Sports
Pakistan’s Zaman, Irfan through to quarterfinals of Vancouver Men’s Open 2025
KARACHI: Pakistan’s top squash players Noor Zaman and Ashab Irfan have booked their spots in the quarterfinals of the Richardson Wealth Vancouver Men’s Open 2025 after impressive victories in their Round of 16 matches on Thursday.
The PSA World Tour Copper event, offering a prize purse of $31,250, features a strong international lineup with players from England, Egypt, Hong Kong, and Wales.
Third seed Zaman produced a confident and skillful display to defeat Wales’ Owain Taylor 3-1 in 53 minutes. Zaman controlled the early stages, winning the first two games 11-9, 11-9 through well-measured rallies.
Taylor rallied in the third, saving two game balls before edging it 14-12, but Zaman responded strongly in the fourth, using sharp drops and steady backcourt play to seal the win 11-8.
The 21-year-old will now face England’s Sam Todd in the quarterfinal.
In another Round of 16 match, fourth seed Irfan endured a nerve-testing five-game battle against Hong Kong’s Matthew Lai, eventually prevailing 3-2 after 71 minutes of intense play.

Irfan began strongly, taking the first game 11-4 with dominant play, but Lai struck back to level the score. The Pakistani regained momentum to claim the third game 11-7 before Lai once again forced a decider by winning a tight fourth 12-10.
In the fifth, Irfan’s superior conditioning and calm under pressure made the difference as he closed out the contest 11-6 to book his place in the quarterfinals.
Irfan will face Mohamed Sharaf of Egypt in the fourth quarterfinal.
Sports
NBA veteran Gallinari retires from basketball
Longtime NBA forward Danilo Gallinari announced his retirement from basketball Tuesday morning.
Gallinari, 37, spent 16 years in the NBA, playing in 14 seasons — and missing two others with torn ACLs — for several teams, beginning with the New York Knicks, who selected him sixth overall in the 2008 draft.
One of 299 players, per the Elias Sports Bureau, to have played at least 14 NBA seasons, Gallinari also played for the Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics (no games logged), Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks.
The son of Vittorio Gallinari — a teammate and roommate of longtime NBA head coach Mike D’Antoni while the two were members of Olimpia Milano in the 1970s and ’80s — Gallinari is the second-highest-drafted Italian player ever, behind former No. 1 selection Andrea Bargnani, and his 11,607 points is the most of any Italian player in NBA history.
He was best known for his time with the Knicks, where he was the fresh-faced on-court part of their rebuilding project ahead of the star-studded 2010 free agency class while D’Antoni was the head coach, and with the Nuggets, where he arrived as part of the massive trade that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York in 2011.
It was in Denver that Gallinari was part of a 57-win Nuggets team in 2012-13 that was made up of several of the players who came with him as part of that Anthony trade and that appeared ready to make a run in the Western Conference playoffs when Gallinari tore his ACL late in that regular season.
Injuries were, unfortunately, a major storyline of Gallinari’s career, as he missed at least 10 games in all but one of his NBA seasons. He not only missed two entire seasons — 2013-14 and 2022-23 — to ACL tears but also missed the vast majority of his rookie year with a back injury.
But when he was on the court, Gallinari was a tremendously skilled offensive player — particularly given that he was 6-foot-10. His 1,456 3-pointers is the sixth most by any player in NBA history who is at least that tall. In February 2021, while playing with the Hawks, he became one of eight players in league history to hit at least 10 3-pointers while coming off the bench.
That season with Atlanta marked the only time Gallinari would make it as far as the NBA’s conference finals in his 14-year career, although he capped off his professional career by winning the Puerto Rican league title, and winning the championship series MVP award, with Vaqueros de Bayamon this past summer.
Gallinari’s last game in the NBA was Game 6 of the Bucks’ first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Sports
Clase, Ortiz face May trial in pitch-rigging scandal
NEW YORK — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are facing a May trial on federal charges that they took bribes to help gamblers betting on their pitches.
U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Tuesday said jury selection would tentatively begin May 4 in Brooklyn federal court, with the trial opening the following week or sooner.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Sherman told the judge at the brief hearing that prosecutors anticipate the trial could last two weeks.
He said that both sides have been in discussions since the pitchers were arrested last month but that they have not yet talked about a possible plea deal in the case to avoid trial.
Matsumoto initially proposed a February trial date, but prosecutors and defense lawyers pushed for a spring start.
Sherman said prosecutors began providing defense lawyers with evidence and other materials this week in anticipation of a trial, including hundreds of gigabytes of files pulled from a number of electronic devices.
Clase, Ortiz and their lawyers declined to comment outside the courtroom. They’re due back in court Jan. 15.
The two have been out on bail since pleading not guilty last month to wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
According to prosecutors, the two accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to help two unnamed gamblers in their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of their pitches.
The prosecutors allege that Clase, the Guardians’ star closer, began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 and then recruited Ortiz into the scheme earlier this year.
Lawyers for the men have denied the charges. Ortiz’s lawyer has maintained that payments between his client and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for legal activities, not payoffs.
Clase, 27, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year who is on the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract.
Ortiz, 26, earned a $782,600 salary this year as a starting pitcher for Cleveland.
The two pitchers have been on nondisciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
The Guardians open spring training in February. The team’s home opener is April 3.
Sports
Barcelona confirm Bonmatí out for five months after surgery
Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí will be out for five months after undergoing surgery on a broken leg on Tuesday, the Catalan club have confirmed.
Bonmatí, 27, fractured her fibula in Spain training over the weekend and returned to Barcelona immediately to begin her recovery.
“Bonmatí has undergone successful surgery on a fractured fibula in her left leg,” Barça announced in a short statement on Tuesday.
“The procedure was performed by Dr. Antoni Dalmau at Hospital Barcelona under the supervision of the club’s medical services. The expected recovery time is around five months.”
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner picked up the injury on Sunday as Spain prepared for Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Nations League final second leg against Germany.
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– Germany’s missed chances open up Nations League final vs. Spain
She had initially wanted to stay with the Spain camp to support the team in their quest to retain the trophy, but was advised to return to Barcelona for treatment.
On Friday, she had played in the first leg in Germany, which ended in a goalless draw.
Bonmatí will now miss the majority of what remains of the club season, although there is a chance she could return for the run in.
The Champions League final, should Barça get there, is scheduled to take place in Oslo on May 22, with the final round of Liga F matches not set to take place until a week later.
The loss of Bonmatí complicates Barça’s options in the middle park, especially in the short-term, with both Patri Guijarro and Kika Nazareth also unlikely to feature again this calendar year due to injuries.
In the meantime, Laia Aleixandri will continue to push up from defence alongside Alexia Putellas, with youngsters Vicky López, Sydney Schertenleib and Clara Serrajordi set to compete for the final place in the middle of the park.
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