Edris retains world 5,000 metres title

DOHA: Ethiopian Muktar Edris retained his 5,000 metres title at the World Athletics Championships in Doha on Monday.The 25-year-old -- who two years ago denied British legend Mo Farah gold in his last track final -- came home in a time of 12 minutes 58.85 seconds.His compatriot Selemon Barega, 19, took silver in 12:59.70 and Canada´s Mohammed Ahmed the bronze in a time of 13:01.11.There was no joy for the three Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers.European champion Jakob fared the best, after Henrik was dropped early on and Filip having been prominent faded with over two laps to go.Jakob, the youngest of the three, set sail for home 350 metres out and opened up a sizeable gap on the pursuing Ethiopians.However, the 19-year-old had no answer as Edris and Barega came after him round the curve of the final bend.Jakob, who will also contest the other event he is European champion in the 1500m along with his brother Filip, was a spent force and Ahmed caught him.Ingebrigtsen collapsed on crossing the line lying head down on the track.

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Lasitskene seals high jump hat-trick

DOHA: Mariya Lasitskene completed a superb hat-trick of high jump titles at the World Championships here Monday.The 26-year-old, who is one of only 30 Russian athletes allowed to compete in Doha under the authorised neutral athlete banner, took gold ahead of Ukraine´s Yaroslava Mahuchikh.Lasitskene, the 2015 and 2017 champion, claimed victory after clearing a height of 2.04m to win on countback ahead of Mahuchikh.Vashti Cunningham of the United States took bronze.The win marked another career milestone for Lasitskene, who has dominated international high-jumping in recent years.Lasitskene was barred from the 2016 Olympics after Russia was banned from the games over the country´s doping scandal.But Lasitskene has since been allowed to compete as a neutral athlete, a status handed to athletes who are deemed to be above suspicion by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

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Nakaayi takes 800m gold at world championships

DOHA: Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda won the women´s 800m at the world championships here Monday, producing a sprint finish to claim the throne left vacant by the absent South African Caster Semenya.Nakaayi, 24, timed her race to perfection moving onto the shoulder of leader Ajee Wilson of the United States on the bend before kicking for home down the stretch.Nakaayi took gold in 1min 58.04sec, with the fast-finishing Raevyn Rogers of the United States taking silver in 1:58.18.Wilson had to settle for bronze in 1:58.84.The 800m at this year´s championships took place with the glaring absence of South Africa´s two-time Olympic champion Semenya.Semenya is not competing in Doha following a controversial Swiss court ruling which found in favour of new regulations effectively barring female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels from competing in the 800m.

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Sri Lanka hopeful of playing Tests in Pakistan, but reluctant to confirm

KARACHI: Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva and Sri Lankan Sports Minister Harin Fernando have assured full support to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but the duo was reluctant to confirm if their team would be willing to tour Pakistan in December to play two Test matches.Talking to media in Karachi at a press conference along with PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, the president of SLC said that they will have to talk to their top players to tour Pakistan for Test championship matches.“SLC’s 200 per cent support is with you. You security is too tight, even I can’t go out. Sri Lanka is behind with you all, and we will support you every time,” Shammi Silva said.“Actually, security wise we don’t need to think twice, but we have to think about Tests as we are playing Test championship and if three or four players can’t come — we still have three-four players from 2009 incident in our Test team — we will have to talk about it,” he responded when asked about confirmation on the tour by team to play Test matches in December.However, he hoped that all the players would agree to visit Pakistan.He said that SLC wanted to help PCB as Pakistan was looking forward to the series to show a bigger picture to the world regarding their security arrangements.“Initially we had agreed to play only three T20Is but I spoke to my minister because you wanted to show the bigger picture to the world so we agreed to play three more matches,” he revealed.The sports minister, however, said the ongoing tour by a young Sri Lankan team will be a confidence booster for the players ahead of the scheduled tour by the Test team.“What matters is that players are here in Pakistan, and these players play along with the senior players as well. And, they might endorse how well the security is here and how well Pakistan has treated them and that will be a confidence booster, so this tour had to happen first if a Test series has to happen too,” said Fernando.“What amazes me is the amount of security that has been given and how they have been looked after. Things could happen anywhere in the world and sports shouldn’t be stopped. I believe that other countries will also send their players,” he said.“There were a few players who experienced the incident in 2009 and their decisions were made with their family's consensus. But the boys who came are also not A or B players; they’ve been mostly part of the team. They’re here and if they do well, it will put pressure on senior players and will be good for Sri Lankan cricket. So, we need to respect decisions of the senior players,” the Sri Lankan sports minister added.The Sri Lankan minister also thanked the PCB for its historic support to Sri Lanka Cricket in the past.He highlighted that cricket has become a symbol to express solidarity by nations.“Cricket has become a universal game and it’s not just about the competitiveness, but it also shows solidarity among the neighboring nations,” he said.“I want to thank PCB which sent its U19 team to Sri Lanka when things were not even settled in Sri Lanka after the Easter attack. That was an act of solidarity shown by Pakistan to Sri Lanka,” Fernando added.

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PCB chairman pins great hope in Royal visit

Britain's Prince William (R) and Kate Middleton (L) are scheduled to visit Pakistan this month.—Geo.tv/File photoKARACHI: Pakistan's cricket chief is hopeful that this month's visit to the country by Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton will provide a boost to PCB's campaign to revive international cricket at home.Pakistan are currently hosting Sri Lanka for a six-match limited-overs series -- the longest by any international cricket team to the country in more than a decade. It’s a rare occasion as international cricket teams have mostly stayed away from the country since a 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009.The series has been hailed as a big step towards the return of international cricket in Pakistan but the top ten Sri Lankan players stayed away from the trip citing security concerns, something that underlines the fact that it might still take several years before normalcy returns to the world of Pakistan cricket in the true sense of the world.It took more than ten years for Sri Lanka to return to Karachi. There are fears that it might take ten more before top-tier teams like England and Australia return to Pakistan.But ask Ehsan Mani, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and he will tell you that he was a lot more positive.Asked whether he agrees with pessimists, who believe teams like England and Australia won't be visiting Pakistan anytime soon, Mani said, "I'm much more hopeful."Mani's optimisim springs from a series of recent developments including the ongoing series against Sri Lanka and a visit to Pakistan of top Cricket Australia officials including its CEO.But the biggest reason why Mani is confident that England could play in Pakistan as early as in 2021 and Australia in 2022 is this month's Royal visit to Pakistan by Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton"Price William and Kate Middleton are coming to Pakistan. You will be amazed how much of a difference it makes to countries like Australia, England and New Zealand. If the Royal family has the confidence to visit then they feel better," Mani told 'The News' in an interview.The Royal couple will be visiting Pakistan from October 14-18. It will be the first visit to Pakistan by members of the British Royal Family in 13 years. It comes 13 years after Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwell, visited the country in 2006.Mani is of the view that developments like United Nations declaring Pakistan a 'family posting' also augur well for PCB's campaign to revive international cricket in Pakistan.However, he made it clear that "nothing will happen overnight" and that progress will be "step by step".Mani believes that lack of professionalism is the reason why the progress was slow in the past."After what happened in 2009 there was a shock in the country and in the world. We were in denial. We were blaming everyone else but ourselves because of a lack of professionalism," he said."What we needed was to have Pakistan genuinely safe. You can’t promote a perception of safety and security by just talking about it. You have to achieve progress on the ground. They (the foreign teams and officials) have to be convinced that our country was now safe to visit."Unfortunately in the past there was no forward thinking. Our strategy was to invite teams to Pakistan by paying them. I didn’t agree with it. It would have left the Board bankrupt."What you needed was to have other people assess the security. That’s why in the PSL (this year) my strategy was to get as many security consultants as possible. We called experts from ICC, from FICA."There has been positive change. The political situation and political leadership has changed. A lot has been happening which I believe will pave the path for the return of international cricket to Pakistan."Cricket Australia's Chief Executive was here last month. Their Chairman is coming soon. In a few weeks time, top ECB officials will be visiting Pakistan. Top officials of Cricket Ireland will also be joining them on the tour."The reason why we are inviting these officials is because we want them to experience the security situation in Pakistan themselves. We take them to Islamabad not just to meet our government officials. We also take them to meet top officials of their High Commissions," he said.

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Int'l cricketers to follow suit after Royal visit, hopes PCB chairman

Chairman Ehsan Mani. Photo: AFPPakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani is hopeful that Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton's visit to the country this month will provide a boost to the board's campaign to revive international cricket at home.Pakistan are currently hosting Sri Lanka for a six-match limited-overs series — the longest by any international cricket team to the country in more than a decade. It’s a rare occasion as international cricket teams have mostly stayed away from the country since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.The series has been hailed as a big step towards the return of international cricket in Pakistan but the top ten Sri Lankan players stayed away from the trip citing security concerns. This is something that highlights the fact that it might still take several years before normalcy returns to the world of cricket in Pakistan.It took more than ten years for Sri Lanka to return to Karachi. There are fears that it might take ten more before top-tier teams like England and Australia return to Pakistan.Chairman Mani, however, is a lot more positive. When asked whether he agrees with the pessimists, who believe teams like England and Australia won't be visiting Pakistan anytime soon, Mani said, "I'm much more hopeful."Mani's optimism springs from a series of recent developments, including the ongoing series against Sri Lanka and the visit of top Cricket Australia officials — including its CEO Kevin Roberts — to Pakistan. But the biggest reason why Mani is confident that England could play in Pakistan as early as in 2021, and Australia in 2022, is this month's Royal visit to Pakistan by Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton."Price William and Kate Middleton are coming to Pakistan. You will be amazed at how much of a difference it makes to countries like Australia, England and New Zealand. If the Royal family has the confidence to visit then they will feel better," Mani told The News in an interview.The Royal couple will be visiting Pakistan from October 14-18. It will be the first visit to Pakistan by members of the British Royal Family in 13 years. Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwell, were the last to visit the country in 2006.Mani is of the view that developments like United Nations declaring Pakistan a "family station" also augurs well for PCB's campaign to revive international cricket in Pakistan.However, he made it clear that "nothing will happen overnight" and that progress will be "step by step".Mani also believes that the lack of professionalism is the reason why progress was slow in the past."After what happened in 2009, there was a shock in the country and in the world. We were in denial. We were blaming everyone else but ourselves because of a lack of professionalism," he said."What we needed was to have Pakistan genuinely safe. You can’t promote a perception of safety and security by just talking about it. You have to achieve progress on the ground. They (the foreign teams and officials) have to be convinced that our country was now safe to visit."Unfortunately in the past there was no forward thinking. Our strategy was to invite teams to Pakistan by paying them. I didn’t agree with it. It would have left the board bankrupt."What you needed was to have other people assess the security. That’s why in the PSL this year my strategy was to get as many security consultants as possible. We called experts from ICC and from FICA (Federation of International Cricketers' Associations)."There has been a positive change. The political situation and political leadership have changed. A lot has been happening, which I believe will pave the path for the return of international cricket to Pakistan."Cricket Australia's chief executive was here last month. Their chairman is coming soon. In a few weeks' time, top ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) officials will be visiting Pakistan. Top officials of Cricket Ireland will also be joining them on the tour."The reason why we are inviting these officials is because we want them to experience the security situation in Pakistan themselves. We take them to Islamabad not just to meet our government officials but also to meet top officials of their high commissions," he said.

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Imamul Haq sustains cut on web of hand, subbed out

Pakistan's Imamul Haq. Photo: AFPPakistan’s Imamul Haq will play no further part in the ongoing 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka after injuring his hand while fielding.The opening batsman sustained a cut on the web of his right hand, and had to be substituted out to receive medical treatment. The cut, according to a spokesperson of the Pakistan Cricket Board, is not big or deep enough to require stitches for now.The spokesperson said that Imam is expected to be available for selection for the third ODI on Wednesday.Imam scored 31 runs in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Monday. The opening ODI on Friday was washed out due to rain and waterlogged outfield.

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