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                        <title>Latest Sports News &amp; Updates | The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Barca count on Yamal</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601094/barca-count-on-yamal</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601094/barca-count-on-yamal#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:28:34 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601094</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Spanish champions visit Atletico to extend their lead]]>
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				<![CDATA[Barcelona winger Raphinha&#39;s untimely injury heaps further pressure on teenage star Lamine Yamal ahead of the club&#39;s triple-header against Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish champions visit Atletico on Saturday as they bid to maintain or even extend their lead at the top of La Liga, before two further games against Diego Simeone&#39;s team in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Barca have already faced Atletico three times this season, beating them in La Liga in December but falling in the Copa del Rey semi-final over two legs.

Without Raphinha, out with a hamstring injury until May, the onus will be on 18-year-old winger Yamal to provide the magic Barca need to proceed on two fronts in the approaching inevitably intense battles with Atletico.

Barca hold a four-point lead on Real Madrid, who visit Mallorca earlier on Saturday, at the top of the table.

Yamal played for Spain this week in a goalless draw against Egypt in Cornella at Espanyol&#39;s stadium, which was notable for Islamophobic chanting from the home supporters that the teenager, a Muslim, condemned.

&quot;To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist,&quot; wrote Yamal on social media.

Yamal has shown maturity beyond his years since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old, including starring for Spain as they won Euro 2024 and blossoming further still as Barca claimed a domestic treble last season.

The youngster, often compared to another graduate from Barca&#39;s La Masia youth academy, Lionel Messi, seems to save his best performances for the biggest occasions.

Yamal netted six times for Barca in his last seven matches across all competitions, and the Catalan giants will hope he can continue that form into the final phase of the season.

He admitted in February that he has not been happy this season, in part due to a long-running groin injury, but lately feels better.

&quot;I have that desire to smile on the pitch that I haven&#39;t had for a long time and I&#39;m very happy, now I&#39;m happy playing,&quot; said Yamal after scoring the first hat-trick of his career, against Villarreal.

In recent weeks Barca have been dependent on the forward in attack and goalkeeper Joan Garcia at the other end.

Strikers Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have struggled for consistent form, while Marcus Rashford has fallen somewhat out of favour.

Raphinha&#39;s injury opens the door for the England international, on loan from Manchester United, to start on the left again.

Yamal&#39;s pressing and off-the-ball work is an excellent example for Rashford, who despite his strong contribution in terms of assists, sometimes lacks the relentless energy and focus Flick wants from his forwards.

As well as Raphinha, Barca are also likely to be without Frenkie de Jong at the weekend, but Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde may be able to return after injury.

Simeone&#39;s Atletico, fourth by a distance from fifth-place Real Betis, have little to play for in the league but will want to build momentum before Wednesday&#39;s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Camp Nou.

Player to watch: Largie Ramazani

Valencia have risen to mid-table in recent weeks, largely thanks to the form of Belgian forward Ramazani. The 25-year-old, on loan from Premier League side Leeds, has scored five goals in his last nine appearances. Los Che host Celta Vigo on Sunday looking to add to their run of three wins from their last four matches.]]>
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			<title>City host Liverpool in FA Cup quarter-finals</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601093/city-host-liverpool-in-fa-cup-quarter-finals</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601093/city-host-liverpool-in-fa-cup-quarter-finals#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:25:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601093</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Reds chase their last hopes of silverware]]>
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				<![CDATA[Liverpool face a daunting trip to Manchester City in the standout tie of the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend as Mohamed Salah seeks to end nine spectacular seasons at Anfield on a high.

Arsenal and Chelsea will expect to reach the semi-finals at Wembley against lower tier opposition, while West Ham United and Leeds put their battle for Premier League survival on hold in a bid to reach the last four.

The Reds have to get past City without injured goalkeeper Alisson Becker who will miss the Saturday&rsquo;s clash and both legs of the Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain.

Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to deputise for Alisson at the Etihad.

City produced perhaps their best performance of the season to dominate Arsenal and win the League Cup final 2-0 before the international break.

They remain in the running to match their feat as the only English side to ever win the domestic treble of League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League in 2018/19.

Liverpool face a defining 10 days for their season and possibly Arne Slot&rsquo;s future at Anfield.

Languishing fifth in the Premier League, the FA Cup and Champions League are the Reds&rsquo; only remaining hope of glory.

One positive for Liverpool is that their record signing Alexander Isak may be fit to play a part against City, though, having returned to training after breaking his leg in December.

&ldquo;It will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes,&rdquo; Slot said of Isak on Friday.

&ldquo;We will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up in minutes, but it&rsquo;s a very good thing to have him on the training ground again.

&ldquo;It would be even better to have him available for games, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;

After visiting the Etihad, Slot&rsquo;s men face European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals over two legs on April 8 and 14.

Despite leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title less than a year ago, Slot is under huge pressure to end a difficult second season on a high if he is to remain in the job.

The rest of Liverpool&rsquo;s season will also be marked by a long farewell to Salah.

The Egyptian announced over the international break that he will leave at the end of the campaign having netted 255 goals so far for the club.

&ldquo;Hopefully he can make his legacy even more special in the upcoming weeks and months where we still play for something special, but he will always leave this club as a legend,&rdquo; said Slot.

Fernandez dropped

Meanwhile, Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior confirmed Enzo Fernandez would not be part of the squad for Saturday&rsquo;s FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale and next weekend&rsquo;s Premier League game against City.

The Argentinian midfielder will miss Chelsea&rsquo;s next two matches after he &ldquo;crossed a line&rdquo; with comments that cast doubt on his future at Stamford Bridge.

The 25-year-old, linked with Real Madrid, fuelled speculation by telling a podcast he would like to live in the Spanish capital.

&ldquo;I spoke with Enzo about an hour ago,&rdquo; Rosenior said on Friday. &ldquo;As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won&rsquo;t be available for tomorrow&rsquo;s game or Manchester City next Sunday.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way. I have got no bad words to say about him, but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.&rdquo;

Four consecutive defeats have plunged Rosenior&rsquo;s future into doubt less than three months into his reign]]>
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			<title>Gattuso leaves Italy job after WC disaster</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601087/gattuso-leaves-italy-job-after-wc-disaster</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601087/gattuso-leaves-italy-job-after-wc-disaster#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:22:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601087</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[FIGC president Gravina and delegation head Buffon also resign]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Gennaro Gattuso quit as Italy coach on Friday, as the Azzurri&rsquo;s failure to reach a third straight World Cup continued to send shockwaves through Italian football.

A World Cup winner in 2006, Gattuso leaves after less than a year in charge of Italy, a team which has fallen far behind historic rivals like France and Spain in the last two decades.

Defeat on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tuesday&rsquo;s qualification play-off final ended up costing Gattuso his job, as the man who hired him also stepped down as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

&ldquo;With a heavy heart, and having fallen short of the goal we set ourselves, I feel my time as head coach of the national team has come to an end,&rdquo; Gattuso said in a statement.

&ldquo;The Azzurri shirt is the most precious thing in football, and for that reason it&rsquo;s only right to make way immediately for the federation&rsquo;s future decisions.

&ldquo;It has been an honour to lead the national team, especially with a group of players who have shown such commitment and dedication.&rdquo;

Gabriele Gravina had asked Gattuso to stay on immediately after elimination in Zenica but his departure, and that of national team general manager Gianluigi Buffon, paved the way for the 48-year-old&rsquo;s exit after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Gattuso took charge of Italy in June last year following the sacking of Luciano Spalletti, himself a victim of a dismal title defence at Euro 2024 and a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Erling Haaland&rsquo;s Norway in their first World Cup qualifier.

His record is impressive on paper, with six wins, one defeat and one draw in eight matches with 22 goals scored and 10 conceded.

But that draw was the 1-1 with Bosnia which preceded a penalty shoot-out in which Italy missed twice, while the loss was another humiliating one to Norway, this time 4-1 at the San Siro.

STRONG CHOICE

Gattuso was considered by many a strange choice to replace Spalletti due to his spotty club coaching record, and he was heavily criticised after Tuesday&rsquo;s elimination.

Italy were second best nearly the whole game, and completely conceded the initiative when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off not long before half-time.

Bosnia could easily have won the game in normal time but once Italy managed to get to the shoot-out Gattuso selected inexperienced Pio Esposito to take the first penalty, which the 20-year-old smashed over the bar.

The upheaval caused by failing to qualify for this summer&rsquo;s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, means the national team will have an interim coach for a friendly with Greece on June 7.

Two former national team coaches in Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to victory at Euro 2020, and Antonio Conte are the names most frequently cited as Gattuso&rsquo;s replacement.

But no new coach will be announced until after the FIGC&rsquo;s board vote on a new president on June 22, Gravina falling on his sword a day after sports minister Andrea Abodi called on him to go.

Italy&rsquo;s failure to reach the first ever 48-team World Cup &mdash; which will feature the likes of Cape Verde and Curacao &mdash; led Abodi to release a statement saying: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC.&rdquo;

That came a day after Gravina had hit out at politicians &ldquo;who have only pushed for resignations&rdquo;, while also admitting Italian football &ldquo;is in a profound crisis&rdquo;.

Italy&rsquo;s footballing woes do not just relate to diminishing performances by the national team.

No Serie A club has won the Champions League since 2010.

The country is due to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey but on Thursday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hit out at the state of Italy&rsquo;s stadiums, warning the country could be stripped of hosting rights.

&ldquo;I just hope that the infrastructure (in Italy) will be ready. If that&rsquo;s not the case, the tournament will not be held in Italy,&rdquo; Ceferin said in an interview with the Gazzetta Dello Sport.]]>
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			<title>Japan lead Asia’s World Cup charge</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601086/japan-lead-asias-world-cup-charge</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601086/japan-lead-asias-world-cup-charge#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:19:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601086</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Moriyasu says they can adapt style of play to succeed]]>
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				<![CDATA[Wins over England and Scotland underline Japan&#39;s status as the Asian nation most likely to make a major impact at the World Cup during an international window of mixed fortunes &zwnj;for the continent&#39;s qualifiers for this summer&#39;s finals.

Iraq&#39;s emotional 2-1 victory over Bolivia during the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico took the Gulf state to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years and ensured Asia would have a record nine qualifiers at the tournament.

But while Graham Arnold and his players were celebrating the completion of a qualifying journey that lasted 21 matches over 28 months, the continent&#39;s eight other finalists experienced varying levels of satisfaction with their preparations.

The ⁠Japanese took the headlines with their 1-0 wins at Hampden Park and Wembley, the first over England by an Asian nation, to give coach Hajime Moriyasu increased belief his team can be among the World Cup contenders.

&quot;Come the World Cup, we must be able to do many things, we must have many styles of play,&quot; said Moriyasu, whose side have won their last five matches and who will face the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia at the finals.

&quot;Offensively we must be able to attack slowly as well as attacking on the counterattack, which will be faster offensively.

&quot;We saw against Scotland, they played a very defensive style and we saw England play with a very high-pressing team so we have to manage the play against various types of opponent and &zwnj;I&#39;m confident ⁠that we can do that at the World Cup as well.&quot;

South Korean coach Hong Myung-bo was left with plenty to ponder after a pair of defeats, as Tuesday&#39;s 1-0 loss against Austria came in the wake of a 4-0 thrashing by Ivory Coast.

&quot;We&#39;ve finished our experiments in terms of our positional balance and player combinations,&quot; said Hong, whose team will meet co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and Czech Republic.

&quot;Our tactics are ⁠almost set. We have to finish our player selection by mid-May, and we will watch K-League matches closely and analyse our data to pick the players that we think will perform well at the World Cup.&quot;

Australia won back-to-back clashes with Cameroon and Curacao in FIFA Series matches in ⁠Sydney and Melbourne, while Uzbekistan, preparing for their first World Cup appearance, won 3-1 against Gabon before sealing a penalty shootout win over Venezuela.

Jordan, who will also be making their World Cup debut, picked up morale-boosting 2-2 draws against Costa Rica and ⁠Nigeria, and Iran lost 2-1 to the Nigerians before winning 5-0 against Costa Rica.
&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Salman Ali Agha relishes PSL freedom</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601027/salman-ali-agha-relishes-psl-freedom</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601027/salman-ali-agha-relishes-psl-freedom#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 07:58:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Saleem Khaliq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601027</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He says batting at number three allows him to play aggressively]]>
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				<![CDATA[Salman Ali Agha has started enjoying his participation in the PSL as a regular player. In an exclusive interview with Express Tribune, he said that the extra responsibility that comes with being a captain is absent in the PSL. In such a situation, you get the opportunity to do many things that you cannot do as a captain, and he is enjoying this.

Speaking about Karachi Kings captain David Warner, Salman Ali Agha said that he has performed exceptionally well in international as well as franchise cricket. &ldquo;He is a legend, and I am getting the opportunity to learn a lot from him,&rdquo; he added.

He said that Karachi Kings quickly formed a good combination in the tournament, which is very important for any team. &ldquo;We have been performing well since the very first match, and we will try to maintain this momentum.&rdquo;

In response to a question, he said that during the thrilling match against Lahore Qalandars, he never felt that they would fail to chase the target. &ldquo;We have a strong batting line-up with firepower, which is why we managed to win the match.&rdquo;

Talking about his own performance, Salman Ali Agha said that he got off to a good start in the first PSL match but could not convert it into a big innings. &ldquo;The tournament is still in its early stages. My form is good, but I haven&rsquo;t been able to play a big innings yet. I will try to perform better in the upcoming matches.&rdquo;

He added that as a national team captain, whenever matches are being played, one naturally keeps an eye on the performances of other players. Whenever he watches PSL matches, whether it is a bowler or a batter, good performances and player behavior always catch his attention.

Batting at Number Three

Salman Ali Agha said that he has enjoyed batting in the middle and lower order as well. However, batting at number three provides a greater opportunity to play aggressively during the powerplay. He likes to play fast-paced cricket, so he is happy with this position.

He further said that he does not think of himself strictly as an all-rounder. His approach is that when he is bowling, he considers himself a regular bowler, and when he is batting, he considers himself a batter. While bowling, his aim is to take wickets for the team and maintain a good economy rate.

Experience with Islamabad United and Karachi Kings

Salman Ali Agha said that his two-year journey with Islamabad United was very good, and he enjoyed it a lot. It is such a team that any player who leaves it feels its absence, and he also misses that environment.

When he joined Karachi Kings, he wondered whether he would find a similar environment. Although he has spent only a few days with the new team, the time has been very good. Everyone is friendly, and since they have won their initial matches, the atmosphere has become even better. So far, everything has been going well for him there.

Addition of New Teams in PSL

Salman Ali Agha said that the inclusion of two new teams in the PSL is a welcome development. It will increase competition, and this edition is different from previous ones because of the new teams. This new challenge is very exciting for everyone.

In response to a question, he said that it is too early to name the strongest or favorite teams, as franchises are still trying to build their combinations. However, on paper, all teams look quite strong, and he expects very exciting contests this season.

Importance of Crowd in Stadiums

Salman Ali Agha said that the presence of spectators in stadiums is very important, and they are missing the crowd. &ldquo;Just imagine how exciting a Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars match would have been with a full crowd.&rdquo; The presence of fans motivates players to perform better. He hopes that spectators will be allowed later in the tournament so people can enjoy the matches.

Love for Test Cricket

Salman Ali Agha said that he loves Test cricket, and for him, nothing is greater than it. It is the format where true skills are expressed. &ldquo;I would give up anything for it. Red-ball cricket will always be number one for me.&rdquo;

He added that after the PSL, the Pakistani team will tour Bangladesh, and he is very excited about that series.

Learning from the World Cup

He said that failure also has great importance in life and teaches a lot. It reveals things that you might not have noticed before. From the recent T20 World Cup, he learned a lot both as a captain and as a player. He believes that in future similar situations, he will be able to make better decisions as both captain and batter.

Cricketing Inspirations

Salman Ali Agha said that while he cannot say he started playing cricket by following a specific player, he enjoyed watching Mohammad Yousuf&rsquo;s batting among Pakistani players. He also got the opportunity to play under his coaching and considers himself fortunate that Yousuf was the batting coach when he received his Test and ODI caps. He learned a lot from him.

Among foreign players, he watched Michael Clarke&rsquo;s batting a lot and considers him one of his favorites. He greatly enjoyed watching both players bat.

Views on Social Media

Salman Ali Agha said that in this regard, he is quite a &ldquo;boring&rdquo; person because he does not like social media. He does not even have such apps on his phone. He believes that social media can sometimes distract you.

He does not spend much time on it, nor does he post anything. He prefers to stay within his own circle and spends his free time with his family. During matches, he completely avoids social media and focuses entirely on his game.

Reaction to Bangladesh Incident

Speaking about his strong reaction after a controversial run-out in Bangladesh, Salman Ali Agha said that he usually does not get very angry, but when he does, it becomes visible.

He admitted that he is not proud of his reaction, but the match situation at that time was such that he and Mohammad Rizwan were batting well, and if they had stayed for another 5&ndash;6 overs, they could have taken the match away from the opposition.

&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I got angry,&rdquo; he said, adding that he will try not to express his anger in that manner if a similar situation arises in the future.]]>
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			<title>Pegula reaches Charleston quarters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600875/pegula-reaches-charleston-quarters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600875/pegula-reaches-charleston-quarters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 11:19:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600875</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[World number five beat Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1)]]>
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				<![CDATA[Defending champion and top seed Jessica Pegula fought back to reach the WTA Charleston Open quarter-finals on Thursday, requiring a final-set tiebreak to see off Italy&#39;s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).

A resilient Pegula, the world number five from the United States, eventually progressed just a day after laboring more than three hours to beat 72nd-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

The latest hard-fought win, clocking in at just over two hours, was revenge for Pegula, who was stunned by Cocciaretto at Wimbledon last year.

Cocciaretto, ranked 43rd in the world, dominated the first set.

Pegula&#39;s serve was notably wayward, with the American winning just 25 percent of first serve points.

&quot;I don&#39;t know what I was doing out there... Oh my gosh, that&#39;s horrible,&quot; said Pegula after.

Pegula rallied in the second set, but was immediately broken in a topsy-turvy final set, in which she trailed 1-4.

The American hauled it back to 4-4, but then found the net on a break point that would have given her the lead.

Two points from defeat at 4-5, Pegula fought back to 5-5 and they advanced into a deciding tiebreak.

Pegula drew first blood, going up 1-0 off Cocciaretto&#39;s serve, then won every point on her own serve before Cocciaretto double-faulted to hand her the match.

&quot;She beat me the last time we played, so there was a bit of a mental thing too, but I was able to serve really well, I think, at the end,&quot; Pegula said. &quot;And then I just held my nerve.&quot;

Pegula, who won the title in Dubai in February, next faces Russia&#39;s Diana Shnaider -- a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic also advanced, shrugging off a slow start to beat Czech Sara Bejlek 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and line up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seeded American Madison Keys.

Keys beat Hungarian Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5. AFP]]>
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			<title>Italy's football chief resigns after World Cup disaster</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600873/italys-football-chief-resigns-after-world-cup-disaster</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600873/italys-football-chief-resigns-after-world-cup-disaster#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 11:09:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600873</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[UEFA also warns of infrastructure concerns ahead of Euro 2032]]>
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				<![CDATA[The head of Italy&#39;s football federation (FIGC) resigned on Thursday, falling on his sword after the men&#39;s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time.

Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country&#39;s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC&#39;s headquarters in Rome on Thursday.

His announcement came a day after Sport Minister Andrea Abodi called on him to resign.

Four-time World Cup winners Italy fell at the play-offs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shoot-out against Bosnia and Hercegovina, and will miss this summer&#39;s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The shock waves of the latest humiliation for one of the world&#39;s most successful football nations forced Gravina, 72, to go back on his initial plans to wait until a FIGC board meeting next week to announce a decision on his future.

The FIGC said in a statement that a vote for a new president would be held on June 22.

Giovanni Malago, the former long-time head of the Italian Olympic Committee who was president of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics organisation committee, is reportedly one of the names in the hat.

Before then, head coach Gennaro Gattuso is expected to also step down, while general manager Gianluigi Buffon, the former Italy goalkeeper, announced his resignation on Thursday.

Italy&#39;s failure to reach the first ever 48-team World Cup -- which will feature the likes of Cape Verde and Curacao -- led Abodi to release a statement saying: &quot;It&#39;s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC.&quot;

That came a day after Gravina had hit out at politicians &quot;who have only pushed for resignations&quot;, while also admitting Italian football &quot;is in a profound crisis&quot;.

UEFA threat

Gravina was elected FIGC president in October 2018, becoming the permanent replacement for Carlo Tavecchio, who stepped down following Italy&#39;s first World Cup play-off defeat to Sweden the previous year.

The highlight of his reign was Italy&#39;s thrilling triumph at Euro 2020, when an Azzurri team under Roberto Mancini, which went unbeaten for 37 matches, beat England at Wembley to be crowned kings of the continent for the second time.

But two World Cup qualification failures and a dismal defence of the European title left Gravina with little choice but to resign as Italy&#39;s football woes deepen.

And those do not just relate to diminishing performances by the national team and Serie A clubs -- none of whom have won the Champions League since 2010.

Italy are due to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey but on Thursday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hit out at the state of Italy&#39;s stadiums, warning the country could be stripped of hosting rights.

&quot;I just hope that the infrastructure (in Italy) will be ready. If that&#39;s not the case, the tournament will not be held in Italy,&quot; Ceferin said in an interview with the Gazzetta Dello Sport.

Italy&#39;s football malaise contrasts sharply with its success in other sports.

Italy claimed a record 30 medals at the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, including 10 golds, and left the 2024 Summer Games in Paris with 40 medals.

The Mediterranean nation also has top performers in a wide variety of other sports, such as tennis star Jannik Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam winner.

Gravina caused anger on Tuesday by referring to other sports as &quot;amateur&quot; and &quot;state sports&quot; compared to football due to the large number of athletes, particularly Olympians, who are nominally employed by different branches of Italy&#39;s armed forces and police.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan Tennis Federation announces Davis Cup Juniors team for Kazakhstan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600911/pakistan-tennis-federation-announces-davis-cup-juniors-team-for-kazakhstan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600911/pakistan-tennis-federation-announces-davis-cup-juniors-team-for-kazakhstan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 17:25:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Our Correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600911</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Abubakar Talha, Hassan Usmani, Zohaib Afzal Malik picked for Davis Cup Juniors after trials at Islamabad PTF complex]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has selected three players for the upcoming Davis Cup Juniors, scheduled to be held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, from May 16 to 24, 2026.

Trials for the Pakistan Davis Cup Juniors team were conducted at the PTF Tennis Complex in Islamabad from March 30 to April 2, 2026. A total of 12 players were invited to participate in the trials based on their current rankings and performances.

In recognition of his recent outstanding performance, Abubakar Talha was exempted from the trials.

The final team comprises Talha, Hassan Usmani, and Zohaib Afzal Malik.

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, President of the PTF, Col. Zia-ud-din Tufail, Secretary General of the PTF, and the federation management extended their best wishes to the selected players and their families for success in the upcoming tournament.]]>
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			<title>Dwarshuis eyes regular Australia spot after Starc exit opens door</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600872/dwarshuis-eyes-regular-australia-spot-after-starc-exit-opens-door</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600872/dwarshuis-eyes-regular-australia-spot-after-starc-exit-opens-door#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 10:56:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600872</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of BBL with 164]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis says the competition will be fierce to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc&rsquo;s retirement from Twenty20 internationals, as a clutch of Australian pacers jostle for a rare opening in the national team&rsquo;s attack.

Starc, Australia&rsquo;s third-highest wicket-taker with 759 wickets across all &zwnj;formats, behind only Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, retired from T20 internationals in September last year. His departure has offered up a place in an Australian fast-bowling group long dominated by Starc alongside fellow pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Dwarshuis, who made his international debut in 2022, has featured in only six one-day internationals and 15 T20Is, competing for selection with fellow pace bowlers such as Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett and Spencer ⁠Johnson. He noted that the competition is not only about raw pace but also fitness, consistency, and the ability to perform under pressure.

&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a whole heap of Australian bowlers who have sort of sat behind Mitch Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, who have just done amazing things for Australian cricket and haven&rsquo;t really opened the door for anyone else to sort of take their spot,&rdquo; Dwarshuis told Reuters.

&ldquo;Mitch retiring obviously opens up a spot. There&rsquo;s a whole handful of guys that are trying to get into that spot. Competition&rsquo;s fierce, but knowing that there is a spot available means a potential avenue there if you perform.&rdquo; He also emphasized that building strong partnerships with other bowlers and backing the team strategy is crucial for securing a regular place in the national setup.

Dwarshuis, who was signed by Indian Premier League side Punjab Kings for a whopping 44 million Indian rupees ($472,462), said franchise leagues have become an increasingly important shop window for players chasing international &zwnj;selection. The ⁠31-year-old is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Big Bash League with 164.

&ldquo;Anytime you take the field and have an opportunity to perform, there&rsquo;s always going to be eyes watching, whether it&rsquo;s from Australia or other leagues,&rdquo; Dwarshuis said. &ldquo;With the viewership these competitions get, it&rsquo;s very easy to have a couple of good years and everyone&rsquo;s talking about you. But then ⁠if you&rsquo;re not performing well, that sort of viewership leads to maybe less opportunities there.&rdquo;

Punjab, currently fifth in the IPL standings, opened their campaign with a three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans, a match in which Dwarshuis was not selected. He acknowledged the squad&rsquo;s ⁠depth, with New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson yet to join, but said he is &ldquo;a three-phase bowler and can bowl anytime throughout the 20 overs.&rdquo;

Asked what would be his prized wicket this season, Dwarshuis singled out India great ⁠Virat Kohli and said that dismissing top-order batsmen consistently would greatly enhance his chances of becoming a regular member of the Australian squad, especially in high-stakes T20 matches.]]>
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			<title>Alpine deny 'sabotage' against Colapinto</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600870/alpine-deny-sabotage-against-colapinto</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600870/alpine-deny-sabotage-against-colapinto#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 10:50:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600870</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[They condemned abuse directed at drivers]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Renault-owned Alpine condemned on Thursday online abuse of their Argentine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto for an incident in Japan as well as death threats directed &zwnj;at the team&#39;s former racer Esteban Ocon in China.

They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of &#39;sabotage&#39; and that Colapinto was not being given equal equipment to teammate Pierre Gasly.

Colapinto was caught up in Oliver Bearman&#39;s 308kph crash at Suzuka last Sunday, with the Haas driver swerving to avoid the Argentine&#39;s much slower car and hitting the barriers with a force of 50G.

Ocon, now Bearman&#39;s teammate at Haas, accepted blame ⁠for a clash with Colapinto in Shanghai last month.

Alpine, in a lengthy statement, condemned &#39;hateful messages&#39; aimed at Colapinto and Ocon after the two incidents.

&quot;Esteban took full responsibility and apologised to Franco, actively seeking him out in the media pen and also apologising on social media. The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner,&quot; it said.

&quot;Abuse of any kind to all drivers is unacceptable and it was especially disappointing that it comes from a minority of fans of the team towards a driver who has given so much to the team in the past and is &zwnj;a ⁠Grand Prix winner for Alpine.&quot;

Alpine also condemned &#39;hateful behaviour&#39; towards Colapinto after Suzuka.

Subsequently, the team also condemns the hateful behaviour towards Franco following the incident with Ollie Bearman at Suzuka.

&quot;First of all, the most important thing is the safety and wellbeing of the drivers and thankfully Ollie is okay.

&quot;The closing speeds are a characteristic of these cars and as stated by the FIA, it&#39;s something that will be closely reviewed in the coming weeks.

&quot;The FIA also reviewed the incident involving Franco and Ollie during the race and deemed that no further action was necessary.&quot;

&#39;COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED&#39; QUESTIONS ABOUT SABOTAGE

With Formula One now on a break due to the cancellation of April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a result of conflict in the Gulf region, Alpine said they also wanted to address concern about their treatment of the drivers.

Bearman&#39;s crash highlighted a growing safety concern about F1&#39;s new cars, with the battery harvesting and deployment drivers do at different stages around the lap meaning there are times when there are dangerous closing speeds between one car and another.

Gasly has scored 15 ⁠of Alpine&#39;s 16 points in three races so far this season, with Colapinto&#39;s lone point scored in China.

&quot;Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak ⁠out,&quot; said Alpine.

&quot;There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim ⁠will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible.

&quot;It&#39;s absolutely not in the team&#39;s interests to not score points and any suggestion of self sabotage isn&#39;t conducive to that ultimate end goal... there&#39;s no withholding of information or keeping performance tricks hidden away.&quot;

Grand Prix Drivers&#39; Association (GPDA) lead Carlos Sainz, criticised the FIA after the race for prioritising the spectacle over driver safety.]]>
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			<title>Salman Ali Agha relishes PSL freedom</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601027/salman-ali-agha-relishes-psl-freedom</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601027/salman-ali-agha-relishes-psl-freedom#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 07:58:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Saleem Khaliq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601027</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He says batting at number three allows him to play aggressively]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Salman Ali Agha has started enjoying his participation in the PSL as a regular player. In an exclusive interview with Express Tribune, he said that the extra responsibility that comes with being a captain is absent in the PSL. In such a situation, you get the opportunity to do many things that you cannot do as a captain, and he is enjoying this.

Speaking about Karachi Kings captain David Warner, Salman Ali Agha said that he has performed exceptionally well in international as well as franchise cricket. &ldquo;He is a legend, and I am getting the opportunity to learn a lot from him,&rdquo; he added.

He said that Karachi Kings quickly formed a good combination in the tournament, which is very important for any team. &ldquo;We have been performing well since the very first match, and we will try to maintain this momentum.&rdquo;

In response to a question, he said that during the thrilling match against Lahore Qalandars, he never felt that they would fail to chase the target. &ldquo;We have a strong batting line-up with firepower, which is why we managed to win the match.&rdquo;

Talking about his own performance, Salman Ali Agha said that he got off to a good start in the first PSL match but could not convert it into a big innings. &ldquo;The tournament is still in its early stages. My form is good, but I haven&rsquo;t been able to play a big innings yet. I will try to perform better in the upcoming matches.&rdquo;

He added that as a national team captain, whenever matches are being played, one naturally keeps an eye on the performances of other players. Whenever he watches PSL matches, whether it is a bowler or a batter, good performances and player behavior always catch his attention.

Batting at Number Three

Salman Ali Agha said that he has enjoyed batting in the middle and lower order as well. However, batting at number three provides a greater opportunity to play aggressively during the powerplay. He likes to play fast-paced cricket, so he is happy with this position.

He further said that he does not think of himself strictly as an all-rounder. His approach is that when he is bowling, he considers himself a regular bowler, and when he is batting, he considers himself a batter. While bowling, his aim is to take wickets for the team and maintain a good economy rate.

Experience with Islamabad United and Karachi Kings

Salman Ali Agha said that his two-year journey with Islamabad United was very good, and he enjoyed it a lot. It is such a team that any player who leaves it feels its absence, and he also misses that environment.

When he joined Karachi Kings, he wondered whether he would find a similar environment. Although he has spent only a few days with the new team, the time has been very good. Everyone is friendly, and since they have won their initial matches, the atmosphere has become even better. So far, everything has been going well for him there.

Addition of New Teams in PSL

Salman Ali Agha said that the inclusion of two new teams in the PSL is a welcome development. It will increase competition, and this edition is different from previous ones because of the new teams. This new challenge is very exciting for everyone.

In response to a question, he said that it is too early to name the strongest or favorite teams, as franchises are still trying to build their combinations. However, on paper, all teams look quite strong, and he expects very exciting contests this season.

Importance of Crowd in Stadiums

Salman Ali Agha said that the presence of spectators in stadiums is very important, and they are missing the crowd. &ldquo;Just imagine how exciting a Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars match would have been with a full crowd.&rdquo; The presence of fans motivates players to perform better. He hopes that spectators will be allowed later in the tournament so people can enjoy the matches.

Love for Test Cricket

Salman Ali Agha said that he loves Test cricket, and for him, nothing is greater than it. It is the format where true skills are expressed. &ldquo;I would give up anything for it. Red-ball cricket will always be number one for me.&rdquo;

He added that after the PSL, the Pakistani team will tour Bangladesh, and he is very excited about that series.

Learning from the World Cup

He said that failure also has great importance in life and teaches a lot. It reveals things that you might not have noticed before. From the recent T20 World Cup, he learned a lot both as a captain and as a player. He believes that in future similar situations, he will be able to make better decisions as both captain and batter.

Cricketing Inspirations

Salman Ali Agha said that while he cannot say he started playing cricket by following a specific player, he enjoyed watching Mohammad Yousuf&rsquo;s batting among Pakistani players. He also got the opportunity to play under his coaching and considers himself fortunate that Yousuf was the batting coach when he received his Test and ODI caps. He learned a lot from him.

Among foreign players, he watched Michael Clarke&rsquo;s batting a lot and considers him one of his favorites. He greatly enjoyed watching both players bat.

Views on Social Media

Salman Ali Agha said that in this regard, he is quite a &ldquo;boring&rdquo; person because he does not like social media. He does not even have such apps on his phone. He believes that social media can sometimes distract you.

He does not spend much time on it, nor does he post anything. He prefers to stay within his own circle and spends his free time with his family. During matches, he completely avoids social media and focuses entirely on his game.

Reaction to Bangladesh Incident

Speaking about his strong reaction after a controversial run-out in Bangladesh, Salman Ali Agha said that he usually does not get very angry, but when he does, it becomes visible.

He admitted that he is not proud of his reaction, but the match situation at that time was such that he and Mohammad Rizwan were batting well, and if they had stayed for another 5&ndash;6 overs, they could have taken the match away from the opposition.

&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I got angry,&rdquo; he said, adding that he will try not to express his anger in that manner if a similar situation arises in the future.]]>
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			<title>Dwarshuis eyes regular Australia spot after Starc exit opens door</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600872/dwarshuis-eyes-regular-australia-spot-after-starc-exit-opens-door</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600872/dwarshuis-eyes-regular-australia-spot-after-starc-exit-opens-door#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 10:56:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600872</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of BBL with 164]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis says the competition will be fierce to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc&rsquo;s retirement from Twenty20 internationals, as a clutch of Australian pacers jostle for a rare opening in the national team&rsquo;s attack.

Starc, Australia&rsquo;s third-highest wicket-taker with 759 wickets across all &zwnj;formats, behind only Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, retired from T20 internationals in September last year. His departure has offered up a place in an Australian fast-bowling group long dominated by Starc alongside fellow pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Dwarshuis, who made his international debut in 2022, has featured in only six one-day internationals and 15 T20Is, competing for selection with fellow pace bowlers such as Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett and Spencer ⁠Johnson. He noted that the competition is not only about raw pace but also fitness, consistency, and the ability to perform under pressure.

&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a whole heap of Australian bowlers who have sort of sat behind Mitch Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, who have just done amazing things for Australian cricket and haven&rsquo;t really opened the door for anyone else to sort of take their spot,&rdquo; Dwarshuis told Reuters.

&ldquo;Mitch retiring obviously opens up a spot. There&rsquo;s a whole handful of guys that are trying to get into that spot. Competition&rsquo;s fierce, but knowing that there is a spot available means a potential avenue there if you perform.&rdquo; He also emphasized that building strong partnerships with other bowlers and backing the team strategy is crucial for securing a regular place in the national setup.

Dwarshuis, who was signed by Indian Premier League side Punjab Kings for a whopping 44 million Indian rupees ($472,462), said franchise leagues have become an increasingly important shop window for players chasing international &zwnj;selection. The ⁠31-year-old is the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Big Bash League with 164.

&ldquo;Anytime you take the field and have an opportunity to perform, there&rsquo;s always going to be eyes watching, whether it&rsquo;s from Australia or other leagues,&rdquo; Dwarshuis said. &ldquo;With the viewership these competitions get, it&rsquo;s very easy to have a couple of good years and everyone&rsquo;s talking about you. But then ⁠if you&rsquo;re not performing well, that sort of viewership leads to maybe less opportunities there.&rdquo;

Punjab, currently fifth in the IPL standings, opened their campaign with a three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans, a match in which Dwarshuis was not selected. He acknowledged the squad&rsquo;s ⁠depth, with New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson yet to join, but said he is &ldquo;a three-phase bowler and can bowl anytime throughout the 20 overs.&rdquo;

Asked what would be his prized wicket this season, Dwarshuis singled out India great ⁠Virat Kohli and said that dismissing top-order batsmen consistently would greatly enhance his chances of becoming a regular member of the Australian squad, especially in high-stakes T20 matches.]]>
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			<title>PSL committee rejects Fakhar's appeal</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600838/psl-committee-rejects-fakhars-appeal</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600838/psl-committee-rejects-fakhars-appeal#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 07:39:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[News Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600838</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Lahore Qalandars batter will miss two crucial matches]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Super League (PSL) technical committee has dismissed an appeal by Fakhar Zaman, upholding the two-match ban imposed on the Lahore Qalandars batter for ball tampering, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Thursday.
The 35-year-old had earlier been suspended for two PSL matches after being found guilty of breaching the league&rsquo;s code of conduct during Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; narrow four-wicket defeat to Karachi Kings on Sunday. Fakhar subsequently challenged the decision, seeking relief from the sanction, but the appeal was rejected following review by the PSL&rsquo;s technical committee.
&ldquo;In accordance with the Code of Conduct, any decision made by the PSL technical committee shall be the full, final and complete disposition of the matter and will be binding on all parties,&rdquo; the PCB said in an official statement, leaving no room for further appeal.
Fakhar was charged under Article 41.3 of the PSL playing conditions, which relates to altering the condition of the ball to gain an unfair advantage. The incident occurred late in the match when the ball passed between Shaheen Afridi and Fakhar before the start of the final over.
On-field umpire Faisal Afridi grew suspicious and requested the ball from Haris Rauf. After a prolonged discussion with fellow umpire Sharfuddoula, the officials decided to replace the ball, deeming it to have been tampered with. In addition, Lahore Qalandars were penalised five runs.
The penalty proved decisive in a tense chase, as Karachi Kings edged to victory with three balls to spare, capitalising on the added runs in a closely contested finish.
As a result of the upheld ban, Fakhar will miss Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; upcoming fixtures against Multan Sultans on Friday and Islamabad United on April 9. His absence is expected to be a significant blow to the Qalandars&rsquo; batting lineup as they look to recover momentum in the tournament.]]>
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			<title>Anderson hated playing in the Hundred</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600738/anderson-hated-playing-in-the-hundred</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600738/anderson-hated-playing-in-the-hundred#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 26 18:47:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600738</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Former England bowler says format never suited his game]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[England&#39;s all-time leading test wicket-taker James Anderson said he &quot;hated every minute&quot; of his brief stint in The Hundred last summer and that he planned to be on holiday when the competition takes place this year.

The &zwnj;43-year-old, who retired from international cricket in 2024, was selected with a wildcard pick by the Manchester Originals in the 2025 season of the 100-ball format but took only two wickets in three games.

The fast bowler was not part of the auction for the 2026 season, opting instead to focus on ⁠county cricket with Lancashire, who he will captain this year.

Asked why he did not return to The Hundred, Anderson told the Independent in an interview published on Wednesday: &quot;It was a mixture of hating every minute of The Hundred last year, if I can say that, and especially being (Lancashire) captain this year.

&quot;I think it&#39;s really important that I focus on being as fit as I can be for the four-day stuff.

&quot;When The Hundred&#39;s on I&#39;m hopefully going to be on holiday somewhere,&quot; added Anderson, &zwnj;who ⁠took 704 wickets in 188 tests for England.

He added that he was determined to guide second-tier side Lancashire back to Division One and did not rule out extending his career further if they earned promotion, despite his age and fitness issues.

&quot;I think there are times ⁠throughout the winter where I maybe thought about what if we get promoted and we&#39;ve got a chance to push for the championship next year,&quot; he said.

&quot;Would I want to be ⁠involved in that? And of course I would.

&quot;And then there are other times when I wake up and I struggle to walk to the toilet in the ⁠morning and think maybe I can&#39;t get another year out of my body.&quot;

It is a sign of the significance of the captaincy. It puts Anderson in a distinguished lineage, a successor to Clive Lloyd and David Lloyd, Brian Statham and Wasim Akram. His name is on many an honours board; now it has been inscribed on the list of Lancashire captains. &ldquo;A huge honour,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;It&#39;s such a prestigious club, with a lot of history, so to be a captain of the four-day side is a very proud thing for me.&rdquo;

In one respect, few have been better qualified. Anderson has the small matter of 188 Test matches behind him; he has first-hand experience of every England captain from Nasser Hussain to Ben Stokes. He will nevertheless be his own man.

The Hundred will be held from July 21 to August 16, while the County Championship begins on Friday.]]>
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			<title>Barca count on Yamal</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601094/barca-count-on-yamal</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601094/barca-count-on-yamal#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:28:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601094</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Spanish champions visit Atletico to extend their lead]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Barcelona winger Raphinha&#39;s untimely injury heaps further pressure on teenage star Lamine Yamal ahead of the club&#39;s triple-header against Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish champions visit Atletico on Saturday as they bid to maintain or even extend their lead at the top of La Liga, before two further games against Diego Simeone&#39;s team in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Barca have already faced Atletico three times this season, beating them in La Liga in December but falling in the Copa del Rey semi-final over two legs.

Without Raphinha, out with a hamstring injury until May, the onus will be on 18-year-old winger Yamal to provide the magic Barca need to proceed on two fronts in the approaching inevitably intense battles with Atletico.

Barca hold a four-point lead on Real Madrid, who visit Mallorca earlier on Saturday, at the top of the table.

Yamal played for Spain this week in a goalless draw against Egypt in Cornella at Espanyol&#39;s stadium, which was notable for Islamophobic chanting from the home supporters that the teenager, a Muslim, condemned.

&quot;To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist,&quot; wrote Yamal on social media.

Yamal has shown maturity beyond his years since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old, including starring for Spain as they won Euro 2024 and blossoming further still as Barca claimed a domestic treble last season.

The youngster, often compared to another graduate from Barca&#39;s La Masia youth academy, Lionel Messi, seems to save his best performances for the biggest occasions.

Yamal netted six times for Barca in his last seven matches across all competitions, and the Catalan giants will hope he can continue that form into the final phase of the season.

He admitted in February that he has not been happy this season, in part due to a long-running groin injury, but lately feels better.

&quot;I have that desire to smile on the pitch that I haven&#39;t had for a long time and I&#39;m very happy, now I&#39;m happy playing,&quot; said Yamal after scoring the first hat-trick of his career, against Villarreal.

In recent weeks Barca have been dependent on the forward in attack and goalkeeper Joan Garcia at the other end.

Strikers Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have struggled for consistent form, while Marcus Rashford has fallen somewhat out of favour.

Raphinha&#39;s injury opens the door for the England international, on loan from Manchester United, to start on the left again.

Yamal&#39;s pressing and off-the-ball work is an excellent example for Rashford, who despite his strong contribution in terms of assists, sometimes lacks the relentless energy and focus Flick wants from his forwards.

As well as Raphinha, Barca are also likely to be without Frenkie de Jong at the weekend, but Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde may be able to return after injury.

Simeone&#39;s Atletico, fourth by a distance from fifth-place Real Betis, have little to play for in the league but will want to build momentum before Wednesday&#39;s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Camp Nou.

Player to watch: Largie Ramazani

Valencia have risen to mid-table in recent weeks, largely thanks to the form of Belgian forward Ramazani. The 25-year-old, on loan from Premier League side Leeds, has scored five goals in his last nine appearances. Los Che host Celta Vigo on Sunday looking to add to their run of three wins from their last four matches.]]>
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			<title>City host Liverpool in FA Cup quarter-finals</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601093/city-host-liverpool-in-fa-cup-quarter-finals</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601093/city-host-liverpool-in-fa-cup-quarter-finals#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:25:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601093</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Reds chase their last hopes of silverware]]>
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				<![CDATA[Liverpool face a daunting trip to Manchester City in the standout tie of the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend as Mohamed Salah seeks to end nine spectacular seasons at Anfield on a high.

Arsenal and Chelsea will expect to reach the semi-finals at Wembley against lower tier opposition, while West Ham United and Leeds put their battle for Premier League survival on hold in a bid to reach the last four.

The Reds have to get past City without injured goalkeeper Alisson Becker who will miss the Saturday&rsquo;s clash and both legs of the Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain.

Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to deputise for Alisson at the Etihad.

City produced perhaps their best performance of the season to dominate Arsenal and win the League Cup final 2-0 before the international break.

They remain in the running to match their feat as the only English side to ever win the domestic treble of League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League in 2018/19.

Liverpool face a defining 10 days for their season and possibly Arne Slot&rsquo;s future at Anfield.

Languishing fifth in the Premier League, the FA Cup and Champions League are the Reds&rsquo; only remaining hope of glory.

One positive for Liverpool is that their record signing Alexander Isak may be fit to play a part against City, though, having returned to training after breaking his leg in December.

&ldquo;It will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes,&rdquo; Slot said of Isak on Friday.

&ldquo;We will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up in minutes, but it&rsquo;s a very good thing to have him on the training ground again.

&ldquo;It would be even better to have him available for games, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;

After visiting the Etihad, Slot&rsquo;s men face European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals over two legs on April 8 and 14.

Despite leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title less than a year ago, Slot is under huge pressure to end a difficult second season on a high if he is to remain in the job.

The rest of Liverpool&rsquo;s season will also be marked by a long farewell to Salah.

The Egyptian announced over the international break that he will leave at the end of the campaign having netted 255 goals so far for the club.

&ldquo;Hopefully he can make his legacy even more special in the upcoming weeks and months where we still play for something special, but he will always leave this club as a legend,&rdquo; said Slot.

Fernandez dropped

Meanwhile, Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior confirmed Enzo Fernandez would not be part of the squad for Saturday&rsquo;s FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale and next weekend&rsquo;s Premier League game against City.

The Argentinian midfielder will miss Chelsea&rsquo;s next two matches after he &ldquo;crossed a line&rdquo; with comments that cast doubt on his future at Stamford Bridge.

The 25-year-old, linked with Real Madrid, fuelled speculation by telling a podcast he would like to live in the Spanish capital.

&ldquo;I spoke with Enzo about an hour ago,&rdquo; Rosenior said on Friday. &ldquo;As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won&rsquo;t be available for tomorrow&rsquo;s game or Manchester City next Sunday.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way. I have got no bad words to say about him, but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.&rdquo;

Four consecutive defeats have plunged Rosenior&rsquo;s future into doubt less than three months into his reign]]>
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			<title>Gattuso leaves Italy job after WC disaster</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601087/gattuso-leaves-italy-job-after-wc-disaster</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601087/gattuso-leaves-italy-job-after-wc-disaster#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:22:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601087</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[FIGC president Gravina and delegation head Buffon also resign]]>
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				<![CDATA[Gennaro Gattuso quit as Italy coach on Friday, as the Azzurri&rsquo;s failure to reach a third straight World Cup continued to send shockwaves through Italian football.

A World Cup winner in 2006, Gattuso leaves after less than a year in charge of Italy, a team which has fallen far behind historic rivals like France and Spain in the last two decades.

Defeat on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tuesday&rsquo;s qualification play-off final ended up costing Gattuso his job, as the man who hired him also stepped down as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

&ldquo;With a heavy heart, and having fallen short of the goal we set ourselves, I feel my time as head coach of the national team has come to an end,&rdquo; Gattuso said in a statement.

&ldquo;The Azzurri shirt is the most precious thing in football, and for that reason it&rsquo;s only right to make way immediately for the federation&rsquo;s future decisions.

&ldquo;It has been an honour to lead the national team, especially with a group of players who have shown such commitment and dedication.&rdquo;

Gabriele Gravina had asked Gattuso to stay on immediately after elimination in Zenica but his departure, and that of national team general manager Gianluigi Buffon, paved the way for the 48-year-old&rsquo;s exit after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Gattuso took charge of Italy in June last year following the sacking of Luciano Spalletti, himself a victim of a dismal title defence at Euro 2024 and a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Erling Haaland&rsquo;s Norway in their first World Cup qualifier.

His record is impressive on paper, with six wins, one defeat and one draw in eight matches with 22 goals scored and 10 conceded.

But that draw was the 1-1 with Bosnia which preceded a penalty shoot-out in which Italy missed twice, while the loss was another humiliating one to Norway, this time 4-1 at the San Siro.

STRONG CHOICE

Gattuso was considered by many a strange choice to replace Spalletti due to his spotty club coaching record, and he was heavily criticised after Tuesday&rsquo;s elimination.

Italy were second best nearly the whole game, and completely conceded the initiative when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off not long before half-time.

Bosnia could easily have won the game in normal time but once Italy managed to get to the shoot-out Gattuso selected inexperienced Pio Esposito to take the first penalty, which the 20-year-old smashed over the bar.

The upheaval caused by failing to qualify for this summer&rsquo;s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, means the national team will have an interim coach for a friendly with Greece on June 7.

Two former national team coaches in Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to victory at Euro 2020, and Antonio Conte are the names most frequently cited as Gattuso&rsquo;s replacement.

But no new coach will be announced until after the FIGC&rsquo;s board vote on a new president on June 22, Gravina falling on his sword a day after sports minister Andrea Abodi called on him to go.

Italy&rsquo;s failure to reach the first ever 48-team World Cup &mdash; which will feature the likes of Cape Verde and Curacao &mdash; led Abodi to release a statement saying: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC.&rdquo;

That came a day after Gravina had hit out at politicians &ldquo;who have only pushed for resignations&rdquo;, while also admitting Italian football &ldquo;is in a profound crisis&rdquo;.

Italy&rsquo;s footballing woes do not just relate to diminishing performances by the national team.

No Serie A club has won the Champions League since 2010.

The country is due to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey but on Thursday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hit out at the state of Italy&rsquo;s stadiums, warning the country could be stripped of hosting rights.

&ldquo;I just hope that the infrastructure (in Italy) will be ready. If that&rsquo;s not the case, the tournament will not be held in Italy,&rdquo; Ceferin said in an interview with the Gazzetta Dello Sport.]]>
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			<title>Japan lead Asia’s World Cup charge</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601086/japan-lead-asias-world-cup-charge</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2601086/japan-lead-asias-world-cup-charge#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 26 19:19:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2601086</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Moriyasu says they can adapt style of play to succeed]]>
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				<![CDATA[Wins over England and Scotland underline Japan&#39;s status as the Asian nation most likely to make a major impact at the World Cup during an international window of mixed fortunes &zwnj;for the continent&#39;s qualifiers for this summer&#39;s finals.

Iraq&#39;s emotional 2-1 victory over Bolivia during the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico took the Gulf state to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years and ensured Asia would have a record nine qualifiers at the tournament.

But while Graham Arnold and his players were celebrating the completion of a qualifying journey that lasted 21 matches over 28 months, the continent&#39;s eight other finalists experienced varying levels of satisfaction with their preparations.

The ⁠Japanese took the headlines with their 1-0 wins at Hampden Park and Wembley, the first over England by an Asian nation, to give coach Hajime Moriyasu increased belief his team can be among the World Cup contenders.

&quot;Come the World Cup, we must be able to do many things, we must have many styles of play,&quot; said Moriyasu, whose side have won their last five matches and who will face the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia at the finals.

&quot;Offensively we must be able to attack slowly as well as attacking on the counterattack, which will be faster offensively.

&quot;We saw against Scotland, they played a very defensive style and we saw England play with a very high-pressing team so we have to manage the play against various types of opponent and &zwnj;I&#39;m confident ⁠that we can do that at the World Cup as well.&quot;

South Korean coach Hong Myung-bo was left with plenty to ponder after a pair of defeats, as Tuesday&#39;s 1-0 loss against Austria came in the wake of a 4-0 thrashing by Ivory Coast.

&quot;We&#39;ve finished our experiments in terms of our positional balance and player combinations,&quot; said Hong, whose team will meet co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and Czech Republic.

&quot;Our tactics are ⁠almost set. We have to finish our player selection by mid-May, and we will watch K-League matches closely and analyse our data to pick the players that we think will perform well at the World Cup.&quot;

Australia won back-to-back clashes with Cameroon and Curacao in FIFA Series matches in ⁠Sydney and Melbourne, while Uzbekistan, preparing for their first World Cup appearance, won 3-1 against Gabon before sealing a penalty shootout win over Venezuela.

Jordan, who will also be making their World Cup debut, picked up morale-boosting 2-2 draws against Costa Rica and ⁠Nigeria, and Iran lost 2-1 to the Nigerians before winning 5-0 against Costa Rica.
&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Pakistan launches school-based plan to revive national hockey</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596858/pakistan-launches-school-based-plan-to-revive-national-hockey</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596858/pakistan-launches-school-based-plan-to-revive-national-hockey#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 26 13:22:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Sports Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2596858</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The meeting was attended by directors of physical education from educational boards as well]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Officials in Pakistan have unveiled a new strategy aimed at reviving the country&rsquo;s national sport by strengthening hockey at school and education-board level.

The initiative was discussed during a meeting of the National Education&ndash;Hockey Coordination Committee hosted by the Inter Boards Coordination Commission at its secretariat in Islamabad on 10 March.

The meeting, focused on rebuilding Pakistan&rsquo;s hockey talent pipeline through the education system, was co-chaired by Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah and Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani.

During the session, the Federal Secretary for the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division presented the IBCC&ndash;PHF School and Inter-Board Hockey Revival Programme (2026&ndash;2029).

The programme &mdash; developed in collaboration with the Pakistan Hockey Federation &mdash; outlines a roadmap to rebuild Pakistan hockey by expanding the sport across schools and educational boards.

Officials said the initiative will focus on increasing participation in school hockey in Pakistan, organising inter-board hockey tournaments, and establishing a structured pathway for talented players to progress from grassroots level to the Pakistan men&#39;s national field hockey team.

The meeting was attended by directors of physical education from educational boards as well as former Olympians including Hassan Sardar, Islahuddin Siddique and Khwaja Junaid.

Participants welcomed the proposed strategy and expressed support for reviving Pakistan hockey through collaboration between sports authorities and the education sector.

A joint steering committee &mdash; which will include former Olympians and representatives from education boards &mdash; will oversee the implementation of the Pakistan school hockey revival programme and monitor its progress over the coming years.

Pakistan remains one of the most successful nations in the history of international hockey, but officials believe rebuilding the sport at grassroots level will be key to restoring its competitiveness on the global stage.]]>
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			<title>Refusing to collapse: How Pakistan hockey fought its way back to the World Cup</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596298/refusing-to-collapse-how-pakistan-hockey-fought-its-way-back-to-the-world-cup</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596298/refusing-to-collapse-how-pakistan-hockey-fought-its-way-back-to-the-world-cup#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 26 10:30:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Nabil Tahir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2596298</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Green Shirts beat Japan 4-3 to reach the World Cup after eight years]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Instead of celebrating wildly after the final whistle, several Pakistan players dropped to the turf in relief.

For a team that had spent months navigating administrative turmoil, travel controversies and uncertainty around their own federation, the victory over Japan felt less like a single match and more like an emotional release and a return to the Hockey World Cup after eight years.

Having covered Pakistan hockey for more than a decade, I have learned that the sport rarely moves in straight lines. Even the moments that look simple from the outside often carry their own complications, and victories in Pakistan hockey rarely arrive without a story behind them. Pakistan&rsquo;s dramatic 4&ndash;3 win over Japan in the World Cup qualifiers semi-final in Ismailia was one of those moments.

On paper, it will be remembered as a thrilling comeback. Pakistan opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Japan fought back to take a commanding 3&ndash;1 lead. For long stretches of the match, the Japanese side appeared in control.

But between the 52nd and 57th minute, Pakistan scored three goals in the space of five minutes to turn the match around and secure qualification for the FIH Hockey World Cup after eight years.

The speed of that turnaround was remarkable. Yet what stood out even more was the manner in which the players carried themselves when the match seemed to be slipping away.

At 3-1 down, Pakistan even missed a penalty corner opportunity that could have brought them back into the contest earlier. In many matches, that moment can drain a team&rsquo;s belief. Instead, the reaction was the opposite.

The players remained composed. There was urgency, but not the panic that often creeps into a team chasing the game. The team continued to push forward, trusting that another opportunity would come.

On the sidelines, head coach Khawaja Junaid was equally animated, often standing on the edge of the technical area directing players until the final whistle. It was a small detail, but one that reflected a team that refused to mentally step out of the contest.

The players arrived at this tournament after months of uncertainty surrounding the sport. Administrative disputes, funding questions and management changes had once again placed Pakistan hockey under uncomfortable scrutiny. Even the team captain, Ammad Butt, found himself under pressure after being banned by the previous federation leadership before the decision was later reversed.

Such situations often divide teams. In this case, it appears to have had the opposite effect. Throughout the qualifiers, Pakistan remained unbeaten, and Butt continued to lead the side despite everything happening around the team. For a captain to carry that kind of pressure while keeping the squad united says much about the trust the players place in him.

The semi-final victory over Japan ultimately reflected that collective belief. For long stretches, there were no visible signs of a team weighed down by the off-field turbulence that has followed Pakistan hockey for years. Instead, there was a group of players determined to control the only part of the story they could, their performance on the pitch.

Qualification for the World Cup after eight years is significant for a sport that once defined Pakistan&rsquo;s sporting identity. But it would be misleading to describe this moment as a full revival.

The deeper structural problems surrounding hockey in the country have not disappeared overnight.

What the victory in Ismailia does show, however, is something equally important. Even within an imperfect system, the players have demonstrated that the competitive spirit of Pakistan hockey still survives.

Even in the final moments, that resolve was tested once more. With less than a minute remaining, Japan earned a penalty stroke that could have forced the match into a shootout. Goalkeeper Ali Raza stepped up and saved it, holding Pakistan&rsquo;s lead and effectively securing their place at the World Cup. In many ways, the moment captured the evening itself, a team refusing to let the opportunity slip away.

Pakistan hockey may still be struggling to rebuild its structure. But on the field, the fight is clearly still alive.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan target World Cup momentum with FIH Pro League debut</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596279/pakistan-target-world-cup-momentum-with-fih-pro-league-debut</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596279/pakistan-target-world-cup-momentum-with-fih-pro-league-debut#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 26 07:12:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Sports Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2596279</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Green Shirts sealed their place in the World Cup after eight years]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Pakistan men&#39;s national field hockey team is preparing for a crucial stretch in 2026 after securing qualification for the FIH Men&#39;s Hockey World Cup 2026, with upcoming matches in the FIH Pro League expected to play a key role in their preparations.

Pakistan sealed their place at the World Cup with a dramatic 4&ndash;3 victory over Japan men&#39;s national field hockey team on 6 March 2026, ending an eight-year absence from the sport&rsquo;s biggest tournament.

Officials from the Pakistan Hockey Federation say the focus has now shifted to the team&rsquo;s first-ever participation in the FIH Pro League, where Pakistan will face several of the world&rsquo;s top-ranked sides.

Pakistan will travel to Europe in June for a series of high-profile fixtures in Belgium and England.

The Pro League matches are expected to serve as a vital testing ground for Pakistan ahead of the FIH Men&#39;s Hockey World Cup 2026, which will be staged across Belgium and Netherlands from 14 to 30 August.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation Adhoc Committee says it is committed to providing the team with the resources and support needed to compete at the highest level during the European tour and beyond.

Pakistan&rsquo;s return to the Hockey World Cup after eight years has raised hopes among supporters that the former champions can re-establish themselves among the sport&rsquo;s leading nations.

The upcoming FIH Pro League matches in Belgium and England will offer an early indication of how ready the side is for the challenge ahead.

&nbsp;

Belgium leg (Wavre)

13 June &ndash; Pakistan vs Belgium&nbsp;

14 June &ndash; Pakistan vs Spain

18 June &ndash; Pakistan vs Belgium

20 June &ndash; Pakistan vs Spain

&nbsp;

England leg&nbsp;

23 June &ndash; Pakistan vs India&nbsp;

24 June &ndash; Pakistan vs England

26 June &ndash; Pakistan vs India

28 June &ndash; Pakistan vs England]]>
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			<title>Pakistan Tennis Federation announces Davis Cup Juniors team for Kazakhstan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600911/pakistan-tennis-federation-announces-davis-cup-juniors-team-for-kazakhstan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600911/pakistan-tennis-federation-announces-davis-cup-juniors-team-for-kazakhstan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 17:25:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Our Correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600911</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Abubakar Talha, Hassan Usmani, Zohaib Afzal Malik picked for Davis Cup Juniors after trials at Islamabad PTF complex]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) has selected three players for the upcoming Davis Cup Juniors, scheduled to be held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, from May 16 to 24, 2026.

Trials for the Pakistan Davis Cup Juniors team were conducted at the PTF Tennis Complex in Islamabad from March 30 to April 2, 2026. A total of 12 players were invited to participate in the trials based on their current rankings and performances.

In recognition of his recent outstanding performance, Abubakar Talha was exempted from the trials.

The final team comprises Talha, Hassan Usmani, and Zohaib Afzal Malik.

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, President of the PTF, Col. Zia-ud-din Tufail, Secretary General of the PTF, and the federation management extended their best wishes to the selected players and their families for success in the upcoming tournament.]]>
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			<title>Pegula reaches Charleston quarters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600875/pegula-reaches-charleston-quarters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600875/pegula-reaches-charleston-quarters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 11:19:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[World number five beat Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1)]]>
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				<![CDATA[Defending champion and top seed Jessica Pegula fought back to reach the WTA Charleston Open quarter-finals on Thursday, requiring a final-set tiebreak to see off Italy&#39;s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).

A resilient Pegula, the world number five from the United States, eventually progressed just a day after laboring more than three hours to beat 72nd-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

The latest hard-fought win, clocking in at just over two hours, was revenge for Pegula, who was stunned by Cocciaretto at Wimbledon last year.

Cocciaretto, ranked 43rd in the world, dominated the first set.

Pegula&#39;s serve was notably wayward, with the American winning just 25 percent of first serve points.

&quot;I don&#39;t know what I was doing out there... Oh my gosh, that&#39;s horrible,&quot; said Pegula after.

Pegula rallied in the second set, but was immediately broken in a topsy-turvy final set, in which she trailed 1-4.

The American hauled it back to 4-4, but then found the net on a break point that would have given her the lead.

Two points from defeat at 4-5, Pegula fought back to 5-5 and they advanced into a deciding tiebreak.

Pegula drew first blood, going up 1-0 off Cocciaretto&#39;s serve, then won every point on her own serve before Cocciaretto double-faulted to hand her the match.

&quot;She beat me the last time we played, so there was a bit of a mental thing too, but I was able to serve really well, I think, at the end,&quot; Pegula said. &quot;And then I just held my nerve.&quot;

Pegula, who won the title in Dubai in February, next faces Russia&#39;s Diana Shnaider -- a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic also advanced, shrugging off a slow start to beat Czech Sara Bejlek 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and line up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seeded American Madison Keys.

Keys beat Hungarian Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5. AFP]]>
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			<title>Pegula wins Charleston opener</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600690/pegula-wins-charleston-opener</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600690/pegula-wins-charleston-opener#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 26 11:32:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600690</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[World number five beat Putintseva 4-6, 6-4, 7-5]]>
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				<![CDATA[Defending champion and top seed Jessica Pegula labored more than three hours to reach the round of 16 at the WTA Charleston Open on Wednesday with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Yulia Putintseva.

Pegula, the world number five from the United States, had clawed back a set but was broken to trail 0-2 in the third before mounting a final fightback.

&quot;All I just kept thinking was, like, welcome to the clay court season,&quot; Pegula said after grinding out the win on Charleston&#39;s green clay.

Pegula, who enjoyed a first-round bye, said the breezy conditions and challenging shadows made it hard to respond aggressively to the high, looping shots from 72nd-ranked Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

&quot;She&#39;s a really tricky opponent in general,&quot; Pegula said.

&quot;I feel like especially on clay she can be really crafty, use high balls, low balls, slices, drop shots, and I felt like she was just honestly toying with me there for quite a while,&quot; added the American, who was broken as she served for the match at 5-4 but broke back to give herself another opportunity to close it out.

Pegula is chasing her second title of the year, after a victory in Dubai in February.

Second-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova withdrew from the tournament before her second-round opener on Wednesday, saying she had &quot;a bit of an injury&quot; picked up in Miami.

The 13th-ranked Russian was replaced in the draw by Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia.]]>
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			<title>Putintseva wins in Charleston</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600325/putintseva-wins-in-charleston</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600325/putintseva-wins-in-charleston#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 26 13:28:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600325</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[She defeated New Zealand's Lulu Sun 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the first round]]>
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				<![CDATA[Kazakhstan&#39;s Yulia Putintseva won a tough first set tie-breaker and went on to defeat New Zealand&#39;s Lulu Sun, 7-6 (6), 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the Charleston Open.
There were no breaks of serve in &zwnj;the first set and none through nine points of the tie-breaker. Sun got a mini-break and earned two set points, but Putintseva erased those and captured the next two points to prevail. She won the final four games of the match, but her reward will be facing top-seeded and defending champion Jessica ⁠Pegula in the second round on Wednesday.
No seeded players were in action on Monday, but there were two All-American match-ups on the clay in Charleston. McCartney Kessler outlasted lucky loser Elvina Kalieva, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Alycia Parks rallied past Mary Stoiana, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final match of the evening.
In other results, Katie Volynets defeated Germany&#39;s Eva Lys, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0; Ukraine&#39;s Danaya Yastremska got past Russia&#39;s Anastasia Zakharova, 7-5, 6-2; 19-year old Florida native Akasha Urhobo won over Argentina&#39;s Solana Sierra, &zwnj;7-5, ⁠3-0, ret.; Mexico&#39;s Renata Zarazua routed Sloane Stephens, 6-2, 6-0; Bulgaria&#39;s Viktoriya Tomova got past Jen Brady, 6-4, 6-3; Hungary&#39;s Anna Bondar edged Czechia&#39;s Darja Vidmanova, 7-5, 7-5 and Croatia&#39;s Donna Vekic outlasted Australia&#39;s Ajla Tomljanovic, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio
The two seeded players in ⁠action on the first day on the clay in Bogota, Columbia both prevailed, but in completely different fashions.
Fourth-seeded Tatiana Maria, 38, blitzed wild card Valentina Arias of Columbia, 6-2, 6-1, while eighth-seeded ⁠Panna Udvardy of Hungary defeated Columbia&#39;s Maria Torres Murcia, 6-1, 1-6, 6-0 in a see-saw affair.
In a battle of Americans, 17-year old Californian wild card Julieta Pareja ⁠bested Elizabeth Mandlik, 6-3, 6-3. Poland&#39;s Katarzyna Kawa routed France&#39;s Carole Monnet, 6-1, 6-0; Greece&#39;s Despina Papamichail knocked off Russia&#39;s Anastasia Tikhonova, 6-3, 6-1 and Argentine wild card Julia Riera bested French qualifier Selena Janicijevic, 7-6 (5), 6-1.]]>
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			<title>Martin wins US MotoGP sprint</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599946/martin-wins-us-motogp-sprint</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599946/martin-wins-us-motogp-sprint#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 26 12:43:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[He overtook Francesco Bagnaia on the final lap]]>
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				<![CDATA[Jorge Martin won the U.S. MotoGP sprint in Austin on Saturday while Aprilia Racing teammate and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi crashed and failed to finish &zwnj;a sprint for the second time this season.

Martin overtook Francesco Bagnaia during the final lap at the Circuit of the Americas where he made a move at turn 12 before crossing the line in 20 minutes 19.546 seconds, winning by 0.755 seconds.

&quot;I never thought, when I was starting the season in ⁠Thailand, that after three rounds I would be winning races again. So it&#39;s unbelievable,&quot; Martin said after a record-extending 17th sprint win, but his first with Aprilia.

&quot;I&#39;m so thankful to Aprilia. They are helping a lot to raise my level. And yeah, I did it already. I mean, I feel a better rider than I was in the past.&quot;

Pedro Acosta of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had finished third but after the race received an eight-second penalty due to low tyre pressure, a move &zwnj;that ⁠dropped him to eighth place and promoted Enea Bastianini to the podium.

After securing the win, Martin, who took the lead in the standings by one point over Bezzecchi, crashed on the cool-down lap while doing a wheelie but escaped without injury.

&quot;I think a lot of riders ⁠can win but not a lot of riders can nearly crash on the way back to the pits,&quot; Martin joked. &quot;Luckily I&#39;m okay, the bike isn&#39;t really damaged.&quot;

The race unfolded under intense pressure at the Circuit of the Americas, with multiple incidents shaping the outcome and testing riders&rsquo; composure. Martin&rsquo;s decisive move highlighted his growing confidence with Aprilia, while his ability to recover from earlier setbacks this season underlined his championship credentials.

Bezzecchi suffered a shocking ⁠start as he quickly dropped from second to seventh but he worked his way back before crashing out of a late second place after pressure from Martin.

Defending ⁠champion Marc Marquez was briefly up to second on the opening lap but eventually crashed and took pole-sitter Fabio di Giannantonio down with him, resulting in a long-lap penalty for Sunday&#39;s Grand Prix .]]>
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			<title>PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi announces jobs, medical support for national hockey team</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2597078/naqvi-announces-jobs-medical-support-for-national-hockey-team</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2597078/naqvi-announces-jobs-medical-support-for-national-hockey-team#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 26 15:48:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[PCB chairman meets national hockey team, congratulates them on qualifying for Hockey World Cup 2026]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday announced employment opportunities and medical support for members of the national hockey team, saying the board would bear treatment expenses for injured players, according to an official statement.

He said steps would be taken to provide employment opportunities to hockey players who are currently without jobs, adding that the PCB would also bear the medical expenses of injured players. He made the announcement during a meeting with players of the national side led by captain Imad Butt.

&ldquo;Hockey players will be provided full support in terms of fitness and medical facilities,&rdquo; Naqvi said, adding that the PCB would continue its cooperation with the national hockey team as it had done in the past.



لاہور۔ چئیرمین پاکستان کرکٹ بورڈ محسن نقوی سے قومی ہاکی ٹیم کے کپتان عماد بٹ کی قیادت میں کھلاڑیوں کی ملاقات

چئیرمین پی سی بی محسن نقوی نے 8 برس بعد ورلڈ کپ کے لئے کوالیفائی کرنے پر کھلاڑیوں کو مبارکباد دی

چئیرمین پی سی بی محسن نقوی نے ورلڈ کپ کوالیفائر ٹورنامنٹ میں بہترین&hellip; pic.twitter.com/GQ9rnZn9j4
&mdash; PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) March 11, 2026



He further said the board would always play its role in providing maximum facilities to the players and expressed hope that Pakistan would deliver an impressive performance in the upcoming Hockey World Cup.

The PCB chairman also congratulated the team for qualifying for the Hockey World Cup 2026 after eight years and praised the players for their dedication and hard work during the World Cup qualifying tournament, the statement added.

Read: Bangladesh crush Pakistan in ODI series opener

Meanwhile, the national team coach Khawaja Junaid thanked the PCB chairman for his support, saying it had boosted the morale of the players and helped the team during difficult times.



قومی ہاکی ٹیم کی چیئرمین پی سی بی محسن نقوی سے قذافی سٹیڈیم میں ملاقات

ملاقات کے بعد ہیڈ کوچ خواجہ جنید اور کپتان عماد بٹ کی پی سی بی ڈیجیٹل سے خصوصی گفتگو

ماہِ رمضان میں قوم کی دعاؤں سے ٹیم ورلڈ کپ کھیلنے کی اہل ہوئی، خواجہ جنید، ہیڈ کوچ پاکستان ہاکی ٹیم

ٹیم کی سب سے بڑی طاقت&hellip; pic.twitter.com/PqqcxwAogs
&mdash; Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 11, 2026



Pakistan qualified for the Hockey World Cup 2026 after defeating Japan in the semi-final of the qualifying tournament last week. The event is scheduled to begin on August 14 this year in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Pakistan had failed to qualify for the previous edition of the World Cup and last secured a place in the tournament in 2018.

This was the second meeting between the PCB chairman and the national team within a month. Last month, Naqvi met the players after Tariq Bugti, former head of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, stepped down following complaints by national players during their tour of Australia.

During that meeting, the players informed Naqvi about unpleasant incidents they had encountered during the league. He expressed regret over the mistreatment of hockey players and assured them that measures would be taken to ensure better treatment in the future.]]>
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			<title>How Pakistan can qualify for T20 World Cup semi-finals after New Zealand loss?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2594936/how-pakistan-can-qualify-for-t20-world-cup-semi-finals-after-new-zealand-loss</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2594936/how-pakistan-can-qualify-for-t20-world-cup-semi-finals-after-new-zealand-loss#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 26 18:13:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[A win over Sri Lanka would tie Pakistan with New Zealand on points, with net run rate deciding semi-final progression]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan&rsquo;s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup remain alive following New Zealand&rsquo;s defeat against England in the Super Eight stage.

England beat New Zealand by four wickets in a thrilling encounter in Colombo, denying the Kiwis a guaranteed place in the semi-finals while keeping Pakistan&rsquo;s slender chances intact.

England, having already qualified for the semi-finals, sit at the top of the table with six points from three wins, whereas New Zealand are second with three points.



A nail-biter sees England hold their nerve to edge past New Zealand in their final #T20WorldCup Super 8 fixture 🔥

📝: https://t.co/SPOfO9xhOb pic.twitter.com/Khi40f6hbx
&mdash; ICC (@ICC) February 27, 2026


Pakistan, who lost their crucial Super Eight match against England, are third with one point, earned from a washed-out match against New Zealand. Co-hosts Sri Lanka, having lost both of their opening Super Eight matches, are already out of contention for the final four.

Pakistan&rsquo;s semi-final fate now rests on their match against Sri Lanka, scheduled for tomorrow at Pallekele. A win would level Pakistan and New Zealand on points, leaving net run rate as the deciding factor for progression.

However, the path to qualification is far from straightforward. Pakistan will need to secure a convincing victory over the hosts or chase their target rapidly to overcome New Zealand&rsquo;s net run rate advantage, following the Kiwis&rsquo; comprehensive win against Sri Lanka.

If batting first, Pakistan must defeat Sri Lanka by 64 runs or more to improve their net run rate sufficiently. Alternatively, if chasing, they must reach the target within 13.1 overs to ensure a semi-final berth.]]>
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			<title>Pakistani runners take part in prestigious Tokyo Marathon 2026</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2595632/pakistani-runners-take-part-in-prestigious-tokyo-marathon-2026</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2595632/pakistani-runners-take-part-in-prestigious-tokyo-marathon-2026#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 26 16:05:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[12 Pakistani runners participated in event, highlighting the growing interest in endurance running within Pakistan]]>
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				<![CDATA[A strong contingent of Pakistani distance runners proudly represented the country at the Tokyo Marathon 2026, one of the world&rsquo;s most prestigious road races and a major fixture on the international marathon calendar.

A total of 12 Pakistani runners participated in the event, highlighting the growing interest in endurance running within Pakistan. The marathon, held on March 1, attracted nearly 40,000 runners from around the globe, solidifying its status as a key event in the global running scene.

The fastest Pakistani runner was Zeeshan Ali, who completed the 42.195 km race in an impressive 2:40:09. His performance placed him at the forefront of the Pakistani contingent in a highly competitive and fast-paced race on the Tokyo course.

Other Pakistani runners who took part in the event included Sadiq Shah, Ayaz Abdulla, Bilal Umar, Mohammad Abu Bakr Afzal, Bacha Khan, Asad Tungekar, Hassan Ijaz, Miqdad Mohammad, Semeena Khan, and Shazia Nawaz, representing both male and female athletes from Pakistan.

In addition to the competitive runners, Express News anchorperson Rehman Azhar also participated, marking the completion of his 5th World Major Marathon.

The Tokyo Marathon, a World Athletics Platinum Label race, is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, placing it among the most important marathons globally, alongside events in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York.

In the elite competition, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tadese Takele won the men&rsquo;s race with a time of 2:03:37, successfully defending his title. Kenya&rsquo;s Brigid Kosgei triumphed in the women&rsquo;s race, setting a new course record with a time of 2:14:29.

The Tokyo Marathon is recognised as a major event in the global running calendar. It is known for its fast course, excellent organisation, and international prestige, attracting both elite and amateur athletes from around the world.

The participation of Pakistani runners in the Tokyo Marathon 2026 underscores the steady growth of marathon running in Pakistan and highlights the increasing presence of Pakistani athletes at major international races.]]>
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			<title>Babar Azam dropped lower down against Namibia for scoring too slowly, says coach Hesson</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2593684/babar-azam-dropped-against-namibia-for-scoring-too-slowly-says-coach-hesson</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2593684/babar-azam-dropped-against-namibia-for-scoring-too-slowly-says-coach-hesson#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 26 17:07:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2593684</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says Babar is 'well aware that his strike rate in the power play in the World Cup is less than 100']]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said on Friday that batting great Babar Azam was dropped lower down for the final T20 World Cup group game against Namibia for scoring too slowly.

Babar, who is the highest run-scorer in T20 international history with 4,571 runs, was left out for the must-win game against Namibia as Pakistan racked up 199-3 and secured a place in the Super Eights by 102 runs.

The 2009 champions face New Zealand in Colombo on Saturday in the opening match of the second phase.

&quot;I think Babar is well aware that his strike rate in the power play in the World Cup is less than 100 and that&#39;s clearly not the role we think we need,&quot; Hesson told reporters after Pakistan&#39;s final practice session on Friday was washed out by rain.

Pakistan left out Azam for the same reason at last year&#39;s Asia Cup and even after dismal showing in the Big Bash League, he was still selected for the T20 World Cup.

&quot;We brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup,&quot; said Hesson.

&quot;We&#39;ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that role towards the end.

&quot;Babar is actually the first to acknowledge that.

&quot;He knows that he&#39;s got a certain set of skills that the team requires and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently.&quot;

Hesson also defended dropping pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi after he conceded 101 runs in three matches, including 31 in two overs against India.

&quot;We made a call that Salman Mirza was coming in for Shaheen, and he bowled incredibly well,&quot; said Hesson.

&quot;To be fair, he was probably really unlucky to not be playing the second and third games.&quot;

Hesson was wary of Pakistan&#39;s opponents on Saturday.

&quot;New Zealand have played a huge amount in the subcontinent in recent times so we have to play at our best.&quot;]]>
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			<title>Alpine deny 'sabotage' against Colapinto</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600870/alpine-deny-sabotage-against-colapinto</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600870/alpine-deny-sabotage-against-colapinto#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 26 10:50:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600870</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[They condemned abuse directed at drivers]]>
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				<![CDATA[Renault-owned Alpine condemned on Thursday online abuse of their Argentine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto for an incident in Japan as well as death threats directed &zwnj;at the team&#39;s former racer Esteban Ocon in China.

They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of &#39;sabotage&#39; and that Colapinto was not being given equal equipment to teammate Pierre Gasly.

Colapinto was caught up in Oliver Bearman&#39;s 308kph crash at Suzuka last Sunday, with the Haas driver swerving to avoid the Argentine&#39;s much slower car and hitting the barriers with a force of 50G.

Ocon, now Bearman&#39;s teammate at Haas, accepted blame ⁠for a clash with Colapinto in Shanghai last month.

Alpine, in a lengthy statement, condemned &#39;hateful messages&#39; aimed at Colapinto and Ocon after the two incidents.

&quot;Esteban took full responsibility and apologised to Franco, actively seeking him out in the media pen and also apologising on social media. The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner,&quot; it said.

&quot;Abuse of any kind to all drivers is unacceptable and it was especially disappointing that it comes from a minority of fans of the team towards a driver who has given so much to the team in the past and is &zwnj;a ⁠Grand Prix winner for Alpine.&quot;

Alpine also condemned &#39;hateful behaviour&#39; towards Colapinto after Suzuka.

Subsequently, the team also condemns the hateful behaviour towards Franco following the incident with Ollie Bearman at Suzuka.

&quot;First of all, the most important thing is the safety and wellbeing of the drivers and thankfully Ollie is okay.

&quot;The closing speeds are a characteristic of these cars and as stated by the FIA, it&#39;s something that will be closely reviewed in the coming weeks.

&quot;The FIA also reviewed the incident involving Franco and Ollie during the race and deemed that no further action was necessary.&quot;

&#39;COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED&#39; QUESTIONS ABOUT SABOTAGE

With Formula One now on a break due to the cancellation of April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a result of conflict in the Gulf region, Alpine said they also wanted to address concern about their treatment of the drivers.

Bearman&#39;s crash highlighted a growing safety concern about F1&#39;s new cars, with the battery harvesting and deployment drivers do at different stages around the lap meaning there are times when there are dangerous closing speeds between one car and another.

Gasly has scored 15 ⁠of Alpine&#39;s 16 points in three races so far this season, with Colapinto&#39;s lone point scored in China.

&quot;Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak ⁠out,&quot; said Alpine.

&quot;There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim ⁠will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible.

&quot;It&#39;s absolutely not in the team&#39;s interests to not score points and any suggestion of self sabotage isn&#39;t conducive to that ultimate end goal... there&#39;s no withholding of information or keeping performance tricks hidden away.&quot;

Grand Prix Drivers&#39; Association (GPDA) lead Carlos Sainz, criticised the FIA after the race for prioritising the spectacle over driver safety.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan’s Ali sisters reach squash quarters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600697/pakistans-ali-sisters-reach-squash-quarters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600697/pakistans-ali-sisters-reach-squash-quarters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 26 12:32:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Zulfiqar Baig]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600697</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The trio outclassed their respective opponents in straight games]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan&rsquo;s rising squash trio&nbsp;Mahnoor, Sehrish and Mehwish Ali advanced to the quarter-finals of the SRAFTKL International Junior Open Squash Championship in Kuala Lumpur with dominant performances on Thursday.

The three sisters outclassed their respective opponents in straight games, underlining their growing stature on the international junior circuit and keeping Pakistan&rsquo;s hopes alive in the tournament.

Mahnoor Ali produced a composed and aggressive display in the third round of the Asian Junior Super Series, defeating China&rsquo;s Du Shaoyi 3-0. In a closely contested match, Mahnoor held her nerve at crucial moments to seal the win with scores of 11-9, 11-7 and 11-9, securing her place in the last eight.

In the Under-15 category, Sehrish Ali registered an emphatic victory over Malaysia&rsquo;s Kugan Karesha. After edging a tight opening game 14-12, she dominated the remainder of the match, winning the next two games 11-4 and 11-6 to complete a convincing straight-games triumph.

Mehwish Ali continued the winning momentum with a clinical performance against Singapore&rsquo;s Wong Anne. Demonstrating excellent court control and precision, she secured a 3-0 win with scores of 11-8, 11-4 and 11-6 to move into the quarter-finals.

The trio&rsquo;s clean sweep of victories highlights their consistency and preparation, as all three progressed without dropping a game in their respective matches.

Their performances have drawn praise from officials and sporting bodies in Pakistan. Federal Secretary for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mohyuddin Wani, along with the Pakistan Squash Federation, Pakistan Sports Board, Directorate General of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Youth Programme, lauded the sisters for their impressive achievements.

They said the success of the three siblings reflects the hard work and dedication of young athletes and signals a promising future for squash in Pakistan.

Pakistan, once a dominant force in world squash, has been working to rebuild its presence on the global stage, and the emergence of young talents like the Ali sisters has provided fresh optimism.

With the tournament progressing to the knockout stages, the competition is expected to intensify. The Ali sisters will now aim to maintain their strong form and push for titles.

Sports enthusiasts have expressed hope that the trio can continue their winning run and bring home gold medals, further boosting Pakistan&rsquo;s standing in international junior squash.]]>
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			<title>Max Verstappen says he is considering F1 retirement</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600129/max-verstappen-says-he-is-considering-f1-retirement</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2600129/max-verstappen-says-he-is-considering-f1-retirement#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 26 11:18:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2600129</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The four-time champion questions his place in the sport amid ongoing struggles]]>
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				<![CDATA[Max Verstappen said his current unhappiness has left all options on the table, including retirement once the current Formula 1 season ends.

A winner of 71 career F1 races, which trails only Lewis Hamilton (105) and Michael Schumacher (91) &zwnj;all time, Verstappen finished eighth at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

The four-time F1 drivers&#39; champion from 2021 to 2024 for Red Bull relinquished his seat at the top of the sport when McLaren&#39;s Lando Norris won the title last season.

Verstappen, 29, has bemoaned recent technical changes to F1 cars and ⁠reiterated his disappointment Sunday, according to the BBC. New F1 engines now have a 50-50 split between electrical power and fuel combustion.

On the record as critical of the changes, the Dutch driver was asked if there was a chance he would walk away from his Red Bull contract that runs through the 2028 season.

&quot;That&#39;s what I&#39;m saying,&quot; said Verstappen, who finished sixth in the season-opening race at Australia, did not finish at China and had his worst finish of the season Sunday.

With &zwnj;races ⁠at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia canceled this season because of conflict in the Middle East, the F1 schedule now heads into a one-month pause and will return May 3 at Miami. It is widely believed that Verstappen will weigh his future before racing resumes, while expecting ⁠to finish out the season regardless of what he decides.

&quot;Privately I&#39;m very happy,&quot; Verstappen said, according to the BBC. &quot;You also wait for 24 races. This (season) it&#39;s 22. But normally 24. ⁠And then you just think about is it worth it? Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you&#39;re ⁠not enjoying your sport?&quot;

Verstappen is not only struggling in races, he failed to emerge from the second stage of pole qualifying Saturday when only the best 10 lap times move on to the third and final stage.

Beyond Frustrated

Four-times world champion Max Verstappen, who had declared himself &ldquo;beyond frustrated&rdquo; after qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, said he was considering his &zwnj;future in the sport after finishing eighth in Sunday&#39;s race at Suzuka.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the Red Bull driver said his lack of enjoyment at driving the new generation of cars was making him question whether racing in the sport was still worth it.

Verstappen has been an outspoken critic of Formula One&#39;s new regulations and engine era.

He has repeatedly said his dissatisfaction doesn&rsquo;t stem from Red Bull&rsquo;s poor form but due to the new rules placing more of an emphasis on energy management than flat-out racing.

Sunday was the last race until May, with April&#39;s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds called off due to conflict in the Gulf.

Verstappen, who is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028, said he had plenty of pursuits beyond Formula One to keep him engaged.

The Dutchman recently competed in a sports car race at German track Nuerburgring&rsquo;s fearsome Nordschleife layout &zwnj;in ⁠preparation for the 24 Hours of Nuerburgring race in May.

The 28-year-old has also made headlines for a clash ⁠with a British reporter, an incident that also raised questions about his general state of mind after losing his title last season to McLaren&#39;s Lando Norris.

Formula One stakeholders are set to meet in the five-week break between ⁠Japan and the next race in Miami to take stock of the new rules and consider tweaks.

Verstappen, one of the sport&rsquo;s biggest stars, told BBC Radio 5 Live that the sport&rsquo;s bosses &ldquo;know what to do&rdquo; to make sure he stayed.]]>
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			<title>Malinin earns Olympic redemption with gold</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599955/malinin-earns-olympic-redemption-with-gold</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599955/malinin-earns-olympic-redemption-with-gold#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 26 13:34:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599955</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Japan's Kagiyama, Sato take silver and bronze]]>
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				<![CDATA[American Ilia Malinin returned to the pinnacle of his sport as he skated to a third world title on Saturday and shrugged off the shock of an eighth-place finish at last month&#39;s Olympics.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France added their first world ice dance title &zwnj;to last month&#39;s Olympic gold to cap a dream debut season.

The 21-year-old Malinin, who arrived in Prague carrying the weight of a collapse that cost him Olympic gold and intent on redemption, scored 218.11 points for a free programme that included five quadruple jumps, and 329.40 points overall.

&quot;I definitely felt very pushed and loved from the crowd,&quot; Malinin said. &quot;Every single element I did, they were all behind me and I felt that the whole way through my programme.

&quot;My expectation was to leave the long programme in one piece and I definitely think that happened.&quot;

Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan climbed from sixth after the short ⁠programme to finish second with 306.67 after his elegant and flawless free skate to Puccini&#39;s Turandot.

His compatriot Shun Sato, the bronze medallist last month in Milan, was third with 288.54 after his programme to Stravinsky&#39;s Firebird.

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, the Olympic champion in Milan, did not compete in Prague.

Malinin carried a commanding lead into the final at Prague&#39;s O2 Arena after a personal‑best score of 111.29 in the short programme put the &quot;Quad God&quot; more than nine points clear.

His free programme -- entitled &quot;The Voice&quot; and featuring his own voiceover -- fell short of his massive world-record score of 238.24 at the Grand Prix Final in December, when he performed seven quad jumps, including the quad Axel, a jump only he has landed in competition.

But it was a huge improvement of almost 62 points from Milan.

Malinin tripled the quad Axel, the jump that started the unravelling of his free programme at the Olympics, but his five quads were enough to remind the sport why he remains its most formidable force.

&quot;It was really challenging and really hard,&quot; he told &zwnj;the crowd. &quot;But ⁠with you guys I was able to make it through.&quot;

FOURNIER BEAUDRY AND CIZERON TAKE GOLD

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, six-point leaders after the short dance, scored 138.07 points for their elegant and lyrical free dance to the soundtrack of the movie &quot;The Whale,&quot; and 230.81 points overall.

&quot;It felt amazing. It was a suspended moment with all of you, and it&#39;s such a special feeling to feel all of your eyes and your energy on what we created, so thank you so much,&quot; Cizeron told the audience.

Malinin is now the second-youngest American to win three world titles, joining Dick Button, and he&#39;s the youngest man to win three since Alexei Yagudin of Russia in 2000. He is also the first skater since Nathan Chen (2018-2021) to win three consecutive world titles.

With a huge lead from the short program, Malinin knew he did not need to use his full array of quads in the long program, as he had at December&rsquo;s Grand Prix Final, when he became the first person to land seven &ndash; and one of each type. After all, none of the other 23 men tried more than three.

The most impressive part of Malinin&rsquo;s scores were those for program component scores &mdash; presentation, skating skills and composition. With no mark lower than 9.0 and five maximum marks of 10.0 for presentation, Malinin totaled 95.04, nearly three points better than his previous personal best in a long program.

Meanwhile, a solid performance by Andrew Torgashev helped the U.S. keep its three men&rsquo;s spots at worlds for next season, for which it was necessary that the placements of the top two U.S. mean add up to 13 or fewer.
&nbsp;Torgashev finished 10th, a huge improvement over the finishes of 22nd and 21st in his two previous world appearances. Higher, too, than his 12th-place Olympic finish.

&ldquo;(It&rsquo;s good) knowing I don&rsquo;t have to be spectacular, just good, in order to achieve something for the team,&rdquo; Torgashev said.

As it turned out, Jacob Sanchez&rsquo;s 12th place in his world debut also would have been good enough to ensure the three places. That&rsquo;s the advantage of having Malinin on the team.]]>
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			<title>Kimi Antonelli wins Japanese GP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599954/kimi-antonelli-wins-japanese-gp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599954/kimi-antonelli-wins-japanese-gp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 26 13:29:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599954</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[He takes nine-point lead in the standings to become youngest championship leader]]>
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				<![CDATA[Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday for his second straight victory as the 19-year-old Italian became the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the world championship standings.

Antonelli took advantage of a mid-race safety car to leapfrog into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position at Suzuka and eventually led home McLaren&rsquo;s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari&rsquo;s Charles Leclerc.

He whooped with delight as he crossed the line, telling his team, &ldquo;The pace was unbelievable today.&rdquo;

He leads the championship after three races, building on the first Grand Prix win of his career two weeks ago in China.

George Russell of Mercedes, who started the day on top of the championship standings, finished fourth.

Russell battled Piastri for the lead over the first half of the race but pitted just before the safety car to drop back out of contention for the win.

McLaren&rsquo;s world champion Lando Norris was fifth ahead of Ferrari&rsquo;s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine&rsquo;s Pierre Gasly.

Red Bull&rsquo;s four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who had won in Japan for the past four years, was eighth after starting from 11th on the grid.

Antonelli recovers from poor start

Antonelli was in pole position for the second straight race, having become the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history in China.

But the Italian had a shocking start, sinking to sixth by the first corner.

Piastri took the early lead ahead of Leclerc, with Norris, Russell and Hamilton all overtaking Antonelli.

Russell moved up the field to sit on Piastri&rsquo;s tail as the game of cat and mouse began.

Antonelli also made up lost ground, but a crash from Haas driver Ollie Bearman brought out the safety car midway through the race.

Bearman was limping badly as race marshals helped him off the track, and his team later said he had &ldquo;a right knee contusion&rdquo;.

Antonelli dived into the pits moments after the safety car was deployed, a stroke of good luck that won him the race as he emerged at the head of the pack.

Russell slid out of contention, first being overtaken by Hamilton before watching Leclerc go past.

Antonelli increased his lead while Russell recovered, but Piastri held on to deny Mercedes a third successive one-two Grand Prix finish.

Haas said initial X-rays showed Bearman had no fractures after his crash, which saw him hit the barrier at high speed.

The 20-year-old had moved up the field after starting from 18th on the grid.

Formula One now takes an extended break until the Miami Grand Prix on May 3.

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races scheduled for April have been cancelled because of the war in the Middle East. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver&rsquo;s historic championship accomplishment came after he won his second F1 race in a row.]]>
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			<title>Semenya slams IOC gender tests decision</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599780/semenya-slams-ioc-gender-tests-decision</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599780/semenya-slams-ioc-gender-tests-decision#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 26 13:41:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599780</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The former Olympic winner terms the move a disrespect for women]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[South African Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic 800 metres champion, said on Sunday that the IOC&#39;s reinstatement of gender verification tests for the 2028 Los Angeles Games was &quot;a disrespect for women&quot;.

The former hyperandrogenic athlete also expressed her disappointment that the measure was taken under the leadership of the new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.

&quot;For me, personally, for her being a woman coming from Africa, knowing how African women or women in the Global South are affected by that, of course, it causes harm,&quot; Semenya said during a press conference in Cape Town on the sidelines of a sporting competition.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reinstated genetic testing to determine female sex on Thursday, starting with the 2028 Olympics, effectively banning transgender athletes and a large number of intersex athletes from women&#39;s sports.

The IOC had previously used chromosomal sex testing between 1968 and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, before abandoning it in 1999 under pressure from the scientific community, which questioned its effectiveness, and from its own athletes&#39; commission.

&quot;It came as a failure. And that&#39;s why it was dropped,&quot; Semenya said in Cape Town.

&quot;For you as a woman, why will you be tested to prove that you fit? You know, it&#39;s like now we need to prove that we are worthy as women to take part in sports. That&#39;s a disrespect for women.&quot;

Semenya has become the symbol of the struggle of hyperandrogenic athletes, a battle to assert her rights that she has waged since her first world title in the 800m in 2009, on the athletics tracks and then in the courtrooms.

&nbsp;

Trump order

Announcing the new policy on Thursday, an IOC statement said: &quot;Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one time SRY gene screening.&quot;

They will be carried out through a saliva sample, cheek swab or blood sample.

The new policy removes a potential source of conflict between the IOC and US President Donald Trump at the Los Angeles Olympics.

Trump issued an executive order banning transgender athletes from women&#39;s sport soon after he came to office.

While sports such as swimming, athletics, cycling and rowing have brought in bans, many others have permitted transgender women to compete in the female category if they lowered their testosterone levels, normally through taking a course of drugs.

The new ban will also cover athletes with DSD, the rare condition in which a person&#39;s hormones, genes and reproductive organs may have a combination of male and female characteristics.

The best-known DSD athlete of recent years is Semenya, the two-time Olympic women&#39;s 800m champion who has male XY chromosomes.

The IOC is bringing in the new policy after the women&#39;s boxing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics was rocked by a gender row involving Algerian fighter Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.

Khelif and Lin were excluded from the International Boxing Association&#39;s 2023 world championships after the IBA said they had failed eligibility tests.

However, the IOC allowed them both to compete at the Paris Games, saying they had been victims of &quot;a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA&quot;.

Both boxers went on to win gold medals.]]>
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			<title>Late surge lifts Thunder, Celtics rally to down Hawks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599769/late-surge-lifts-thunder-celtics-rally-to-down-hawks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599769/late-surge-lifts-thunder-celtics-rally-to-down-hawks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 26 12:23:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599769</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[They beat the Chicago Bulls 131-113 to maintain their grip on first place]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Oklahoma City Thunder got back in the win column on Friday, beating the Chicago Bulls 131-113 to maintain their grip on first place in the NBA Western Conference.

Two days after their 12-game winning streak was halted by the Boston Celtics, the defending champions Thunder were again on the ropes against the visiting Bulls.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander connected on just eight of 24 shots for the Thunder, who trailed by eight late in the third quarter but unleashed a furious 22-0 scoring run to turn it into a blowout.

Cason Wallace added 21 points for Oklahoma City.

Jalen Williams scored 18 and Ajay Mitchell and Isaiah Joe added 15 apiece off the bench for the Thunder, who were without All-Star Chet Holmgren who sat out with a bruised hip.

It was a key win for the Thunder, who came into the contest with a two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs for top spot and home court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.

Collin Sexton scored 22 points and Tre Jones added 21 for the Bulls.

In Boston, the Celtics shook off a sluggish start against the high-flying Hawks to triumph 109-102.

The Hawks, who had won nine of their last 10 games, led by as many as 16 in the first quarter.

But Payton Pritchard&#39;s 36 points off the bench and 26 points and 12 rebounds from Jayson Tatum led the hosts&#39; fightback on a night when Jaylen Brown was sidelined by Achilles tendinitis.

It was Tatum&#39;s highest-scoring performance since he made his season debut this month after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in last year&#39;s playoffs.

He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics seal the comeback and maintain their slim advantage over the New York Knicks for second place in the Eastern Conference.

The Los Angeles Clippers, jostling for position in the play-in tournament, got a scare against the league-worst Indiana Pacers.

But Kawhi Leonard drilled a game-winning basket with less than a second remaining in a 114-113 victory.

Leonard finished with 28 points and eight rebounds and Darius Garland scored 30 for the Clippers.

Denver star Nikola Jokic delivered another monster triple-double, his 31st of the season, in the Nuggets&#39; 135-129 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Jokic tallied 33 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists and point guard Jamal Murray added 31 points and 14 assists to help the Nuggets tighten their hold on fourth place in the West.

&nbsp;

Doncic shines

The third-placed Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by 41 points from Luka Doncic, beat the lowly Brooklyn Nets 116-99.

Doncic could be facing a one-game suspension after being whistled for his 16th technical foul of the season after tangling with Nets forward Ziaire Williams in the third quarter.

A player&#39;s 16th technical triggers an automatic one-game ban, something Doncic had already avoided after his last technical foul -- in a victory over Orlando last weekend -- was rescinded upon league office review.

The Golden State Warriors, fueled by 28 points from Kristaps Porzingis, got a morale-boosting 131-126 victory over the Washington Wizards despite the continued absence of superstar Stephen Curry.

Curry missed his 24th straight game with a nagging knee injury, and the Warriors said before the contest that he&#39;ll miss at least one more -- against Denver on Sunday -- before being re-evaluated next week.]]>
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			<title>Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 at Japanese GP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599765/antonelli-leads-mercedes-1-2-at-japanese-gp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599765/antonelli-leads-mercedes-1-2-at-japanese-gp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 26 12:01:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Max Verstappen suffered another qualifying nightmare]]>
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				<![CDATA[Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell on Saturday as Max Verstappen suffered another qualifying nightmare.

Mercedes have claimed one-two finishes at both grands prix so far in a flying start to the Formula One season and they were again dominant in dry conditions at Suzuka.

The 19-year-old Italian Antonelli became the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history two weeks ago in China and he made it two in a row with a fastest lap of 1min 28.778sec.

Early championship leader Russell was second, 0.298sec behind, with McLaren&#39;s Oscar Piastri third and Ferrari&#39;s Charles Leclerc fourth.

Antonelli, who won the first grand prix of his F1 career in China two weeks ago, said it was &quot;a really clean session&quot;.

&quot;There&#39;s still work to do in these big tracks with the energy, how to find a solution that allows us to push even more and drive without thinking too much,&quot; he said.

&quot;But overall I think it was good fun.&quot;

Russell was fastest in Friday&#39;s first practice but he has trailed his younger team-mate in every session since then.

The British driver said he was struggling with his car for most of qualifying and admitted it was &quot;not ideal&quot; going into Sunday&#39;s race.

&quot;I&#39;ve been really comfortable with the car this whole weekend, it&#39;s just in qualifying something didn&#39;t quite feel right,&quot; he said.

&quot;Let&#39;s see tonight, maybe we&#39;ll get some answers, maybe I can adjust my driving style to compensate.&quot;

- &#39;Undriveable&#39; Red Bull -

Russell&#39;s problems paled into insignificance compared with those facing four-time world champion Verstappen, who exited in Q2 and starts from a lowly 11th on the grid for Red Bull.

The Dutchman, who has won in Japan for the past four years, took pole last year with a track-record lap time.

He has railed against new Formula One regulations that see a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power, and labelled his car &quot;undriveable&quot;.

&quot;The car never turns mid-corner, but at the same time this weekend, it&#39;s just oversteering a lot on entry,&quot; he said.

&quot;It&#39;s really difficult, unpredictable.&quot;

Verstappen, who finished sixth in Melbourne and retired from the Shanghai grand prix two weeks ago, added: &quot;We have problems that I cannot explain in detail here.&quot;

Verstappen was involved in a public confrontation on Thursday when he ejected a reporter from his news conference.

McLaren&#39;s world champion Lando Norris was fifth, followed by Ferrari&#39;s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine&#39;s Pierre Gasly.

Verstappen&#39;s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar was eighth, with Audi&#39;s Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad of RB rounding out the top 10.

Piastri will be desperate to make an impact in Sunday&#39;s race after missing the first two grands prix of the season.

The Australian said his qualifying session was &quot;pretty well executed&quot; after also finishing fastest in Friday&#39;s second practice.

&quot;It&#39;s nice to be closer,&quot; said Piastri of his third place on the grid.

&quot;I think we&#39;re learning more and more about the car and about the power unit every weekend.&quot;

Esteban Ocon of Haas, Audi&#39;s Nico Hulkenberg, RB&#39;s Liam Lawson, Alpine&#39;s Franco Colapinto and Williams&#39; Carlos Sainz went out in Q2 with Verstappen.

Haas driver Ollie Bearman, who finished fifth at the Chinese Grand Prix, was a shock faller in Q3 and will start from 18th.

Cadillac pair Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas went out with him, as did Williams&#39; Alex Albon and Aston Martin&#39;s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

The Aston Martin pair, who have yet to complete a grand prix so far this season as they struggle with extreme vibration, finished bottom of the timesheets.]]>
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			<title>Tiger Woods arrested, charged with DUI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599643/tiger-woods-arrested-charged-with-dui</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599643/tiger-woods-arrested-charged-with-dui#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 26 16:58:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[The 50-year-old escaped injury but was detained after his vehicle clipped a truck]]>
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				<![CDATA[Tiger Woods was arrested and charged with driving under the influence Friday after a rollover crash near his Florida home, authorities said, as the 15-time major champion&#39;s golf career veered into fresh turmoil.

Woods, 50, escaped injury but was detained after his vehicle clipped a truck while attempting to overtake on a residential road on Jupiter Island, flipping onto its side before sliding to a stop.

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods -- who was arrested for driving under the influence in 2017 -- showed signs of &quot;impairment&quot;, although he passed a breathalyzer test.

&quot;When it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused, and so he&#39;s been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test in the crash,&quot; Budensiek said.

In line with Florida DUI laws, Woods was detained at the county jail for eight hours and was photographed departing the facility in a car late Friday.

A booking photo showed a red-eyed, stubbly-chinned Woods when he arrived at the jail about two hours after the crash.

Budensiek said drug recognition experts who examined Woods at the scene found the golfer &quot;lethargic&quot; and believed he was impaired with &quot;some kind of medication or drug.&quot;

No drugs or medication were found in his vehicle and since Woods refused the urine test, his right under Florida law, authorities &quot;will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,&quot; Budensiek said.

&nbsp;

&#39;Could have been worse&#39;

While neither Woods nor the driver of the other vehicle was injured, Budensiek said the incident on the two-lane road &quot;could have been a lot worse.&quot;

&quot;Had somebody been moving in the opposite direction, we would not be having a conversation saying there was no injuries,&quot; he said.

Budensiek said he didn&#39;t know how fast Woods was driving in the moments before the crash.

He said the driver of the truck had slowed to make a turn, then tried to move to the side of the road when he saw Woods&#39;s fast-moving vehicle attempting to overtake him.

&quot;When I show you the photos, they kind of speak for themselves...you can see that (Woods) slid for a decent space before he came to a stop,&quot; said the sheriff, who said that after the crash Woods climbed out of the passenger-side window of his Land Rover.

President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Woods in remarks to reporters in Miami following the incident.

&quot;He&#39;s got some difficulty, there was an accident, and that&#39;s all I know,&quot; Trump said. &quot;Very close friend of mine. He&#39;s an amazing person, amazing man, but, uh, some difficulty.&quot;

Woods was arrested in Jupiter in 2017 after police found him asleep at the wheel of his damaged car. Woods eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving and said he had taken a mix of painkillers.

Five years ago Woods was involved in a serious car crash in California that left him with severe right leg injuries that required pins inserted in his foot and ankle and a rod in his tibia as well as a follow-up surgery in 2023.

Woods returned from that crash at the 2022 Masters, where he struggled to walk all four rounds on the way to a 47th-place finish.

Woods, whose clean-cut image was left in tatters after a 2009 sex scandal that upended his career, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture last March and back surgery last October.

He competed earlier this week in the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals and had not ruled out playing in next month&#39;s Masters, where his five victories include his first major title in 1997 and his most recent in 2019.

&quot;This body ... it doesn&#39;t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn&#39;t mean I&#39;m not trying,&quot; said Woods, who last competed in a PGA Tour level event at the 2024 British Open. &quot;I keep trying.&quot;]]>
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			<title>NZ adopts IOC new gender policy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599637/nz-adopts-ioc-new-gender-policy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599637/nz-adopts-ioc-new-gender-policy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 26 16:40:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599637</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Policy bars transgender, DSD athletes from female category]]>
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				<![CDATA[The New Zealand Olympic Committee on Friday acknowledged the amount of work that went into developing the new Olympic policy on the protection of the female category in elite sport and said it would &zwnj;apply it with &quot;respect and care&quot;.

The policy, unveiled by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, introduces gene testing which will effectively bar transgender athletes and some with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) from competing in the female class at the Games.

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 became the first athlete to compete in a gender category different from that of their birth, would no longer be eligible.

&quot;We recognise the extensive consultation and expert input that has informed this policy ... to bring greater clarity, consistency and ⁠fairness to eligibility for the female category at the Olympic level,&quot; NZOC Chief Executive Nicki Nicol said in a statement.

&quot;Our focus now is on understanding the policy fully and working carefully ... to ensure any next steps are approached with clear understanding, respect and care.

&quot;This is a complex and sensitive area that directly affects people, not just policy. We are committed to showing Manaaki (care) by supporting athletes&#39; wellbeing, privacy and dignity.&quot;

The IOC&#39;s working group, whose research underpinned the policy, found scientific evidence pointed to a male performance advantage in all sports and of more than 100% in events that involve explosive power such as weightlifting.

Further, they found no &quot;current evidence that testosterone suppression or gender-affirming hormone treatment eliminates this advantage&quot;.

Opponents of the policy dispute the science, have concernsaround the mental health of transgender athletes as well as safeguarding and the impact on athletes who &zwnj;discover they ⁠have a DSD only after taking the SRY test.

Australian LGBT sports rights group Pride Cup on Friday called on the country&#39;s national sports federations, many of which are committed to inclusion for gender-diverse athletes, to reject the new policy.

&quot;(It shifts) the focus of women&#39;s sport to exclusion by proposing genetic testing and stricter eligibility rules that do nothing to improve conditions for women in sport,&quot; it said in a statement.

The Australian Olympic Committee, however, acknowledged the new policy ⁠and the &quot;fairness and certainty&quot; it gave to elite female athletes.

&quot;This decision will be challenging for some athletes and (we) are mindful of their welfare and wellbeing,&quot; said AOC President Ian Chesterman.]]>
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			<title>Piastri fastest in Japanese GP practice</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599616/piastri-fastest-in-japanese-gp-practice</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599616/piastri-fastest-in-japanese-gp-practice#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 26 14:11:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599616</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Antonelli second and Russell third for Mercedes]]>
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				<![CDATA[McLaren&#39;s Oscar Piastri recorded the fastest time in second free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday, ahead of Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George &zwnj;Russell.

The 24-year-old Australian, who failed to start either of the two main grands prix so far this season, lapped the 5.8 km Suzuka circuit in one minute, 30.133 seconds.

Antonelli, fired up from his first Formula One win at the last race in China, was 0.092 seconds off the pace with championship leader Russell third, 0.205 seconds adrift.

The Mercedes pair had led the times in the first session with Russell fastest ⁠ahead of the 19-year-old Italian. They are separated by four points at the top of the championship standings having won one race each, with Russell also taking the sprint win in China.

The pair have locked out the front row in every qualifying session so far, have finished both Sunday races in one-two formation and could hand Mercedes their first hat-trick of season-opening one-two finishes since 2019.

Piastri&rsquo;s pace-setting effort capped an encouraging day for McLaren after both their cars failed to start in China. His world champion teammate Lando Norris was third quickest in first practice and fourth in the afternoon.

Piastri was fourth fastest in the earlier session.

Reliability concerns at McLaren linger, however, with Norris spending large parts of both sessions with his car being worked on &zwnj;in ⁠the garage.

Ferrari, the closest challengers to Mercedes in the opening two rounds, had Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth in both sessions.

Red Bull&#39;s four-times world champion Max Verstappen was seventh fastest in the opening session and 10th in the second.

Audi&#39;s Nico Hulkenberg posted the seventh-quickest time in the second session ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon and the Haas of Oliver ⁠Bearman.

Fernando Alonso, who handed his Aston Martin over to the team&rsquo;s third driver Jak Crawford for the opening session, was only 19th fastest at what is a home event for the team&rsquo;s power unit partner Honda.

The Spaniard arrived late to Japan after being at ⁠the birth of his first child.

There were no major incidents in either of the two sessions.

Audi&rsquo;s Gabriel Bortoleto and Cadillac&rsquo;s Sergio Perez joined the session late with work being done on their cars. Rookie Arvid Lindblad of ⁠Racing Bulls put just one lap on the board.]]>
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			<title>Shiffrin wins sixth overall title</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599435/shiffrin-wins-sixth-overall-title</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599435/shiffrin-wins-sixth-overall-title#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 26 15:09:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2599435</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[American beats German rival by 87 points]]>
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				<![CDATA[U.S. Alpine ski great Mikaela Shiffrin won a record-equalling &zwnj;sixth women&#39;s World Cup overall Crystal Globe in the final race of the season in Norway.

The 31-year-old needed only a top 15 place in the giant slalom in Hafjell and made sure of that in the second leg before sole rival Emma Aicher of Germany had left the start hut for her last run.

Shiffrin was 17th after the first ⁠run but ended up 11th, for 24 points, with 22-year-old Aicher then making a mistake and dropping from third to 12th.

&quot;It&#39;s quite emotional,&quot; said the American. &quot;This thing sums up the whole season of work and fighting... I have to say to Emma that her skiing has been just outstanding and today it was just so cool to watch her.&quot;

Canada&#39;s Valerie Grenier won the race, a combined 0.43 seconds clear of Norway&#39;s Mina Fuerst Holtmann and Austrian Julia Scheib, who had already secured the giant slalom Crystal Globe.

The final overall points tally was 1,410 for Shiffrin with Aicher 87 &zwnj;behind.

The ⁠overall title is decided by points from all four disciplines, with Aicher an all-rounder while Shiffrin has not skied downhill for two years and competed in only a few of the super-Gs.

The most successful skier in World Cup history with 110 wins has, however, won nine of 10 slaloms, the bedrock of her season, ⁠and taken the globe in that discipline for a record ninth time.

She was also overall World Cup champion in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

The only other female skier to win six overall World Cup titles ⁠was Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell, who won five in a row from 1971-75 and her sixth in 1979. On the men&#39;s side, Austrian Marcel Hirscher holds the outright record of eight.

&quot;I&#39;m really, really ⁠grateful to be in this position now,&quot; said three-times Olympic champion Shiffrin, whose slalom gold medal at last month&#39;s Milano Cortina Games was another highlight of her year.

&quot;It&#39;s really a big emotion but I&#39;m also grateful for the fight.&quot;]]>
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			<title>Mercedes eyes Suzuka hat-trick</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599434/mercedes-eyes-suzuka-hat-trick</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599434/mercedes-eyes-suzuka-hat-trick#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 26 15:05:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Honda facing a tough weekend at home circuit with Aston Martin]]>
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				<![CDATA[Formula One leaders Mercedes go into Sunday&#39;s Japanese Grand Prix chasing a season-opening hat-trick of one-two wins, with Kimi Antonelli fired up after a maiden victory and George Russell seeking to cement his status as title favourite.

The pair have won one &zwnj;Sunday race each but Russell, winner of the season-opener in Australia and the Saturday sprint in China, leads his Chinese Grand Prix-winning teammate by four points.

Mercedes last kicked off with a hat-trick of wins in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic-hit season in which Austria&#39;s Red Bull Ring hosted the first two races.

The last time they started with three one-two finishes was in 2019.

Having made a similarly dominant start to the sport&#39;s new era this season, including locking out the front row in every qualifying session, they could tick off both milestones on Sunday.

&quot;We have made a positive start to the season ⁠but it is only that,&quot; said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. &quot;We know that the moment you think you&#39;ve got this sport figured out, you are usually proven wrong.&quot;

Hamilton has a record 105 career ⁠victories from 382 starts.

Verstappen has won 71 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.

Mercedes last won the first three races of a season in 2020. They last won ⁠the first three with one-two finishes in 2019.

Ferrari chasing win since 2004

Despite Wolff&#39;s caution, either Russell or Antonelli should be celebrating a first win at Suzuka, a 5.8-km figure-of-eight layout widely hailed as a drivers&#39; track that hosts the 40th running of the Japanese round.

Ferrari, who last won at Suzuka with Michael Schumacher in 2004 and have been second-best to Mercedes in the opening two races, will hope to rise to the challenge.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, thanks to their fast starts and intra-team duels, have served up plenty of wheel-to-wheel entertainment.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, in particular, has shown plenty of fight and ended his podium drought in China with a third-place finish. A four-time Suzuka winner, the Briton will be hoping that run continues.

Circuit owners Honda will be hoping for a happier homecoming as power unit suppliers to Aston Martin after &zwnj;a ⁠dismal start to their year.

Neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll have finished the opening two races, with vibrations from the Japanese manufacturer&#39;s power unit severely limiting running.

Just getting to the chequered flag would be big progress for the Japanese manufacturer that powered Max Verstappen to four successive wins on the circuit from 2022 to 2025 when they were partners to Red Bull.]]>
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			<title>Verstappen's Japan GP win streak under threat</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599191/verstappens-japan-gp-win-streak-under-threat</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599191/verstappens-japan-gp-win-streak-under-threat#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 26 10:23:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Russell and Antonelli will carry their early dominance]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Max Verstappen says that the Japanese Grand Prix is one of his favourite races, but his chances of a fifth straight victory at the weekend look vanishingly slim as his Red Bull struggles with Formula One&#39;s sweeping new regulations.
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will carry their early dominance into Suzuka with Ferrari&#39;s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton their nearest challengers.
Red Bull and Verstappen are scrambling to recover from a disastrous start to the Formula One season, as are McLaren whose drivers -- world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri -- both failed to start in China with separate technical problems.
Verstappen, the four-time world champion, finished sixth in the opening grand prix in Australia after crashing in qualifying.
He then limped home ninth and out of the points in the Shanghai sprint before retiring from the main race.
Verstappen has raged against the 2026 regulations and new car designs, branding them &quot;anti-racing&quot; and likening them to the Mario Kart video game with their electrical boost and overtake modes.
The Dutchman sought a change of scenery by competing at a four-hour race in Germany last weekend, but even that did not lift his gloom as he was disqualified after winning.
Verstappen has been unbeaten in Japan for the past four years and he clinched his second world title there in 2022.
His problems in China, where he was ordered to retire on lap 46 of the grand prix because of a cooling issue, suggest his Suzuka dominance could end on Sunday.
&quot;Getting on top of our problems is not easy,&quot; Verstappen said in Shanghai.
&quot;It would help if we would just have a normal start -- I&#39;ve been every time dropping to last.&quot;

Antonelli breakthrough&nbsp;
Verstappen&#39;s struggles are in stark contrast to the flying start enjoyed by Mercedes, who secured one-two finishes at both grands prix so far.
Championship leader Russell triumphed in Australia and 19-year-old Antonelli picked up the first win of his fledgling career in China.
Russell took the chequered flag in the Shanghai sprint and Mercedes will target a Suzuka triumph for the first time since Valtteri Bottas won in 2019.
Antonelli, who became the youngest pole-sitter in Formula One history in Shanghai and the second-youngest race winner after Verstappen, was given a hero&#39;s welcome when he returned to his native Bologna in Italy.
The win had &quot;removed a bit of weight from my shoulders&quot;, said Antonellii.
&quot;It&#39;s the kind of result which gives you strength and more awareness of what you can do.&quot;
McLaren have endured a nightmare start to the campaign under the new regulations which require battery management and energy harvesting with a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.
Defending champion Norris, who complained his car &quot;sucks&quot;, is 36 points behind Russell while Piastri is yet to take part in a grand prix this season after he crashed on his way to the grid in Melbourne.
&quot;We just have to take it on the chin, learn what the problem was and make sure it never happens again,&quot; Norris said in Shanghai.
&quot;All of us want to go racing and score points.&quot;
The teams will have time to regroup after Suzuka, as there will be a five-week gap until the Miami GP as the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East.&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Tiger Woods eye TGL finals</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599014/tiger-woods-eye-tgl-finals</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2599014/tiger-woods-eye-tgl-finals#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 26 12:30:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[REUTERS]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[He has been serving as an adviser and unofficial cheerleader for his team]]>
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				<![CDATA[Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf, minus most of the walking, when he tees it up for Jupiter Links Golf Club on the last night of the TGL finals on Tuesday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Sahith Theegala birdied the final hole, giving &zwnj;Los Angeles Golf Club two points and a 6-5 comeback win over Jupiter Links Golf Club in the first match of title series on Monday.
The best-of-three set concludes Tuesday night with the second match and, if necessary, the decisive match.
Woods has been serving as an adviser and unofficial cheerleader for his TGL team while working his way back from lumbar disk replacement surgery ⁠in October and a left Achilles tendon rupture that occurred last spring.
The back operation was the seventh Woods, 50, has undergone.
The last time Woods participated in a full-fledged golf event was when he missed the cut at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland.
Asked last week about playing at the Masters next month, Woods said, &quot;I said I&#39;ve been working on it. Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days. Disk replacement is not a lot of fun.
.&quot;.. So as I said, I&#39;ve had a lot of procedures prior to that, so the body doesn&#39;t quite heal like &zwnj;it ⁠was when I was 24. Doesn&#39;t quite bounce back. So I have good days when I can pretty much do anything, and other days where it&#39;s hard to just to move around.&quot;
On Monday, Jupiter&#39;s team of Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner led 3-2 after nine holes of triples play against Los Angeles&#39; team ⁠of Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Theegala.
In singles, Rose beat Homa and then Fleetwood topped Kim to put L.A. up 4-3. Theegala topped Kisner and then Rose defeated Homa as Jupiter went back in front 5-4.
After Fleetwood and ⁠Kim halved their hole, it came down to Theegala vs. Kisner. With the hammer thrown, doubling the value of the hole, Theegala reached the green in two on par-5 15th hole, and he ⁠got the birdie. Kisner&#39;s chip-in attempt from off the green would have halved the hole and given Jupiter the victory if it went in, but it came up short.]]>
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