Djokovic backs Davis Cup reforms

TORONTO - Reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic says he is in favour of a bid to turn the Davis Cup tournament into a season-ending Grand Slam-level showdown, as it would ease scheduling woes for the players. Currently, the Davis Cup is structured around a 16-nation World Group, contested over four weekends during the year. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional zones. The ITF’s controversial revamp would see the Davis Cup morph into a World Cup of Tennis final featuring 18 countries -- and address complaints that the heavy time commitment drives away the top players. The proposal must win approval at the ITF’s annual general meeting in Orlando later this month. Djokovic gave his thumbs up. "I think that format needs to be changed. And I'm all in favour of that," he said.–AFP

Islamabad in U-19 Women Football final

LAHORE - Islamabad qualified for final of the PFF U-19 National Women Football Championship after thrashing Punjab by 6-0 in the semifinal played here at The City School on Thursday. Islamabad players dominated the entire semifinal and didn’t allow their opponents to score even a single goal. Eeshal was star of the day as she hammered a hat-trick in the 13th, 35th and 57th minutes while Iman Fiaz also played superbly and banged in a brace in the 49th and 70+2nd minutes, while the very first goal from the winning side came from Amal in the 10th minute of the match. The second semifinal of the event will be contested today (Friday) between Gilgit Baltistan and Model Town Women Football Academy (MTWFA) here at The City School Sports Complex football ground at 4:30pm.–Staff Reporter

G-8 United, Ghauri Club score wins

ISLAMABAD - G-8 United Club and Ghauri Club won their matches in the Jashan-i-Azadi Football Tournament 2018, after defeating their respective opponents in the matches here at the Rover Football ground on Thursday. IFA vice presidents M Zaman and Syed Maqbil Hussain Naqvi, secretary Syed Sharafat, Rana Tanveer Ahmed and others witnessed the matches. In the first match, G-8 United beat United Club by 2-1. Fardeen scored the first goal for the winners in the 29th minute. Abdullah Ansari doubled the margin for G-8 United in the 63rd minute while Babar reduced the margin to 2-1 in the 68th minute. Fardeen was named man of the match. At T&T ground, Ghauri Club thrashed Sohan Club 5-0. Hassan Shireen and Adil played superbly and converted two goals each while the remaining one came from Moin.–Staff Reporter

Three matches decided in Zalmi Azadi Cup

LAHORE - Kohat Zalmi, Chitral Zalmi and Haripur Zalmi notched up victories on the second day of the Zalmi Azadi Cricket Cup at different venues of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. In the first match of the day, Kohat Zalmi Blues defeated FR Zalmi by 4 runs. M Dawood was top scorer with 64 runs while Shakeel Shah contributed 38 for the winning side, said the information made available here. In the second match of the day, Chitral Zalmi outlasted Upper Dir Zalmi by 3 wickets. Noshad played the match-winning innings and slammed significant 34 runs. In the third match of the day, Haripur Zalmi scored a thumping 7-wicket victory over Abbottabad Zalmi. Aqib Jamshed was the star player from the winning side as he batted with authority and helped Haripur Zalmi register an impressive victory.–Staff Reporter

Navy on top with 24 medals in open shooting

KARACHI - Navy secured total 24 medals on the third day to top the points table in the Parvez Abbasi Open Shooting Championship here at PN Shooting Range. In the air rifle (women), all Navy won three medals. The gold went to Minhal Sohail, silver to Nadra Raees and bronze to Nadia Saeed. In the .22 telescopic sight men/women (combined), too, all three medals were secured by Navy. In the rapid fire pistol, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir won gold medal, Zafar Iqbal silver and Maqbool Hussain bronze. Navy led the table with 24 medals: seven gold, 10 silver, and even bronze. Punjab with one gold and one silver were second while Army with one gold, one bronze and Pakistan Air Force with one gold stood third and fourth respectively. Rangers with one gold medal were fifth and Sindh with one bronze medal sixth.–PR