until the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Today’s news means that excitement will extend until the end of the decade, and the benefits for local communities will continue.”Abodi said: “Italy is once again ready to put its heart, passion and expertise into hosting an event that will be not only a spectacular sporting occasion, but also a meaningful opportunity for growth for the entire nation. We aim to inspire the younger generations to embrace the value of sport as a tool for inclusion and social cohesion - a universal language capable of uniting cultures and nations, and fostering the diplomacy we so greatly need.”“Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 will consolidate the impact of Milano Cortina 2026 and further build on legacy programmes to empower young athletes and civic leaders,” he said. “The Commission found that the vision for the Youth Olympic Games is fully aligned with long-term regional plans, youth, sports and education policies, and the goals of Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5.”Seven of the 11 proposed venues for the YOG will have been used in 2026 – Stelvio Alpine Skiing Centre in Bormio, Livigno Aerials and Mogul Park and Livigno Snow Park for freestyle/snowboard, Cortina Sliding Centre for bobsleigh, skeleton and luge, Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium, Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, and Cortina Olympic Stadium, for curling. The programme also presents an opportunity to take competitions to venues that cannot be used in 2026.CONI President Giovanni Malagò said: “This is a historic day for Italian sport and for athletes across the world. Building on the remarkable legacy of Milano Cortina 2026, Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 will offer a unique opportunity to inspire the next generation, showcase the transformative power of sport, and set new benchmarks for global events. This significant achievement for our country has been made possible through the strong support of the national government, as well as the dedication of our regional and local partners. Italy and CONI have shown that we are reliable partners of the IOC, and together we will certainly deliver an unprecedented edition of the YOG.”

Sports Bulletin ReportMelbourne (Australia): England Women were bowled out for 170 on day one of the one-off Test in the Women's Ashes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Nat Sciver-Brunt top scored for England with 51 while leg-spinner Alana King took 4-45 as England were all out inside 72 overs.Maia Bouchier and captain Heather Knight were dismissed by Kim Garth before a stand of 50 between Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley saw England rebuild but King and fellow spinner Ash Gardner took four wickets.England then bowled 22 overs and Australia lost debutant Georgia Voll to Lauren Bell. Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland reached 56-1 at the close of play with the hosts trailing by 114 runs. Play resumes at 2.30 pm local time tomorrow (Friday 31 January).

Karachi (PR): The National Snooker Championship League Round will start on January 30, 2025, as the top 48 players have been divided into 8 Groups after League Round top 2 players each Group Qualify For Pre Quarterfinal.Group (A), Asjad Iqbal (Pjb), Faisal Daniyal (Isb), Ian Mark John (Sindh), Umair Sodagar (Kp), Abdullah (Pjb), Jahanzaib Jahangir (Bal),Group B, Awais Munair (Pjb), Sirbuland (Kp), Waseem Abbas (Pjb), Sayed Mohammad Muneeb Ali (Bal), Umair Alam (Sindh), Sheikh M. Muzammil (Isb), Group (C), Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Pjb), Asad Ullah (Bal), Babar Masih (Pjb), Suleman Khan (Kp), Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Ayaan Ali (Sindh), Group (D), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Ali dara (Isb), Ahsan Javaid (Pjb), Adil A. Jabbar (Bal), Mohammad Nazeer (Pjb), Malik Muzammil (Kp), Group (E), Abdul Javed (Isb), Bahadur Khan (Bal), Mohammad Sajjad (NBP), Umar Naeem (Sindh), Mohamma Shabaz (Pjb), Mohamma Hasnain (Sindh), Group (F), Shan Namat (Isb), Sharjeel Mehmood (Kp), Mohammad Asif (NBP), Mohamma Faheem (Pjb), Ali Raza (Sindh), Zubair Tahir (Pjb), Group (G), Shahid Aftab (Pjb), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Umair Haider (Pjb), Zaib Khan (Bal), Shahid Gandapur (Kp), Umair Khan (Sindh), Group (H), Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb), Mubashir Raza (Pjb), A. Sattar (Sindh), Amir Shehzad (Kp), Ibrahim Khan (Bal), Shahid Shafique (Pjb).

Islamabad (Sports Desk): The Vantage Black Sticks Women recently completed a two-test series against the United States of America (USA), showcasing a blend of experience and fresh talent on the field.The first match took place on Sunday, January 19th at Lloyd Elsmore Park. In what was a closely contested game, New Zealand emerged as winners with a 1-0 win, thanks to a late goal in the fourth quarter by Holly Pearson.Hannah Gravenall captained the side, leading a team that featured four debutants: Britt Wang, Julia Gluyas (goalkeeper), Mezzy Surridge, and Millie Calder. The match marked an exciting start to the year, as the young team with new talent look to build the next era of Vantage Black Sticks for the women’s side.Match Two took place the following day on Monday, January 20th. This time, Casey Crowley stepped up as captain for her first time, guiding the team alongside debutant Jaimee Eades. The match took a slow start with a tidy deflection just before half time by Paige Blake to secure a 1-0 lead.It was the second half that saw all the action take place with the USA responding with two goals before the Vantage Black Sticks struck back with a drag flick and second deflection by Paige Blake and a goal by Anna Willocks in the final two minutes. The final score in match 2 was 3-2 to the Vantage Black Sticks, sealing the series win over the USA.

Sports Bulletin ReportDubai (UAE): Left-arm spinners Noman Ali and Jomel Warrican have attained career best positions in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings after outstanding performances in the second Test between Pakistan and the West Indies in Multan.Noman, who became the first Pakistani spinner to take a Test hat-trick in a match haul of 10 for 121, has gained four spots to reach fifth position with 806 rating points. He is only the 12th Pakistani bowler to go past the 800-point mark in Tests and the only one from his country in the top 20 right now.Warrican won the Player of the Match award after finishing with nine for 70 in the second Test, moving up 16 places to 25th position. He has progressed a total of 28 places in the two Tests with a return of 19 wickets, that also won him the Player of the Series award.Kemar Roach (up one place to 18th) and Gudakesh Motie (up six places to 58th) are the West Indian bowlers to move up the rankings while Sajid Khan (up two places to 21st) and Abrar Ahmed (up two places to 50th) are the Pakistan players to move up the list.West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s second innings half-century at the top of the order that contributed in a 120-run win, has lifted him eight places to 44th position while Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has moved back towards the top10, advancing from 17th to 15th position.Varma eyes Babar’s record: In the Men’s T20I Rankings, Tilak Varma has reached a career-best second position after an unbeaten 71 in the second T20I against England. His 832 rating points are the fourth-best by an India batter in the format after Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.Varma, who is 22 years and 82 days at the time of reaching second position, is only 23 rating points behind top-ranked Travis Ahead and with a good chance of becoming the youngest to top the T20I batting rankings. The mark is currently held by Babar Azam, who was 23 years, 105 days when he went top for the first time in January 2018.In the bowling rankings, England’s wrist-spinner Adil Rashid has ended Akeal Hosein’s 44-day stay at the top after taking one for 14 and one for 15 in the second and third matches of the series, completing his four overs each time to help England narrow the lead to 2-1.It is the second time the England leggie has topped the table, having occupied top spot for a year from December 2023 to December 2024.Liam Livingstone (up five places to 32nd) and Abhishek Sharma (up 59 places to 40th) are other batters to gain after the series while Varun Chakravarthy (up 25 places to a career-best fifth position), Joffra Archer (up 13 places to sixth), Axar Patel (up five places to 11th) and Hardik Pandya (up eight places to 43rd) have moved up the bowling list.

BIPIN DANIThe highly anticipated Warne-Murali Trophy Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia is underway, and it has already begun to evoke fond memories and excitement among cricket enthusiasts. In an exclusive conversation with this Reporter, Jason Warne, the brother of the late legendary cricketer Shane Warne, shared his thoughts and cherished memories related to the series. This Reporter also played a pivotal role in arranging Jason's previous visit to Sri Lanka through the Sri Lanka Promotion Tourism Board.Jason Warne expressed his excitement and anticipation about the current series, even though he won't be in Sri Lanka to witness the matches in person this time around. He said, "I am looking forward to watching the ongoing series between Sri Lanka and Australia. Unfortunately, I will be watching from Australia this time, unlike the last tour when I was fortunate enough to be in Galle to watch the opening match."He fondly reminisced about Galle, describing it as a beautiful place with a ground that holds special significance. "Galle is such a beautiful place and ground, and it brings back great memories of my brother's performances on the ground and how much it meant to him to do what he could to help with the rebuilding of the ground and the wider region following the Tsunami."Jason touched upon the fitting nature of the Murali-Warne Trophy, particularly given the spin-friendly conditions. "It’s fitting that they are playing for the Murali-Warne trophy in such spin-friendly conditions! I am sure Shane would love to be watching this test and see which spinner can make their mark this year!!"Encouraging cricket fans to visit Galle, Jason shared his own positive experiences: "For anyone thinking of heading to Galle to watch a test match, please do. I really enjoyed the beautiful beaches, amazing restaurants, historic fort area, the elephant safari, as well as Kalu’s hideaway and the wonderful Galle cricket ground."Jason concluded his reflections with a hopeful note, "Here’s hoping for another great Test match and some spin bowling performances to make Murali and Shane proud."

Rawalpindi (SBR): The upgradation work of main pavilion and media boxes of Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has been completed while installation of chairs in enclosures is in final stage. Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Naqvi visited Rawalpindi Cricket stadium.Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi inspected various parts of the stadium including pavilion, media box, VIP boxes and observed the finishing work. Chairman PCB expressed satisfaction over the progress on the upgradation project. Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi also reviewed the proposed security arrangements for the teams. He said that an ICC tournament is being held in Pakistan after a long time and all preparations are complete for the mega event.The ICC Champions Trophy is set to begin from 19 February, with three matches to be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. At this venue, Bangladesh will play New Zealand on 24 February, Australia to play against South Africa on 25 February while the hosts Pakistan will take on Bangladesh at the same venue on 27 February

Karachi (SBR) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Sharjeel Mahmood defeated No. 6 seed Shan Naimat of Islamabad in an upset to exit the NBP 49th National Snooker Championship. The pre-quarterfinal line-up of the championship was also completed on the last day of the league matches. Ahsan Ramzan played a break of 113. According to Tournament Director Naveed Kapadia,the league matches ended on the eighth day of the 49th NBP National Snooker Championship at the Snooker Arena of the National Bank Sports Complex.After league matches Punjab's Owais Munir, Mohammad Sajjad, Asjad Iqbal, Shahid Aftab, Naseem Akhtar, Wasim Abbas, Mohammad Shahbaz, Babar Masih, Mubashir Raza and Mohammad Asif, Sindh's Abdul Sattar, Zulfiqar A. Qadir, Sohail Shahzad and Ean Mark John, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Sharjeel Mahmood and Balochistan's Adil A. Jabbar reached the pre-quarterfinals. On Tuesday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Sharjeel Mahmood defeated number 6 seed Shan Naimat of Islamabad to eliminate him from the championship and also reached in knockout stage. He won 4-2, the frame score of his victory was in his favor 69-43, 67-53, 62-38, 57-70, 33-62 and 72-12. In other matches, National Bank's Asjad Iqbal defeated Islamabad's Faisal Daniyal 4-2, Punjab's Owais Munir defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Sarbland Khan 4-0, Punjab's Naseem Akhtar defeated Balochistan's Asadullah 4-2, Islamabad's Abdul Javed defeated Balochistan's Bahadur Khan 4-0, Punjab's Shahid Aftab defeated Sindh's Zulfiqar A. Qadir 4-2 and Ahsan Ramzan of Punjab defeated Mubashir Raza of Punjab 4-3.

 Abu Dhabi (PR):The Gulf Giants were forced to dig deep, and they responded brilliantly, to defeat the MI Emirates by two wickets, in what was a nail-biter at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, in Season 3 of the DP World ILT20. The Gulf Giants looked down and out at one stage, before their lower order showed nerves of steel to guide the side over the finish line against the MI Emirates. The win helps the Gulf Giants move to fifth on the points table.TAsked to bat first, the MI Emirates had a slow start as they lost the openers Kusal Perera for four and Muhammad Waseem for 12, both to Daniel Worrall, in the powerplay. The in-form Tom Banton then began the job of rebuilding for the MI Emirates, and was looking for support from his skipper.However, Nicholas Pooran could only add eight to the cause while Dan Mousley added five more, before both were dismissed, leaving the MI Emirates in a spot of bother at 57/4. Banton was joined by Kieron Pollard, and they dug in. Banton and Pollard kept the scoreboard moving even when the big hits were tough to come by. Banton completed his fifty in the 15th over, and in the next Pollard took Aayan Khan to the cleaners, smashing three sixes in a 21-run over.The 17th over though saw Banton depart for 56, as a superb 66-run stand came to an end. The MI Emirates would need a strong finish and along with Pollard, who scored 34, Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd added a few lusty blows as well. While Hosein finished unbeaten on 20, Shepherd was not out on eight, the MI Emirates got 151/6 in their 20 overs. Incidentally, Banton’s half-century meant he took over the Green Belt for being the highest run-getter in the tournament.The Gulf Giants too could not get off to a fast start, as the captain James Vince was the first to fall for one. Soon after, Jordan Cox was packed off for nine, and the Gulf Giants were 20/2 in the fourth over. Tom Alsop was joined by Gerhard Erasmus, and they had to rebuild after the early scares.Shimron Hetmyer and Ibrahim Zadran tried to up the ante after that, but Joseph castled the West Indian southpaw for seven, which put further pressure on the Gulf Giants. Fazalhaq Farooqi cleaned up Zadran for 11 after that, but Tom Curran was soldiering on at the other end for the Giants, who had four wickets left. Curran and Mark Adair were picking some crucial boundaries at this point, and brought the Giants to within 17 runs of the target, with two overs to go.Farooqi accounted for Adair for 15 in the 19th over, and then Aayan Khan combined with Curran and Muhammad Zuhaib to clinch a thrilling win off the final delivery of the game. Aayan, who scored an unbeaten 11 of six deliveries, was instrumental in helping his side over the line.Brief ScoresGulf Giants beat MI Emirates by two wicketsMI Emirates 151/6 in 20 overs (Tom Banton – 56, Kieron Pollard – 34, Daniel Worral 2 for 19, Mark Adair – 1 for 24, Blessing Muzarabani – 1 for 16,)Gulf Giants 152/8 in 20 overs (Gerhard Erasmus – 37, Tom Alsop – 32, Tom Curran 16, Fazalhaq Farooqi – 3 for 34, Muhammad Rohid Khan – 2 for 15)Player of the Match: Mark Adair

Lahore (JPR):: Team Balochistan defeated Team Army by 6-4½ in the thrilling final to clinch the trophy at the Maj Gen Saeed-uz-Zaman Janjua Memorial Polo Cup, sponsored by JS Bank, concluded at the Jinnah Polo Fields on Sunday. A large and enthusiastic crowd from Lahore gathered to witness the final match. The event's chief guest, Lt Gen Farooq Ahmed Khan, graced the occasion, accompanied by JS Bank Regional Head Majid Qureshi, Brig Badr-uz-Zaman (R), the son of Maj Gen Saeed-uz-Zaman, and Maj Ali Taimur (R), the club secretary. Numerous polo players and enthusiasts were also in attendance. Prior to the final, an exhibition two-chukker match betwen Young Girls and Young Boys teams was held, where the Girls' team outclassed their opponents with a 4-0 victory. The final match between Team Balochistan and Team Army was a gripping contest. Team Army maintained a lead through the first three chukkers. However, Team Balochistan showcased exceptional performance in the fourth chukker to secure the win. For Team Balochistan, Raja Mikael Sami led the scoring with three goals, while Ahmed Bilal Riaz, Mumtaz Abbas Niazi, and Lt Col Shahyan Abbasi contributed one goal each. On the other hand, Team Army's two goals were scored by Raja Samiullah, with an additional two and a half goal handicap advantage. The award for the best pony was given to Tatli, owned by Ahmed Bilal Riaz, while the best player of the final was awarded to Raja Mikael Sami. In the subsidiary final, Diamond Paints defeated DS Polo by 7-4 goals.