Meet Pakistan’s Adam Gilchrist

A teenage cricketer from Karachi, Pakistan, has caught the attention of cricket fans after scoring an impressive century in a school tournament. Interestingly, the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter shares his name with Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, but his own cricketing hero is former Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara.The young Adam Gilchrist plays for Kamran Public School in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Talent Hunt School Cricket Championship Under-17 tournament. His recent performance has brought him into the spotlight, with a video of him explaining his name and favourite cricketer gaining attention online.

Adam Gilchrist’s match-winning century

Playing against Happy Palace Grammar School Karachi at Jinnah College, the teenager scored 117 runs off 108 balls. His innings included 11 fours, and he spent 145 minutes at the crease.His century helped Kamran Public School post a strong total of 297 for four in 40 overs. Gilchrist contributed nearly 39 per cent of his team’s total, and his side went on to win the match by 172 runs.The tournament is part of the PCB’s second school-level talent hunt programme, which began on September 15 and runs until December 5. More than 3,300 schools from 100 districts registered for the competition, with 1,200 shortlisted. The best teams will progress through district and provincial rounds before the national finals.The initiative gives young cricketers an opportunity to showcase their skills and potentially take the next step in their careers.

Why he was named Adam Gilchrist

The teenager’s name has an interesting backstory. His mother selected the first name Adam, while his cricket-loving father added Gilchrist in honour of the legendary Australian wicketkeeper-batter.The original Adam Gilchrist played 96 Tests for Australia, scored 5,570 runs and was part of three World Cup-winning teams in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He was famous for his attacking batting and ability to change matches quickly.However, the young Pakistani cricketer has a different role model. He wants to follow Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan captain and left-handed wicketkeeper-batter who scored 12,400 Test runs and 38 centuries.Sangakkara’s successful career makes him an understandable choice for the teenager to look up to. The young cricketer has also thanked the PCB and its chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, for providing school players with a platform to display their talent.

Connacht had more possession and territory at Scotstoun, but Glasgow were far more effective when the game turned into a contest of power. Four maul tries, a strong gain-line performance and a costly first-half spell for the visitors helped the Warriors claim a 36–19 URC victory on Friday night.

Connacht start well, but Glasgow’s maul takes over

Connacht began brightly and Sean Jansen finished a second-phase attack to put the visitors in front. Glasgow answered three minutes later, with Gregor Hiddleston touching down after the Warriors built a maul close to the line.

That became a pattern. Rory Darge scored from another powerful drive, and Hiddleston crossed for his second as Glasgow made Connacht pay for a sequence of penalties and a yellow card to Sam Illo. The Warriors went into the break with a 19–7 lead.

The damage was not limited to the scoreboard. Glasgow scored four of their five tries from mauls, while Connacht conceded 18 penalties to Glasgow’s 11. The scrum figures also favoured the hosts: Glasgow won two of their three scrums, while Connacht won four of eight.

Ioane gives Connacht hope

Glasgow extended their lead early in the second half when Josh McKay finished a move involving Dan Lancaster and Jamie Dobie. Connacht responded through Josh Ioane, whose first try followed a long attacking spell.

Ioane struck again in the 60th minute to bring Connacht back to 26–19. With the visitors carrying the momentum, the game was briefly back in the balance. But when Josh Murphy was sent to the sin-bin, Glasgow went to the corner and Seb Stephen scored from yet another maul.

Glasgow added a late penalty to close out the scoring. Connacht’s final push for a bonus point ended when Bundee Aki was penalised after continuing to speak to the referee.

Possession without enough punch

Connacht’s 52% possession and 61% territory show they had plenty of the ball and spent long periods in useful areas. They also beat 15 defenders, matching Glasgow. But the Warriors made more of their carries, recording 69 gain-line carries to Connacht’s 41 and twice as many clean breaks.

Glasgow’s defence absorbed the pressure and their attack repeatedly brought the game back to the same question: could Connacht stop the next drive? Too often, the answer was no. The visitors’ second-half fightback was real, but the gap created before half-time proved too large to close.

Connacht showed enough after the break to keep the contest alive, but Glasgow owned the key moments. The possession belonged to the visitors; the most decisive phases belonged to the Warriors.

Scorers
Glasgow: Gregor Hiddleston (2), Rory Darge, Josh McKay, Seb Stephen tries; George Horne 4 conversions, 1 penalty.
Connacht: Sean Jansen, Josh Ioane (2) tries; Ciarán Frawley 2 conversions.

Oct 3, 2026; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer reacts toward a referee during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

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It was billed as “the most unique stadium in the world,” a key pillar of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup 2034 plans. But now Neom Stadium, part of the kingdom’s ambitious aims to build a 170-kilometer-long (111 miles) city in the desert known as The Line, looks set to be scrapped, with the broader project scaled back significantly.

A recent Reuters report said the stadium, which according to the country’s bid book was going to be “350 meters (1,148 feet) above ground” and have “stunning vistas, and a roof created from the city itself,” would no longer be built for the tournament, where it was to host a quarterfinal and several other games.

Observers of the gulf country saw this coming.

“When I was in Saudi Arabia in December there were already plenty of signals that the whole Neom project was being put on the back burner, if not abandoned altogether,” F. Gregory Gause III, a regional expert from the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington D.C., told DW.

“I see it as part of a general re-evaluation of their fiscal situation, both in light of the oil market before the current war and in light of the damage that the war is doing.  The draw-back from sports commitments is just part of a more general reassessment of priorities in the current, more straitened, situation.”

Priorities changing, with sports losing out

Saudi Arabia’s sports splurge that saw players like Cristiano Ronaldo join the country’s football league and the kingdom invest in all sorts of sports in myriad ways has slowed dramatically. The country pulled funding for the multi-billion dollar LIV Golf as well as events in snooker, tennis and rugby and also withdrew from ambitious plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Neom.

Sports had formed a key part of Saudi Arabia’s Project 2030, which aimed to diversify the country’s economy away from oil and increase its soft power. But Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi-government operated Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns Premier League football club Newcastle United, said earlier this year that the PIF was “reassessing its priorities” amid war in the region.

“The impact of the war has not only made the economic rationalization more important, but it’s also accelerated the desire to rethink some of these projects in the sense that Neom is now being repurposed as an industrial center on the Red Sea, which has obviously assumed much greater urgency since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively blocked,”  Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, author of “Kingdom of Football: Saudi Arabia and the Remaking of World Soccer,” told DW.

Parallels between Qatar 2022 and Saudi Arabia 2034

There are, Coates Ulrichsen continued, clear parallels with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where plans to build 12 stadiums resulted in only eight being used at the tournament. The Arab Spring uprising arrived shortly after the bid was accepted by FIFA and, though it didn’t impact the country directly, it destabilized the region both politically and economically.

Neither Saudi Arabia’s World Cup organizing authority or Sports Ministry has responded to questions from DW about whether we may again see fewer stadiums than the planned 15 for the 2034 World Cup, which could feature 64 teams.

“We’re seeing the same obviously with Saudi Arabia now,” said Coates Ulrichsen, who is also a Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University in the US.

“[FIFA President] Gianni Infantino announced Saudi would be the only bidder on the 4th of October 2023. Three days later was October 7th, so within three days, the region was effectively in flames.”

Since then, there has been the Israel-US war against Iran, while Houthi attacks continue to hit Saudi Arabia as part of the conflict in Yemen, meaning that: “This whole hosting cycle is taking place against a backdrop of considerable uncertainty and kind of real tension.”

World Cup will still matter to Saudi Arabia

But though the scope and cost of it may be reduced, Saudi Arabia’s softening commitment to sport will not likely apply so firmly to the biggest sporting event in the world, said Gause.

“I think it continues to be a major priority, because of its global importance and because the Saudis will want to do at least as well, if not outshine, Qatar’s hosting earlier.“

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar have improved since an agreement in 2021 but the pair remain regional rivals, something Coates Ulrichsen agrees will spur the 2034 hosts on.

As such, the 2034 tournament will still likely be a high-end affair, with Saudi Arabia building most stadiums from scratch. But, said Coates Ulrichsen, it may look somewhat different to what was planned.

Gulf Cup hosting a postivie sign before Asian Cup test

“The fact that at least the Saudis were able to host a big event with 60,000 people in the stadiums, full stadiums without any security concerns [the Gulf Cup football final which they won this week] is a good sign,” he said.

The regional expert thinks more matches could end up being hosted in the two biggest Saudi cities, Riyadh and Jeddah. This may be at the expense of some venues nearer the east coast such as Al Khobar or Al Ahsa. These are separated from Iran by the Persian Gulf, which includes the Strait of Hormuz, and could be reconsidered depending on the state of political affairs.

Saudi Arabia host football’s Asian Cup in January, which Coates Ulrichsen thinks will be an “early test of whether that is viable to have a weeks-long major tournament under these conditions.”

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With nearly eight years until the World Cup, the political and economic situation in the country is difficult to predict. While the supposed shelving of Neom Stadium and general Saudi sporting withdrawal poses questions of commitment more broadly, it appears the World Cup show will go on. But probably not quite as billed.

Edited by: Chuck Penfold

Club football returns from a three-week break with some Ligue 1 action on Friday night, as high-flying Lyon travel to face a struggling Lens side who have faced backroom upheaval.

A’ja Wilson was crowned MVP of the WNBA regular season for a record-extending fifth time, following a season in which the Las Vegas Aces centre led the league with a points average of 26.2.

In tennis, Mirra Andreeva needed two tie breaks to edge past her compatriot Ekaterina Aleksandrova and into the China Open semi-finals in Beijing. Her next opponent, Nikola Bartůňková, sprung a surprise by breezing past Karolína Muchová in the all-Czech quarter-final tie. 

Manchester City have been rocked by news of their guilt in the 115 case but there are more concerns for Enzo Maresca and his players

It has been a miserable few weeks for Manchester City and their fans. The club that sits on top of the Premier League table after five games has been thrown into turmoil with publication of a 40-page decision from an independent panel that find City overwhelmingly guilty in the 115 case.

Rivals are so delighted that nobody is even pretending to get angry about that Elliot Anderson handball shout against Sunderland last month because the consequences of the expert verdict will be catastrophic. City are appealing and insist they have irrefutable evidence, but their chances of success cannot be too high given that evidence has already been categorically refuted.

And in the months it takes for that to happen, City’s guilt will be talked about on a daily basis. Premier League club executives are discussing – under the cover of anonymity, of course – what punishments they would want to see the Blues face and points deductions are being gaily speculated on.

Enzo Maresca and his players have to shut out all of that noise and concentrate on trying to win two football matches a week, starting at Anfield on Sunday. But even as the players try to keep calm and carry on, their rivals are also ploughing ahead.

Premier League champions Arsenal have been publicly silent on the guilty verdicts with the process ongoing, but on Wednesday they announced a new contract for Mikel Arteta. Already the longest serving manager in the division by some distance following the departures of Jurgen Klopp and then Pep Guardiola, the former City assistant is now signed up at the Emirates until 2030.

In a statement announcing the news, CEO Richard Garlick said: “We want to create a winning era together with Mikel… Mikel has the belief, determination and the understanding of what it takes to build something remarkable and enduring here, and we are excited to continue that journey together.”

As City’s golden era is tainted, the last thing they want to be hearing about is the start of another one in North London. And, despite a 3-0 defeat for the title favourites at Brighton before the international break, it is Arsenal who remain the team to beat for City and any of the chasing pack, with the stability at the club giving them a critical advantage.

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The punishments handed out – or not – to City at the end of the appeal process will determine how far the gap to the very top is, but in the meantime they have to keep making progress under Maresca to stay as competitive as they want to be. As difficult as it might seem with so many pitchforks out for City, Arsenal’s commitment to Arteta is a reminder that there are more than just guilty verdicts for City to be concerned about.

Para-shooters have sought an urgent independent inquiry into alleged financial corruption, extortion and manipulation in the selection process for the Para Asian Games, prompting the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to reject the charges and insist that the team was picked entirely on merit.

In a representation to the Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Wednesday, the shooters alleged “illicit monetary extortion”, “brazen corruption” and violations of Sports Ministry’s guidelines by PCI officials and its Shooting Technical Committee (STC) in selections for the Aichi-Nagoya Para Asian Games, scheduled from October 18 to 24.

The representation alleged that athletes were being pressured to pay a 20 per cent commission from government cash awards as a precondition for selection, while also accusing officials of manipulating international quota places and qualifying scores to favour certain shooters.

“Athletes are being coerced under severe duress into paying an illegal kickback of 20 per cent of their sanctioned government cash awards to designated committee office-bearers as a mandatory pre-condition for national team selection,” the representation alleged.

The shooters further claimed that international wild-card slots were allocated on the basis of financial considerations rather than ranking and performance, and alleged that two of the 15 international quota places available to India were surrendered because the next-ranked athletes refused to meet the alleged financial demands.

They also accused the selection committee of discarding prescribed Ministry criteria, manipulating qualifying scores and replacing an earlier selection panel without recorded justification.

According to the shooters, the representation questioned the appointment of an individual as a technical expert and Director of Operations despite having no record of participation in an official competitive shooting event.

Sandeep Kumar, a P4 50m free pistol SH1 shooter ranked third in Asia, alleged bias in the selection process. He claimed Rudrankksh Khandelwal, ranked 14th in Asia, was selected ahead of Akash, the Asian No. 1, and himself.

Sandeep said he was “deeply aggrieved” by what he described as arbitrary decisions and violations of the selection rules.

PCI president Devendra Jhajharia, however, rejected the allegations, maintaining that the selection process was transparent and based entirely on the prescribed criteria.

“The selection has been done as per the criteria. There has been no discrimination against anyone. The selections are 100 per cent fair and according to the Sports Ministry’s guidelines,” Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympics javelin gold-medallist, told PTI.

He also denied Sandeep’s allegation that he had been dropped in favour of a shooter with links to the coach.

“Those are all false allegations,” Jhajharia said.

The shooters, meanwhile, have warned that they could seek judicial intervention if the allegations are not addressed, saying they would consider approaching the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution for a writ of mandamus and a court-monitored investigation.