Misbah laments lack of Indo-Pak cricket
Karachi: Pakistan's most successful Test captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, has lamented the absence of bilateral cricket ties with India. In an interview on Saturday, Misbah said he was against restrictions of any sort in sports. "These restrictions are because of politics and political issues between Pakistan and India. But I don't think this should be the case as cricketers and fans are deprived of good contests," he said. Misbah, 42, who has never led Pakistan in a Test series against India despite being captain since late 2010, didn't believe that the Indian team didn't want to play against Pakistan. "They, like us, can't do anything because there are other issues involved here. I am sure when things improve politically there will be cricket between Pakistan and India," he added. He lamented that young players from both countries were not getting the opportunity to get a feel of Indo-Pak cricket matches, which help them develop as players.
Paes in line for title at leon Challenger
leon (Mexico): leander Paes, named a reserve in India's Davis Cup team for the Uzbekistan tie, is in line to win his first title of the season, albeit on the Challenger Tour, with Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin. Paes and Shamasdin, seeded third, beat the giant-killing Australian pair of luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-7(1), 6-4, 10-5 in the semifinals of the $75,000 hard court event. They will meet luca Margaroli of Switzerland and Caro Zampieri of Brazil in the final. It will be first final for Paes this season. He had reached the semifinals of Dubai Championships and Delray Beach Open. The last title Paes won on the ATP World Tour was in 2015 when he triumphed at Auckland with South African Raven Klaasen.
Haryana gets 12 gold in para athletics
Jaipur: Haryana won a staggering 12 gold medals and grabbed the top spot on the second day of 17th National Para Athletics Championships at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium complex. With Dharmendra's gold in the T-46 category of men's 800 meters on the opening day, Haryana have accumulated 13 gold medals, three silver and four bronze. Haryana's dominance can be gauged by the fact that the next best team, Delhi, have so far won four gold, three silver and three bronze. The highlight of the day was a stupendous effort by Maharashtra's Bhagyashree Mazire in the T-53 shot put category, where India's Deepa Malik had won silver in the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Bhagyashree hurled the 'shot' for a distance of 4.67 meters to easily win gold. Deepa's effort in Rio was a personal best of 4.61 meters. She was far ahead of Bihar's Archana Kumari and Haryana's Indu, who won the silver and bronze with a throw of 3.55 and 3.39 meters, respectively. Karnataka are third on the medals tally with three golds, three silver and one bronze.
Norde stars as Bagan blank Bengaluru
Kolkata: Katsumi Yusa struck a double while Darry Duffy scored once as Mohun Bagan hammered reigning champions Bengaluru FC 3-0 to revive their I-league title hopes here on Saturday. Captain Yusa was in his element as he slammed on both sides of the break, while Duffy struck in the 25th minute to hand the team its first win in four matches. A day after he returned from Haiti following a long flight, Sony Norde assisted in all the three goals as the visitors, without India captain Sunil Chhetri, proved to be no match in their third game on the trot. Bagan played out a goal-less draw in their away round against Bengaluru FC, and the two sides then met on March 14 in an AFC Cup group match, which the Mariners lost 1-2. But Bagan looked a transformed side in their first win since February 18.