LONDON: Pakistan squash great Jahangir Khan has urged Pakistan to show grit at the World Cup, saying they have the talent to reach the semifinals despite a string of bad results.
Jahangir, one of the finest squash players of all time, was in the stands at Lord’s on Sunday to watch his side take on South Africa.
“Pakistan still have a chance of qualifying for the semifinals but for that I want them to be fighting throughout the match,” he said.
The 1992 champions, who came into the South Africa match with just one victory in five games, must realistically win all their remaining four ties and hope other results go their way.
Jahangir, who won 10 British Open titles and six world titles, was known for his never-say-die approach and stamina, traits that he wants to see in the Pakistan team, who scored 308-7 in their 50 overs on Sunday.
“What I have seen in the previous games was that the team lacked aggression, especially against India,” said Jahangir, referring to last week’s defeat against Pakistan’s arch-rivals.
Pakistan went down by 89 runs in the rain-affected game, which sparked a furious reaction back home, but Jahangir said Pakistan could recover.
“This team has talent so I am confident that it will bounce back as the whole nation wants them in the semifinal and then in the final,” he said.
Pakistan’s powerful military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was in the stands at Lord’s, along with military colleagues.
Sulaiman Khan, the son of World Cup-winning Pakistan captain and current Prime Minister Imran Khan, was also at Lord’s.
Squash great Jahangir Khan urges Pakistan to show World Cup fight
Squash great Jahangir Khan urges Pakistan to show World Cup fight
- Khan was in the stands at Lord’s on Sunday to watch his side take on South Africa
- 'What I have seen in the previous games was that the team lacked aggression, especially against India’
Turkmenistan aiming to diversify gas exports to Pakistan, India, other nations — ex-president
- Turkmenistan’s gas exports have been limited by a lack of pipeline infrastructure and most of the gas it sells overseas goes to China
- Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov says global firms welcome to participate in project to carry Turkmenistan’s gas to energy-hungry South Asia
ASHGABAT: Former Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that his country’s “primary goal” was to diversify exports of its enormous gas reserves, the world’s fourth largest, according to the transcript of an interview published on Sunday.
A mostly desert country of around 7 million, Turkmenistan’s gas exports have been limited by a lack of pipeline infrastructure. Most of the gas it sells overseas goes to China.
Berdymukhamedov served as president from 2007 to 2022, when he stepped down in favor of his son, Serdar. He remains influential as Turkmenistan’s “National Leader.”
In an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya published by Turkmen state media, Berdymukhamedov said that international companies were welcome to participate in the TAPI pipeline project, which would carry the country’s gas to energy-hungry markets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
Turkmenistan says it will finish the first leg of the pipeline, to the Afghan city of Herat, around the end of 2026. No plans have been announced to extend the pipeline further south.
The project, which Berdymukhamedov said is backed by the United States, would have to overcome longstanding tensions between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, with bouts of lethal fighting breaking out on the countries’ shared borders in the past year.
Berdymukhamedov also said that Turkmenistan supports the proposed Trans-Caspian Pipeline, which would carry the country’s gas to Europe via the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Turkiye, but that issues with Azerbaijan around the delimitation of the Caspian seabed must be solved before work can begin.
The former president was speaking during a visit to the US, which has in recent months courted the countries of Central Asia, where Russia and China have traditionally enjoyed primacy.
