KARACHI: National athletes will breathe a sigh of relief as the National Gymnastics Championship begins today in Lahore after a gap of two years.

According to national champion Khurram Shehzad, the two-year break was a major cause of concern among local athletes, who were only left with the National Games to compete at. “We only get to participate in inter-departmental tournaments now,” Shehzad told The Express Tribune. “It’s not enough because compared to other sports, gymnasts invest more time in training.”

Shehzad will represent Wapda in the event, that also features Police, Army and Railways.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.

PAF take on KESC, while Wapda will lock horns with NBP in the two last-four matches in Bahawalpur today. The semi-final line-up delighted PAF coach Arshad Khan, who was pleased to see the dominance of the powerhouses broken and other teams making it to the final stages.

“It’s going to be an interesting tournament since no one expected PAF, Wapda or NBP to be in the semi-finals,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “It’s a good change. KRL’s exit was a big surprise. The strongest competitors are gone, so I believe we have a better chance of winning the trophy.”

Talking about his chances against KESC, he said, “My players have the passion and they have never come this close to winning the Challenge Cup trophy before. They are hungry to win.”

Khan said his efforts with PAF were finally paying dividends, referring to the last two decades where his team was considered one of the weakest in the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL).

“We will soon emerge as one of the top clubs in the country. Last year, we were left behind in the PPFL due to the department’s decision of not sending the team to Chaman for the concluding matches due to security concerns. Had that not happened, PAF would have at least clinched third position.”

However, Khan said that their performance in the Challenge Cup will only increase the confidence of his team before the PPFL begins later this year.

Meanwhile, a KESC official believed the team is favourite to win the trophy.

“After KRL, we are the best club in the country,” said the official. “Our PPFL performance last year proved it. I’m hoping we can win both the Challenge Cup and PPFL this year.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2013.

KARACHI: KESC ended the national under-18 squad’s impressive run at the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Challenge Cup, but not before the young brigade gave their opposition a run for their money during the quarter-final.

Both teams were deadlocked when play was taken to extra time with Mohammad Rasool finding the net to give his side a 1-0 win and a place in the semi-finals. KESC coach Hasan Baloch was relieved after his side’s narrow win. Baloch also praised the under-18 team for putting on a good show throughout the event, which also saw them down defending champions KRL during the group stage and make it to the second round.

“It was a close match,” admitted Baloch. “The under-18 players are an exciting and enthusiastic bunch and I think they have it in them to make it to the national squad. It means Pakistan football has a bright future. I’m also glad that Rasool scored his first goal. He’s proved his fitness and that’s a positive for us.”

Meanwhile, Wapda also reached the semi-final after a 1-0 win over Army.

PFF complains over load-shedding issue

With the tournament nearing its end, players were still complaining over the lack of basic facilities with power outage being a prime concern.

According to players, constant power breakdowns during matches has had a disturbing effect on their game, lamenting the state of affairs during the national event.

“It breaks our momentum,” said one player. “Imagine moving towards scoring a goal when power breaks down.”

Tournament manager Rauf Bari said the PFF had written a letter to Wapda to alter the load-shedding timings till the event concludes on May 26.

Bahawalpur crowd ‘encouraging’

With Bahawalpur staging the Challenge Cup for the first time, the official was also left lamenting the state of basic facilities in the city to organise such an event.

“It’s really tough to organise an event here,” said Bari. “We could’ve held this tournament in Lahore or Islamabad but these cities never attract the crowd. The only people who visit are officials and their families. In Bahawalpur, we see at least 2000 spectators daily. Although it’s difficult to organise national tournaments with less facilities, it’s the only way to promote the sport. And the crowd response has been encouraging.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2013.

PAF won 3-1 despite conceding a goal early in the 27th minute, courtesy NBP’s Muhammad Asif. PAF captain Muhammad Mujahid equalised in the 52nd minute, while Muhammad Arif doubled the score in the 73rd. He went on to strike another goal in the third minute of extra-time to seal the win.

PAF play Pak-Afghan Clearing Agency (Paca) in the quarter-final today, while NBP will play defending champions KRL.

“We are the under-dogs,” PAF coach Arshad Khan told The Express Tribune. “My team has maintained its form since the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL). We finished fifth because we skipped our last four PPFL matches otherwise we played well throughout the season. I’m sure we can do the same in the Challenge Cup. I’m confident we can beat Paca to qualify for the semi-finals.”

Higher prize money in this year’s edition

Meanwhile, the last eight teams will be vying for a prize-money of Rs300,000, an amount which was Rs200,000 the previous year.

According to the tournament manager Rauf Bari, the PFF increased the total prize-money of the tournament from Rs600,000 to Rs700,000 this year.

“We increased the budget for the tournament this year,” said Bari. “Even though the total cost of holding the Challenge Cup is Rs3.5 million, the Bahawalpur Football Association is collaborating with us so we had the leverage to boost the winners’ purse.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2013.

KARACHI: The National under-18 team powered its way into the quarter-finals of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Challenge Cup 2013 despite making its first appearance at the event.

The team thrashed Faisalabad’s Bhatti United FC 5-2 at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur, taking the lead in Group C with four points.

Mansoor Khan netted four times, while Muhammad Riaz contributed a goal in the team’s impressive victory.

Khan, touted as the best emerging striker at the national level, scored his first goal in the 20th minute on a penalty kick as the U18 boys led 2-0 at the interval. Bhatti United FC levelled in the second-half, but Mansoor scored in the 78th, 81st and 85th minutes to seal his side’s win.

“My bet is on the national under-18 side winning the tournament,” a PFF official told The Express Tribune. “I think they can win the tournament only if they get past clubs like KRL and KESC.”

Meanwhile, SSGC crushed Police 4-0 for third position in Group B. KESC and Wapda have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Defending champions succumb to shock defeat

However, the biggest upset of the tournament came when Pak-Afghan Clearing Agency (PACA) defeated defending champions KRL 2-1 in their Group A match on Saturday night.

The win means PACA now lead Group A with four points. They qualified for the quarter-finals while KRL stayed in second place with three points. They will play their last group match against HBL today.

“I’m not worried about losing to PACA,” said KRL striker Kaleemullah. “KRL is the best club in the country and these local tournaments will help us prepare for international events.”

HBL claimed two points after recording a draw against Ashraf Sugar Mills 1-1.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

PAF thrashed hosts Bahawalpur 8-0 while NBP recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory against HEC at the Dring Stadium.

PAF began their second match of the tournament with confidence as Irfan Ali scored the opening goal in the 20th minute and doubled the lead after a minute. His fellow striker Arif Nawaz scored in the 36th as PAF led 3-0 at the interval.

PAF continued to dominate in the second-half as Ali’s third goal of the match came in the 48th minute. He went on to score his hat-trick in the 58th minute.

Meanwhile, Nawaz scored his second goal in the 78th minute and captain Muhammad Mujahid along with striker Rafiullah scored a goal apiece.

PAF’s match against Bahawalpur was originally scheduled to take place in the evening at the Swimming Pool Football Ground but due to the deteriorating pitch, the matches were shifted to the morning session.

According to the match commissioner Rauf Bari, the organisers shifted all the matches that were scheduled to take place at the Swimming Pool Football Ground to the Dring Stadium.

“We changed the venue because the pitch at the Swimming Pool Football Ground was deteriorating,” Bari told The Express Tribune. “We have now scheduled the matches in the morning. The temperature here was 25 degree centigrade in the morning compared to evening temperate which was 39 degrees.

All the teams are happy about our decision.”

In the other match, NBP beat HEC 2-0. NBP striker Faisal Iqbal scored the opening goal of the match in the 30th minute as Farooq Shah sealed the victory with his late goal in the 84th.

Elsewhere, Wapda defeated Pakistan Police 1-0 and KESC outplayed SSGC 2-1 in the late night Group B matches.

In today’s fixtures, Army will face PIA in their last Group C match while KESC will conclude the first round of matches when they take on Wapda.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s campaign at the World Table Tennis Championship came to a screeching halt as none of the country’s four players were able to book a place in the main round of the event underway in Paris.

Pakistan’s three players in the men’s event, Yasir Bhatti, Saleem Abbas and Bilal Yaseen, and the country’s lone representative in the women’s category, Shabnam Bilal, were unable to make the cut in the last-128 and were sent packing in the preliminary round yesterday.

Pakistan players concede final matches

However, the surprising bit was that Pakistan players did not even bother taking part in their last match with all four of them conceding their final group match.

Bhatti and Abbas also skipped their men’s doubles match against Belgium’s Robin Davos and Cedric Nuytinck in the second pre-qualifying round.

“We skipped our final matches because there was no point — we didn’t think we could compete with the international players,” Bhatti told The Express Tribune.

“The tournament has been an eye opener for us because we realised that we are not at par with international players. We were just waiting for the last list of the main draw. We hoped that we would get a wildcard but we didn’t. It’s disappointing to come all this way and lose badly. I think the tournament began on a rough note for us.”

Pakistan squad had reached Paris on Monday and missed their opening matches at the event after failing to arrive in time. After their opponents were given walkovers, the Pakistan men’s team lost all its matches on day two with Shabnam recording a lone win and a defeat in her encounters.

However, the final day was marred with disappointment with Pakistan players not even bothering to show up for their final games.

Bhatti said the team suffered since it failed to appear at the Commonwealth Championship in India that took place from May 5, adding that the event would have served as a good warm-up for the world championship.

“We missed the Commonwealth Championship in India which cost us heavily. If we had participated in India we would’ve gotten a fair idea before the world championship.”

PTTF unperturbed

When asked about the players’ absence from the final matches, the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) remained unperturbed.

“They appeared in the event on their own and paid for their own expenses,” said a PTTF official.

“The Pakistan federation cannot react on this since the players appeared in an individual event and
were not representing the PTTF.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

KARACHI: After failing to appear in their matches on the opening day, Pakistan players suffered losses on the second as the World Table Tennis Championships continued in Paris.

The four-member Pakistan squad faced embarrassment on the opening day as they failed to arrive at the venue on time, stating that their connecting flight to Paris from Dubai was delayed.

However, the team failed to put up a meaningful performance when it finally did appear in its matches with the men’s squad losing their respective games.

While Pakistan requested the organisers to reschedule their matches, the appeal was rejected, according to Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) Vice-President Saleem Ahmed.

“It was unfortunate that the flight delay cost our players their opening matches,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune. “It’s embarrassing but in international tournaments we can’t expect the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to make changes in the schedule.”

However, Pakistan player Yasir Bhatti said the team still had a good chance of progressing to the main round.

“We had a tough day and it’s not easy to win a match after a very tiring journey,” said Bhatti. “But we can’t afford to lose this opportunity because players are bearing all the expenses. I don’t want to waste my money by not playing the remaining matches. I still believe we have a good chance in the event.”

On the second day, Bhatti lost to Denmark’s Kasper Sternberg 4-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4). Bilal Yaseen was defeated by Korea’s Kyungmin Kim 4-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3) and Saleem Abbas was outplayed by Romania’s Hunor Szocs 4-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6).

However, there was slightly good news in the women’s category as the country’s lone female player at the event, Shabnam Bilal, defeated Armenia’s Tamar Aghayan 4-0 (11-7, 14-12, 11-7, 12-10), but lost to Brazil’s Jessica  Yamada 4-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7) in the women’s singles pre-qualifying round.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2013.

KARACHI: There was finally some good news for Pakistan football on the international front as KRL progressed to the final stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President’s Cup, an achievement that was duly lauded by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).

KRL demolished Bhutan league champions Yeezdin FC 8-0 in their final group game, much to the delight of PFF Secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi who said it was a victory for Pakistan football.

“It’s a win for Pakistan,” Lodhi told The Express Tribune. “I’m impressed and extremely happy with their performance. They are Pakistan’s premier club and showed why.

“KRL tackled FC Dordoi in their opening match. They defeated the home team Global FC in style as well. It’s been a good campaign so far.”

KRL and Kyrgyzstan’s FC Dordoi, who have previously won the AFC President’s Cup, qualified for the final stage of the tournament with seven points each, leaving behind Philippines’ Global FC and Yeezdin FC in Group B.

The two teams will now play the final stage in September with Nepal’s Three Star Club and Mongolia’s Erchim FC who qualified from Group A along with Turkmenistan’s FC Balkan and Palestine’s Hilal Al-Quds FC from Group C.

According to Lodhi, even coach Tariq Lutfi proved that his team can produce players with a temperament for the international matches. He praised the club for qualifying for the final stage for the second successive time.

A leap for Kaleemullah

Lodhi also heaped praise on KRL’s star striker Kaleemullah, who scored five goals in the rout against Yeezdin FC.

Kaleemullah was previously criticised for his poor show for the national side and Lodhi was relieved to see him deliver the goods.

“I’m relieved he finally scored,” said Lodhi about the 21-year-old striker, who scored 32 goals in the Pakistan Premier Football League. “He struggled with the national side. So I’m glad Kaleemullah has proved his doubters wrong.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) will hold the International Taekwondo Demonstration on May 14 in Islamabad featuring 20 Korean athletes to promote diplomacy through sports

According to PTF secretary Wasim Ahmed, the demonstration by the Korean athletes will celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Korea. The athletes have already arrived for the event.

Ahmed says the performance by the Korean athletes will be a prelude to the ninth Korean Ambassador National Taekwondo Championship 2013. However, he said the highlight of the national championship will be the introduction of the electronic system by the PTF.

“The electronic system is the same one that was used in the Olympics last year,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune. It will monitor the player’s technique and accuracy. This way they will not be able to cheat.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2013.