Day of hat-tricks at U-19 Polo Cup

LAHORE: JP&CC Colts and LPC Remington Pharma reached the main final of the Sarsabz Pakistan U-19 Polo Cup while LGPC Servis Tyres and LPC AOS qualified for the subsidiary final here at the Jinnah Polo Club ground on Thursday.

With this victory, the JP&CC Colts maintained their winning streak in the three matches they played in the event, earning six points to top the points table.

LPC Remington Pharma won two out of their three matches to get four points and make the final.

LGPC Servis Tyres won one out of three while LPC AOS couldn’t win a single match. Therefore, they secured places in the subsidiary final.

In the first match of the day, JP&CC Colts edged out LPC Remington Pharma 7-6 thanks to brilliant hat-tricks by Syed Muhammad Turab Rizvi and Mustafa Aziz. The remaining goal came from Amin-ur-Rehman.

For the losing side, Basil Faisal Khokhar recorded a hat-trick while Raja Jalal Arslan (two) and Nazar Dean Ali Khan (one) completed the tally.

LGPC Servis Tyres defeated LPC AOS 7-4 in the other match staged on Thursday.

From LGPC Servis Tyres, Mustafa Yousuf Rasool and Makhdoom Ali Malik hammered a hat-trick each while Musa Javed scored one.

For LPC AOS, Hamza Ali Hakeem and Mohammad Ali Malik struck a brace each.—Sports Reporter

Pakistan to feature in Asian Road Cycling

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) will field a strong team for the Asian Road Cycling Championship, scheduled to be held in Dubai in March 2021.

PCF president Syed Azhar Shah told APP on Thursday that all affiliated units of the federation had been directed to arrange training camps for their cyclists.

“The national outfit for the event will be selected on the basis of the cyclists’ performance in the trials,” Azhar said.

He said that the one-year sanction on Army and Wapda teams had been lifted, adding now their cyclists could feature in national and international events.

“Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the PCF has waived off cycling licence fee of all officials and cyclists for the year 2020,” he revealed.—APP

Australia willing to risk half-hit Warner in Sydney

MELBOURNE: David Warner may play the third Test against India even if he is short of full fitness as Australia look to the veteran opener to strengthen the top order, assistant coach Andrew McDonald said on Thursday.

Warner was ruled out of the first two Tests in Adelaide and Melbourne after tearing an adductor muscle, but has been included in the 18-man squad for the Sydney Test.

McDonald said having Warner pad up if not completely fit would be a ‘clear option’ and a matter for the player and Australia’s head coach Justin Langer.

“He may not be 100%. Who is coming off an injury? You never know until you get out there,” McDonald told reporters on Thursday. “Look, if he’s 90-95% fit and the conversation is that he’s fit enough to be able to go out there and perform his duties for the team, then I’m sure that’ll be a conversation the coach has with the player.”—Reuters

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2021