Sport
Hambantota set to host ODI series between Afghanistan, Pakistan
The picturesque city of Hambantota, located in Sri Lanka, is set to host Afghanistan’s three-match home ODI series against Pakistan, according to a media report.
The selection of Sri Lanka as the venue was made with the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 in mind, which is set to take place from August 30 to September 17 and will be jointly held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
While the official schedule for the series is yet to be released, the three matches are expected to take place in the third week of August.
President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Shammi Silva, during a press conference on Tuesday, also confirmed that they are in contact with Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) regarding the aforementioned series.
“We are having discussion with them [ACB]. They are very interested and I think it will go through, so we are happy to help our Asian countries and other countries as well,” Silva said.
The Pakistan cricket team is in the midst of a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, with the final match being played in Colombo. Under the leadership of Babar Azam, Pakistan has managed to secure a lead of 1-0 in the series., after beating the hosts in Galle Test by four wickets.
Following the conclusion of the Test series, several Pakistani players, including their captain Babar Azam, will be participating in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), set to commence on July 30.
Babar will be making his debut in the Sri Lankan league and will be leading the Colombo Strikers during the tournament.
Earlier this year in March, the neighbouring countries also played a three-match T20I series in Sharjah, which Afghanistan won by a margin of 2-1.
Sport
Underdogs Afghanistan qualify for Futsal World Cup
Competing in their first AFC Futsal Asian Cup, Afghanistan have concluded a fairy tale tournament by edging the Kyrgyz Republic to reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Four second-half goals guided Afghanistan to a 5-3 win and the final 24-strong field for Uzbekistan 2024 is now set.
Unknown at continental level at the start of the month, Afghanistan have scripted one of the great futsal fairy tales by reaching the global showpiece for the very first time.
After raising eyebrows by pushing powerhouse Iran in their opening match and then progressing from the group, the Afghans were involved in a triple Central Asian tangle that ultimately saw them reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Defeat at the hands of Tajikistan in the first of the quarter-finals looked to have marked the end for the daring debutantes only for World Cup hosts Uzbekistan to see off Vietnam in the last of the final eight match-ups to necessitate a play-off to determine the final slot at the sport’s showpiece event.
A 5-3 win against Iraq in the first round of the play-offs set up this winner-takes-all affair with a Kyrgyz Republic outfit also eyeing a maiden World Cup berth.
Settling the better of the two teams, it was a ninth-minute Omid Qanbari effort that sent Afghanistan to the break with a narrow lead; one that they would double nine minutes after the restart as an own goal from Mukhamed Askarbekov made it 2-0.
A frantic ten-minute period then produced six goals but with the Kyrgyz Republic always chasing the match, the Afghans never looked too troubled, with two late, long-range, goals from captain Mahdi Norowzi and Mehran Gholami capping off the impressive 5-3 win.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992.
The current champions are Portugal, who won their first world title after beating the 2016 defending champions Argentina in the final of the 2021 tournament in Lithuania.
Sport
Afghanistan qualify for FIFA Futsal World Cup for first time ever
Afghanistan qualified for the 2024 Futsal World Cup after 5-3 victory against Kyrgyzstan in the Playoff 3 of AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.
This is the first time that Afghanistan qualifies for the Futsal World Cup.
The tenth edition of Futsal World Cup is scheduled to start on September 14, 2024 in Uzbekistan.
Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament.
Afghanistan, France, New Zealand and Tajikistan will make their debuts.
Sport
ACL: Mawj Sahil 2-1 Sarsabz Yashlar; Sorkh Poshan 6-0 Maiwand
Mawj Sahil defeated Sarsabz Yashlar 2-1 in the 15th match of Afghanistan Champions League in Kabul on Saturday, while Sorkh Poshan hammered Maiwand 6-0 in the 16th match of the tournament on the same day.
Sanan Rahimi and Esmatullah Hadafmand scored the two goals for Mawj Sahil.
Yashlar’s only goal was scored by Mohammad Nasir Niazi.
Sorkh Poshan’s six goals against Maiwand were scored by Habibullah Hotak (1), Samir Mirzai (1), Hamir Amiri (1), Omid Rajabi (2) and captain Farhad Alizada (1).
Sunday’s matches will see Istiqlal Kabul take on Adalat Farah at 1:00 PM, and Khadim face Jawanan Wahedi at 3:30 PM.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
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