Sport

Afghanistan to send over 100 athletes to Asian Games 2023

Published

1 year ago

September 19, 2023

The Asian Games 2023 is finally happening with the opening ceremony scheduled to take place on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

The games will run through to October 8 and will include a total of 40 sports across 61 disciplines at 56 venues.

The games were originally scheduled to take place last year but were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports of Afghanistan announced on Tuesday that the country's athletes in athletics, boxing, Kurash, weightlifting and wrestling left Kabul on Tuesday for China.

It is believed other athletes will depart Kabul on Wednesday for the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Host-nation China will start the games as the most successful nation, having won 3,187 medals in the history of the Asian Games, which includes 1,473 gold medals.

Meanwhile, the Asian Games Village for Hangzhou 2023 was officially opened on Saturday as teams started arriving.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that 17 Afghan female athletes, who are living in exile, including a women’s volleyball team, will participate. However, the Islamic Emirate rejected the reports at the time, and said that all athletes from Afghanistan being sent to Hangzhou are male.

The IEA has imposed strict restrictions on women and girls over the past two years, including a ban on females taking part in sport.

In a recent statement issued by Afghanistan's General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports, 17 sports teams, including wushu, soccer, volleyball and cricket, will participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Afghanistan has been invited to send a total of 17 teams, comprising 103 athletes and 23 coaches, to Hangzhou.

In an exciting turn of events, cricket will return to the upcoming Asian Games, eight years after its last inclusion in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. The tournament will include 14 men’s teams, including a team from Afghanistan.

Scheduled to be played in the T20 format, the men’s event will be played between September 27 and October 8. Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field is the host stadium for all the matches.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have already reached the quarter-finals based on their ICC T20I Rankings as of June 1, 2023, while Afghanistan, an ICC Full Member, will participate only in the men’s event. A win against Mongolia will seal a top-eight spot for the squad.

After cricket’s inception in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China, the sport was played in the 2014 continental event in Incheon, South Korea. The 2018 games in Jakarta, Indonesia, the previous edition of the Asian Games, did not feature cricket.

At Incheon, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh won medals in the men’s event.

The cricket teams participating at the Asian Games 2023 are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Mongolia, Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives, Hong Kong, Thailand, Bahrain.

Sadly, Afghanistan’s football team has withdrawn from the games due to a funding crisis.

According to the latest figures produced by HAGOC, the number of athletes expected is 12,417 – over 1,000 more than the previous record of 11,300 at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018.

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Faf du Plessis smashes 75 off 32 balls in Abu Dhabi T10 League

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2024

Ariana News

South African player Faf du Plessis showcased his batting brilliance by blasting a blistering 75 for Morrisville Samp Army against New York Strikers in the fifth game of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday.

The 40-year-old reached his fifty in just 22 balls. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 32 balls, hitting five boundaries and six sixes.

Samp Army posted 135-1 in 10 overs, 41 of it coming from Adndries Gous’s bat, and they won the match by 36 runs.

It was one of the four matches played on Friday.

In the other matches, Northern Warriors defeated Delhi Bulls by 7 wickets, with Jonson Charles hitting a fifty.

Team Abu Dhabi thrashed UP Nawabs by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 51. Mark Adair claimed four wickets. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Zeeshan Naseer picked up two wickets each.

In the last match of the day, Deccan Gladiators beat Ajman Bolts by 20 runs. Gladiators set a target of 138 runs, with Jos Buttler making 60 runs off 22 balls.

In reply, Ajman Bolts fell short on 117 despite captain Mohammad Nabi blasting 43 off 13 balls.

Sport

Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

Ariana News

The highly anticipated TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25 - an event that will be broadcast to Afghanistan’s cricket fans live and exclusively by Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN).

The two-day event will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana News.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this year. It will be the second time that the IPL mega auction is held outside India after last year's event in Dubai.

This year's mega auction will have 1,574 players registered, of which 574 names will go under the hammer.

Of those 574, a total of 366 players will be Indian and 208 will be foreign cricketers.

A number of big names will be in fray, with as many as 81 players choosing to register themselves under the highest base price bracket of Rs 2 crore ($237,000).

Afghan players

Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the IPL mega auction.

Two hundred and four (204) slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.

Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote

For cricket fans across the country, the IPL mega auction broadcast will be on Sunday and Monday from 1.30pm Kabul time on Ariana News. For more information and updated stories be sure to watch this space and follow us on social media.

Sport

Pakistan trumps Afghanistan by only 13 runs in U19 Tri-Series One Day match

Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s U-19 cricket team went down to Pakistan by only 13 runs on Wednesday in their third tri-nation series One Day match at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

This was Pakistan’s first win over Afghanistan in the ongoing tournament after the Afghans defeated their opponents by 100 runs at the same venue on Friday.

Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket.

After Faisal’s departure, Uzairullah soon followed with Afghanistan at 142 for three in 26.5 overs.

Afghanistan were bundled out for 231 in 46.4 overs.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Pakistan’s opening pair Shahzaib Khan and Usman Khan provided a solid 129-run stand to Pakistan.

Left-handed Usman, who scored a century against Afghanistan in the previous match, scored an 88-ball 77, which included eight fours.

Shahzaib meanwhile top-scored for the side with 78 off 101 balls, hitting seven boundaries.

For Afghanistan, Abdul Aziz Khan and Khatir Khan Stanikzai bagged three wickets apiece, while Naseer Khan Maroofkhil snapped two wickets.

Pakistan will take on the hosts UAE U19 in their last group match on Friday, 22 November.

In a post on X, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said late Wednesday: “Not the result we would have wanted but Afghanistan Future Stars will look to bounce back in the next match.”

Afghanistan will take on UAE U19 on Sunday, November 24.