Shahid Afridi catches COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A former Pakistan captain and one of the most explosive all-rounders, Shahid Khan Afridi, has caught COVID-19 virus and has joined the list of country’s celebrities suffering from the pandemic.

He has become the third cricketer from Pakistan, and the second international after former opener Taufeeq Umar, to have contracted the virus. Zafar Sarfraz, a former first-class cricketer, who has died of the disease, was the first one to have tested positive for COVID-19. 

The 40-year-old flamboyant cricketer, nicknamed Boom Boom as well as Lala, revealed on Twitter on June 13, having experienced severe body ache for a few days and that the tests had come out positive. 

“I’ve been feeling unwell since Thursday; my body had been aching badly. I’ve been tested and unfortunately I’m covid positive. Need prayers for a speedy recovery,” Shahid Afridi tweeted. 

“My heartfelt prayers and best wishes for your quick recovery,” the former Chief Minister of Punjab and leader of the opposition in National Assembly, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, responded to Shahid Afridi. “Allah’s grace, prayers of the people and determination are keys to fighting this scourage. Get well Lala,” Shahbaz Sharif, quarantining himself after having tested positive for COVID-19, wished.  

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan chief selector and head coach, also extended his best wishes to Shahid Afridi, reckoning that he had contracted the virus while he was conducting his charitable work. 

"My prayers are with him. All well wishes are with him that he gets out of this soon. I think he was doing a lot of work in the area of Balochistan and the northern areas just to help the people. Throughout the COVID-19 situation he was helping the poor and doing a very good job. Well wishes are with him to get well soon," Misbah observed. 

Shahid Afridi has reported to have travelled extensively to remote parts of the country to provide essentials to the underprivileged as part of his charity, the Shahid Afridi Foundation.

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Infrastructure for 2022 Winter Olympic, Paralympic to be ready by 2020

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

All stadiums for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games will be ready by end of 2020. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, while high technology such as 5G service and accurate and timely meteorological forecasts will be integrated into the event, officials from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) made the announcement in a press briefing. 

According to a BOCOG official, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games have entered the trial stage. 

The first trial event, an international ski racing event, had originally been scheduled to be held in February in Beijing's Yanqing district, but was postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing and Executive Vice President of BOCOG, disclosed that while the coronavirus has been brought under control in China, its continuous spread around the world still presented some challenges and difficulties. 

"A lot of equipment that we have purchased, including ice making systems and ice pouring trucks, are coming from countries with serious epidemics, which has caused some difficulties when it comes to production and transportation. Also, some foreign experts in equipment installation and site certification cannot come to China to provide on-site guidance," he said, adding that dealing with these issues would be the key tasks of the following work to construct the stadiums.

In terms of service, the BOCOG will accelerate the implementation of 5G communication networks, cloud guidance and meteorological services that are accurate within a minute. 

It was further revealed that the opening ceremony's theme will focus on a community with a shared future for mankind. 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), Vice President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, also attended the conference. He expressed his pleasure at the improved coronavirus situation in China and looked confident about the Beijing 2022 Olympics becoming successful. 

According to reports, the number of applicants for volunteer positions at the two events has exceeded 810,000 since the global recruitment of volunteers for the tournament began on December 5, 2019.

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Younis Khan delighted over appointment as batting coach

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistani’s most prolific batsman Younis Khan, has expressed delight over his appointment as batting coach of the national cricket team for the upcoming tour to England.

“No feeling can be better than the feeling of serving Pakistan again,” the record-breaking former Test, ODI and T20I captain stated in his tweeter message. 

Holding the record of hitting the highest number of Test centuries as well as the most runs for Pakistan, he thanked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for honouring him with an opportunity to be back in the dressing room as a batting coach. 

Having captained Pakistan to title triumph in the World T20 in England in 2009, he assured that he will make sure that no stone remained unturned to bring the best out of the talented players of Pakistan. 

Born on November 29, 1977, Younis Khan had called it a day after having played 118 Tests in which he scored 10,099 runs at an average of 52.05 which included 34 Test hundreds. 

In ODIs, he scored 7,249 runs in 265 games. He also played 25 T20Is and scored 442 runs at an average of 22.10. He retired from international cricket, at the age of 39, after the series against West Indies in 2017.

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Alamgir Shaikh re-elected as SVP of ACBS

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The popular figure of Alamgir Anwar Shaikh has been re-elected as the Senior Vice President of the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS) for the term of 2020-2024.

According to a media release issued by Zulfiqar Ali Ramzi, Honorary Secretary, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), it has been communicated about the election details by the ACBS Secretariat based in Doha. 

“As per the information received from the Secretary General of the ACBS regarding nominations for the Executive Board elections scheduled to be held at the Annual General Meeting of the ACBS in Doha, Qatar on March 29, a total of four nominations for the following posts of the ACBS Executive Board had been received before the stipulated deadline for nominations,” the PBSA Secretary revealed. 

“Muhammad Al-Nuaimi from Qatar had filed the nomination for the post of the President with Alamgir Anwar Shaikh (Pakistan), Michael Al Khoury (Syria) and Joseph Lo (Hong Kong) having filed for the slots of Senior Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Since there were no other nominations filed for these four top positions of the ACBS, the quartet has been elected unopposed, for the term 2020-2024,” he added. 

Alamgir Shaikh expressed his delight at having been re-elected unopposed to the second highest position in the continental body of billiards and snooker for second successive term. 

“Obviously it’s an honour not only for me personally but to the entire snooker community of the country. I have also been representing the ACBS at the Board of the International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) since 2017,” Alamgir Shaikh, Co-Chairman, PBSA, stated in a brief conversation on February 17. 

“I have pledged to continue playing my role more proactively in the further development of cue sports at the global level. Together we will overcome the various challenges at different levels to create bigger things for cue sports,” he hoped. 

A recipient of the coveted Pride of Performance award, presented by the President of Pakistan, in recognition to his services in sports administration, Alamgir Shaikh is fondly remembered for having served a couple of highly successful tenures of four years each as the President of the PBSA, starting from 2008 to 2016. 

Even after quitting the top slot of the PBSA, in order to meet the requirements of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), he has remained the backbone of Pakistan snooker for the past four years as well. 

He is credited to have sustained the momentum which was built by his mentor Ali Asghar Valika, who had revived cue sports in the country during his two decade long stint as the PBSA President, beginning in 1988. 

While Asghar Valika was chiefly responsible for laying the strong base, his worthy successor Alamgir Shaikh has been running from pillar to post to facilitate in raising the bar for Pakistan snooker. 

No wonder Muhammad Asif, the brilliant cueist from Faisalabad, has succeeded in bringing home the world title two times during the last eight years which speaks volumes of the monumental progress made on snooker front in Pakistan.

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Sindh snooker body could come alive as elections held under court orders

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh Billiards & Snooker Association (SBSA) has hardly ever been in the news because the body has not been known for carrying out any activity apart from holding the Sindh Cup, which serves as the qualifying rounds for National Snooker Championship. 

Even the last edition of the Sindh Cup witnessed unprecedented controversies as the SBSA was suspended following the court orders and the annual event had to be organized by a committee, nominated by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA). 

The SBSA, however, may come alive as a result of its fresh elections conducted by the PBSA committee at the Hotel Movenpick, Karachi, on February 13 in compliance of the orders of the High Court of Sindh. 

“The High Court of Sindh, Karachi, vide its order dated December 4, 2019 of the Constitution Petition No. D-281 of 2019, had appointed the PBSA to act as an administrator, to regulate the affairs of the SBCA to from a truly representative body for the snooker & billiards players of the province of Sindh,” Zulfiqar Ali Ramzi, Administrator SBCA, and Honorary Secretary, PBSA, stated. 

“To implement the order of the High Court of Sindh, the PBSA, as administrator, called a general body meeting of all members of the SBCA to hold the elections for the office-bearers and the committee members at the Movenpick Hotel, Karachi, on February 13 and all eight candidates were elected unopposed for a term of four years,” he added.

According to the results declared by the SBSA Administrator, Muhammad Irfan Moton (President), Nisar Ali Bhagat (Vice President), Naveed Kapadia (Honorary Secretary), Abdul Ghaffar Tayab (Associate Secretary), and Muhammad Ashfaque Ghory (Honorary Treasurer) were the elected office-bearers while Muhammad Shafiq, Sohail Ahmed Marfani, Muhammad Siddiq Ragadia and Muhammad Hussain were elected as the committee members. 

Interestingly no nomination was received for the post of Office Secretary and the slot remained vacant, shrinking the size of the executive committee of the SBSA to nine instead of the prescribed 10. 

Zulfiqar Ramzi revealed that the total life members, eligible to cast vote at the SBCA elections on February 13 were around 80. 

Upon a query, he shared that nearly all the current members of the SBSA were based in Karachi and only one of them seemed to be belonging to Hyderabad. 

Without criticizing the past office-bearers of the SBSA, Zulfiqar Ramzi expressed the hope that the newly elected set-up will conduct fresh membership drive from all over the province to make it a truly representative body. 

The initial challenge for the newly elected leaders of the SBSA, before thinking in terms of extending its membership base or doing any other activity, would be to resolve the issues concerning the last edition of the Sindh Cup. 

The top performers of the Sindh Cup, quite a few of whom participated in the just concluded National Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana, had still not received the prizemoney which was due to be paid to them.

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Prof Siraj Bukhari condoles Waqar Hasan’s demise

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

Prof Syed Siraj-ul Islam Bukhari, the longest serving office-bearer of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), has been saddened by the death of Pakistan’s former Test batsman, Waqar Hasan, who passed away recently in Karachi recently following a brief illness. 

“The passing away of Waqar Hasan, the last surviving member of Pakistan’s first-ever Test team, has made the entire cricket community sorrowful and heavy-hearted,” Prof Siraj Bukhari, who served the KCCA as President for four years after being its elected Honorary Secretary for a staggering three decades,” observed in his condolence message. 

“Having worked closely with him for a number of years, I am deeply grieved and depressed at his tragic demise. He captained the Karachi teams of which I used to be the manager. We had extremely cordial relationship as he was such a fantastic cricketer and a thorough gentleman,” the former KCCA boss recalled. 

“Besides being a stylish middle-order batsman and a safe fielder, he was an able leader who inspired his teammates with his positive approach. After being Pakistan’s highest run-getter in the inaugural Test series against India in 1952-53, he continued to score consistently at the international level and was regarded as a dependable batsman. He was certainly one of the pillars on whom the Pakistan team rested in the formative years,” Prof Siraj Bukhari complimented. 

“After hanging his boots and later making a name for himself in the business arena, he returned to cricket in the role of an administrator. He also served with distinction as the Honorary Treasurer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),” he added. 

“Acclaimed as one of the most respected personalities of Pakistan cricket, the soft-spoken Waqar Hasan has left a legacy and he will always be remembered and missed,” Prof Siraj Bukhari concluded.

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Rampaging Asif comes from behind to edge out Shahid in epic national final

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The mercurial Muhammad Asif, easily the greatest cueist to be produced by the country in the recent past, continued his march towards glory by regaining the national crown yet again. 

The top seeded cueist, also the reigning world champion, came from behind in the final against unseeded Shahid Aftab to win the Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship 2020 at the Karachi Gymkhana on February 12. It’s the fourth time he has won the Nationals, having done it earlier in 2009, 2012 and 2018. 

It was an all-Faisalabad final as both the cueists, living in close vicinity of each other in the industrial city, had outsmarted their opponents in the earlier matches to set a date for the title clash. 

The final, telecast live on Geo Super, lasted no less than six hours without any break. The snooker fans, all over the world, got the opportunity of watching an epic final between two seasoned campaigners. 

The 38-year-old Shahid looked the obvious favourite to reclaim the trophy when he ran into 6-2 and then 7-3 lead in the best of 15-frame final but the 37-year-old Asif staged magnificent comeback from the brink of disaster to win the contest 8-7 with the scores of 21-69, 80-73, 67-20, 26-49, 42-77, 25-106, 35-69, 1-76, 116-0, 88-2, 0-107, 78-32, 72-35, 62-48, 70-28. 

Shahid drew the first blood by winning the opening frame. He was set to double his lead until Asif chalked up a break of 69 to snatch the second frame. Asif moved ahead with another fine break of 63 in the third frame but Shahid, quite remarkably, won the next five frames to go into a commanding 6-2 lead. Asif narrowed the deficit by securing the ninth frame but Shahid produced an excellent break 85 in the very next frame to go 7-3 up. 

Shahid needed at this stage was just one more frame but Asif didn’t let it happen with a mixture of good fortune and incredible resilience. Slowly but surely Asif got into his elements and there was hardly any doubt about the outcome when the two cueists entered the arena for the decisive 15th frame of a marathon final. 

“Oh yes there were times during the final when I thought it might not be my day and Shahid could run away with the title. But I also held a firm belief that my opponent could make an odd mistake here or there to let me provide the opening I needed and, as everybody saw, he did play a few false strokes and I was back in business,” Asif remarked. 

“Experience of taking the game deep comes handy as this quality is not built overnight, no matter how talented the cueist may be. I have also learnt it after toiling hard for so many years and the ability to absorb pressure indeed has become my forte now,” he added. 

“I played to the best of my ability and came very close to regaining the national title after nearly a decade. But Asif played better than me in the end and he capitalized on my mistakes to change the course of the match,” Shahid said rather sportingly. 

"No, I was not overawed by the reputation of my opponent or anything like it. Simply I had to pay the price of committing the mistakes which I could have avoided. May be I was little eager to go for the kill which resulted in playing shots which could have been avoided,” he reckoned. 

The final, going to the full distance of 15 frames, was followed by the prize distribution ceremony, also beamed live, in which Syed Usman Qaiser, Head of Marketing, Jubilee Life Insurance, and Tauseef Shah, Head of Marketing, Jubilee General Insurance, presented awards to the outstanding performers. 

Both the dignitaries vowed to extend support for snooker in future as well as they praised the inspirational performance of the Pakistani cueists at the international level, earning laurels for the country. 

A beaming Asif collected a cheque of Rupees one lac alongwith the winner’s trophy while Shahid received a cheque of Rupees fifty thousand with the runner-up trophy.  

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, Co-Chairman, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), described Asif as a living legend. 

“Besides winning the World Championship a couple of times now Asif has also clinched the national title four times and he fully deserves to be regarded as modern snooker legend,” Alamgir Shaikh commended. 

Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, President, PBSA, announced that both Asif and Shahid, by virtue of being the finalists of the Nationals 2020, will now be representing the country in the upcoming Asian Snooker Championship. 

Fawad Malik, President, Karachi Gymkhana, promised to continue supporting the cause of snooker and other sports from the platform of the club.

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World champion Asif threatens to quit snooker

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Frustrated by the continued delay and red-tapism in the release of his governmental reward, Muhammad Asif, the reigning world snooker champion, has threatened to quit the sport.

The top officials of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), lending support to their proud product, have talked about taking legal action if the reward amount was not released.

In a dramatic turn of the events, all the participating cueists in the quarter-finals of the Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship 2020 sported a black armband to protest against the delay in the release of payment to Asif on February 10. 

Upon the completion of the quarter-finals, Asif, flanked by the top functionaries of the PBSA, addressed the media corps, present on the occasion at the Karachi Gymkhana’s Banquet Hall. 

Initially Asif appeared cool and calm while seeking his due reward of Rs 10 million from the government which had been promised to him by head of the state. 

Apparently he seemed to have been provoked by some teasing queries leading to the change in his tone and body language. 

When asked specifically, during the media briefing, if he would burn his cue, if the reward money was not paid to him, Asif, after some reluctance, opened up and expressed his disgust at having been made to run from pillar to post for the amount the government owed to him. 

“I was not given the due amount when I became the world champion in 2012. Now I have won the world title again last year but still waiting for the reward money to be released from the government. The athletes should not be treated like this as they make a lot of efforts and sacrifices for performing well and bringing laurels to the country,” Asif stated. 

“If the attitude of the government doesn’t change when perhaps I will stop playing snooker at national or international level in near future. I will be left with no other option than to announce retirement from snooker. If I don’t get the due reward then there will be no point in continue playing snooker,” he warned. 

The PBSA President, Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, who is a lawyer by profession, didn’t rule the possibilities of taking the matter to court if Asif’s reward was not released. 

The PBSA Co-Chairman, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, shared that the President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, had himself given the assurance for the release of due payment during their meeting in Islamabad a few weeks ago. 

“We have been knocking at the doors of the concerned departments from the moment Asif had made the country proud by bringing home the world title for the second time last year. We have approached the Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Dr Fehmida Mirza, as well the Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is a sportsman himself, but we are still waiting,” he explained. 

“The protest of today is meant to basically serve another reminder to the concerned authorities to release the reward money to Asif, the two times world champion,” Alamgir Shaikh declared. 

When inquired about the next possible move, if the payment was further delayed, the PBSA Co-Chairman hinted at holding protest meetings in Islamabad too.

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