MANCHESTER: Manchester City have named former Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini as the successor to the sacked Roberto Mancini, the Premier League club announced yesterday.

The 59-year-old Chilean, whose appointment had been widely expected for weeks with Pellegrini saying last month he had a verbal agreement, takes over following Mancini’s dismissal on May 13 after City were runners-up in the league and FA Cup.

“I am delighted to accept this hugely exciting opportunity,” he said. “The club has a clear vision for success both on and off the pitch and I am committed to making a significant contribution.

“Everything is in place for Manchester City to continue to be successful and I am excited to be able to work with such a talented squad, the executive team and the board to deliver for fans who are renowned for their steadfast support.”

Former Villarreal and Real Madrid boss Pellegrini takes over a club with huge financial resources who last season failed to launch a meaningful defence of the Premier League crown they won in 2012, allowing Manchester United to win it back with ease.

Expectations are high at silverware-hungry City with chief executive Ferran Soriano saying last month that the club wanted to win five trophies in the next five years.

Pellegrini, known as ‘The Engineer’, has earned himself a reputation for building teams who play attractive, possession-based football which fits in with the style City have sought to play in recent seasons.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2013.

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After a tough encounter, Ubaid Asghar hit the winner just before final whistle on a free-kick from 25 yards.

The first quarter-final between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan scheduled at 10:30am was rescheduled due to wet conditions because of the overnight rain. It will now be held on Saturday (today).

He had collapsed at the Tai’s Karate Centre on March 30 and was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. A diabetic for many years, his kidneys were badly affected when his blood pressure dropped dangerously.

He remained in intensive care unit at the Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) for a few days and was finally discharged after five weeks.

He has now started visiting the centre, much to the relief and delight of the large number of his trainees. “Thanks God, he is back. He is the source of inspiration for the trainers as well as the trainees. All of us remained greatly concerned when he was hospitalised,” Grand Master Farooq Palla said while talking to ‘The News’ here on Friday. “His mere presence at the centre means a lot to us.”

Tai himself is in high spirits after coming back to his centre. “I am grateful to Almighty Allah to have blessed me with a new life. I have recovered literally from the deathbed thanks to the continuous prayers of family, friends, well wishers and students,” he said.

The 38-year-old former England captain will be attending a Chinese Super League football match, reports said, during a visit arranged as part of his role as ambassador for China’s top league.

Beckham, who announced his retirement last month after winning the French league title with Paris Saint-Germain, will attend public events with former Spice Girl Victoria after his arrival in Beijing on Monday, the Oriental Sports Daily newspaper said.

Beckham’s involvement in the Chinese game is focused on developing the sport at grassroots level, officials say. The presence of his glamorous wife on the trip is likely to see media interest soar.

After spending the first day of the trip in Beijing, Beckham will then head to the eastern city of Nanjing, before a brief visit to Shanghai, a website said, citing organisers. He is expected to visit the local CSL teams in both cities.

Beckham will then spend three days in the eastern city of Hangzhou, culminating in him watching local team Hangzhou Greentown play Beijing Guoan on June 22, the Oriental Sports Daily said.

The visit is the second of three that Beckham is making to China during the season.

He is also being tasked with promoting the Chinese league, whose image has been battered by corruption scandals in recent years.

But on his first visit in March, Beckham said his key goal was not to repair the sport’s image, but to help develop youth football in China.

OSLO: Usain Bolt banished any blues he felt from losing to Justin Gatlin over 100m last week by scorching to an impressive victory in 19.79 seconds in the 200m in the Diamond League meet in Oslo.

The Jamaican sprint star raced to a Bislett Games meet record and world lead time of 19.79 seconds to finish well ahead of a weak field made worse when his closest rival, Dutchman Churandy Martina, was disqualified for a false start.

Bolt made sure he was well away at the second time of asking to rebound from just his fifth defeat on the track since the 2008 Beijing Olympics with an awesome display of power both around the bend and also down the home stretch.

“It’s a very good start for my first 200m [of the season],” he said. “I’ll now go home and work on everything else. I’ll aim to go even faster.”

Bolt’s next outing will be at the Jamaican national trials ahead of August 10-18 world championships in Moscow.

While Bolt shone, there were, however, off-days for Trinidad and Tobago’s Olympic javelin champion Keshorn Walcott and former two-time world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia.

Walcott’s best of 77.03m saw him finish 10th and last in a competition won by Czech Vitezslav Vesely (85.96m). Norway’s two-time former Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen was sixth with 80.99m.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2013.

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UCI backs independent audit on ‘Armstrong years’

LAUSANNE: World cycling’s governing body has backed a proposal to carry out an independent audit of its role in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal that rocked the sport.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement on Thursday evening that its management committee approved the idea continued talks on their handling of the Texan rider with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) at a meeting in Bergen, Norway.

UCI president Pat McQuaid indicated the likelihood of such a move in an interview with AFP in May and that WADA, who had previously criticised the disbanding of an independent commission to look into the matter, were also in favour.

WADA and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), whose devastating report last year exposed Armstrong as a serial drug cheat, refused to work with the commission.

Pak team off for Special Football Qualifiers

KARACHI: Pakistan special football team left for Thailand on Friday to compete in Special Olympics Asia Pacific Regional Football Qualifiers, which will run from June 15-21.

The Asia Pacific Region Qualifiers for the Special Olympics Global Unified Cup will see Special Olympics Unified teams from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore competing in Bangkok.

Squad: Mohammad Haroon, Syed Furqan, Junaid Khan, Obaid-ur-Rehman, Waheed, Tanveer Ahmed, Ali, Sajid Shah, Muhammad Hanzla Bari, Obaid Majid, Ghulam Raza, Jamaluddin, Asif Khan, Radif-ul-Hassan and Uzair Mustafa.

Officials: Arshad Javed, Muhammad Salim Sheikh, Muhammad Asif, Arif Hussain and Sartaj Zada.

Pak County overpower Rashid Dar XI

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Pak County Lions defeated Rashid Dar XI by nine wickets in their match of the First Pak County Challenge T20 held here at the Express Way Ground on Friday.

RD XI scored 112-6 with Abdul Rehman hitting 33. Kashif (20) and Javed (12) were the other main scorers.

Haroon took two wickets.

Pak County raced to the target after losing one wicket. Nadir Khalid hit 52 while Fahad Khan scored 33.

Super Star Panthers defeated NCC by 19 runs. Panthers posted 166 all out with Waqas hitting 33. NCC were dismissed for 147. Faizan and Zeeshan got three wickets each.

Pakistan to host baseball tournament in November

KARACHI: Pakistan Federation of Baseball (PFB) will be hosting the 11th West Asia Cup in November this year.

Secretary PFB Syed Khawar Shah said that the preparation of the national team to put up a forceful show in the event would begin in September. “We will send invitations to all national level teams to start preparing their players so that we may select a strong team.”

Khawar said that teams from Afghanistan, Iran, India, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Sri Lanka were expected to participate in the West Asia Cup.

Army win beach netball final

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Army wore the crown after beating Police 14-9 in the final of the National Men’s Beach Netball Championship here at the Sea View in Clifton on Friday.

Nawab Ali and Adnan did an excellent job for the winners in the tough encounter.

Punjab defeated Sindh 10-8 in the play-off for the third place to claim the bronze medal. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa got the fifth position, followed by FATA and Balochistan.

Federer blasts his way to Halle semis

HALLE: Four-time winner Roger Federer outclassed Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-0 on Friday to book his place in the semi-finals of the Halle Open.

The world number three will play the winner of the quarter-final match between Germany’s Tommy Haas, who beat him in last year’s final, and France’s Gael Monfils.

KARACHI: Pakistan are out of the running for the World Squash Team Championship title but that did not affect their performance as they defeated Canada 2-0 in the play-offs to move a step closer to achieving the highest possible ninth place at the event.

Pakistan will play the 9th-10th place play-off against the winner of the US-Scotland match today. Nasir Iqbal won a marathon encounter against Shawn Delierre with a scoreline of 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 and 3-11, while Farhan Zaman registered a 3-2 triumph over Andrew Schnell.

While the main agenda in France remained winning the rest of the matches, the Pakistan contingent is also strongly campaigning to convince top foreign players to participate in national events back home.

This is being done in a bid to convince the Professional Squash Association (PSA) to allow international entries in the country’s events.

Pakistan had recently successfully conducted the Asian Individual Championship in Islamabad which helped in rebuilding the trust of international players. Several foreign participants stressed that they felt safe and their perception had changed about Pakistan.

The country then received its due award as the Asian Squash Federation nominated Pakistan as the hosts for the 2015 Squash World Cup to boost the improving reputation.

The Pakistan Squash Federation now feels that the time is right for international players to be allowed to participate in PSA tournaments here.

“We’re trying to urge top European players to push the PSA for allowing international entries in Pakistan’s tournaments,” a team member told The Express Tribune.

“The response we have received from the players is amazing which shows they also want Pakistan to hold top tournaments because of our rich history.“

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2013.

View the original article here

The American’s three under 67, sandwiched around a 3 hours 32 minutes play suspension due to the bad weather, was still the target by the end of the day as half the field were unable to complete their rounds.

England’s former world number one Luke Donald was best-placed among the chasers at four under through 13 holes.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, appeared to be struggling with an injury to his left wrist after jarring it while playing out of Merion’s thick and wet rough.

Mickelson skipped practise rounds at the course on Tuesday and Wednesday to fly back to California and attend his daughter Amanda’s eighth-grade graduation ceremony, then flew back in time to start the Open on Thursday.

The airplane landed at Philadelphia at 4:15 in the morning and the 42-year-old left-hander reached the course 87 minutes later, well ahead of his 7:11 am tee time.

Seeking a first US Open title after finishing runner-up a record five times, Mickelson then set about tackling Merion’s East course, hosting the US Open for the first time in 32 years.

That task he completed superbly, his sublime short game skills inspiring him to a 67, his lowest opening round in the US Open since 1999.

It gave him the luxury, as the clubhouse leader, of sitting back and watching the afternoon starters try to match him, knowing that, due to the delay, they would be unable to complete their rounds by nightfall.

Mickelson, who will turn 43 on Sunday, played down the difficulty of the flight logistics, saying that as a professional golfer he was accustomed to the situation.

“I got on the plane at 8:00, landed 3:30. Had a few hours sleep. We had a rain delay here, so I went and slept for an hour. I feel great,” he said.

“So this is not that out of the ordinary; I do this about six, ten times a year where I fly back east red eye, play some outing and then come home. So it’s not out of the ordinary.”

With all of the 78 golfers who were in the 26 morning groupings having completed their rounds, big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts was closest to Mickelson, two strokes back after a 69.

At level par 70 were South African pair Charl Schwartzel and Tim Clark along with Americans Rickie Fowler and Jerry Kelly who had a double-bogey six at the tough 18th, and Australia’s Jason Day.

Tournament favorite Woods, playing with the two men following him in the world rankings – Rory McIlroy and Scott – got off to an edgy start with two bogeys in the first three holes.

But he sunk a huge putt for birdie at the sixth to steady his round before jarring his wrist while hitting out of the rough at the 11th, minutes before play was called for the day.

Woods, whose last major win came at the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 when he won an 18-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate on what turned out to be a broken leg, is back near his best with four tournament wins this year already.

But to seal his comeback he needs to win a 15th major title and move to within three of the all-time record of 18 set by Jack Nicklaus when he won the 1986 Masters.

McIlroy, still waiting for his 2013 season to take off after an equipment change that has proved more problematic than he expected, was at level par when they came off.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and his India counterpart MS Dhoni were asked here on Friday whether Saturday’s match between the sub-continental rivals will offer the sort of excitement that such games used to back in the eighties and nineties.

Misbah thought it would while Dhoni more or less agreed with him.

In his pre-match media conference, Misbah went to the extent of labeling Saturday’s game as a match which is “like a final of everybody” back in Pakistan and India. “I think it remains a big match because people (in Pakistan and India) want their (respective) team to win such games. Whenever we play each other it’s like a final for everybody,” stressed Misbah.

But in the current scenario where Pakistan are already out of the Champions Trophy while India have booked a place in the semi-finals, many believe otherwise.

But Misbah is of the view that Indo-Pak matches are always huge regardless of the circumstances. “I think it’s still a very important game. Everybody knows that India-Pakistan is always a game most of the viewers are looking for because the audience, especially in India and Pakistan are big followers of cricket, and they always want to see India and Pakistan playing each other.”

Dhoni also sees today’s game as a big one but believes that the previously intense rivalry between the two sides has “mellowed” down a bit. “I think an India-Pakistan game is always a big game. (It) doesn’t really matter where you are playing,” he told reporters.

“If you see both the teams, if you compare it to the ‘80s or the early ‘90s, you can say it has mellowed down a bit for the good of cricket.”

“How can an illegal body, which has already been banned by the POA general council for ten years, take decisions against genuine sports federations and their officials,” Khalid said.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) had already restrained the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) from interfering in the affairs of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) or discussing any other sports related matter till the final verdict, Khalid pointed out. He urged the POA to get “this illegal body” prosecuted for contempt of court.

The 2012-13 season was a brutal one for managers in England’s four top leagues with the 63 sackings or resignations, the equal worst total in the last 19 years, according to statistics released by the League Managers Association (LMA).

It seems that job security in the Championship (second tier) was a luxury commodity afforded few with 13 managers sacked last season.

On top of the 13 dismissals, there were also six resignations in the Championship.

Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers, both relegated from the Premier League following the 2011-2012 campaign, dismissed three and two managers respectively last season as the pressure to regain their places amongst the elite mounted.

There was a distinct lack of Christmas and New Year cheer too as six Championship managers were shown the door in the months of December and January in hopes of a change in clubs’ fortunes. The theory failed to work at Wolves who began the last season with Stale Solbakken in charge, then replaced him with Dean Saunders in January but suffered a second successive relegation.

The managerial seat at Blackburn proved even hotter with Steve Kean resigning in September and his replacement Henning Berg lasting only 57 days.

Michael Appleton, who resigned at Blackpool to join Blackburn, managed only 67 days in the job, leaving Gary Bowyer as a caretaker manager and subsequently permanent boss.

The average tenure of the 13 sacked managers in the Championship was 1.04 years while seven lost their jobs less than a year after being appointed.

Also present were president AFC Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalif and representatives from world football governing body (FIFA) and the AFC legal department.

The establishment of the Ethics Committee is a vital step which will help protect the game of football from unethical acts such as match-fixing and betting.

During the meeting it was decided that the committee would comprise two chambers, investigative and judicial. Well-learned, suitable, professionally competent and experienced officials from the AFC will be inducted into these chambers.

A PFF spokesman said that it was a great honour for Pakistan that vital decisions were taken by the AFC Legal Committee under the leadership of Faisal.

“I’m still hanging in there. The last four or five years have been tough with surgeries, but mentally I feel fresh,” Hewitt said.

“I’m enjoying competing with the best players in the world. I played really well, I’ve got better with each match this week.”

The former world number one, who made his first appearance at Queen’s as a 17-year-old in 1998, is well into the twilight of his career and his lowly spot at 82 in the world rankings reflects his diminished status.

But the 32-year-old former Wimbledon champion enjoyed notable victories over highly-regarded Grigor Dimitrov and former Queen’s champion Sam Querrey en route to the last eight.

It was the first time Hewitt had won three successive matches at a tournament since his run to the final in Newport, also on grass, last July.

Aided by two del Potro double faults, Hewitt earned two break points at 3-2 and took the first set in style, unloading a forehand winner that flashed past the Argentine.

He finished off the set in style, breaking again as he nailed a volley on set-point.

Del Potro showed his grass court pedigree when he won the bronze medal in the London Olympics at Wimbledon last year and he hit back emphatically with two breaks in the first three games of the second set.

That was enough to take the set, but Hewitt broke for a 3-1 lead in the decider.

Hewitt’s deep groundstrokes were keeping the towering del Potro off balance and he broke again to seal the win before inviting his son Cruz onto the court to celebrate the victory with him.

Hewitt’s semi-final opponent is Marin Cilic, who remains on course to retain the Queen’s title after the defending champion defeated Czech second seed Tomas Berdych 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).

Cilic won in bizarre circumstances last year when his final opponent David Nalbandian was disqualified for kicking an advertising board into the shins of a line-judge in frustration at losing a point.

The Croatian fifth seed is now just two wins away from becoming the first player to retain the trophy since Andy Roddick in 2005 after a dominant display against world number six Berdych.

“I served really good in the crucial moments and got free points. I’m really happy to be through,” Cilic said.

Cilic had lost four of his previous five meetings with Berdych and had never managed a grass court victory against a player ranked in the top 10.

But the 24-year-old edged a tight first set when he landed the only break of serve at 6-5.

Cilic, who brought an end to his nine-year partnership with Australian coach Bob Brett just before the recent French Open, held his nerve when the second set went to a tie-break.

Scolari led the Selecao to their fifth World Cup, a coronation sealed in Tokyo 11 years ago.

But the fact he is back for a second spell at the helm is evidence of the degree to which impatience and concern rule hearts and minds across this giant footballing nation given a clutch of disappointing showings at major events ever since.

Scolari has insisted since returning to the fold last November, ironically a matter of days after predecessor Mano Manezes’ Brazil side spanked the Japanese 4-0 in a friendly in Poland, that the Confederations Cup is a sideshow and that he cannot deliver a second dose of alchemy overnight. Yet the pressure is on as the four-time Asian Cup champions should provide a stiff test before further showdowns with Olympic conquerors Mexico and three-time world champions Italy.

Japan say they won’t be caught napping as they were in Poland, but will need to keep an eye on in-form striker Fred, who has five goals in his last six internationals — including two against England in friendly tussles in Wembley — where England won 2-1 and Rio, which ended 2-2.

“Brazil have a very strong team and we need to make sure they don’t dole out a repeat of what they did in Poland,” said midfielder Yasuhito Endo.

The tournament is the first major event hosted by Brazil since the 1989 Confederations Cup and the logistical challenge has been a tough one, raising concerns about whether the country can produce 12 top notch venues for the World Cup.

“The Confederations Cup helps up prepare the World Cup,” Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo told reporters Thursday.

“If all goes well, if security, transport, airports, surveillance go according to plans, I will be happy,” he added.

Should Scolari’s men only take second place in the pool phase they would face a likely Spanish test in Fortaleza on June 27.

If Brasilia is off the beaten track in terms of Brazilian footballing tradition, nonetheless striking parallels can be seen between the city and the national team.

The city is a paean to modern architecture, a realised dream for former President Juscelino Kubitschek, who determined in the mid-1950s that the capital should be based in the very heart of the country rather than remain in Rio.

Kubitschek came up with the slogan “50 years of progress in five,” his era coinciding with the first great Brazil side which, with a teenage Pele on board, lifted their first World Cup in Sweden in 1958.

Nasir Iqbal clicked finally and beat Shawn Delirre 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3 in a tough match of 93 minutes.

Farhan Zaman easily sealed Pakistan’s win by defeating Andrew Schnell 8-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-5, 11-3 in 46 minutes.

“We are here to restore pride in Pakistan squash after our lowest ever [22nd] finish last time,” said Pakistan coach Jamshed Gul. “I am proud of my young team for winning the matches,” he added.

After losing in pre-quarters, Pakistan won their matches against New Zealand and Canada in the 9th to 16th place play-offs.