bits and pieces

Mandzukic joins Juventus for 19m euros
MILAN: Beaten Champions League finalists Juventus have confirmed the signing of Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic from Atletico Madrid on a four-year deal worth 19 million euros to the Spanish club.
With striker Carlos Tevez rumoured to be on his way to Boca Juniors, Juventus have moved quickly to bring in a replacement for the Argentinian, who scored 20 league goals for the league and Cup winners last season.
Juventus released a statement which said: “Juventus Football Club can announce that an agreement has been reached with Atletico Madrid for the services of Mario Mandzukic, who has signed a four-year contract.
“A fee of 19m euros, payable in three separate installments, has been agreed, with a potential extra two million to be added if certain performance-related targets are met.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said last week he was happy the club had moved to capture Mandzukic, who after a mitigated season at Atletico had been a target for Manchester United.
“We signed Mandzukic because we wanted him. He’s a great player and I am very happy he’s here,” said Allegri.
Mandzukic, who scored his country’s opener in a recent 1-1 Euro 2016 qualifying draw against Italy, is one of Europe’s top strikers but, having quit Bayern Munich in 2014 due to issues with coach Pep Guardiola’s style of play, he then failed to completely convince Diego Simeone last season at Atletico.
With Paulo Dybala (Palermo) and Simone Zaza (Sassuolo) recently added to a Juve front line comprising Alvaro Morata and Fernando Llorente — who is being linked with a move to Monaco — Allegri expects Mandzukic to settle quickly.

Bouchard finally finds rhythm to book Eastbourne win
EASTBOURNE, England: Eugenie Bouchard won only her second match since mid-March after struggling to find form, earning a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 defeat of Alison Riske on Tuesday at the Eastbourne International.
The former top

10 player, now ranked 12th, at 2-10 over her last dozen matches as the form which took the 21-year-old to the Wimbledon title match, as well as Australian Open and Roland Garros semi-finals in 2014, disappeared in 2015.
Bouchard’s second-round victory in one hour 40 minutes was her first on grass this season and could not have come at a better time, with Wimbledon starting in six days.
“It’s good to finally get a win,” said Bouchard, who was helped by two aces in the final game as she closed out the 42nd-ranked Riske, to take a 3-0 lead in that series at the WTA level.
“I had to try and stay with her, she was playing well.“I tried to stay calm at the end, enjoy the moment. I’ve really had some ups and downs this season.
“I’ve learned a lot about tennis, myself and life as a result.”The seventh seed will wait for a third-round opponent from Swiss teen Belinda Bencic and 2014 titleholder Madison Keys, seeded 12th.

Naved sparkles in Tapal CC victory over Agha Steel
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Tapal Cricket Club began their campaign on a winning note as they overwhlemed Agha Steel by 50 runs in their Group D encounter of the Karachi Gymkhana Omar Associates Ramazan Festival Twenty20 Cricket Tournament here at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Batting first, after winning the toss, Tapal CC scored 148 for seven in 20 overs with Naved Khan (61 off 48 balls) holding the innings together.
Babar Rahman (27 off 20 balls) and Ali Sarfaraz (23 off 19 balls) also chipped in with useful knocks as the trio of Dinar Azeem (2-25), Nadeem Khan (2-26) and Nazir Khan (2-26) kept the scoring in check.

Agha Steel were never in the hunt and lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 98 in 18.1 overs. Ashraf Hussain (26 off 16 balls) was the only batsman to offer some resistance as the wickets were shared by Hussain Mahmood (3-19), Mohammad Urs (2-17) and Yasir Hussain (2-20). The Man of the Match award was clinched by Naved Khan.

Camp for women cricketers from June 25 to July 14
KARACHI: PCB Women Wing is organising a conditioning camp from June 25 to July 14 at Army School of Physical Training, Kakul, Abbottabad.
The conditioning camp will be attended by 25 selected players.The objective of the camp is to improve the overall physical fitness and to enhance the technical aspect of each player’s game as well as to prepare them for international events.
During the camp, a couple of practice matches will also be played as part of the selection process for Pakistan women’s team’s tour of West Indies, scheduled in October and November this year.
The 25 players are Sana Mir, Bismah Maroof, Syeda Nain Fatima Abidi, Nida Dar, Javeria Khan, Marina Iqbal, Asmavia Iqbal, Sidra Nawaz, Sadia Yousaf, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Sania Khan, Kainat Imtiaz, Irum Javed, Nahida Bibi, Sana Gulzar, Anam Amin, Sidra Amin, Rabia Shah, Aliya Riaz, Daina Baig, Ghulam Fatima, Ayesha Zafar, Aiman Anwar, Maham Tariq and Nashra Sundhu.

Ahmed powers Soni Associates to big win
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Opener Ahmed Hussain powered Soni Associates to a six-wicket victory over Alamgir Gymkhana in their Group B fixture of the Naya Nazimabad Ramazan Cup Twenty20 Cricket Tournament here at the Lawai Stadium on Monday evening.
Ahmed Hussain, adjudged Man of the Match, hammered three sixes and 10 fours in his brilliant knock of 80 off 41 balls as Soni Associates reached the target of 135 on the first ball of the penultimate over with six wickets in hand.
It was their second successive win in the competition.Alamgir Gymkhana, electing to bat after winning the toss, were restricted to 134 for seven in the allotted 20 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Hassan scored 43. Faraz Ali (26) and Usman Khan (21) also batted well. Left-arm spinner Farhan Khan (3-23) and medium-pacer Dinar Azeer (2-31) did well with the leather.

Nauman stars in Omar Associates’ triumphs
KARACHI: Nauman Anwar played a couple of impressive innings and helped Omar Associates beat WAPDA by one wicket and thrash SO Kamal Company by 87 runs in Inter-Loop Mezan Tea T20 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak Cup Cricket Tournament at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
In the first match, Omar Associates batted first and put on board 162-3 in 15 overs. Nauman top scored for the side with 69 runs. SO Kamal Company in response managed 75-9 in 13.4 overs. Ashiq Ali captured four wickets.
WAPDA put on board 152-9 in 20 overs with Asif Afridi scoring 32. In spite of Nauman’s impressive 103-run knock off 56 balls, Omar Associates struggled to reach the target and lost nine of their wickets before eventually claiming victory in 19.3 overs.

Sallu expects another team effort from Pakistan
KARACHI: Former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu said on Tuesday he expected the team would display the same spirit in the second Test at Colombo that it showed in Galle. “Yasir Shah was excellent and stunned the Sri Lankans. Wahab Riaz also bowled impressively in the match,” Sallu told PPI.He added that Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq played important roles. “It was a pity that after playing such a good inning, Sarfraz failed to reach three figures.“It was overall a team effort as everyone seemed to be contributing. I hope the boys will take the momentum from Galle to Colombo and put up another team effort,” he said. It was Pakistan’s first win in Sri Lanka since 2006.

PCB offers condolence over head curator’s death
KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Shaharyar Khan and Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmad have offered their heartfelt condolences over the death of Shakoor Hussain, who had been Head Curator National Stadium Karachi for the last 20 years.In a message to his family, Chairman PCB said: “We are with Shakoor Hussain’s family at this hour of grief.“The PCB’s top tier management and its entire staff pray to the Almighty to bestow the departed soul with eternal peace and grant the family and the dear ones the fortitude to bear this loss”, the PCB chief said.