Sports Bulletin KARACHI:-Defending champion Shabbir Iqbal from Islamabad was ahead at the end of 18 holes game of the 23rd Sindh Open Golf Championship 2022 that teed off on Friday at Airmen Golf Club Karachi. Out of 41 leading national golfers, defending champion Shabbir Iqbal was leading with six under par. Arshad Rasheed of Karachi Golf Club (KGC) along with Mohammad Naeem and Matloob Ahmed were jointly at second spot with two under par. It is pertinent to mention here that Waheed Baloch of Karachi Golf Club who with outstanding performance recently won the 11th Rashid D Habib Golf 2022 is holding 17th position on day one with one over par. In the senior professional category Tahir Naseem was leading with one over par and being followed by Mohammad Akram who achieved 4 over par on day one while in the Junior Professionals, Mohammad Saqib from LGG is leading on first day with four over par, followed by Abdul Wadood who managed to achieve 5 over par on day one. Salman Jehangir of LG is leading in Amateurs category with two over par and being followed by Omar Khalid of DHA at par. Saim Shazli of KGC is holding third position with 81 at par. Tournament Referee and Secretary of Sindh Golf Association Col Zahid Iqbal said, “The strong winds in Karachi challenged the golfers, however experienced golfers proved their expertness.” “Golf Course is at best condition and visibility was helpful for both local and visiting golfers”, Col Iqbal added. The Annual Sindh Open Golf Championship is being played at Airmen Golf club & Recreational Park from 21 - 23 January 2022. The collective prize money offered is Rs. 3 Million for Professionals, Senior Professionals, Junior Professionals category. The final round of the tournament will be played on Sunday (January 23).

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-The President of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, made a solemn appeal to the UN Member States for the observance of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, following the resolution adopted in December. The resolution calls for the Olympic Truce to be respected from 27 January to 20 March 2022 -– seven days before the start of the Olympic Winter Games until seven days after the Paralympic Games. Today’s solemn appeal is another demonstration of the support for the political neutrality of the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee, reiterating the message of the Olympic Truce resolution through which all Member States were called upon “to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games”. “The Olympic Movement aspires to contribute to a peaceful future for all humankind through the educational value of sport, in particular youth,” said Shahid in the appeal. “The Games will bring together athletes from all parts of the world in the greatest of international sports events as a means to promote peace, mutual understanding and goodwill among nations and peoples – goals that are also part of the founding values of the United Nations”. Shahid welcomed “the leadership of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in promoting peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal, and the commitment made by various Member States of the United Nations to developing national and international programmes that promote peace and conflict resolution and the Olympic and Paralympic values through sport, and through culture, education and sustainable development.” He went on: “As President of the General Assembly at its 76th session, I solemnly appeal to all Member States to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony based on the spirit of the Truce. Referring to the original tradition of the Olympic Truce practised in ancient times, as described in resolution 76/13, I also call upon all warring parties of current armed conflicts around the world to boldly agree to true mutual ceasefires for the duration of the Olympic Truce, thus providing an opportunity to settle disputes peacefully.”

Aamir Ali Janjua DUBAI (UAE):-Excitement is building for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, following the announcement of the fixtures for the October 16 – November 13 event. The world's best cricketers from 16 international teams will clash in 45 matches as the pinnacle global event in men’s T20 cricket comes to Australia for the first time. In the First Round, 2014 champions Sri Lanka and Namibia will play the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at Kardinia Park, Geelong on Sunday 16 October. They’ll be joined by two qualifiers in Group A. Two-time champions West Indies will also start in the First Round, joined in Group B by Scotland and two qualifiers in Hobart. In the Super 12, hosts Australia are in Group 1 with world number one England, New Zealand, Afghanistan plus the winner of Group A and the runner-up in Group B from the First Round. Group 2 features India, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh, plus the winner of Group B and runner-up in Group A from the First Round. Hosts and defending champions, Australia will play New Zealand in the opening match of the Super 12 at the SCG on Saturday 22 October in a re-match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Final. The Black Caps will also face England at The Gabba on 1 November in a re-match of their epic semi-final encounter at the 2021 event. Two of world cricket’s biggest rivals will go head-to-head at the MCG, with India taking on Pakistan on Sunday 23 October. It will be the first World Cup clash between the two nations at the MCG and comes before two more fierce rivals, Australia and England, meet at the same venue on Friday 28 October. The state-of-the-art Perth Stadium will host a huge Sunday double-header on Sunday 30 October with South Africa taking on India in the evening match. Earlier in the day, Pakistan will be in action against the runners-up from Group A. The semi-finals will be played at the SCG and Adelaide Oval on 9 and 10 November, respectively. It will be the first time the Adelaide Oval will host a World Cup semi-final. The MCG will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Final, which will be contested under lights on 13 November 2022. International Cricket Council CEO Geoff Allardice said: ““T20 is the global growth format for cricket and the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 will play a huge role in inspiring our next generation of players and fans as the world’s best players descend on Australia and showcase the very best of our sport. The release of fixtures is always a great moment in the delivery of a World Cup as fans start to get excited about opening games, head to heads and knock-out stages. “This schedule offers so much, from the 2014 Champions Sri Lanka opening the event, to our defending champions Australia starting with a rematch of the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup Final against New Zealand and of course India taking on Pakistan at the MCG. We know that hundreds of thousands of passionate cricket fans will turn out to support every single one of the 16 teams across all seven of our host cities which is what makes it so special for the players. You only need to cast your mind back to the brilliant ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia to know that this is going to be a wonderful event for players and fans alike.” ICC T20 World Cup Local Organising Committee CEO, Michelle Enright said; “The release of the fixtures gives fans the opportunity to start planning their T20 World Cup experience, which is now just 268 days away.” “By having matches spread across the nation in seven host cities and making tickets accessibly priced, we are hoping as many people as possible will be able to experience the incredible atmosphere that international fans bring to global sporting events, as well as the unique, fast-paced and unpredictable nature of T20 cricket.” “World Cups are about bringing people from all backgrounds and cultures together and we hope to safely host over 800,000 fans at Australia’s iconic cricket venues later this year.” FIXTURES HIGHLIGHTS Adelaide will see 10 different teams play Super 12 matches in a festival of cricket with India to feature on the first night at Adelaide Oval against Bangladesh on 2 November. Australia will be in action on a Friday night against local Adelaide favourite Rashid Khan and Afghanistan on 4 November. Brisbane will host four Super 12 matches with Australia, England and New Zealand to feature on consecutive nights on October 31 and November 1 respectively. 2014 champions Sri Lanka will feature in the opening match of the event against Namibia at Kardinia Park, Geelong on 16 October 2022 in the First Round. Hobart will see the power-hitters of West Indies play three First Round matches at Bellerive Oval, starting on 17 October 2022.  Hobart will also host three Super 12 fixtures The state-of-the-art Perth Stadium will host five Super 12 matches with defending champions Australia to play a night match against the winners of Group A on 25 October. Perth Stadium will also be lit up on the opening night of the Super 12 with world number one England taking on Afghanistan Sydney will host a massive double-header on 5 November with England to take on the winners of Group A, before Pakistan take on South Africa in the evening match,

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan edged out Afghanistan to join England in the Super League quarter-finals as defending champions Bangladesh bounced back from defeat against the Young Lions with victory over Canada. England captain Tom Prest continued his wonderful form with the bat, making an unbeaten 154 to help his side defeat the UAE, who now face a crunch game against Bangladesh to decide who will join Prest’s men in the quarter-finals from Group A. Afghanistan are in a similar position after leaving themselves too much to do in pursuit of 240 to beat Pakistan and must beat Zimbabwe on Saturday to progress in the top two from Group C.  Prest goes big as England win again England captain Tom Prest’s magnificent 154 not out helped propel his side to a comfortable 189-run win over the UAE. Prest won the toss and chose to bat at Warner Park and after coming in at No.3 the Hampshire batter blasted 13 fours and four sixes in just 119 balls as his side posted an imposing 362 for six. Only Dan Lawrence has made a higher individual total for the England Under-19s but Prest had to wait until the 12th over to get out to the middle as George Thomas (42) and Jacob Bethell (62) shared an opening stand of 69. Prest had shown his form with 93 in the win over Canada last time out but he was not to be denied another century as he dominated the UAE’s attack from the off and shared half-century partnerships with Bethell and then James Rew (24). When William Luxton, 47 off 45 balls, joined him at the crease, England were 182 for three in the 31st over but together they added 117 runs in just 92 balls. England climbed well past the 300-mark for the second game in succession despite the best efforts of Jash Giyanani who was the pick of the bowlers with two for 60 from his ten overs. The Young Lions’ total always looked like it would be a big ask to overhaul and the UAE were reeling when they were reduced to 61 for five in the 15th over, seamer Josh Boyden taking two wickets to take his tournament tally to ten. Ali Naseer’s counter-attacking 54 off 44 balls helped reverse some of the momentum as he put on 59 with Nilansh Keswani for the sixth wicket. But when Nilansh departed, the last four wickets fell for 53 runs as leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed excelled on his first outing in the West Indies with four for 30 from his allotted ten overs. England dismissed the UAE for 173 to confirm their place as Group A winners as they progress to the Super League quarter-finals with their 100 per cent record intact. Reigning champions Bangladesh bounce back against Canada The 2020 ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup winners Bangladesh bounced back from defeat to England in their opener with a dominant eight-wicket triumph over Canada. The holders were skittled for 97 against the Young Lions in their opener but were put into the field by Canada at Conaree Sports Club in St Kitts and Nevis. They fared better with the ball, however, as Canadian opener and wicket-keeper Anoop Chima made a patient 63 off 117 balls but found precious little support from his teammates. The other nine batters contributed just 58 runs between them as they were bowled out for only 136, despite Bangladesh bowling 15 wides in 44.3 overs. Ripon Mondol starred with the ball taking four for 24 in 8.3 overs, including the prize scalp of Chima who he had caught behind. Ripon’s seam was complemented brilliantly by SM Meherob’s off-breaks as he took four for 38 in ten overs with medium pacer Ashiqur Zaman also chipping in with two wickets. In reply, Canada struck early as Parmveer Kharoud trapped Mahfijul Islam lbw for just 12 but Iftakher Hossain anchored the chase with a well-made 61 off 89 balls. Prantik Nawrose Nabil chipped in with 33 while Aich Mollah, 20 not out from 26 balls, sealed victory in style with a six off Gurnek Johal Singh as Bangladesh won with 119 balls to spare. The reigning champions will now face a straight shoot-out against the UAE on Saturday to see who will join England in the Super League quarter-finals. Pakistan qualify for quarter-finals as Afghanistan leave it too late Pakistan booked their place in the Super League quarter-finals after making it two wins from two with a 24-run victory over Afghanistan. At the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram elected to bat first and his side built a solid platform. Opener Mohammad Shehzad lost his partner Haseebullah Khan for just two but kicked on to make 43 off 51 balls. Shehzad shared a 60 partnership with No.3 Abdul Faseeh who made 68 off 95 balls with the skipper Qasim adding 38 from No.5. But when Izharulhaq Naveed, three for 41, removed Faseeh, Pakistan lost three for 11 and were in danger of not having enough runs to defend at 184 for seven. But Maaz Sadaqat played a gem of an innings with 42 not out off just 37 balls, including seven fours, to drag his side up to 239 for nine from their 50 overs. Afghanistan got the pace of their innings all wrong in reply, as the top three soaked up far too many balls in pursuit of the target. It took them 170 balls to bring up 100 runs with Bilal Sayedi, 42 off 81, Nangeyalia Kharote, 12 off 32, and Allah Noor, 28 off 49, all with strike rates under 58. Despite the slow start, Afghanistan took the contest deep although their innings was characterised by some wild running between the wickets, with three run outs as well as a number of near misses. Noor Ahmad blasted three sixes to leave his side in with a chance of a shock victory, needing 28 off the last two overs with two wickets in hand. But when he fell for 29 off just 18 balls to Awais Ali, the pick of the bowlers with three for 36, there was only going to be one winner and after finishing short on 215 for nine, Afghanistan now must prepare for a winner-takes-all clash against Zimbabwe on Saturday.

RAJA HAFEEZ Lausanne, Switzerland: The Women’s Asia Cup 2022 will be taking place from 21-28 January at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, in Muscat in Oman. The venue was switched from Bangkok, Thailand due to ongoing Covid-19 complications. This event was first played in 1985 and only four teams’ names have appeared on the trophy since – Korea, India, Japan and China. After two tumultuous years of Covid-related disruption, all eight participating teams will be desperate to start the year in winning style and one expert in the game says it is a situation where 'anything can happen.' India are the defending champions, having won this event in 2017. Since then, the Eves have grabbed the headlines with their historic fourth place finish at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – a feat that has rocketed them into 9th place in the FIH World Rankings (WR). This eight-team competition promises to be a highly competitive affair. The winning team will establish its position as the top team in a hockey-mad area of the world and the top four teams will book their places at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, Spain and the Netherlands 2022. The teams vying for the top four places alongside India are: China (WR:10), Korea (WR:12), Japan (WR:14), Malaysia (WR:20), Thailand (WR:29), Indonesia (WR:36) and Singapore (WR:37). Former Head Coach to India men and an Olympian with the national team, Cedric d’Sousa, says this is a very open tournament with the top four ranked teams all capable of winning the competition and any of the eight teams taking a place in the top four. ‘It is such an important tournament because it is a direct qualification to the World Cup. And Oman is a country that loves its hockey so there will be a lot of local interest in the event.’

Sports Report KARACHI:-Throwball, Basketball, Tug War Gymnastics and Teakwando competitions will be started from Friday of the ongoing Students Olympic Games 2022 at Karachi. Rope Skipping and Skating competitions will be held on January 22 . Results (Day-4): A Level Futsal In the first semifinal, Ibrahim Ali Bhai beat City School DK by 4-1goals In the second semifinal, Whales College (blue) beat City School PAF Chapter by 5-1 goals Cricket (O Level Boys): In the 1st Semifinal, Beconlight Academy beat Khadija KAZI School by 48 Runs In the 2nd Semifinal, The City School PAF beat Head Start School Clifton by 20 Runs Final Match: The City School PAF beat Beconlight Academy by 5 Wickets. Cricket Final (Boys A Level): Denning Law beat Whales College, by 4 Wickets. Cricket Final (A Level Girls): Final Match, The City School PAF Chapter Red beat The City School by 9 runs. Futsal (O Levels Girls): In the1st Semifinal, H.I. Osamani beat The City School DK by 2-1 Goals In 2nd Semifinal, The Learning School beat Wahaj Hussain 4-0 Goals. Final Match: Learning School beat H.I Osamani on penalty kicks by 9-8 Goals.

H Shah MANCHESTER:-The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed the 2022 fixtures for men’s county and women’s regional domestic competitions. The men’s domestic summer will begin on 7 April with the opening round of the LV= Insurance County Championship. The Vitality Blast, this year marking the 20th edition of the T20 competition, will run over a seven-week period (25 May – 16 July) before the Royal London Cup (2 August – 17 September). The 20-over Charlotte Edwards Cup will open the women’s regional summer from 14 May and will offer the first piece of domestic silverware, with Finals Day at The County Ground, Northampton on 11 June. The 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy starts on 2 July and will conclude with a showpiece final at Lord’s on Sunday, 25 September. With domestic fixtures released, supporters looking to plan their summer of cricket are encouraged to consider the following opportunities: Vitality Blast season tickets – secure your seats at the 20th edition of T20 cricket in England & Wales by purchasing a season ticket for every home group-stage match in the Vitality Blast. Visit ecb.co.uk/blast-tickets for links to every team’s season ticket pass and take advantage of multi-match savings Royal London Cup Final tickets – get access to a priority window to buy tickets before they go on general sale by registering your interest here Membership – visit county websites for details of the different membership packages available and benefits on offer E-calendar – synchronise your team’s fixtures to you r desktop or mobile calendar and don’t miss a match with reminders ahead of every matchday. Download your team’s schedule here LV= Insurance County Championship The LV= Insurance County Championship returns to a two-division structure – for the first time since 2019 – with defending champions Warwickshire to host Surrey in the opening round. The opening seven rounds of the LV= County Championship will be played from Thursday to Sunday on successive weeks. There will be five rounds played during June and July – an increase from the three rounds during the same period last summer. The Division One and Division Two titles are set to be decided in September, with the final round of fixtures to be staged from 26-29 September. Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Lord’s is set to stage the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy on Sunday 25 September to close what promises to be a memorable summer of women’s cricket. Heyhoe Flint was a pioneer of the game leading England to the first-ever Women’s World Cup title in 1973 and challenging convention and fighting for progress as a player, administrator and campaigner throughout her life. MCC announced last year that the North Gate at Lord’s would be named in Heyhoe Flint’s honour and the final bearing her name will conclude a bumper summer for women’s cricket that will also include the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Commonwealth Games, The Hundred in addition to the England Women’s schedule. Southern Vipers will bid to claim a hat-trick of Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy titles when the 50-over competition begins on 2 July. The play-off is to be played four days before the Lord’s final. Royal London Cup The Royal London Cup final will return to a Saturday with Trent Bridge to host the decider on 17 September. The 18 First-Class Counties will each play one warm-up match against a National County – with Somerset and Middlesex to play two games – ahead of the competition, which begins on 2 August. Defending champions Glamorgan are away to Derbyshire on the opening day and the group stage will conclude on 23 August. The competition will visit at least nine outgrounds, from Scarborough to Neath, before the knockout stages will be held on 26 August and 30 August. Charlotte Edwards Cup South East Stars won the first-ever Charlotte Edwards Cup title last summer and open their defence away to Sunrisers at the Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford on Saturday 14 May. The month-long Twenty20 competition will see the eight women’s regional teams split into two groups, and play six group-stage matches, before Finals Day on Saturday, 11 June. There will be 10 double-headers when Charlotte Edwards Cup and Vitality Blast T20 matches are played back-to-back at the same venue. Vitality Blast The 20th edition of domestic T20 cricket will begin on 25 May with champions Kent Spitfires to host Somerset in a re-match of last season’s final. The Vitality Blast group stage will take place over a 40-day period with 99 of the 126 matches to be played on a Thursday, Friday and at the weekend. The quarter-finals will be staged from 6-9 July before the sold-out Finals Day will be staged at Edgbaston a week later.

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan’s tennis star, Aisam ul Qureshi and his partner Alexander Nedovyesov from Kazakhstan claimed an upset victory after overcoming 7th seed pair Nicholas Mahut, former World No.1 and French lad Fabrice Martin 2-1 in a three sets contest in the Doubles Event of Australian Open on Thursday at Melbourne Park Australia. The final score-line was7-6, 5-7 and 6-2, as the match lasted 2 hours 27 minutes. According to available information from Melbourne, the first set went neck-to-neck to tie break without any side succeeding to break the serve of each other. Aisam and his partner convincingly grabbed the set at 7-6. In the second set Pak/Kazakh duo broke their opponents at 2-2 and were unable to close the match when serving at 5-4 as French pair came back strongly and the French went on to win the set 7-5. In the third set, however Aisam-ul-Haq and Alexander displayed top quality tennis by showing excellent combination and understanding to the next level and broke first the serve of Fabrice and then of Mahut consecutively and then finished the set and the match with 6-2 score in the third.

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD:-The 3rd Islamabad Open Rapid Chess Tournament Championship will be held on January 23 (Sunday) at Islamabad under the banner of Islamabad Chess Association (ICA) in collaboration with Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI). According to an official, the tournament will be played on Swiss System in which three categories competitions will be held including Men’s, Women’s and Under-15, as the tournament will start at 11:00 am in the Hall of ICCI G-8 / 1 Islamabad, as players will have to report one hour before. Top eight players will be awarded prize money along with trophies and medals. First position holder will get 5000 cash while 3000 and 2000 respectively will be given to second and third position holders.  

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-One India player at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Undr-9 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently isolating. Five other India players are also isolating as a precaution pending the results of PCR testing by the official event testing provider.