England finally clinch a world title

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

England have finally pocketed a trophy. It was in the fitness of things, probably, that they accomplished their mission by taming arch-rivals Australia, having spoiled their party on numerous occasions in the past.

Yes it were the Australians having been instrumental in denying glories for England in every format of the game. For a change it were England, led by the inspirational Paul Collingwood, who emerged triumphant in Barbados on May 16 to be crowned as the new World Twenty20 champions.

Looks like yesterday when Australia’s Garry Gilmour had come up with the all-round performance of his lifetime to deny England a win in the semifinals of the inaugural World Cup in 1975.

Since then England, despite possessing the arsenal to rule the world, somehow had been crashing in crucial games to be robbed of the title. They stormed into the final of the World Cup in 1979, 1987 and 1992 where they lost to the West Indies, Australia and Pakistan respectively.

England could not run away with the ICC Champions Trophy or the World Twenty20 until May 16, 2010 when Collignwood’s men did not choke in the final and they proved too hot to handle even for the mighty Australia, the only unbeaten outfit in the competition.

Collingwood, the man having played the key role, alongwith coach Andy Flower, in having galvanized England into a formidable limited-overs unit, was there in the middle to hit the winning runs with a six and two fours that brought the much-awaited maiden world cricket title for his country to be proudly displayed at Lord’s.

"This is a very special moment. This is right up there, with the best, the guys deserve everything they've got today. We've won a World Cup, and you can never take that away from us. We thoroughly deserve the victory, because the way we've played throughout the tournament has been consistent and also we have been taking the game to the opposition,” Collingwood remarked.

"We have had a lot of belief, and the guys have thought very well for themselves and made the right decisions. In the end, we've turned up on a big occasion like this and we've performed. I'm absolutely delighted with the guys. We knew it was a monkey on our back. We knew what it meant, and that is why I am so pleased that these last two performances in such pressurized situations were absolutely spot on," the victorious England captain reckoned.

"You can see from the way the guys have gone out from the first ball, believing in themselves, taking it to the opposition and playing a brand of cricket that is unlike England in the past. I think a lot of credit goes to every single player in the dressing room, to have the confidence to go out there and really give it their best shots and have no regrets. I think we have done that throughout the tournament and it has certainly paid off," Collingwood added.

"We are going to savour the moment and enjoy it, because we deserve to. But good teams kick on, and that's exactly what we'll get drilled into the guys. We have got a lot more potential as well - that's the scary part about it. We can go even further. But this is what we came here to achieve, and we've done it. The next step is to savour the moment, celebrate as a team - and then we'll come across the next hurdle," he observed before rushing to join his teammates for the celebrations.

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Thailand’s cueists dominate once more

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Thailand continued to dominate at the continental level with the duo of Issara Kachaiwong and Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon making the local supporters proud in the PTT 26th Asian Snooker Championship 2010, concluding at the Maneechan Resort in Chanthaburi on May 15. A total of 39 cueists from 18 countries contested the big event.

Kachaiwong, a Chanthaburi native, provided the massive home crowd a lot of opportunities to cheer about as he overpowered Pakistan’s Mohammad Sajjad 7-3 in the final. It was his second title win, having earlier captured the crown four years ago.

Earlier in the day the teenaged Thirapongpaiboon had turned the tables on India’s veteran and two times champion, Yasin Merchant, in the playoff for the third place.

Kachaiwong will be returning to the lucrative Main Tour when the new season gets underway in the United Kingdom in August this year. He will be joining his compatriots Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm and Noppon Saengkham on the Tour but Thirapongpaiboon will have to wait for his turn.

Kachaiwong dashed Pakistan’s hopes of regaining the Asian title by knocking out Sajjad by toppling him with in the best of 13-frame final with the scores of 17-49, 78-15, 65-73, 40-94, 66-6, 43-64, 85-30, 81-1, 123-8, 120-1.

Sajjad, who became the first Pakistani to enter the final of the Asian Championship in 12 years, emulating the legendary Mohammad Yousuf, who had gone on to win the title in his hometown, Karachi, in 1998, had done well to contain his rampaging rival in the first half of the final which looked anybody’s game after being locked at 3-all.

But the local hero didn’t let the initiative slip once he regained it in the seventh frame. He clinched the next four frames on a trot to win the game quite comfortably in the end. He registered breaks of 78, 56, 81, 80 and 60 to demonstrate his prowess.

Sajjad, however, earned the honour of having recorded the highest break of the event. His break of 134 chalked up in the quarter-finals against Sittihead Sackbiang of Laos won him the award.

Kachaiwong was ecstatic with his triumph. "This is what I had been aiming for all this while. I had a forgettable season last year, but started spending more hours on the practice table since the start of the year. I was under a lot of pressure today, because I am eager to return to world professional circuit,” he remarked after recapturing the Asian title.

"I could have done better at the beginning and then I told myself: 'There are so many people at the venue and they are all here to see me.' That changed everything," he observed.

The enigmatic Sajjad also had no reason to feel disconsolate because it was quite an accomplishment on part of the youngster to have gone all the way to the final. With the kind of infrastructure or rather the lack of it in Pakistan it was in fact a miracle for him to have progressed that far.

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Hussey saves Australia from embarrassment

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Well it wasn’t exactly a case of Michael Hussey stealing a win from Pakistan but it was rather a matter of preventing embarrassment for Australia who had dominated the tournament only to be put in the jail in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Hussey, who smashed an unbeaten 60 off 24 balls, to take the Aussies into the final had performed similar acts in the past as well. Cometh the hour, cometh the man describes him perfectly.

He has had his share of his ups and downs, like any other human being, but his level of commitment and the fierce determination to stand tall in crisis are the virtues that make him the standout batsman of his era.

Australia were expected to be tested in the semifinals because Pakistan have had the knack of bringing about the downfall of the giants against the run of play. On paper and in form the Australians were streets ahead of Pakistan but it was always going to be a big challenge for Michael Clarke and his men to tame the side that had sneaked in more on luck than performance.

Pakistan had found their way into the semifinals after having lost three matches while Australia had strolled there without dropping a single game. So there was absolutely no comparison between the two sides when they arrived in St Lucia for the knockout encounter.

As people, not even possessing knowledge of the game, kept praying all day for Pakistan to come good and Australia to falter had their wishes very nearly fulfilled. The Australians played much below their potential because you won’t see often Brad Haddin conceding 10 byes in a T20 game.

Leg-spinner Steven Smith, who had become one of the shining lights of the tournament, suddenly became the weak link of the best bowling attack on show. It was very rare to find the Aussies committing unforced errors.

The kind of batting strength Australia had even the target of 192 should not have caused problems. But their batters also found it hard to come to terms with the Pakistan factor leaving far too many for the end.

Cameroon White was not overawed and he changed the momentum before perishing and the stage was set for Hussey to do it. The Australians accomplished their mission of winning the game but they shouldn’t have let it come so close.

On Pakistan’s part they should be credited for having advanced to the semifinals even after having lost to Australia in the first round and then suffering defeats at the hands of England and New Zealand in Super Eights.

Pakistan came very near to spoiling Australia’s march towards glory and it was only at the fag end that they let the initiative slip. They had the mighty Aussies under pressure for quite sometime in the semifinals before going down fighting.

In fact Pakistan, the kind of resources they had and keeping in mind the situation in which the team was selected prior to the appointment of the skipper, exceeded all expectations by making into the semifinals.

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Mind sports to debut in Sindh Games

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The mind sports of bridge and chess will be making debut in Sindh Games whose 13th edition will be staged in Karachi from June 1 to 3.

Besides bridge and chess, four other disciplines, rowing, kabaddi, muaythai, and fishing, have been added to raise the tally to 36 disciplines for men and 17 for women with the 13th Sindh Games set to be inaugurated at the National Sports Training & Coaching Centre (NSTCC) on June 1.

The disciplines for men would athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, body building, boxing, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, netball, rowing, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, throw ball, tug-of-war, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, chess, muaythai, bridge, kodi kodi, malakhra, wanjwatti, shootingball, kabaddi and fishing while the women folks would be trying their luck in athletics, badminton, basketball, baseball, football, handball, hockey, judo, karate, netball, softball, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, throw ball, volleyball and wushu.

The final decision in this regard was taken in the meeting held under the chairmanship of Sindh Sports Minister, Dr. Mohammad Ali Shah, who is also the President of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA).

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, has revealed that all the organizational matters relating to the Sindh Games were being dealt with on daily basis by the various committees having been assigned tasks with deadlines.

It has been decided that the opening ceremony will be held at the NSTCC while the closing ceremony will be taking place at the Asghar Ali Stadium. As in the past, he said, all the five regions of the province, Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana would be taking part in the 13th Sindh Games.

Meanwhile the change in dates of the Sindh Games has been ruled out despite the rescheduling of the ongoing intermediate examination.

Shoaib Siddiqui has disclosed that there was no proposal under consideration to postpone the Sindh Games for any reason categorically denying any possible postponement of the event due to the rescheduling done recent by the Board of Intermediate Education (BIEK) in conducting their annual examination.

“We are focusing on providing the best possible boarding and lodging facilities to the participating athletes with the limited resources at our disposal. We have worked out various accommodation plans keeping in mind the hazards of commuting in peak hours,’ Shoaib Siddiqui remarked.

“There’s an option of arranging their accommodation in the various schools in the vicinity of the SSB Sports Complex in Nazimabad which will be hosting a lot of competitions. We are also assessing the possibilities of facilitating the outstation athletes in different hotels,” he added.

“It’s going to be yet another big occasion for the city of Karachi to be hosting the Sindh Games for the third time in 24 years, having hosted it previously in 1989 and 1999. We are trying our level best to stage it in a most befitting manner,” Shoaib Siddiqui observed.

“Another reason for the 13th Sindh Games to be special is the fact that it’s being held during the same year as the Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games. It will have added significance in order to provide an opportunity to our athletes to prepare for these international events,” he reckoned.

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Prime Minister’s ‘From battlefield to sports field’ programme underway

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Federal Sports Ministry, according to the directives of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, launches the ‘From battlefield to sports field’ programme by starting an Inter-Schools and Inter-Collegiate Badminton and Table Tennis championships for girls in Islamabad on May 12.

Federal Sports Minister, Mir Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani, had announced the details during a media briefing at the National Sports Training & Coaching Centre (NSTCC) in Karachi, having stated that the twin championships will be staged at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad from May 12 to 14.

The focus in the question-answer session shifted to the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but the Federal Minister took his time in explaining the salient features of the Prime Minister’s programme that was his basic objective of speaking to the media for the first time after having taken over from Pir Syed Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani quite a few months ago.

“This is just the beginning of the programme in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s directives to revive the sports activities at grassroots level specially involving the educational institutions. After this Islamabad event we plan to take it to the provinces from July 1,” Ijaz Jakhrani disclosed.

“Initially we are holding competitions in badminton and table tennis only at Islamabad but we will be adding more games as we move on to the provinces and the tournaments will also be held for boys,” he added.

“Badminton and table tennis have been picked up at first stage for kick-off sports activities owing to their awfully poor performance in last South Asian Games. The government as well as the private schools and colleges are taking part in the three-day event with the winnings teams and outstanding individual players to be presented cash prizes and trophies,” Ijaz Jakhrani said.

The Federal Minister was of the opinion that the Ministries of Sports and Education needed to work jointly to attain the mutual objective of promoting sports in the educational institutions.

“In our programme we have taken on board the educational institutions, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and sports associations. We have identified that more than fifty percent talent lies with female segment of our population particularly in schools and colleges,” he reckoned.

“We also intend to attract and involve the corporate sector for sponsoring these activities. We desire to complement the national sports federations by facilitating a larger pool of players to be groomed for future,” he explained.

Talking about the second stage of the programme, Anis-ul-Hasnain Musavi, Secretary Sports, Government of Pakistan, added that the competitions will be held in athletics and football, besides badminton and table tennis, at the provincial headquarters.

He also announced that the Federal Ministry of Sports would be holding Youth Summer Training Camps in nine different disciplines starting from June 1. The PSB Centre in Karachi would be hosting the camps of table tennis, badminton, athletics and boxing while the camps of boxing, athletics, badminton and weightlifting will be held in Lahore.

“Peshawar will be the venue of the camps of squash, table tennis and athletics while Quetta will host karate, wushu, football and boxing and Islamabad to stage the camps of table tennis, badminton, athletics and football,” the Federal Sports Secretary revealed.

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Tariq-led Data Steel crowned as national champions

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Data Steel were crowned as the new national champions when they overpowered Solax 130-112 in the most absorbing of finals of the National Bridge Championship 2010 in Lahore on May 4.

Besides becoming the national champions Data Steel have also earned the right to represent Pakistan in the in the World Series Championships 2010 to be staged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, from October 1 to 16 and they will also compete in the Commonwealth Nations Championships 2010 to be organized in New Delhi, India, from October 25 to 31.

Data Steel, having the services of Tariq Rasheed Khan, Rashid-ul-Ghazi, Tehsin Gheewala, Tahir Masud, Javed Miran, Mohammad Saeed Akhtar and Javed Khalid, continued their good work in the final to outwit the dangerous Solax, composed of Ghulam Mohammad, Anwar Mumtaz Kazilbash, Gulzar Ahmed Bilal and Khalid Mohiuddin.

The high-profile Data Steel outfit is now looking forward to bringing laurels for the country during the upcoming international events.

Data Steel featured the President of the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), Tariq Rasheed Khan, as well as the President of the Punjab Bridge Association (PBA), Javed Khalid, besides some of the leading bridge players of the country in Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Tahir Masood.

Tariq Rasheed, who led Data Steel to their maiden national title, believed that his team possessed the expertise and the mental strength to come good in the toughest of situations and they were able to do it at the Lahore Gymkhana.

He acknowledged that the final against Solax, spread over four segments of 16 boards each, was a tough one and both the contestants had a chance of pulling up a victory until the last stages.

It was only in the final segment that Data Steel was able to assume control through superlative bidding and back up that carried them to victory in the final, broadcast live through the internet.

Earlier in the semifinals, Solax had stunned Preempters, who topped the points table at the end of the league matches, while Data Steel knocked down Giants, the defending champions.

Prempters, having the likes of Jan-e-Alam Fazli and Abdul Rahman Allana to complement Jahangir Ahmed, Farrukh Liaqat and Izzat Khalil, could not extend their form in the tie against Solox who had ended up last in the race for semifinals.

Solax remained in the driving seat and galloped serenely into the final through unremitting brilliance. Somehow the top team after the first three days failed to dazzle and the resolve demonstrated in the league matches fizzled away. Throughout the semifinal, Solox reflected enthusiasm undiminished and at times their effort looked awesome.

Data Steel proved too good for Giants featuring Masood Mazhar, Mirza Shauq Hussain, Muhammed Mubashir Puri, Hamid Mohiuddin and Asfandyar Shauq. The reigning champions were unable to come to terms with the Data Steel team that was dauntless and daring.Giants failed to sparkle and conceded defeat virtually midway after 48 of the 64 boards had been played with Data Steel leading by 160 to 70. They were dethroned rather softly in the end.

Hosts Punjab Bridge Association (PBA) recognized the quartet if Ihsan Qadir, Safraz Butt, Syed Ameer Hasan and Umair Kousar, for having conducted the event nicely by incorporating the use of latest technology in the scoring system commissioned by the Karachi-based Pakistan Bridge University (PBU), another brainchild of Tariq Rasheed Khan.

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All seeded teams advance to Super Eight

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Quite remarkably there was no major upset in the first round of the ICC World Twenty20 2010 and all the eight seeded outfits managed to force their way into the Super Eights starting on May 6.

Australia topped the Group A with two successive wins while Pakistan, the defending champions, had to settle with the number two slot. New Zealand became the Group B leaders ahead of Sri Lanka while India headed the Group C, relegating South Africa to the second place. Hosts West Indies led the points table in the Group D where England edged out Ireland on net run-rate.

Now in the Super Eights, the Group E comprises of Pakistan, England, New Zealand and South Africa while the Group F contains Australia, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Interestingly there are no carry forward points allowing advantage to the teams having made there after having ended runners-up in their respective groups.

There were quite a few upsets in the matches leading to the tournament but there were none in the event itself where the quartet of Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan couldn’t surprise any of their fancied opponents.

Zimbabwe had come up with the most astonishing performance in the warm-up matches, having defeated both Australia and Pakistan. England looked in complete command while winning both their matches, including the one against South Africa. New Zealand also emerged victorious in both their outings.

New Zealand carried their brilliant form to the main event and whipped the high-flying Sri Lankans in the opening match of the tournament in Guyana where the West Indies bulldozed Ireland by 70 runs later in the evening.

The Indians found the conditions of St Lucia to their liking and won both their matches, against Afghanistan and South Africa, rather convincingly. Pakistan, however, met with mixed luck at the same venue where they crashed against Australia after hammering Bangladesh.

The rains played havoc for a couple of days as the action returned to Guyana with all the four matches getting affected. Sri Lanka were lucky enough to win even after batting first in the shortened game against Zimbabwe but the West Indies benefited greatly by the DL method while cruising to victory over England.

Zimbabwe’s following game against New Zealand was also ruined by rain but the result was seldom in doubt after the hosts had been bundled out for a very low total after a promising start.

The team that must have cursed the weather more than anyone else was Ireland because they had a realistic chance of overpowering England and advancing to the Super Eight. But the rains didn’t let them have a go at the modest target of 121 in 20 overs. Much to England’s relief the match didn’t resume once it had been halted.

Thankfully that was the final game in Guyana and the focus shifted to Barbados for the last couple of league games neither of which produced a surprising result as Australia overcame Bangladesh after a few hiccups and South Africa blew the whistle on debutant Afghanistan, who however had their moments in the tournament.

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Life is a great leveler for Collingwood

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Paul Collingwood was fuming only the other day when England had been cruelly victimized by weather to lose the game against the West Indies. The Nature obliged the heart-broken skipper within 24 hours and the showers opened to prevent him from a possible embarrassment against Ireland.

Ireland, not England, would have made it to the Super Eight if they successfully chased a modest-looking target of 121 in 20 overs. It was the kind of total that needed just one or two of the Irish batsmen to get going and complete the job which made them the favourites to win the encounter at the start of their innings.

Ireland, who had performed the giant-killing act in the Caribbean three years ago during the World Cup, again appeared poised to rewrite history only to be denied by the fickle weather of Guyana.

They had bowled and fielded remarkably well to contain the England batsmen who had shown so much of guts while tearing apart the West Indian attack at the same ground just the other day.

Ironically it was an Irishman, Eoin Morgan, who held the England innings together with 45 off 37 balls. The left-hander demonstrated his growing stature by putting his head down and cutting down the risks while getting the odd boundaries.

Now it was the turn of Ireland to mourn. It was more painful for them that it was for England in the game against the hosts because it was a do or die fixture for both the teams.

William Porterfield was convinced that his side could have reached the target. "The attitude we took out into the field there was brilliant. We just wanted to get into Super Eights and beat the big teams in there. We came with our sights set on that, and showed glimpses in our performance that we could do that. The way we came out today, after Friday's disappointment, was great. If we can take that into every game, we'll go places,” he pointed out.

Collingwood must thank his stars that it continued raining and Ireland didn’t get the opportunity to resume their innings. The lady luck was certainly smiling on him tonight after having deserted his team the other evening.

"We were looking at all the different scenarios, at one point we were about to go back on and it would have been 19 in 10 balls or something like and it was like here we go again. You just don't want those situations where a couple of edges can go their way,” a relieved Collingwood remarked.

"Either it comes and washes it out or we get the full 20 overs in because when you have 10 wickets in the hutch and it gets reduced it certainly comes more into their favour. I guess the rain has come at a time that it's got us through to the next stage so it's helped us a little bit," he admitted.

Collingwood described Morgan as a very versatile player who can not only play all the shots but he's also got a good mind on him that is what you need in the middle order especially at number five.

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