Bottas ready to fight for future

ABU DHABI - Valtteri Bottas Friday said he was ready to fight for his future as a leading Formula One driver and expects a tough contest at this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and an ever tougher scrap for success with Mercedes next year. Talking to reporters ahead of this weekend's season-closing race, the Finn said he feels he has to prove himself again to secure a long-term deal with the 'silver arrows.' "The season has been tough," he said. "There have been many races where Ferrari had the upper hand and even lately Red Bull has been really strong so it has definitely not been like the last three years. "It has been tough and it is only going to get tougher. I have unfortunately had only two wins this year. "I was definitely hoping for more like I said,” said Bottas.–AFP

National men, women karate championships

LAHORE - The 25th National Men and 11th National Women Karate Championships will roll into action today (Friday) here at the Wapda Sports Complex. Teams from all the affiliated units of Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) including Wapda, Army, Police, Railways, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, KP, Islamabad and FATA will be participating in the championships and compete for the top honor. The categories include (men) individual kumite, 50kg below 55kg, below 60kg, below 67kg, below 75kg, below 84kg, above 84, team limited, individual kata, team kata, (women), individual kumite, below 45kg, below 50kg, below 55kg, below 61kg, below 68kg, above 68kg, team kumite, individually kata and team kata. POA president Lt Gen (r) Syed Arif Hasan grace the opening ceremony as chief guest.–Staff Reporter

Artema Medical enter Winter Polo final

LAHORE - Artema Medical/Black Horse Paints defeated Porsche to qualify for the main final while Newage beat Diamond Paints to qualify for the subsidiary final in the Winter Polo Cup 2017 matches played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground, on Thursday. A tough battle was witnessed between Artema Medical/ Black Horse Paints and Porsche for the title victory, which ended in a 5-5 draw on the field but two goals handicap advantage helped Artema Medical win the thriller 7-5 and booked berth in the final. In-form Hamza Mawaz Khan fired fabulous four goals in his team’s triumph while the remaining one came from Bilal Riaz. Form the Porsche, Saqib Khan Khakwani banged in all the five goals but luck didn't favour his team. The second match of the day was played between Newage and Diamond Paints and the former emerged as winners by 7-5½. Adnan Jalil Azam was main contributor from the winning the side while Shah Shamyl Alam and Abdul Rehman Monnoo contributed with a brace each. From the losing side, Mir Huzaifa thwarted three goals and Naved Sheikh hit two. Tomorrow (Friday), the first match of the day will be played between Dawood Group and Honda Chenab at 2:30 pm. The winning side will qualify for the main final while the losing side will book berth in the subsidiary final.–Staff Reporter

Salim wants PM to save national game

ISLAMABAD - Former Olympian Salim Nazim Thursday appealed Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to inquire about the poor performance of the national hockey team at international level as those responsible must be held accountable. Recently, Pakistan hockey team ended up fourth in the 4-Nation International Festival of Hockey at Melbourne. Salim said Pakistan had ruled the world in the game of hockey and such below par performances really disappoint the nation. “Pakistan hockey won’t prosper until these elements are eliminated from the game. The timely intervention of the PM can save the national game.”–APP

LPC to honour sports journalists today

LAHORE – Lahore Press Club (LPC) governing body is going to honour senior sports journalists and LPC’s life members here at the Nisar Usmani Auditorium today (Friday) at 3:00 pm. Senior sports journalists Sarfraz Ahmad, Qayyum Zahid and Zahid Maqsood were conferred upon the ‘life time achievement award’ by Pakistan Sports Writers Federation (PSWF) during AIPS Asia meeting held in Islamabad previous month. Former Pakistan chief selector Salahuddin Sallu will grace the occasion as guest of honour while LPC president Shahbaz Mian, secretary Abdul Majeed Sajid, governing board members and others would also present on the occasion. Some notable sportsman are also expected to grace the occasion and to honour the senior sports journalists.–Staff Reporter