Category: 6. Sports

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s rivalry in international cricket has been defined not just by world‑class action on the pitch but also by a myriad of crowd‑trouble incidents off it—prompting Rashid Khan to remind both sets of fans of the bigger picture.

As Pakistan gear up to face Afghanistan in the opening game of the UAE tri‑series in Sharjah tonight, Rashid has delivered a strong message, urging supporters to leave behind the hostility that marred the same fixture in 2022.

That night three years ago still lingers in memory. Pakistan edged Afghanistan by one wicket in a nail‑biting finish, but the drama spilled beyond the boundary ropes. Clashes broke out in the stands between rival supporters, prompting the PCB to lodge a protest with the ICC. Then‑chairman Ramiz Raja condemned the incident as “hooliganism,” while Sharjah police detained several fans to defuse the chaos.

But Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s talismanic captain, hopes it doesn’t come to that.

“Cricket brings unity; it brings people and nations together,” Rashid said in his appeal. “It’s just a game, and it should be enjoyed that way. I want fans to come, support their teams, and leave with good memories. This game is about entertainment, not fights.”

Matches between the two teams have been charged from the start, and political relations between the countries have only strained further since, forcing organizers to take no chances this time. Separate seating arrangements for Pakistan and Afghanistan supporters have been introduced at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and security officials are on high alert to prevent any repeat of those ugly scenes.

Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan could face Pakistan three times in one week—starting tonight—with a potential clash in the upcoming Asia Cup also on the cards.

For fans in Sharjah and beyond, the tri‑series offers a competitive build‑up to the Asia Cup. For Rashid Khan, it’s also a chance to remind everyone that the true spirit of cricket lies in joy, not hostility.

Novak Djokovic returns to centre court at Flushing Meadows on Friday 29 August, as the men’s singles tennis tournament enters the third round of play at the 2025 US Open.

Facing Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie at 19:00 local time (EDT, GMT-4), he’ll look to prove his fitness and silence the doubters as he chases a fifth singles title at the hard court Grand Slam.

Likewise, Carlos Alcaraz – silver medallist in the men’s singles event at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and owner of the most talked about haircut in tennis at the moment – will look advance his title interests, taking to centre court opposite of Italy’s Luciano Darderi during the morning session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

There’ll certainly be no shortage of support for American tennis star Taylor Townsend, as she takes on world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva in the third round of the women’s singles tournament.

Expect fireworks from the likes of Jessica Pegula, Emma Raducanu and Ben Shelton as well, with the stakes becoming all the more clear as tennis’ brightest stars advance closer to the championship match at the year’s final Grand Slam.

Below, you can find out the start times and all the matches for sixth day of action at the 2025 Us Open.

The Pakistan Independence Day National Ranking Tennis Tournament concluded at the PTF Tennis Complex, showcasing the country’s top tennis talent across senior and junior categories.

In the men’s singles final, Muzammil Murtaza claimed the title after veteran Aqeel Khan retired following a tight first set, 7-6 (2). In doubles, the experienced duo of Aisam-ul-Haq and Aqeel Khan battled past Barkatullah and Yousaf Khalil 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in a crowd-pleasing contest.

On the women’s side, national champion Ushna Suhail brushed aside Sheeza Sajid 6-1, 6-2 in the singles final. Junior categories also produced exciting results, with Hamza Roman outclassing Abdul Basit 6-0, 6-2 in boys’ U-18, while Zunaisha Noor defeated Soha Ali 6-1, 6-4 in girls’ U-18.

Other winners included:
    •    Boys’ U-14: Razik Sultan bt Muhammad Muaz 6-1, 6-2
    •    Girls’ U-14: Bismal Zia bt Aimen Rehan 6-3, 6-1
    •    Boys’ U-12: Muhammad Ayan bt Muhammad Muaz 6-3, 6-4
    •    Girls’ U-12: Khadija Khalil bt Eman Shahbaz 6-1, 6-3

The closing ceremony was attended by Secretary Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Mr. Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani as Chief Guest, while Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) President Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. Alongside PTF Secretary General Col. Zia-ud-din Tufail, they distributed prizes among the winners and runners-up and praised the players for their performances.

The tournament concluded with the PTF officials commending the players for their commitment and promising continued efforts to promote tennis across Pakistan.

Meltdowns come in a variety of shapes and sizes. When Shane Lowry found his ball in someone else’s divot mark on the Friday of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow but was not permitted to clean and replace, his gaskets started to give way.

When he hacked the ball 60 yards into a greenside bunker, they blew. Slamming his club into the turf and loudly swearing about “this place” before making bogey at the hole, Lowry missed the cut for the weekend.

In 1995, Manchester United’s enigmatic playmaker Eric Cantona launched a kung-fu kick that stunned the world of soccer but ensured he graduated from Old Trafford a folk hero.

During a Premier League game against Crystal Palace, the Frenchman received a red card and, as he made his way towards the tunnel, a fan ran to the hoarding raining down profanities. In a moment of red-misted rage, Cantona jumped the barrier with a flying kick aimed at the fan.

When Italy played France in the 2006 Fifa World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane brought his foaming-at-the-mouth moment to camera in the last game of his career with France.

Clownishly headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in extra time, the French captain bid adieu and ended his international journey with a red card.

Serena Williams was always a player who was aware of the performative side of tennis. In the 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka, Williams was given a first code violation after umpire Carlos Ramos judged a gesture from team member Patrick Mouratoglou to be coaching.

Williams – who was aiming to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles – said she had not received coaching, telling the umpire she would “never cheat to win and would rather lose”.

(Mouratoglou later admitted that he had been coaching from the box.)

Williams received another violation for a racket smash at 3-2 in the second set, leading to Ramos docking her a point. A furious Williams walked over to Ramos to scream blue murder as the crowd started booing.

“You are a liar. You will never be on a court of mine as long as you live. When are you going to give me my apology? Say you are sorry,” demanded Williams, who also called Ramos “a thief” for taking her points.

In the same stadium this week at Flushing Meadows, the experts would have said that the volatile Russian Daniil Medvedev should have avoided sensory overload, taken precautions against overwhelming situations and sidestep any unexpected changes.

The psychologists would have suggested a coping mechanism, a safe place or advised him to remove the emotion and to set process-oriented goals instead of outcome-based ones.

Instead, Medvedev devoted almost seven minutes to inciting the crowd and railing at the umpire, Greg Allensworth, after a photographer prematurely entered the court on match point between opponent Benjamin Bonzi’s first and second serve.

The umpire then awarded Bonzi with another first serve.

“First serve. Ladies and gentlemen, because of the delay caused by an onside interference, first serve has been granted,” Allensworth announced.

The “take two” idiom, which is common in club tennis, did not sit well with the Russian as he crashed and burned.

“Are you a man? Are you a man?” the world number 13 challenged Allensworth. “Why are you shaking? What’s wrong, huh? Guys, he wants to leave. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.’

“What did Reilly Opelka (tennis player) say?,” Medvedev then repeatedly shouted to the crowd as he continued to stoke the fires.

Opelka had earlier in the year been fined by the ATP Tour for branding Allensworth the “worst ump (umpire) on tour”.

Medvedev then returned to the baseline and continued to encourage the spectators to get involved. It was more than six minutes before Bonzi finally hit his serve.

But the lasting image of Medvedev losing in the first round of a Grand Slam for the third time in a row was not a comfortable one. It was disquieting.

Instead of making a quick exit, he sat disconsolately on his chair. In a catatonic state, he then obliterated a racket by repeatedly smashing it against a metal bench that was holding his belongings.

He swung the racket more than 20 times into the bench edge using both hands. Even when the broken head was hanging by strings and flapping, he metronomically kept the pounding going.

It went far beyond bad behaviour. The body language spoke of defeat and bewilderment. Medvedev was in deep distress, his mental frailty cruelly exposed.

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As is often the case across sports, there was more schadenfreude around the court than compassion.

Many of the fans would have known that Medvedev simply opted for what he has opted for many times before, which is blowing his stack. He has done it many times.

This week, he was fined $42,500 (€36,500) for the tantrum, which is pocket change for a player worth €40 million in prize money.

A more progressive method would be to stage an intervention. Offer an option to use the fine to pay for professional help.

That way, the ATP Tour has some chance of correcting a problem that has only got worse in Medvedev’s 11-year career.

Coco Gauff displayed the mindset of a two-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion on Thursday (28 August), dismissing Croatia’s Donna Vekic – silver medallist in the women’s singles event at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, all while battling against her own self-doubt on centre court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 21-year-old American tennis star wore her emotions on her sleeve during the challenging second round match at the 2025 US Open, which produced lengthy highlight-worthy rallies, even as both players struggled with diminishing service confidence.

In the end, however, Gauff emerged victorious, winning four-consecutive games to seal an emotional win at Flushing Meadows,

“Honestly, today was a tough match for me, but I’m just happy with how I was able to manage,” Gauff stated during an on-court interview.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but I’m just happy to be back on this court, and you guys bring me so much joy,” she added, acknowledging the fervent support of the partisan crowd, before breaking into tears.

“You guys really, really help me a lot. I’m doing this for myself, but I’m also doing it for you,” she clarified, serving up some advice of her own: “No matter how tough it gets inside; you can do it.”

Whether she meant it as inspiration for the crowd, or targeted self-affirmation for her own dinged-up psyche, Gauff will look to live up to those words as she progresses towards the second week of singles action at the 2025 US Open.

Survive and advance.

That’s exactly what former US Open champion Coco Gauff did Thursday night, defeating Donna Vekic, 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the second round at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The match lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes and ended with the American star delighting the New York crowd.

US Open: Draws | Scores | Order of Play

Though not at her best, Gauff earned her 73rd Grand Slam match win. Since 2000, only Maria Sharapova (85) has recorded more women’s singles Grand Slam victories before turning 22.

More to come…

Noah Lyles secured a record sixth sprint title and Julian Weber launched a world lead, while Karsten Warholm and Cordell Tinch were among the record-breakers as the Wanda Diamond League Final concluded in style in Zurich on Thursday (28).

A total of 26 Diamond League titles – plus prize money and wild card entries for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 – were up for grabs on the second day of Weltklasse Zürich action, and Lyles secured the final win of the evening. But only just.

The Olympic 100m champion was pushed all the way by Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and in the end they were separated by just two hundredths of a second – USA’s Lyles winning in 19.74 (-0.6m/s). Botswana’s Tebogo matched his season’s best with 19.76, while Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando was third in 20.14.

It is a fifth Diamond League 200m title since 2017 for Lyles. Adding that to the 100m title he won in 2019, the US sprinter becomes the most successful track athlete in the history of the Diamond League, just one title short of the overall record.

“Six (Diamond Trophies), it is a big number. I heard that is the highest number in track,” he said. “Another record on the list – it is pretty nice to have that. My plan now is to go to Amsterdam, where I am based in Europe, and from there I will go to Japan. I am going there with a lot of energy – I will use that to my advantage.”

Weber showed great energy of his own in the javelin. The 2022 European champion started as the world leader and he improved on that mark twice, throwing 91.37m and then 91.51m as part of a superb series.

That added almost half a metre to the previous world lead and PB of 91.06m he achieved to win the Diamond League meeting in Doha and in Zurich he won by six and a half metres, India’s world champion Neeraj Chopra his closest challenger with 85.01m.

It will be a welcome confidence boost ahead of the World Championships for Germany’s Weber, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and the past two editions of the World Championships. His 91.51m is the farthest throw ever achieved during a Diamond League Final.

Norway’s Warholm further proved that he is well on track ahead of his world title defence, improving his own meeting record to 46.70 to win his third Diamond Trophy since 2019. That is a time that only world record-holder Warholm, Rai Benjamin and Alison dos Santos have ever beaten, and it followed Warholm’s world lead of 46.28 in Silesia.

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba was second in 47.45 and Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel was third in 47.56.

USA’s world leader Cordell Tinch equalled a meeting record that was set in 1989, capping an impressive Diamond League season with another victory in 12.92 (0.3m/s) – the second-fastest performance of his career behind the 12.87 he clocked at the Diamond League meeting in Shaoxing/Keqiao.

That 12.87 moved him to joint fourth on the world all-time list and after opening his campaign with victory in Xiamen he backed up those results with wins in Silesia and Lausanne, before claiming the crown in Zurich.

Spain’s Enrique Llopis was second in a season’s best of 13.12 and USA’s Jamal Britt was third in 13.21.

USA’s world indoor bronze medallist Jacory Patterson continued his breakthrough season by dominating the 400m to win his first Diamond League title in a PB of 43.85.

After his series wins in Rabat and Brussels, Patterson had the race of his life to triumph ahead of Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori, who clocked 44.40, and USA’s Vernon Norwood, who finished third in 44.45. Norwood, who finished fourth at the US Championships, will now be in line for a World Championships place after US champion Patterson’s win gained him a wild card.

There was also a US win in the 100m, as Christian Coleman pipped South Africa’s Akani Simbine and Jamaica’s defending champion Ackeem Blake. Just 0.02 covered the top three, Coleman winning in 9.97 (-0.4m/s).

Wanyonyi, Laros and Gressier impress

Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi won a fight with Great Britain’s Max Burgin to secure his third successive Diamond League 800m crown.

Wanyonyi, who set a world lead of 1:41.44 in Monaco, led off the final bend but Burgin launched an attack. Wanyonyi had saved enough for a final surge, though, and he held off his rival – 1:42.37 to 1:42.42. Canada’s world champion Marco Arop was third in 1:42.57.

After series wins in Oregon and Brussels, Niels Laros saved his best performance for when it mattered the most – breaking the Dutch record with 3:29.20 to claim a decisive win in the 1500m.

World leader Azeddine Habz of France moved straight behind the two pacemakers, ahead of USA’s Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse who was on the hunt for a wild card for Tokyo. Kenya’s 18-year-old Phanuel Koech then moved into second place between the pair, and that’s how things stayed as they reached the bell. Laros was in fourth place but comfortably passed his rivals, one by one, surging off the bend and judging his race to perfection to win clear ahead of Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot, who also finished fast to set a PB of 3:29.91. Koech was third in 3:30.02.

After seven laps of the track, the men’s 3000m came down to a frantic sprint finish and it was French record-holder Jimmy Gressier who prevailed. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren had the slight advantage as they hit the home straight, but his rivals were ready to strike and Gressier did it best to win in 7:36.78. USA’s double Olympic bronze medallist Grant Fisher chased him over the finish in 7:36.81, while Almgren was third in 7:36.82.

Germany’s Frederik Ruppert – who broke through with an 8:01.49 runner-up finish in Rabat – continued that fine form to clinch the biggest win of his career so far in the 3000m steeplechase.

He took the lead on the penultimate lap and was followed by Kenya’s world U20 champion Edmund Serem, whose brother Amos won last year’s Diamond League title. They battled over the final water jump, but Ruppert managed to hold his lead and won in 8:09.02 to Serem’s 8:09.96. Morocco’s Salaheddine Ben Yazide was third in 8:14.10.

Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna added a first discus Diamond Trophy to a CV that already included the world record, two world medals and an Olympic silver. He had three valid attempts but any of them would have clinched the win – his best of 68.89m coming in the third round. The 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh was second with 67.18m.

Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo showed his intent with an opening round leap of 17.47m as he started his triple jump title defence. But he couldn’t respond when world leader Andy Diaz managed 17.56m in the fourth round and the Italian secured his third Diamond League title.

There was a first Diamond Trophy for New Zealand’s Olympic champion Hamish Kerr in the high jump as he cleared 2.32m to take the title ahead of Oleh Doroshchuk with 2.30m.

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Results | day one report | day two women’s events report