Sport

Athletics-Nadeem wins javelin gold for Pakistan

He knelt down and kissed the ground after Chopra’s failed last attempt sealed his victory. The Pakistani finished fifth in Tokyo, but improved to take silver at last year’s world championships.

Published

1 month ago

August 9, 2024

Ariana News

Arshad Nadeem won gold in the Olympic men's javelin on Thursday, beating defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India to clinch Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics.

Nadeem threw his arms up in celebration after breaking the Olympic record on his second throw with a stunning 92.97 metres that put him sixth on the all-time list, Reuters reported.

"When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah (God willing)," Nadeem said.

He knelt down and kissed the ground after Chopra's failed last attempt sealed his victory. The Pakistani finished fifth in Tokyo, but improved to take silver at last year's world championships.

Chopra, the strongest by far in qualifying and favourite to retain his title, struggled. His throw of 89.45, which won him the silver medal, was his only valid effort as he fouled on his five other attempts.

"I'm not that happy with my performance today and also my technique and runway was not that good," said Chopra, who has struggled with a groin injury.

Grenada's Anderson Peters took bronze with 88.54, a moment of redemption for the twice world champion who failed to make the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Peters hurled the javelin 88.54m on his fourth attempt to knock Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo, into fourth place.

Nadeem, who compared his Olympic clash with Chopra to the two nations' rivalry in cricket, has previously said it is challenging being a non-cricket athlete in Pakistan as resources and facilities for his sport are scarce.

But if Chopra's huge following in India since winning Olympic gold is anything to go by, Nadeem's performance on Thursday could change that.

Chopra, who has more than nine million Instagram followers, has had a huge impact in raising the profile of athletics in India, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said on Thursday.

India's prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted after Chopra's silver win: "Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he's shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success."

Peters, meanwhile, said he felt his Caribbean nation's support.

"The entire population, 120,000 people are glued to their TV right now. Celebrating, cheering," he said.

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Sport

South Africa announces squad for white-ball series against Afghanistan

The first ODI will be played on September 18, with the second and third ODIs scheduled for September 20 and 22

Published

17 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Ariana News

South Africa this week announced the squads for their white-ball series later this month against Afghanistan in the UAE.

The South African ODI squad set to face Afghanistan will depart for the UAE on Saturday, 14 September, in preparation for the series opener on 18 September.

In July, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed that it will host South Africa for a series of three One Day International (ODI) matches from September 18 to 22 in the United Arab Emirates.

This three-match ODI series will be the first-ever bilateral cricket series between the two countries hosted by Afghanistan.

The first ODI will be played on September 18, with the second and third ODIs scheduled for September 20 and 22 respectively at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

The Afghanistan team will leave Delhi for the UAE on the same day, following their one-off Test against New Zealand which is scheduled from September 9 to 13 in Greater Noida, India.

The ACB has not yet announced the Afghanistan squad.

The South Africa ODI squad against Afghanistan is as follows: Temba Bavuma (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Nqaba Peter, Andile Simelane, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne and Lizaad Williams.

Sport

Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran ruled out of New Zealand test due to injury

Afghanistan’s test against New Zealand is scheduled to start on Monday in Greater Noida near New Delhi.

Published

1 day ago

September 8, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s prolific top-order batter Ibrahim Zadran has been ruled out of the upcoming one-off Test against New Zealand and the three-match ODI series against South Africa due to an ankle sprain in his left leg, the Afghan cricket board announced Sunday.

Afghanistan’s test against New Zealand is scheduled to start on Monday in Greater Noida near New Delhi.

The three-match ODI series against South Africa will kick off on September 18.

Afghanistan have already been dealt a big blow with spin spearhead Rashid Khan and fast bowler Naveed Zadran thrown out of action with injuries.

Sport

Shahidi calls for more Test matches and one home venue for Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s captain Shahidi believes that sticking to only one home venue will make them stronger

Published

2 days ago

September 8, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said Sunday the team needs to play more Tests and have just "one good home venue" in India in order to improve in the red-ball format.

Addressing the media on the eve of Afghanistan’s one-off Test against New Zealand, Shahidi said nine games in six years is not enough.

“If we get a lot more chances with the good teams, we will improve.”

“I think if we get more chances on a regular basis, we will improve a lot because if we see as a team and as a country, we are brave people and we always accept challenges,” he said.

“I think it will be very good for us as a side. If you look at our past, we get one Test match and we start preparing for that ten days before. So it's not easy to come to red-ball cricket.

“Playing matches will make us even better on judging the ball and playing good cricket in red-ball format, compared to playing in the nets. So if we play three-four games back to back I think it will be better," he said.

Ranked 12th in the ICC Test rankings, Afghanistan are a force in the white-ball formats, ranked ninth in ODIs and tenth in T20Is.

Apart from hoping to play Test cricket more frequently going forward, Shahidi said he also wants "one good home venue" in India instead of the team having to travel from place to host teams.

For this Test, which starts on Monday, Afghanistan will host New Zealand in Greater Noida, near Delhi. Since becoming a Full Member, their other home Tests have been in Dehradun, Lucknow and Abu Dhabi.

But Shahidi believes that sticking to only one home venue will make them stronger.

He pointed out that while India is considered home, the other nations they have played have had more games in India than Afghanistan has.

"So hopefully we will get one good venue here in India and we stick with that. If we stick with one venue, it will be more effective for us,” he said.

Following their press conference, Shahidi and his New Zealand counterpart Tim Southee unveiled the trophy for their one-off Test - which will hopefully go off as planned as the weather forecast for the coming week points towards rain.