Football; France weather storm to beat Ukraine

DONETSK: France delivered a statement of intent at Euro 2012 with a 2-0 win over Ukraine in a testing environment that showed Laurent Blanc’s team should be considered serious contenders for the title.   

     

After a 55-minute delay following a fierce thunderstorm five minutes into the game, both teams produced a pulsating first half on a slippery surface but second-half goals from Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye after the break underlined the difference in quality.

“The conditions were the same for both teams, maybe the French team got used to the wet quicker,” said Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin.

“But the French are one of the best teams in world football and one of the favourites in this tournament,” he added.

The win took France to four points, one ahead of the co-hosts who failed to find the form that brought a 2-1 win over Sweden. England, who drew 1-1 with France in their opener, have one point ahead of their game with the Swedes later on Friday.

The French had not won a tournament game since the semi-final of the 2006 World Cup but this was an impressive display, against a determined Ukraine backed by a loud and partisan home crowd which showed the quality now available to Blanc.

After their poor showings in Euro 2008 and at the 2010 World Cup, France are unbeaten in 23 games and it will take a very good team to stop them.

“We were on top for most of the game and I think we deserved our victory,” said Blanc.

“We scored two goals, we could have scored a few more. We’re improving. Can we go far (in the tournament)? I can’t say. Every game is different,” he said.

The artful Karim Benzema created both goals, Franck Ribery delivered direct running and pace down the left and Menez fully justified Blanc’s decision to include him in place of Florent Malouda with livewire movement.

SUDDEN DOWNPOUR

For a while though it looked as though the game might not even take place due to the sudden downpour in the opening minutes which left the field covered in large puddles and the crowd scampering for shelter.

Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers took the players off the field in the fifth minute after thunder, lightning and torrential rain descended on the Donbass Arena and it was almost an hour before play resumed, with the surface having dried out remarkably quickly.

There was no sign, though, of the delay and loss of pre-match rhythm effecting the players as from the resumption they went for each other like two dogs who had been kept apart on a leash.

Menez had an effort ruled out for a clear offside and the pacy winger brought a brilliant save from Andriy Pyatov with a close-range strike from a low Ribery cross.

Ukraine captain and striker Andriy Shevchenko had been the hero of the win over Sweden and he showed his threat again bringing Hugo Lloris into action when he raced on to a long ball and fired a shot in at the near post.

Pyatov made another brilliant save in the 39th minute to tip over a powerful header from Philippe Mexes at the close of an absorbing and frantic first half.

After Menez brought the best out of Pyatov again, Shevchenko sounded another warning with a 49th-minute shot that curled just inches over the top of the post.

But then came three minutes of intense quality from France which settled the outcome.

Ribery burst down the left and fed Benzema who picked out Menez to his right and the winger cut inside and finally beat Pyatov with a low left-foot strike.

Benzema then threaded a sublime pass through the Ukraine defence, finding Cabaye’s perfectly timed run and the midfielder held off his marker and slotted home his first international goal.

Ukraine faded in the final stages, running out of ideas and the fans showed their disappointment at a lack of effort in the final minutes, unleashing a barrage of whistles when a long ball forward was not chased down.

Blokhin’s team have never won in Donetsk and the coach was unhappy with the fans after their sixth failure in the Eastern Ukrainian city.

“It is not fair to only support your team when they play well,” he said. “You should always support your team always.

“We have the impression that if we are winning everything is fine, but if we are losing we should be shot,” he said.

“Whistle at me not the team. The guys are not guilty they tried everything they could”.

Hockey; Pakistan stage comeback to hold Netherlands

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team came back from two goals down to record a 3-3 draw against Netherlands in the fourth match of their tour of Europe. 

Pakistan are in Europe to prepare for the upcoming Olympics. After drawing the two-test series against Germany and receiving a battering at the hands of Belgium, Pakistan staged a comeback to hold giants Netherlands on their home turf.

The match got underway with back-to-back attacks by both teams and Netherlands converted their second penalty corner to register their first goal. In no time, the hosts earned another penalty corner and were met with success once again as they consolidated their lead to 2-0.

Pakistan made their way back in to the match with a goal from Rizwan junior soon after the Dutch goal and were level at 2-2 in the 39th minute of the match as Waqas Sharif completed an impressive attacking move for the Greenshirts. Five minutes later, Ali Shan scored and gave Pakistan the lead.

However, Pakistan could not hold on to the lead and conceded another goal scored through a penalty corner, resulting in a 3-3 draw.

Cricket; Pakistan bat first, rain stops match

COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq elected to bat after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in the third one-day international in Colombo on Wednesday.

The five-match series is currently tied 1-1, with Pakistan winning the opening one-dayer by six wickets and Sri Lanka winning the second game by 76 runs in Pallekele.

Sri Lanka made one change from the team which played the last game as they rested left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and brought in debutant Sajeewa Weerakoon.

Pakistan replaced paceman Rahat Ali with batsman Asad Shafiq.
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Sajeewa Weerakoon.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SRI) and Paul Reiffel (AUS)
TV umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

Football; Pakistani fan among 24 hurt in Euro clashes

WARSAW: At least 24 people were injured and more than 180 hooligans detained in clashes before and during a European Championship match between Poland and Russia, officials said Wednesday.

Edyta Galazkowska, spokeswoman for the Warsaw ambulance service, said that 14 Russians, one German, one US citizen and one Pakistani were among the injured. The nationality of seven others was being established. None was in life-threatening condition, she said.

About 50 people were take to hospitals, 10 of them still there early Wednesday, according to the Warsaw province office.

Interior Minister Jacek Cichocki said that 156 Poles and 24 Russians have been detained, along with one Hungarian and one Spanish man. One Russian was detained on suspicion he threw a firecracker onto the field during the game.

Cichocki said the Russians will go through summary court trials aimed at expelling them from Poland and lifting their European Union visas, and the detained Poles should “not sleep soundly” because they will face court trial and harsh punishment as well.

Police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets Tuesday to disperse fights between fans of the rival teams and also to repel attacks by Polish fans against officers in the Polish capital. The fights took place in various places in downtown Warsaw. However, none were at the National Stadium or in the downtown fan zone where about 75,000 watched the match on giant TV screens.

The match finished 1-1, prompting comments of relief from Poland supporters and newspaper headlines Wednesday that stressed Poland still has a chance to advance to the quarterfinals if it defeats the Czech Republic on Saturday.

Cichocki said about 7,000 police officers were deployed in Warsaw on Tuesday and said they were successful in assuring the security of regular football fans.

Tennis; Qureshi-Rojer win opening match at Halle Open

KARACHI: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer won their opening match of the Halle Open.

The Pak-Dutch pair beat German duo Benjamin Becker and Phillip Petzschner 6-4, 6-7 (2), 12-10. The will now face Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Marx Phillip of Germany in the next round.

Qureshi, who is ranked at number 15, won the Halle Open last year with his partner Rohan Bopanna of India.

Football; Stunning strike earns Poland draw with Russia

WARSAW: A spectacular strike by captain Jakub Blaszczykowski allowed Poland to fight back to draw 1-1 against Group A favourites Russia on Tuesday in a game marred by violent clashes between rival fans outside the stadium. 

Blaszczykowski’s brilliant goal just before the hour cancelled out a first-half header by Russia’s Alan Dzagoyev, leaving the Euro 2012 co-hosts needing to beat the Czech Republic in their final group game to progress.

The result leaves Russia top of the standings with four points ahead of the Czech Republic on three and Poland with two while Greece are bottom with just one point.

Poland had dominated the early exchanges at the national stadium, looking dangerous from a couple of early set pieces, with right back Sebastian Boenisch forcing a point-blank save from Russian keeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev.

But Russia, who have never won on Polish soil, steadily got into the game and took the lead when Dzagoyev sent a looping header into the net from captain Andrei Arshavin’s inswinging free kick after 37 minutes.

The Poles responded strongly in the second half, however, and Blaszczykowski cut onto a Ludovic Obraniak pass on the edge of the box in the 57th to hit a scorching drive into the corner of the net to sent a thunderous roar around the stadium.

VIOLENT CLASHES

The match was in danger of being overshadowed by the first serious clashes between fans at this year’s tournament. Russian and Polish youths fought bloody running battles on the way to the ground with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Russia’s supporters were kept in the stadium after the game in a bid to head off further trouble.

Russia coach Dick Advocaat stuck with the starting eleven that helped demolish the Czechs 4-1 on Friday while Poland made two changes to the side that opened the finals with a 1-1 draw against Greece.

Coach Franciszek Smuda, criticised by Polish fans and media for not making any outfield substitutions against Greece, brought in defensive midfielder Dariusz Dudka for winger Maciej Rybus.

Dudka’s inclusion helped the Poles break up many of Russia’s early attacks but once the visitors scored, the Poles looked short of ideas going forward for the rest of the first half.

They were far better in the second half, soaking up Russia’s attacks and countering effectively to generate a handful of half chances before Blaszczykowski’s strike.

Football; Czechs take revenge on Greece

WROCLAW: The Czech Republic kept alive their hopes of progress at Euro 2012 with an initially scintillating but ultimately nerve-wracking 2-1 win over Greece in Group A on Tuesday.     

In an enterprising but niggling clash that stirred memories of the teams’ dramatic 2004 semi-final, decided in Greece’s favour by a ‘silver’ extra time goal, Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar struck in the opening six minutes for the Czechs.

But despite captain Tomas Rosicky’s graceful conducting of the game from midfield against a shaky Greek defence, the Czechs failed to add a third and, following the diminutive maestro’s halftime withdrawal with a heel injury, had to ride their luck in face of a spirited Greek fightback.

When substitute Fanis Gekas capitalised on an error by goalkeeper Petr Cech to pull one back in the 53rd minute, the prospect of a draw or worse loomed for the Czechs.

But they dug in, survived some torrid moments and secured a first victory over Greece in four attempts as an independent nation.

It was only the Greeks’ second defeat in 23 games under Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, who succeeded 2004 hero Otto Rehaggel in 2010, but the loss of their first-choice central defensive pairing, through injury and suspension, left them vulnerable.

Santos drafted in Kyriakos Papadopoulos, just 19, alongside midfielder Kostas Katsouranis at the heart of the defence and the Czechs, thrashed 4-1 by Russia in their opening group game, smelt blood and produced a high-tempo start.

Tomas Hubschuman created the first with a neat through ball that Jiracek slotted in with a sharp left-foot shot and Rosicky made the second, his pass releasing Theodor Gebre Selassie whose low cross was bundled in by Pilar.

After failing to score in three games against the Greeks, the Czechs were pinching themselves, but Milan Baros, top-scorer at Euro 2008 with five goals, is now a pale imitation of his former pacy self and was unable to add to the opening salvo.

Greece lost their goalkeeper Kostas Halkias, at 38 the oldest player in the tournament and one of only three squad survivors from 2004, to injury but the Czechs allowed them back into the game and were lucky when a Giorgios Fotakis header was ruled fractionally offside before the interval.

Unperturbed, Greece attempted a repeat of the revival that brought a 1-1 draw with Poland in their opener, but despite substitute Gekas’s tap-in when Cech floundered dealing with Giorgios Samaras’s low cross, they only created panic on the pitch and tension around it as the Czechs battled through.

The relief, in a stadium packed with Czech fans, was overwhelming as the final whistle banished fears of a collapse to match their 2-3 loss to Turkey four years ago and erased some of the pain of Traianos Dellas’s header in Portugal where the Greeks went on to become unexpected champions.

The Czechs, level on points with Russia at the top of the group, face Poland in their final group game in Wroclaw on Saturday when Greece meet Russia in Warsaw.

Poland were hosting Russia later on Tuesday

       

Cricket; Premadasa pitch, Herath injury give Pakistan edge

Pakistan’s record at the R. Premadasa Stadium will give the visitors an edge in the crucial third ODI against Sri Lanka tomorrow, captain Misbah-ul-Haq said.

“Our record is good at the R. Premadasa Stadium. If you remember, during the World Cup, we not only beat Australia, but Sri Lanka as well. Before that when we were here in 2009, we won a few games,” Misbah added.

Pakistan enjoys an extraordinary record at the venue with a 64 per cent win ratio, the best by an overseas team and second only to Sri Lanka’s 65 per cent.

Misbah attributed this success to the conditions at the venue which, according to him, almost always offer very little seam movement and are ideal for batsmen and spinners.

The visitors, however, will not leave anything to chance and Misbah believes his side needs to make major improvements in their fielding and bowling departments. Pakistan won the first ODI, a rained-interrupted encounter by six wickets before losing the second match by 76 runs.

“On Saturday, we missed about three run outs as we couldn’t get a direct hit. Fielding is a very important factor when you are playing against top sides. We were a bit ordinary with the way we fielded and bowled.”

Pakistan may once again be without the services of express fast-bowler Mohammad Sami which may mean more headaches for Misbah and coach Dav Whatmore.

It will be interesting to see what team combination they go in with in the third game, with the batting line up looking a little lean as well.

However, they will be buoyed by the fact that Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who has had a good run against Pakistan of late, has been ruled out of the series due to a knee injury.

“Bowling was no problem but he was struggling a little bit while fielding,” said captain Mahela Jayawardene.

“After speaking to the selectors and the medical guys we felt that it’s best that he gets some rest before the test series because playing three tests is going to be a long series for him.”

Herath will be replaced by another left-arm spinner, Sajeewa Weerakoon, who will make his ODI debut at the age of 34.

“Sajeewa’s been around for quite some time in our domestic cricket and he’s got a lot of experience,” said Jayawardene.

Cricket; You can’t opt out of ODIs and play T20s: Flower

BIRMINGHAM: England coach Andy Flower has said he hopes Kevin Pietersen doesn’t live to regret his decision to retire from limited overs international cricket.

Pietersen wanted to continue playing Twenty20s — he was man of the tournament when England won the 2010 World Twenty20 and was keen to help them defend their title in Sri Lanka in September — while abandoning 50-over one-day internationals (ODIs).

But Flower said England were right to deny Pietersen his wish as otherwise “five or six players” might have done the same thing.

South Africa-born Pietersen scored over 4,000 runs in 127 one-dayers at an average of more than 41, with nine hundreds — including one in each of what turned out to be his final two appearances, against Pakistan in Dubai in February.

Flower was well aware of the gap Pietersen, who signed off with an ODI best 130 as England wrapped up a 4-0 series win over Pakistan, would leave at the top of the order.

“When Kevin told me he wanted to retire from one-day cricket I must have had three or four subsequent meetings with him where I tried to dissuade him from doing so,” Flower told BBC’s Test Match Special.

“I think it’s really sad he won’t be playing all three forms of the game. He’s in incredible form — technically, he’s excellent.”

The 31-year-old Pietersen, who also plays in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, said Sunday a crowded international schedule meant something had to give if he was to continue to perform at his best.

“I can’t play at my peak — I can’t keep on playing every single game and enjoying every single game — when I have to play every single form of cricket, or when I have to train every single day.”

But Flower, once a world-class batsman for Zimbabwe, said England had plans in place to give Pietersen a break if needed.

“He can rest — it’s not as if KP can’t ever rest — we do rest him, and if you look back at various series that’s what we’ve done

.
“He’s also had significant chunks out with injury; it’s not that he doesn’t get a chance to rest.”

As for Pietersen wanting to opt out of 50-over cricket, Flower said England cricketers knew the terms of their contracts.

“You can’t choose between one of the limited-overs formats — it’s there in black and white.

“Kevin is very clear that he doesn’t want to play one-day cricket any more, so that makes him unavailable for Twenty20 cricket,” said Flower.

“That’s an ECB policy. The reason for that policy is that 50-over cricket is an integral part of ECB strategy.

“England have never won a 50-over World Cup, and we are very hungry to do so.

“The board is also very concerned about setting the right precedent. If you set a precedent whereby players can pick and choose between the limited-over forms, they are worried about five or six players doing a similar thing.

“This would degrade limited-overs cricket. This policy is in place for a good reason, and Kevin and his representatives were aware of that.

“I hope that after he’s retired he doesn’t regret that, but that’s the decision that’s been taken.”

England’s first one-day series without Pietersen starts against the West Indies on Saturday, with Ian Bell now set to open alongside captain Alastair Cook.

Badminton; National badminton championship illegal: PBA

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Badminton Association (PBA) on Tuesday said associations of four provinces have not sent their players to participate in the Badminton Championship underway at Rodham Hall as they do not recognize the badminton federation orgainsing this event.

Talking to APP, PBA secretary, Tayyab Sohail, said badminton associations duly elected and recognised by their Olympic Associations and Sports Boards have not sent their teams to Islamabad for this championship as they do not recognize Imtiaz Gill’s badminton federation as it is unconstitutional.

Tayyab further said that the event was organized without involving the PBA.

“It was Pakistan Sports Board’s duty to see that its premises are not used for organising a bogus event which is also being labeled as National Badminton Championship,” he said.

He also said that Wapda and National Bank of Pakistan are two departments who are employing most of the top players of the country.

“These two departments should have verified the authenticity of this federation before sending their teams here,” he said.

Tayyab said that the genuine badminton federation along with the support of 11 out of 12 affiliated units will take away the status of National Badminton Championship from this event and will organize their own National Championship very soon.

When contacted, Gill said all national and top players of the country are participating in the said championship.

“If this championship would have been fake then no top player would have participated in this event,” he said.

Gill claimed that they held the PBA’s elections on May 18 in which Nadeem Aftab Sundo (president) and Amir Islam (secretary) were elected unanimously.

Cricket; You can’t opt out of ODIs and play T20s: Flower

BIRMINGHAM: England coach Andy Flower has said he hopes Kevin Pietersen doesn’t live to regret his decision to retire from limited overs international cricket.

Pietersen wanted to continue playing Twenty20s — he was man of the tournament when England won the 2010 World Twenty20 and was keen to help them defend their title in Sri Lanka in September — while abandoning 50-over one-day internationals (ODIs).

But Flower said England were right to deny Pietersen his wish as otherwise “five or six players” might have done the same thing.

South Africa-born Pietersen scored over 4,000 runs in 127 one-dayers at an average of more than 41, with nine hundreds — including one in each of what turned out to be his final two appearances, against Pakistan in Dubai in February.

Flower was well aware of the gap Pietersen, who signed off with an ODI best 130 as England wrapped up a 4-0 series win over Pakistan, would leave at the top of the order.

“When Kevin told me he wanted to retire from one-day cricket I must have had three or four subsequent meetings with him where I tried to dissuade him from doing so,” Flower told BBC’s Test Match Special.

“I think it’s really sad he won’t be playing all three forms of the game. He’s in incredible form — technically, he’s excellent.”

The 31-year-old Pietersen, who also plays in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, said Sunday a crowded international schedule meant something had to give if he was to continue to perform at his best.

“I can’t play at my peak — I can’t keep on playing every single game and enjoying every single game — when I have to play every single form of cricket, or when I have to train every single day.”

But Flower, once a world-class batsman for Zimbabwe, said England had plans in place to give Pietersen a break if needed.

“He can rest — it’s not as if KP can’t ever rest — we do rest him, and if you look back at various series that’s what we’ve done
.
“He’s also had significant chunks out with injury; it’s not that he doesn’t get a chance to rest.”

As for Pietersen wanting to opt out of 50-over cricket, Flower said England cricketers knew the terms of their contracts.

“You can’t choose between one of the limited-overs formats — it’s there in black and white.

“Kevin is very clear that he doesn’t want to play one-day cricket any more, so that makes him unavailable for Twenty20 cricket,” said Flower.

“That’s an ECB policy. The reason for that policy is that 50-over cricket is an integral part of ECB strategy.

“England have never won a 50-over World Cup, and we are very hungry to do so.

“The board is also very concerned about setting the right precedent. If you set a precedent whereby players can pick and choose between the limited-over forms, they are worried about five or six players doing a similar thing.

“This would degrade limited-overs cricket. This policy is in place for a good reason, and Kevin and his representatives were aware of that.

“I hope that after he’s retired he doesn’t regret that, but that’s the decision that’s been taken.”

England’s first one-day series without Pietersen starts against the West Indies on Saturday, with Ian Bell now set to open alongside captain Alastair Cook.