Nastase slur 'indefensible,' says Henman

HONG KONG - Former British number one Tim Henman blasted tennis great Ilie Nastase Wednesday, saying his racial slur against Serena Williams was "indefensible". The 70-year-old Romanian Fed Cup captain has been suspended by the International Tennis Federation over his controversial comments about Williams' unborn baby, as well as abusive behaviour during a tie between Romania and Britain. "I think it's indefensible really... but there's an investigation going on and I guess we'll just have to see what happens there," said the former world number four. Speaking at an event to launch grassroots tennis programme "The Road to Wimbledon", Henman told AFP it had been a pretty unfortunate episode. "It's not something that you like to see going on in tennis. It's got no place in society."–AFP

Serena to be back on the court after baby

VANCOUVER - Superstar athlete Serena Williams late Tuesday promised she would be back on the court after becoming a mom, with her baby hopefully cheering her on. Williams spoke playfully and candidly about family, competition, and her accidently unveiled pregnancy during an on-stage chat with journalist Gayle King at the TED Conference in Vancouver. Williams said she had made a practice of taking a photo of herself each week, to document the progress of her pregnancy, when she accidentally posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit on social media. She had shared the news with only a few people until the now widely seen image. "You know how social media is; you press the wrong button and there it is," Williams said with a laugh. "I had been so good about it and this one time I slipped."–AFP

Two matches decided in Gold Cup Cricket

LAHORE - Lahore Eagles and Ravi won the Hamza Shahbaz Gold Cup One-Day Cricket Tournament opening matches played here at different venues on Wednesday. LCCA president Khawaja Nadeem Ahmad inaugurated the event. At LCCA ground, Lahore Eagles beat Lahore Lions by 8 wickets. Lions, batting first, were all out for 226 in 49 overs with M Waqas hitting 54, M Hamza 52, Fahad Usman 33 and Jahanzaib Abdullah 25. M Suleman bagged 3-30, Raza Ali Dar 2-31 and Shahrukh Ali 2-45. In reply, Lahore Eagles achieved the target in 33.3 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Umer Siddique hammered unbeaten 109 while Rizwan Hussain slammed 60 and Shahrukh Ali 45. Umer was named man of the match. At Cricket Centre Model Town ground, Lahore Ravi defeated Lahore Falcons by four wickets.–Staff Reporter

18th consecutive CAS Tennis title for Aqeel

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan lifted 36th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Khyber Cup Open Tennis Championship 18th time in a row at PAF Officers’ Mess Peshawar on Wednesday. Aqeel defeated Shehzad in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. In the boys U-18 category, M Shoaib beat Ahmad Kamil 7-5, 7-6 while Irfan Ullah and Mehmood Khan of PAF rout Israr Gul and Jehanzeb 6-3, 6-4. The men’s doubles title was won by Shehzad and Yasir, who defeated Aqeel and Heera Ashiq 7-5, 7-5. Shasawar won the U-10 title after thumping Arsalan Khan 2-1 and Faizan Shahid won the U-14 title by beating Sami Zain 6-1, 7-5 (6-6). Air Marshal Asad Abdur Rehman Khan Lodhi, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, was the chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners.–Staff Reporter          

Islamabad FC enter soccer cup semis

ISLAMABAD – Islamabad Football Club (FC) beat Tramri FC 6-5 on penalty shootouts in the 1st Mayor Cup Soccer Championship 2017 quarterfinal here at G-8/4 football ground on Wednesday. It was keenly contested quarterfinals as both the teams played out their hearts but couldn’t take the lead in normal time. They were 0-0 in the first 45 minutes but the deadlock was broken in the second half as Franklin gave Tramri FC lead in the 62nd minute, which was equalized by Islamabad Club’s Haris in the 69th minute. When the referee blew the final whistle, both the teams were allotted 10 minutes each two halves, but they failed again to break the deadlock and were awarded 5 penalty kicks each. Islamabad Club converted all 5 while Tramri FC missed the last, which cost them place in the semifinals.–Staff Reporter