The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bangladesh A team reaches London from Dublin

UNB, Dhaka

After a disappointing Ireland tour, visiting Bangladesh A team reached London from Dublin on Thursday to play five three-day and three one-day matches against their English counterparts.

The Bangladesh A side had a practice session yesterday (Friday) in London before beginning their England tour on Sunday.

The second string Bangladesh side will play the first three-day match against England Under-19 on July 6-8, the 2nd three-day match against Warwickshire on July 11-13, the 3rd three-day match against Leicestershire on July 16-18, the 4th three-day match against Derbyshire on July 21-23 and the 5th three-day match against a South African selection on July 25-27.

After the three-dayers, Bangladesh A will play three one-day matches against Lancashire on July 30, Marylebone Cricket Club on August 1 and Durham on August 3.

The Bangladesh A side is expected to return home on August 4.

Earlier, in the Ireland tour, Bangladesh A suffered a five-wicket defeat to hosts in the first one-day match at Bangor on June 29. Before that they drew the three-day match with their Irish counterpart, followed by an 82-run defeat in a 20/20 encounter.

BSWA to hold rally today marking World Sports Writers Day

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Sports Writers Association (BSWA), affiliated with International Sports Press Association (AIPS), will hold a rally today (Saturday) in observance of the World Sports Writers Day.

The rally earlier scheduled for July 2 was deferred due to inclement weather.

"Tobacco-free sports arena" is the theme of the rally, which will start at 7am from the Public Library and terminate at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium.

Sports journalists, sports writers, press photographers, players and organizers have been requested to take part in the rally.

Meanwhile, the BSWA on Thursday accorded a reception to three elderly sports writers Sirajul Islam Bachchu, Ashraf Uddin Khan and Jibon Bose at the National Sports Council Tower.

2-day Rajshahi Divisional Karate begins

UNB, Joypurhat

The 3rd Samsung Rajshahi Divisional Karate Competition, organized by Joypurhat DSA, began Friday at the Joypurhat Sugar Mills auditorium.

Local deputy commissioner Netai Pada Das formally inaugurated the two-day meet as chief guest.

A total of 100 competitors from Rahshahi, Chapainawabganj, Joypurhat, Pabna, Natore, Naogaon, Rangpur, Kurigram and Panchagarh DSAs took part on the opening day of the meet.

Boxer 'Pacman' to carry Philippine flag

AFP, Manila

Boxing superstar Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao has been chosen to carry the Philippines flag at the opening parade of next month's Beijing Olympics, despite being professional and unable to fight in the Games.

President Gloria Arroyo named the fighter, who won a fourth world title in a fourth weight class last month, as "special envoy to the Beijing Olympics," the Filipino leader's chief aide Eduardo Ermita told reporters.

The 29-year-old, widely considered the best "pound for pound" boxer in the world, destroyed David Diaz of the United States in nine rounds to take the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight title in Las Vegas on June 29.

Venus to face sister Serena in all-Williams Wimbledon final

AP, Wimbledon

The most dominant siblings in professional tennis are back in the Wimbledon final, reviving a rivalry that has been absent from the All England Club since Serena Williams beat older sister Venus in 2003.

"It's definitely been a while," Serena said. "We've been on the same side of the draw a few times. It's good. This is a new start for us."

Venus stretched her Wimbledon semifinal record to 7-0 by beating Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (3) Thursday, and Serena joined her in Saturday's final by defeating Zheng Jie 6-2, 7-6 (5).

"She's tenacious," Venus said of Serena, an eight-time Grand Slam champion. "She's got every shot no matter what. You can't bet against her."

Venus has won six major titles, and four of them have come at Wimbledon, including last year. Against Serena, though, Venus is 0-2 in the final at the All England Club and 1-5 overall in Grand Slam finals. Between the two, they have won six of the last eight Wimbledon titles.

Neither has dropped a set through six matches this time.

"I look forward to it," Serena said. "This is Wimbledon. This is a Grand Slam. This is history. We both are trying to make our mark."

On Friday, five-time defending champion Roger Federer is to play former top-ranked player Marat Safin in the men's semifinals, while Rafael Nadal takes on Rainer Schuettler. The winners will play in Sunday's final, and it could be the third year in a row that Federer will face Nadal for the title.

Schuettler advanced to the semifinals Thursday by beating Arnaud Clement 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 8-6 in a match that lasted more than five hours over two days.

"Obviously he (Nadal) has an advantage, but I will be OK tomorrow," Schuettler said. "I'm not so tired."

The all-Williams final will be the first at any tournament since 2003, when Serena beat Venus in the Wimbledon title match for the second year in a row.

"It's easy, especially with sibling rivalry," said Serena, who has also reached the women's doubles semifinals with her sister. "I personally want everything that Venus has. We're good at this now.

We just leave everything on the court. This is the finals of Wimbledon. Who doesn't want it?"

Venus overpowered the fifth-seeded Dementieva in the first set and then prevailed in an error-filled tiebreaker. After Dementieva knocked a forehand into the net to end the 1 hour, 42 minute match, the 28-year-old Venus skipped and hopped up and down with joy like a kid at a birthday party.

"I guess it started to set in a little bit about being in the final," she said. "When I'm excited I always jump. That, I guess, will never change. I'd like to celebrate even more if I'm good enough to take that title."

Venus then went back out to watch her 26-year-old sister, who sat through rain breaks in both sets before cranking up her big serve, saving a set point in the second set and finishing off the 133rd-ranked Zheng to put her one win away from a ninth Grand Slam crown.

After Zheng dumped a second serve into the net on match point, Serena looked more relieved than anything to get through the match.

Venus fiddled with her fingernails as she watched alongside their father, Richard, in the players' box.

"She definitely pushed me," Serena said of Zheng, the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal and first wild-card entrant to get this far at Wimbledon. "Unbelievable, and not only that she played a great game. She played like she had nothing to lose and she didn't."

Drones to patrol skies during Games

AFP, Beijing

China will employ drones to patrol for security threats during next month's Olympics, said a state media report that called it the country's first "known" use of such aircraft.

The remote-controlled craft will patrol the skies over the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, where sailing events will be held during the August 8-24 Games, Xinhua news agency said in a report late Thursday.

"It will watch for suspicious activities and transmit photos and videos back to command stations," the report said.

The report only mentioned the drones being used in Qingdao, about 550 kilometres (340 miles) southeast of Beijing, and not in the Chinese capital itself.

The drones were among three dozen other "anti-terrorism weapons" to be employed to maintain security during the Beijing Olympics that were put on display in the eastern city of Jinan in Shandong province on Thursday, it said.

They included remote-controlled bomb disposal robots and battery- powered two-wheel segway vehicles to be used by armed police on patrols.

Armed officers can stand on the segways to ride through the streets, "leaving their hands free to shoot," Huang Shan, a Shandong province security official was quoted as saying.

China has dramatically raised defence spending in recent years in a drive to turn the People's Liberation Army, the formerly peasant army that took over China under communist hero Mao Zedong, into a high-tech fighting force.

Beijing has said possible terrorist attacks were the biggest threat facing the Olympics and has dramatically beefed up security preparations.

However, government critics have accused China of also using the security threat as a pretext to crack down on dissent during the Games, citing a campaign of arrests of human rights activist and dissidents.

Rajshahi Div Handball: Diganta Prashari face Abahani in final today

Sports Reporter

Diganta Prashari Sangha and Abahani KC moved to the final of the Rajshahi First Division Handball League on Friday.

In the day's first semi-final, Diganta Prashari Sangha outplayed Cosmos Sporting Club by 44-25 goals at the Rajshahi Stadium.

The winners led the first half by 25-17 points.

In the day's second semi-finals, Abahani KC defeated Lotus Club by 28-15 points at the same venue.

The victorious team led the first session by 17-10 points.

Today Diganta Prashari Sangha will face Abahani KC in the final at the same venue.

Bush to attend Beijing Olympics opening gala

AFP, Washington

US President George W. Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, defying boycott calls from critics of China's record on human rights and in Tibet, the White House said Thursday.

Some world leaders are skipping the August 8 gala, and the two principle US presidential rivals had strongly urged Bush to at least consider not going in order to highlight concerns about religious and political freedoms in China.

But "the president and Mrs Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games on August 8" as part of a trip to China after stops in South Korea and Thailand, Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

Zimbabwe retains ICC membership

AFP, Dubai

Strife-torn Zimbabwe will remain a full member of the International Cricket Council, officials said today, after the deeply-divided world body worked out a last-minute compromise.

"The full membership of Zimbabwe is currently not in doubt," incoming ICC president David Morgan of England told reporters at the conclusion of the council's executive board meeting.

"There was not even a discussion on the issue of Zimbabwe's membership," he said.

The ICC Executive Board, which sat for an unscheduled third day, agreed to keep Zimbabwe in its fold after the African nation acceded to India's request to pull out of next year's World Twenty20 championships in England.

The British government had made it clear it would not issue visas to Zimbabwean cricketers, which could have forced the ICC to move the lucrative tournament out of England.

Zimbabwe Cricket Union president Peter Chingoka earlier told AFP that his country had voluntarily pulled out of the event.

"Zimbabwe has agreed not to participate in the Twenty20 world championships in the wider interest of cricket," Chingoka said.

"But we will continue to be a full member of the ICC and welcome any team that wants to play against us.

"We voluntarily agreed to back out of the Twenty20 Worlds because we were told we won't get visas to England. We don't want to gate crash where we are not welcome."

The cricket boards of South Africa and England last week suspended bilateral ties with Zimbabwe in protest at the deteriorating political situation in Harare, where President Robert Mugabe was controversially re-elected.

While England and South Africa wanted Zimbabwe to be suspended from the ICC, the Asian bloc-led by the game's commercial powerhouse India-opposed the move.

India convinced Zimbabwe to reach a compromise at a late-night meeting on Thursday, an Indian board official told AFP.

Pakistan safe for Champions Trophy

AFP, Karachi

Pakistan's cricket chief Friday said he hoped the successful and trouble-free hosting of the ongoing Asia Cup will convince other countries it is safe to come and play in the Champions Trophy.

The year's biggest one-day tournament, featuring the top eight Test nations, is due to be held in Pakistan from September 11-28.

But touring Pakistan has been a security concern for several foreign teams, especially Australia, who postponed their March-April visit after a series of suicide bomb blasts.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf declared his country safe as the six-nation Asia Cup approaches its climax with cricket-rather than security-making the headlines.

"The successful hosting of the Asia Cup proves that Pakistan is a safe country," Ashraf told a press conference after returning from the International Cricket Council's annual conference in Dubai. The ICC board meeting Thursday announced Pakistan will host the Champions Trophy as scheduled "at this stage" but will continue to monitor the security situation until the last minute.

Ashraf praised the security arrangements for the Asia Cup, which will be decided Sunday when India meet defending champions Sri Lanka in the final.

"The security arrangements have been excellent and we have promised even more stringent arrangements for the Champions Trophy and are confident that it will be held as per schedule," said Ashraf.

Australia, South Africa, England, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and the hosts are due to contest September's tournament.

Sri Lanka is placed as an alternative venue to Pakistan should the security situation deteriorate.

"It is a standard process of the ICC to have a back-up hostt but we are confident that with all kinds of security arrangements there won't be any problems," said Ashraf.

Ashraf added chief executive of New Zealand Cricket Justin Vaughan has confirmed his team will tour Pakistan for a pre-Trophy warm-up series.

"Mr Vaughan confirmed that his team will arrive in Pakistan on August 20 for a three-match one-day series," he said.

The series was in doubt after senior New Zealand players expressed reservations over touring Pakistan.

Court suspends ban on Shoaib

AP, Lahore

A judge has suspended an 18-month playing ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board on fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for disciplinary violations.

Despite Friday's ruling by Lahore High Court judge Sayed Zahid Hussain, it was not immediately clear whether the 32-year-old Akhtar would be eligible for the Champions Trophy later this year. The ban was suspended until when the court resumes hearing the case in early September. Pakistan hosts the Champions Trophy from Sept. 11-28.

"I am relieved," Akhtar said after the ruling. "I want to play for my country."

Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express," Akhtar said he might play some county matches in England to gain match fitness for the Champions Trophy.

"I want to play in the Champions Trophy and win it for my people," Akhtar said.

Akhtar was banned for five years on April 1 by a PCB tribunal, which also imposed a 7 million rupee (US$102,900) fine, for criticizing selectors.

The ban was later reduced to 18 months by the appellate tribunal of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The judge's written ruling made clear a final decision will be made in September.

"I am persuaded and inclined to take the view that the petitioner is entitled to some interim relief," Hussain wrote.

"The ban on him from playing cricket will remain suspended until after the summer vacation 2008 when the petition will be fixed for hearing."

Akhtar's lawyer Abid Manto said he had got what he wanted. "We had sought an interim order from the court that the ban on the fast bowler should be suspended until a final decision of this case. Our plea is that he shouldn't be deprived of his right to play cricket," Manto told reporters.

The April 1 ban on Akhtar was imposed after he publicly criticized the PCB for omitting him from its roster of the top 15 contracted players. At the time, he refused to sign a lesser contract.

Akhtar was already on probation after the PCB fined him 3.4 million Pakistani rupees (about US$52,000), ordered him to undergo psychiatric counseling and imposed a 13-match international ban last year for hitting fellow bowler Mohammad Asif with a bat before the Twenty20 world championship in South Africa.

At his peak, Akhtar was the fastest bowler in cricket but his 46-test career has been restricted by injuries.

He has 178 test wickets at an average of 25.69 and 219 wickets at 23.2 in 138 limited-overs internationals.

Akhtar last played a test match against India in December before he was sidelined due to a back problem. Akhtar tested positive for steroids in 2006 in an out-of-competition test but had his two-year ban overturned by an appeals committee.