Sport
Chinese teen duo gun down first gold in Paris
Three years after China’s Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the gold in Tokyo, reigning world champions Huang and Sheng topped the qualifying round ahead of their Korean rivals to signal their intent.
Social media-savvy teenaged duo Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao upheld a Chinese shooting tradition as they won the first gold of the Paris Olympics in the 10 metres air rifle mixed team event on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Chinese shooters have claimed their country’s first gold of the Games more times than athletes in any other sport and that trend continued with Huang and Sheng triumphing at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
Their 16-12 win, quelling a late challenge from the South Korean pair of Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun, ensured China remain the only country to win the gold in the mixed team event introduced in Tokyo three years ago.
“When the Koreans were catching up, I was not paying too much attention to it because I was first trying to stabilise myself,” Sheng, 19, told reporters.
“I told myself I need to do what I must do.”
Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev gave Kazakhstan the bronze with a 17-5 romp against the German pair of Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich, read the report.
Three years after China’s Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the gold in Tokyo, reigning world champions Huang and Sheng topped the qualifying round ahead of their Korean rivals to signal their intent.
The gold medal contest was not really a cakewalk though despite them racing to a 14-8 lead after the 11th round.
Keum and Park staged a late comeback to reduce the gap at 14-12 but the Chinese pair prevailed in the end.
JITTERY HUANG
Huang said she was jittery when the Koreans started breathing down their neck.
“I was quite tense to be honest,” said the 17-year-old, whose puppy hair-clips are quite popular among her social media fans back home.
“Deep inside, I was telling myself to focus on my movement and the competition, and get some positive energy.”
Huang and Sheng will be gunning for a second gold in Paris but said the team event result would have no bearing on their individual rifle competitions.
Korea’s Park was not too unhappy with the silver.
“We could not overcome the Chinese shooters, but we are very satisfied with our medals,” said the bespectacled 24-year-old.
Teammate Keum also had no issues finishing behind their Chinese opponents.
“I respect the Chinese athletes and I think they did a great job of winning the gold.
“I personally think we also did great to get this silver.”
Will I be able to watch the Games in Afghanistan?
Yes! Ariana Television Network secured the rights to broadcast the Games legally in Afghanistan. Events will be broadcast live on Ariana Television across the country.
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Omar Zawak thrash Istiqlal Kabul 5-1 in ACL
Omar Zawak secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over Istiqlal Kabul in the 80th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan, delivering an impressive attacking performance.
The match was played in Kabul on Tuesday. Both teams struggled to find the back of the net in the first half, which ended goalless.
However, Omar Zawak stepped up their attacking efforts in the second half, scoring five goals to take control of the match. Istiqlal Kabul managed to score just once as Omar Zawak sealed a convincing 5-1 victory.
Omar Zawak will face Ariana Khost in their next match on November 12, while Istiqlal Kabul will take on Aino Mina Kandahar on the same day.
All matches of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
Sport
First Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe ends in a draw
Zimbabwe produced a remarkable batting display to secure a draw against Afghanistan in the first Test in Sharjah, with Craig Ervine and Wessly Madhevere scoring unbeaten centuries on the final day.
Resuming the fifth and final day at 164/3, Zimbabwe finished on 523/5 in their second innings, following their first-innings total of 504. This marked the first time in Test cricket history that a team has scored more than 500 runs in both innings of a match.
Craig Ervine remained unbeaten on 206, while Madhevere scored 100 not out, as the pair frustrated Afghanistan’s bowlers throughout the day.
Ervine, aged 41 years and 82 days, became the third-oldest player to score a double century in Test cricket.
Afghanistan had posted 514 in their first innings. Afghanistan needed early wickets to put pressure on the hosts, but Zimbabwe’s batters showed patience and discipline on a pitch offering little assistance to the bowlers.
Brian Bennett scored a half-century before Mohammad Saleem dismissed him, while debutant Antum Naqvi contributed 61 runs. Naqvi and Ervine shared a 140-run partnership before Abdul Malik broke the stand.
However, Madhevere joined Ervine and the pair put together an unbeaten 208-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the highest for that wicket in Zimbabwe’s Test history. Madhevere also registered his maiden Test century during the partnership.
The result leaves the two sides level heading into the second and final Test, which is scheduled to begin in Sharjah on November 13.
Sport
Portugal beat Afghanistan 2-0 in Dakar Youth Olympics futsal semi-finals
Afghanistan’s Under-18 futsal team missed out on a place in the gold medal match at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Portugal in the semi-finals on Monday.
Portugal took the lead through Joao Carvalho, who capitalised on a goalkeeping error by Afghanistan’s Ahmad Esmaeili to score into an unguarded net from inside his own half.
Diego Ferreira doubled Portugal’s advantage before half-time, putting the European side firmly in control of the match.
Afghanistan pushed hard to get back into the game in the second half, creating several opportunities to reduce the deficit. However, they were unable to find the net, with Portugal goalkeeper Bernardo Borges making several important saves.
The victory sends Portugal into the gold medal match, while Afghanistan will now compete for the bronze medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
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