Champions to be crowned as Lahore, Quetta face off in PSL final today

Lahore Qalandars' captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (R) celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Islamabad United's Muhammad Shahzad during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Twenty20 cricket eliminator match between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United at the Qaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on May 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 25 May 2025
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Champions to be crowned as Lahore, Quetta face off in PSL final today

  • The showdown begins this evening at Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium with major prize money on the line
  • Shaheen Afridi-led Lahore Qalandars aim for a third PSL title and a historic win on home ground

KARACHI: Defending champions Lahore Qalandars will face 2019 winners Quetta Gladiators in the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) today, Sunday, with both sides aiming to make history in the tenth edition of the country’s premier T20 tournament.

The final will be played under lights at Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium, with the match set to begin at 7:30 p.m. local time. A reserve day has been scheduled for Monday in case of rain.

The winner will walk away with $500,000 in prize money, while the runners-up will receive $200,000.

Either the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led Qalandars will become only the second team in PSL history to win three titles, or the Saud Shakeel-led Gladiators will lift their second trophy after a six-year gap.

Qalandars fought their way into the final through the playoffs, knocking out Karachi Kings and Islamabad United, while Quetta topped the points table and beat Islamabad in the qualifier to book their spot.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be leading Quetta Gladiators to an HBL PSL final and we will do our best to lift the trophy,” Shakeel said. “Qaddafi Stadium really has been a lucky venue for us where we have won five out of our six games and will look to continue the winning momentum.”

Afridi said Lahore were aiming for a title hat trick on home turf.

“We are buzzing to feature in our third HBL PSL final in the last four editions and our aim is to complete the treble at our home ground,” he said.

Lahore, who finished fourth in the group stage, will take confidence from their previous outing against Quetta, where they secured a commanding 79-run win before their second encounter was washed out.

Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Naeem have led the charge with the bat for Qalandars, while Shaheen, Haris Rauf and Rishad Hossain have spearheaded the bowling attack.

Quetta, meanwhile, have enjoyed a dramatic turnaround after finishing last in 2023.

Their success this season has been fueled by consistent performances from Hasan Nawaz, Rilee Rossouw and a bowling unit featuring Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Amir.

Both captains promised a highly competitive final to close out what has been a landmark 34-match edition of the HBL PSL.


Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points and Thunder beat Pacers 103-91 for NBA title

Updated 55 min 6 sec ago
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points and Thunder beat Pacers 103-91 for NBA title

  • The Pacers without star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game
  • It’s the 2nd championship for the franchise, which first won the NBA title in 1979 when it was still the Seattle SuperSonics

OKLAHOMA CITY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night.
Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third-most in any season.
Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.
It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.
Next October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.
It was not easy to secure.
The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.
Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.
Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.
The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver 12 seasons leading the league. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.
 


Gold Cup: Saudi Arabia tie Trinidad, advance out of Group D

Updated 23 June 2025
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Gold Cup: Saudi Arabia tie Trinidad, advance out of Group D

  • Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday

Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in Las Vegas, ensuring the CONCACAF’s guests would advance to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.
While the United States won Group D with a perfect 3-0-0 record, Saudi Arabia finished 1-1-1 (4 points) to place second. Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-2, 2 points) would have leapfrogged Saudi Arabia for second with a victory.
Justin Garcia nearly put Trinidad ahead in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but his point-blank shot from the center of the box caromed off the crossbar.
Al-Buraikan’s tying goal also involved the woodwork. Saleh Al-Shehri received a pass down the center lane, dribbled around one defender and watched his ensuing shot hit the crossbar and stay out of the net. Al-Buraikan ran in to collect the ball and tap it behind goalkeeper Marvin Phillip (two saves).
Dante Sealy staked Trinidad to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on a left-footed rocket from outside the box.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi made two saves for Saudi Arabia.
 


RB Salzburg, Al-Hilal tussle to 0-0 draw at Club World Cup

Updated 23 June 2025
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RB Salzburg, Al-Hilal tussle to 0-0 draw at Club World Cup

  • Al-Hilal will play Pachuca in Nashville on Thursday

RB Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw in a Group H match of the Club World Cup on Sunday in Washington.
Salzburg (1-0-1, 4 points), a 17-time Austrian Bundesliga champion, had an opportunity to become the first from Group H to advance to the quarterfinals but instead is second to Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) on goal differential, which favors the Spanish club by one. They face each other in the final group match in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Al-Hilal (0-0-2, 2 points) of the Saudi Pro League, where they have won 19 titles, play Pachuca (0-2-0, 0 points), which has been eliminated, in Nashville on Thursday.
Yassine Bounou made five saves for Al-Hilal. His counterpart, Christian Zawieschitzky, had four.
The match was played with pace despite a real-feel temperature of 99 degrees.
Al-Hilal came close to a breakthrough in the 81st minute when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic earmarked a shot for the bottom left corner from outside the box, but Zawieschitzky covered the post for the save.
While Al-Hilal finished with a 19-13 advantage in attempts, it was a frustrating afternoon for each side with numerous missed chances.
Al-Hilal had 10 of the 15 shot attempts in the scoreless first half. The problem was that Zawieschitzky needed to make just one save.
It did help him that defender Jacob Rasmussen blocked a right-footed shot from Marcos Leonardo and cleared it from near the goal line in the 21st minute. Otherwise the lone Al-Hilal shot on target was by Salem Al-Dawsari in the fifth minute.
Salzburg put three of its five shots on target in the first half, including an opportunity in the ninth minute. Frans Kratzig sent a long overhead ball to Karim Onisiwo in the center of the box and he deftly flicked the ball toward keeper Yassine Bounou with the outside of his right foot.
Bounou was better tested in the 48th minute when he stood tall to deny John Mellberg staring at him from the 6-yard box.


Real Madrid beats Pachuca 3-1 in Club World Cup while playing most of the match with 10 men

Updated 23 June 2025
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Real Madrid beats Pachuca 3-1 in Club World Cup while playing most of the match with 10 men

  • It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power

CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler scored first-half goals and short-handed Real Madrid bounced back from a disappointing performance in its Club World Cup opener to beat Pachuca 3-1 on Sunday in front of 70,248 spectators at Bank of America Stadium.
Seven minutes in, defender Raul Asencio received a red card, forcing Real Madrid to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.
It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power.
Bellingham got Madrid on the board in the 35th minute when he took a pass from Fran Garcia just inside the box and belted a perfectly placed left-footed shot past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno into the right corner.
Eight minutes later, Güler made it 2-0 when he delivered a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner off an assist from Gonzalo García. Federico Valverde put the final touches on the win in the second half with a sliding right-footed shot off an assist from Brahim Díaz.
Goalkeeper Thabaut Courtois was on form with five saves in the first half. He turned away two point-blank shots in the early going and finished with 10 saves.
Elías Montiel ended Courtois’ bid for a shutout when he scored in the 80th minute for Pachuca, which fell to 0-2 in group play.
Kylian Mbappé has missed both Club World Cup starts after being hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. He did not travel to Charlotte, but the team remains hopeful that he’ll be ready to play on Thursday night against Salzburg.
Key moment
There were some uneasy minutes early in the match for Madrid when Asencio pulled down Pacheco’s Agustin Palavecino as he was entering the box following a breakaway, forcing Aurelein Tchouameni to move to center back. But Madrid stayed on the attack and Bellingham had the breakthrough goal.
Takeaways
Madrid looked very much out of sync on Wednesday, playing Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal to a 1-1 draw in Alonso’s first game when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved. That changed on Sunday as the talented roster began to mesh, with precise passing leading to both first-half goals.
Noteworthy
The game was played on a temporary grass field. The stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, who play on an artificial surface. ... With temperatures in the low 90s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius), players were given a water breaks midway through each half.
What they said
“We stayed together really well. It’s impressive how the team comes together to win the game. I’m really happy with the team today.” — Bellingham.
“I’m here to win. That is my way. I want to make a statement. We played well on some occasions but I can’t settle for just that.” — Pachuca coach Jaime Lozano.


Canelo and Crawford clash at intense face-off in New York

Updated 22 June 2025
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Canelo and Crawford clash at intense face-off in New York

  • Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the GEA and President of Saudi Boxing Federation, addressed crowd at Jevits Center

NEW YORK: A packed Fanatics Fest crowd at Jevits Center in New York witnessed the second leg of the global media tour ahead of the blockbuster Riyadh Season fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford, the two best pound for pound fighters in the world, on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas.

Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and President of the Saudi Boxing Federation, addressed the crowd after being introduced to the stage by legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer, before UFC CEO Dana White stepped up to oversee the press conference ahead of the fight of the century between the two biggest fighters of the modern era for the undisputed super middleweight title.

White announced the performance bonus for the highly-anticipated fight, being broadcast exclusively live on Netflix, will be “over six figures”, before staging an intense face off which led to Canelo and Crawford having to be separated by their teams.

Speaking at the press conference, reigning champion Canelo said: "He (Crawford) is one of the great fighters in the last years, obviously that is why he is a champion. My brother, Turki Alalshikh, thank you so much for this fight, we are here and I think it is a good fight for the fans."

In response, Crawford, a four-division and two-weight undisputed champion, said: "I'm hunting him. That's it. I'm hunting everything that he has got, and I am going to take it come September 13th. I am very confident. This is my time."

The global media tour will conclude on Friday, June 27 in Las Vegas, before the two fighters return to the same city for the main event in September.