Isinbayeva to end retirment for Rio
MOSCOW - Russian's double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva plans to go for a third gold in Rio in 2016 after the birth of her first child, according to her coach Yevgeny Trofimov, local media reported Wednesday. Isinbayeva, 31, who announced her retirement after her victory in the 2013 world championships in Moscow, is due to give birth in June and now plans to resume training as soon as possible. "Yelena decided to return to sport after giving birth to her child. She wants to compete at the 2016 Games at Rio de Janeiro," Trofimov was quoted as saying. Isinbayeva, who won two Olympic gold medals in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, has set 28 world records. She has already taken a year off, following her failure at the indoor world championships in 2010.–AFP
Inter-Provincial Basketball
LAHORE – Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) on Wednesday registered victories on the opening day of the Inter-Provincial Basketball Championship being played here at the Government College University ground. Punjab outclassed Balochistan with a good margin of 69-36 before leading the first half 40-28. From Punjab, Umar Hayat Butt was top scorer with 12 points while Kibria gathered 10 and Usama 6. From Balochistan, Ahmad Nawaz collected 15 points and Raja Sheeraz 10. KP made short work of Islamabad 59-41 as the winners folded the first half 32-26. KP main point winners were Faqir Muhammad 15, Amir 12 and Hameed Ullah 10. According to organising secretary of the event Dr Munawar Ahmad, the championship is being participated by teams from all the provinces and Islamabad.–Staff Reporter
Punjab girls’ table tennis team named
LAHORE – Punjab U-16 girls’ table tennis team was named here on Wednesday to take part in the Inter-Provincial Table Tennis Championship being played here from May 20 at the SBP Gymnasium Hall. The team comprises Maria, Aimen, Zil-e-Huma, Rimsha, Tiaba, Fatima Khan, Zainab Waqar, Khadija, Atiqa, Sidra and Mafia. The teams from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan, Federal Areas and Azad Jammu & Kashmir are featuring in badminton, hockey, table tennis, judo, swimming, athletics, taekwondo, boxing, weightlifting and football. Lahore will also host badminton and U-14 hockey tournament from May 20-24. The table tennis event of U-14 boys will be organised in Gilgit-Baltistan while football competitions will be held in AJK.–Staff Reporter
Riffat books berth in Pak squash team
ISLAMABAD – Riffat Khan Wednesday scored sensational 3-2 win over Saima Shoukat to book berth in Pakistan team for the upcoming Asian Senior Women Team Squash Championship to be held from June 10-15 in Hong Kong. Maria Toor, Sammer Anjum and Muqaddas Ashraf are the other three members of the team. It was a remarkable performance by Riffat who never showed any sign of nervousness and played according to her potential. Saima won the first game 9-11 but Riffat bounced back and won the second 11-6 and took the third 11-7, but she lost the fourth 7-11. It was all left to be decided in the fifth and final game which Riffat won 11-7 to win the match. In the final match, Sammer thumped Muqaddas 3-1 to finish top in the trial matches and remained unbeaten in all the matches she played.–Staff Reporter
PSB and PARC signs MoU
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here at the Pakistan Sports Complex Wednesday. IPC Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research were the chief guests. DG PSB Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera said objectives of the MoU, which was vision of the IPC Minister, to promote fruit culture in Islamabad. It will also help to provide healthy environment for athletes attending national training camps and participants of sports events held here.” The IPC minister said: “I wish research programmes should be used for progress at grassroots. It is my desire to make sports complex area, a green complex to create conducive atmosphere for the players and people coming here.”–Staff Reporter