Stakeholders demand Ashfaq group vacates PFF HQ

LAHORE: Pakistan’s football stakeholders, some of them part of the Pakistan Football Federation led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah, demanded on Thursday that the court-elected president unconditionally hands over the PFF headquarters to the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee by Nov 10.

Addressing a news conference at the Sports Journalists Association of Lahore (SJAL), they said that Pakistan football was mired in crisis with the takeover of the PFF headquarters leading to FIFA suspending Pakistan.

Among them was former Balochistan Football Association secretarty Saeed Khan Taqqo, who said he was unaware that the actions of Ashfaq’s PFF would lead to such dire consequences. The officials said that the only elections that would be accepted by them were the ones which will be conducted by the Haroon Malik-led NC.

Protests and sit-ins in front of the PFF headquarters will follow, they warned, if Ashfaq’s PFF failed to handover the PFF headquarters to the NC.

The NC has been in talks with the government since March, when the PFF headquarters were seized from them. They have already presented an election roadmap to the government.

Ashfaq’s PFF, which came into power following an election held by the Supreme Court in 2018 which wasn’t recognised by FIFA, is of the view that it cannot trust the NC and are only willing to give a portion of the PFF headquarters to them for an election office.—Sports Reporter

SAOC wants POA to hold meeting on 2023 SAG

LAHORE: The members of the South Asian Olympic Committee have requested the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) to hold an executive committee meeting of the SAOC in November-December as several important decisions regarding the 2023 South Asian Games, to be hosted by Pakistan, are yet to be taken.

The request was made during a SAOC meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) organised in Crete, Greece on Oct 24-25. POA president retired Lt Gen Syed Arif Hasan and secretary general Khalid Mahmood attended the SAOC meeting. The SAOC’s meeting was not attended by India while other member countries — Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka besides Pakistan — were present.

The 2023 Games are expected to be staged in March 2023 but are mired in crisis and confusion due to a conflict between the POA and the Federal Sports Ministry. While the sports ministry is interested in organising the SAG in Islamabad, the POA had suggested holding the events in four cities of Punjab — Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore and Faisalabad.—Sports Reporter

Daniyal hits seven goals

KARACHI: Mohammad Daniyal struck a whopping seven goals as Police Boys Club thrashed Airport Club 17-1 in the Inter-Club Hockey Championship at the KHA Sports Complex on Thursday.

Shahrukh Burney scored a brace while Abu Bakr Sultan, Sarfaraz, Mirza Mohammad, Naeem Haider, Hammad, Fayaz, Bilal and Ali Mehdi chipped in one goal each for Police Boys. Rana Haider scored the only goal for losers. It was the second successive victory for Police Boys in Pool ‘A’.

Rabbani Club continued their unbeaten run when they registered 7-0 victory over Olympian Iftikhar Syed Sports Academy (OISSA), thanks to hat-trick by Munir Abbasi. Sajid Hussain scored twice while Wajahat and Adeel Khan added one goal each.

In another match, Spartan Club sent Central Fitness Club packing 8-0. Mohammad Sameer stole limelight with a hat-trick. He was followed by Athar Ahmed and Mohammad Bilal who shared four goals amongst themselves while Mukhtar Ahmed completed the tally.—Sports Reporter

Aahil, Hareem win ranking TT titles

KARACHI: Unseeded Aahil Shah pulled off a major upset on Thursday when he toppled top-ranked Saim Adnan 4-2 in the final to clinch the men’s singles title in the eighth Prof Dr Essa Mohammad Abdullah Ranking Table Tennis Tournament here at the Sindh Sports Board (SSB) Sports Complex the other day.

Former Karachi champion Aahil, who appeared in the ranking event after a layoff, recorded a 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11 victory against Saim to add another title to his tally after a long time.

Meanwhile, top seed Hareem Anwar won the women’s singles title defeating unseeded Farah Salman 11-6, 11-3, 14-12, 11-5.

The mixed doubles title went to Saim Adnan and Sadia Raheel who accounted for the duo of Hoor Fawad and Kaif Riaz 12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 13-15, 11-6 in the title clash.

The triumph helped Saim win a double crown as he in combination with Arsalan Alvi had won the men’s doubles title earlier.—Sports Reporter

Mahatir, Abdullah set title clash

LAHORE: Abdullah Adnan and Mahatir Mohammad won in straight sets to reach the boys’ under-18 singles finals in the Ali Embroidery Junior National Tennis Championship at the Punjab Tennis Academy Bagh-e-Jinnah here on Thursday.

Results:

Boys’ under-18 singles (semi-finals): Mahatir Mohammad bt Farman Shakeel 7-5, 6-4; Abdullah bt Faizan Fayyaz 6-3, 6-2.

Girls’ under-18 singles (semi-finals): Amna Ali Qayyum bt Ashtafila Arif 6-2, 6-0; Zahra Suleman bt Zainab Ali 6-2, 6-2.

Boys’ under-16 singles (semi-finals): Nadir Ali Raza bt Bilal Asim — walkover; Shaeel Durab bt Asad Zaman 6-3, 6-0.

Boys’ under-14 singles (semi-finals): Asad Zaman bt Muzamil Bhand 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2; Ahtesham Humayun bt Shehryar Anees 6-2, 6-4.

Boys’ under-12 singles (quarter-finals): Abubakar Talha bt Omer Jawad 7-5, 6-3; Abdul Basit bt Nabeel Ali Qayyum 6-4, 7-6; Zohaib Afzal Malik bt Sameer Zaman 6-1, 6-2; Amir Mazari bt Abdur Rehman 6-1, 6-0.

Boys’ under-10 singles (quarter-finals): Abdur Rehman bt Arman Nawaz 4-0, 4-0; Rashid Ali bt Majid Ali 4-0, 4-1; Fajjar Fayyaz bt Ehsan Bari 4-0, 4-0.

Boys’ under-12 doubles (semi-finals): Farman/Nailan bt Shaeel/Ali Talha 3-6, 7-6, 10-7; Abdullah Adnan/Mahatir Mohammad bt Faizan/Hassan 6-2, 6-2.

Boys’ under-14 doubles (quarter-finals): Amir Mazari/Nadir Ali Raza bt Sohan Noor Abubakar 4-0, 4-1; Asad/Humayum bt Muneer/Muzamil 4-2, 4-2.—Sports Reporter

Pakistan juniors to face seniors in four-game series

LAHORE: After the finalisation of Pakistan’s junior hockey squad for the World Cup through two-day trials being held in Karachi from Oct 29, a four-match series between the juniors and Pakistan seniors will be held in Lahore from Nov 6 to 10.

The Junior World Cup is being held in Bhubaneswar, India from Nov 24 to Dec 5.

The national selection committee headed by Olympian Manzoor Junior will conduct the trials at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium, Karachi.

The training is already under process at the same venue. After the announcement of an 18-member squad, it will arrive in Lahore on Nov 3. The training camp for the seniors is already in progress in Lahore under coach Khawaja Junaid.—Sports Reporter

Guard Group reach polo final

LAHORE: Guard Group qualified for the main final of the Lulusar Polo in Pink while ZS Polo Team booked their berth in the subsidiary final after winning their matches at the Lahore Polo Club ground here on Thursday.

Both matches were played under the American System among three teams. Guard Group reached the final thanks to a better goal difference. Having lost 5-4 to Habib Metro Lions, they thrashed Airlink Eagles 5-1½. Airlink Eagles put Habib Metro Lions out of contention with a 2½-2 victory.

ZS Polo overwhelmed Nagina Group 4-2½ and then chalked out a 3-2 win over Remington Pharma, who beat Nagina Group 3-2 in the last tie.—Sports Reporter

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2021