The New Nation - Internet Edition

Malik wants to win all three matches of Tri-Nation Series

UNB, Dhaka

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik is very optimistic to do well in the Kitply Cup Tri-Nation ODI Tournament beginning on Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur.

"Our aim is to win match by match. We want to win all the three matches (including the final)," he said about their target in the tournament while addressing a press conference at the SBNS Friday afternoon.

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson and manager Talat Ali Malik were also present.

Malik said: "Our target is to maintain consistency. We won eleven matches in a row and want to continue that winning spree. Everyone of our side is fit and we are looking forward to play good cricket."

Asked how they miss pacer Mohammad Asif in the meet, he said Asif is no doubt a very good player, but they have also some hard working players like Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar and Sohail Khan. "We still have a very good bowling attack." he added.

Malik, who recently played for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, told a questioner that the Indian side is now in pretty good shape as they did well in Australia. "We want to win the game against them (India) and gain our confidence level," he said.

Coach Geoff Lawson thinks Bangladesh at home would be a pretty tough opponent to beat.

Asked whether the absence of Shoaib Akhter and Mohammad Asif would affect his side's balance, the Australian born coach said he does not so. "We've some good all-rounders, spinners, wicket keeper batsman and I think the balance of the team is good."

Replying to a query, Lawson, who led Pakistan to become the first twenty20 World Cup runners-up, said: "IPL was a very good tournament and our players did well there. Although our players were out of (ODI) for the last five weeks, I hope they will adapt well to the conditions (here)."

Immediately after arriving in the capital around noon, the Pakistan side had a practice session at the SBNS in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Indian team, another participant in the Tri Series, will arrive here on Sunday (June 8).

In the eight-day tri-nation tournament, hosts Bangladesh will take on Pakistan in the first ODI at the SBNS on Sunday. Pakistan will play against old foes India in the 2nd ODI on June 10, also at the SBNS, while Bangladesh will face India in the 3rd match on June 12.

After the single league basis matches, the top two teams will play in the final slated for June 14, also at the same venue. All the matches will be on day-night basis.

Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sohail Khan, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan and Naumanullah.

Officials: Talat Ali Malik (manager), Geoff Lawson (coach), David Dwyer (Trainer), Mohtashim Rasheed (Fielding Coach), Faisal Hayat (Physiotherapist), Umer Farooq (Analyst), Mohammad Nawaz (Masseur).

Premier Hockey: Usha KC clinch hat-trick title

Sports Reporter

Usha KC clinched the championship title of the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League when they defeated Abahani Limited by 4-2 goals in the last match of the Super Five at the Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium on Friday.

Usha produced some good attacks and earned an auspicious result for them.

Usha KC annexed the Premier Division League title for three consecutive times in a row.

Champions Usha KC secured 36 points from 13 matches while runners-up Abahani limited gained 31 points from as many matches.

On the other hand, Mohammedan Sporting Club finished third earning 25 points from the same number of outings.

The first ended in a 1-1 draw.

Habul of Usha KC gave his team an early lead by a field goal in the fifth minute of the first half.

Abahani's Pakistani recruit Kashif Ali equalised the margin from a penalty corner of Musa Mia in the 22nd minute of the play.

After the intermission Tito of Usha KC broke the dead-lock using a pass of Habul in the 36th minute of the encounter.

In the 42nd minute Tariq dodged past two markmen and entered the Abahani goalmouth and made no mistake to struck the ball on the board.

Kashif Ali reduced the margin using a penalty corner of Musa Mia in the 55th minute of the game.

Habul increased the margin by a field goal just three minutes before the long whistle.

Usha's veteran player Rafiqul Islam Kamal announced his retirement from Premier Division Hockey League.

China launch official cheering routine

AFP, Beijing

Beijing Olympic organisers have unveiled a new four-part cheering routine for Chinese sports fans attending the August Games here, state media reported Friday.

The routine involves clapping twice, giving the thumbs up, clapping twice again, then punching the air with clenched fists, accompanied by chants of "Go Olympics!" and "Go China!", the Beijing News said.

The government plans to roll out a nationwide propaganda campaign through TV, radio and newspapers to promote the new routine in the runup to the August 8-24 Games, according to the report.

The cheer routine was devised by the government and the Beijing Olympic organising committee (BOCOG) to help spectators cheer in a smooth, civilized manner, the official Xinhua news agency said.

It said BOCOG had hired 30 cheering squads at Olympic ventures to show spectators how the gestures were done.

The Ministry of Education is also arranging special training sessions in schools for the 800,000 students who are expected to attend the Games, it added.

The Chinese government has emphasised a drive to improve the "civilization" of Beijing residents ahead of the Games, discouraging spitting, littering and queue jumping and other bad habits.

Sports fans have also been told to behave, dropping bad language and booing that is common at sports venues here.

Last month Chinese fans were criticised for bad behaviour at the China Open athletics competition, a dress rehearsal for the Games at the main Olympic Stadium.

Some 45,000 fans turned up but left almost en masse as soon as China's Liu Xiang, the world and Olympic champion, had competed, raising fears that stadiums would be empty during the Games unless home crowd favourites were involved.

Li Ning, president of the Beijing Etiquette Institute, told the Beijing News that the new cheering routine was in line with international standards while expressing unique characteristics of Chinese culture.

BOCOG officials were not able to confirm the new cheer when contacted by AFP on Friday.

Bangladesh make a 2-2 draw with Afghanistan

UNB, Dhaka

Come from behind, Bangladesh played to a face-saving 2-2 draw with emerging-force Afghanistan in their second Group-B match of the 5th SAFF Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday.

With the second consecutive draw, Bangladesh have to beat hosts Sri Lanka in the last group match on Sunday (June 8) to book their semi-final berth.

In the day's match, Bangladesh went down 0-2 during the first half.

After a frustrating result in the first half, striker Zahid Hasan Emily came to rescue Bangladesh scoring the team's first goal at the 52nd minute from a penalty.

Mamunur Islam Mamun relieved Bangladesh tent by scoring the match-equalizer at the 69th minute, capitalizing on a corner kick.

Bangladesh, which made a frustrating start in the eight-team SAFF championship playing one-all draw with lowly Bhutan in the group opener, will now play hosts Sri Lanka in the last group match on Sunday (June 8) at 8:pm (BST) at the same venue.

Earlier on the previous three occasions, Bangladesh drew 2-2 with Afghanistan in the first match and beat the Afghans by 4-1 goals in the Continental Qualifiers in Dhaka (1979). They played to a goalless draw with Afghanistan in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier in Kyrgyzstan in May this year.

Italy beat Iran to remain undefeated

AFP, Tokyo

Three-time former world champions Italy moved another step closer to the Beijing Olympics when they breezed past Iran in the men's volleyball final qualifying round on Friday.

The Italians chalked up a 25-16, 25-20, 25-18 victory for their fifth straight win to remain unbeaten in the eight-team round robin competition.

Italian coach Andrea Anastasi said the team has been on a roll since almost losing to Japan, a match in which they had to save 11 match points before finally winning.

"We've kept good concentration, but we had the wrong attitude for the match against Japan. We adjusted after that. That's why we've kept winning," Anastasi said.

"We are moving closer and closer towards our goal. We still have a match against Argentina on the final day. But my players know very well what they have to do."

Setter Valerio Vermiglio also said the team had learned from the first match. "We learned that it's important to take the lead before giving the lead to the opponents," Vermiglio said.

Iran's win-loss record went down to 1-4.

IOC to rethink global torch relay after anti-China protests

AFP, Athens

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will discuss whether global torch relays are still a good idea after the spate of anti-China protests that dogged the Beijing Games relay, the IOC said Friday.

"We are not blind, neither naive," IOC President Jacques Rogge told a news conference at the end of a three-day IOC executive board meeting in Athens.

"The torch has been utilised by protesters, and unfortunately these protests have been violenttwe will take that into account in our assessment of the Olympic Games in Beijing as a whole," Rogge said.

The Beijing torch relay has suffered a series of mishaps since it started its journey at the beginning of April.

The London, Paris and San Francisco legs of the relay were interrupted by pro-Tibet protesters objecting to China's crackdown on violence in Lhasa, the capital of the Himalayan region, that erupted on March 14.

In mainland China, the torch has suffered from the over-enthusiasm of huge crowds, which has forced organisers to put out the flame on several occasions.

The relay was also interrupted last month during the three-day mourning period for the victims of the earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12, killing over 68,900 people and leaving nearly 18,000 missing.

Japan braces for fired-up Oman after coach change

AFP, Tokyo

Japan coach Takeshi Okada has warned that the last-minute sacking of his Oman counterpart may have fired up the Middle Eastern side ahead of their World Cup qualifier in Muscat on Saturday.

"A change of manager can affect the team in two ways. In one case, a wounded team may come out attacking with nothing to fear about. In the other, they get depressed," he said.

"We will prepare by assuming that the former is the case," Okada told reporters in Muscat on Thursday, according to Japanese media.

Julio Cesar Ribas, a Uruguayan, was replaced by homegrown Hamad Al Azani on Wednesday by the Oman Football Association following Oman's 3-0 defeat away to Japan last Monday.

The result put Japan back on track in the World Cup qualifying round following a shock 1-0 away loss to Bahrain in March.

Bahrain stand top of the Asian Group 2 with a perfect nine points with Japan, former Asian champions, trailing with two wins and one loss. Oman have one win and two losses and Thailand three straight defeats.

"I felt that our last win had left the team in a sort of lax atmosphere. I wanted them to concentrate," Okada said after a training session. "I think they are sharpening up quite a bit."

The Omani association's chairman, Sayyid Khalid Bin Hamad Bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, announced Ribas's ouster, lamenting that "Oman's standard has gone down drastically," according to the Oman Tribune.

Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi has welcomed Ribas's departure, the Japanese daily Sports Hochi reported.

"I am very happy. We weren't sure if we could win under that manager. He didn't have mutual confidence with the players," Al Habsi was quoted as saying by Hochi. "The team will now move in a good direction."

Japan and Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, who scored a goal and set up another in the last match, told Kyodo News:

"The opposing side will tighten up after the change of manager. We must take them as a different team from the last game."

Doubts over Japan's defence eased after Brazilian-born centre back Marcus Tulio Tanaka returned to full training on Thursday after spraining a thigh in the last match in which left back Yuto Nagatomo also twisted his ankle.

"Tulio trained a lot in shooting. But Nagatomo may find it a little difficult to play," Okada said.

Okada needs another win to silence his critics who have questioned his tactics since he took over from ailing Ivica Osim in December.

Another worry for the Blue Samurai was the scorching heat in the Omani capital with the temperature soaring close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 F).

Okada said, "It may be difficult for us to maintain the work rate we showed in Monday's match."

Hockey player Kamal announce retirement

UNB, Dhaka

Celebrated national forward Rafiqul Islam Kamal of Usha KC retired from playing hockey on Friday after his 20-year colourful career at the top level of the game.

Veteran forward Kamal announced his retirement when his favorite club Usha KC clinched the Green Delta Metropolis Premier Division League crown for the third time in a row beating last time joint champions Abahani Limited 4-2 in the last league match at Maulana Bhasani National Stadium Friday afternoon.

After the match, Kamal was greeted with bouquets by the Hockey federation, organizers and different clubs including Abahani Limited.

On the eve of the retirement, Kamal urged the authority concerned to keep hockey in the field round the year arranging league and tournament on regular basis to improve the standard of the game.

In his future plan, the veteran forward said he would love to spend more time with Fazlu Bhai's Hockey Academy to produce hockey players in the country.

Kamal, who started his career as a hockey player with Combined Sporting Club in the second division league in 1988, soon found his way up in the first division hockey league with Azad Sporting Club in 1990 and scored more than 200 goals in the league.

Over the period, he played more than 11 years for Usha Krira Chakra, two years with Dhaka Mohammedan, one year with Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club.

Kamal is the lone Bangladeshi who scored 56 international goals for the country. He also scored 40 individual goals in a league during the 1995-96 season.

IOC to monitor 'abnormal' betting in Beijing

AFP, Athens

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will set up a special unit at the upcoming Beijing Games to monitor "abnormal" betting patterns and take action, IOC President Jacques Rogge said on Friday.

"We have signed an agreement with the major, I would say the bona fide betting companies," Rogge said.

"We rely on them to advise us if there is an abnormal pattern in bettingtit is their interest to work with us, and our interest to work with them," he told a news conference at the close of a three-day meeting by the IOC executive board in Athens.

Rogge said the IOC unit would also work closely with Interpol to monitor "suspicious" activity and inform the international federations involved.

But he noted that the unit will not be "people in a bunker with balaclavas over their heads."

Unlicensed betting, and possible links to match-fixing by athletes or sports officials themselves, has been a growing concern with the massive expansion of gambling on the Internet worldwide.

The Beijing Olympics open on August 8.