Younis to team up with Yorkshire again

LONDON: Pakistan veteran Younis Khan will return to Yorkshire for the opening weeks of the 2015 season, the English county side announced on Saturday.

The 37-year-old first played for Yorkshire in 2007 and will return to Headingley after representing Pakistan in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“It is a great honour to be returning to Headingley and playing for Yorkshire. This is one of the finest cricket clubs in the world,” said Younis in a statement released by Yorkshire.

“I hope my experiences in the first-class game will help them maintain their position at the top of the County Championship. The County Championship is regarded as one of the best domestic competitions in the world and to test myself in English conditions can only enhance my game.

“I’m looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and also reuniting myself with Dizzy [Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie], who I played alongside in 2007. He is a great coach and I can’t wait to work with him.”

Younis scored 824 runs at an average of 48.47 in his first stint with Yorkshire, who are the reigning county champions.

Captain of the Pakistan team that won the 2009 World Twenty20 title, he has scored 8,327 runs in Tests, including a national-record 28 hundreds, and was the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket in 2014.

“We have been looking for a world-class batsman to strengthen our batting department at the start of the season,” said Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon. “Younis fits the bill and will add real quality to our top-order.”

Younis will stay with Yorkshire until Australia batsman Aaron Finch joins up with the club after playing in the Indian Premier League.—AFP

Brilliant Shabbir retains CAS Open golf title

KARACHI: Prolific golfer Mohammad Shabbir successfully defended Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Open Golf Championship title for the fourth consecutive year here on Saturday when he topped the concluding day of the event with results of 8 below-par, leveling his previous record. Since the inauguration of Airmen Golf Course, Shabbir is the unopposed champion of CAS Open Golf Championship.

The closing ceremony of the 34th CAS Open Golf was held at the Airmen Golf Course, PAF Base Korangi Creek, Karachi. Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, PAF graced the occasion as chief guest.

Shabbir was declared winner in the professional category with overall gross score of 280 for the tournament, followed by Muhammad Afzal who scored 285 and secured the second position. Matloob Ahmed finished third by carding 288.

The championship featured 300 golfers, including 113 professionals from all over the country for a total prizemoney of Rs 3.2 million. Chief of the Air Staff Open Golf Championship was introduced in 1977 and ever since it has been an annual feature in PGF and PAF annual sports calendars.

A unique feature of this edition of CAS Open Golf was the special prize of a brand new Honda City and Suzuki Swift Cars for the lucky winner who scores a ‘hole in one’.

Many Golfers nearly missed the opportunity, while one professional golfer Zulfiqar Ali of DHA made a ‘Hole in One’ on fifteenth hole (Par 3) which as per the tournament rules was not the designated hole for winning the car. However, the management committee gave him an incentive prize of one hundred thousand rupees.

Hataff make final

LAHORE: Five goals on the trot, including two each by Bilal Haye and Richard Le Poer, helped Hataff to the Nabi Yousuf Memorial Polo Cup final as they beat Master Paints 5½-3 here on Friday.

The losers took a lead of 2 goals to ½ in the first chukker with Saqib Khan Khakwani and Oliver Hipwood striking one goal each. Hataff then salvaged the lead in the second chukker due to half-goal handicap (2½-2) as Bilal and Poer netted one goal each.

In the third chukker, Bilal and Poer added one goal each to increase the lead to 4½-2.

Hataff, in the last chukker, extended their lead to 5½-2 through Usman’s field goal. But Saqib slammed in his second goal for Master Paints to reduce the loss margin to 5½-3.

In the second match of the day, Gourmet defeated Master Paints/Newage 8-6½ to qualify for the subsidiary final.

Juan Cruz Losada stole the show for the winners with a four-goal rally. Mumtaz Abbas Khan contributed three goals while Raja Samiullah added one.

Hissam Ali Hyder pumped in four goals for the losing side.

The final and subsidiary final will be held on Sunday. —Sports Reporter

Tapal CC reach quarter-finals

KARACHI: Tapal CC became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the KCCA President Cup after defeating United Sports by 18 runs in their last-16 round fixture at the KCCA Stadium here on Friday.

Meanwhile, Al-Noor Gymkhana and Vital Five CC moved into the last-16 stage after winning Azad CC and Pak Gymkhana, respectively.

Summarised scores:

Tapal CC beat United Sports by 18 runs at KCCA Stadium.

TAPAL CC 223-8 in 45 overs (Anop Ravi 93 not out, Abdul Hakeem 45, Babar Rehman 34; Yaqzan Rajput 2-29, Junaid Khan 2-35, Faisal Khalid 2-48); UNITED SPORTS 205 in 43.2 overs (Saeed Raza 49, Kashif Iqbal 45, Rao Waqar 31, Mohammad Ali 22; Abdul Hakeem 3-28, Rashid Hanif 3-35, Akhtar Kayani 2-30).

Al-Noor Gymkhana beat Azad CC by 7 wickets at TMC Ground.

AZAD CC 140 in 40 overs (Waqar Kundi 79, Hasan Ahmed 21; Gul Mohammad 2-17, Basit Ali 2-21); AL-NOOR GYMKHANA 141-3 in 20 overs (Farrukh Rizvi 58, Gul Mohammad 30, Ali Ahmed 21).

Vital Five CC beat Pak Gymkhana by four wickets at Landhi Gymkhana Ground.

PAK GYMKHANA 239 in 44.3 overs (Nizamuddin 42, Daniyal Ali 33, Kayas

Gul 29; Mudassar Khan 3-39, Ramiz Aziz 2-19, Fahim Ahmed 2-49); VITAL FIVE CC 245-6 in 43.4 overs (Ramiz Aziz 113, Naumanullah 48, Fahim Ahmed 45).

CAS II, BVS and Bayview Academy win

KARACHI: The NBP Inter-school Team Tennis Cup got underway on Saturday at Karachi Gymkhana tennis courts with preliminary rounds held in two age categories of U-15 and 16-18 years.

The tournament is being organized by Perfect Strokes as part of its school initiative program to promote tennis at the school level. Schools compete against one another in two singles and one doubles match. (Saadan Ashraf (BVS) beats Abbas Naizi (KAS) 9-2

Results:

Under-15 category: CAS II beats Learning Tree 3-0; BVS beats Karachi American School II 3-0; Bay View Academy II vs Karachi Grammar School II (KGS-II) 2-1.

Published in Dawn February 15th , 2015

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