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ABU DHABI: Belinda Bencic became Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open champion for the second time after coming from behind to defeat Ashlyn Krueger in Saturday’s final, capping a remarkable comeback story.
DUBAI: The Sharjah Self-Defense Sports Club dominated the opening day of the second round of the Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship at Al-Nasr Club in Dubai. The event, featuring No-Gi competition, brought together young athletes from leading clubs and academies across the country.
Former captain Graeme Smith is optimistic that South African will end its prolonged wait for an ICC trophy this year, long before they host the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2027. With the eight-team Champions Trophy beginning on February 19 and World Test Championship (WTC) final scheduled for June this year, Smith believes South Africa is on the brink of breaking their ICC trophy drought. "Hopefully, we will end that wait much before the 2027 World Cup, with the Champions Trophy and WTC final coming up but if South Africa could win a WC trophy in front of a home crowd, it would be amazing," Smith told PTI Bhasha.
Legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has picked last edition finalists, India and Pakistan favourites for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy. The fever of the Champions Trophy is slowly gripping fans as the tournament will return on February 19 after more than seven years. The top eight ODI sides will compete for the coveted trophy, including India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and defending champions Pakistan.
The injury to New Zealand cricketer Rachin Ravindra during an ODI match against Pakistan at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium became a huge talking point ahead of the start of the Champions Trophy. In a rather bizarre and worrying incident, Rachin failed to spot the ball in the glare of the floodlights at the venue and ended up incurring a serious injury that left him bloodied on the field. While some big names in Pakistan's cricketing fraternity admitted that the LED lights at the venue seem to be causing some issue, others have refused to make corrections. Instead, they've blamed Rachin for the injury.
Babar Azam needs to fire if Pakistan are to do well in Champions Trophy 2025. After failures in recent World Cups (both ODIs and T20Is), the Champions Trophy 2025 at home will be an acid test for the Mohammad Rizwan-led side to prove their mettle. Babar Azam is a big factor in their scheme of things. In fact, Babar Azam has been zeroed in on to open the innings for Pakistan after Saim Ayub was ruled out due to injury. The former Pakistan captain had a decent run in the build-up to the Champions Trophy, but it's nowhere close to being called awe-inspiring.
West Indies' Jomel Warrican has been awarded as the ICC Men's Player of the Month for January 2025. Warrican won the accolade on the back of a splendid run in Pakistan, during which he secured his career-best figures while also leading West Indies to their first-ever Test win in the Asian country in 35 years. This is Warrican's maiden ICC Men's Player of the Month award from two other standout spinners from January's contests, Pakistan's Noman Ali and India's Varun Chakravarthy.
Spin great R Ashwin has called India and New Zealand the strongest sides heading into the Champions Trophy but warned teams against taking Australia lightly despite the loss of key players to injuries as they "bring their A-game" into marquee tournaments. The ICC event starts in Pakistan on February 19 with India playing all their matches in Dubai under a hybrid model agreement. "India has the home advantage in Dubai, and it almost like every other team is playing an away match against India. This is a problem for the other teams, for sure," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.