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Afghanistan v Pakistan: clashes in stands at Headingley, fans evicted
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Cricket
Saturday, 29 June 2019 05:21

At least two fans have been evicted from the match at Headingley after clashes broke out between the Pakistan and Afghanistan fans in the stands. Actual physical clashes to this degree are unheard of in the stands in modern ICC events. There had been more intense clashes between the fans outside the stadium before the match began, and violence carried on outside after the eviction.
ALSO READ - Monga: An opportunity to keep the Afghanistan-Pakistan rivalry dignified
Around an hour into the match, clashes broke out between the two sets of fans in the Carnegie Pavilion Stand. Security personnel had to intervene, and a few of the fans had to be evicted from the stadium. Clashes outside the stadium were much uglier with steel barricades being used as weapons. As the melee continued outside the stadium, journalists trying to film the scenes were also assaulted.
Few of them were ejected from stadium by security, many invaded the stadium jumping the wall, occupying seats without tickets. Ugly scenes! Anti sportsmanship by Afghan fans. Disappointing. https://t.co/XKftrpLqDh
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) June 29, 2019
In a possibly related incident, before the start of the match, a few fans were seen entering the premises illegally by jumping the boundary wall. It could not be ascertained if illegal entrance - and thus oversubscription for seats in the stands - triggered the clashes. Eyewitnesses from either side blamed verbal provocation from the other set of fans.
Geopolitical tensions have been high between Kabul and Islamabad. The two countries are divided by a porous border, the Durand Line, which was drawn up in 1893 between Afghanistan and British India. Refugees and drugs and terror and American influence moved through this border freely for about 40 years before it was closed temporarily in 2017. Cross-border movements are much more difficult now.
These tensions manifest themselves in cricket all the more because Afghanistan learnt their cricket in Pakistan but are now beholden to India for the BCCI's help in giving their national team an adopted home ground and helping them with infrastructure.
Before the match, Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib was asked if the geopolitical tensions make their way onto the cricket field too. On the contrary, he said he hoped cricket could help build relations. "Yeah, if you look, we learnt a lot of cricket, Pakistan, we also played cricket in Pakistan," Naib said. "And we also are hoping cricket, the sport is one thing so you can keep a good relationship for anyone like in any other country. So I'm hoping that not only with Pakistan, like India, Sri Lanka, the other countries, we want good cricket.
"We want more matches to build our cricket or to build our cricket, and I'm hoping that… Pakistan is our neighbour country, so it's really good for us to play a lot of cricket with them. So Insha'Allah - and also when you play together a lot of cricket it's good for the country relationships. And, Insha'Allah, we're hoping so up coming years we'll play a lot of cricket with them."
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Story of the 2019 ITTF World Tour so far – the Doubles!
Published in
Table Tennis
Friday, 28 June 2019 19:25

China take charge
If upsets have been the predominant theme on the singles side so far on the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour, steadiness is a way to describe what has transpired in the doubles, at least as far as China is concerned. The powerhouse nation continues to blitz the field in two-person play, leaving the rest of the world scrambling to catch up.
Through five World Tour events, Chinese stars have won all but three championship contests across the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories. Behind them, however, are a host of hungry players searching for the formula that will allow them to challenge Chinese supremacy.
The cloud king and his court
Much of China’s success in doubles has been due to the internet-breaking returns of Xu Xin, dubbed the “Cloudwalker” for his polished penhold grip play. The 2016 Olympic team gold medallist has been the common denominator in China’s success in men’s and mixed doubles play, delivering a total of five victories and counting this year.
The 29-year-old, who first achieved world no. 1 status as a singles player in 2013, has been as effective in encouraging China’s next generation as he has in shutting down the opponents across the table.
Xu had nothing but kind words for partner Liang Jingkun after the two captured the men’s doubles title at the Hungarian Open in January, shutting down Fan Zhendong and Lin Guoyuan 3-2. “I think the encouragement from Xu towards me was very important,” Liang commented after the match. “I feel honoured to be with him on the same side.”
Finding the right formula
Xu has paired with the best and brightest of his nation, including Fan and Liang on the men’s front, and star female players Zhu Yuling and Liu Shiwen in the mixed doubles to mammoth success, but China’s continual partnership tweaking indicates the nation is still seeking the perfect pairing ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It’s a similar story in the women’s doubles for Chinese star Wang Manyu, who has already won twice this year, once with Sun Yingsha in Qatar and once with Zhu Yuling in Hungary.
The rising sun
More switches may be in store for Japan as well as their teams prepare to bask in the spotlight sure to be cast upon them during Tokyo’s Olympic summer. A very promising duo has emerged in 16-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto and 18-year-old Hina Hayata, who only practiced together a handful of times before achieving their first wins in mixed doubles at the Hong Kong Open. In Japan a week later, they wound up in the found themselves in the final looking across the table at Xu and Zhu — as auspicious a beginning to a partnership as could be asked for.
Power breakers
A handful of pairs, including current world no. 1s Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu of Korea and Japan’s and Minyuu Kihara and Miya Nagasaki have made semifinals appearances on the world tour as they chase the Chinese stars.
The shock of the season, however, came when German veterans Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska upset world champions Ma Long and Wang Chuqin 3-0 to take the men’s title at the China Open, serving their hosts a rare defeat at home. If the Chinese were stunned, so were the Germans:
“We didn’t expect this. We had not played together for a long time before the beginning of the season, but we know each other very well off the table too, so that helps and makes it a lot of fun.” Patrick Franziska
For the stars of the sport and its fans, the saga continues with the Korea Open between 2nd – 7thJuly and the Australian Open between 9th – 14thJuly.
Follow it all on ITTF.com and watch the action live as it unfolds on itTV!
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BREWERTON, N.Y. – Pat Ward bested Larry Wight to win Friday night’s 35-lap Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified feature at Brewerton Speedway.
Ward beat Wight to the checkered flag at the third-mile, moderately-banked dirt oval, with Jimmy Phelps, Billy Decker and Ron Davis III completing the top five.
Billy Clark Jr. and Corey Barker split wins in a pair of 25-lap DIRTcar Sportsman features, with Casey Sykes topping the Mod Lite class and Chris Bonoffski winning the 15-lap 4-Cylinder main event.
Logan McNitt came out on top of the 4&6 Cylinder Demolition Derby, and Shawn Aman survived the Small Truck and Mini-Van Demolition Derby.
The finish:
Pat Ward, Larry Wight, Jimmy Phelps, Billy Decker, Ron Davis III, Tim Sears Jr., Joe August, Roy Bresnahan, Tom Sears Jr., Jim Witko, Matt Hulsizer, Rob Bellinger, Tyler Trump, Tim Harris, Katelyn Hile, Jason Occhino, Nick Krause, Chad Phelps, Andrew Ferguson, Chris Hile, Tim Kerr.
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LAKE ODESSA, Mich. – The American Ethanol Late Model Tour took on I-96 Speedway for the first time this season during the Battle of Speed 40 presented by Zook Farm Equipment on Friday night.
Coming into the event, seven different drivers had found victory lane, with five of them marking their first ever AELMT victory – and that trend continued again this time out with a win by David Mielke.
A stacked first three rows, including Brandon Thirlby, Logan Arntz and Travis Stemler, were all looking to become the first repeat winner of the season.
Stemler and Mielke led the field to the green flag, with Stemler jumping out to the early race lead. However, the caution flag waved soon after, as Thirlby was bitten by the cushion that lined I-96 Speedway, rolling his nose piece up and under the right front of the car.
He slowed going into turn three, bringing out the first caution of the night.
On the restart, Stemler went back to work, jumping back out front, setting his sights on the chance to become a repeat winner. Those hopes quickly vanished when, on lap 10, Stemler became the next victim of the Speedway, busting up his nose piece, and spinning off the top of turn three.
That handed things over to Logan Arntz for the restart.
Arntz took off with the lead over Mielke, and was looking like the man to beat for the $4,000 pay day as he lead through the halfway point over Mielke and Jeep VanWormer.
All that changed when Arntz slipped up coming off the second corner, allowing Mielke to get to his inside. Mielke charged to the lead just before the caution flew once again for Thirlby.
From there, Mielke held on to collect his first career AELMT feature win, making him the eighth different driver to go to victory lane and the sixth first-time winner of the season.
Mielke bested a hard-charging VanWormer, who came from seventh on the grid, and a determined Chad Finley, who recovered from a near spin with less than 10 laps to go.
Arntz and Ryan VanderVeen rounded out the top five.
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STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Ronnie Williams became the first two-time winner of the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k on Friday night at Stafford Motor Speedway.
In the 100-lap NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K feature event, Marcello Rufrano took the lead at the green with Tyler Hines in second. Hines would lose second to Joey Cipriano on lap two, while Troy Talman was fourth and Williams was quickly up to fifth.
With 20 laps complete, Rufrano was still in the lead ahead of Cipriano, Mike Christopher Jr., Talman, and Hines. However, the caution flew with 26 laps scored, as Nick Salva spun coming out of turn four and John Studley and Kenny Horton got into the wall behind him.
Christopher made a two-wide move coming out of turn two on the restart to nearly take the lead, but ended up locked in a side by side duel with Cipriano for the lead. Christopher cleared Cipriano on lap 29, while Rufrano fell back to third in line.
Andrew Molleur spun in turn four to bring the caution back out with 36 laps complete.
Christopher took the lead back under green with Rufrano in second. Todd Owen took second from Rufrano on lap 39 with a forceful pass in turn four, while behind them Chase Dowling was up to fourth and Keith Rocco took fifth as Rufrano slid back to sixth.
Tyler Leary and Stephen Kopcik got into the turn two wall to bring the caution back out with 40 laps complete.
Owen got a push from Dowling to take the lead on the restart, but the lap wasn’t completed before the caution came back out for a multi-car incident.
Christopher and Owen went wheel to wheel for the lead when the green flag returned, with Dowling in third behind him. Owen got clear to the lead on lap 42 but Christopher was all over his back bumper in second.
Dowling took second from Christopher on lap 56 as Owen was still in command. Dowling completed his charge to the front of the field by taking the lead from Owen on lap 60.
With Dowling and Owen dicing for the lead, Christopher was able to close in on the two leaders and make it a three-car fight for the lead. Christopher got by Owen to take second on lap 63, but he lost the spot on lap 65 as his car appeared to momentarily lose power.
Christopher came back up to speed in third, but the caution flew with 69 laps complete for a spin in turn four by Kenny Horton.
Christopher’s car stumbled on the restart and he fell back several spots, but the caution flew again before a lap could be completed for a spin in turn three by Rufrano. Under the caution, Christopher came to pit road for his crew went to diagnose his issues.
Owen got a good run on the outside of Dowling to take the lead on the restart. Rocco followed in Owen’s tire tracks in the outside lane, and he pulled even with Dowling for second. Rocco cleared Dowling and then took the lead from Owen on lap 72.
Another multi-car incident at the entrance to turn one then brought the caution back out with 73 laps complete.
Rocco took the lead on the restart, with Dowling coming back up to second. Owen and Tony Membrino Jr. went through the frontstretch infield on lap 77, but both cars kept going and the race stayed green.
Williams went by Dowling to move into second on lap 83, and he began to set his sights on Rocco for the lead. Williams was about a tenth of a second a lap quicker than Rocco and with 13 laps to go, he was right on Rocco’s back bumper.
Williams dove to the inside of Rocco on lap 90 but wasn’t able to complete the pass as Rocco charged back out front. Williams again tried an inside move on lap 92, but Rocco was able to fend off that challenge as well.
Williams again made a turn three move and the two leaders were side by side at the line as they completed lap 93. They were still side by side on lap 94 before Williams fell back behind Rocco on lap 95. Williams got back to Rocco’s inside on lap 98 and took the lead by a nose at the line.
Williams edged ahead of Rocco in turns three and four on the final lap and he beat Rocco to the checkered flag by half a car length.
Dowling finished third, with Cipriano and Molleur rounding out the top five.
Al Saunders held off Tom Fearn in the late model feature to score his second win of the year, while Teddy Hodgdon locked down his second win of the year in the SK Light division.
Jeremy Lavoie reached victory lane for the third time this season in the limited late model class, and George Bessette Jr. notched his second Street Stock win of the year.
The finish:
Ronnie Williams, Keith Rocco, Chase Dowling, Joey Cipriano, Andrew Molleur, Marcello Rufrano, David Arute, Tony Membrino Jr., Todd Owen, Tyler Hines, Ed Spiers, Tyler Leary, Dan Wesson, Cory DiMatteo, Tom Bolles, Michael Gervais Jr., Troy Talman, Nick Salva, Matt Galko, Kenny Horton, Michael Christopher Jr., Dan Avery, Matt Vassar, Glen Reen, Eric Berndt, Stephen Kopcik, John Studley.
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MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Lance Dewease pocketed his 96th career sprint car win at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night with a flag to flag performance in the Pennsylvania Speedweek opener.
Dewease’s victory was worth $5,000 aboard the Don Kreitz Jr.-owned No. 69k.
The Fayetteville driver took the victory by a 7.571-second margin over Brian Montieth in what was a nonstop event. The win was the 27th Dewease’s career in Speedweek action.
Dewease took the lead from the pole of the 25-lap 410 sprint car main with TJ Stutts giving chase.
Fifth starter Brian Montieth was up to third by lap seven, and the leaders entered the rear of the field on the eighth tour, with Dewease holding a half straightaway lead.
Dewease had a 2.5-second advantage at the halfway point as Montieth began to battle with Stutts for second. The pair swapped the spot twice with 10 laps to go, before Montieth finally took the spot for keeps.
Seventh starter Freddie Rahmer continued his advancement forward on lap 17 by taking third from Stutts, but only after the two made contact on the frontstretch.
By lap 20, Dewease had a commanding straightaway lead that was growing with every lap, and he would continue to stretch his advantage all the way to the finish.
Dewease lapped up to the 12th spot before the checkers unfurled, impressive considering he and his crew replaced the rear end in the car between his heat race and the main event.
Montieth was second in the race, followed by Rahmer, Lucas Wolfe and Stutts.
Sixth through 10th went to Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, Robbie Kendall, Cory Haas and Kyle Reinhardt.
Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart made the main event and finished 15th aboard his familiar No. 14.
In the 358 sprint car main, Doug Hammaker drove by Kevin Nouse to get his second win of the year at the track in as many weeks.
The finish:
1. Lance Dewease, 2. Brian Montieth, 3. Freddie Rahmer, 4. Lucas Wolfe, 5. TJ Stutts, 6. Danny Dietrich, 7. Anthony Macri, 8. Robbie Kendall, 9. Cory Haas, 10. Kyle Reinhardt, 11. Chad Trout, 12. Ryan Smith, 13. Brandon Rahmer, 14. Dylan Cisney, 15. Tony Stewart, 16. Jared Esh, 17. Adrian Shaffer, 18. Darren Mollenoyux, 19. Jessie Attard, 20. Mark Smith, 21. Chase Dietz, 22. Tim Wagaman, 23. Steve Buckwalter, 24. Logan Wagner
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JACKSON, Minn. – Carson Macedo officially led the distance of Friday’s 30-lap World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series main event at Jackson Motorplex.
However, the Californian’s win during the 41st annual AGCO Jackson Nationals was anything but simple.
Macedo held off multiple bids for the lead and a slew of slide job attempts from Daryn Pittman and Logan Schuchart to score his second Outlaws triumph of the season.
Macedo garnered the pole position for the A-main after winning the dash. He quickly took the top spot once the green flag waved on the non-stop main event. Macedo entered traffic around lap eight, but things got extremely dicey during the final dozen laps.
With 12 laps to go, Schuchart slid Macedo for the lead in turns one and two, but Macedo returned the move in turns three and four, edging Schuchart at the flagstand by .055 seconds.
It was the tightest move of the race for Macedo, who not only overcame close racing with Schuchart and Pittman, but thick traffic as well.
“We raced each other pretty hard,” Macedo said. “My guys are doing a great job. We got into the dash after a tough heat race. We picked off laps from there.”
Pittman and Schuchart waged war in the final handful of laps for the runner-up position, with Pittman coming out on top.
“Our car is really good,” Pittman said. “Carson did a great job. He got through traffic really well.”
Schuchart rounded out the podium.
“Carson ran a great race and picked his lines good,” Schuchart noted. “He’s really tough and so is Daryn and all these guys out here.”
Brad Sweet, who won the AGCO Jackson Nationals opener on Thursday, finished fourth with Ian Madsen rounding out the top five.
David Gravel and Madsen set quick time during their qualifying groups to kick off the action. Gravel, Schuchart, Madsen and Pittman were the heat race winners.
Tasker Phillips claimed the C-main and Jason Sides won the Last Chance Showdown. Shane Stewart took the KSE Hard Charger Award after maneuvering from 11th to seventh.
Macedo joined Heartland Steel RaceSaver sprint cars presented by Wyffels Hybrids feature winner Bill Johnson as drivers who were victorious during the second round of the event.
The finish:
1. 2-Carson Macedo (1); 2. 83-Daryn Pittman (2); 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart (3); 4. 49-Brad Sweet (5); 5. 18-Ian Madsen (4); 6. 41-David Gravel (6); 7. 5-Shane Stewart (11); 8. 15-Donny Schatz (8); 9. 1A-Jacob Allen (7); 10. 09-Matt Juhl (10); 11. 7-Justin Henderson (14); 12. 4-Terry McCarl (13); 13. 49X-Tim Shaffer (15); 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild (18); 15. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi (17); 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser (12); 17. 3-Jac Haudenschild (16); 18. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey (19); 19. 44S-Trey Starks (22); 20. 2KS-Austin McCarl (23); 21. 55-Brooke Tatnell (20); 22. 19-Brent Marks (24); 23. 7S-Jason Sides (21); 24. 19P-Paige Polyak (9).
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Argentina captain Lionel Messi admitted he is struggling at the Copa America as he and La Albiceleste look ahead to a marquee semifinal clash against tournament hosts Brazil.
"It is not my best Copa America, I am not having the one I had hoped," the Barcelona star said after Argentina's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Venezuela. "The important thing is that we won."
Striker Lautaro Martinez scored for the second game running to put Argentina in front in the 10th minute with a clever back-heeled finish, while substitute Giovani Lo Celso scored Argentina's badly-needed second goal in the 74th minute on a loose ball that squirmed through the hands of Venezuela goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.
- Marcotti: Argentina learning to play with, not just near, Messi
- Copa America: All you need to know
- Full Copa America fixtures schedule
Messi has only scored once at the tournament in which Argentina have struggled offensively. They scraped into the last eight with a nervy 2-0 win over Qatar in their final group-stage game after losing to Colombia and drawing with Paraguay.
The six-time Pichichi Trophy winner added that he knew that Venezuela "were going to shut it down and look for the counter."
"We controlled the game from the beginning, the first goal came and from there we became ourselves," the man from Rosario said. "In the second half, we knew they were going to move forward and leave spaces. We were firm throughout the game, it was a complete game."
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni did not want to be drawn on Messi's poor display in the post-game news conference but said his presence alone is good for the team.
"Messi's contribution on the pitch is essential, if you could see what he gives us in the dressing room you'd think differently. I assure you it's great to have him here," Scaloni said.
When further pressed on Messi's poor form, Scaloni replied curtly: "All there is to say about Leo is he's the best in the world."
Friday's win at the Maracana marked the first time that Messi had played at the famed Rio de Janeiro stadium since the 2014 World Cup final loss to Germany. He blasted the condition of the field on Friday, calling it an "embarrassment."
"It doesn't help to play the ball fast and you always need some time because it doesn't roll well," Messi said. "In all the pitches, the ball appears to be like a rabbit, it bounces all over the place. It is how it is and we have to adapt."
With the victory of La Vinotinto, Argentina will now face eternal rivals Brazil for the first time in the tournament since the 2007 final, which they lost 3-0.
"We are happy to get to the semifinals. We have Brazil and it will be a tough opponent because they have great players. At a collective and individual level, they're strong plus they are the hosts. Today I believe we gave another step forward."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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All the live updates and analyses from the Afghanistan v Pakistan game. Refresh the page if it doesn't load immediately for you.
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