Pak to produce World Cup soccer balls
New Delhi: Pakistan may be known as a cricketing nation but not many know that the soccer balls for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil will be imported from the 159th-ranked football nation. When World Cup’s Chinese supplier Adidas failed to keep up with the demand of soccer balls in Rio de Janeiro, a report in Express Tribune said that a Sialkot ball manufacturing company then stepped in and got the contract. Factory owner Khwaja Akhtar, who has made balls for the German Bundesliga, French league and the Champions league, is excited with the challenge of being a part of World Cup soccer history. “It was when I felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup that I dreamt of a goal of my own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest football tournament on the planet,” Akhtar said. Sialkot, a town in eastern Pakistan, was once the unassailable soccer ball production capital of the world — exporting about 30 million balls a year, an estimated 40 percent of global production — but India and China have recently caught up.
5 medals for India in Youth Oly Q’fiers
Bangkok: Ajay Kumar Saroj won the boys’ 1,500m race to help India bag five medals on the first day of the 2014 Youth Olympics Asian Area Qualification event here on Wendesday. Saroj clocked 3:56.47 to win the gold and seal a berth for the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Nanjing, China from August 16-28. Korean lee Sangmin (4:00.03) and Saudi Arabia’s Kaabi Ali Mohammed (4:04.47) finished second and third respectively. Two other Indians won a silver each while an equal number bagged a bronze each. Maymon Poulose finished second in boys’ 110m hurdles with a new national youth record of 13.80 secs. Japanese Kanai Nao won the event in 13.77s while local lad Munaek Parinya was third at 13.84s. In the boy’s javelin throw, Indian youth champion Neeraj Chopra improved upon his personal best to 70.54m to win a silver.
this will be my Final World Cup: Ribery
Paris: Franck Ribery declared on Wednesday that the 2014 World Cup finals would be his last but the Bayern Munich forward left the door open to compete at Euro 2016. Ribery, 31, who burst on to the international scene at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, told broadcaster RTl: “This will be my final World Cup.” Assessing his chances of leaving the World Cup stage on a high in Brazil the European footballer of the Year said: “We have to go there to achieve something, to try to win the World Cup, quite simply.” French football chief Noel le Graet said Ribery was jumping the gun announcing his World Cup retirement. “The next World Cup is in four years. Ribery is someone who can last a long time. Sporting figures can work for ages so this decision is a little hasty. In any event I hope he will be in good form in Brazil.”
cueist Chitra nominated for Arjuna
New Delhi: Reigning World Women’s Senior Snooker champion Chitra Magimairaj has been nominated for this year’s Arjuna award along with contemporary Vidya Pillai and upcoming snooker star Brijesh Damani, the Billiards and Snooker Association of India (BSFI) confirmed on Wednesday. Bangalore-based Chitra, 41, has bagged three gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the World ladies Billiards and Snooker Association event so far. Chennai-born Vidya has been a bronze medalist in the World ladies IBSF Snooker Championship 2010 and a national snooker champion in 2011. Kolkata boy Brijesh, 31, won the national snooker title in 2008 and since has been climbing the ranking charts — currently India No.4. Meanwhile, national coach Manoj Kothari, who holds the World Snooker Coaching certificate, has been nominated for the Dronacharya award. Manoj, whose son Sourav Kothari is the reigning national billiards champion, won the world billiards crown in 1990. The BSFI nominations are based on the last four years performance of the players and coach.