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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket team survived a scare from minnows UAE on Wednesday, beating them by 41 runs at Dubai to qualify for the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2025 tournament. 

Pakistan batted first but suffered early blows, losing both openers in the powerplay overs when the team's score was just nine. Fakhar Zaman and skipper Salman Ali Agha put in a 61-run partnership to bring some stability to the side before more wickets tumbled. 

Zaman scored 50 off 36 balls while Agha made 20 runs and Mohammad Haris scored 18 runs off 14 balls. Pakistan were in deep trouble at 110-7 before bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi stepped to the crease. Afridi smashed 29 runs from 14 balls to ensure Pakistan finished at 146-9 after 20 overs. 

"Pakistan defeat UAE by 41 runs and progress to the Super 4s in the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025," the PCB wrote on X. 

UAE, in response, were bundled out for 105 runs in 17.4 overs. Afridi, Rauf and leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed each took two wickets while all-rounder Saim Ayub and Agha each picked up a single wicket. 

Rahul Chopra and Dhruv Parashar scored 35 and 20, respectively, to give the UAE a fighting chance before Pakistani bowlers dismissed them. 

Pakistan and India become the only teams to advance to the Super Four stage of the tournament from their group. This means the two arch-rivals will clash once again in the next stage of the tournament. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem qualified for the men’s World Athletics Championships javelin final on Wednesday with an impressive 85.28-meter throw, joining India’s Neeraj Chopra and other top athletes for the upcoming contest. 

The World Athletics Championships ranks alongside the Olympic Games as the highest level of global senior outdoor competition for track, field, marathon and race walk athletes. The Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are the only sporting events that boast a bigger global reach and impact. This year’s edition is taking place in Tokyo at the Japan National Stadium from Sept. 13-21. 

Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion, qualified from Group B with an 85.28-meter throw in his third and final attempt in Tokyo. The automatic qualification mark was set at 84.50 meters. 

“Qualified for the FINAL of the World Athletics Championships!” Nadeem wrote on social media platform X. 

“Gearing up for the final tomorrow at 3:23 p.m. PST! Humble request: Need your prayers for a strong performance!“

Anderson Peters of Grenada, Olympic medal winner Julius Yego of Kenya and the USA’s Curtis Thompson also breached the automatic mark from Group B alongside Nadeem. 

Defending champion Chopra, a two-time Olympic medalist, booked his place in the medal round with an 84.85-meter throw in Group A of the qualifiers.

Germany’s Julian Weber, the top-ranked men’s javelin thrower in the world currently, fell short with his first throw but qualified with a second haul of 87.21 meters.

Poland’s Dawid Wegner was the only other athlete from Group A, who earned a direct qualification with a new personal best of 85.67m.

Nadeem, who comes from humble beginnings from the eastern Khanewal district in Pakistan, is one of nine children of a daily wage laborer who showed great versatility as an athlete from a young age while dabbling in all kinds of sports at school.

Though the family lacked the financial means to encourage Nadeem’s enthusiasm for sports, his spirit earned him the support he needed, with his elder brothers working to help him build a career in sports, the family told Arab News in an interview in 2021.

The Pakistani star athlete won silver at the World Championships in 2023 and gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with a massive 90.18-meter distance throw.