KARACHI: Pakistan’s Noor Zaman has advanced to the semifinals of the Charlottesville Open after a straight-games victory over third seed Yahya Elnawasany of Egypt.

The eighth-seeded Zaman needed just 35 minutes to dispatch Elnawasany, winning 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in their quarterfinal clash on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Pakistani will now face top seed Timothy Brownell of the United States in the semifinal. Brownell reached the last four by defeating India’s Veer Chotrani 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6) in 41 minutes.

In other quarterfinal results, England’s Sam Todd overcame Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8) while Egypt’s Salman Khalil knocked out fourth seed Velavan Senthilkumar of India 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3).

The Charlottesville Open, which carries a total prize purse of $31,250, is part of the PSA World Tour series.

Zaman stormed into the Charlottesville Open quarter-final with a resounding 3-1 victory over England’s Tom Walsh on Thursday.

The in-form player, who received a first-round bye, started the game on a high as he sealed a hard-fought opening set 13-11, while completely outclassing Walsh 11-5 in the second.

The Englishman pulled one back by sealing the third set 11-5, only for Zaman to clinch the fourth and round up a comprehensive victory to book his spot in the quarter-final.

Notably, Zaman is riding high on confidence after clinching the Nash Cup in Canada last week, another PSA World Tour event.

The 21-year-old, seeded fifth, stunned the tournament’s No. 2 seed 3-0 in a gripping 52-minute contest.

Noor Zaman edged a marathon first game 19-17 before sealing the match with 11-7 and 11-9 wins. The triumph marked a significant milestone for the reigning World U23 Champion.

On the other hand, Zaman’s compatriots Ashab Irfan and Asim Khan suffered defeats in their respective Round of 16 matches and were thus knocked out of the tournament.

Asim suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of top seed Timothy Brownell, while India’s Veer Chotrani crushed Ashab 3-1.

Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir has responded to Indian criticism over her reference to “Azad Kashmir” during commentary in Pakistan’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 clash against Bangladesh in Colombo.

The incident occurred at the R Premadasa Stadium, where Mir, while speaking about Pakistan all-rounder Natalia Pervaiz, initially said “Kashmir” before correcting herself to “Azad Kashmir.” 

Mir took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue a statement, lamenting that her remarks were blown out of proportion “and people in sports are being subjected to unnecessary pressure”.

She clarified her words were never meant as a political remark but as part of the storytelling that commentators do by highlighting players’ backgrounds.

“It’s unfortunate how things are being blown out of proportion […] My comment about a Pakistan player’s hometown was only meant to highlight the challenges she faced […] There is no malice in my heart or any intention to hurt sentiments,” Mir wrote.

She added that as a commentator on the World Feed her role was to focus on the sport and players, showcasing inspiring stories of grit and perseverance, not politics.

To support her statement, Mir also shared a screenshot from ESPNcricinfo, showing Natalia Pervaiz’s profile listing her birthplace as “Bandala, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.” Mir explained this was her source of information, though she noted the site has since been updated.

The clarification comes at a sensitive time in cricket relations between Pakistan and India. The men’s Asia Cup 2025 tournament saw India’s men’s team refuse handshakes with Pakistani players, while the trophy presentation was overshadowed by India’s refusal to accept medals from ACC and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi.

With Pakistan’s women playing all their matches in Sri Lanka due to PCB-BCCI tensions, the controversy around Mir’s comment has further highlighted how cricket continues to be entangled with politics.

Bangladesh won the match by seven wickets, leaving Pakistan struggling to stay afloat in the group stage of the Women’s World Cup.

MILAN:

AC Milan have the chance to cap a momentous week on Sunday night as the Serie A giants face rivals Juventus after taking a huge step towards building a new stadium in place of the San Siro.

Top of the pile on goal difference, Milan are on a run of five straight wins in league and cup and showed enough in their thrilling win over champions Napoli last weekend to suggest they will be in the title discussion this season.

Milan are locked on 12 points with Napoli and Roma, who respectively face strugglers Genoa and Fiorentina, and one point ahead of fourth-placed Juve ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri will make what he called an “emotional” return to Turin — where he won five Serie A titles — on a high from his team’s win over Napoli and with a full week’s rest, unlike his rivals who have all had European commitments over the last few days.

An opening-day defeat by Cremonese now looks like a freak result rather than a worrying start for Milan and with fewer matches to contend with over the course of the campaign, the seven-time European champions look a good bet for the title.

Further boosting Milan’s hopes of keeping hold of top spot this weekend are injuries to Juve’s Gleison Bremer and Khephren Thuram, two key players for the hosts injured during last weekend’s draw with Atalanta.

And if things look good on the pitch the club’s owners, American investment firm RedBird, were given a huge shot in the arm by the city of Milan finally approving the sale of the publicly-owned San Siro to Milan and their locals rivals Inter.

News of the decree came in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a drawn-out council meeting which lasted over 11 hours and featured anger from local politicians from across the political spectrum, about the sale of 28 hectares of prime public land and the demolition of possibly the world’s most recognisable stadium.

The clubs and Milan’s centre-left mayor Giuseppe Sala came very close to not getting their wish as the 24 votes in favour would not have been enough had a clutch of councillors from the right-wing Forza Italia party not refused to vote.

Paolo Scaroni, CEO of AC Milan said on Tuesday that he expects the new stadium to be ready for 2030, “well in time for 2032 which is a key date because the new stadium needs to be ready for the European Championship”.

Inter, who are three points behind the leading trio in sixth, host promoted Cremonese who return to the site of the historic victory in the first week of the campaign.

Player to watch: Adrien Rabiot

France midfielder Rabiot returns to where he and Allegri first met and struck up an almost father-son relationship, one which coaxed him back to Italy after a violent bust-up led to him being cast aside by Marseille.

Such is Allegri’s faith in Rabiot that he immediately got in touch once his brawl with Jonathan Rowe — now at Bologna — made his position at Marseille untenable.

The 30-year-old has slotted perfectly into Milan’s midfield alongside veteran superstar Luka Modric since arriving on transfer deadline day.

Key stats

12 – Milan, Napoli and Roma are all on 12 points after five matches.
5 – Milan’s winning run in league and cup

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Verona v Sassuolo (1845)

Saturday

Parma v Lecce, Lazio v Torino (1300), Inter Milan v Cremonese (1600), Atalanta v Como (1845)

Sunday

Udinese v Cagliari (1030), Bologna v Pisa, Fiorentina v Roma (1300), Napoli v Genoa (1600), Juventus v AC Milan (1845)